Dishing Out the Embarassing Stories at the Wedding

During the final wedding planning committee meeting, Fruitcake the Matron of Honour and Jon, Paul's best man threatened to dish the dirt on us during the speeches at the wedding.

I know Paul is quite 'clean' so they won't be able to get much about him.

And somehow though I've dome so many insane things in my life, I'm not afraid at all. Simply because there's not much I've done that my friends don't know about.

Like the time I broke my foot when I fell off a pole in Iguazu Club in Bangsar and continued dancing till Fruitcake asked me why I was dancing on one foot to which I replied I was not but looked at my foot anyway and realized that my foot was the size of a loaf of bread. I was then rushed to the Accident & Emergency of Pantai Hospital. That was about 4 in the morning. But I was so high on whiskey that I was giggling all the way there and laughing so loud that patients probably thought I was a mental patient having a relapse. I asked for the doctor but he was walking away so I yelled at him even louder and he came to me and said "Girl, I have a patient upstairs who is having a heart attack. So I think he needs me more than you do right now. So if it's okay with you, I'll go up for a while and I'll come back down to see you shortly, okay?". I nodded my head. I may be drunk, but I'm still nice. When the doc came back, I insisted that the doctor put my foot in a cast (because I wanted friends to sign on it) which he said it was not required but I insisted so loudly that we finally compromised and he let me leave in a pair of crutches (which I still have).

Or the time I had a thing for this guy and we were chatting at my poolside till 3am. When I finally went up, my mum thought I was asleep in my room so she locked the door and I could not get in. I didn't bring money with me, thinking it's just going to be a chat at the pool. So I had to call Marsupial who lived 5 mins away, woke him up and told him I was on the way in a cab and that he had to come down to pay for the cab fare and that I was crahsing at his place for the night.

Or the time when Fruitcake and I were in Stringfellows in London and we were looking in awe at the male stripper. I was particularly shocked by his 'package' and asked my then boyfriend if he thought it was real to which he replied "Why don't you go find out?" I then started jumping up and down in front of the stripper and started waving my hands. He took one of my hands and pulled me up onto the stage. I started dancing with him and i ran my fingers down his chest, then to his abs (boy, did he have ABS!) and then lower and grabbed his 'package'. I then turned to my then ex and Fruitcake who were on the floor below me, nodded my head and mouthed "OMG! It's real!". The stripper retaliated by coming at me from the back, held on to my waist and fliipped me up and around. Twice. I did a full cart wheel without even me moving myself. When I got back down to the floor, Fruitcake whispered in my ear "I'm glad you decide to wear underwear tonight". Till this day, I'm wondering how a guy who's almost one foot shorter than me, is able to flip me that way.

Anyway, what else is there ....? Lots more stories.

But Fruitcake was there during many of the crazy events so even if she was going to bring up the stories, they'll probably be more inciminating for her because in reality, she's the nutty one. Nuttier than me though she'll argue on that one but sometimes she's in denial.

If only I was blogging then. There'll be so many more stories because my life was so much wilder then. Our one year in London alone will be enough to publish a book on 'Crazy Things We've Done'.

I'll proudly relate the stories to friends just after they happen because most of the time, it's really funny and it makes for good story telling.

So I'm thinking, apart from the reason above, maybe all the while I was preparing for my wedding. Better to tell the stories and have everyone be entertained for many occasions and for many years rather than to be embarassed on my wedding day?

Then again, Fruitcake says I can't be embarrassed.

I think I can. I just can't think of any embarrassing events at this point.

Fairies and Garden Gnomes

A friend just MSNed me to ask how the wedding prep was going so I updated him that it's going very well indeed.

And I was wondering, apart from my bridesmaids and Joyce Kinky Blue Fairy, who else will come dressed up.

He said that he'll come as a garden gnome.

I think that's an excellent idea! Even tho he's probably joking.

Whenever I ask a guy friend if he's dressing up, they usually respond with "You must be joking" and give me this wide eyed, mouth gaping look.

Or they'll just stare at me, furrow their brows, cock their heads to one side, squint a little and walk away.

Marsupial will do his standard -ine-I'll-humour-you-but-you're-out-of-your-mind look while shaking his head really slowly from left to right.

I can't wait to see Joyce who's been so excited about the wedding right from the start. She's even bought her wand from Bali. And Looqy who's in New York and has ordered her wings just for the wedding.

Why do girls get more excited about dressing up and going for themed parties more than guys?

Less Than A Week To Go!

The wedding planning committee came over to my place today for coffee, cakes and to finalize the wedding plans and to ensure everyone knew their exact roles and what will happen when. The meeting went well, all questions were clarified and apart from Jon the best man who asked "And when's the wedding again?", everything was settled.

So my role from now till Friday is to not do anything pertaining to the wedding. I'm just gonna chill.

Apart from going for a mani and a pedi, and to the spa, Sin Cyn passed me the Private Practice box set so I'm just gonna stay home and watch that all of next week. Or go have tea with friends.

Oh, my mum just told me that Jimmy Choo can't make it to the wedding cos he'll be giving a talk in Japan. And neither can his prodigy who owns Lewre shoes who will be in Istanbul at that time. And Melinda Looi has a prior engagement. But Bill Keith, Alvin Tang, Albert King and Annie Wong will be present. Along with some people from the Prestige magazine.

So I'm going to have a nice mix of close friends, colleaguaes, some celebrities and media people there.

Can't believe the wedding is less than a week away!

To my wonderful wedding planning committee, I can't thank you enough for what you've done and what you'll be doing coming this Saturday.

It's all in your hands now. Make magic happen.

This Moment, A Week From Now

This exact time next Saturday, I would be married (we're bringing the Registrar of Marriage to us), taking photos with friends and family and having cocktails while waiting for more guests to arrive for the second part of the wedding (not only are there several weddings but the Fairy one has 2 parts to it). I would have signed the marriage certificate, don on my white fairy wings and be ready for the fairy bridal march.

The wedding is just one week away and I'm glad to say that there's not even a hint of panic or rushing through the To Do List simple because nearly everything is done!

After 10 months of planning and running around (with the last 6 weeks being the most frenzied), finally, there's really not that much left to do.

I did tell myself that the one week before the wedding is for chilling and total relaxation. No more running around allowed. I need to focus on being radiant and to be able to enjoy the wedding and not be stressing out about the minor details (which is really hard because my event planner mode is perpetually switched on).

I've passed some decor items and candles to Passion Road this morning.

I went for my fav beef ball noodles near Central Market.

I came back home, checked my email and read friends' blog.

Tomorrow morning, my mum, Paul and I are going shopping in KLCC or The Gardens.

Then the wedding planning committee is having a final meeting in the evening. After which, I'm going to hand over the reigns to the wedding planner and to my team.

I was hoping for Paul & I to go for a 3 hour couples spa session this Wednesday.

I've a mani & pedi scheduled for Thursday.

And on Friday, it's the Chinese wedding and on Saturday, the long awaited fairy wedding.

I'm going to clean the house now. Why? Because I've time to do mundane things like that.

Country Music in My Stage of Life

Country music is not a genre of music I'd mention when someone asks me about the music I like. It's so far down the list that I don't even think about it.

Apart from more commercialized country artists like Shania Twain who has some pop hits, I hardly know anything about country.

But now that I'm growing older, somehow my ears are more tuned towards the slower melodies and taking in more of the words rather than simply moving to the beat.

And because of the wedding, I've been searching for a lot of different songs for the wedding march, the wedding video and more. I've widen up my search because I'm an R&B girl and often R&B is about sultriness, sexiness, sex and lotsa bootilisciousness. Rap is hardly romantic. And neither is house and trance.

One of my favourite songs which I'll be using for part of the wedding is Shania Twain's "From This Moment"

Instead of saying "For better, for worst, in sickness and in health, till death do we part" which is the norm at weddings, she sings it as:

I'd give anything and everything and I will always care.
Through weakness and strength, happiness and sorrow,
for better for worse, I will love you with
every beat of my heart
From this moment life has begun
From this moment you are the one
Right beside you is where I belong
From this moment on

It's so beautiful. She says the same traditional words in a more heart warming and deeply meaningful way.

And the morning after Paul proposed, we sat by the pool at our villa and we listened to Keith Urban's "Making Memories of Us". Though I'm not that close to my parents, I found this part to be very meaningful and touching yet there's a touch of bad boyness in it.

I wanna honor your mother
And I wanna learn from your paw
I wanna steal your attention like a bad outlaw
And I wanna stand out in a crowd for you
A man among men
I wanna make your world better than it's ever been

I was just looking for a final song to pass to the photographer and was playing random songs from iTunes when Colin Raye's "If You Get There Before I Do" started playing and i just felt goose pimples (the good kind). I listened carefully to the lyrics

"If you get there before I do
Don't give up on me
I'll meet you when my chores are through
I don't know how long I'll be

But I'm not gonna let you down
Darling wait and see
And between now and then
Til I see you again

I'll be loving you
Love, Me."

I read those words just hours before my Grandma passed away
In the doorway of the church where me and Grandpa stopped to pray
I know I've never seen him cry in all my fifteen years
But as he said these words to her, his eyes fill up with tears

It's not like I've not heard these songs before. But it's as if I'm listening with new ears and appreciating the beauty of country music now.

I think it's partly due to the wedding and partly aging where I'm looking for more meaningful things in life.

Because almost half my life has passed, it's like most things I do now should be for a reason. Everything I do should benefit someone or myself. And not do something for the sake of doing it. Those days of mine have long done.

Life is funny. We change as we go though the different stages of life.

I think I'll move country up a few notches.

Change of Wedding Dresses

I could never understand why brides change their dresses so many times during a wedding. Some tell me that the dresses are so beautiful and they can't decide so they'll take all 3 and change 3 times so that they can wear and showcase all the dresses. I think that's bull. It's not easy getting in and out of wedding dresses. Most dresses need a helper to help you into it. And even then there's a lot of hopping or jumping involved. Of course, this is all behind the scenes. Hahaha! Not to mention at least the hair (if not the make up too) needs to be changed or modified slightly to complement the dress. What a lot of time wasted doing all of that. I rather be spending my time being among my friends at your wedding rather than in the changing room.

But I finally understand (kinda) the reason now that I'm a bride myself.

And I'll be changing twice. But not for due to the beautiful dresses.

The wedding dress itself is usually very beautiful but tight fitting. But it needs to be tight fitting in order to have that WOW factor and for the bride to look like a princess (or a fairy, in my case). So I'll start off with the main bridal gown (of which I have 2, for the different weddings) and when I can no longer breathe or move, I'll change into a second dress which is more comfortable and I can move around and mingle easily.

It's not easy to walk around in a tight dress, with a full skirt, with a train and in high heels to boot.

But i still won't go to the extent of changing 3 dresses.

Getting Used to the Title

I recently had to fill up a form. As with all forms, it starts with selecting your title.

Mr, Mrs or Miss?

So I filled in my name first and went back to look at the 3 boxes with the different titles.

In the end, I checked 'Mrs'. Figured that by the time they processed the application, I'll be married.

Recently Paul's friend opened a new salon so we went to say hi. Paul introduced me as his wife.

It felt a bit strange. But it was kinda nice. Guess I'm just not used to it yet.

It'll probably take a while to get used to the change of status from Miss to Mrs and from 'girlfriend' to wife'.

Wonder how long till it becomes second nature.

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Happy Birthday Patrick Who Saves The World When the Powerpuffs are in Bed!

It didn't seem that long ago that I was making a purple plastercine birthday cake for him but that was 2 years ago!

We don't seem to have time to chill out together and go silly things like making things out of plastercine anymore. So many other things occupying our life now. Life changes and live moves on.

Patrick, don't let work rule your life, yea!

Have a great day tomorrow and i hope u like the e-card. See u at the wedding!

My Hunt For Glycerin

Audrey gave me a Gazillion Bubble Making Machine last Christmas because she knew how much I love bubbles. And because my nic is Bubbles, obviously.

And this gift is perfect because I've always wanted to have bubbles floating around at my wedding.

Paul and i took the machine out to test that it's still working.

It was and it was lovely!

The Gazillion Bubble solution had run out so we tried out a mixture of dish washing liquid and washing detergent. But the bubbles were inconsistent and didn't last very long. So we added some shampoo to the mix. But that didn't help much either.

How come when I used dish washing liquid when I was a kid, it worked so well?

Anyway i Googled "How to make strong soap bubbles" and many sites told me to add glycerin to the mix.

So I went to a Caring Pharmacy because the pharmacists at Guardian and Watson are either off duty or have no idea what I'm talking about. Anyway Caring is more of a pharmacy pharmacy and the other 2 is more of a jumble of medicine, health, beauty and toys.

I walked in and spoke to the very friendly and knowledgeable pharmacist and asked for gycerin.

He walked away from his counter, to the aisles and started looking for a bottle of glycerin. He walked up and down and looked all over. While waiting for him to produce the bottle, I made small talk, "What's glycerin usually used for?".

He stopped looking for the glycerin and looked at me and asked "What are YOU using it for?"

"Errrr ... soap bubbles".

"Mmmmm ...."

"Why?"

"You're the second person asking for glycerin today. You're not all trying to make a bomb are you?"

"Huh? Glycerin can be used in bomb"

He smiles now. "No"

He cracks me up! Anyway he gave me the pharmacy's number and asked me to call again in a few days to check if their stocks of glycerin has arrived.

But by then I was fed up with the search for glycerin so I went to Toys R Us and paid RM16.95 for a big bottle of the bubble solution instead.

Happy 30th Birthday Paul!

We had a celebration at home which was also in conjunction with the stag night, hen night and house warming too!

I bought Paul a PS3 for his birthday.

And as soon as Jon arrived, the 2 of them were already playing.

Then people started to arrive.

See the look on Sin Cyn's face? Sure she has a Coke bottle in one hand. But what's in her other hand?

Probably a bottle of whiskey.

Sing a birthday song to Paul (don't we already start to look like husband and wife? Hahaha!)

After the chocolate birthday cake was eaten, it's time for the games to begin!

It stared with a boat race then Paul got into his stag getup.

And I got into mine.

And just like the good old teenage days in the park, we sat in a circle, placed an empty beer bottle on the ground and a bottle of whiskey too. We spun the bottle and whereever it pointed, the person downs one shot of whiskey, then chooses a Truth or a Dare.

After a dozen or so rounds (of the game and of whiskey), it was Dare all the way.

And that explains why there are no more pics to show ........

As agreed with everyone present, whatever happens at the party, stays at the party ;)

What Happened To My Day?

These days, I wake up and before you know it, I'm in bed again. I have no idea where the day has gone so I flip open my To Do Book (yes, it's a To Do Book, not a To Do List) and go through what has been filling up my day. I find that my day is usually filled with these things:

• Confirm the honeymoon plans with Live Life, Travel! Ashley.
• Pass travel details to insurance agent for travel insurance.
  
• Finalize the wedding flowers with the florist and check on set up time.
• Inform the wedding planner about the florist's set up time.
  
• Research fairy flowers for the table placards (I'm using flower names rather than numbers).
• Send selected fairy flower names to Paul for him to print out and for me to cut up and pass to Passion Road.
  
• Chase the photographer for the wedding album.
• Check with Sin Cyn on the RSVPs from those invited from Saatchi.
• Call more people up (because people just don't RSVP)
  
• Pay the supplier for the wedding alcohol.
• Prep the wedding kit.
• Buy citronella sticks to be used as fragrance cum mosquito repellent at the wedding.
  
• Redo the wedding budget because the numbers keep on rising.
  
• Talk to the art director on back drop design.
• Go for a wedding dress fitting.
  
• Save pictures and videos for DJ Beryl to be added on the wedding video.
• Go to the bank to make some change in personal details.
  
• Complain to the condo management about the faulty water heater.
• Supervise the plumber in fixing the water pressure.
• Reschedule hair cut & colour.

No wonder I wonder where the day has gone!

How would I have managed if I was holding on a full time job?

Thanks goodness that's all in the past. Because my days were so jam packed and I did so much in the past few weeks, I can safely say that nearly everything for the wedding has been done. The next few days will still be pretty busy but from this Saturday onwards, Paul and I are going to take it easy, relax and just look forward to the wedding day. We're going to check ourselves into a spa this Saturday and just enjoy the day without running around doing any errands or wedding stuff.

Can't believe the wedding is just one week and a bit away. We've come a long way from when we first started the wedding planning.

I'm really looking forward to 18 October 2008 and watch as magic unfolds.

So, What Do You Do?

The tenant in my Ritze Perdana studio needed to move out so I set out to look for a new tenant. I was a bit worried about the tenant moving out before the end of the tenancy agreement and it also came at a time where I'll be busy with my wedding then going off for my honeymoon.

How will I have time to call realtors, show the unit and meet the prospective tenants?
But before I could make calls, half a dozen realtors were already contacting me, looking for vacant units. I didn't realize Ritze has become such a hot piece of property!

So after a few viewings by different people and different realtors, one girl was very interested and was willing to put the deposit down the same day. I met and interviewed her and the offer to rent was signed.

Despite everything, your job, what you do and your position says a lot about you and plays a big part in first impressions. It sure does when I look for a tenant. Since I've not met the person yet and initial negotiations are usually done over the phone, the first question I'll ask the realtor is if its a male or female. The second question is what does he or she does.

(My new tenant is a doctor).

And yes, I probably would not want to rent the studio out to a male student unless I was really desperate.

It's the same when you are out meeting people. Be it a corporate or social event, after the rounds of introductions have been made, name cards would be exchanged. Or if it was a more social event, the next question is always "So, what do you do?" And with your answer, the other person would have formed an initial impression of you which leads to how they would interact with you, be it consciously or subconsciously.

I'm trying really hard not to let my job define me but in the society we live in, it's pretty hard.

A Different Guest List

So much can change in people's lives in a mere few months.

When the wedding date was set near the start of the year, I sat down and drew out the guest list.

I'm now going through the guest list again to confirm who's coming and who's not, and for which wedding.

I've had to make some changes to the original guest list because:

- one aunt has passed away
- one uncle has been diagnosed with an illness
- one friend has separated from her husband
- one friend is divorced from his wife
- one friend who's been trying to break up with his clingy girlfriend for the longest time, is still with her.

But then again:

- one friend is going out with this guy and there's talk of marriage
- one friend was transferred to Jakarta along with his family with an excellent package
- two friends who broke up are now together again
- one friend will be receiving his twins into the world (on 18 Oct!). Congrats John!
- I've reconnected to so many old friends in the process of inviting mutual friends to the wedding.

And since it's past midnight, it's 18 days to my wedding!

So much can happen in just a few months.

Wishing you all good things till year end and beyond.

Please respondez sil vous plait

Now that the wedding is a mere 19 days away, it's time to confirm the guest lists.

It's typical not to RSVP till the very last minute or only after you've been chased for it. So chasing is what I've been doing for the past few days.

I've still a lot of guests unconfirmed for the Chinese and JB wedding.

But the English wedding is almost full! I factored in a 30% non attendance rate which has worked well for me for all my past events, be it a birthday, Halloween, house warming party etc. This formula also works for the Chinese and JB wedding.

But because the Fairy wedding is small and for very close friends only, most are able to attend. The unique and magical theme could have had a part to play in high attendance rate too!

So I have limited spaces left and the venue may not be able to accommodate everyone ! But the RSVP date is in 2 days time and for those who have not RSVPed by then and if the remaining spaces are taken up, I'm going to close the RSVPs. Gotta be brutal.

Weddings are such brutal affairs sometimes but I figured if you're a close friend and u truly want to be there to celebrate the day with me, you'd RSVP early anyway.

Some friends say that they are not going to RSVP because they're such good friends and ask how can I ask if they are coming or not. Apparently I should just assume that they are. So it becomes a delicate affair of finding the balance of how close certain friendships are.

So what does it mean when someone does not RSVP? That they are so close that they don't have to RSVP? Or that they are not close enough so they are not bothered to RSVP till the very last minute? Hahaha!

So thanks for those who responded right away and for those who haven't..... u have 2 days!

The entrance to the Secret Garden of the Fairies isn't going to be kept open forever!

I'm High. 21 Days More Of Practise Required.

After a day of running errands for my mum, going for a wedding gown fitting, having a final meeting with the wedding venue manager, having dinner and grocery shopping, we came back home 12 hours later.

I replied my emails, checked out Facebook, did some house work and plonked myself in front of the TV and flipped channels while surfing the net.

The Love Parade was on Channel V.

I watched for a while and the DJ started playing Fat Boy Slim and Prodigy. My feet started tapping the floor while my fingers continued to tap on the key board.

I felt like dancing but I had this pile of laundry to fold. So I got up, picked up a dress and folded it while jumping up and down and dancing to the music.

The music started getting hotter, as did my body temperature (plus the clothes just came out of the dryer).

Popped open a bottle of ice cold Hoegarden, drunk it and continued dancing.

Paul who's ironing his clothes and my mum who's baking a cake (yes, at midnight because it's a new found skill of hers after living in the Middle East) are totally engrossed in their tasks and are ignoring me which is great cos i can jump higher and act like I'm on speed.

After a while, I had to sit down. Yes it's hot but my head felt light too.

Then I realize it's the beer! But I only had a quarter of a bottle!

This is what happens once you stop drinking regularly.

Which is great under normal circumstances cos you could go out and get high on 3 drinks compared to having a whole bottle to yourself before you jump around like a monkey without caring and loving every minute of it.

But it's horrible when the wedding is only 3 weeks away!

I so need to practice my drinking skills!

A bride so cannot get drunk at her own wedding!

I have 21 days of alcohol induced nights planned out.

Ah I know! I can break open the wedding alcohol!

No More Teoh's Bare Ass in Blogger

Blogger.com has requested for Teoh to remove his pic where he's baring his butt. So now he won't even get a chance to post up his full frontal nudity shot. He must be devastated!

He really needs to move to a nudist community.

Happy Birthday to the Tee Twins & Goh Triplets

Either 24^th September is a date which seems to have more births of twins and triplets, or it’s just a coincidence that I have friends who are twins and triplets who’s birthday is today.

Happy birthday Cindy & Wendy Tee!

Happy birthday Goh Doh Hau, Goh Doh Kit and Goh Doh Nut!

Air Asia X to Gold Coast

Air Asia X having a promo to Australia! RM800+ per person. Even the XL seats going for that price on some days. So we're all booked and we're off to Gold Coast after our 3rd wedding in JB.

I hate buying tickets on Air Asia. So many columns to fill and there's always the fear of filling in the wrong thing.

And while I was talking to Fruitcake and trying to get Paul's passport details, in that 30 mins or so, the price of the tickets I wanted went up by 200 bucks! Per person!

So i told Fruitcake she's not allowed to talk to me for 10 minutes till I bought the tickets.

And now, finally, they're bought and we're definitely going to Gold Coast for the honeymoon.

After 3 failed trips to Oz, I'm finally going.

Movie World! Sky diving! Champagne sunrise hot air balloon ride. Yay!

Naked Teoh's Need to be Naked

I have a friend who loves being naked. He'd be naked 24 hours a day, where ever he is, if doing so does not warrant an arrest.

In fact, Fruitcake and I met him for the first time a few years ago at Oktoberfest in 1 Utama. Psychotic Raj said he'll bringing a friend. We got there a little late and missed the RM1 beers.

Raj introduced his friend Teoh who quickly proceeded to tell Fruicake and I about his need to be naked. Totally naked. All the time.

He even divulged that if he needs to take a dump, even if it's in a very dirty mamak, he'll take off all his clothes. Including his chain, watch and shoes!

Fruitcake and I shrieked in horror! Shoes too? But ... but ... mamaks usually have filthy toilets!

"That's why I have very strong toes", said Teoh with a smug look on his face.

Too much information? Well can u imagine what Fruitcake and I were feeling? Here's this guy we met for barely 2 minutes and there he was telling us about his nakedness and shitting habits.

Despite the disgusting stories, Naked Teoh was so animated and entertaining that he was cracking us up throughout the entire drinking session. At least he was funny.

There are other stories about Naked Teoh including him wanting to leave me in Fruitcake's house without a ride home because he could not stand to be in clothes for so long and wanted to go home and strip. Or the time he actally stripped down to his underwear and contemplated taking that off too at Fruitcake's house after a night of clubbing. Or the othet time when he offered to strip on behalf of a guy who lost at Strip Poker.

Ah so many stories but I'll save that for another time.

As testament to Naked Teoh's need to be naked, especially when in the great outdoors, check out his blog:

http://yateoh.blogspot.com/2008/09/impressive-lata-kijang.html

Check out the last pic there.

Probably Gold Coast

In the past few years, I've traveled a fair bit out of the country. I've been to Bali, Bintan, Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Jakarta, Krabi, Phuket and Singapore.

But these are all in South East Asia and I didn't realize how much fares out of the region costs these days.

Since we've confirmed Gold Coast as our honeymoon destination, I've informed the travel agent and am now waiting for the final cost. While waiting, I checked our Air Asia flights from KL to Brisbane and they're RM5,000 for 2 people. I thought that was rather high for Air Asia. The price has not factored in the baggage costs and don't even talk about the XL seats which cost twice as much.

So just for a basis of comparison, I checked out fares on Malaysia Airlines from KL to Brisbane. The cost is RM3,941. Per person! Ouch.

So Air Asia is cheap after all, comparatively.

I checked out a few other destinations on MH. We originally wanted to go to Maldives, right? Flight there is very reasonable indeed. RM2,000 per person. But Paul has been there before and as much as we like the beach, i think 10 days of the beach would be a bit too much.

So just for fun, I checked out some Europe destinations we were considering.

To London, RM5,500. I remember flying off to uni in London for RM2,800. Sigh.

To Rome, RM4,500.

And Air Mauritius flies from KL to Mauritius for USD2,800. That's RM9,200!

So Gold Coast seems like the most viable option, in terms of cost and variety of entertainment.

Oh, we've taken Melbourne out of the plan (sorry Mirabella!I would love to have been able to meet u) cos Air Asia has not started their KL - Melbourne route yet and it's too much hassle and money to fly in to Gold Coast via Air Asia, then fly via Virgin Blue in-bound to and fro Gold Coast & Melbourne, then out from Gold Coast again.

Paul and I have till Monday to change our minds about Gold Coast.

Can't seem to think of many other places which doesn't cost too much, is not in Asia and yet will keep us entertained throughout the honeymoon.

Our First Wedding Present

We received our first wedding present today!

It was dropped off at Paul's family home and he went back to collect it after work today.

It is a lovely beige and crimson lamp!

It's so exciting!

In a time and culture where ang pows are more common because it's tradition and also because it's more practical for the giver and receiver, it's a real nice surprise to receive a gift.

That being said, my wedding website requests for ang pows instead of presents. It truly is more practical that way because weddings cost a fortune these days and we do need to recover the cost as much as possible. And cash will also help our honeymoon fund. Not to mention, if the person doens't know us or our tastes well enough or does not put enough effort into the gift buying, it would be a waste if they spent a fortune buying the gift but we end up hating it.

Still, it was a pleasant surprise to receive the gift and the card too.


Though I must say it is a little odd seeing it addressed to 'Mr & Mrs Wong'.


I'm still not used to the Mrs title yet.

1 Month to the Wedding!

It's exactly 1 month to our wedding.

In fact, according to the wedding day schedule, at this very moment 1 month from now, Paul and I would be popping the champagne and making our speech as husband and wife.

I'm glad to say that everything is on track and there's really not that much else to do except ensure the wedding planning committee all understand and able to undertake their roles, count the wedding presents, check on the guest list and write our wedding vows. Oh and go for spas, facials, manicures, pedicures and get a slight tan!

Met with Live Life! Travel Ashley this afternoon to discuss the honeymoon plans. He asked how it feels getting married. And I told him that it feels totally natural.

Close friends can't believe the change in me. When I was 20, I was totally against the concept of marriage. When I was 25, i thought okay maybe, just maybe, marriage isn't that bad. And just last year, I couldn't wait to be married and that day is only 30 days away.

I was expecting cold feet, apprehension and a lot of fights but none of that has happened.

Marriage is scary. You're going to be committed to this one person for the rest of your life. For better or for worst. In sickness and in health. But when you find a person who loves you so much, a person who thinks the world of you, a person who complements and edifies you, and you feel exactly the same, then marriage feels natural and becomes a union that will enhance your life and you can't help but look forward to it.

30 days and counting!

Space Saving Plastic Bag Triangles

Fruitcake has been coming over a few times a week to help me unpack and organize the house. And she has this really neat trick to organize plastic bags. Ikea has a plastic bag holder which most of us have right? But most of us just stuff the plastic bags inside. Fruitcake flattens and folds the bags into triangles which saves up about half the space used in the holder. Here's how:

Flatten the plastic bag like so.

Fold it into half horizontally.

Then fold horizontally again.

At one corner of the long rectangle, turn up one corner to form a triangle.

Continue folding the triangle over and over till you come to the end of the plastic bag.

When you have one fold left, tuck the remaining plastic int the triangle.

And there you have it.

It works with all sizes of bags!

Happy plastic bag folding and may this small folding action save you same space in your home.

Moving In Rituals

We're finally moved in. Good and proper. But before that there were some 'moving in' rituals we were asked to perform by Paul's parents. I've not heard of them before but we were asked to perform them, we didn't see any harm with it and I thought it was cute.

First, they checked our birth dates and we were told the most auspicious moving in date.

Then, on the night before, we brought in 8 birds in a cage and left them over night in the new house. They are supposed to absorb all the bad 'chi' in the house.

Where did we get the birds? Apparently there are shops which sells them because this ritual is a very common one!

I asked if i could keep a bird or two as a pet. I was told no.

And the next day, at the auspicious time, we boiled water on a traditional stove at the entrance of the home till it boiled over. Supposed to symbolize abundance and our 'cup splilleth over'.


Then we released the birds from the cages. And with them, all the bad chi are removed from the house.

Apparently this is a Cantonese ritual when you move in.

Wendy and Hosanna told me about another ritual. To sprinkle a combination of salt, rice and something else ..... was it pepper? Or some kind of spice? I don't remember. But the combination is to be sprinkled in all corners of the new house.

Know of any other weird moving in rituals?

Honeymoon Destinations

As the wedding dates draws closer, so many friends have been asking where I’m going for my honeymoon.

But I can’t answer because that’s not been finalized yet and that’s a bit worrying because I’m trying to get everything done up as early as possible so that in the one week before the wedding, I can spend my days in the spas and the nights having sufficient sleep.

I’ve been told the last week before the wedding is the most harried. Sin Cyn was wondering how brides are supposed to look at their most beautiful and radiant on their wedding when they’re running around like headless chickens in the few weeks before.

But I’ve been so busy with all the other aspects of the wedding. It’s just now that I’ve got time to think about the honeymoon.

So I approached Live Life, Travel! Ashley and told him that I was thinking of Europe because I’ve always loved Europe, both Paul and I studied there and there are so many charming countries to go to which would be perfect for a honeymoon. We could go to a French vineyard to enjoy the outdoors and get drunk on wine and on love. We could ride the gondolas on Venice before the city sinks. We could kiss under the Eiffel tower and walk around in the most romantic city in the world.

But really, the Ringgit is not friends with the Euro. As soon as go there, we’ll have to cut our spending power by 80% and that’s not wise use of money. And don’t even talk about going to the UK.

So the next best option is to go some where closer to home where we can live like a king and queen without blinking an eye. We thought of Bali because that’s where Paul and I went for our 1st anniversary and that’s where he proposed too. Or maybe one of the many beautiful and happening islands in Thailand. But those places really aren’t that special for a honeymoon because we can go any time and a honeymoon should be special if one can afford it.

So option three was to go to an island a little further away since we both love the beach. So of course Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles came to mind. Classic honeymoon destinations, right? But those places aren’t too cheap either! The honeymoon package in Club Med Kani in Maldives costs RM10,620 per person for the suite. And that’s for 5 nights only! Once we include the air fare and extend for a couple of nights ……

So we thought maybe Australia? Not the typical honeymoon destination and it is fairly close to home too. But Ashley made some enquiries anyway as he felt that we would enjoy the Gold Coast more than the other places we’ve discussed.

And it helps that Air Asia flies there. We’d save heaps!

So I did my research online to see if it’s a feasible honeymoon destination for us.

Among the activities, I was really exciting about are sky diving, bungee jumping, sitting in a plane doing acrobatics in the sky, flying a plane and a helicopter, going hand gliding, riding a hot air balloon, screaming on a roller coaster, wine tasting in vineyards, hugging a koala and feeding dolphins! And Paul wants to drive a V8 and go mountain biking.

Not very romantic or honeymoon-y activities.

We won’t be chilling on a beautiful beach together, but how memorable would our honeymoon be after throwing ourselves off a plane together as husband and wife. It may not be the most romantic but I’ve always preferred adrenaline pumping and excitement over warm hearts and soft kisses. It will be something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives and talked about for years to come.

The more I think about it, the more I think an adventure holiday is the best honeymoon we could ever have.

I’m going to reply Live Life, Travel! Ashley now!

Fine, I've Watched Dark Night

I know the whole world has watched the Dark Night and everyone says that it must be watched on the big screen. As you know I’ve been very busy with the wedding and house moving. But when Ashley Travel Agent suggested it during lunch today, Paul, him and I caught the midnight show at GSC 1U.

So I’ve watched it.

And I don’t understand why it’s the highest grossing show of all time. It was slow, a lil boring at times and fairly entertaining overall but not mind blowing. Certainly not as spectacular as how friends have described.

Suspect the main reason why it’s the highest grossing movie is cos everyone wants to see Heath Ledger’s last movie before his death.

I didn’t enjoy it that much but I’m glad I watched it. Just so people can stop saying:

“You haven’t watched it? Huh? OMG! You MUST!”

“What? You haven’t watched it??! You HAVE to watch it!!”

Contractors' Timing

Contractors are all liars and that’s a fact. If they promise you that a job will get done in 2 days, double it. It’ll take 4 days.

If they say they’ll get back to you in 2 weeks, triple it. After chasing and chasing, they’ll finally get back to you in 6 weeks.

And when they do get back to you, quite possible, they’ll get it done wrong. Then it’s another few days or weeks of rectification.

And for the rare contractor or vendor who’s polite, helpful and on time, their supplier will screw them over, resulting in yet again, late delivery dates.

After dealing with suppliers of wardrobes, grilles, curtains, furniture, electrical, white goods, framing, mirrors, plumbing, lighting, moving and general contracting works, only one or 2 did their jobs perfectly. So if you’re moving to a new place and planning to do some small renovating works, from the time u start speaking to vendors to the time u get to move in properly, give it a minimum of 3 months.

As of today, everything is almost completed. I just have to wait for some of the lights to be changed, some paint touch up work to be done, the sofa to be delivered and Streamyx to come in. I’ve been calling Streamyx for more than a week and still….. nothing. So here I am in a café checking my mail and blogging. So do bear with me if my posts are slow coming in. I fully intend to blog more once I’ve broadband in the new home.

I love everyone’s comments and would love to visit other people’s blogs. Once the darn broadband comes in and I can surf from the comforts of my own home!

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, zzzzzzzzz

I know I’m supposed to be blogging a lot more now that I’m not working but believe it or not, I’m busier now than I was when I was working! There’s so much to do for the wedding and the house moving. I’ve no idea how I’d manage to do everything if I was still working! These days I just collapse into bed at night, count to 10 and by the time I hit 8, I’m asleep!

But the hard work and effort is definitely showing. The new house is coming up so beautifully. The paint work, wardrobes, curtains and almost all the furniture are in. But there are boxes everywhere and I’ll need a week more to put the contents in its place.

Fruitcake and Michelle Who Stays on the Seashore have been great. They’ve been helping me with the move and the organizing. And giving some excellent suggestions on what should go where

Soon I’ll be able to post pics up of the new place and also start having dinner parties!

I can’t wait!

Times Ware House Sale till 1 Sept 2008

Times Book Store is having a warehouse sale in Plaza Damas till 1 Sept. In between supervising contractors at the new apartment, I go to the sale. I've been 3 times so far. Twice on the same day. I just can't resist book sales. This one is not fantastic. There aren't that many best sellers and those available were only 3at 30% off. But there are less famous titles for 90% off. Of course this means you'll have so sift through the thousands of books and get a slight neck ache from reading the titles on the book spines which are placed on high and low shelves as well as on low tables. And a back ache from squatting and stooping to look at the booked placed on the floor.

But I love it. Ever on the lookout for the rare gem of a title and and a large discount to boot! And at my 3rd visit there, I found 'My Fat Brother' by Jim Keeble. That was Jim's first book and I rented it 5 years ago. Back when I didn't have that much money to buy books which are ridiculously expensive in Malaysia.

It was about this guy who had a fall out with his brother so he broke into the London Zoo to steal a penguin as a peace offering. Totally hilarious. Finally found it so I bought it to keep and possibly reread at some point if I ever manage to finish the 2 tall sacks of bought but unread books at home. I'm one of those who like to keep books after I've read them. Just looking at them on the book shelf gives me a small sense of joy. My new home will have 3 book cases and I can't wait to move in and fill them.

I can't seem to find Jim's second book 'Men And Other Mammals'. All the book shops don't seem to have stock of it. Maybe I'll find it at the Times book sale.

What Animal Is Master Shifu?

With the wedding plans and house move taking up most of my waking houses, I've not had much time to watch many movies.

Apart from the latest 'The Mummy' which I watched only because Untold Images gave free tickets to all of Saatchi a few weeks ago, I've not watched any movies in months, at home or at the cinema.

So it was time to catch up! Paul and I just watched Kung Fu Panda which was totally hilarious and entertaining.

At the end of the movie, I still didn't know what animal Master Shifu was. Did u wonder that too? Because alot of other people did! I turned to the trusty net and found so many people asking the same question. He's a red panda! We don't know much about that creature but he sure is cute.

I now would like a red panda as a pet.