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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316203562016-05-12T05:42:47.189+08:00Revel in me...revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-36401083292004538242015-10-02T10:11:00.000+08:002015-10-02T10:11:00.484+08:007 tips to enjoying lifeSponsored post

It has been a busy few weeks for me, with a website revamp, a pop-up event (more on that on Azorias' FB/ Instagram), a part-time consulting stint, and an upcoming project—that at times I can't help feeling like I am being spread too thin.

The truth is, I think most, if not all of us, are busy at some point. There are so many things to indulge our appetites in, especially with all the new technologies, giving us access to way more things than we had access to in the past. Another reason is this—we live in insecure times. So we feel this internal pressure to do do do do do all the time! In fact, some of us may even be addicted to 'busy-ness'. Do you feel this way
sometimes? Like if someone asks you how have you been, your chest puffs out as you tell your friend just how 'busy' you are. I am guilty of this too.

Nonetheless, I'm not going to pretend I like the 24/7 hustle. There's a time and place for that and it's not in my heart or mind at every waking moment. I don't want to glorify busy or have my hands in so many pots I look like I'm a big deal; or worse, start to think I am. The thing is, when we go go go all day, every day, week after week we leave no room for rest, family, recovery, or play. And I don't know about you but these four things are some of my favorites!

Whenever I feel myself all anxious from all my commitments, I will take a deep breath and slow down for a moment. I may be busy, but I will still find the time and effort to savor every moment! Here are some tips that work really well for myself to 'enjoy life' even at my busiest times:

1. Prioritize

Staring at a loooong list of to-dos is incredibly demotivating, so focus on what is critical, and do not get sidetracked. We can tackle 3, or even 10 things in a day, but not 33 or 50! So focus your energies onto the important agendas.

2. Enjoy the little things

Have you noticed the little things in your life recently? Whether it is licking a delicious ice cream or curling up at home on a rainy day, there are so many delightful moments in a day— if only we pay attention to them.

3. Make time for what (and who) you love

If all we ever did was work on and attend to our obligations it could become difficult to find any sense of enjoyment in our day-to-day experience! If we never make the time to do things we are excited about, we could easily start resenting our lives. That's why it is important to make time every day for the things we really enjoy, and this includes spending time with my loved ones. :)

4. "Living in the moment"

Something I always remind myself on a daily basis is—"Be present". Be present when I am meeting a friend, be present when I am admiring a scenic view in Paris, be present even when I am walking my dog. It is only when we fully immerse ourselves in an experience, that we can enjoy it completely!

This also applies to mundane tasks. We cannot run away from our responsibilities and daily duties/ chores. But admittedly, following such routines will cause us to feel tired and not enjoying ourselves. Well, the truth is that life has to be lived and felt in all these moments that we live! Whether we are cooking for our family or cleaning the house or working at the offices, we are actually making change for the better. Well, at least that is how I motivate myself, haha. So I try to enjoy even these mundane tasks because I remind myself that it is all for a better living/ future.

5. Learn to just let go

Learn not to stress over the things that are out of your control. Learn to let loose. If your mind is busy obsessing over all the things that didn't get done today, then you are not relaxed.

6. Do a gratitude review

This really works for me. If you take a minute everyday to review your blessings, you will start to notice more and more things to be grateful for. This is such a simple yet powerful way to feel grateful, and ultimate feel the enjoyment in your life!

7. Reward yourself

I am a hedonist by nature, so I never feel shy to treat myself, haha. It could be a hair treatment at my favorite salon, a new pair of shoes, or a smooth and creamy Magnum ice cream covered in a thick layer of cracking Belgian white chocolate with almond pieces— small pleasures like these instantly bring such joy to my day!

Ultimately, a day without pleasure is a day wasted. While we should put in our 101% in things we do, balance is extremely important and striking them should also be our priority. So try to make time to enjoy little pleasures every little part of your day, and end it with a Magnum White Almond. :)

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-42618107470339225162015-07-31T18:51:00.002+08:002015-07-31T18:58:45.590+08:00My bridal shower.So, the hubby and I just celebrated our first wedding anniversary this month.... and I still haven't blogged about our proposal, wedding preparations, wedding etc. -_- #badblogger

But today I am going to switch things around and talk about something wedding-related too! My bridal shower. :D It all started from this #hensdothrowback hashtag on Dayre (follow me at @revelinme!), and I started going through my photos and started feeling all giggly and nostalgic haha.

To be honest, my ideal hen's do is a girls' trip ala an island getaway! A few days of girlie time, cocktails and drinks, frolicking in sun and sand... I can't imagine anything better before being a Mrs! However, this little fantasy of mine is not really a possibility because most of my girlfriends are based overseas/ outstation. As it is, I already feel very grateful and indebted for them to come back all the way for my wedding-- I just can't possibly ask for them to come back for even longer/ for a separate trip just to accompany me on a holiday!!

So Jing and Teeny asked me what I want for my hen's night/ gathering, and I specifically stated that I don't want a wild night out LOL. My wedding ceremony was on a Sunday morning, so the only way I could have all my girlfriends present at the hen's gathering was the day before-- hence wild drinks the night before the wedding is definitely out of the question. Also, it's not really me la! I still want to remember what happened at my hen's night, haha. So I told them my priority is really to catch up with all my girlfriends, especially when I haven't seen some of them in ages!

So the only thing I know about my bridal shower is that it will be in the afternoon on the day before the wedding ceremony! And that Jing and Teeny were in charge. :P

At the 11th hour, my sisters asked me to wear a yellow dress for the outing. I was quite preoccupied with all the wedding loose ends then, and really had no time to look for a yellow outfit. Since I don't know the bridal shower theme, my plan was to just show up in a white dress 'cause you can't go wrong as a bride wtf. This caused me to get quite worried about the theme also-- 'cause why need to wear yellow haha. Don't tell me it's Minion theme wtf.

Anyway, on Saturday morning (the day before the wedding!), we had a mini rehearsal-- which is more to familiarize my flower girls and page boys with the venue, as well as to test the timing for the march in.

Feeling all surreal and happy at our ceremony site. It has always been my dream to get married under a canopy of trees!

I expected it to finish quite quickly, 'cause how long can a march-in take right? So that will leave me with plenty of time to go home and get ready for my bridal shower. *cue bouncy steps and wide smile*

BOY WAS I WRONG. When you add 5 kids together (three girls who are about 3 years old, and 2 hyperactive boys)-- you get havoc. But no regrets whatsoever in doing a rehearsal, because *jeng jeng jeng* during the rehearsal, I found out that KS, one of my page boys, is TERRIFIED of dogs!!

And Rocky was walking down the aisle with us. -_-

He was so afraid that he can't even be on the same ground as Rocky!!! He keeps on leaping onto people's laps despite our coaxing that Rocky is very tame and friendly.

My flower girls trying to convince KS that there is nothing to be scared of, haha.

Of course now I find it really funny hahaha. But at that point of time, I was literally sweating buckets!! My back-up plan was to axe KS, and just have one page boy only, haha.

So this whole thing ended up delaying me tremendously, and I was super duper late to my own bridal shower. T____T

But when I arrived, I WAS BLOWN AWAY.

Can you see that I am a little teary-eyed here, haha.

They threw me what Teeny coined as a "Glam Palm Spring" themed bridal shower!

Dashes of hot pink (my favorite color); my favorite tropical elements like flamingoes, pineapples, palm trees; sequins; giant balloons; wild-colored flowers... I cannot think of a more perfect theme to suit me!!! Heck, I wouldn't even have been able to think up of this perfect theme myself!!!

A bouquet of flowers for ME! And a gold pineapple (that Teeny painstakingly spray-painted).

Still in shock. Everything was just BEAUTIFUL. And HAPPY!!

I LOVE HAPPY!!

This quirky flamingo bride and groom cake is LOVE. Can you spot the top hat detail and the little bridal bonnet? Haha. I love it so so much! The hubby would have never allowed us to have a flamingo wedding cake, but now I have MY OWN!! Muahaha.

Colorful sundae and palm tree toppers. And PINEAPPLE STRAWS.

Bloom baby bloom!

And the best part of the day-- being surrounded by my favorite girls!

And all of them came in tropical-inspired outfits too! Just major love for every one of them. :D

And I found out why Jing and Teeny wanted me to wear yellow. -_-

They made me a pineapple crown, so if I wear yellow with the green pineapple crown (they did specify their preference for a LONG yellow dress)-- I will look 100% like a pineapple. -___________-

Weary about what other costumes they have up their sleeves, hahaha.

Alas, I was very sporting to wear the pineapple crown throughout k! Although I did look more like Sun Wukong HAHAHA.

Still can't get over these adorable straws. :D

With one-half of my loves!

Can you see that the balloons are actually flamingos? HAHAHA. Teeny is too creative!!

Another view of the table setting. This ombre sequin table runner is EVERYTHING.

Rubber duckies casually hanging out amidst shiny sequins!

The mastermind behind all this ADORABLE goodness. She even got the tassels on the balloons-- something that I have admired on Pinterest and off-handedly mentioned to her before.

If you want to hire her for party-planning, please contact me wtf. I will charge her a minimal agent fee HAHA.

Tropical outfits yo! Audrey in palm tree prints and Jing in flamingo prints. *hearts in eyes*

FLAT HAIR FLAT REUNION!! A faceless Jaclyn, me, Smalls, and Kit Mey! My old readers will definitely remember us. *teary-eyed*

Selfie with Suet!

One of my high school best friend, R, who is back from Langkawi (where she is posted as a doctor) just for my big day!

Jing and Ally! This Ally damn funny, the moment she saw me, she told me, "Hui Wen! I am wearing YELLOW and PRINTS for you!" while pointing at her shorts, haha. Very tropical, dahling. :D

My bridal shower outfit:

White lace/ organza 3D peplum dress: Korea
Pearl necklace: Korea
Patent pumps: Wittner, Australia

Luckily I insisted on wearing this white dress! 'Cause I didn't know what other occasion I could wear it to, haha. Imagine if I have worn a yellow dress!! Then I would have fallen into my sisters' trap wtf.

Pineapple got eaten wtf.

Top (L-R): Jaclyn, Smalls, Ally, Ran, Suet, Aud, Ean (my sister in law!)
Bottom (L-R): Kit Mey, Jing, me, Teeny

Once again, thank you all my bestest girls!!! It means the world to have you all with me throughout my journey in life. :)

One more bridal shower for my wedding reception next year k? HAHAHA.

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-20301807325433530402015-06-16T23:01:00.000+08:002015-06-19T11:01:03.685+08:00Rockefeller Center, one month apart.I saw this photo of Rockefeller Center on my Instagram feed recently, and did a double take:

Why, you may ask?

'Cause it looks SO SO different from the Rockefeller Center that I saw in New York! :O :O :O

SEE?? Same location, same angle, same view... SO DIFFERENT. And it was only a month plus ago??

Another view. Right opposite is 5th Avenue, and you can just FEEL the energy of New Yorkers bouncing off! :D

The place was covered with colorful blooms and cherry blossoms, and the ponds (previously they were ponds!!) were filled with neon pink rubber duckies.

You heard me right. NEON PINK rubber duckies. I love how pretty and random everything looks!

I repeat, now it looks like this. #mindblown

Couldn't resist to take some nice OOTD photos with all the cherry blossom background:

Ruffled eyelet slip dress: AZORIAS (Also available in Pink)
Bracelets: H&M
Black pumps: Forever 21

 I love this dress, which is inspired by Self Portrait! Looking back at these photos, I regret not wearing the pink version, it will look so nice with this awesome pink background-- rubber duckies and all! :P

A little more about my day, other than our Rockefeller excursion, haha.

Spent the earlier part of the day by myself, 'cause the boy had to work. Felt like a local New Yorker 'cause I carried a coffee in my hand while navigating around Manhattan LOL.

I honestly thought I was so smart, 'cause it was really cold and I honestly believed that holding a hot cup of liquid in my hands would keep me warm. Why else would everyone be carrying a cup too right?

WRONG. 'Cause hot liquids will turn cold too wtf. And it was so cold that my coffee literally turned cold in 3 minutes. -_- USD4 down the drain FML.

Queuing in Momofuku Milk Bar.

For THIS.

THIS is what I came to New York for! *hearts in eyes*

When planning a NYC trip with my sisters in the past, one of the top to-do in my NYC bucket list is to eat this famous cereal-topped soft serve from Momofuku Milk Bar. I came to know about it from Instagram, and many of the New Yorkers that I admire all rave about this. Also, if you know me well, you will know that I am a sucker for anything milky. So I was so dead set on trying this at least once in my life!

And I did.

I seriously felt like a hundred of emotions running through my veins while licking sloppily on this milky heaven. Deliriously happy and touched was the main emotions! :D

Also ticked another must-try food off my list. Because when in NY, you have to have street food! And the Halal Street Guys come highly recommended.

It doesn't look that appetizing, I know. But it's really good value for money (USD7 for the biggest pot of rice ever wtf), and very yummy too!

Tip: Ask for extra white sauce. And add the red sauce with caution 'cause it's really spicy!

Finally finished off our day out with take-away cupcakes from Sprinkles, which is supposed to have the best red velvet cupcake.

Wait till you see Sprinkle's cupcake ATM!! :O

Wait till you see my eat red velvet ice cream with toasted red velvet cake toppings! :O

Ended the night with cupcakes in bed and the most aching legs, but with a heart that was bursting with happiness and gratitude. :D

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-73034075352857150462015-06-10T14:44:00.001+08:002015-06-10T14:47:04.056+08:00#Shitmyhusbandsays.I have a great relationship with the boy, and I can safely say that we adore each other. Even after 12 years HEHE. But sometime the things he say ar, haha...

I think I actually need to start a series on the blog called Shit My Husband Says. :P

For example, the hubby showed me this one day, and asked me to build my dream man according to the $5 rule:

I pored over each trait, and I really couldn't decide! All the qualities are very important leh.. T__T Sense of humor is incredibly important to me, I just can't deal with boring people. But money is also crucial to lead a happy life LOL. Have to be smart right, I have no patience for stupid people, and our children how!!

I wailed to him, "I NEED MORE MONEY!!" T_T But he insisted that I must make my selection, grr.

In the end, I picked: Funny, Smart, and Faithful. Just nice, $5.

He looked through the list again and nodded, "Wow, you got such a good deal! You paid $5, and you got back $19 in value in me!"

-_________________________-

********************************************************************

It's been 2 years since my mother-in-law has left us, and over the weekend, there was a huge ceremony and prayers to signify the end of the mourning period. With that, the boy can start wearing bright colors.

Him: "I am not used to wearing red."

Me: *sympathetic* "Aww, baby, it's ok, these things take time..."

Him: *completely ignores and continues* "Red makes me look fat! Black is a much more slimming color..."

********************************************************************

While browsing for study lamps in Ikea, the boy asked me what genes would I like us to pass to our children in the future.

 "Hmm, I want our kids to have my book-smart genes, and your street-smart genes!"

He nodded in agreement.

"And I want them to have your height! But have my looks, HAHA."

He gave me a -_-|| face but nodded again wtf.

 "Mmmm, I want them to have my health genes! Okay, fine, my grandparents' health genes 'cause they are still so fit and health and they are going to live foreverrrrr!!"

"And OH OH! I want them to have my HAPPY gene!"

"Harh? Can just take a fraction of the happy gene ar?"

"Nooooo, cannot! Good what, my happy gene! Can be happy ALL the time!"

"Oh great. Next time everytime I go home, I go back to freaking Disney**."
 **'Cause I am always singing and dancing at home wan!

HAHAHAHAHHAHA.

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-79887073363262533462015-06-03T20:44:00.002+08:002015-06-03T20:44:43.251+08:00Comeback.UGHHHH can't believe I haven't blogged in 3 months!!

But I promise that I have legit reasons for it though, hehe. And truth to be told, once you stop updating the blog, it's really easy to lose the blogging mojo. T__T It's like 1 week becomes 2 weeks becomes 1 month becomes 2 months, and here I am with an abandoned blog. *blows dust off my blog*

Anyway! What have I been up to?

To reiterate the story, I will need to tell some grandma tale LOL.

When I was a mere teenager, I made a pact with my high school best friends that we would go to New York before 30 years old, and GUESS WHAT. I am turning 30 this year.

Although it was almost a naive childhood (teenage?) dream, I could never really shake off this fantasy. Something about the city that never sleeps, something about fulfilling dreams, even those that seem far-fetch.... However, as I neared my birthday, I started to accept that I won't be realizing this NYC dream of mine-- what with being newly married, tight finances, no company (the boy won't have enough leave, and girlfriends/ sisters have their own commitments). It's not like I didn't try though! I did try to arrange something with Jing and Teeny, but taking 3 weeks off plus the hefty costs just made it quite unachievable as a sisters' trip at this stage.

And then in March, we found out that the boy has to go to the States, and New York is one of the cities! It was as if all the stars aligned themselves. In fact, as luck would have it, I would be spending my actual birthday in NYC! I was so so so ecstatic, and literally felt (and still feel!) on top of the world. :D

New York is every bit like how I imagined, and then some! NYC totally deserves its own travelogue, so I am just going to pacify you with one single photo here LOL. Will blog about NYC real soon! :D

And after being home for barely 2 weeks, I went to Central Europe with my family! Family trips are really precious to me because with Jing now working full-time in Brisbane, it's sort of the only time that we are all together. Also, we like to joke that family trips are the best bonding time, because there is nowhere else to run to except to talk to each other wtf.

Here we are in Budapest! We also did Munich, Prague and Vienna. Again, my Eurotrip deserves their own blogposts, so I won't go into detail here. But just check out the JOY in this photo!! That is basically the gist of my trips. :D

And probably the most significant thing that has happened, is that I turned 30. In N-Y-C yo! It was the best way to spend my 30th birthday because I didn't have the time to lament too much on turning old wtf. But seriously, it was quite emotional for me to fulfill my dream of visiting New York by 30-- on my 30th birthday! It is the type of kick-ass milestone that will forever color my life with neon colors and confetti hehe.

So with that, I am happy to announce my comeback to my blog. HELLO, and welcome home!

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-54234240327855125272015-03-05T23:18:00.003+08:002015-03-05T23:18:50.887+08:00Colorful day in SG.So, I was in Singapore for 3 days back in January! It was a really impromptu trip actually. Y'see, I have been planning to go to Singapore to run some banking errand for sometime already, but could never find the time (or heart) to go-- it's quite sien to travel all the way there alone just to go to the bank wtf.

Little did I know that my mom already planned a trip there because my cousin from Sydney was going to SG! And my mom who hates traveling alone, has actually forced my brother to go along with her-- much to my brother's dismay, haha. So it was kind of a match made in heaven-- we both wanted company for SG-- so off we went!

(My brother was forced to tag along in the end, because I had to leave earlier for work, and my mom doesn't dare to travel back alone, haha).

Am blogging about my only full day in SG (i.e. Day 2) 'cause Day 1 was when I traveled in; and Day 3 was when I traveled out wtf.

We were staying in Resort World at Sentosa Island 'cause my cousins were staying there too. When we weren't out in the city, mealtimes were all settled in Resort World, which is really convenient!

Literally rolled out of bed and went downstairs for pho wtf.

Pho with wagyu!! *mindblown* But actually not that nice la, 'cause the wagyu wasn't tender enough. :/

Selfie on Orchard Road!

By the way, does my fringe look weird? Because I had a hair crisis the day before I left for Singapore! -__- Went to a neighbourhood salon to get a nice blow-out for the trip, and since I was there, I thought I might as well get my bangs a trim.

Right before the hairstylist snipped away, he reassured me a few times that he is just going to cut really really little. Which I was totally cool with. Took off my glasses so that he could begin trimming. The next thing I know, when I put on back my glasses, I have like 1.5 inch left of bangs!!!!!

I was really mad! You would to, if you looked like a retard like me wtf. And asked the guy, "I thought you said you will cut VERY VERY little??"

And then he tried to defend himself and said that bangs grow very quickly so he cut more. -__-

In the end, he took some of my hair from the back and bring it forward to cover my super short bangs. -___-

It has been more than a month, and my bangs still look ridiculous. -_____-

Anyway, on to happier non-hairy things wtf.

High tea with my pretty mama!

Mother-daughter pose, haha, It was actually a really good trip bonding and catching up with my mom. :)

The interior is so nice right! We were in Paul, a French bakery. Can't wait for our Europe trip in May-- VISIT ALL THE CAFES!

The main highlight of out trip-- reunion time!

Quite a few of my aunties and cousins (from my mom's side) are from SG, so it's always jolly good fun to see everyone. Not to mention, not everyone was present here! It was a week-day, so some of them couldn't make it for dinner. But still, lots of boisterous fun! And 2 of my cousin brothers are getting married this year, so excited for them! :D

Just want to show you how pretty my cousin from Sydney is wtf (the one in green shorts). She is 30-over years old, has 2 kids, and still looks so pretty and hot! #lifegoals

Outfit of the day:

Floral print midi dress: AZORIAS
Pearl bangle: Korea
Green rattan platforms: Jeffrey Campbell
Bag: Celine

I love to travel in this pair of flatforms 'cause it gives me a few inches of height, but it feels as if I am wearing flat sandals only!

Ending this post with a photo of macarons because everyone loves macarons wtf.

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-46971029348278663532015-02-22T17:13:00.000+08:002015-02-22T17:13:00.675+08:00Sisters at brunch.*pulls ears and looks down forlornly*

SO SORRY GUYS! I haven't blogged in a month... despite the fact that in my previous blogpost I resolved to blog more. *weak smile*

But I swear that I have a valid reason for this! Remember that in my last blogpost I mentioned that AZORIAS has launched a new line, Artisan? Well, it has surpassed my expectations and have done really well! :D To be honest, my expectations were quite low la wtf, 'cause I thought people might be resistant to products that are not made in Korea (which AZORIAS is known for). But thank you to all your support, old and new customers, for your vote of faith and confidence! :D

Because of that, I have been so busy in the last few weeks, and this CNY break is honestly much needed! In fact, I actually have a mountain-load of work waiting for me, but I am not supposed to be start work (开工) till tomorrow. Hence, here I am blogging, hehe.

Quite a few things happened in the last few weeks! Went to Singapore with my mom for a short trip... Jing was back from Brisbane for a week... One of my closest friends, Jaclyn, got engaged-- and guess who is maid of honor? :P Jac then came back recently, and we went dress-shopping for her wedding... Audrey's 30th birthday bash... Photoshoot with Rocky for a coffee book for a dog-awareness charity drive.... Valentine's day.... Phew, quite a few things huh! You can follow me on Dayre to get more timely updates wtf.

Anyway, am posting some photos with Jing 'cause the festive period is making me miss my sister a lot!

My loves and I at the new Yut Kee.

Cofee, eggs and toast-- the staple Asian breakfast.

But this is a more accurate depiction of what a staple meal is like to us wtf.

Took some mini polaroids with Jing's precious Mickey & Minnie polaroid films!

My favorite girls.

Outfit details:

Absolutely in love with this blouse! The dramatic organza pussybow is just LOVE. I have about a million and one outfit ideas for it. In fact, I guarantee you will see me wearing it in Europe this year....

YES!!! We are going to central Europe in May-- think Prague, Vienna, Budapest.... Can't wait! :D

Back to my outfit please lol.

Looking at these photos make me sad. 'Cause this pair of shoes of mine have passed on already wtf. The sole came off on the way to a friend's wedding in Janda Baik! T_T Luckily we were still pretty near to my parents' place at that time, so I could run in to grab another pair of shoes.

Organza pussybow blouse: AZORIAS
Silk printed shorts: Zara
Gold bangles: Bangkok/ Topshop
Nude ankle-strapped platforms: Korea
Bag: Celine

And ooh, before I forget, Happy Chinese New Year to all of you! Gong Xi Fa Cai, and may this year be full of amazing surprises for all of you. :)

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-32008984146964226572015-01-13T23:29:00.001+08:002015-01-13T23:29:20.806+08:00My 2014 in review.Wow, it has been awhile, hasn't it?

This must be the longest time I have not blogged! More than a month. Even when I broke up a few years ago and took a hiatus from blogging, it wasn't this long, I think? It almost feels strange.. foreign... to type on this space.

Anyway, I know we are almost 2 weeks into 2015, and I am probably the last one in the blogosphere to talk about my 2014 in review, but I swear that I have a valid excuse! I fell sick one day after New Year (actually I was sick during Christmas period too, but that's another story for another day), and was quite out of it for a few days. By then, work has piled up and I was busy catching after I recovered.

But that few days that I was on bed rest, I had a lot of time to think about the past year. And I would really like to lay my thoughts on this little personal space of mine. :)

So here goes... My 2014 in review.

1. Love

In early 2014, the boy and I finally moved out! It was mostly due to the fact there wasn't enough space in his family home, plus his family home is really far from KL, where he works. I was so excited, but really nervous too! As it is, I am not the most organized or homey person, and to have to take care of someone else PLUS a naughty puppy... I have to admit, I was scared shit! But I told myself that I would have to learn how to be a wife, how to take care of a household someday... So we took the plunge!

Almost 1 year later, I am glad to report that we are still alive wtf. Staying together is tough! I would say that the boy and I have really good dynamics and rapport pre-cohabitation times, and even then, we fought a lot after moving in. Mostly about chores wtf. We have very different styles when it comes to housework (for me-- house chores will never end, so I do it according to my own schedule and convenience; whereas for him housework is a top priority and he will be gladly doing laundry or cleaning floors at 2am O_O). It took us quite awhile, but I *think* we have managed to figure out some kind of compromise. Fingers crossed that we can keep up the good work! :D

A little X'mas corner in our humble abode. The Jenga set is actually our wedding guestbook which I used as decor in our home! :)

Which brings me to the biggest thing that has happened to me in 2014 (or make it my whole LIFE)...

I got married!
To the love of my life whom I have been with for 11 years. :D :D :D

Is there any difference after married life?
Yes and No.

No, 'cause we have already been living together for about 5 months when we got married. Yes, 'cause it does hit home now that we are a team. Whether it's finances, or future plans such as relocation, career changes etc, it's no longer an individual decision. It still makes me giddy to look at my wedding band ("I'm a WIFE!"), and I still shudder when people address me "Mrs Cheah", haha.

2. Family

I am really lucky that although I have moved out, I still stay really near to my family. In fact, I drop by at home almost everyday, HEHEHE. The hubby and I also meet my family for dinner every Sunday (a long-standing tradition in the Hoe household). He also gets along with everyone (even my grandparents who don't really speak English (and he's a banana)!), and I especially thinks that my dad enjoys having someone around to have guy talk with (my brother is still quite young).

One of the challenges of being married is accepting another family as your own, and it's something I am still learning. Making it a point to see the boy's family more as well!

Also, one thing about moving out is that it makes you realize that you really took for granted the times when you were staying together as a family. T__T Nowadays, I will go fetch Teeny for lunch to catch up, and have also recently started a routine of seeing my mom once a week for lunch.

One of our weekly lunches.

3. Career

I have to admit, when the boy's mom fell sick with terminal cancer in 2013, I got very, very distracted. I spent a lot of time accompanying him, even flying down to Singapore every few days (where his mom was seeking treatment). When she left us, it was a devastating time for the boy and his family. My focus on AZORIAS just wasn't there.

There were times when I told myself, "Damn, I really should start paying attention back on the business, I only have once chance on this". But then I will think, no, I only have this one chance to be there for the boy; I want to be there for him. Do I regret it? No. Did the business suffer as a result? Yes.

Ironically, the more something spiral downwards, the harder it is to admit that you are not doing well. Conveniently, I had a wedding to plan, so it was much more fulfilling to direct my focus and passion there, than to channel my energy into something I felt almost helpless in. Alas, after the wedding, I had nowhere to escape anymore. It was time to face my fear. It was time to get back into motion. It was time to restructure.

One of the limitations of AZORIAS is that it is pricier as compared to some online stores. Of course, being made in Korea products, the quality is great, but I acknowledge that not many people would like to fork out the same amount of money for clothing. Also, sizing. This has got to be the single-most feedback that we get from our customers. Unfortunately though, Korean clothing generally run small in sizes, and for the longest time I have been trying to figure out a way to overcome these limitations. Manufacturing seems to be the way out, but I don't think we are ready for large-scale factory productions yet.

As luck has it, I came across someone who works as a tailor, and after working closely with her for sometime (she does some odd jobs for AZORIAS sometimes, such as minor repairs/ alterations), I found out that she used to be the factory production head in one of Malaysia's leading fashion label. The job doesn't pay much, and when her husband fell ill with cancer a few years ago, she quit her job and became a full-time tailor (which ironically pays more than being a factory head!). She is extremely hardworking and entrepreneurial, working a few jobs at a time, and she was really interested to work together to produce small collections of clothing for AZORIAS.

And thus, ARTISAN was born.

We have launched this new line for less than a month, and so far response has been quite good! The great thing is, we have sizes now! Size S to L. Hopefully, in the future we can go to size XS and XL as well. :) Prices are also more affordable, starting from RM79 for dresses. Each design is produced in a very small selection though, so things do get sold out quite quickly. If you are interested, do check it out here, and let me know what you think!

4. Travel

2014 was quite filled with travels, and that's something I am always grateful for.

The year started with our annual Bangkok family trip LOL.

Went to Bali for the first time, and fell in love with the place!

Went to Seoul with my family, which was quite special, because I get to show off my 'work place' to my family (especially my parents).

Went back to Bangkok, but this time with my fellow tai-tais, Audrey and Bobo! It was also my first ever all girls' trip, heh.

Went to Bali again for our mini-moon.

Visited Osak, Kyoto and Kobe for the first time as well.

What I hope for 2015:

 i) Career-wise, I want to further build the ARTISAN line, because it is really addictive to get back to my roots of starting an online store-- providing great designs at a decent price and quality standard. I also have another project that I am SO excited about, with a partner whom I just adore. Work looks awesome in 2015, and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds!

ii) Learn to be a better wife-- be supportive in the hubby's endeavors, and be more proactive with household chores. Cook healthier meals, take better care of us. I have only been a wife for about 6 months, but I guess this is an eternal learning process, hehe.

iii) Travel-wise-- hoping to go to Europe and/ or US. I believe in the SECRET, that's all I am going to say! :P

iv) Blog more, with better, more meaningful content. This is inspired from a conversation with Timothy Tiah, where he pointed out that the blogosphere is saturated with girls who just talk about what they wear. It kind of hit home, I know I am capable of much better writing. It's just that somewhere along the lines, you get lost in all the censorship (can't talk too much about work, other half etc.). But I am definitely going to dig a little deeper from now onwards, starting from this extremely honest blog post you are reading right now. :)

v) Practice positive thinking. Admittedly, I haven't been really good with this. It's hard to, when you see how life throws you curveballs and hardships. But being negative isn't Hui Wen, so this year, I want to only harbor GOOD POSITIVE FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS.

vi) Due to the boy's mom's passing, we have not had our tea ceremony or reception, and the plan was to do it after June this year (after 2 full years). We have been making trips to Kluang to get an auspicious wedding date, but each time we have been told to go back the next time. I was really disappointed, and at one point I thought we will never ever get a date. T_T Anyway, during our most recent trip to Kluang, we finally got a date! But it's not in 2015 though. T___T Apparently 2015 is a really bad year for us to get married, and the earliest auspicious date is in May 2016.

To be honest, I was feeling quite bad about doing our ROM 'cause essentially it means we would have to pay double (for photographer, decor etc). The decision to have our ROM came about 'cause we wanted to get registered first, and have a small celebration to please all parties). But now I don't feel bad about it already! Because imagine if we waited for the 2 years to be up, we would still have to wait till 2016 to have the wedding, and we would end up having the longest engagement in history-- 3 years wtf.

Anyway, I hope to book all our vendors and venues ASAP, and not worry about wedding-planning till 2016, HAHA.

Hmm, that's about it, I think! Feeling excited as I type out all the things I look forward to in 2015... Thank you for sticking around, and here's to an awesome year for all of us!

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-71288124361123586162014-12-05T22:48:00.000+08:002014-12-05T22:48:29.682+08:00Bride-to-bes catchup.One of favorite pastimes is trying out new cafes, and recently there was a mushrooming bout of cafes in TTDI, and they all have a common factor-- funky names! The Frisky Goat, Thvrsday, The Grumpy Cyclist....

Finally gave the Grumpy Cyclist a go!

My coffee date wasn't too pleased about having a photo taken LOL. This is Kim, from Accidental Encounters!

This was actually 1 week before my wedding WTF. We were both bride-to-bes then, and we had so much to share and catch up on! But how time flies... Her wedding is TOMORROW! :D :D :D

Her wedding is at Janda Baik, which was one of the venues I was considering for our own wedding. I told her that by attending her wedding I am going to live vicariously through her hahaha.

Am quite bored with the whole industrial concept of cakes, to be honest. Hope to see a fresh take on cafes soon!

Selfie time!

Remember I said that this was 1 week before my wedding? Funnily enough though I was the one gobbling down melted cheese sandwiches and gulping down coffee, while she refrained from carbs and only had an orange juice. T_T Made me look so bad wtf.

Wearing one of my favorite skirts from this YEAR! A really unique neon lemon shade, the best structured flounce, a slightly longer length... LOVE IT!

In fact, I saw a Korean model/ celebrity wearing this exact skirt doing some shooting on Garosugil in Seoul! :D

Statement tank: Bangkok
Strappy bra-top (worn underneath): Bangkok
Neon neoprene skirt: AZORIAS
Black bejeweled statement necklace: Chatchuchak, Bangkok
Heels: Jeffrey Campbell
Clutch: Miu Miu

By the way, Kim sent me one of the prettiest invitations! Made me reminisce of our own wedding invites... Am thinking of sharing some BTS shoots and sketches of our invites in the next blogpost! :D

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-70908692104659997302014-12-01T23:37:00.000+08:002014-12-02T23:38:01.777+08:00Give me a V! Sponsored post

If you follow me on Dayre, you will know that recently the boy and I have a new routine on Saturday afternoons...

Sorry if I scare you LOL.

Beauty dates! Haha. Basically we will put on a mask and chill on the bed, and try to make each other laugh to see whose mask crack first WTF.

This is a black clay mask that I got from Osaka recently. Got it 'cause one of my main skin concerns is blackheads and enlarged pores as I have oily skin. I always try to comfort myself that at least I won't age as quickly with oily skin? Haha.

Was looking for more products for us to try during our Saturday dates, and came across this beauty product website that was recommended by my friends-- www.hermo.my:

I am not typically a beauty junkie, so it really helps to have a lot of beauty brands and products under one roof, all accessible by a click only! Makes it really easy to browse and compare products. Another useful feature is the reviews by customers on their Beautywall-- something which I always insist on. 'Cause it's something that you will be putting on your skin-- you want to know for sure that it works, and hopefully is gentle and mild as well. Last time, I used a BB cream that wasn't suitable for my skin, and it caused me to have adult acne for a year. T___T

Anyway, other than monthly facials, I also do weekly masks. I didn't used to do this, but after exposing myself to masks in Korea, I was hooked. Somehow they work really well to brighten and rejuvenate skin! I usually stock up whenever I go to Korea for AZORIAS buying trips, but my supply ran out as I usually don't go to Korea at year-end (winter time).

I came across these Regen Cos masks which was highly rated on Hermo. Steadfastly went through all the reviews, and everyone seemed to be raving about it. Also, I got intrigued 'cause of the 'V' shape chin that they promise!

 One of my phobias is having a turkey chin-- saggy skin and flesh hanging from your chin, yuck! No matter how youthful your face looks like, a saggy chin (or neck) will still betray your age!

And if it's good enough for Miranda Kerr, it's good enough for me wtf.

OK Regen Cos, I give you a try!

Made my first order from Hermo.my, and I was pleasantly surprised by the adorable Christmas-themed packaging!

I got the Regen Cos Synergy Effect mask for pore care. One box comes with 5 pieces.

The mask actually comes with 2 pieces! One part is for the upper part of your face (worn on like usual facial masks), and the second half is for chin.

I watched this video to learn how to put on the mask properly LOL.

V-shape face, here I come!

The first thing I did was to open up the first half of the mask. And created a huge mess wtf. I didn't expect the mask to be so laden with moisture! I was dripping the mask juice everywhere wtf. -_-|||

The second half of the mask, with holes to hook onto your ears. This piece felt like a soft jelly! And please note that my palms are still really wet from all the mask moisture, haha.

Showed this photo to the hubby, and he asked me: "Why are you showing me a photo of the Mummy" WTF.

YOU WAIT!! When my face is all pointy and sharp, you will kowtow to me. ^_^ or should I say ^v^ wtf

After 20 minutes...

Face is visibly brighter! Pores are also tighter, and overall, my skin felt smoother. And..and... am I imagining things, but the bottom half of my face is slimmer? :O :O :O

One more with make up on. I am quite pleased with the results, and will continue on with a weekly routine of Regen Cos mask. Perhaps next time I will try the Whitening one!

If you are interested to know more about Regen Cos, you can go to here. I was really excited to find a lot of the Korean brands that I usually stock up in Seoul can be found on Hermo.my, such as Missha, Innisfree (I am wearing their hot pink lipstick here) and Tony Moly! Overall, I had a pleasant experience shopping on Hermo.my, and it's reassuring to know that their products are 100% authentic and imported straight from official distributors worldwide. They also offer free shipping if you purchase 2 items and above.

I believe there is a Christmas sale going on Hermo.my now, so it's the best time to shop! During the X'mas season, there are giveaways and promotions every week, and also a chance to win Bobbi Brown Makeup Bag, SK-II Holiday Sets, Honor phones, cash vouchers, iPhone 6 and many more. Do drop by often as they have different flash sales for a limited period of time!

Follow Hermo.my:
www.instagram.com/hermomy
https://www.facebook.com/HermoMalaysia

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-24882831689597459282014-11-25T17:42:00.002+08:002014-11-25T17:42:15.002+08:00The impulsive hair cut.It was the most random and impulsive decision.

While driving on Saturday, I glanced down at my hair during the slow-moving traffic, and just felt so disgusted and frustrated at the yellow dry strands (it didn't help that I was having a bad hair day. But then again, I seemed to be having bad hair week/ month for awhile already...).

Suddenly I thought of the long bobs that I have been admiring on Instagram recently. It seems like everyone has been chopping off their hair for a blunt bob nowadays. Lauren Conrad, Taylor Swift, Lily Collins, Emma Stone...

I WANT TO CHOP OFF MY HAIR TOO!

In the traffic jam, I messaged Yen Lim, one of my most trusted hairstylist friend, and sent her this photo....

.... and asked her: "Can I carry off a long bob?"

She replied: "YES!"

And I proceeded to make an appointment for Monday (i.e. yesterday).

I was quite excited about the prospect of having a hair makeover, though I am scared shit of how a long bob will look on my round face (and big head T_T). After all, my nickname in office last time was Chupa Chups WTF.

But then it hit me that we have our wedding reception next year! :O :O :O I DO want long hair for that... We still don't have a wedding date yet (that's another story for another day...), but there's a chance it will be in July-- which leaves me with about 7 months.

Furiously googled how fast can hair grow, and the answer is-- about 3 inches in 6 months! That's not a lot. T__T Also posted a vote on my Dayre, and the votes were half-half-- some of you said absolutely NO, whereas some of you said that I can always rely on hair extensions, haha.

Anyway, I went ahead with a hair cut!!!

Tada, new hair!

I didn't go for as short as I intended-- I still hope to wear my hair long on my wedding (without hair extensions). But I still went shorter than I *should*! :P Probably took off 7-8 inches at least.

Lunch today with Teeny. A lot to catch up on since I haven't seen her properly for about 2 weeks already!

We wanted to have lunch at Lai Thai at Happy Mansion, but it was closed. Somehow I don't have fate with Lai Thai! Everytime our lunch plans at Lai Thai sure won't work out. T__T In the end, we still had Thai food at My Elephant, which was nearby.

Today's outfit....

Very excited about today's outfit, because it's a dress from AZORIAS' new line! We are launching a new range of apparel with a slightly lower price point, and there are so many pretty items in it. *heart* Will announce its launch soon! :D

Ending this post with a photo with Yen, who is seriously the prettiest hairstylist ever.

If any of you are interested to get your hair done by Yen, go to Wenawave salon:

Times Square branch:
Lot 03-77, East, 3rd Floor, 1, Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 603 2142 3002

Sunway Giza branch:
Block A, No. 10-1, (1st Flr), Jalan PJU 5/14, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603-61408779

(by the way, this is not a sponsored post! My sisters and I have been going to Yen for 7 years already :) )

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-44378744573221763372014-11-18T16:26:00.000+08:002014-11-18T16:26:04.462+08:00Superdad surprise birthday party.Finally blogging about the surprise birthday party we threw for our dad!

When thinking of what to get our dad for his birthday, we suddenly came up with the wild idea of a surprise party instead! In my memory, my dad has never ever had a birthday party before, so we thought it'd be a really nice treat for him. And it was at about the right time too, as Jing would be back from Australia for a few weeks-- it would be really nice to celebrate his birthday with everyone present!

First task on-hand-- choose a theme. Surprisingly, this was one of the easiest part. We bounced a few ideas off each other, but somehow we felt the most strongly about a "Superdad" aka superhero theme. My dad has been the sole breadwinner of the family since my mom quit her job more than 10 years ago. He single-handedly sent 4 children overseas to pursue our tertiary education! And god knows it wasn't easy to bring up 3 girls (and a wife) who are vain and loves to shop HAHA. And he has just been this amazing rock in our lives. If he is not Superdad, what is he??!!

Second task, pick a venue. We decided to pick a family restaurant near to our family home so that it's easy to cheat my dad there. The plan is to say that the boy and I are organizing a BBQ at our condo, and for them to 'drop by' at the family restaurant to pick up 'lasagne' on the way wtf.

Third, guest list. This we assigned to our mom.

Photo time!

We put little superhero masks (made out of black felt) on helium balloons! They also have little superhero capes (also made of felt) to the back, haha.

A super (no pun intended) awesome cake for the birthday boy!

Cookie favors at each place setting.

Who wore it better? wtf

We also had felt masks for camwhoring!

A back-view of the birthday cake-- checkout the red superhero cape!

Our dad had to put on a red cape the moment he arrived, haha.

He didn't look surprised at all!! Just a little dazed. Turns out he just woke up from a nap wtf. When we asked him whether he is happy, he said yes, but he is also a little sad 'cause he was looking forward to a BBQ, haha.

Ok daddy, we are arranging a BBQ for X'mas just for you! :P

Since it was mostly our parents' friends at the party, we had to find ways to entertain ourselves, haha.

But the poses got uglier and uglier...

HAHAHAHA!

Family photo!

And damn funny, my mom was bragging to all her friends that my brother looked so good in his all-red ensemble, and that he looks like Lee Hom. We had to set her straight and tell her that actually his inspiration is Him from Powerpuff girls:

HAHAHAHA!

********************************************************************

By the way, my mom is really keen to renovate our family home in preparation for our tea ceremony next year! -_-|| And she is making me clear out my room in preparation for the renovation works early next year. So I have put up more stuff on Boudoir-Boudoir!

 SHOP BOUDOIR-BOUDOIR>>>

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-49513812893701706422014-11-14T20:59:00.003+08:002014-11-14T20:59:41.545+08:00One of my favorite family photos...Oooh, just remembered that I still have some Save the Date photos that I haven't posted up!

This is actually my favorite photo of the day!

Would have loved to use it as the cover photo for our Save the Date event on FB, but alas, the boy preferred that other one that I posted here before. Since he rarely had any preferences for anything wedding-related, I let him win one time la, hahaha.

Behind the scenes: corgi bullying wtf. Found a random shopping trolley in the park, so we had some fun with it, haha.

Family silhouettes. :D

Asian corgi LOL.

Corgi-bullying, part 2.

On a wedding-related note, our wedding ceremony was featured on The Wedding Notebook! :)

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-44595033550966585192014-11-12T01:20:00.002+08:002014-11-12T01:20:50.547+08:00Rocky's hip dysplasia condition.Last Friday morning, we realized something was wrong the moment we stepped out of our bedroom. Rocky was being especially quiet and meek. When we opened his crate, he didn't even want to come out; usually he will run out and start jumping and licking.

I tried to bring him out for a walk, and that's when I realized.

He couldn't walk.

Usually Rocky is the most excited and happiest on walks, but on that morning he just refused to budge. I brought him all the way down our condo, and when the lift doors opened, instead of leaping out like he usually does, he just stood there. He couldn't walk out, I had to half-pull him out.

Something was very wrong.

With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I rushed Rocky to the animal hospital. I didn't even bother with the regular GP vet, coz this really felt like something quite serious...

I wheeled Rocky around in a box coz he wasn't able to walk.

We went to Gasing Animal Hospital, as I like a doctor in Gasing-- Dr Goh. Dr Goh is really good and has always been helpful and patient with us.

Unfortunately, Dr Goh works half-day on Fridays. The only available doctor then is an Indian lady (don't want to name names here), which I was really reluctant to see.

The last time Rocky had a skin problem whereby ONE nipple was scabbing wtf, she was assigned to us. And she actually told me that it's not scabbing but dirt. -_- I am very sure it's not dirt, coz Rocky was always scratching that area plus we cleaned the scabbing daily! Despite my persistence that it was a skin problem, she just gave me a raised eyebrow and just sent us home.

So honestly, I am quite skeptical of her. But I had no choice, as no other doctors were available at that time. I don't mind waiting for Dr Goh who would be coming in later in the afternoon, but I was reading up about canine spinal complications (one of the highest possibilities of sudden immobility), and every second counts. So I decided to go ahead with her consultation.

In the consultation room she looked at Rocky for awhile, pressed him a little, and told me flatly, "It might be a spine problem la."

Spine? That doesn't sound good. So I asked her what should we do.

She said that we needed to do an X-ray to confirm the problem, but Rocky has to be sedated for that.

Sedated? Sounds serious too. Usually dogs which are too young or too old are not recommended to be sedated.

So I confirmed with her: "An X-ray is in order right now?"

She quickly said, "No, I am not saying that!" and continued with "But if we don't do an X-ray we won't know the problem."

-___________________-

She is just trying to cover her own ass! Basically she didn't want to prescribe any solutions or treatments, she wants me to make the decisions so that I can't blame her if anything goes wrong.

Nevermind, I asked to proceed with the X-ray. I paused, and asked her what are the possibilities or implications of this 'spinal problem' of Rocky's.

She shrugged and told me, "Worst case, paralysed la."

And then she stepped out to do the X-ray preparations.

That's when I broke down and cried.

Halfway through crying, the hubby called (he was in a meeting before that), and I tearfully updated him.

When he hung up, I turned around and Rocky was gone!!!!

The doctor took Rocky away to be sedated when I was on the phone!!!!

Like a mad woman, I ran out to the waiting area but they were nowhere to be found. I frantically asked around, but no one knows where they were.

A lightbulb went off in my head, "The X-ray room! Where is it?" And after getting the directions I ran upstairs.

I happened to stumble onto them right before they administered the jab.

It means a lot to me to be there with Rocky while he drifts off to into his sedated cloud, and honestly I think it's so rude and irresponsible of the doctor to just take away my dog before informing me first.

I couldn't bear to watch Rocky being jabbed (very fragile nerves after crying just minutes before that), so I turned away for a bit, thinking that the drugs will take awhile to take effect, and I can stroke his head till he falls asleep.

Instead when I turned to Rocky, he looked like that already:

T________________________________________T

Although his eyes were still open, but he was actually already unconscious! I started sniffling again 'cause I didn't even get to say goodbye. :/

(His tongue is purposely pulled out so that he doesn't suffocate)

After that, I was just walking around the room, stealing glances at an unconscious Rocky while the hospital staff lugged and moved him around like a rag doll. All while quietly crying and picturing Rocky with wheels on his hind legs to aid his movement.

The thing is, the doctor saw me crying, but not once did she console me. In fact, she treated me as if I was invisible.

Shortly after that, the X-ray results were out.

We could see that Rocky's spine is healthy and good, but his hips structure-- not so much. He has hip dysplasia, which is a (genetic(condition whereby the head of his thigh bone (femur) doesn't fit perfectly into his hip socket. Therefore, the bone can actually snap in and out of position (!!), and thus causing pain. Over time, the pain will get worse (as there is more wear and tear to the joints), and it will get increasingly difficult for him to walk.

I must make it clear here that the above description of hip dysplasia is what I summarize in laymen terms after reading numerous articles on this condition. The doctor didn't tell me much, she only told me two things-- 1) your dog has hips dysplasia (at that moment I didn't even understand what does that term means), 2) there is nothing she can do, she can only prescribe some supplements. It is almost as if she was brushing me off.

I checked the clock, Dr Goh should be in anytime now. I requested to wait to see Dr Goh for a second opinion. She said okay.

Alas, I ended up waiting at the hospital for about 5 hours. Dr Goh had to conduct a surgery immediately after stepping into the hospital, and he was busy even after then. During that time, I read up all I could about hip dysplasia. There is no cure for it. Rocky can no longer run or jump as it's very bad for his hips.Thank god for the hubby who came later in the day to accompany me. We held hands and went up to see Rocky, who has by then awaken from his slumber, and looked at us with his confused big brown eyes behind the rails of his cage. We laughed, and teased Rocky, put our knuckles near to his snout which was poking out of the cage, allowing him to sniff us, letting him know that we were there for him

We kept on reminding the receptionist that we were waiting for Dr Goh; she got annoyed, I think. In the end it was almost 6pm when Dr Goh greeted us with a "How can I help you?". He looked through the X-rays, and his explanation to us was so thorough. He found X-rays of a dog with normal healthy hips, and showed us the anatomy and structure whilst making comparisons to Rocky's X-ray. He explained to us the implications of such condition, and what we can do to alleviate Rocky's pain. He recommended doctors whom we can go to for surgery. In short, he was many times more helpful than the initial doctor that we met.

Rocky being really sticky with us on Friday night.

Anyway, thank you so much for all your concern on my Dayre posts! Rocky is doing well now, he can walk again though we are always keeping an eye out for any limping as that means he might be in pain. He will have to be on supplements for the rest of his life, and he has to stop running or jumping as these activities are too high-impact for his hips.

We have done some research since then, and I have to say that we are quite partial to the idea of hip surgery for Rocky. Dr Goh said that we don't need to contemplate surgery at this point as we can still rely on the conservative method of supplements. However, Rocky is only 1.5 year old, and is an active puppy who loves running and jumping and long walks. We want him to lead a full, healthy and active life, and the fact is, he still as such a long road ahead of him. We will be seeking for second and third opinions in the coming weeks, but we have already decided to start saving for his surgery. :) That being said, whilst we are open to the idea of surgery, we will only contemplate it after Rocky matures into adulthood.

In the meantime,we are doing the best we can to care for this little pup.

 Rocky's supplements are too large for him to swallow, so we boiled a large pot of chicken stock to frost into little cubes-- we dissolve the medicine into the chicken stock else he won't consume it!

I try to see things on the positive side. It's a blessing in disguise to discover Rocky's hip dysplasia condition at such an early stage, because then we can start managing it with supplements and precautions. If the condition was discovered when Rocky is much older, it might have progressed to a very critical stage and we might have much limited options whether due to his old age or a worsened condition. Also, I am grateful because I am not alone. The hubby is the who diligently boiled the chicken soup and defrost it every morning. Together we make fun of Rocky at home, singing "All I want for Christmas is a brand new hip" to the well-known Christmas jingle, and chuckling when we label Rocky a 'hipster'. We can't change the reality, but we can change the way we think and handle the matter on hand.

The fact is, the day we brought Rocky home with us, he is family. And when it comes to family, nobody gets left behind.

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-42235325297688894302014-10-28T23:29:00.001+08:002014-10-28T23:29:14.475+08:00Aqua in Bali.Back to blogging about our mini-moon! I think this was day 3 of our week-long vacation-- time tends to blur when you are having too much fun not doing anything....

As I have mentioned, the boy got some eating recommendations from his Indonesian colleague. So we decided to venture to Nusa Dua for a babi guling lunch!

One of the best parts of staying on an island-- throwing a flowy dress over your bathing suit and call it a day. :D

Details for the day.

Delicious porky lunch at Pak Dobil, arguably one of the best babi guling in town. Will separately do a Bali food review! :)

Went back to Seminyak after that to spend the rest of the day on the beach...

Aqua bias hem dress with cutout front: ASOS
Straw hat: Chatchuchak, Bangkok
Bracelets: Assorted
Strappy ponyhair sandals: Zara
Cross-stitch tribal clutch: Teeny's

One of my favorite moments of our Bali trip... :)

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-29792035977805819222014-10-20T20:38:00.001+08:002014-10-20T20:38:10.661+08:00Dress' kind of girl.When I was younger, my go-to outfits were denim shorts. Whether it's a fancy blouse or a crisp buttoned-up, I much prefer to pair them with my trusty denim cutoffs. However, nowadays I gravitate much more towards dresses, which is suitable for everything from a business meeting to a weekend brunch to the beach, Or maybe I just prefer air around my privates WTF.

I definitely have a thing for statement dresses, i.e. dresses that already pack a punch so you don't have to fuss over other details. Whether it's an eye-catching print or a unique hemline, a statement dress makes your outfit so much more interesting!

For example, Jing and I planned an impromptu lunch recently. With literally minutes to spare, I just pulled on a statement dress, a pair of heels and voila, outfit complete!

We went to Red Bean Bag, which was our first time there.

I had a Mexican-inspired breakfast of scrambled egg and turkey ham wrapped in tortilla with salsa. Simple but delicious.

Though I have to admit, Jing's breakfast looked much more yummier!! I didn't order this 'cause I am not a huge fan of sausages and chorizos (usually I don't really fancy processed meats except for nuggets wtf).

Jing wore a really simple (but chic!) outfit too! Told you we had to get dressed in 10 minutes, haha.

I love this dress 'cause it comes with a unique mandarin collar, which is not common for dresses unless it's Chinese New Year wtf. And I kinda like how the houndstooth print is vamped up and therefore doesn't look so generic? You literally have to look at it a few times to realize that it's a houndstooth print.

Next, we went to Whimsical, a gelato cafe 'cause Jing wanted to try their cotton candy affogato.

Ironically, she doesn't drink coffee. -____- She just wanted to order it for photography purposes WTF.

Dismantling the cotton candy much to her dismay, haha.

Outfit details:

Houndstooth print balloon-sleeved dress: AZORIAS
Sunnies: Korea
Studded heels: Korea
Suede messenger bag: Fendi

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-30248572203182840412014-10-15T15:56:00.001+08:002014-10-15T15:56:05.459+08:00Bali sisters' trip 2014: W Hotel, Bistrot and Kitchenette.I know I am jumping everywhere with my travel posts, but sometimes I need inspiration to do up blogposts! Especially travel posts as they are usually very photo-intensive.

Today's thought process:
*trying to arrange for dinner with Teeny*
Oooh, I miss my sisters!
*thinks back to our sisters' trip early this year*

And hence, this blogpost, haha.

I have already blogged about Day 1 here, as well as photo sneak peeks here and here.

Buffet breakfast at W Hotel.

I love hotel breakfasts! One of my favorite ones is at Lebua in Bangkok.

My good-looking brunch partners.

We deliberately picked a seat outside because what could be better than having breakfast facing the sea?

Alas, our plans were thwarted. Look at the dark clouds swirling ahead! T_T

 I was really looking forward to chill at these hammocks, but our future looked bleak (no pun intended).

My happy, beach-bunny look. :D

We were all slightly disappointed with the breakfast spread at W hotel-- it could not hold a candle to the one in Lebua at all! However, just before we were about to call it a day with brunch, we realized that there was a menu on our table-- you can actually order loads of fancy breakfasts from the menu, complimentary with the breakfast. Think yummy options like vanilla french toast, wagyu burgers and foie gras.... We felt really dumb for not realizing the menu earlier. T__T

So people, if you ever stay in W, make sure to RTFM (Read The F*cking Menu wtf)!

Being the kiasu people that we were, we die-die went ahead to order a few dishes from the menu despite being really full already haha.

Self-consciously covering my stomach after all the gluttony at breakfast.

Bra top worn as bikini: H&M
Bikini bottom: Korea
Black crochet shrug cover-up: Zhuhai
Denim shorts: Cotton On

Since the beach was out of the question (due to the rain), we decided to head back to our villa to chill.

And chill I did. :D

Love the netting details on my bra top!

It is actually really a bra wtf. Since it was made of spandex and is pretty lightweight, I decided it is too pretty to be worn on the inside, haha.

Rain didn't stop us from having fun!

Spot the heart.

Silly idiots pretending to be Mat Rempits haha.

Testing our flexibilities with all kinds of funny yoga poses. Some of which are NSFW, haha.

Jing wanted to imitate the bridge pose I did above, but she just couldn't achieve it HAHAHA.

W for W Hotel. W for Wen!

Right before checking out! We decided to pamper ourselves with ONE night at the W hotel, and moved to a cheaper villa after that, haha.

Kicking up a fuss for having to check out wtf.

Walked longingly around the hotel grounds one more time before we left...

For lunch, we went to Bistrot cafe in Seminyak.

Love love love the decor here! Food is so-so only though, but I reckon most girls will feel very happy and at-home here. :P

Outfit details:

 Floral bikini (worn inside): Bangkok
Cutaway tank: Far East Plaze, Singapore
Laser cutout skirt: AZORIAS
Strappy leather sandals: Zara

Jing is also wearing a cutout dress from AZORIAS (sold out)!

We had dinner at Jimbaran, experiencing one of the most beautiful sunsets in my life. This photo is totally unedited!

Can't remember the name of the restaurant that we went to, but I wouldn't really recommend it anyway. The place was quite dirty. :/ Instead, I would recommend Menega Cafe more, which I briefly mentioned here.

A fun part of dinner is having this local band serenade you during the dinner, haha.

How they work is that they will approach your table and ask you where you are from. And based on your nationality, they will burst into a famous song from your country! :O We heard songs in Chinese, French, Spanish, Malay, Japanese.... When they came to our table, we told them that we were Korean. And they really sang a song by Big Bang! :O :O :O

You will have to tip them a little, of course. But it's all in the name of fun! :)

Since it was quite early after dinner, we made our way to Kuta, and shopped a little in Beachwalk, one of Kuta's newest malls.

If you happen to be at Beachwalk, you can try out Kitchenette, a cafe/ Crêperie. We mainly tried out their desserts, which has a huge selection such as cakes, crepes, cupcakes, pies etc.

 Conclusion of this blogpost?
I miss my sisters even more!!

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-20373197548926087332014-10-10T17:20:00.003+08:002014-10-10T17:20:57.337+08:00Fighter turns 1!Was going through some old photos, and realized that I have some really happy photos from Fighter's 1-year-old birthday party! Since his party was exactly 2 months before, I take it as an omen that I have to blog about it LOL. OK, fine, I just really like all the colorful photos that I have taken! :P You can read mommy Audrey's detailed account here.

Audrey is my first close friend who has a baby, so naturally I was really excited about his party. Went to the party earlier to help her to set-up! When I called her to check where she was, she was at the balloon shop nearby collecting the balloons, so I popped by...

.... and ended up being a crazy balloon lady haha.

Which also proved to be quite challenging when attempting to cross the road wtf.

Banana print bandeau top: Chatchuchak, Bangkok
White checkered midi skirt: AZORIAS
Bangle: Korea
Striped platforms: Zara
Suede messenger bag: Fendi

After selfishly taking up the whole lift (I was carrying 40-over balloons), and murmuring "sorry, sorry" to anyone who wanted to come into the lift wtf, I finally reached the party venue!

Quickly got to working. First task on hand was to lay out all the placemats! The vinyl record placemats are perfect for the Beatles-themed party.

The party was set in a baby gym, so I was expecting a sterile, white and bare space. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that the place actually looked more like a warm and cozy cafe!

Quickly go maul the birthday boy first! He looked so handsome in a suit, like a little man. :D

The place after set-up! So cheerful and happy, perfectly apt for a kid's birthday party!

The really impressive spread.

I vaguely remember all my birthday parties to be held at home serving my grandma's curry chicken and fried bee hoon FML. But here we had quiche and puffs, finger sandwiches, delicate rolls, cookies, scones, smoked salmon.... *salivates*

Happy family!

I honestly feel a little moved when I was standing in the background watching Aud and Tim take photos with their guests. Just barely a year ago, I was in Aud's hospital ward, watching them share their dinner from a tiffin carrier that was delivered from home, all of us trying to cheer Aud up. And look at where we are now! :')

A sexy Fighter greets every table, haha.

Themed toppers, which added such a personalized touch! Here is Strawberry Fields, Yellow Submarine, and Octopus Garden.

We also handwrapped each of these chocolates! Some of them went to the dessert table, and some to the goodie bags.

Speaking of the goodie bags, half-way packing them, Audrey accidentally mentioned that they are only for the children! We almost went on strike WTF. In the end, she graciously allowed us to pack extra for ourselves, haha.

Even the baby chair is all festive!

Bobo and Jo with their newborn, HEHEHE. It's actually Ringo's baby, Junya! But don't they look like such proud parents LOL.

Girlfriends! We are all mothers/ married/ engaged. :')

Prize-giving ceremony wtf. Haha, trying to give Fighter his birthday present, but he couldn't care less FML.

I was racking my brains to think of something educational yet fun to give him, and after doing some online research, I read that experts said that music instruments actually help to develop toddler's creative minds and and boos mental power! Also, I thought that a musical toy will go very well with the Beatles' theme. :D Bought the coolest musical instrument I can think of... which is a set of toy drums! *gives myself a pat on the back*

Cutting cake at the dessert table with a squirmish Fighter.

Love this photo of Fighter and us!

The coveted goodie bag LOL. So cute with the Beatles design! And I loved Audrey's Beatles nails too!

By the way, guess how is Fighter doing with his new toy drums?

It's his new favorite chew toy LOL.

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-91515420951119959262014-10-07T14:49:00.003+08:002014-10-07T14:52:48.850+08:00Seoul family trip 2014: Day 2RA RA RA! Am going to finish blogging about our Seoul trip in Spring! This is the second day of our trip, and you can read about Day 1 and Day 3.

Our day started late, which seems to be the recurring case for our Seoul trips. 'Cause during the night, we will shop at Dongdaemun till the wee hours and have trouble waking up in the morning!

The plan for the day was to visit Insadong, and we thought we would just have lunch there. BIG MISTAKE! 'Cause Insadong is a tourist area, we found that all the restaurants there were REALLY expensive. For example, you can get kimchi jigae for 6000 won (approx. RM18) in most casual dining places, but in Insadong the same stew is going for 25,000 won (approx RM75!!). And the restaurants in Insadong are not even fine-dining or high class places, in fact I consider some of them to be in even worse conditions than some of the family-style restaurants that I frequent. T_T

Look at my dad go at his food, haha.

I looked quite pale here as I wasn't feeling well. Somehow I felt really dizzy? Took a Panadol and after some hot soup for lunch, I felt much better.

One of my favorite places in Seoul!

There is no doubt that Insadong is quite a touristy place, but I love how it is always bustling and there's always something to see. It's actually a traditional street, featuring a lot of Korean cultural highlights such as the tea culture (the whole place is dotted with traditional tea houses), pottery, traditional costumers, folk art etc. BUT, it is also accented with modern elements such as art galleries and trendy artsy shops. It's really fun to explore all the alleys, and just see where you will end up at!

Also, if you dare to, do try out the butterfly larvae-- they are sold everywhere in Insadong! T_T

Sparkly details on Jing.

Another must-see in Insadong is Ssamziegil,which is an arts center/ mall located in Insadong itself.

Here, you can find shops/ stalls selling all kinds of creative artsy things from accessories to stuffed toys to deco items...

Spotted a stall selling poop WTF.

Couldn't resist getting one, haha! It's actually a dorayaki-like dessert with red bean filling. Never imagined poop to be so yummy wtf.

Another reason why I love Ssamziegil... 'Cause the whole place basically just encourages art and creativity, so you can actually draw or scribble on any surface in the mall!

So you actually have license to vandalize LOL.

Decided to leave our mark here... This is actually our Korean names, haha! Mine is Hye Min, Teeny is Hye Jung, and Jing is quite intuitively Hye Jin.

Try to spot our masterpiece if you ever pop by at Ssamziegil! :P

The Hye sisters wtf. And the person in the background is so pissed waiting for us to be done with our camwhoring, hahaha.

On the highest floor of Ssamziegil, you can find this "love note" bridge. Which is basically inspired by the "love lock" bride in Paris, but might more practical 'cause the bridge won't be weighed down by the locks, haha.

Girly chat while basking under the (mild) sunrays. The highest floor of Ssamziegil is basically open air, and filled with cafes,

BTW, check out the graffiti behind us... It says "I AM POOP" HAHAHAHHAHA. Is this a common theme in Seoul wtf.

After that we decided that it's time to sit down and refuel-- especially after an unsatisfying lunch!

We were lucky to stumble onto Miss Lee cafe, which is just next to the Insadong tourist center, if any of you are interested. Actually, my brother insisted on coming here 'cause he saw that SNSD have came here before. -_-

We particularly enjoyed the shaved ice, it's a must-have! Much nicer than Snowflake and Tong Pak Fu, if you ask me. And healthier too, 'cause it's actually milk shavings with fruits and nuts and black sesame mochi (with brown sugar topping). So yummy!

Most cafes in Korea have very strong themes, and for Miss Lee cafe, the focal point is this memo-centerpiece suspended from the ceiling. You can actually scribble a note and pin it up too!

Outfit:

Fabuleuse cropped sweater: H&M
Handpainted full skirt: AZORIAS
Mint blazer: Korea
Pearl/ butterfly necklace: Bangkok
Pearl embellished pumps with gold block heel: Zhuhai

Absolutely adore the gold heels on my shoes!

For dinner, we had Korean BBQ. Can't get enough of this stuff!

Halfway barbequing the meats, one of the staff poured some yellow liquid into our grill, and we were wondering what was happening. It turned out to be egg, and the heat actually cooked it to be perfect fluffy steamed egg! #mindblown

Teeny distributing Makgeolli, which is basically Korean rice beer. It's one of my favorite Korean (alcoholic) beverages! Another one is Bokbunja, which is raspberry wine. Yum!

We had soju as well, hehe.

Meat galore! My family are carnivores through and through.

Cheers to another great day in Seoul!

I get quite a lot of inquiries about visiting Seoul, so hopefully my Seoul blog entries (you can search for Seoul on my blog) can help you girls! Also, if you have any questions, just drop it in the comment box, and maybe I will compile all the questions and do up a blogpost. :)

Day 4 coming up soon!

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-81206861686747940292014-10-01T17:36:00.002+08:002014-10-01T17:58:42.300+08:00Sisters at Wondermama.As you all might know, Jing was back home recently for our Osaka trip. She was back for 3 weeks actually, but as luck had it, we had our holidays planned at the wrong time (I was in Bali for our mini-moon during her first week back; she was in Hong Kong while I was in KL on her 3rd week back)-- which essentially meant that the only time we got to really spend time was during our week-long Osaka trip. T__T

That being said, we really tried to take advantage of any time when we were both in KL! For example, sneaking out for long lunches with her. :D

Wore this for our lunch date. Maybe 'cause I was feeling blue that she was leaving soon? T_T

Jing is always craving for Asian food when she is back in KL. -_- So I suggested Wondermama in BV1 which serves Asian fusion food (think naan pizzas, fried rice with soft shell crab...).

Old school charm.

Howdy lunch partner! Whom by the way looks like Simpsons here, haha.

Will you judge me I confess that I stole the flowers from our next table to take this shot wtf.

Feeling very pleased 'cause my skirt looks so voluminous here! I feel very happy when my skirts are big and full, haha.

Outfit details:

 Tassel earrings slouchy tee: MNG
Electric blue neoprene full skirt: AZORIAS
Black/ gold diamante choker: Korea
Black cutaway heels: Zara
Suede messenger bag: Fendi

Anyway, she has left KL slightly more than a week ago! We all jumped back into our daily routines after her departure (her back in medicine officer responsibilities in Brisbane, us in our daily grind), but I will be lying if I say I don't wish that we (Jing, Ting and I) can reunited real soon....

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By the way, I have posted some new items for sale on Boudoir-Boudoir, including this jumpsuit with a really gorgeous back! :D

SHOP NOW>>>

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-15589034684708889012014-09-25T23:52:00.002+08:002014-09-26T10:56:08.907+08:00My first negative experience in Bali.I am keeping to my promise-- steadfastly getting rid of my blogging backlog! #win

Continuing on my previous blogpost on our Bali mini-moon, I thought I'd share some snippets of the first day of our trip:

Having breakfast while waiting for time to board.

Food at KLIA2 is so expensive! T_T
A laksa cost us RM20? Should have just gone for McD's breakfast, haih.

Guess where we were? :P

We were looking for a pharmacy, so we stopped and asked the nearest staff. It turned out that the pharmacy was actually quite far away from our boarding hall, but the staff was so kind to offer to fetch us in his buggy! T_T

It was really fun to whiz past all the crowd rushing to their respective boarding halls, hehe. Usually I can only look jealously at senior citizens who get to ride in such buggies wtf. The best part was, the staff actually waited for us while we shopped around in the pharmacy!! :O So we got rides to and fro, hehe.

Finally reached our villa around late afternoon! Let's have a welcome drink toast first.

Hello, welcome to our humble abode.

After settling down and freshening up, we walked out to the shopping streets (we stayed in Seminyak) to look for food.

We haven't had lunch yet, and it was already 5pm I think? We were famished!

Tropical prints-- you can't get more stereotypical than me.

The boy's colleague (a local Indonesian) provided us with a list of good eats in Bali (36 of them). We found out that one of them, Warung Italia, was near to where we were, so off we went!

Warung Italia, quite obviously, is an Italian restaurant wtf. Although we would have much preferred to have local Balinese/ Indonesian food, we were so hungry we just needed food in our system! So we ordered a pizza to share, with plans to go for another dinner after that. *sheepish*

Outfit details:

Tropical print dress: Forever New, Australia
Bracelets: Korea
Mint sandals: Zara
Bag: Miu Miu

After that, we decided to satisfy our craving for local food, and randomly googled a place to go to from Tripadvisor (didn't rely on his colleague's list for this as we were still not too familiar with our bearings).

We went to Warung Eny, which was nearby at Petitenget. We had mixed rice with grilled chicken, pork satay and otak otak-- food was okay, but not fantastic. It was rated really highly on Tripadvisor though! I think the angmohs don't really know how to eat Asian food. T___T

It seemed like quite a peaceful first day in Bali... until we got stranded by a taxi driver!!

Blogged about it on my Dayre, so I am just reiterate it here:

After (our second) dinner, we got into a cab to go to Seminyak Square, a nearby mall. Halfway there, we realized that the taxi driver did not have his taxi meter on! So I quickly asked him to switch on his meter, but he refused.  Instead he said we can pay him any amount we want.

Since we actually passed by Seminyak Square earlier today, we roughly know how much it would cost. However, when we paid him said amount, he insisted that it is too little!!!

We explained to him that we have been there before and we know how much it cost. However, he insisted for double the amount! Out of principle, we refused. And he started screaming in his car. In the end, he said that he doesn't want our money but he wanted to drop us back where we came from.

Fine, we agreed. Again out of principle.

In the car, I told the boy in Chinese that I think the taxi driver will purposely drop us somewhere obscure as revenge, but he just told me not to worry.

As predicted, the taxi driver took some secluded way, and he got caught in a traffic jam. He then got mad again, and insisted that we get out of the car!

We just calmly got out, but before I left, I told him that he is dishonest and 'jahat', and that he should just learn to use the meter next time. He started screaming again.

Anyway, long story short, we managed to get a cab back in the end.

But the taxi driver, being a greedy vengeful cheater, was stuck in a jam and didn't get anything at all!

MUAHAHA. Serves you right, you dishonest man!

And there you go, my first negative experience in Bali.

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-66462940240497666442014-09-23T16:20:00.002+08:002014-09-25T22:56:36.492+08:00A typical day in our mini-moon.Eep, I just realized I have so much backlog of blogposts to do up! I have Osaka, our Bali mini-moon, my bridal shower, our Korea trip in spring, my dad's surprise birthday party, my bridal shower, not to mention I also want to do some wedding-related posts before I blog about our official wedding photos (getting them back any day now-- EXCITED!)... And I am really keen to blog about all these 'cause I LOVE reading back my old posts and rediscovering past memories, heh.

Anyway, I am going to start with our Bali mini-moon first! We were in Bali for 7 days 6 nights, which I initially thought was quite a long period for a beach getaway. Y'see, as our trips fell on the National Day long weekend, we found out that if we were to do a 4-5 day trip, flight fares were twice the price! :O So we decided that instead of paying for the exorbitant airfares, we might as well channel that amount of money to accommodation and extended our trip instead. Since we were going to be in Bali for a week, we split our holiday between Seminyak (which is more central, and is near to most of the popular attractions) and Ubud (about 1.5-2 hours away from Seminyak).

We got a private villa in Seminyak, since private villas are relatively affordable in Bali. In Ubud however, we opted for a suite room. Save money whenever we can!!

A typical day in Bali starts like this:

10am: Wake up and laze in bed. Reluctantly get out of bed when the hotel staff sends over our breakfast.

10.30am: Breakfast is served! We get to choose on a daily basis what we want to eat for our breakfast. :D

11am: Do some light reading by the pool in our villa.

My pool/ beach read.

By the way, I really wanted to buy this book for our Bali trip, but it was sold out in most bookstores! So I thought, ok la, it's my fate to be a beach bum and just surf FB wtf.

But the hubby surprised me with this book right before we flew off! T__T

12pm: Scold the boy was taking insincere photos of me ("Can't you see there is a giant pot of plant blocking me??") WTF.

Abstract grid print bikini: Bangkok

12:15pm: Give up on his photography skills, and rely on myself wtf. Don't know why my hair was so messy also!!

By the way, everyday in Bali was bare-faced day! :O 'Cause the boy is probably the only person in the world who thinks I am prettier without make-up, so ok lar, I grant his wish LOL.

I basically hide under sunnies and hats everyday, and I have to admit, it feels SO good to not wear make-up!

2pm: Have local Balinese food for lunch. This was at Warung Made, which was near to our villa. Warung Made (pronounced as "Ma-deh") is quite popular with tourists, but personally, we feel that the food is nothing to shout about.

3.30pm: Time to hit the beach! I bought this sheer dress from Zara a few years ago, but lost the slip that comes with it. However, I had the perfect solution to it for this trip-- wear my swimsuit underneath! Ya, I basically live in swimsuits, sunnies and hats all day long, haha.

Sheer kaftan dress with embroidery: Zara
Oversized straw hat: Bangkok
Sunnies: Prada
White thongs: Havaina
Bag: Lesportsac

By the way, I LOVE my Lesportsac bag! I got the Curtis Kulig "Love Me" tote, and it's kind of a one-size-fit-all bag. I use it as my laptop bag (with my Macbook in a laptop sleeve), beach bag, hand-carry for traveling, extra shopping bag (when traveling)... And the fact that it comes in a simple yet chic handwriting/ graffiti print makes it so easy to match all my outfits. :D

3:40pm: Arrive at the beach!

Our villa is not placed right at the beach, but the bonus is that it is of a walking distance to a nearby beach strip. When I went to Bali early this early this year with my sisters, our villa was really far away from the beach (at least 20 minutes by foot), so I really, really appreciate having a beach nearby this time! :)

4pm: Strolling to find a perfect lounge spot!

Black one-piece swimsuit: Bardot, Australia

As this is a public beach, you will find bars by the side who lay out beach chairs, bean bags etc. Initially we thought that we will be given a seat as long as you patron the bar, but to our surprise, you actually have to pay extra for the seats! A lounge chair will cost you around 50,000 rupiah (about RM15). That being said, it's worth it if you plan to chill by the beach for a few hours, as the drinks and food aren't very expensive.

7pm: Dinner time-- our choice is always local Balinese food, heh. This was at Menaga Cafe at Jimbaran, one of my favorite places for a Bali sunset.

10pm: You will find us being couch potatos in front of the TV, half-watching documentaries/ music videos, and half-chatting and catching up. :)

This is also when I adopted the nickname of Binne-- inspired by this polar bear on Animal Planet. The reason? We found out that a polar bear spends 92% of its life looking for food, which pretty much describes me to a T wtf.

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Hope you guys enjoy this post! I also plan to do up a Where-to-eat post for Bali (and possibly Osaka?), hopefully it will be helpful for those of you are planning to visit these countries soon. :)

And phew, talking about my honeymoon is making me reminisce over our wedding, and wedding-planning in general. For you girls who just got engaged (a few of my friends got proposed to recently, yay!) or are currently in the midst of wedding-planning-- LUCKY YOU! You girls should definitely check out Wedding.com.my, one of the largest wedding directory in Malaysia. To navigate through the site, you can go to Get Started, where you can start an account and start pinning images that inspire you, as well as shortlist your vendors. There will be detailed instructions to guide you through the signing-up process, as well as the how-tos on saving images to your account.

I also like going to the "Discover" tab to find new inspiration and vendors! Here you can find inspiration sorted by various wedding aspects (dress, photography, venue...), wedding themes, wedding colors etc.

Also, I heard that Wedding.com.my will be launching an e-store soon, so be sure to check back in the next few weeks! ;)

revel in mehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-65039371028107299492014-09-16T22:52:00.003+08:002014-09-16T22:52:41.110+08:00Osaka in a nutshell.Hello! I just came back from Osaka, and we had a blast! :D Though I did come back 3 shades darker FML. It's quite ironic, 'cause I was careful to not get tanned from our minimoon trip in Bali recently, but alas, summer in Osaka got the better of me. T_T

Anyway, posting a few photos from our trip first! Consider it a teaser slash overview. :D

Quaint streets in Kyoto.

Hello Kitty everything!

Purikura FTW! I have never seen myself with bigger eyes, haha.

Making a wish in one of the many shrines that we visited in Kyoto. This was Fushimi Inari Taisha.

Always a sucker for adorable collars.

An iconic sight in Dotonburi, Osaka. If you don't believe, just refer back to the Hello Kitty photo above. :P

Getting my hands on some holy water!

At Shinsaibashi, with the iconic Glico man sign-- which is under renovation now. T___T

Hopping on and off trains to get to Kyoto and Kobe from Osaka-- it's really easy!

A summer-worthy lunch-- cold soba with beancurd skin on ice, served with cold mochi. :D

On the flipside, summer is really beautiful with all the lush greenery!

Can't wait to blog properly about our trip, we took so many beautiful photos! I love going to Japan 'cause it's always filled with pleasant experiences and memories, and this trip was no different. :)

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-54840836232426865742014-09-05T18:07:00.002+08:002014-09-05T18:07:43.447+08:00A lazy girl's guide to an interesting outfit.These 2 weeks will be pretty hectic in terms of traveling! Just came back from Bali like 2 days ago, and I am flying off to Osaka tomorrow. :O And upon touching down in KL from Osaka, I will literally hop onto the next flight to Langkawi for a friend's wedding! Am quite nervous about this, 'cause if our return flight from Osaka is delayed, I will miss my flight to Langkawi. T_T

Anyway, on to happier things!

Selfie taken at lunch.

My lunch partner for the day. :D

This was a momentous occasion, 'cause since Teeny have started working, we have been talking about having lunch together for AGES. Even when her office was really near where I worked, our lunch session never materialized!! Only after she started a new job at a much further job, did we do lunch together for the first time. -_-

One of the better carbonaras in town, IMHO. This was in Three Little Pigs (BV1), and I love that it comes with a wobbly poached egg!

BUT, admittedly the pasta wasn't as nice as the first time that I ate it . Sigh, why can't Malaysian restaurants maintain their food standards?

Outfit details:

Wore a very basic outfit, and let my fun skirt be the focal point. :D

If you don't know me by now, I love investing in interesting bottoms, 'cause there are countless ways to mix and match, and still end up with an interesting outfit! For example, you can match it with a white camisole like I did here, a gray tee, a cropped top, a white buttoned-up.... All the outfits will be cute! So there you go, a lazy girl's guide to interesting outfits-- get a fun bottom. :P

It's fun to layer necklaces!

White camisole: Topshop
Polka dot trumpet skirt with bias hem: AZORIAS
Silver necklace: Tiffany & Co.
Pearl drop necklace: Korea
Contrast slingbacks: Zara
Bag: Miu Miu

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By the way, I have posted some new unique items on Boudoir-Boudoir!

Including this one-of-a-kind dress with a scalloped laser-cut leather collar. :)

SHOP BOUDOIR-BOUDOIR>>>>

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-31620356.post-40927054257572332952014-09-03T16:35:00.003+08:002014-09-03T16:36:51.425+08:00Mini-moon.

Sorry for the short hiatus! We were away for our mini honeymoon in Bali. :)

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I fondly refer to our mini honeymoon as mini-moon...

Him: Who coined the term "mini-moon?"

Me: Hmm.. I am not sure. But it's quite a common word la!

Him: Wah.. Luckily we didn't go on a cruise for our honeymoon!

Me: ???

Him: If not we will have to call it "Sailor-moon".

Me: -_-||

revel in mehttp://firstname.lastname@example.com