Eat, drink and be married!

After the first album I created for the wedding, I got hooked on another - one that has snaps of our actual wedding day, mini honey moon and the official. So then it got me thinking, we are indeed going back in time with hard copies and in my sense, a hard copy book.

So glad we got this in time for the upcoming house warming! :)

It actually dawned on me that it has been 5 months of married life with the Hubba - though I am 2 days late, here's a special feature on Perfect Weddings! It's nice to reminisce how the Big Day went and I made my family sit through the DVD again with me...before I store it in the time capsule for reviewing once a year, also known as the wedding anniversary. :)

We are almost putting together the final touches to the humble abode and it's back to my favourite retail therapy - for the bits and bobs which consists of kitchenware mainly and right down to the door mat, it has been crazy fun and terribly shiok when I find a new low price for a particular item.

It was only until a recent review of receipts that we realised that we nearly purchased multiples of the same things. Here's a list of places we scoured to complete our home :) No particular theme, just things that caught our eye!
 

Kedaung TableTop
512 Chai Chee Lane

National television has made this place famous for cheap homeware. Housed in an industrial area means there is almost zero traffic on weekends. I expected more from the warehouse since it was partitioned to just one showroom for the more premium items and an area for the mass. I picked up cheaper $1.50 milkshake glasses that were going for $8 each at least at Crate and Barrel!

5B Pte Ltd
46 Joo Chiat Rd

This is very popular amongst shoppers and with a two storey two outlet shop means there are so many things to look at. Inspite of the mess of things, I still found enough patience, time and things to buy within 2 hours. This place is great for browsing even and they have almost everything you can ever want in the kitchen!

IKEA

As with the furniture, IKEA is for the budget conscious but only for selected items. We found a salad bowl for $2.90 which was a great steal and a few other things - they are awesome for shower curtains and quilt stuffings.

GIANT

Trust the hypermart to be a place to stock up on affordable mops, laundry baskets and right down to napkin holders. Just the place to be to stock up on groceries on homeware. 

Takashimaya Houseware Fairs

We caved into those Japanese fairs that saw us stocking up on their too pretty plates, bowls, cutlery and the Nespresso machine that Hubba had his eyes on for a super duper long time now. Does not help that they have free delivery for purchases above $200 - perfect for shopaholics. The only downside is the maddening queues during these sales.

Daiso
All over Singapore

Yes Daiso in Singapore and Malaysia, we scoured them all to get our hands on really handy items. $2 for cheap innovation solutions - I procured a cake knife at all of $2, let's just see how friendly it is during the house warming party! There is a decent range of items "made in japan" with such pretty prints too. My heart goes soft and knees go weak every single time I am left to my own defences in Daiso. Just note that all the $2 will add up to a princely sum at the end of the day.

Sia Huat
11 Temple St

The family annual sale is TO DIE FOR. Yes you've heard me, to-die-for, coming from a shopaholic who owns more shoes than plates. Yet I roughed it out in their Pandan Road warehouse and came home victorious - so many wine glasses, name me the red and the white, not forgetting the wine decanter and the list goes on almost forever. We got everything at a fraction of their retail price and I am so looking forward to their next warehouse sale!

Crate and Barrel
Ion Orchard

I hide no secret in displaying my support for this place. Everything looks like it fits perfectly in the catalogue, and I can imagine myself owning nearly everything in there. The only problem - budget. Thick glass mugs that go for a tune of $6.95 each and I bought two...a set of almost patented container ware that cost us a beautiful song of $100 odd for 10. I only wish for a dining table so large for me to fiddle with the napkins, wine rings, display plates and yada...nonetheless, a very very very charming place to shop in. 


Taylor B
43 Keppel Road 1st, 2nd & 4th floors

Amidst all the large furniture and delicious candles (I almost caved into purchasing a $99 candle for the home when Yankee Candles came along), there is a tiny selection of plates, teapots and trays that are scattered around the 3 floors. Trust us to chalk up a bill of $200 just on plates, cups, saucers, a teapot and my very first cake stand. Had this been the last of my purchases, I am so sure the Hubba would have none of that.

Iwannagohome
Great World City

Their mid year sale sees a 15% storewide discount and I nailed my cake knife here! They have a range of terribly expensive cutlery but so ergonomic! Figure paying $799 for a set of 24? If you do, Iwannagohome stocks it.

Tony Teo Import and Export
49 Sims Ave

Located just next to the famous durian stall in Geylang, this is only for home with an Asian theme. They have shifted away from retailing plates and bowls to more ornamental bits - we did not find anything suitable, unfortunately.

The rest that I wish I had some budget for -

Brown Paper Packages [CLOSED]
By the lady behind The Pleasure Monger, she also has an online shop with plates and decorative items so beautiful. A great pity she decided to close it early July.

When I Was Four
These are stocked at a few places and also online - head here for nostalgic kicks! Singapore's version of G.O.D.

Goods of Desire
Central

Hongkong's brainchild, a terribly smart and witty lifestyle shop. Nostalgia, modern, futuristic, you name it they have it. Prices are not too hugely different here than Hongkong but trust the motherland for having the full collection - I dedicate hours just to browse it when I'm there!

Books Actually
9 Yong Siak Street

Trust this little hideout in Tiong Bahru to have a stash of knick knacks from yesteryears that would make any home complete - but history comes at a price.

Cath Kidston
MBS

Like Laura Ashley, though I find the prints less traditional. Like Crate and Barrel, all the items are so buyable but my heart would break if I chipped a plate. If it is cheaper, online may be an option but remember you're transacting in pounds and there are shipping charges involved.

Laura Ashley
Great World City

Cottage-themed plates and all things beautiful. Do not expect to leave this place without burning a fortune in the pocket.

I haven't been one who is great on flowers...I do love receiving flowers though. So when Wild Heaven Fleur opened up slots for a morning session of table arrangement, I grabbed the opportunity. The location is at Eunice's studio somewhere near Kembangan, very tranquil and because her place is so beautifully done up, it felt like home away from home.



The session started with an introduction to flowers, techniques and then we went into how to arrange it before a hands on session. While it was a very condensed session, I had alot of fun putting the new found skills to play.



My bunch of flowers before I started arranging them.



I'm definitely no florist but here's my very first flower arrangement with roses, peonies, silver leaves and the rest, I call greens.


We were also treated to a ligh snack of Carpenter and Cook's quiche and pound cakes.



Pumpkin and spinach quiche, terribly yummy. 



My crusty slice.



There's just so many stylish corners in her house, it truly felt like wonderland.

I cannot wait to start sprucing up the humble abode with my own arrangements!

I joined the sis and Melvin from Multifolds Photography for a prewedding shoot - well it is always fun to watch in the fun and not be the one sweating the guts out under our weather.

Was not too long ago that I had mine and it certainly brought back memories. While I had a studio-led shoot, the sis opted for ala carte going with an independent photographer instead. For sure there are similarities and differences, and here's my take on it.

The free reign of customization triumphs

Going with a studio means you have access to their gown range, make up artists and photographers - and as wide as that sounds, the down side is one is unlikely to know the specific make up artist or photographer till a week or two before the shoot day. I have had friends who hunt down the best of in the studio and insist they get to work with them. And then of course, you have people like me who pretty much trusted in the expertise of either groups of people and then had a good laugh when the photos were delivered.  I was restricted by a couple of things -

The Make up artist
The photographer
The number of locations
The range of gowns

With the limitations of time, I only had 3 locations, 3 gowns and 3 hairdoes though the hairdo bit was kind of baffling since they roughly looked about the same. It was a 10 hour shoot and truly, I summed it up as the hottest day of my life - not the comfyest and yes dinner was concluded at Mcdonalds.

Going ala carte then means, you get to pick a designer of choice - or even buy a gown off the rack without having any limitations of who to work with since everyone else is within reach. One could even get a vendor to style your shoot, a florist maybe and well, there is really no end to ala carte. As long as the pocket allows. :)

So here's me tagging along on the shoot, the shoot was split into morning and afternoon. 4 outfit changes, 2 hairdoes, 5 locations and tons of fun on the shoot. Melvin provided music to create some form of ambience. There was alot of freedom and control of time, no rushing required and here are my sneak snaps tagging along. Singapore, has never been more undiscovered than now.


Lallang fields and a sky canvas so gorgeous. :)

Having had my own honeymoon shoot done, I am  a huge fan of independent photographers. The experience definitely is for keeps and well...until there is another reason for me to indulge in another.

Etsy is like gmarket, qo100 and taobao gone upmarket. Or rather it has been marketed to me that way and whilst the people around me have done their deal of shopping at Etsy, I only made that virgin purchase with the watch for Hubba...and like all shoppaholics, I did not stop at one.

This time it was for toilet tags - IKR, who needs these obvious things but we decided to be frivolous and naughty at the same time.

I have always loved casual photoshoots and ended up being my own photographer for my pre wedding casual shoot but something was not quite complete, frivolity perhaps. The original intent was to have one in Santorini - too pictureperfect to ignore. Well, I figured even an Iphone could take wonders of that gorgeous place. And then, nobody was free during that period.

And then, Istanbul.

By a strange stoke of fate, I clicked on her portfolio, loved her works and flew her to Istanbul. Meeting up with this petite photographer was by itself a hilarity - I spotted her shoes first since I stalk her on instagram and then her face.

We had a whole day together to venture round Istanbul, snap shots and it was the weather that really killed any form of over enthusiasm. I love how easy it was being photographed by Maria, while some were choreographed, most ended up spontaneous. Without further ado, presenting a select few of my favourites