lunch at riverwalk tandoor

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so after the tiring day for my wedding, we had to wake up early to check out the next morning cause cheapo me think that it was too expensive to spend another night in the suite room... another thing is that we had to accompany my relatives who flew over before they fly back home tonight, so what's the point in paying for a room which we cant enjoy..... 

my mama has been bugging me like months for where to bring my relatives for a meal... she wanted something more unique like indian or maybe Vietnamese food to let my relatives try... & i have been telling her that i really dont know where to find nice indian food cause i dont explore my food choices... so the passed weeks i had been like digging online for indian food deals since we have to like treat 20 people for a meal & having some discounts will always be good.... during my search, my lab mate told me that she tried riverwalk tandoor before & she said it was not bad...  so we decided to give it a shot since lunch buffet cost $15.9+/pax & it's in town area so it will be convenient for all of us since we all had a night in the hotel

 

riverwalk tandoor

food selection 1

food selection 2

food selection 3

food selection 4

so basically that's all the food they have for buffet, they also have the normal menu if you want other types of food.... so in total we spent about $350 for 20pax (including 3 kids/babies), this price include the buffet prices & some additional dishes & drinks.... i would say the buffet variety was abit limited but still filling.... the buffet food was not very delicious, perhaps due to mass production... the ala carte menu dishes tasted somewhat better... but most important of all they had free flow of papadom so basically i was eating papadom with curry for my meal =)

Overall, i would say the place is still ok, price wise is relatively cheap for a buffet in town area... the restaurant is quite spacious so you can have a big gathering there... but probably have to compromise a little with the food, not the best indian food i tasted but still ok =)

my BIG day!!!

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today is my BIG DAY!!! after like slightly more than 1 yr of preparation, the BIG day has arrived!!! I will not be posting my wedding photos since i dont have them but more of sharing with you guys what kind of things will happen on your wedding day......... & if you all need a sample of itinerary can email me at vivi_kinki@hotmail.com    i wanted to post a link for the file but i am not IT savvy enough to do that, sorry about that....

so my auspicious timing for groom to step into the home is 9am so you will need to start preparing about 7am.....so i gotten my girls to come at 7am to prepare stuff for gatecrash, makeup artist as well as photographer & videographer also arrived around the same time..... & that marks the beginning of your hectic day...... 

the makeup artist took like a good 1 to 1.5hr to do my makeup + hair, she plastered like so much things on my face... really hate thick makeup but no choice since will be taking lots of photo & need thicker makeup in order to see in the pictures & for the look to last =( so about 8.30am, groom & brothers will come for the gatecrash thing, stepped in about  9am, came into my room & fetch me, took group photo before heading to guy's side to do tea ceremony... then come back to my side to do tea ceremony, more photo as well as creative shoot before we break for afternoon.... that was a really long & busy morning, i will put up the itinerary at the back so you all can use it for reference....

so after the long morning, we finally arrived at fairmont about 2pm & we check into our suite....

nice selection of drinks - complementary =)

nice variety of TWG tea bags

walkway to living room

pretty toilet+wash up area

open concept bathtub

enclosed showering area

nice cozy area to relax or simply camwhore

lovely bed

view from the room

another view

another angle

pre-wedding snack

i chose seafood hor fun & sandwich

 so yup, we relaxed in this nice suite before the main event start at night.... we had like about 1hr of rest before me starting my makeup at about 3pm & hubby has to start preparing for briefing with the hotel staff as well as the brothers + MC....

we had our solemnisation at 6pm, prof Tan was very punctual & the ceremony was short & sweet... he didnt say much in the intro, went straight to the point that everyone was there for our solemnisation... i think the whole process took about 10min??? somewhat shorter than i expect cause we didnt exchange any special vows & finish it shorter is also a good sign so that we were ahead of schedule & can spend more time on taking photos....so after that will be reception & of cause dinner commence... the whole thing ended close to 11pm, after we went back to our suite to wash up, we had to count angbao $ while having our supper as we want to pay off the remaining banquet bill with cash when we check out....

then the next morning we had the international buffet at the hotel cafe.... lovely place, really nice view with nice food =)

lovely cutlery

cafe

food selection

ready cooked section

cereal & yoghurt

bread & cookies

wide variety of spreads

my lovely breakfast

it was really a tiring day for us as well as all our helpers & relatives.... i am really glad & grateful that everything went according to plans despite having some small hiccups along the way....  so now i will share my feedback for my wedding services

La belle:
i mentioned in my earlier post that i engaged la belle for my pre-wedding shoot as well as actual day gown rental..... i would say their services were quite good, peiwen (our coordinator) was really nice & helpful, really appreciate her help.... gowns & suits were all packed nicely & easy for us to carry.... the car decoration service was not bad either despite having limited choice of ribbon colours so i bought my own & they helped me tied up

wedding car

so if you look closely the car itself doesnt look that nice, can read up on my bad experience with advance car rental here.... but thankfully the ribbons managed to cover up the flaws & the car still looked presentable for our BIG day...

moments in 7:
we engaged their services mainly due to their cheaper package but it didnt turn out as well as they promised to be... again... lesson learn, we should not just go for cheaper alternatives

i cant remember if posted about it before but anyway we had our pre-wedding video shoot in june.... Justin, the videographer aka the "boss" for moments in 7, shoot the videos for us, the shooting was fine but what happened after was not.... he told us that the first draft will be done in about 2 months, to me it was abit long but fine i just wait for him... so we message him in august then he said not done yet cause he had reservist so need another month... fine, we waited... then september came & we had to like pester him for the video before he finally sent it to us like early october & my god, it was terrible!!! the video image quality was acceptable standard but whole story was wrong!!! we gave him the script & the exact flow for the video & it turned out that he just randomly link the different video clips together... like seriously??? i know it's the first draft but at least give me something more decent... so hubby gave up on Justin so hubby had to get the raw clips from him & edit the video himself...

then came the actual day, we supposed to have Michael as our photographer but that very morning another 2 guys came & told me that Michael was not available!?!?!?! i was like WTF!?!?!? i mean we dont care who is the photographer but you should not just change it last minute & especially not informing us beforehand!?!??! so we were very disappointed with their services... now we only hope that the actual day photos quality will be good....

Fairmont:
two words = GREAT services..... i think choosing fairmont is 1 of the best decisions we made in our wedding preparation.... we signed the contract with danny but subsequently wendy liaised with us & it was such a relief.... i feel danny is a more rigid guy but wendy is amazing!!! she is very attentive & flexible with the terms... like they can start serving beer during reception instead of only at the banquet, gave us additional projector without additional cost (previously danny insisted that we had to pay for the use of 2nd projector), additional parking coupons & changes to the menu.... really appreciate wendy for being so nice & flexible with the options.... the hotel staff for the AD event were great too.... our wedding concierge , xue ling, was a lovely girl too.... in short, i think fairmont services turned out much better than what we expected =)

i shall end off this long post with the picture of the lovely complementary chocolate cake from fairmont =)

complementary cake from fairmont

review: car rental from advance car rental

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i mentioned in previous post that we decided to search for own wedding car rental in order to save $, so we opt for a simple car & perhaps it was a mistake..... let me elaborate further.......

so today we went to collect our car at advance car rental..... we wanted to go down to collect it about like 1+ to 2pm so that we have more buffer time before heading down to the bridal shop for car decoration but the car rental staff called us yesterday that we can only collect the car after 3.30pm cause the car wont be ready till then..... we were like oooooookay, abit later than what we expect but still ok since the car decoration can only start after 5pm so we still have more than enough time to drive down..... 

so we reached the place about 3.40pm, as we walked towards the shop we didnt see the car with the car plate number meant for us but we thought maybe they park the car somewhere else so didnt care about it..... after we told the staff that we came to collect our car & he showed us the car, we almost had a shock of our life! first thing is the car that he showed us had a different car plate number!!! i understand most of the time the car rental shop will provide you with any car under the same series but the staff told us that he will secure a specific car for us cause he said that it was freshly painted & it's in the best condition among the series..... so that was the first unhappy thing that we encountered but that's not all..... 

the second shock was the condition of the car... i am not very concerned with the car plate number, you can always give me another car if the condition is good but hell NO!!!! the condition of the car was like BAD..... like seriously BAD!!! i should have taken a photo of the torn & tattered car but i was too angry to do that..... i could not count the number of scratches & bums on the car, not to mention how dusty & dirty the car looked & that's not all..... the interior of the car was terrible too, the back seat leather is all cracked & peeling, the steering wheel is also in very bad condition..... we were like OMFG shock when we saw the condition of the car! lets not talk about using it as a wedding car, i think the condition of the car is not even fit as a rental car, i am surprise that they havent scrap the car..... so we went to complain to so call the manager who was the guy who told us that he will secure the best car for us..... 

here comes the third thing: when we questioned him about the car, he try to act blur & said with his eyes SUPER WIDE that he DIDNT say that the shop has  a freshly painted car & that was the BEST car they had! we were like WTF, go & die!!! seriously!?!??!?! we felt so stupid that we actually believed him..... man, how naive we were..... so we were like arguing with him that he only had that pathetic car! so we wanted a refund then we try to find alternative but he said we could not cause he provided us with a car, is only us who didnt want it so he kept his side of the bargain.... again, we were like WTF!!! i so wanted to use my hp & kok his head but we kept our calm so we demand another car but he insist that he only had that car..... so after debating with that piece of shit for like 15min or so, he sort of gave in & told us that they have another car of the same series but he dont know about the condition..... we were very angry with him but what to do so we had to try our luck with the other car at their other outlet..... so the staff drove us to the other outlet somewhere in yishun to check out the car which thankfully turn out to be in better condition..... 

we never expect the car to be in pristine condition but seriously the first car he showed us was really horrible! i mean it was partly our mistake that we took the cheaper option for a normal rental car & not get a fancier car. However, the car rental staff was also wrong to lie to us & gave us such a lousy car..... we were really disappointed with his service & there is NO WAY that i will go back to that shop in the event that we need to rent a car again..... really hate people to lie especially when we told him we need the car for our wedding & he PROMISED us that he will secure us the best car..... seriously man, really hate people to lie to me..... so people, if you need to rent a car for important functions, please do so carefully & not let such shitty people screw up your important day!  

gel manicure @ prettifyme

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was looking around for good deals to do my nails for the wedding & came across prettifyme on groupon... you can see from their facebook page for some of their nails designs... i would say the quality was not too bad & my friend told me that the shop has quite a good reputation so decided to give it a shot... this is my groupon deal... i opt for gel manicure with 4 nail art = $28

PrettifyMe – The Nail Therapy
Address: 100 Orchard Road
#02-64 Concorde Hotel & Shopping Mall,
Singapore 238840 
Tel: +65 6735 7728
Operating Hours
Mon - Sat:  11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sun:  Closed 

prettifyme

so the concorde hotel is actually the old meridien building... those stores at the basement are all gone so the place looked really empty but there are still shops at level 2.....

interior

prettifyme had like 3 staff so you really have to make an appointment prior to your visit & stick to your timing... i made mine at 4pm & only finished at almost 6pm cause the manicurist, joan, was really patient & spent ALOT of time doing my nail art....

my manicure

close up on my pretty nails

tada.... my pretty manicure... i absolutely LOVE them!!! so pretty!!! so for the 4 nail art, i did flower design & joan took really long time to draw them... look at the details of each flower!!! that's what i call REAL effort... then for the remaining 6 fingers i opt for glitter tips @ $1.5/nail.... so my whole manicure cost $37!!! AMAZING price!!! now i really regret not buying 2 sessions deal... man....

another amazing thing about the store is that all the staff are so professional!!! the last deal i bought for enchanted nails, the staff service was SO BAD!!! totally gave me the heck care attitude & anyhow did my nails.... BUT for prettifyme staff, they paid you equal attention whether you are full paying customers or those who bought cheap deals.... really appreciate such services....

so girls, what are you waiting for?!?!?!? go & BUY the groupon!!! my manicurist was joan & she is absolutely amazing!!! & you wont regret going to the salon =)

angbao packets for wedding

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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 =)

fairmont atrium ballroom

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i will share the pictures i took at the fairmont atrium ballroom during my wedding rehearsal hopefully will be useful for those of you who are interested in holding your wedding there....

entrance to atrium ballroom

reception area outside the ballroom

ballroom view 1

ballroom view 2

stage

the ballroom was set for a corporate event so you will see rows of chairs & not the usual round tables during banquet... but you have the idea that there will be 2 pillars in the middle of the room as seen in the ballroom view 1 picture... it will definitely block the views for some of the guests so you have to arrange the table around them & the hotel staff will do that for you....also the ballroom doesnt have very high ceiling so you wont those pretty chandeliers dangling down.... but i think is a pretty decent room for those having approximately 20 tables banquet....

solemnisation room

the hotel will also give you the use of the solemnisation room prior to the wedding... this is a very typical meeting room size but the view is pretty nice.... there are like 6 of such rooms around so the view maybe slightly different..... hopefully these pictures will be useful for you all =)

review: wedding lunch @ the fullerton hotel

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went down for bf's friend wedding at the fullerton hotel. i was really excited about it because i think fullerton is one of the prettiest hotel in SG that i have been too, so i really look forward to trying their food & services.....

location: nearest mrt is raffles place & about a 10min walk from the station. there are other buses at the road behind the hotel so i think the hotel is still pretty convenient....

Ambience: the wedding was held at the straits room which is a small ballroom at level 4, not the grand ballroom at the basement. the room itself is pretty spacious since the couples only had 8 tables, very high ceiling but the entrance is very small so it was kind of crampy for the guests... despite its small size, it has quite high ceiling & nice chandeliers so i think that's a redeeming factor

the straits room

high ceiling with pretty chandelier

food: i was really looking forward to the food but sadly it was not as nice as i imagined it to be... of cause the food were edible & presentable but i expected better quality from fullterton...

the menu

table setting

door gift

cold dish

soup

veggie + tofu

dessert

noodle

roast chicken

i would say the best dish of the day was the dessert. the ice cream was nice & had a nice blend with the mango cream... & the caramerlised banana was nice =)

the couples also gotten some snacks for the reception from le petit empire.... the food are really nice but i think they ordered too much food so there was alot of leftover, so it's kind of wasted

reception from le petit empire

 
service: the waiters/waitresses service was quite good, very attentive BUT not so for the banquet manager.... if you look carefully, you will notice that the red carpet is actually slanted & abit bumpy... we told the banquet manager about it but he didnt really try to salvage the situation... then the timing was pretty off... it supposed to start reception at 11.30am & solemnisation at 12nn but the whole thing didnt start till almost 1pm.... the couples had some part to play in the delay but some of the stuff was not ready on the hotel side so i was kind of disappointed in their services...

another thing was that some of the cutlery had stains... i think they provided us with silverware which seem very high class but they were kind of "rusty" so there were dark spots on the cutlery which doesnt make them look as good as they are supposed to be
 

price: from what i know, the price is $1318++/table so that's definitely on the higher end BUT you talking about THE FULLERTON so of cause you have to pay more for the hotel name

conclusion: the hotel itself is definitely nice, the ballroom is presentable but the service was abit sub-standard which made me feel that it wasnt worthy for that price.... perhaps it was just a one off thing with the not-so-professional banquet manager... but on the whole i think it's still nice to have your wedding at fullerton IF you can afford it