World Cup 2006.. the season where women take a backseat..

It's 3 weeks into World Cup, so it's coming to an end soon!! I'm counting down to "THE DAY" i.e. 9 July 06 when all the madness will finally end. Haha.. not that I hated soccer. In fact, I do enjoy the euphoria of the game and the fun of hanging out with frens to watch the matches.

But we all know too much of something is bad.
For the past 3 weeks.. everything is about the World Cup! From the time I wake up to Morning Express (Class 95) in the am, to small talk during breaks or lunch time. Dinner appointment were deliberately shorten to rush home to catch the 10am match. Finally I reach home to the arms of World Cup (becos my dad watches it too) and even in the wee hours.. I do hear my neighbours shouting GOAL!

Needless to say.. Gerald was "smitten" by the World Cup mania. Luckily the World Cup comes only every 4 years so it isn't that bad ;o) but then again.. there's alway's EPL, Italian League, etc..

Wedding Band.. Rings of a lifetime..

I've been eyeing on the Tiffany's Altas ring as wedding band. Alhough Tiffany rings are extremely pricey, I think the quality are great and it's well worth the $$$ for the intricate workmanship. Anyway wedding bands are meant to last a lifetime so I think it's a worthy investment!

But it's a pity the guy's version of the Altas ring is kinda chunky so it didn't look too good on Gerald's hand.

Then we saw another Tiffany design which we like. It's a much simpler design than the Altas so it looks more like a wedding band. In fact, I purposely chose a cheaper bridal package (instead of Divine Couture) because I would rather spend more on the wedding band than the gown (which would only be worn for a few hours). Turned out that Lee Hwa had a duplicate version of that Tiffany design at a quarter of its price! What a disappointment :o(



Anyway I chance upon Fairy's Inc one day and was smitten by their rings. They do customerisation of wedding bands so each design is unique (i.e. no more copycats!!). In particular, I like their diamond eternity rings because the design and cutting is extremely delicate. Their rings are pricy too because the diamonds they use are of good colour and clarity.


However, diamond bands would mean that I can't resize it in future if my finger grow too fat for the ring. In fact, heard from the owner of Fairy' Inc that too much housework can make your fingers develop muscle!! Haha.. Others say that there's risk of diamonds falling out over time... But I loved the blink blink so guess we can mitigate risk by doing regular checks.

Luckily there's still time... so guess we'll still continue to shop around first before deciding..

Gerald's 30th Birthday...

It was Gerald's Birthday yesterday. As it was a monday, we had a simple celebration (dinner & movie) after work. Though it may seems mundane, it was nice & intimate. Most importantly, we managed to spend quality time with each other (which is especially rare during this World Cup season where most guys go crazy) ;oP

His birthday present was the new AquaRacer!
Initially I was a bit hesitant about getting such an expensive gift since we're supposed to be saving up for the house and wedding. But it's his 30th Birthday so was hoping to give him a pleasent surprise.

I'm glad to see the joy in his eyes upon receiving the present. ;o)

Life is all about making choices...

We choose what clothes to wear in the AM..
We choose the food to eat.. the people to meet.. the route to take..

To prepare for a wedding, there seems to be endless choices to make.. from the wedding date, to the perfect wedding gown, ideal venue, ambience.. blah blah blah.. And of course it's not as simple as choosing what food to eat or clothes to wear (there's always tomorrow to make another choice!). Many women (including myself!) would stress that Wedding is a once in a lifetime event.. everything should be perfect.. PERFECT i mean ;oP

It's a tiring process.. but I must say.. we've been quite efficient (Dear.. all thanks to my efficient planning ya ;oP)

1. Wedding Date

Luckily choosing the wedding date went quite smoothly. We're looking at weekends / public holdays so that it'll be easier for everyone. 1st Jan 2007 is the perfect date. It's the first day of the year... what a great way to start the new year! Besides, 2nd Jan 07 is a public holiday too because Hari Raya Haji falls on 31 Dec 06 so helpers can rest the next day. Moreover, no excuses for Gerald to forget our anniversary in future. Hee!

2. Wedding Venue

We started looking around for suitable wedding venues for a change when we were too tired looking for the dream home.
Initially we wanted the event to be simple.. probably something alfresco and informal for friends. But reality kicks in.. In S'pore hot and humid climate, alfresco will have most guests melting away. Then we wanted to have it at Ritz because the place hold special memories for us. It was the place when Gerald celebrated my 21st birthday (haha! he set off the fire alarm with his special surprise) as well as where he proposed ;o)

We also attended a wedding show at the Shangri-la, did site recce at Oriental and explored the option of Sentosa and Mt Faber. But finally we decided on Fullerton Hotel. We knew this was it the moment we saw the Straits Room at their wedding show on 26 Mar 06. We were swept off our feet!

I'm glad we found the ideal venue. Yes, it'll be a typical 9 course dinner but we're keeping it small (just for immediate family and close friends). I hope it won't turn out like typical weddings.. really hope our guest will enjoy themselves and share with our joy & excitements.

3. Marriage Preparation Course

I believe couples should be mentally-prepared b4 signing on the dotted line so marriage prep course is impt to me. I'm glad Gerald readily agreed to sign up for the course. We just completed the 5 weeks marriage prep course last Sat. The course timing wasn't exactly ideal (Sat @ 1pm!) so I'm happy he took the effort to attend every session with me. Ha, luckily we attended all 5 sessions so we'll get the $100 rebate from MCYS.

Search for Dream Home..

Shortly after accepting Gerald's proposal, we starting searching for our dream home.. Both of us loved the East, so we were looking at places along East Coast / Parkway area as well as Chai Chee vicinity.

Honestly, I think the HDB policies make it sooo difficult for young couples... New HDB units in good locations are rare and only available via balloting. We did tried to ballot for those new HDB units at Eunos MRT (they look great rite?!) but obviously didn't manage to get it as demand was so high. On the other hand, there's abundant of new units but all located in those super ulu areas so we didn't even consider those ;o(

So ultimately, we're only left with the option of resale HDB or private apartments.

Jes MIA..

After house-hunting for 2 months, we stopped for a while as I was preparing for my OBSA trip to South Africa. I MIA for a month from mid Nov to Dec 05. It was a great experience and I learnt to better appreciate what I've in life...

We only started house hunting again after CNY this year. It was a tiring process.. we practically spent most weekends flipping the newspapers, viewing houses and fixing more viewing appointments. I was extremely flicker-minded so we alternate between looking at private apartments (new / resale /leasehold / freehold) and resale HDB. In fact, we actually looked at 46 HDB / Condo units in all!! (Haha.. that's a lot rite as compared to a few frens who decided on their house after looking at 5 - 8 units.)

Our dream home was a condo unit at Kembangan area..

It was a 2 bedroom unit (about the size of a 4-room flat).. Probably small to some people.. but we wasn't planning to expand the family anytime soon so the size is just nice for us. We loved the place! The condo facilities as well as easy access to East Coast Park via the park connector were plus points! Its location was another key factor why we got the place.. its right next to the MRT so it's super accessible! Plus the kembangan area is not too overly-populated unlike most town centres in S'pore..

Most importantly, it's rather affordable .. Essentially we felt that we can struck a good balance between having a good quality of life and not having to suffer too huge mortgage loans in future ;o)

Gerald's Proposal..

Gerald formally proposed in Aug last year.. it was nice and sweet! Unforgetable of course :o)

We got a room in the Ritz Carlton to view the last day of the Fireworks Festival as well as to celebrate our 6th year anniversary.

After the awesome fireworks, he got down his knees and pop the question. He was so well-prepared (got the flowers & ring ready) I dunno how!

Proposal ring was 0.65 carats solitaire ring from Larry!
It was special partly because Gerald got the "Lazare" from Larry for me... he knew me so well! For the price he paid, he could have gotten a much bigger GIA diamond.. but he knew I'm more into quality than quantity ;oP
Look how brilliant the diamond is!

Jes & Gerald.. happily together

(Dear dear, really appreciate your efforts to make it so special!)

Never thought I'll end up having a blog one day.. in fact, I used to think it's kinda crappy ;oP Anyway, I just came across a wedding blog at stylewedding.com forum page.. and thought it's a great idea!

Well, people do change I guess.. hee

Anyway I'm planning for my wedding (yes! it'll be on 1st Jan 2007) so wanna enjoy the process of planning for the big day. Being a super perfectionist.. I've been busy doing my homework and wanna capture my thoughts, efforts and excitement along this journey..

Didn't expect blogging to be so easy.. took me less than 10 mins to register and start posting my 1st msg.. so guess more postings will be coming soon..