Updates on Renovation

Been a long time since we've update about the reno. Well, since we last left, the reno is now approximately 40% complete. The wiring of the house is complete (THAT COST US $1.6k)....the holes for the switches has been dug (That cost us some complains from unfrenly neighbours who could not tolerate the drilling sounds and threaten to complain to HDB).....The aircon which has been gorgeously put up by our dear fren Ah Tu.....the false ceiling (which made the house significantly lower)....the two toilets have also been tiled. N the masterbedroom toilet tiles are really cool!!!! bathtub has also been delivered !!Can't wait to have the first soak!....hmm..i guess that's about it thus far. Next we'll have to order the downlights and search for nice lightings. Those aint cheap lor!...even the designer switches cost a fair bit! but we try to save a bit by using the old powerpoints. budget is tight...savings is diminishing, stress level rocket high!

Will try to post some pictures of the house on my next update. be patient beautiful people. =)

Bridal Package

after talking so much about hotels, another load lifted is also the bridal package. Signed up with Chim Culture, whom i felt was very frenly. Visited about 5 studios...including some at the bridal show @ Suntec n MY GOODNESS..the hard sell was terrible. We couldn't take it. but the packages were really attractive. for $3888 u can get the usual package of gowns, photos and makeup but in addition, they give away rental of sisters gowns and father's suits!! they give away photos as if they are free too. It was really tempting, but it makes you wonder on their quality since they are all big timers. Thus Chim seems the one for us coz it's a cozy little haunt at Meritus Mandarin. He does gowns for events like Ms Singapore and MTV VJs wore his dresses too...so i guess he can't be all that bad. His price however isn't that cheap. in fact, he raised his price significantly. After complaining that his price is too unreasonable, he gave me his old package which has a very attractive point -- return of all softcopies from O Studio!!!...cool! The rest of the package is pretty standard....MTM WG and EG...tea dress...26 photos...flowers..makeup blah blah blah..ohhh..but no man's suit..sorry honey, u've gotto find a tailor or go G2000! All seems to be in place. Will be meeting up with Chim after CNY to discuss WG design.....quite exciting though i have no idea what design to go for.

The Challenge with Oriental

Dealing with The oriental is a challenge. Met up with them on a Friday, emailed on Sunday to let them know my wishes and requested for passes for the Wedding show on the following Sunday. Didn't get any reply or calls despite my followup emails and phone calls. Left two msgs with colleagues and voicemails too, but STILL NO SOUND from Oriental. Wild thoughts ran thru my mind as this is a wedding we are talking about! How can i let these people who have no sense of responsbililty to handle my big day?! I waited and i waited...all the way till Saturday 9pm, finally got a call from the manager. Apologised to me but said i had to pay for the wedding show the next day! $30!!the audacity of him to actually ask me to pay when i was all ready to go down to sign the contract! He later told me, it's mgmt who stated this rule and if i don't want to pay but would like to see their new themes, i can come after 5pm!...what nonsense! i made special arrangements to be available and now he is telling me this?! it made me furious n i told myself i'm just gonna gatecrash! Which i did and i casually said tat I was specially invited by the Senior manager...n there i have it..VIP treatment! =)

The wedding show was pretty nice. but i can't say more for the themes. Kind of disappointing. It's either too White or too Black. Yup..there is this pretty classy theme which is grey in colour but to some, it kind of signifies a secret society's funeral. the other was the Xi theme. pretty cheena...unique...but a bit hard to swallow for me at the moment. we'll see how it goes. anyway, the manager said I only have to confirm theme one mth b4 the banquet. Now all i'm concern is about the grand draw for couples using the Ballroom. The first prize is $10k off the banquet fee!! EVERYBODY PRAY!!!!!...ok, even if we dont be greedy, the second prize is also attractive..it's $5k!!..third is $3k!....draw will be held on 5th Feb...hopefully we hear some good news then. *keeping fingers cross*. It will definitely elevate our financial woes.

Mark on your calendar -- 14 Oct 2007 -- Wedding Banquet

Phew...finally squeezed some time to update this blog. Since our last post, we've finally managed to confirm our wedding banquet. Ladies and gentleman, put this in your diary-- 14 October 2007 @ The Oriental Singapore. It was quite a struggle to source for a venue. The search began as early as Oct 2006 and as it was, many hotels were already booked. The one I wanted, MM, was so full, they had no wkends available for me from October 2007 onwards! can u believe that? I basically emailed and called up all hotels in the Marina region and the more conveniently located hotels and mostly were booked for the date of 27 oct 2007. Auspicious according to our 8 characters. Well, apparently, many couples must be sharing the same characters as us, coz 27th is a damn good date. HOT! totally booked out. hotels, restaurants...everywhere. Thus we selected a few other alternative dates which we ourselves felt auspicious (of coz we've also checked the tongshu to play safe). hmm...even those dates chosen were Hot hot hot! finally, we found Grand Corpthorne Waterfront (next to ZOuk for you party animals). the package is $838+++....pretty ex for a 4 star hotel. in fact, during negotiation, we had to give up our wedding favours in return for free foodtasting. I felt utterly unbalanced to be paying so much for so little. Only 12 bottles of wines were given and no freeflow beer. :-(. So i dragged n dragged. finally the contract came in, and i thought i should give myself a chance again and tried my luck with Oriental who did not reply me on my first email. Apparently they have this major problem with communicating on time. BUt....surprise surprise...they've got a slot for 14 Oct!. After nego and attending their wedding show....I made the final decision. Isn't a cheap one esp with the impending 7% GST...per table is more than $1k! we just hope and pray that people will be reasonable in their angbaos...else the loses will be unimaginable. but well, at least we are getting much more, n FREE foodtasting, Corkage waiver, Free flow of beer ....one bottle of wine per confirmed table (ok guys, be prepared to party on!)...etc...the package was pretty attractive, thus we made the deposit of $3k (after nego, coz it's suppose to be $5k!) and confirmed 33tables.