In the blink of an eye... OWLoon and I are now officially MARRIED both legally and customary! The bride's side dinner happened on November 29, 2009 at Oriental Pavilion... Since we took so much time and effort in planning for this... I shall blog about the entire journey in several posts... starting with the attendees / guests...

Bout a week ago (prior to my wedding dinner), my colleague had her wedding dinner at Oriental Pavilion too... Throughout the entire wedding planning process, we often swapped notes... and so I listened to her experience at Oriental Pavilion carefully hoping to get a tip or two... But to my horror, the biggest issue she encountered was about absenteeism... like how guests would SMS her on the day of the wedding dinner with excuses that they are sick, their other half's sick, or their kids are sick etc etc even after they have RSVP-ed to confirm their attendance... In the end, she had to close 2 tables... and her advise to me was to off my phone on the day so that I can remain cool, calm and collected...

Since we are colleagues, we bound to have similar invite list when it comes to colleagues, so I took her experience seriously... Out of the 30 tables planned, I have 8 tables for my friends and colleagues where RSVPs were collected before hand, seats carefully arranged and physical invites sent out at least 2 weeks before... As a final touch, on the day before the wedding dinner, I SMS-ed each and every of my invitees reminding them that the dinner's on Sunday... I was still feeling pretty anxious even after sending out the reminders... until I received an SMS from a dear friend who told me this: "Relax and enjoy the moment... your family and real friends will be there to celebrate and share your first meal as Mr. and Mrs. Ong. Fark the rest... Till today, I still remember every minute of my wedding day..."

And so I told myself to be cool and just go with the flow... Am happy to say that, nearly all my invitees turned up and I also managed to find replacements for the few who had to travel overseas or couldn't make it back in time... Here's a pict of my fellow colleagues during the MASSIVE "yamseng" session... :-)

Thank you for making the night even more special and memorable with your presence... thank you all!!

Tomorrow's the wedding dinner in KL and yet, we've only managed to finalize the bunting design yesterday. Printing was done this morning... (talk about being last minute)...

For this, OWLoon nagged and nagged and nagged me till my ears bled... cos' I was supposed to get it done. But after several attempts by friend's designer, I gave up and thought we could make do without buntings...

Mana tau, OWLoon said the hall is super huge in KS and that the stage too is extremely big hence needed buntings... So last night, we emailed each other back and forth on the bunting designs and finally settled for this.

I would've wanted our names to be bigger but it was already in the process of being printed when I saw it... But it's OK la... small matter - must keep reminding myself not to stress over small matters.

Just the other day... November 21, 2009 to be exact, it was our "Guo Dai Lei" day ala Betrothal / Hantaran day equivalent... The time given to us was anytime between 11am till 1pm... and needless to say, OWLoon came closer to 1pm instead of 11am (he's forever LATE!)... but luckily still within the auspicious timing at 12.45pm... The main HERO of the day was of course the roasted pig brought by the groom's side... see him here in his full glory!

Apart from the roasted pig, the groom's side also came with baskets and baskets of other goodies... among which included 2 bottles of hard liquor... boxes and boxes of wedding biscuits, double happiness candles, "ling zhi bai he" and red dates, fruits... and most importantly... a red box containing my dowry... kekeke...

While the groom's side brought baskets and baskets of goodies... the bride's side too must reciprocate... and the act of reciprocating is called "wui lei"... where the 2 bottles of hard liquors were replaced with 2 bottles of orange juice... As for the rest of the goodies like "ling zhi bai he" and red dates... wedding biscuits... double happiness candles... and fruits, the bride's side is supposed to take what is required and return the balance to the groom's side... On top of that... the bride's side also gave out a box containing 2 bowls, 2 saucers, 2 spoons and 2 pairs of chopsticks... and oh... charcoal...

Same goes to Mr. Porky Pork... the bride's side will take what is required... and then replace the dowry in the dowry box with a pair of long trousers for the groom... Wrap it as part of the pig... and walla... Mr. Porky Pork looks complete again!

It was indeed a joyous occasion and both parties have started calling one another "chin keh" in Hokkien which meant in laws... :-)

Next task... bed setting ceremony at the bridal room several days before the Actual Day... :-)

This entire year and the year before this... I've been saving my precious annual leave... Brought forward 8 days (the max allowed is 10 yearly) from 2008 into 2009. This year, I've only taken 8 days and most of them were for marriage related tasks...

So... I now have 3 days of marriage leave... and 20 days of annual leave... After minusing the various upcoming Public Holidays (27-Nov) Hari Raya Haji (18-Dec) Awal Muharam (25-Dec) Christmas (01-Jan) New Year... I can theoretically have the entire month of December off...

But should I?

• On one hand... the reason why I wanted to do so is to spend quality time with OWLoon in Kuala Selangor (in our beautifully renovated place). Since our place in KL will only be ready end of Q1 or early Q2 next year... there won't be opportunities like this (well at least not till the place in KL is ready). Also cos' we're planning to go for honeymoon (but have yet to decide where...).
• On the other hand... I do have work commitments... should I be so irresponsible to just run off after my marriage? Though bosses were understanding... should I abuse the flexibility and dump my work on other colleagues?
• But but, this IS my entitlement right??? Afterall I did stay at work when others went on their holidays throughout the year...
• Then again... shouldn't I be responsible and thus be moderate in my leave applications?
• But then again... shouldn't I play a part in being a responsible wife?

Aiyor... so how??? Should I or should I not take the entire month off?

Off late... I've been having one too many snack plates from KFC... I love their tender and juicy chicken (not just any part but specifically the thigh part) and their oh so yummy crispy and crunchy original skin!!!

It's 11ish now and here I am... contemplating if I should have a take away meal from their drive thru. Why oh why don't they have delivery service???!!!

-- Posted from my iPhone 3GS

And finally, the beach shoot... the one that made us chose Sepang Gold Coast... Of the many shots that we took, I like the walking by the beach shots the most... even my parents said they were very natural...

Now this rock series were one of the toughest to shoot cos' nearly each rock has a series of clam shells sticking out... and they were SUPER SHARP...!!!

When it was sunset time, we were told to go onto a specific position... and that meant climbing through a series of unsteady rock and again stepping on SUPER SHARP shells... While we look super lovey dovey... in actual fact, we were sreaming "OUCH, OUCH, OUCH!!!" in our heads... hehehe...

When the sun has finally set... the sky has a tinge of purple... pretty lovely...

And that concluded our photoshoot... which ended bout 7.30pm... The following day, I had high fever for several days... cos' imagine moving from indoor (air-cond) to outdoor (hot sun) to the beach (windy)... with those extreme temperature... am glad we managed to complete the shoot! :-)

All in all, was very happy and satisfied with the experience...

After close to a 2-hour drive... we finally reached Sepang Gold Coast... Btw... OWLoon drove and the photographer was accompanied by a younger male assistant... To shoot here, we had to pay an additional fee of RM388 for the permission to use this hotel's compound (can't remember the hotel's name)... but it was OK cos' it has lush greenery... and we got back a RM50 voucher to dine at their restaurants...

It was here too that we told the photographer that he can tell us what to do... cos' we were already rather tired from the long drive and the humid weather made it quite uncomfortable for us...

Not sure if our photographer ran out of ideas / poses but he told us to sit on the grass and even LIE on them... but for some reasons... we didn't chose the lying down ones... so here are the seated ones... I kinda dislike the "act-cute" pose that he directed us to do... but OWLoon said it'll be cute... so we went ahead with it... I thought I look weird in that "lala" look... hehehe...

After finishing the garden shoot, we proceeded with the beach shoot... which was done in perfect timing cos' the sun was about to set di... (Now we know why we were rushed through our earlier studio shoots)...

To be continued...

Here, we were in our traditional attires... which was pretty fun... But the poses below were all taught by the photographer cos by now, we were both pretty tired... and have zero poses left...

After that, we were hurriedly ushered for the final change of outfit, make ups and hairdo. Later on we found out that we had to rush to Sepang Gold Coast as sun sets earlier there... By 4-ish, we've finished all the studio shoots...

To be continued...

Here I suddenly have long hair... fake one la... hehehe... and the shots were taken in the first room we used earlier but this time, the background was red... It was kinda uncomfortable to be wear fake wigs... like so "geli" like that...

Thereafter, we were ushered to the window area downstairs... this time at the back of the outlet... The window shots were pretty funny... we were supposed to close it first then push out and smile! The first attempt has OWLoon making a loud BANG!!! He apparently pushed too hard... hahahaha...

Then, we went out for our 2nd outdoor shoot at the side of the outlet where we have a cute red scooter as our prop... There were photos of OWLoon on the driver seat but our photographer said they weren't very natural, hence we selected photos with me on the driver seat instead and OWLoon clinging on... kekeke...

And that was it... time for the 3rd change...

To be continued...

As you can see, we have both changed our looks from the outfit to the make up to the hairdo... This series of photos were done at the stairs which was pretty scary for me cos' I was on heels and the gown I was wearing has a loooooong trail that I kept stepping on...

Nevertheless, the expressions that our photographer wanted to achieve here was somewhat the "model-ish" look... But it was here that OWLoon grumbled and mumbled about how he was made to be my "background"... hahaha...

Then we went back upstairs where there was this set of props... a mirror, a table with candlelights and a chair... against a nice wallpapered background... Personally, I thought this look made me look fat-face...

And that was it! Time for another round of change...

To be continued...

We've finally gotten all the albums and the softcopies of our photos yesterday... Thought it'd be memorable to capture down the details of our pre-wedding shoot at Bridal Concept's studio as well as Sepang Gold Coast on Sep 15, 2009 so here goes...

We started off with an indoor studio shoot upstairs at approximately 10am... in a room with minimal props but with a large backdrop where the background colour can be changed... and here were the outcomes...

Thereafter, we proceeded with the shoot outside the said-room where the wall was nicely decorated with wallpapers... the heart-shape glow seen in the photos were purely the lighting effect... which I thought was pretty cool...

Then we proceeded downstairs where there were more props... somewhat "European" style... I personally like this series a lot but we didn't take too many shots... It was here that our photographer taught us the "stare-into-nothingness-gaze"... which basically mean that both OWLoon and I should look for a similar point to stare into and focus on it... in this case... some rooftop from the opposite building...

Thereafter, it was time to go outdoor. Not to Sepang yet, but to the Bridal Concept's compound. It was ~ noon time when we took these shots and boy... OWLoon and I perspired like mad...

After that, we were ushered back to the make up room for a change of outfit, make up and hairdo...

To be continued...

When we first started the Bridal Room project, we said we'd do the bare minimal since our place in KL will be ready next year... likely in March... And believe me, we really did... At every opportunity, we tried to save money... like the bed for instance... instead of a King-sized bed, we went for a Queen-sized one, went for clearance and warehouse sale to get discounted items, buy direct from factories etc etc. But guess what, try as we might... we've still spent over 10K... So the next time if you hear others grumbling that our money is worth so much lesser these days than before, IT'S TRUE!!! No wonder they have movies called "Money Not Enough" part 1 and 2!!!

YTD Total Spent: RM 12,085.80

The breakdown of the cost spent to renovate the bridal room and the adjoining bathroom is as follows:

Bed Set
RM 01,280.00 Bed with Headboard
RM 01,680.00 Silent Night Posture Firm Mattress
RM 00,540.00 Bedside Table x 2
RM 00,800.00 Dressing Table / Console
RM 00,189.00 Aussino Mattress & Pillow Protector (Sale)
RM 00,079.90 Gingko Pillow x 2 (Warehouse Sale)

Electrical
RM 00,305.00 Baby Fan with Lights (Clearance Sale)
RM 00,159.90 Table Lamps x 2 (Clearance Sale)
RM 00,331.00 Sockets x 2 and Switches x 4

Extras
RM 00,479.00 Macy French Pleat Curtains
RM 00,024.00 Curtains Track & Hooks
RM 00,000.00 Carpet (Wedding Gift)
RM 00,330.00 Full Length Mirror

Paint Works
RM 03,500.00 Paint and Paint Works

Air-Cond
RM 01,100.00 Air-Cond Move & Re-wiring

Bathroom
RM 00,135.00 Floor Tiles (Direct from Factory)
RM 00,550.00 Toilet Bowl (Direct from Factory)
RM 00,200.00 Sink (Direct from Factory)
RM 00,135.00 Tap Heads
RM 00,180.00 Hose & Workmanship
RM 00,088.00 Mirror & Brush Holder

Wardrobe
RM 00,000.00 Wardrobe & Box Up (Wedding Gift)

Have yet to receive the bill from the wiring man yet for concealing all the wires in the house, installing our lights and changing all the switches casing and socket. Estimated cost about RM 01,00.00.

Then again, no complains... I love our Bridal Room and I think it's PRICELESS!!!

Ohhh... am so so so so happy!!! Last night, before I went to bed, OWLoon called and asked me how to insert the hooks into our french pleat curtains... After telling him, I went to ZZZzzz... And surprise, surprise... this morning when I got up, there were 10 messages on my phone and they were all photos of our Bridal Room in KS from OWLoon!!!

OWLoon and I had so many "syiok sendiri" moments throughout the progress of renovating our Bridal Room and the attached bathroom...

• Like how when the baby fan with lights were first installed, we sat and marvelled at it...
• Or when the entire house is fully painted... we sat down and did nothing but look at the walls...
• Then when the wardrobe was fully installed, we inspected it carefully...
• When the furniture came, we contentedly stare at them...
• When we got a carpet as our wedding gift, we placed in under the bed and took many shots of it...
• When the full length mirror was installed, we marvel at our reflections in the mornings...
• Or like when the toilet was ready, we took turns using it then compare notes... hahaha...

Must credit OWLoon for he footed the bill... engaged the painters, the air-cond men and the wiring men... actively participated in cleaning the house... responsible for hanging all the curtains in the house... patiently shop for furniture with me... and even visited factories for the toilet seat and sink... thank you lou kung!!! Hehehehe...

Thus, am happy to say that the Bridal Room is now READY with all things NEW... for the custom on Dec 03, 2009 called "On Chong" where my parents will put on the bedding set, insert moolah in our wardrobe and decorate the entire room with Double Happiness symbols...

Yippieeeeeeeeeeeee.... life is beautiful!!!

It's less than a month away from the wedding dinner on Nov 29... Thought it'd be memorable to capture my feelings at this juncture...

Previously, prior to our RoM earlier this year... I felt excited and nervous at the same time... Excited cos' we're finally tying the knot after 12 years of courtship (come to think of it, the blings play an important part too... haha). And nervous cos' we are legalizing our marriage which IS afterall a big commitment... for both husband and wife...

But surprisingly, after RoM... I still feel pretty 'single'... as in... I don't have the urge to suddenly call OWLoon's parents what I call my parents... Or like when OWLoon is brought up during conversations at times, I have this internal struggle of whether to address him as 'my husband' or 'my boyfriend'...

The reasons are simple... To me, we are only officially married once we go through the full Chinese customs of 'Guo Dai Lei'... prayers to ancentors... tea ceremony... and of course the banquet dinner...

Call me old fashion or whatever... but these customs are truly important to me... Hence... with less than a month away from the above-mentioned... I found myself 100x more nervous... and possibly 1,000x more stressed out...

I've been having sleepless nights for over a month now... and thus... am perpetually tired...

The near-porcelain skin I had during my pre-wedding shoot is now breaking out with loads of tiny little pimples on my forehead! I feel like I suddenly have more wrinkles too...

At times... I have no appetite to eat and could go on living on 1 meal a day... But at other times, I eat like I've not eaten in dayssssssss... Hence my weight fluctuates...

I get irritated and upset very quickly... and often "hide" my inner feelings... but because of this... I find myself with the sudden urge to cry for no apparent reasons...

I procrastinate when it comes to my wedding plans. I used to think that wedding planning's 'sup sup sui' given that I've single-handedly planned and implemented projects of way bigger magnitude! But what I didn't know was that... when it comes to things that matters to you most... it's a different ball game altogether cos' you'll just be too sucked in... and are overly emo about it...

To cut the long story short... am pretty stressed out...

-- Posted from my iPhone 3GS

Bout 2 months back... I went to get a manicure and pedicure done so that my nails would look pretty in the pre-wedding photos... but hmmm... after our photos selection session... realized that my nails are not visible at all from ALL the shots taken!!! Hence, the RM300++ spent was as good as down the drain... (thank god it was OWLoon's treat)... hehehehe...

So 1 1/2 months later... I found myself with EXTREMELY long nails... like olden days Chinese vampire!!! So today... while the rest of my colleagues went for the Curtains Unveiling of the largest fashion event in Pavilion, I happily excused myself and visited a nail parlour...

No... not to get another mani and pedi but to REMOVE the previous one. The one I did was 3D with flowers and diamante sticking out... hence no matter how I try to remove them on my own... I couldn't... hence the super long nails...

The entire process took over an hour... and cost RM10 per finger... i.e. RM100... I only have 10 fingers ma... Now... I have semi-damaged nail plates... See la... all for NOTHING!!! Come to think of it... women do tend to have dumb blonde moments when it comes to shopping, vanity and love... don't you think?

Sigh... but am glad to have my naked nails back... :-)

This is the first time OWLoon and I are involved in a renovation project together and the said project involves our Bridal Room in Kuala Selangor (given that our place in KL is not ready yet).

It all started with a sketch after a round of measurements taking:

Followed by further illustrations with colours as we needed to decide on paint colours and furniture colours.

Then the following renovation works began:

Wiring

• New plug points and socket / casing change
• Conceal all wires into wall
• Remove previous ceiling fan and fluoroscent light
• Replace with new baby fan with lights

Air Cond Move

• We also had to move the air cond to make way for the built up wardrobe
• That involves another round of drilling to hide the hose of the air cond

Carpentry Works

• Wood panels as a frame for the built up wardrobe
• Additional wood panel below the window so that the bed headboard is not directly below the portruding window frame

Painting Works

• New paint for the bridal room as well as the entire house

Installation of Wardrobe

• Then the guys delivered the custom made wardrobe and installed it on the spot

And walla, the room renovation was completed...

And yesterday, the furniture was delivered...

What's left now is the beautification of the room...

>> Curtains

>> Table Lamps

>> Floor Mat

>> Laundry Basket

>> Runners

>> Hangers

>> Full Length Mirror

Life is beautiful... but guess what... the above alone was already above RM10K... which was OWLoon's initial budget... Honestly, we're hopeless when it comes to sticking to budget...