Walking in the thunderstorm just now...

I'm terrified of lightnings.

Not thunder but lightning.

The bright flashes of light scare the hell outta me.

It was pouring so heavily just now that even though I borrowed an umbrella from my tutee, I avoided walking out in the open and kept under the blocks and shelters as much as possible.

At last I reached the small little road to my block.

While crossing, lightning flashed in front of me 4 times.

I was so terrified that I nearly cried.

All I had in mind as I was crossing that little flooded road was:

"Don't strike me. Don't strike me. I still got a lot of things to do."


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Can't wait!

Kh is picking me up soon. We're going to Whitelink (WL) to choose the photos. I'm so excited that I can hardly wait.

I hope reason would rule over passion and that I would not go crazy choosing too many photos. I dun wanna end up TOPPING UP 8K, 10K etc like all those stories I've heard about couples overspending on pre-wed photos.

In kh's words:
"Wah lau eh! 10K? I can spray paint my car 10 times leh!"

In Jo's words:
"And I can buy at least 2 Chanel 2.55."

Oh kh is here!

Tata... Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Love,
Jo


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back home updating at midnight

My hair is wet and I can't sleep.

I'm smelling nice and fresh after a refreshing shower. Before that, I smelt like chomp chomp. I'm having a tummy ache now coz we had hang3 her2 (sambal stingray), spicy la la (clams???), dou4 miao2, rice and sugarcane drink when before that I was suffering from gastric.

I'm hunching from the pain as I'm typing but I would rather hunch and type than hunch while marking atrocious compositions.

kh and I were so glad that we managed to cut down from 183 photos to 104. Our PG (let's call him V) was quite impressed when we managed to do that. He said not many people can cut down so much especially when there are quite a number of great shots.

I guess we were both really prudent people when it comes to spending unnecessary $$.

WL's standard package is $78 per photo top up. Choosing 60% of the photos would allow us to have ALL the soft copies returned.

If you do the maths, that would work out to a whooping $8564.40 to get all the soft copies back!

Holy Cow!

Of course, the more you choose, the more discout per photo such that it would slowly become $50 per photo after a certain number. That would still be a total of about 4K to 6K top up.

No way are we gonna spend that kinda $$!!!

I know it is common to spend 2K to buy back all soft copies in other bridal studios and I seriously don't mind spending that amount to buy the photos back. Definitely beats spending 6K rite?

To me, soft copies are more important than having the photos added to the album. With soft copies, I can do all sorts of editing and layout. I can even get my photoshop whizz er jie to do the editing for me.

In the end, V made us such a tempting offer that we decided to take it up. We would be having 2 albums and getting all soft copies raw and unedited as well as edited ones back.

The great thing is we are paying nowhere near 4K to 6K.

=)

But Sssshhhh... cannot let our parents know coz no matter how modern couple would think it's value for money, our parents sure will say we stupid wan. [Edited to add: Surprisingly, our parents tot we got a good deal too.]

We would be going down WL in mid or end May to view all the edited photos and layout.

So sorry to those who have been asking to see more photos. All my sweetie frenz, darlings from LD and my blog readers. We've got to wait till May.

In the meantime, here are some photos which we secretly snapped at WL during PS. WL is really strict on photography. Hence, I had to beg my MUA to let me snap some photos while she closed one eye.








My mtm EG unfortunately did not fit me well on PS day coz I had slimmed down a great deal due to lack of sleep and loss of appetite the past few weeks.



I told my nice designer (let’s call her D) that I die die want the back of my EG to look like this with swarovski crystals lining the V strap. I also told her that I cannot have an EG that flows straight down as I would look too skinny. Modifying my idea of having extra cloth flowing from the bottom of the V strap, D added rosettes and what she termed as “fiu fiu” sash.

Deardear’s look to match my EG


MUA S did deardear’s hair so cool that I was drooling over his new do.

Kh has never spotted such hairstyle before and I absolutely love it! See the diff between the top left pic and the other 3. Top left is how he always look w/o combing and styling his hair coz he doesn’t believe in personal grooming. Hahaha…

Details on my tummy area for my outdoor gown




Unflattering shots of our bands


My MU for PS.


Heavier eye make up with 2 layers of falsies stuck on each eye




These were taken at the end of the day. Each time I changed new clothes, a different hairdo and MU effect accompanied. My hair was so hard and foundation was so thick that there were cracks on my face!

Even though the weather was sweltering hot for the outdoor shoots, V made the whole Photoshoot process realy fun and enjoyable. He is a skinny man with long ponytail and who puffed heavily on his ciggies each time there was a break. He's the Ah Beng, jovial kuai lan sort and I'm not sure if people could click with him. However, even non-smokers, non ah beng and ah lian like us could click with him a lot.

V is always cracking jokes, sometimes poking fun at us humorously as we suan-ed him back. He always made us feel relaxed/natural or made us laugh and then he would capture these moments candidly. He's good at both candid and posed shots. You need not worry about not knowing how to pose, he would give you instructions when necessary but most of the time, you just have to be happy and the smiles/happiness would radiate throughout the pictures.

Cute strays


I don't look like a cat that day [sidenote: I look feline for the trial MU day] but I didn't quite like how my eyes turned out in some of the photos we saw at WL just now. There were many great shots with great poses but my eyes look almost like Jessica Tan's post surgery current eyes which is NOT PRETTY.

Jessica Tan then


Jessica Tan now


Ok shit... dun quote me on the surgery part. Kh and I confirmed that her eyes looked really different and that she's not as chio as when we first saw her. However, we aren't 100% sure about the surgery part. Maybe we could term it as aesthetic enhancement? Her crease is too thick and high now; her eyes seem to close to her nose. I really really prefer to old and sweet-looking Jessica.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I love Cynthia!

Cynthia's sms to me...

"Was just thinking the other day in hospital abt your weddin. Am always secretly hoping that we can attend in some ways. Its just really upsetting to know that it wont happen the way we had wished."
16:50,
27-03-2009

"Have you found another pair of flower girl and page boy? I'm just afraid its close to her post surgery and maybe even transplant. Else, I really feel like sneaking the 2 to just walk down the isle with you and send them back home. Hee. Can we get all your guests to wear masks just for that brief few minutes. Haha."
10:15,
29-03-2009

It's really so sweet of Cynthia! I was laughing aloud when I read the above sms amidst breakfast. I showed my hp to kh and he laughed too.

I've long cast aside the idea of having the kids as ring bearers after Charmaine's diagnosis. Even though I really wished for them to walk with us down the aisle, I wouldn't want to subject Charmaine to catching any bug.

I would always have the urge to visit them but whenever I think of how much I am coughing lately, I stop myself from from doing so. I'm not even sick la... When would the cough stop???


Us during happier times...





-- CNY 2009 (2 weeks before char was admitted to KK)

Anarex is one of the best drug ever!

Anarex:
Orphenadrine 35mg
Paracetamol 450mg

I was suffering from a severe headache for the whole of yesterday.

The pain was everywhere but more concentrated at the top of my skull, temples, eyes, brow bone, in front of and behind the ears down to the sides of my neck and the whole right side.

I restrained myself from popping any paracetemol coz at least there wasn't any nausea so I could still work pretty ok.

I don't want all these drugs to be lined deep in my stomach and intestinal walls when surgeons perform any autopsy on me in future.

I tried to sleep early last night and there was a great improvement in sleeping hours!

2am -- 8.30am.

Woke up this morning and the headache was still there! =(

Went to work and it got worse.

I could not possibly do positive thinking and image training when my head was hurting like crazy.

Hence, I popped an Anarex which I shoved into my bag just before I stepped out of the house.

The Anarex belonged to my sis but I consulted my doctor about this drug before and she said there is muscle relaxant in it. The 1st and only time I ate it, my headache dissipated almost immediately. I was completely awed by the instant effect of this little tablet that time.

This morning I popped it and in a few minutes, my headache was gone. My head is still very clear up till now, just a bit sleepy though.

Damn… why did I suffer for one whole day and a morning when I could have shorten the length of suffering within minutes by consuming Anarex?

I sure hope I don’t get addicted to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh I've finished updating the entry "Of visiting the kids again, looking feline & from black to brown". Just scroll down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charmaine is back home after 2nd chemo. She has lost some weight but I know she would remain as feisty as ever.

Being contacted by The Straits Times

Well, a handful of you may have heard that a reporter from the Straits Times emailed me on Wednesday requesting for an interview with Cynthia and me on internet activism with regards to Charmaine's story.

I was really surprised by the email as I had not expected Charmaine's blog to catch the attention of someone from the Straits Times.

Let's call the reporter G.

The focus would be on how people are using the internet to further their causes. G thought it would be great to get Charmaine's story out there and hopefully get the donations in. She would be featuring the article this coming Sunday.

I know that Cynthia doesn't want Charmaine's case to be brought to the national scale and subject Charmaine in the media limelight. I personally didn't want to make this matter public on local newspapers as well despite many well-intentioned people advising me to. We don't want the publicity and we need some privacy too. Hence, Cynthia and I had a mini discussion and sent a rejection email to G.

Imagine my shock when G replied the next day that her editor really likes Charmaine's story so they would still be going ahead to publish it as part of the internet activism "package". Therefore, getting our input would really make the whole picture clearer. The package also includes other examples of internet activism in Singapore.

G was nice about the whole thing and apologised for any inconvenience caused. As a reporter, it's her job to report things that she hear about.

She advised me to reconsider her interview request and provided her number.

Since Charmaine's blog is gonna be publicised anyway w/o our interview, we decided to let our voices be heard this time round. We wanted to ensure that the information reported would be accurate.

Before the telephone interview, I finally understood how celebrities feel when they get misquoted in articles. Oh no, did I just inflate my status? Most of you should know that I'm merely giving an example. I was really afraid of my words being misinterpreted and bringing trouble to Cynthia.

I'm glad all is over. I think I did ok. We shall wait for this Sunday's Straits Times to arrive at our doorstep.

Sheesh... my bridal photoshoot is in a few hour's time. I've settled all the important stuff for today. Now to settle bimbotic stuff like puting on my face mask, packing my stuff for tmr etc etc.

PS: This post is full of grammatical and speeling error... Speeling? My gawd! See what I mean.

Of visiting the kids again, looking feline & from black to brown

Here are some short videos of Jase and Charmaine taken from my camera with very limited memory space.

There are still quite a few from Cynthia's camera which I've yet to get from her.

On Sunday, 15th March...




On Tuesday, 17th March...





To view the description of each video, open in a separate browser instead of clicking the play button from here. For people unfamiliar with YouTube, the descriptions are on the right. Click on "more info". Also after viewing in a separate browser, it would be good to close my blog's window.

~~~~~~
[Aside]
My music so noisy... how u listen to the audio in the video with the background music blaring? BTW for those who asked for the song's title, it's stated on the left sidebar as Kimi Wo Sagashiteta. It's quite difficult to search for it via search engines. It it helps, the singing version is by CHEMISTRY taken from the soundtrack of the Japanese drama serial "Wedding Planner" starring my favourite Naoko Iijima.
~~~~~~


Visiting cyn and the kids

15th March

Kh and I went to visit Cyn and the kids last Sunday. There was quite a number of gifts from kind-hearted souls to pass to the kids.



The kids were really happy!

Charmaine received lots of Dora stuff while Jase had his fair share of gifts too. We’ve to ensure that we give the gifts almost equally. Each time, I took out a gift for Charmaine from the bag, I’ve to take out another prepared gift for Jase the next. I hope he wasn’t able to tell.

Thank you all who pass me the gifts.

Special thanx to L****a for being so thoughtful to buy generous gifts for both kids and even taking the trouble to meet me at my bridal studio just to pass me the stuff.

Kh and I have such a good impression of L! Even though she is not a direct contact of cyn’s and mine and probably wouldn’t even see this I just have to make a special mention of her as she is really such a sweet lady.

Jase opening his gift from L which was a remote control car


Char had a Dora magnetic writing board


We were so fascinated with the coloured magnetic writing board! I never knew there was such an invention. When Charmaine started to write and saw the colours, she was quite taken by surprise as well. Haha…

This photo was taken by Charmaine... Ugly also must post up. =P


I could still see the tension between the 2 kids but it wasn’t as serious as the last time I visited them. It could be due to the fact that there were only kh and me and cyn’s fren, a***** who arrived later.


17th March…

I took half day leave to meet cyn to settle important stuff and from that day onwards, cyn got aquainted with the ditsy apr. I like it when my frenz know each other. Dun worry apr, cyn had a favorable impression of you even though your bimbocity has been congealed in her mind. =P

Next we went to shop for groceries at Cold Storage, chatted amidst dinner and finally went back to cyn’s home.

It wasn’t intentional but I thought char’s expressions were quite similar to 喜 怒 哀 乐


I like it whenever she pretends to be on the phone. Sometimes she would pretend to call mummy and say,

“Mummy I’m at NTUC ah. Where are you?”

Char’s hair has been dropping non-stop. They are everywhere. Cyn said she did let her know that she would have to shave her head soon and surprisingly the vain little darling was fine with it. However, when the time comes, we don’t know if she would be very upset.

Ah Beng jase


Only that night did I realise that Jase is damn good at lion dance! I’m guilty of not taking notice of that previously. He learnt all the moves from watching recordings of actual lion dance.

As a 5-year-old, cyn and I really impressed by his imitation: his jerks, his varying volume of “dong qiang”, eating the “leek” or “orange” etc.

Cyn recorded an entire performance by him afterwhich, we clapped and cheered for him. One could really tell how elated he was.

Beautiful colouring by Ah Beng


Cyn told me that there was one day when jase sat her down very seriously and in a solemn tone told her,

“Mummy I dunno how to smile.”

HAHAHA… I used to call Jase’s smile the “Chandler smile”. Jase has this problem of smiling to the camera. He can be laughing with huge dazzling smiles and all but once aware that the camera is on him, he would do his “Chandler smile” subconsciously.

Jase's neat Chinese handwriting


Photo collage of the kids on the wardrobe


The kids are soooo cute in the photos!

Cyn made jase’s collage together with him the day before as he was terribly upset at being neglected. Not neglected by cyn I emphasise.

The kids were SUPER DUPER 乖 that day!

Jase who had been exhibiting all the negative behaviour of sibling of cancer patient the past few weeks was such a darling kor kor that day.

When char was colouring in her Dora book, jase was doing the same in his Mickey Mouse book. He ran out of red while colouring Mickey’s shorts and asked char politely if she could lend him hers.

Surprisingly, char answered a flat “no”.

J: “Please?”

C: “No!”

Cyn mummy and godma Jolene looked at each other not knowing what to do next. Then cyn reminded char how jase shared 4 sticks of his Yan Yan with her earlier on.

Jase silently put up his fingers to indicate 5 and gave a pitiful face.

Cyn mummy corrected herself and said 5 but char continued saying no.

Not long after, Jase crawled stealthily behind char’s back (literally!), took a red colour pencil from her case, looked at me and went sshh… smiled and crawled back.

I witnessed all these dumbfounded as I was at a loss of what to say. Should I chide him for stealing or should I commend him for not kicking up a fuss by borrowing without permission?

I told cyn what happened and we LOL like siao. Meanwhile, char was still oblivious of what had happened. After jase was done coloring Mickey’s shorts, he crawled silently to char’s pencil case to put the red colour pencil back.

Everyone got their way with no quarrel.

Jase was such an agreeable boy that day. He was obliging to char and often gave in to her whenever she wanted something.

He was performing his lion dance when char wanted to be the “head”. I thought he would say no but he immediately removed the costume and helped mei mei to wear. He even taught her how to dance like a well… lion.

The video up there was taken when he was teaching her the 2nd time.

I feel so bad whenever I’m with the kids at home and they refuse to sleep. It’s tough getting them to sleep when all they wanna do is to play. I left their place at about midnight as they had to turn in early for the hospital visit the next day.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Trial Make Up Session Last Wednesday

Catty Catty Jo







These are the most un-cat ones kh could manage to capture.

BTW, can you see the people in the framed photo in the background? They are Cynthia Koh and her ang mo hubby. I didn't even know she was married!

Ok I look more like myself here...







My MUA (make up artist) said she would paste thicker tapes to make my crease higher and attach full falsies on the photoshoot (PS) day and actual day (AD).

I like the shimmers in my eyes. I'm not an eyeshadow person so the shimmers really accentuate the brightness of my eyes which aren't even bright to begin with. Lack of sleep!

The rest of the make up (MU) is very thick and those who saw me agreed that I don't look like myself. I almost could not recognise myself in the mirror too.

When kh arrived after the trial MU, he gave me a raised-eyebrow look.

Back at home, I asked my family members if the MU is nice.

My da jie went, "Well, it's very different from your usual dinner party look with thick eye make up."

Mum just looked and asked if that was gonna be my look for my wedding.

Dad said he lao hua yan cannot see.

Me think they cleverly evaded my question. Ha!

Jase saw the photos on my camera and he said, "Godma Jolene like that not pretty."

Only cyn was screaming in excitement that it was nice.

Hahaha... nvm... I guess everyone's not used to this look. I like it even though it doesn't look like me. I've affinity for cats, remember?

I like my MUA a lot. Let's call her S. She was highly raved about in SG Brides forum Whitelink thread a few months back. I'm not one who is easily convinced just by hearing raves and assumed that S might be the high and mighty sort since so many people wanted her to be their MUA. I decided to make decision based on my own judgement and not by sieving info from the thread.

Imagine my surprise when they assigned S as my MUA!

She is really nice and motherly. A soft-spoken lady who listens to what I want while offering her own suggestions. When told that the charge for including fake lashes on PS and AD is $30--$50 each (forgot the price), I casually told her that I know how to do it myself and she was cool about that. She included cut fake lashes for half the eyes at no extra cost even though trial MU doesn't include that service.

In the end, I like her so much that I was simply willing to let her earn all these little costs.

Gimme good and comfortable service anytime!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An off day with errands and tasks packed full to the brim

It was such a jam-packed day of settling vain stuff and pampering myself like:

1) Dyeing my hair and going for hair treatment
2) Going for manicure and pedicure
3) Shopping last minute with deardear for photoshoot stuff
4) Dining late night at the chi chi Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie


On the issue of hair…

I had to dye my healthy black hair to a lighter shade for photoshoot purposes. Curls always look better in brown than black.

After having a full head of black hair for the longest time ever, I felt a bit hesitant to dye it. It's been a long time since I had much healthier black hair. People who know me since sec school days would know that I have never sported black hair since then. It all started in sec 3 when I bought those off the shelf hair colour and mum helped me to dye my hair.

Yes, I know… what kinda mum dyes her 15-year-old daughter’s hair right?

I wanted a very dark and natural shade of brown, hopefully ash. I really love ash brown but unfortunately, one has to bleach one’s hair in order for the ash tone to appear. Either that or one has to be apr who has naturally ash brown hair.

Sick and tired of my blonde days, I kept reiterating the fact that I wanted a very dark brown tone to my nice hairdresser/ stylist. I left the place feeling very satisfied. In the end, nobody at home noticed I dyed my hair. Kh noticed though, and because my hair was crimped straight, he liked my new do a lot. It reminds him of those long straight hair days in the past which he absolutely adores.

By the way, my hair colour keeps getting lighter with every wash and I so totally miss my black hair!

At the chi chi Canelé





Lesson learnt: Always share your desserts

We both had too much chocolatey stuff that night.

Kh simply loves to snap unglam photos of me.





This large rimmed specs reminds me of Miss V

Getting back in form

Over the past few weeks, this is the first time I ...

1) slept for 7 hours straight.

2) finished both lunch and dinner... wiped off every morsel of food.

3) don't feel lethargic at work.

I feel normal now.

Paraskevadecatriaphobia?

Nothing of that sort.

Mixed emotions

I dunno how to describe what I'm feeling now.

I'm feeling a mix of happy and sad, happy and sad, happy and sad.

Heck I dun even know what I'm feeling.

My mind isn't calm.

I think I need a good long sleep.

I think I would sleep before 12 for once.

Not anymore...



[Picture Credit: Chrissie White]

P/S: Don't worry. Just let me be. I'm a gemini who can cry one minute and laugh the next. I've read all the comments and will be back to reply when I feel more energetic.

Rings... Blings... Shoes... & who to Choose

I've stopped my photo-story updates of events from end of December and I really dunno when I could start updating again. December, January, February and now March... It keeps snowballing.

Meanwhile, here are some wedding prep updates which some of you were asking for...


What lies inside???



Roman inspired wedding bands designed by Ling.











Mine is white diamonds set in rose gold while his is black diamonds. His is custom-made and he would be the only one in the world with this unique design as for now.

I cannot help but keep opening the box and taking peeps of the rings every now and then.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My shoe loots from Anna Nucci 2 weeks ago...





I can't capture the colour well but it's rose gold.

These are not my bridal shoes. I bought them coz that was the first time I come across shoes in rose gold and at only $20+, I would be a fool not to buy them. Certainly don't look its price.


These are my bridal shoes.





I simply love the rows of blings which are hand-sewn. Can bring it back to fix if any of the crystal drops as there is a life-time warranty. It's the most comfy 4.5-inch (or is it 5?) ever! I'm really elated to get my bridal shoes at slightly less than $100 as before that, I was prepared to pay a few hundreds for a good, comfy pair.

I don't want to trip and fall on my wedding day, you know?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

kh and I are in a dilemma. Who should we choose for our AD wedding photographer?

Charles or Gideon?

Both photo styles are almost the same. Both packages are almost the same.

Charles is a personal friend of 2 good friends who don't know each other. Both strongly recommended him. I love his photo story projects. Even though he doesn't specialise in wedding photog, his wedding portfolio convinced us that he would make a good choice.

Charles would be asking another photographer along to capture more candid shots at more angles. Both kh and I feel that this is a good arrangement as we would definitely not miss capturing any precious moments. The additional photographer may take posed shots every now and then while Charles continues his photo journalism. Also, we would have one photog outside with the groom and 兄弟 with another photog inside the house with the 姐妹 during gatecrashing. There would sure be lots of fun shots!

Charles, being recommended by personal friends would of course be more flexible. He's such a great guy. We really enjoyed talking to him.

Gideon works alone but assures us that he never fails to capture all the fleeting moments. He would also take posed shots whenever people require him to. Gideon isn't a friend and so have to maintain a professional distance. However, he is still affable and cute. AND... he's so damn shuai! I tell you ah. I refused to show kh any photos of him on his blog or on Facebook coz I don't think he look as good in those photos as compared to in real life. I wanted kh to see the real him.

After we stepped outta Gideon's studio, I asked kh, "So, how do you find Gideon?"

Kh's unexpected reply was, "Woa... he damn shuai leh. I can't stop looking at him."

Kh seldom say people shuai wan. So I told kh to be his gay buddy. Wahahahaha...

Gideon is not drop dead gorgeous but there is this element in him that draws people to him. The tanned tanned cute cute kind. Plus the fact that he's very friendly. I kept gushing over how cute he is tt kh buay tahan me and jokingly said, "Ok la ok la... You go and marry him la."

Hahaha... Gush over cuteness cannot meh?

BTW, it's weird that Gideon knows of Charles and Charles doesn't know of Gideon. Gideon is pretty well-known. I think Charles has retreated so much from the wedding field that he doesn't even need to know his competitors.

[Edited to add: Charles went to find out who Gideon is and realised he knew of him but not by name. Charles also told us we would be in good hands if we choose Gideon. Ha.. so humble.]

Since style and pricing almost the same, should we choose friendly Charles or cute cute Gideon?