Long-awaited wedding photos!

http://picasaweb.google.com/leelihui/WeddingAlbum?authkey=TLfr3wL2dD8
Check out our web album!!

Fatigue!

Jgal -
After about 5 months of furniture shopping, Kboy and I are suffering from furniture-shopping fatigue! If there is a scientific medical term for it, let us know so we can go to the doctors and apply for MC.

We've finally completed furnishing our house with the latest purchase - a TV console from a shop in Furniture Mall. Haven't been into Furniture Mall for the past 6-7 years i think, and that place is still the same!! Like a smaller scale IMM, it houses various furniture brands and shops, featuring almost every type of furniture you can think of, from modern, to classic, to woody chinese looking pieces, to upmarket ones, mass market ones, beds, curtains and carpets etc... Bryan Wong and Mark Lee should go to these places for their Bai Jia Le program!!

We also purchased bedside lamps from Balestier. You have to shop around, there're more than 15 shops and prices vary quite abit (of course quality is different la) but about half the lights in our house are purchased there.

Jgal was also pestering Kboy for a Christmas tree, as its always been Jgal's dream to put up a christmas tree and decorate it, just that in my former home, there was simply no luxury of space. Kboy gave in eventually, and if you come round to our place this Christmas, you'll see a very nice tree around :)

1st House Warming

We just had our first housewarming today (11/11). Initially it was just a simple catch up and dinner with Chin Yi, Jamie, Kelly and Janet. But since they came with gifts, then i suppose its considered a housewarming!! :) Not too bad, we all had an enjoyable time, except that we had a little electrical problem halfway into our steamboat dinner...the extension plug decided to call it quits. You can imagine our panic when we realised that we had no other extension cords. Eventually, we shifted the whole dining table nearer to the powerpoint itself, otherwise I think we might have had to cook all the food on the stove instead.

Since moving into simei, both kboy and jgal are enjoying our new home and convenience. It takes jgal 30mins to get to work now, (5min walk to mrt, 15min train, 10min walk to office) and for kboy, he's enjoying the fact that we can just pop into Eastpoint to get stuff (5min walk). No need to drive or find parking :)

We are shopping and getting new furniture every week. Its like weekly outings to Ikea is a norm for us now... but we are still searching for a few essential pieces before we can hold bigger house warming parties. Well, those of you reading this and wondering when you'll be invited (or want to be invited) drop us a comment :) We'll try our best to slot you in before Christmas!! (wah...dua pai!! hehee)

Back to work

Kboy says

Its back to work for us. I still am feeling a bit jet lagged, and have a slight fever. Think I caught something from london, the weather there was appalling, as usual! Good thing was, I got fewer emails than I expected at work, so managed to clear the backlog quite fast. Still, its a bit of an effort to get back into the swing of things.

Jgal is now sitting next to me with a mask on ... watching our new TV that we bought yesterday. Cash and carry from Parisilk. Good deal, got a free TV with the new new TV.

Married life is looking good ...

Barcelona Pics

Adeios Espano!

Jgal -
Its our last day in Spain today! Having spent the last 10 days in Spain, I´ve grown acustomed to Spanish lifestyle....this means that i must have a siesta after lunch nowadays, and wine with every meal!! But Jgal is also missing her Sliced Fish Bee Hoon and Tom Yum soups...Need to get a Singapore fix soon :) Madrid is also really cold...its 11 degrees even though the sun is shining brightly! Miss home...

Kboy -
Last wrote from Seville just before we were off to Granada. Granada and the alhambra started off badly with terrible grey and rainy weather, no shelter, a bad ticket booking experience so we had to pay twice for entry into the alhambra. Luckily the palaces and the generalife gardens were spectacularly beautiful and the sun made a brief appearance in the evening. It was then off to Madrid on a late evening train, where we were almost conned by a rogue taxi driver! Good thing jgal had her wits about her and quickly ran to the hotel to get some help from the receptionist, who managed to talk down the driver!!

Madrid is a big city with the usual shops, museums etc ... Getting a bit of traveller fatigue - just had our last meal of paella and sangria!

Honeymoon II

Kboy -

In case you´re wondering, we´re having quite a bit of difficulty finding internet cafes that allow us to upload photos, so far no luck. Also, all the cafes come with limited timing so have to quickly check mail/update the blog/etc in like 10 min!

Seville is hot hot hot - unfortunately both the famous cathedral and the royal palace were closed when we arrived so we decided to change route to Jerez - home of sherry. Had a good time touring the grounds and tasting the sherry. tomorrow its the Seville Alcazar and then, off to Granada ...

Stephen, our photographer put some of our wedding photos on his blog :) http://lyrical-moments.blogspot.com/2007/10/child-like.html Have a look!

Thanks Stephen!

Honeymoon

Jgal - We are in Spain and having a great time!! Thinking of uploading photos but don´t think we have enough time given that we are at this Internet cafe and have only a few mins...
Last night we took an overnight train from Barcelona to Cordoba. Jgal can´t sleep cos the bunks smells musty :(
Kboy slept like a pig... So far the trip has been really fun and the weather is fantastic, ranging around 15-20 degrees. The old cobbled streets and churches are really lovely too!! Jgal is eating and drinking too much on this trip!!!

Kboy - Yup lots of reasons for a great honeymoon
1 Clear blue skies and lots of sunshine, t shirts most of the time
2 Great food, lots of tapas
3 Wine is cheaper than water. We have not yet had a meal without alcohol (except for breakfast)
4 Great architecture and great scenery (and great company!)
5 Zara Mango, etc.

Some links of places we have been to :
http://www.tallerdetapas.com/

http://www.senyorparellada.com/

http://www.sagradafamilia.org/
http://www.montserratvisita.com/

Happily Married

Kboy says -

Its been a really fantastic weekend, busy events and everything has just seemed to rush over! Thanks to all our helpers who have really looked after us and made sure that everything went smoothly - there were so many details but you guys took care of everything! Thanks also to Wedding Present, Justin, Keeren, Robert, Eric & Chris who really made our day special for us :) And also thanks to all our guests who took the time to share our joy and were so generous in their giving!! ( We counted ang baos till 1 am on Mon morning ...)

Jgal says -

Can't believe it's over at last! However, we throughly enjoyed ourselves throughout the weekend and will have many happy memories to last us a lifetime! Special thanks to our families and friends who were involved in making sure everything was smoothly carried out. We didn't have to worry at all!! We're off to Spain tonight for our 2 week honeymoon. Please cover us in prayer for journey mercies and protection against pick-pockets!!

Also, our wedding pictures will be ready in 2 weeks so we will update it here when we're back! Watch this space :)

2 days of singlehood left!

Kboy says -

Yup, this is probably the final post before our big day. Thanks to all who've helped! Hopefully the next post will be from spain :) And we'll post on the final renovations when we get back from our trip - will have lots of links and photos from the day then ...

Signing out for now ...

4 days away!

Reality hits. Its just 4 more days of singlehood!! Am starting to feel my nerves...but I'm also very excited about the wedding that we have been planning over the past few months! More than that, I'm looking forward to married life and living in our new home. And there's also the honeymoon. You would agree that we really need a break to just relax and spend time with each other after such a hectic weekend. We get back to Singapore on 30th Oct :)




I guess if we don't get to slot in another post before the big day, I should just express my gratitude to everyone who has helped out in one way or another for this wedding.

• To my colleagues, thanks for covering me in my absence. Thanks also for alot of understanding and patience when i've been stressed and cranky this past week.
• To our churchmates who helped us in numerous ways and are supporting us in prayer!! :)
• To my aunt, sister, cousins, thanks for assisting us in getting most of the RSVPs sorted.
• To my KM's parents for taking time to helping us with the wedding preparation, carrying the shopping bags..
• To Alan at The Wedding Present for designing my gorgeous gown!
• To Patrick our renovation contractor, for doing such a great job with our house.
• To Justin at Fleurlicious for doing our flowers and church deco
• To Vicki, my makeup artist for making me pretty!!
• To Eric of Tung Lok for assisting with our needs for the dinner banquet
• To Robert of Conrad, for accomodating our requests for the brunch
• To Kereen of Kriston, for giving us so much additional help on top of the package
• To Julia of GEFC who has taken her own time out of work to help us ensure that the church is able to accomodate our requests
• To Uncle Bernard for polishing and lending us his car to us as the bridal ride!!
• To our "Brothers" and "Sisters" for dedicating their time to make our event fun & memorable :)
• To everyone else who have sent their well-wishes, gifts, love and presence at our wedding!

CHEERS!

Hen Nights!!

Jgal says-

My dear collegues organised a really fantastic hen night for me. Some of the things i was made to do...erm...i can't even tell you (too embarassed)! But i basically got dressed up in a tiara and a "bride-to-be" sash and made to walk down Orchard..., went into Alley Bar and I had a really good and memorable night! Thanks gals!!!

My dear poly mates also threw a hen night for me. It was a much calmer one but i was truly tested on my alcohol limits!! Never done so much drinking (different types of drinks) in one night, from Sangria to Mojitos, to shooters, to the Drip @ Clinic!!! Fortunately, I think i passed the test! At the end of the day, I could still call for a cab and tell the driver where my home was. :) Thanks everyone, it was a truly great time and I hope I don't become an alcoholic!!

Renovation Part 4

Our house has been invaded by cupboards! Walked in one night and found the whole place filled with unfinished cupboards ....


On a less pleasant note, one of the workers has broken our toilet bowl, so I had to make a trip specially during lunch time just to buy another toilet bowl!! So sianz! Dunno how they managed to break the toilet bowl as well ...

Bridal Gift Register

Jgal says-

Check out our Bridal Gift Register at Takashimaya. (This function ensures that we don't get given 5 microwaves..hehe..)

Kboy and I were picking out a few items that we'd like to have for the new house, and if you're thinking of getting us a present for the wedding, please feel free to email Takashimaya to ask for Keen Mun & Li Hui's Bridal Gift Register. Don't worry, we've selected a wide range of stuff that will suit every budget, but you've got to be quick otherwise all the $1000 gifts will be snapped up!! :)

Email: busdev@takashimaya.com.sg

Back from Reservist

Kboy says -

Just got back from reservist, and now its back to my two jobs: 8am - 5pm is work at the office, 5pm to 8am is work at the wedding! heh heh.

Reservist was a nice "break", zero exercise of the mental faculties, and maximum physical exertion. Just had to run around, dig holes in the ground and shout loudly to show aggression ... quite dumb really. Am very sunburnt now, Jgal is unhappy that my face is now so brown. I told her that army doesn't issue sunblock, and she promptly went to buy some SKII mask when we went shopping yesterday.

Anyway, the house is really starting to come together, the floor was done and the cupboards are in. Lights are all fixed up as well. We are in the final leg now, so everynight got something on, final fittings, meeting with the florist, passing cards to friends ...

Gifts Galore!

Jgal says -

A few of our friends have asked if we are publishing a 'wish list', so that they can get us practical and good gifts that will be useful in our new home.

We haven't figured out the best way to do this because there isn't a mechanism on this blog to let a person anoymously select the particular gift, and informing other blog readers that the particular option is taken. AND we won't want to receive 5 coffee machines either... :P

We'll probably check out Tangs bridal gift services and see if they can keep a checklist for us. Those interested to get us a gift can call Tangs and quote our file to see what gifts have been booked, and indicate what gifts they would like to give us. If we confirm this arrangement, I'll update the information asap.

Alternatively, just give us in the most practical form :) and we will do the shopping..haha..

1 Month Away!

Jgal says -

It's one month away!! We are both getting a little stressed, especially when the house renovations are also underway. We are now writing and sending invitations, receiving RSVPs, keeping track of what's happening with the house. What's worse, as I'm writting this blog, Kboy is in camp for reservice for 2 weeks. >.<''''

Fortunately, we have most of the reno matters under control and it should be about 2-3 weeks away from completion. The lift upgrading at our new flat looks promising too! We may be able to take the lift instead of walking up 4 storeys when we finally move over. I'm praying hard about that!!

In the next few weeks, we need to take care not to fall sick. Lots of people are down with cold and even suspected dengue. Scary!! I'm taking lots of water and vitamins to boost my immune system. And i hope God protects us from the mosquitoes ;)

Renovation Part 3

Kboy says -

The contractor has been at our house, doing lots of tiling and plastering. Everything is now covered with a thin layer of white dust. The floors and walls of the toilets and kitchens are now nicely tiled. House looks alot brighter without the pink walls! Next up is to do re-wiring and the false ceiling. Then the first coat of paint and then the floors ...

Renovation - Part 2

Kboy says:

Reno has started! Look at our very bare kitchen and toilets, plus a huge mound of cement in the living room!

Mr Page Boy

Kboy says :

Who's more adorable for our page boy ? :) M1 is on the top and M2 is on the bottom , cast your votes now!

Home Renovations

Jgal says -


Finally, we've got the keys to the new apartment and will start renovations today! Since we decided that we would do without an ID, Kboy and I had to research on home ideas extensively and make lots of decisions which will determine the look and practicality of our new home! From colour of the walls, to type of toilet bowls, and which tiles goes on which floor, which lights to use... the list goes on and on...we are just spoilt for choice when it comes to such things, and decision making becomes so much tougher. It is quite stressful as we would disagree more than half the time. But its also an enjoyable process because we are both learning new things, technically, as well as about each other! Now, we can't wait for the house to be done, and guess we will be posting pics of the reno process shortly!

Marriage is the only game of chance where both players can win or both lose!

Jgal says:

I've been telling people that we are attending marriage counselling sessions. More often than not, they will give me that "what-problem-are-you-both-having" look, thinking that counselling happens when your marriage is not working.... but its really about preparing both parties for a lifestyle change. It manages expectations that both of us have about the marriage, fulfilling the needs of each person, how to handle decision making and conflicts etc, And i feel that it really helps that we share our thoughts on these issues so that we don't enter the marriage blindly.

We have done 4 sessions so far with our church's pastor and his lovely wife, and I must admit that it is not easy at all to prepare for the sessions. Many times i have to struggle with certain questions because it really makes you think what you want, not only in the marriage, but in life!

Of all the important lessons learnt, I would like to share this with you: Love is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person. Only when you are willing to give up half of youself, can two become one in marriage.

Wedding Photos

Here's a sneak preview of our photo shoot :)

Lots of Links

Kboy says

This is long in waiting, but a list of links --

Wedding Present did our wedding package.
Our photos (which we can't show you yet!!) were done by Travis from Utopia. The photos turned our beautifully, thanks Travis!

Our church wedding is at Geylang Evangelical Free Church, and will be catered by Kriston. Stephen Loh from Lyrical Moments is doing our on-day photography. Do check out his site, and his blog as well.

Right now, at Clara's recommendation, am surfing alot to Renotalk for all the house stuff. Previously, was Singapore Brides - this is like the lodestone of all Singaporean wedding information. SDU/MCYS should seriously consider buying over this site.

New house (before)

Here are some "before" shots of our new house .... We went with our contractor for a viewing and took a few measurements. ...

Big Purchase

Reality hits at last! On Monday I just signed a cheque for almost $40k...and was informed that my CPF account would be wipped out by August 07. Every month for the next 10 years, we would have to pay for our mortgage... GOSH!!! Its scary >.<''''
To beat the GST increase, we then went to purchase our big electrical items such as aircon units, fridge, and washing machine. Ask kboy on my haggling skills and he will testify that I do make a rather good negotiator. :) Well, every cent counts you know!!
Well, at least now, we have a house to call our own :) Renovations will start in August and hopefully, it will be ready before October comes....

Photoshoot!

Kboy says -

We had our photoshoot yesterday! Was a full day of clothing changes, makeup, posing and strutting around. Quite tiring, and today both of us were nursing headaches and spent most of the day sleeping. They should put a health advisory on photoshoots!

We went to SAM, or the old SJI, for the outdoor shot, where we chanced upon a art installation all about weddings! The artist made a "wedding cake" out of miniature wedding couples (the plastic type that you find on top of the cakes) and this was surrounding by huge blowups of cake recipes fixed on to the walls. Add some pink fluorescent lighting and we had some wonderful unique shots.

Just as we were finishing, we chanced upon Kenneth and his girl-pal. Kenneth got a few lucky shots of us on his lomu :)

Later we went to Seletar for the greenery shots, it was a wet, muddy time, and Jgal got her wedding gown all soaked in the rain. Halfway, we were even chased away by the seletar airport security, so we had to cut short our airplane photos, and had to satisfy ourself with the hangar :(

Justin's done up a really lovely posy for Jgal, but I can't post any more wedding shots, or else she will scold me!

Green Shirt says that we have no useful links on this site, so I'll post some later...

Last minute shirt

Kboy says -

So we went shopping for a shirt to wear with my suit for the photoshoot, and I almost fainted at the prices of wing-tipped tux shirts. There are like $150, 5 times the price of normal shirts! And this is for a shirt with less material on the collar! Absolutely unjustifiable ...

I mentioned this outrage to my mum, who had just come back from Shanghai. And she did a bit of magic and managed to get a shirt tailored over in China for a fraction of the price - less than 150 RMB!!

I'll post some pics online soon ...

Shanghai Part II

Yes, Jgal has indulged in too much good food during the 5 day stay in Shanghai. From Xiao Lung Baos, to Foie Gras, to Korean BBQ, Baby back ribs, and even giant lychees....just cannot resist good food, u know. So now, wedding dress is abit too tight :P Need to do more crunches before the photoshoot (oops, that is only 2 weeks away now)!

My favourite was the Korean BBQ. I never really fancied kimchi very much, but hey..this one is really good! Even though we are not in korea. Kboy says he will bring me to Korea to eat the even better ones.... :)

The most memorable one is probably the french fine dining restaurant - La Platene. We were just walking around Xin Tien Di and chanced on this nice looking restaurant, so we walked in to check out the menu! Its French (at that time we all wanted non-chinese food due to overdose) and to our surprise, it's opened by the chef of Les Amis - Justin Quek! Think French in Shanghai and you get "Foie Gras Xiao Lung Bao"!!! Kboy was so nice, he bought us this fantastic meal. I think it burnt a hole in his pocket >.<'''

Shanghai - Part I

Kboy says-

Jgirl and I have been in Shanghai for the past few days, lots of eating and shopping. I meant to blog during the trip, but was too caught up in getting a nice foot rub each night, so no time! Ha ha …

We went non-stop shopping for three days, first stop was the famous fabric market where I managed to get some shirts and a casual jacket tailored. Jgirl also got a nice dress, as well as two beautiful cheong sams. The sales staff there are fantastic, they will flatter and butter you up just to get you to buy another shirt!

Next stop was the wholesale markets where we stocked up on all the wedding paraphernalia – paper cuts, stickers, ang baos, wedding cards. We stopped short, though, of buying the huge cutesy ring pillow (the size of a laptop) with the teddy bears cavorting on it. You name it, they have it – in bulk! The sales lady there also tried to sell us some firecrackers – very tempting, but it will never pass through customs!

Part II on our foodie adventures and photos will be coming up soon.

The sale worth waiting for

Kboy says -

So we decided to check out this sale over the weekend, cos we heard that the beds were very cheap there. Checked out a few of the big branded names beds and realised that there really is a huge difference in price. After being showed around some beds, realised that the salesgirl was getting a bit distracted - apparently, the owner of the department store was also buying a bed! We saw this ang moh couple, together with two kids on two, trying out the various beds. Anyway, in the end we didn't really find any thing so we walked to the shop opposite which had the original brand we wanted.

The salesman at this shop was really weird. For some reason or another, he quickly buttoned his shirt when we walked in (don't ask me what he was doing). All through the time, he kept cleaning off his sweat with his shirt collar, pulling up the collar and wiping his cheek. Good thing was he tried to give us some really good prices (Jgirl also bargained hard), but in the end, his boss said no go. So looks like we have to go back to the original store after all.

Seems like bed buying is never short of adventure.

Sake and Cake

Kboy says –

We went to a wedding event last weekend, organised by one of the premium caterers. It was an exclusive, invite-only event, so I was pleasantly surprised when they called me and said that we were one of the “lucky couples” who got in.

The place was done up very nicely – it was an old colonial building, all decorated up with flowers. The buffet spread was a limited, but the quality was pretty good. We sat around the cocktail tables and nibbled on the canapés, while the sales girl talked abut their various catering packages. The good thing was they also had a few booths of their partner / sponsors there, which strangely included a kite-flying service. Why anyone would want a kite flying service on their wedding day is really beyond my comprehension.

Anyway, the best part of the event was the goody bag, which had a beautifully decorated cupcake! One of the wedding cake people had baked cakes for everyone. We were still feeling a bit peckish, so decided to go Island Creamery for some ice-cream, where we quickly polished off the cake with some pear-sake ice cream. Yummy!!


The short-lived cupcake

Wedding Blog

Jgirl says -

Having read so many blogs, I learnt a thing or 2 about penning an interesting read.
Basically,
1) Write things that general people will understand and don’t use too much jargon. Did you know that there’s all these acronyms in wedding blogs like FH, AD, MTM, OTR, CS, EG, MIL…and you have to slowly decipher what it means. There isn’t like a ‘Legend’ to state that
FH- Future Husband
AD- Actual Day
MTM- Made to measure
OTR- Off The Rack
CS- Cheong sum
EG- Evening Gown
MIL- Mother In Law
Etc etc etc….

2) Try to inject humour
This is quite a subjective one cos some people do ‘cold’ jokes and you won’t even know that it’s meant to make you laugh… but generally I do find my friends’ lives very interesting when there’s something to laugh at. Just look at Kboy’s entries!

3) No mushy bits
Since this is a wedding blog of Kboy & me, we shall be careful to censor all mushy bits out of our logs so that you don’t feel like you’re subject to all our…erm…actually, come to think about it, we are not very mushy at all!! Are we huh, honey?

Buying a bed

Kboy says -

Today we decided to go do a bit a of furniture hunting, so we went down to Marina and Sun Tec to look around. Nothing really in mind, since the house deal is not yet finished, just to look see.

This was the first time that I've been into a bed showroom. This is a Most Important piece of furniture :) So we thought we better get a good one, and we went into one of the posher brands. The sales man was quite on the ball, asking us to try this bed and that bed. We could actually lie on the bed, shoes and everything, just to test it out. I was a bit put off by the pushy sales man, but Jgal was quite game, trying out all the beds. (We had a rather full lunch, so I suppose it was nice to succumb to food coma and lounge around on the beds.)

Anyway, I never knew that there were so many types of variations on the bed - pocketed spring, full spring, memory foam, latex (sounds kinky huh? unfortunately, the latest is buried deep within the layers of plush...) Halfway through the sales spiel, the man must have noticed my sian face, so he admitted that ultimately it was how the bed feels to you, rather than any scientific mumbo-jumbo. So don't believe all those TV ads with "scientists" in white lab coats throwing stuff on the springs ...

So Jgal was lying on one mattress, while the guy was telling about how the springs move independantly, so when someone comes to bed late, the other will not be disturbed. Just to prove his point, he suddenly launched his bulky 100 kg frame in the air and dive-bombed on to the other side of the bed. I almost let out a little shriek, but Jgal was nonplussed. Yah, she didn't feel anything much, just a bit of vibration. Well, I guess it proved his point ...

I am looking forward to try this little stunt at the next bed showroom we walk into :)

First Post

Hello! Welcome to our wedding blog ...

This is the first post, so its quite exciting. Both of us have never blogged before!

Hopefully, this willl not be the last post, we will share our thoughts on all the wedding prep, housing hunting and reno, plus all the usual stuff that couples go through. For some of you, it will probably be old hat, for others I suppose it will be voyueristic experience :) So, to all friends and family, please do drop by here often and leave a message or two

Thanks!

keen mun & li hui


(Actually, the real reason of setting up this blog is to show everyone how HARD it is to plan for a wedding, so that people will give us a BIGGER ang pao! Plus, we'll post our wedding list here later, so we don't get crappy presents!! )