Planning a proper wedding - what issues you may stumble upon

You know what's one thing about planning a wedding?

It's never easy.

Sure, I've seen some people with the easiest wedding, both families are alright with any arrangements or no hiccups/issues. If you have that kind of wedding, I would give you a big hug and tell you "Congrats. Please appreciate what your families have given you."

I've researched alot that I can do for my wedding, diy, flowers, venues.. But I've actually overlooked and never realised about issues that may occurred. Caught off guard, these minor issues actually matters alot to the elderly and it seems that overnight, someone laid a million of burdens on my shoulder.

Yeah, like as usual. The objections people have, the dates you need to have, the decorations, venues, food.. Sighs, I wish to have it easy and I decide with mr. Bambam but why do people need to help us decide? It's our wedding, but in fact, it has became the families' wedding.

It's like 1 year and 7 months to my wedding date and I've already had so many problems.

1) The date
2) The previous issues that were never resolved
3) Gossip mongers

The list will be longer, I believe. But I need to persevere on! The lucky thing about this is how I actually witnessed mr. Bambam reacted to the whole situation and he gave me the strength to carry on. <3

So unlike any other advice, my advice to brides or grooms who are planning the wedding - it's not always about the glamour and beauty. A wedding has alot of issues, always ask, and ask further, your family about what are they thinking. It's not the generic kind of questions, you need to be a psychologist and understand the underlying meaning. Serious, it's extremely disastrous if you don't.

Don't Buy the Puppy, Adopt a Dog.

Okay, as the title suggest, this is what I will be dwelling on today. It is not solely on dogs but any other domestic animals. :)

Maybe it is the power of social media. These days, I have been seeing a lot of Facebook postings about adoption, fur parents giving up their fur kids, animals being put to sleep due to lack of space. And not to mentioned, the people who posted about adopting/buying Puppies only.

Actually, having a pet is never easy - I've learnt the hard way. Before you want/demand a pet, remember some points:

1)     Are you willing to clean up their faeces after they have done their business? It might be in public, but that's okay.. What's worse if it relieves itself in your home, your favourite sofa, the walls, and your bed?

2)     Food! What can your pet eats, what is dangerous for them, e.g. my dog, Sparky, can't eat grapes - like any other dog, he will vomits. Imagine cleaning up his vomit when he accidentally ate one grape.

3)     They need to have their activity and play times! Cats, dogs, rabbits.. They need to be let out and roam freely. You must bring them down for walks or open up their cage for them to roam about. You won't like being kept in a small cage 24/7. So do them!

4)     Bathe them! Eating, drinking, going for walks, activity time, dust.. Like humans, anything can make them dirty, pets need to have their bath times. And bathing them needs skill, you must not allow water in their ears and eyes. And drying them up with a hairdryer asap one you're done with the shower for them to prevent colds.

5)     The house will never be clean with a pet around. Your beloved sofa will be covered with fur. Wires tend to become chew toys. Your pet may territorise and sleep on the sofa. Anything but it is no longer just you, it's us. There is a need to clean up the house daily. It's going to be a chore and adding up to your burdens.

6)     Your pet will grow old; it will not be the cute little thing you thought it always will be. One day, they, like humans, may have no more energy to walk and run. They will be paralysed. You need to feed them. You need to clean them up when they can't move. It will be a horrible and heart wrecking sight but you need to be there for them.

A pet needs a lot of commitments. The list goes on and on. I am one fur parent that regretted having a dog in my house. But the joy of having one around is of great impact as well. If one day, I return home and Sparky's not around to greet me, I will feel sad..

So everytime you see a post about adoption, always consider what are the cons first. There are millions and billions of pros having a dog but the cons may affect you in future in abandoning that same dog too.

So think first, always.

Tap to earn

Okay, everyone is complaining about high cost of living in Singapore. Transportation so high.. MRT keeps breaking down.. And.. here's something for everyone!! You can sign up at this link to earn rebates from your daily transportation (I've a friend who earn 60$ cash rebates for the past 10 months!!) How cool is that!

What you need to do:-

1) Click on this link - https://insinc.sg/r/3cXm7eXh/
2) Sign up/sign up with facebook login
3) Key in 1 EZ Link card (the digits behind) that you usually use4) Clock 2 trips with this EZ Link card (you should be able to in one day (2 trips))5) You're all set to earn rebates!!
I have started earning points.. And on my way to getting back money from the government :P So why not you? Click to join!! ^_^

Marriage is never easy

To be in a dating relationship, it is always easy to cut it off if you woke up one day realising that this is not the love of your life..

But if you are in a marriage, that is a whole new different thing. You got married because you are committed to each other. The support a wife needs to give the husband should be 100% + 1% more than anyone else. You don't say "Let's divorced" that easily because you are not divorcing your other one, you are breaking off all relationships with the other party's family too.

The love a husband needs to give the wife is also at 100% + 1% more. You can exceed but you must never lower that percentage.

Only after being in a marriage, you will realise how hard it is to maintain. You will have loans commitment, issues to deal with and also people you need to handle and these people may not even be your spouse!

When you get older, your love dies. But your love dies because your heart is dead or flown away.

I always thought people were stupid not being able to maintain their marriage but truth is, it is difficult. It is difficult because you realise he/she is not how you think they are. It is difficult because you are not how they think you are.

To maintain the marriage, lower your expectations but at the same time, improve yourself to meet your spouse's expectation. Men, look after the kids and help with the household work. Women, learn to change the light bulb and slim down.

And if one day, you have really decided to break if all off. Recall the days that you had been through. The first flower he gave you, the first kiss you ever have, your movie date, your normal hawker dinner, the struggles you go through getting your flat, the objections from parents on your relationship, your friends' words about both of you, and the vows you made in front of your witnesses.

Always remember, you were once madly in love.. And you will eventually find the feeling back..

[Review] Bio Oil - Getting rid of stretch marks and SCARS!

I’m the kind of girl that is always having bruises and scars on my legs and hands.  It’s quite embarrassing and unsightly to have big patches of scars on your leg!! I have always considered *if I ever become rich* to go for skin laser to get rid of my scars..

Till one day….

I’ve read about and heard about Bio Oil!!

Okay, here’s the story. As you would have known, I was preparing for my ROM last year.. However, silly little me fall down 2 months before my wedding and had a huge cut across my left thigh. I swear I was super angry and upset at myself so I went online to seek for help!! And then, I met it – Bio Oil. The reviews given was quite general, no pictures to support but people from all over the globe is giving thumbs up on this product.

I hesitated from buying because I’m really skeptical of a product that can remove scars (come on, we know that many products claim to remove scars but few really does, right?) so I delayed my purchase of Bio Oil. mr. Bambam heard about my scars and he was really pissed off – I got a big scolding from him for being so careless and I should have known better because it’s our ROM soon.. blah…blah….blah..

So, he got really very upset and pissed off, he went ahead and bought Bio Oil for me!!! :) Happy girl ^^,v

Bio Oil - The miracle oil

So, happily, I’ve been using this product. Every now and then *when I remember*, I will rub the oil at my scars!! My scars usually stay on for 1 year, 2 years or never gone.. So imagine me looking at it every other day wishing for it to disappear. I bring the oil everywhere I go and once I have the chance to, I will keep massage the scars’ area.

Anyways, the joy was the scars really are disappearing!! It is not a immediate effect but it took 3-4 months for the scars to disappear~~

Jumps for joy!

My scars will always come to me because I always… ALWAYS fall down! So knowing that such a product exists is like heavens dropping a immortal pill for me :P

Anyways, no picture no talk, right? Here’s proof of my before and after affected area – look at how to scars are gone after using Bio Oil.

Before – Slight scars (I’ve been using the oil for at least 1 month) & After – No more scars (I’ve been using the oil for at least 3 months)

Another photo that shows the scars clearly :)

I’m trying to target other areas like spider veins and stretch marks but I believe that the product will not fail me. I hope it does help you in a way or two too~! <3 p="">

The jobs that few would want..

The other day I was talking about how awesome the police drama was on channel 8 was to mr. Bambam and asked him why such a cool job couldn't attract people to join!

mr. Bambam logically analyse why for me. Mind boggling. First, it's the salary. And interlinked with dangers of the job.

Salary, I guessed, for our dear police shouldn't be much.. Perhaps a starting salary range from 1,800$ to 2,200$?

And the dangers associated to it! mr. Bambam was telling me being a police person has alot of dangers like facing minor criminals e.g. thief to extreme criminals e.g. murderer. Being a police person, you are also exposing your loved ones to danger if you made enemies when carrying out your duties. And mind you, it's not the normal office political kind of enemies. These enemies may be someone who might go crazy anytime to stab your loved ones.

So with that kind of danger, why would anyone want to join the force.

Another job I noted with very limited manpower is the qualified nurses in Singapore.

The healthcare industry has always been in a labour crunch. It's hard to recruit the right talent for these jobs. Nurses have long working hours, shift work, and facing demanding patients and their family. Not to mentioned, it is not  well recognised job by most people. And.. the low salary.

Conclusion, salary really plays a huge part in ensuring people join certain industry and jobs but.. that's just the tip of the ice berg.

Ultimately, the pull factor for people to join is the passion and willingness to serve. To serve the nation by ensuring the lowest crime rates in Singapore. To serve the nation by nursing the health of our children, elderly and injuried.

Yes, there are definitely alot of jobs that may be better but the heart and the desire to help is the greatest beauty anyone could have if they joined such industries.

With that, I truly saluate the country's soldiers, police, nurses, doctors and anyone else who dedicated their lifetime to serve, to put down materialistic gains and go for what truly matters to them - their heart of gold and compassion.

:)

How's life?

I had my engagement on the 25 of November in year 2012. I must say Grand Copthrone have one of the nicest food among various hotels. Duh, they have like the most expensive menu for their wedding dinner! I can't afford that though :(
Oh well, another year has came. During my absence of blogging, I got 1) engaged (in the sense of legally married but not customary), 2) passed my exams and into my final semester, 3) change a new job and 4) preparing for my wedding and house.
How time flies, mr. Bambam and I had our 1 yr proposal anniversary too. It was just a simple meal at home :) cooked duly by me only!
I embarked a new journey now at a company and I hope this road brings me magical moments.
Oh, talk about magical.. I went to a Disney course and I'm so attracted by the employees' enthusiasm and willing to put 101% effort in their job. It makes me longing to work for such a company where dreams matter.
And I'm inspired to have a close to Disney theme for my wedding! I hope it will turn out nice ;) We, brides, are only princess just once in our lives. And, we all hope to end happily ever after, right?
To end, let me share my favourite picture of my engagement (mr. Bambam n me)!

Planning the ROM

Horrors or delights?

Planning a ROM is not as difficult as planning a traditional wedding but when things go wrong, a delightful event can turn into the horrible nightmare of yours! *Gasps!*

Well, my ROM has just passed a week ago. :) Coincidentally, the date is the same marriage date as one of my good friend. :) Talk about being besties, marriage date is the same too. It was not selected on purposes. mr. Bambam and I went to select the good date with a fengshui master :)

So, how did I manage my ROM? The built up of events are as follows:-

1. Make an appointment with the fengshui master on 24 December 2011, 11am to select our marriage dates

2. Research and select a few venues for ROM

• Furama Riverfront
• Changi Village Hotel
• Grand Copthorne

2.1 Check on the availability dates of hotel

2.2 Reccee hotel on an impromptu basis on 6 January 2012, visited Furama and Grand Copthorne

3. mr. Bambam prefers Grand Copthorne for its ambience and stylish outlook as compared to Furama

4. Email the coordinator of Grand Copthorne to arrange for an actual viewing of their venue

We went somewhere in Jan/Feb, there were 2 rooms that is suitable for coordinating ROM but unfortunately, the bigger room was taken (mr. Bambam and I loved the bigger room as the receiption area is very enclosed and belongs to a private area). Therefore, we had to take the Paradiso Room instead which can only seat up to 40pax.

5. Make the downpayment for the hotel

6. Preparing guest lists (only for close relatives)

As there are limited seats, I can't invite my friends already. :'( But good thing that there is the wedding dinner for us to invite them :)

Oh oh! And my ROM hotel coordinator left. So we are stuck with a new guy and he was quite helpful about the whole event :)

7. Prepare invites (design and done by me using powerpoint) :) Printed using canon printer (good quality!) and used hard shiny glossy paper. Got quite good comments on the printing :)

8. Gown and coat

I happily tried my gown in September and have choosen the one I like. It's a little pink fluffly dress and it looks absolutely cute. Totally not a bride style (white and all) but it's the only one that fits me perfectly :) Talking about getting the right dress, I think what matters is the feeling and let your heart decides when you put on the gown.

Coat for guys - G2000 is the safest ^^,

9. Shoes and accessories - Shoes from METRO and accessories from Taobao :)

10. Photographer and make up artist - Friend and he's quite good!! Make up artist from bridal shop

11. Justice of Peace (Solemniser) - Mr. Chia Ti Yu 

11.1 Met and signed the consent form - 2 September 2012

12. Choose march in song - Select one that you can do a grand march in, I choose something instrumental with dynamics :)

10. Apply with ROM and get certificate (File application on 25 Aug 2012) - Applied on 2 September 2012, paid $26

11. Decorations in function room (Fake flower petals / Balloons)
mr. Bambam's close friends did alot of great help by decorating forus, last minute stye :)

12. Ring pillows - free one from Lee Hwa

13. Wedding bands - Lee Hwa

14. Hand bouquet

15. Door gifts - bought from Taobao, swans + sweets.

Actually, it is quite tedious but I am glad everything went smoothly (with some hiccups) but yeah, that's how our ROM is done.  ^_^



Let's walk down the road!

It is nice having a long weekend. Today felt like a Sunday even though it is actually just Saturday!

Well, to cut the story short, I accompanied mr. bambam to his exam today at Roxy hotel.While waiting for him, I pampered myself with a classic mani and pedi. Felt so loved with my self pampering.

As promised to him, we walked from Parkway Parade to the Seafood Lagoon area for some local hawker fare. Ordered stingray, gong gong and the famous Teddy Bear chicken wings :)

Such love on a cool Saturday evening.

Here comes the climax! After dinner, I was suggesting to mr. bambam that we should have a walk. mr. bambam was talking about his commando days whereby he had to walk 72km back and forth east coast, changi and to his camp.

So, being the usual me, I suggested that we should walk to changi village for dimsum! :)

He told me we will reached by 8.30pm (it was 6.30pm then). Boy, it was so damn wrong! We walked all the way from east coast, cross the park connector (which was right beside the airport) and the whole journey is a whopping 16km when we reached the SAF jetty! We spent 3 whole hours walking this tough road.

But, I am extremely happy yet tired throughout this walk. I was commenting to mr. bambam that this walk shows how much love we had for each other. The time we spent walking was marvelous. We talked about plans to travel, life, marriage and what this whole thing means.

mr. bambam is in a very uncomfortable attire (he was dressed in jeans, shirt and working shoes) yet he accompanied me throughout this journey. At many point of time, I am at the peak of giving up but he was always there to cheer me on.

I relate the whole journey to our soon to be married life.

In marriage, we are supposed to walk down the road together and we literally did that today.

In this road, we met with many dangers (me fearing at the slightest noise and grabbing his hand, bicycles almost banging into me) and darkest times (flicking lamps and non-lighted lamps) but he was there to hold on to me when these happen.

At times, when I did silly things like walking too far away, he was there to pull me back and guide me to the correct road. Though he reprimands me now and then, but whatever he does - it is always meant for my own good.

This is how I am sure that mr. bambam will always and definitely be the one for me.

Though I'm not sure if I am the one for him but I will try my best to be.. that very special person :)

Music and the world

As a kid, I used to wonder why my mother always sing the same old hokkien song. Each time she sings, it just keep getting.. well.. kind of boring to hear.

To me, there were way better songs such as Right here waiting.. I'll never stop.. Like a rose.. Swear it again.. Never had a dream come true.. and the list goes on and on.

So I couldn't fathom why she is stuck in her own world. Time has passed, shouldn't she move on with the rest?

Well, now I know why.. The music she was listening to happened in the best memories of her life. Ironically, I am entangled into my own best memories too. Recalling when I was in primary school, I always tuned in to radio station such as 98.7 aka perfect ten station. Great songs accompanied my lonely days at home and has grown to be a part of me.

As I grow older, busy were my days that I have long forgotten how I used to immerse myself in good music, soothing my brain and my soul.

Boy, am I glad I have come to realise this. And.. I have recently found what was missing in my life - the radio station that simply plays just my memories.

I've tumbled into just the right radio station for me - Kiss 92fm. The radio stations that play good music from 80s to 00s with a tinge of new music in 2010s. I'm so immpressed by yhe station. It simply picks all my preloved music.

I can spend the whole night grooving to these :)