Worst Trips Ever.

For this post, I strictly emphasize there is no pun intended to defame Penang. It is indeed a nice, serene and an awesome place with lots of great food. It is fully personal that Alvin and I have no good experience with this wonderful place, whenever we go - together.

FIRST TIME - PURPOSE UNSERVED.
We have been to Penang together for 3 times. The first time our plan was to celebrate my sister's birthday, but my grandma was admitted into the hospital last minute so she went back hometown to take care of the house chores while my mom took care of my grandma at the hospital. Whilst I needed to continue with the trip because everything was paid, transport and hotel. It was not so bad because it was the first time we went Penang together, so we were excited.

SECOND TIME - THE NIGHTMARE CRUISE AND TRAFFIC JAM.

For the second time, we went during Raya season and acting like a Smarty Pants ourselves, we drove. When we were there we wanted to take the Star Cruise but it was sold out. So we took the cheaper Chinaman cruise instead.

The cruise ship technically just sailed to the middle of the sea and stayed there overnight. And because it is cheap, a lot of aunties and uncles went to the cruise just to gamble. I did not see any youngsters or family, all are old people hungry for gambling. And thus, the ship  smells bad. People just smoke everywhere. And the ship is so old and worn out I felt bacterias were everywhere. Worst of all, the room has no toilet. If we need to shit or pee, we need to walk all the way to the end of the corridor to settle. I slept on the bed and dare not move a bit because I could literally feel the bed was  covered with bacterias. And don't make me start about the musky smell. I wanted to jump off the ship so badly.

The next morning I woke up like a zombie. Oh no, I did not wake up, because I don't think I ever slept at all. After getting back to the mainland, it was time to go back to KL. Yes, the jam. We took nearly 12 hours to drive back to KL. Nuff said.

Amusement World Cruise. I was totally amused with the cleanliness!

THIRD TIME - HORRIFIC HOTEL AND WEATHER.

Third time is the charm. I have no idea why I still have the brain to go Penang again during Raya. But this round, instead of driving we took bus. And instead of staying at my sister's place, because we wanted more private time without my mom and kids, we rented hotel. And it was peak season, all hotels were sold out. We were left with just budget hotel. Brilliant.

The hotel I booked not only it is facing the cemetery, it has no sound proof, at all. I could hear people walking, talking, blowing their nose and showering, all crisp and crystal clear! I couldn't sleep at all because the place was full and it was like noise orchestra from all corners and directions! Never have I wanted to leave a hotel so badly. Usually Alvin has to wake me up and wait for me to pack to check out. This time round, I packed all my stuff and told Alvin to wake up because I wanted to leave this place NOW! The whole time there were only 4 words repeating in my mind - I WANNA GO HOME. We checked out at 9am.

My sister was kind enough to borrow us her other car for us to move around. But God knows why everything just had to go wrong. The car's aircond was spoilt, and so was the power window, FOL!!!!!!!!! We moved around Penang under the hot sun, within the shitty traffic jam, inside a microwave heaty car. I was sweating so much it was like sauna. It was the first time in my life I felt the weather outside is cooler than the car inside, totally traumatized.

I was so delighted to go back. We took 7 hours to reach KL. But luckily we were in a bus, so we just slept, watched movies and played games. I didn't even bother to take any photos during the trip, because I didn't enjoy any moment of it.

The hotel facing the cemetery, you want?

Dear Penang, seems like you won't be seeing me for a very long time, at least not me and Alvin together.

Collection of bruises.

On the last day of my employment in my previous agency, I went for a body massage (note: bought from Groupon). Thinking I should pamper myself after 2 good years of torture. But little did I know that the massage was even more torturous!

I was greeted by 2 receptionist with faces as black as the bottom of the wok my grandma used to fry noodles. One of them briefed me through the massage, asking me if I want to pay extra for the essential oil, or else they will just use baby lotion for the massage. I was totally WTF! The description in Groupon was stated "Aroma therapy body massage"! Why do I need to pay extra for the essential oil? Might as well just put body massage! Nevermind.

When the masseur started to press her hands on me, cold sweat oozed out like nobody's business! She was like using full force pressing and squeezing every inch of my flesh! It felt like she was tearing my muscles apart. I told her to go easy, but she told me she already put her most minimum strength! I couldn't imagine what will happen if she put her full strength. When I turned around, I gasped when I saw her arm. It wasn't muscular or bulky. But it was fleshy, thick solid flesh, imagine you try to pinch them but you couldn't find any loose flesh for you to pinch. And the size was like my thigh! It was like as though she practices her kung fu everyday punching dough!

Every time I screamed in pain, she just laughed! OMG, sadist! It was so painful, sharp and burning hot! Every time she squeezed me, the pain was sharp like a spear piercing through every inch of my flesh and it felt like flaming fire! I had to endure the pain squeezing my fist!

She told me it was a lymphatic massage therefore it has to be painful, but afterwards I will feel much relaxed! BLOODY HELL I did not feel relaxed at all! I had body ache for 2 days and bruises on the places she laid her hands on me!

And on another note, to hell with Groupon! It was clearly stated Aroma therapy body massage in the deal, but what I got was Lymphatic body massage. I already got conned for quite a few times from Groupon, especially food deal. Their descriptions are totally the opposite of what I got.

So in case you feel like having SM, be my guest and go to Roseanne Beauty at Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara for a good torture.

Don't gasp, I got the following bruises from my own clumsiness. Don't need to dial 999 for police, there were not made by the masseur. I'm like doing a personal collection of bruises wtf!

Got this from knocking on the dining chair.

This one from pokai-ing flat on the floor, after tripping on a wire =_=

Sneak preview.

A sneak preview of my wedding photos! Sneakily snapped them from the computer screen when the consultant walked off =P Overall the photos are nice, better than what I expected. We spent 3 hours shortlisting from more than 100 photos to 45 photos. The consultant kept pestering us to add more photos, trying to persuade us with all sorts of deals and discounts. But we stood firm and insist to choose just 45 photos. Though it was a difficult task because they surely have more than 45 beautiful photos, but we just don't want to spend more money.

Bali inspired sculpture at Lake Garden.

Big sis said this photo looked like rich taukeh with
a supermodel wife, LMAO!!!

I closed my eyes because the sun was glaring in my eyes!

Very beh tahan with this photo, close eyes acting high =___=

Didn't manage to snap more photos for the other outfit, cis!

Meet the in-laws.

I've promised to blog about the dowry day. After procrastinating for weeks, here it goes!

According to Mama Alvin's superstitious belief, having 6 or 18 people to send the dowry will bring good luck and prospect to our marriage. So she wanted the whole family to drive back to my hometown to meet my whole family O_o!!! Can you imagine the horror?! I already had cold feet worrying about his parents meeting my father, now the whole clan! Ain't gonna spill about my dad's condition, but he is definitely not a friendly and approachable person. Imagine dinosaur or lion.

Had a smooth journey back and reached Ipoh in just 1.5 hour. Upon reaching my house, I was shocked to see my father walked out to greet us. Then something SUPER FUNNY happened! Alvin's family parked their car further away so there were only me and Alvin at the front gate. Coincidentally there were also an elderly couple walking towards our direction, my father misunderstood that they were Alvin's parents and walked up to them! Shaking hands, patting shoulder and asked "How are you Mr Soi? Welcome to our house!" Me, mom and Alvin was like...

Ya, this is exactly how we looked like.

The uncle shook my father's hand back and said "Oh I'm fine, I'm just here looking for my friend *pointing at my neighbour's house and walked away*" ..........

I cannot describe the gravity of my embarrassment at that moment.

During the dowry exchange, I was so nervous I kept scratching my hand and couldn't stand still but walked up and down like a lost puppy. My father even suggested to go out for lunch together! That was like the first time ever! I could see the nervousness in my mom's face during lunch. But thank God my father behaved himself and all well ends well =)

The must have for dowry, roasted pig. I felt bad for
the poor pig =(

Even pigs have blackheads, tsk tsk tsk.

Oink! Oink!

My aunt and uncle came to cheer up the atmosphere,
just in case anything happens ~_~

Now you know where my camwhore genes came from.

 Notice that everyone wore red? I got sounded for wearing black T__T Didn't know I need to be "ong" during dowry day too!

Like any other wedding tradition, the groom will send boxes of wedding biscuits as one of the dowry and the bride's family will distribute them to relatives and friends. My wedding biscuits are a bit special because they came with a mini card! ^^ Mom wanted me to do a card to inform the relatives about our wedding dates since we won't be having wedding banquet. Everyone said the card is sho cute!

The biscuits are super yummy! BOO to those people who didn't want the biscuits! One in lotus paste (yellow) and another one in red bean (pink). The crust is so thin and the filling is so thick! SUPER YUMMY!

Wedding biscuit with the notice card!

All packed and ready to be shipped out to friends
and relatives! 200 boxes in total!

The leaves represents good things come in layers and layers according to Mama Alvin's superstitious belief.

Mom packing the boxes into plastic bags and drove out straight to send
them to relatives. So bersemangat!

Forced by me to help out with the packing.

Instead of the normal "fatt gou", my mom
custom make one for the wedding dowry.

Me with the giant size custom made wedding biscuit,
for Mama Alvin's praying offering to the ancestors.

That's all for the dowry process. It was certainly a nerve wrecking and gan jeong boosting event. Trust me, planning the wedding might be enjoyable, discounting the in-laws meeting =_=

FREEDOM!

I've waited 2 years to post this very post! So allow me to express my satisfaction of announcing that...

I HAVE FINALLY RESIGNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*fireworks blasting BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
 

You have no idea how happy am I to be free! No more tollerating screaming and shouting, no more enduring banging and throwing things, no more phone call after I went home at night to ask me to go back to office again (wtf right?), no more SMS in the middle of the night to ask me to go to work earlier the next morning, no more SMS or phone call during the weekend to ask me to go back to the office urgently. NO MORE!!! NADA!!! ELEK!!!

It does sound like where I worked at is a torture house (kind of actually), but nonetheless my portfolio expanded so much during my 2 years of working there. And I had fun working with the crazy people there too. It's torturous, but it's an experience. As the famous saying goes, I survived there, I can survive anywhere now!

Just in case you have no idea what I worked as, I was a Senior Graphic Designer in an interactive agency. As you all are very well aware, life in agency is....scary. Think of late nights, skipping meals, rushing deadlines and many more (which I fear to name).

The decision to leave came after Alvin proposed to me. Getting married is NOT just about getting married. Getting married is a progress but marriage is hard work. There will be responsibility, commitment, team work and balance. This is the one thing that I won't get if I continue to work there. My life now is not just about me, but the 2 of us. Anything that I do, I can't only think of myself anymore, I need to think about my other half too. Let alone when I have kids in the future *yikes!* The company expect the people to put their job above and beyond everything. Note: 90% of the staff are single and 98% are male, I think I shall rest my case =_= Balance of work and life is very important. If you have no time for yourself, you can never be able to perform well. Too bad this is not the culture practiced.

I sent farewell emails to all my clients and this particular reply made me LMAO!

Cool client is cool.

So now that I'm married, balance is something that I'm looking for =D I'm not going to stay at home and become a full time housewife, though I wish I can T_T I already have plans in my agenda, will keep it confidential for now.

But life has been GREAT since I gained my freedom on Wednesday! XD

Wednesday
1. Went for massage right after farewell lunch with the colleagues  (will blog about the massage because it was something very "unforgettable")
2. Enjoyed some me time after the massage and had dessert alone while paying attention to the surrounding, enjoying life without any stress and noise =)
3. Late night movie with hubby zai later on.

Thursday
1. Ran some errands
2. Tea time with Fuankee
3. Sat in front of the aquarium observing the fishes. Sounds weird, but trust me, it feels zen and serene.

Friday
1. Facial
2. Hmm....I have so much time left, what else can I do?

Farewell lunch having my favorite Ayam Percik!

My armors and weapons that fought along with me during the
2 years battle. Now they can rest =)

I counted the days everyday, like prisoners!

 To be honest, I have only been jobless for 2.5 days and I've never been so carefree. Waking up in the morning without bothering to check the clock if I can sleep in for another 10 more minutes. No need to check my phone for missed calls or messages. I have an OCD to check my phone regularly because I always kinda hear my phone ring (sign of stress and anxiety! FML!). Don't get me wrong and go quit your job without any plans =_= I feel good because I quitted my job for a good reason and I have plans.

Yes, I will blog about the dowry day after this! But for now, I shall take deep breaths and sniff the air of freedom! I'm so happy beyond words I feel like dancing like a hippo in ballerina tutu!

Behind the scene.

My pre wedding photoshoot was finally done! It was tiring and hot but nonetheless it was FUN! The photographer was quite experimental and he was very funny too, he kept cheering up our spirit since we were quite worn out after parading our OTT outfit under the sun for hours.

Here are some of the behind the scene photos.

The make up artist doing her magic.

I told her to emphasize on my eyes.

The make up artist did such a great job, I love love love the make up she did for me! She was doing my hair while chatting with me, seemed like she wasn't putting much effort. But when she was done and I looked into the mirror, I gasped! I didn't know my hair can be so beautiful!!!!!

She made it seemed so effortless!

WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!!!!!!!

We had 2 locations for our photoshooting, our first stop was Lake Garden. It's a huge landscape in the middle of the city centre, nearby the Dataran Merdeka. It's a very beautiful garden with many breathtaking photo stops, and most of all the entrance fee is free! Hence many couple opt that place for their pre wedding photoshoot. On that day itself, we saw nearly 10 couples having their wedding photos captured there. It was like "Rombongan Hari Gambar Kahwin" wtf.

My first style for the photoshoot!

I felt so touched looking at myself in the mirror after the make up and hair. She made me looking like a Hong Kong beauty pageant T_T so pretty!!!! *perasan mode on*

Photo taken by the make up artist with her iPhone at Lake Garden.
Look at Alvin's leong pose! LMAO! The photographer said
his stiff poses looked like Robert zai! ROFL!

After this outfit, we changed to our casual wear, the cartoon t-shirt for the fun theme. Didn't manage to take any pictures with my phone =(

4 hours of photoshooting under the sun, we finally moved to our 2nd location, Sekeping Tenggiri! I was so looking forward to it! The place is beautiful! Especially the glass room that we booked. It's located upstairs and has an open air balcony =)

Sekeping Tenggiri house number,
it's so unique you won't miss it!

Our glass room!

We lied on that metal grill for photos, damn pain!

For the 3rd style, I wore the Princess Barbie pink gown, so I requested for a tiara. I wanted a bigger tiara with white flowers on it but Alvin gave me that urgh face =_= So I chose a medium size one. The make up artist curled my hair to give me a more feminine and princessy look.

Everyone said I looked like a doll, me like!

This photo looked like an album cover, so I added a title for it =P

Finally the last outfit, my favourite mermaid gown! The make up artist braided my hair and paired with a fascinator for a vintage look.

I love this style the most. Classy and vintage!

Trolling around between shooting.

I was lying on the edge of the pool.

By 8pm, it was finally a wrap! We were officially exhausted!!!! After fetching the photographer and make up artist back to My Dream Wedding, we finally had our first proper meal. We sustained the whole day with just bread T_T Since we already booked the glass room in Sekeping Tenggiri, we spent a night there. It's quite an open place so any noise outside it can be heard clearly inside. Being me, a person who can't sleep with noise, I had a restless night despite having a tiring day before that. FML.

Was so reluctant to undo the hair,
camwhore gao gao first!

Side.

Back. Amazing! How she did it?! 

Front.

Some photos of the beautiful Sekeping Tenggiri.

Please ignore the messy bed.

Open air shower room, kinky!

In the morning I had to stick to the wall to shower,
worrying people from elsewhere could see me!

The lazy guardian dog.

The front porch of the house.

That's all for the making of my pre wedding photoshoot! To my friends who will be taking theirs in the future, here are some tips for you:

1. Must bring slipper! You can wear heels for the photos but when you walk to other location, wear slipper! Wearing the gown is tiring enough, you don't want to sore your feet with heels!

2. Drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated.

3. Face towels because you'll be sweating a bucket!

4. Hand fan or electronic hand fan, you'll need it =_= trust me.

5. Candies and snacks. Just in case you get hungry and the candies are to keep your sugar level well balanced.

6. Mosquito repellent.

7. Umbrella for shade, you can use it as one of the prop too.

8. Sleep well the night before the photoshoot.

9. Have some references ready for your photographer and make up artist. So they know what kind of style you like.

10. Just enjoy the process!

The photoshoot was on Friday and dowry day was on Sunday. We drove back to Ipoh with Alvin's family to send the dowry over. It was the most anxious event in my entire wedding preparation so far. Will blog about it soon.