second pre-wedding photoshoot and annual kushinbo dinner

just had my second pre-wedding photoshoot today with our friends... it was a causal one in school as well as slightly more formal kimono shoot at japanese garden..... whenever i take photo, i really understand why i cant be a model... lets not talk about the body proportion & facial feature first....  i seriously sucks at posing... i mean afew camwhore shots with friends, of cause that one everyone can do that... but to continuous think of different poses & angles or whatever.... my god.... that's like so damn difficult.... really thankful for my patient friends who didnt abandon us when we look like so wooden block in front of the cameras.... since the weather for passed few days was bad, it keep on raining, we were really worried on sat... i prayed super hard that please dont rain during the shoot & luckily it only had light drizzle & slightly darken sky during the shoot... phey.... lucky.... so after the tiring day of shooting... we treated ourselves to kushinbo dinner!!!!

since like 5yrs ago when we first tried kushinbo, it has become a tradition that we will visit the store once a year.... so this year, we went back to jurong point outlet and it is having okinawa fair.... i would prefer to try out hokkaido fair since there will be more seafood but okinawa is nice too... something new.... last year we went in september & it was osaka fair.... not exactly my style i would say.... so next up will be food photo spam =)

fruits section

THE seafood section

bread & cheese!!!

fried food

nabe mono + noodles

oden

 

okinawa fair

okinawa style side dishes

chocolate fondue

desserts

more desserts

yup... that's the food selection in kushinbo... i actually missed out the sushi + sashimi side..... i would say the spread in kushinbo is pretty good... but for weekend dinner, the price is pretty steep la... $44.90++ so each pax is about $53..... it is still slightly cheaper than hotel buffet dinner i guess??? my favourite in kushinbo is the snow crab leg & it is also their signature... the crab leg isnt SUPER fantastic in the sense they dont have special cooking style... i think they are just blenched in salted hot water but at least i get to eat my 1 year worth of crab there ok.... if go jumbo to eat crab.. 1 small one already cost $50+ lo.... so eat kushinbo is more worthwhile... & the most important is that you can eat & chill out with your friends for a couple of hours =)

edit: i would say okinawa food is actually very similar to chinese probably due to the close proximity to asian countries... like afew of their dishes that i tried... tasted so similar to what we ate here.... like pork rib + yam + wolfberry soup, pig ear in sesame sauce & braised pork belly in okinawa sweet sauce.... woo... that's like traditional chinese food for you man.... but they all taste nice =)

Kao MegRhythm steam eye mask

*NOT sponsored post*

couple of weeks ago, my friend sent me this link to get free sample for eye mask then being cheapo & kiasu me will of cause go get one... it is the Kao MegRhythm steam eye mask, i saw my friend used it before and she strongly recommend it so i also want to give it a try.... after waiting for like 2wk or so, the free mask FINALLY arrived!!!! can get your free sample here... just need to answer afew simple questions....

lavender eye mask

this is the packaging... so for the free sample, Kao gave out lavender scent... which i believed it to be the most popular choice....

eye mask

so this is how it looks like when you take out from the packaging... tear open in the middle to open up the ear hook area

eye mask

tada... after you tear open, it will look like this... just hook onto your ears & rest your eyes

applying eye mask

actually the eye mask look somewhat like a cyborg.... haha.... the mask will naturally heat up, i think the concept is the same as heat pad... i dont know if the temperature really hit 40degree but it is really kind of hot.... so you should put the mask on for no longer than 10min... or else i think the heat will be bad for your skin since the eye area is really delicate.... when i removed the mask after 10min... my eye area was really perspiring... really steamy wor..... it also has a slight hint of lavender smell, not too strong = good..... the steam mask is supposed to relax your eyes & i think it does show some effect... after all you are resting your eyes for 10min.....

i saw the mask selling on gmarket for about $1.30/piece.... hmm.... not say very expensive but personally i dont really like this kind of mask.... just a personal preference, not a steamy person..... so probably i will go for the traditional moist eye mask... but do go & get free sample to try =)

how to DIY japanese traditional headdress

i have posted before that i already had my pre-wedding shoot with La belle but vain me always wanted to do something fancy for my wedding shoot... so this time i decided to kimono shoot.... last time i wanted to do a loli shoot but i guess maybe is a bit hard for people to accept it when they saw the photo at my banquet... maybe i should do it instead for my anniversary shoot with La belle =) so in order to have a matching headdress for my kimono, i must DIY one... of cause i can get one from taobao but it is slightly pricey but nothing compared to getting it from japan... but most importantly is that i like to do some small handicraft so i decided to DIY my matching headdress..... after surveying online for suitable candidates... i have decided on this--->

my headdress candidate

nice right??? the colour scheme is so pretty & sweet... but in order to match my red kimono, i will do some slight adjustment to the colours.... & then i will also share the tutorial below... it is actually not very difficult to do it... just takes time & some patience....

all the necessary materials

yup... that's what you will need to make that headdress... actually the concept is the same... so once you understand how to make the flowers.. you can mix & match into any designs that you like.... for this headdress i used 绉布, the material used to make japanese headdress... i dont know what is the name in english though.... but you can actually use any cloth to make, cotton + some polyester will be nice as the cloth is slightly stiff which makes it easier to handle.... 绉布 is very soft & slippery so i had quite a hard time.. but to look nice... it is worth it =)

so if you look at the original headdress, it composed of the center big pointed petal flower, 2x 10 petals flowers on the side & 4x 5 petals flowers on top & bottom.... so i will break down how to make the 2 types of flowers....

pointed petals flower

round petals

5 petals flower

10 petals flower

for 10petals flower, the concept is the same... just string 10petals together & put abit of glue at the side of each petals to join them together... here you dont need to add glue to the bottom cause you wont be flattening out the individual petals...

insert pollen

so basically that's how you prepare different kinds of flowers.... i know it make seem abit chim but after you try out afew times, it isnt as difficult as it seems.... so the final step is to assemble all the flowers

assembly of flowers

 now is the real important step... you need to hold the flowers & arrange them in the design that you want... it may takes afew tries to get the right shape... the flowers may move around.. but that's ok.... just add abit of glue to the side & they will stay in position =)

final product

tada.... the final product!!! not bad right!?!??! i think the new colour scheme looks pretty too =) last but not least you need to attach the headdress to a pin or clip then you can put this beautiful piece of work on your head =)

search for solemnizer

as my wedding is getting closer, we start to search for our solemnizer since it will be held outside ROM.... actually this is like the MOST important thing for your wedding cause without this cert, no matter how pretty or extravagant your banquet can be, you are not officially married!!!! we thought of finding a solemnizer about 6 months before our wedding but kind of forgotten about it & from the ROM site, it is recommended to look for one about 3 months prior to your wedding so we heed their advice.... so about last week which is almost 3 months before our big date, i start to search online for solemnizers.... & only then i realised there are so many things that we need to consider!!!!

so naturally we start off with googling who are the popular solemnizers & their reviews... before reading up on ROM site, i thought any lawyers can be a solemnizer but nope... they must be licensed... so most of the time they are either justice of peace (JP) or grassroot leaders but of cause there are other people who are also appointed to be solemnizers... ROM has a list of licensed solemnizers....... quite a comprehensive list i would say.... i think there are like at least a hundred names on that list but separated into different category..... based on the net search, people recommend to look under Partners of FamilyMatters@Work if you are free-thinker.... cause if you look under some religion then there may be some religious teaching during solemnization and some people may not be comfortable with it.... so if you are fine with any guy to do the solemnization then can just email or call or sms anybody on the list.... then me being kiasu will want to get someone with good reviews so i went to read blogs & forums to sieve out potential candidates..... so let me share those people that i have contacted & some good sites that i found....

blog 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , top 40 solemnizer in singapore

1. Dr PHUA Tan Tee (phua_tan_tee@nea.gov.sg)
- he is like the MOST popular guy, like every blog or site i searched, his name will definitely pop up....so naturally i email him as my first choice & he replied within like 5min but sadly he's busy =( kind of expected if he is like THE BEST guy.....

2. Mr LEE Keok Boon Peter (peter_lee@moh.gov.sg)
- another popular guy but nah... not free on 29th nov

3. Mr TAN Yan Boon Alex (alexyanboon@gmail.com / 9850 0689)
- popular guy, he did solemnization for my future bro-in-law, quite nice & friendly looking guy... but also not free

after i emailed my top 3 solemnizers & they are all not free... i get desperate cause 29th Nov is like bloody popular date... so i begin to mass email instead of asking 1 by 1 & wait for their reply...

4. Mr SIM Khee Wang Simon (simnotco@gmail.com)
- popular guy and expected he isnt free but he referred me to his friend

5. Dr KWOH Chee Keong (asckkwoh@ntu.edu.sg)
- on top 40 list but no reply after 1 week so out....

6. Mr Wong Eric (9848 3286)
- also popular guy, very prompt reply but also not free

7. Mr LAU Tat Chuan (tatchuan@fathers.com.sg)
- popular guy with very prompt rely but not free

8. Dr CHUNG Tang Fong (9672 9312)
- prompt reply but not free

9. Dr HO Nai Kiong (honaikiong@yahoo.com)
- 1 review say he is nice but also not free for me =(

10. Dr CHEW Chee Tong (pctchew@gmail.com)
- no reply after 1 week

11. Dr CHUA Swee Boon Raymond (8112 5093)
- a statistician in NUS if i am not wrong but no reply after 1 week

12. Mr KAN Teck San (9682 0054)
- top 40 list, took 5hr to reply but also not free

you see, i have contacted like 12 guys & all not free... can you imagine how devastated i was.... so i being to search for those not on the popular list & try my luck

13. Mr HO Hoe Sing (9635 4543)
- referred by Mr Simon Sim but he also not free

14. Mr TEH Chin Huak Zenon (zenonteh@singnet.com.sg)
- he is under additional solemnizer category and quite a few good reviews on him.... he is booked at 6pm which is our intended timing so he kindly suggest to us that he can help us if we can do our solemnization at 5pm or 7pm... but we prefer so stick to our original timing so sadly we had to reject him...

15. Mr WEE (9017 7888)
- referred by Mr Ho, very prompt reply... at first he agreed but after that called me to apologized that he couldnt make it on 29th Nov.... but kindly referred us to his buddy....

16. Prof TAN Wee Hin Leo (leotan@nus.edu.sg)
 - i was happened to stumble upon a page that state that he was a newly appointed JP in 2013 & he is from NUS.... he looks like a very nice guy from the picture so we tried our luck & FINALLY... he say YES!!! i was like OMG!!! FINALLY!!! some kind soul is free for us!!!

17. Mr YING Adrian (9640 9653)
- referred by Mr Wee but we didnt contact him since we gotten Prof Tan

i contacted like 16 people before i gotten my solemnizer!!!! i read in blogs that most people found theirs after asking like less than 5 people.... i asked like 3x the amount lo.... kns.... but no matter... at least i found mine....

Meetup with Prof Tan
so we met up with Prof Tan today... really very nice guy... very fatherly looking... probably in his late 60s??? he is from Dept of Biological Science.... i felt that i have seen him somewhere.... he MIGHT have taught me before but oh well.... he first congratulate us and start off with some casual talking and sharing with us that it is important that we are truly ready for marriage due to the high divorce rate.... he also gently guide us on the procedure as well as what will happen on the actual solemnization.... throughout our 20min+ meetup, he is always smiley & optimistic.... we have found the RIGHT guy!!! YEAH!!!! really happy to have him as our solemnizer =)

Prof Tan, photo taken from DBS site...

Hey! 蘋果肌女孩面膜

my friend went to taiwan recently & what is the one thing you must buy from there!?!?!? masks!!! it is like the best souvenir you can get from taiwan.... like every stores you go will be different brands of masks.... i was quite spoil for choices when i was there.... & my friend bought this new mask to try & gave me 2 pieces to try.....

Hey! 蘋果肌女孩面膜

 tada!!! is this Hey! 蘋果肌女孩面膜..... i dont remember seeing this brand when i was in taiwan... probably i just missed it cause there are really ALOT of brands there.... from the packaging, this mask doesnt look very special... i believed most of the constituent for the masks are more of less the same.... but this brand is really unique in the sense that in contrary to the usual paper mask.... this brand uses lace (cloth) mask!?!?!?!? amazing isnt it!?!??! you girls might have know of such thing but shuaku me didnt not... & i was really amazed when i used the mask....

lace mask

see!!!! the mask really made of lace lea!!!! lets not talk about the effectiveness of the mask cause it will take afew tries to see the effect but the feeling is really different!!!! compared to normal paper mask, the lace mask feel softer & it really like blend with the skin.... i can barely feel its presence.... another thing with paper mask is that it has a lower absorbance capacity compared to cloth so when you take out the mask from the packaging, sometimes the solution tend to drip everywhere... kind of messy.... but with the lace mask, you wont have such problem =)

you can see from their website, they have 8 types of mask for different skin and purposes.... & from the pchome website.... each box of 5 pieces cost NT199.. that's about S$1.70 per piece.... slightly more expensive than usual mask but for something so unique... i think is worth to try =)

airlines promotion

want to share with you guys some good deals for travel..... in case you all miss out the advertisements, SQ and cathay are having great sales!!!! i know is common for cathay to have discounted tickets every 3 months but for SQ, it is harder to get since ALOT of days are included as black out period... *roll eyes*.....

i am quite a fan of cathay because of their affordable ticket prices... like recently when i went back to HK during may... the ticket only cost $284 or something... like how cheap can it get?!??!?! sometimes even the budget airline cost more than that!!! and the good thing is that cathay is very genuine in their offer in the sense that if the travel dates fall within those school holiday period, promotion fare still apply but need additional $50/ticket... that's a fair deal.... i am always very pissed off with some airlines such as SQ which put black out period=no discount for tickets... like wth.... what's the point of having promotion period when only afew days is applicable for the discounted price...

BUT..... irritating thing aside..... i managed to book SQ for my honeymoon trip wor!!!! my itinerary is 30th Dec 2014 to narita then 13th Jan 2015 back from osaka & total price (with tax + surcharge included) at $732.60!!!! of cause there are cheaper airlines available but i think for this price is a really good deal for SQ!!!! but the catch is that the maximum stay is 14days so we cant have a longer holiday =(  if travel on the same date, cathay will be slightly cheaper, perhaps about $680 but i am kind of lazy to do the transit in hk.... want to maximize the time spent... so spent an extra $50 or so....

so do check out SQ & cathay promotions if you are planning for your year end trip =) do take note of the promotional period wor... dont miss out the deadlines =)

SQ promotions
cathay promotions

NDP 2014

last weekend was SG national day & for the first time in like almost 20yr, we FINALLY gotten the tickets to see NDP!!! & whats even better, we gotten the tickets for ACTUAL day!!! i was like OMG!! when i received the sms that my papa won the tickets!!! i had been to two NDP before but both times were like preview or pre-preview kind of things, so i was really excited to see the actual event!!!! the ticket state that the gate open at 4pm & strongly encourage the audience to be seated by 5.15pm..... so we went down to have lunch at raffles city osaka ohsho first before heading down to floating platform...

fried chicken + chili ebi

ginger pork + fried chicken

stir fry pork + fried chicken

personally i am not a big fan of japanese gyoza but osaka ohsho sell really nice ones =) i had the ginger pork + fried chicken.... really yummy..... & the portion is relatively large if you are not a big eater....price wise is on average $15-16 per set... so after all the GST + service charge, is about $20/pax

after lunch we walked over to floating platform.... the route there was kind of complicated cause they block off some of the roads.... i think we spent like almost 1hr from city hall mrt to be seated at floating platform...

our ticket

queuing for security check

finally seated

look at the crowd!!!

we seated about 5pm & by then i think more than 70% of the audiences were seated... people really kiasu wor..... so before the platoons march in, there was some singing by random people... honestly i dont know any of them so i was like rampaging through the fun pack to see what's inside.... about 5.40pm or so, the real performance starts.... & i will flood the post with photos =)

the red lion coming down

first parachute

army band

platoons marching in

platoons

the flags people

more marching

ships to shoot the cannon

our light bands =)

helicopter with SG flag

bang... firing of the cannon

marching off

bang & out came the coloured smoke

coloured smoke

some navy people

continue marching off

night fall & it look so nice with the light sticks

performance

mini firework at the end of performance

all the participants

honestly, i dont really understand the performance for this year NDP.... it was too chim for me to understand... it just feel so modern/contemporary dance = i am just not artistic enough to understand.... so i kind of zone out during the performance & also it was tiring to sit there for like almost 3hr..... & my favourite part of NDP is actually the FIREWORK!!! who doesnt love fireworks!!!! so next up are the decent firework photos that i managed to take =)

start of firework

1 of my favourite type of firework

lovely

the lighting from spotlights kind of complement the firework =)

beautiful

everyone leaving

we were actually sitting on the right side of the stage which was just nice where the fireworks were shoot from... so lucky for us, we get unblocked view of the beautiful firework!!! yeah!!!! going back was also a pain due to the huge amount of human traffic... so we had to walk all the way to raffles place to take the train back..... last but not least, how can i forget about the fun pack =)

fun pack 2014

i gotten the bluexred fun pack... there was quite a number of colours in different combination.... not really interested in the colours since i doubt if i will bring the bag out... but the bag was really heavy.... lets look at what was inside...

the gifts

 so the fun pack include the usual clappers, hat, light stick, SG flag, tatoos, pins, rain coat & some coupons.... the thing that really beats me is the SG scarf!!??!! i was like huh??? when i saw it... like seriously, we need a scarf in SG??? i thought a towel will be more useful... but since it is free so dont complain....

food & drinks

so all these things contributed majority of the weight.... 2 bottles of water + 2 packets of drinks.... how can the bag be not heavy!?!?!??! but it will keep the audiences hydrated while waiting under the hot sun....

i think it was a nice experience to watch NDP on actual day since everyone will give their BEST of the BEST performance.... but the drawback is definitely going &  coming back from the events... even if you have a car... you have to park it quite far away from the event & not to mentioned the number of roads that were blocked off..... nonetheless, i really enjoyed myself especially watching the beautiful fireworks =)