TCC @ citylink mall

*back dated entry*

went down to TCC @ citylink mall this time but not really a good choice as the outlet is located along the walkway so it kind of lack the privacy touch... & the outlet is kind of small so if you are coming in a large group, it is better to make a reservation beforehand.....

one reason why we go TCC isnt because the food is super nice or very cheap food but due to the member card which entitled to a 50% off the total bill for the first visit on the birthday month, the second visit will be 30% off.... in order to apply for the member card, simply spent $80 on a bill then the staff will ask for your mobile number & will send a sms for the member registration.....

honestly... i would say TCC is actually pretty pricey as the portion is slightly little for the price... on average, it will cost $35+ per pax for a main dish & a drink... but with the 50% discount, that's a whole different story =)

my drink.... masala chai.... the smell is really strong but the taste is just normal black tea

prawn toast to share... really small portion now... the toast is like 2-bite size

grilled salmon

my chicken sandwich... i think is my favourite dish in TCC menu

grilled chicken drumstick

tobiko pasta... quite nice

the dessert

 i think in general, TCC food is just average... of cause some dishes are not bad.... i think the selection of drinks look more interesting than the food since is more of a cafe style place.... but without the 50% discount... i wont spend the $ eating here....

wedding post

came across this post where people shared on facebook which talks about how much $ to spend on a wedding.... according to him, it cost about $80,000 for a wedding.... at first glance i was like OMFG!!! kidding man.... on second thought, i dont think my wedding will be much cheaper....

my banquet at fairmont will cost almost $30k for just 20 tables... due to all the bloody service charge & GST..... pre-wedding shoot package cost $3800.... actual day photography + videography = $2288... wedding bands = $1176.... proposal ring i think almost $2500..... so far the total already cost $40k.... that havent include honeymoon + purchase of flat.... so getting married really spend ALOT of $!!!!

the blogger also mentioned ultimately it is up to the couples to decide on how to hold their wedding.... but that doesnt apply to all the couples... at least not for me.... when i was young, i did dream of having a grand wedding & etc... but as I grow up & now preparing my own wedding... i prefer to keep things simple.... actually my dream wedding now will be an outdoor garden solemnization followed by a nice meal under a nice pavilion.... of cause, having an outdoor wedding will still cost a fair amount of $, i think is nicer than having a formal sit down 8 course dinner..... but hell no.... my parents insist on a sit down meal.... & must be dinner....

haiz.... want to save $ also cannot.... then want to save $ on other stuff like clothes & wedding cars also give me problem.... i havent check out La Belle kua (the chinese wedding gown, the ang bao thing) but from what i remember they only have 2 designs... so my mama asked me to rent another kua outside... & renting will cost $150+... & to make matter worst.... is hard to find kua rental lo..... then want rent normal car instead of those high class car like BMW from the bridal shop for the wedding car... my parents want something nicer cause the car must look new.... like omg.... is just a transport vehicle!!!! need to be so particular mea?!?!?!?! although these things seem to be just petty cash, they do add up as you pay for things along the way..... so in short... do save enough $ for your wedding.....

watami @ jcube

*back dated entry*

went down to watami for dinner with my bf.... i think on weekday jcube is a nice place to go for dinner as there are not too many people fighting for seats.... we reached approximately at 6.30pm, so the restaurant was pretty empty... even when we left about 7.30pm, the place was not even half full... that's good for the customers but not so for the shop owner....

anyway i am lazy to think of what to order so we ordered the set meal which cost $49 for 2 pax.... i think the amount of food can fill 3 pax stomach, may be just top up with an extra rice/noodle to share, unless you are super big eater.... the set comes with a salad, fries, rice, hot pot, side dish & 2 drinks... & you get to choose for the last 3 dishes....

the yuzu drink, cold & hot

Caesar salad

sukiyaki!!!

fries

beef stone pot rice

wafu pizza

the whole set of food!!!!

so you can see that the whole table was filled with food!!! yummy!!!! of cause the price is abit steep but hey... you get to eat quite a large variety of food lea.... but of cause cant eat it too often or else sure grow fat like mad..... i would say watami is still quite a nice restaurant to go, especially at jcube outlet whereby you can enjoy your meal =)

bridal shoes

I have been searching for a suitable bridal shoes for awhile, not really intensive but just pop by any shoe shops when i pass by any.... & conclusion was really hard to find a suitable one.... one thing is definitely the price... ok... so far those shops i been to were not too expensive, probably about $100 after discount or even cheaper.....then when i was bitching with my friends about my wedding preparation... i was like asking them if they know where to buy shoes... & i was thinking of getting a pair that cost about $100... & my friends were like "how can find so cheap one!!!"... i was like "really???" with super stunned & big eyes.... according to them, average pair of shoe cost may be $300.... i was like wth already... then one of them mentioned that her friend spent like $1K+ on the shoe... after hearing that.... i wasnt wth.... i was like OMFG, go & die, KNS, WTF... all the vulgarities you can think of.... i seriously dont understand why must spend so much $ on a bloody pair of shoe!?!??! ya... i know... look nice... but hey... is just one night??!?!?!? ok... may be another day for the pre-wedding shoot.. but still!??!!??! $1k+ for shoe.... got gold or diamond on it mea????

so after hearing all those scary story about how expensive the shoes cost... i decided to try my luck on my favourite shop = taobao.com..... i know the size may not fit me perfectly but i think no harm getting some idea on potential designs that i would like to get.... & to my horror.... here comes the second problem.... generally the shoes cost pretty cheap on taobao.... less than 100sgd... but the heels... my god!!! 10cm+!!!! what are those people's feet made of?!?!?! why need to wear so high heel??? of cause this is coming from a girl who doesnt wear heels often & lesson learnt is that i wont buy heels more than 5cm or else my feet will die by the end of the day....

wth is this??? is this even call shoe?? thats call walking on stilts

this is under bridal shoe category lea.... like omg right???i think the heel is like 20cm... of cause in front also may be another 10cm platform but still???? crazy....  with those height, you are practically tip toe-ing when you walk... thats why i always tell my bf, why wear heels,wear pointe shoe la... thats the highest one can ever go already.....

pointe shoe

i understand that wearing heels like elevate yourself to make the legs look longer... but 5cm heel not enough to do the job??? must wear 10cm+???? initially i am quite decided to wear lolita shoe with my wedding gown.......

loli shoe... cute right?? my favourite

 but then the shoe wont goes with evening gown.... so need to get a more universal shoe.... super high heels problem aside, i start looking on taobao on potential targets.... 

a bit casual but not bad

quite nice

super bling.... not my style but just something interesting which i came across

not too bad

not bad either

quite elegant

all the above designs are not bad... but my favourite so far are 2 pairs shown below

very classic & elegant... is actually something that i kind of dreamt of wearing for my wedding

lower + chunky heels of the same design as below

pretty nice pair

i managed to find a lower counterpart for this heel but i think chunky heels doesnt really goes with gowns.... oh well...... just have to continue the search..............

Crystal Skull Vodka

just came across this post on facebook which i find it pretty cool.... is this forensic artist who create a human face from a vodka skull bottle....

pretty cool rite??? ok.... the initial part may be a little disturbing for some people since the bottle really look like a skull....side track abit.... somehow i feel that this vodka "guy" face looked like those 1900s chinese man who was high on opium.... but seriously.... this guy really love his/her work!!! i wouldnt imagine myself creating the face out.... i guess the most i will do is probably decorate the skull to this super colourful or bling bling decoration..... the artist's passion about work is really something we should all learn from....

review: wedding bands

*back dated entry*

we have been looking around to survey for suitable wedding bands since last year.... we went to almost all the different jewellery stores & based on the survey, i would say our budget will be somewhere below $1.5k for the pair of rings....after much delay & consideration, we decided to get our wedding bands at lee hwa diamond atelier....

first, lets talk about the different experiences at the jewellery stores....

1. soo kee jewellery
i would say some of their designs are pretty nice but price is on the steep side... on average, 1 pair of wedding bands will cost $2k+, which is out of our budget.... so deh deh...

2. goldheart
i think the store focus on gold jeweleries so there are not much of wedding bands designs or in my opinion, they have simpler designs but price is quite budget... average can get a pair approximately $1k but nothing caught my eyes so deh deh....

3. citigem
again... i feel the store doesnt have much wedding bands design so i didnt even bother asking about the price

4. taka jewellery
we gotten the proposal ring from there & i am quite happy with the design however, wedding bands are their forte.... nothing that fancy us so deh deh....

5. SK jewellery
this store definitely focus on the yellow gold jewellery for dowry purposes... whole store so damn gim gim.... the designs are not too bad but on close examination, you can see the quality of the rings were not as good compared to other stores... which explained for the cheaper price whereby on average one pair of rings cost less than $1k

6.lee hwa
i would say lee hwa has one of the most comprehensive designs for wedding bands.... saw quite afew nice designs but depending on the series you getting... destinee or designers series will cost $3k+ per pair... but normal series can get it about $1.5k per pair... shall talk about lee hwa later

7. poh heng
similar to SK, the store focus more of yellow gold so couldnt find anything that we like

8. love & co
i think love & co is like THE place to find rings but seriously the price is way out of our budget.... they really have a large collection of rings, simple bands to princess styles to antique designs... i do like quite a few of their designs but prices are close to $2k+ per pair.... so sadly we had to forgo the store....

9. venus tears
i not sure if many people know about this store but it actually originate from japan & just recently venture into SG.... their designs are really nice & sweet.... in my opinion, they have the prettiest selection of rings especially the fairytale series.... a simple band but with nice engraving which makes it so unique

so pretty... & it comes with the unique story case!!!

really love their rings but sadly the prices are on the steep side... average $1.7k+ per pair... BUT is made of platinum & not white gold... so that kind of explain the price... but sadly.... we dont want to spend so much $ on the rings

so after talking about the different stores, where to look for those stores is also crucial... of cause there are many jewellery outlets distributed in SG but you dont want to travel to different parts of SG just to go to 1 stores.... personally i would say jewellery street @ ION and vivo city are the 2 best places to scout for rings as both places have most of the stores in the vicinity....

but one very important i found out is that, not all the designs are available in some of the stores especially so for lee hwa jewellery.... after visiting more than 10 outlets, we felt that diamond atelier @ vivo city has the most comprehensive designs & also more discounts.... we realised that normally for those rings on display window tend to have more discounts, like 50% off.... the staff told us that normally those are the older designs or sometimes the company just want to have promo at that store.... at this outlet, we managed to narrow down to 5 designs... which we were never been able to do so at other outlets... this shows the large variety of rings available.... but of cause, most of the wedding bands are pretty common, the differences among them could be minute.... but ultimately we decided on a pair of rings that both of us like....it cost $1176 which is almost 50% discount!!! since the ring doesnt have my size, it has to be custom made, so we have to wait about 2months for it... so i shall post pic of the ring next time =)  in short, i do urge couples to try out the diamond atelier @vivo... really can find cheaper alternatives compare to other stores =)

vday food

to continue from previous post regarding the vday celebration..... my bf & i didnt go to any fancy restaurant to celebrate since we didnt have time, more importantly i dont like to spend too much $ on food.... we thought of having dinner at ichiban sushi at jurong point but decided should "enjoy" the food another day since there will be so many people & i dont like to be rushed when i am eating.... so we went to eat Wadori which is same as tori Q.... didnt take any photo since ate there so many times.... so we had simple meal there & walked around.... wanted to get a dessert before going home & we came across makeshake... i saw a couple eating waffle so my eyes went bling bling, i didnt know they sell waffle wor....always wanted to try out this store some time ago but there are always so many people camping at the few seats there... so today is our chance!!!

their menu

i think their selection of drinks is quite interesting but on the pricey side.... they also sell waffle but i cant find the menu online.... so they do sell the normal waffle sandwich @ $2.8 which you can get nicer one at prima deli for $1+ but the one i want try is the waffle with ice cream or yoghurt....

waffle + vanilla ice cream

 tada... thats the waffle.... & it cost only $4.8!!!! of cause there are cheaper alternatives around but i think this is really cheap for a cafe.... the waffle is freshly made so you need to wait about 5min+ for it... i would say is slightly on the crunchy side & abit too thin... i prefer a fluffier waffle... but hey... $4.80, dont complain so much.... vanilla ice cream not bad too... but is soft serve = melt pretty fast so must chop chop eat finished....

another thing i want to share is this chocolate store at jurong point, is more of like a make shift store but they are quite permanent at the area now... the "store" is located in between anderson ice cream & durian recipe store at jurong point (the old building) level 2.... is abit like push cart since all the merchandises are on the cart.. they sell chocolate, chips, sweets & biscuit... something like candy empire but a cheaper alternative.... normally i will look out for promo item & today FINALLY i gotten my liquor chocolate @ much cheaper price!!!

liquor chocolate

i think NTUC sell about $9.50/ pack, the store normally sell 2 for $15 which i still think is slightly pricey.... so today got extra promo = 2 for $10.... thats like almost half price!!!! but of cause there is always a catch... the chocolate going to expire in 2month.... but com'on, 1 pack only have 8 pieces of chocolate.... can finished it even in 1 day lo.... so i do urge people to look out for special promo to get better deals especially the liquor chocolate.... always so expensive in SG....

happy vday!!!

HAPPY VDAY minna san!!!! is the annual vday = the day that we will see lots of girls carrying bouquets of flowers on the street = the day that flowers especially roses will be sold at insanely high prices.... when i was a small kid, i always think it will be so romantic to receive flowers on vday but as i grow up & realised how kns expensive flowers cost on vday, i start to feel that it isnt practical to spend so much $ on something that doesnt last... but of cause... i will still loved to receive flowers....

i always wanted to do something different on special occasions... last time my bf & I used to go picnic on our anniversary or bday or other special dates because i LOVE picnic.... i love to prepare snacks for picnic & i feel that sitting down in a quiet corner, enjoying the scenery while eating my hand made food is way more romantic & sweeter than just having a nice dinner at an expensive restaurant =) wanted to do a picnic this year again but nay... no time & resources to prepare as most of my cooking apparatus are kept in boxes.... oh well... there will always be another chance =)

so after talking about so much rubbish, i really want share something that my bf sent me this morning... my bf isnt the romantic sort normally but he will still give me surprises once in awhile... due to his busy schedule, i dont expect him to do anything for this year vday other than just a simple meal together... but this morning he really sent me something really sweet that made my day.... he sent me this message saying: "roses are red, violets are blue, kyary is cute, and so are you".... for those people who dont know who kyary is, she is actually a japanese model who always have fancy & cute look.... in short i would say she is like the icon of harajuku (can see 2 of her PV below).... cuteness aside, my point is, i love the little gesture that my bf did and this short message really meant ALOT to me =)

 

 

to end off, i wish everyone to have a great time today whether single or attached.... vday is to celebrate with loved ones, not only lovers.....& vday isnt just limited to today... if you can spend time with your other half/loved ones, every day can be your vday =)

my vday roses =)

amazing hotels.....

just happened to see this on facebook.... http://myscienceacademy.org/2014/02/11/21-amazing-hotels-you-need-to-visit-before-you-die/   the hotels are really nice... at least it looks nice on photos... but why most of them are in Switzerland.... no $ to fly so far lea.... my favorite among the 21 amazing hotels is actually attrap reves hotel in france....

very nice right??? look like a snow globe in winter!!! but my primary concern is.... no privacy lea.... no curtain or what so ever.... & where is the bathroom?? i think this "hotel" room should be just a display right??? i dont think people can actually stay inside... or else will be like free show for all.... so yup.... do take a look at the site & let the pretty pictures feast your eyes before you sleep =)

change of URL

finally i have gotten out of my lazy mode & finished blogging about my recent trip to taiwan & hong kong!! yeah... hopefully some of the information will be useful to people who do read my blog =)

next up, i will be posting the dishes i cooked during chinese new year... most of the dishes are something that i cook every year & they are pretty easy to prepare.... as well as some random food/updates that happened for the passed weeks...

another thing is that i changed my URL!!! yeah!!! for those kind souls who do read my blog or just happened to come across it.... i just changed my URL to http://joviyiyicook.blogspot.sg from jovimeow.blogspot.sg & there is a simple story behind it

actually when i first started the blog, i dont know what shall i put for my URL so i just randomly come up with one.... but during chinese new year, my jiejie gave me an idea to have a meaningful name.... so recently my jiejie was into this daydaycook.com site which teach you how to simple daily dishes.... as i am the head chef at home, every year i am the one cooking the reunion dinner, cny day 1 & 2 meals.... so my jiejie was saying i can also do something like that & call it yiyicook.com.... side track abit, i have 2 nieces & i refused to be call aunty, make me feel so old... then ah yi... also sound very old & not cute.... being cute is very crucial to me especially when it comes to naming.... so i decided to teach my nieces to call me yiyi... cuter right??? & that's how the name yiyicook.com come about...

so for this blog, in addition to the initial aim which is to share my wedding preparation experience, i will put in some cooking recipes that i know, some food reviews, good lobang if any & any interesting things that i came across.........to end off, i shall post the mini celebration that my lab had for me =)

the mini cornetto... the size of an ez link card, really mini..

pizza + sides + yu sheng.... yeah!!!