Halloween 2010 Preview

Here's a preview of my look this year.

Theme: Army

Code name: SALT (Slashing and Lashing Terminator)

Brief summary: A group of army gals, 1 zombie army boy and a misshapen Lady Gaga went on a mission to Pulau Blakang Mati, which in Malay means the "Island (pulau) of Death (mati) from Behind (blakang)", to annihilate the ghosts, ghouls and walkng deads there. More on their adventures later! SALT has to recuperate from her injuries while waiting for her comrade to send her the photos from last night.


Mission accomplished!



Injuries sustained from a night of slashing and lashing:


scratch marks and a deep slash from some creatures


Those evolved undeads were highly intelligent. They actually knew how to make bombs. I got struck, landed on my right with thigh and face disfigured. Just the perfect excuse to go for plastic surgery.

unflashed


flashed


nasty wound on the thigh


MEAT


Side Note:
#1 These were taken at the end of the night and hence the peels and cracks.
#2 I'm not able to view some of the pictures on my laptop saying I've violated some photobucket terms of use. Not sure if you're able to view the photos.

Ba Ba Black Lips

The other night, I was fiddling around with my anna sui black lipstick and decided to attach some dramatic lashes to be bottom lash line too just for fun.


flashed



unflashed



I can't imagine myself wearing this colour for it stained my teeth, my hands and whatever that brushed past my lips.

For this year's halloween, we are not doing the usual dressing up at my place and going to some clubs thereafter. Hence, the black lipstick would have to wait for the next time.


Why do they have such perfect black lips???

Wedding Ang Pow Guide 2010

I found this wedding ang pow guide from 8 Days magazine (Oct 7 2010; the one with Jacelyn Tay's wedding on the cover) really useful. I hope that my local blog readers who don't read 8 Days would find this useful too. For my clueless non-Chinese international readers, giving a red packet (ang pow) with a token sum is imperative when attending a Chinese wedding. Ah, you learn something new today! =)



The information is extracted from the magazine with minor expressions changed while trying to retain its sense of humour. Words which are of my own are indicated clearly in brown italics.


Venue & type:
Atas coz it's new or kinda new

For example:
Marina Bay Sands, Capella Singapore, St Regis Singapore

How much to give per person:
$170
(as it costs about $1700 per table)

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Venue & type:
5-star hotel acting like 6

For example:
Fullerton, Mandarin Oriental, Resorts World Convention Centre, Ritz Carlton, Shangri-la

How much to give per person:
$130 -- $160

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Venue & type:
5-star hotel

For example:
Conrad Centennial, Four Seasons, Fullerton Bay Hotel, Marriott, Grand Hyatt, Grand Copthorne Waterfront, Pan Pacific

How much to give per person:
$100 -- 130

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Venue & type:
4-star hotel

For example:
Furama Riverfront, Parkroyal on Beach Road

How much to give per person:
$80 -- $100

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Venue & type:
Lunch reception

For example:
church buffet, hotel buffet

How much to give per person:
$60 -- $80 (catered buffet)
$80 -- $100 (hotel buffet) *

*Jo's views:
I've had friends holding wedding luncheons at hotels and such luncheons could cost as much as the dinner banquets. Not many people know this and make the mistake of giving too little. With that, I reckon it would be better for you to find out the rates and give accordingly if you're the kind who follows the "market rate".

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Venue & type:
Chinese restaurant

For example:
restaurants under Tung Lok group

How much to give per person:
$70 -- $80

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Venue & type:
Others

For example:
non-chinese restaurants or a rented venue with sit-down western meal

How much to give per person:
$100 -- $120
(These are generally ala carte, not package deals, which rack up costs)

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Further notes

1. The above rates are based on banquets held from Friday to Sunday which is considered as prime period and thus more expensive.



2. Many hotels have a wide price range. The Ritz Carlton for example, has tables costing from $1300 -- $1500. Since there is no way of knowing if a wedding couple has opted for high or low-end menu, the calculations above are based on an average. Whether you want to give a bigger ang pow or smaller one depends on your reationship with the couple and your um... generosity.



3. For the very kiasu/ kiasi, call the hotel to ask for rates when you get your invitation cards. Prices are based on estimates; please take this guide with a pinch of soya sauce.

Variable factors

Wedding is on Mon--Thur:
Give 90% - 95% of the weekend rate.

An immediate family or BFF:
Add 50%.

A hated sibling or frenemy:
Subtract $50 but add $20 for his/ her other half since they're doing you a favour by extracting that person from your life.

The wedding couple gave you peanuts for your wedding:
Return the favour but check the inflation rate. Upgrade from cashews to macademia if necessary.

You're obviously a last minute, seat-filler:
Deduct 30% and make sure you eat more

You RSVP-ed but can't make it at the last minute:
Give the full amount -- ask a friend to deposit an ang pow on your behalf

It's the wedding of your ex who got away:
Don't go. Add 50%, then send an ang pow as above. Keep yourself very occupied that night

It's the wedding of your ex who cheated on you:
Go but give nothing

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Other Things to Know

What inflation?
We expected prices to have gone up this year. Surprisingly, they mostly stayed the same

$150 is the magic number
As a general rule, give at least $150. Anything below that might not cover for a wedding dinner at a decent hotel, once you throw in other things such as photography, a good wedding band, and the premium tipper.

Write your name
According to Chinese tradition, you're required to write your name on your ang pow, say wedding planners. It's also nice to write a simple wish, such as "Congrats! This is the end of your life as you know it."
Don't think about slipping that anonymous red packet into the box at reception -- we know brides who go through the ang pows and check who gave how much. She'll either think you didn't give an ang pow, or figure out you're the one who gave the paltry 50 bucks.

Jo's views:
Since I'm at the age when people around me are all getting married, it would be good to use this as a rough gauge of how much to 包 for the wedding couple.

Of course, some of you may argue that it is the obligation for the couple to throw a banquet and they should not be expecting the guests to help cover their costs/losses (whichever way you want to term it). However, I always believe that we should "懂得做人" and try as much as possible to help the couple cover their costs for at least the banquet portion.

I do take into consideration the financial status of the couple too. If they're rich enough and could afford to throw their wedding at a 6-star hotel that costs a lot per head, I feel that guests are not expected to give accordingly to cover their costs for the banquet. Similarly, if a less well-to-do couple hold their banquet at a Chinese restaurant or even cater for buffet in their homes, I wouldn't simply follow the rate but to give more to them instead. Of course, relationship with either of the couple counts so I tend to give more for good friends too.

I know of friends who have to attend so many weddings in a year that they think they would go quite broke should they follow the market rate so closely. In cases like this, I would always suggest giving within your means and not to worry so much coz really, it's the thought that counts.

Dance when you feel like it

for we're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.







Hope you're able to view the animated gif.

A typical morning...

[Source: googlygooeys]

I'm like Ponggo. How about you?

Unfolding May's Folder -- Birthday Blast

This is the 4th and final instalment for the updates of May.

The previous instalments:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3


I know that I'm always late in everything I do but somebody wise once said,

"The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something."

That would be my perfect excuse from now on. ;P

As the title suggests, this post would focus on happenings before, during and after my birthday. My big boss mentioned to me not just once but twice that people celebrate their birthdays for a day but I celebrate my birthday for a week. *LoLz* But I can't help it when I've got different groups of lovely friends who would always suggest meet ups and dinners during that period.


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Meet up with the F4 minus 1

I met up with ems and shan at Ellenborough Market Cafe for buffet lunch by the river on a balmy Sunday afternoon. There was a variety of Asian food but they didn't quite meet my expectations. What mattered was the company. =)




Lavished with birthday gifts, card and travel souvenirs from ems and shan. I'll show you what's under the Anna Sui wrapper at the end of the post!




After lunch, we went shopping around Clarke Quay and Bugis. I thought I would buy more stuff again but thankfully I didn't emerge with shopping bags for I had already been spending lots of moolah that month.


F4 - 1 = we miss you, wy!




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Wining & unwinding at bei's loft

The last time we went to chill at bei's family loft was 2 years ago during Mid Autumn Festival. Now that she's moving (already moved by the time I update this), we had to self-invite ourselves to her house for this year's meet up.

They only day we could make it was Satuday. I had to work on Saturdays so we could only arrange for a late night hang out. After having met xtina and getting lost with her on the little island in the dark, we managed to crawl our way to bei's main door and did an SATC surprise at the door with arms wide open greeting. Afterwhich, we jumped at and embraced one another.


We started off indoors with bei and xtina presenting me with my pressies.



I absolutely love the feijoa chocolates from xtina. She got it from New Zealand where she was posted to for work a while back and she said it's a local delight. The filling inside is a cross between grape syrup and the alcohol inside alcoholic chocolates. Even after reading up on the Internet, I still don't really have a clue what a feijoa fruit is and the actual taste of it as a fruit.

Bei got me a jar of hand cream which she blended on her own (alpha version) together with a free hand massage to be claimed that night. The hand cream is from the range called "French Goddess" and the fragrance is certainly heavenly and alluring. Lulled into a state of exaltation and feeling like a well... french goddess, I declared to bei that if she ever sold it on the market, I would be the first to buy.


After that, we chatted and updated on all that we had missed in one another's lives while feasting on chocolates and wine...



...together with lots of junk food like various types of potato chips which were not pictured above.



When the night grew darker, we adjourned to the poolside for more wine and a complimentary hand massage for me from bei with love. While I received my "treatment", xtina looked on green with envy. Haha... It was so soothing and relaxing; the best free gift one could ever give a good friend after a day's hard work.




We have all grown flabs of varying circumference around us. We used to be skinny bitches during school days. Haha! That was more than 10 years ago!




With our wine glasses in toll, we took ourselves to the jetty at the back of the pool and continued our chats, updates and gossips... though I dare say that by the time we reached the jetty, the conversation was centred around gossips.






Sometimes, we dangled our feet in the warm tropical waters and sipped our wine. At other times, we lay on our backs on the wooden jetty with the moon, stars and clouds above us; watching the skies clear and fog up time and again.

The hours flew by and very soon we had to head indoors for the night had turned a little chilly. It had been such a lovely and breezy night with great company that we almost could not bear to leave.

We decided to arrange for a meet up the day for we have not seen bei's house by the day and we were eager for some tanning and bonding sessions again.


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The wedding of A & B at Labrador Park



This is not part of my birthday celebration but A & B's wedding luncheon was held that weekend so I'm updating it in the same post.

I'm so happy for apr to have found such a great beau! B is such a jovial person and most importantly, he loves her a lot.

The solemnization was held inside a little glasshouse at Labrador Park. Doesn't it look lovely?




B was really humorous during the solemnization. Yeah, I know solemnization has to be a serious affair but he's certainly one hell of a funny man.

The wedding luncheon was held at The Olive Ristorante. Viv and I helped out as "bridesmaid" at the reception counter and that was the most I've ever perspired when helping out as a bridesmaid.

While the venue and setting was lovely for an outdoor wedding, Singapore's humid weather wasn't. To make matters worse, the reception table was located under the sunlight. Sweat was rolling all over my scalp, face and back that a common friend of apr and mine asked if I was alright and hurriedly whipped out her tissue before proceeding to sign the guest book. I guessed I looked quite horrendous. My self-curled hair lost their bounce in the humidity so you could see how terrible my hair looked in the pictures below.


The food there was great! Viv and I had the fish mains while kh opted for lamb. The chef certainly spent some time on visual presentation too. However, the portions were small and we were still hungry after that.




Lovely bride who looked like a mermaid in her gown.






B looked out of sorts here coz he had already drunk like... a few bottles and was uttering lots of funny crap that apr had to shoo him away while she was chatting with us.



I miss apr! We still have an impending bbq dinner at their new place which never materialized since January due to her hectic schedule.


In the evening, kh and I met up with my family for zi char dinner in the neighbourhood.




Outfit for the day



- velvety cotton halter dress from BIFC
- beaded self-adjustable necklace from Diva
- suede & leather shoes from nue
- LV eva clutch (this has since become my "special occasions" bag)


Just for fun.. a "what's in e bag" shot which I often see on fashion websites and blogs.




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The day I burnt a hole in kh's pocket

I spent the actual day burning a hole in kh's pocket as updated in this post.


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Coffee Nation & Butter Factory

It was a Vesak Day public holiday so the sn gang from "we celebrate everyone's birthday in feb except mine" could all meet up on a Friday.

The Coffee Nations along Bali Lane was decided as the point of meet up. It is a cafe off the beaten track, opened by the brother-in-law of one of our common friend.




To date, it has received a 100% rating on hungrygowhere but a few things went wrong that day.

Firstly, the indoor area was booked by a private event and we had to settle for the cluttered space outside. The weather was really very warm and the floor fan which the owner brought out wasn't strong enough to cool ourselves down especially after the long walk from Bugis MRT.

As for the food, my spaghetti bolognaise sauce was a tad too sweet. Same goes for the meat. I could not finish half the plate. Sam and can's spaghetti was too spicy and they could not finish theirs too. We felt so embarrassed not being able to finish the food especially since sam knew the owner personally. He enquired what was wrong so as to improve and apologized for the inconsistency. I'm not sure if I would go down again but maybe I should, to rewrite my mental note on this place.


The iced mocha was great!




gifts from the lovely sn group



What lies under the squiggley snake wrapper is a patterned fabric notebook as seen in the top left photo. To up my bimbocity level, ahem... I mean my GLAM factor, I was also presented with shimmery body dusting power and glittery eyeshadow from Majolica Majorca. Great to go clubbing with later in the night.


Group shot before can left




After that, we made our way to Blu Jazz for some drinks and music. The jamming was so noisy and it was rather difficult to hear one another in the loud music so we headed downstairs. I loved how vibrant the alley looked!




The above are taken without flash so as to capture the vibrant background. The ones with flash had us in white-out and all the background fading into darkness. We spied an aspiring writer sitting all by himself and scribbling furiously in his well-thumbed notebook. For a brief moment, I thought about what it was like to be in his shoes, sitting all alone in my little bubble in a crowded place and penning down strings of words and sentences.


When the night drew darker, I bade the gang farewell and headed off to One Fullerton to meet my bimbo sisters for a night of clubbing at The Butter Factory.



Believe it or not, ALL the bimbo sisters had not stepped into the very hip and happening Butter Factory till that fateful night. Yes I know, call us suaku if you want. We were all really thrilled to be able to explore Butter for the first time but once we got inside, we were disappointed by the crowd and music.

I told the bimbos that I've thought of a title for this encounter:

The night the bimbos died at butter

or

The night the bimbos melted at butter


A venue may be boring but the company with my bimbos would always rock no matter where we go.



Tiffy brought her friend along but left soon after. I hope she wasn't scared off by our bimbocity.



After two drinks and nowhere near high, we decided we should hit the dance floor. With that, we tried to groove on the empty dance floor and made up the numbers. Soon more people --or should I say babies-- started gyrating their way to and at the dance floor and in what seemed like an eternity, the club became full house. A strange sign for such a hip club on a public holiday.

There was a girl dancing on the podium and twirling, twining and wrapping herself suggestively on the pole and soon many guys started dancing around her podium, not because she was super hot or super chio but because her goods were starting to show. The baby boys were all oggling at her rack, taking obvious peeks and trying to grab her while she continued her I-think-I'm-so-sexay-so-sue-me grooves with not a care in the world.


Taking photographs outside was so much more fun than cheonging inside. The following shows a series of unflashed and flashed shots.



















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Gifts Galore

"There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents ... and only one for birthday presents, you know." - Lewis Carroll


What lies beneath the Anna Sui wrapper is a black lipstick with their signature rose scent... perfect for halloween




and an eyelash curler



I've been using my trusty shiseido curler for years but I can't resist the pretty black and purple of this curler. It works pretty good too.


shimmery make up



The silvery eyeshadow is from bimbo gera. Just perfect! I was looking for silver eyeliner or eyeshadow. The Majorlica Majoca ones were from the sn gang as mentioned before.


My favourite fafi graffati from tiffy.



This is not my birthday present and she said she owed me. (I'll update about that in the June folder.) She also gave the rest of the bimbos various lip stuff. How sweet! I like fafi but this shade doesn't quite suit me. Maybe I could use this for the vamp look.


From the company, I received a mini Helen Kelly pen from Campo Marzio.



I got to choose the colour and was choosing between blue and pink. The blue reminds me of Tiffany & Co but I chose the pink in the end. I love the encrusted swarovski crystals and the feel of the leather pen.


Some stuff from lovely colleagues...

bling bling bag hook from chocho


catty pouch from m


green petals earrings from viv


and a belated hand-made card too! The smiley face part is actually a little note.


precious moments snow globe and a card signed by all in the eng dept




I know pris got the gift. It's so pretty! She got everyone in the dept to sign the card including the 2 newcomers who were a day new at that time. I thought it was really funny how they managed to catch me at my desk at long last and crowded around to hand me the stuff. I was busy running around, meeting different people and settling some work stuff before I went on my half day leave w/o knowing that they were waiting for me to settle down at my desk.


Snapped pics of some sms wishes before I deleted them.




I realise that as I grow older, I sort of forget my age. How do you expect me to remember my age when I never look a day older? *LoLz*

When people ask me for my age, I would either pause for a few seconds to count or just tell them the year I was born in. I guess I'm really getting so old that I feel that I'm always the same age inside.

"We turn not older with years, but newer every day." - Emily Dickinson