Not Just One Fitting

We landed in Singapore in good time last evening but the immigration queue was very long and by the time we got out of the terminal it was already dark. It had been a long and tiring day.

This afternoon we went along with the bride-to-be, her mum and my son, to see the selection of bridal evening gowns. This particular place is situated in green and shady surroundings which provide a good background for photo shoots.

It is run by three ladies and there were many gowns, both evening wear and bridal gowns for brides to select. The bride tries on a few recommended by the designer and if she likes a particular one, then one would be tailored for her in the color that she likes.

This is only the first fitting. Once she settles on a design, the color and the material, she has to wait for a couple of months before the next fitting.

After that, she will then select the bridal gown and the groom will also select his suit and tuxedo so that they can see whether their clothes match.

All in all there will be about TEN fittings before everything is in order and the photo shoot can be taken. They have a choice of locations, depending on the type of package they have selected.

Another bride-to-be was also there with her groom, trying out cocktail length wedding dresses. Apparently she will be getting married at the Registry of Marriages, hence the short wedding dress.

My soon-to-be daughter-in-law settled for a red French lace evening gown for the wedding dinner.
She looked very elegant in it. Her mum helped her try out various gowns of different colours. Everyone agreed that she looked lovely in the red gown. The designer also came up with a few designs for her to choose.

Her next fitting will be in April after they have tailored the gown for her.

My son took photos of her in the various gowns so that she can go through them again and if she changes her mind about the design she had earlier selected, she can always inform the designer.

It wasn’t easy to make a decision as the gowns were very pretty. There were gowns with bouffant skirts, gowns with trains, slim gowns with very low-cut backs and gowns with pretty
details and beading.

I really wished I were young and slim again so that I can also wear a lovely gown. Sigh… the only consolation is that I am getting a lovely daughter-in-law and only she will be the belle of the evening, come her wedding day.

Another Milestone!

Tomorrow we fly to Singapore on an exciting chapter of our lives.

Our son is now engaged to be married later this year. So we shall be meeting his future in-laws to discuss the wedding. It's so exciting!


As the parents of the bridegroom, as per our Chinese customs, traditionally we would have to foot all expenses for the wedding, unlike the western customs where the bride's parents will take care of everything financially. Do correct me if I'm wrong but that was what my Kiwi friend told me.

So we shall be asking our counterparts what they expect from us. My brother, when his son got married, had to give a certain number of tables ( at the wedding banquet) to the bride's side (for her relatives & friends)apart from the bethrothal gifts. It all depends on what the bride's family wants. Thus we are naturally excited about this as we have only one son and he is the last of the Dragons (in our family clan) to be married. There are five Dragons altogether in our family clan - clan because I have nine siblibgs so you can imagine the size of our family! Oh, the Dragon is one of the twelve animals that heeded the call of Buddha and they are the signs under which a person is born. The coming Chinese New Year will herald the Year of the Tiger. So this will be a Tiger year.

It is customary for the guests to give ang pows(red packets containing gifts of money)when they come for the wedding dinner. They also write good wishes or just their names on a piece of red cloth at the reception table. In my brother's case, the ang pows given by the guests went towards the cost of the wedding dinner and he topped up the balance. I believe this is the usual practice now so that the parents of the groom are not out of pocket at the end of the day.

There will be a church wedding in Singapore, followed by the wedding banquet, and then the following week, we will host another wedding dinner in Kuala Lumpur because that's where most of my siblings live. One of my sisters will fly in from Melbourne to attend the wedding. Isn't that wonderful?

Once we know what is expected from us there will be lots of things to do.

The young couple have already looked into the printing of the wedding invitation cards and they have also booked the venues of the wedding banquets. They had a difficult time looking for a venue as there are few auspicious dates in the coming Year of the Tiger and normally, people would book in advance, as far as a year and a half before the wedding. The Almanac has to be consulted to choose an auspicious day. In our case, the bride's family chose the date as we do not read Chinese and do not know how to go about it.

My son only proposed recently. That's the reason why it was difficult to find a venue for the day that they will be getting married. The church has also been booked for the solemnisation of the marriage. The young couple have selected the menu for the dinner in Singapore in consultation with the bride's parents and I understand that they have also selected the photography package.

I will get to know more about this in the next two days. That's why I'm so excited!

Do you realise that the mother of the groom will have to have new clothes for the wedding too? And the shoes and bags, etc., etc. My, there will be busy months ahead!

I shall keep you posted of the progress of the wedding preparations from time to time.

Bye for now.

Be more adventurous!

There are manay of us who are afraid to try out new things, whether it is a new dish, a new hairstyle, or even a new route.

It is common to hear people say that they do not trust shopping online as it requires the use of credit cards. They are afraid that their card details may be abused and they will get cheated.

However the trend is to go online now. We purchase our air tickets online as it is much cheaper to do so. It is also more convenient. Many people also pay bills online and many more shop online, whether it is to buy books or clothing, etc.

Allow me to share a tip. If you are afraid that your credit card details may be at risk, then opt for PayPal. Using PayPal means that your credit card details will not be revealed to the merchant you are purchasing goods from. Only PayPal knows your credit card number. PayPal will pay the merchant on your behalf and then claim the money from your credit card account.

It will also send you details of your transaction and the receipt.

It is very simple to use. Just log into www.paypal.com and sign up for an account.
If you already have a personal account, then upgrade to Premier so that you can buy and sell online.

It is very useful to have a PayPal account and it is very safe to use.

You will find the convenience of using it when you shop online or when you want to sell something online.

Do try it out. Shopping online is a whole new world. Be more adventurous!

Food I Love!

Kuala Lumpur is a great place for food! I would like to share some of the food I love to have whenever I'm here.


This is the Roasted Suckling Pig, a very scrumptious dish, with crackling skin and tender meat.

I like noodles better than rice. There are many types of noodles: glass noodles, fat yellow noodles, vermicelli, flat white noodles (kway teow), skinny noodles (wantan mee),flour noodles, fish paste noodles, egg noodles, etc.
They can be cooked in different styles, fried, braised, blanched. You can have them dry or in soup. I prefer them fried.

Then there is the belly pork braised in dark soya sauce (tau yu bak). Different cooks will come up with slightly different taste although the ingredients are the same. My sister, sister-in-law and my son-in-law cook the same dish but they all taste different and are equally delicious.

Herbal chicken soup is also very tasty especially when you add in a bit of tong kwei (angelica root). It's usual to use free range chicken (kampung chicken) to make soup.

Another hot favourite is the pork stomach and kidney soup. This one has a lot of pepper in it and I had some meehoon added in.
It is quite difficult to clean the stomach. You have to use a lot of limes and salt to clean the inside or it will have a strong odor. The pepper is to mask whatever odor there may be but usually the lime does the trick.

Another simple but tasty dish is the salted vegetable stirfried with roast pork (siew yoke)and garlic.
This recipe is from my grandmother.

More on my favourite dishes next time.