Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas y'all!

Parties, parties and more parties!

But I've been hit with a dizzy spell of sorts,

and all I want for Christmas.... is rest!

lol!

Can't believe it's less than 2 weeks to the big day.

There are still many things which are incomplete.

Favours, linens and stuff will be confirmed only on wednesday *faints

Reception decoration not done.

Childhood montage not done.

At least we managed to get the actual day's schedule up over the weekend.

ok. i better stop thinking abt the wedding.

It's making (and causing) me dizzy.

December dancing in the rain

Sorry for the lack of updates.

It's just a month more to the wedding,

and things are getting a little crazyyy. haha.

Well, the bad thing about not updating the blog frequently is that

there are so many things that happened while you were gone..

and you're not sure how to kickstart the post. :x

Cant believe it's really December already,
and I can smell the Christmasy feel in the air. 

It's definitely my favourite month of the year,
where gifts, laughter, and gatherings all congregate into these 30 days worth.

Had gone for a Christmas buffet at Cafe 2000, M hotel to get the ball rolling for festive food.

After going to so many buffets, I honestly feel that Cafe 2000 is one of the best.

And funnily enough, it's one of the hotels which offer the most reasonable rates.

It's about $49 per person after credit card promotions.

Other hotels are having theirs for minimally $60 - $80.

In terms of food, Cafe 2000 doesn't lose out on the variety as well.

Oysters, crayfish, prawns, sashimi, mussels.

Would definitely want to go back there again (:

I love their durian penget the most. 

Tried a few others at other hotels,

but so far, this one really came up to expectatations.

Chilled, with the right creamy texture, and of course,

the best pungent fruit (:

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For the big day's preparation, HS's room has also been renovated.

Had choosen a softer pine wood color as the mainstay.

His original dark brown wood furniture is nice, but they made the room feel darker.

The whole room feels brighter and cheerier already (:

Next up would be to get some fragrance oil and reed diffuser to get the resort-like feel (:

And I'm so happy that the closet is so huge!

So much so that I still have about half the space empty after moving in my stuff (:

yays to more clothes and shopping!

Other prep included buying the jewelry and watch for the bride and groom respectively.

Took a whole afternoon just to select the jewelry.

Initially I only wanted the bracelet, but mil insisted on getting a set :x

These pieces selected are more classic in design,

so they would be appropriate for future semi-casual events (:

Can't believe these little stones cost such a bomb.

Mummy and I also selected a watch for the boy!

Was struck by this awesome design :D

I love the roman numerals on the watch. haha.

Ever since I first laid my eyes on Frank Muller's watches,

I've been a huge fan of roman numerals on watches (:

That aside, I also went for my 2nd MTM gown fitting.

I was rather displeased that they postponed my fitting to 14 Dec 12.

If the gown was not up to my expectation, they wouldnt have sufficient time to make major changes.

When I got there, I went for the trial make up and hair-do first.

Was really pleased with the results (:

Thumbs up to Miki for doing such an awesome job.

And here's myself in my mtm gown!

The lace at the bodice wasn't sewn on yet.

And they only managed to add crystal beads for 1/4 of my gown.

Goodness.

But overall, I was quite happy with the gown.

They just need to complete the gown, and take off another 2 inches for the waist.

Currently, it's still a little too loose.

I know I'm not suppose to reveal my gown so soon,

but I just can't contain my excitement! :D

Alright, I shall keep my evening gown as a surprise then (:

It's a gorgeous piece, in my favourite shade of color!

And it's not from the wedding boutique.

I got it from elsewhere!

I have so many gowns that I'm not sure how much air time each should have.

Oh well, nevermind about that (:

Now back to more wedding preparations!

Can't wait to see how these babies would become pretty hongbao boxes (:

Till the next, byee!

And ohoh, if any of you have any ideas on where to stay or what to do in Bali,

please text me ok? (:
Have planned for a trip to Bali next July,

but not sure where to stay and what to do there!

Earl Grey Macarons

Baked macarons yday (:

Hello Kitty ones, that is.

Decided to take a few photos of the preparation phase,

to help those who are still grappling with getting the right consistency.

 The above photo shows properly beaten egg whites.

Egg whites play one of the most critical roles in determining the success or failure of baking macarons.

First, you need to "age" the egg whites, preferably for 24 hours - 36 hours.

Crack them carefully in a bowl, and leave it to stand in the fridge with a cling wrap over it.

Make sure that there is no oil in the bowl, and that non of the egg yolk got inside the whites.

Oil will prevent the egg whites from being whipped up properly.

Second,  when beating the egg whites, use a handmixer.

Using your own arm strength to beat takes a long time, and the results might not turn out as well.

Beat the egg whites to form stiff peaks (shown above).

The egg whites should look shiny. 

But be careful not to over-beat your eggs.

Once the stiff peaks and shiny sheen appear, stop beating.

You don't want to get meringue instead. 

 With macarons, you need to work fast.

Once the egg whites are done with the beating,

Add half of your dry ingredients, and mix with spatula.

With they are 80% incorporated, add the other half of the dry ingredients.

Press the mixture against side of the bowl to push out excess air.

When mixing, be careful not to overmix or undermix.

Keep pulling up the mixture on your spatula and let it fall.

See the consistency.

It shouldn't fall down in clumps (undermixed), and

it shouldn't flow quickly in a liquid-like manner (overmixed).

It should fall like drapes of ribbons.

They call it a texture that is "lava-like"

  

 As I've more or less gotten the steps of macaron-baking..

I decided to experiment. haha.

I made 3 different batches of macarons yday.

Earl-Grey macarons and chocolate macarons (for kids).

Couldn't figure out if I should do the sugar ribbons after piping or after baking.

So for one batch, I put the ribbons first.

 ta-dah!

Alas, the ear seemed to "eat" into the ribbons.

Not too pretty.

 These are the two batches I did without the ribbons first.

Beautifully formed ears. 

Close-up of the kitty.

The ink is from Wilton's.

Yes, I drew them one by one after baking. lol.

 Chocolate macarons for a colleague's nieces

Earl Grey Macarons for the adults!

Earl grey is a difficult taste to bring out.

I had tried baking earl grey cupcakes before, and the taste didn't come out.

Reading online doesnt help too.

Many people are complaining that the earl grey is too faint.

So what I did was to steep 3 packets of earl grey tea in cream overnight,

before using it for the chocolate-earl grey ganache.

It worked like a miracle.

The earl grey taste was strong.

In addition, I added one packet of the leaves when baking the shells.

The taste wasn't strong, but you could taste bits of the leaves (:

Hope this helps to all who're aspiring to bake macarons! 

helllooo end-oct

Got our prewedding photos (:

The above is unexpectedly one of my favs. 

This was the hairstyle I didn't like.

But this photo didn't feature much of the hairstyl (: yips!

Everyday seems to be a mad swirl these days. 

It's all about wedding this, wedding that.

Half of me cannot wait for the planning to be all over,

half of me wish it will never end.

Talk about being contradictory huh.
But at least things are movingggg,
we're doing invites already (:

In any case,

this was the bedsheets we got for our wedding!

Hadn't wanted something so red; had wanted pink.

But HS thought it didn't look so festive.

The difference between us is that I always opt for the different,

yet he likes the traditional. lol.

Well, both have pros and cons.

Traditional is being safe.

Different is well, different. 

Wedding stuff aside, we went to dine at Shashlik Restaurant!

It's an awesome ol' school russian restaurant in Orchard.

Totally love the food there (:

 Chicken kebabs!

 Waiter preparing to add flames to the cake (:

 Baked Alaska Cake!

Everything served in Shashlik is akin to a performance.

They will prepare the soup, and pour in the sour cream in front of you (:

The borsch soup is really good!

Can't wait to go back to dine some day again (:

Being a super duper fan of sukiyaki, we decided to cook it at home yday!

The preparation was fuss-free, and the ingredients were simple and cheap. 

As we needed the fire consistently to cook the different rounds of meat,

we ended up eating at the stove area. lol!

Cuz the steamboat pot was too big-sized for just two people.

The taste is super awesomeeee!

Here's the recipe to share (:

Just a brief background of sukiyaki:
Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish in nabemono (Japanense hot pot) style.
It consists of thingly sliced beef with other ingredients such as tofu, negi, mushrooms, jelly noodles and
cabbage. The sauce is made up of sake, mirin, sugar and soy. When eating , Japanese often dip the ingredients in raw beaten egg. It is extremely easy to whip up at home. It's always quite expensive when one orders it at Japanese restaurants with a few measly slices of beef, so making it at home is both cheap and easy.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 bottle Kikkoman Sukiyaki Sauce
- Chicken Stock / water
- Thinly sliced beef, pork shabu shabu
- 1 organic raw egg for dipping
- 1/4 Chinese cabbage, peeled
- Shiitake mushrooms
- Golden mushrooms
- Silken Tofu
- Leek
- Ito Konnyaku or shirataki noodles

Instructions:

- Bring the chicken stock & sukiyaki sauce to a boil in a deep saucepan.

- Taste to ensure it suits your taste 

- Add the cabbage, mushrooms, tofu, leek and noodles.

- Leave them to simmer 

- Once cooked, add the thin slices of meat on top and let them cook till ready (:

That's all to prepare for Sukiyaki!

Super duper easy right (:

It's an alternative to steamboat (:

Everything can be bought in a big sized NTUC.

We got ours at Nex.

Saw the stuff at AMK hub too. 

October.

Haven't been blogging for a while.

Emotions have been on a roller coaster ride these days.

In any case, I shall talk about the happier stuff (:

It was a colleague's bday on 1st Oct!

Decided to try a recipe that HS's mum did.

Steamed chocolate cake.

Yenlin has made this chocolate cake before too!

But both versions taste quite different.

Nonetheless, both are very very yummy.

Here's my attempt of this Chocolate Decadence cake:

Hee, I know it looks pretty!

The taste is alright, but I thought the texture wasn't done well.

The texture I wanted was of the Sara Lee pound cake kind.

It turns out to be more.. brownie kind. lol.

Some more photos of the steaming process (:

Starting to look gorgeous in the cake pan! 

 Added a layer of chocolate filling in the middle (:

Here's a photo of the pink ah-bian I got for the bday girl. lol.

She calls it the Orange ah bian's daughter.

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Been buying the most random stuff. 

Had a chance to shop at Bugis+, and came across this shop that sells Love Pink stuff (:

This korean bag is so pinkkkk, but so pretty!

I liked it so much that I'm shipping in the black version. heh.

The shop at Bugis+ is called Lavina.

It's the main retailer for this Korean Love Pink brand.

Heard that there are fake ones around.

So do get it from Lavina if you wish to own a Love Pink bag (:

 Went to one of my favorite Kalm's shop at Takashimaya!

Now they have a humongous-sized Toots.

But no, we didn't get it.

It's way too big.

But we did get these cups and passport holders!

I love Binky and Toots stuff.

Too bad they are no longer repeating the palm-sized dolls.

They're like the cutest things ever. lol.

 

Wedding Prep Update

I've so much to update for the wedding prep.

But this is going to be wordy & photo-less post :x

Went down to Di Gio today for my 1st appt to get my MTM wedding gown done (:

I hadn't exactly known what I really want,

so gotta go down earlier to try a few gowns before matching the elements I preferred.

Previously, I've heard horror stories of how MTM gowns turn out to be utterly disastrous. 

Yes, there are careless and irresponsible designers out there..

But to be fair to most designers..

you can't be bringing a photo of a Vera Wang or Monique Ihuillier gown,

and expect the Singapore designer to replicate it for you.

For one, the fabric used for such gowns are different,

and they can be very expensive materials.

There's a reason why Vera Wang and Monique Ihuillier gowns cost a bomb (:

Insisting that the designer do it for you probably means that..

 ..you're just gg to end up having it look like a fake branded good.

My take on this is.. look at the Bridal Studio's designer's own works.

Appreciate their work, and piece together the elements which compliment your frame / personality.

There must be a reason why you chose this bridal shop over the others in the first place ya?

If you're pretty fixated on a Vera Wang for the many various reasons,

then go get that Vera Wang.

Don't insult her style by replicating, and don't insult the BS's designer's creativity and works.

Ok, I think I've started rambling. lol.

Back to the topic.. I've put together what my designer calls a "dreamy" gown. 

I didn't know that! haha!

I only know I liked it.

Not sure if the design will turn out too complicated..

But keeping fingers crossed that it would be ok.

I'm putting my trust in the designer (:

Worse come to worse...

I'll just pick an Off the rack dress (:

My bigger concern now is the evening gown....

I can't seem to find one that I like.

They're either too elaborate, too flamboyant, or the colors combination are weird!

Saw a design from Annasul y online which I'd loved to have for evening gown.

Too bad this brand can't be found in Singapore.

And I think the color of the gown is white.. and no other colors :(

Oh wells, I hope there would be more designs coming in!

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Coming up would be the renovation of HS's room!

Thinking of it is making me quite excited (:

A bigger row of wardrobe space, with a TV mounted and hidden inside.

And a new shade of paint for the room (think lavender) to brighten up the look,

and a re-orientation of the bed frame, and upsizing the bed frame!

Addition of dressing table, removal of sofa!

So much to do.. so little time!

Goodness.

There's much more that I'm currently planning,

but I wish to keep some stuff as a secret for now (:

You guys will know what they are when you see 'em at my wedding / pre-wedding!

  That's all for now folks!

Photo Selection Day!

Went for the photo selection today!

Before we knew it,  we had spent 3 hours in our selection. :x

But our wedding coordinator commented that we are fast in our selection! 

Guess it's really tough to shortlist photos from 2 entire albums of them.

Bet there were around 200 odd photos in the albums.

As there are different themes and gown changes, 

we had to ensure that each page of the album had certain consistency.

Here're a sneak preview! 

This photo above is one of my personal favorites.

As we have a total of 4 frames of various sizes (perks from signing up at bridal fair),

we are giving one to our parents. 

My mummy is considering to have this photo!

Her other choice is this next photo below.

I quite like this photo as well,

but I thought our smiles look kinda taxed.

Smiled for too long before the photographer snapped. haha.

This is one of HS's favorites.

We chose this for one of the frames as well.

He thought this shot is very emotive, and different from normal shots.

This photo is also going to be in one of the frames.

This one's for his parents.

It's quite nice, but I thought there is too much distractions in the photo.

Have asked the design team to remove the scenery seen from outta the window.

The above is a pretty decent shot as well.

Smiles are a little tired looking though.

I'm quite picky about looking natural and not overly-taxed smiles.

One of our favorites as well (:

It is a mishmash of vintage + youth vibes.

The childhood photos of us are quite funny as well. lol.

Our coordinator had a good time laughing at 'em.:P

Our carousel photo!

Not too bad, but I really didn't like the hairstyle.

But somehow, the above photo managed to cover the part I didn't like. :D

yipee :D

In total, we chose much more photos than we expected.

but oh well, we get to keep the soft copy of selected photos (:

Plus, I think our deal was pretty worth it. haha.

So I shan't whine about the package price. lol!

That's all for now folks!

And ohoh, I think I've finally decided on a wedding theme that I want.

Shall blog about it about plans are more concrete ;)