this is for you, future baby

Dear Saliheen,

Before you marry me and make me the mother of your child, I would just like you to know that our future child is going to have an Origami Stroller, which works a little something like this:

Love, your future wife and future mother of your child (insya Allah)

P.S. Rina of Few Stolen Seconds told me that this is the "Mariah & Sham of strollers" hahahahaha siak ah description baik pe!

P.P.S. Tweeted to my mamat about this and he said he doesn't mind sitting in it himself. See lah, see lah, I told you guys kan my future husband is a child.

we choose you, oasia!

So happy we've confirmed our post-wedding staycation sampai I nyanyi keluar hearts!

Hehehe. Tapi itu emoticon aje ye kawan kawan, when I sing in real life, I will nyanyi keluar katak.

Nasib baik I decided to check their website before booking via Agoda, etc! Discovered price is more or less the same if we book directly with the hotel but at least direct booking boleh dapat their Weekend Savers promo - comes with 2 breakfasts, 2 dinners and unlimited internet access. Agoda, Asiarooms, Booking.com ni semua tak offer. So okaylah, swee.

You know, I was reluctant to book Oasia Hotel initially because their rooms seem pretty small + their location seems weird (don't ask me why I find a hotel situated in Novena weird heh) + surroundings macam nothing interesting gitu... but after reading positive reviews online + one of our own orang kuat telling us that she enjoyed her stay at Oasia Hotel, I gave in to my mat who insisted on booking Oasia Hotel because of the reason mentioned in my previous entry. So bahagia lah sangat budak tu sekarang.

Anyway, we'll be married by then! We! Us! Husband and wife! Who the heck cares about bigger floor area when we're going to stick right next to each other, right?! And who the heck cares about having "interesting surroundings" when we just want to chillax in private, enjoy each other's company and not even planning to step out of the hotel, right?! Hehehe. 

In any event, even if we do decide to keluar jalan jalan or cari makan there's always Novena Square and Velocity and there's direct underpass access to Novena MRT from the hotel. (Or we can slowly jalan back to his place and pick up the car lol)

Oh, in case you're wondering where I would want to stay at for our post-wedding staycation - I was secretly hoping to go away to Sentosa because kononnya macam nak lari pergi island lain lah hahaha. Plus I really loooooved the accommodations that I've stayed at in Sentosa before - there was Amara Sanctuary Resort (Larkhill Terrace) for Elvy's bachelorette party and W Hotel Sentosa Cove for Shafilah's bachelorette party. Dua dua best!!! 

I've also been trying to find a reason to stay at Siloso Beach Resort's Roof Garden Suite seh! Macam awesome gitu boleh santai santai at the private roof top bathtub while looking out to sea mehehehehe. (Padahal the sea view nothing much to look at pun ah haha.) Never had the chance before since hotel parties with my girlfriends selalu ada more then 4 people so everyone won't muat comfortably inside the suite - the room itself is quite small, I think. 

OH. And don't get me started on Capella Hotel, please. Jambu ke ape sak itu hotel.

But I didn't dare push this idea on my mamat when we discussed staycations because I myself know it's silly to merantau jauh jauh masuk Sentosa after our wedding dinner. And the 1st day will already be ~wasted~ since we'll only be able to check in slightly before midnight.

Anywaysss~~~ Since entry ni boring and kosong takde gambar, I selitkan these lah eh:

EH CEPAT SIKIT LAH NOVEMBER. What you waiting for????? Deepavali is it?!?!?!

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

just another wedding-related weekend

Remember my mat and I already planned  to settle several wedding-related tasks on Saturday? 

We ended up completing only three tasks over a period of 12 hours: 

(1) sent my sisters' kain for nikah reception to my tailor;

(2) finalize the dinner reception guest list and assign their seat numbers;

(3) firm up our itinerary - it's not ready to be finalized though, because we want to run through it with our main vendors and our orang orang kuat first. Mana tau ada details that we might have missed.

Ah, well. Three completed tasks are better than none, right?

Kita lagi boleh sempat pergi majlis orang kahwin in between okay. Hehe.

The wedding that we went to last Saturday was held at Warung In The East - very cosy air-conditioned venue perfect for smaller receptions. It's located on the ground floor so it's easy to spot when guests drive pass + elderly guests and guests in wheelchairs don't have to worry about having to naik turun tangga or having to wait for lifts to transport them up and down. We drove to the location though, so I'm not sure how accessible the venue is via public transport.

The air-conditioned part of the venue was packed when we reached so we went to the non-air conditioned area outside to have our meal. Didn't sweat as much as I expected, probably because the non-conditioned area outside is shaded. Yay for that! 

The only thing that spoiled the experience a teeny weeny bit: There was a school event going on at the nearby field and they had speakers blaring louder than the sound system for the wedding - we were distracted by the event and didn't really concentrate on the music and announcements inside haha. (To be fair, I don't think this would be an issue if there wasn't any school event on that day!)

For a more thorough review on Warung In The East from a pengantin's point of view, you can read it here (written by a ex-bride who used the restaurant as her wedding venue)

Food by Doulath Catering

Food was decent - the rice and ayam masak merah was not to my preference but tasted just fine, the sweet and sour fish might have been better if it was hot... I liked the daging rendang the most! The rempah very nice and the meat was sooooo tender!!! In fact I think theirs is one of the tenderest I've ever tried at majlis orang kahwin seh! Hur hur. I super liked their kuih muih too... the ones I tried semua sedap! There were roti kirai and mee soto stations as well but didn't try them out.

Their buffet line presentation was pretty good by the way - very simple, neat and had proper food labels. There was always someone behind the buffet line who wiped up kuah yang tertumpah and made sure food was constantly topped up. Heard their package prices are one of the more affordable ones in the market so I guess if you want something affordable and fuss-free, they're a catering company you can consider.

Decor by Wedding Meets Design 

I've mentioned Wedding Meets Design before here! I was informed by one of their partners that they've started offering chiavari chairs in-house so if you want to save yourself the hassle of engaging decor company and chiavari chair supplier separately, you might want to consider their decor services! The decor they did that day was very nice and elegant - I especially liked the lace parasols which they used as part of the decor... tapi lupa pulak nak ambik gambar! Aiseymen.

Anyway! Berbalek kepada my preparations for my own wedding ye.

After my mat left my place at around 11pm on Saturday, he did some more work on our itinerary sampai 3 in the morning (aku adelah laze around watching Alcatraz sampai 3 pagi hahaha) and I am proud to say that he has done a fantastic job!!! Aku sungguh suka and very bangga okay with his attention to detail. Thank you for taking charge over the itinerary and making it even better, bb!!!

He improved it even further the next day (Sunday) and before korang accuse me of not contributing my part for the planning, I spent my Sunday afternoon trying to finish up our wedding website okay. Didn't get to finish it up (maybe because I was distracted by CSI and Running Man episodes hahaha) but I think I should be able to get everything up and running before the end of this week? 

It's not as snazzy or cool as the website I mentioned here but we'll have to make do with our current one, given my limited tech skills and zilch website design background (My mamat jangan cakap ah, everytime he uses the computer, I can't help but chuckle and call him Grandpa.)

Sneaky peeky of the webby! (Sorry, tiba tiba rasa macam nak jadi irritating hahaha)

Can't wait to get this over and done with so I can concentrate on other tasks. 

By the way, did your well-meaning married friends tell you your wedding to-do list will beranak pinak nearer to your wedding? Our well-meaning married friends did, and guess what? BETUL LAH SIAK.

WAE, RUNNING MAN, WAE???

Why must they come when my mamat and I are at the tail end of saving for our wedding? :,(

(Source: One TV Asia)

Really, really, REALLY want to go because Running Man has been such a freaking integral part of my mamat and I punya relationship for the past years - most of our dates consist of watching or re-watching Running Man episodes together. We make references to Running Man episodes all the time, and we've promised each other that if Running Man was to ever step into Singapore for filming or even just a fan meet, we are so gonna be there together.

Unfortunately, this has come at THE WORST TIMING EVER - we're not supposed to take any chances financially or use our spare cash because we're veryyyyy wary of last minute surprise payments that we may need to make for our wedding between now until just after the wedding.

My mat says this is an instance where it is just not our rezeki and tried to feebly convince me that Running Man will return to Singapore and by then, we'll be able to spend on concerts and theater shows and showcases like we used to. He's already been so damn supportive and understanding with a lot of stuff during this journey so this is the part I let this go, right? Sighhh. Why can't this fan meet in Singapore be held after November or something.....

Oh why now, Running Man, why :(

P.S. If anyone knows of ANY contest that is giving away tickets to this, PLEASE ALERT ME THX

for the hair, body and soul

So happy to know I can still buy my Avalon Thickening Shampoo locally!!! :D

I first blogged about Avalon Thickening Shampoo here, but found out a month later that the shampoo has been discontinued for sale at Watsons. Was pretty crushed about that because the shampoo did what it was supposed to do and worked so well for me :(

But I only mentioned about the shampoo's discontinuance recently here. 

A few days later, I received this sweet little email from another BTB:

Rupanya boleh beli dari sini!!!!!

Thank you so much for letting me know, my dear Rina Raihana! <3

The reason why I didn't Google for this earlier is because of the "Exclusively distributed by Watsons" sticker that was on the bottle I previously bought from Watsons! So I thought no other kedai would be selling this shampoo and didn't bother to do a search. Meh.

Anyway, I was actually going to complain about the shop location being so far away but realized it's 7 train stops away from my office after I looked at SMRT's network map. Heh heh. But the best part has to be the fact that at $12.50 per bottle, it is much cheaper than when I bought it from Watsons lor!!!

I also think what the website suggested - as pointed out by Pretty Orkid here - is a good idea: Order the shampoo on their website first, then once they inform you that your order is ready for collection, you can make your way dow to their physical shop. Takut you suka suka lenggang kangkong turun their kedai only to find out dorang tengah takde stock pulak.

Guess I gotta find an available date to go buy the shampoo after work once my Phyto hair products dah habis pakai. Maybe siapa siapa yang tinggal kat East side and/or sanggup datang collect Tampines and nak try the shampoo jugak, can kirim from me??? Hehe.

Even if it doesn't work for you as it did for my friend and for me, only $12.50 wasted, right? But don't know when my Phyto products will finish ah. The box says the products can last me up to almost 2 months from day of usage so..... man man lai lah eh.

Okay since I dah story pasal hair product, sekarang I nak story pasal two other products pulak - the Sleep Balm and Shower Salt Scrub from Haus of Spa!!!

Okay before I bercerita, I (baca doa and) tunjuk gambar dulu:

 The front portion of the Sleep Balm

 The back

 The pretty top! Heh.

The vanilla shower salt scrub!

I was particularly interested in trying out the sleep balm because I have difficulty getting to sleep... kalau kira kambing sampai dorang beranak pinak sepuluh generation pun masih tak boleh terlelap ah sebenarnye. Then sejak dua menjak dah nak jadi pengantin ni, I know I must get enough sleep because it is very important for my health and my face, you know??? 

(My bridesmaid Nina, a freak who survives on 3 to 4 hours of sleep per day tells me that "sleep is for the weak" but I say sleep is also for the pengantin who does not want to look like The Walking Dead on her wedding day.)

Also interested in the sleep balm because it smells of lavender and I love the smell of lavender. Heh.

Anyway! I don't know why I was expecting the sleep balm to be more lembik and jelly-like but it isn't! Feels pretty "solid", actually. All you need to do is rub over the surface of the balm to get it on your fingers before  rubbing it on your temples and a bit under your nose before you sleep... macam Vicks Vaporub, you know??? (I don't know if other people's mothers did this, but when I was younger, my supermother will rub Vicks Vaporub on my temples, chest and under my nose whenever I fell sick.)

Actually kan, I ingatkan lepas pakai this sleep balm then when the head hits the pillow, I will go to lalaland immediately tau. But that didn't happen for me because I still tossed and turned in bed for a while... but the period taken to toss and turn seems to have decreased, I guess? To be fair, I've only used it for two days so I'll have to monitor the progress on that.

But what I like about the balm is its ability to somehow calm me down and help me get such deep sleep when I finally do terlelap!!! Used the balm for two days and I woke up feeling fresh and relaxed instead of lethargic like I used to... it's the lavender working??? :D

I also like the fact that the balm won't run out so fast because you only need to use a little bit on your temples and under your nose - at $16.90 per tub, that is very the worth it, yo.

And next is the vanilla shower salt scrub!

I was told that this salt scrub is a little more coarse compared to other brands so best to use only once a week... but I beg to differ! I actually thought the coarseness is just nice for me - not too fine sampai takde guna dia hidup sebagai semangkuk salt scrub yet not too coarse sampai badan boleh berdarah darah ah (lol drama.) I've tried coarser scrubs before, and dia punya kasar ya ampun nenek... feels like you kena heret across a sandy field when you scrub down your back kind.

Washing it off was relatively easy, and there was no degil greasy feeling thereafter. And I get to smell of vanilla, I SUKA!!!!! Other than lavender and lemongrass, vanilla is one of my most favourite smells (and flavour heh) in the world. (Smells I do not like: coconut, rose and any kind of fruity smells.)

Think I'll use it again before I jumpa vendors next week... and will use this regularly sampai hari kahwing. Need to ask my mamat if he likes his wife smelling of vanilla?! Hurhurhur.

Sorry if my description of the products macam cannot make it gitu!!! I'm not used to giving reviews about beauty products so ada kental sikit bila part part gini. I'm not really an avid beauty product user or tester whatever - my skincare and beauty/make-up regime is really basic and I tend to stick to tried and tested stuff already recommended by family and friends.

Anyway, if this is not enough for you, you can also read Eleventh October's entry here, because she has tried Haus of Spa's shower salt scrub before... sampai borong satu kampung when she recently went to their exhibition booth at Suntec City with Miss Twenty Nine June, you! So bahagia eh these kakak kakak bride bloggers pergi outing. Hehe.

Oh, and in case you didn't know already (Hi, selamat keluar dari tempurung!), Haus of Spa is actually the 'baby' of another bride blogger Kahwin X Jitters! :D

Okay, the reason why I dah cerita panjang panjang pasal benda ni is because I have good news to share... Haus of Spa will be participating at the upcoming wedding exhibition at Singapore Expo tau!!!

In case you don't know which wedding exhibition I'm referring to, I'm actually referring to The Wedding and Shopping Galleria 2013 organized by MegaXpress International which will be held next week.

What? The Wedding and Shopping Galleria 2013

Where? Singapore Expo, Hall 6B, Booth J5

When? 12th September 2013 to 15th September 2013

Everything on Haus of Spa's webstore will be on promotion i.e. shower salt scrubs will be going at 2 for $40 instead of $24.90 each and the sleep balm will be going at $15.00 instead of $16.90.

You can stock up on their scrubs and soaps and balms so you can pamper yourself in the comforts of your own home before your wedding, or buy them as bridesmaids' gifts for your orang orang kuat, orrrrr buy them as wedding gifts for your bride-to-be sisters, cousins or girlfriends (Orang dah kahwin must smell harum for the hasbern, you know??? :P)

Alternatively, you can borong and letak their products on your dulangs as barang hantaran jugak. Amaciam??? Idea or what - perfect for people who tak nak spend so much on barang dulang because House of Spa punya products seriously very affordable.

And you know what's the best thing????? Haus of Spa has tied up with Batam Holidays Travel Pte Ltd to give away this special promotion which will be given during the bazaar only:- Spend over $100 and receive a 2D1N Hotel Stay in Batam including breakfast!!! You can choose any of the 4-star hotels available like Harris Hotel, Novotel or i-Hotel. Shiok or what, got freebie all.

Lagipun, if you make your way down to look see look see Haus of Spa, you can also recce for wedding vendors if you haven't settled any of your wedding-related items jugak - vendors such as Farah Diana Catering & Wedding Services, Theme Photography, Chinta Weddings, FpB Productions, etc will be there to sell their wedding packages and give away promos... satu kali harung, yo.

Think I'll drop by Haus of Spa's booth on one of the days because I really want to get something for my girlfriend Shafilah - as a apology gift for not attending her wedding last weekend!!!!! I know,  I know, I am the worst person ever for not going to her wedding even though we have known each other since we were little toads but it was just not meant to be :( 

I'm hoping to tebus it a teeny weeny bit by bringing along a nice little gift for her when I see her and the rest of our (retired) geng cilaka next week... for my second bachelorette party!!! Hehe. But before I get all excited for next weekend, I really must focus on the tasks already assigned for this weekend:

Hoping to squeeze in some time to discuss and finalize the songlist that my mamat has diligently complied over the last few months as well but I think we've already packed enough tasks in a day already... and I'm sure we'll ter-overshot timing for one or two tasks :/

By the way, it's true what you hear - the list of wedding-related things to do gets longer and longer and longer as the day gets nearer. 

But what to do? A pengantin's gotta do what a pengantin's gotta do.

a different raya next year

Hope it's not too late to wish you all selamat hari raya!!!!!

Mintak ampun maaf kalau terkasar bahasa tersilap kata in my entries or comments or even my personal interation with you all, baik via social media or in person!

Okay now guys, I have an honest question to ask ni (sebab my own family tak practise this!): Is it memang the norm for people to follow their tunangs out for jalan raya with their extended family and go visit relatives on the first raya weekend???

Maybe I never realized this practice (trend?) previously because I myself belum bertunang for the past years' raya + dulu no insta-social media for people to update kan? Hur hur hur. Not sure when this practice started but I guess it's good practice for couples to kenalkan diri with their future spouse's relatives and learn how to divide their time for raya visting once they're married?

Ni kalau dah tunang lah. Kalau belum tunang, masih matair sebulan dua but first raya weekend dah ikut jalan raya dengan extended family segala then... that one I reserve I punya comment okay. You know lah... lain orang, lain cara hidup lah kan.

Personally, my mat and I don't see a need to follow each other for raya visiting since our families don't practise it so we spent the long weekend with our own families. Guess this will make next year's jalan raya sessions extra special for us since it will truly be our first time going out to visit relatives during raya together? :D

We did talk about how our raya visiting sessions will be after we're married, though! Sampai pukul 3 pagi berbual ini topic, nyah. Topic hangat sehangat ayam masak merah mak aku di pagi Syawal okay. Bukan hangat sehangat taik ayam eh hahaha

We've already identified that our raya visiting styles are very different from each other's - for his family, as long as you've already met the relatives while visiting another family and dah dapat catch up and bermaafan, that's it, no need to visit their houses already... whereas for my family, we're used to visting every single one of our relatives punya houses... and some relatives are the kind who will merajuk if you don't visit them at their own houses for raya :/

Truth be told, I quite like his family punya style because that's the whole purpose and spirit of raya, right? To celebrate your achievement for being able to fast during Ramadhan + mengeratkan silaturahim by meeting relatives to catch up over good food, good vibes. Technically we don't have to visit each and every house as long as dah jumpa ma. Tidak memenatkan dan tidak membebankan!

But I also understand that my extended family's style is different and I (and my mamat) have to respect that it is a long held tradition that we must visit each person's house even though we've already met him or her and his or her family at another house while out visiting someone else.

Lepas dah discuss discuss malam tu, it seems like we do have a persefahaman on how we will divide our visiting time between our two sides of families but I guess we can't be too confident until it really happens next year??? You all know lah kan, boleh jadi lain in theory and lain in practice ye kawan kawan. So must wait for raya next year to see if we can truly execute it well. Akak excited bercampur seram ni!

Talking about future first jalan raya together as a married couple, can I just be mentel and show our first Raya picture together back in 2008??? Hehehehehe. This one I korek from my old blog. Old blogs are such gems, aren't they! Treasure trove of good old memories.

Urgh crappy lighting and blurred picture but I loved how the shade of our baju really matchy matchy even though we bought them separately. In case you thought I was the one who was particular about having the same shade, it wasn't me okay!!!!! My mat was the one who was being in a goddamn pain in the ass about it. I was happy enough to just wear the same colour. Haha.

Should've guessed he was a bridegroomzilla in the making LULZ

Can't wait to tailor our matchy matchy baju raya for next year too! We'll be using the kain that we're giving each other on our dulangs hehe and it'll be the first time we tailor something together for raya... for the past years we'll just buy off the rack separately and try to match each other.

Oh by the way kan, if you're the sort who tak suka matchy matchy with your other half or your own family then good for you lah okay. Memang up to individuals whether they want or don't want to matchy matchy kan. No need to cakap "boriah boriah ni semua too mainstream" for you. Menang ketupat supply for a year ke kalau you "tak pakai mainstream" during hari raya? Ape kata you stop breathing? Breathing might just be too mainstream for you jugak tau.

DIY this, DIY that

We were actually not planning to buy any props for our outdoor photoshoot because we figured the main feature that we'll be bringing in will more than make up for it.

But after our discussion with Zakaria Zainal (who is very lovely and very insightful in person, by the way!) on Monday, we realized that what we're planning might not be sufficient... which is why we've now decided to have propsssss, y'all :D

I'm trying my best to make the photoshoot as DIY as possible (even though I am the most rubbish person when it comes to DIY lolololol) so I've already collated several tutorials to run trials on. Some of the stuff we're incorporating our outdoor photoshoot with!

Pinwheels

 (Source: Measured by the Heart)

(Source: Etsy)

(Source: Bridesmaid)

 (Source: Unknown)

(Source: Postcards and Pretties)

(Source: Wscottchester Blog) 

(Source: Project Wedding)

This was actually sparked by the memory of my little cousin Shah Indra playing with this pinwheel toy at our engagement ceremony....

... and I thought it'd be great to incorporate pinwheels into the photoshoot since they're fun and they're colourful - the two exact elements that we want for our outdoor photoshoot. The only part I'm still not sure about is whether to do the usual matte ones using papers or felts or shiny ones like these. (Of course if the DIY process doesn't pan out well, we can always ask Shah Indra where he bought his pinwheel toy HAHA)

Oh, the best part about DIY pinwheels is the part where I can rope in people to help me with this: My sister has these awesome patterned square papers that she has used before to make pinwheels for her bedroom decor + and then there's Nani the DIY Diva! HALLO NANI! Amaciam, dah lama tak unleash the DIY Diva in you kan heh heh heh. 

Especially great to rope her in for this because she was the one who pernah cakap she wants to have a go at creating a DIY pinwheel bouquet, and she was the one who DIY-ed pinwheels for one of our picnics a few years back:

Oh, I also thought pinwheels will be great because it's senang nak buat ha. ha. ha. ha. ha.

Fabric or Felt Bouquets

At first I thought of just buying rainbow roses bouquet but on second thoughts, I didn't think that it would be fun enough as compared to some of the DIY fabric or DIY felt bouquets that I've seen before sooooo...

 (Source: Unknown)

 (Source: Camille Styles)

(Source: The Brides' Cafe)

(Source: Kreated by Kelly)

(Source: Labelle Bride)

(Source: Elizabeth Anne Designs)

(Source: Rock 'N' Roll Bride)

(Source: The Wonder Forest)

I was so excited squealing through pages and pages of the wonderful world wide web during the last half an hour in office that I decided to drop by the Art Friend outlet near my office to grab some materials to do a trial once I reached home:

Not perfect but I quite like it! Not bad for a DIY noobie who is used to taking the easy way out by paying someone else to do it for me ok. I had a very hard time trying to suppress thoughts of "Eh nak patah pe tulang belakang aku duduk potong ini bendealah" (padahal baru buat 1, 2 pieces LOL) and "Siak ah aku bayar $12 for everything, puas hati aku top up lagi $12 to $15 boleh beli and ship in the pom pom flowers bouquet from Etsy seh." 

HAIYA HOW ALL YOU DIY QUEENS DO THIS NI?!?!?! HAIZZZZZ

Anyway. Will experiment with a few other materials and few other designs (from the links above) before I decide which one will work the best. Maybe buying a cute pom pom bouquet from Etsy will work the best eh OK NO.

There are a few more ideas that we have on hand when it comes to props for the outdoor photoshoot but I think don't need to share everything right now lah ok. Nak jugak kasi surprise to our friends! Hehe. Plus I don't want to be too ambitious sampai everything gets rushed or terlalu banyak props sampai it messes up the look too much - too many elements in a photoshoot might take the essence away from the main purpose of the photoshoot - the couple themselves. (Zakaria warned us about this too!)

There are some ideas here if you're not sure what props you want for your wedding photoshoot... I think I quite like the exploding lollipops one hahahahaha. I know balloons are popular but definitely no balloons for us because I'm not a fan. My mat jangan cakap, dia lagi not a fan because he is scared of balloons.

And yes guys, you read that right - my mat yang badan besar muka fierce ni is scared of balloons ok. Macamlah itu balloon nak creep up on him in the middle of the night and drag him to a torture dungeon lah kan.