Light Hunting...

Have you ever been on a hunt for a particular type of lighting that you would like to fix at a very specific place in your home? If you have, you'll understand the agony of light hunting! So far, I think light hunting has been the most challenging item to shop for -- its simply agonizing especially when you are looking for DINING LIGHTS that hang from the ceiling! If you visit 6 shops in one afternoon, I guarantee you will go home being really CONFUSED... and having a neck ache because you are perpetually looking at 5 million danggly things from the ceiling at a 90-degree angle! You might also suffer from minor (eyesight) glare and heat-burn as a result of being in close proximity with all sorts of bulbs, especially the halogen ones.

After spending 2 weeks hunting just for ONE particular ceiling light for our dining area, we are soooo relieved that we finally found it -- 5 minutes from where Irwin now lives. HEH. So much for traveling to the ends of the earth for 2 weekends. If only we started looking at the places closest by... Anyhow, we got the lights at a bargain! Got it for 65% discount. So if you're looking for lights, head on to the lighting shops in the Uptown area. The other area where you can also find good and modern lighting is in Kota Damansara, although they also do come with a bigger price tag :)

There is this place in Cheras called San Lee Shoes that makes durable/comfy shoes at a very reasonable price. That being said, their styles are not exactly what you would find gracing the catwalk in Milan; but good enough to make sure that you have the right color to match your evening gown which you will only wear for 1 hour, and to dance to your first dance at your wedding!

San Lee Shoes is actually famous for making dancing shoes, particularly sponsoring many dancing competitions in Malaysia. They have even gained much publicity through a number of write-ups published in the local mainstream media -- At least, that is also how I first heard about them, and as always -- follow up by Googling to find out more! :P (What would I do without Google for a day?!)

So... when we found ourselves in the vacinity of Cheras this past weekend, I seized the oppotunity to visit the store. Picking a design took quite a while :P (coz you know... as mentioned previously, they don't exactly carry the trendiest of designs. keke!) Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to collecting them in 2 weeks :)

Of Bricks and Mortar (Part II)

UPDATES -- Renovation/refurbishment works at our condo is coming along... slowly... but surely. God is good such that we managed to find good owners for our pre-loved furniture just recently as well!!! I'm just over the moon about it because it really felt like such a HIGH mountain to climb initially, especially with finding the right owner and agreeing on a reasonable price for both parties. I was also up to my neck about where I would store the furniture assuming they didn't need it immediately. Our condo is only THAT small and the workers really need the space to move around and do their thing.

But as always, God proved to be faithful :) So I'm happy. Thank you also to the new owners of my pre-loved furniture!!! :D You know who you are...

I'm also happy that we made the right decision about doing away with our bathtub in the master bathroom. We reclaimed quite a sizable area and I can almost imagine when the built-ins are ready for fitting! It would be the perfect place to blowdry my hair, store towels, shampoo supplies and toilet paper! :P


^ This is how the master bathroom originally looked like.

^ Workman hard at work for 2 days...

^ Looking ugly for a couple of days after water proofing the floor and waiting for the cement to dry up!

^ All tiled up... waiting to fit the built-ins!

Read about Part I here

Of Bricks and Mortar (Part I)

HACKING & REWIRING WORKS -- Renovation & refurbishment works have finally commenced at our condo. This week has been particularly hectic for me as I had to put on the hard-hat and visit the site everyday to make sure that the workmen are on the same page as we are. There were also some minor additional add-ons and changes which I had to relate to the supervisor in-charge while Irwin went out of state for work. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to get it done, yet I was still anxious about everything simply because when I walked into our condo on the 1st day of work, I found the condo in this state... OMG!!! -- Totally not looking like how it was when I locked up the night before.

... Ok but after inspection, I cooled down a bit realizing that they had to do what they were doing to re-wire some power sockets and TV input/output. heehee!

Although a minor project, the whole renovation experience is still somewhat scary for us, especially when it is also our very first time making decisions on which walls to hack and what others to build. We keep getting haunted by questions like Are we doing the right thing re-doing this section? or Did we choose the right color for that wall? and Would this design really work and turn out good? :P

I also took delivery of our IKEA furniture for the library/study room last night. While we could have ordered it a few weeks later, stock for some items were running low; as such we were advised to get it immediately. Since IKEA does not keep purchased furniture for more than 3 days, I was blessed to negotiate for 5 days instead, and had to take delivery of everything last night. Our 2nd bedroom now is piled HIGH with IKEA boxes together with the rest of our existing loose furniture which we packed up before the renovation works started.

Going IKEA (Part II)

After spending 2 consecutive days shopping at IKEA -- first for our study/library room on Saturday, then for our laundry room on Sunday; I can now bring you on a guided tour even if I was blind folded! I am even able to refer to each item using their quirky names, and explain/describe some of the main features, different colors and variations of each furniture series. It really feels as though I am attending a party every time I visit. I get to know more names!

^TOP: How I HOPE my laundry room will look like. BOTTOM: How it looks like NOW in its designated space -- pre-assembled. HAHA!

I didn't seek the help of a space consultant when configuring the ANTONIUS series for my laundry room on Sunday. I just went there prepared with my own real measuring tape (as opposed to using the paper ones that IKEA provides), measurements and photos -- stored on my iPhone. See! Another good reason to get the iPhone :P

It was pretty straight forward, though I still spent about 3 hours with mummy dearest coming up with the most efficient configuration to maximize what little space we have. After what seemed like forever, we managed to finalize on the best setup. The next task was to pick up all the items we had already listed. Going by the article number, I managed to collect everything on the list... EXCEPT for the most important item -- which I hunted HIGH AND LOW for... only to find out that it was out of stock. The adjustable legs for the worktop. *Argh. According to Ikea's system, they are only expecting a batch to arrive on the 21st of April (give and take 14 days). So, I can only check back early May and HOPEFULLY, be able to buy them -- so that my worktop would be USABLE.

Read about Part I here.

Finally...!!!

^ APRIL 2006@ZETA BAR. Our 'early' days :P

12.04.08. Exactly one year ago, I never would have imagined that I would be getting married 15 months down the road... not because I didn't believe that Irwin would eventually marry me ;) but because (at that time) 15 months seemed like such a loooooooooooong time; yet when I have lived through the days, 15 months now feel more like 15 days.

Exactly one year ago, I remember sitting on the couch in the living room of our new condo waiting for our tenants to arrive... and feeling like the end of the world knowing that we would be renting out our brand new place for the next 12 months. It felt like forever till we could actually have real plans of our own to dress up the place according to our own liking -- to have that particular feature wall at the dining area; to get those bar stools to match the kitchen and to hang the perfect wine rack by the counter top. We didn't even have plans to get married yet :P Well, at least Irwin hadn't proposed. So it really did feel like forever to eternity till we would finally have our own place back.

Then 12 months went by just like that!!! We got engaged in July; visited HomeDec in November and incidentally met our ID there; notified our tenant about ending our lease in January; started discussing refurbishing plans with our ID early February and today... (well, actually in 3 days' time) finally starting the refurbishing works and hopefully move in in 6 weeks! :D Time flies. I still can't believe its happening. (I think I will say that again when the wedding day finally rolls around)

The Miracle Broth

I once was told that whoever who starts using Creme De La Mer would eventually swear by the product and never settle for anything less.

SCARY THOUGHT! ... Largely due to the fact that it comes with a scary price tag. So I promised myself never to venture anywhere near sampling it or buying it. I was contented using what I was using, except that my eye bags were getting a shade darker than the panda's with each passing day! Even after clocking 8 hours of sleep daily on an average, I still wake up looking like I'd work through the night shift :(

So mummy dearest decided to HELP ME when I turned 27 a month ago by getting me Creme De La Mer's The Eye Concentrate amongst some other day/night moisturizers. She said that she wouldn't have me looking like a sleepy bride in July.

After 6 weeks of using The Eye Concentrate, I now admit that IT IS TRULY MIRACULOUS! No wonder its range of products is aptly named The Miracle Broth. The Eye Concentrate comes with this supposedly 'magical' wand with a cold metal ball tip. When applying, use the wand to gently sweep across your eyebags; in a circular motion. Do it about 10 times each time you apply. You are advised not to rub too hard when applying, as the molecules are very fine. Rubbing it might break the molecules and make the miraculous broth lose its magic!

So far, quite a number of people have commented that my eyes look less panda-fied :D This makes me HAPPY! ... yet sad that the same time knowing that I too, have been sucked into the world of Creme De La Mer -- but hopefully, just for the miracle broth of The Eye Concentrate.

Oops! We did it again... Capturing the Moment (Part VI)

Hafiz and Amru are two passionate photographers whom we met at the Extraordinary Louis Pang workshop back in February. Wanting to show us a Malay perspective of wedding portraiture, they generously offered to bring us on our 2nd pre-wedding photography shoot just recently in Tanjung Karang -- a serene li'l town just North of the famous Kuala Selangor. One Word to describe the location. Beautiful.

It was my dream come true! Although raised in the city all my life, I have always been fascinated with the beauty of the kampung. Vast paddy fields. Chickens running wild. Little bridges over streams... I didn't realize that our shoot lasted 10-hours under the baking hot Malaysian sun. I even came back with a sun burn! :D

Overall, we had so much fun! The duo's lively, happy-go-lucky nature truly takes the frustration out of the feeling of ETERNITY and immense HEAT of typical pre-wedding photography shoots. They were quick to spot good locations and come up with amazing shots. Can't wait to see all the photos in a couple of weeks time. But for now... another sneak peek!!!

Through the lens of Hafiz Ismail...


Through the lens of Amru The Storyteller...


Read Part I , Part II , Part III , Part IV , Part V here.

Going IKEA (Part I)

A one-hour meeting with a space consultant from Ikea Home Furnishing was all it took to help us decide to go Ikea for our study/library room. Admitedly, prior to the meeting, we had our doubts about going Ikea, however Azri (the space consultant) surprised us when he came up with a rather unique layout proposal which we straightaway took a liking :) Even after all the add-on's -- ie: glass doors, spotlights, etc; the total still amounted to half of what our ID quoted us. Quality aside, I think Ikea's will suffice for our li'l study room at the moment... (till we move to a HOUSE in the future) :D

I was personally quite surprised with the service Ikea offered. With our blueprints and a vague idea of what we wanted, Azri got cracking with a pencil and ruler... and tadah! -- came up with a proposed concept within a short time. The best part was that he was able to simulate it on the computer and hand us a 3-D print out at the end of our meeting :D woooo~~ I was definately sold.