My best dish yet

Lets take a break from my wedding post.

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You see after the wedding we still haven't sorted out where to stay. We are always moving around either my parents place or his mum's place. Well not really; weekdays at my parents and weekends at his mum's place. But even so, we do have dinner at his mum's place once or twice during weekdays. Not a problem, since its only 10 minutes away. Except, it can be exhausting at times.

So...
My colleague have been asking me,

"Belle, you seem like you're in a rush. You balik you masak ke for your husband?"

or...

"What did you cook for dinner last night?"

I always reply them with a smile. *and run as fast as I can*

To be honest.. I haven't really cook anything for my husband. Bad wife, I know. But you see, my mum cooks better than me. (You can actually count how many dishes I can cook or more to fry or bake!)  and because we stay with my parents, ofcourse my mum cooks for us all.. With my help. Duh! (By help I meant, cutting onions and garlic)

Until one day....
We had an early dinner outside, so when we got home it was quite late and A was hungry again. So, he told me that. Being a good wife *ehem* I said, let me prepare for you something...

Guess what I made?
..

An omelet. *proud*
Yes guys, you read that right. I made him an omelet. A special one ofcourse! (By adding mayo) Boy, he loves it. I thought he's just being nice but he tambah nasi twice.

Happy? Yes.
But you know whats sad about it? Every now and then A will say..

"Sayang, I teringin la makan yang you masak tu. Telur dadar tu... Bila nak buat lagi?"

To be honest, my heart breaks everytime he says that. Kesian lah. Thats the best dish his wife has ever made for him kan. -_-

x

Pre Wed Preparation Part 1

I've been wanting to blog about my wedding for quite some time... But you see, I've been really occupied. I come home from work, either I go to my inlaws (which is 10 mins away from our house) and come home to sleep, or I spend my time at my family's. Cooking, cleaning, being a good wife. NOT!

So where do I begin?

Wedding preps?
Ahh yes.

I think somehow I did my wedding preps quite early. Around August we went to Jakarta to find materials; wedding cards, fabrics, and doorgifts. For bride to be out there, yes Jakarta is definitely the place to find your wedding needs! I went a little crazy.

We hired a driver for our 3 days stay because from what I know Jakarta is not a place you want to  mess with. The traffic jams.. Is out of the world punya jam lah. So having a driver around is convenient. Plus, we have tons of things to settle in 3 days. I would love to give his contacts, but I think he is on the highest side. Not really recommended.

As for accommodation, I booked a chic hotel near Tanah Abang- Kosenda Hotel. Major love for this hotel. Their interiors leaves me in awe. They take little details into consideration.

Okay moving on.
First stop.
Tanah Abang.
To be completely honest, I was a little a lot busy before our  trip I didn't do any homework. What color for my family, his family (his mom asked me to decide for them too heheh). All I know is I want white for solemnization (nikah), and I want one timeless color for my reception. No green, no purple, no red! I don't want to show my grandkids my wedding photo one day, and hearing them say "Why do you look like Barney, Grans?" Uh no. Lets just say I want safe colors- so we opted for champagne-ish, cream.

So...
Since yours trully did not do any homework (for my/his family), when I got there.... I went a little cray cray! One moment I wanted green, next bronze, and then maybe yellow looks good too?

Finally..

Purple for solemnization, teal-green-blue ish for reception, and dark purple for majlis bertandang. For reception, we bought our entire family fabrics too, so no excuse not wearing the same color!! >:( Price? RM4 per meter. We saw the same material (Sorry I forgot the name! Not good at remembering fabric names! Heh) here in KL, cost around RM30-50. 

AND!

We manage to find a perfect fabric for my nikah. A full beaded embroidery white fabric. Some example of the beaded fabrics.. 

My full beaded fabric cost about *hold your jaws* RM400 or 500? For 6 meters. YES! 

Next day, we went hunting for my reception fabric. I had a few design saved to my phone. Reality is.. We didnt use any of those design for my wedding dress. Hahah. So next stop, Mayestik. This place is heaven for fabrics!!!! I kid you not!

And that is my reception fabric. I forgot how much it cost, but yes full on beadings. Lagi full compared to nikah. I think I took 7 meters for that. But I'm pretty sure its below RM800. 

Next stop, wedding card!

You see, this girl right here likes to berangan. I have always wanted a laser cut card. The intricate beauty of it. Entah lah. I googled did a bit of research and found a place with good review. But its a little further from Jakarta city center. Takes about 45 mins drive with slight traffic; imagine with bad traffic! I didn't take any picture of the shop, but you could take a look at their website; Doco Cards. 

How does the process work?

I pick a decent size of the laser cuts, I didn't want to have full on laser cut; one because of the price (duh!) two macam cikpong cikpong sikit. Heheh. Then pay 30% of the price, after that you can email them your preferred design that you googled of what not, or just give them an idea of how you want it to be. After that, they will email you their artwork from you to choose. Pay another 30%. Pick the color for the cover- as for mine they had to "create" the colored paper since I want champagne cream. Send final artwork, pay the remaining. And your card is ready to be shipped! I made it sound easy, don't I? Hahah. 

Eeeks.

Last but not least, doorgifts aka wedding favors!

Call me picky, but I wanted something people can use. Food? I know for sure it will end up in the dustbin, unless its good (read: ferrrero rocher) But I have to say, my wedding favors is not my first choice. I wanted something else, due to budget constraint (duh, it cost about RM10 per piece) I picked this instead:

The one in bronze, around RM3.50 per piece. No discount eventho we ordered 2500 pieces. Mama, the over achiever wanted 2500 justtt incase takut tak cukup. I still have a lot left, any one wants one? Or two. Again, I won't recommend this. Beli jelah doorgift dekat Malaysia. A lot easier there. This person here doesn't really understand Malay nor English. And the quality of the box is quite bad. Aiyaiyai. 

Hah. Done with the pre-wed preparation part 1.

Next.. Pre wed preparation part 2. That.. Maybe next year hahaha.

x B

Twenty seven

I swear whenever I meet someone now, I could answer their question before they start asking me it. Which is?

"Hows your wedding prep?"

And boy, if I get a dollar for every person who ask me this, I'd be able to save it for my unborn child tuition fees. Hahah. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the gesture. Its just, I'm a little stressed out. To be completely honest, I have not yet settle those eeny meeny tiny little things that does actually matter!


Example?

PA system.
Band.
Kompang (??)
Ustadz to recite du'a
A few hantaran stuff (!!!)
Flower girls
Etc...

You know, I've never really paid attention at weddings. One fine morning Mama asked me, who will lead my entrance? To which i answered, errr the groom's family lah! She said no, you need flower girls! Thing is, our family doesn't have any kids. The youngest I think is 8 or 9. Umm a bit too old to be my flower girl, no? So Mama being Mama said,

"Eh ask Jaja if we could borrow her little cousins!"

-___________-

FAIL.
Aiyo, where got people borrow other people's family members!

I think I'll organize a freak out party at my house, in 7 days. 

x

ps: Yes, A this post is for you.

Hey Jules

Oh hey. *Blows dust*

I kinda expect that I'd neglect this blog. I mean.... Not that I have anything better to do. But everytime when I get the idea on what to blog or whatnot, it will always be in the shower or while I'm driving (especially when you're stuck in traffic... Which is errrrday!) or when I'm having lunch/dinner with my friends; they don't know this but sometimes my mind wanders off to another place. Heheh.

But here I am again. Cececeh.

You see, a few months back my family I adopted a kitten which A got it for me named Jules. I think I have a confession to make. And I also think my best friends are quite aware of it.

I think I am obsessed with Jules.

Sometimes it scares me how obsessed I am with him. You know, I don't tell people this.. But sometimes when I'm at the office doing work out of a sudden I miss Jules and which I could just go home immediately. *I see judging faces there!*

Or when our office announce that we can go home 30 mins early I had this huge dream that I could go home and jog a few rounds. (I'm getting married, must keep fit. Hello?) Which obviously didn't happen. Why? Because whenever I get home from work Jules would greet me at the door and manja manja. Then I'd feel bad leaving him alone the whole day. I'd end up spending my whole evening (night too!) with him.

Or when that one time, I'd talk about Jules to all of my colleague. Until they shush me down. (Raymond je.) Hahah.

Or when A told me he could babysit Jules during raya haji and I declined because I want to sent him to his pet hostel so he could have his playdate with other cats.

Now as I'm typing this I realize how ridiculous I sound.

Sigh.

I need help don't I?

Help?

x

The Engagement II

Part Two

Because Part One are all words.. Part two will be a picture blog. I must warn you, this is a very long post FULL with PICTURES.

I'll link the contacts too just incase anyone is interested. Fair enough kan? :)

I was scared in the beginning because people always say careful of MUA; some might doll you up looking like a drag queen.. I honestly don't wanna look like a drag, especially on my little special day. I can safely say that I love my make up; it was by my senior during high school Syafieq Ayman. Kuddos to Abang Syafiq and team!

My girls came quite early. Aishah was the first one to arrive if I'm not mistaken, Shin uhh don't let me get started with Shin... She came all the way from Wangsamaju with a cab!! Terharu please! :') And Jaja.. sponsored the cake for my hantaran.

At about 11.30ish A's family arrived. I was nervous!!!!!! I even asked Aishah to swap role with me. Finally I asked the girls to accompany me until downstairs. (But they didn't. Hmph!)

During the discussion and thats me walking to my mini dais looking super nervous. Accompanied by? Mama's best friend hahah.

Andddddd. Just like that, his Momma put a ring on me. I am engaged! Wehoo. Lega!

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Little details.

The baju

From the beginning I've always wanted mint green as the color for my engagement. Because I wanna keep white for my nikah. I feel its okay to play around with color and keeping it timeless for the wedding day later.

Opsie sorry fat finger interrupting there. Hah. Bought our fabric at the famous Jakel Shah Alam. Super expensive. Pshh. Not recommended. Could have gone to Jakarta and come back here, sama harga kut? Heh.

Since I spent so much on the fabric.... I sent for tailoring at our favorite Auntie in Wangsamaju. Gave her a rough sketch what I had in mind. And tadaaa! I think she did an awesome job! Very nicely done. Kemas jahitan nya bak kata mak mak, kan. Mind you, the tailoring only cost RM250. I kid you not ;)

The only problem was... My mom and brother keep on nagging me that the lace is too empty. No sparkle. No batu apparently. My brother even said "Macam baju tak tunang!" Aiyaiyai. So your trully added her own beadings. Just a very simple pearl beads.

The shawl? I didn't want veil. I thought it'd be too.... How do I say this in a nice way. Mmm over? So, bought baby creepe fabric, took the leftover lace and patched it. Oh why ofcourse I added beadings on it too. Nak kena nag lagi ke? -.-

The mini dais / mini pelamin

Its a love/hate relationship between me and my dais. I kinda love it, but I dislike it at the same thing. Hate would be too harsh. My dais was by Chenta Weddings. I like everything about it except....

• Their time management. Everything is a last minute notice. I mean, I didn't expect it from a well-known event planner... But worst is yet to come. They told me they were gonna set up my dais at 8 am, I applied my leave. Texted them, and they told me they were gonna come at 11. So I waited. Oh! Did I tell you I had to go to Wondermilk to pick up cupcakes for our doorgifts? Heh, clock struck 2. No signs. No texts. No calls. I had to whatsapp them macam Along kutip hutang somemore. Finally around 4, I gave up. I asked A to pick up the cupcakes for me. Finally they came in at 11pm! Well they have their own excuses. But whatever it is should have let your customers know, kan? 
• I asked for a different chair. They came in with this chair. Apparently, oval chair are the in thing for engagement dais. AND the chair I requested doesn't fit my dais. Could have told me earlier!!!

Besides that all good. Love love love the fresh flowers. Yes, ALL fresh flowers. I couldn't believe it either. And the huge hand bouquet. Lovely! :) The aftermath.. It was hard to keep all of the flowers around the house. Hahah.  (The picture doesn't do justice, fyi. There's four huge bouquet of flowers on the stand!)

Oh and we took tent packages with the pelamin and deco so that both synchronizes. I love the center piece of the tent, makes me regret doing our ceremony during the day. It would have been magical if it was at night! Sparkle all the way. Heh.

The hantaran

I love our hantaran. Its so pretty! Hantaran's are by Adib from Hantaran Adib. So I gave him 7 dulang, he gave me 5.

The items on my dulang for him are;

1- Sireh junjung
2- Fruits; green apples, grapes and strawberries. (All his fav)
3- Cake (Sponsored by Jaja)
4- Praying mat (Sejadah)
5- Pearl white fabric for baju melayu during nikah
6- A matching songket tenun sampin from Terengganu
7- Emernegildo Zegna perfume (Loveee the smell!)

The items on his dulang for me;

1- Tepak sireh
2- Praying veil from Siti Khadijah (telekung)
3- Patchi chocolate
4- A set of Coach Poppy perfume
5- Cake (The dulang where you see the Habib box there... Thats supposed to be the cake. It fell while making its way into my house. Drama sangat, I know!)

Adib starts from RM100 per dulang. But he is quite flexible about his price. Boleh mintak tawar kalau you pandai ayat. Heheh. Or/and you could also pay installment.

The F&B

This one, I am 100% satisfied. Food for me is super sedap. Ish. Should have eaten a lot more! I opted for lauk kampung. Couldn't find a better picture of the food.. Shesh sorry. The food that were served;

Nasi putih
Masak lemak daging salai
Ikan keli bercili
Pajeri nenas
Ayam goreng berempah

Ulam
Sambal belacan kick 

Sirap
Teh tarik

Curry puff
Tepung pelita (Hands down, I swear this is the best tepung pelita I've ever tasted!!! Ish asked most of my guest packed a few to take back home!)

They charge RM10-15 per person. Depending on your lauk, I think. You could contact; Mr Mazlan 0192136033. I am very sure that you will not be disappointed!

The doorgifts

Well well well. This has been an issue since beginning. I wanted to give tasbih and Yasin, from a dear friend- byhs. (Did I tell you, you could customize your own tasbih? Pretty cool, I know!!) But then I remembered, I have non Muslims friends too. So I opted for cupcakes instead. Just one maxi cupcakes from Wondermilk, since I am very sure it tasted good. Takut order from some random people, and turns out umm not so good. But mom, being mak mak.

"Ish kedekut nya lahaiii bagi sebiji je. Hm kita bagi 4 biji la."

Okay, 4 biji it is then!

"Tapi mama, kaklong dah deal dengan Nanie for tasbih and Yasin...."

"Okay lah both lah."

A was sweet enough staying over at our place the whole day helping us moving the furniture, picking up the cupcakes (which couldn't fit into his car at first!), and helping us to pack. 

Last but not least,

The photographer

I am a sucker for pictures. The first thing we discussed, I told mom I want a good photographer. Mom didn't wanna fork out that much. So I asked around and my cousin gave me this contact; blogged by Deen. A young and very talented photographer I must say.

We even had an outdoor shoot at Pusat Maritim, Putrajaya. Where A first met my parents :)

So, now... 

Bridezilla mode? 

ON! 

X

The Engagement I

Part One.

How did it all begin?

You know, I've always wondered.. How do you break the news to your parents that you're dating someone/ planning to get engaged. Coming from a strict family background; my dad is super strict about me dating boys. If he hates the boy, there's no way he's gonna turn back. My mom on the other hand, has always been easy about it. Meh not really, she pretends that she doesn't know but she knows. Mothers... Pshh.

Last December, me and A had a serious discussion about our future. He told me his plan is to get married before 26, while I told him my plan is to get married before 25. Well, that was my plan when I was in high school. You see, when you're 17.... 25 seems like a long long long way to go. But soon, before you know it.. You are twenty-freaking-five years old!!! Ah back to the story, so around January we had that talk again. This time he was really serious. Initially we plan to get engaged in March....

But.

My parents doesn't know about our "secret" love affair. I had to tell them. Every day A would asked me,

"So.. Dah tanya Mama?"
"Nanti lah, takde perfect timing."
"Hmm k." *merajuk a little. Because he thought I wasn't serious*

From Feb March... Finally I had the guts to tell them. I was scared of rejection to be honest. What if they disapprove him? My heart will break into little tiny pieces. Ish dramatic! I don't know why, but I told my dad first I still remember the exact words I said to him. We were both in the car, mom was out of town. Perfecttt, kan?

"Abah.. Kaklong ingat nak bertunang this May." (Had to change the dates, because well too chicken!)
"Hah? Kaklong dah ada calon ke?"
"Ermmm. Ada la.."
"Siapa?"
"Ada this guy..."
"Mana kenal?"
"Sama sekolah dulu, kenal since sekolah rendah lagi."

Next on is the normal questions. Study mana, kerja mana etc. The usuals I'd say. Last thing he said was..

"I can't tell you who's your Mr. Right. If you think he's the right one for you, understands you. Then I'm okay with it, Kaklong."

Phew! Only God knows. Lega. But next up... Mom.

You see.... I am actually a chicken. A scary cat. I didn't even dare to tell mom right infront of her. So I whatsapp her instead. Can't remember the exact thing she said.. I only remember..

"Mama kena lah jumpa dia dulu. Baru boleh decide. Ni bukan main main."

Umm.
I was so gelojoh you see... I brought him to see my parents the next day! And... Approved!

A week after we had a little merisik session. Not really a merisik, but his mom came to our house to discuss about the engagement etc.

Uh oh.

Things are getting more serious now ay.

X

I decided to stay

Ahoy readers..

So I finally decided to unprivate this blog. Might need some time for me to get back to writing. And ummm yes, I did read all of my sad/sappy entries- and yes I decided to keep it. Just as a little reminder for me and for those who can relate; its for you too! :)

This is obviously temporary might not even be legit anymore. I might even change it to this is obviously permanent? Heh high hopes sangat lah kan.

---

So....

I am now engaged. Not a surprise. Not something new. Got engaged on the 10th May; yes a day before my birthday. Which is sort of like my birthday gift.


To whom?

My ex boyfriend.
Or can I just say... My first crush masa 10 years old? Nyihihihi.

He gave me this when we were 12. Just look at his hobbies. Laugh now please! Hahah. 

And this is us today; after the ceremony.

More on the engagement on the next entry. 

X