A New Level

Ronald came and swept me away last night to a simple but delightful date.

Which reminds me of how he made me laugh like a little girl over dinner.

Over our meal or sirloin steak and spanish mackerel,

he spontaneously brought something up.

And I think you've guessed it right.

=)

Apparently, both side of our 'parents', trying not to make it too obvious,

are slightly hinting us on the Big R.

Registration.

I've always been telling Ronald that its great to have more reasons to celebrate.

So honestly, I wanted an engagement first,

I want to feel and experience each step of this wonderful relationship,

so we both can absorb all the happiness and love from these stages.

Besides, we're young and we're happy, I do not see any rush for this,

and we both have our dreams to achieve before the Big M comes in.

That will prolly take a few more years.

So what do we do?

I find myself constantly browsing over wedding sites,

watching wedding vids and generating more and more extravagant wedding ideas.

I just want it to be perfect.

Taking in the time and love as much as we can to produce the perfect wedding.

It is a once in a lifetime thing and knowing me, its ok for other things to be perfectly imperfect,

but not my wedding.

It has to be .. perfect.

But really, what I want is just a simple, elegant, serene, peaceful and original wedding,

with closest people at heart.

That, for me, is a perfect wedding.

I do not need hundreds of people whom I am not familiar with or do not know,

I dont want another wedding that follows the style or even rules as another wedding.

I want an authentic, original,

Ronald and Joanne style wedding,

where we can sit back, relax, laugh and do silly things

with people we love.

Something classic, timeless, radiant and sunny.

Something extraordinary and out of this world with simplicity but full of love.

Thats us.

I find this video really inspiring.

Just like how I like it, but with a little twist.

I really do like a small row of furniture fixtures for me to place my delicate

cakes, cupcakes, desserts,

and little wedding paper artwork that can be displayed together with

the table centrepieces.

Just watch it.

I can feel their happiness.

And I know that is exactly how we will enjoy ours too

during our big day.

[W]hen you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. ~Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally

My 23rd Birthday

So finally, the day came that I had no choice but to swallow the fact that I turned 23.

Time flies so quickly.

Before u know it we're already working, getting a house, growing babies, having grandchildren...

Ok.

Back to the topic.

For the entire week,

I was completely clueless on my birthday plans.

Not that I was expecting something extravagant,

I hoped for something simple.

I was so busy with everything that I completely forgot about my own birthday

until Mr Ong wished me on the stroke of midnight.

He came and pick me for dinner later in the evening.

Headed for dinner at Rakutei.

Greeted by some unexpected loved ones.

Dinner was great.

Everything was fresh and up to standard.

Salmon sushi.

Tuna.

Fresh and red.

Mixed sashimi.

Unagi.

It was still hot and had bits of crunch on the sides.

Dinner table.

What we had could have been used to feed maybe 4 fully grown cows.

More more more!

I felt like a bloated fat pig after dinner.

and then,

my dearest Chu Ying gave me my first present.

(well not exactly the first- the first was from my two 'sets' of foster parents, but as a friend on my birthday night, yes she's the first!)

I remembered commenting on her apple gemstone pendant she wore around her neck.

I thought it was very pretty.

And then when I opened the HOJB box,

TADA!

was surprised to the max.

Mouth gap wide open.

She got me the exact same one!

She said 'now u'll be wearing the same one as I do'.

before I could thank her enough, she asked me to dig deeper.

Then I opened another box of double wrapped present.

TADA!

My extended biotherm products, a whole new set!

(I have not even used a quarter of the first set that Mr Ong gave me for Valentines)

and then she said

'now u will use the exact one like mine as well'.

HAHA!

How can u not be so grateful for such thoughtful friends?

and then, Mr Ong presented me with my birthday present.

I was surprised to the max.

As a perfume collector,

sometimes I really find it hard to get those limited edition perfumes.

Mr Ong of all people also knew that my favorite perfumes would be the limited edition kind, and anyone with a very unique bottle design.

He presented me with the LATEST, NEWEST,

Honeymoon Babydoll set by Yves Saint Laurent!

The first in Kuching to get it!

I'm so grateful!

(a little bit annoyed already though because I told him not to spend so much this time round)

Photos of this later!

After dinner, we headed to Senso Hilton,

not for alcohol consumption purposes,

but for coffee, tea and chit chat.

A lot of people has been texting me asking whats my birthday cake this year,

whether or not Im making my own cake,

who's my cake designer, etc.

I told them

'Mr Ong is baking my cake this year'.

I was anticipating for it the entire week.

The girlies and I.

There you go!

My birthday cake!

Simple, primary school-like, pink and purple square fondant cake.

He baked me a Telgra Moist Chocolate cake!

It was very good!

I'm very impressed.

Honestly, this is the first time a man has ever baked for me.

How can the wifey not feel like the happiest woman on earth?

So I blew the 23rd birthday cake candle.

and of course, I wished and wished and wished.

Not for things but for the people I love.

and then...........

Mr Ong said,

"B, u sit here. I'm going out to order some drinks'.

He came in and said,

'B, this is your second present. I love you'

guess what the second present was?

Limited edition Nina Ricci Apple la Paradise

and

Limited edition Ricci Ricci Dancing Ribbon,

which is not even officially on Ricci Ricci's website yet!

again, I'm the first to proudly own Dancing Ribbon in the entire Kuching.

I can't help to jump for joy but at the same time a little bit curious and annoyed.

Curious on how he manage to get it here and the fact that he spent so much this time round!

It was later then I found out that he went on the Pro member of Nina Ricci's website n got the latest updates and manage to ship all the perfumes over.

My birthday presents this year.

Merlot Cab by Lav, Tupperware by Lus, Nina Ricci, Ricci Ricci, Ysl and Ferragamo by baby, Biotherm and HOJB by Ben and CY.

the angels.

melts*

I just have such soft spots for perfumes..

my baby's been nagging that I have too many perfumes and that I should stop.

But the funny thing is I did not even get them for myself anymore.

He is the one who get them for me.

I'm a bit confused.

This 3 bottles totalled up my perfume collections to a sum of 46 bottles.

Insanity.

I ran out of space in my drawer for perfumes that I had to stash them up into a box to keep in my mums room.

This year itself baby has already bought me 8 bottles.

Girl and Lav.

The perfume man.

I appreciate every single bit of everything.

I love u baby.

N I'm honoured to be yours.

I had a GREAT time.

But deep in me.. there is a missing spot.

Of all the people who wished me,

and as I go down the list,

how I wished that she remembered.

The Difference

In my life, I came across my types of people whom I called friends.

At the end of the day,

its not about who is right, or who is wrong,

or who to blame.

I believe that everyone has their own mistakes.

If you want to blame someone else, take a good look in the mirror.

No one's perfect.

Looking back, I can't blame anyone but myself.

I choose my friends.

I live with them.

I make my own decisions everyday.

Sometimes we are caught in situations,

that neither one understands.

Sometimes misunderstandings are caused,

that neither one knows why or how to solve it.

But whatever is it,

life goes on.

You choose to be happy.

And if you choose to dwell, its still your decision.

But my life story,

is somehow different.

I've always had this mentality,

that no one is worth hurting me.

Because of the past experiences..

with people whom I will use the term

'selfish'

I've seen enough...

and felt enough pain to last me a lifetime...

sometimes other people's jealousy comes from behind and stabs u right in the heart..

I won't deny the fact, that it is often jealousy that is the catalyst of most misunderstandings.

I'm never good enough with words..

The day I have completely given up hope,

that is when God thought that I've suffered enough.

He granted me the wish I made 3 years back.

When I made a wish upon not one, but three shooting stars.

I believed that he was given by God,

because ever since then,

my life has been thoroughly complete.

And everything else seems so distant,

and so less important.

He was exactly the other half

that all these while I thought doesn't exist anymore.

In every ways,

among the billions,

somehow...

He made all the difference.

In this life,

like what my grandma used to tell me,

when u finally found the person who speaks the same soul language as you,

you will live this life with no regrets.

Because of all people I know how impossible it is.

Pray harder.

Don't doubt urself about God's existence.

He is very real.

And if you are waiting for that 'next year' to start changing,

there will never be a 'next year'.

Start now,

before it's too late.

I find myself falling deeper and deeper in love,

like a sweet addiction.

God says

when you give a little,

He'll return you 10 times more.

Valentines Day 2011

My 2nd Valentine's with baby.

My best Valentine so far.

As usual, I'm busy preparing for Valentine's every year, not because of my celebration.

But the Valentine's orders!

This year the orders are CRAZYYY!

No doubt I'm honoured but the timeline and workload is a huge LOAD.

My favorite cupcake bouquet this year.

For Emily's.

The story on Valentine's this year was pretty funny.

A week before Valentine's I was already planning for the perfect gift for Ronald.

Of course, my other two assistants was CY and Ben.

Little did I know that Ronald asked them for the same favor.

So they're basically assistants for the both of us but they cant reveal anything to either one of us.

Which I find really hilarious because everytime I asked a question that they can't answer,

they just looked up to the sky.

As if the sky's gonna make my question go away.

It took me quite some time to plan for a suprise.

Proves how Ronald and I think SO much alike.

Before suprising each other with the REAL gift, we have this thing we called 'sub gifts' to spark it all up!

I did not manage to snap a photo of my 'sub gift' to Ronald,

but it was a box of homemade heart cookies.

We went for Japanese fine dining in Rakutei.

I was greeted by a single stalk of rose,

and then halfway through dinner baby presented me this!

My biotherm collection!

Totally LOVE it.

He was creative enough to wrap them into bouquets instead of roses.

Of all people he knew how sick I was of roses because I wrap them during Valentines every year.

Haha.

After presenting him the box of cookies, I teamed up with Ben to trick Ronald into checking Ben's boot, claiming that he was hit by another car.

In actual fact, I hid Ronald's gift at the back of the car.

Funny thing is Ronald wanted to hide his bouquet in Ben's car as well.

Too bad, it was a first come first serve!

He opened the boot..

TA-DA!~

Recorded a video of this.

Shud've seen the surprised look on his face!

I got him a white PS3 limited 320G.

He has been wanting it for weeks.

I've been asking Ben to lie to him that it was out of stock.

LOL.

Good times.

The angel and I.

My first bouquet.

Biotherm products.

We headed to Cafe Cinno after dinner.

Halfway through drinks, again Ronald come up with his crazy ideas.

He went out and walked in with this.

Everybody was watching and I turned red.

Can't believe he actually handwrapped this thing!

5 bottles of Bvlgari,

Shu Uemura foundation,

Shu Uemura Ultimate Expression mascara,

She Uemura Gamma blusher,

Shu Uemura corrector x 2,

Shu Uemura free workshops and free make up voucher!

Oysters we had at Rakutei.

Main Dish.

There were also soft shell crab and other sea goodies

served with sauted ground mushroom and asparagus.

THE BEST asparagus I've ever tasted.

The very talented boyfriend and I.

Who needs to work when u have such a multitalented dude in the house?

JUST KIDDING.

Valentine's gifts this year.

Some from girlfriends =)

A portion of the orders.

I went without sleep for two nights because of these.

Turned into a zombie.

Excuse my dark eye circles and wrinkles in this post.

Delivery day!

Went on delivery during Valentine's morning.

What a life.

But I've got my baby with me.

Makes everything else less important. =)

Gift cookies I baked!

WANT SOME?

Ronald's Birthday

This is a post on Ronald's birthday.

Its a late post.

Was caught up with so many things,

feels like the daily routine is unendless!

But with a whole new meaning.

Okay, so here goes.

I planned his birthday months before,

of course, with Vero's help as well.

I initially booked Pullman, the Taj Mahal room,

but it was fully booked on the day of his birthday.

So in the end, I thought of Tom's restaurant,

Ronald's favorite place to dine.

We've been there many times,

for the rib eye, oglio olio and redwine cheesecake.

Trust me when I say, you cannot find any steak better anywhere else in Kch,

except of course, Hilton Steakhouse.

We had Chateaubriand steak there for the 3rd celebration,

a dish would set you back at RM180 per person, but it was

worthed it!

So first celebration was with his family,

Rock Road seafood restaurant.

We had stuffed crabs,

ostrich meat,

pork curry with the lovely sweet buns,

butter prawns,

and a lot of other dishes,

I got him a cake,

with his fav Ducati superbike on it.

The second celebration was his surprise birthday

at Tom's.

I invited 22 guests,

made sure nobody bought the same presents,

and asked them to be there at 7pm sharp.

Fortunately, everyone was being such a good friend, no one was late.

The birthday boy however, doesn't know what's going on of course,

he was late, and looked forward for a simple meal

with only the two of us.

I booked the first floor, and decorated it nicely,

so when he walked up,

Ben popped the party popper and everyone shouted

happy birthday!

Without them, it would've never happened!

I prepared fresh oysters 2 hours before and brought it over to Tom's,

because its his favorite dish.

Salmon cheese canape and shitake mushroom canape.

That's Alan, Ronald's gym instructor.

Wine compliments from Grace and Kelvin,

Eaglehawk.

Alvin.

Cinthy and her adorable daughter, Charlene.

I also specially ordered Cheese Napoleon

and Double Chocolate Cake,

Tom's signature cakes as well.

Ronald's Nissan Fairlady 350z birthday cake.

Specially customized,

red velvet.

This is Julian, the photographer of the night.

Any pictures with him in it would be taken by Derek.

Whats a big boys birthday without some kick start?

Ben gave him a bottle of Swing!

And this man was honoured to drink on behalf of the birthday boy..

he barely knew the dangers awaiting him that night.

Group picture.

He was caked.

I told him I have 3 more surprises waiting for him.

He couldn't wait.

Lol.

Of course the other 3 surprises were his 2 other presents I got him,

and his 3rd surprise birthday dinner the following night at Hilton Steakhouse.

Btw for presents, I got him his fav Zildjian drumsticks

for him to continue practicing his drum routine,

and a leather wallet.

The girls and I.

After dinner,

we headed to Senso.

Unfortunately,

there was another 2 bottles of Smirnoff,

Singapore Swing cocktail shots,

and a flaming.

A string of funny events that night,

their mafia talk,

and Phillip's signature dance

to

'I love the way you lie'.

Everyone in Senso sang happy birthday 3 times to Ronald that night.

You should've seen his face.

Blushed as red as tomato.

The birthday boy and I.

This is a pretty short post, more photos on fb.

The 3rd celebration however, was private dining,

and I didn't get to snap any photos.

It was a blast overall, everyone had heck of a good time.

He deserved every bit of it for being such

a great man in my life.

Hope to spend more birthdays with you baby.