Aijia's big day!

Another of my good friend's wedding~ and my second time being a 'jie mei' =)

Weddings are happy affairs, but tiring too.. I see brides and grooms spending months preparing for their wedding, photoshoot, planning, sourcing for a venue, losing sleep over it, constantly worrying about what could go wrong on the actual wedding day, sometimes even end up quarreling with each other while planning... So much work for that one day~ if it's not for the conviction and love for each other, I don't know what can motivate both, compromising and putting in so much effort to make it happen..

The jie meis woke up early that day, and I understand that most of us had only less than 4 hrs of sleep.. Of course the bride didn't catch a wink at all.. Haha.. She was too excited for her Prince Charming to come pick her up..

Aijia was too excited she couldn't stop talking! Haha

Pretty Aijia all ready for Tze Liang's arrival

I'm really happy for my dear friend! =)

We prepared the gate crashing 'dishes' and patiently waited for the groom and his gang of brothers to arrive.. It wasn't very tough for the brothers, and the games and haggling for more hong baos was of course done in the name of fun.. Making the atmosphere more lively.. After close to 30 mins of gate crashing games, Tze Liang was allowed to meet his bride.. Haha..

The blissful couple..

Then it was some outdoor photoshoot at punggol waterway before heading over to the groom's place for tea ceremony..

Driving off in their beetle~

At the groom's place..

Then back to her house for the tea ceremony to her side's relatives

Aijia in her pretty tea dress..

Aijia and I! =)

Then it was back to my place.. For me to take a short nap before I head over to Conrad hotel.. To prepare, make up, change into something more presentable, rehearse.. Coz I was her wedding's mandarin emcee! Hahaha.. But thanks to Mr Koh who wrote the speech for me, I only need to read the words out =p

Us, posing at the hotel room's huge toilet.. Haha

Soon it was time for a short briefing and rehearsal with the event coordinator, before the solemnisation...

Where they both said 'I do'

With Mr Chua and the girls..

I didn't take a lot of pictures that night coz I was moving about quite abit, and had to standby to emcee at various intervals.. Though it was a long and tiring day, I am happy to share dear Aijia's joy and see her happily married to her beloved~ =)

I'm sure she's in safe hands, and will continue to be doted and loved by Tze Liang.. Witnessing how their relationship grew and blossomed, a very loving and blissful couple indeed.. 很令人羡慕的一对..

Wishing Aijia and Tze Liang a wonderful marriage! Now I'm waiting for their little ones to come along, so that I can play with them =p

From the Thought Catalog..

When you are the one who loves more

By Chelsea Fagan

I have heard, on more than one occasion, a certain piece of advice about deciding who to settle down with in life. With what I’m sure are the best intentions, various women have told me, in so many words, “If you marry someone who loves you more than you love them, you’ll always be happy.” They tell me this with a kind of sage, “it sucks but it’s true” reassurance. They know better, they seem to say, and even if my idealistic visions of what long-term commitment really means won’t accept it right now, one day I will come to understand it. I, too, will partner up with someone who needs me emotionally in a way I don’t and never will quite need them.

What makes me sad about this, though, is not so much the implication of “settling” for someone with whom you always have the upper hand in the emotional power structure, but rather a sense of empathy for what it means to be the person who is loved in return slightly (or profoundly) less. To live the constant, quiet humiliation that comes with being dependent on someone in a way that is not reciprocated erodes the self-esteem like little else can. I know this, of course, because I have been the one who loves more.

When you love more, when you can feel that your partner does not return so much of what is essential to you, you start to love yourself less. You see yourself as worthy only to the degree that this person whom you love so much has deemed you worthy, and if they are not loving you with as much passion or conviction as you love them, there must be something wrong with you. There is almost no fault in them which you are not ready to excuse, ready to brush over with the incredibly forgiving rendering of your admiration — and yet your flaws all become tangible, justifiable reasons for them not to be happy with you. In many ways, the more indifferent they become towards your overtures, the more resolved you become to convincing them otherwise.

Suddenly, approval and affection from your partner become the only kind of currency that matter to you — the only thing capable of convincing you that you are good and worth loving. Because so much of you has been invested in convincing them that you deserve them, if they don’t recognize it, it can feel that no one ever will.

When you go out together, you can feel it. There will always be limits to how beautiful or confident you can feel while in public with them because there is an inescapable overtone of being a loyal dog who doesn’t even need a leash to follow at the heel of its beloved-yet-distant master. While being with them can give you a heady rush of pride and profound gratefulness at being allowed this time together — and to bask in the glow of being their chosen one, even for a moment — it always comes with a distinct wave of shame over simply being not up to the task. Everyone that walks by is competition, and is likely so much more deserving than you in your eyes.

And the treatment that you will accept from them knows almost no boundaries. Nothing, to you, is wholly inexcusable or something you don’t in some way deserve. Even if being loved by them comes with a thousand asterisks, or is accompanied by put-downs or bouts of complete apathy, it is better than not being loved at all. Slowly you begin to adjust yourself to what you imagine they are looking for, uninterested in pleasing yourself so much as getting that residual pleasure from making them happy, if only for a minute. By the time they leave you — and they almost always will — you will look around and realize just how much of yourself you had given away. Your interests, your style, your loud laugh, your crazy friends: they were all collateral damage in the face of wanting to make them love you as you love them.

So perhaps it does make for a better marriage to be with someone who loves me more than I do them. Maybe it would make my life easier, more secure, more malleable to my whims and desires. But it would also mean that, for an entire lifetime, someone would be living out a pantomime of what they think I want them to be. I want to be just as enamored with someone as they are with me — even if we need each other for different things — because no one should ever doing another person a favor by spending their life with them. 

River Safari!

Thanks to my company, and my luck =p I balloted for the corporate pass to River Safari and got it! Yay~

Brought my family on a little excursion and even the rain didn't dampen our moods.. Haha.. Though the boat ride (which was the main attraction in this new River Safari) hasn't officially opened, we had a great time snapping pictures and saying our hellos to the resident animals/fishes =)

And of course, we met the stars of River Safari - Kai Kai and Jia Jia.. By the way if you are unsure, Kai Kai is male and Jia Jia is female.. Haha! We spent close to an hour in the panda observatory coz it was maintained at approximately 24 degrees.. It felt so comfortable inside that we can't bear to leave =p

Kai Kai is a lazy panda that sleeps all the time, while Jia Jia is so shy that she hides away from the public, and stays in her little cave most of the time.. Either that or she hates Kai Kai.. Haha! We had lunch at the panda themed Cafe that serves super cute panda buns.. Sadly I didn't take any pictures of that..

That's lazy Kai Kai in the background

We had fun in the squirrel monkey enclosure too! Where little squirrel-like monkeys were free to roam around.. They looked cute and not very aggressive, so I wasn't worried, but mummy was scared.. Haha..

The flooded amazon forest attraction located near the exit was nice too~ reminded me of the oceanarium at RWS.. We spent quite abit of time there too~ my folks were so fascinated with the sea creatures, and I'm sure they enjoyed the day out =)

Even though it's a pity that the boat ride wasn't ready, we had a great day at the River Safari! Nice being close to nature, away from the hustle and bustle (and of coz work =p) and spending quality family time together =)

We took lots of instant pictures too! Haha..

Instax instax!!

 

 

Random blabbering

It's almost bedtime for me.. But there's so much racing through my mind.. Thinking about the future sometimes scares me, maybe it's through my observations and experiences now (that I tend to imagine how things will be like years down the road).. Not pessimistic, but just being real.. Things that adults will always say when I was younger, or complain about seem to make sense to me now.. I guess it's part of growing up, you'll understand more things as you go along, much more than you ever knew existed.. Maybe it's time to accept the fact that I cannot always be the captain of my ship..

I hope Lady Luck continues to smile at me.. 走一步看一步吧..

Good night world~ =)

 

Happy Mothers' Day

Mothers' day falls on 12 May this year.. A Sunday =)

So we woke up early that day, to bring dearest mummy out for a nice brunch.. Haha.. Wanted to bring mummy to a nice restaurant but she didn't want.. She didn't want us to spend too much money, and instead suggested the nice chicken rice restaurant that we usually frequent~ my mummy is so nice, we wanted to pamper her but she preferred a simple affair =)

So daddy drove us to the restaurant at Toa Payoh, and we made our usual orders.. Stomachs were growling by then =p

Delicious meats!

The dishes arrived and everyone started feasting! Haha.. Esp Mummy =p. while everyone was busy gobbling down the food, I was busy snapping pictures and instant pictures.. Haha..

We bought Mummy some bird's nest and made her a card.. Haha..

My dearest Family!

We went for a nice afternoon stroll around Marina square area after brunch.. And spent some quality time together, treated them to nice desserts and brought them shopping =)

Reminds me of the times when Mummy and Daddy used to bring us shopping around malls every weekend.. Buying us whatever we wanted.. Haha.. Now it feels good to bring them around, buying them whatever they wanted =)

The only difference is that they didn't want to spend too much of our money, always finding ways to help us save.. Whereas when we were younger, I believed we were more willful, we would sulk/feel sad if parents didn't get us what we wanted.. Haha..

我的父母真伟大! 我真幸福 =）To have wonderful parents who love and care for me unconditionally, never asking for anything in return.. I wouldn't be who and what I am, if not for them, and all that they have given me.. I love my Mummy and Daddy!

Happy Mothers' Day to my dear Mummy and all mummies!

 

Remember to love your parents.. We are so busy growing up, we often forget they are also growing old.. (Quote)

 

 

Laduree macaroons

Finally, the hype is over (for me).. Finally got to try the famous macaroons from Laduree.. Heard they were all specially flown in from Paris~

I've saw many friends posting pictures of the Laduree macaroons on Facebook, and it's obviously too tempting to ignore =p

So, feeling generous, my colleagues and I decided to just buy them to satisfy our craving for it.. Haha.. At $3.80 per piece, they are like the LV of macaroons.. Rationally speaking, it's just too expensive!!!! One piece is equivalent to a plate of chicken rice =p

But girls being girls, it's pretty easy to switch off the rational mind, and let the eyes and heart make the decision.. Haha.. So there goes our money =p

Even the box is so pretty

Presenting to you, the super pretty and delectable macaroons from Laduree! =)

Why are they so pretty??

Taken from another angle.. Haha

Macaroons, macaroons, macaroons...

My personal favourite being the one in blue.. Has a lovely name as well~ Marie Antoinette... Even their names (flavours) are so exquisite..

*I personally feel that they taste about the same as canele's.. But canele's cost half the price =p but still, I'm glad I've tried them.. Hee! Laduree macaroons checked! =)

 

Eat eat eat...

Right, that's what we have been practicing regularly... Eat eat eat, while we ironically keep to a healthy weekly exercise routine~ haha.. I hope my metabolic rate continues to stay high =p

Sinful indulgence!

We finally tried Kiseki buffet~ the food's ok, but I hope it's cheaper =p

Queuing to whack the buffet!

Head-butt Mr Koh's chest..

Cholesterol overload at kiseki!

I love crabs!!!

Ending it off with desserts! *thumbs up*

Kiseki... Checked!

We finally tried poulet! There's always a super long queue at Bugis+, but we were early that day, so we didn't have to queue... Double yay! =) I love good food... Heard much about it, I can't wait to sink my teeth into their dishes...

French onion soup with cheese croutons

My duck..

Forgot the name of the duck dish =p

Recently I've been to a few French restaurants, and I seem to be addicted to duck dishes! The French seem to be able to perfect their duck dishes.. Haha.. Almost comparable to the Chinese's braised or roasted duck! =p yummy~~ I like this one.. Everything in this dish is nice, even the onions.. Haha

His chicken =p

Roast chicken in mushroom sauce

 

Poulet... Checked!

We didn't stay too long in the restaurant coz there was a long queue waiting outside.. They used their eye-power to pressure us to leave =p or rather, we felt bad hogging the table..

More good food awaits, while I continue to watch my waistline.. Haha!