little projects in style

wedding stuff: jerine & terence part deux.

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:49:21 GMT

i've started writing about it earlier last month with some of yixin's amazing pictures. daniel missed the boat cos he was so slow with his photoset! *sigh* he mentioned something like having a full time job or others. so lame! (just kidding, honey! you go out there and bring home the bacon!) better late than never. here are some snappies from our camera! mostly of our pals at our table - the dancers.

as usual, we had a ball and in the table kept proposing random toasts the entire night through!! even though we were tucked in the corner of the ballroom (actually thankfully we were) we were soooo loud!! im such an auntie! i love a good yamseng! every celebration should be fun and bubbley like that!!

the costume change that took FOREVER... cos there were about 2456 intricate buttons on her gown to work on and we got locked out of the bridal suite! haha.. but she looked like a princess! so worth it! :) (ma, those are your earrings!! good job, very pretty!)

haha, being the vainpots we are, we gathered for table shots WITHOUT the bridal couple.. (sorry jerine! would have been nice with you in it though..)

this is a classic shot of my friends. they keep talking even when posing for pictures!!

one with bridey! :) thanks for dinner it was fun! :)

one question! im wearing the same dress for judybob's wedding in less than a month (cos her theme is green.) its a fitted bustier, cut out at the back with origami-like pleats as a skirt. how should wear it differently? accessories? any suggestions?

updated: a completely gratuitous full length shot of my dress... (and daniel who has not really grasp the concept of self-shots). lifted that phrase from one of my favorite blogs!

also, to answer some of your emails, i got this dress from warehouse in UK! they have some really awesome stuff in that store. and not to be precious about it but yes, i know its on sale now in singapore.. *pout*

breakfast at tiffany's

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:56:31 GMT

oooo i have a HUGE HUGE crush!!! how brilliant is this? a pre-wedding photoshoot with a theme! there is a little touch of pearls, and audrey hepburn-esque updo with fine jewellery, a long cigar and even a peekaboo of loubs!! and as if thats not awesome enough, they costume change into this flouncy tea dress and play with macaroons, cupcakes and fine crockery... ahh!! be still my heart!! :) i don't know the bride but i have a feeling we could be very good friends! :)

and the fun part is, the bride's name is tiffany!! how cute!!

pictures by axioo photography. check out their blog for more eye candy! :)

what should it say?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:55:40 GMT

(cutie ring picture by mimi + karl)

wow! is it already november!? this year is whizzing by soooo darn fast!! we've almost been engaged for ONE year!! and i reckon its about time we drag our lazy asses and get our engagement rings engraved!! *faints*

but big question that we've been sitting on is "WHAT do we engrave?"

because of my ring size, im only allowed less than 12 letters. u can't even spell our names with that! but precious on the other hand has a cartier trinity so he has all of THREE rings-ful of space for anything. you could engrave a thesis and there would be still space left..

you totally can't see the ring but he has the same ring.. i just had to put him into my blog!! :) hi keith!! :)

daniel has voted for something that's a little more urm.. personalized and territorial. probably something that sounds more like this: "this is the property of XXX (insert name), freaking take it off your paws and return my damn ring to me at XXX (insert email) or XXX (insert phone number), XXX (insert expletives)" tres romantic!!

so i was sent my merry way and looking to the internet for inspiration. and liked the following:

1) ""Si tu veux savoir combien je'taime, compte les vagues. (french: if you want to know how much i love you, count the waves)
2) "All you need is love" - john lennon
3) "All my love.. " on one and "All my life... " on the other.

of all, (3) is my current favorite. its a pair but not super cheesy!

so my lovelies, what do you think?? what would you/did you engrave on yours??

let them eat cake!

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:29:49 GMT

im bundled in this rainy tuesday morning eating melty toasts with avocado, tomatos and heaps of mozzerella cheese!!!

don't you just love these drool-worthy cake stands? just perfect for the tea party with the girlies this sunday!!

and isn't the china tea cup balanced on top just sooo darling??

{photos from let them eat cake via thoughtfulday}

happy halloween weekend! :)

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:57:48 GMT

are you treating or tricking?? i'd love to own this bad-ass lace mask! and that lovely pair of red-soles..

photography by jonas bresnan for elle germany via coco+kelly.

im missing the american halloween a little! the glitter pumpkins, fun decoration around the house, a whiff of hot chocolate and cinnamon in the oven and heaps of little treat and trickers with noey!! i miss fall, our huge red-bricked home and fluffy scotchie-boo.

cambodia is up to their own mischief this week! 4 days of water festival fun. there are heaps of dragon-boating happening on the river front and 5 days straight of fireworks!! we braved the crowds on the first evening to catch a glipse of the fireworks from the waterfront but the crowds were overwhelming. everyone has their entire family in tow and sets their picnic mats and feasts away in the middle of roads so everything comes to a stand-still and you're literally stuck there for hours!!!!

we're enjoying the magnificent view from the comforts of our guest bedroom this evening with our latest find - delivery singaporean food!!! :) hurray to char kway teow, tau gey (beansprouts) and claypot chicken rice all for $9!!! mmmm....

what beautiful shoes you have!!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:15:00 GMT

in terms of shopping & entertainment, phnom penh is not superduper. there is not even a proper mall!! but one of my all time favorite find in phnom penh - beautiful shoes!! (haha.. i know its a cheesy name! but a gem of a find!)

tucked in a dingy corner of street 143 in this manky shophouse, you'll find this crazy shoe heaven!! their shop displays rows and rows of samples, both male & female ones, but the exisiting designs are a little dated. if you bring your own sample or a picture, they will gladly make it for you!! i've seen them make a gucci wedge right out of a picture!! so its super simple. you roll up with the picture/magazine tear out, they measure you up on the spot and you sit with a whole ring of colourful leathers in all colours of the rainbow. its so much fun with endless possibilities!! easy peasy!! :) come back in about 8 days time and tadah! a beautiful shoe is born!

i was a little sceptical at the beginning cos im rather picky with shoes. but they've not disappointed me so far! and at $20 a pop, i am not complaining!!

i can only imagine how interesting the back of the house is with many little shoe elves cobbling away! there are other competitors in the same row of shophouses but this one is the original and most popular with barangs (expats) because their sales people are super friendly and speaks great english! daniel, who has fussy feet, had work shoes made once which didn't fit as comfortably. they offered to re-make a new pair immediately but eventually fixed the problematic heel after a few alterations!! they did everything patiently with no complains! :) A plus for customer service!

tadah!! from a picture of kate spade's merrie for them. not too shabby, eh?

and that, my friends, is the reason why my shoe collection is still growing rather healthily even though im stranded in cambodia! :)

Beautiful Shoes
#148, Street 143
Tel: 012 848 438

wedding stuff: photobooth love

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:39:43 GMT

im obsessed with the photobooth concept.especially ones as awesome as this!! :) i want one at our wedding too! if you have a fun crowd, they'll have so much fun with it!! just to add to the mischief, drop a few props and wigs at the booth and wait to see what sort of CRAZY pictures you get!! :)

don't you totally love how you become part of the wall of family pictures!! love, love, love! i've already sent this picture to my dad to brainstorm!! *fingers crossed*

the rest of the wedding is featured here. really well styled by sasha souza. i especially dig the theme, mismatched linen and flowergirl outfit.

p.s yingjie, doesn't it remind you of my 14-yr old visions of what i'd made my bridesmaid wear?? hahaha...

best friend's wedding + late night shopping + korean BBQ = love

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:03:05 GMT

we're all booked in for our seoul holiday!!! weeheeee!!! :) everything takes a little longer here in cambodia. what would otherwise take 10 mins max online took us months, a few more lengthy phone conversation and a moto-ride to collect cash (cos they do not have credit card facilities) and another to deliver our printer e-ticket cos urm.. e-tickets can't me electronically transmitted. but as wise ole chuck bass says "what do you expect form a place where men wear sandals?". *deep breaths now..*

but yayyy!! we'll all set for a chilly weekend in seoul to celebrate the wedding of judy & lucas! :) i was just going through my digital albums and dug out these pictures of us in our crazy adventures! here are some of my favorite memories!

with malaika in new york, summer of 2007. malaika was our surprise from alex!!

in our spanish apartment.. it was slightly sad that that morning because in 24 hours, we were to board different planes headed in opposite directions, newyork, singapore, korea and paris!

shopping in newyork, summer 2008

out with the kids from french class at montreux, switzerland! (after convincing le francais professeur we needed to dine out to practise our french phrases...)

sprinkles & icing, please!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:04:27 GMT

thanks to my newest exercise regime (inspired by am_klutz ), i've been feeling extremely snackish.

hold your horses!! before you think im joining the troops and running marathons alongside my beau, i will confess that its term 'exercise regime' is used very loosely to represent the 30 mins of activity i commit myself to each day. so some days, its my yoga class, some days, my dance class, some days tennis and all the other in betweens, i go to the gym in our apartment block and skip along on the treadmill. so no, im far from my healthy BMI or fat percentage! just babysteps!! but i've been feeling great and a little chirpier!

i've also been hankering after healthier snacks. so i've been rolling up my sleeves and experimenting with some tapas recipe, salsa dips, fruit sorbets and low(er) fat sweet treats!! some yays and some nays! but all very fun!! im especially proud of my triple choc fudge cupcakes! i thought they were very scrummy, very light and guilt-free!! i have them all the time. with milk, with black tea, just on its own!!

but i guess that's just me because daniel just asked for another batch to take into the office to share.(yayy..) but requested them topped with fudge icing. (boo..) so i swallowed my baker's pride, iced it generously with full-fat fudgey goo and sprinkled some fairy dust (more sugar!!) for good measure!! i must admit this newest batch of cupcakes does look a little more yums.

hundreds and thousands makes everything happier!!

oh! did you also grow up eating fairy bread with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on plain white bread and butter? those were my party favorites! i miss them!!

can't help it but i thought of you! :)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:37:07 GMT

i have a very beautiful friend who is an amazing dancer. correction. i have very many friends who are beautiful dancers but this one is special. and everybody knew! we'd all be in one line and the choreographer would always pick her as lead.

while the rest of the danceworld gets hoity-toity when they score lead roles, she gets sad and jealous because she can't share rehearsal schedule as us, the corp de ballet, and can't share the same laughs & jokes. she'd get special VIP change rooms (just left of the stage) because she'd have more costume changes but half the time, she'd rather be holed up in our crammy change room and do up her make up with us. told you she's a special one.

in one of my all-time favorite pieces, she had this huge ass peacock tail as a prop. despite the cumbersome nature of the tail, she's shimmy and prance across the stage with such grace. she looked gorgeous, and regal and beautiful!! i reckon this grand piece of furniture was inspired by her.

anyway its her birthday this week and there is nothing more i'd like to do than to take her out for an indulgent high tea and fuss over girly things, manicures and make-up. but since im so darn far, i'll send my oodles of love through hugs and a huge IOU when i come home! :)

happy birthday, my love! you are always my leading lady, huifen! :)

amazing chair by victoria fang, from here.

out with the bush!

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:43:24 GMT

i've an obsession with threading! i think its the most awesome skill! how in the world do you epilate using a piece of string!! its just like magic! i like how fuss-free and pain-free the entire process is!!

i've tried plucking and waxing but threading is my no. 1 choice!

well.... last weekend, i hatched a brilliant plan involving someone else's brow!! :)

tadah! check that out!!

im not sure he is a convert because apparantly it really hurts! (duuude! you have no idea what else girls go through! *woah*) but its so neat and becoming! and barter himself another 30 mins in the apple store! so everyone went home very very happy! :)

if any other dudes are keen to try some brow restructuring, browhaus does a great job, girls and boys alike! :)

Browhaus
501 Orchard Road
#03-18
Wheelock Place
Singapore
Tel: 67320070

quote of the day

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:23:39 GMT

" i do maintain that if your hair is wrong, your entire life is wrong."

- morrissey

wedding stuff: jerine & terence part. une

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:17:24 GMT

im in awe. yixin, their official photographer was done with their pictures merely 4 days after the wedding. even before i caught up with my post-wedding fatigue, she texted me to check her blog out!! and boy were they great pictures!! she's also such a sweetheart and so much fun to be around!! :)

okkayyyy... im such a princess. i've already bitched about early start time earlier here but the wedding revelry started really really early! all of jerine's bridesmaids (or in local context: jiemeis) were told to arrive at her home dressed in pink at 6freakin30 AM! so darn early! my peepers were all swollen and screaming bloody murder!! at 6am, i thought 'ah-hah! lets text aggie the forgetful in case she is still in bed' but only to get the shocking response that she was ALREADY there!! *faints*so i bailed on my hair curling attempts and hopped into the car immediately.

candy holding ricky. he's a ham. he casually wanders into everyone's pictures!! both such cutie patooties.. i mean.. if i were the guys i'd totally empty my pockets there and then and do anything they ask of me to!

aggie & me as maids. really profesh-looking, right?

the gals were very efficient. we brewed vinegar tea, strung chilli concocted some weird goopy chocolately mess and chatted up a storm very impressive and organized! but the boys, i must say, won hands down. lead by ring-leader, terence, they came prepared with all sorts of tricks up their sleeves. BUT they're the most sporting and sweet buncha boys!! they did everything we requested for with gusto. did not get pissed or threaten to leave (yes! some grooms do that.. its gross!) they even looked like they were having fun!! i guess thats what you get for being awesome people, your pals will always have your back.

team terence.

more haggling.

our $1000 in gold coins!!

they even made our chief negotiator a $1000 silk sash. but she's top gun! and a very hard negotiator!!

team jerine.

yixin organized a little group photoshoot at their new home. they were all little tasks to do! here, we were told to pounce on them and give them hugs!

jerine & terence, congrats again! i wish you all the best life has to offer. and many many cats, dogs and kiddos to come!! :) thanks for having me! :)

in the evening, i was relieved of my maid's duties so i could babysit daniel. but came in earlier to help set petal cones in place and help jerine dress up. then i got lucky and yixin caught a shot of me hiao-ing! i love it, thanks babe!!!

more pictures from lightedpixels blog.

this is not a "who wore it better" post.

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:36:50 GMT

but...

i think daniel has NO clue what happened for that entire episode because each time blair came onscreen, i would shriek so loudly "OMG!!! I TOTALLY HAVE THIS DRESSSSSS!!!" and chuck bass is looking sexier than ever!! *faints*

gossip girl is baaaaack!! :)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:21:46 GMT

dearest kate spade,

i feel like we need to talk.

i love your bags. always have been a fan. especially the quirky ones! so me! but the classic leather ones are best for work. says "im-play-pretending-im-a-grown-up." perfectly! i'll even consider having babies to own more of your roomy babybags! and wicker-basket ones, can't hold much but perfect for a picnic. and those gorgeous clutches in oh-so-happy colours.. delicious! oo i also love your keychains & purses! makes perfect presents. i totally understand that you flown a long way from NY hence the crazily inflated prices in singapore. im ok with all that.

but your shoes so far, ok only. cute but aldo has my heart. sometimes nine west too.

so why in the world did you come up with such ridiculously cute shoes?

please stop, won't you?

love,
zhiying

p.s. oh by the way, can you please send those to singapore. my one-month shoe hiatus is almost over(!!). thank you very much.

late night out with the girlies (and boys of course)

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:49:22 GMT

short catch up with the darlings over sweets at cheeky chocolate, which for some weird reason, i keep calling it chunky monkey! their speciality, cold chocolate drink, reminds me a lot of our Serendipity treat in NYC with yoomee! yummy but very very indulgent!

deaf had heaps of pictures to share from a recent work trip. to milan. for fashion week. how lucky right?? im struck with wanderlust. im in need of a REAL vacation!! a little bit of exploring, a little bit of getting lost and a whole lot of shopping. but we're tied till the end of this year in travel and leave.. maybe next year!!

rest of the evening in pictures!

mmmmm.. so good..

little trinkets from H&M!! a pinch of fierceness! :)

and one for the road! (urm..thanks dick!)

this weekend, the mischief i've been up to..

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:55:29 GMT

... took two long naps to catch up on post-wedding fatigue!
... straightened out my wardrobe and gave bags of old clothes to salvos.
... baked some awesome choc chip muffins with yummy fudge icing on top.. messy messy!
... indulged in a HUGE brekkie at one of our fav. brunch places. their baked egg is amazing!
... visited the camping shop at velocity twice. and chalked up some majorly cool winterwear.
... watched re-runs of so you think you can dance! so so inspired!
... climbed bukit timah hill as training for our next newest adventure in kota kinabalu! *fingers crossed* i was sooooo knackered.
... dusted my pink skates & took out for a whirl.
... took grampies out on a dinner date to their all time favorite restaurant. we've been visiting them twice a year since i remember! but no one gets sick of their crabs!! hmmmmm...

completely recharged & happy! :)

p.s. to make up for my-birthday-with-no-cake, daniel came up with a hare-brain scheme to make up for it. this is the deal! i will receive one surprise cupcake each day until his pack of candles run out. its really fun cos the candles are in little alphabets so its like playing hangman! i got "I" and "B" so far!!

see you next year, sexy abs!!

wedding stuff: kenny & yingjie

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:35:58 GMT

everyone loves an excuse for a weekend in the gardens so when we got the invite, we were very thrilled! i wrote a little about it back in this post, so this is damn old news! but i just got my hands on the pictures!! (methinks daniel does not take my journalistic integrity very seriously..) anyway this is too exciting to miss so better late than never!!

the wedding details were impeccable!

from hand-made wedding invites to a ring-pillow shaped in a car! everything was conceptualized by the bride herself!! tres cute! she came up with this loose cluster of baby's breath which stood out in the sea of roses of all shapes and sizes!!

the wedding theme was tiffany blue. and the dresscode was: something blue (and comfy footwear) but obviously im the only one that got the memo and wore flip flops, leaving everyone else towering over me ... *bah*

me & june with the beautiful bride!

talk about useful wedding favours... :) i love these cuties! :)

june & her beau!! (no pressure.. but you're holding the bouquet, hon!!)

in our downtime as the couples lined up for their grand march in, we poked our noses into other couple's party and took some happy snaps with our parasol!!

it was fascinating to see how the chief designer put together the entire event, speckling little huts throughout the gardens and dressing each and everyone with a unique theme and concept!! they accomodated 168 couples' nuptials all within the hour!! this included the couples and the full entourage!! but the organizers executed everything in military-like precision! i was very extremely impressed!!

congrats babes! :)

wedding stuff: the day before...

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:32:12 GMT

im meant to be awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6:30am in the morning. at jurong! did i say JURONG??! i daresay i have not wander to that part of the world since my college graduation! and if this is not a testament of how much i love jerine, i don't know what is. and im so thrilled that for once, im not running around headless worrying about a soiled cancan skirt, petal cones or tardiness of groomsmen. well, fact is, i still will be keeping an eye on all these things but as her "jie mei" (bridesmaid)!! *whoops* and im soo honoured. her ladies-in-waiting are a mixed bag of girlies from different points of her life. and we sorta all know each other indirectly but met up last week for a wedding briefing. so official! :)

i must admit i've always had reservations about a gaggle of over-enthusiastic girls overcompensating for their own eagerness to get married, projecting their own unrealistic goal of a purrfect day for their good friend. at the best of times, i find them overbearing, unnecessarily dramatic and tedious to deal with. bridesmaids. really another art to master. but this really changed my mind! us and the ten "xiong di" (groomsmen) sprawled in her jurong (yes.. jurong again!!) apartment a few sundays ago is really quite far down my list of to-dos on my precious weekends home. but it was so exciting it felt like chinese new year as a child!! we plotted and planned, were briefed on our duties and chided on what to bring/wear. everyone chipped in and offered their help. it was quite heart-warming to see everyone so enthusiastic! without exposing too much of our gameplan, i've never met anyone more keen & experienced in choosing gaundy ah-pek underwear. not me, im in charge of miscellaneous crafts & stationery! :) and i daresay, from the support of their crew, this is one wedding that will do just great without a wedding planner!!

earlier today, me and jerine got some us-time to run some errands and that included prepping the bride for her big day! we had big lofty plans to book in a spa/hair treatment but found ourselves pressed for time so ended up at the always-dependable nail spa, Snails, at wheelock for a quick fix! the bride indulged in some decadent sake-infused soak, scrub and had her virgin french experience!! one by one, i take over the world with french manicures!! don't u just love how clean and neat it looks? perfect for the bride! even talked her into embellishing with some scattered diamonds!! i hope we catch some lovely pictures of her nails tomorrow!!

the bridey & me! :) (note: we have better brows now!)

im obviously a little tooooo excited because i happily jumped out of bed at freakin' 3am. so im blogging about it at 4am with my full wedding gear on!! so if you see a drooling bridesmaid nodding off at her "station", that would be me! :)

happy wedding day, girlie!!

weekend travels: sihanoukville

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:33:30 GMT

part of my new "spontaneous" lifestyle, we decided to give flashpacking a go! sihanoukville is phnom penh' nearest beach boasting of some of asia most undiscovered dive spots. we've been here for months and have never visited!

so we caught the Mekong Express to Sihanoukville early saturday morning. The tickets costed us $6 per pop so was a little cautious. but we were told it was the BEST luxury limousine bus in town so toughen up, kids. it turned out okaaay.. the seats a little spring-ful with occasional bugs but very well ventilated and fairly painless. still it was four hours! in that time we could have flown back to singapore!!

we stayed at the Reef Resort for one night and got a pool-view room. was rather basic but it topped various travel guides!! clean, mosquito-free (big thing for daniel..) and it costed only $30 including breakfast! what a steal!!

boys & their toys!!! these cuties found a stash of old computer parts & headphones!!

sometimes, i catch daniel, up to his neck with his latest gadgets, camera gear & apple stuff, bearing the same huge grin!

the beach & sand is not superduper, bit like the beaches in singapore but the waves were awesome! great for watersports..

mum's going to freak out! on top of being two shades darker, i have awful RED bites all over my back & limbs from mysterious midnight attackers.. :(

hi! ma man! :) we reclined into fluffy lounge chairs at Jack Shark Shack facing the sea for dineroos. went with their specials du jour, grilled fresh seafood with generous kampot pepper sauce. very very yummy! loved the kick of pepper & onions on top of the juicy chunks of fish, squid & shrimp..downed it with their local beer. perfect! it was also mid autumn festival so the locals were celebrating with fireworks that popped in all sorta colours. it was all very festive & laid-back. do you like daniel's unintentionally popped collar? he is refuses to let me style him! bahh...

happiest when fed! :) pancakes by the road...

we were keen to take a day trip to the little islands cos the water looked a lot prettier there BUT because it was such a short trip, i guess we'll have to wait till the next time..

'roughing' out the local way - tick! :)

birthday love

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:49:01 GMT

my birthday this year was absolutely lovely. nothing fancy at all. it sucked a little that i wasn't right with my family but we did our best by being on the phone and video-chatting throughout the day! facebook & sms-s also helped.

my mum gave me a ring i've had my eye on for a while. its really cute and mum thinks its a classic and "perfect for (her) princess". it has five tiny pearls lined up across the band and is really pretty. you could stare at it in all direction and it shows off a soft pretty pink sheen and i love it. we're waiting for my ring to arrive from hongkong cos my fingers are too skinny so meanwhile, you'll have to live with a description!

this year, i turn 27. im officially no longer mid-twenty-ish. i landed myself right smack in category of late twenty but for the first time, i actually feel older. not wiser and all that comforting things that come in a hallmark card.. but plain older. i secretly bought myself miracle eye creams & youth-promising magic stuff to make me feel better. *tsk* such are girlie insecurities...

daniel took me to our favorite japanese restaurant for dinner, izakaya.

i already know this year will be special and hold exciting changes. and i can't wait to explore each of these new challenges. this year, i want to truly enjoy the smaller things in life, be a little more spontaneous, bake more and drift a little off my usually very very well-mapped path. try something new, take (well-measured) risks and be a more generous person.

boy! am i excited! i already have my first spontaneous, untypically-zhing adventure on the books!! hmm.. what a oxymoron! :)

ooo!! thanks for the birthday wishes, my friends! im so so blessed in your company! :)

p.s. i know and no longer feel like princesszhing is very age appropriate. but i do not share the same creativity as my parent when it comes to name-calling. so i'll just stick to that for now till inspiration strikes!

the day i changed my name.

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:12:42 GMT

hai! my name is zhi-ying.

but on all my report cards, passport & birth certificate my given name is tze ying. so many people have butchered my name since young. i've since responded to "Tzzzzzzzzng", "zeeeeying", "*tsk*-ying" (the sound you make when picking your teeth) and sometimes even "tse". i've also had countless arguements with passport control/immigration lawyers/employers if tzeying is my given or middle name. pain in the butt! you'd think i know, right? i was afterall the one born with that name. and i actually know the folks that got really creative and come up with this phonetically impossible name!!

i stopped using that name ages ago for the fear of having to explain endlessly why its spelt that way, but read differently. so after we got legally married, i decided i wanted to make things right once and for all. turns out if you'd like to assume your married name as your last name, you need a deed poll, new i/c picture and $70. thats all it says online.

but cos we live in cambodia and the only picture studios we've seen so far involved you getting into a traditional costume set against cheesy angkor wat backdrop, we figured we're better off taking our own pictures ourselves at home! im SUPER good at hamming up to the camera and posing but taking a passport picture is one of the most difficult things ever! you gotta smile but not too widely. making your straight-on mugshot look hot is impossible!! i've had so many mishaps in the past that i really want to get this right! here are some of my past attempts!! and those are ALL taken after i discovered make up and contact lenses so you can only imagine.

eventually picked the on the left for obvious reasons.
i wish my photoshop skills are adequate to make myself skinnier..
oh well..

the photographer's assistant with her make-shift reflector board!

so the day we got back to singapore, i rushed into the office to get my deed poll signed & stamped, printed my i/c picture, got a ticket and queued for a long while for my turn at the counter. all very chopchop and efficient. the lady that helped me was very no nonsense too. "i/c and deed poll, please." i handed all relevant documents over. she looked satisfied. i offered originals and copies of my birth cert, old ic, passport, marriage cert (im excessive like that..) she rejected and told me i could pick up my new ic in 40 mins. c'est tout! then i was at a loss. "don't you need a few days?" "you mean its done, just like that?" "im no longer tze-ying?" it felt weird and too fast and all did for the next few mins was sit there in front of rows and rows of impatient strangers, holding my old i/c, weeping my eyes out. i remember her handing me little tissues (for wiping ink off your thumb) to mop my nose. most people are there cos they misplaced their i/c so they prolly through i was a loonybin.

it was really a little sad actually. but totally needed to be done. when i got my spanking new i/c, it was all fine and good again. i'd totally scan my new i/c to show off but not sure about identity theft and all those niggity stuff. the picture above looks quite normal printed but when they made it black and white, i look completely washed out and have cheekbones! woohoo! i likey!!

but most of all, it reads zhiying cheng allender now. first, middle and last name. so i got to keep my maiden name but have my married name as my last name. it looks a little weird still but i guess i have my whole life to get used to it. :)

crafty finds: papermarket

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:26:39 GMT

one thing i love the most about singapore is how fast things change. everytime we come home, there is a new mall opening, a new highway, a faster route home or a new eatery. anyone driving past ECP will agree with me that even the cityscape changes every single day!! this week home, between work and catching up with friends, i found out that my ultimate favorite store on earth, sephora, is in town! *whoops*

i love this place to bits! there is not one sephora i've walked into and not come out with sexy black bag full of little things i never knew i needed!! it reminds me of dress-up time when i was little and snuck into mum's bedroom to spritz her new parfum, poke my eyes with her mascaras and swish her lucious makeup brushes with pretty colours! in the world of sephora, there are always newer and yummier scents, fiercer sky-high mascaras and a truckload of creams that promise you the world! im a sucker like that and daniel is a very very lucky man that we don't live near a sephora.

i also caught up with busybee, lemonster , over dumplings and she brought me to a store "im sure zhingey will like." oh man was she right!! sitting snuggly in the basement of raffles city, papermart is "oooo heaven is a place on earth". literally! we combed down the aisles for hours, wowing over pretty paper, crazy stickers & all sorts of little knick-knacks that will make your art more beautiful!! (seeing some trend here?) and one of my major weaknesses, after shoes and cupcakes, is fine stationery. so we spent HOURS in there. im serious! we almost didn't get dinner cos they were closing! *yikes*

and because now im a proud member of papermarket, a obvious sign that im WEAKWEAKWEAK in the face of temptation..., im sure i'll be back!!

welcome! welcome to crafty paradise!

my latest obsession - pomanders! they have party packs of DIY pomanders from martha stewart! with amazing colours and very nicely scalloped edges!!

and these uber-neat lace punches!! i've been scouting for it online for ages! so love!

a little nook in the shop for classes! im not a scrapbooker and i use my wares for wedding/decor stuff but their scrapbooking classes are awesome! i took one last year at their other store - laine's papeterie and had a ball! their teachers are very sweet and creative!

Papermarket
Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-31
Singapore 179103

picture credits to this amazing scrap-blog. check out her inspiring scrappies and her adorable son! we were too busy shopping to whisk out out the cammy!

on monday...

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:39:01 GMT

daniel made it to first page of straits times! :) :) :)

where's ~~wally~~ daniel?

busted!!! the husband checking out some cute bride's ass while the other photographer/videographers were diligently snapping away!!

we were there attending a gf's ROM! (yayy!) the date was 20-9-2009 and apparantly an auspicious date in the chinese calender so in celebration of the botanic garden's anniversary, they planned a wedding for 168 couples!! boy was it an eye-opener! we've never ever been to a mass wedding so it was our first! but give that there were so so many people there, they did a pretty good job at there were so so many brides in poofy gowns, tinkerbelle miniskirts, crazy hair, sparkley make-up. never thought i'd say it but completely OD'ed my bridal quota for one day.and being the doofus we were waiting at the WRONG pavillion for the WRONG couple! and had to break into a sprint to make it to her pavillion just in the nick of time! did i also mention the last time i ran, it was urm.. 10 years ago in JC!!?!

but the weather was really pretty in the evening and we walked around poking our noses into other people's tents, shared some candy floss and took some happysnaps of our sweaty backs!!! :) wish we had the dogs with us. they'd have had a BALL! :)

happy monday! :)

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:29:28 GMT

ouchie!! my little pinkies are hurting in from running around in heels yesterday!! im giving them a nice long soak and some TLC this morning before we head out today with our usual morning soiree with our dim sum buddies, swish my miniskirt at a "tennis & tea part" with my loves, meet a client for a pre-wedding round-up AND a HUUUUGE dinner of chilli crabs!!

lemme tell you, definitely not a regular monday morning!!!

this morning, im completely enamored with this accapella tribute to michael jackson. they're excellent!!! im watching it on repeat and cant get over how symmetrical they look on stage! it is just my eyes or are the three boys triplets?? even the two at the back look identical!!