Post Wedding Blues

I almost forgotten my blog which I had abandoned for the past 1 month. I was too preoccupied with the wedding preparation and now that's over, I finally have time to sit down and reflect on what happen that day, the day I am no longer single but a new status as someone's wife, daughter in law and lost my freedom along the way, haha.

Anyway, since there are about 3000+ photos which the photographer had taken on the tea ceremony and dinner reception, I have yet to sort out most of them. In fact, I have not actually managed to look at each one of them except of keep repeating the slide show that the photographers did for me. I must say, the RM3000+ I spend on hiring Jian and Simon was the best investment ever as they were so sporting, cool and took heaps of elegant photo of us celebrating this special day.

And not forgetting I had the best bunch of jimuis ever with them executing my dream wedding so well, down to the tiniest detail and decoration, as well as, my cousin sister for tolerating my temper and stress during the wedding.

I was never an emotional person but I am very very touch when my hubby give his speech during the dinner when he mentioned our LDR and how tough I must have gone through that when he's not around. I was  determined not to cry when my dad and mum gave me away during the tea ceremony but could not hold back my tears.

And so now, I have been married for almost a month and some have asked me how's married life? My hubs have replied stress, yup stress is always there but at the end of the day, after a long day at work, I am just glad to have someone waiting for me at home.


List of vendors just in case anyone wants to know...
Wedding dress: De Casamia (I choose a mermaid gown for the wedding dress and a red night gown)
Pre wedding photo: De Casamia
Shoes: Christy Ng
Makeup: morning - Ally Choong
              night- Aivy Yong
Actual day photographers: Simon and Jian from Moco Bridal Gallery

Hiatus

Looking back at my last entry, it's been a month since I last wrote. Things had been getting pretty crazy over the month and will be getting crazier in next 2 weeks. Just a short note to say I am still alive!

ps: I am getting a bit sad and teary to leave my current home, leaving my dream house and going to another unfamiliar place. 

Long Overdue Updates

I did a check on my last post and oh my..it was like almost a month ago. Things had been very hectic for the past month with my weekends were fully booked for wedding stuff, buying stuff for the house and getting myself the tittle Mrs just last weekend.

Yup, I am officially no longer Ms.Wong. Colleagues and friends asked me how I feel, but honestly, the feeling have not really sink in.

Anyway, the next few weeks will be extremely busy as I have a final fitting for my wedding gown, confirming on the guest list and the photos from the bridal house, guo dai lai and many more. Not sure I will have the time and energy to keep updating this blog.

Oh btw, I had the most amazing hens night ever, organised by the best ever bunch of chickas and yup I am the mother hen, I guess, haha. Wearing a sash with the word Bride-to-Be and a tiara do serve a good purpose when trying to enter a bar full of of people.

By the way, here's a photo from my ROM ceremony. Love my green shoes and gerbera bouquet A LOT!

Table Mountain, Cape Town

I realised I have tonnes and tonnes of travel stories that I have yet to blog and with the current wedding preparations, my blogging time has been significantly decreased. Been hitting the gym almost everyday after work and every weekend is booked until almost the week before wedding. Even my spa has been postpone for numerous times until I have lost count! And very excited for this weekend as I will be going to choose my pre wedding photos and judging from the photos uploaded by my photographer, I think I will have a tough time narrowing to just 50 photos.


Anyway, enough of wedding stuff. This is suppose to be a travelogue long due as this trip was back in 2010 (it's already 2 years).

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa is definitely one of the must visits when you are in this continent.   What I love about this landmark is that, you can view Table Mountain from far and it's so name due to the physical appearance of the flat landscape of the mountain which resembles a table. We were lucky as the days before, it was raining quite heavily and one of the people we bump into in Johannesburg during the football match told us, he could not see much from the top of the mountain when he was there few days ago.

To get up to the mountain, you can choose to hike or lazy people like us, we choose to take the cable car. One special thing about the cable car is that it is revolving allowing everyone to get the best view of the mountain and Cape Town which ascending and descending the mountain. You can buy the tickets online through this website or risk getting there and queue in a long line. We choose to take the risk and manage to get there in the early morning before the crowd and truckload of tourists start pouring in. The rates can be check from the same website as well.

 

check out the long queue

Props

Just a short update on the pre wedding photo shoot last Tuesday. It was great fun to pose in front of the camera with pretty clothes and makeup. Here's the prop I used for the picnic scene during the outdoor shoot. I replaced wine and food with books since the both of us were geeks in school.

Another photo is the behind the scene of me of being photographed lying on the grass pretending to be pretty, haha. I definitely enjoyed the photo shoot more than the man! Now can't wait to see the rest of the photos.

Sun Moon Lake 日月潭

Just a short post on Sun Moon Lake, the largest lake in Taiwan. The reason why it is named that is due to the shape of the lake which resembles the sun and the moon. 

Photos are mostly taken during the ferry ride between the last stop back to the first stop. The tickets were bought together with the package that comes with the bus ride throughout the lake, tickets to the aboriginal theme park and bus ride from Taichung to the lake. 

Kumari, the Live Goddess

Kumari house from Durbar square

After losing my blogging mojo for the past few weeks, decided to blog something that I enjoy more; travel.

I know it's been almost a year since I visited Nepal and witnessed this event but it still remained one of the luckiest thing we encountered during the trip. Even the guide told us that it is very rare that we can see Kumari so upclose and she's out from her house at Durbar square. Each day, Kumari will appear at her window for only 1 minute and no photos are allowed. So we are very very lucky that we managed to capture her in photo while she's out from the house. According to the guide, she will only be out 3 times a year.

To those who do not know who is Kumari, basically she's a child worshiped as living goddess in Nepal. It is believed that the goddess Taleju is incarnated into young virgin girls and will leave them once they hit puberty. So there is no permanent Kumari and every time the current Kumari hit puberty, a new Kumari will be selected among young girls. So far, according to the guide, these ex Kumari girls remained unmarried.

Here's some shots I managed to get at the current Kumari.

Kumari will appear from these windows everyday for only a minute

Wedding Updates

It's another 3 months to the wedding and many people have ask me how is the preparation. There are plenty of things to do and plenty of things to buy and yet I have not done much preparation in the last few months. I have yet to shoot for the pre wedding photos, have not file for the ROM (now not even sure whether the date we wanted is available), have not chosen my gown yet, have not gotten our wedding band which I am almost certainly sure I will end up with a stainless steel ring for the rest of my life with DeGem or Love & Co only in my dreams :(, have not buy my wedding shoes and I am not even in the mood to hunt for one right now, have not gotten our bed and mattress, have not gotten the curtains because I don't know which colour to coordinate and match the room, have not gone for food tasting, have not printed or even finalise the wedding cards design, so many have nots till I lost count!

Sigh, just thinking of all these things already made me stress, depress and sad. Stress because I have to handle many things on my own. Depress because I could have gotten a better quality on some of these things if the budget for reno does not burst until it can not burst anymore. Sad because I can't even change my handphone although it almost certainly hanged each time someone calls me and because if I do change, I can't afford to buy him a ring. Even super sad because I won't have the luxury of having a shoe cabinet for my shoes.

LDR

It's Friday night and while everyone, or at least couples are out dating, here I am at home watching TV and typing this entry. Don't know why I feel so emotional the last few days but the past 1 year in a long distance relationship is not that easy. It takes a lot of courage to start one and even more courage and effort to maintain one. There were times when I wanted a cuddle or a hug, he is not there.  There were times, I wanted to call him just to hear his voice but it's already midnight over there. There were times when I need him the most and he was not around, just like the past 1 month where I had a major breakdown.  Sometimes, I just wish I have a normal relationship where I can just pick up the phone and call him or going out for movie and dinner dates anytime or celebrating our anniversaries, birthdays and valentines day together. I really envy those who can see their other half frequently as even with today's technology, skyping with him everyday is impossible due to timing difference. Even when he's back for holidays, the number of dates that we went out together and not 'sharing' with others are not even more than 10 times. Call me selfish or what, but I am just like every other girl out there who just want to spend as much time as possible with him without 'sharing' him with others.
Is it too much to ask?

Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu

Pashupatinath temple is located at the Bagmati river banks where the dead will be cremated and the ashes will be thrown into the river. Coincidentally, there were a few cremation ceremony going on when we were there in the evening. I didn't take any of the cremation ceremony photos out of the respect for the dead but we walked along the temple river banks for photos from afar.

Pashupatinath temple

People watching the cremation

See the smoke, it's the burning of the corpse

Top of South East Asia - Mount Kinabalu

I am back from my climb to mount Kinabalu just over the weekend and the trip is definitely awesome.

The 8 of us managed to climb all the way to the peak and the weather was on our side as we made our way up to the peak 2.30 in the morning holding our dear lives on the rope.

What I did not expect was that the descend down from Laban Rata to Kinabalu Park is worst than the ascend up to the peak. I can't even bend my knees now and am walking like a penguin.

Anyway, it's a once in a lifetime experience that everyone should try once and it's more like mentally challenging than physical challenging I would say.

Some advice though,

• Wear Adidas Kampung to ascend to the peak. It's ok to wear normal sports shoes for the hike up to Laban Rata but the Adidas Kampung does make a huge difference from Laban Rata to the peak and back down. Many people actually slip and fall during the descend from the peak to Laban Rata. 
• Hire a porter. Do not save on the money. Afterall it's only RM8 per kilo for both ways.
• Pack lots and lots of high calories chocolate bars. I brought 9 bars of Sneakers chocolate bars up. 
• Bring headlights and spare batteries.
• Remember to cut your toe nails and I mean super short!
• Rent a walking stick from the office. It's RM10 and it helps a lot during the descend.
• Descend early from Laban Rata as I took longer time going down than going up.
• Bring lots of wet tissues as there's no hot shower in Laban Rata and you might not want to shower in icy cold water.
• Stay in Laban Rata even if it's more expensive and not some hut which you need to hike a few more metres. Check out from the guesthouse if you think you can't make it back to check out by 10.30am as they charge extra RM100 for each 1 hour late checkout. I barely make it back by 9.40am. 
• Wear extra clothing, especially those with fleece. And not forgetting raincoat. 
• Drink lots of water. 
• And most important, take one step at a time. You will be able to reach the top. Up there, it's all about mental strength. 

Wish

I wish I can have a dog.

I wish I can decorate and manage my own home without interference.

I wish I can have my dream house where I don't need to travel 2 hours to work or wake up 6am in the morning to get to work.

I wish I can quit my job and do something I enjoy.

I wish I can go to Bora-Bora.

I wish I can backpack for Trans Siberia.

I wish I can cut my hair short.

I wish I can have a large wardrobe and shoe cabinet.

I wish that everyone stop dictating what and how they want me to be.

I wish I can be just who I am.

But, sadly these wishes just remain as wishes and will never come true...

Emotions

I no longer know how to laugh out loud,

I no longer know how to be optimistic,

I no longer know how to fight back,

I no longer know how to sleep without crying at night,

I no longer know who am I

Another Wedding

My favourite shot from a recent good friend's wedding

My Secret Affair with Coach

Seriously I was kind of a late bloomer for this Coach brand and I didn't even own one even though I went to the factory outlet in Las Vegas back in 2007. It was until my friend asked me whether I got myself a Coach bag after I came back, only I did some googling and found out. Apparently, that time in Malaysia, Coach was still considered a very luxury item and there were only a few shops in KL.

Then when I went to US again during winter 2008 that I managed to grab my first ever Coach bag from the Florida factory outlet. It was made from jeans material and I love it! Even then, the secret affair had not begun. I am still very much a un Coach person :)

Then I got my second one after asking a friend to get from me when she went to New York in 2009. It was a classic brown for work.

The first two bags are the signature Coach bags with lots of C. Back then, I wanted something to show that it was Coach, haha. So kiasu!

The third and fourth were gotten from my New York trip in 2011. I was crazy for leather as it makes it more classy and durable for work. I basically spent 3 hours in Coach factory outlet in Woodbury, New York alone.  I had been using the brown leather bag for work and it's one of my favorites. The white leather bag, I used it occasionally only when I went out.

The last two bags were gotten from my recent trip and this time I bought a few extra for business, hehe. I got the coral red sling bag for my casual outing and the beige one for work. Still they are much cheaper comparing to Malaysia and some are not even available in the boutiques in KL.

 

There were some wristlets and purse I got for myself as well. I am currently using the purple purse and thinking of selling the beige..hmm...

Recently, there were many websites offering to sell Coach bags and how exactly to know whether it's an authentic. There are a few ways:


1. There is a serial number inside the bag and you can call up any Coach shops and check out the serial number for authenticity.


2. Notice that the Cs are arrange in a very structured way. Can check out the photos above and you will know what I mean. 


3. Every Coach bag will have a small tag at the side and you can feel the Coach word with your fingers. 


4. All Coach bags are made in China and basically you can see this inside the bag near to the zipper,
" This is a Coach bag. It was handcrafted in China from natural cowhide leather. The variations in the grain are characteristic of full-grain leather. It's superior craftsmanship and attention to detail reflect our commitment to enduring quality."

The Famous Potala Palace @ Tibet

After so many depressing posts, I shall resume some of my happy writing on my travels which seem forever  unfinished. I came to know about the closure of Tibet (yet again) after chatting with my tour guide from Nepal. Yes, we still do keep in touch and he told me that Tibet is closed to tourists again this year. But from the latest news I read, it seems like Tibet has been reopened but not to Britain, Norway, Korea and Australia. I am not sure why is that arrangement but then again the Chinese authority is always doing things that beyond our understanding.

I still remember the day we left Tibet and travelling by land back to Kathmandu through Zhang Mu, we had to go through the immigration and we were travelling with these 3 other tourists from Britain. Our bags were searched while the locals were not. One of the guy travelling in that group actually had a travel guide book on Tibet and it was confiscated because there were Dalai Lama's photos in it. Just because of that! And because of that, I decided to buy a book about the current 14th Dalai Lama in Kathmandu and it's actually written by the Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama himself! I have only managed to read the first few chapters and it's already very interesting. A book where he wrote from his point of view, from he was a young kid selected to be the Dalai until his exile.

We were glad that we had a pure Tibetan as our guide even though they offered a Chinese guide for us. We keep emphasizing that we are Malaysians and not Chinese which was so funny. We had never been so patriotic until then, haha. Our guide mentioned to us that Potala Palace was the residence for the Dalai Lama in the winter while he had another home during summer, the Norbulingka.

waiting in line

On the way up to the Palace and under such thin air, it's very exhausting

This is the last place we can take photos before going in

view from the Palace

Tibetans are the friendliest people I ever met

.......

: (

Wedding Photographer

Caught this couple on camera in Puerto Rico while I was waiting for the sunset.

They are actually taking their pre wedding photos and somehow, I love the fact that their expressions seem to be they are in their own world, oblivious to the surrounding and only have eyes for each other. So romantic.

Based on this picture, I think I can be at least an amateur wedding photographer..muahahaha..syok sendiri.

Just something to lighten up and bring myself to the wedding bells mood since mine will be up in exactly 5 more months. 

Ok. I am PANIC now......

Tired

Tired, feeling very tired for the past few months, both physically and mentally.

Passion

How many of us are lucky enough to actually love the job that we are doing? I used to love..maybe the love word is too strong, but I used to like my current job, at least I have the passion or the little fire burning inside. But all that had slowly disappear during the last few months and totally vanished after today. My passion for work has gone, zero, in fact has dipped below zero-negative. I cant recall how many times I had been upset over this, teared over this and finally it all gone today.

This is not exactly my choice of career. Maybe to some, a job is just to support the family, and to survive but to me, I need that passion in everything I do. I always wonder what if I had listened to my heart 10 years ago and chosen design over numbers crunching or what if I managed to get into medical school as I was a straight A student back then. I always wanted to be a heart surgeon and fly to those African countries and become a volunteer over there.

I no longer know what motivates me to work everyday, even money is not the motivation anymore. If I ever have my own children next time, I would definitely encourage them to follow their dreams even if he/she is a straight A student and wanted to study music.

So, what is my dream now? I do not know but someday, I hope I can follow my heart and pursue my passion to become a designer/artist/photographer.

Little Things That Make Me Happy

1. When I manage to bargain for a lower price especially during travel or some major expenses. Even a discount of RM10 would make me a happy woman.

2. When someone make Milo for me every morning when I am having my shower.

3. When I can go home early from work and cook myself a nice meal. Sometimes, I even cook 3 dishes even though I was eating alone.

4. When I can sweat out in the gym after running a good few kilometres eventhough I would be much happier if I can shed a few kilos in the process.

5. When I put on my pants or jeans that were too tight previously, effortlessly without taking a deep breath.

6. When someone surprise me with small gifts and cards. Sometimes, it is not the matter of how expensive the gift but the thought that someone is thinking of me. I especially treasure fridge magnets.

7. When someone compliment how good I look eventhough I look like sh*t in the morning right after I woke up from sleep.

8. When I can 'boil' my dramas from morning till night without disturbance.

9. When someone help me to carry my big ass camera and water during travel.

10. When I shot some awesome photos.

Anyway, small things aside, the biggest thing that make me happy got to be when I received diamonds, haha. Who doesn't, considering that I had never have diamonds before in my life and yes, I am still upset over the little rock which fall off from my ring.

Back from New York

I am back from New York after two weeks holiday in the city and Puerto Rico for our pre-honeymoon holiday. Tired but happy to see him graduating from his PhD after such grueling 4 years in Columbia Uni.

Super pk with shopping with coach bags (I have extra bags and wristlets from the trip, anyone interested to buy can contact me as I am selling them way below the price in Malaysia), manage to find my ROM dress from BCBG Maxazaria for a bargain and cheap branded clothes. Seriously clothes in Malaysia especially those from Gap, Banana Republic, Guess, Levis, Calvin Klein and many more are so darn expensive. Most of the clothes I gotten from these brands cost less than USD 10 or the most USD 15 for a working shirt. Even Padini during the 50% discount is more expensive than that!

Top Destinations for Photography

I was reading about this top 5 destinations for photography in Lonely Planet website the other day. The article mentioned that Rajasthan, India, Yellowstone National Park, USA, Venice, Italy, Hong Kong and Ladakh, India as the top 5. It's amazing that India has two destinations in the top 5 and it's a country that I always wanted to travel to, for her amazing colourful culture and of course Taj Mahal.

After reading that, I decided to name my very own top 5 destinations for photography. Photography here does not only reflect landscape photography but street and portrait photography. I find that getting a good shot at people is tougher than taking a shot of the non moving subject such as buildings and landscape.

My lists would be as follows:

The crowd during Gai Jatra festival in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Nepal
I was lucky to be in Kathmandu during the Gai Jatra festival, which I had so much fun taking many shots of the people in colourful costume and unique culture. Do not be fooled by the chaotic and dusty environment as beneath all those, lies a very vibrant and friendly city.

One of the market streets in Hong Kong during a rainy day

Hong Kong
I agree with the list by Lonely Planet that Hong Kong indeed is suited for street photography especially when she is lit up at night with colouful neon lights. Visits to the Peak, Victoria Harbour and the famous streets in Mongkok during the night are a must.

Made in Peru stuff against the snow capped mountain

Basically anywhere in Peru
Haha, I am tempted to write Lake Titicaca as one destination but after that I realized the whole of Peru is very 'photogenic' and plus it's unfair not to include Machu Picchu as one of the destinations for photography.

Another side of Potala Palace, once a home to the Dalai Lama

 Lhasa, Tibet
When I first arrived in this city, my guide told me that we can't take photos around Lhasa especially those with army personnel in them. So I kept my camera in my bag until I climbed the Potala Palace. I watched 7 Years in Tibet acted by Brad Pitt recently, a real story based on the life of Dalai Lama and his friendship with this Austrian hiker/mountain climber and many of the scenes reminded me of Tibet. Tibetans are generally very religious people and you can see many of them circling 3 rounds around the Potala Palace for blessing. Oh, and it got to be in clockwise.

Looks like something out from the fairy tale books

The Highlands, Scotland
Just for the landscape, this got to be the most photogenic. You are basically transported back to Highlander movies, Lord of the Rings, Stardust (the real filming locations are in Scottish highlands) and any movies with witches, lords, knights, kings in them. And not forgetting men in skirts..ops..kilts. They are very accommodating for photos, haha.