The one where I go on a small hiatus...

Well, at least I got to spend the whole day of Saturday with him up until 4am, and having sahur with my extended family. This is our second (technically third if we count 2012, haha) raya together, only this year is a bit more special since we are engaged!

Lots of jalan raya with my family, his family (Ibu-Baobei just extended the invite, heh), my friends (LIFO) and his friends. I can foresee this being a yearly occurrence, which I don't mind. Oh, this year we have also decided to give duit raya together. Meaning a green packet received is from the both of us.

Anyway, an advanced Hari Raya to all my Muslim friends out there who reads me and forgive me for my short comings. In Shaa Allah, we will meet Ramadan again and I will be married by then! So that will be very fun indeed.

Alhamdulilah for everything thus far.

Okay, I am off to prepare the nutella roll from my future in-laws.

The one where the best friend asks me...

(Sorry was doing some #throwbackTuesdayhahaha on my own # and found the first time he did a collage of the pictures from 2012 and early 2013 heheh when he was at work. I think this is before he said he loved me hahaha. Super epic though that one! Then we started doing corny couple things like wear same colours out, up til today on most non-lazy days.)

The best friend was what'sapping me last night about stuffs that have been happening that sometimes can be overwhelming for me, and then he said

Bearing in mind; This will get bigger and more serious. Are you ready for it?

Of course, he was referring me getting married soon (less than 6 months) and with many little obstacles we keep facing and overcoming, it can be tad exhausting. So I said

I have been together with him for very long, and yet at the end of the day he is still here. Scratch that, he wants to be here. That pretty much says a lot about him. I am not scared. I am so excited to get married to him. I can't wait to start a new phase of life with him. I'm honestly scared that the world is going to end before we get married because I want us to nikah so that we will meet in Jannah, no matter what. So with everything that is happening to the world (right now), I'm just afraid that I won't get to spend my hereafter with him. There's no one else, just him. That's the best kind of feeling I get from this relationship.

I have never been so sure in my whole entire life. I know that jodoh itu ditangan Allah, and jodoh itu rahsia. I don't know how to describe it to you but when you have found your soul mate, you just know it inside of you. There's no room for doubts and unhappiness. Sure, we get upset, sad, angry and sometimes disappointed, but there's never a time where there's no love. 

Love is our constant.

When we first started out, we didn't reveal much on Instagram but people who followed us more or less guessed that we are together. But of course, there's a difference in hiding and keeping things private. So anyway, a stranger said to the both of us (on our individual accounts) "You both have what a lot of people are still searching for." 

It's true. We can never go more than a couple hours not speaking to each other, when we have a disagreement. After an hour or two, someone will just message or be under the block to hug and make up. But there's never a time we let a bad day drag. His thing has always been fixing it, there and then. And his number one thing is always to say "I love you" before we hang up, even when he is angry with me.

That's why I know this is the man who is going to love me, and together build a life for us here that will bring us to Jannah together as a family. And this, sadly, doesn't come as often as you think it would. But that doesn't mean that is rare. It is just that it is hard work, and it takes two people to be loyal and committed to the same things, and sometimes not everyone is into that.

The one where the week unfolds...

After the last entry about the 5YearPlan, these two girls gave me their 'support/blessings' which made the whole excitement-anxiety about it, better. One is Fiqah who I met through social media (and linked in all kinds available) andd we have instant "chemistry", while the other is my sweetheart Sheril aka one of my bridesmaids. I have not been able to talk about anything else apart from 5YearPlan. OBST is not making things better, instead he is researching with us. The mad love and support we get, so blessed!

So moving on, had an iftar session with my fabbret online girls.

We had Siam Kitchen for iftar, and so glad we finally meet up! I usually end the night with my heart so light and so much love. This one isn't any different. It was almost 1030pm and we were still at Mac Cafe, talking about everything under the sun. Heh. It is so nice to know strangers who become part of your lives. And so happy how each of them are coping, since 3 of us are BTBs while one more... well let's say very happy. Truly blessed for this bunch!

Saturday was about the staycay for babygirl's 24th! Again took "off" for the second half of my Saturday to spend some lovin' time with the birthday girl and the sayang. Hahah, okay Izza and Ally. Both also my bridesmaids. Anyway, we picked Amara for their "infinity pool" but the best part was trying to inflate this baby:

PRETZEL FLOAT!

Izza got it while she was in States, and blowing it was not even funny okay. Hahah, we took turns but ultimately Ally was doing all the work! We spend the whole afternoon there until it was time for us to get ready for dinner at Ivy.

With the girls who stole my heart back in Primary 1. HAHAHA.

Okay food at Ivy sucked. It was mad expensive (almost $50 for main course) and the portion didn't match the price. The lighting sucks, thus no pictures. So anyway, I wouldn't go back there despite the service recovery when we complained about the food. Either French food is not my thing, or this is not French. Je m'appelle Renny hahaha. 

Too many failed shots, but this is my fabbret still.

Happy 42nd dear baby Izza!

So Sunday checked out, Baobei fetched me back to Serangoon home. We pretty much feel asleep before our day trip to JB. To find Baobei's songkok and cappal. This year he has no baju with his family but one with me!!! Total we have 2 baju together already.  But of course, we had a big iftar before.

We had like 4-5 more stuffs that came much later, but yay! Sushi again after our first one. Back in 2013, on the very first date (not included 2012 hahah) we had Sakae Sushi. It was one of the best dates ever (okay to be fair, I love dates with him, so ummm Baobei? Don't stop bringing me out on dates even though we become parents of 10. We have OBST to jaga our kids hahah), because we watched movie afterwards and I gave him a kiss on the cheek! Then I drew on his hand with my liquid eyeliner while he was smoking with the other hand. He told me that Ibu-Baobei checked his hand the next day to see if the picture on my IG matches her son's hand.

and of course it did.

They say from the day you decide to nikah up til your nikah day, it will not be easy, and it has not been easy but I have a man who loves and assures me so much, and family and friends who never stop giving their blessings! So thank you!!!

Baobei's birthday is coming up, so I am looking forward to that!!! Second birthday with him! Hehe only this year no surprise party but we can do late surprise during our honeymoon okay? (inserts smug face). 

LOVE VIBES PEOPLE!

An open letter to NR...

Dear NR,

I don't where to start but probably the easiest thing to say is "I miss you". I am lying if I say I don't miss you at all. Sometimes I find myself being happy about something or excited about something that is going to happen, and wonder how different it will be if you were still around. Yes, I agree that the friendship turned sour and probably there's nothing left to salvage in the end. We were both the same kind of person; stubborn and egoistical. But I know I will always tell you to stop being so damn stubborn and egoistical, and apologise when it is due.

The last of our conversation was about money. And what left so deep in me was you saying that money is something that you can always find, but our friendship is something you can never find. I replied you but I don't know if you got it because I didn't get a reply from you after that.

You know how I am. When I am angry at you, I tend to cut all ties with you. But you were one of my best friends. You're the only person I know that will come over to my house even when I am not at home, and spend time with Mama. That's how close we were. (Though your mother has never liked me.)

I just want to say I miss you and our friendship. You knew about the situation with Syahrul and the only one who encouraged me to open my heart to me when I was scared. Thanks to your push, we are on the way to get married. And you planned to be the most important person at my wedding, but where are you now? (Anyway, that was my last text to you saying that the person who encouraged this relationship is not even going to be at my engagement and my wedding.)

All I know is you're overseas, studying. Good for you! You finally found your path of what you want to do. And I hope the heart is full of nothing but love. I don't know how I would feel when I am getting married or have kids, or buy a house but I know those moments will be so much different if you are around.

No one at home dares to ask me about you after we broke off ties. Mainly they know me too well about how much I sayang my friends. You were the top few despite our fallouts. I never knew this fallout will be the final one.

By the way, I think I saw you last year at Geylang. Needless to say I was too proud to approach you or give you a hug. I should have done it anyway.

Please be safe always, and I hope you still think of me.

xo,

RR

The one where we change our honeymoon (for the 3rd time)...

Okay, I remember being super secretive about the first (yes, we have changed out minds three times. Luckily part kahwin never change the mind ah!) honeymoon destination. The only hint was that the place we wanted to go is low season in January. Well, that place was Santorini, Greece. No shocker there because we are fan of beach destinations (and for Baobei, places he can buy his skateboard decks!).

My cousin, Kak Ada, suggested to buy 2 way tickets to London, and then take a flight to Santorini from there. Reason being? If you're flying that long and far, might as well make a small detour. TBH, I have never been a fan of London and Paris. Unless we are talking about Primark. But here was the initial breakdown of the honeymoon:

S'pore - London - Santorini (6D) - London - Paris (2D) - London (5D) - S'pore

So we will enjoy our initially planned Santorini, which I hardly think there's anything to shop. Then fly back to London but immediately take the train to Paris. To see the most iconic thing there before going back to London to SHOP. If we start shopping after coming back, then we have to drag our loot to Paris and back to London since our flight back home will be from there.

But, we ditched the whole honeymoon plan after planning the perfect place to stay. Let me show you of the place where we could have been but now will be just dreams (Baobei said he will bring me in 2016 but we have ditched that for our 5 year plan. Well, let's keep a hush hush for now).

Astra Suites

Then we decided, okay a honeymoon is supposed to be something after the wedding. Any later is a holiday, no matter what couples call it (hahah, okay I am sorry). So we decided to KIV Santorini for future like 2016.

So what's a beach place that is good to go in early 2015 for our honeymoon?

BALI LAH

One bedroom villa by W Spa & Retreat  located at Seminyak.

We picked this beauty because unlike most one bedroom villas, this is surprisingly huge.

When you read reviews, you know for sure that this such a gem being located near eatery/massage places outside the hotel.

I don't care what rooms we stay in but the swimming pool.... AMAAAAAAZING! 

This looks like a smaller version of Santorini, if you must (Hahah sour grapes sikit). Thanks to my darling bridesmaid, Shiqs, who got me looking at this after she tag me on IG. 

Oh, this is Mulia Nusa Dua.

THE INFINITY POOL IS TO DIE FOR!

I remember doing research for this beauty and found our room have our own infinity pool.

I can imagine being inside the pool from 9am until 9pm. Nevermind lah like raisins after that.

This is Hanging Gardens Ubud.

Since we decided to go Bali, Indonesia, because I want to stay at these darling places and Baobei wants to shop for his decks in front of Legian 101 Hotel. Deal kan? So here was (haha, yes past tense) the plan:

Singapore - Bali - Take the ferry to Gili Trawangan - Gili (3D) - Ferry back to Bali - Legian 101 (2D) to shop around - Mulia Nusa Dua (2D) - Hanging Gardens Ubud (2D) - W Spa & Retreat (3D)- Singapore.

Best kan? Planned everything out except Gili Trawangan because we are going there for the clear sea and white beach which Bali lacks. The plan was also to fly by SQ since Baobei couldn't stop raving  since our first SQ flight to Bangkok last year.

Then, one supper with Kak Moi & Abang changed everything. So what has changed?

• Honeymoon destination (I am back on Google, Tripadvisor, Agoda) & will post up things once we have started booking okay?
• I need to complete my Bachelors by 2017.
• We need to save like mad, which means our planned trips to Japan (Osaka & Tokyo), South Africa (Cape Town), Santorini, New York are all on hold. No more major holidays with exception of 1 or 2 a year but has to be very budget kind of holidays (my favourite kind to plan too heh).
• Our plan to buy a house in 3 years has changed. We are not planning to buy a house unless our plan changes. So the house plan has been changed to 5 years time..... which brings me to...

We now have a 5 year plan (I should have a name for this like Project Goreng Pisang or something. Hahaha, I can't think of a good one but I will get back to you about this) to probably do something major in our lives. What is that? Hahah, for now let's just keep it among our families and best friends (and people who I have consulted and/or listening to me rant about this and that hahahah) first. Will definitely start blogging about our 5 year plan when things are more concrete. But I was just telling them how excited I am about what is going to happen in 5 years time than the wedding which is less than 193 days (actually lesser but remember the element of surprise?).

So now my mind is half on the 5 year plan, the remaining 3 quarter on honeymoon and a small quarter of what's left for the wedding. I am thankful, or rather we are very thankful we don't have think about HDBs anytime soon. Actually Baobei has washed his hands off this HDB because he think it's absolute rubbish how expensive the houses here. Meanwhile, I am very happy that Twin has chosen his flat for 2016 and have no comments about HDB in case the 5 years is up. 

We are leaving the wedding favours (berkat) to our parents because we made most decisions by ourselves and it feels like we are leaving them out. So if you happen to be invited to our wedding, be prepared for something less cool HAHA. Oh yeah, the dishes served on the wedding is also decided by both our parents. The MOH and BM are just there to have the free food and help us envision the day itself. I don't know if I have mentioned this somewhere, but we both will not be getting ready at our own homes or Gurame itself. That is because I am lucky to have a best friend who is a supervisor in a hotel.

Okay, that's all for the updates. Please note that before you call me snobbish for not sharing details, remember that I am not entitled to do so in the first place yet I still did. Secondly, I shared details of things I mentioned and not leave you hanging after sharing something. 

An example will be putting a picture of a villa and not naming the villa. Then when you ask me, I pretend that I did not read it and just ignore it. Well some people do that. When it comes to them asking people, NUMBER 1. When people ask them "Where is this place?" "Where did you buy that?", bo layan. Rude. HAHAH, but okay lah. Up to each individual. Just remember what you do is what you will get back. Eventually people also menyampah and will not entertain your questions.

Thirdly, I like some things kept to myself. And some of the things don't only involved me (ie Baobei too) so by pouring details about such things, only mean I am sharing these people's life on my social network too. So don't get all cranky because I am not sharing anything that I have not mentioned okay?

For this post, I will like to thank Google Images for the beautiful pictures on this post that do not belong to me at all (I mean, I have not even gone there *cries). HAHAHAHAHAHA.

The next post will probably after the weekends, so positive vibes people and let's stock up the cakes. Anyway keep us in your du'as for this 5 year plan is not going to be easy at all.

The one with rings and friends since 2007...

The wedding plans are supposed to be on hold until October because we are both insanely busy, but something came and my schedule just lighten by a bit. Though this means our finances are tighter... but even after the wedding + honeymoon expenses, it is still manageable. Plus more time from now til September means more time to start studying for school (though exams are in November).

So anyway, yesterday was iftar with the poly mates. Baobei joined after he was done with his thing, so I decided to drag Ean to survey rings. So where's the best place to get customized bands at a reasonable price?

Fairy's Inc 

Located at Delfi Orchard #03-03.

Probably like stepping inside a fairy tale room because just look at it! So white and pretty. I met the owner, Sandra, who was nice both on the phone as well as in person. I came in with an empty mind because I just wanted to see what Fairy's Inc offers. We have already went to Cartier as well as Tiffany's but this is a private jeweler.

Sandra is a type of person who can explain a million and one things, but it doesn't matter because she can zoom in to what you need to know provided you share with her what your dream wedding ring looks like! So yes, the selling point of Fairy's Inc as compared to big companies is one of a kind ring. You design your own ring, and you will have the only one in this world (unless someone steals it). But she doesn't make the same design twice. Awesome isn't it?

Sandra then showed me some of her customers rings that are ready for pick up and she says that by next week, she would have new ones up for the next batch of customers. I like how honest she is, and how she is not pushy about the rings. Platinum is expensive in every jeweler shop. Sandra suggested that is to customize Baobei's ring is expensive, I should get it at the big companies that mass produce so it would be cheaper. I mean who does that? Every greedy person will try to persuade you to buy from them, but she is not. 

But one thing for sure that I know about what kind of ring I want;

Princess Cut

Not because I am a princess (haha) but because I like it to be very rigid and structural (read: square). Sandra says I should research on Pintrest and says we can tweak it to be even more beautiful. So ring homework starts now. Furthermore when she went on about the diamonds and different materials, I was lost! No idea such things can be so tedious. I just know it's a diamond on a ring but there's so much about it!

So iftar was at Ayam Penyet Ria and desserts at Marche.

(Thank you B for accompanying me to look see at rings even though you were more interested in the mirror and your OOTD. Love you nonetheless.)

(I don't know if you can tell but Baobei's eyes are closed! Very small this one. Asian, he says. Haha, let's hope our kids have my eyes lah. A bit bigger!)

My OH OH TEE DEE

My very handsome Baobei's OH OH TEE DEE.

All in all, I like Ramadan because we get to sit down and have dinner. Baobei gets a chance to meet and know more about my friends that are forever going to stay in my life. I know I keep saying that I am very blessed to have Baobei in my life, but I really am. I can't believe at 24 (well technically knew him at 22, dated at 23 and marrying at 24), I have found someone I am going to spend the rest of my life with. Through the good and not so good, the skinny and fat, til we are in Jannah together.

That's my du'a this year.

The one where we picked a place to say 'I do' (2)

[EDITED: I added pictures for your eyes!]

So in May, the week where my examinations ended, we made an appointment with Gurame. This was the 2nd out of the 4 appointments we will have with Gurame. So this time, we came at night to really see how the ambiance is like, and let me tell you this... the fuzzy feeling never dies down. I am excited + anxious + want the wedding day to come like now + dreamy + everything with positive vibes lah.

So anyway, we met up with Keith and he never failed to make us feel welcome. The first thing he always get his servers to do, is get us drinks. Then he talked about the decor. Okay remember my entry (click here) about the decor I chanced upon one of the brides that used Gurame? Well, it turned out she used an external decor company, which is also an option for us. But Baobei and I are very minimalist kind of people, and the less busy our decor is, the better. Of course, it has to be more than just one kain and drape the whole place HAHA. But yes, we saw the album of their 'standard' decor and we are very pleased with how simple it is. More importantly, how it will compliment us and make us the star of the show instead of the pelamin/decor. We also decided that we want those sharing chair, because we are loving hahaha, no but we just love that kind of concept. Thinking how I can DIY more though.

So after we told Keith how we want the decor for the nikah and later, for sanding because we will not be using backdrop during the nikah as it will still be quite bright and pictures have a free background of the sunset, so what the hell? We shall have that. Then at night, it will have this white, kind of glittery background since there won't be any free background. So we are kind of psyched + the fairy lights leading us to the big cabana AKA pelamin. Keith thought this is going to be the sanding and we are going to nikah elsewhere but we told him this will be our nikah + sanding here.

Then Keith asked us "What time are you planning to nikah?"

Since we booked the place from 6-10pm, we said the plan is to nikah at 6.15pm, allowing the guests 15 minutes upon arrival to settle down. That is also why we only took one baju with TWB initially as we only have time to take picture with our nikah + one sanding outfit + eat (this is the thing brides and grooms always miss, but hell no am I going to miss Gurame's amazing food) + mingle with the guests at their seats and take pictures with them + pictures on pelamin (we decided we are not the seating kind of people, so no. We are not going to sit our ass down for very long).

Keith then said the most amazing thing, "Why don't you both nikah at 5.30pm? Wait, why not at 5.15pm? Nikah at 5.15pm then after that you can take pictures by the beach while the sun that is still up?"

We were like "That sounds like a good idea! So we push our event one earlier and end at 9pm?"

And guess what lah people, Keith was "No, you just use the place for an extra hour. It is okay. Nikah at 6pm is too late."

So yes, that's the happy update! We will be able to use Gurame for an additional hour with no extra charge. But please note that this is case by case basis (sometimes they have another event before/after yours), and also if you are nice to them (haha, I just made this up but this is just common sense okay). It may just be a measly one hour to them, but that extra one hour is very golden to us, and it also means that we may be able to take another baju with TWB (now I am following Katt, owner, on IG and they have so many nice baju which means our first fitting will be crazy decisions).

Oh, Keith ended the meeting by asking the chef to whip out some satay for us to try! (I love the service okay! So worth every cent we are paying.) And we have already opted for the satay live station so we are so happy it's not those typical satay of processed meat that is common at coffee shops but pieces of meat! So happy!!!

Anyway our 3rd appointment with Gurame will be food tasting + the rundown of the whole event. This includes we need to do a trial run of their sound system and our CDs. We get to bring up to 10 people for this which will be Mama, Baba, Ibu-Baobei, Ayah-Baobei, Mak, Dok (Maid of Honor), Wan (#OBST, often bestfriends sometimes tak [dapat upgrade haha]) and us lah.

So that's all for Gurame. Until November, we have other wedding errands to run like rings, cards, favours, tailoring of nikah outfit, DIY stuff and I can't think of much at this moment. But if you like wedding updates, I will be doing one more soon.

It is July already... which only means... 

SIX months to the wedding.