Elaine & Siang Lin's Wedding

I had a good break over the weekend...a bunch of us went to Muar for Elaine and Siang Lin's wedding on 20 Nov 2010...yes, the wedding that i've been anticipating for the last few months...Flora, Connie and i flew to JB on Friday morning...i forgot my passport so i had to trouble Becky to send me back to grab it...thank God i didn't miss the flight...Siang Lin and Nelson (Elaine's younger bro) came to pick us up from Senai airport....and we drove back to Muar...which was about 2 hours away...

We dropped by at Elaine's house to pick her up and send her to the nail parlour to do her nails...then Siang Lin brought us for lunch at Elaine's favourite bak kut teh shop...then we checked in at D'99 hotel....Flora, Connie and i shared a room...we practically slept off the whole afternoon...while waiting for Jasmine, Suet Lai, Alisa and Anthony and Darrien to arrive...when they've all arrived...we hung out at the Delifrance adjacent to the hotel....it was good to catch up with old friends...and having Darrien was a lot of fun...

We went to Elaine's house for dinner...she had a pre-wedding dinner for her friends and relatives...and we even celebrated Darrien's 1st birthday...Elaine bought a Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake...we ended up enjoying the cake more than Darrien...hehe...after dinner, the jie muis discussed about the things we wanted the heng tais to do during the morning wedding ceremony....then we went back to the hotel and slept...

We woke up about 6am plus on Saturday morning...we got ready and had breakfast at the hotel...then Nelson came to pick us up to his place...we spent about an hour preparing the 'special drinks' for the heng tais...then us girls were busy placing our kisses on paper...it was for one of the task for Siang Lin...he had to guess which one was Elaine's kiss...we even got Nelson's help with the kisses...hehe...

Siang Lin and his heng tais came about 9am plus...from the beginning, he and his guys had to look for the house key to enter the main gate...we gave the house key to one of the neighbour who really took the guys on a trip...coz he gave them the wrong keys...twice...only after Siang Lin gave him an ang pow only he gave the right key...hahahaha....then after they entered the main gate, firecrackers were ignited...gosh, lost a few decibles of my hearing....

Their next task was to send some guys to eat cut apples from a plate on the floor while doing push-ups....most of the guys managed 2-3 slices...then it was time to down a whole long glassful of beer...the guy who did it could really drink...and he's chinese...next task was to drink the 'special drinks' we prepared...from red wine to hot chilli sauce to vinegar to raw egg...guys really would down anything...hehe...then it was time to dance....i think 'Nobody' by Wonder Girls has become the official wedding dance song...so 2 of the guys had to wear dresses and danced to the song...the guys were quite sporting to oblige....

Then we had some naughty poses for the guys to imitate...that was pretty hilarious...then Siang Lin was finally outside Elaine's room...but before that, he had to spot Elaine's kiss among many kisses...us jie muis managed to get lots of ang pows from Siang Lin during that task...hehe...but eventually he managed to choose the right lips after like 5 guesses...then he thought he could go into the room but then it was locked...and the room key was stuck on the ceiling...so he had to climb up on a chair and use an umbrella to reach the key...

Siang Lin must have been so relieved when he finally opened the room door...could really see it in his smile...hehe...so he went into the room...unveiled Elaine and puts the wedding ring on her...Elaine looked like an angel in her wedding dress...the epitome of a vision of loveliness...after putting on the ring, Siang Lin planted a kiss on Elaine...sigh...best part of any wedding...then we proceeded to the tea ceremony....after that it was time for the bride to leave the house...hehe, we had quite some fun throwing rice at the wedding couple as they walked to the car...

Then we went to the hotel where Siang Lin's parents were staying for another tea ceremony...Connie, Flora and i followed one of Siang Lin's friend's car...when we reached the hotel, one of Connie's strappy heels broke...so i had to lend her my heels so that she can go get herself a new pair...which she did in record time...and her new heels were fabulous...not to mention quite cheap...after the 2nd tea ceremony, it was time for lunch...

We went back to our hotel after lunch...slept a bit till about 5pm...Flora got ready earlier and left for the restaurant coz she was the MC and needed to prepare earlier...Connie and i took our time to get ready...we had to wait for our transport...which was late...but somehow we managed to reach the restaurant before the dinner started...met Ah Liam at the dinner...it was good to catch up...

Then it was time for the bride and groom to enter the restaurant...it was quite an entrance...Elaine looked like a princess in her pale blue gown...and Siang Lin her dashing prince by her side...there were lots of bubbles in the air as they were walking in...quite dream-like...dinner was good...and there was live band performing...so we requested and dedicated some songs to Elaine and Siang Lin...i requested for "Wonderful Tonight"...but the wedding singer totally ruined it with his own version of the song...totally unromantic and inappropriate...i still think Khalil Fong's version is amazing...

So, that was 'the' wedding...a friend told me he hates attending wedding...coz it makes him feel old...i love attending weddings...i love sharing the joy and love with my friends who are getting hitch...i just wonder if this whole getting married business was meant for me...coz it doesn't look like it's gonna happen...

NZ trip - day 11

So today was our last day in NZ...:(...so wished i could stay longer...the last 10 days have been quite an adventure...i hated the idea of going back to work where i knew hell was waiting...Cam and Jeanne woke up before 7am to move the car...this little pig continued to sleep until about 750am...got ready and did some last minute packing and put our luggage into the car...then we went to Victoria Park Market...well, this one was a far cry from Melbourne's Victoria Market...but we still managed to buy more souvenirs...hehe...

Next we went to Queen street where Cam's fridge magnet hunt continued...saw a dress in Cotton On selling at NZD15...bought it...found the dolphin nephrite pendant and chain that i liked in another souvenir shop... the owner was a Chinese...bargained and bought it for NZD45...still a bit more expensive than in Queenstown but i guess it was alright...then we dropped Jeanne off at the Britomart bus stop and bid her farewell...she was so sad that we were leaving...and Cam and i were even sadder that we were leaving...

So Cam and i headed for the airport...i drove this time...and if there was anyone else in the car, one would have noticed that Cam was extremely on the edge all the way....she was unusually quiet, sitting upright and kept looking at the Neverlost GPS and the road signs...i guess we were both afraid we'd lose our way and miss the check-in time...thank God we didn't miss any turning...and managed to reach the airport at 1110am...phew!!!

We parked the car at the car rental parking...Cam went to return the key and i went to queue for check-in...we left the GPS in the car coz the last time we did the same...but this stupid car rental insisted that Cam return the GPS at the counter and told her she needed to jot down the mileage... so poor Cam had to run to the car and grab the GPS...and i was getting worried all the while coz she was taking quite long...eventually Cam turned up just in time for check-in...phew!!!

After checking in, we went for a drink at Juice Booster...to cool down after such a rush...hehe...then Cam continued shopping in the airport...since we had leftover money...hehe..at the departure hall, Cam bought a NZD20 t-shirt while waiting for our flight...which was delayed...as usual...our flight was supposed to depart at 1250pm but only took off at 140pm...spent the whole flight doing a movie marathon....finished up Ip Man 2 which i didn't finish during the inbound flight...then continued with Karate Kid...and Prince of Persia - Sands of Time...and then watched Letters to Juliet...which made me felt like going to Italy again...sigh...then watched The Last Airbender....but only managed to watch halfway coz it was time to land...

So, that was our NZ adventure...no more out of country travel for this year...not becoz i don't want to...only becoz i have no time...and money...sigh...that aside, NZ is really a place worth visiting...and there're still so many places i didn't get to visit...perhaps next time...urgh...i need another break already....

NZ trip - Day 10

So today was our last day in South Island...time for us to fly back to North Island...we woke up about 7am...got ready and packed...after checking out, we dragged our more filled up luggage to the bus stop...Cam wanted to get McDonald's for breakfast but there was a long queue and our airport bus was leaving....our trip to the airport was free coz we got a complimentary connectabus ticket from the Remarkables trip...so we checked-in at the Queenstown airport and had breakfast there...i had a venison pie...our flight was delayed about 15 mins...i supposed that was not too bad for Jetstar...boarded the flight and slept through the whole 2 hours flight...when i woke up we were landing already...

We arrived at Auckland airport about 1150am...got our luggage and waited for Jeanne to pick us up...she was late...by the time she came it was 1230pm...she managed to rent a car from Hertz for NZD81 per day (including GPS)...it was a white hatchback Toyota Corolla....without wasting any time, we headed for Mission Bay...however, we kept losing our way with the GPS....and get this, the brand of the GPS was 'Neverlost'....hahaha...Cam said it should have been named "Alwayslost"...

Along the way, we stumbled upon Cornwall Park at One Tree Hill...but the GPS kept taking us to some residential dead-end roads instead of the main entrance to the park....urgh!!! so we were fed up and looked for it on our own....and what do you know...we found it...without the GPS...so we drove up to the summit where there was this thin pole-like monument at the peak...it was bloody windy that we had problem putting the camera on the ledge for self-timed photos...the camera kept toppling over...we had a really beautiful bird's eye view of Auckland city...then we went down to the park where the sheep are....Cam was so happy to be among flocks of sheep...we took quite a lot of photos with the sheep...though they kept running away from us...hehe...

Next, we drove on to Mission Bay...thank God we didn't get lost this time...we bought fish and chips and had our lunch at the park bench near the beach while watching some cute Spanish guys play soccer...ahhh....that's good life...then we went house-browsing at Mission Bay...the houses were amazing....so i asked Jeanne to pick her dream house...and just as soon as i finished my question, she exclaimed "that one"....and all of us were screaming in excitement...coz we saw this really cool house....(would love to show a pic of the house, but i can't seem to upload it on my blog...damn slow lah digi)...

After that, we went to Takapuna beach..it was quieter and we didn't stay too long there...coz we went to visit Massey University where Jeanne was working and studying...saw her office and lab...met her colleague, Scott...then we went to Pak & Save...bought 6 bottles of Schwarzkopf shampoo and conditioner coz they were selling for NZD2.99 per 250ml bottle...amazing...also bought chocolates and ice-cream...we were so engrossed in our shopping that we were late to meet Elena and her friend, Bea...

We drove as fast as we could (but everyone in NZ drove pretty much like they were in Gurney Drive) to Sky City where they were waiting for us....we were half an hour late...we picked them up and went back to Jeanne's place to drop off our groceries...then we went for dinner at the Occidental which was quite a classy pub...Elena and Bea decided to go for Burgerfuel instead (Elena wanted to try their kumara fries)...so Jeanne, Cam and I shared a pot of Mussels in spinach and blue cheese, a small seafood platter and a loaf of garlic bread....we were stuffed till the brim...after dinner, we met the Spanish girls at McDonald's to exchange photos of our trip...we chatted and saw the photos....then we went back to Jeanne's place....did some repacking coz now i had even more stuffs to bring home...talked a bit...showed Jeanne our photos...ate our ice-cream...then slept...been a long day...