From 30th May 08

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (IX)

2009-12-01T10:57:00.013+08:00

Tokyo Day 4

Breakfast at some cafe, much similar to our local Delifrance. =)

The food section at some shopping mall basement, much similar to the local ones. ..

...except the price. These jellies costs about $1.50 each, measures 3 cm by 3 cm.

Lunch was at some Teppanyaki Place.

Grammar practice. Spot the mistakes. Heh

We went back to Harajuku...

... for more Ice Cream Crepes.

You can be a manga character too!

A bunch of cool youngsters...

At the entrance of Agnes b.

First generation Face Mask?

ET actually looks not bad wth hair tied up.. =)

Let's play... Find Jimmy

Let's play.. Find ET.

This donut outlet has such good business it needs an usher to organise the queue.

Our hotel - Sunroute Plaza

Ok, finally something that i can say Singapore has it better.. this western food restaurant is really bad. Worst than our hawker centre western food stall.. :p

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (VIII)

2009-11-25T12:51:00.011+08:00

Tokyo Day 3

Rise and Shine: On our way to the Imperial Palace.

Warning: Its not a particularly sunny day but i guess the UVs are coming in strong.
In the next few photos, you'll notice the stuggle to keep our eyes open like the one above, LOL.

Gotchew there... This is not the Imperial Palace yet... Probably the servants chamber.. hehe

Ok... ET at the entrance of the Imperial Palace. Not very impressive though... esp with the barricades. lol

ET with the Bronze Samurai Statue located at the Imperial Garden.

My favourite label... managed to burn a hole in my pocket...

(notice that the red signage right up there should be "fitness one" and not "tipness one", haha)

Its lunch time and we were quite undecisive on where to eat. Then we stumpled upon this secluded corner and decided to give it a shot...

and guess what... the food was heavenly... yet affordable :)

We continued roaming the Ginza Area afer lunch... quite a relaxing sight-seeing afternoon.

They actually close down one road on weekends to give more space for shopppers...

imagine this happenin in orchard road... =)

ET looks tired... haha

Suntory - The largest Canned Coffee Drink Maker in Japan...

The Rainbow bridge - It carries three transportation lines on two decks; the upper deck carries the Shuto Expressway, while the lower deck carries the Yurikamome Rapid Transit System in the center portion, walkways on the outside portion of the deck.

Back to Shinjuku

This Muji sells every you can ever want in a house including rice cookers, washing machines, electric iron etc

ET happily parting with her money at Burberry's

Dinner was at a sushi bar which offers generous portions.

Notice the fish is bigger than the rice... in sg, its the other way round...

The unglam shot of the year..

Something funny to end this post... =p

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (VII)

2009-07-10T23:54:00.024+08:00

Tokyo Day 2

We did not request for breakfast at the hotel for 2 reasons:
1. Need not wake up early.
2. To try the food in the streets.

This ramen bar is just located outside the hotel.
Each bowl of ramen comes with a side dish. Guess what,the side dish is a bowl of rice. LOL

Its like you order wanton mee which comes with a side dish of fried rice?

After a heavy breakfast, we took the subway to Harajuku Station.

Entrance to Meiji Shrine

Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, Meiji Jingū?), located in Shibuya, Tokyo, is the Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. When Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and Empress Shōken in 1914, the Japanese people wished to pay their respects to the two influential Japanese figures. It was for this reason that Meiji Shrine was constructed and their souls enshrined on November 1, 1920.

Devotees and their wishes... some are heart-wrenching...

I dropped my camera pouch and found it placed at the side of the entrance half an hour later...
This is gracious Japan.
If i dropped this pouched at Wisma Entrance, it will probably be kicked to Centre Point... lolz

After the mini pilgrimage, we headed for the famous Harajuku, hoping to see some cosplay in action...

Managed to paparazzize a few.. heheh

If you have been to the new Orchard Ion, there is this "Tokyo Creme Girl"
that is nothing compared to this one behind ET.

(more pictures of it in the next few posts)

I considered our journey to Burberry Blue Label a Pilgrimage too...

... and my wallet attained enlightenment (loss in mass)

ET dunno BCC (Bin Cao Cao) for what....

Coffee jelly was already available in Tokyo, 1 year before it arrived in our local Starbucks.

The famous Shibuya Junction..

My second favourite shop... conned me.
Haizz... The sales girl assured me that this particular T shirt I like is an exclusive design, available in Japan only. Bought a T shirt which appeared in our local boutiques half a year later... and cheaper.

FREAK'S STORE... haha

Have you seen my childhood....?

Shibuya Spain Slope. A little town built on undulating terrain, hence the interesting arrangement of shops and restaurants along stair ways...

This Curry Rice is heavenly man...

I strongly recommend this to anyone visiting Tokyo...

Its called CURRY HOUSE COCO!

The lounge at the hotel is quite cool.. with free internet access and free flow of hot beverages...

(Yes... I am doing some work.. )

.. and under utilised. Lolzz

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (VI)

2009-07-03T16:07:00.012+08:00

Arrival to Tokyo

My new tour leader checking out her map and carrying my luggage.. hehe

We were early and our hotel cannot check us in yet.. . so we ventured out and hunted for some burgers and fries... After 6 days of japanese meals, I realise that I actually missed junk food...

This time machine looking thing is actually the public toilet cubical in the hotel. After trying out all the buttons, am quite facinated by the many functions - automated seat lifting, lid lifting, different strength of water jet stream, single jet stream, swirling jet stream, deodoriser, and warm air je to dry. As the weather was cold, I turned on the warm air dryer throughout my entire process. haha...
And i started to think, that this technology can easily reach Singapore but i guess it cannot be incorporated into our society as the general public toilet users are totally inconsiderate and skilless. Even after 2 years of military training, men still cannot aim. And they also do not clear their own mess. (I DO!). Many times, I am forced to stop breathing expecially in cofee shop toilets. So what if our hotel toilets are clean? It only means that they are well maintain. But the Singaporeans' minds and habits are not.. I have to migrate one day... lol.

Sunroute Shinjuku.
Our hotel room... small but cosy.

A mosaic picture of Ultraboy displayed in Takashimaya.

This is the Tokyo Train Map, made of candy, displayed outside a confectionary shop. Its a complicated spider web of lines interchange station i swear... and a long single trip can go up to $15 SGD.

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Photo of Mylord Shopping Mall with Model.

Our dinner - Japanese Pasta

Inside Mylord

From far, this pretty T Shirt drew my attention. I walked up, read the words and ....

My beautiful wife...

... and her handsome husband.

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (V)

2009-06-28T01:33:00.010+08:00

Day Tour at Sapporo

Our last breakfast at rural Hokkaido before we make our way to the City. Every breakfast comes with a mandotary serving of milk. The dairy products from Hokkaido is superb!

Divine Coffee

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Toilet Break en route to City

ET trying to strike some familiar pose...

In loving memory of the King of Pop
Thank you for the inspiration

I bet many people never knew fresh wasabi looks like this!

Look abit like ginseng..

Fresh Flowers for Sale outside the toilet...

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Li2 Xiao3 Lu2 - A shopping lane lined with shops selling mainly clothes and apparels....

... but we manage to find a fruit stall too...

ET's Bday Treat...

...Authentic Sapporo Ramen!

I gave up on the Sapporo Ramen Stall in Sg thereafter...

Sapporo TV Tower at Odori Park

Every student in Japan carries the same school bag... just different colours.

Its an Adidas anyway...

the Decepticons just landed..

Cool bike driven by a Jap Beng..

ET enjoying a BBQ Chicken Stick... it tasted heavenly especially in the cold weather..

Still a puzzle.. that a water melon costs 15000 yen = $SGD 227.94

compare to a pack of beef at 701 yen = $SGD 10.65.

Our cool tour guide - Susan. =)

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (IV)

2009-02-14T22:37:00.025+08:00

Day 5 - Eventful..

In the wee hours of the morning.. we were given a treat of Asahi Beer at its factory...

Each of us have up to 3 free glasses. But I stopped at only half... How to drink beer in the morning???

Some tribal village....

I really can't recall the name of this place, just know that its "An1 Nu2 Chun1" in mandarin. Anyway, nothing spectacular except for seeing the black bear and some dried salmons hanging outside the houses...

"Watch me do the cha cha..."

Sashimi at last...

This is a supermarket where live seafood were picked by customers and then sliced up to be served at the restaurant upstairs.

Free to hold: This alaskan crab costs SGD$120. Luckily I am no fan of crustaceans...

A few of us shared a platter of tuna belly, some exotic shell fishes and sea urchins...

Guess who is the brave soul who swallowed the above piece of ______________.

ME LAH!!!

I have to air my mouth after eating that stinky piece of __________. However, i thought this photo looks really cool and its perfect for the CD cover of my second album... Oh behind me is the pacific ocean ...

ET looks satisfied... :)

ET whining about the cold wind...

A visit to Hell Valley

This is a volcanic area rich in sulfur... which stinks big time...

No this path does not lead to hell.... lol

.. now it does...

After a whole day of walking... I Deserve this ice cream. ..

We finally checked in our hotel...

Dinner was superb with free slow of sashimi...

Hot water rich in sulfur, deposited on the rocks...

We took a walk at some track in the forest, out the hotel.

Eeerriee

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (III)

2009-01-30T20:22:00.015+08:00

Day 4 - Boring Day...

Nice Breakfast to start the day. FYI, porridges were served in all the breakfasts we had in Japan. Think its some kind of a daily habit for the locals, equivalent to the kaya toast, egg and kopi in Singapore. Hehe...

The first destination in the morning was a pair of fountain which was termed one yin and the other yang, for a reason I was not so clear of...

The rough waters behind can sweep me away any time... ET was trembling when taking this shot for me..

The little hut is toilet. Nicer than any HDB flat in Singapore... lol

Sake Wine Factory. We managed to dress up as the workers.

The sake wine were made with some natural spring water which flow all the way down right at their door step. It was believed that consuming the water improves our complexion. I drank quite abit as I thought it was good for my bladder... lol

The worst lunch we had in Japan was some tasteless meat and white vegetables cooked over a hot clay plate. Its worse than all the jap food stalls in our local food courts... thats how bad it is...

Picture taken in the bus. The sun shone through a glass prism on a lamp, resulting in it dispersing into a beautiful, continuous spectrum... Which has a longer wavelength? Red or Violet?

The day ended early and we checked in our hotel at around 4 pm!! We loitered around the vicinity of the hotel and found a little foot soak facility. The hot water came from the nearby volcanic region... My legs almost got cooked as the water was a 50 degrees celsius!

After the leg cooking experience, we walked on to look for some suspension bridge that the tour guide had mentioned. Halfway through, we saw a nice tranquil river which we can't do without taking some shots. I tried to perform my stunt again but fell into the waters this time. It was freezing cold. I felt like a ball of wanton noodle, as it was usually first cooked in boiling water, and then soaked in cold water. We made our way back to the hotel, forgetting about the bridge...

Dinner Special: Hairy Crab. I am not a crab fan and so ET can savage 2 of them...

]End of boring (wet) day...

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (II)

2008-12-29T11:21:00.019+08:00

Day 3 - Farm Tomita

After a hectic day before, our third day in Hokkaido was a really relaxing one. We visited only 1 place, the Farm Tomita, or more commonly known as Lavender Farm.

A short toilet break from our 3 hour journey to the farm. Seen above is a cute ice cream parlour (yes, outside the toilet) which reminds me of Little Tikes =)

ET taking a hot coffee break...

Halfway through our journey, we stopped for lunch. The curry rice were not so tasty though...

Random shot taken from the bus... Its rare to be able to catch a view of the big blue sky in urban jungle lion city...

We finally arrived at the farm, the sight was breathetaking...

In the souvenior shop.

The Lavender Ice Cream is not to be missed. It tastes even better than all those we bought elsewhere in Hokkaido.

Me and my ice cream... =)

ET emo-ing... lol

Phototaking in the most old fashioned way. This photo simply meant: "eh.. i go Farm Tomita before you know?"

My fantastic photographic skills made these daisies looked exceptionally pretty...

Stylo Milo ET from outer space...

That's it and we ended our day at around 3 pm. We checked in our next hotel, which was not bad except for the not-so-nice yugata haha.. See Model Below.

Our tour guide had warned us that the yugata looks like Ninja Turtle Outift and I thought he was quite right.. lol

Dinner: Our tour guide told us that pregnant prawn is a rare treat in Singapore. A must try...

Poor mummy...

...

... NOT!

After dinner, we went back room to see that our beds were prepared. I can't help but wonder what is the function of the hole in the middle of the bedsheet... ahah

BINGO NIGHT at Hotel Lobby.

If you manage to hit a bingo in the first 7 picks, the Nintendo Wii goes to you. The probability is is 1 in a billion lor...

The rest of the night is a dip on the Onsen... =)

HONEYMOON - Hokkaido & Tokyo (I)

2008-12-17T10:07:00.041+08:00

Day 1 and 2 - Narita Airport, Hokkaido

Yay, I'm gonna take a break from the heavily polluted lion city and head to the less urbanised central hokkaido. A picture taken at Changi Airport, probably the least polluted area of Singapore. LoL...

DAY 1: Arrival at Narita Airport

There is a rather funny story behind the photo. As all know, prices of almost everything is steeper in Japan. As we were hungry and were waiting for our domestic flight to Hokkiado at Narita Airport, we bought this miserable puff at like 7 sing bucks. Just enough to fill abit of my stomach. After the counter girl handed the puff to me and I was looking around for my wife, i suddenly felt that the packet I was holding became lighter. As I looked down, I realised that I was holding the wrong side of the packet and the puff have slipped of out the packet and fell onto the floor. That moment was both funny and heart crinching... but well.. I decided to be thick-skin and went back to the counter to ask for a new one. Luckily the counter girl took pity of me and gave me a new one... haha.

We arrived at the hotel at around 930 pm, famished. Our tour guide suggested that we just drop our luggages and settle our dinner at the one and only restaurant just beside the hotel...

Needless to say, the quality of food was far better than the Japanese food in Singapore.

The hotel lobby. Nothing magnificent. Do we look satisifed from the sumptuous dinner?

DAY 2: The tour begins...

Breakfast at the hotel.

You may have heard that the dairy products in Hokkaido are terrific. It's true. Our tour guide told us that we had to try the milk and ice cream. The photo above shows the hotel breakfast buffet with our mandatory glass of milk. It tasted very similar the Meiji milk sold in supermarkets but of course.. better.

SALMON MUSEUM:

As it was early morning.. the place was totally serene and inviting.

What I've learnt was that young salmons are released from this fish farm to the open ocean. These salmons could swim to as far as America and the amazing thing is that when the breeding season arrives, all of them will and can make their way back home to breed. Of course along the way, different species of salmons may join the shoal in coming back home. These "alien" species were segregated from the "originals". The Japs only consume the "originals".

SHINTO SHRINE

Before entering the shrine, one must cleanse himself with the holy water at the entrance. The water was icy cold man...

Our tour guide told us that we were very lucky to be able to witness a tradional japanese wedding, which was usually held in the afternoons instead.

Tranquil walkway...

We then went on to visit a port town called Otaru City. There were a few alleys with quite a number of interesting shops. The photo above and below shows the famous Otaru Canal.

I've decided that the MTV for my next album shall be taken at this setting...

Otaru was a commercial centre where foreign companies had built their branch offices. Hence the western style buildings commonly seen.

We went to a cafe where we get to keep the cup as a momento. You can also pay an extra 150 yen to "upgrade" your standard cup to a hello kitty design.

Which is the real bear??

Ice cream shop

The famous music box store, Otaru-Orgel-Doh. They were pretty but costly too. Some antique collection can cost up to 20k sing bucks.

Right in front of Otaru-Orgel-Doh stands a steam clock. There is a twin to this clock in Vancouver.

Pretty flowers are just everywhere in Hokkaido. Not mimosa, angsana or lallang.

Japanese humour...

The Mari Mari Marimo is a cartoon character in japan. He is actually an algae ball with big balls... lol.

My terrific Photography skills...

Tour guide said we must eat ice cream, and so we did. It was heavenly... Subsequently, we have at least one ice cream per day...

LUNCH

We had this grilled Hori (fish) for lunch. It was huge and generous in serving but not tasty... haha. And it was also the begining of the series of steam boats we gonna eat in the next few days..

Hokkaido is famous for this white chocolate biscuit, Shiroi Koibito, or more commonly known in mandarin as bai2 se4 lian4 ren2. We visited its factory which got a Disneyland feel... some what bringing out the child in everyone... =)

DINNER

Ok this is the biggest mistake i made in Japan, that is to pay 120 sing bucks for a fat slab of Kobe Beef. Its totally over-rated man... These cows lived a luxurious life. Apparently, they consumed premium foods such as beers and were given massages by their owners. Through their lifestyles, these extremely unhealthy cows will have streaks of fat tissues lined within their muscles, the primary reason that they were delicious. Before this day, my impression was that the kobe beef is a succulent piece of steak. But my verdict after eating it was that it was just an oily slab of crap. As the grilled meat cools down, the fats hardened and it became impossible to chew with the ordinary human teeth. I gave up on it... lol..

After dinner, we went up top of Moiwa mountain, to catch an aerial night view of Sapporo City. The wind was cold and strong... Anyway, i just wonder how they measure the height of this mountain up to 0.01 m accuracy. Haha..

BACK TO HOTEL

The miserably small toilet which i can touch the ceiling even without my arm fully out stretched. And it again makes me wonder how the taller caucasions gonna survive in that tiny box...

Bedtime...

Wedding Day (V)

2008-12-15T12:26:00.015+08:00

THE WEDDING DINNER continued...

And so, the dinner begins soon after our first march in.. .

First March In

Koh Wei Ping the Videoman

Second March In

Celia Choong, Candy Mak & Michelle Lin

Clare Tay and Patrick Loo

My Dance Mates!

My Secondary School Buddies!

ET's Colleagues..

The invisible leg rest...

Morning mistook me for a chair... I wonder who was drunk...

That's All Folks!

Next Up: A Trip to Japan! (Yay)

Wedding Day (IV)

2008-12-04T10:40:00.019+08:00

THE WEDDING DINNER

Our wedding banquet was held at Peony-jade restaurant at Clarke Quay.

Personal Review on Restaurant:

It was chosen after some research done on other couples' blogs, forums etc.

Food: 9/10

Comments from friends and relatives are that they enjoyed the food. Although I was too busy that night and ate only the first 3 dishes, we actually do have a food tasting session prior to it. So well, I thought the food was really good. Even the fried rice they served the couple before the event itself was like heavenly. Or maybe I was so hungry then, haha.

Ambience: 8/10

Somewhat, I felt that the place have a rich oriental feel. However, the stage area was too "Cheena", especially the orange curtains. Yucks. The ceiling was a little too low, making the place look a little cramp. However, the furnishing and decorations are great and with perfect lightings, it does make it a cosy place. Hence, Peony-Jade is a perfect place to hold small weddings where closer friends and relatives are invited.

Service: 9/10

The restaurant captain and event coordinator are really experienced. So there are really lesser worries for the couple who already had so many things in their minds. The waiters and waitresses are pretty friendly and efficient too.

Technical Facilities: 7/10

The only imperfection we have here is that the projector screen could have been bigger. It was a portable one with a stand and hence when planted on the stage, it took up some space.

Below are some photos of my guests taken before the banquet begins. =)

Bingjie and Morning

My Colleagues - Gloria and Jocelyn

My Colleagues - Chris, Lee May Ping and Koh Wei Ping

Her Colleagues - Bernard, Sharon and Calvin

My Sec School Friends - Susan, Edmund, Darren How and Dawn How

Bob and Yvonne

Jason, Nix and Cheryl

Mr and Mrs James Koh

My JC Classmates - Wendy, Eunice and Jingsi

The beautiful ladies of NUS Dance Blast!

Jade and Jeremy

The emcees for the night are Allegra and Bernard

Candy Mak and Taufik

Yisi, Tina and James

My Niece Naomi and Cousin Dora

Here, my guests are watching the video montage. You may view it below.

Wedding Day (III)

2008-11-28T11:45:00.025+08:00

BACK TO HER HOME

Brothers taking a break... Oh yeah, the couple featured above will be next to get married. How sweet rite? :)

Offering tea to my parents-in-law...

... and I got a 916 gold ring with a huge "fu2" on it....

.. and now that I am blessed with the ring, i will draw 4 numbers to place a bet in 4-D.

Point to ponder: 4 D is a game of probability. Does my wedding day makes the number i chose have a higher chance of winning?

Well well... thats more or less the end of part 1 of the wedding day... and we totally exhausted. No time to catch a nap and i gotta rush home (again) to carry my stuffs to the hotel.

Wedding Day (II)

2008-11-12T17:43:00.014+08:00

BACK TO MY HOME

What had happened so far, as according to chinese customs, symbolises the "bringing home" of a wife, a new member of the family. Having to travel to and fro in a car is tiring enough for me. I cannot imagine how my dear super-grand-ancestors did it in a 4-men carried sedan chair (as shown on TV). LOL

We were not even half way through the day's events yet... and were really tired and sleepy :P

I really wonder why the photographer chose the multi-story car park as a backdrop... Nice Palm Tree maybe.. haha

My room looks real cool after a bit of refurbishing and cleaning... The bed sheet is some egytian fabric dun pray pray... I feel like a Pharoah admiring my Queen... LOL

I editted, printed and framed the picture myself, costing a total of less than $60 think. The photography studio will probably charge me $500 for this...

Tea Ceremony: A tradition where the bride and groom will offer tea as a form of respect to all the elders in the family. On the other hand, younger members of the family will offer tea to the couple. ET seems very happy to have received an Ang Bao. Haha

The photographer insist i look like a card handler for the upcoming IR so I have to really show him some stuffs.. . :P

My beautiful wife...

And after all that was done, we are going back to ET's home...

... to repeat the whole procedure again...

Wedding Day (I)

2008-09-11T22:52:00.010+08:00

FETCH THE BRIDE

The night before was unlike i'm getting married tomorrow. I was doing some work and thereafter met some friends for supper till like 1am. Then some of my entourage brothers came to sleep over at my place.

2 a.m - We realised the DVD-Rs do not work for the videocam. OMG. Tomorrow is the day. I was so tempted to make a trip down to Mustafa to search for them. However, after measuring the pros and cons, we decided to make do with my not-so-good panasonic compact digicam. What a great start to my wedding day :P

Dressing up.

We arrived way too early. And ended up having to wait at an area where 4 cars can squeeze. The Dust Bin area seems the only choice. Another way to start my wedding day. . Haha.

Fortunately, the truck did not came to collect the junk. We were blocking the way.

Well, the ladies called to say its time to advance to the target area for the gate crash.. Not something that i look forward to though...

Arrivval. Customs had it that a boy must open the door for the groom.

Customs had it that the groom have to entice the door guards (sisters) with ang baos, in order to open the door.

The interesting thing is... I have did even more crappy stuffs as an entourage brother than at my own wedding. Yes, some 2 years ago, we were made to wear paper briefs over our pants, walk to the car park and sing a song. I cannot believe i did such things haha. Now, all thanks to the mercyful sisters, whom one of them also can't bear to see her fiance (guy in pink tie) suffer too much. I was let off with a relatively mild sentence.

My brave brothers taking in the torture...

A group photo of the newly weds, and their good friends.

After going through all the ceremonial stuffs like eating vermicilli (is this how u spell it?) and dumplings, etc. We are ready to set of to my place.

Next entry: Bringing the bride home...

Bridal Gown and Photography V

2008-08-15T23:24:00.004+08:00

Here we go, the last batch of photos taken at Pierce Reservoir. Honestly, I never knew Singapore have such a peaceful and serene place.

This last round was taken right after lunch. Sleepiness took me over and I slept in many occasions. I dozed off while on the on the way to the place. Waking up feeling still lethargic, I have to put on forces smiles and try to look radiant. Haha... In this series of pictures, my face looked especially pale. But on the other hand, I really liked the setting and Kelvin's artistic touch in every single photo. He sort of captured the blissfulness. Making it looked like a fairy tale wedding.

Sleeping...

Next Up, The Wedding Day.

Bridal Gown and Photography (IV)

2008-07-23T23:17:00.017+08:00

And so, those were the dramatic snapshots.. it was an attempt to create a somewhat old shanghai feel...

Back in the studio, we had lunch and then change into the Classic Bridal Image...

ET put on her off-white gown, which I must admit that I was mesmerized. You see, ET has always been the plain jane, being in T shirt and jeans for like 96.655 % of the times we had together. The remaining times when she will be in nice dresses for important occasions like wedding dinners etc. So when she appeared in front of me in the full wedding gown, the wow-ness came to me with great magnitude. A little breathe-taking...

A random thought, I think most women see this as a once-in-a-lifetime thing. To wear her wedding gown and walk down the aisle with the man she will spend the rest of her life with. I must say its the same for me too. As I gazed at her standing near the window, the diffused sunlight really made her looked like an angel.

This capturing moment brought me back to the 1st day we met 6 years ago. She was in charge of some hall pageant thing which I was a participant then. I took a bit of notice of this geek (haha). Then, I realised she was taking a same module with me - Mathematical Methods in Physics. I went up to introduce myself... the rest was history. ..
Anyway.. maybe I'll elaborate on this episode of our lives next time.

When cupid took his winning shot...

Here are some shots taken in the studio.

Angel

Me and my Bicycle...

Ok, this is the cheesiest photo I think.. and I wonder why I even selected this one...

This photo is taken with the help of an assistant who had to throw the gown in the air!

Bridal Gowns and Photography (III)

2008-07-20T21:03:00.020+08:00

Pictures taken by Kelvin at Que Pasa and Ice Cold beer.

Above: My Favourite

I realised the nicer shots are the ones that were taken when we were off-guard. When we were not aware of the shutter at all, therefore looking all natural. Many times, Kelvin will be chatting with us while shooting. And he tries to capture the moments where we laughed at his jokes. It need not be jokes all the time. Sometimes we just burst out laughing when Kelvin made us to some cheesy poses...

This shot made ET looked like she's in flight...

I wanna get a similar leather couch for my new house...

That is the most awkward pose I've seen ET in the past 6 years or so... But somehow it just look great in the photograph. Amazing...

Nice bottle...

Below: Candid shots using my own digicam...

Kelvin arranges ET's gown.

While waiting for my turn...

Caught acting funny...

Que Pasa Entrance.

Bridal Gowns and Photography (II)

2008-07-16T22:01:00.016+08:00

Being a practical person, I am most excited and approving of wedding photos, something that we can keep and view it over and over again... There are several photography studios which are linked up with Bridal Veil. I can't really remember all their names though. We visited a few of them to look through the portfolio of some of their photographers. Eventually, we chose Kelvin Lim from Chris Ling Photography. I am particularly attracted to his style of capturing images. His ability to transform normal people to look like models made it clear that he is the one to produce the "movie poster" effect I wanted.

We had an initial meeting with Kelvin to decide on the style and effect of the photo images we want. After a few minutes of chatting and browsing through more of his works, he had sort of understood what we wanted and he said leave everything to him. On our part, we only have to turn up on the agreed date and enjoy ourselves.

We took his suggestions to book a pub for one of the outdoor shoot, which we paid 100 bucks for an hour of usage.

10 am : Make up

Wife - 1 hour

Myself - 3 mins

11 am : Shooting in studio

Ok, the next few are the pictures taken by Kelvin in the studio. They are also the ones chosen for our albums. And oh yeah... the soft copies given to us are the originals. I editted them.

Bridal Gowns and Photography (I)

2008-07-12T09:59:00.011+08:00

Getting the desired wedding package is no easy task. We sort of spent like a few weeks to look for the right one. By looking through magazines and friends' recommendations, we went down to places like Santiago, Golden Horse Awards, Silhouette De Atelier, of which none of them suited our liking...

We finally settled for Bridal Veil by Michelle Huimin. Although relatively costly, its money well spent for the quality and design. As we are pretty impressed by their collection of designs displayed during their in-house fashion show, we signed up for a package right after. That also entitled us to a $500 Bridal Veil Credit to be used for any purpose. Yeah! The package includes everything - 1 bridal gown, 1 evening gown to keep, 1 suit to keep, make up, pre-wedding photography and flowers. I am most excited about the photoshoot.

Subsequently, we went through a series of measurements and fittings, spanned over a period of about 2 months. Well, I do miss abit of those times having to sit on the couch and see my wife fitting on the many gowns, where I will now and then snap pictures to place them in the montage later.

Pictures taken during fitting of her bridal gown.

Pictures taken during fitting of her evening gown.

Pictures taken during fitting of my suit.

Registry of Marriage

2008-07-06T21:55:00.012+08:00

I can still remember how my sweaty palms laid trembling on my computer mouse as the clock ticks towards midnight...

That was on the night of 17th Sept 2007. I have to compete with other weds-wanna-be all over Singapore, to book the auspiscious date and time of 18th Dec 2007. Fastest fingers. I managed to book 1500, 18th Dec 2007, 3 months in advance as the rule states. At that moment, I felt like a typical kiasu Singaporean and pictured myself queueing up for hello kitties outside a macdonald's restaurant. The only consolation is that I can do this locked up in my own room. Nonetheless, I felt a sense of relief and victory...

Check out the hand bouquet on the table. It was bundled up on the last minute. The florist actually gave my hand bouquet to another guy. And eventually, they have to rush and re-tie it in 10mins. We were almost late for the ROM. Oh well...

I remember the whole process was faster than seeing a doctor. Every 5 mins the queue display beeps. When our queue number and names are shown on the display, we went in. The whole procedure lasted about 2 mins. Reading of vows + pose & take photo. We are done! Officially MAN & WIFE.

After some editting...

It drizzled that morning. So original plans to take pictures around ROM building was changed to Clarke Quay. Not a bad idea... =)

The wedding planner

2008-07-06T16:50:00.004+08:00

It had never come across me that planning a wedding can be a rather tedious process. There are just too many details that you can ever imagine, and yet never be left out. Booking of ROM dates, ROM costumes, wedding banquet venue and menu, guest list and table arrangement, invitation cards, wine purchase, wedding gowns, wedding photography and videography, wedding day plans and schedule, wedding traditions, red packets, wedding car, entourage brothers, sisters, wedding video montage, madness...

Having said so much, I have to credit my capable wife of handling a huge proportion of the above mentioned. =) I played my part as a good follower – executing my orders obediently.

I am blogging!

2008-06-26T08:20:00.000+08:00

Dear friends, welome to this blog, in which I wish to share pictures, videos and sentiments of my wedding. Somehow, I felt that the nice photos and videos which captures wonderful memories will only rot in my PC till it crash one day and be lost forever... Its a good idea to share them with you right now =)