we popped over to penang just for 24 hours to visit kavern and his family. the petrol thirsty wira used up something like RM200 on petrol just to get there and back!

that's the youngest Leng in gavin's generation. if you thought Gavin's really tanned, wait till you see this one!

some hawker place. penang is one BIG HAWKER paradise. we had charkuehteow for lunch and for dinner but my photos of those didn't turn out clear enough. anyway one charkuehteow looks the same as any other so nevermind. nobody really knows what else to do in penang but eat eat eat. would be nice to visit some museum or cultural show or pirated DVD stalls in batu ferringghi but every time we go there's no time for such frivolity.

I'd never had curry laksa with pig's blood in it before. I couldn't eat it though, the thought of eating BLOOd just grossed me out. other than that it's yummy.

Kavern and Nobita. every boy should have a dog. 

this is my favourite face in the whole world.....

rice with fish curry, ladies fingers and fried chicken at cargas cafe in bayan lepas. yum. high recommended. they're even open during the day at this time to cater for all its chinese customers [there're a lot of em]

Nobi on the couch. poodles are just soo... affectionate.

I'm so blessed to have a team of great people who gave of themselves and their time and their talent in helping me out!!!

i love you all!!! {muaks}

here're the lovely angels hard at work.

this pretty elf is surely in the running for "homemaker of the year' award.

charlene made yummy hotdogs for lunch. the macho hairy guy in the blue shirt made himself very useful as well, helping to stir the cookie batter and ferry my mum around that day.

the ooi bros surely put their muscles into good use!

look at him go!!

cookie cutting time! I didn't have to tell them what to do. it's as if they magically acquired the skills!

sealing team at work! 

thank you ALL for helping us out!! I don't know what I would've done without you girls! [and 3 guys] :D

all you people!!!PLEASE RSVP ASAP!!!

I hate going to KL because it's so congested, noisy, polluted and crowded. this day was no exception... but we had to go there to buy more wedding stuff. the KTM we tried to take was stalled 4 times and it took us an hour to get there from subang!

sigh. anyway this is the place to go to get cloth and wedding stuff.

lotsa lotsa shops selling the same things!!

bunga reben. my fav shop to buy ribbons, beads and sewing stuff.

i want an arch like this, does anyone know where to get one? please!?

I like malay wedding gowns SO much better than those from Chinese shops. really!! they're the only ones who can make gowns that don’t reveal the shoulders/arms. they make the bride look so elegant and sweet without having to reveal too much skin. i couldn't even find ONE evening gown in a chinese owned bridal boutique or formal gown boutique that covered my arms and i don't like revealing my arms! those strapless/sleeveless ones are only suitable for those skinny/ thin girls and i couldn't find anything suitable although i went to so many shops. so in the end i opted for a bespoke dress.

all those chinese salesgirls tried to tell me that i MUST wear a strapless gown in order to look elegant and it's absolutely necessary and if i don’t i'll look bad. but the fact is that you CAN look elegant and attractive without having to reveal too much flesh!

bukit bintang at night. so many people. so much commercialism and consumerism and hedonism. gav and i agreed we'd had enough of those to last a month!

I knew gav was a hoarder bfore i said "i will" but i didnt know he was a real life monica [from friends]

we were putting on his bedsheet today and as i was about to tuck the edges under the mattress, he stopped me and said we have to flip it. but why??? i thought.

apparently the motif on the sheet had teddy bears on the ground and stars in the sky and he says that when you walk into the room and see the bears, they have to be at the "bottom" of the bed, where he puts his feet because obviously the stars are up in the sky where his head is!!!!

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he says he doesn't want to see an upside down bear!!

if you were to ask me what is the single most influential thing on my views toward weddings/marriage it would have to be this chapter in one of my favourite books, "little women" by Louisa May Alcott.

In many ways, I see myself in Meg most of all. Perhaps a little rebellious like Jo, homely like Beth, maybe a bit vain like Amy. but most of all, Meg. a romantic at heart, trying to be responsible as an eldest daughter should, loving yet sometimes selfish.

"Meg had spent the time in working as well as waiting, growing womanly in character, wise in housewifery arts, and prettier than ever; for love is a great beautifier. She had her girlish ambitions and hopes, and felt some disappointment at the humble way in which the new life must begin. Ned Moffat had just married Sallie Gardiner, and Meg couldn't help contrasting their fine house and carriage, many gifts, and splendid outfit, with her own, and secretly wishing she could have the same. But somehow envy and discontent vanished when she thought of all the patient love and labour John had put into the little home awaiting her; and when they sat together in the twilight talking over their small plans, she felt herself the richest, happiest girl in Christendom."

"...Meg looked very like a rose herself for all that was best and sweetest in heart and soul seemed to bloom in to her face that day, making it fair and tender, with a charm more beautiful than beauty. Neither silk, lace, nor orange flowers would she have. 'I don't want to look strange or fixed up to-day,' she said; 'I don't want a fashionable wedding, but only those about me whom I love, and to them I wish to look, and be, my familiar self.'"

"...and Meg opened her arms to her sisters, who clung about her with April faces for a minute, feeling that the new love had not changed the old"

"I'm not a show, aunty, and no one is coming to stare at me, to criticize my dress, or count the cost of my luncheon. I'm too happy to care what anyone says or thinks, and I'm going to have my little wedding just as I like it."

after the wedding, Sallie [the rich girl] commented to her husband:

"That is the prettiest wedding I've been to for an age, Ned, and I don't see why, for there wasn't a bit of style about it..."

when it comes to food, I like the challenge of making something that we usually pay a lot for. like how instead of eating at macdonald's, i tried making my own beefburgers. [i failed miserably]

i tried making butter cookies after learning of gavin's liking for kjelsen's and found a malaysian made version sorely lacking. dont know if he'll like them though. will find out tomorrow!

a few weeks back we were sorely disappointed with the really bad service at sakae sushi in klang's aeon plaza, and they charged service tax! we waited soo long for our food and despite us reminding the waiters 5 times they STILL didn't bring the food. we left without eating the missing items.

so, in an attempt to "beat them", today we tried making a Japanese meal at home. we had tempura fish, eggplant and long beans, with seaweed and rice, and green tea to wash it down with.

the whole meal cost about RM7.

dory fillet: RM3.25

eggplant : RM2

long beans: RM1 [?? dont know coz i stole it from mum's refrigerator]

rice RM 0.40

seaweed strip RM0.20

green teabags : RM0.20

We couldn't finish it all though so the leftovers became dinner. of course anything deep fried is addictive because of the aroma of fried-ness, the crisp mouth feel and savoury flavours of what's inside. my favourites were the eggplant slices coz they were crispy on the outside but soft and creamy on the inside. we dipped the pieces in tsuyu sauce which gave it a nice Japanese-y flavour. i also liked them with this japanese "kewpie" mayonnaise although that certainly upped the fat/calorie factors. i had a friend in tassie who put that squeeze mayo on every single thing she ate. we dropped the long beans in clusters so they became like kaki-age.

yummy but probably really bad for the cholesterol levels. feel so guilty about it now!

on to the lotus plant again [my favourite plant in the garden]

despite the recent dry weather, the lotus plant is thriving. new flowers and new leaves come up every week! this is a very very new one that just opened ystd. it's a lovely fresh green! floating on the water's surface. those tiny cell-like green floaters are interesting too. they seem to multiply very quickly, they once covered only 20% of the plant bowl's surface but now it's covered 80% !

drops of water look especially pretty on the leaves's waterproof surface, like shining diamonds, perfectly formed.

here's a new standing leaf. there're floating leaves and standing leaves. I suppose the standing ones are wat frogs use as "umbrellas" in the cartoons, and the floating ones are wat frogs sit on but when i caught a froglet and put it on the leaf, it jumped off straightaway. apparently what you see on cartoons are not reflective of reality....

I found 2 froglets today, they were so tiny they could've fit on my baby fingernail. i love em! 

dont you just LOVE MY INVITES!!!!! Rachel's design!!! wheeee!!!!

he's our cousin. he's our friend. he's our close brother. our best man.

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