My Life

We finally took our keys on 5th Nov. It was long long wait since we applied our house in 2013. Initially, I didn't want to apply house with him because I was only a year in my job. I didn't have any money then and how was I supposed to afford a $300,000 flat? But anyway, Xiong was enthusiastic ( I knew he would marry me) and so we went ahead.

On the 5th Nov, Xiong and I woke up to an early morning. Our appointment was 8.15am and it was raining. I couldn't laze on my bed any longer or otherwise we would be late for the appointment. Xiong drove to Toa Payoh Hub and parked his car at the basement.

Before going to the queue, we had to make a payment for fire insurance. It is kinda like an insurance to protect our walls in case of fire. After that, we had to queue to take our keys.

It was about 45 minutes discussion at the HDB. Our CPF were totally wiped out and we still had about $200k to pay off. We took a loan of 20 years, hoping to pay off as soon as we can so that we wouldn't have to pay so much for the interest. We had agreement in mind so we didn't take a full day to think about the loan. After taking the keys, we didn't go to open our new house. We had a stay cation at M Social and were only allowed to open our new house on 9th Nov.

开门大吉

Before opening, we went to seek advice on what to do and how to pray. We were advised to buy Huat Kueh, 5 oranges, 进盒， joss stick and some kim zua.

We placed the items on the floor with red disposable plate. While praying, we have to say all the goods words, like informing the god whose this house belong to, pray for abundance joy and good health etc. We prayed to the 4 corners as well as mentioned by Xiong and my aunty. While waiting for the joss stick to burn to near half, we were mingling with the electricity and water point where we couldn't switch them on earlier. We tried to switch them on with the allan key provided by the HDB but we couldn't to. Luckily, his brother who was staying nearby came to see us and helped us with the allan key. He managed to turn on the water supply! All the switches were working well and good. After 30 minutes, Xiong brought the joss stick and kim zua to the burning urn at the void deck.

I was happily snapping photo of our new house:

Our kitchen

Kitchen wall

One of our room

And... toilet

I am supposed to put the oranges and huat kueh on the highest point in my house. The highest point I have at home is our toilet bowls. My dad saw and and he was like wtf when i showed him this photo.

Before leaving the house, we scattered salt and rice on the floor . Not sure what it means but i believe it meant good.

Alright, that's be all for today. Will keep us updated on the our renovation progress soon!

Getting keys and new house opening

by Elvina on 10:23 PM

We finally took our keys on 5th Nov. It was long long wait since we applied our house in 2013. Initially, I didn't want to apply house w...

Since the start of my new job, I have been blogging lesser and lesser. After ending a day work, I would go home to have my dinner, surf the net before getting some rest.

There are so many things I wanted to blog about but I always ended up procrastinating it.

For today, I am going to blog about my friend !!

She is my ex-colleague actually but we are still keeping in good contact. When I was in Eurustech, I knew that she she was learning make up from JB and she traveled every weekend to learn. She has an amazing husband who supports her all the way to drive her into JB. Sweet isn't it?

After a good 2 years, she was going to grad and she needed to look for a model. I was so honored that I was on her list :D I agreed to it immediately and I was her last model for her exam.

On that Saturday, she picked me up from my house in the late morning and his husband drove us into JB. There was a short jam at the custom and we reached there at about 1pm + . We grabbed some bread before going to the studio.

I sat there comfortably while she was unpacking her make up items. There were lots of foundation, brushes, eyeshows etc. She was definitely nervous as it was her last leap of all the lessons and hard work she puts in.

I was so regretful that I didn't take a photo of myself before and after. By the time I took this photo, Vivian was already in the midst (or almost done) with the make up.

My face was definitely slapped with all the good and expensive products. And all of those were newly purchased! Can you imagine I am the first person she used those products on? 100% honored!

She is thinking what design to do on my hair. This is perhaps the last thing she wants to see on this post. And me? Busy snapping photos everywhere hahaha!

Dividing my hair to prepare for the design.

After doing much research, she decided to braid my hair.

The design is showing~ Look at all the braids!

It wouldn't take long for her to finish the hair-do. And the final look:

Not sure why my Iphone quality is so bad.

Looking at the side of my hair

My hair isn't very long that time so I think there is limit to what she is able to do.

And to the make up artist, thanks for making me so pretty on that day. You definitely has the skills!

I was taking a number of selfies before we left the studio.

Obviously, I was trying to act cute.

Alright, enough of my photos. We left the studio at about 5 plus. Vivian got her cert and I could say that she is now a certificate MUA. I had wanted to engage her for my ROM but Whitelink allows me to use the trial make up for my ROM. I might look for her again to do make up for my traditional wedding in 1 - 2 years time.

We had dinner at the nearby Aeon shopping mall before we head home. The jam wasn't that bad as we were at custom for about 1 hour (If i didn't remember wrongly). And home sweet home

Signing off here~~

A date with Vivian to JB

by Elvina on 8:41 PM

Since the start of my new job, I have been blogging lesser and lesser. After ending a day work, I would go home to have my dinner, surf the ...

Hi all, back to my blogging habits. I have been blogging on my ROM recently. Though my status has changed to Mrs, but things largely remains the same. I am still calling his parents "aunty" and "uncle" as we had not gone through the traditional wedding. At home, he calls my dad "uncle" too. Besides submitting my marriage cert to company and owning the house together, I am still me.

In case you are wondering why we had decided to change from a banquet wedding dinner to Solmnisation dinner and what did M Hotel had done to accommodate our request, you read more details here.

Checking -in

We held our Solemnization on 16 September 2016, Friday. As September is a 'hot' month for wedding dinner, we were informed by our then coordinator, Fiona, that weekends were fully-booked and had to look into the weekday. We decided 16 September because not only was it within my mum's 100th day, the date and year were both 1616 (Kinda easy to remember?).

On that day, we went to Bedok Central to collect my hand bouquet, bought some flowers for my reception and had a simple lunch. After all was done, we drove to M Hotel since it was about 20 minutes to 2pm. At 2pm, we reached the hotel, carrying our luggage, gowns, hand bouquet and flowers to the reception. Once we reached the lobby, I called our new Coordinator, Anna (Fiona quit her job just weeks before our ROM and that was when we knew that she is no longer with M Hotel). to inform her so that she can help us with the express check in. As she didn't pick up the phone, we thought that she was be busy and she would get back to us later, However, after waiting for about 5-10 minutes, there was still no calls or reply from her, Xiong decided that we try to check in ourselves since we were holding our event there.

At the reception counter

With the hand bouquet on my hand, we walked over to the counter and asked for a room. We knew that we were entitled to a room as it was written on the contract. The counter staff looked at us with a blur face and ask: Room? My hubby was very kind to inform that we were having our Solemnisation that night and there should be a room for us. Apparently, the counter girl was unaware of it and she went into the control room to check with someone.

After sometime, a man came out and ask: Mr Lim? My love is a Lim so of course he said yes. So the guy came, helped us with our stuffs and said: Mr Lim, please follow me. I though that we were able to settle down after waiting for so long. The guy brought us to level 28 for express check in and another 2 staffs usher us to the room. When the staffs opened the door, me and Xiong were like raising our eyebrows: Are you sure that you had given us the correct room? For a while, I thought we had a free upgrade to bridal suite.

We lay our things down as we were getting tired from those load. The guy gave Love a A4 size paper and said: Mr Lim, please sign here.

The paper turned out to be some other Lim and not Lim Wei Xiong.

"Er, this is not my name".

The guy's face was like a million shock. "You are Mr Lim right?"

"Yes, I am Mr Lim but not this Lim, we are only entitled to a Premier room actually."

My 'Mr Lim' is an honest guy and so, we carried all the things (with the help of the staff of cause) down to level 28 again and waited. The guy was so sorry and he felt embarrassed about the whole incident. Finally, we had our room and it was almost 3pm. Anna had finally responded to me by then and I was so upset with all the hiccups. What made the matter worst was that our room was not decorated as promised upon check in. We should be given a champagne, fruit basket, pralines and bridal room decoration (i am guessing some rose petal scattered on the bed and perhaps bathtub filled with water and rose petals, etc) but all were not seen at all. I requested Anna to come down to our room and discussed on all these issues. After a while, a staff, strolled in with the fruit basket, champagne, pralines and placed them on the table in the midst of our discussion (but the bridal room decoration was not done and i suppose it's too late to be done).

Aren't these items supposed to be prepared beforehand?

After our complaint was made, the duty manager, Andy, accompany by 1 of the staff who brought us to the wrong room, came to our room to offer their apologies and also offer us 1 bottle of red and white wine each. Though Love and I didn't have the time to enjoy those alcohol, we acknowledged that they had made an effort to do fast customer recovery action. At 3.30pm, my MUA came. She had mistaken the time and came in 1 hour earlier. For once, I thought what was truly happening on that day.

I had a quick bath, dried and hair and began with the make up. After about 2 hours, I am finally done with the makeup and hair-do. Now I really felt like a bride.

Credits to Wei Teck

All these were not over until love was completed with his hair-do. My friend, aka the photographer and his assistance (aka our friend too) took those decoration down to level 2 to assist us in laying out the stuffs. We were given the Anson Room at level 2 instead of the Sheraton room at B1 since there was no event going on at night.

Our ROM table

Reception area

Canapes but Xiong and I didn't have any of it.

Vows and ring pillow - Credit to Ah Teck

It wouldn't take long to decorate since we had friends to help out. We completed our decorations just in time as our guests made their way to the reception.

Since it was a Friday night, many of them came from work while some of our relatives took a day off. Our Justice of Peace, Mr Alex Tan, came early at around 7.15pm though there was a heavy traffic from his location to M Hotel. We waited till 7.30pm as a few of my relatives were late due to bad traffic. Mr Tan is very patient who wouldn't mind waiting a while for my relatives and also, he is punctual. *Thumbs up! He is one of the popular JP and we were glad that he was available on that day. His speech is serious yet funny at times. He would ask if we have preference to hold our ROM in English or Mandarin. But we requested for both and he was able to accommodate with it.

It was both a significant and genuine moment for both of us, like literally, I am 'upgraded' to be someone's wife. That moment of upgrade felt like a new beginning and marked the end of single-hood.

Big room with not much decorations. Credits to my relative

The banquet manager was Ken. He is a great guy! He was able to give us free flow of beer, wine and even to throw in a champagne for us! The food portion was huge and delicious. My relatives commented that our ROM was done up nicely and they were impressed. They got us 4 servers, with each of them portioning the food individually to guests though we did not specifically request for it. All of us enjoyed a lot.

Our JP, Alex Tan Yan Boon. Glad that he was able to oversee our Solemnization.

My Family- Credits to Wei Teck

His family- Credits to Wei Teck

The dinner ended at around 11pm, leaving us tired and worn out. Though the morning was unfortunate, but everything ended well at night.

Solemnization at M Hotel

by Elvina on 11:07 PM

Hi all, back to my blogging habits. I have been blogging on my ROM recently. Though my status has changed to Mrs, but things largely remains...

Let's talk about our ROM decorations. As our's was a Solemnisation event, M Hotel didn't prepare much decoration for us. Beside the centerpiece for the ROM table and sash for each chair, the ballroom was completely bare. And so was our reception area.

So I decided to decor the reception on our own.

I wanted those kind of like romantic settings, like flowers, photos, lights etc. I looked to Pinterest to find my inspiration and I saw a few pretty good ones but just felt that those decorations were hard to find, Ultimately, most of the photos were uploaded from overseas. What they might have would cost a bomb in Singapore. Locally here, our choices are also limited. You would either end up in Paper Market, Typo or Ikea, trying to find nice decorations. At the end of the day, they all sell similar stuffs and there wasn't any special embellishment.

Taobao is my next source of idea.

Thanks to my ex-colleague, Vivian who taught me how to use Taobao, I became one of their fan and bought clothes more than I could wear them. I sourced a few items from there: Vase, photo-frame, love bird decoration and ring holder. Let's see ...

Our ROM was held at Anson Room 3.

Overall decoration

For all these items, It cost me a total of less than SGD50!

Duel use, Blank and white board. RMB16.80 = SGD3.44. It comes with whiteboard marker, chalk as well as the stand.

The white roses was borrowed from my friend. So they are free! The Polaroid camera was given to me by my love. And those bling factor, was my art work haha. Saw the 2 love birds behind? They cost RMB31.10 = SGD3.36 for 2.

The love birds basically look like this:

Credits to Taobao

Moving on to the next,

Photo-frame!

A college photo-frame would cost RMB24.77 = SGD5.06. I believe it cost twice the price in Ikea.

And the vase? They cost RMB40 = SGD8.18. I bought the flowers on the day at Bedok Central before check in. The lilies, orange roses and baby breath were real. Petal came in small packet at SGD1 each. They cost me SGD20 in total.

In total, they cost a mere SGD20++, not including the shipping cost. I bought most of the items from this seller. They sell really cute and unique decorations at an affordable price. You can find designs which you not get to see in Singapore, or even if you do, they would cost like twice the price locally.

Last but not least, doing up our very own "Mr and Mrs" Tag.

For this paper tag, I did mine less than 2 hours, hand drawn, cut and glued. I got this inspiration from Pinterest as well. With a ribbon, I punched some hole on the letter and bind them together.

Credits to our photographer, Wei Teck

I should have used some plain dark colour instead of using the polka dots paper. It made the words so unreadable.

Credits to our photographer, Wei Teck.

And yes, not forgetting the feather pen. We borrowed the feather pen from Xiong's sister-in-law. Her feather did make the whole picture complete.

Credits to our photographer, Wei Teck

You saw the feather pen? She bought it from Taobao too but I'm not sure which seller she bought from.

And I had finished the introduction of all these decors. Signing off here~~

ROM Reception Decorations

by Elvina on 8:37 PM

Let's talk about our ROM decorations. As our's was a Solemnisation event, M Hotel didn't prepare much decoration for us. Beside ...

Hi guys, I am back! My blog hasn't died yet. I have been disappearing time to time as we were busy planning for our Solemnisation, reading emails and following up with our coordinator closely as we were getting close to our big day.

Just a few days before our ROM, I was scrolling through Beauty Undercover , looking for a recommended salon to dye my hair. As a budget person myself, I looked through the list of salons which were having promotions and comparing the price they offered. After looking at some reviews and photos, I decided to make an appointment with J7 Image. The very next day, I message them through FB messenger to make the appointment. It was totally fuss free and their response was prompt.

We arrived at J7 at around 12pm and one of the staff attended to us. She ushered us to the seats and asked if we wanted any water. After a while, the hair stylist, Sherlin came to attend me and asked if what I would like to do. As my ROM is near, I need a good dye and simple hair trimming. She recommended me a rather dark ash green since it would be a 'safe' colour.

J7 - Neat and bright layout. They are located at level 5.

Without further ado, she went to the back to mix the dye.

My hair was dry after few rounds of dye and bleach. The colour totally faded off and it feels heavy.

I was wondering how it would look like after the dye as I was afraid the colour wouldn't look good on me. But still, I trust the reviews as it was well recommended on the website.

And the dye process began.

Before the dye began, I remember her saying about the Olaplex treatment and how it wouldn't hurt my hair, but anyway, I went along with it, burning another $30 in my pocket to feel 'good'.

I sat there for like 30 minutes, with some kind of machine emitting heat around my hair. :| Not sure what was that.

With that machine, it definitely quickened the process of dying.

The massage was good and comfortable that I almost fell asleep.

After blowing my hair dry, I could see that my hair is regaining the healthy and shiny look.

Can't see the ash green from the photo but at least I don't look like an ah lian.

When my hair is completely dry, Sherlin went on to advise how she would be trimming my hair. As I told her that my hair is rather flat and heavy, she recommended me layering the inner layers of my hair etc. As I was no expert in this area, I let her do what it deems fits.

And overall, I am a happy and satisfied customer.

And you see the difference?!

Ok, I should show the front look. Can you see any green tint at the end of my hair?

My love also did his haircut there. As his makeover wasn't as extreme, I shall not post his photos here :X

Overall, the total cost of haircut cost around $230. Also, they are not pushy in telling you to buy their shampoo or doing extra hair treatment.

J7Image Hair Salon14 Scotts Road, #05-32/33, Far East PlazaSingapore 228213Tel: 67355195

J7 Image Hair Salon [Short Post]

by Elvina on 9:33 PM

Hi guys, I am back! My blog hasn't died yet. I have been disappearing time to time as we were busy planning for our Solemnisation, readi...

By now, I believe everyone would know that Love and I are calling off the wedding next year. It's not because of any third party or we had any disagreement, it is because of my family situation.

There are lots of complications going on like settling my mum burial matters, finding a suitable date within the 100 days of my mum's death, searching for a suitable JP who is available for our ROM, informing M Hotel that we are not able to proceed our wedding next year, informing our bridal studio to call off the gown trying session etc.

Calling off our wedding ... ...

It definitely doesn't feel right to go through the traditional wedding as we all know in Chinese custom, it would not be good for new couples. However, we still have to go through the Solemnization as our house would be ready next month. After settling my mum's funeral and other miscellaneous stuffs, we finally had the time to contact our coordinator, Fiona, to inform her of our situation.

Previously, we paid the deposit of $5,000 to secure the date and banquet for next year but now, we won't be holding our wedding anymore. We called to check with Fiona if anything could be done to help us as $5,000 is not a small sum. Initially, we were hoping that M Hotel would be able to do a full refund so that we can use the money to hold a small family event somewhere else in another restaurant. But hotels are not charity, they run a business based on profit and returns. Since we redraw the wedding 6 months before our big day, M Hotel is only able to refund half the amount, which is a mere $2,500. All these were written in the contract before we signed. therefore there is no way we can argue and win this case even if we take this to court. Love and I were left with 2 choices:

1) To take back our $2,500 and hold our solemnization somewhere else or

2) To hold our ROM in M Hotel and maximizes our deposit.

Logically, we seems rightful to go for the second choice. After we informed Fiona of our decision, she sent a list of ROM package for our reference. For the solemnization, we can choose buffet or seat-down style, with minimum number of people or tables. We do have a 1 night stay at a deluxe room (not bridal room), free flow of tea and soft drinks and the whole of reception area. Wine and beer are charged separately but there is a waiver of corkage fee. All these are decent enough as at the end of the day, we do not hold much bargaining power.

Fiona gave us a function room at B1, which can easily hold 4-5 tables. 1 table is estimated to be $950 ++. We are able to almost maximize our deposit, perhaps adding a few bottles of wine and canapes would hit $5.000. Carpark coupons were given based on the number of guests attending. Not sure if there would be door gift but we might be asking for it.

To us, to hold a ROM with $5,000 is way too expensive. Not at least to the people whom i know unless left with no choice.

Alright, signing off here, will provide more update on our solemnization soon.

Cancelling our wedding at M Hotel

by Elvina on 11:06 PM

By now, I believe everyone would know that Love and I are calling off the wedding next year. It's not because of any third party or we h...

About a few weeks back, I turned 27. 3 more years and I will hit 30s. As I grow older, my social circle streamlined. My friends and I met lesser and lesser but whenever we meet, we would have endless topics to talk about and time wasn't enough. Topics would evolve from gossiping other classmates in school to discussing about marriage and HDB. Our priorities change as we grow. During weekends, I would most probably spend time with my family and playing with my niece.

On my birthday, I took half day off to enjoy my worth. Work is endless and emails flows to my mailbox like water every seconds. At the end of the day, work is just work. "You never know when company stops loving you". And at noon, love picked me up from office to have brunch at The Reading Room. The Reading Room seems like a perfect place to wind down. It is located at Bukit Pusoh Road,a proximate distance to Outram Park. We chose that place because it has good reviews on the cosy ambiance.

The Reading Room

It is a bit hard to locate The Reading Room as the entrance is just so small and so was the board. Didn't notice the board until I exited.

A homely settings with laid back sofa, surrounded with books one arm away.

The cafe was relatively small and I would estimate that it would hold no more than 70 people. Though it was small, they serve quite a variety of western foods and wine. I ordered a teriyaki chicken and Love ordered a Lobster pasta. The fried portobello was really good and I would love to order it again if i'm back there.

I had never before surround myself with books as I am not the type of person who is into reading. During my secondary days, I read Chinese novel.. Erm, you know whose type with a picture of a pretty lady face on the book cover and one book cost like a $3-$5 in popular? Honestly speaking, those are romantic novel but some would of course contain explicit content. But apart from that, I do occasionally read decent English storybooks which are seriously famous like Dan Brown, or Harry Potter? That was perhaps the last kind of books I read.

Caught Xiong instagram-ing

See the amount of books they have in the cafe.

You can read these books for free but remember, please put it back at the same place for the convenience of other readers. I am wondering if there are patrons who just go there to order a drink and read a book and come back another day to finish the entire content. As for us, we were just there for photo-taking.

When lunch was over, we went over to The Cathay to catch a movie, starring Jackie Chan. Time passed quickly when we were sitting in the movie theater, staring at the big screen and doing nothing . Sometime, it is just this type of non-moving activities makes the best day rather walking aimlessly in shopping malls, hoping from shops to shops and walked out empty-handed. I have kinda lost touch with the hippest fashion where young people goes to or the popular blogshop where young adults shop. To me, everything just come from Taobao. If I need a dress, I get from Taobao; if I need a vase, I get from Taobao; If I need speaker, I get from Taobao too.

Alright, we took a final photo in front of the cafe. Memorable.

This photo de soft skin effect very strong.

If you want can't locate The Reading Room, just take note of these potted plants in front of the entrance. Only then you will find your way there.

The Reading Room

19 Bukit Pasoh Road

Singapore 089833

Tel: 6220 9019

[Cafe] The Reading Room

by Elvina on 11:12 PM

About a few weeks back, I turned 27. 3 more years and I will hit 30s. As I grow older, my social circle streamlined. My friends and I met le...

In 2 days time it would be my mum's 1st month death anniversary. My dad and I were back to our usual working schedule. On weekends, my sister and brother in law would come back to pray to my mum. We are still doing mum's 49 days and it would end after National Day.

Our house has been rather quiet without mum's presence. Now, when dad is back, he would pray to gods , after which, sit in front of the TV, watch some drama before taking his dinner. In the past, mum would wait for him to be home before they had dinner together. If dad is home late, I would have dinner with mum in the kitchen. Ever since I started working, I realized that home cooked food tastes better than anywhere outside. Everyday after a day of hardwork, I would look forward going home to see what my mum cooks. Though it last only 4 years, but that was the best time of my life with her.

Her sudden dead still haunts me when I am alone. I couldn't forget that day when she had breathing difficulties at home. We called the ambulance and drove to the A&E immediately. As expected, she was admitted in the hospital. I remembered vividly what happened on a Sunday night. It was heart-breaking and painful when you see your mum pulling out the oxygen mask but gasping for air when she was not reliant on the oxygen. There was not a lot of doctors around during weekend and we were just on our own. We stayed by her side through the night. She fought for her life till she gave up her last breathe on a Monday's night.

After her passing, we have lots of work to do. We have to find a place for her in Mandai, pick her bones, do some prayer for her etc. We also have to inform HDB of her passing, withdrawal of her CPF to her nominations, the bank accounts etc.

As for me, I am cancelling my wedding on 5th Jan 2017 and will be doing our ROM on 16th Sept. We will be doing it within 100 days for our sake. Honestly speaking, me and Love do not have much time left but I am glad that he is always here whenever I need him around. He took a week leave to help out on mum's wake which I really appreciate a lot.

Counting down to 2 months, love and I have to settle on a number of things like the number of guests coming for our ceremony, choosing our outfit for our ROM, settling on our wedding bands, finding Justice of Peace who is available on the Friday and upcoming house renov which we should be getting in the 3rd quarter this year.

Hopefully, all will go smoothly. Mum, please bless us. ...