Tag Archives: Wedding

Oh My Ferragamo!

17 Mar

Recently, at the wedding, I decided to wear heels to match my outfit, but I was in a bind. I didn’t think I could balance on either the black three-inch or the bling-bling four-inch dinner stilettoes. It’s been ages since I wore these!

So I decided to don my Ferragamo shoes instead. It was either the classic Vara pumps or the Artiste block heels. I prefer the Vara over the Artiste, and the ever-reliable Vara pumps have held up after all these years. Perhaps a tad hardened on the insides that I have to grit my teeth when I walk, but what’s a little pain for a night of glam?

However, the other pair of Ferragamo has suffered a terrible fate. With two years upended by the pandemic, traveling and meeting people was out of the question. Furthermore, there have not been many new business opportunity meetings, so wearing good shoes were not required.

Anyway, my Artiste Ferragamo shoes suffered massive hydrolysis on the bottom. It’s like a replay of my Blundstone boots, only this time, it’s my designer label heels. The rubber underside of the shoes exploded to smithereens! The only consolation is that the shoebox contained the mess.

The awful state of the Artiste

I am not upset, but wondering if I bring the shoes to the Ferragamo store, can anything be done to save them? Would I be accorded a solution or a replacement (wishful thinking here) like Blundstone Australia did? Hmm.

Double Happiness

14 Mar

Double happiness is when two people discover each other for a lifetime together. Double happiness also means during the wedding, the extended families can gather merrily for a happy celebration.

Two nights ago, my nephew tied the knot. Congratulations to him and his beautiful bride! My heart is bursting with love for the newest member of our family!

It was a heartfelt, joyous occasion for everyone present. The younger twin of my only sibling is now a married man and will be starting his family soon. There was so much love and affection throughout the Chinese tea ceremony, which was steep in tradition. A boisterous close family affair that morning.

Then the wedding dinner that night was equally a heartfelt and joyous occasion for the family. I was ecstatic when I reconnected with my cousins again, having not seen them for ages. It was such a nostalgic trip down memory lane as we caught up, reminisced, squealed, and giggled like teenagers until we teared up about the growing-up years with our grandpa around.

Grandpa was the center of our universe, but there was so much fear in us whenever we visited him and Grandma. Nonetheless, my cousins and I have happy childhood memories. Now only our memories remind us because, during the dinosaur era, smartphones to record every moment did not exist yet. Today, the wedding is a memory filed away but captured in print, video, and almost everyone’s smartphones.

As I have said, there was double happiness for everyone during the wedding dinner – not just for the newlyweds but for all the aunts and uncles meeting up again. Many a time, I felt emotionally moved to see the elderlies hugging each other affectionately and catching up, something we all could not do, especially during the peak of Covid. It takes a happy occasion to reconnect with everybody again. And it takes a pandemic to reevaluate the importance of family and being in touch.

A cousin lamented that the clan should not meet only for weddings and, sadly, at times, for funerals, but it should be more frequent now that there are no longer lockdowns and restrictions. Time is precious, likewise family members and our extended families too.

As such, efforts are underway to spur the next generation of cousins to get to know each other better and ensure their bond grows, just like it has been for my cousins and me. As for the newlyweds, a toast to their happiness and the start of a beautiful life together.

Celebrating the Silver Anniversary

31 Aug

It’s that time of the year again to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year, it’s supposed to be a special milestone because it is our 25th silver anniversary!

Alas, flying off to somewhere far and exotic is out of the question. It used to be we would traverse the world for significant wedding milestones but not this year. With the pandemic still raging on uncontrollable, it is best to shelf any big plans that involves flying.

However, we did go away on a short local self-drive trip for some golfing fun rather than sticking to our weekend golf routine. And when I say short, it was just 2D/1N. The shortest trip for the most significant milestone!

Happy anniversary, my significant half! We have had an amazing journey for the past 25 years. I certainly look forward to the next 25 to come. And we will weather through this weird and trying year together.

It’s the Lipstick

28 Nov

By now, it’s a known fact that I wear dresses only at wedding dinners because I find it cumbersome to wear such fitting outfits on a daily basis. Getting in and out of the car would be so hard. And sitting with a leg tucked underneath would be out of the question.

I think the killer touch is not the dress or the heels but the lipstick. I love my Shu Uemura lipstick and it’s the attention grabber more than anything else. But sadly, the #242 Wine Bordeaux red is far more dinosaur than me as it is no longer existing in the Shu Uemura range. Sigh…

It’s All About Family

27 Nov

The trip to Malacca last Friday to attend a nephew’s wedding was really a good one. I think it’s all about family more than the wedding dinner because we got to see as many uncles, aunties and cousins. Not everyone turned up though but it was good to catch up. I guess this has become important as we grow older.

Cousins whom I have not seen for years came from near and far. Nieces and nephews whom I have never met before were introduced for the first time. The three generations were fairly represented.

The camaraderie and reminiscing was better than ever with conversations as if we were never apart despite all these years. Grandpa was mentioned often. Such nostalgia. Of course Mom had a good time catching up with her siblings. And M2 shyly got to know her other cousins.

Indeed, it’s all about family. And everyone agreed that while an occasion like this is great for everybody to meet, we should make it a point to gather more often to enable especially the new generation to know each other better.

There’s talk to plan another big family gathering and not wait for another wedding to do so. I am certainly looking forward to it!
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A Wedding and A Road Trip

24 Nov

Today’s the official last day of school and also Report Card day! Why can’t the school have this earlier, say last week instead? Anyway, what has to be done has to be done. Sigh…

Today’s the wedding dinner too and we get to go on a road trip! It’s an outstation occasion in Malacca, so it will be an overnight trip because it will be way too late to drive back after the dinner. We leave after the session with the teachers in the morning.

Looking forward to seeing all the aunties, uncles and cousins. And oh… donning the dress that I bought recently.

A New Dress

14 Nov

I must say I am not one who would go out of the way to buy a dress, let alone wear one. All these years, dresses are not my typical wardrobe. But when I was invited, middle of this year, to attend a nephew’s wedding dinner towards the end of November, both M2 and I decided we should go shopping. Specifically for a new look. A new dress.

After all, wedding dinners are the only occasions that I would wear a dress. For once, I thought it would be nice to have an addition to my wardrobe. And the fact that we would be meeting up with the aunties, uncles and cousins all the more makes the new look and attendance necessary.

However, we didn’t act upon it immediately because of our busy schedules. Furthermore, during that time, I was in fat-mode, having grown sideways so it’s not a good time to go try on dresses so early on.

Finally when we went shopping last week, it took us two visits to the mall before we made our choices. I’m happy we both chose well. Zara, my choice never fails while M2 opted for Cotton On.

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Road Trip Again

14 Nov

We enjoy road trips every now and then. Four years ago, we went on our most epic road trip and what I called ‘The Great Adventure Road Trip‘. It was a 21-day trip that covered three states and a driving distance of 2,285 miles of the West Coast of the USA, flying distance not inclusive.

We started off from Phoenix getting in from LAX with Southwest Airlines. From Phoenix, we picked up the keys to our rented MPV and headed off to Chandler, Flagstaff (to visit my college), the Grand Canyon, Henderson, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco. 

It wasn’t so much to eat but rather to see old friends, places and do things; to share with my family places that I’ve experienced and to enjoy new sights together. Aahh… What an adventure we had and I would do it again if the opportunity came around.

It sure is nice to reminisce and while we don’t do such lengthy road trips anymore, it is equally nice to go on one, albeit shorter. And of late, the short local trips taken focuses more on food. 

Over the weekend, we took a 3D/2N trip to Penang to attend a cousin’s wedding, skipping work and school on Friday. And while we were there, the local Penang food was top most on our mind. This gave us an opportunity to compare the flavors of Penang with Ipoh, which we visited two weeks ago.

I must say there is a difference and conclude that the Char Kueh Teow, Lobak and Assam Laksa in Penang are simple mouth watering while the Loh Shi Fun and Chicken Rice with Beansprouts in Ipoh are tops. So be sure to have these items at the top of your checklist of must-eat before you try anything else.

Another Wedding!

16 Nov

I enjoy family wedding dinners whenever there is an invitation. It is more for the people than the food honestly. Two weeks ago, we were just in Penang for hubby’s cousin’s wedding dinner. Over the weekend, the latest honor goes to my side of the family. However, it is not a cousin but a nephew!

The groom is my First Aunty’s grandson, my cousin sister’s son. So this makes him my nephew, to simplify matters. Unlike the Penang occasion where we went through the Tea Ceremony because of the cousin hierarchy, we were not required to do so this time.

Mom has nine sisters (Mom ranking number six among the aunties) and five brothers, and I have a ton of cousins! Over the years when a happy occasion comes around, the whole clan comes together for the happy gathering. It would be a boisterous time seeing all the aunties and uncles, and catching up with all cousins who showed up.

As time passes, most of my older cousins are married and this created a lengthy lapse in meeting up. Then last year, came the turn of the last few younger ones and the family gathered for two more wedding dinners. It was wonderful. With this latest occasion, marking the third within a year and the first of the next generation, it was a great time for everyone to once again come together and make merry. Until the next occasion…

 

M2 was able to attend this time!

 

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The Wedding

2 Nov

We actually drove to Penang over the weekend to attend a cousin’s wedding dinner. As the invitation came our way many many months ago from hubby’s uncle, we readily agreed. Unlike the last time where we missed out (we were in Bangkok) when the same uncle invited us for his daughter’s wedding, this time we made sure we would come for his son’s happy occasion.

Penang is always a lovely place to return to especially for the food. We had to have the obligatory Char Kueh Teow on Saturday night for dinner. But time was not on our side and there wasn’t much opportunity to eat other stuff because on Sunday morning, we were busy with the traditional tea ceremony.

By the time the morning session was over with a light luncheon served, we rested. Come evening, a light cocktail took place before the dinner. So there was no time at all to sneak in a street food.

The banquet was held at E&O Hotel, a lovely colonial place. The bride and groom were lovingly radiant and it was good for the old generation to meet up. Occasions like this are running out as most of hubby’s cousins were married.

Dinner ended late as always with Chinese wedding dinners. Thankfully we stayed another night before making our way back to the city today.