Wedding preparation #4 - Good Skin

Clarisonic is a facial cleanser that have patented sonic technology to remove impurities from pores  - cleansing 6x better than hands 

I have been using Clarisonic for about 3 weeks now and I have to say the result is absolutely remarkable. The instant result truly surprise me, my face is less oily and i really feel the difference.

How to use:

1. Remove make up 

2. Cleanse your face with cleanser/ you can also apply the cleanser directly on the brush head (I will normally go for the first.)

3. Turn on your Clarisonic and gently brush it to your face in small clockwise motion.

4. 20 sec on your T zone / forehead

5. 20sec on your nose and chin area

6. 10sec on each cheek

Note: You will hear a beeping sound on each interval so you know its time to change to another section (20 sec to 1st beep, 20 sec to the 2nd beep, followed by 10 sec each)

This takes less than 1 minute for you to get a clean skin!!

They have interchangeable brush to suit most skin types (normal, sensitive, delicate, deep pore, acne and even body)

I truly recommend this for everyone , be it whether you have good skin or not. Everyone should have a clean skin all the time!

To get hold of the product or learn more information, please visit below website:

http://www.skinstore.com

http://www.sephora.com/clarisonic

Clarisonic - Mia sonic skin cleansing

Good size and grip (easy to bring around when you are traveling)

Closer look at the brush - normal

Magnetic charger

Clarisonic - refreshing gel cleanser

What comes in the box - Mia, cleanser, charger, instruction booklet

I really hope those who comes across this page will give Clarisonic a try and let me know how it works for you!

Preparation for good skin to the wedding day - checked!!

Wedding preparation #3 - The Wedding gown

Looking for the perfect dress is every girl's dream. There are different design by different designers to suit every girls out there.

I kind of know what kind of dress, material, fit, and etc I am looking for. But at the same time, I don't want to miss out any possibility of me missing out on a design I truly love. I will occasionally buy wedding magazine and look at blogs/websites to see the different designs available.

What i find is really helpful are collating pictures!

How i do it:

1. Create an excel spreadsheet 

2. Whenever you see a design you like on the web, copy and save the picture onto the spreadsheet

3. I categorize them by Designer

4. This way, its easier for you to look back and do a comparison among the many dresses you like. 

One wedding website i truly rely on for my wedding was:

www.weddinginspirasi.com

However, please note that as much homework you may done on the wedding dress you like, it is still important to actually go down to a store and try out different styles to see how you fit. 

Picking up a wedding dress is a very fun process and I truly enjoy it. I have engaged on this wedding vendor called : The Venisse Bridal in jakarta for my dress and I can't wait for my first fitting this coming June!

Watters Bridal

Vera Wang

Jenny Peckham

Pronovias

I hope this helps the next bride out there when they are in search for the perfect wedding dress.

Wedding gown - checked!

Wedding preparation #2 - Finding your photographer and videographer

Finding a good photographer and videographer is very important. They are the one that captures one of the most important and beautiful moment of your life. I know that I can save on most of my the wedding prep but not on this one.

As an indonesian myself, I knew I wanted to engage in an indonesian based photo/videographer. Most enquiries are communicated via email and after downlisting to whom I really love, i made a trip back to jakarta to meet them. 

After just 1 visit, I was pretty certain to whom I want to engage with for both my prewedding and wedding photo/videographer and made the deposit payment about 1 year before my wedding. If you are sure on what you want, its better to get it done asap, you do not want to regret when you try to reach your vendors 6 months before your wedding and they are fully booked. 

To visit and have a look at more of their works, please visit the links below. 

photographer - http://axioo.com/

videographer - http://findingwimo.com/

To those that are looking for photographer in Singapore, I would really suggest you not to get any from those bridal package. It is always better to engage in different vendors for your wedding. I know that an average wedding bridal package costs about 3,500 SGD (it includes renting of 2 wedding dress, groom's wear, make up and it includes 30 photos). Unless you do not really care about photography and etc, you could go for this deal. However, ladies... to choose only 30 photos from the hundreds and hundreds of prewedding photos taken is impossible. I have friends that end up topping lots of photos and they charge at 150sgd per photos. (crazy!!) Most of them total up to become about 10k SGD. Yes, with 10k.. you could have engage in a seperate vendor and get a better photographer. 

So always remember to not invest all your eggs in one basket. 

Photographer & videographer - checked!

Wedding preparation #1 - Finding the location

Both my fiancee and I knew that we wanted to get married in Bali. But finding a place in Bali is tough since we only been there once.

The points we were looking out for are:

1. Outdoor wedding and reception

2. Cliff wedding

We went to Bali once last october and just few weeks before and we have minimize it to 2 location. 

1. Banyan Tree Resort

2. The Latitute - Villa

The Latitude - Villa

Advantages:

1. You only need to pay for the function fee. 

2. Yes, you may need to book the whole villa (5 bedrooms = 10pax) for min. of 2 days. But the good thing about that is you can stay with your closest family member which = accommodation for guests are partially covered. 

3. You can order your own caterings. Means more good food at a much cheaper price. 

4. There are no time limit to when the party could end as you have the whole place to yourself

5. Big lawn space to hold the ceremony and reception. 

Disadvantages:

1. Since you have a bigger space, you definitely need to spend more on decoration. 

2. The road leading to the villa is quite narrow and dark at night. It could be dangerous driving out of the place at night considering we will be using a big bus for the guest. 

I simply love the view and the huge space for reception

The Latitude - Villa

Banyan Tree 

Advantage:

1. The moment you reach the Banyan, you are welcome /greeted warmly by the staffs there. 

2. The ceremony place is very pretty that it is very hard to say no to the place.. 

3. The ceremony is held at cliff overlooking the sea with sunset view.

4. There is a private beach which I think will be great for photoshoot.

5. The package comes with 2 night stay.

6. Since the place is beautiful by itself, decoration could be minimized  = savings.

7. Since you are engaging their service, you don't have to worry about the wedding day events. They will let you know where we should go at a certain time. Its like having a complimentary wedding organizer.

Disadvantage:

1. You need to order the food from their restaurant, where most of the spending are. 

2. The reception place is not that spacey.

2. There is a time limit till 10.30pm where the party have to end.

3. Music could not be too loud as there are other guests staying in the resort.

4. Bringing outside vendor/ food will be charged at a certain fee. 

Ceremony place - Such an Awww place!

The building beside the ceremony will be where the tea ceremony is held.

So with that said, I have come to a conclusion, i.e Banyan tree! 

The thing that held me back was since I have a huge family, staying in a villa where only really close family could stay might stir people talking how they are not allowed to stay there as well, etc. too much drama ( you know how aunties can be )

Plus, I simply could not resist the white coral look of Banyan's ceremony place!!

Wedding location - checked.

It's A Whole New year, 2012!!

I am super looking forward to this year. I will be getting married this October!! There will be so many preparations to do but i guess this is the headache and the fun part about getting married. 

Venues, dresses, shoes, photographers, decorations and etc 

I believe many good things will happen this year, it will be a start to a whole new great year.

Wishing everyone a happy new year!!

Naruko

Seeing how good the results are after the first product I got from Naruko, I went to shop facial wash from them again.

I got 3 different types of facial wash, all according to different needs (everyday, whitening and oil- control)

The Narnicissus Total Defense AA Foaming wash

It is very gentle and contains a non-irritating formula that it really suits to be an everyday facial wash.



Narcissus Total Defense - AA Foaming Wash



Rose & Botanic Aqua Cubic Foaming Wash

This acts more as a whitening facial wash, i normally use it in the morning.



Rose & Botanic Aqua Cubic Foaming Wash



Tea Tree Oil Out Acne Clay Cleanser

This helps to control oily skin, i tend to use this once - twice a week depending on the skin condition

What i like about this is, it have a duo function (1. facial wash 2. to clean out black pores on your nose)

Steps to clean out pores (after normal facial wash)

1. Squeeze out a quarter sized amount (nickel-sized amount for dry skin)

2. Spread it directly to your nose area (make sure nose is dry) - i like to place it on the T-Zone area

3. You will slowly feel the cleanser harden like a clay, laeve it for 3 minutes

4. Rinse it off with lukewarm water and you will feel the difference!



I have to say that I am still a fan of Naruko products, price is so affordable and results are effective.

I'm Engaged!

After 8 years of relationship, my boyfriend finally proposed to me earlier this March. Yes, some of you might think..what?! 8 years, why the long wait?
I was 17 when I first met him in Sydney and we happened to be in the same university, lecture and class. After 3 years of university, both of us decide to return to Singapore and find a job here. Both of us were busy with our personal job, projects and stuff that its been 5 years since we are here. Don't get me wrong, I know that i am going to marry this great guy, but we were both so young back then and at least for me, when i get married, thats when I have to be ready to start my own family and for him to know how to provide support to our family
He propose during our 8 year anniversary. We went to Labrador Park to take photos and thought of having a relaxing stroll there after since we never been there before.
Half way when we were taking photos, he came to me and kneel down while taking a ring out of his pocket. I was really surprised and did not see it coming at all. The first question i asked him was : "Have you asked my dad?! ", and he said yes.
Many years back, I told him that for me, there are 2 important things that a guy need to do before or when he is proposing. First, to get blessing from the girls dad and second, to capture everything in a video of how he propose.
I was too focused on the "daddy" thing that I forgot the 2nd one, after he kneel down and said some sweet words.. I said " Yes " and after he place the engagement ring on my finger, I gave him a huge kiss and warm hug. ^ ^ Then , he brought me to where the camera stand was and there and then, I realized he had it all on film!! Kuddos to him for remembering what I told him. Shortly after, it started to pour and we got a cab and went back home to change before we go out to dinner.

One of the many photos we took at Labrador park

For dinner, he brought me to Waku Ghin. I heard about Chef Tetsuya Wakuda many years back and been wanting to visit his restaurant in Sydney. But it's always been fully booked and you got to reserve many months in advance to get a seat there. Knowing we are going to his newly opened restaurant in Singapore, i went bongkas. 

Waku Ghin serves a 10 course degustation menu based on the best seasonal produce. When we enter the restaurant, we were greeted by polite waitress that leads us to our dining place. The eating place is like the usual teppanyaki style where a chef will cook in front us, what's different is that they only have few rooms so it gives you a more intimate feeling, plus the chef was so informative about each course that he is gonna serve us. 

Let me tell you, the sea urchin was AMAZINGGG!! I seriously can tell you that I felt as though i went to heaven and of course back to earth when the bill arrives =p

I recommend everyone should at least try this place once in their life, save it for an important occasion because it is..yes, expensive. But the experience you get out of it, at least for me..is worth reliving it again and again. 

Waku Ghin 10 course degustation menu for the day

Tataki of Japanese Bonito with Nanohana and orange

Marinated Botan Ebi with Sea Urchin and Oscietre Caviar
- I flew to heaven when i had these...seriously

Slow cooked Tasmanian Petuna Ocean Trout with Witlof and Yuzu

Abalone with Fregola and Tomato

Braised canadian lobster with Tarragon

Roasted Squab with Sauteed Mushrooms and Jus

Wagyu Beef with Wasabi, Citrus Soy Sauce and grated radish

Consomme with Rice and Hirame

Strawberry shortcake

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Me and my fiance

I'm Engaged!!

So this is how i got engaged, it is definitely one of the favorite day in my lists. We will be getting married in 9th October 2012. Gonna be an interesting planning ahead!