Archive for 2018

Japan May 2018 - Tokyo Disneyland Pt 1 - daytime parade

9.09.2018 – 2:13 AM

Rushing in to Disneyland so we can enter the park as soon as possible.

It was not too crowded yet

We went for the Star Wars ride first - the benefit of rushing into the park - 0 queue!

Couples out in full force

D is a toontown

The famous Honey Hunt - a long queue early in the morning!

Doing some shopping to kill the time - we bought a nice Pooh plate and a keychain.
No tax exemption in Disneyland

Trying out the ears

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Japan 2018 - Day 1 in Akasaka, Tokyo MidTown

5.19.2018 – 5:16 PM

We left Singapore for our honeymoon on 18 May and somehow Daven recognised his friend sitting 1 aisle in front of us on the plane. LOL
They were on their way to Hokkaido for the spring blooms.
Daven was excited to be on a new plane's maiden flight to Narita. One ticket was $722 on Singapore Airlines - there were no promotions when we bought the ticket.

I booked this hotel through Booking.com because I didn't see anything I particularly liked on Airbnb for Tokyo. Hotel Risveglio Akasaka was a bit difficult to locate even with Google Maps GPS on.
But it was a very swank 3 star little hotel with very cool industrial and design elements.
The hotel signboard is meant to look "interrupted" with the letters intentionally broken.

The dual use sink and mirror - one side for the WC, the other for the shower area.

A video of our tiny room.
They provide pyjamas and lovely Hario (?) glassware for the in room tea amenities. I am aiming to get Hario glass cups for my new house. Those wide-based cups with handles are so delicate yet strong and beautifully designed.

We looked for lunch and found this soba shop - Mimaki Soba - nearby with a little queue.
It looked very new, clean and slightly posh.

Our meals - zarusoba with duck soup for me, katsudon with zarusoba for him.
He said afterwards that the katsudon was the best one he had in Japan.
It was tasty and wasn't too pricey either.

Our reflections in the Hoshino Coffee Shop display.

We walked to Tokyo Midtown - and saw this amazing 2 storey SM Town dining concept in a swank building.

In the background is the TBS building.

We got lost walking to Tokyo Midtown =.=;;;
Daven was grumpy and tired.
I found this soupy food restaurant - Kayanoya - and went for it instead of MOS burger.

I thought it was awesome comfort food.

Then we went shopping at Uniqlo for a while before the shop closed and aimed to get enough for tax deduction - 5000yen worth before tax.
There was a counter for "tax free" - they bagged the purchases normally but took pictures of my passport and pasted the receipt in it. I hadn't done the tax free in this way before and wasn't sure if tax was deducted. LOL, but lucky it was.

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hanging out with Caroline

5.17.2018 – 1:30 AM

My gifts from the tea ceremony. Unfortunately I didn't get the relatives to put their gift on me, nor can I identify who gave me what. This is why you should not rush the tea ceremony.

We went to Birds of a Feather @ Amoy Street for drinks before meeting Caroline.
I chose this espresso coffee cube drink where you melt the coffee cubes with the hot milk for Daven.
It wasn't very strong or creamy rich, he prefers the one at Bev C in JB, Malaysia.

Our lovely dinner at Kok Sen. It doesn't fail to satisfy our cravings for har cheong kai and feel-good tze char food. Caroline and Sehun were impressed I think. :D We also had the yong tau foo, kai lan with roast pork and big prawn hor fun.

Then we went to Marina Barrage for the views of MBS, which they were excited to stay at. We were glad to hear they received a complimentary upgrade and that room service was more affordable than at Fullerton (which was ridiculously expensive - about $20 for 5 chicken wing mid joints).

On the next day we met them, I asked them to meet at Little India. We shared one famous briyani dish from Dunlop Street - unfortunately the price is getting too high, but that dum briyani though... Better than I remembered. I would go back again, but get it as a takeaway and scoff in down in the comfort of my room.

Then we had some naan at Tekka Market, which wasn't anything to shout about.
Then Daven wanted to have his favourite pig organ soup @ Trywhitt, which Caroline and Sehun thought was not too bad. Of course, Daven likes the soup without any pig organs such as stomach, tripe, intestine, liver, etc.

By chance we passed by Chye Seng Huat Coffee since it was very nearby. It's a chill drinking place at night too. Sehun loves coffee so I was glad he thought it was interesting.

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my wedding dinner at LIBC

5.13.2018 – 1:28 AM

We woke up at 8am so we could have a dip at the pool, breakfast with Caroline & Sehun, have time to pack and check out. We aimed to get to Changi Village to set up for the wedding dinner there by 2pm.

The pool at Fullerton.

The water was warm and there were some sunseekers, although the cloudy sky threatened to rain.

After a delightful chat with my friends over breakfast, we had to check out and make payment for the wedding lunch. It was about $128.88++ per wedding guest with some incidentals.

We went to collect the banana pie and mini chocolate tarts from Dona Manis @ Katong Shopping Centre, then Daven had to do a viewing for my dad's flat while I went to get my stuff with my mom's help. It was super hectic.

Shao kindly helped with my makeup while Yo helped with my hair. Super grateful. She tried on a pink/orange eye shadow which is very unusual for me.

My dad helped with decoration, as did my brother.

With Hidemi and her son.

2nd change was the red dress I got from Robinsons.

The view of the guests from the stage.

The wedding dinner was a casual one for my friends at Little Island Brewing Co, where I used to work. I was a headless chicken as many things were decided on the spot, up to the point I had to disappear for hair and makeup. I am thankful for my friends who decorated the reception table while I was in makeup, and those who help to get things done when I was away.

Some friends I invited didn't come at the last minute, but I heard that this will happen so I wasn't too disappointed. Another factor was that I mostly didn't invite them personally over whatsapp or via snail mail, rather I did my invitations via group chats etc, and I also didn't chase them to respond when they didn't.

My advice to other couples preparing their wedding would be that: 1. such things happen 2. to concentrate on the friends that do come and offer their help.

Also, the event was planned inadequately (my bad), especially with the sparkler part. I didn't think I had to be away with hair and makeup prep for so long, and ended up not knowing who did what and where important things were, so certain sections of the event couldn't be executed properly. But it didn't rain, the guests were well fed at the buffet, they liked the food, our games section was something interesting and I had lots of pictures with my guests (not shown here as I haven't reviewed the photos from the photographer).

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hairdressing and my wedding lunch at Fullerton

5.12.2018 – 12:56 AM

Got my hair styled at Hairloom - lots of hairspray, pins and hot iron curling for almost 1.5 hours.

I didn't give the hairdresser any picture of what I wanted, just told him to do what he thought was best.

He came up with a messy bun, Korean style, because he said messy looks are more youthful and trendy.

My mom wasn't very impressed haha, she said she could have done it herself. It cost $100.

I liked the service at Hairloom, would go back again.

On 12 May, Daven came to pick me up.

My mom and Daven got flowers from GG Wholesale Flowers the day before and I made my own bouquet. Mom and Andrew made the corsages.

Selfies in the wedding car.

Nesh and Lee bringing us to Fullerton.

The bridal suite was so huge! The bed was super comfy.

We had some photography at the suite and the wedding lunch went smoothly thanks to Daven and his brothers' experience and coordination.

The bento of food from the wedding lunch bought up to us after the wedding lunch.

The view from the balcony of the suite.

Daven knocked out from drinking too much at the wedding. We were both tired and wished we had 2 nights to enjoy the suite.

The enormous bathroom with vanity, bathtub, toilet and shower.

One of the chores was to count the angbao money - we entered it into a spreadsheet and went to deposit the money at 11pm.

Pictures of my wedding lunch to follow. I am really glad for Shao and Caroline and my aunties and my brothers assistance. It was a little hectic and there were some hiccups when room keys that didn't work and the venue setup not following our initial discussion with the hotel.

In general, the food wasn't as fantastic as the day we went to go the tasting, as most of it wasn't served piping hot. In particular there was confusion about the bridal and VIP table at the Straits Room, which didn't follow our instructions. Also, when we checked out, the deposit wasn't applied to our bill correctly. There was some miscommunication between us and the hotel which could have been improved, but our stay there in the bridal suite was super worth it.

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maintenance haircut and 2 weddings in 1 day

5.05.2018 – 12:23 AM

I decided to get my hair trimmed.

The refreshments served at Project Hair & Nails @ Katong. Classy. The hairwash was quite rough though.

I asked the hairdresser to design a fringe for me and he chopped it off at my chin length. I was quite surprised when he did it but his styling advice for it was good so I was satisfied. The place is quite affordable and fuss-free, with good service.