*Shopping List*

Attending Wedding Fairs, Researching on Bridal Forums, Sourcing information on the World Wide Web, Getting Advices From Friends. Finally after months of preparations, the shopping list that we began this journey with has reduced significantly. What's left to be done are countable.

1. Our Live Band
2. Wedding Car (Red Mini Cooper)
3. Livestudios Photography
4. Pre-Wedding Shoot
5. Wines & Beer
6. Decorations For Our Reception On Actual Day
7. Honeymoon Destination

The list seems so little, yet there're a lot of work to be done. Coordination with so many different agencies are indeed tiring !!! Lucky with the amount of time we have before our Big Day, we are able to get things to be done one at a time.

To kick off this weekend, we woke up early in the morning (not so early too.. 10am) for our morning jog through Japanese Garden and Chinese Garden !! But all that almost came to nothing after we cooked our own lunch !! Haha !! Look at the pics and they will explain why !!!

Fried Chicken With Pan-Fried Potato Chips Served With Salad

Oven Grilled Rosemary Chicken With Pan-Fried Potato Chips Served With Salad

After a sumptuous lunch, looking at the list that we have, we decided to start with finding our Beloved Wedding Car - RED MINI COOPER !! Thank god for this Wedding Fair at Orchard Central happening today !! We're heading now to Eurokars Leasing (At the Wedding Fair) to book our Red Mini !!! (1 Issue to be completed by this weekend !! Hee)

Up next is our Live Band from Lush Entertainment, this 3 piece band is one of the most important item that is needed for our Big Day !!! How can we leave them out when we want to have our FIRST DANCE !!! Now is to find the 3 sets of songs to be played. Time to visit That CD Shop and look for inspirations !! We love That CD Shop too !! One of our favourite hunt !!!

Networking is super important !! Lucky for me, Karam (Poly Mate) has his own Wine Company that does Imports & Exports. Great wines at affordable prices from him !!! Have to make a trip down to his company to see the wide range of wines. I'm nuts about wines !! Haha !!! Karam can certainly help us in this area. =)

Everything is going smoothly as planned. Even for the Air Tickets !!! Really lucky to stumble onto AirAsia Website and got to know that Air Tickets to Bali is on PROMOTION !! This tiny island makes a perfect short Honeymoon trip right after our Big Day !!! No time to be wasted !! Grabbed the tickets at 344 dollars for 2 !!! Now that our destination is confirmed, shall let Rowe plan the itinerary as she's no stranger to that island !!  =P

Phew !! There's really a lot more to be done.. Need to start planning for the rest of the items, Pre-Wedding Shoot, Decorations for Big Day and  Livestudios Photography... Its near year end too !! That means CHRISTMAS !!! Time to do some Christmas Shopping too !!!

WE LOVE CHRISTMAS !!!!

Til then.. .... ....

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Pre-Wedding Jitters*

Pre-Wedding Jitters are quite common from what my friends told me. I've seen some of them myself too ! When my friends are preparing for their Big Day, can see the stress written all over their face. Where to hold the Wedding, When to hold the Wedding, Who to invite, Where to go for photo shoot, What car to use, Which Bridal Studio to go to... etc !!! Some of them even quarrelled during the process of planning. Eeeewww !!!

Thinking about it, it's all due to the amount of preparations that are needed before the Wedding. Sometimes I really wonder if there's a need to spend so much time and effort & the most importantly, so much $$$ spent just to create such an event !!! Why can't we just get over with all the unnecessary hassles, sign the papers and declare MARRIED COUPLES !!!

Now that we've done most of our preparations for our Big Day, we're realising why such an event should be created. Actually having this Event is a great idea and there're advantages too !!

1. Firstly, it's only once in a lifetime.
2. Secondly, it's an event that both of you work together for the first time.
3. Thirdly, everyone can share the joy with us.
4. Fourthly, We'll be the STARS of the night !
5. Lastly, It's the experience that is so valuable that money can't buy !

There will definitely be lots of differences in the different stages of planning. Having the ups and downs are great because it is a small test to see how the couples work together to overcome the hurdles. The saying is good "What doesn't kills you, makes you stronger". True enough, by overcoming these small hurdles, our bond grows stronger as every minute and second psases by. And it's definitely a head start for us in problem solving before we start our lifes as Husband & Wife !

Well, so far I wouldn't say that we have the Pre-Wedding Jitters Syndrome. We're more like enjoying the process of preparations to our Big Day and can't wait for it to come ! Perharps, we've learnt to trust each other more and believe in each other. Whenever there's a small hurdle, we faced it together and work out a solution.

In one sentence, we just can;t wait for the day to come FASTER !!! Haha !!

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Dress*

It was an exciting day yesterday.

It was the day to discuss the gown that i was going to wear the day i become Mrs Lok. Haaahaaa.. It was also the day that i got dear Shenn to pick out Wedding gowns. Its fun when you have another person with you on such shopping trips! We are definitely not doing a repeat of "Bride Wars"! Despite us having similar styles and wants for our dress, we go for different details altogether. I like White, she likes cream /  She likes clean lines and satin, I like the unfinished Oganza, chiffon feel...

But, like they always say, you never really get what you want, cos, number one lesson in selecting a gown, WHAT YOU LIKE AND WANT, WILL NEVER BE THE ONE SUITABLE FOR YOU!...And how true is that! And to me, Forget the idea of the perfect gown, cos, if its tooo perfect, something will always be wrong with it!! hahahaaa..

Anyway, We spent a total of 8 Freakin hours along that street!! unbelievable!
First i tried on like 6 diff. piece, to get the feel of what i want... then went gown shopping with shenn, she picked out some really fantastic ones with fantastic price tags that comes along with it!! And we were all so proud of her for trying on sooo many! Its really a tiring thing, trying on gowns... Lets just see what her dear husband - to - be thinks about her choice..

For me, staying true to my words, i designed something simple, with a touch of purple, just to my liking, which will only be shown to all earliest, at the end of the year..

But Bryan has his pick on what i should wear on the first day, is a black and white number..which is simple and classy, plus I've always been a sucker of black and whites... matched with black gloves, and that's the way to go baby!

And Bryan was soo patient waiting on the two ladies!! Heeheee.. but i bet he enjoys seeing us in our beautiful gowns, and playing part time to Shenn, to give pointers from a guys point of view.

* Pats on Bryan's back for job well done*

As usual the day ends with Yummylicious dinner at our Chinese dinner plc! Yum Yum!

Thats all Folks!!

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Excursion Part 2, 171010*

What is the first thing that I will want to do when I wake up early in the morning ? That's having a nice breakfast to kick start the day !!

But when it comes to "What is the first thing that WE want to do when WE wake up early in the morning ?" Make a guess !!

THAT'S HAVING A NICE LUNCH TO KICK START THE DAY.

Please don't think that she's the one who drag me into the high noon (though its the truth, Oops !!), i don;t really have the chance to sleep late except for the weekends. Hee.. Anyway, such a bright and sunny lovely sunday for us to continue our quest !! The excursion for our last Photo Shoot Venue, Henderson Waves & Hort's Park. But first, a lovely lunch will have to be set.

Today's menu is Japanese Curry Rice & My Dear's very own Sauteed Potato with Onions. Our first attempt at creating this lovely dish. Inspiration came to us after trying Constance's Japanese Rice. All thanks to her, we came up with our very own creation !

In The Process Of Cooking

Sauteed Potato With Onion

Japanese Curry Rice (Minced Pork, Onion, Carrot & Potato)

With a satisfying lunch, it's time to embark on our incomplete journey to Henderson Waves & Hort's Park !! The journey was rather simple and straight forward, and I had been to both places before, Murphy's Law still kicks in for me !! I mis-orientated and made a wrong exit from the AYE !!! Nevertheless, we still made it !

The journey up ro Hort's Park & Henderson Waves  was a good 2.4km climb. We took a good 45mins to reach the top, enticing ourselves to the surrounding beauty of nature. Here are some photos that we took.

Our Journey Through The Ridges

Journey Up To Hort's Park

Rowe At Henderson Waves

Henderson Waves

Now that we have completed the places that we have in mind. With the research that we've gathered, we can meet our photographer on Friday, 22nd Oct 2010, to discuss our Pre-Wedding Shoot !

Stay Tune For Our Photos !!

Love,

Bryan & Rowena

*Excursion Part 1, 161010*

Is the weather in Singapore changing from bad to worse due to Global Warming ? Though we're a city of greens, the greens are not doing any help to the temperature !!! The sun is burning and scorning on our skin !!!

My Facebook on my Iphone are showing most of my friends are hiding this beautiful Saturday in their own small corner of their house - AIR-CON ROOM !!!! How about me ? Well, i'm going on an EXCURSION to the last places in Singapore in the freaky weather with Rowe !! We must be crazy !!! Haha !!

Yup !! As we had planned earlier at the start of this week, an excursion to several places to recce for our photo shoot. As we're in the east today, a visit to Rowe's Grandparents was our Itinerary. Really glad that we made that move !! We had some surprises !! Firstly, lots of new clothings for Rowe (All Branded like AX), Secondly, a Pair of Tag Heuer Watches from Aunt Jac as Wedding Favors(Hopefully) and lastly Aunt Jac offered us to take Wedding Shoot on a YACHT !! That's really great !! Well, we'll KIV that for the time being. After getting all the goodies, we had our lunch at Jalan Kayu, He Ji Wanton Mee before heading to our 1st Check Point, Kampong Buangkok (Last Kampong in Singapore).

何记@Jalan Kayu

Wanton Mee

After our lunch, we headed straight to our 1st stop, Kampong Buangkok, which is a 5mins drive away.

Kampong Buangkok Entrance

Walking into the Kampong really brings me back loads of memories !! Rowe has never stayed nor been to a kampong before. But for me, I'm lucky to be able to experience the simple carefree life in the Kampong at Lim Chu Kang. My grandparents used to live there and rear chickens and plant their own vegetables and even fruit trees !!! I was quite lucky to remember those days as i'm not even 4 years old. I love this place !! The simple life of the people, the natural surroundings, the wooden houses with zinc sheets rooftop, the lovely flowers & fruit trees(we saw coconut) and the electrical cables joining one household to another. This is definitely a place where we must have our Photo Shoot !! Here are some photos which explains all.

A Path Leading To The Residence

Residence

Residence

Residence

Corridor Of The Residence

After our venture at Kampong Buangkok, we headed to Punggol Lallang Fields. The Lallang Fields are everywhere !! It's so large that didn't stop to walk in as we don't know where the exact place is. Hence, we decide to leave it to our Photographer to lead us if we decide to have a shoot there. Anyway, to me, it's just another area like Lim Chu Kang. Haha !! Entire forested area with lallangs and tall grass. We had covered half of our itinerary, what's left was Changi Beach, Portsdown Road, Henderson Waves & Sunset Way.

The weather was really a Killer !! So much that we decided to cut short our itinerary. Looking at it, since we've been to Changi Beach & Portsdown Road several times, we'll give it a miss. Sunset Way here we come !!! We drove our way from Punggol straight back to Clementi. Reaching Sunset Way was easy. But finding a carpark and the entrance to the railway was new to a West Guy like me. We've drove around abit and decided to park in the residential area and climb the slope up to the railway.

The climb up the slope was worth it !! The view was great !!! Only seeing it personally will understand why Mediacorp likes to film at this abandoned Railway. Here are some photos that we took.

Start Of Railway

Walking Through The Railway

In The Middle Of The Railway

Railway

Surrounding Of The Railway

Though the weather was a killer, luckily we still went ahead with the excursion. The experience was fulfilling and more or less we decided what will our theme of our shoot be.

The day was ended with a short trip to West Coast Plaza (Former Ginza Plaza). We were surprised to see so much changes ! Though it's a small mall, there're still good finds and bargains. Did a little bit of shopping and had a tea break before heading to the hawker centre opposite West Coast Plaza to packet our dinner(Western Food) to end off the day.

Paradise Inn @ West Coast Plaza

Lavender, Rosemary, Dried Longan & Chrysanthemum Tea

Hopefully, Sunday will have a better weather. We're heading to Henderson Waves & Hort's Park !!

Til Then... .... ...

Love,

Bryan & Rowena