Wedding Update: First Bridesmaids Meeting @ Au Chocolat

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 055

Hola chewy chewy friends! It’s the start of a brand new week! *Groan* Ok just kidding. Anyway, many friends have been asking misterchewy and I, “How are your wedding preparations coming along?” Our standard reply would be, “Ummm.. Like that lor.” We are researching on our honeymoon trip first because friends are shocked that we have not booked our air tickets and all. As for the wedding, we have yet to send our invitation cards for printing and look at the Guo Da Li (betrothal gift exchange) things. Yes very last minute I know. But wait! At least I managed to hold my very first bridesmaids meeting at Au Chocolat @ Marina Bay Sands! 😀

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 050

I was actually very thrilled to have all my jiemeis meet one another because they are very outgoing and sociable girls! Everyone in the group knows at least one other girl because they have met before. Shall elaborate later! I had to pick a good venue because all of us reside in various parts of Singapore so we agreed to meet in a more centralized location. I picked Au Chocolat because I wanted a place with a feminine and taitai-ish vibe (even though I have not been there prior to the meetup!) 😛 Not a very wise choice because almost everyone was lost when they reached MBS!

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 039

Tadah! Meet my bridesmaids! From left to right: Ying Pei (YP), Pei Rong (PR), Bee, Maureen, Adelene 🙂 YP knows PR. PR knows YP, Bee and Maureen. Bee knows YP, Maureen and Adelene. Maureen knows PR and Bee. Adelene knows Bee. Confusing or not? LOL.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 040

Me and my bridesmaids! Welcome on board! Hahaha 😀 Ok I shall introduce all my pretty bridesmaids one by one according to seniority!

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 029

Name: Pei Rong
How did we meet: She was my Orientation Group Leader in JC.
Fun fact: After her GCE ‘A’ levels, we kept in touch through snail mail for a while before Facebook made things easy for us.
Number of years of friendship: About 10 years
My thoughts: Pei Rong will be the big sister to guide my other bridesmaids in the planning. She is more serious and I will go to her for advice.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 037

Name: Maureen
How did we meet: Social Media
Fun fact: We crap a lot almost everyday on Twitter.
Number of years of friendship: More than 2 years
My thoughts: Maureen is the craziest, loudest and most-not-shy bridesmaid and I actually fear for misterchewy that she will come up with lotsa Mission Impossibru ideas for the gatecrash.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 033

Name: Bee
How did we meet: Secondary School
Fun fact: She’s the only female friend from secondary school whom I regularly stay in touch with.
Number of years of friendship: More than 10 years
My thoughts: Bee is the most clearheaded bridesmaid so she might help to assess how realistic the situation will be when the ladies are brainstorming for the gatecrash. She is also too innocent for her own good so I hope she becomes less innocent after this.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 035

Name: Adelene
How did we meet: Primary School
Fun fact: We were in the same class from P2 to P6 and I used to bully her in P2. LOL. And I don’t call her Adelene actually.
Number of years of friendship: Almost 20 years
My thoughts: Adelene is very responsible and she lives just across the street so she is my emergency contact person. I am very relieved that she agreed to be my bridesmaid.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 031

Name: Ying Pei
How did we meet: Tennis
Fun fact: I didn’t like her when we first met on the tennis court because she seemed quite hiao but guess what? She turned out to be nice enough to be my bestest tennis partner after getting to know her better.
Number of years of friendship: About 8 years
My thoughts: Ying Pei is not the loudest but she is very wild. Maybe it’s an age thing. If I am ever going to have a hens night party, I’m sure Ying Pei is the one who will help me plan something that I will remember for as long as I live. LOL.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 001

Ok and now, the food! I’m absolutely crazy about Truffle Fries ($15) and I’m glad to say that Au Chocolat’s did not disappoint with its generous amount of white truffle oil and truffle sea salt. The truffle fries was served with mayonnaise and BBQ sauce instead of truffle mayo but it was good on its own nevertheless.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 004

Ying Pei’s Handmade Mini Crab Cakes Sliders ($18) certainly look too cute to resist. The specially seasoned crab cakes were made in-house with guacamole, tomato & caramelized banana ketchup sauce sandwiched between mini sesame coated burger bun.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 021

For those with a ravenous appetite can opt for the Au Chocolat Club Sandwich ($20) which is easily mistaken for a ginormous burger from afar! Not that my petite bridesmaid Pei Rong has a monstrous appetite, but how could anyone turn down a traditional double decker stuffed with bacon, a sunny side up egg, grilled chicken fillet & sautéed mushrooms finished with Swiss cheese & tasty guacamole spread? Now that’s a mouthful, pun intended. The poor girl was desperately trying to share the calories with everyone else!

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 008

The Homemade Garlic Herb Pesto Pasta with Prawns ($25) is also a good choice if you wanna jumpstart your day with a bit of carbo boost. Our dear Adelene seems to be enjoying her dish!

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 019

Maureen and I chose the Au Chocolat Benedict ($18) which had perfectly poached eggs atop bacon, spinach, tomatoes on an English muffin smothered in their very own hollandaise sauce infused with red wine & dark chocolate. It still tasted pretty much like the usual hollandaise and I didn’t manage to detect any hints of red wine or dark chocolate. Be warned that eating this can be a very messy affair. The yolk squirted all over my plate instead of oozing out gracefully.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 012

For something even more awesome, go for the Ultimate Benedict ($22), which Bee did. Imagine hot fluffy pancakes topped with sautéed spinach, tomatoes, crispy bacon, roasted ribeye steak, roasted chicken & two poached eggs with our very own red wine & dark chocolate infused hollandaise sauce. I don’t eat beef but this sure sounds like one hell of a brunch.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 045

I think candid shots tell a little bit about someone’s personality. Look at these two shots and read “My thoughts” on each of them again. Hahaha.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 046

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 047

Basically, during the meeting, I introduced the girls to those whom they have not met. We talked a bit about the agenda of the actual day wedding, their responsibilities and I will check out on their bridesmaids dresses in the meantime.

Jiemei meetup @ Au Chocolat 048

Let’s start counting down to the weekend! Take care everyone! Do check out our facebook page www.facebook.com/missuschewy for updates 🙂

Au Chocolat
Bay Level L1-03
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Singapore 018972
Tel: 6688 7227

Opening Hours:
Sun to Thu
10am – 11pm (Last order at 10pm)
Fri & Sat
10am to 12 midnight (Last order at 11pm)

Wedding Anniversary Photoshoot with Firefly Photography

DSC_0013

Whoohoo! TGIF chewy chewy friends! The week passed by like a flash. I know our first year wedding anniversary was on 9 September and it took me so long to post this 😛 A couple of weeks before our anniversary, I chanced upon a Groupon deal for this 90 minute photoshoot with Firefly Photography at just $12. You must be thinking, “Yeah $12.. You gotta be kidding me right?” So smart, $12 includes only 5 edited photos. We had to top up $68 to get 50 edited photos and the remaining 100++ raw ones, which is still quite a good deal! 😀

DSC_0011-001

Here are some of the shots that I personally prefer. We were trying to think of a theme for our casual photoshoot and it was PICNIC! We bought some jumbo sized snacks from the supermarket and also a pink ukulele just for this shoot! 😛 Location was at Hort Park and homaigawd it was really hot even at 10am.

DSC_0017

DSC_0008

DSC_0040

DSC_0041

DSC_0051

DSC_0033

DSC_0035

DSC_0055

DSC_0070

DSC_0067

DSC_0059

DSC_0108

DSC_0115

DSC_0120

DSC_0126

Hehe so what do you guys think of the photos? Still pretty ok for the price we paid right? 😛 Enjoy the weekend and stay tuned for more updates next week! 🙂

Colored My Hair RED and PURPLE @ ICON by Shunji Matsuo for our Wedding Photoshoot!

Outdoor shoot

TGIF chewy chewy friends! By the time you are reading this post, misterchewy and I are probably somewhere high up in the skies, on our way to The Land of Smiles! Yeah, Thailand, that’s right! 😛 We are off to Bangkok to eat, shop, sightsee and enjoy the traditional Thai massage! This short getaway shall be our well-deserved break after our wedding photoshoot on Monday. It was a blardy exhausting whole day affair. Woke up at 7am and reached the studio before 10am. Indoor photoshoot started at around 11.30am and we had a quick lunch before moving off for our outdoor shoot slightly before 3pm. I know some people don’t like to pose for photos but misterchewy and I enjoyed it soooo much! Kinda unbelievable that the photoshoot actually turned out to be very fun! Our photographer (who I think kinda looks like Gary Chaw) was a barrel of laughs and we didn’t feel tensed or uneasy throughout the shoot. In fact, everything went very smoothly! 😀

ICON by Shunji Matsuo

Just for this shoot, I had to endure my irritating fringe for a few months because I was under the impression that my makeup artist (MUA) can create different hairstyles for me 😛 I never had such long fringe before! It’s around my mouth level now anyway. I also ditched my yellowish highlights in exchange for red and purple hair! 😀 😀 😀 Like I have mentioned before, I like to procrastinate and leave things till the last minute. Finally visited the salon a few days before the shoot, right after I got off from work. Was asking around for recommendations around Holland Village and dear Carrie from The Cambelles told me about ICON by Shunji Matsuo. Total damage was around $550 for two colors and Sherpa treatment. *Heartpain* Had to keep telling myself it’s justifiable for the shoot. Anyway my MUA kept saying the shade of purple is very ‘chio’. *Beams* 😀

at salon

I settled for purple because I was sick of having different shades of brown since the first time I colored my hair about 6 to 7 years ago but more importantly, I wanted something wild for our wedding photos 😛 Chose a very dark shade of red to complement the purple because I didn’t wanna attract too much attention. LOL. Haha ya paradox lor I know. >_<

misterchewy

Hubby Chewy knocked off from work and accompanied me for the next 1 hour plus. The panorama photo of the salon was taken by him using iPhone 5! Actually most of the other photos in this post also la.

doing treatment

I don’t know what exactly is Sherpa treatment but I chose it because it was more expensive. Since I’m already spending money, might as well go for the best right? 😛 Besides, my hair needs it! Long hair is very hard to maintain and my hair is very dry at the ends. *sob*

almost done

after

It was agonizing having to sit in the salon for close to 4 hours but I think it was worth it! How to go work like that? Aiya I only colored the inside, somewhere near the back of my neck. Don’t really know how to explain but nevermind.

purple hair 2

purple hair

purple hair 3

Outdoor shoot 2

This is one of our looks for the shoot. Really happy and satisfied with our MUA because he knows exactly what I want! Too many people that we would like to thank – Our photographer, MUA, Katrina from Cold Rock Ice Creamery, The White Rabbit, Hans and Valerie from Backyard@Dempsey, Krist for my nails and also Maureen for helping out during the outdoor shoot. I posted a few sneak photos on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/missuschewy! We might be sharing updates on FB while we are at Bangkok as well, so keep a lookout! 😀

Takumi Tokyo: Romantic First Year Wedding Anniversary Dinner

9th September
Photo credit: Jenny Sun Photography
(Words by misterchewy, photos by missuschewy)

Hello all! This is misterchewy blogging about his birthday and first year wedding anniversary celebration with missuschewy on 9th September. The above was shot on an iPhone by Jenny Sun, the same photographer who took engagement and wedding shots for Jayesslee’s Sonia and her husband Andy. It’s such a coincidence the Jayesslee twins and I were born on 9 September, in the same year! 0909 is a nice date because it means 长长久久 which is why we tied the knot on my birthday last year 🙂

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 003

Rewind a few weeks earlier, we met up with the other foodies and caught Jiro Dreams of Sushi at VivoCity. The fantastic cinematograph totally whetted my appetite for some sushi and sashimi! Had been searching high and low for quality Japanese food for weeks. As a surprise, the wifey promptly made reservations at Takumi Tokyo Restaurant, located at the laid-back Keppel Bay. Come to think of it, she brought me here for an advanced mini birthday celebration at Prive two years ago!

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 009

Walking is our favorite mode of transportation when missuschewy isn’t wearing heels 😛 We were around town area and chose to take a leisurely stroll in after alighting at Harbourfront MRT Station. A stroll soon turned into brisk walking as we were famished!

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 017

I might not express it but I was excited and looking forward to the dinner. My wife certainly knows how to make me happy and excited. -gasps- Stop letting your mind wonder. A woman who knows the way to her man’s stomach will tie him down automatically. HAHA.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 018

I think it was missuschewy’s first time wearing such a long dress to go paktor with me. So pretty lor 😛

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 090

Our stomachs could not take it anymore and we finally continued making our way to the restaurant which is located on level 2. Turn left upon exiting the lift and you will find Takumi Tokyo after passing by TCC.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 083

Takumi Restaurant is said to be a fine-dining restaurant with interiors that create an ambience that complements the food and service for an authentic and unpretentious Japanese dining experience. It has a number of awards under its belt, such as Best Restaurant 2010, Singapore Tatler and Top 3 Japanese Restaurants, Singapore Press Holdings.

us @ takumi

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 021

Gosh! We were so hungry when we reached the restaurant. Didn’t know whether to go for the set menu or select ala carte dishes. In the end, we decided to go for a bit of everything from the ala carte menu. Apparently, Takumi Tokyo specializes in robatayaki and teppanyaki.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 032

Shortly after placing our order, We were served Otoshi ($6), which we mistook as a complimentary appetizer.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 034

We were pleasantly surprised when we ate the Pan Seared Foie Gras with Plum Wine Jelly ($35). The radish was sweet while the foie gras was nicely crisp on the outside and melt-in-the-mouth.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 036

Like what missuschewy said on Instagram when she posted the picture: “Foie Gras so good I could have died and gone to heaven”. Yeah it was THAT good.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 040

The Australian Kurobuta Pork Yuzu Pepper Sauce 120g ($30) came thinly sliced and was quite flavorful but we would prefer it to be more tender.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 042

We wanted to order sashimi and Chirashi Sushi $38 but the restaurant manager advised us to go for either since both are highly similar, except that the latter comes with rice. There was quite a variety of raw fish and everything came in two slices, except for the prawn. Very value-for-money!

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 050-horz

We love sea urchin but the Hokkaido Scallops topped with Sea Urchin, Paprika Sauce ($28) didn’t wow us. The slightly sourish taste did not seem to fit in this dish.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 059

Although the Grilled Lamb Rack Marinated with Apple Miso Sauce $25 was a bit salty, it was very tasty and was more tender than the Australian kurobuta pork.

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 053

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 055

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 067

We felt so shiok from eating the chirashi sushi that we decided to order the Assorted Sushi ($35) halfway through eating! The menu states that this features 7 pieces and 1 roll but it seems like we got an extra piece. Shiok! 😀

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 071

The chef deep-fried the prawn head from our chirashi sushi for us. Very crispy!

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 074

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 056

First Year Wedding Anniversary_Misterchewy Birthday 089

To my dear wife, thanks for putting in lots of effort to plan for my birthday and our anniversary. Can’t wait for part two updates! 😛 I really love the watch that you shipped over for me as birthday present and I will treasure it for a long long time. 🙂 在爱的幸福国度,你就是我唯一。我唯一爱的就是你。

Takumi Tokyo Restaurant
2 Keppel Bay Vista,
#02-01
Marina at Keppel Bay
Singapore 098382
Tel: 6271 7414

Opening Hours:
Daily
12pm – 2.30pm (Lunch)
6pm – 10.30pm (Dinner)

Happy Birthday and Happy Wedding Anniversary, misterchewy!

548141_434790519905502_1450649664_n

The rain ruined our plans but that didn’t rain on our parade. Dinner at Takumi Tokyo was a pretty impressive one! And before the clock strikes 12, I’d like to once again wish misterchewy Happy Birthday and Happy Wedding Anniversary! 今天是九月九日,我们会长长久久! ♥

The Chewys’ Traditional Chinese Wedding Preparations

photo (9)

Yay! Hubby Chewy and I will be celebrating our First Year Wedding Anniversary come this Sunday, on 9th September! Our ROM was held at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel last year. We didn’t want to throw our customary wedding banquet on the same day, hence we chose another date, which we think has a pretty nice number combination! 😛 Anyway, I reckon we are the world’s #1 procrastinating couple so I’ve decided to ‘chart our progress’ in terms of our customary wedding preparations here. 😛

Our Progress

– Booked pre-wedding photography package inclusive of makeup artist
– Decided on date of photoshoot
– Finalized our customary wedding banquet venue
– Confirmed AD photographer, additional photographer and videographer
– Selected our bridal gowns, evening gowns and groom suits (Round One fitting passed!)

Things to be done!

– Badly in need of new hair color before photoshoot in October (misterchewy too!)
– Bridal nails (probably can wait a couple of days before our shoot)
– Decide on photoshoot wedding venues
– Photoshoot theme
– Props for outdoor photoshoot
– Wedding dinner theme
– Considering instant prints photographer or mobile booth with props for wedding dinner
– What else?! What else did I forget?! I’m sure I must have left out many things! :O

Haha ok I think that’s about it for now! To all the other wedding couples, please feel free to give advice or recommendations! Thank you 🙂

Goodbye 2011! Hello 2012! :D

_MG_9803-1

Now that it’s the second day of 2012, I hope 1st Jan had been a good start for all of you! 2011 has been a very good and exciting year for misterchewy and myself. These were the most memorable happenings from the beginning of the year all the way till the end. I suppose the second half of the year was more interesting! 😛

Valentine's Day 2011

14 February 2011 – We celebrated Valentine’s Day with each other for the very first time! Had dinner at Orchard Central’s Sarang, which is a Korean restaurant. The then-boyfriend got me a bouquet of bears! <3

DSC00403com

20 to 22 May 2011 – Hit the sand and the sea at Redang with misterchewy and his NTU friends! The sun seemed to be on shift, so we didnt get much of a tan. Haha! Really fun because it was our first time snorkelling together! 😀

IMG_0001

28 May 2011 – I thought we should engage in other activities other than just eating so we signed up for the Sundown Half-Marathon! Heh.. I guess we have to admit that we are getting old! BUT.. We have plans to sign up for other races this year! 🙂

taiwan

11 to 18 June 2011 – Joined misterchewy and his parents on a one-week trip to Taiwan! Whoa ho! We ate and ate and ate and shopped and shopped and shopped! The only thing I disliked was the extremely hot weather and scorching sun. Apart from that, it was a good break away from work to spend time together with misterchewy 🙂

Milk - 21

25 June 2011 – If you have not read about the surprise proposal that misterchewy came up with, with the help of his friends, you can read all about it here. I will always reminisce this day for the rest of my life. The day that I cried buckets because I was really touched by what he had come up with. :’)

The Surprise Proposal from CHEW ZHI HAO on Vimeo.

I could watch this video a thousand times and never get sick of it 😛 Will definitely show it to my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren! Hehe!

IMG_8882

26 June 2011 – This day also happened to be our 11th monthsary, which was one day after the proposal. Best way to remember it? Take engagement shots! 😛

2010 vs 2011

26 July 2011 – Exactly a month later, we celebrated our First Year Anniversary. Went back to Raindrops Cafe where we first became officially together. I suggested we should wear the same thing, go back to the same place and pose the same way for our photo! 😛 Just for the fun of it and for comparision sake!

282741_10150716238890724_720300723_19892735_5549325_n

27 July 2011 – Yay! The boy graduated from NTU with a Second Upper Class Honours in Chemical Engineering! He’s currently working in a reputable MNC and can take care of my expenses. LOL! Kidding about the second part 😛

_MG_3249ed

31 July 2011 – My birthday fell on a Saturday and misterchewy took me to OChre for lunch! Loved the bling bling red fossil watch that he got me 😀

ZXW_1477

9 September 2011 – This is a very special day for us as it is misterchewy’s birthday and also the day of our solemnization! It was held at Grand Copthorne Waterfront. Interestingly, our post on spending our first night as husband and wife at the hotel rendered the most number of blog hits!

_MG_8286

27 to 29 November 2011 – We went on a short and impromptu mini honeymoon to Cameron Highlands. It was very enjoyable! 😀

_MG_0007

25 December 2011 – Definitely a very different feeling altogether when you know that it is your first time spending Christmas together as husband and wife. It was also our first time watching a musical together! Well, there’s always a first for everything. Besides, we have been together for about 1 and a half years only 😛

IMG_0880

31 December 2011 – Kissing 2011 goodbye! Haha! We were all ready to welcome 2012 at Clake Quay! Had some drinks at Rebel before the countdown began. Yeah can’t believe we chose beer over fireworks but we managed to catch a glimpse outside Liang Court.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, friends and readers for the support that they have given to this blog. May 2012 be filled with good eats, love, wealth and good health for all of you! 😀

The Chewy’s Mini Honeymoon at Cameron Highlands!

Mini Honeymoon at Cameron Highlands

The husband and I tied the knot on 9 September this year but due to our conflicting work commitment, it was really difficult for us to plan a honeymoon trip. As ironic as it may sound, it was also due to work that forced us to book a short trip to Cameron Highlands in late November! We booked our package on Thursday, packed our bags on Friday and left on Saturday! Talk about last minute travel! We had Shanghai, Hong Kong and even Japan in mind but we finally settled for Cameron Highlands because we figured that it would be impossible for us to plan a proper itinerary within such a short time frame. Cameron Highlands is very small and besides, it was the very first place that we shortlisted for our maiden trip together last year. Dropped the idea back then after gathering feedback that it’s a boring place. Hey, totally not true! We had sooooo much fun in Cameron Highlands! 😀 I call it a mini honeymoon because it was a short 3D2N stay and we did not even travel by air. However, at the end of this trip, we have come to realize that we didn’t have to spend a bomb on an extravagant honeymoon in order to be able to enjoy ourselves. Really, it’s the company that matters the most! 🙂

26th coach

This is our fourth time travelling together and we would always wear our Donald Duck couple shirts that misterchewy bought from Tokyo Disneyland on the day of setting off! Easy to identify each other if we ever get lost.. Haha! Ok here’s a brief overview. We kinda celebrated our first monthsary at Malacca. Our second trip together was to Redang with misterchewy’s bunch of fydp friends! And then I joined misterchewy and his family on a trip to Taiwan! Haven finish uploading the photos onto Facebook >_< Ok anyway, we departed Singapore on the day of our 16th monthsary! Had a simple Thai dinner at Golden Mile Complex before boarding the coach at 10pm. Seats were very spacious and we watched a movie before concussing throughout the rest of the journey! We slept like two logs for the next 7 to 8 hours and amazingly, we could hold our bladder for that long too. LOL. We reached Brinchang slightly before 7am and were told to find ourselves some breakfast. Food was cheap and good!

_MG_8211

We transferred to a smaller shuttle bus before being driven up to Strawberry Park Resort. Since it was hours away before we could check into our room at about 4pm, we deposited our bags at the lobby and I changed into a pair of jeans while waiting for the tour guide to pick us up. Nice mini waterfall at the resort!

_MG_8524

The resort looks beautiful from the outside and we couldn’t wait to check out our room! Some people actually drove up to Cameron Highlands and most of them were from other parts of Malaysia.

flowers

Beautiful flowers can be found everywhere around the resort! We were busy snapping photos and the tour guide finally picked us up at 10.15am when they were supposed to reach about 15 minutes before. Claimed that there was a huge jam outside.

_MG_8242

True enough, there was a major traffic jam as we were there during the school holidays. A route that would normally take only 15 minutes could take as long as 3 hours now! Scary! Anyway we reached Sungei Palas ‘BOH’ Tea Centre at 11.25am. The tour guide told us to go for the factory tour, look around the gift shop and sit down for some tea and then look for him again at 11.40am. 15 minutes to do all that?! Impossible! Turned out that he went to pick his other customers from the other resorts nearby and dropped them off at the tea centre. We were the last. In other words, the rest in our tour group had about an hour I didnt think it was very fair to us so we just took our own sweet time taking photos and enjoying our food at the cafe. LOL.

BOH Tea Plantation

The view of the tea plantation from the cafe was breathtaking. Ok la actually I was feeling extremely pissed about the tour guide’s arrangement and when I saw how long the queue at the cafe was, my eyes rolled to the skies. And to make matters worse, the husband got me a blueberry scone when I thought he would be smart enough to get a strawberry cake or strawberry something for me. The first thing he said when he got to the table, “Eh sorry leh I wanted to get the strawberry cake but don’t know why I got you the blueberry scone instead.” -_- Major sigh.

_MG_8286

We gave up the factory tour because makan and take photos more important laaaah! Hahaha! 😛

mossy forest traile day

Second tour of the day was a short trek into the mossy forest where the wonders of nature awaits us. We came across a variety of pitcher plants of different shapes and sizes, beautiful wild orchids and herbal plants such as the famous ‘Kacip Fatimah’.

mossy forest trail2

Little did we know that we the mossy forest is also extremely muddy and yucky. The mud was like quicksand! I was the only one wearing slippers and mud splattered everywhere each time I lifted my feet. It was just too gross and I was thinking that we seriously need to turn back. Therefore, we barely managed 10 metres but it was a wise move! The others came back all dirty and had to rinse their shoes as seen in the above collage. Basically we were just camwhoring while waiting for them.

Tea Plantation Trek

The tour guide told us that we had more climbing to do at the next stop! I was contemplating if I should take off my slippers but I’m glad I had them on. Some parts of the tea plantation are quite steep and also very slippery as it had drizzled earlier on.

IMG_8339

After climbing for 10 minutes, we spent only 1 minute taking photos at the vantage point of the tea plantation because the rain got heavier! Sad. Anyway, it is also called the ‘Giant Green Carpet of Malaysia’.

IMG_8344

Look at the dark clouds! Nevertheless, we were rewarded with the spectacular sight of the rolling green hills. If climbing uphill was difficult, going downhill was a bitch. I slided a bit every now and then and each time, I would let out a piercing scream. Sorry I cant help it! The daredevils who skipped their way down were giggling at me, I know. 🙁

IMG_8351

Yup and this is the souvenir we got from the tea plantation. LOL!

_MG_8355

The tour ended at around 4.30pm which also meant that we could check into our room instantly. I love our spacious studio room and the parquet flooring! Definitely gonna have it at least in our bedroom for our future house! 😀

in resort

We wanted to shop around at Brinchang but it’s really impossible to walk out from Strawberry Park Resort and so, we asked the reception to arrange for a cab. Camwhored in the room while waiting! Hahaha. I think the cab took about 40 minutes to get in because of the jam. Sigh.

_MG_8392

The cab looks very cute right?! In baby blue somemore! One of my favorite colors!

Strawberry Moment

Hehe we cabbed to Strawberry Moment Dessert Cafe! Besides the strawberry strudel and strawberry mousse, we also had strawberry milkshake. I personally found the desserts mediocre. Haha there’s free wi-fi. We walked over to Brinchang night market, which was open even in the day because of the school holidays. I think I got a couple of magnets and we then we cabbed back to the resort.

_MG_8467

Apart from breakfast, our two-night stay also came with steamboat dinner! Nice!

beer

I packed along my strawberry face masks which I bought in Taiwan. Actually I have many others like macaron, chocolate truffle, etc but of course must bring strawberry one right?! We are at Cameron Highlands after all! Hahaha. Yeah we forgot to buy beer when we were at Brinchang town and misterchewy suggested getting a bottle of Budweiser each from the hotel. 2 bottles cost a whopping 56RM after taxes! Haha we had a really good night’s sleep after drinking! 😛

breakfast at JTT

Even though our tour on the second day of our trip was scheduled to start at 2.30pm, we dragged ourselves up because the buffet breakfast at the resort’s Jim Thompson Terrace ends at 10am! The spread was quite good! We had nasi lemak, omelette, roti prata, etc.

around resort

Since we had more than 2 hours to kill, we kinda explored the entire resort!

around resort2

Strawberry Park Resort is quite a nice place actually! There’s a lovely garden too!

open terrace farming

Day Two’s tour wasn’t as exciting as the previous day’s but we weren’t complaining! We enjoyed getting close to the broccoli, corn, strawberries and other crops at the open terrace farm! Hahaha. Tried the corn and it was really sweet!

us at open terrace farm

Somehow, the farm reminded me of this game called Harvest Moon that I used to play! 😛

_MG_8720

Next up was the cactus farm, just a few minute’s ride from the previous destination.

Cactus farm

I thought that the cactus farm would be pretty boring but it turned out to be alright! We saw cactuses of all shapes, sizes and colors. The tour guide told us that there were 3000 types.

us at cactus farm

Mouth itchy, so we bought cup corn and sweet potato balls to munch on while marvelling at the cactuses. Hehe!

strawberry farm

Strawberry farm! This is what I had been waiting for! LOL. Couldnt wait to pick all the strawberries in sight! The tour guide told us that coconut fibre is used to grow the strawberry plants as it does not contain any bacteria.

us at strawberry farm

Also, he took a good look at all the (young) couples and told us that strawberries are a symbol of love. LOL. Cuz strawberries are red, looks kinda like a heart shape, and are sweet and sour just like how relationships should be!

_MG_8744

<3<3<3

Organic farm

Guess what is being used as fertilizer for these veggies at the organic farm? Volcanic soil. Plenty of nutrients! Somehow they managed to find out that these flies are attracted to the color yellow and by pasting yellow stickers around, there isn’t a need for pesticide.

tea time

Even though we were going to have dinner in like less than two hours, I decided to try the scones with strawberry jam at the organic farm. The husband went for a cup of hot strawberry chocolate. Heavenly!

Flower Nursery

The flower nursery was another few kilometres away. These flowers will come in time for Christmas and Chinese New Year! They smell lovely too!

night market

Sumptuous steamboat dinner as part of the tour package! I guess that area that we were seated at can be considered alfresco dining. Haha. Eating steamboat in a nice cool weather is bliss! Decided to shop around the Brinchang Night Market before heading back to the resort. Couldn’t believe that the husband when he said he wanted to tabao nasi ayam back! Since it was our last chance at ‘shopping’, I bought all the cute strawberry items in sight. Hahaha!

last day at Cameron

Although our mini honeymoon trip was a very impromptu and short one, we really enjoyed ourselves to the max! It was nice snuggling up close to each other in Cameron Highland’s cool weather too! 😛 Lastly, I would like to thank misterchewy once again for sponsoring my travel, accommodation and all other expenses for this trip. *Muacks* :333 P.S: I’m never gonna look at strawberries the same way again!

To view all 200 photos, click here.

ROM Party Makeover by Ivan Hoo of In Square Salon!

ROM Party Makeover

Before the solemnization party at Symphony Heights, Maureen of misstamchiak.com was really gracious enough to offer me her complimentary hair styling and makeover by Ivan Hoo, Creative Director of In Square Salon. I was initially quite hesitant because I paisey mah. But then again, Maureen is the ‘mai lugi’ queen so I must learn from her. Haha! Just kidding! Anyway, In Square Salon is located at Blk 24 Sin Ming Road. I would say that Ivan is very professional and takes care of little details, like trying to cover up the mole on my cheek as seen in one of the photos 😛 I quite like my overall 造型 even though it took me some time to get used to my (temporarily) curled hair! It was a jaw dropping moment for the husband the moment he saw me. He commented that my face and nose are much sharper. Haha ok thanks I know that my nose is ridiculously flat 🙁 Once again, a big thank you to Ivan and to Maureen for the lovely photos in this blog post! 😀

IMG_2658

IMG_2650

IMG_2710

IMG_2735

IMG_2739

IMG_2755

IMG_2756

IMG_2763

IMG_2768

IMG_2831

IMG_2885

IMG_2850

IMG_2903

IMG_2926

IMG_2916

IMG_2929

IMG_2944

IMG_2940

ROM Parties at HomeTeamNS Pasir Ris Chalet (10th September 2011) & Symphony Heights (24th September 2011)

_MG_4647-horz

The day after our solemnization at Grand Copthorne Waterfront, misterchewy and I headed straight for HomeTeamNS Pasir Ris Chalet the instant we checked out of the hotel. Our guests for that evening were mostly misterchewy’s relatives. I shall let the photos do the talking!

_MG_4610

_MG_4662

_MG_4636

_MG_4619

_MG_4654

_MG_4655

_MG_4618

_MG_4629

_MG_4632

_MG_4633

_MG_4642

_MG_4666

_MG_4665

_MG_4671

_MG_4674

_MG_4680

_MG_4682

_MG_4684

_MG_4687

_MG_4689

_MG_4691

_MG_4692

_MG_4696

_MG_4698

_MG_4700

_MG_4701

_MG_4704

_MG_5451

Thanks to my aunt Colleen, we managed to book the clubhouse at Symphony Heights and threw another party on 24th September for our friends. Ordered food from Neo Garden, again!

_MG_5455

_MG_5440

_MG_5446ed

_MG_5454

_MG_5462

_MG_5463

_MG_5471

_MG_5467

_MG_5473

316240_10150404767063784_642748783_9969716_1441549362_n

300878_10150404768648784_642748783_9969732_1207650019_n

298136_10150404763033784_642748783_9969660_1416012159_n

A photo with my niece! She was so well-behaved the entire night!

320087_10150404763243784_642748783_9969667_27118976_n

Yeah and I think I was trying to catch her attention with my manicured nails! 😛

_MG_4963

My nails were done by Krist Goh! You can check out her website for more info. Yes I know that there are probably a thousand and one manicurists out there. Celes recommended Krist to me and you know how powerful word-of-mouth marketing is. Krist previously did bridal nails for me and I was really satisfied!

_MG_5475

_MG_5488

_MG_5493

_MG_5496

_MG_5497

303162_10150404733868784_642748783_9969527_54148799_n

_MG_5478

_MG_5482

Yup, so this marks the end of our ROM celebrations! Three parties, three different venues, three outfits, three cakes! 😛 Special thanks to my mum!