𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴! 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿! 𝘄𝘄𝘄.𝘇𝘇𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘆.𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Water on Concrete

I was thinking of letting this blog take a breather from wedding stuff and syiok sendiri photos. It's the March holidays for the kids and had Syihab all for ourselves while his brother is at his other grandma's house.

Syihab requested plenty of games and fun from him. I really don't mind because I am a kid at heart. One point of the day, we watered the plants and I decided to draw along the corridor. I just thought of sharing the pictures.

Syihab knows how to doodle people but he had difficulty drawing while spraying. That didn't frustrate him but he was bossy, telling me what to draw. Circle, eyes, nose, "boody" etc. =P Budak muka bacin nie.



I eventually drew a giant one and he helped me with the hair. hehe




I find water painting on concrete fun because unlike chalk, there is no need for clean up. Just let it evaporate. hehe

   

Unwrapping the Good Times...

Ah... weddings. It is such a beautiful and almost magical experience any couple could have. Who wouldn't want to be treated like royalty for a day? To be dressed in one of the finest clothes, hundreds of people wanting to take photos with you and to be surrounded by feel good vibes, music and atmosphere.

Since Jhon and I will be embarking on that journey in less than a couple of years time, we can't help it but feel excited to level up our relationship status. Although it's still early to some, we had already started the basis on researching and planning for our wedding. [Click the WeddingTalk tag for followups]


It's fun to pick out designs and what not but majority of it is rather stressful! There are so many things to think and consider. Malay weddings don't usually engage a wedding planner and my mom is pretty good in being lost in her own world on how her youngest daughter's wedding would be like. Not only that, Jhon and I will be spending it with our own pocket money.

It takes a lot to make a beautiful wedding and we try to budget but we also don't want it to look half-arsed too. These are just some of the things we have to handle.


STRESS HOKAY?!


Wouldn't it nice we can just wrap up alllllllll of those and once we unwrapped it would just immediately magically turn into a wonderful wedding with no kinks? I would love to unwrap THAT!

A'las, there is no such thing but do you know what is closest thing to unwrapping a wonderful stress free moment?

A KFC Bandito Pockett! We can take a break and take big salivating bites to destress. I am so glad KFC brought back the Bandito Pockett because it's my favorite meal. I always order it when I was in Poly and that was LONG time ago. I was so sad when it was gone.

So what are YOU waiting for?

Unwrap good times with KFC Bandito Pockett!

KFC Bandito Pockett packed with so many tasty ingredients, 100% chicken fillet marinated in signature hot & crispy flavor, served on a bed of fresh lettuce, with salsa and mayonnaise, all wrapped in a tortilla and toasted for that extra crunch. It is every KFC fan’s favourite wrap! Try it now to enjoy a good time!




   

Favorable Wedding Favors

Wedding favors also known as berkat in the Malay community has come a long way. In the past, the go to wedding favor was always been boiled eggs stained red served in a glass and/or 'pulut' (yellow glutenous rice).

[Divaforall]

It later then ventured out to mini fans, designed soaps, mugs, frames etc. In another words, more modern and practical gifts.

[NurazFavors]

Now, edible wedding favors are popular because guests appreciate something that could satisfy their stomach and also don't have to collect wedding favors that eventually collect dust.

[Ola Lola]

Wedding favours are not usually given much thought especially there are so many main issues to worry about. Plus, in most families, the mommies are usually the dominant one in what wedding favor they want to give.

You know what my mom want to give? A crystal flower and she is serious. Mak oi... Melebih eh? She said since I am the last child to get married, she want it 'special' but since the money is coming out from Jhon's and my pocket, we don't feel special at all pun. Especially knowing how makcik-makcik can be, confirm they will swipe more than they should then for sure, we will be out too quickly.

[thefine.com]

You know how it is easy to dream far and wide until you started to actually plan and budget? My day dream berkat last year is actually honey. It is because it's unique, looks great, has many purposes and I have a relationship with honey because it saved my damaged hair. =p

I was thinking of tagging recipes of honey tea and hair treatment. =P


Cost wise, it would not considered as budget but achievable.

Being realistic, as a couple, we have don't have anything specific in mind. Just something easy on the eyes and of course, fitting the smallest budget possible. Unfortunately, since we are planning on a small wedding, about 300pax, it's difficult to cut down costs. Since price is decreased as more quantity is ordered.

After much research, I was leaning towards traditional wedding favors. Generally because I want to try to infuse traditional Malay into the wedding but the cost is definitely not meant for people on a budget. There is also this fear in the back of my mind that the glutenous rice may not received 100% fresh.

[Ovenly Sweet]

I guess there will always be fears especially when it comes to food but there is where trust in your vendors comes in. At this point, we are still open to types of berkats and leaning to the simpler versions of it.

   

Yearly DIY Couple Photoshoot

Oh hai!


Twice a year, I always insist a couple photo shoot for Jhon and I. I want this because whenever we go out for outings especially with other people, it's rare to get shots of us together. Jhon is always behind the camera and when we do get a picture together, it's either a couple selfie or a standard shot. When it's family or friends, they always get those spontaneous and fun shots.

I also want, wor!!

Equipped with a tripod and remote control trigger, we went to Sentosa. Initially, the plan was to watch the crane dance but I thought we could take photos along the Sentosa boardwalk.




Even we have done this plenty of times, it's still embarrassing for us. People ALWAYS look, stare and smile/laugh. I try to comfort myself by saying when we have wedding photo shoot how? With beautiful outfits, tourists would even sneak a shot for themselves. At least that's what I noticed when I see wedding outdoor shoots.






There was a couple dating at the staircase and we 'potong steam' with our feeling-feeling couple photo shoot. haha



So ignore-ignore. It's hard when Jhon is fiddling with the camera and I am alone on the 'shooting' area. Awkward.... Especially when they see the ball head thingy for his tripod, maciam gun! lol

[I was making the "HIYAAAA!!!!" face. Not flattering at all]



Feeling-feeling garden here. By this time, getting sticky and hot because of the direct glare of the sun so it looks a little stiff? After these shots, we took a rest and headed to the nearest McDonald's and got ready for the crane dance that starts at 9pm.




The crane dance was fabulous okay? I actually want to go again and this time, to video it in HD. Just a warning though, it will make you a little wet if the wind happens to blow into the audience's direction. Unfortunately, photos taken were not fantastic. It's not easy to take nice shots because not only it's a night shot, the cranes were moving, there was water everywhere and not to mention having the lens wet.

I am very adamant to go again; for Jhon to achieve the perfect or close to perfect shot and for us to enjoy the show again.


(Water droplets on the lens haha)



   

Improvement in Light

Jhon has come a long way in photography. He didn't really jump into the photography band wagon only 1-2years after owning his first DSLR, Nikon D5000. I was frustrated that he has a DSLR but only uses the Auto function (might as well use digi camera right?) so I sent him away for 2-day crash course classes on basic use of DSLR.

From there, his passion bloomed and spread like wild fire.

It's nice to see the vast improvement comparing the  first 100 photos taken to the recent 100 photos taken. Amazing. There is still room for improvement as he has his weaknesses in certain situations. There was no pressure because besides that crash course, everything was self taught.

Anyways, this passion of his was not intended to lead to a business. I wanted him to improve his photography so I can achieve better quality memories. I love outings, doing random things and I want good pictorial documentation. I just didn't intended him to be somewhat obsessed lol.

The obvious improvement I could show is light painting.

These are taken 5 years ago with his first camera trying light painting for fun. At that moment, it was kinda awesome, especially the dragon painting. Now, as I look at it again, not so much. haha



We didn't attempt much light painting after that, probably 2 more times, it turned all turned sub-par.

This was taken a few days ago.

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It was spontaneous. We didn't intend to do light painting but I thought, let's try for fun as we were just sitting around the East coast beach at night and BAM.

I won't deny, this was not the first shot because Jhon didn't get to draw the wings right but the technical stuff of the photography, he hit the spot. I was surprised he achieved this level and I am proud of him.

I am so proud that I just have to blog about it.

End.



   

Singapore Permanent Resident Results

As mentioned somewhere in here, Jhon had registered for Singapore's Permanent Residence on September 2013. This would be his second time applying and we were hopeful this time around, thinking now with better credits there will be a higher chance of being approved. I am the negative realistic half of this relationship so I always remind Jhon that even if we receive bad news, we must keep on moving forward and not let it get the best of us.

On 21st February 2014, Jhon received his letter.


Jhon exploded.

I won't go into details but I can tell you he was very pissed off and Jhon is not the type who gets angry easily. It caught me off guard because I had kept reminding him to prepare for the worst but I understood his emotions. You see, he was surrounded by colleagues who EASILY get approved. These are the same people who would 'run' after they get their approval; run to another job and some even to another country.

Jhon does not have such intentions. He is committed to his job, wanted to settle down, get a decent HDB house and start a family here. Not having a PR does not mean we can't continue with our plans. it's just that he has more paper work to do with limited choices and opportunities in Singapore.
Read perks of being a SPR here.

It sucks.

Even I could not console him and all I could tell him that this is fated by Allah and we must have faith. We were already mentally prepared for this, we just need to take a different route. He was inconsolable so I let him cool himself down and his door was knocked.

It was someone asking for donations on behalf of the elderly and while listening, Jhon cooled down immediately. I would imagined it would make someone even more pissed off but to Jhon, it soothed his heart. Call it pure coincidence but to Jhon, he felt it was a message from Him as a form of comfort.

As for me, I was just sad. It would definitely made everything easier and better for us if he was approved but what to do. At this point, all I can be grateful is that Jhon is a S-Pass holder. This means he does not need approval from the government to marry me.

Imagining not able to marry the love of my life because of government disapproval makes the disapproval of SPR not that bad.

At this point, everything will be still on course, we just would live in a condominium until he gets an approval... eventually... we hope.