Cavalia

part of the birthday present - a 1st row ticket to the Cavalia. hoho..

being the super expensive tickets, of cuz there were perks that came with them... ahhh... money money moneyyyy

we get to dine at the lounge before the show starts...drinks and wines were available.... free flow..

and during the break, desserts were served. the pictures did not turn out well though, as it was too dark in the lounge..

and, we get to meet and get the autographs of some of the performers....

and at the end of the show, we get to visit the stable and come up close w the horses

the show is really spectacular... it's amazing how some of the stunts were being performed.. and it's also quite stunning how they managed to build such big tents to house so many things at that big field..

unfortunately, photos and videos were not allowed during the show.. boohooo

during the show, the stage actually has no high barriers and I seriously wonder how they could be so confident that the horses will not go berserk and out of control..... I mean.... animals are ultimately animals, aren't them?! regardless of how well trained....... hmmmmmm

I have always dreamed of having a horse as a pet. lol. think that will be more expensive than owning a car huh. ok, no hope in having a pet horse... but.... starting to take horse riding lessons should sound more do-able bah? hohoho

Shifting

will miss my little space.....

first stepped into the office some December 2012. the 1st seat I took notice of was this, becuz it's really literally, the best seat in the house.

and surprisingly, I was given the seat when I joined.

now, bye bye to the seat, cuz we will be relocating to the main building opposite. did the shifting on Friday evening and coming Monday will start at the new premise liao. tmr still have to go back and start the systems and see if everything works..

the shift.. for better? for worse? don't know..

but this old office did have some very painful memories.. hopefully change to new premise, everything will be better bahhhh. seat wise, maybe not as exclusive.... but... well.. no choice bahh..

sometimes in life, when u don't have something, u will long for it. but when get it, u will realise, maybe it's not as fantastic as u initially tot. haiz, humans.... just fan jian isint it?

ok, I take back my words... it's just me.

anyway, it's another ambition comes true. hohohoho... really one step and one step... closer and closer.... yay! 我是行的!!!

The Bridal Shop - Volans Couture

we signed our wedding bridal package during a bridal road show held at marriott hotel. 

cannot remember how we came to know about the road show, but we just did. we were expecting some large scale road show, but it turned out to be a really small one. our bridal shop aside, i think there was/were only one or two other bridal shops show-casing there and then. 

now, looking for a bridal package is a tedious job. being a very competitive market, almost all bridal shops are hard-sellers. usually once u sit down and listen to them, NO WAY they will let you off so easily. 

i remb prior to that marriott visit, we did listen to one or two bridal shops before. both times, we had wanted to sign, but in the end, did not. the 1st time was at suntec, if i still remb correctly. we had agreed to sign (was it an overseas shooting package? cant remb...), but they wanted cash deposit. so off we went to the atm machine and suddenly, we were like 'awaken' and then we decided not to sign w them afterall. the salesperson then called us, and we ended up giving some crap excuse and did not return again. lol. 

the 2nd time was blue bay. it was at mbs i think. there were some other exhibitions and somehow, this little corner was show-casing bridal shops. so we sat down by chance and discussed. and again, almost wanted to sign, but it was already v late and we did not want to rush things through. so in the end, also did not sign. but for blue bay, i must say that salesperson was quite cool. she wasnt pushy when we eventually did not sign. maybe she cant wait to knock off already. 

actually for bridal shops, i do not have much requirement. to me, they are really 大同小异. the gowns are all nice, the pictures are all nice. and i was really sick to have to spend hrs listening but in the end, no outcome. 

so, at marriott, we sat and listened to this bridal shop - Volans Couture. honestly, i wasnt impressed by them. hubb was the one who was totally impressed. 

ok, usually, bridal shops will provide for pre-wedding photoshoot ie. they provide the make-up, gowns, photoshoot, photo album for PRE-wedding. for actual day wedding make-up/photography, usually one will choose to engage a separate company, as there's a saying that goes - never put all ur eggs in one basket. 

knowing me, i just want convenience. pls dont let me search all over the place just to get things done. so this company presented to us their pre-wedding photoshoot package. then, they offered us their actual day package at half-price to entice us. 

and after that, knowing that we were interested in videography, they took a cut and said that if we signed up for their pre-wedding photoshoot and actual day videography, they will let us have the actual day photography for free! 

and what totally attracted hubb, was the fact that they will be using dual video cameras for our actual-day! meaning to say, there will be one photographer taking photos and two videographers taking videos on the actual day! 

ok, i dont know why he was so fascinated with having two video cameras, perhaps he had wanted to be a movie star all these while huh. but i tell you, with so many crews on the actual day, we did indeed felt like superstars! kekekekke

so for him, he was totally impressed with the offer they gave us. for me, i just want convenience. and that was how we finally signed our deal with this bridal shop located opposite bugis junction. 

yes, without reading any online reviews, without knowing how the physical shop is like or whether it even exists, not knowing what kind of gowns they have.... we signed everything w them. just like that. woohoo! 

so it summed up to be about $6k+ in total for pre-wedding photoshoot, actual day photoshoot, and actual day videography. good deal, i think. of cuz, not counting all the nitties gritties like payment for ampoules, eyelashes, extension of hours for make-up artist etc. 

overall im satisfied w their service. i went down countless times and tried on countless gowns (which i will elaborate more later). initially the shop assistant assigned to me was really good, but she resigned. her replacement is not as good, but still acceptable lah, considering the number of times i went down and tried their gowns, she still entertains me lah. 

the photoshoot also went well and results were also good. just that i thought the processing time was too long. also, the album layout could have been better with more designs. oh yeah, and i remb they werent very happy when we did not top up any pictures... and now... we are still waiting for the photos and videos taken on the actual day... see.. slow processing again... 

and i regretted not negotiating for more pictures prior to signing. the package was only 28 pics i think, and we negotiated for them to give us 30 pics in total. should seriously have asked for more! it's all money! the more the better! shld had really squeeeeezed them! 

and 1 question to ans - why we did not opt for overseas shoot. cause i personally think it's too much of a hassle. have to travel all the way there and pray for good weather, good skin, good transport etc etc. and have to spend money on airfare... and if things did not work out during our stay there, then how?? so... what for? 

previously, when we walked past those bridal road shows, the salesperson will always come up to us and jio-jio us. then we always brush them off by lying that we are already married. 

so now, no need to lie liao. can really say loudly we are really married liao! 

LOL 

My Birthday!

hoho, bday this year, super simple..

y didn't I take leave huh???!

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worked till 9pm... all thanks to the stupid budget... everytime this year..... this budget thingie... has always been a mess and shit!!! grrrrrrr... next year... pls pls pls not have me in it again!!!!

late dinner at vivo thai restaurant...

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and by the time we had dinner, almost all cake shops were closing or already closed.. lucky still got bread talk and still managed to get a cake.. else it'll be a bday w/o cake and wish... how sad..

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so, we happily cut the cake just before 12am arrived... hoho! happy birthday to me!

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and I must say, breadtalk's cakes have really improved a lot! very yummy!!

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happy birthday! be happy always!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday, woohoooo!

It shall be a happy day! 

The Wedding Venue - Marina Bay Sands

now, how did we ended up with MBS?

the search for the venue went all the way back in Feb 2012. actually we didn't exactly knew when to hold the banquet, it all just happened one day when hubb was browsing and he came across MBS rates and was surprised how the rates had come down as compared to the very 1st time he came to know about the rates.

MBS was a venue I wanted, but knew couldn't make it, as we all knew, it will be damn hell expensive. so, when hubb told me about the dropped in rates, I quickly started the email enquiry blasts.

to be honest, we wanted, or at least, I wanted, a venue of certain branding. I remembered sending out enquiries to MBS, Goodwood Park, Four Seasons, Fullerton, Ritz Carlton, Pan Pac, Marriott etc. We also attended wedding shows for RWS and Marina Mandarin, and had racquet Carlton Hotel on our own.

I remembered RWS providing very attractive perks during their wedding show, but in the end we did not take it up in view of the really far and inconvenient location.

then the battle was btw MBS and Marriott, as the rest were either not suitable or over our budget. MBS and Marriott were the only 2 comparable, in terms of branding and pricing.

and then I remembered negotiating like hell over emails w MBS, asking them to give more perks etc. at that time, we were looking to hold our banquet in last quarter of 2013. when the nego w MBS were almost firmed up, hubb's eldest bro suddenly announced that he would be tying the knot in Nov2013.

not wanting to clash w him, I asked MBS if it was okay to book a date in 2014 instead of 2013, in which they replied saying booking for 2014 was not opened yet. urgh! so much for the time spent in negotiations!!

so things were left there, until I received an invitation from MBS for their wedding show held in July 2012.

and then, we quickly went to consult a master to get auspicious dates.

at MBS wedding show, it was an open date booking! and believe it or not, we booked our wedding date 2 years ahead! in 2012, we already booked our wedding banquet for 2014! talk about kiasu-ness! hohoho.

actually, the initial date we signed during the wedding show was in June. 8 June 2014, if I remb correctly. but after that, there were some changes, and the final date was fixed on 30 Aug 2014, which was definitely a better date than 8 June! Kekekeke.

with the wedding show, there were already better perks. and along the way, there were many things which happened and we managed to ask for even more perks and add-ons!

it was definitely a good deal for us.

and I must say, MBS is a really cool hotel. the service is superb and we really felt like VIPs when we were there. though there were couple of hiccups along the way, they rectified them to our satisfaction.

as the wedding couple, Im totally satisfied with MBS service. they had accommodated us and pacified us when things went wrong. not too sure how the guests felt about the standards that day, hopefully good too.

what I totally love, was the dual screens, one at each corner of the ballroom, so that no guests had to turn their chairs or heads when viewing the screens.

if clock turns back, MBS will still be the choice :)

The Wedding Cards

ok, as said, I will catch up on the un-blogged wedding prep process. better document them before I forget. N years later, referring back, I can still remember. =)

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now for the wedding cards, most hotels will provide for 70% of the confirmed attendance in their wedding package. some more, some less. some include the printing costs, some do not. any additional, you have to pay for it.

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so, for MBS, they gave us 70% of the confirmed attendance. and so, we were referred to their vendor at lorong pisang, one small little shop tucked away near arab street. had a hard time locating it and also becuz of it, I visited arab street for the 1st time all these years! a v culturistic place indeed.

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there were plenty of choices to choose from at the vendor's. the cards came in all shapes and sizes, some square, some rectangular, some stick-ons, some ribbon tie, some just folds.

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I initially wanted a cutie card version w stickmen drawing.. but hubb tot that was too kiddish and not appropriate for our wedding banquet. in the end, we settled for this version, which we both liked.

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tada! gold cards!!

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photo add-on = $50. and gold embossing = another $50.

ok, wasn't expecting to spend anything more on cards but alas, we did. though it's known that the cards will eventually be thrown away by the recipients, I still liked the idea of having our nice pic printed on it =)

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the Chinese inserts

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the map

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and the folder

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and it was a really tedious process to get the cards assembled cuz we had to stick multiple double-sided tape at the back of each English version inserts so that they can stick on to the folder.

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and so the end product will look like this

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and when the recipient opens it up, it will be like this

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so basically, the 1st step we did was to stick the English inserts with double-sided tapes. then hi-light the banquet exact location on the map. then write the recipient's name on the English insert. then remove the double-sided tape and stick the insert onto the folder. then slot in the Chinese insert and the hi-lighted map. then close and stick the folder. then write the red envelop. and finally, slot the folder into the envelop. real hard work I tell u. it took us a few weekends to get it all done.

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the envelopes came in red and champagne color. we took red, of cuz.

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and if send by mail, the stamp is 80cents per piece. weight is one thing, the red envelope and gold ink is another. apparently the machines are unable to pick up non-white surface, so these gotta be picked up by human and manually processed.

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most of the 1st response we received by the recipients were 'wah, y so heavy'. then when they tried to open up, they will say 'why you stick until like that'.

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lol.

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I personally do like the cards a lot. we printed 36 pieces extra at $3 per piece. and on top of that, the additional $100 for photo add-on and gold embossing.

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and now, the extra pieces printed had proven to be really extras! cuz we had quite a bit of leftovers! o well, I guess it's better more than less bah. in any case, we were advised to print more, cuz once they started printing and in the event we want more after that, we had to pay the $100 all over again. so better to tell them upfront to print extras.

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in summary, we paid about $200 extra for the cards. but the money was eventually refunded back to us all thanks to a small episode we had w the hotel. and not only that, they also refunded us the costs of the 70% complimentary cards which was in the package.

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hohohohoho

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and so, that's our wedding cards. loveeee it cuz it's exactly the way we wanted it!

In Summary

o man.. time is really mercilessly fast.

in a blink of an eye, wedding preparation is over, wedding is over, honeymoon is over, long leave is going to be over soon, and it's back to 'normal' life on Thursday.

yes... starting work on Thursday. the thought sucks... totally.

but I should be appreciative already. despite the manpower shortage, they still let me went on a 3.5weeks leave. 也算是这样了.

in summary, I think all went well actually. surprisingly, we did profit from the banquet. lol.

honeymoon was ok. expected the mad rush and hectic schedule since we went with tour group. covered London, paris, Switzerland, Italy, Vatican in 12d9n. sweat.

what was not within expectation was the weather. was expecting cool weather, but turned out to be hot sun.

and I realised I din blog anything for the whole month of august! must had been too bz with wedding prep and lazy in uploading pics...

will definitely catch up!

Off to EuroPe... WooHoo!

oh yes.... i havent been blogging for sooo sooo long....

too lazy to upload pics etc... 

kekekeke.. 

now at airport, waiting for departure to our honeymoon in europe! 

hohohohohohoho!