Wedding Dinner Food Tasting at Grand Hyatt Singapore

Been having very bad stomach pains on and off for the past 2 weeks. I was on MC from last Thursday until this Thursday and I am going back to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for further checks again. Hope I get well soon! I can't eat much and I'm severely dehydrated though I kept drinking loads of water..

I went ahead with the food tasting today even though I can't eat much. It's hard to schedule a time where everyone is free so I didn't want to postpone it. I just nibbled and tried the dishes and most of the food I passed to Le bf.. heehee!

Group picture!

Everyone happily eating! :D 

Before the dinner started at 7pm, we had a "Meet the Parents Session Part 2" for Le bf's parents & my mother + her sister (my Emama). My parents are divorced so we had to arrange for 2 separate meet-up sessions and figure out how to reduce any possible conflict on the actual day since they did not have a amicable divorce.

Sarah was our server of the day and she is the best! Attentive yet non-obtrusive! Perfect example of a good wait-staff. She will bring the dish over to me & Le bf and explain the dish to both of us before bringing it to the side table to distribute onto individual plates for everyone. 

Cold Platter with 5 items. This will be the first dish that will be served during the dinner. They will be presented on a big plate on the actual day. 

Yam Paste aka Orh Neeee!

When I was a little girl, I already know what I wanted on my wedding dinner banquet's menu. There are two things that I won't compromise on and I get what I wished for!

1) Absolutely NO SHARK'S FIN!

2) Yam Paste for dessert!

We made changes to the menu based on our preferences. Shall not post pictures of all the food here to keep the menu a surprise!! ^_^

Chef Low is the one in charge of the dishes and he came out to meet us to discuss about the menu after all the dishes were served. He is Teochew too! Same as me! Wahahahahahahaha!! Glad that he is a easy-going and chatty person like me.. :)

The wedding favors!

There are 4 food items to choose for the guests' wedding favors. We didn't want the usual keychain, poker cards, salt & pepper shaker cos those are very cliche (IMHO) and people usually just put them aside and forget about them when they get home. I like the macaroons while Le bf like the chocolate truffles, so we will be choosing those 2 items. I'll ask the hotel to include different flavour/colour for the macaroon cos if it's all pink, it's super boring...

Will have a final meetup with our wedding coordinator again 1 month prior the dinner to finalize all the details cos she was on medical leave today when we went down for the food tasting.

Row 1: My sister, Nathaniel, Pamela & Cheryl

Row 2: Me, Emama, My mother, Mama Chew, Papa Chew & Le bf

Less than 2 months to our wedding day! Lots of things not done yet! Panic mode gonna set in soon!!

My Baptism!

I was baptized today! Joyful joyful day! :)

Group picture with Pastor Collin, Le bf, Le sister & Wany!

There's a lot of Christians who are regular church-goers but they don't want to go through water baptism for various reasons. Some feel that it is not necessary, some feel that it is a solid commitment that they are not ready for, etc etc.  I don't want to go into detailed arguments or discussions about baptism as there are many extreme views about it. 

Our trust in Christ is our salvation, not water baptism. You don't have to be baptized to go to heaven because your salvation is hinged in your faith in Jesus Christ. 

But personally, I think that every Christian should be baptized. Jesus was baptized by John and there are many references about baptism in the bible. Most importantly, being baptized is a public declaration to the world that you are committed to your faith. Water baptism is an outward expression of an inward conviction. It signifies "Yes, I am a child of God and believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord & Savior". 

To me, it's the same logic like a marriage. You can be in a relationship or cohabit with your partner for many years, but marrying your partner is a public declaration of your love and promise of forever to him/her and only him/her, no one else. It is the "guarantee plus chop" move that cements your faith and commitment to your partner. Can you say to your partner in private "I love you very much and want to be with you", but yet in public you pretend that he/her is only a normal friend of yours and you don't want to admit that he/she is special to you and you are in a relationship? You have to make the leap of faith and the commitment before you can enjoy a satisfying and fulfilling relationship. 

These are my personal views and not everyone may agree with me.. Well, I am not be the best person to explain about baptism, so you can read more about it online or meet with a Pastor who can advise and explain to you in more details.

There were a total of 121 baptism candidates and I was the 3rd person in the group to be baptized! I still don't know how they arrange the candidates cos I was looking around and it wasn't by alphabetical order based on name, nor is it by age or address. I was also not the first few who registered for the Baptism.. But I am not complaining! Happy that I am the 3rd because that means I can finish quick and chill while the remaining candidates group gets baptized. 

Most of all, the water will be super clean! We are not required to shower before going into the pool.... so you can imagine.. I bathed before going to church but not everyone does that!! I have become such a germaphobe that I've stopped swimming cos those are cesspools of bacteria!! Le bf is encouraging me to go swimming with him but I am quite hesitant cos the chlorine will damage my hair (I can't do swimming caps.. they cramp my style) and there are bastards who enjoy urinating in the pools.. URGH. I actually saw shit in a swimming pool before. A long piece of brown shit! Traumatizing to the maximum. T_T" I need to overcome my germaphobe problem, but thank God that I am 3rd!! Heh heh! Maybe He knows I am a germaphobe so somehow I am in the front of the line.. Wahahahahahahaha! God is good!

Group picture before our baptism!

I was trying to spot Le bf and the rest of my supporters in the Sanctuary.. but I can't see them! -_- I knew he was sitting on the left side of the auditorium but there were too many people, so I tried to look around discreetly for him but failed. LOL! He took a few pictures of me though.. haha!

After the group photo-taking, we went down to level 1 where the Baptism Pool is. It is deeper than I thought! Usually it is hidden and disguised as a stage. The water is nicely heated and the process is very fast. We queued up according to our numbers, two pastors will hold us and say a prayer before dipping us backwards into the water.

A photographer will take our picture before we are dipped. Only baptism candidates are allowed in the area, so there is a live screening of the process that is being broadcast in real time at the Sanctuary for our friends and family to witness the process. Le bf took a video of me on the big screen (screen shot below).. Someone will read out each candidate's testimony and it's like rapping because the whole process for each candidate took less than a minute!!

Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)

Mad efficient! There are 116 candidates (5 did not turn up) and the whole ceremony including the opening speech, prayer, exhortation, group picture, baptism and certificate presentation only took less than 2.5 hours!

Le bf was seated too far to capture a clear picture of me collecting my Baptism cert from my pastor.. but it's alright! Plenty of pictures with Pastor Collin on our wedding day cos he will be solemnizing our wedding!

Afterwards we had dinner at Changi Airport T3's TCC! 

Wany had the 50% discount for her birthday month in July for the total bill! YAY! Silly girl forgot her membership card and her elder sis had to bring it down for us, but good thing too cos she can join us for dinner! The more the merrier! :)

Unfortunately I cannot break my record of last year's pig out session with the 50% discount because I am still recovering from my stomach flu and I can't eat too much without throwing up. Last year I went with Wany & Nathaniel (who couldn't come today cos he had to work) and we ate 5 main courses, 4 desserts, lots of side dishes & drinks among the 3 of us! Waiting for Le bf's birthday month in September and we can go pig out again when I am well!

I bought a new Miffy mascot doll for my sister when I went to Tokyo with Le bf earlier this month and she was so happy! Haha! He bought her a Miffy umbrella which is so cute, he said that she might wish that it rains everyday so she can use it.. Haiyo! Anyways it has UV protection so she can also use it when it's sunny! :) Now she has both the original Dutch version which I bought in Amsterdam and the Japanese version of Miffy!

Stomach Flu

Been feeling pain in my tummy and experiencing dizziness.. I didn't recover even after seeing a doctor last week and Le bf got worried so he sent me to Tan Tock Seng today.

Apparently I have gastro-something something and an abnormally high heart-rate so they put me on 2 bags of drip and sent me home with 3 days MC cos I am off on Sunday/Monday. That mean I get 5 days of rest! Yay! Finally I can have a proper sleep because I've been averaging 3-4hours sleep each day, spending 10-14hrs in the office working like a crazy woman.

Le bf wanted to send me to the hospital at 1am straight after my shift ended but I told him to sleep and pick me up at around 7am++ instead because I had to clear up my work for the next few days. Confirm MC, and I want to make sure I clear my pending worklist before going... Can't risk other people messing up my bookings or worst, no one covering my work since everyone is already so overwhelmed with their own work.

I cabbed home after work to bath and Le bf pick me up and drove me to the hospital. Poor boy waited a few hours for me while I was concussed in the observation ward. Afterwards he drove me to his place so I can sleep peacefully (my neighbors are renovating their house) and he just sent me home.

Gonna go back to sleep now~~ Feeling so drained. Good night!

Brendan's Minion birthday party preparations

Le bf is turning 30 this year and it's also his last birthday as a bachelor before marrying me! Last year I celebrated his birthday for him at Royal Carousel with a high tea private party.

This year I am planning the party at my house because it will be the last gathering before I move out and live with him and his family. Also, his birthday party is just 1 week before our wedding so I think it will be a good time for the bridal party to meet up and get to know each other first before the actual day.

Earlier this year when we went to USA, I've already bought some "30th birthday" party supplies, but I wanted a special theme that is not too kiddy yet not too serious... so I decided on having a Minion Party for him! :)

I ordered some Minion related products and party decorations online and shipped them in from USA. The party supplies in Singapore is... *shake head* All the good stuff can only be bought overseas and they are quite cheap compared to Singapore! Only downside is I have to pay shipping fees and sometimes the shipping costs more than the items itself.

I also bought him a Minion t-shirt! :)

Minion Monopoly!

Minion Operation!

Kitty has a new friend!

I've already sent out half the invitation cards (also Minion-themed!) and I'll order the food from the caterer once I have a confirmed head count of the guests who will be attending. Can't wait for his party! It's gonna be fun fun fun!!

Our Pre-wedding Shoot on 01 July!

We are back from Japan! SO MUCH FUN! Today I will blog about our pre-wedding shoot on Monday!

Unfortunately my baptism class happens to fall on today and there's no way to reschedule it so we had to shorten our Tokyo trip and come back 2 days earlier than originally planned. I really wanted to go to Disneyland cos it's their 30th Anniversary this year! The celebrations last till next year March 2014 so hopefully we will have a chance to go back again! :)

The haze situation was so bad the week before our wedding shoot. It actually broke the all time record, hitting a record high of PSI 421 at one point! Everywhere was hazy, burning smell and the haze even permeated into the offices & shopping centres in Singapore! In my office, the fire alarm actually went off because it was so smoky! My eyes were tearing everyday because of the haze and it felt like there was pepper in my eyes. Terrible feeling.

I was so worried because our photo shoot was scheduled for 01 July (Monday) and I didn't want to reschedule it because there is not much time left and we need to allow our photographer time to edit the pictures and print the wedding albums for our guests to see during the wedding day.

Le bf was quite chillax even though I kept asking him "How how how? Got backup plan? What if the haze gets worse? Our pictures will look horrible! I don't want indoor shoots!". He will just tell me "Dear don't worry.."

But as always, God came through for us and showed me once again that all I need is to put my faith in Him and trust that He will deliver. The haze progressively cleared the few days before the shoot and yesterday, the weather was PERFECT. PSI 21! Praise the Lord!!!

Both of us slept around 3am because we had to settle our hotel accommodations in Tokyo since we are flying off immediately after our wedding shoot ends in the evening. I know, it's really crazy.. can you imagine having 0hrs sleep, then 3hrs sleep the next day, then the next thing you know you are in a plane to Tokyo?

Woke up early, did my own makeup and hair!

But I did not put in hairspray so by 9am my hair straightened out by themselves due to the humidity in the garden.. kua kua kua.. So in the photos I will have both curly & straight hair looks. LOL!

I had two makeup sessions included in the pacakge we got from our bridal shop but I am only using the service for the second shoot in the afternoon instead of the morning one. Well, firstly the early morning fee is SGD150 extra, and I don't want to look to "made up" for the morning shoot because it is supposed to be informal and fun.

Le bf said this is the "First smile of the day" cos we will be smiling a lot for our pictures! :)

Beautiful day, beautiful weather, beautiful memories!

We had the morning shoot at Botanical Gardens. It is the first time that Le bf & I visited Botanical Gardens and we were surprised at how huge the place is! I was very grouchy because I only had less than 4 hours sleep in 48hours (because of my work and our packed schedule) and we couldn't find our photographer cos he told us he's waiting at the Bandstand (picture above) and Le bf thought it's the bus parking area or something... I was sulking cos I am sleepy and tired and I don't want to waste time wandering around the huge park.. Luckily our photographer managed to find us and we started the shoot without any problems!

Our photographer is Samuel Goh and as I've mentioned in my earlier post, he's a genius! :)

Sam directing Le bf to pose for individual shots.. 

Le bf is wearing the Fred Perry polo I bought for him last year from CK Tang Orchard. I bought 2 pieces of clothing for him cos he refused to shop for CNY clothes and I insisted that he needed at least 2 pieces for Day 1 & Day 2 because he had to go out for visiting, unlike me who spent CNY at work last year cos I was in the night shift. Black is not very auspicious but he's not really bothered by it and it's a colour he will wear again.. Anyways he has wore this shirt so many times since then and it's still retains the shape & colour! Worth every penny! :) 

This year they did not go CNY visiting cos Le bf's grandma passed away in December 2012. I miss Ah Mah alot. I met her a few times and had the opportunity to taste her cooking. I was the first girl Le bf brought to meet Ah Mah. She adored me so much that she always asks about me and whenever we go to her house she will ask Le bf to hurry up and marry me because I am such a lovely girl. Awwwww. She also bequeathed a gold bracelet to me and requested for it to be given to me during our wedding tea ceremony on her behalf in case she succumbed to her illness.  :''''( 

Next year I will be going CNY visiting with them for the first time and I will be going as part of the Chew family cos we are getting married this year! Usually the girlfriend/boyfriend will visit the relatives during CNY for the first introduction but I will be meeting majority of Le bf's relatives on our wedding day!! Imagine being his aunt or uncle, the last time you saw Le bf he was single and forever alone (his words, not mine), then the next thing you know he's getting married! 

Married Chinese couples need to hand out red packets to juniors.. but I heard the first year is exempted. Not sure if it's true but most people told me it's because we need time to recover our losses from the wedding expenses. Our pastor described our situation now as "Bill paying storm" because every month we have to fork out a few thousand dollars for this and that. Well, I don't really mind giving angbaos cos I love giving! =) I have started collecting cute red packets since long ago in anticipation of being officially married and able to give out red packets during CNY! Yes, I am very weird.. haha!

Le bf chose my outfit: FCUK floral skirt & Forever21 top.

You can see my hair straightened out already.. -_-

We walked from one end of the park to the other end and back again! -_- The boys were happily chatting away because they are both gamers. I was trying hard to catch up cos it's so hard to walk fast in heels.

Afterwards we went to pick Nathaniel up from his place before heading back to my house to prepare for the formal wedding shoot in the afternoon. Nat made me a Kitty Bouquet!! I saw it online and thought it was so cute and he offered to make one for me! Awwwww... :')

My makeup artist (also called Jasmine!) came to my house to do up my makeup and also help me wear my bridal gown. Chloe is looking very grumpy here because she knows I am going on a holiday.. Le bf had to carry my luggage downstairs and she sees the luggage as public enemy no 1 because whenever the luggage appears in my room, I will disappear for a few days. Well, we didn't have time to come home again after the shoot cos the shoot will end around 7pm and our flight is 9.30pm! We had to rush back to Le bf's house to bath before going to the airport that's why we had to put my luggage in his car first.

With the best bride-attendant in the world! :)

Minions of the Day! 

My sister is Minion 1 and Amanda is Minion 2. Nathaniel is my slave. Wahahahahahaha! These two little girls are so sweet.. helping me hold my bouquets and being part of my posse that day. Amanda also got us discounted tickets for the Dome because she's working part time there! Thank you Amanda!

My sister took many candid shots of us and I am glad she did because I don't have to wait till our photographer finish editing the pictures before I can see them. :)

This picture which I posted on Facebook garnered the most likes and comments ever. Many people still didn't know we are getting married even though we've been posting stuff like "Trying on bridal gown" or "Buying wedding rings".. but this picture is unmistakable that we are indeed getting married and they are happy or excited for us. 

In fact, we have a lot of requests to see more of our wedding pictures! :) Don't have yet!! Wait wait wait ahhhhhh...

 Another lovely shot that my sister took. She can have a future in photography!

This is a souvenir photo that was given free of charge.

Apparently you have to pay money to change the background to something other than this green generic one. Le bf's friend commented on Facebook that it looks like a "Heaven & Earth Green Tea advertisement".. What???? LOL!!

After taking pictures at Gardens by the Bay, we headed to Marina Barrage to catch the sunset. The wind was so strong that my veil kept covering my face.. but apparently it makes good pictures! Haha! Le bf is standing at one side cos our photographer is taking self-portraits of myself. My sister took this pic of us from the sidelines.

Egg yolk in the sky!

We are really blessed that the weather was PERFECT that day. No haze, no rain! Thankful that Nat, my sis & her friend Amanda took the time to come and help us with the wedding shoot and helping me carry my barang barang. Most of the time I was wearing my flat shoes and only changed into my heels when needed. I hate wearing heels lahhhhh...

Can't wait for the photos to be ready! :)

1st sneak peek

Dreamy. Just dreamy.

Our photographer, Samuel has posted the 1st picture he took of me on his Facebook page as a preview. He's really talented and sweet and I am so glad Le bf asked him to be our wedding photographer!

The picture was actually taken in an underpass but it looks like some professional atas photo studio or something.. The power of lighting, photography & editing skills! :)

He took lots of photos and once they are ready I will upload them! But I will only upload partial views of my bridal gown cos I want it to be a surprise for the actual day! ^_^

I am in Japan now with Le bf! It's a last minute impromptu trip and I nearly had a heart attack on Monday cos we had to rush to the airport immediately after our wedding shoot! Our shoot ended at 7.15pm, we rushed back to Le bf's house after sending my sister back and reach around 8pm.. Cheong to bath & get ready, left the house at 8.40pm and reached the airport 5mins before the airline counter closes! Scary shit lah! Luckily Papa Chew is a Fast & Furious driver. :) 

We were in Yokohama yesterday and just travelled down to Shinjuku today. Unfortunately there's no time to squeeze in Sanrio Puroland or Tokyo Disneyland cos this is a business trip of Le bf's and I am tagging along to see first-hand what his work is all about. Will post pictures on Instagram/Twitter! :)