First Words from the Co-Captain...

Aiyah, i dun blog cos I am shy mah.... HAHA what a big joke!

Okie, moi shall say something but will keep it short & simple & sweet. In response to Aud's comments... although my jaws din drop when I first saw my gf wore a gorgeous wedding gown, my heart skipped a bit! I consider myself to be so fortunate & blessed to have her... the process of renovating the house & preparing for e big day at the same time is so so so tiring but i thoroughly enjoy it... cos she's there with me.

okie, will keep you all updated on the house reno process... & the lessons learnt. Can't wait to invite you ppl over for mahjongs, boardgames... & of course booze!

My Co-Captain

Officially introducing my Co-Captain, Xian-Jun!!! *Drum rolllllll*

For the past few weeks, I've been trying to get him to share funny excerpts of our life. After all, this blog is called AUDRICH.blogspot.....not AUDREY.blogspot leh.......It would be interesting to see not just my perceptive of things, but also my important life partner's! So....Xian-Jun, don't be shy!! Start writing soon k?

To all our friends, stay tuned to see more of our photos and silly stories!! That is, if you are interested la. If not, that's fine too ahhaha.....

关于新居的礼俗。。。真是一门学问啊！！

It seems like we are very fated with the number 21, the day we first dated for the first time, the date we plan to tie the knot, and the auspicious day for our 动土 ceremony!!

Since we decided against engaging a fengshui master due to phobia of having to spend $$ hacking and re-positioning existing fixtures, we naively thought that interior design is just about finding the right "Phua Chu Kang" (best in Spore and some say JB), sourcing for the most stylish (yet not too expensive) furniture, then at most find an auspicious date to move in and that's it. But how wrong we are!!

A simple search online revealed a whole lot of interesting traditions we didn't know about. In this article, I shall share abit with all my friends....

(1) Initial Opening of Doors:

To most Chinese, naturally it is important that the house is a place that gathers wealth and good luck. Hence when families open the door to the new house for the first time, it would be good to roll in auspicious items like Pineapple (Ong Lai - "Luck Come"), Apples (Pin An - "Safe") or Oranges (Kum - "Gold"). Of cos, try not to roll too hard la. It would be really inauspicious if the fruit simply rolls to the balcony and flys off the home right (which wealth just fly-out of the window)?? Other items which may be used to spread wealth all around the house includes Rice, Green Beans (where Green symbolise the East or rising sun) and "Huat Quay" or Rising Cake (prosperity).

Audrey says: "Well, since we only threw some rice and tea leaves when we first opened the door, we figured there is no harm in adding some extra wealth on the day of 动土 (see photo above...HAHHAHAH)"

(2) Moving In:

According to some Geomancy websites, an auspicious date and time must be chosen and on that day, the owner of the home brings some auspicious items into the home, which includes a packet of salt, rice and sugar. And a bottle of cooking oil and a bottle of vinegar. For some dialects (like Canto), the owner can also bring red charcoal stove and a charcoal (representing gold) wrapped in Red paper. One can bring this in and need not light it up. But, the stove has to be kept permanently in the house e.g. kitchen cabinet.(Audrey says: "Think I won't go for this..............kitchen already too small!!") Apart from that, more huat' quay may be brought, more pineapples (with flower on it!!!) can be rolled in.....Red Hong Bao packets are also placed e.g. on the kitchen stove in each bedroom's cupboard drawer. The money should be even numbers.

Besides the above, water is boiled immediately after entering the home and all lights in the home are turned on for at least 15 minutes. If one is staying in the house, turn on the `balcony' light or if there is no balcony, the living room light for that night.

Anyway, the above is 70% for reference and 30% for amusement. Whether you believe it or not, how much you choose to believe, it's entirely up to you!! Just don't be too affected by what people says. Winkz.....

Just to share another photo I like before I go relak in one corner and stone abit. Spent almost the whole of today rushing reports (yes...working on Sun...I no life one...), selecting material for customised furniture, choosing paint color (one for each room hahahah) and deciding on the types of lights to buy with our contractor Mr Seetoh. Tough manzzzzzzzz.....but will share that experience another time. Oyashumi-nasai....

Pic Above: Apple must be left where they roll to for a few days. Thought this photo is quite nice as it frames my future in-laws enjoying the afternoon breeze at the balcony.

Mr & Mrs Chin

For those who knows Xian-Jun, you'll probably know that his surname is "Chin". It was a feeling of deja-vu when we passed by Xtra Living at Vivo City earlier this week and saw the Mr & Mrs Chin Salt & Pepper Set and Timer. The design is certainly cute and since we are shopping for our new house now, we were especially tempted to get it!! But we could not believe our eyes when we saw the price!!

Based on my online research, "The Chin Family" designed by Stefano Giovannoni with Rumiko Takeda is the result of the collaboration between Alessi and the National Palace Museum of Taiwan, with the underlying intention to open itself to the international scene, and to encourage greater awareness of Chinese history and culture in the West. Very cool huh.....you could never guess the grand intention from that small salt & pepper set.

Oh well, nice to see, but perhaps not so practical to have at the moment in time.....hahaha.......

Family of Chin Timer (extracted from http://www.cookware-online.co.uk/shop/alessi-products/product-510698.html)

Travelling ....more than just an impt part of my life

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” .... by Miriam Beard.

This is a quote that I truly believe it. There's more to every trip I make than just seeing a new country and experiencing a different culture. It is part of a journey to learn more about myself and to strengthen friendship with my travel kakis. This is why I treasure every opportunity to travel.....(keeping within financial means naturally lol...).

Today, with the huge influx of work, I suddenly, and acutely miss that feeling of freedom. Perhaps it's from self denial, or perhaps I am really tired from all that work, reno cum wedding stuff, I am even looking forward to the next gun SAT so that I can sleep like a pig in my cabin and watch as much drama I like during that 3D2N sail to nowhere.

Suddenly I got the urge to dig out some trip photos. It was fun reminiscing about the good old times and trying to enhance the old photo using CS3. Wondering, at the same time, when and where my next trip will take me.....

2004...the year I graduate from NUS....I decided to go Egypt with 5 other good friends. It was truly an unforgettable trip. The food may sux, but the cultural experience more than made up for it. I still remember the first sight of the pyramids...they were indeed an architectural miracle. We were conned during the trip, but who cares. We were young and exhilarated that we can throw our books behind us. Abu Simbel, Alexandria...wait for me. I'll be back one day.

2005.....Sweden, the place where I see snow for the first time in my life. Even though I was only there for 1 short week (with hardly any chance to sight-see as it is a work trip after all.....), it was so exciting to see the snow-clad land!! The fresh and crisp air.....

2006/ 2008....Bali Paradise. Beautiful sunset, numerous happening clubs, fun seasports (esp fly fish!!) and a friend who can provide free accomodation. What more can I ask for?

2007...Land of Smiles. Although I prefer beach resorts where I can relax and laze, Thailand never fails to charm me with the friendly, laid-back people, the cheap, good seafood and shark fins and the errr...decent imitations?? hahaha.......no la....I meant wide selection of hip t-shirts for a t-shirt fanatic like me.

2008....In the 10th year I know my Hwa Chong buddies, we finally got around to making concrete plans to travel together. First time I went on an all-gals trip and it was soooo fun. We had a blast of a time enjoying yummy desserts, taking loads of photo and shopping like nobody's biz together. Even when we encountered mini disasters here and there, it was kinda cool! I miss Japan so much!!!!

My Final Decision is...

<-- Mischievous moi trying out the kua instead of helping Mrs Lamb select her WG last year.

Several months ago, Xian-Jun & Moi started to look ard for wedding packages after much procrastination. It was really fun trying out different types of wedding gowns. Unfortunately, reality is really not like drama, where the groom's jaws will drop when he first sees the gf wear a gorgeous wedding gown....why like that? hmm....

The journey to search for that "Perfect Gown" turned out to be more arduous than we originally anticipated.....

I first heard abt Satxxne, a bridal shop along Tanjong Pagar Rd, when an ex-colleague booked with them 2 years ago. She has always been a pretty girl, but the MUA at S enhanced her features so much so that she looked like a certain HK actress and that wowed everyone who knew her. As the gowns were pretty decent, we signed up with them quite quickly and paid almost 1k deposit as the shop insisted that it is the norm. Sadly, it turned out to be a hoax and because of numerous bad reviews online, the shop returned us the deposit. Naturally, I took the $ and ran far far away.....

After that, I seriously considered TC, which is also found along Chinatown. Their cheongsam is spectacular and the owners are really friendly. However, as the shop is more of a tailor rather than a bridal studio, I have reservations whether they are able to reproduce the perfect gown I want. After all, marriage is a once in a lifetime thing and all girls want to look pretty, right? This little nagging feeling remained deep in my heart until recently....

After much deliberation, we went back to a bridal studio (WP) where I tried on a really dreamy dress some time back. Amazingly, I still love that kind of wedding gown!! So my Xian-Jun decided that it's not worth spending time to worry if the dress will turn out like what we have in mind, and signed up with WP. Really happy abt this as I like their dress, MUA and flower package, and more importantly, their service is not bad. (*keeping fingers crossed that it will not get worse after they get the deposit*). Still kinda considering getting cheongsam from TC though....

All in all, it's a relief to finally decide on one more thing. Now, it's time to squeeze out my creative juices to work on the house reno......

Joseph & Karen's Wedding Video

Why does every weekend pass so quickly? I am so suffering from rather severe Monday blues.....Anyway, below is Joseph & Karen's wedding video..This is technically the first time I edit more than 400 shots at one go and I feel so mentally fatigued after that!!! No kidding....But guess the result is quite worth it (though I gotta practise more using this lens....*sulk*).

Karen really looked very sweet on her big day and I managed to take quite a bit of nice portrait shots of her. Although I still prefer photojournalism style and think it is the best way to capture special moments of a wedding there are no doubt some portrait shots taken that day which convey alot of feel. J & K, hope you guys like the video & I've earned my ang pao........

PS: The song is called "Angels brought me here" by Guy Sebastian. Like the song a little bit more everytime I listen to it!!

PPS: Tried to compress the video before uploading....but it was too grainy to see properly...sigh. gotta upload the original version again....