Evening Gown For Wedding Dinner

Evening Gown for Wedding Dinner

Oh yes!
Finally the search is over!

Never thought it would be THIS tough, just to get a nice dress, a presentable evening gown for my sister's wedding.
Now that my parents are no longer with us. We are each other's only kin. It Almost feels like my daughter is getting married. *laugh*

First I went through Daniel Yam's collection and those which caught my eyes were way off my budget. Well, you can say I am stingy. Yet, to spend nearly $200 for a dress which I am pretty sure I would only wear ONCE, is definitely off my scale of sensible shopping habits.

Then I went to Far East Plaza and combed every single shop. Found a purple shimmering evening gown that was SIMPLY PERFECT!
Perfect fitting other than the length is too long. Oh no, let me correct myself, because I was too short, so alteration is required and the seamstress cum boss of the shop insists that I pay extra $50 for the alteration of the length, on top of the so-called discounted price of $180.

*faint*
Evening Gown for Wedding Dinner

Of 'cos, I walked out of the shop without hesitation.

Throughout the whole time, I have been going online to search for my 'Perfect Evening Gown', but no where near...

If you are thinking that my expectations are too high, why don't you judge for yourself?
I want an evening gown that is:-

1. Not too loud, NO crystals, NO sequins, NO lace, NO embroidery of any sort. Just fabric, fabric and fabric alone.
2. I need it to be long because I would be 'running around' entertaining guests and doing all sorts of errands, so the last thing I want to worry about is whether I have bent too low in risk of revealing my undies. I just want to be comfortable running around with it.
3. Does not cost more than $150

Yup! That's it!
Its that too much to ask for?
Well, I thought it was not, but I was wrong, it seemed that its TOO SIMPLE to be found. *faint*

Then I went Dress Sense. A place where you can rent, buy or rent first and buy later if you like the dress so much, that you want to keep it. To my shock! EVERY single piece of long dress has glitters sewn on them! No way will I wear them! Too loud!
Evening Gown for Wedding Dinner
Just when I have given up hope as I walked out of Dress Sense, I turned my head slightly and saw OCCASION!
A smaller shop with a totally contrasting soft coloured shop layout as compared to the dark coloured Dress Sense shop outlook.

Loved the service,

love the dress selections,

love the price because they ONLY had discounts for Mastercard holders and I have nothing except ONE Mastercard! *laugh*

And as if my lucky day was not lucky enough, I found a matching pair of shoes, which was the LAST PAIR available and it was MY SIZE!!!

The heels were just high enough to lift the dress off the floor slightly so that I would not tripped over when I walk. Hooray!

To make my day even better, the price of the shoe was slashed from $98 to $38!!!

So in a single shop, I settled my Evening Gown and my matching Shoes as well!!! *Super clap clap clap*
or should I say Jump for Joy! Jump for Joy!

Alright, after blubbering so much, here's THE Evening Gown I bought for my sister's wedding:

 

 

Sale of Balance Flats Exercise September 2011

Will we be the lucky ones?

I have been waiting for the day to move out of this house of mixed memories for years..... memories that can easily tip me off balance and land me in anger land or memories which would leave me in tears....
A place which I have stayed for more than 32 years...
No matter how much it holds, I want to be out of here...
For so many years, we could not move out because of financial situation, now that we could squeeze out a little, we went ahead with the application for the September 2011 Sale of Balance Flats Exercise.

The purpose is not to change to a bigger flat, but really, simply, purely to leave these four walls for good...

Will we be the lucky ones?

Wong Kok Char Chan Teng 旺角茶餐厅

As promised in my earlier post "My Birthday Celebration 2011", I will do an individual blog post on my first experience in Wong Kok Char Chan Teng 旺角茶餐厅, City Square Johor Bahru, Malaysia branch.

There is one in Singapore too, but review was not favourable. But the whole world changed when we landed in Malaysia. The Wong Kok Char Chan Teng 旺角茶餐厅 restaurant at City Square Johor Bahru was packed every minute!


There are always people waiting to be seated. There are always a big group of youngsters waiting for their turn to get the Free gigantic milk tea, which is given to the table with a birthday girl or boy, man or woman as well. *giggle*

BIGGER THAN MY 7 YEAR OLD'S HEAD!

So long as you show your Identity Card as a prove of your birthday, a Humongous milk tea is given free of charge to your table accompanied with a birthday song. *Super Thumbs Up*

If you are wondering if we finished that  Humongous cup of milk tea, even though the five of us were super thirsty, we could not!!! *faint*

The food was gloriously delicious and the quantity is generous! These were what we had that day:

Noodle Soup with Prawn RM10.90

Tuna Sandwich RM4.80

My younger son and I were supposed to share the slightly spicy Noodle Soup with Prawn and the Tuna Sandwich. But after having a few huge mouthful of the noodle, the spiciness got the better of him and he ended up eating more of the Tuna Sandwich. We did not know that the pepper in the Noodle Soup was that overwhelming, but my 6 year old agreed that it tastes superb and I agreed with both hands raised.

Ham Roll with Thousand Island Sauce RM10.80

We ordered the Ham Roll because it looked too tempting to be ignored on the menu and everyone got a piece of it.

Crispy Toast with Cheese and Ham RM6.90

Milo RM3.00

Cheese Baked Rice with Beef RM13.70

Crispy Toast with Cheese was supposed to be for my elder son, whose tummy was not at tip top condition that day.

So we ordered a cup of Milo for him too, to match his Toast. In the end, he goobled up a big part of his father's Cheese Baked Rice with Beef (see left).

My 7 year old felt that his dad's choice was so much more appetising! *laugh*

This was the first time he had such a big cup of Milo. Everything in Wong Kok Char Chan Teng 旺角茶餐厅 restaurant seemed to be big, Big, BIG!*laugh*

Prawn Roe Sauce Baked Rice with Fish Fillet RM13.80

Come to think of it, all of us had a taste of all the food on our table. We were nibbling from here and there and everywhere. It was a your-food-is-mine-and-mine-is-yours kind of affair. *laugh*

For my next visit I would definitely go for their baked rice since both baked rice were superlicious!!!

After conversion it merely cost S$29 for my family of 5! Restaurant quality food and service, yet food court price! *Super Thumbs Up* Love it to the Core!

Have you been to Wong Kok Char Chan Teng 旺角茶餐厅 before?

Song Sharing Sunday - 142 [The Heart Of The Matter with Lyrics - Don Henley]

A song that means a lot to me....

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Don Henley ~ The Heart of the Matter

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Cafe Cartel Singapore IMM branch

Backdated post: 23rd September 2011

I have been to Cafe Cartel twice, but never with my family. I had always imagined my boys going for endless trips to the bread station. So on this day, pre-birthday celebration, I suggested that we pay a visit to the Cafe Cartel branch at IMM.

To my greatest disappointment, there are no more free breads! The bread station is closed for good!

My second disappointment came when the food served was not as fantastic as the branch at Raffles Place Boulevard and Marina Square.

My third disappointment came right at the end when my elder son vomitted. Thank goodness he vomitted at the very end and not in the middle of the meal whereby there is no chance for any of us to gain appetite back again. He vomitted into his plate, after finishing his sandwiches, finger food, ice-cream and a glass of coke.

Ribs - Hubby's

His conclusion?
"Too Full Already!"

Salmon - Mine

Oh well, what a way to end a dinner but the good part is, everyone enjoyed the companionship throughout that one hour plus. Like what my hubby said, "The focus of Cafe Cartel does not seem to be the food but rather the cozy atmosphere that is suitable for family diners."

A Farmer and his Donkey

Today my friend shared a story about a Farmer and his Donkey. A story which I had heard 4 years ago at a Seminar. Though the story seemed to be focusing on the donkey, I see a different side of the story. Before I tell you what I 'saw', here's the story:

Lesson:
One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for ...hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.



To me there is another 'hidden' meaning of the story:
People treats relationships too lightly.
Did the farmer gave up on the donkey easily because it was an animal? No. Simply because it 'seemed' difficult to bring the donkey back to safety, the farmer came up with excuses, which is what people are best at doing during uncomfortable times.
The farmer's excuses: "....the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey."
 

The donkey OBVIOUSLY want to come up. But the farmer gave up on pulling the donkey back up because he CHOSE to Forget, CHOSE to Let Go, of the companionship the donkey had with the farmer all this while.

Why are relationships treated so lightly?
Parents and children
Husbands and wives
Brothers and sisters
Friends

People choose to take the easy road when things go wrong in a relationship and forgets all the happiness that the person (whom they are giving up on) had once brought to them.
Are people forgetful by nature?
No!
People are lazy by nature!

Lazy to get things worked out.
Lazy to find solutions.
Even lazy to face the problem.

When relationship has gone bad, they would rather choose to ignore, give up and start putting blame on the other party, so that they feel good about themselves.

Are people coward by nature?
I would say most of them yes.
They have no courage to admit their mistakes and they fail to admit that they have a part to play in the broken relationship.

My belief has always been : 

In ANY Situation, 

It ALWAYS Takes Two Hands To Clap!

In a broken relationship, no one is right and no one is wrong.

Because its not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of importance.

How important is this person to you?
The years of companionship between you and the person, does that not mean anything at all?
Was the FOUNDATION of this relationship from all those years built on sinking sand?

I can go on and on...
but I would rather stop here with this:

In any situation, it always takes two hands to clap.
Even in salvaging a relationship.
Look at the donkey, even the animal knows that there is no point in salvaging the relationship between it and the heartless farmer.
Because if the farmer can do this to it now, he is capable of doing it again.
Therefore, it chose Not to be with the cold blooded farmer anymore, and happily trotted off!

IKEA Swedish Meatballs Promo $1.90

Yes!
$1.90!
Starting from today, 3rd of October to 16 of October 2011.

Nooooooooooo..... not for the usual 10pieces!

Its for 5 pieces!

But hey, it comes with a lingonberry drink, Nice!
So I think my boys will have two plates and I will help them finish off the extra drink. *wink*

Song Sharing Sunday - 141 [Never Say Goodbye - Bon Jovi]

I woke up feeling sad today.
I dreamt of an old friend, whom I have lost over the past one year... suddenly.
No response through phone, email or Facebook...

Where are you?!

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Bon Jovi ~ Never Say Goodbye

Bon Jovi ~ Never Say Goodbye with Lyrics

As I sit in this smokey room
The night about to end
I pass my time with strangers
But this bottle's my only friend

Remember when we used to park
On Butler Street out in the dark
Remember when we lost the keys
And you lost more than that in my backseat

Remember when we used to talk about busting out
We'd break their hearts, together, forever

Never say goodbye, never say goodbye
You and me and my old friends, hoping it would never end
Never say goodbye, never say goodbye
Holdin' on, we got to try, holdin' on to never say goodbye

Remember days of skipping school
Racing cars and being cool
With a six pack and the radio
We didn't need no place to go

Remember at the prom that night
You and me, we had a fight
But the band they played our favorite song
And I held you in my arms so strong

We danced so close, we danced so slow
And I swore I'd never let you go, together, forever

Never say goodbye, never say goodbye
You and me and my old friends, hoping it would never end
Never say goodbye, never say goodbye
Holdin' on, we got to try, holdin' on to never say goodbye

I guess you'd say we used to talk about busting out
We'd break their hearts, together, forever



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