wkev #4: Home taim!

So I was back in Malaysia for 10 days to sort out some wedding stuff which I wasn't able to do being here in Melbourne. I can't stress enough how maQfan planning an overseas wedding is. And it doesn't help when the bride is fussy haha. It was a 2am flight and I thought I would sleep through the journey since I flew with Emirates which is supposedly more comfy than Air Asia. Ok lah have to say it's definitely much nicer than Air Asia but I didn't manage to sleep much also, I just can never sleep well in planes, that's why I hate flying. The moment I touched down I was so tired I took a nap. And woke up with headache FML.

The next day we were planning to drive to Ipoh and I woke up at 6am with the worst migraine ever FMLx2. It was so bad that I was nauseated and almost threw up. I have a feeling it's the hazy weather in Malaysia because I've never ever experienced this before!

I was planning to cancel the trip already. Took Panadol, went back to bed and slept for another 2 hours and woke up feeling much better although a little dizzy still. I decided to proceed with Ipoh anyway because I really don't want to screw up my entire schedule. Off we went!

Lunch at Lou Wong famous for their beansprout and chicken rice but I didn't want to eat rice so I had the rice noodle soup (hor fun). Pretty overrated. I'm not a fan of chicken rice or steamed chicken for this matter. Everything tasted so-so. If there's anything I would come back for, it's the hor fun. So silky smooth and thin!

Drove around and sighted some street art.

So the main objective of going to Ipoh is of course not because I wanted a roadtrip - ain't no bride-to-be's got time for that ok. I wanted to try this ONE specific wedding gown and only this lady in Ipoh has it. Since we can treat it as a roadtrip on a weekend, why not?

So after getting lost couple of times, we managed to get to her place eventually and I finally got to try on THE dress that I have been thinking about non-stop. No pictures for that because I'm saving that for another post. But here's another gown in her collection I tried that I thought was quite nice.

It's a champagne tulle gown with a really elaborate back. Some people like it, some people don't. The bestfriends saw this picture and thought this design look like a skunk HAHAHA.

Quite cute ma. Hahahaha.

I kind of like the design but didn't like how the bodice and skirt has a very awkward joint at the hip area. Also my tummy area in the front (not shown) looked quite bulky aka fat. Plus champagne wouldn't fit into the theme of my wedding anyway.

After trying the gowns it was back to more food for us. Salted chicken from Aun Kheng Lim, white coffee at Nam Heong (this is the original, real deal white coffee, not some crappy packaged stuff), and this super yummy kaya puff from Sin Eng Heong.

The pastry is so light and flakey and not too rich, it's very well balanced with the not so sweet kaya. We bought it freshly baked and they were so damn good.

While back at home...

Mom bought durians! These were devoured within minutes.

Sister just got back from Malacca with these super delicious Nyonya Chang (rice dumpling). The dumpling is filled with savoury, sweet meat filling. Chiukap nice lor!

Went to one of the venues to have a look and meet the manager to talk things through. It's actually my first time there. Yup, we booked the place without even seeing it first. Too kanjeong maybe lol.

To be honest, the first thing which came to my mind when I saw the place was "Is this it? Meh..."

Hahahah. In pictures I see online they're all nicely decorated with wedding stuff and the pictures are all professionally taken and edited. Maybe when I saw it that day it's like a blank canvas so there was nothing to be wow'ed about. Not that I will change my mind la since I've already paid the deposit. I knew there's a risk booking a place without even seeing it first. Hopefully the decoration will make it look beautiful.

And then there's another round of gown trials...

The back look quite nice but the front... ugh. There's this really high side slit which I don't understand at all. And lace is just not my thing la.

But with the slit it was easy to walk with though. Confirm won't trip wan. If you trip then... tough luck hahaha.

Not a fan of the lace and the mesh/see-through top (Wk hates this hahaha) but I really like the tulle skirt in this! I asked the owner about custom designing a dress using tulle with simple ruched bodice and no lace/beadings. RM7k FML. Way over my budget, so didn't with it of course.

Went to Number76 MidValley with the girls to get my hair fixed. It's got this massive black roots which I cannot stand.

Please don't tell me "Nice ma it's called Ombre look" because ombre to me is gradation of colours from light to a more saturated shade (or vice versa) and what I have there I call it laziness in maintaining hair colour. Black --> blond = NOT ombre.

Actually my ends are all highlights which means they are random strands/strips of bleached hair. The stylist said it's impossible to touch up highlights :(((((

Stupid highlights damn maQfan lo! So he said the best he can do is touch up the roots with a colour that's similar to what I have at the bottom so it blends better rather than Black --> blonde. If he highlight the roots, it's gonna look brighter than what I have at the bottom and it will be super uneven also. I just agree with whatever he say la since he's the professional.

Can't really tell from this pic but I think he did a fantastic job in choosing the right colour to touch up!

Here's a better picture. This was also the day I went for a makeup trial. The makeup artist also provide kua rental so I tried some. Didn't end up with it la cos too expensive. He said since I'm taking him for my wedding he will give me a discounted price to rent the kua, RM 600. No thanks. Still more than what I'm willing to pay for for something which I will only wear for only 2 hours.

Went to Puchong for this place with steamboat using a wintermelon! My grandma was the one who kept wanting to take me there and insisted on treating me -.- , she must really like it la lol. Nothing special except for the wintermelon which is cooking as you do your steamboat in it. At the end of it you can scrape the flesh and eat it lo. The prawns were really fresh. There's not much variety of balls, only the standard fish and porkballs. The scallops were disgusting, lala was nice though. The other special thing is their dipping sauce - it's made of fried shallots, coriander, sesame seed, sesame oil, sweet sauce and I'm not sure what else. It's quite dry, more like a condiment you eat with your food but it's really good!

I don't know why there's a number carved on the wintermelon, probably it's the number of wintermelon they've used???

Also met up with Adelle near her workplace in SS15 for lunch. We went for Chili Pan Mee at this place, Jojo's Little Kitchen. It's actually my first time having a chili pan mee in Malaysia, I've only tried it in Pappa Rich here in Melbourne and it's so-so. This one in Jojo's so yummy! The meat sauce has so much flavour in it, and the pan mee is not too thin, cooked al-dente some more. Very impressed!

On Friday, I met up with one of the bridal gown designers and finally decided to engage her to custom make my gown. Finally, one of the most important things checked! Actually the main thing being back is to sort out my wedding gown, the rest all can do without me there but not the gown. This will be further elaborated in another post. Long story!

And finally, food tasting in the restaurant we'll be holding the reception banquet. Also one of the worst days of all my days being back trying to plan this wedding. Haih, I can't wait till everything is over.

One of the dishes. Will do a separate post on the food tasting plus the venue in general.

Last Malaysian snack eaten was fried nian gao with sweet potato. Omg why so nice wan! Haih you can take a girl out of Malaysia but you can never take Malaysia out of her.

When I was back I didn't bring a lot of skincare with me (too damn heavy la and I'm not bothered decanting) so I curi used my sister's Shiseido White Lucent cleanser and day moisturiser hehehe. And I fell in love! I don't know why, it just makes my skin so balanced I feel. And the smell isn't too overpowering, the texture is so light and absorbs quickly. So I was planning on getting the basic range. Also because I needed to replenish some stuff too cos I ran out of my cleanser, toner and moisturiser.

I was so busy the entire week that the only time I managed to shop for myself was in the airport before waiting to board. Good also la can get them duty free. Initially I only wanted a cleanser, toner and moisturiser. I asked if they have a boxed set of full size products and they only have it for the serum, day and night moisturiser. And then the salesgirl said if I get the box plus cleanser and toner, it'll be a perfect set already. So I was like ok lo, then get everything lo.

I tell you, I am damn easy to be persuaded wan when it comes to skincare.

Then she said if I buy a bit more I can get 10% discount. So I added the eye cream since I ran out of eye cream too, which I almost forgot.