three weekends down, three more to go

Last three weekends have been nothing but madness!

Now that we're down to the final month before the wedding hits (gasps!), my mat and I have been scrambling to meet vendors, shooting out confirmation emails to vendors, tying up loose ends, making bulk payments and travelling all around the island to run our errands.

 Collection of Bridesmaids' Outfits 

 We started out last two Saturdays with a trip to Manja to collect our bridesmaids' outfits!

So excited to see my bridesmaids excited, and I am happy to report that both their outfits for afternoon and evening receptions are very pretty and flattering! :D

Something simple and tertib - we're not into fancy schmancy drastically over the top designs.

Oh, and guess what - what we've heard about Manja and their workmanship? 

It's true. Their workmanship is superb. Just very sayang my experience dealing with the Manja tailor who attended to us was freaking horrible lor. Pfft.

So now that I've seen their workmanship for myself, do I think Manja is worth paying more for, since they're slightly pricier than other tailors? Yep. Would I go back to Manja to tailor baju in the future? Well, that would be a... maaaybe. Maybe, because if I do opt to go back, I'll probably avoid that grumpy auntie who first attended to us lor. She wasn't around during collection, and the other auntie who attended to us seemed nice and normal, thank God.

Had our hearty lunch at Hajjah Maimunah before running through the itinerary!

No picture of the itinerary, so I put picture of my lunch lah okay:

YUM YUMZZZZZ IN MY TUM TUMZZZZZ.

I would totes take up their catering package if I'm having an intimate 150pax to 250 pax wedding! Heh. (Dulu time engagement tak tau nak take up eh. Chet.)

Discussion on Bridal Room with Bonito By Bob

My mat and I made our way to my place after that because we had an appointment with Bob of Bonito By Bob! We were pretty early so we decided to make a pitstop at the petrol station but turns out Bob and his assistant Zura lagi cepat dari kita lah seh. Appointment 4pm but they came half an hour earlier! Dorang datang naik kilat and petir, aku rasa.

Bob and Zura took some pictures and measurements of my bedroom and went through the timeline and some ideas with us - discussion was very rancak and I love how they were really warm and sincere and friendly! Totally felt at ease even though baru first time jumpa :D

And oh oh oh, whaddya know - kita happen to mention that we're looking for white cushions for solemnization (alas nikah) since our decorators takde white ones and Bob said that he rents them out!!! Sui or what!!!!! So one more task struck off the list, baik ah.

To siapa siapa yang tengah cari alas nikah rental, you know who to look for lah eh heh heh. In case you're wondering how the alas nikah looks like, it's yang macam dalam gambar ni:

Now that we've sorted out our alas nikah issue, I'd just like to say this to my mamat: Sekarang lu gi tanam lu punya cita cita nak nikah atas beanbag lah ye. HAHA.

OH. BY THE WAY. Since we're talking about Bonito By Bob...

Have you guys seen one of his latest gubahan designs?!?!?!?!?!

AKU SUKAAAAA!!! AKU SUKA. GILA. OKAY.

I was telling him ini very the kena with my pop art engagement theme lah eh.

Delivery of Barang Barang Dulang to Ola Lola

The next day (which was a Sunday), we went to send our barang barang dulang to Ola Lola kat Hougang! Seriously tak guna okay kita, we lost our way and had to tawaf the area three times before we finally located the exact address. Dah macam nak naik haji pulak bertawaf tawaf. Nasib baik we went out early and reached in time for our appointment. 

(Saliheen and I - and our friends pfft - have unanimously agreed that if we ever masuk Amazing Race, kita sure banyak gaduh especially on the road but that also means we'll definitely be milked for TV entertainment purposes to death haha)

No pictures from our Ola Lola meeting because I very shy to ~take picture ~take picture together (hahaha) so I letak gambar makanan from the wedding we attended before we made our trip to meet Ola Lola lah okay. Walaupun takde link ah sebenarnye hahahahaha

Makanan from this wedding was superb, by the way. The sambal goreng, the udang black pepper and wadeh was power gila and the nasi berderai very nicely one okay!!!!! 

Pengantin (who is my primary schoolmate and also my first boyfriend ha. ha. ha. ha. ha.) told me it's by Zaiton & Family Catering, which is a longstanding family business that has no online presence whatsoever so they're usually highly recommended via the old school word-of-mouth style instead of through social media sharing (they have no website and no Facebook, guys!)

Apparently the pengantin's relatives have used this particular caterer for 5 of his cousins' weddings and semua memang consistently sedap and sempurna! For $12 per head and up, I say this is sungguh the worth it, man. 

If anyone wants the caterer's number, feel free to email me please! But I warning you all dulu eh - one of the pengantin's cousins told me her aunt spoke to the caterer and apparently they're fully booked even until the end of 2015 wtf?! But no surprise lah kan, since their food sedap sedap belaka.  So at most kalau nak, boleh try luck je lor.

Discussion on Menu with Puteri Wedding Services

And since kita dah rancak berbual pasal makanan, let's talk about our meeting with our caterers next! Coincidentally they're the next vendor in line that we met, anyway. Heh.

Just like Bonito By Bob, our caterer was early for our appointment by half an hour! Sampai terlintang pukang aku sekejap nak siap (because I just came back from work, and belum sempat wash up) but of course, we still had to wait until my mat and his parents sampai. Ours is a combined reception so must have combined discussion and combined decisions ma.

Very happy with the menus for both our sanding and dinner receptions!!! I'm still a bit skeptical about having black pepper chicken instead of ayam masak merah for the dinner reception though - do people look for ayam masak merah when they go for wedding receptions??? Because I do ah. Hmmm.

(Explanation: Since the dinner reception will be for our friends only, they will not get to eat the ayam masak merah, which will be served during the lunch reception instead.)

Oh, my mat and I also decided to give up our cita cita to have square tables instead of round tables after consulting Kasai Sayang as well as Puteri - will be susah for them to arrange due to the layout and size of our venue as well as measurements of the square tables themselves. We didn't mind giving this up because we trust the professionals' judgment and didn't want to trouble them with this! Asalkan sempurna, tak kisah lah kan square ke, round ke, octagon ke.

Final Appointment with CST Singapore

Woke up bright and early for our appointment with our videographers, whose office is located in Woodlands! Grabbed a quick snack because tak sempat nak duduk and have a proper breakfast since dah buat temu janji dengan orang, and we must respect people's time lah kan.

Turns out we could have afforded a nice and long breakfast because the staff who attended to us was very late and made us wait for more than an hour without an acceptable reason. Guess tagging yourself as #bestintheindustry in Instagram gives you the right to get cocky, bersikap sambil lewa and regard your clients as unimportant? Didn't know being "the #bestintheindustry" means having sloppy administration and shabby customer service, really.

Wish I can explain in detail what happened that day (and more) but I guess it's best I leave this for another day, in a few months' time, because I want to be fair and see the quality of work, service during event and the after service first. For now, let's just say we left in a bit of a huff... well, actually more like stomping out with balls of fire blazing behind us lah kan. Haha.

Anyway, the unnecessary delay caused by someone else's tardiness screwed up our schedule for the day so we had to rush through our next errand - zoomed to Arab Street to grab a quick bite at Working Title (15 minutes) and quickly raced through our material selection at Princess Fabrics (10 minutes) when we were supposed to have slightly more than two hours to do both.

Which meant we didn't get to have the nice leisurely brunch we were planning for and we couldn't slowly and carefully pore over the different materials to ensure we got our colours right - we wanted to buy kain in our theme colours to pass to our decorators and dessert tier vendor so they can use the colour of the kains as reference,  you see.

I guess if I want to look at it positively... this can help us prepare mentally for unexpectant delays which might happen during the actual wedding day????? Although we're already expecting delays anyway, didn't really need a vendor to tolong demonstratekan lah kan.

Called Naz from Bliss Photocinema to tell him we might be late (since our appointment with him was next) but turns out Arab Street was nearer than expected and kita sampai just on time. Phew.

Final Appointment with Bliss Photocinema

How surreal is it to be standing in front of a door we last saw almost two years ago? I hadn't even started blogging when we booked Bliss! (I started blogging about wedding preparations only after booking videographers, photographers and ex-andaman)

Discussed our itinerary with him and this was yet another appointment that I genuinely enjoyed because Naz is so nice and friendly and professional. I remember being wary when we first met him because he seemed really reserved but all it took was my mamat to crack a few jokes + them finding out that one of Naz's buddies is my mat's cousin to warm things up (Tak nak cakap heat things up lah, heat things up dah macam lain macam pulak bunyinye haha)

(Side note: My mat has this habit / itch as well as the ability to make people laugh whenever we meet people for the first time and he feels that the other person is reserved or shy or uncomfortable or awkward, and this is one of the great qualities that I really love about him.

Just before we were officially together, I was concurrently seeing another guy who I could converse with in private but when thrown in social settings with my friends and strangers, he clammed up and became very reserved... whereas for my mamat ni, he flourishes under social settings and makes great company when we meet new people and make new friends. Guess that was one of the things that pushed the other guy down to friendzone and Saliheen up to marriageable zone for me personally! Hehe.)

Anyway, I was telling my mat the other day that kalau ada orang tanya bila kita punya wedding, we can say "bulan depan" and truly mean it already!!!!! Ambik kau, dulu suka sangat kan, main main jawab "bulan depan" bila relatives tanya bila nak kahwin... now happening for real already.

Our countdown as at today:

So many things to do, with so little time, to the point that even on our 4th year and 11th month anniversary recently, we were too busy running wedding-related errands.

But that's okay lah. Because by the time our 5th anniversary comes around, we'll get to go big and celebrate it with a kompang procession, photobooths, rows and rows of delish food and desserts, and the company of our family, friends and guests we do not know personally, yes?

Sounds like a smashing 5th anniversary celebration to me :P

i am sure you all understand

Finally bought my spankin' new bridal corset and girdle last weekend!

 

Decided that it was too leceh and will makan masa to order something off Spanx online and wait for it to be shipped so my mat and I headed to Tangs to buy my corset and girdle off their physical racks. Discovered Spanx didn't have the kind I want, which is:

- a sturdy corset that comes with bra cups, something like this (Pakai satu kali harung lagi senang, babe. Malas pe aku nak pakai bra lain corset lain)

- comes with three levels of hooks for easier adjustment

- comes with adjustable and removable straps.

Told the Spanx salesperson my requirements but she said they didn't have anything like that in their line and directed me to the salesperson for XIXILI instead. The salesperson was really nice and let me try a few pieces before I settled on a basic plain black one that has all the features I listed above, and a matching girdle as well.

So happy I got this out of the way already!!! Okay lah memang dah kena cepat cepat beli anyway, because must bring them along for the the fitting this Thursday ma.

Rushed back to my place after that to prepare follow-up information for Dessert Artisans (our dessert tier vendor) before finalizing our wedding dinner songlist once and for all!!! Tinggal nak run through the itinerary with our orang orang kuat before we can pack them off to our Medialite (our wedding emcee). Sneak peek!

Tapi sneak peek tak guna because bukannya korang boleh nampak the chosen songs pun lah kan hahahahaha. Really don't mind posting up the songlist now but my mamat dah warning jangan letak dalam blog dulu because he thinks we should play them for our dinner guests first before publishing the songlist - and I agree!

We've also agreed earlier on that my mat will be in-charge of the dinner songlist since he is more uhmmm, tuned in to music than I am heh heh, and I am proud to report that my mat did very well on the list! He even took the initiative to include a column which indicates the timing of each song so kita boleh total up and know how long the whole songlist will be. Hehe sayang awak! Meh kita kasi awak standing ovation:

I love that he included Pink's True Love into the mix by the way - it's not exactly a song that caught our attention from the get go or our default go-to love anthem but it might as well be:

Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say
Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face
There's no one quite like you
You push all my buttons down
I know life would suck without you

At the same time, I wanna hug you
I wanna wrap my hands around your neck
You're an asshole but I love you
And you make me so mad I ask myself
Why I'm still here, or where could I go
You're the only love I've ever known
But I hate you, I really hate you,
So much, I think it must be

[Chorus]
True love, true love
It must be true love
Nothing else can break my heart like
True love, true love,
It must be true love
No one else can break my heart like you

Just once try to wrap your little brain around my feelings
Just once please try not to be so mean
Repeat after me now R-O-M-A-N-C-E-E-E
Come on I'll say it slowly (Romance)
You can do it baby

At the same time, I wanna hug you
I wanna wrap my hands around your neck
You're an asshole but I love you
And you make me so mad I ask myself
Why I'm still here, or where could I go
You're the only love I've ever known
But I hate you, I really hate you,
So much, I think it must be

[Repeat Chorus]

(I love you, I think it must be love, I love you)

Why do you rub me up the wrong way?
Why do you say the things that you say?
Sometimes I wonder how we ever came to be
But without you I'm incomplete

[Repeat Chorus]

I love it. It's like this song was made with our relationship in mind. Heh.

Wish we can include Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines into the mix too, walaupun that song is not ~exactly~ a wedding-friendly song ah, not when it has lyrics that go like this.

Yes, yes, I know the lyrics are controversial and people have accused the meaning behind the song as being questionable - there's a number of written arguments against it on the good old Internet as well as Blurred Lines video parodies, which - I have to admit - are as entertaining as the original video haha. And I particularly love this "Lame Lines" parody video because it has this stud sauntering in with all his hotness at 0:15 and my oh my, he is mighty fiiiiinnneee *fans self*

(Google search "Robin Thicke Blurred Lines Meaning" or "Robin Thicke Blurred Lines Feminist Response" and you'll get a slew of articles and videos bashing the song)

Personally? I think the song is catchy, maybe a little cheeky, and I'm inclined to think that people are overreacting when it is ultimately just a song. But still, we can't be sure as to whether any one of our guests will be bothered by this, right? Mana tau someone in our guestlist might get offended if we play this song during the reception, right? What if some guests get find it distasteful and walk out during the reception??? Will people accuse us of encouraging sexual harassment??? D: D: D:

ERMAGAD LAH I AM TOTALLY OVERTHINKING THIS, RIGHT???

Hahahahaha. Ya. Overthinking. Just like how some extremists will overthink and relate every single bloody thing on this goddamn earth into a hardcore feminist issue. I have no problems kalau orang nak pertahankan women rights lah because it is a complex hot button issue after all and should be dissected and debated. But nak dissect and debate pun agak agak lah wei. 

Aku rasa these extremists kan, kalau orang cakap pasal aisbox belakang rumah datok dorang pun dorang boleh twist and turn sampai jadi feminist issue sak. "Why must the aisbox be belakang my datok punya rumah? Why not my nenek? Is it because my nenek is not seen as an equal as my datok because she is - gasp - A WOMAN? If the aisbox is behind my datok punya rumah, does this mean it belongs to him? Is my nenek, as a woman, not worthy of owning an aisbox??? This cannot be right! We must protest this inequality! We must give my nenek the right to own her own aisbox so she can put that bloody aisbox wherever the heck she wants!"

Hahahahaha what. Not I exaggerate hor, these people the ones who like to exaggerate. 

(If there is one video that strikes it right with me, it is the viral video parodying the treatment and perception of sexual violence against women, particularly in India, titled "It's Your Fault" - more information about this video and its message here. Clear and effective message, does not resort to extreme statements and does not run off its course.)

...... EH BAIK AH FARNA.

Dari berbual pasal songlist sampai berbual pasal topic heavyweight gini HAHA

Aaaaaaanyway. I was talking about my freaking wedding songlist kan? Ah yes.

My mat and I already decided on our march-in song as well and as much as I didn't want a slow-mo emo snoozefest song for a slow-mo emo snoozefest march-in... kita cannot run away from it lah geng. Because of three simple reasons: 

(1) my orang orang kuat tak cool so dorang tak nak dance haha;

(2) I will have to worry about my footwear because there is no freaking way I am going to wear my 4-inch bridal shoes for a march-in dance and risk tripping and falling flat on my face... even if we can laugh over it 10 20 years later;

(3) My future mother-in-law dah pesan "You all march in takde joget joget kan? Kalau Ibu mintak you all jangan joget joget time march in, boleh tak?" Aisehmenbedah, kalau mak mertua dah sound macam tu, takkan nak membantah kan? Plus her request is not unreasonable - I understand her reason for not wanting any joget joget + she is an excellent mother and FMIL to my mat and I so this is the least we can do to show our respect.

Ah well. So much for making my bridesmaids dance to K-pop during the march-in entrance lor HAHA. Nasib ah korang! Okay lah actually kita dah planning nak joget dua ekor je okay, when his supermother dropped the bomb on us. But no biggie, at least now we have a legit excuse if anyone asks why our march-in is not something friends would expect us to do :p

Not like we'd force our groomsmen and bridesmaids to still dance during the march-in if his supermother hadn't expressed her objection lah! They've registered their discomfort - no surprise there - and we respect them enough to not push them on this. Plus they've already done/will be doing so many things for us and our wedding! The least we can do is ensure they are comfortable and happy being our orang orang kuat, yes???

Oh, interesting related point: Last week, I happened to speak to two different girls who will be bridesmaids to two different brides-to-be and both of them expressed discomfort at some of the stuff they have to do for the sake of their bride-to-be friends. My take on this?

To the brides-to-be, pause at every important juncture and make sure your bridesmaids are happy and comfortable with whatever you're asking them to do. If your requests are reasonable by normal standards and it is merely the bridesmaid being uncooperative at every turn, cut the girl and change to someone else who can get the job done efficiently, happily and willingly. (I did this for my own wedding, and I cannot be happier with my decision. Will explain this in detail if I feel like it once the wedding is over.)

Or if your requests are reasonable but your bridesmaid's level of comfort or ability is different from yours then make adjustments that you can afford to make. Give and take. Yes, you're the bride and she's the bridesmaid... but that's exactly the point, isn't it? She is your bridemaid. Not your unpaid slave, not your emotionless puppet... your bridesmaid. This is the girl who is going to give you the help you need when it's crunch time. If you're nice to her, she'll do her best to do what's nice for you... assuming the person you choose to be your bridesmaid is a nice person at heart lah. Kalau dia pendengki, yang kau pilih dia tu apesal, kau punya salah jugak.

To the bridesmaids, if you're not happy or comfortable with the tasks you've been bestowed with, express your grievances to the brides-to-be sooner, not later - I won't blame the bride-to-be for going gangster on you if you decide to bolt 1 week before the wedding. If your concern/feedback is reasonable and the bride-to-be is an understanding sweetheart, she will do what is right - fix the problem or make the necessary changes. 

If your concern is reasonable but the bride-to-be cannot understand your grievance, tell her you cannot carry on being her bridesmaid... nicely. If she knows what's good for her, she'll apologize for putting you in a spot, find a replacement bridesmaid and still be gracious enough to put you on her guestlist instead.

If she wants to be a bitch about it and your friendship won't be able to survive this incident, then she is not worth your friendship in the first place. You don't need toxic people in your life. Cut the girl, cut the friendship, cut the toxic. You might feel terrible for the first few months but honey, those first few months of initial grieving is so much better than a lifetime of suffering a terrible friendship with an unreasonable person who demands the oceans and the mountains from you.

... Eh eh aku ni. Masih ah nak sidetrack???? Dah lama ke jadi counsellor?! Haha! 

Oh, talking about toxic people and toxic friendships lah kan, I first read this "This Terrifying Bride Is Only Joking Except When She's Not" article last week and wanted to MUNTAH DARAH, CAN.

Not sure how legit this story is but whatever - KORANG JANGAN JADI MACAM GINI EH PLZ

Perangai monster bawah katil LAST WARNING.

Okay lah guys, before I end this yet another panjang lebar takde purpose entry, I now have a teeny weeny request for my dear bridesmaids who better be reading and refreshing thisblog every hour because they will be tested on its contents once a week - Kalau this weekend kita cancel our trip to the tailor and I request you all pakai this baju below for the dinner march-in instead, you all akan tolak my permintaan tak?

TAKKAN TOLAK KAN??? You all akan pakai kan??? This baju kena with my ideas for you all tau.

I am sure you all understand.


[Editted as at 26 September 2013, 10:20am:

Okay, maybe not then. HAHAHAHAHA]

here comes the bachelorette

Went for my bachelorette weekend trip at the end of August!

Had to wait till raya celebrations and our outdoor photoshoot was over before can go hurray hurray with my girls. Felt restless and unsettled before the whole thing happened because I didn't know the plans and what I was expected to do :/ Only knew part of the plan two days before it actually happened - when the girls sent me this little note via our group Whatsapp chat:

Trust them to come up with a Stepford Wives theme eh!!!!!

So biadab or what! Nampak sah aku farrrrr from a Stepford Wife stereotype siak hahaha so this was meant to be a bootcamp of sorts for me to learn how to be the "ultimate domestic goddess"???!!! Thanks eh korang, THANKS.

The note came with a "list of things to pack for a 3D2N trip" and I immediately knew we were going across the Causeway!!!!! Because one of the items listed was "some Malaysian ringgit" hahaha bo chui or what. Told my mat about it and said "Mesti KL!" to which he said "Mana you tau? Entah entah JB" to which I replied "Eh sekali Kedah ke Perak eh?" Hahahahaha. Siak!

Not that there's anything wrong with crossing over to JB ah but kauz, random ke ape pergi JB or even Kedah or Perak for a 3D2N bachelorette trip?! Haha! No idea why I was so sure it'd be KL, by the way. Would have been pretty epic if what I said in jest turned out to be true LULZ

Woke up super early on Friday and met my bridesmaids at Golden Mile Tower for our coach ride to KL (Yes, it was KL eh) - the girls wanted to book flights for the trip but all the available timings were unfavourable. Meh. Slept through a 6-hour coach ride to Berjaya Times Square, where we had our lunch before heading to our accommodation because we were freaking ravenous!

Korean lunch for everyone!

It started raining heavily when we were done so we cabbed to our accommodation.

Super cosy apartment at Bidara Condominium Bukit Bintang! Comes with a living room, a small kitchen, two bedrooms with two queen-sized beds and two toilets. Very clean, living room served as an awesome lepak point (Comfy sofas, cushions and warm fuzzy carpet FTW! Plus the long glass window gave us a bit of a view - we even caught fireworks on the first day heh)... my only grouse is the water pressure is pretty low so everytime kena flush three, four times, one.

 Krispy Kreme doughnuts for snacking purposes!

I was still pretty exhausted from the coach ride (it was bumpy and I kept drifting in and out of sleep zzz) so I took a quick nap before the girls woke me up just before Maghrib so I can mandi and siap for the night. Walked out to see pretty buntings hung around the apartment and the girls decked in their Stepford Wives' best hehehe:

Girls even assembled a Stepford Wife kit for bride-to-be me! There was a kitchen mitten for cookies and cakes that I will never bake, an apron handsewn from scratch by Nani (this one veteran Stepford housewife, confirm), some kind of scrub that I do not know the function of (korang percaya tak sekarang yang aku tak domesticated?!), a mini broom and dustpan, rubber gloves, sleeves to protect my hands and arms while washing dishes (?) and a few polaroids of the girls carrying out some of the pre-bachelorette trip tasks. Awww.

 Stepford wives snapshots! Itu apartment punya seterika semua jalan terus.

Kicked off the night with a few rounds of very jahanam dares that got us howling in laughter!!! (They were created by the Nadiah, the Biadab Games Slut Master herself, whaddya expect?!) Some of the videos taken that night tak censored tahap debbie goes dallas so they are never going to see the light of the day... you hear that, girls?!

And that's all for the night, folks!

HAHAHAHAHA I'm kidding, of course. Dah pakai tantek tantek takkan nak duduk rumah scrub toilet pulak kan??? Although technically that's what a good Stepford Wife would do..... We went out a-hoppin' that night but don't worry, there was no Miley Cyrus-style twerking involved LOLZ.

And don't worry, nothing of this sort either:

Hahahahahahaha.

Woke up in time for our dim sum brunch the following day!

My favourite item from the menu!!! Their custard bun is sooooo sedap!!! I think I had about ten thousand of them?!?!?! Oh, but makan custard bun sampai ten thousand pieces with tons of other dimsum orders pun, our total bill for the whole meal came up to less than SGD20 - or was it SGD25 - per pax, I think??? Murah siak.

The toilet that we went to before we started our jalan jalan around KL. Instead of the conventional tap, kena roll the wheels around if you want water to come out! Aku was so jakunz.

Headed out to Pavillion Shopping Mall and the surrounding shops for some shopping.

Ice lollies for everyone! Except Nani, who was feeling a little sick.

This was us goofing around at one of the shops! Kita actually masuk this kedai to beli payung because it started raining but we ended up browsing and goofing around sampai it stopped raining by the time we wanted to pay for the umbrellas. Haha! You ain't got nothin' on us, KL rain!

Lepas tu, everyone went for foot and back massages after a whole day of shopping and the initial plan was to head back to the apartment after our massages to wash up and change before going out for dinner. But it was almost 7plus in the evening by the time we were done so we went straight back to Pavilion Shopping Mall for our dinner... our oh so very sedap dinner.

Enjoyed our dinner so much because food was so freaking good! And the desserts!!!!! Do not get me started on the desserts okay. So freaking awesome tahap teenage mutant ninja turtle.

Loved these conversation starter cards that were placed at every table! We had a bit of fun pulling out cards for everyone to answer... Such an adorable idea, really. We were saying how this would be the perfect place to have a first date! (With ehem, Tengku Azwan from Subang who has a club in JB, maybe??? Hahahahaha #insidejoke)

Lagi lagi the ambience was superb!!! We sat at the alfresco area so it's a little bit more breezy than sitting inside the restaurant itself and there was a slight drizzle when we were halfway through our dinner so it was really nice and cooling.

View from where we were seated.

Walked back to our apartment after the drizzle stopped, washed up and chatted while lazing at the living room until 3 in the morning. Our main topic for discussion was very the hardcore ye! But I sungguh suka lah chatting chatting with my bridesmaids. So many opinions and experiences and jokes to share and cackle at. Hehe.

We went to KLCC Suria for a heavy yummy lunch before packing up for home the next day!

Walked around for a bit after we were done with lunch, overshot the time by a liiiiittle bit and had to rush back to the apartment before racing down to the coach pick-up point ala The Amazing Race... nasib baik we made it just in time for our coach! Kalau tak, terpaksalah cancel my wedding in Singapore and plan for a KL wedding instead HAHAHAHAHA CARI CHANCE NAMPAK. Padahal boleh just top up for the next coach pick-up eh haha

Oh, while I was away in KL with my bridesmaids, my mamat was away with his friends for his bachelor party too - but in Jakarta! Tengok lah si smart mamat ni.......

Waduh. Ganteng bener pacarku. Bisa bikin kehangatan ini. Hahahahaha.

Sham planned the 3D2N trip during the same weekend because it happened to be my mat's birthday weekend as well so kirakan combined celebration gitu ah. The other groomsmen didn't go because they had other prior commitments but they met up with Alvin, one of their Indonesian friends there who became their host during the 3D2N trip.

(Alvin is one of the most nicest, most friendliest and most humblest persons I've ever met! He was Saliheen's first friend that I met - along with Ahmad, at Alvin's apartment in Singapore - and even though I had reservations because of... uhmmm, certain circumstances at that time, he was really nice and hospitable and we were grimacing and shrieking at stupid tak perlu videos together in no time. Really hope he'll be able to fly over for our wedding!!!)

Anyway, just want to finish this entry off with the biggest THANK YOU to my bridesmaids for putting the whole bachelorette party/trip together for me!!!!!!!!!! Had such a fab time during the trip - would have been happy even if it was just dinner, because korang make such amazing company.

I'm really going to miss having you guys pamper me as the bride-to-be and me having the ammunition to pester you guys with wedding-related questions and tasks once this is all over! HAHA. Ketahuilah bahawa my cinta and kasih for korang sudah sampai ke outer space! <3

trashin' good times

Y'all must have known from previous entries that we had our photoshoot last weekend!!!

It was super hot and super humid on our photoshoot day but I guess hot and humid is better than raining like a mother father gentleman, kan?! We were pretty lucky the wind at our location was very strong though... cuma downsides: my hair decided to misbehave and main angin so I had hair in my face + hair claws in some of the shots -___-

But wind or no wind, my hair was a whole goddamn mess on that day lah okay!!! You see, I thought it'd be nice to curl my hair for the photoshoot so Nani came over with her Pro Babyliss 30-roller hairsetter to help me set my hair before Dyana came to make me up.

Unfortunately for me, the curls died a very quick death and I suspect it's because the curls weren't set in the curlers long enough (not enough time!!!) + the humidity got to the curls. Urgh. I ended up with limp lifeless hair by the time we reached the location because my hair was freaking heavy and stiff because of the hairspray + I didn't wash my hair that morning because curling unwashed hair is supposed to help maintain the curls better.

HAIZ. Whaaaaat is it with me and hair ah??? Remember I didn't really fancy my hair during my engagement??? BAH. I hope I'm not permanently cursed with bad hair days during special occasions or something because I need my hair to behave on my wedding day okay!!!!! Should have stuck to my natural hair for the photoshoot lor... especially now that it's recovering from its thinning problem (which I blogged about here).

Eh tak sia sia okay I spent $200 on the whole set of Phyto products... my hair (head?) is fuller now and my scalp is not showing as much yay yay (Had help from Avalon Thickening Shampoo to thicken my hair initially, but that product has been discontinued for sale in Singapore boohoo) Downsides of using the Phyto products so far:

(1) my hair doesn't smell awesome after a wash because the Phyto shampoo takde floral smell or what (more like a mild... clinical smell?); and

(2) my hair is much drier than it originally was.

But it's alright, it's okay, baybeh! I'd rather have dry thick hair than thinning hair yang sampai nampak scalp, please. Lesser than two evils ma.

Aaanyway, now that I dah get my frustration about my rambut off my chest, I nak sharing sharing a few behind-the-scene pictures! :D

And yes this is the dress! The dress! Heh.

Actually kan, the inspiration for my dress was this lah kan: 

 Suka sangat! ♥ ♥ ♥

My angan angan was to sew colourful netting under the skirt but it turned out to be quite the challenge because the material of the dress wasn't compatible for such additions :( So I scrapped the idea and told my mum to just fix the bulkiness of the dress. Seriously bulky tahap biadab okay ini dress when it first arrived at my doorstep!!! Suspect kuat ini baju untuk pakai during winter ah actually. So many layers sak!

Can't say I particularly love the dress in the end but I thought the dress looked and felt slightly better than when I first received it after my mum did her absolute best to fix it lah. (Kaulah ratu hatiku, Ibu!) And it turned out pretty cute in the end, yes? Hur hur.

Oh, after much consideration, I also scrapped the idea of having something in my hair! (Blogged about it here and here) Thought my eye make-up was dramatic enough and my dress was "loud" enough so I didn't want to over-accessorize. Takut nampak overbearing pulak! And what with the issue of my maha fail hair segala..........

And that's our awesome photographer Zakaria Zainal doing his ~thang~! 

He was sitting and squatting and lying and walking and standing all over the place to try and get the best light and the best shot okay! Can really see how professional and knowledgeable he is bila bab bab ambik gambar ni semua, and he seems to be a really fast worker!!! I received a few shots ala ala sneak peek gitu via Facebook message the day after the photoshoot and really can't wait to see the rest. 

I look like a bloated whale with greasy hair claws in some of the shots actually but I don't really give a rat's ass because the quality and surroundings very cantik and we look ridiculously happy :D (Well, that's because my mamat couldn't stop goofing around like the annoying bugger that he is and I kept bursting into fits of laughter)

 

Oh, I ordered the super gorgeous rainbow cake from @farahhaffandi on Instagram, by the way! Tasted as gorgeous as it looks - stuffed myself so much, I could have puked rainbows for days. If you're interested to order - or even just to ogle - her gorgeous cake creations, follow her on Instagram please!!! I love her cakes so much, I'm going to dedicate a quarter of this blog entry to show you all her cake creations haha:

Sooooo cantik cantik belaka kan?! Simple and cantik, I very suka.

Her flavours pun always sound so sedap and interesting tau! Even before I can finish saying the names of her cakes, halfway my mulut dah banjir with my air liur seh.

Okay. So. Anyway. Where was I before I talked about air liur banjir..........

Oh yes, the photoshoot. 

We spent about 2 hours plus posing and smiling to the camera until my joints and the corners of my mouth ached. Baru senyum sekejap dah rasa penat! I cannot imagine betapa seksanya nak senyum for few hours straight during our wedding day nanti zomg. Can I choose not to smile on the pelamin and say I'm the silent brooding type of pengantin or something?! O_O

Oh, then the last 45 minutes was spent... THRASHING EACH OTHER! WOOP WOOP.

 

Nak kiss my mamat many many for letting me get one of my teenagehood dreams!!!

Yes, I was so mentel, one of my teenagehood dreams was to have a Trash The Dress bridal photoshoot hahahahaha. (Blogged about Trash The Dress photoshoots here and here) Eh I have another one okay, and it was to have a wedding dress that is not white lol (Well, based on my discussion with the good people of Ishq by Nora Zee, I should be able to realize this other dream as well :P)

Oh, we received some comments from friends saying we look "macam Conjuring" but my mat and I have no idea what that means because we are both segan of horror movies and obviously did not watch the movie. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Anyway, the whole experience was really really really fun but super duper exhausting at the same time!!! One thing I've learnt from our Trash The Dress photoshoot experience:

(1) Photoshoots are mahatron megatron cybertron EXHAUSTING

Oh holy yes, they are! We only photographed for slightly more than 3 hours, wore only 1 outfit and we were already shagged out of OUR MINDS. Cannot imagine how exhausting it must be for couples who opt for 10 million outfit changes and kena photographed for longer hours!!!!! Satu tabik marathon gua kasi sama lu.

(2) Photoshoots takes a whole damn lot of effort and sweat

All those bright, happy photoshoot pictures we see online? Looks easy, looks breezy, but it seriously takes a whole damn lot of effort and sweat. And by a whole damn lot, I mean a whole damn lot of effort and sweat. Especially the sweat. Oh ho ho sooo much sweat.

Kan dalam gambar you'll see the couple posing and grinning away like chirpy energetic idiots and all kan??? But the sweatshop horror that goes on at the back of their necks and their temples and their scalps and their thighs and their freaking armpits... YOU HAVE NO IDEA, MY FRIEND.

(Okay fine, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, because couples who have their photoshoots in air-conditioned locations or during colder weather might not have this issue. BUT WE DID. BECAUSE IT WAS ~BURNING~ when we were out for ours okay)

Effort comes from having to search for and prepare all the necessary props and outfits and miscellaneous stuff prior to the photoshoot and also from having to angkut all your barang barang props while trying to maintain your baju and your hair on the day itself.

(3) It is NO fun when coloured powder gets into your eyes hahahahaha

I think I must have looked like an ikan siakap out of water menggelabah looking for water to wash the powder out of my eyes. Thank God we had enough sense to bring one whole balang of water along for the photoshoot!

Also, rip off your fake eyelashes if you're wearing any before a Trash The Dress photoshoot that involves coloured powder!!! Because the powder will get trapped on your falsies and when you least expect it, the powder will come tumbling down into your eye especially after you blink. NI AMARAN PENTING OKAY GUYS!!!

(4) Cleaning up after a Trash The Dress photoshoot is NO FUN AT ALL

Okay lah, this one expected lah eh. We didn't want to step into the car with our dirtied clothes - obviously - so we had to dust off the powder and change into clean clothes before stepping into the car.

I already preempted that there won't be any nearby washrooms that we can tumpang so I brought along a kain batik to use as a cover while I change. Tapi that part masih okay ah, masih boleh manage ah. It's the damn staining that happens after you dust the powder off tu yang buat songsang!!! Nak try wash off with the water that we brought along pun menyeksa seh so I gave up. After I reached home that night baru I scrubbed myself silly just to get the colour staining off.

(5) Do not schedule a photoshoot during your period / nearing your period. 

My period was due any day after my photoshoot and I felt bloated and achy and ridiculously thirsty thoroughout the shoot! But luckily I wasn't feeling super cranky sampai boleh turn into Hulk (HULK NO TRASH! HULK SMASH!) + my mat kept me very happy and entertained throughout the photoshoot so tak terbawak bawak sangat ah. Heh.

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Before I end this post I'd just like to give all my love and thanks to my bridemaids for layaning my requests for opinions and recommendations on our Whatsapp chat group prior to this photoshoot... and a super giant special thanks to the awesome power couple Sham and Aisyah who agreed to help us with the photoshoot at the very last minute!!!!! 

We didn't enlist anyone for help initially because we thought we could manage, but then realized we needed some help at the last minute so Sham and Aisyah stepped in and played their roles perfectly, even though it was a Sunday and they could have rested before the work week started. My gratitude is maha tremendous, guys. 

Also want to give my thanks to Nad, who is the straw to my berry (hahaha), for letting us crash her place after the photoshoot to wash up and have our overdue dinner which we grabbed from Simpang!!! (The guys stepped out to tapao the food because I was in no state to step out in public - my face, arms and legs were stained green so technically I almost did turn into a Hulk in the end ah hahaha)

And now I'm left with one and a half working days before I get to meet all my bridesmaids and see what the hell they have up their sleeves!!! It feels really discomforting not knowing what the plans are for my bachelorette party (because I'm usually the one leading preparations when it comes to planning parties for my friends!) but I know I can trust on these girls to give all of us a really good time. 

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Well, Nad did send me a text message last night asking whether I wanted a... urmmm, halal or haram party ah hahahahaha. 

I guess we're good as long as I don't end up looking like this by the end of the night?