angbao packets for wedding

*back dated entry*

in case for those girls who want to buy special angbao packets for wedding, i hope this post will be useful for you all....

personally i dont really care how does the angbao packet look like since everybody only concern about the amount inside.... BUT my mama want to have 囍 word on the angbao such that it gives the wedding feel, i have to find them.... of cause those shops that sell chinese wedding stuff will sell 囍word angbao but it cost like $2.80/6 pieces... that's like OMG expensive... can you imagine if i need to buy all the angbao from there... seriously... you can go broke just by buying those angbao packets.... so i decided to go for the cheaper alternatives = taobao to the rescue....

i am sure by now everyone know how amazing taobao is... & all those angbao packets we see in SG, they all come from china anyway... so naturally buying from taobao is a wiser choice... & i bought mine from this shop.... there are many shops on taobao which sell angbao packets & you can just find 1 that sell the designs that you like... but honestly most of them looks the same....

wedding angbao packets

tada... i bought like a BOX of angbao packets cause my mama asked for like 80+pieces.... on average 1 piece cost 20cent ren min bi which is like 4 cent SGD... compared to at least a 40cent SGD packet that you find in SG, those that taobao sell are like 10x cheaper!!! of cause the quality you have to compromise a little... those in SG are made from better quality paper while taobao kind some used card board paper, so they become kind of thick... but who cares...  at least i dont... as long as they look nice, it's good enough for me =)

wedding reception deco: angbao box & guest book

*back dated entry*

today i want to share how i design my angbao box & guest book.... some time ago i had some fancy ideas to do my guest book & ang bao box... want to do something extravagant & unique cause if you have been reading my posts, you all should have guessed that i am quite an AA (attract attention) person... not the kind who give alot of personal opinions but more of dressing & decorating things.... i wanted to have a very fancy reception table that will one look, people will know that i designed it... but due to my lazy bug, i only start doing things last minute, i cant achieved something too fancy so i just improvised with whatever things the hotel provided.....

so for fairmont, the banquet package will include 2 ang bao box & a guest book... you dont have any colours to choose from, they only give you white....

fairmont guest book

guest book interior

i forgot to take picture of the angbao box but basically is just a white paper box.... for the guest book, there are some patterns embossed on it but hello.... who can see them unless you stare really hard at it.... so when wendy (fairmont banquet sales personae) passed us the things, i was like ooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy... i MUST do something about it... there is no way i am going to put these 2 plain things on my reception table..... i maybe quite good with my handicraft but when it comes to designing things, i totally suck.... so i went online to search how to decorate/design guestbooks & ang bao box..... but most of the things are too fancy & i cant complete it within the few weeks.. i thought of just wrapping the items with some nice wrapping papers but that's troublesome too so i went for something simpler = colour the items...

so i coloured my ang bao box light pink & added some paper flowers on it...

decorated ang bao box

tada!!! this my my ang bao box!!! not bad right!?!?!? at least is quite colourful & not the dull white box... the paper flowers i gotten them from taobao.com.... if you dont mind the limited choice of colour, DAISO also sells them... i think like 5 pieces for $2... quite a good buy too especially when you are pressing for time...

decorated guest book

guest book interior

tada, the guest book!!! i just use glitter pens to go over the embossment so that you can see the designs... i know the choice of colours maybe a bit weird but good enough for me... then for interior, i punch some designs at the side to give it a different look.... the chops can also be found at DAISO....

so you see, you can beautify your items easily!!!! of cause mine are not of SUPER NICE designs but at least it has transformed from its original plain white thing.... you dont have to buy those fancy guest books or ang bao box from online cause seriously you not going to keep the angbao box UNLESS you have a big house.... just need to move your fingers & with some creativity, you will have your very OWN guestbook & angbao box to display at the banquet reception =)

taobao batch for wedding stuff

well, i am sure by now many people would have known about taobao & today i want to share some of the stuff that i bought recently especially wedding stuff cause they are much cheaper to get from taobao than in SG....

1. bow tie @  9.9rmb each
this will be for the brothers.... i think they will look cute in bow tie & i gotten them the rainbow colour (including groom)

bow tie

2. vest @ 49.50rmb each
i think a simple vest will cost like SG$50 so i cant really afford to give each brothers a new vest here & since i not getting those tight fitting vest, i can just get them online.... there are other stores on taobao which sell nicer designs but so far this is the only site that i can find sizes that can fit the brothers, so yup... no choice... but it still looks nice =)

best man vest

3. kua hair accessories + bridesmaid corsages
so i am going to wear kua during the tea ceremony & i thinking very hard what hair accessories to go with it... of cause i can let my makeup artist decide but i dont think she has accessories that will match kua so i decided to get my own... & i go for those traditional look....

kua accessories

quite nice hor... so i gotten the 3 of them as a set.... lovely...

accessory+corsages

4. red bedsheet @ 268rmb
this is pretty pricey to me but then is still much cheaper compared to SG... & i cant seem to find a suitable design here, those kind i found at wedding shop will cost like $88 with weird designs & lousy quality.... so taobao solves my problem =)

packaging

actual design

5. room decorations
normally we will put those 喜喜word around the house during wedding but again those things are quite pricey in SG, so taobao is the saviour

room decoration stuff

6. reception+angbao box deco
since fairmont gave me a white ang bao box so i had to do some DIY to beautify it... i intend to just paste those paper flower on top to make it like a flower box... simple...

simple deco stuff

7. winter clothes
since we are going to japan for our honeymoon in end dec, we need to stock up some winter clothes... of cause i had quite a fair bite of winter clothing, i need a down jacket & so does my bf... so we gotten them on taobao since it's more expensive in SG...

bf down jacket

touch screen enabled gloves

boots

my lovely green down jacket

misc winter clothes

this batch order cost me like SG$300+, pretty expensive but at least i settled some of the wedding stuff =)

龙凤饼

since my wedding is coming up in less than 1 month time, i have to start preparing my dowry stuff... i know normally people will do the 过大礼 stuff earlier but due to the limited number of auspicious dates, i can only do mine on 15th nov... & i am only starting to prepare now!!! kind of piss cause i told mama many times that i need to settle this thing earlier but she was so busy with the house renovation thing so totally no time for me.... super sian.... but nevermind, forget about that & start doing last minute preparation NOW!!! so i was reading those HK geomancer book about wedding preparation, i came across this 龙凤饼 to be used during 上头. i know those chinese wedding store will sell 过大礼 stuff as a package but the one i went to recently, they dont come with 龙凤饼 & apparently it is IMPORTANT for 上头 ceremony.... but the store owner has kindly advice us where to get it... it's this tong heng bakery at jurong point...

tong heng bakery

so this store is located at jurong point basement, just outside NTUC.... passed by it so many times but i never knew they sell those traditional chinese wedding pastries...

龙凤饼

so this 龙凤饼 is the thing in the middle... just look like normal chinese pastries but since the book say it is necessary, we just have to get it.... the bakery also sell other kind of wedding pastries but those you have to order about 1 week in advance.... so for those girls who need 龙凤饼, you can get it here =)

food tasting @ fairmont

went down to fairmont yesterday to have the food tasting session... it was also the first official meetup between the 2 parents... quite nervous & we were really worried cause my mama is really the very naggy & demanding person BUT she seemed quite composed & mild yesterday... so on the whole everything kind of turn out quite fine..... so.... lets back to the food tasting....the dinner was held at one of the function rooms which will also be used for solemnisation.... is quite spacious for a round table of 10 but to fit 50 people for solemnisation, it may be slightly pack.... but is free... so dont complain...

they have this "notice board" thing at the entrance so that you know which function rooms you supposed to go.... so ours was butterworth room =)

menu

so this is the menu... we made some changes to the standard chinese menu which i will elaborate later on....

appetizer platter

it looked quite nice especially with the crystal ball in the middle.... the sucking pig slices were not bad, quite crunchy but sauce abit too salty... the flower sea jelly was quite cool... not the type you get for sushi... is crunchier... in general the appetizer was not bad

seafood soup

it actually look like sharkfin but nope... dont have sharkfin.... taste wise was ok... perhaps they added quite alot of seafood like prawn, scallop & conopy... so it tasted abit fishy... but the taste can be masked by vinegar

scallop with asparagus & nuts

yummy... nuts were nice & crunchy... mama said the scallops were too small & tasteless... but i found them quite tasty wor... got this sweet taste so we just ignored her comment... .

roast chicken

the original chicken dish was ginseng chicken... mama say it's not so good cause after all ginseng is a herb so not good to serve it during banquet.... & i think most people will prefer to eat something more savory so we all agreed to change to roast chicken... the skin was nice & crispy... meat was slightly bland but compensated with the plum powder

abalone with spinach

yummy abalone.... no matter how busy i was on the actual day... i must request them to save the abalone for ME!!! is soft & tender.... delicious =)

steam fish

ok lo... the meat was slightly tough... cause the chef said the fish was rear & not fresh catch... well... expected... especially when the hotel has a budget... cant expect too much

fragrance rice in lotus leave

i think by the time it hit the carbo, most people were quite full so not really into the rice dish... taste was slightly bland but still ok since the previous dishes had stronger taste.... they also put in a lot of ingredients into the rice... they had like diced chicken, duck, dried shrimp.... not too bad

red bean soup

this is requested by mama to MUST have red bean soup with lotus seed+lily bulb... it symbolised good luck & blessing for the couples in cantonese.... i would preferred to have yam paste or red bean soup with dumpling kind.. but oh well.... i probably wont eat it so dont care... haha

so after trying all the food, the chef came in to get some feedback from us... in general there was not any major changes, just some adjustment to the taste cause some of the dishes were too salty or sweet to our liking.... i mean the dishes may not be very extravagant, i think they were pretty decent & tasted not bad =)

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...

HK shopping trip for wedding preparation (6th - 12th May) part 3

the last part of the HK trip post will be just on random shopping & food that i had in HK....

so after shopping for all the expensive stuff for the first 2 days, the next few days will be more on normal shopping & meeting some of the relatives.... as usual, my favourite shopping place is at prince edward =  花园街

 花园街

streets at  花园街

my rainboot look... cause hongkong was raining so heavily

look at the amount of stuff we bought... crazy... haha

happened to spot animate along the street at prince edward

the clothes at  花园街 is pretty cheap but compared to my beloved taobao.com.... the prices had jet up ALOT since these couples of years.... but i feel if you are looking for relatively cheap stuff, i think  花园街 is still a good place...

along the road along prince edward, i stumbled across a shoe shop which sell alot bling bling shoes & lucky me, managed to find a suitable shoe to match my gowns....

the shop name....

my shoe....

front view

the shop was having some closing down or moving sales... so the shoe was having 20% off then still have additional 15% off so the final price was 344hkd = about S$56... i think in SG will cost at least S$70 but the main problem is the heel so OMG high... at least a 3inch kind... & luckily mine is about 1.5inch = i can run in it... yeah!!!

subsequent posts will be on the food i ate in HK, yummy.... =)

my favourite beef stew at  池记 (郎豪坊)

salmon + ebiko rice @ yoshinoya... pretty unique but slightly salty

favourite steak at Boston seafood

quite famous cream puff shop in HK

triple chocolate... hmm ok lo

ordered green tea + azuki for mama... not too bad

cocomo restaurant at shatin

the menu

the bread + soup + salad, i like the bread.. soft & nice

stew rice with scallop + truffle... nah... not nice

kimchi udon... nah... average

side track.... i quite like the shatin shopping center.... my favourite is YATA at 新城市廣場第三期... is a japanese departmental store & the good thing is that the stuff there are not the super expensive kind.... pretty affordable.... there is also citysuper = something like fancy version of market place... pretty cool place to walk around too....

bread @ tiffany at prince edward area

nice borche

baked pork chop rice... NOT nice...

sushi platter from market place... quite fresh wor

roast meat platter from 翠华.. not too bad but slightly on the fatty side

my favourite porridge store at prince edward area

炸两 which means the 油条wrapped in 猪肠粉, is a common dish in HK & i quite like it

the porridge... not as nice as last time but still not too bad

so yup, with that i ended my 7D6N trip in HK... was a really intensive shopping trip.... i spent like S$1K on food + shopping... thankfully we can stayed at my aunty's place so we saved alot on the hotel.... once again... i urge everyone to go HK buy jewellery or expensive as there is no tax there... but have to compensate by paying for expensive hotels.... well... have to give & take =)