Ah, tonight went quite well. I was fretting slightly during the day, especially as it surfaced 2 days ago that there might be political tensions, quite literally. We had a very pleasant 7-course dinner at Mandarin Hotel's Pine Garden restaurant, and the chef as usual came out to shake our hands. It's my first time meeting this guy though, who - I must say - is extremely talented. Under normal circumstances I would never dream of touching fusion Chinese food, but he really outdid himself this time. The first course was yu sheng, but it was no ordinary one. The entire dish was coated in edible gold flakes, and there was the distinctive aroma of truffle oil in it. I was impressed. I loved the addition of the coconut flesh particularly - it was daring, creative, and went very well with the dish. The highlight of the night though (I felt, strongly) was this vintage 1988 Chateau - probably the 2nd or 3rd best wine I've ever tasted. The nose was light and refined, with a very rich bouquet of aged french oak and a delicate cranberry finish.

In any case, I think it went better than both of us could have hoped for, and that's good enough for now.

Been a little quiet these days, as we are quite busy with work and whatnot, and most importantly, we're actually busy dealing with the nastier aspects of this rather than the fun shopping. I headed down to Yanxian's on Wednesday (post-call, no less!) to 拜年, and cleared up some of our intentions. Her father thought we were planning to pass off the ROM reception as the actual banquet! Eeeeks .. it's the first time I'm meeting her dad since we returned, and of course there were some slightly awkward questions. The parents will be meeting tonight, which is again another scary part. Arghhh. OK, let's hope they see eye to eye and agree to everything we want - for the ROM, at least.



For the venue, we've tentatively booked the RYSC 2nd floor deck. Shall have to meet the GM this Saturday or so to discuss the nitty-gritty. It would be heaven if we also had access to the restaurant itself.

Finally, HY has decided that I get to say some things too! 

Happy CNY!!

We went down to Arab Street again today for the Swarovski crystals, but alas! The shops weren't open yet! Ended up making a detour to Beads@Work at Holland V for some faux pearls and miscellaneous.

The other great thing we got today was a deal on a load of shells.

Ah, got most of the costume stuff settled. Over the long weekend, we visited Arab street and got a nice scarf - not to wear on the head (I keep thinking of Lady Gaga)/shoulders but to cut up and stitch into Yanxian's ROM gown. Remember the Celia Loe gown? It's amazingly flattering for Yanxian, but unfortunately the plunging bustline isn't quite appropriate for ROM. She's thinking of putting the veil-like material in there.

We're also cutomising the decorations on the dress ourselves! Going to Arab Street again today, this time to get some Swarovski crystal beads to spruce up the dress and shoes, and to make the hair ornaments.

Headed down to Raffles Arcade yesterday with Aaron, to try and see if we can get some shirts done. Unfortunately the people at CYC were quite disgusting in terms of service, like they can't be bothered. Whatever. We didn't take a second look, and went straight to Peninsula shopping centre instead where I ended up getting a nice blue Egyptian cotton shirt.

Yanxian just brought back from her lab 100 glass bottles to be used as bombonieres! How very smart ... it sure saves on cost, and on a lot of headache. We were thinking of using love-in-a-puff seeds in them, but the ones I have aren't quite enough. We just planted several seeds, hopefully they'll produce seeds soon enough?

Ah, we took a short break off serious planning for the weekend, as I was just too drained. OK, the only major thing we have to deal with for now is the venue. We're looking at the RSYC venue as I mentioned, due to the good deal we're getting from them. Had a quick survey of the place on Saturday, and it seems that the outside area that we're looking at may be a tad too small.

What I'm actually looking to do is to have both the air-conditioned area and the outside verandah as well. The air-con area will be laid with eating tables in small groups, each seating 4-6 people, while the outside portion will strictly be for the ceremony. Dad had strange ideas though, of using the outside for both.

I was post-call yesterday, but stayed around till 5pm to meet our Justice of Peace, Prof Low. It was quite an enjoyable affair, although at one point in time it got slightly alarming when Prof Low forgot he had written my name down. He has another engagement after our though, so he probably won't be able to stay. Shame.

We finally bought Yanxian's dress today! We headed down to Delphi again straight after work, and checked out Amanda Lee which was having a sale. They did have gorgeous wedding gowns though, but not that much of ROM dresses. What really caught my eye was a gold-trimmed lace gown and a voluminous pink gown, but then again these are the actual gowns with trains, which was not what we were looking for.



Celia Loe proved to be the winner. There was this bitch in there who was HOGGING the change room!

12 Jan 2009 - written in retrospect, as my net connection went down.

Had a bit of a brainwave this morning while driving to work, about using Disney's Fantillusion as a march-in piece. Haha .. a little too fairytale-ish.

After work we celebrated XW's birthday, then headed out again. This time, to Amanda Lee Bridal at Delphi as they were apparently having a 30-70% sales. Alas! We were too late, they were closed by the time we reached there. Had the chance to view a few more wedding boutiques there, but I thought the men's jackets were just so-so. True, most of them had the kind of lapel I wanted, but the cut was a tad ugly.

Slightly disappointed, we drove a short way over to Centrepoint. This time it was to view the collection at Celia Loe, but eeeeeeks. It was the wrong branch - this one sold mostly auntie-ish stuff! We were advised to go to the one at Vivocity instead. There was this VERY nice men's tailor, Milan men's boutique, which stocks the nicest fabrics. However, they were PRICEY. Has anyone spent $1800 on an office shirt yet? In any case, Robinson's was having a most fantastic sale. Shit, I went home with loads of CNY stuff instead of wedding things.

Ah, finally decided on our wedding bands today!! I went to Love & Co this morning and took a fancy to this pair that seemed to meet both our criteria - an eternity setting for Yx, and a matte and simple on for me. The salesgirl was pleasant too, which helped seal the deal actually. The only downside is that it's 2x the price of that pair at Citigems. I was ok with that actually, which was a rose gold and white gold band, but frankly speaking the ladies' one at Citigems wasn't that fantastic.





We also took a trip down to Lavender (shop's name) to look at ROM dresses. They were indeed pretty, but not cheap eh .. almost $400, but worth considering as the materials were quite good.



In contrast, we headed down to City Plaza which was recommended by my mom and some online sources, but left disappointed. The cloths were rough and poorly-sewn, and somehow just looks cheap.

Oh yay! Prof Low has agreed to be our Justice of the Peace! He's not exactly the fun or funky sort, but I thought it fitting for such an inspiring man to solemnize our marriage. And he was so cool about it too, no hassle.

We rounded more ring shops today (LOL yes .. like ward rounds). Or rather, just the one due to time constraints. From the recommendation of a friend, we went to On Cheong - it's located just opposite Sri Mariamman temple near Maxwell market. It honestly looked nothing like the sort of shop we'd normally check out ... jade and gold, but it did stock some really nice pieces of other jewellery at good prices. Heck, even the rings were reasonably-priced. I was tempted to scrimp on the ring ($170!) so that I can buy my jacket. I do so love the felt trimming under the collar. And the fine silk inner layering.

Both Dad and Mom had nice news for us though. Dad checked out through his F&B connections about holding it at the RSYC, and it's simply too good a deal to pass up. And it helps when you know the management. However, Brownie strictly not allowed. Disappointing, since he'd be such a perfectly adorable little angel if he could be our ring-bearer. =( Nonetheless, he'll definitely be included in our indoors photoshoot, by hook or by crook!

Mom on the other hand turns out to know the proprietress of French Bridal. We'll see how it goes from here. I do so love the idea of just getting a simple, unadorned wedding gown and puttin on the so-called crystals on our own (which are essentially Swarovski glass beads actually). The bridal shops charge $600 and up for additional crystal beads, and I thought it better to use that money in fine textiles and lace instead. And it guarantees uniqueness. Yx thought it might be too labour-intensive though.

Still stuck on what to wear for the ROM.
I have a choice of just office-wear (YUCK), shirt with a suit, and shirt with suit and waistcoat. The last one seems a little over-the-top though, and perhaps I'll reserve that for the customary day instead. Or should it be the other way round? Urgh. And I seriously am smitten by the suits in Boss. They're going at 50% now too! Which works out to be even cheaper than some of the usual bridal tailors. That being said, I do have a rather under-used Zara suit which was bought at a steal during their sale. It's collar isn't pointed up though, which is what I was looking at. So tentatively I'm thinking of a suit and a light pink dress shirt, with cufflinks. Something like this:



And I'm not kidding, but I do need new shoes. My Hush Puppies which have served me so well for the last 1 year is starting to discolor, not from the lack of love but rather from some serious wear and tear. The expenses .... and hell, do I need to lose weight. Which is proving to be extremely difficult right now due to ... one thing or another.

Wedding bands

Having a slight jar over this one. We popped by T&C of course, and while a hell lot less expensive than a solitaire, their wedding bands aren't exactly cheap. True, as can be expected, the workmanship leaves little else to be desired, but other than that the designs were a little drab. We met T&Cs wonderful gemologist, Dorothy, who was really very kind and honest with us. At least we have a ballpark figure to work on.

Next in line were the usual home-grown brands - Soo Kee and Lee Hwa. Soo Kee was a complete let-down. The irritating salesgirl at the Wisma branch was disgusting, and so was their workmanship. The rings felt like those 50c slot-machine kind. Lee Hwa, on the other hand, was really nice. Their Destinee range felt substantial in the hand, and the half-eternity ring was really something to behold. Still a tad expensive, but about $700-900 cheaper than T&C per ring!

Last night, we popped by Ngee Ann City once more. This time we bit it and went scooting into the shops with the bling bling - Cartier, and Bvlgari. Ewwww. Not nice at all. Nothing we wanted. Thankfully, we chanced a trip to Wisma to look at Aspiel, Citigems and Goldheart. There was a particularly garulous salesgirl, Wendy, at Citigems. I was particularly tickled by how she chased away another couple so we could look at the wedding bands, oops. Anyway, we came quite close to choosing the bands that we wanted - and at less than 50% of what we'd have paid at Lee Hwa! I'm actually partial to platinum - somehow, gloss white gold looks too much like part of a chrome-plated faucet for my liking. Unfortunately, only the higher-end places stock platinum wedding bands, and if I were to be really honest with myself, who the hell scrutinises your wedding band? I can't find a pic of the ones we were looking it, but the man's ring is white hold with a border of rose gold along the edges, while the ladies' has a tiny little diamond on it. Quite elegant, I must say. The half-eternities, while absolutely gorgeous when stacked with the engagement ring, are a little too bling - or as Yx calls it, it makes her look like "a tai-tai wannabe".

Hmm .. just a couple more to visit. I'll just pop by On Cheong (slightly Auntie place with jade and gold, but who knows? We might find a deal there!) and Love&Co soon. The latter, as I surmise from online posts, is a tad expensive. We'll see.

Just as an aside, I went to Boss yesterday to view their suits. WOW. I like them. A lot. Maybe I'll reward myself. Just maybe.

The day after returning from Bali, we started announcing the engagement to our families. OK, more like to her family. It's a little confusing how things should be done - I don't think there's anything set in stone, though some would prefer asking for blessings from the bride's parents before the proposal, while others did it like me.

In any case, we wanted a separate ROM and customary Chinese wedding. Much of it is because we know that the banquet is really a parents' Thing, and wanted something of our very own. Alas though, the only auspicious date for ROM was 25 April, while I initially was looking for something a little earlier. (Come think of it, ROM is not that Chinese, why bother with auspicious dates?).

Oooh, loads of stuff to be done!

1. ROM date (got that part down!)
2. Venue
3. Justice of the Peace
4. Attire
5. Decor for venue
6. Menu
7. Wedding bands
8. Vows
9. The legal stuff
10. Photographer
11. Guest list

Budgeting was difficult. People don't usually give red packets for ROM, do they?