Funky Find: Pitu Again

I did a previous post on Pitu before...haha cos the app is fun. But I deleted it soon after because I thought that's all the app could do. Recently, I realised it could do much more so I downloaded the app again.

This app is rather intuitive. All you have to do is take a fringeless photo of yourself (now it seems to have beautify effect). Would suggest to smile, but you might want to smile without showing your teeth if you want period photo.

You can re-take a few with unlimited tries, so you can try out with different types of smiles hehe. Then, you just need to apply the different filters. I noticed that most of the filters are free but that are a selected few which need $$. But I guess you don't have to pick those right...haha.

Now, apart from period looks, you can try out palace looks - of various ranks. You can even have modernised looks as well. But I didn't upload mine in this collage. Also, you can kidify yourself. I tried it out with the BF and wow he looks surprisingly pretty as a girl :)

Guess our daughter will be a beauty. Do try out this app yourself. It is lame af, but you know what, it is fun too. Hehe. And if you follow chinese dramas, this app may reasonate more with you. I don't really watch dramas but I had a good laugh anyway. Am keeping this app this time round cos it has other editing functions such as poster and collage :D

One shoe Many looks

For all brides out there, I think this may be a helpful post. So I had this struggle on how many pairs of footwear do I need? This is a real struggle because you needed every heels/ flats to match with every dress change. And yet, you don't really want to buy that may pairs of heels you may never wear.

My friends told me get a plain beige/ white one to match everything. And so I did, even though I didn't really like plain stuff. But I found something in my house which could vamp up the different looks. (Note: if you have a kua, white/beige heels won't match, it is not as simple as that.)

So, I had this set of beautiful clip-ons in my house (more than 4 in fact). You can essentially mix and match and create different looks. I did that for our pre-wedding shoot and impressed our vendor with my travel-light yet many shoes antics. HAHAHA. The red clips also matched really well with my Kua.

Because I am only buying one pair of shoes, I could buy a better pair of leather shoes. The clip-ons are snug enough to stay on the shoes yet not leave unsightly marks on my shoes. It is quite easy and intuitive to clip on. Best of all, it doesn't take that much time and become a hindrance to our schedule.

Now, I don't have to fret about which shoes I should buy but which design I should clip-on and...I can change my mind/clip anytime. :D These clip-on work best for plain shoes. If you are struggling between sparklies and plains, I think plains which are functional for work can look nice too with clip-ons.

One thing for sure, I think it definitely not very sensible to invest too many pairs of shoes (especially if they are way over the top) and you know you would never wear after, maybe except for special occasions. Cos we all know, how much special occasion do you have anyway! But, I got these clip-ons overseas but I think they should be able to be found in Singapore too. These are staples right!

Gatecrash Ideas

I finally squeezed out some time to work on my wedding planning again. Gah, all this planning is killing me. I am just so tired, mainly because my parents are making me clean up and pack the entire house. I still have (in my opinion) probably 3 weekends of stash to go through and I am not even home for 3 out of the 5 remaining weekends. Argh.

So, I finally got down to thinking what I want for the Gatecrash. Just for those who don't know, for Chinese weddings, there will be this segment where the groom and his guy buddies will go through several "fun" challenges set by the bridemaids to win the bride. :) You can't win without a fight right :P

I wanted the games to be more meaningful than humiliating, so I was pretty pleased when I found this online. My friends complained that overall my games are too easy. But, hey too hard, later he backed out how?!? LOL. Kidding, I just think that the whole purpose is to have some good memories to remember.

So I shared with my parents this and they were pretty excited for it. The thing is my parents love taking photos. The BF less so. They rarely have any planned shots together, and hence my parents were very pleased with the idea of having this exclusive shot with their "new son".

To up the challenge, I thought it would be cool to do some yoga poses. My parents are so supportive they have even started doing stretches everyday~ MUHAHAHA.

Another challenge which my friends insisted to do was the Suan Tian Ku La Challenge as it represents all flavours in life. Personally, I am not quite a fan of this cos this challenge upsets the stomach and is too mainstream, but the BFFs insisted that this is meaningful, plus I guess the girls needa have their fun.

Speaking of fun, this is what I call true pure joy, bringing the boys back to their childhood or the childhood they wished they had. The BF can vent out some anger and negative energy before the wedding. And I hope the photographer can get a nice explosive shot of the bursting of the piñata. Gorgeous!

If any of you are looking for a piñata either for your wedding or a birthday party, please check out Oh Piñata. Ours come with a string pull so in case the boys can't hit it in time. Haha. Oh Piñata can also customised other designs. She did suggest the heart, but I thought it wasn't too auspicious to break hearts on a wedding day...One things I know for sure I will be definitely be breaking the hearts of some single men. :P

Cos time is kinda of a rush, the BF will prolly have an extreme make-over in one of the challenge. Just in case, you think he is going to end up looking clownish, it is quite the opposite. It is to transform him to look presentable for the wedding. LOL...Well, he doesn't exactly enjoy getting his brows trimmed. Guess this may be quite a spiteful experience for him *Thumbs up for me*

And last but not least, I think I will make him create an art for me. He has always been showering me with material goods so something handmade should be cute and worth treasuring. Not sure how interesting his so called "10 commandments" will be. That's all the brilliance I have conjured out for my own gatecrash...you can steal a game or 2 cos I am a nice bride *winks*

String Art: The Spark in Our Stars

So finally, I bothered to come out with the hashtag for the wedding. Haha. This is modelled after the "The Fault in Our Stars" which I caught with the BF...happy ending version. Maybe "okie lor" will be our "always"

Recently, I came across string arts from Strings & What Knots. You may have seen this on your social media given that they are trending. The trend girl in me also did one for the tag...simply cos I thought it was cute and I was curious how it worked. And I thought you would be too :P

Here's how they look like. Personally, I don't feel that the photos do any justice to it. Just in case you can't see from the photos. A part of the art was made by nails and string would be twirled around it. The nails reflect some of the light, so the art would shimmer under the lighting at different angles. This unfortunately can't be caught on camera.

I have also taken some close-up of the photos to show you how intricate the string art is. Just in case, you can't keen to having a piece of your own, the ordering process isn't every difficult. The background can be customised with pictures, if you find my plain blue a little tad too boring for you.

Here's some key consideration to smoothen your customisation process:-

1. Size of the piece: Ours was Size C and it is a good size for display. (See picture below for more size options)
2. Customised Background (if any): Now that I think of it, maybe I should customised the background. You can check out some of the other works Strings & What Knots have done up and it looks dope. But on second thoughts, I am not much of a designer and this project would stress me up!! Argh.
3. Colours Combination: If you really do not have an opinion or not just don't have a keen eye for colours, you can seek professional opinion from Strings & What Knots
4. Pick the design:Strings & What Knots would work out some preliminary designs for you, so you just have to pick the one that tugs your heart strings the most...hehe (just couldn't resist saying that) 
5. Decide where you wanna display it: Okay, this is not a real problem but just my inability to decide :P

And with that, you will receive your very own knotty art in 3 weeks. By the way, you can also customised stitched series portrait. FYI, they look extremely gorgeous. Should have done one for myself, I should it would look great in my room. <3

If you need any more information, feel free to email me or contact Strings & What Knots. :D

Recommendations of Nomnomby

There has been quite a lot of meal subscription lately out there, and I thought maybe I will share my journey with one of them - Nomnomby. The more you get with them, it actually becomes cheaper. So I was greedy and signed up for 20 meals a month when there was 40% discount.

Quite honestly, I had a hard time using all 20 cos it is not like I am always at the CBD area. But I shared it with my boyfriend. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't finish my subscription. So most of the meals are about $9 to $11, so I think it is quite a steal to get their sets of 6, 12 or 20.

The kitchen opens around 5pm every day and they will send a reminder email when it opens. You have to make a decision on what you to eat for lunch the next day before 9am. I don't know for you, but usually my craving only comes around 11am. Gahhh.. You can either access the website on your phone or the comp. But on the comp, you can have a sense of the food within your area. (But still, I have a hard time searching...)

You can to pick your reservation timing as well. Pss, if you come early, the food may not be prepared so take note. Also, the meals doesn't really change, so you do get bored of it after a while. We did try some of the meals, so here are some recommendations.

1. Gyu Nami / Doco

For beef lovers, a top favourite would be Gyu Nami. Most people I know love it. Even my Mum was of praises for it. The portion is huge and the beef is fresh. Extremely value for money. But if you like something more cooked, you may want to try out DOCO instead. The Beef is nicely torched. However, the service can be a bit slow sometimes. Gah.

2. Fraction Pasta

This isn't too bad. But it is not consistent. Some of its meals are awesome, while others are pretty meh. The smoked duck is really good though, so if you want to try this out, look out only for the days it has the smoked duck. Yummy!

3. Super Simple

This doesn't change everyday. So, it gets a bit boring, eating it day in day out. Enough said. But, it looks pretty healthy. I am not as huge a fan as people I know, but it is yummy for a salad.

4. Wolf

If you like spicy, savoury stuff, you need to add this to your list. But, this can't be a staple, once a week maybe?

5. Red Got Baked

Another one of the BF's recommendation, which he said the portions were huge. If you guys would like to try out Nomnomby. Please send me your email address after you sign on so that we will both get 35% off our subscription. Win Win :D

By the way you can just say your name and you will be able to collect your food (i.e. someone can also collect on your behalf.) :P

New dishes at PastaMania

There is something nostalgic about PastaMania. When you were a poor starving student, it used to be a treat to go for some affordable pasta with your friends or to bring your puppy love for a decent date. I always remember PastaMania to be a place that serve good pasta that doesn't burn too big a hole in your pocket. :)

Fans of PastaMania, you will be excited about these new dishes - Spicy Creamy Otak-Otak and Thai Style Aglio Seafood. The dishes are very unique, blending in some of our SEA culinary touch of spice. Yummy!

Not to be missed it the Spicy Creamy Otak-Otak. Tossed in a velvety sauce that has the rich taste of coconut milk and belacan (spicy dried shrimp paste), the laksa-taste is perfectly re-created in pasta form. Best of all, you get generous chunks of otak-otak in the dish.

Comparatively, this dish is very innovative and unexpected. It is just surprising how laksa/otah-otah could go so well with the italian cream sauce. Don't be shock if this dish leave you craving for more! Guess every Singaporean love a good bowl of laksa. Pss...this only cost $13.90 and you can get a $1 discount if you order through the COMMONS SG app using promo code "CC1OFF".

If you are looking for something more familiar, you may want to try the Thai Style Seafood Aglio. Basically it taste like Phad Thai and doesn't shortchange you any of the taste of the fish sauce, tamarind paste and basil leaves. You will be happy to know that there is a good portion of seafood and even bacon bits. This dish promises to pack a punch at every bite.

However, if you are here to be left bewildered, then the Spicy Creamy Otak-Otak would probably suit you better. But hey, if you are here on date, who says you can't try both and share food. *Comes with indirect kissing <3* Hehe...Leaving you with a video of some never-before-seen kitchen footage. Don't you love how each dish is freshly prepared. Yum!

Bow Wow Wow

The last photoshoot left me a rather depressing realisation. I always thought bow ties were kinda of cute. There was something preppy about them, so I had this obsession to bow everyone up for the wedding. I was really excited when I got my hands on some bowtie by Handworks by Keren.

Generally, bow ties are a pretty one-size fit all accessory. And I thought I had all grounds covered by finding something customisable and convenient. I just can't imagine my brother and father having the patience to tie their bows so I got them all the pre-tied bow tie.

So here's the big problem I failed to spot early. Some people look absolutely ridiculous in bow ties. My bf and father are good examples. Maybe it is because the bows are smaller, so the people with bigger heads just don't look smart in it. And with much research, I realise there are different types of bows. *smacks head*

The silver lining is that my brother actually look pretty darn good in a bow. He was pretty happy that everyone couldn't wear their bows...because this means he now has a greater selection of pre-tied to choose from. In fact, he took so much photos of himself looking smart...he seems almost narcissistic.

Just because my journey to a grand wedding bow hasn't been smooth doesn't mean yours wouldn't. I think for one, you should first at least take some head measurements and have different bow sizes to fit the different head circumference. I have posted a few photos of brother to prove to you how smart some people look.

Personally, I liked the more flamboyant prints. But the boys preferred the simple solids, mixed with some texture stripes. Handworks by Keren has quite a bit of unique fabrics, so you can have a bit of choice to mix and match to give the bows a bit of a pop. And because they are handmade, you can also request the bow shapes :)

Also, I wanted to give a shout-out to Handworks by Keren. Keren is actually from Indonesia so the mail was a bit slow. But she was so helpful in assisting me in monitoring and updating me on the mail package. Just so you know each bow is painstakingly handmade and not off the shelf.

Apart from bows, Keren also makes pretty pouches and looped bags. So do support her if you are a fan of handmade stuff. And just for your eyes only, I managed to get some behind the scene photos. *Proof that it is handmade* Quote "ForFunk" and you will get to enjoy some discounts too! :)