bake sale with a heart

Finally fixed all my facial, spa and massage, waxing, threading and hair appointments for this Saturday and I am so, so psyched to start feeling like I am truly going to be a bride!!! :D

But before I go for my appointments, guess where I'll be going this Saturday morning????? 

At this charity bake sale held by a trio of amazing girls at Penny University!!!!!

Date: 

 26th October 2013 (Saturday)

 

Time: 

11.00am to 2.00pm

Venue: 

Penny University 

(402 East Coast Road, Singapore 428997)

Organizers: 

1. The Tudung Traveller, who can be found blogging here and instagramming here.
2. Minah Crocker, a self-taught baker who blogs here and instagrams here.
3. Dimpled Chicks, a professionally-trained baker who can found on instagram here.

 Beneficiaries:

ALL proceeds from the bake sale will go to three pre-identified children homes in Batam, Indonesia that the organizers and volunteers will be visiting on 16 November 2013. It will be a day trip (from 8.00am to 8.00pm) and the group will be spending time at two children homes + dropping off donations at one other home. 

A portion of the money collected from the bake sale and ongoing donation drive will be used to buy food items (such as rice, eggs, instant noodles) and daily necessities (such as toothpaste, body soap, shampoo) to be given to the homes, and the rest will be given as cash form.

If you wish to know more about the children homes that will benefit from this charity bake sale, you can read the blog entry posted by The Tudung Traveller here as well as more information on the charity bake sale here. If you wish to take one step further and volunteer for the trip as well, you can read the blog entry provided earlier, complete the form here or email Atikah Amalina (the super lovely blogger behind The Tudung Traveller who was the one who first started visting children homes in Batam, Indonesia as part of a charitable cause) at atikahamalina@gmail.com if you're interested to donate money or food items instead!

And now, back to the charity bake sale - here are some pictures of the bakes previously done by the two awesome bakers who I mentioned will be baking for the bake sale earlier, because only pictures can demonstrate how talented these bakers are!!!!! Plus pictures are awesome and helps you see and know how something looks or looked like - I mean, why else would pengantins-to-be pay thousands of dollars to get their wedding photographed, right??? 

Like I said, pictures are awesome. Especially so when they are of maha pretty bakes like these:

 

(This is one of my absolute favourites!!! Why did this whimsical awesomeness not exist for orders when I organized a Katy Perry's California Girls themed birthday party for my girlfriend Faezah ni!!!!! I only had Coffee Bean's Candy Heaven cake as an option seh. Meh.)

(Source: Minah Crocker's Blog and Instagram)

She also bakes cakes with surprise chocolates and candies centre!!! I don't know if this is its actual name but I actually call it the pinata cake heh heh and I've blogged about wanting a pinata cake and pinata cookies in my entries here and here!!!!! MINAH CROCKER WILL YOU DO MY WEDDING PINATA CAKE FOR ME PLZ

(Source: Dimpled Chicks)

LAWA GILA KAN KORANG.

How freaking amazing are these bakes, guys?!?!?! Sorry lah if I sound very the jakun, but for a girl who cannot bake to save her life, beautiful checkered cakes, rainbow cakes with a heart in the centre, perfectly frosted and sprinkled cupcakes will always cause such great awe and admiration. So pardon me lah kan if these amazing creations are enough to blow me away. Heh.

By the way, not joking when I said I cannot even get my instant mix muffins right on previous occasions - here's hard solid... (or in this case, limp and sloppy lolz) proof from a 2010 failed attempt at baking banana nut muffins. From a freaking instant mix.  

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That's right - I cannot even get my instant freaking mix muffins right, you gaize.

RIP, BANANA NUT MUFFINS.

Sorry future husband, no yummy bakes for you from your little undomesticated future wife here :P

Anyway, needless to say, I never touched another instant muffin mix ever again after that. Or any other baking ingredients and tools whatsoever, for that matter. I very the trauma yang melanda, menikam nikam jiwa, you know?!  

I'll be really honest and say I have no idea how the cakes and cupcakes and pastries and tarts by these bakers will taste like by the way, since I've never tasted them myself - but that is exactly why I want to be there at the charity bake sale lah. I've had enough of lusting after the pretty creations by these bakers through Instagram only!!! So enough. About damn time I tried them myself, selagi chance masih ada!!! As far as I know, these bakers don't take orders (yet) so this is one of the rare chances we'll get to taste their bakes.

Oh, and in case you want to know what to expect at the bake sale, Minah Crocker will be bringing American-style bakes such as her cupcakes with special centers and her specialties include cheese cakelets and cakes whereas Dimpled Chicks will showcase her classy french pastries which include tarts and crème brûlées at the charity bake sale. A good mix of happy, fun cakes and classy, sophisticated pastries to please every kind of tastebud! Even if you have degil tastebuds and nothing is to your fancy, well, it is for a good cause after all right? Borong for your family and friends who have less degil tastebuds lah, what else! 

You know, initially my appointments clashed with the bake sale tau - I was planning to start my last Saturday before I become someone's wife (!!!!!) early so I can leisurely make my way home in time for Bonito By Bob to arrive and store all his props and materials for my bridal room setup. But this charity bake sale is too hard to resist and there is no way I can pass up such a fun little event for such a good cause. I might have other commitments that hinder me from going on the trip but that doesn't mean I can't contribute in a way I know how - which is to spend on pretty bakes, kan? :p

Which is why I've rescheduled all of my appointments this Saturday in such a way that I can have my breakfast at Penny University (they have yummy breakfast and yummy coffee, by the way), spend some good money on the bake sale before running along for my first appointment of the day. And since I'll probably be around until about 12pm, please come and say hi if you see me there - heck, if you want to talk about wedding planning or share share about weddings in general, I'll be happy to sit down and have a chat over a cupcake... or three? Hehehe. 

By the way, if you're fretting over your bridal diet and using it as an excuse for not making time for the charity bake sale - don't. Make this Saturday an exception. You can lose whatever calories you gain from the cakes and pastries with a gym session or a quick run around your neighbourhood. Anyway, what's a few extra calories (that you can burn away) if you can help improve and touch the lives of less fortunate children, right?

You can also read The Alternative Food Blog which covers an interview with the three organizers.

excuse me, i'm a photographer (oh really?)

If there is something I'd REALLY like my guests to do at my wedding, it'd be to get the heck out of my official photographers and videographers' way.

I've read somewhere that that a pesky relative or two (or a few) who won't stop taking pictures and videos at your wedding and is always getting in the way of your official photographers and videographers is known as good old "Uncle Bob"

There are a few references to "Uncle Bob" but I think the relevant one in this case is:

(Source: Urban Dictionary)

Something like that lah. For me, it includes all the people who get in the way of official photographers and videographers ah, and uses all kinds of gadgets to get their shots, not just those who come toting an SLR and act macam they're the official people.

Ok, ok, I know times have changed, social media is here to stay and there is nothing we can do to stop people from feeling empowered with their iPhones and iPads and Samsung gadgets. Concerts, gigs, public gatherings and whathaveyous no longer look the same way as it did a few years ago. If you don't get what I mean... well, this is what I mean:

I still remember attending Jessie J's concert in Singapore and at one point of time during her concert she actually asked everyone to put down their iPhones, iPads and cameras for one minute so she can truly take in everyone's beaming happy faces instead of seeing a sea of beaming gadgets staring back at her. Felt and looked really nice, actually.

Now don't get me wrong - I am a big supporter and ardent user of social media... but some people really take it to the extremes and I just wish there's a balance to it, you know?

(I hate the extremities that some people exhibit on social media ok! For example, "Oh! I'm in the toilet shitting now... why does my shit look like it's turning yellow?" WTF dude, was that really necessary? And then there are morons who take pictures of their (or their brother's sister's mother's father's) bloody bernana wounds, post it on social media and shock the shit out of unsuspecting people who scroll down their timeline. Disgusting. If I really wanted to see bloody bernana wounds, I'd search for "bloody wounds with pus" on Google Images, dickhead.

OH, let's not forget the insensitive idiots who take pictures of blood and gore and severed limbs of accident victims. Damn disrespectful to the victims and their families and damn unfair to people who didn't get a disclaimer beforehand and had to accidentally see such scenes when all they did was scroll down their social media timeslines expecting pictures of yummy food, cute children and beautiful travel snapshots.

And have you guys seen all the sexual-related nonsense that people put up on social media nowadays??? Pictures of 13/14-year-olds posing in budget hotel rooms and asking tak perlu questions like "Guess where?!", pictures of girls with semen on their faces (!!!), screenshots of people describing their sexual conquests IN DETAIL SEGALA (!!!!!). It's RIDICULOUS. I'm not one to judge such actions but nak buat, diam diam sudahlah. Kau nak cakap "it's between kau and God"? Then keep your conquests between kau and God jugak ah, how about? Tak dapat duit pun kalau kau share on social media kan.

Oh, and please. Do not get me started on the extreme derpness that social media brings out in the open eh. For example, "Cupcakes at $3 each!" "Salam sis, how much are your cupcakes?" "Good food here! *tags Charisma D'Venue*" "Hey, where is this?" LAGI WTF)

..............................

Ok ok I know I dah lama terbabas dan terpesong so let us all kebelakang pusing to the main topic now, shall we. Hahahahaha.

Asssss I was saying - there is nothing wrong with using social media during happy share-worthy occasions like weddings, I feel, as long as there is a right balance to it! I usually try to wait until the official photographers and videographers have gotten their shots of significant moments whenever I'm at weddings - never mind if that exact special moment has passed by the time I get to take a shot with my grimy old iPhone.

After all, I'm not the one the newly wedded couple is paying thousands of dollars to capture all their special moments right? I'm not the one equipped with the latest camera and video gadgets that comes with the best technology and I'm not the one armed with the skill and expertise worthy of taking beautiful pictures of such special moments (Even if I was, it is not fair to "take the job away" from the official photographers and videographers, you know?)

But it frustrates me when others don't do the same, and it beats the purpose out of me trying to get out of the way - me alone (and others who feel the same way as me) will not make a difference if the official photographers and videographers have to wrestle with ten other people who don't share the same sentiment.

This also explains why I upload pictures of wedding food, favours or photobooth pictures instead of the couple when I do go to weddings - I don't want to interfere with the official photographers and videographers' work and sometimes I cannot get a good shot with or of the couple so I just let it be that way. It's not a 'do or die' so why compete with the official people who are more skilled and more knowledgeable than you?

(Of course there is another group of derp people who mati mati compete with the official photographers and videographers pastu ambik gambar tak cantik pun!!! Even worse, dahlah ambik gambar tak cantik, mati mati jugak nak upload gambar pengantin tengah ternganga, terkelip mata, gambar gambar yang blur bacin, gambar nampak bulu hidung semua on Facebook or Instagram and caption it "Selamat Pengantin Baru!" Macam tak bersalah gitu, please!  Seriously apa masalah korang ni sekarang.

This is actually one of the reasons why my mamat and I are having problems deciding on our official wedding hashtag ok - he is championing #kahwinkhronicles because that's the hashtag that we've been using when we upload wedding-related stuff and preparations on Instagram but I'm against it because I don't want our beautiful feed of nicely edited pictures to be ruined by other people!!!

Look. We love our friends and family very much, oh yes we do, and we don't judge them when they upload badly edited pictures or blurred pictures or pictures with bad angles. But we have to cross the line when it comes to potential bad pictures spoiling our own hashtagged collection that we've built up for the past 1+ years, right??? Someone - my sister, I think - told me that I should let my mat have his way with this because good pictures or bad pictures, that's the whole idea of sharing our wedding with our loved ones, right? Adds "flavour" to the collection lah konon or something tacky like that haha)

Haiz. But that aside, just wanted to share some examples of how overzealous relatives and friends can ruin potentially great shots of special moments when they compete to capture them on their own gadgets during weddings!

(Check out the solemnizer looking angrily at the offending guest in the last picture. Nampak macam dia tengah telling the guest "Oi! Sekarang jugak kau nak blocking photographer pe?!" hahahahaha)

Some articles penned about this issue:

Wedding Inspiration Unplugged

How to Enforce An Unplugged Wedding

The Unplugged Wedding

I've seen way too many pictures of local Malay weddings yang ada this Uncle Bob, or maybe in our case, Pakcik Bob (haha) - I wish I can share samples but I wouldn't want to point such things out from orang lain punya majlis. All I can say is I've seen one too many pictures of what could potentially be a very sweet and touching moment getting ruined by Pakcik Bob dan kuncu kuncunya ok.

Example No.1: I've seen a picture of a newly wedded couple on their dais lovingly staring at each other eyes - the lighting was great, the couple looked genuinely happy, the colours of their surroundings looked vibrant... PASTU KAT BELAKANG ADA PAKCIK ON THE FREAKING PELAMIN TENGAH AMBIK GAMBAR DORANG USING AN IPAD EH.

If it wasn't bad enough he was dressed in shabby polo shirt and had unkempt long hair. 

*baulks*

Apa ni???!!! Spoils the beautiful shot tau!

It was especially bad because he was using an iPad!!!!! I don't know why lah but I hold special hatred for people who block other people's view by taking pictures on iPads ok. It's like... kiwak, itu iPad besar sak. Blocking sak. Asal tak block pakai TV je. Periuk ke.

Oh, and as if it wasn't enough, there was an aspiring young Uncle Bob on the right side of the pelamin, lurking behind the pengantin perempuan's head grinning away like an idiot while watching the moment getting recorded on his videocam too!!! WAH SO DAMN PLEASED WITH YOUR FOOTAGE AH NOW. CAN MAKE VIDEO LIKE RIZAL AMIR KHAN ALREADY LAH NOW. CAN SHOOT MUSIC VIDEO FOR TAYLOR SWIFT AH NOW.

Example No.2: Few months ago, I saw a very nice picture of the tok kadi, the groom, the wali and the two witnesses seated at a table, smiling and laughing while they shared a light-hearted moment. Again, picture was beautifully shot to capture the moment - and AGAIN, THERE WAS A PAKCIK BOB. In shabby polo tee and pants. Lurking at the back. Smirking at the screen of his iPad. Probably goddamn pleased with himself for catching a picture of the moment so he can share it on Facebook with all his pakcik friends.

Kalau aku pengantin tu, aku will be upset gila sak if nampak that kind of official shot.

And yes, I know the official photographers and videographers ada mulut ada suara, boleh tell all the Pakcik Bobs to stay out of the frame for awhile so they can get a good shot. But what about those split second moments when the sun rays come in to give a quick special glow or stolen glances that last only a few seconds? Some moments are just not meant to be replicated, you know. Plus! I think most of them try not to "offend" family and friends during such occasions so they will just let it be and try to get as many good shots as they can from various angles. Pffttttt. The official photographers and videographers are the ones who should be offended by family and friends who do not respect their role and position during the wedding eh, not the other way around!!! ANGRY NI.

I know and I do realize that we will not have any control over what the crowd will do during the receptions come November, but what we plan to do is:

(1) explicitly tell Bliss Photocinema and CST Singapore about this concern - I'm sure they're experienced and skilled enough to know how to deal with such situations!

(2) inform our orang orang kuat that they have our permission to remind guests who are blocking the official photographers and videographers to give way for a short while; and

(3) print out a nice message seeking our guests' understanding to respect and give way to our official photographers and videographers on a A3 foam board, place it near the entrance and hope our guests will take the time and effort to understand and adhere to what is stated on the board. Paham tak paham, ikut tak ikut, at least we attempt.

Ni bukan tak kasi ambik gambar at the reception tau. Nak ambik gambar memang boleh. Nak upload Facebook, Twitter, Instagram semua lagi boleh. We'd like to see the wedding in the eyes (or in this case, lens) of our loved ones too! Tapi favour ah, jangan block the official photographers and videographers, please. Let them do their jobs first! Once dorang habis taking their shots, they'll move out of the way for you all punya.

And please don't cakap that our official photographers and videographers menyebok when they stand or squat in front of you to get good angles when taking official pictures ok. Siapa yang cakap gitu memang asking for my siku seven.

#hashtagyourwedding

(Source: Green Wedding Shoes)

We are so doing this, since 99.7% of our wedding dinner guests are avid Instagram users. Provided Instagram is still hip in 2013, of course.