an adventure : Zhuhai, China

It's been 3 1/2 months since I last step foot out of the country and considering that I have travelled almost every 2-3 months last year, it's high time I get my butt out of my chair and move.. but then I have a wedding to plan and before you start on how my life should not revolve around my wedding, I need to remind you that my budget does... OK, I admit Rockstar is covering most of it but this couple of months have been challenging and I guess I will have to suppress my travel bug for a bit.. 

....and the fact that Rockstar will be travelling to Korea for 10 days is not helping me at all.. 

Oh well, since I still have lots of previous trips un-blogged yet, here's a continuation of it :)

After Macau here, here, here and here, we crossed the border to Zhuhai, China.  

Zhuhai is well-known for being a clean, modern city which is popular with tourist. Zhuhai is also nickname "City for lovers' due to its history. We took a 3D2N tour since we were all too lazy to plan but it was a good tour. We had lots of time as the tour was exclusive for our group, and we did not have to accommodate others. 

Fave memory: On the first night, after dinner, we were brought to the New Yuanming Place for a night show.  I was really impress with the costumes and choreography. But being in China for so many times, it looks similar to all the others. However, the 2nd part of the show was outdoor; set around a lake. We had front row seat and it was fun cos the actor and actresses came up right to our feet. There was even a pirate who grabbed my bag and ran of with it (he did returned it later) and a girl who came running to us away from the soldiers who wanted to rape her and a bull that walked a few feet passed me and a fight that happened between the pirates and villages which was so close that I just reach out, grab a sword and hop in to fight. 

Must Eat: As we were on tour, we were brought to various restaurants to eat. But this particular restaurant stood out because it was a restaurant cum art gallery - Ming Jia Kitchen Art Restaurant. Sitting among art pieces, having a sumptuous dinner, after a long tiring day....feels like a rich tai tai! But sorry, no pictures of art as I was too busy eating. 

See: Meixi Stone Archways. Check out the Meixi Torii located in the center of the Chen's Garden. Only 3 stone archways left; build in 1886 and 1891.There is also a wax museum in one of the old buildings with old chinese people. Kinda creepy. We also stayed on to watch the king of Masks show. 

Don't miss: Skyline form JinShan Park. Take a rickity old 2-seater cable car (Sante Cableway) up and a roller cart down *only for the brave-hearted*. Roller carts have no breaks. You sit in, strap up, and hold on for your dear life as a driver sitting in the first cart maneuver the train of carts on the track as it goes speeding down the mountain. Adrenalin rush!!!

The fisher girl located out in the sea along Lovers Road. Since the tour guide spoke in mandarin and my mandarin is kinda so-so, I understood only half the story. It was something about a goddess and her pearl that represented her immortality and her husband who is also a statue on top the mountain and they made some sacrifices which turned them into stone...... I think...

Lotus Road in Gongbei, also known as the Walking Street. Shopaholic heaven!! Lots of people, lots of things to buy. Yes, even baby rabbits on a stick. 

We also visited the Imperial Hot Springs Resort which had 20 kinds of hot springs. I would have had a good experience if I did actually bring my bathing suit. We were not allowed to go in without bathing suits. So we ended up having free dinner buffet. 

Traveler Tip! Be careful while buying food on Lotus Road. If possible, avoid at all cost unless you want to end your holiday hugging the toilet bowl :) Besides that, Zhuhai is a very modern and clean city. Not much to sight-seeing to do. Come here if you want to shop, which a lot of people from Macau do as it just across the border and its way cheaper.  

A Trip : Fraser's Hill

About 2 and a half weeks ago, there was a long weekend due to Prophet's Muhammand's Birthday and Thaipusm *gosh, how I love Malaysian holidays*, the whole family decided for a quick gateway. As it was quite a last minute thing, we did not manage to get reasonably price rooms. But after googling, I came upon a private-own apartment which was just great cos the price was much lower as compared to hotel-own. And surprisingly, the apartment wasn't too bad. It was small, clean, tho a little musky due to the dampness. *email me if you want the contact*

We had alot of food and fun which you would be able to tell by the photos below :)

Our stash of food and tibits for 2 days, 2 night. Sunset view from our apartment and dinner at a Chinese restaurant @ Fraser's Hill Hawker Center. *psst, don't go there. Very rude lady boss and small portion. Unsatisfying* 

The next morning, we woke up bright and late to have breakfast all the way to lunch which lazying around. I managed to catch some photos around the apartment which my dad was bird-watching. Some shots below were taken by my BIL. 

 

My 2nd sister & BIL at the balcony. Awesome view. We accompanied my dad for bird-watching at a Jelai Resort and saw so many different types of birds which I have never seen before. Too bad I did not have long-range lens and my current lens have very limited zoom. Family picture. 

Next desintation, waterfall. Supposely the most well-known waterfall in Fraser's Hill. Some shots on a bridge outside the falls. 

Took a trek in but was sorely disappointed. Brown water. Nothing impressive. Random shot of a stone wall, me twinnie and brother. 

Cheesy rings. Just 2 on the sidewalk. Abandoned. More brown water.Me eldest sister jumping crazy. Row of shoes sun-tanning on a car at the carpark outside the falls. 

 

We caught sight of The Smokehouse on the way to the waterfalls and decided to stop for tea on the way out. No reservation made so we passed the waiting time posing and pretending. Except me twinnie who actually wanted to spend the whole weekend on her bed reading but had no choice but to tag along with us. She ended up bringing her book everywhere. 

There's suppose to be a picture of the scones and cakes and tea here but I'm not sure where it went. Will update tomorrow as it is in the other computer. :)

A family picture before leaving The Smokehouse. My hair's kinda messy cos I rushed over after setting the timer and did not have time to check my gorgeous face =p 

We then went to town center, walked around, took more pictures and then went back to the apartment. We ended that night with loads of maggi, eggs, bread, chips and junks, played UNO Spin and watch G.I. Joe.

The last day after checking out, we drove around Fraser's Hill and stop at random places for my dad to catch his 'birds'. And of cos shots of flowers, beautiful, gorgeous flowers. I just love them. 

 

We stopped by Kuala Kubu for lunch/tea (will blog about it later) and took a long drive back home.

Had so much fun doing just nothing :) How I wish I could go for more trips like this? 

Tips for Wedding

How's your weekend?

I spend my time catching up on blogs reading and staring at pictures of my wedding dresses and you know what... I think I am starting to like them... Haha... weird huh?

Anyway, I'm getting so stress out about my wedding planning. The whole theme thing, colours, ideas. The more I search the web, the more I read about other people weddings, the more I look at ideas and inspirations, the more I get so frustrated. I like so many things, I want to incorporate so many things. First, I wanted this theme, then I change my mind, then I look at other ideas, and then I change my mind again. Finally, I just say 'screw it', no more themes for me; I will just do whatever I want. So what if its a jumble of stuff, its me and I like it :)

source 

I read this during the weekend and I kinda like it...

Matthew Robbins Ten Tips for an Inspired Wedding  (link)

1. Keep things personal. Look for inspiration from your own world. What do you collect, wear, eat? Where do you travel? How do you decorate? These are all sources of inspiration for finding your voice and vision for your event. 

2. Remember to edit, edit and edit again! Simplifying your initial ideas and inspiration will lead to a more beautiful, cohesive vision. 

3. Don’t allow style trends to determine the design details of your wedding. Being current is great but timeless is even more important. You want to enjoy your wedding photos for years to come so don’t ruin things by getting too caught up in overly trendy ideas. 

4. Take in all of the advice and opinions that will come your way but stay true to your original vision. 

5. Find a good point of inspiration and expand from there. Take a favorite object and break down the design details. Allow this to dictate a color palette, a mood or an overall vision. 

6. Focus on a mood or an overall impression rather than a theme or anything too specific. You can tell a story without making things obvious or overdone. 

7. Remember you will never find an image of exactly what you are looking for in your own wedding decor. I see so many brides and grooms perplexed by not discovering any images of what they want for their event and I always suggest they should stop worrying about it! You will never find that perfect image! You want something unique and truly your own so consider the images and ideas as inspiration rather than literal interpretations of your own design plans. 

8. Allow the seasons to inspire your ideas. This will infuse your wedding with a sense of time and place without framing it with anything too specific. 

9. Go hunting and gathering for inspiration in museums, art galleries, boutiques, antique stores, eclectic neighborhoods and every place you travel! Remember to take photos of anything you find inspiring. You never know when a great pattern on a dress or a beautiful chair in a furniture showroom might inspire an entire design plan! 

10. Take a deep breath and instead of thinking of your wedding day as the singular most important style statement of your life consider it to be the best dinner party you have ever hosted! If you remove the pressure and the stress of feeling like you have to say everything with your wedding just try saying one or two things elegantly and with a sense of personal style! 

source 

Sorry if I'm boring you with so much wedding stuff. I promise I will blog about other stuff soon :)

the magical dress

I thought that wedding dresses are magical and will make just any girl feel oh, so beautiful... 

But I was wrong. 

I went for my dress fitting today and guess what... almost every dress I tried on made me feel less and less beautiful. The dresses were either too long or my butt couldn't fit in or my boobs are too small to fill the hollow frame of the dress..

... and its so depressing..

I just wonder how many girls feel the same? Do we have to be tall, and thin, have big boobs, big butt, long legs just to feel beautiful? 

And the sales attendant couldn't be bother about what I want. When I tried to show her pictures of dresses that I like, she just brushed it off and told me to go look at their choice of dresses. She made me feel like "Meh, just another girl trying on dresses". 

Most dresses were similar... Hard, structured, modern, copy and paste.. After awhile, it all started to all looked the same to me. I wanted something with sleeves. She gave me a look of disbelief, like why on earth would a girl want to cover up on her wedding day? Any short dresses? Nope. Anything with less bling bling and sequins. Erm... why you want so bland one? Everything also want bland bland one. Do you have dresses with more lace? Sorry, all our customer wants modern look, not like you so old-fashioned. 

Ok, maybe I might be over-reacting a little but then, that's how I felt. 

So I concluded that I need to grow another 5 inches *no, heels just won't be enough*, get a boob job to maybe a cup D, and tone my bum. Well, I have exactly 7 months to work all that out. 

Oh, but in that 3 1/2 hour there, I did manage to find 1 dress that is just so... magical! Its big and poofy with layers and layers and layers of netting and cloth. When I put it on I feel just like a princess. I prance around the shop, dance in it, twirled round and round... I felt like I was floating on air. I was so excited that I texted Rockstar the picture and he said:

"No! I don't like it"

link 

Good-bye beautiful magical dress... We are just not meant to be. 

in.love.

Rockstar and I normally do not celebrate V-day on V-day as we find it such a hype and waste of money. We usually do something either a few days before or after. But this year, he decided to surprise me with something different. 

A trip. 

We left KL about 2.30pm, drove up to Genting Highlands, walk around, had buffet dinner @ Resort World, enjoy the cold air, watch a gorgeous sunset, drove back down and arrived home at 8.30pm. 

6 hours away from work. 6 hours away from hot weather. 6 hours spend with Rockstar. *smiles*

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its not a very good thing to have such a heavy buffet a day before my gown fitting but the buffet spread is really, really good. So much variety and choices.. Seriously, its much cheaper then celebrating in KL. RM63++ for an adult. Worth every single cent.  

Let me end V-day by wishing all my love ones a "Happy V-day!" and know that you are love. 

*heart*

Weekend, laundry and treasure trove

Its been an eventful week. There was just so many things happening... but you know, it just affirmed my faith in God.To say that I no longer have fear its not true, but what its true is that I know that God is in control and that He has a plan for me. I fear not.. 

Weekends are always great.

Saturday alarm rang at 5.30am. Woke up and turned it off cause there is no BB meeting this week. Even though I love the kids, I gotta say "Yay!!!". A Saturday morning free is so rare.. So it was back to sleep for me :) But I did managed to get some spring cleaning done later.  

My treasure trove. A drawer-filled with childhood treasures. Forgotten, dust-covered but holds lots of memories. Couple of hours of sorting out, 2 bags of rubbish and 1 box to keep, here's what I have left...

My jewelry boxes. 

Used it to keep so many bits and pieces that I hold valuable when I was younger.

My mum's vintage necklaces..  So dainty and pretty.

My mum's locket.. It belongs to her even before she got married.

Its has such a gorgeous blue stone in front.. 

And it still has her picture in it.

My first ever jewelry given to me by my parents..

Its so old that the rubber string is giving way.. I might consider restringing it and keeping for my (future) daughter. Its a cheap plastic thing but it was so precious to me and I felt prettier just wearing it then. 

Bunches of letters from friends.. and yes, admirers too. Nah, I threw them all away. Heck, I can't even remember half of them. Childhood crushes will always be childhood crushes. But its so cute to read them again. 

But it did keep the letters from my besties in school. We used to see each other everyday in school, during BB meetings on Saturday and church on Sunday. 7 days a week, yet we still talk on the phone everyday after school and even wrote letters to each other. Letters about who like how, who to friend or not, stuff... ah, so much memories. Joyce and Sam and Ly, I'll keep this for our kids to read : ) 

These are my diaries.. Yeah, I wrote a lot last time and yes, I did start each post with "Dear Diary". Its really funny to read what I wrote last time. So many crushes, school days and crazy stuff we used to do; like playing - Spin the bottle and who kissed who *haha.. scandal*. I also used to be a HUGE fan of Westlife, hence the diary covered with them.. and also Titanic, which I still have a bunch of cards. Seriously, don't laugh k...

And an old picture of me and best friend... I looked so fair and skinny then; still fair but not so skinny now.  He is dark and skinny then.. Not so dark and skinny now :)

Cards, letters, notebooks, gifts... 

My greatest find from this treasure trove is.... a RM50!. I think it must be like 8 years old or something. Cos I found it between a notebook given by my best friend before he left for Melbourne. When I found it, I texted him about it but ....we both couldn't remember what was it for. So yeah, maybe I'll keep it for another few years and hopefully I'll remember it then :) or we'll just go for a meal when he gets back.. 

So spring cleaning, house work, a training, church service, dinner with Rockstar's family, badminton session and dinner with my family.. that's how my weekend went.. 

Oh, and I finally manage to get my laundry done.. I absolutely loath ironing and will just wait until I got no choice. So here's a pile of 2 months worth of ironing done. Pheww!!

So much revelation in this post. 

How have your weekend been?

guessing game

MS excel is acting up.. and every single click I do, it hangs... and then when I shut it down, it reopens and the whole cycle goes thru again.. and I've been trying for the last half and hour.. which means that I can't work!!! Arrgghh!!!! I think i got hacked or kena virus or something.. 

Anyway, it gives me a chance to post this up. During CNY dinner at my aunt's house, we were looking at some really old pictures. And since she wanted to throw them away, I decided to snatch it up before it ends up in the bin..

So people, start guessing who is who :) 

Sorry, no prizes for those who guess correct cause... I can't really tell which is me either :p

Happy Friday everyone!!!

CNY 2012. the end.

Finally, Chinese New Year is over!!!

...and its the end of all those Chinese new year cookies and dinners... my thighs and tummy says Hallelujah!!!!

Here's how my CNY celebration went..

CNY Eve Dinner @ Grandma's place

+ Dad's 57th Birthday

First ever meet up with relatives, distant cousins, niece & grand-aunty..

I am an aunty!!! I have a 2 nieces... which I just found out..

Shopping with parents & siblings at e@curve

Dinner @ Chew's Residence

Dinner @ Aunty Kim's new apartment

There were couple more visitations and dinners which I didn't mange to take pictures. But all in all, it was a very good CNY celebration.. Lots of food, cookies, catching up on news, laughing, playing,... 

Hope that your CNY celebration was great too!!

Happy Belated CNY everyone!!!

fear

sorry for the lack of updates lately. been really busy with work.. and there was a lot on my mind.

have you ever felt fear? the deep intense uncertain dread feeling that comes and stay even when you don't want it to? and anything and everything you do just seem so pointless. fear of things unknown. of things so uncertain. of the future. of life. of decisions. and no matter how much you try to distract yourself or push it aside, the feeling stays. like a weight in your heart. pulling you down. a burden lodged in your chest. so heavy. so hard. and sometimes when you are alone, tears threaten to come. but stays. stuck in your chest. refusing to acknowledge it. hoping that it will go away. but somehow. it doesn't. 

i feel fear.

yes. the strong confident me. such a foreign feeling. 

i'm human.

i made a decision that will change my life. 2 weeks ago.  

fear. is still here. 

help me, Lord.