Jong Theng & Ying Tzu

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 9 - Afternoon

2009-01-02T01:49:00.005+08:00

After lunch, we continue to the next stop Wufenpu for some shopping actions. This area is famous for wholesales clothes. Though clothes can be bought in one or two pieces but it would be on retail price instead.

I am not sure if I was looking at the wrong shops, but I find the clothes here aren't as cheap as claimed except for those under the stock clearance rack. I've been told by Angeline, that can get clothes as cheap as RM 10 here. But one thing for sure, the fashion here is the latest.

Next stop is hot springs in Beitou. Even though we already dipped ourselves in hot springs back in Taitung, we wanted to see how the hot spring are naturally. Imagine a river flowing with hot water...

Hot spring water. Btw, it doesn't smell nice... strong sulphuric smell.

Note the fog. Is not the camera problem, is the steam from the hot spring water.

Signboards showing the many hotels available in Beitou, indicates how commercialized the place is

I have to say that Beitou is the most comfy and relaxing town that we have visited in Taipei. It has a green park that has abstract arts all over nearby the bustling town. Note the building in the background. It's a library in the park.

We had a quick break at a dessert shop. Didn't know what to order. Hence, ordered the recommended dessert. Guolingao with taro & sweet potato cubes - served cold. Maybe cause I like jelly, this dessert is really nice and the cubes are chewy.

More sticky rolls in the flavour of sesame, peanut and mango.

Soft sweet tofu with peanuts dessert - served warm. Instead of putting white/ black sugar, they served the tofu with sweet dessert soup.

Streets in Beitou

We then went to Danshui and Shilin Night Market for some last minute shopping. On the way back to hotel in Ximending, we stopped by Fong Da Coffee house for some drinks because we passed by it every time we go/ back from MRT station and it smells great. And it was recommended in the Taiwan guide book too. We tried the cold coffee drip because it was something different. So here is how it is done.

The first part is where the ice is. The second part is the coffee. The ice melts and seeped through the coffee and collected at the third part. The results? Best coffee I have ever tasted!

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 9 - Morning

2009-01-02T01:15:00.008+08:00

Since hotel food sucks and we are in Taiwan, why not try what the local eat for breakfast? Soya bean and char-kway. Note that the char-kway is super long, compared to those that we have in Malaysia. And the soya bean has more soya bean taste and less sugar, just like home made soya bean.
Today we planned to travel along on tourist spots the MRT lines. Hence, we bought all-day-MRT pass for TWD 150 per person. Here was our itinerary for the day:

1) Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall
2) Wufenpu Commercial Area - stopped at Houshanpi station
3) Hot Springs at Beitou - stopped at Xinbeitou station
4) To buy home delicious peanut balls as souvenirs & walked around a night market there - stopped at Danshui station. I'm not saying that the best is from there. We were looking to them but couldn't see them in Shilin Night market or anywhere nearby but Danshui. So we purposely went back to buy on the last day in Taipei
5) Shilin Night Market - stopped at Jiantan station

First stop, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. He was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader often referred to as the Father of Modern China.

A portrait of Sun Yat-Sen, very life-like.

Changing gurads ceremony

Statue of Sun Yat-Sen. Arrangement & decor and the guards similiar to to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, eh?

Statue of Sun Yat-Sen, outdoor

Then we walked around on the streets of Taipei towards Taipei 101 and bumped to Taipei City Hall.

Taking photo with complete view of Taipei 101

Then we had lunch at the basement of Taipei 101. There is a huge foodcourt there. I had a spicy glass noodle soup

JT had hot plate beef with rice

Most of the shops in Taipei 101 are branded shops. Went for some window shopping and stopped by Page One bookshop. One of the bookshops that has good colleaction of English books. Some of the books are relatively cheaper. So tempting to buy. But due to luggage limit, I have decided is not worth to pay less for the books but extra for the luggage.

Since this was the last day in Taipei, we were kind of short of Taiwanese money. We found out that there isn't any money changer around. Mostly are from banks and hotel. Even though banks have better rates, they do charge for processing fee. Hence, if changing for small amount, is not value for money. Changing at hotel would be better. However, hotel only will accept money changing from its guests. So ensure that you have enough money to spend for the day before leaving your hotel.

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 8 - Afternoon

2009-01-01T16:27:00.010+08:00

From the Yeliou Geopark, we went back to the bus stop and took a bus to Keelung. Another hour journey and stopped at the last bus stop. Again, got shooed off the bus by the driver. lol... Took a quick break from local bakery and the bus to Jiufen arrived. So fortunate. This is how the bus over there looks like. Noticed different colours? Red seats indicate priority seats. They have priority seats in MRT too.

On the way, saw beautiful new houses

Jiufen stop bustling with people. We didn't stop because we wanted to go to Jinguashi first and catch the sunset view at Jiufen later.

On the way to Jinguashi, we saw graves with roof tops because it rains a lot here in Taiwan

Buildings by the hill side

Jinguashi is an old gold mining town. So we explored an old gold mine and museum here. Seen here is how gold looks like in raw form

View around Jinguashi. Note the hills at the background. There is a hiking trail for one of the hill. We weren't so adventurous and don't have enough time to do so.

Summer chalet in Jinguashi built in 1920s, belonged to Crown Prince of Japan. Note that he has a mini golf in his yard and it is made of cement, which was a luxury back then.

Tourists get to go into the mining cave

Jinguashi closes at 6pm. We then took a bus back to Jiufen to view sunset and night view of Jiufen

Also, to feed our growling stomach. Of all the places to eat in Taiwan, we voted Jiufen as the best place to eat. Plenty of delicious food along the street. Seen here is a restaurant in Jiufen

All sorts of food available in Jiufen

Natural soap

Taro and sweetpotato cubes dessert - Something different

Can be eaten hot or cold

BBQ escargot - taste ok

I don't what are these - looks weird

This is made of rice flour and is similiar to our Savoury Rice Bowl Kuih (碗仔糕) Is super delicious and so smooth

Thumbs up!

Jiufen street

I read some where in a guide book that tourist can follow the crowd when eating here because usually the shops with long queues indicates that the food they are selling are delicious. And a shop with a super long queue made us curious and we decided to follow the crowd. Here is what it is selling.

And it was delicious. I don't know what it is. Tasted savoury similiar to Yam cake and sticky.

Macha and Chocolate ball - similiar to peanut ball - delicious
Took a bus down Jiufen to Rueifang. Board the next train to Taipei - an hour journey. Cost TWD 62 person with credit card charges.

Kind of regretted taking the train because there is no seat available, meaning we had to stand for an hour. We were thinking maybe we can sit after someone leave the train. We were so wrong! The moment a passenger gets off from a seat, another passenger whom just boarded the train will take his/ her seat. Efficient train seat management! I ended sitting at the foot rest of the last row of passenger seats in a cabin and JT standing throughout the journey.

Finally reached Taipei. JT had a coffee break at Barista Coffe house, similiar to Starbucks while I do some shopping. Yes, there is few rows of shops in the Taipei Train station. Good for hunting shoes.

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 8 - Morning

2009-01-01T03:19:00.011+08:00

Today we travelled up north Taiwan. First of, we know we want to visit a few place in north Taiwan. They are:

1) Jiufen - a hill town famous for delicious food
2) Jinguashi - old gold mining town and hiking trails up to Mount Keelung to view east coast
3) Shihfen - back to nature - waterfall
4) Yeliou - rock formation affected by wind and water
5) Bitou Cape - sea view

With a travelling guide book, we know how to get there but don't know which place is worth a visit and which place to visit first. So how? JT suggested that we ask the Tourist centre in Taipei Railway station. They are very helpful and told us that we couldn't possibly visit all the places in a day (We already know that.. just being kiasu!) They suggested we visit Yeliou and Jiufen & Jinguashi (5 minutes away from Jiufen) Also recommended the mode of transport to take and where.
First stop is Yeliou and we took a bus directly there. Cost TWD 102 per person. Extra TWD 2 for credit card charges. The journey is about an hour and both of us were napping throughout the journey till the bus driver had to call us to get off the bus! lol...

Friendly tourist sign board directing lost tourist like us.. hehe

Lantern Festival Cleaning of the Harbor by the Gods on the 15th day of first lunar month

Sea view and boats.. I guess the local folks here are mostly fisherman

Finally reached our first destination. Took about 5 minutes to walk from the bus stop to here..

So this is what we expect to see at Yeliou

Ticket price is TWD 50 per person

For those for missed this in Geography class, you can see this on how the rocks have these funny shapes

View at Yeliou

Seen here in the stone is a fossil

Close up of the fossil

Perfect formation - in the shape of Queen's head

There are plenty of food stalls outside the geopark

Quick break for lunch. Meatball soup and O-Chen

Just opposite the geopark is a Ocean World, where there is a 100 meter long undersea tunnel watch all sorts of marine life and also live sea creature performances. Stay tuned for the next stop...

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 7

2008-12-29T20:28:00.008+08:00

Our first day on our own in Taipei. We started off by walking around/ shopping from Ximending to Guanghua market and finally to Shilin Night Market again.

To kick off the day, breakfast is important. Here is what we had for breakfast at our hotel.

Ever wonder why the hotel is called Riverview? Because it is by the river. Well, I think should be renamed to highway-view hotel. =D

We then transferred to Qilin Hotel for the next 3 nights in Taipei. The hotel was arranged by the tour agency since our requested hotel, Paradise Hotel was fully booked then. We would never ever recommend Qilin hotel to anyone. The bed, wardrobe and furniture in the room are older than me! We however would recommend a nearby hotel, Ferrary Hotel, for the same rates and nearer to Ximending and MRT.

After checking in the hotel, we walked to Ximending. On the way, we saw a school.

Then we saw a unique car park. This car park reminds me of the futuristic elevated car parks in sci-fi movies. Except that this is much lower profile and can only house 22 cars. So how does this car park works? The owner has a remote control to input the parking lot number. The "elevator" will move the parking bay to the entrance and open the door. The owner parks the car in and before leaving, press the remote control to close the door. It does take some time for the "elevator" to find the requested parking bay. About a few minutes. We actually was lucky enough to pass by when a car was waiting for the parking bay. And we waited with him.

It took about 5 to 10 minutes walk to Ximending. Here how it looks like at 10 in the morning, on a Saturday. We see a lot of people rushing and we followed them and end up to a street full of cinemas. Must be catching an early movie at a discounted rate?

Since all the shops are not fully opened yet, we went shopping at Carrefour for local products.

Ximending is getting crowded approaching noon.

Finally reached the MRT station

The tickets to MRT. Ever wonder how to put the token in at the gate when there is no hole? When entering the gate, just scan the token at the gate, pretty much like touch n go. At MRT exits, the token is to dropped into a coin-like hole at the gate.

Took MRT to Zhongxiao-Xinsheng. This place is famous for electronic stuff. JT wanted to buy a gadget home. He was looking for ASUS PDA 565. Most unfortunately, the product was newly launched and there isn't any for sale yet. The hand phone, PDA and camera sold here are relatively cheaper than in Malaysia by 20%. The place look like Low Yat Plaza except more floors and not so packed. The crowd is evenly distributed.

We had starchy soup noodle for lunch. To be eaten with chili and peppers. Reminds me of Chili Pan Mee in Chow Kit, KL.

Walking around Zhongxiao-Xinsheng

Double decker bicycle parking lots at MRT station

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 6 - Afternoon

2008-12-11T22:22:00.009+08:00

We are still in Taipei. We had lunch at a very peculiar restaurant. It is called Five Dime restaurant. Why I said is peculiar? Because it has lots of abstract designs in the restaurant. Is different. And its beauty is subjective to its viewers. Nevertheless, the food tasted good.

The entrance to Five Dime restaurant

This is how the individual plate, cup, bowl looks like. Note the peanut dessert. It is the first one I tried in Taiwan and I fell in love with it. It is so soft and goey. Marvellous. JT didn't snap any photos of the food. Guess he was too hungry.

Designs in the restaurant

The table is in square shape and seats 12 persons.

The toilet (gents). The ladies also have similiar designs. And it has heavy wooden door and creaks as it is closed.

More abstract designs

We then travelled to Tamsui for sunset.

At the lover's bridge

After that, we went to a night market in Danshui (Taipei). We have finally tasted bittergourd milk. Bitter...

The peanut desserts. Yummy.. They also come in other flavours such as black sesame, red bean, and green bean. And is not cheap, cost TWD 2 per piece or TWD 150 for 8 pieces. There is a similiar local kuih in Malaysia - peanut flavour and cost around RM 0.50 to RM 0.80 - 50% of the price but the taste and texture cannot be compared at all...

Danshui is also famous for Iron preserved eggs. The tour guide warned us from buying it because of the chemical they used to preserve the eggs. So we didn't get any. I regretted it because a friend of mine said it is very nice.

The last stop is Shilin Night Market. Didn't snap any photos because wanted to leave more space for shopping stuff. =) Fret not, we went to Shilin Night Market for the next few nights for dinner/ supper and last minute shopping.

We rested in Riverview Hotel. Is the last night for our fellow tourmates and is a beginning of our own trip around Taipei for the next 3 days. Stay tuned..

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 6 - Morning

2008-12-10T19:03:00.006+08:00

From Taichung, we travelled to Taipei as our last city of the tour. And who would miss 101 while in Taipei?

Taipei 101 tower, inspired by bamboo plant

At one of the Taipei 101 entrance

Inside of Taipei 101

The ticketing booth of Taipei 101 observatory. The tickets cost TWD40 per person. Most unfortunate, the upper deck was closed that day.

We took a super fast elevator up to the observatory deck. It took less than 40 seconds. Seen here is the view of Taipei. Note how densely populated and also note that Taipei 101 is at the borders of Taipei city. To tour the area, we were given individual audio guide in preferred language.

To counter movement, a tuned mass damper system in spherical steel mass has been incorporated into the structure.

The views from Taipei 101

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 5 - Afternoon

2008-12-09T20:15:00.011+08:00

This post contains more than usual number of photos. Reason being there were lots to see. We have spent the afternoon at The Formosan Aborginal Culture Village. Reading the name, sounds like another cultural village? Well, is pretty much that except, they included a theme park into the package.

Fun rides

Something similiar to solero shot in Genting Highland, except it goes all the way down.

And it can seat many more people per ride

Cable car view, uphill where the aboriginal culture village is

Lost in time?

Aboriginal cultural show

Well, the statue said it all...

Close up to the description on the wall. I think it gotta do with fertile god...

Wild boars, cute and clean

This is how the aborginal house looks like. Note the height of the house...

Inside the house where wax figures performing some sort of ritual, indicating that the pupils had passed the exam

Outside, wax figures playing a game

JT helping a wax figure to pull the rope, for training purpose

Wax dentist in action

Guess whether she is wax or real?

Well, she is real and kinda shocked me because I thought she is a wax figure and moved. LOL..

European garden outside the village

We made our way to Fong Jia night market and stop by for the Pinang girls. This is how their shop looks like. Note the see through glass.

The tour guide bought some Pinang for us and made the girl come up the bus and wave at us. She was wearing just bra and panties. JT was slow to capture her facing us. Just managed to snap her back.

This is how Pinang looks like. One is wrapped with leave, has stronger taste. So how to eat it? Just chew it for few seconds and spit out the first water/ saliva. And continue to chew the Pinang and enjoy. Tasted not so bad and felt my cheeks were flushed after chewing it for a few minutes.

We have arrived at Fong Jia night market and is the first night market in Taiwan that we have visited.

Fried cheese

Tea/ Juice shop

Fong Jia night market view

Our hotel for the night, De Bao Hotel.

The tour guide brought some of us to a street just behind the hotel for some delicious food. And he is right. Is superb.

Seen here is fried escargot with veggie. I don't know what veggie is this but it makes the dish aromatic but the veggie doesn't taste good if eaten.

Fried la la with the veggie again. Seen in the background is fried lamb with the veggie again. I don't usually eat lamb because of the smell. But this dish is so good that there is no smell at all. Two thumbs up!

Then we walked along the street as there is a lot of food stalls. Here is a juice stall. One of the favourite juice is bittergourd with milk & honey.

Mee sua soup

Fried osyters with egg, O-chen

We also tasted soup of pig blood in a form of tofu and it really tasted like tofu except that it is red. And on the way back to hotel, we ordered soya bean and some fried flour dessert. The soya bean is good too. Taste rich in soya bean and the sweetness is just nice.

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 5 - Morning

2008-12-08T04:52:00.008+08:00

Today we travelled from Tainan to Taichung. First stop is Sun Moon Lake, which is the highlight of the trip. On the way there, we stopped by for toilet break and also to see the after-impact of an earthquake.

Seen here is a temple. The temple is preserved as a tourist spot and for lucky people like us (because Malaysia don't have earthquakes) to see what an earthquake could do.

Temples are usually damaged because the roof is heavy with the decoration statues.

About 2 hours ride, we reached Sun Moon Lake. It is situated in Yuchih, Nantou. It is the largest lake in Taiwan and there is an island in the middle of the lake in the shape of a sun and moon. Hence, the name.

It is truly a beautiful place. However, this place has a dark past. In 1999, September 21, there was an earthquake measured at 7.3 Richter scale, killed over 2,000 people.

Wen Wu Temple, facing the lake

This a fortune teller machine, where TWD 10 is inserted into the machine and a little doll will deliver a tiny scroll.

At the door of the temple

Well wishes charms are hanged in the temple. Noticed the name written at the bottom.

More well wishes charms along the stairs. There are 365 steps in this stairs, each steps denotes a day in the calendar, with birthday of famous people engraved on each step.

This is what you get to see after 365 steps. Going down is easy... Climbing up is a difficult one.

We should have spend more time here because there is a lot to see with beautiful sceneries. Read online that the sunset here is beautiful. Also check out The Lalu resort. Magnificient resort.

We were later brought to an aboriginal place, where we were introduced to buy Royal Jelly. Here we are dressed as them.

Stay tuned for more as we spent the afternoon in a theme-park like place.

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 4 - Afternoon

2008-12-03T11:47:00.010+08:00

After about 2 hours bus ride, we have arrived Tainan. We spent the rest of the afternoon and night at Nan Yuan Leisure Farm. This place reminds me of Cameron Highland. Maybe because the weather is cool (because is autumn now). Also, because this place is kind of cut off from bustling city and the place is self-contained. Food, entertainment and relaxation... all in one area.
We love our room. Is a cabin by the lake... Lovely..
Lake view from the room. I wish to wake up every morning to this~

The room.. noticed that every wall and floor is made of wood.

After checking in to our room, we explored the leisure farm. As depicted below, there are many things to see and do here.

Walk by the nature...

Hungry japanese carps waiting for food

Team building tested by balancing the raft. Did we make it?

Yes! We did.. Btw, the water is very shallow.. few inches above the ankle... but who wanna get wet?

Traditional water pump acting as water gun to shoot at passing by rafters

Riding mini car a.k.a bumper car

The entrance of Nan Yuan Leisure Farm. We can to ride bicycle around the farm too. It's been a long time since we ride one and it was fun.

Dinner time... This is what we ate for dinner.

This is minced pork. It is to be eaten with rice. This is delicious. Not to be missed in Taiwan.

This is fried bread with seafood stuffing. Two thumbs up!

Minced chicken with wraps

Fried cuttlefish (I guess so)

Steamed fish

Bamboo sticky rice with mushroom, salty egg yolk and yam. This is surprisingly yummy too.

Pork ball

We had some group activities after dinner. The resort management actually organized a bingo game with a twist. Each of the participant have to draw a number from the box and whoever gets a ball without a number has to either answer a question or perform (depending on the type of ball chosen). The winner of the bingo game got fireworks from the resort, which was set off later.

Another activity is to try to make cotton candy. It is not easy...

Our disfigured cotton candy

There is also golf range in the leisure farm. What were we aiming for? Basically we were hitting the ball into the lake. In the middle of the lake, there is a small island with a golf hole. Whoever managed to hit into the hole, walks away with TWD 5000 from the resort. How to know if one hit the hole? The small island will be lighted up.

JT posing to tee off...

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 4 - Morning

2008-12-02T23:34:00.016+08:00

We felt extra fresh after the hot spring bath yesterday night. The tour continues to explore what Taitung has to offer besides the hot springs.

First stop is the fruit shop

Well, you guessed it. Taiwan is also famous for its red guava (jambu air). The difference between Taiwanese and the ones we get in Malaysia is the guava is so much bigger and sweeter. Also, in Taiwan, I have finally managed to taste pink guava too, instead of drinking the juice from the bottle. There is not much difference from the green guava except for the colour.
Mango sweets. Taste too sweet and not much mango taste.

Fresh mango blended juice. This is yummy! Cost TWD 50.

The best thing I like about this shop is we can eat for free. We can test taste the fruits, sweets, biscuits and don't feel paiseh if we didn't buy any because there is so many of us. I think half the tour group bought something from here. One of the benefits of tour group.. freebies!

More mangoes!

Next stop, more shopping at the Hakka village.

The tour guide recommended us to drink the Lui Cha. Some sort of tea with a bunch of stuff inside. It was weird. Didn't really like it. I prefer if it was cooked in dish or made salty to serve with rice.

JT jamming using metal junks. Cover your ears!
Whole Hakka village view

Next stop, Fo Guang Shan, Buddhist temple.

Monk statues along the stairs

More statues...

Finally, lunch time at Fo Guang Shan. It was a vegetarian lunch. 7 dishes plus 1 soup. This is a common chinese style food serving at restaurant. We have been having 7 dishes plus 1 soup for all our lunch and dinner in Taiwan.

Pickled veggie

Cool fruit tea

Ooops.. sorry didn't take much photo of the food because JT was hungry.

Bodhi tree

Arch at Fo Guan Shan

Inside the temple. Miniature buddha statues on the walls

Cute monk statues at the garden in Fo Guang Shan

Pagoda

We climbed up Fo Guang Shan to take this photo with Budhha at the background

Wishing Kuan Yin pool. Make a wish and aim to throw a coin at the bell. Your wish will come true if you hit the bell!

Next, we took a short ride and arrive at a leisure farm in Tainan. The place is something like Cameron Highlands in Malaysia except that is not on a hill. Cool weather and greens... Photos will be out in the next post...

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 3 - Afternoon

2008-11-26T20:40:00.009+08:00

We are still at Hualien. Break for lunch.

Cold dish of prawn and abalone-like pieces

Soup

Stew pork

Hot plate deer meat - This nice. First time I have ever eaten deer meat and is not bad.

Bamboo rice

Finally we get to see why is Hualien famous for. Marbles!

As we make our way to the next stop for the day, we stopped by Rei Suei Leisure Farm to stretch our legs and toilet breaks. Besides getting to see the animals, we get to buy products made from cow's milk such as cheese cake, milk nougat and even milk make-up remover.

After about 2 hours ride, we reached Taitung. This place is famous for hot spring. We rested at Hoya Hotel. It has a private hot spring pools for hotel guests.

Our hotel room - messy with our stuff =)

The hotel from outside

We dipped in hot spring pool after dinner. Basically, the hotel have 3 hot spring pools. The pools have different temperature from slightly warm, warm and hot. We didn't know because it wasn't written on the wall until we tried them all. The worst is the first one we tried was HOT. So you can imagine how uncomfortable we are when we tried to get into the pool. I couldn't even put my foot in it. Is too hot and painful. JT tried to force to go in but gave up finally. We decided to try the next pool. Is the slightly warm pool and we felt nothing so special. We left the pool and tried the last one, which is the warm pool. And it felt just right. After spending some time in the pool, we start to feel hot and sweating. Then we changed pool to the hot pool and felt just right too. In between we changed from hot pool to cold pool. And that's how we learned how to dip in hot springs. Always start with a slightly warm pool first and move the temperature up slowly and change from hot to cold after 15 mins.

Next, we will see what is in Taitung!

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 3 - Morning

2008-11-26T09:25:00.008+08:00

I can wake up every morning with this view and have my breakfast. =)

Delicious and many varieties of food for breakfast. Chinese style breakfast or western? Perhaps japanese.

We managed to walk around the garden in the hotel and snapped some photos.

On the way to the Taroko National Park, we stopped by the road to take photos.

Apparently, the road here were built by human power! Those who know how to read chinese, can read this said on the arch gate.
We have finally reached Taroko National Park. Lots of mountains and temple on the valley.

And more mountains...

The tour guide said the coffee here taste good and is called "coffee with passion" in chinese. Reason being is made using water from the mountains and to be drink with a great view of mountains. It tasted slightly better than usual coffee. The drink comes with a choice of cake or sandwich. We chose red bean cheese-like cake. It was an unusual combination and tasted not bad.

After the mountains, we went to see the beach. This beach is beautiful and super duper windy. So windy that it's kinda difficult to walk against the wind direction.

This beach is called Cisingtan, which means "Seven Stars Pools". It has an interesting slogan, "Chasing the wind, Plucking the stars". I wonder who chase who... More like the wind chased us!

Stay tuned for second part of the day...

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 2 - Afternoon

2008-11-25T16:11:00.008+08:00

After heavy lunch and a morning full of visiting interesting places, one would start to feel sleepy, which is the right time. Because we have to take a train from Taipei to Hualien, 2.5 hours journey.

Me getting ready to snore!

Finally reached Hualien

Caught this photo from the tour bus. So is quite blur. Noticed the bench in the shape of a bottle by the street, is made from MARBLE... And they are everywhere on the street. You got it right.. we have arrived to the city of Marble. Hualien is famous for marble.

We then were entertained by aborginal cultural show by A-Mei tribe.

The cultural show is mainly are dances and singing in catchy tunes. We learn a new native word, Naruwan, which means welcome.

We dressed in native accessories.
Finally retreat to hotel. We rested at Parview Hotel. This is the best hotel throughout the tour. The rooms are spacious, food is delicious, modern living ambience, great view and good amenities too such as pool (indoor & outdoor), gym, karaoke, rock climbing facility.

The room

Good quality aromatherapy shower gel, shower milk and conditioner.

The restaurant

Delicious looking dessert. Too bad it wasn't part of the buffet dinner. It is for sale. It costs about RM 80 for one. Expensive!

Stay tuned for photos on how the hotel looks during the day...

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 2 - Morning

2008-11-25T14:19:00.014+08:00

Tour started early for today, 6.30am. We were late for breakfast. The breakfast didn't bring out the best of Taiwanese food.

I still look sleepy, eh?

We arrived at the Taoyuan train station about 40 minutes later. We took a bullet train to Taipei.

Posing at Taoyuan train station

Managed to snap a photo with the bullet train Once we arrived at Taipei, we took MRT to "Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall"

It was drizzling when we arrived at "Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall" . For those who don't know who he was, he was the former President of the Republic of China. He moved his government to Taiwan in 1950 when communist took over mainland China.

The inside hall of "Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall"

Mini muzium at the basement of "Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall"

Wax figure of Chiang Kai-Shek
As we leave the memorial hall, a crowd gathered outside to protest against changing the name of "Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall"We continued our tour to the next destination, Martyr's Shrine. This shrine is built to commemorate 330,000 men who sacrificed their lives to the overthrowing of the Ching Dynasty before the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911, and who fell during the Sino-Japanese war (1938-1945) and the Chinese Civil war (1945-1949).

When we arrived, we were in time to watch the hourly ceremony of changing guards

Posing with one of the guards. Guess what will the guards do if you touch them? They will move and stomp their feet loudly giving you a fret. JT accidently touched one of the guards when posing.

We then went to Shilin Presential Residence, which is the former home of President Chiang Kai-Shek. The place is known for its romantic Europen-feel garden. Most unfortunately, it is autumn and there isn't much flowers around.

Victory Chapel, personal chapel of Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife, was used for church services . Here seen that it is still well preserved

It's lunch time. Maybe because of the rain and cold weather. We felt extremely hungry by lunch. We had our lunch at Jing Hua Tea restaurant. I think this restaurant is famous for its dumplings. We had many different kinds of dumpling such as meat, veggie and even Xiao Long Bao. They were very delicious. We also had fried rice and yam glutinous rice.

And for desserts, we have this. I don't know what it is called. It tasted bland. I called it chinese fruit cake. =) It was a favourite of Soong Mei-ling, wife of Chiang Kai-shek.

Stay tuned for the second part of the day...

Honeymoon to Taiwan ~ Day 1 (9th Nov 2008)

2008-11-24T21:54:00.008+08:00

Luckily the flight to Taiwan is in the mid afternoon. We woke up quite late after an exhausted day before. As always, JT hasn't pack his luggage yet! Did manage to pack last minute. Guys r always like that huh? I still have time to do last minute packing on my already packed luggage.

Arriving at KLIA with our luggage half filled.Guess which luggage is mine? =)

Arriving at Taiwan, Taoyuan International Airport around 8 to 9pm.

Beagle dogs to sniff out illegal agriculture items. We actually saw them in action but couldn't get our camera out fast enough to snap photos of them in action. Something that we rarely see in Malaysia.

Arrival Hall of Taoyuan International Airport

First stop, 7-Eleven. The tour guide, Karl, arranged for the tour bus to stop over at 7-Eleven for us to buy supper in case we are hungry before we proceed to hotel to rest. Here are some photos on interesting beverage finds in Taiwan:

Instant Starbucks coffee. Can be served cold/ hot. Noticed the cups next to Starbucks coffee. They are other coffee by competing coffee chains. They have the similiar look and feel in terms of branding with Starbucks.

Instant cereals

Ovaltine in box carton. Interesting to know that this brand is more preferred in Taiwan than Milo.

First night stay, Yaward & Resort. They have nice and spacious rooms. The lobby doesn't look presentable though.

Btw, the weather is cool. Overall, temperature in Taiwan is cooler in the mornings and nights, where jacket is needed. During the day, temperature is neither hot or cold, just nice.

I've forgotten to mentioned that Taiwan is a environment friendly country. Plastic bags are not provided free in stores such as 7-Eleven and Carrefour. Shopper usually bring their own bags or trolley. For shoppers like us, paid 20 cents for a plastic bag when we purchased quite a number of items. And their recycle bins are so much easier to use. They divide garbage into trash and
recyclable items.

Wedding Day Ceremony Part 1

2008-11-20T15:17:00.003+08:00

Here are some of the photos snapped during our wedding day ceremony by our photographer, Ronan Shee:

ROM photos

2008-11-10T23:46:00.004+08:00

Here are some of the photos for our registration of marriage. Photos are taken by our wedding photographer, Ronan Shee:

Photos of our new bedroom

2008-11-10T23:37:00.007+08:00

As promised, here are some of the photos of our bedroom:

Our bed

Our all mirror wardrobe

Our workstation

Dressing table, TV and curtain acting as wall partition

Decor

Our Wedding Emcee: William Lee Wei Yann

2008-10-23T18:11:00.003+08:00

In less than 3 weeks time, we had a change of mind and decided to hire an emcee instead of asking our friends to be emcee. We were lucky to still be able to get William in such a short notice period.

He has interesting resume background and hosted many major events including 30-hour famine and Popular Book Fest. He is also a part time deejay in MY FM radio station. When we first met him for a discussion, he is instantly friendly and very professional when discussing our wedding event arrangements. Besides emcee, he will also be the coordinator and ensure that everything is in place to make our wedding dinner a successful event.

He can be contacted at:
Mobile Phone - 016-996 5784
Email - weiyann@gmail.com

Wedding Photographer: Ronan Shee

2008-10-22T17:23:00.003+08:00

We have chosen Ronan as our wedding photographer. He does wedding photography part time and got to know him through my colleague.

His contacts:
Tel (M) : +6012 - 3753576
Email : ronanshee@gmail.com

You can view his photography album at:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ronanshee/WeddingPhotography#slideshow

Makeup artist: Amily Lew

2008-10-20T14:19:00.002+08:00

We have chosen Amily Lew as my makeup artist. We got to know her through a friend whose her sister used to engage her as makeup artist.

Amily can be contacted at
Telephone: 012 218 0300
Email: forest_cake@hotmail.com

She has a salon at ground floor, Wisma Central (Building next to KLCC)

How to register for marriage (ROM)

2008-10-13T22:37:00.009+08:00

Places to considered for registration of marriage:
1) Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara, Putrajaya
2) Thean Hou Kung Temple

Pro and cons of each place:
JPN, Putrajaya

Pros:
1) Nice ambience & air conditioned
2) Cheaper - Cost RM 30 only
3) With extra charges, can hire JPN officer to your dream place of marriage registration and even on weekends too!

Cons:
1) Putrajaya is remote from KL - family members and friends may not able to join us/ troublesome
2) Open on weekedays only. No registration of marriage on Thursdays. Reserved for divorce processing

Refer to this link for more information on ROM at JPN: http://www.jpn.gov.my/BM/BKC/kawin1.html

Thean Hou Kung Temple

Pros:
1) In KL area
2) Open on Saturdays too
3) Can donate to charity - as part of the regisration fee is given to temple
4) Able to register for marriage without any hassle if the couple/ either one is from different states or not from KL

Cons:
1) Cost a lot more - 4 times more than registration fee in JPN
2) No proper/ small place for guest to witness the ceremony - The room can house about 10 ppl

For normal scenario procedure:

Registration date shall be fixed at least 21 days after the date of submission but must not exceeding 2months subject to date available.
The couple must present in person and bring along the following documents:

* Original and 1 photocopy of Identity Card (I.C.) (A4 size, not to be cut)
* Original and 1 photocopy of Birth Certificate. (A4 size, not to be cut)
* Two passport-size coloured photographs each. (Instant Photos are unacceptable)
* Photocopy of 2 witnesses’ I.C., 1 copy each (A4 size, not to be cut)

When at Thean Hou Kung temple, go to the basement - Registration Office. Get number and wait number to be called.

At counter, officer will help you to fill up form

Go to commisioner of oath office (within Thean Hou Kung Temple) to certify document

Go back to counter to make payments

Wait for the registration date - Thean Hou Kung will only contact the couple if there is problem in processing the papers.
Finally, get married!

Refer to this document for more information on ROM at Thean Hou Kung Temple:

http://picasaweb.google.com/tyingtzu/JongThengYingTzu?authkey=7YjQuyhxlqY#5259228380735397058

Curtains oh Curtains

2008-10-12T22:31:00.011+08:00

Searching for the right curtain is a difficult task. Hence, custom made one is easy? I rather not answer that question. Let me put it this way, it is easy if you know what colour, design and cloths type you want. And the shop selling cloths have it. Else, with endless colour and designs available, I think one could wish to buy a ready made one and live with it! Ha!!

I have been buying off-shelves curtain for the passed few years for my single room. I am always lucky enough to manage to find a decent one. And it usually happens when "I-know-I-need-new-curtains-but-I-can-live-without-it-if-I-can't-find-one" mode.

This time is different. I really need new curtains. I have searched high and low for ready made ones. Couldn't find a nice looking one. Logically is to visit shops selling cloths to custom made one. We started looking at the expensive shops first to get the look and feel on what can be offered there. SSF curtains and Pleat & Pleats are good place to start. They can really make fanciful/ beautiful curtains or simple yet modern looking curtains. And their price is $$$$$.

Our budget pulled us back to reality and we started looking at shops selling cloths. Among the shops that sell cloths, price wise, they are about the same and only the designs are different. But one shop, stands out above the others. As recommended by forums and also Sze Yin, Nagoya is the best place to get curtains. Is the cheapest and they have quite a huge selections too! The branch I went to at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, have 2 floors with cloths for curtain. Quality wise, is not those cheap cloth type of quality.

We are looking for 2 pairs of curtains. One for the window (dark colours such brown) and the other one is for the wall partition (light colours such as white, beige). We have one design idea for the wall partition curtains. Curtains in 2 tone colours such as:

And the curtains should be hanged in eyelet style and have the following folded look:

We actually went to shop a few times. I think it takes a lot of patience and imagination to look at the cloth and imagine how it would fit in our room. The first two times is to see what type of designs they have to offer. I have managed to snap some photos of the cloths that I have considered so that I can sit/ sleep/ eat on it. They are:

The center piece with leaves. This cloth is actually blackout cloth - which means light cannot penetrate the cloth. Ideal for ppl who want to sleep till/ during the day?

Beige with white rose print

Vertical messy lines in yellowish white tone

Vertical messy lines in cream colour

Vertical curvy lines in golden brown

Messy ribbons in yellowish white tone

The third visit is to buy the cloths and arrange for in-store custom made service. It takes about 2 weeks for the curtains to be ready. We have chosen "Vertical curvy lines in golden brown" for window curtains and a white cloth with vertical blank lines and circles for the wall partition (Sorry too excited till forgotten to take the photo). The final visit is to collect the curtains.

All in all, we are happy that we found what we are looking for. I have yet to see the end product. I hope that the curtains can match well with others things in the room and is not figthing for attention because the main focus of the room should be the maroon wall.

The curtain cloth finding process is made easier with the help of Lee Ching. She have helped us to look for cloths and she actually MMS me the cloth designs. Thanks, Lee Ching!

Furniture Hunt

2008-10-06T15:12:00.007+08:00

Furnishing is a very fun thing to do. This is when we put all the little ideas we see at lifestyle showroom or magazine and wish we had one ourselves too. Often simple and modern idea is the new black and expensive. I am not sure if there is no demand in Malaysia or what. Usually in a typical furniture shop, there is only a few pieces that resemble that idea. Unless it is a furniture shop that emphasize on modern living such as homelife, red apple and ikea.

Following are the ideas that inspired us. Also, thanks to Mae Wei on advising the paint colours and giving on some ideas on how to furnish our room.

With one of the wall in contrasting and bold colour

Big photo frames with small photo

Wardrobe hallway

Simple dressing table

Adjustable sides of the mirror for dressing table mirror

The bad part on furnishing is looking the furniture in the design/ similiar design that we want. We went to many furniture shops to look for them. It would be much easier for consumer like us if the furniture shop provide catalogs like ikea. Then, we can browse through and consider at the comfort of our home.

We have done furnishing. Left only some finishing touches. Will post the photos soon. Stay tuned..

Wedding Invitation Card by Red Card

2008-08-03T00:08:00.009+08:00

The wedding invitation cards are included as part of the wedding dinner package by Tai Thong. Their card printing dealer is Red Card. This company provides custom printing and sells all sort of wedding preparation stuff such as wedding ang pao, wedding "Hei" stickers, wedding lamps, and wedding favours. Everything the wedding ceremony needs, can be obtained from here.

We are looking for a wedding invitation card that is simple and a cross between traditional and modern style. Not too traditional and not too modern, just nicely suitable for all different groups of guests. The tricky part is we do not want to spend extra on the card. Preferably covered by the restaurant.

At first, the card design selection that is provided at the restaurant didn't appeal to either of us. The cards come in 2 types: soft card and hard board card. There are several designs for each type. For the hard board card, we need to pay extra RM120. We opted for the soft card design. The designs are limited and not what we are looking for. After flipping back and forth, we hesitantly chose one of the design.

After some days passed, I still didn't want to give up on the card selection. I called Red Card to enquire if they can print one of the hard board card design in soft card. They told me that is considered as custom made and would cost a lot. (I didn't quite understand why not. Just put a different paper and print. Maybe this is what is considered as custom printing. LOL). Still didn't want to give up, I asked again if there is any other designs available for Tai Thong customer because I only saw 4 designs for the soft card type. To my delight, they told me they actually have 6 designs for that, which means we have never seen 2 of the designs.

We dropped by Red Card in puchong and never regretted the trip at all! Indeed, these 2 designs are the best of the rest! Here they are:

This card reminds me of a flatten card scroll with band to keep the content of the card P&C. Well, it's nice to see but we find that it may be troublesome to seal each card with a removable band

We chose this because it is what we are looking for. Love the design of the "Hei" word. The word itself is traditional and the heart shapes have some sort of modern touch. Btw, this is not the exactly how the card looks like. This is the most similiar card I can find from Red Card's website. It is supposed to have a maroon metalic card in an envelope form, with a card to be slotted in containing the invitation details.

We are very glad that we found a wedding invitation card that we like without extra spending.

Food Tasting @ Royal China

2008-08-02T14:40:00.003+08:00

After postponing the dinner trial for several times (due to difficulty to get 10 people to meet at one time), we have finally tried the chosen dinner set. The dinner was fine and expected typical chinese dinner set. Just want to highlight that the shark's fin soup is different and simply delicious! It has some sort of orange reddish colour, I wonder why. My guess is the melted crab roe that makes that colour.

We also discovered that Tai Thong is able to serve the dinner set without using any pork and replace the roast piglet with a chicken dish. This kind of arrangement is also slightly cheaper than the usual set.

Our hope is the food taste as great as we tasted, on our wedding reception night. All fingers and toes crossed! =)

Our Pre-Wedding Photos

2008-07-24T22:34:00.014+08:00

As mentioned in my previous post, we would be expecting to view the design of the photo album before the printing, about 2 months after the photo shoot. We were so excited to wait for the day patiently and hoping that the designs turn out good and if the designs are unacceptable, we would be able to give feedback and they can improve on the designs. I think this is an important process to go through so that the photo album is designed to what we wanted. After all, quite a big amount is actually spent just to produce the album.

So the day finally arrived and we went to Redsense to view the creatively designed photos of us. To our utter horror and disapointment, the albums, the framed photos and everything else that came with the package are already printed and ready to be taken back home!

We clarified with Redsense and they actually told us that it is not their policy to let the customers to view the design before the printing (Another shocking news). We know our rights and we are entitled to view and proof the designs before the printing. They persuaded us to look at the album first. We did and we didn't quite like some of the designs. After some negotiation and refusal to accept the output, Redsense finally accomodate to our change requests. In the first place, we shouldn't have to fight for this because clearly it was their mistake.

In all, we rejected some page designs and photo layouts on the album. If we were fussier, I think they need to scarp the whole album and re-do. My only regret is on the photo frame size. The initial agreed size is actually too big after I check the sizing on our bedroom. I wanted to change the size when I visit them again during the design viewing. But because of Redsense's mistake and partly on my negligence of not checking the size earlier, we are stucked with 3 extra large photo frames. Ai.. sigh...

To resolve this problem, Redsense promised to change the designs based on our feedback and to let us view them first before the printing.

The good thing in disguised in this incident is that we get to proof the designs in hard copy instead of soft copy. But the cons are much obvious in the case..

Make-up Artist

2008-06-19T14:58:00.009+08:00

I have been searching for the right make-up artist for quite some time now. Mainly reading testimonials and viewing portfolio or customer's photos. I almost readily believe what forumers told me and my own eyes (by looking at the posted photos) to the extent of 99.9%. Why? Simply because it is free and why would the customers lie on the services they received?

I was so wrong. I guess that 0.1% made me realise that I can't take what people said blindly. Or even photos. Because at different angle and lighting, the make-up may look natural and beautiful or fake and too much.

This is so true when on one occasion where I attended my friend's wedding reception. Personally, I felt she had too much powder on her face. I also found out that her make-up artist is one of the most talked about make-up artist in the forum. Shocking!

So now I learnt that I have to actually go for make-up trials till I find the right one. Again, simply because different people have different skin type, colour, style and preference. I never actually budgetted this in because I assume is a straight forward matter, where you can actually tell the make-up artist what you want and they work their "magic". Seems like is not the case... sigh..

What's next after photo shoot?

2008-06-18T22:29:00.007+08:00

It's been ages since my last post. Well, the reason simply because we stopped doing any planning... just to catch up / rest after the photo shoot. Two weeks later, we were summon to select 60 photos out of the 600+ photos. We thought photo shooting is tiresome.. Guess what? Photo selection is exhaustive!

We were told to be early for the selection because couple usually spend the whole day choosing the photos. Initially we thought the salesperson was kidding... Well, some married friend / forumers also warn of this. We actually spent approximately the whole afternoon and the next half of the morning for this!

Wonder how we spend so long on it? Well, we started of by viewing all the photos on the slideshow. See the overall results.. basically is excited to see all the photos. Then starting to choose the best photo among the same pose. There are definately more than 60 poses... So we end up having more than 60 poses. Then start filtering on the filtered photos. And filter again till get 60 poses. Of course during this filtering, also have to consider which photos to be set as the bed head top frames, table top frames, album cover, poster and even on the couple mugs!

I remembered that I came to a point where I don't care which photo I choose... It just doesn't matter anymore... First impression counts and as long as both of us look nice in the photos.

Hmm... I wonder, why do we have to choose all the photos in a limited time frame? Will more time given, makes the any difference?

I don't know. I am just glad that we have done it!

Pre-Wedding photos preview

2008-04-27T00:20:00.013+08:00

We have finally finished our pre-wedding photo shoot approximately in 12 hours! We have started as early as 7.30am and finished at 7pm. Everything went smoothly for us and even the weather sided us with clear blue sky for the whole day!

As always, taking most of the time is the first bride's make-up (subsequent make-up takes less than 30 mins each session) and outdoor photo shoot. We have spent about 5 hours for outdoor photo shoot and 3 hours for indoor photo shoot.

I wasn't really exhausted at the end of the day, just tired of smiling and posing. As for JT, he was very tired. Initially I thought because I was more energetic than he is when come to this kind of stuff. But then after looking at the photos, I realised that he carried me several times on 3 different occasion during the outdoor photo shoot. No wonder he is tired! However, I felt the agony of the photo shoot the very next day. Parts of my body hurt due to some "stunt" I have performed for the wedding photo shoot.

We went to Bukit Gita Bayu in Serdang for our outdoor photo shoot, thanks to our friend, Cissy, who is kind enough to apply permission for us to take photo shoot over there. She also became our second "photographer" during the outdoor photo shoot and hence we get to show you what to expect for our pre-wedding photos, in which we will get the softcopy in few months time. So here they are:

The making of our pre-wedding photos - photographer & videographer

Posing for fish-eye lens

Pee-ka-boo!

We "flew" to Bali to capture this

This is for our casual couple photo album

Yeah! We've made it!

Groom's attire preparation for photo shoot

2008-04-25T21:25:00.015+08:00

Shopping for a man's clothes is relatively easier than for a woman. Why? I think because the clothes look the same even though the brand is different. I realised that style is not their main concern, more of the quality and comfort level. We only checked out a few stores to find for a formal white shirt, a casual shirt and 2 pairs of pants. Finally we found most of them in Padini Concept Store with some discounts. Here they are:

Black-silver stripe shirt with black pants

White stripe shirt with grey pants

Casual linen shirt with white linen pants

Favourite shots

2008-04-25T21:25:00.014+08:00

In light of preparing for my own wedding photo shoots, I would like to share some some of my favourite photo shots that I have found on the web:

Gown selection

2008-04-22T11:35:00.030+08:00

We went to Redsense on 19th April for our gown selection. I have brought along my mom and some of my friends for their opinion. Overall, the selection was quite fast than expected, mainly because I didn't try as many gowns/ dresses. Given the amount of dresses and gowns that I have tried on, I also have uncertainty on which to choose. I wonder if I have more to try on, then I will end up headache.

We were not allowed to take photos of the gown but somehow we managed to do it discreetly. Thanks to Foong Meay and JT. Here they are some of the gowns that I have tried on:

Comment: If the tail of the gown is laid out properly, then the fishtail shape is more obvious.

Comment: Hesitated to take this wedding gown for its simplicity but end up choosing a victorian ballgown over this

Comment: I think this gown is chosen because it represents the gown fashion at this time. Although I know that for wedding attire, it is better to choose a timeless piece but just can't help it with this one. This gown is to be used for outdoor photo shoot but only limited to indoor - meaning inside of a building

Comment: I like the top part of this gown a lot. Looking at the photo, this is actually is better than the previous one. I felt like a human size of a pixie.. hehe.. Nevertheless, this gown is not suitable for me because my chest bones are exposed!

Comment: I don't know what to say... too much details, I guess.

Comment: Something is off about this dress.. Don't know what...

Getting ready for gown selection

2008-04-03T20:42:00.023+08:00

My gown selection is on this Satruday! I am starting to worry that I couldn't find what I want (not that I have any dream gown/dress) or have too many options, don't know which one to choose! Which is one is worst?

Nevertheless, I googled and look for some of the gown/ dress designs. Not necessarily designer labels, some even from China. Surprisingly they are reasonably cheap, about half of the local price. According to the magazine, Female Brides, there are basic four gown cuts. They are:

* Ballgown
* Empire Waistline
* Basque Waistline
* The Princess Line/ A-line

From the names, I think you can picture how they look like? I got one question though.. What happened to fishtail gown? Well, I know it is one of my favourites because of the slimming effect it gives. So here are the photos of gowns that I would like to wear for my pre-wedding photo shoot and wedding reception.

Type: Ballgown
Comment: Love the champagne colour and fluffy skirt

Type: Fishtail
Comment: Love how it accentuate every female part of a woman

Type: Basque Waistline
Comment: Simply modern

Type: Princess cut
Comment: Simple yet elegant

Type: Empire Waistline
Comment: Angelic and flowingly

Now that wedding seems relevant to me, I have realised that of all the weddings I have attended, the bride usually wear a strapless gown. I wonder why. Perhaps it is easier for the bridal studio to rent out because no need to adjust the straps? Below are some photos of gown with straps:

Love the gown and veil combo. Makes the wearer looks grand and unconventional

Lace straps makes the sophisticated look

Halter neck

Off-shoulder straps

I am wondering now... how will my wedding gowns & dresses look like? Guess will find out in the next post...

Our wedding monogram

2008-03-26T22:07:00.011+08:00

What is it?

As defined in wikipedia, "A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, and may be used as recognizable symbols or logos..."

Our wedding monogram

It is composed of three letters, two of the letters represent our name and the big fancy letter Y in the middle represents our surname. Here it is in black and gold version:

I am planning to have it to be made as rubber stamp. On the colours, I found out that stamp pad not only comes in black, blue, red or invisible (glow in the dark) colour but many various colour too! Some with glitters too!

View some of the fascinating stamp pads at

http://www.stampin.com/online/accs/pads.htm
http://www.marthastewartcrafts.com/detail.php?p=20015

I also found out from a forum that these wonderful coloured stamp pads can be found in Malaysia too! They are sold in Art Friend, The Gardens, Midvalley with the price range of RM 8 to RM 34. Also availabe Papier, The Curve with price range of RM40.

Here is the stamp pad I bought from Art Friend:

I totally love Art Friend. There are so many art and craft supplies there. So now I know whenever I got time to spare, I can indulge myself with some crafty hobby or just browse the shop for creative juices!

Since some of my friends asked me what I use to come with the monogram, I would like to share this simple tutorial video I found on the web. You can also refer to http://www.favorideas.com/video/monograms/monogram-ppt.html

Solitaire vs. Multiple?

2008-03-25T22:01:00.001+08:00

We purposely waited for the recent Malaysia International Jewellery & Gems Fair in KL Convention Centre to buy our wedding bands as it is known for cheaper price range than local jewellers, more design options to choose from and most importantly it is held in one place - no need to walk so much - meaning more energy to bargain! The fair is held a few times a year. Please go to http://www.elite.com.my/mijf08/index.html for more information.

After the filtering, I was contemplating on which ring design to choose, whereas JT didn't mind which ever design, as long as I like it. Should I just choose a smaller solitaire diamond ring as my wedding band(Practical)? Or should I choose a wedding band with multiple tiny diamonds so that I can wear it together with the engagement ring (Ideal)? Oh.. how I hate this kind of moment!

So who won?

We have bought this lovely wedding bands from a Hong Kong jeweller during the fair. I guess is obvious that practical won because

1) No matter how nice or matching the wedding band and engagement ring look when worn together, let's face it... I know I won't be wearing it together on daily basis.

2) More tiny diamonds = The higher probability that it will fall off the ring = High maintenance cost

3) And simply because K.I.S.S!!!

Wedding shoes hunt

2008-03-24T23:37:00.001+08:00

As our wedding photoshoot is coming up in April, I have started shopping for a pair of wedding shoe. I have did some research online and local stores. So here are some of the designs that I find interesting:

Mostly found in shopstyle.com and asos.com. Ideally I would want a silver pair bejeweled T-Bar or strappy heels (2 to 3 inches high).

The first pair that I have encountered with is a silver bejeweled strappy heels (most bottom left) from Rotelli, Metrojaya, Mid Valley. I like it at first sight! But most unfortunately, there is no right size for me. Moving on, I never gave up and raided a few more shopping malls to find the shoe that fits my ideal design most. I have only managed to gather a few pair of shoes to be in the keep-in-view list. Finally managed to find one pair that is similiar to the Rotelli shoe that I have found earlier in 1U! I was so excited. Undeniably it is much nicer than Rotelli, with little fake diamonds on the steel stilettos heel. But I immediately felt disapointed the moment I tried it on. It was very uncomfortable and difficult to walk a.k.a balance. Maybe due to a pointy and hard heel? Not sure... Without hesitation, I know it is not the right pair.

Almost frustrated and tired of hunting, I have decided to visit the Rotelli shoe again in Metrojaya. Tried it on again to double confirm that the size doesn't suit me. There is like extra an inch. Keep convincing myself and my mom that it is not that obvious, right? Actually there is a same pair in gold that have my size. My mom asked me to try it on and I did. It fitted well but is gold! After some considerations and persuasion from my mom, I have finally bought it! So here it is:

The chosen Bridal Studio

2008-02-26T21:11:00.001+08:00

We have signed up with Redsense, Jalan Loke Yew, because of the whole wedding package appeals to us. Most importantly we have good "chemistry" with the salesperson, who is also our photographer!

To think back, I think the price is slightly pricey. Because after the wedding, the photos will rot in the closet and never see light again, eh? Haha... Hope that the end results is good and that we don't have to spend any more money on this (Yes, JT and I vowed to be disciplined not to add extra photos!)

Right now, I am thinking what to do with the thousands-ringgit wedding albums besides keeping it as memorabilia... coffee table book, anyone?

Last receiving-angpow-CNY!

2008-02-26T21:07:00.000+08:00

(Posted date should be 7 Feb 2008)

This year's CNY is similiar to previous celebrations except that JT and I both realized that this is the last year that we can receive angpow! So we worked harder to collect angpows from relatives and friends. Coincidently, I have a relative who gave me extra large angpow this year! ^_^ So happy...

Meeting with LTP

2008-02-26T20:46:00.001+08:00

(Posted date should be 12 Jan 2008)

We have finally met the man! And utterly shocked to find out that he is much younger than we thought. We were expecting an middle aged man (typically chinese fortune teller look) but he is only in his late thirties. I have found out later from my auntie that he is descendant from LTP. Well, that explains why LTP is so famous since my parents' era. Somehow this business linking with young person as the spokesperson doesn't seem quite right eh?

Overall, we got a short briefing from one of the staff on what to do for wedding preparation (e.g. gift betrothal, bed preparation, hair combing ceremony & etc). Then a short meeting with LTP, explaining our union in terms of chinese animal astrology in a fast and well rehearsed tone. Everything happened less than 30 mins. Hence, when we leave the place, we felt cheated as the whole process is so commercialized and not transparent.

If we can choose to do this again, we won't waste our money on this. Just lookup the "tung seng" for a good day to get married and choose a suitable timing to "chut mun".

P/S: LTP increased RM 79 to RM 199 this year onwards. Luckily I have engaged in his service from last year! The difference is the gift box is much nicer & bigger...

The BIG DAY is chosen

2007-08-16T20:40:00.000+08:00

One of the dates I got from LTP is 8/8 in lunar calendar, which is on 2008-09-07 , Sunday. A very interesting date. But it is most unfortunate that this date at Royal China is already been booked by another couple months before this. So with the faith that 8/8/8 going to be the day, we went looking around for restaurants. We went to another Royal China in Bukit Bintang, Imbi Palace, yet another Tai Thong in Selangor Dredging building and the Tai Thong in Cheras Plaza, next to Leisure Mall. The only one with 8/8/8 that is free for booking is Tai Thong in Selangor Dredging. The place is cosy and have a nice-urban-miniature-garden view. However, the place can only hold about 38 tables and can reach up to 50 table if the remaining tables are put in the rooms. Not so hospitable eh?

Plus, JT claimed he got lots of people to invite. So we decided not to put a constraint on the number of people to invite and opt for a better atmosphere. Which means that the date have to be changed. So it will be at the Royal China, Jalan Ampang at another date, 2008-11-8, Saturday. I still have double 8, right? Hehe.. I think Royal China, Jalan Ampang looks the best among the rest of restaurants we visited. So the next step is to meet LTP and shop around for a bridal studio...

No biggie after all..

2007-08-03T21:37:00.000+08:00

After all the troubles and humiliation we went through to get my chinese name right, we have found out from LTP's secretary that name is just a salutation. It didn't matter. What matter most is the date and time of birth. Ya.. so Mae Wei is right. We went to submit our details on last saturday (2007-07-28) . We just managed to reached at 3.30pm, just half an hour before they close. We weren't expecting any customers there but the small office was full of people! We waited patiently and to our relief, some were there to meet LTP. Others were waiting to get further explanation from the secretaries.

As expected, LTP is fully booked for 1 and half months ahead for weekend appointments. We managed to book for an appointment on 2007-09-15. However we managed to get the auspicious dates a few days later. We'll let you know which date we have chosen later.

And just before we turn up for the appointment, we have to inform them ahead which day we have chosen, and they will make some arrangements e.g. timing schedule and weddings stuff so that we don't have to come back for the third time. All these cost for RM 120.

We are currently still discussing on the dates and will be making restaurant reservations soon.

I don't know my name!

2007-07-26T22:12:00.000+08:00

I called Lou Tit Pat's office to make an appointment to meet him and get him to select auspicious date for our wedding. To my disappointment, they don't accept appointments via telephone. =( I have to walk-in to make appointment and also to submit our personal details e.g. chinese name, date/ time of birth. They also needed our parents' details. I also managed to ask if I managed to make an appointment, when will I be meeting him. Guess what? If the appointment is on weekdays, the earliest is by 8/8/2007 and if is it on Saturday, earliest is by mid September and Sunday by end of September. SHOCKING!

The problem is I don't know how to write my name in chinese. And worst still, my dad forgotten how to write my "Ying" in chinese because it is a traditional and rarely used character. He had been checking chinese dictionaries in the bookshop to lookup the character but still, not able to find it. He ended up drafting the character out and told me it look something like that. As for me, I did some lookup in the internet and managed to find a chinese character with the similiar definition as mine. And I checked it with my dad and it turned out to be, not the character we are looking for.

So as you see, I am quite in a dilemma here. I could just leave my "Ying" vaguely drafted or I could choose the similiar character that I've found. Either way, I am pretty screwed up. So what is the point of doing it if we are doing it wrong? Does it really matter that my name is wrongly spelt? Sigh..

Meet the parents

2007-07-24T21:19:00.000+08:00

Our parents met for dinner on Sunday(2007-07-22) to discuss on wedding details. Much cannot be decided as we do not know when to tie our knot yet. A cousin of mine who also attended the dinner and also recently got married, hence is more knowledgeable in this matter, suggested to meet with Lou Tit Pat (LTP), a notably fortunate teller in wedding stuff in Petaling Street to get the auspisious dates. She added that they will also inform us of things-to-do, when-to-do and how-to-do for the wedding ceremony.

Also, at the dinner, we discussed about the wedding gifts and some of the traditions to follow. We are still under negotiations. There isn't any plan drawn out just yet but we know the most obvious next step is to seek the "Oracle"...

At the beginning

2007-07-24T20:57:00.000+08:00

Hi all,

For those for are close to us, must have known by now that we are engaged and started making plans for my wedding. Thought to keep you all posted with our progress to our big day. For those who doesn't know, JT proprosed to me on my birthday this year over a typical annual CNY dinner with his friends at Royal China (Tai Thong restaurant at Jln Ampang). Yes, with a bouquet of roses and a ring in his hands, he kneel and pop the question in front of 20 plus friends. Quite embarassing for both of us, but definately one of the happiest day in my life.

Check out the pictures...

JT Proposed

The ring

Friends a.k.a witnesses

Happily ever after...