Durian Feast & Genting Trip

This trip is organised by NTU for the Alumni. it's from 19-21 June, near B's bday so brought him along.. B's bday same as my sis and ma say 21 june is their chinese bday, jus nice! he loves durians and nv been to Genting before (suaku!) haha.. supposed to meet 10pm at NTU Executive Centre to board the coach but B playing game.. made mi rush like mad, box him! we were slightly late.. the gal taking our attendance knew our names without us identifying ourselves cos we were last to reach on her list.. board the coach and proceed to tuas checkpoint..

1st stop point at Yong Peng- we bought fishball noodle and kaya balls.. fishball and kaya balls veri yummy! haha.. eat full full return to coach hav a nice slp.. den 2nd stop point dunno where..haha.. cos total got 3 coaches and our driver super efficient.. 1st to reach den gotta wait an hr plus for the other 2.. they wanted to go together cos want take group foto.. 3rd stop point at Jalan Imbi in KL for breakfast - Bak Kut Teh - at 5.30am

Sleepy look but he's excited abt it! his stomach is never filling.. ate fishball noodle a few hrs ago onli..

the soup i dun like cos the taste of chinese herbs too strong for mi.. got alot pui ba inside, B's fav.. i eat a few pieces, the rest all he finished.. the you char kway is veri crispy even after soaked in the soup, nice!

4th stop point - Lim Goh Tong Memorial Hall.. He's the founder of Genting Highlands! When can we reach there with so many stop points??

Finally, we reached at abt 8am.. this veri colourful First World Hotel 3.30pm den can check in.. so we deposit our bags at the lobby and headed to the casino.. Met my 3rd aunt there, so happy! she also took the fri nite coach too but reached much earlier than us.. by the time we met her, she already lost RM100+.. oops! B and mi played 'tai sai' and lost RM50.. Then, we went to the outdoor theme park.. At night, we went back to pua kiao and lost RM150 at the end of the day :(

Some of the rides we took at the outdoor theme park...

Pirate Ship - tink no warm up, i actually teared.. from young, scared of this ride liao.. haha..


Corkscrew - got blue black on the right side of my face cos turn too fast knock my face against the safety 'vest'..pain pain..

Spaceshot - 3 yrs back my cousin ask mi sit wif her but i dun dare.. but getting old, if tis time round if still dun sit no chance le.. B and mi were seated in diff rows cos onli 3 ppl per row and we were one of the last to enter.. seated beside mi were 2 pri 6 kids.. we knew each other while queuing and agreed to scream tog.. tink we were the onli ones who screamed while on the way up.. haha.. my legs were wobbly after tat.. but, i'm brave!

Spinner - i tried b4, veri giddy after getting down.. dun like so B sat alone while i took pics below.. it was spinning too fast liao so the pic abit blur.. if u all look carefully, B (in the red circle) is actually waving to me.. haha..

Next day, we went to Segamat durian plantation to eat yummy durians!! the gal in the banner is actually there too.. haha..

I'm holding 'mao shan wang'.. the basket behind mi are all 'mao shan wang' too.. they did not serve us cos it's too exp but the uncle open one for us.. B pricked his little finger while opening the only one 'mao shan wang'.. eat up all the durians!!

After the durian feast, we went to Yong Peng to get some local products followed by a sumptuous dinner at a chinese restaurant.. the aunties and uncles sitting at the same table with us complained abt the short interval between the durians and dinner cos they were too full to enjoy the dinner.. Happily, B had 3 full bowls of rice.. the rest of us jus watched him eat n eat.. After dinner, home sweet home!

Swarovski Crystal Flower

I've made some flowers using Swarovski crystals.. wanted to make into a bouquet initially but failed.. cos in between the petals quite empty, make into bouquet not tat nice.. so gave up.. tot can hav 2 bouquets to bring to taiwan for photoshoot.. it's ok.. shall not be too greedy then.. one is enuf! instead, i arranged and put them in a small vase.. tada! it becomes a table centerpiece.. but not sure where to place it, on the reception table? ROM table? or somewhere around the buffet table? definitely gg to place it somewhere cos i dun wan any fresh flowers lying around.. not tat i dun like flowers.. jus feel tat it's such a waste as the flowers wither after a few days.. they are prettier in the gardens..

Single stalk

9 stalks of flowers symbolise 长长久久

Besides using 9 stalks of flowers, each petal consists of 9 crystals too.. each flower has 3 petals so every flower means '我爱你长长久久'.. ok.. abit mushy.. haha..

Our Wedding Photoshoot

We signed a package with Romantic Life during the Wedding Show at Suntec.. Can check out it's website under 'useful links' on the right side of this blog.. Package price is $2888 which includes air tickets, hotel stay, a standard portrait, poster, local food like bubble milk tea and ji pa, additional gown for mi, upgrade to seamless photo album, guestbook, etc.. the price quite reasonable.. most importantly, we like the photos that they took for the other couples.. as some of you know, B quite picky of the photo quality.. and he loves it too! we can go back to taiwan next yr! tis time we mus remember to visit the Lover's Bridge.. haha..

Some pics taken by Romantic Life..

Taishi Flower Farm and Salt Lake

Beach with a row of windmills behind

B dun find the sheep cute.. he insists not to take pic with the sheep..haha.. But the lake is nice!

If we want to catch the Cherry Blossoms, mus go during feb-mar.. most prob B can't make it..

Most likely we'll go during May after B finished his exams.. Seems a long way to go but it's less than a yr from now!

My Crystal Bouquet

I want to have a 'crystal' wedding and have chosen Swarovski crystals as they are really shinier and more beautiful than all other crystals that i've seen which is why it's more expensive :( But, it's worth the money! So, i'll be using Swarovski crystals to make some unique items for my ROM. Reason why i put in so much effort to handmade the items is bcos I want something different from other brides.. I also want to make the whole process memorable as it is a once in a lifetime important event..

My 1st completed item is the crystal bouquet which i will be carrying around on 10.10.10! Some of u may have seen it on my blogshop http://foryourbigday.blogspot.com/ (shun bian advertise here, haha) Here's some pics if you have not seen it.. It has a total of 600 bling bling crystals! Each stalk of 'flower' has 2 crystals , one crystal clear and one light rose coloured crystal. It symbolises the unity of B and mi.. Got meaning one k.. haha..

I chose to use white satin ribbon cos feel that it makes the bouquet looks more elegant.

Top View

Super close up.. my new cam is gd! haha..

Going to make a new matching boutanniere for B which is different from those shown in foryourbigday.. cos tat time when i made those he like dun really like the small ribbon.. i'll make sure he's satisfied.. so picky.. haha.. More items coming up!

Our ROM

As we took the additional housing grant, we mus produce our marriage cert on the day of key collection.. unlike other couples who are given a grace period of 3 mths after key collection.. So we decided to ROM in 2010.. not gg for the traditional banquet style, jus a simple ROM will do.. Initially, we couldn't find a suitable date.. our anniversary, birthdays all do not fall on a weekend.. then, i was discussing wif xh during work and she suggested 10.10.10.. it's a sun, finally! haha.. so i went back tell B and he oso likes the date.. tat's how we chose the date..

I started to research on the venues by reading forums, hotel websites, food reviews..etc.. I also asked for the packages and price from the all the places that I think I might be interested in..and tat's alot! haha.. Shortlisted a few venues like Swisshotel Merchant Court, Changi Village Hotel, Goodwood Park, Gardenasia and Crowne Plaza Changi Airport ..

We first went to the poolside at Swisshotel Merchant Court.. i'm attracted to this place cos i read somewhere tat it has the singapore river as a backdrop.. but in the end..we were disappointed.. ya, it's near singapore river but the view is nth great leh.. the pavillion is not veri nice and the area ard it is sooo small.. Next, Changi Village Hotel.. they got 2 poolside venues to choose from, so far i feel that they hav the most beautiful pool.. read that food is not bad too..but, one day, i read from forum abt their bad service, plus no provide sound system, need top up dunno a few hundred to rent from them.. their price is the highest among all so i tink not worth it.. it's out..

Goodwood Park gave mi a veri cosy feeling and the hotel view at the entrance is fantastic.. but the poolside can only hold max 60 ppl which my mama complain too little.. so it's out also.. food and service there veri gd leh :( As for Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, it's a veri new hotel.. but like Changi Village Hotel, location not gd.. and if wan cordless mic mus rent at $100 each, tat's wat forum ppl say.. Gardenasia provides a garden style wedding.. thou veri ulu, the place is really veri nice.. my concern is tat if it rains den no point liao.. so decided to look for indoor or at least sheltered places..

Subsequently, I signed up for the wedding shows at Sheraton Towers and Holiday Inn Atrium cos it's free anyway den tot can go see if we like the place.. Sheraton has an area where you can solemnise in front of a mini waterfall, i tot quite special.. But, from forum agn, many ppl complained abt bad food and their waterfall area is dirty and smelly.. So, in the end, we din bother to attend the wedding show.. The wedding show at Holiday Inn Atrium was on 23 May.. However, we din attend it either..because.....

On 14 May, we took leave to go HDB to sign the papers for downpayment so were free in the afternoon. I made an appointment to meet the person-in-charge at Furama Riverfront as i read alot of gd feedbacks on their food and service.. I'm also interested in their Waterfall Lounge as they hav a man-made 20ft waterfall as backdrop.. saw some pics of couples who held their ROM there and it looks nice too.. Met the lady who gave us more details of the ROM package and brought us to view one of their function room.. we still prefer the Waterfall Lounge..cos thou is indoor, still can see the greenery and waterfall through the glass panels which has an outdoor feel.. Cosy and more casual.. Both B and mi like it! We din confirm wif her immediately cos thot shd see Holiday Inn Atrium 1st..

We left and i realised that Holiday Inn Atrium is jus nearby (dunno beside or opp) so we popped by to take a look.. Staff there stared at us when we were looking for the function room.. so unfriendly.. the function room that i'm interested in has an open terrace connected to it where we can choose to solemnise out there then dine indoor in the room.. Totally disappointed.. the plants so ugly and like dying.. view from the open terrace not nice oso.. so, XXX.. We made our way back to Furama Riverfront to book the Waterfall Lounge and paid deposit.. There's only one bad point... jus outside the hotel there is a KTV dirty dirty kind.. haha.. but our ROM is in the afternoon, they not open yet.. heng ah..

In summary, details of our ROM is as follows:

Date: 10.10.10, Sun

Venue: Furama Riverfront

Time: 1pm - 5pm

High-tea buffet will be served.. Make urself available!

Our Love Nest

I shall begin with how we got our flat... Last yr B showed mi the HDB website and the Sep 08 Balloting Exercise was open for application. We saw the jurong west units and quite like the location cos it's near to lakeside mrt and taman jurong food centre (good food there! haha) so we jus 'tik-kum' see will dio anot loh.. anyway, it costs jus $10 to apply.. haha.. Then, we received a letter from HDB telling us we hav a total of x4 chances in the balloting exercise.. we hav the first-timer priority and staying near parents priority cos it's near B's home..

But, in the end, our queue no. is 0272 (4D no open) which actually exceeds the quota for our ethnic group.. we thought that means no chance already cos there's only 100 plus units in total.. After that we applied for the Woodlands BTO flats.. that was feb 09 liao.. A few days later, we received a big pack of letter from HDB again.. Initially, we thought it has something to do wif the Woodlands BTO flats.. To our surprise, it was an invitation letter for us to select the lakeside units cos there were leftovers.. we were scheduled on the sixth day of the selection exercise which means mus see 1st 5 days got any units left for us anot.. so we were observing the numbers on the HDB website everyday, so exciting.. haha..

During tat period, we were watching 'she diao ying xiong zhuan' den rong er and guo jing will make a wish wif their eyelash and blow away.. so we oso did the same.. everytime i will say to myself "Leave a unit for us" den blow.. haha.. Truely, only one unit was left for us.. no need to select at all.. maybe i shd amend my wish to "Let us hav a higher floor unit".. haha.. we dun mind the low level issue cos weighing the pros n cons, we felt tat the location n price is gd! and it's a new flat, yeah!

So, on 24 Mar 09 we went to HDB to 'select' our unit and pay the option fee.. After sometime, we receive letter agn to inform us tat we got the additional housing grant of $25K, happy... like GSS got 10% discount, haha.. Then, we received another letter (so many letters and admin stuffs to settle) to inform us our appointment to go down HDB agn to sign the papers for the downpayment.. tat was on 14 May 09.. yup, tat's it for now.. no need to keep signing liao.. we went down twice and each time always sign till our signatures become distorted cos really need to sign many many times! haha..

Next will be key collection which will be sometime in 2011..