Impromptu trip down Katong with new lomo app

Downloaded free lomo app called MoreLomo onto the iphone while having breakie with Yong at Katong today. What started as a lazy sunday morning turned into a spontaneous exploratory walk around old neighbourhood. We took a stroll along the shophouses in search for the old balinese furniture store with the side agenda of testing out our new pseudo lomo camera.

Katong is a great place to take photos just liked Kempas road (which we took the cheongsum photoshoot) with rich, colorful, old walls, beautiful sidewalks, antique shopfronts, etc...

Had our breakfast at our fav 茶餐厅. Went across the road and started the little katong adventure:

The old corridors and sidewalks:

 

The colourful shophouses:

Love this shot. The auntie stopped in the middle of the road to adjust her umbrella and bicycle allowing me that split second chance to take down the photo:

 

Bought fruits to quench our thirst:

 

The Famous Katong Laksa:

 

Yong prompted me to take this photo when he saw the tiling on the floor:

Love the today's spontaneity. We should really do this more often.

Dang Bridal and her amazing cheongsums

** Update! Pre-wed photos of Dang's Cheongsum here. And actual day photos here. 

When I was researching on the wedding dress style, advised by a kind colleague, I chanced upon Grace Kelly bridal gown. I just can't get over how modern she looked despite her wedding was in Year 1956!!

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This is no ordinary wedding dress. You need a proportionate head to body ratio, thin chest with enough boobs to give just the appropriate curves, flattering trim upper arms and last but not least, an incredible face to pull off the look with all those laces. Words can't describe my admiration and awe for her beauty.

For those who love vintage wedding fashion, fashion-era is a good website to visit. It gives the low-down of  wedding fashion through the different decades. It was there I found Grace Kelly Wedding photos and the start of an intensive search around the net for the best close up shot of her gown.

Anyhow, when I saw Dang's Cheongsum it reminded me abit of Grace Kelly's dress. They are very different for obvious reasons; one is classic angmo style and the other oriental. But they are both traditional, high collared, made almost entirely of lace and had the combination of being conservative yet subtly sexy at the same time. I fell in love with Dang's style immediately.

Dang's cheongsum is made to fit skin tight which is not easy when u are dealing with delicate lace. It wraps snugly around the body just right so there will be no unsightly bulge. I especially like the way she constructed the chest and shoulder area to get that seamless 贴身effect which is typical of classic cheongsum. Check out Maggie Cheung in her fabulous cheongsum get up:

 

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*drool* Only Magnificent Maggie can pull off the high collar cheongsum look. And check out that body.. *further drool*

Okay back to the topic. I kept reminding myself to take picture of the cheongsum fittings, and for the life of me, I just could not remember to do so each time. So we will have to make do with these photos:

Close up of the gorgeous lace appliques:

 

I opted for her MTM for rent services and for those not familiar to the bridal world of abbreviations it means Made To Measure wedding gown which you will return to the bridal shop (on rental basis). I tried on her flagship cheongsum in orange which was on the mannequin in my first post here. Dang proposed a reversal of the colors: turquoise against orange. I had no clue what I wanted and was more than happy to let someone make the decision for me. 

For those interested in Cheongsum please please please drop by for a visit at Dang's shop. Full lace, half lace, half modern half oriental, with sleeves, without sleeves, short, long, long with train, you name it she has it. The one thing to note is that she does not do bare back or sexy-show-skin modern cheongsum. She is quite adament on more traditional cutting for cheongsums.

I can't wait to see the pre-wed photos and would definitely load them up here the moment I get them!

Candid Pre Pre-wedding photos!

Some candid shots of us getting prettied up in the early morning:

Wedding photoshoots PREVIEW!

Wedding photo session with Thomas was a BLAST! Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Despite the weather forecast that it would be a cloudy and stormy day, we managed to beat the rain each time as we raced through six locations to capture the best morning and evening lights.

The make up was heavy and by mid morning, it was already in a mess. My skin looked horrible with the foundation streaks and I still had to tend my stubborn cold sore which managed to get its way with help from the generous sunlight. So I really really really *double crossed my fingers* hoped that the photos will turned out okay given my adverse skin condition.

Here are the two photos Thomas has loaded in lightning speed onto his website. Swee boh?

These are the rejected Instax photos for the head swapping shot as above. I love these cos it really captured our "shocked" and "gleeful" look as requested by Thomas.

 Can't wait to see the rest of the photos!

OH ya, how can I forget to add the cute little episode at six avenue where the drivers, one by one, wound down their windows to shout out their well wishes to us when we crossed the traffic lights.We have an auntie in a school van who gave a warm congratulation with the pre-school kids waving at the background. Then a very local uncle who heartily blurted out his half hokkien and mandarin congrates. And lastly, a uber friendly Caucasian dad who masterfully wound down the window, drove his car, kept an eye on his new baby and still found time to shout out his congratulations to us.

The photoshoot was liked rehearsal for the actual day since we had to wake up so early. We were in a constant high and the random warm wishes from strangers through the morning just added on to the high spirits. Thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed myself and I can't wait for the actual day to come!!

Photoshoots and the frowned upon weight

Getting nervous about the photoshoot tomorrow. Felt a cold sore coming up at usual spot at the mouth edge. Been suppressing it with medication. But it has done it's damage in increasing my stress level exponentially. Sigh.. Murphy's law...

Photoshoot at 730am and make up artist Kelly will arrive at 530am. I feel tired already thinking about the ungodly timing.

Dang kept reminding me to smile and laugh heartily. Loads of brides regret not relaxing and enjoying the photoshoots. And you won't want to regret that right? She advised motherly. I nodded but only to feel more nervous than ever.

I collected my gowns yesterday and tried on the wedding gown for the first time after Dang altered it. To my dismay, the gown still hung loose around my torso. Surely I have not lose more weight since 3 weeks ago? I have been watching what I ate over CNY but could not resist popping pineapple tarts and bak gua everytime I get my hands on them.

Thank god for Dang as she swiftly decided to do last min alteration to further tightened the gown by an inch and half. As we sat and waited, my mind drifted off to the conversation I had with my auntie during house visits. She had shook her head in disapproval on the recent weight lamenting how sharp my face became. Advising me that brides too thin don't look nice cos they lack the glow blah and blah. Flashback to my first fitting where my best friend similarly chided me on my decreasing size. She thought I no longer looked booby and booty enough for my cheongsum.

And I agree with them. I have not really been dieting or exercising excessively. Just lost much of my previously bouyant appetite. It was mainly due to stress dealing with the new house and new lifestyle and an unexpected financial expense which need some tightening of belt for the next couple of years. The latter did take toll on my stress level as I do have an unhealthy repulsion to loans.

I know I need to loosen up. I do want to look like a happy bride cos I do feel like one. Just this morning I felt a sense of bliss as I lazed on my sofa enjoying both my warm macdonald breakfast and a John Grisham book in my new living room.

I know what I need to do now. To stop psycho analyzing my feelings and planning for the unnecessary. I need to throw caution in the air and stop worrying about the details. I will put on my salsa music and practise some of my favorite moves with Yong. I want to re watch that chubby Chinese guy singing CNY songs in Lady Gaga tune till my stomach aches because I laugh too hard.

That should do to get me in the mood for some fun tomorrow! ;P

Bringing my cam for the shoots tmr. Hopefully will get to take some shots myself and post it here. :)

Wedding 9-12 months - Searching for the perfect Chinois Wedding venue

I have always wanted more "unique" wedding venue and theme, outside of restaurants and hotels, typical of most Singaporean couples.

Thanks to the impossibly beautiful wedding photos on Style me Pretty, I really took on the idea of a garden theme wedding at one of our national parks. Did some research and fell in love the colonial house - Burkill hall. I think they have renamed it to Botany centre. However the logistics of squeezing 200 odd guests into a colonial house was too adventurous for me to attempt.

A dear friend's sister inspired us with her wedding held in one of the restaurant at Labrador park. And she engaged the legendary Wan Sheng for her photographer so the photos are without say, amazing. Alas, after much contemplation, we realised that this venue may not go down with my guests as with hers since half of them came from Canada (her hubby is a Canadian).

We then thought of having a seaside wedding complete with outdoor BBQ styled buffet wedding and Beautfort , Sentosa Resort and Spa, The Sentosa hotel came to our mind. But their Royal Romance package which is the only one which has the BBQ buffet option comes at a forbidding price. My mum also help in the elimination of this option by whining about having to travel out of Singapore to the wedding venue. Oh yes, I told her the last I remember, Sentosa is Singapore.

After all these elimination, we came to conclude a few things we wanted about the wedding. We wanted an intimate setting with no more than 200 guests which would be our closest relatives and friends. We like being able to go to each table of guests comfortably to mingle and chat. We know grand regal kind of wedding theme was not us. The idea of doing march in through those tall majestic entrance into the high ceiling ballroom completed with 1000 guests all standing and clapping for us makes us weak in the knees. In the bad way.

While unique wedding venue is something I always wanted, practicality rules at the end of the day to cater to our unpredictable weather and somewhat more predictable (aka traditional) appetite of my guests.

And after consulting my tatler inspired shopping directory aka Lester my colleague, we decided to narrow down the choices to Chinese restaurants since they are reputed  for better food quality as compared to hotel banquets.

We took about a month to decide on the venue, decided rather swiftly after only site surveying a couple of restaurants. We tried some of the food before so I had added their reviews below. Hope these serve as a rough guide for those who want a chinois themed wedding liked me:

Club Chinois - their ala carte buffet Dim Sum breakfast was good; still remember their wasabi prawn till now; the venue is passable. I did not managed to see the wedding setting so can't take my word for it. Somehow it did not leave deep impression for us to seriously consider it.

Peony Jade - can't remember the dishes i had but I remembered being really satisfied at the end of the meal; venue is quite unique given it is all the way at Keppel; perfect romantic sunset setting for ROM facing the sea; logistic wise is potentially problematic since the advantage of the privacy also comes with the problem of inconvenience. Very traditional chinese decor with prompt and experienced server. We would have considered this one if not for our love at first sight with Grand Shanghai.
 
Humble House - Rightfully only I tasted the food there before, courtesy of a really generous friend for one of my birthday celebration. I love the chi-chi ambiance, the unusual choice of dark and modern theme for Chinese restaurant, high back chairs, the impossibly small portions and the fusion of western-Chinese cuisine. I gave serious thought about this venue but after much contemplation I come to realise that it is not mainstream enough to please my varied guests. Sigh.. next!

Peach Graden restaurant - It turned out way too restauranty for us. There was a grand ah pek celebrating his 80th/90th/100th birthday but since they had to share the restaurant with other patrons, the ambiance was jovial, rowdy, abit chaotic and very public. While I am sure food must have been good to deserve the enthusiastic crowd but it is quite the opposite of the intimate wedding we wanted.

We did not get around surveying Li Bai restaurant properly since Grand Shanghai came before that and stole our heart away. But if it comes highly recommended by Lester, it is definitely good stuff, I assure you.


Grand Shanghai - Not sure if it was the plush red seats, the dainty retro stage with the songstress sweetly belting out old Teresa Teng songs or the nostalgic looking bar counter that took our breathe away. And bravo when we learned that the band comes with the wedding package! We were going to hire a live band anyhow so it was great to know that we do not need to fret about that. The package was pretty standard but the one thing that stood out was the one night stay at Grand Copthorne which was in the same building. The other restaurants also partner with nearby hotels for the complimentary night stay but Grand Shanghai and Grand Copthorne vicinity beat them hands down.

We wanted to sit on it for a while taking our time to explore other options. But we found ourselves coming back to Grand Shanghai time and again, daydreaming about the march in we will do, researching on the food reviews and marveling on how it matches many of what we wanted for the wedding. And so, we went down to sign the contract. And congratulated ourselves on the good choice by trying out their dinner set that very day. How is the food? Let us just say, the self congratulations carried on through the night. ;)

And so that is how we arrived at our perfect Chinois Wedding venue.

Wedding Preparation: 9-12 months - Select a Date

Select a date - big part of what we did in the first month was to decide on the date. After much surfing around Singaporebrides.com I found out that Long Tian Xiang 龙天翔 master is not only reasonable in his pricing ($50 to select date) but also got rave reviews due to his friendly easy disposition. I have gone to him for Bazi readings before so I knew the claims in the forums are credible. And so we trouped down to Bullion Park very soon to get our date.

Review of Master Long - He prepared a kit which not only provided the basic Bazi charts for both of us but also a booklet of favorable dates over the next 3 years which can be used for moving house, starting renovation, preparation of the nuptial bed  安床, etc.. basically any major events that can benefit from some good luck.

AND on top of all that, a guide book on all the ceremonial things to follow; from what to do to during the delivery of the dowry gifts 过大礼 to remedies for guests' whose animal sign clashes with yours.

Master Long also did some brief bazi readings for us on some things to look out for in marriage. Well, not much to advise cos the first thing he said was “你们两个都没桃花， 哈哈哈哈。。。” 


(=o=)"" ..........................
 
Anyhow, he thinks infidelity is the biggest problem in marriage so since that is out of the way, me and Yong should be blissfully married for long. 

Hmm... abit too simplistic for me but how can I question him, as he chuckled away in his grandfatherly way. It is liked arguing with Santa Claus. So we obediently chose one of the dates from the three years booklet and decided upon 16th of Jan 2010. 

For those who do not already know, I am into the studying of the metaphysics and was taking classes on Bazi then. So the more I studied, the more I was convinced the dates were not really suitable. On top of that, by then we bought our house and I was more than happy to push back the wedding and concentrate on the renovation. 

Review of Master Chew - I decided to book another appointment with my Bazi Teacher, Master Chew whom I respect alot for his passion and integrity. Alot pricier at S$180 but... he is MASTER CHEW leh... and so we trouped down to Fu Lu Shou complex  to get our wedding date calculated once more. 

Master Chew recognized me from class and it was a really enriching session for me since it was more liked a personal one to one lesson. Master Chew is really good at teaching, able to explain things in the most animated and engaging way that even Yong learned alot that day. Unlike other Masters who can get abit defensive or evasive when I asked technical questions about the Bazi chart, Master Chew would clearly explained the how and why of his conclusions since he knew I would understand. 


He also prepared our bazi charts but instead of 3 years of favorable dates liked Master Long, he gave only 3-4 dates to choose from. Mostly, he spent alot of the time going through analysis of our bazi chart and what to watch out. 


And guess what? Yong has PLENTY of 桃花 (peach blossoms) afterall which means he is a true blue lady's man. I will not go into the technical part of the bazi analysis but as Master Chew explained, the more I understood his chart and his reading makes lots of sense.


Am I worried? Naturally.. but metaphysics is more than just chart analysis. It is a combination of your family and upbringing, your own willpower, fengshui (as in living environment e.g. living in Singapore and Nigeria has very different impact on the same birthchart), etc therefore knowing Yong and his background, I know I can trust him la. 


Then again, everything in the world is transient. So we will never know what can happen in the future. Oh well, que sara sara (what will be, will be). 


And so, we finally decided upon 16th of May 2010 as our Big Day. :)