Flying solo

So you know I went to Japan last June…
And only to blog it now

I had to fly to Tokyo alone because both my travel mates Vai and SL were already in Osaka at that time and we would meet in Tokyo on the same day. All because of my poor estimation on school holiday. We bought the ticket in October 2011 based on the draft school holiday of 2012. Sekali, LARI ALIGNMENT itu holiday!!!! We had to change the travel dates (hence paying extra. My fault) and because of the flight schedule, I couldn’t fly to Osaka like our initial plan and had purchase another one way ticket to Tokyo. Lesson learned, in an expensive way.

(Hence lao niang is so not going to buy any tickets or make any travel plans next year until the 2013 holiday is official!!!!)

In Miri Airport while waiting for our flight.
Good that I had my colleague and her bf taking the same flight with me.

Pay RM1 for the shuttle bus from LCCT to TuneHotel. Am not going to walk alone in the middle of the night even though it’s within walking distance!

Checking in. Witnessed another episode of  “Please give me a room! I have no where to sleep” drama



The room, ngam ngam can walk only.


My flight got delayed……. FML

Super the FML because, I was suppose to reach Tokyo at around 10.30pm, and tried my best to catch the last train to Asakusa after custom clearance and claiming my baggage. Then, soi-soi, THE flight was delayed and I had to think of alternate solution to get to the town.

Solution 1 – Pay 100USD for the taxi ride from Haneda Airport to Asakusa.
Solution 2 – Car pool with other passengers who’s heading to Asakusa, hence cheaper.
Solution 3 – Sleep in the airport till the first train.

Guess which solution I took!

 
Kana compensate a RM10 McD voucher only….

I had like, 6 hours to kill in the airport after checking out and I had two meals, two drinks, and used my iPad sikit-sikit so I have enough for the 7.5 hours flight. The free wifi only lasted 3 hours and I used my own Maxis line for internet. Don’t play play, my indestructible Nokia E63 also can become hotspot one okay.

Finally on board!

The good thing about flying solo is… I GET THE WHOLE ROW OF SEATS TO MYSELF!
Muahahahahhahahahahahaha!!!!!

(As for the return flight, I sat between Vai and SL and we all felt so sick because of the stuffiness in the plane. So big difference!)

The Yakitori meal I had

Yay! Landed! First photo in Japan, at 12.30am!

The toilet soooooooo spacious that even with my luggage inside, I think I still can do guling-guling.
Nice to meet you Mr. Toileto Nihonsan! I’d heard so much about you and it’s great meeting you in person!

 
My first meal in Japan.
Was super excited when I saw the Korean strawberry milk because if you remember, I super love the banana milk and drank it everyday when I was in Seoul last year. Sadly, the banana milk and I tidak ada yuen-fen.

Really got shrimps inside one. But, sibeh salty the whole cup noodles.
(Actually, most of the food we tried in Japan are slightly saltier than what we imagined them to be)

 

Oh ya, you should have guessed it correctly already. I chose solution 3.
I slept in the airport.

I asked around different groups of passengers and it’s either they have transport from the hotel picking them up, or they had friends picking them up, or… they chose to sleep in the airport because the taxi fare is just ridiculous.

That’s how we all slept hence grabbing a bench is very important!

Slept for couple of hours (lucky I did set the alarm) and woke up at 5.10am, and the first train set at 5.30am. Trust the Japanese on their punctuality! No photos taken because I was still blur when I woke up and quickly rushed to the washroom to freshen up, queued up to get the train tickets and ran to the platform waiting for the train.

Saw this lady here with her philtrum pulled to the max. You know, the line underneath your nose, above your lips? There were just so many things to stare at. Her eyeliners, her LVs, the poodle inside the LV, and again, her PHILTRUM!

I was really sleepy, yet worried that I missed the station and you know what, I exited 2 stations earlier! I wanna go to Asakusa, but I exited to Asakusa-bashi, thinking that they are the same wtf. And a kind uncle doing his morning exercise showed me the direction. Then I asked, how long will it take if I walk there? He terus “No! No! No! Very far! No walking”…. pointing to my luggage. I got what he’s trying to say.

Okay, so not going to walk. Since I already traveled for almost 8 hours on a plane, slept on the couch in the airport for 3 hours, I think I deserve a little pamper. F it, I’m calling a taxi!

And after about 10 mins, not understanding what the taxi driver was talking, eyes glued to the meter, I finally reached the guest house!!!!! (It wasn’t very expensive, around BND10+ only.)

 

Guess what?
My dear travel mates were sleeping soundly and I couldn’t get it because the reception only operates from 8am to 9pm. I waited outside the guesthouse, eat wind for almost 15mins, knocked the door, sent sms to SL and saw the garbage truck come and go… baru SL opened the door for me.

Never see a garbage truck leh….. wtf

 

And this is the story of my adventure of flying to Tokyo alone.
A series of unfortunate yet happening events….

Our R.O.M - 29/09/2012

So… yeap, we’re finally married!

Still I still don’t have that “wifey” feeling maybe because this was just our R.O.M and after that, I went back to KB and live my “single” life and took my long awaiting nap. Excuse me, I woke up at 5.30am that day can and for the past weeks, I was super busy with work doing some gardening, dusting, painting and all sort of kuli-kang.

And, we nearly couldn’t make it for this R.O.M date because there was a slight chance that it might clashed with an important date, which was not confirmed. Sampai Bobby had to clarify with the staffs and said, “What if we can only confirm if we’re registering on that morning itself? Is that okay?”

But all was well, alas.
Phewwwwwwwwww. Thank Sky Thank Ground.

The day before, Bobby asked what flower I want for the bouquet and I was like, need flower kah? No need lah. And he said, but everyone got flowers one wor. In the end, I just answered, bah.. the cheaper one, small hand bouquet can liao ah. And guess what, the bouquet was so big (okay lah not so big but still…), that I was often caught carrying the bouquet like a lifeless baby, hanging.

My bouquet, mix of lilies and roses.

There were like 9 couples registering that morning, and I think about 5 or 6 tea ceremonies + wedding reception that day. Super good day I guess.

  
Waiting… and waiting…. and more waiting.
So we took pictures, and pictures and pictures.

---

The day before, Bobby brought some moon cakes for my mom and put them inside the Utama Grand plastic bag and before he went back to BSB, I asked him to bring the ring pillow and our wedding bands along with him just incase I forgot to bring them the next day and put them all back into the plastic bag after taking out the moon cakes.

And he just brought the whole plastic bag to the court. When the registrar asked if we have our rings, Bobby took them out from a Utama Grand plastic bag. Ya, super glamour kan.

Then, I majal-ed because I want our rings to be placed nicely in the ring pillow I made and asked the registrar to give me some time.


Us, last minute preparing the rings in the chamber.

The ring pillow. Photo with heavy filters from IG.

Bobby was super nervous and the more nervous he gets, the funnier his words and actions are!
He actually asked the registrar (I assume) if we could or should face each other when reading.
Super got feel this man. There were a few pauses because… erm.. it was our first time coming across with some big words that we never say before. Matrimony (the state of being married) and impediment (something that makes progress, movement, or achieving something difficult or impossible), okay new vocabs learned. You’re welcome.

Us reading the vows.

And the registrar was super funny!

Vky was saying maybe I’ll get all teary and stuffs but that didn’t happened. I smiled and laughed so much throughout the process. After Bobby and I signed the paper, and also our witnesses (our parents), the registrar asked “Confirm ah? I’m signing… This is your last chance”

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHHA! He got style!
Just a moment before walking in the chamber, everyone was so nervous and upon seeing that cool registrar, we all felt relax already. I can imagine how a grumpy registrar can spoil the newly weds important day and I am really thankful for meeting such a cool person.

Hi everyone, meet my new family members.

Bobby was asking if we should start calling each other’s parents “Mom and Dad” but I’m not ready yet! Wait lah, wait till the tea ceremony can? I paiseh (malu). How did you all married people break the barriers ah?

Our lovely friends and families who were with us throughout the process.
Thank you all! Thank you for coming, sharing our happiness and giving us blessings.

Our first picture together as Mr. and Mrs. Lim

 

And guess what my husband fresh from court did after that?
He did his own version of “sai” Oppa Gangnam Style with his buddy.
(Psy, Sai.. geddit?)

Okay, I admit, I was one of the people who “encouraged” him in doing this and he layan.
Hahahhahaha.

And after that, we went to Lucky Restaurant and seems like it’s a norm to do so!

I saw 3 other pairs of newly weds there too! And that makes 4 couples including us! I put that in my FB status and quite a number of my friends said they did that too! I’m guessing because
1) It’s “Lucky” (Super weak pun I know)
2) It’s near to the Supreme Court Building
3)

 

And that’s how we got legally married.

When the rings combined, it’s now my wedding ring!

Okay, I googled and baru know that traditionally, I should be wearing the wedding band then engagement ring. Meaning, I tabalik the sequence.

It was love at first sight when choosing our wedding bands. Bobby didn’t want any stone on his ring because he finds it sissy. We went to quite a number of jewelry store but the rings we saw all just look very similar. Then I remembered Max ever recommended me JL Jewelry and we were amazed by the uniqueness of the rings we saw there. And, the price was good too!

So, R.O.M done. Next, the tedious part, our room and wedding invites.

Scumbag Sun

Yay! Done with our pre-wedding photo shoot and took like 2 hours picking the photos! And we thought it will be an easy task. So now we’re just going to wait for the design, approve and get them printed. And we also did our pre-wed video already but unfortunately, the weather turned so bad and we had no choice but film the very last bit next week, or next next week. Haih.

Mom was saying that for sure it’s going to rain on my wedding day because it’s like a sign. It rained super heavily the day we had our outdoor photo shoot. Then for video also same same. Super no luck for the romantic and beautiful sunset scene. Cilaka….

Well, next big thing in our list is our R.O.M!
(And again, we have another thing to worry about… We may be forced to postpone it due to some “foreseen circumstances”)

Sad.

Polaroid films taken last Friday.

I did a really bad job in the filming. Kept laughing or looking at the camera and Bobby on the other hand, was like a Oscar nominee! We were all shock during his solo interview. He just talked non-stop for 5 minutes, no stammering, no long pause, no “ummm and ahhh”, with a little sweet smile on his sincere face. He was simply amazing. I don’t think I have the courage to see myself in the video later.

You can’t call everyone Uncle and Auntie

Decided to make this post ever since I heard Bobby calling his paternal aunt, “auntie” instead of “ku-ku”.

Thing is, for Chinese, we have proper titles for all our paternal or maternal aunties and uncles, even our siblings’ spouses too. Hence I was a little irked by the fact that my fiancé failed to address his relatives properly. And one more thing, he actually the title to address his elder sister’s husband (in the future) will be “Jie-Gong” instead of “Jie-Fu” because it’s Jie-jie’s lau gong! *palanting from chair*

I’m sure everyone has no problems in calling their primary family members, so I’m just going to state a few of paternal and maternal lineage.

Father’s elder brother - 伯父 (bófù) / 伯伯 (bóbo)
Father’s elder brother’s wife - 伯母 (bómǔ) / 伯娘 (bóniáng)
Father’s younger brother - 叔父 (shūfù) / 叔叔 (shūshu)
Father’s younger brother’s wife - 婶母 (嬸母) shěnmǔ / 婶婶 (嬸嬸) shěnshen
Father’s sister (Elder or Younger also same) -  姑妈(姑媽) gūmā /  姑姑 gūgu / 阿姑 āgū
Father’s sister’s husband - 姑丈 gūzhàng / 姑夫 gūfu

Mother’s brother - 舅舅 (Jiu- Jiu)
Mother’s brother’s wife - 舅母 (Jiu-Mu)
Mother’s sister - 姨姨 (Yi-Yi)
Mother’s sister’s husband - 姨丈 (Yi-Zhang)

Oh, and cousins also have a difference between “表” and “堂”.
Those sharing the same surnames is your 堂 (Tang) siblings whereas those with different surnames are “表” (Biao) siblings.

If you still have problem, just go to this website la http://www.mandarintools.com/family.html

The poor camera

Finally collected Bobby's camera after repair and the repair cost is rounded to BND270. Fml kao kao. Seriously, no thanks to my clumsiness.

I'm refraining myself in using the camera. The first time I accidentally on the camera when it's inside the pouch and the lens went cuckoo. But luckily it was still under warranty so we had a brand new unit replaced.

Then for the second time, I misplaced Bobby's SD card which inside was all his valuable family trip photos... This one really hit me hard as memories are the hardest to duplicate. How the heck am I going to compensate that?!

The third unfortunate event, dropped in onto the gravel road when the camera was still on, with the lens still out!

And now, I returned the camera to its rightful owner, even though it means it's going to stay on top of the table and not used for month because bobby rarely uses it. But well, I'm not taking any more risk!

Funny thing that with my old Lumix (almost 4 yrs old), nothing bad ever happened to it. Touch wood! Maybe like what I always say, 粗用所以耐用！ Hahhahahhaa

Wedding preparations (so far)

Well, not much of a progress to be honest. Except that we had finally took some cheesy pre-wedding photography from a studio and fingers crossed that we will be pleased with the outcomes. Choosing the photos this weekend. The staffs of the studio said it’s best to take the photos at least 3 months before the wedding date and ho ho ho, we did ours 4 months ahead! Wahahhahahaa. We just wanna get it done and over with and then concentrate with the next thing.

We got the bed frame and mattress already. The room will be painted soon. Then only after we have the bed inside the room then we can decide on the bedside table, cabinets, tables and others (so we won’t get over ambitious and purchase furniture that can’t fit! Don’t later walk also like ketam baru can pass through wtf).

Anyways, I bought myself a pair of really cheap shoes and did a little DIY for pre-wedding shoot. It was the last pair on the shelves and probably worn by hundreds of right foot, dirty, stained and….. comfy! I think I can work with that so I just bought it. It’s cheap bah cheap! Rosak also nevermind.

Bought 2 key chain with bow and charms and sewed them on to the shoes. Fast and simple DIY that everyone can do I think.

And this is the bouquet I asked my boss (principal) to make for me and it costs like 40% cheaper than those readymade in kedai! I love my boss. Hehehhehheee. She’s like the most awesome boss I ever have! Firm, charismatic, helpful, sincere and funny! (Not kissing her ass here because I doubt she will be reading this)

Here, last photo for this post.

Took our indoor shoot last week and I think we were a lot more comfortable this time and hopefully we did better.

Oh, while my make up artist was about to take this picture saying 1…. 2……3…. Bobby quickly took the bouquet and placed in front of my chest and posed with that stern face. Hahhahaa. He said the caption of the photo will be, “Eh, cannot rugi to people” (you know, the whole “Its okay to stare at other girls but my wife/girlfriend must protect well don’t let other men see wtf). He didn’t really mean it because he’s not a overly protective boyfriend, he eksen-eksen saja.

For now, we’re still procrastinating over the most dreaded part of wedding, INVITATIONS! The card, zero percent done, the guest lists…erm…. can say half half? Most of my married friends said the same thing to me, “Ahh… that one ah… last minute one…. Everyone did it the same way anyway so don’t worry about that”

HHAHHAHHAHAHHA!

So far I’m still not quite much of a bridezilla. Still cool and relax when my bridesmaids keep asking me what do they need to do and stuffs and honestly, even I myself have no idea what favour I need from them. I feel really loved lor, I have no siblings but I have really awesome friends!

Pre Wedding shoot

You have no idea how worried we both were when we looked out the windows and all we got were dark clouds and rain drops! And Bobby said I jinxed it because earlier on, at like 7am, I was like, hey look.. The weather seems good today! It's gonna be great. Sekali... An hour later, my friends from Seria and BSB all told us its raining heavily in their areas and some even had thunderstorm. Soi-ness!

I had like one big bag of props (not really big just that I was a little kiasu and made some photo props myself) and the make up artist laughed and said if only all their customers were like me. I'll say it's a compliment.


And when we finally reached location #1, the rain gradually stopped, sky starting to clear and sun was out! Thank you God! And I just walked around with the big gown all lifted up, wrapped in a button shirt (so its easier to take off without kana the hair or face) and carrying the train as if I looked pregnant in my SLIPPERS! Very the unglam. Hahahhahahah. And, I actually walked all the way to the food court to makan looking like that too.


Then we went to Sheepy's place, using it as a pit stop to change because her apartment is near to location #2. Then... Take take take, finish then went to location #3, special request by Bobby.


It was really tiring to walk around with that heavy gown and most of the time. I was either kaki-ayam or in my selipar jepun since cannot see my feet also. And, both Bobby and I got food poisoned! Think is the food from food court lah.



Bah that's it lah. I need to recover from the tiredness yesterday and food poisoning today.

Fingers crossed that the photos will turned out nice because we both felt we did shitty in it. Well, still got indoor one to try harder. Hehehehhe

something old something new something borrowed something blue and a silver sixpence in her shoe

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/OVxCnvmwlf/

Gel nails for the very first time. Must tahan ya

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/OUHTDNmwu4/

My Pink iPad2

 

My K-Bob must be very confused now….

Why confused?
Because ming-ming (obviously) my iPad is a boy boy and I ngeh-ngeh turned into pink color.
Hehehhehehee. I think K-Bob hates me now.

The whole story is like this……

In January when I was busy moving house, I put my iPad (with those lousy iPad cover that doesn’t secure the corners) on top my basket of clothing. And when I walked towards my place from my car, the iPad dropped on to the gravel road and sibeh chun-chun fell on its edges!

The cracks wasn’t that bad actually… just one big curvy line.

But as time goes by.. the crack macam disease like that, spread till mother also cannot recognize!

(What I meant by “cracked till mother also cannot recognize”)

 

People gave out a loud gasp whenever they saw my iPad and asked, “YOUR IPAD CRACKED AH?”.
And I answered, “No lah, it’s just an apps to give out that effect.”

The reason why it took me thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat long to send it for repair was because, the repair cost was too damn high! Then my friends who had cracked iPhone told me he ordered the parts from eBay and he’s going to replace it himself, with tutorials from YouTube.

So I was like… not bad also ah.
(Better than paying $380 to the authorized dealer…. or $150 to the non-authorized one…. And have to wait 2 to 3 weeks for the parts to arrive, and another week to repair….)

I went online and found this super nice screen in pink from a HK seller in eBay and bought it around BND50 – 60. White/Black iPad is too mainstream bah..

Okay, the technical term for that is… *copy and paste* Pink Touch Screen Glass Digitizer Replacement + 3M Tape for Apple iPad 2.

Honestly, when the part arrived, I didn’t send it immediately to repair because
1) I have no idea who to send, because..
2) I want to find someone / shop who can get it fixed within a day because I’m inseparable from K-Bob!

I went to a few shops and asked and just the labour cost to replace the glass digitizer is around $70 – $90, depending on the damage.

 
No eye see….

 

Then… I got asked so frequently by my friends, “Eh… why still cracked? Thought you got the screen already? Why still not yet fixed? You wait what?”… I got annoyed and decided must die die get it fixed within that week when I was in BSB running errands (because I would be busy and bearable without my iPad. I’m not addicted to it, just that I’m used to the convenience).

And you know what, I randomly went in to a shop and asked, how much to replace and how long does it take to replace the glass digitizer, ready for answers like, $80 and 3 days minimum.. we will called you when it’s done…. But no! He told me, ONE HOUR AND $50!

WoohooooOOoooo!!

The fastest and cheapest so far (that I asked)!
Terus lueh-fan-ying lah me!

 

Ladies and Gentlemen… I introduce you my new revamped iPad…

Mr. Sissy K-Bob!

It’s like brand new once again, accept the edges that I dented…

 

p/s: The shop that I sent for repair is CityMobile in Times Square (ground floor). I got see them selling black glass digitizer for $20 if not wrong.

p/p/s: because I super takut I’ll dropped it again, I got myself a BookBook case making sure it’s fully covered, zipped, and very secure even if tai-kat-lai-si (touchwood) drop it again