"Randy" don't be a hero!

I'm just such a sucker for old songs and movies... I can watch old MTVs of bands like Mr Big (swinging their long messy hair to a rock tune) and re-runs of love stories from the 1980s starring old stars like Michelle Pfiffer, Rob Lowe, John Travolta over and over again... (& of coz, my fav impersonation of the clay-moulding moment of Demi Moore in the movie "Ghost")... hahah..

I was listening to the radio a few days back and this "o-biang" song played on the airwaves... As I listened to the pop-art-ish tune, I imagined the scene to be a pre-war scene, with girls in can-can polka dotted skirts waving goodbye to their boyfriends who are marching off to fight a war... And this song was sung of a girl who's boyfriend was called Billy...




"Billy Don't Be a Hero"
The Marching Band Came Down Along Main Street
The Soldiers Blue Step in Behind
I Looked Across and There I Saw Billy
Waiting to Go and Join the Line
And With Her Head Upon His Shoulder
His Young and Lovely Fiancee
From Were I Stood I Saw She Was Crying
And Through Her Tears I Heard Her Say

(Chorus)
"Billy Don't Be a Hero,
Don't Be a Fool With Your Life
Billy Don't Be a Hero,
Come Back and Make Me Your Wife"
And As He Started to Go
She Said "Billy Keep Your Head Low
Billy Don't Be a Hero Come Back to Me"

The Soldier Blues Were Trapped On a Hill Side
The Battle Raging All Around
The Seargent Cried "We've Got to Hang On Boys
We've Got to Hold This Piece of Ground
I Need a Volunteer to Ride Up
And Bring Us Back Some Extra Men"
And Billy's Hand Was Up in a Moment
Ignoring All the Words She Said

(Chorus)
I Heard His Fiancee Got a Lettter
That Told How Billy Died That Day
The Lettter Said That He Was a Hero
She Should Be Proud He Died That Way
I Heard She Threw the Letter Away

I'm really thankful that we enjoy such peace and security in Singapore... and that I don't have to send my loved ones off to fight wars...!

Like what I always tell (nag at) Randy from the time he was enlisted to the Army few yrs ago, if you can't do it, don't force yourself... Don't risk your life over it!

I'm glad that he survived Army with nothing more than some papercuts.. (Proves that nagging works... ahahhaha) But recent times he's been crazy abt joining Marathons. Sorry for being such an aunty abt it, but the news abt people dropping dead halfway thru a run just scares the crap out of me... esp when Randy is doing a 6 hrs night run. But I'm glad that whenever he's reached his limit, my face would pop up in his head and my deep voice thunders: "You better stop. God made you a human, not a cheetah. You better know your limits coz I don't wanna be a widow!"

Busy busy Groom-to-be

Time really flies when one is busy with so many things. And so today is my first official blog for our wedding blog and my apologies for the lack of entries from me, so much so that the blog seems like Kara's 2nd blog... haha

And it is really excited to see that we have close to 750 visitor counts since the start of the blog in early February! I promise I will blog more after my "mini hell week" this week as I will be preparing for 2 test papers for the coming weekend. Can you imagine a 3 hour test paper??? *fainted*

I am also getting more & more excited as each ending day is bringing us closer to the Big day. Simply can't wait to enter into the second part, which is the family phase, after 8 long enriching years of relationship. ^_^

Mr. Chan

Going Down under!

Talking abt our friends from "the other cell": Faith & Boon are leaving for Brisbane to study and we had a farewell lunch with them at Peranakan Inn (East Coast Rd) on sunday.

We used to be from the same cell as them from waayyyyy back but since our cell multiplied into 2 cells, we've not really been catching up alot with them. I used to rem Faith and her sharings during cell - always very interesting! And Boon, always in his happy and bright dressing and calling out "karate!" from afar.

Things will definitely not be the same in church without them!



The food was surprisingly yummilicious, compared to Irvins'....


Sometimes I wonder how parents manage to have a proper meal ard kids... coz they can nv sit still... Here's Gerald... The big brother to another 2 younger ones! Read abt his antics in another post here...

Photographing children is a tough job... Sitting them down in one place is even tougher...

*Ka chaaaa!* "Little nonya" shot!

This photo looks like those ancestral family portrait with the decor and photoframe on the wall. hhahaah...

Anyways, all the best to you two, Mr & Mrs Ho! Have fun n pls update ur blog regularly to keep us updated!! Good dae mate! ;)

Randee's 25th birthday! - an old entry

------This was an earlier entry in my photography blog but have decided to shift it here coz it seems more suited to be in the wedding blog---------------

Randee turns 25 yesterday! To celebrate his bd, I did some research and we turned up for lunch at 12.30pm at BROWN SUGAR CAFE BISTRO.

Here's what we ate.......

Randy's appetiser: Mussels in tomato base sauce (With that portion, I seriously think this could BE the mains!)

My appetiser: Cream of brocolli & spinach

My mains: Crispy Duck confit

Busy bee, on the line with the client...

His mains: Steak w rocket salad & fries

A view of my crispy duck confit...

The duck skin was SO crispy u can feel the crunch cutting through it with the knife! And the meat was tasteeee! Succulent yet with a tinge of natural sweetness... Yummeee... Haf never enjoyed my duck more!

Banana & Pineapple Crumble with Honey fig ice cream

Red wine poached pear with vanilla ice cream

You can check out my review of BROWN SUGAR here.

After 2 hrs of letting all that food move down my digestive tubes, we headed for the SPA for another 1.5 hrs of massage!!! Randee had his maiden ear candling experience!!!

We ended the night with our favourite sushi for dinner, some nice fruit wine, old jazz playing from my car stereo, & plenty of mosquitos.....

It was virtually impossible to take this shot without blur.... It was pitch dark!!!

Sea view and crazy breeze!

Happy birthday BABY!

Glad u enjoyed yourself!!!!!!!!

Wedding themes & gowns!

We've decided on our wedding theme! It will be 50's GLAMOUR! The entire wedding would revolve around the theme of being in the 50's

Those who know me well enough will know that I'm a vintage kinda girl... I love old music, can't bear to throw away anything, wear my mum's old stuff (I seriously think that I can make heirloom out of all the treasures I find in her wardrobe and hand em' down to my daughter next time.. haa)... Yes, I'm a garang guni......

Anyways, me & Randy are very privileged to be able to officiate our wedding in church... Not many people get to walk down a church aisle and we're just thankful that we could get married in such a special place...

Our CHURCH WEDDING THEME is 50's old jazz



I sketched this out based on how I wanted the look & feel of the gown + details + hairdo to flow with the theme... (when I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a fashion designer... yeap, surprise surprise...)
Thought of having a cute perm, a Veil is definitely a must! Laces & pearls for details will be ideal!

But then, things may change when I go for gown fitting! Coz you will never be able to find the exact dress that you pictured in your head... So gotta see what the bridal can offer!

Our WEDDING DINNER THEME is 50's old Shanghai

My hp totally can't snap details... :( But here's the rough idea...
I wanted to have a fitting lace cheongsum with a big diamond cut-out low back... Something very chinois! Was talking to Addy that day and she totally knew the look I wanted!


However, after a quick glance, I realise the bridal didn't have what I really wanted... Here's the sketch of the closest ching-chong dress they have that fits the theme.... :(

Just a short story abt the bridal selection... Me & Ezen walked the entire Tanjong Pagar wedding stretch to check out the packages. Most of the bridals, when noticed that I didn't come with the beau, didn't really bother to entertain me... But one boutique was really nice and allowed me to even try a few gowns! No points for guessing which bridal I booked eventually! Also because I found a few pcs that I thought I could possible wear... :D

My Wedding Calendar

We had about 10 months since Randy proposed in Sep 08, to plan our Big Day... To disperse rumours/perception that we look very relax and seem like we've not been planning anything much, here's our calendar of what have been done and pending actions... Heheh...

What we've done so far (in chronological order):

1) Chinese Dinner Banquet - booked in Sep 08

2) Church Wedding venue - booked in Sep 08

3) Wedding Coordinator (Mr Joe Chow) - Agreed in Oct 08

4) Rough guest list - Dec 08

5) Wedding bands - bought in Dec 08
6) Gowns & package - booked in Jan 09

7) Pre-wedding shoots (by dear friends) - taken and still taking

8) Wedding cards - Designed (finished today!), pending Randy's approval and actual printing

9) Gowns & suits fitting - March 09

10) Caterer & florist - start shortlisting in May/June

11) Wedding car (deciding on Audi/Musso) - May

12) Honeymoon venue - TBC (This one is trilogy by itself... Will talk abt it in a separate post)

13) Confirmation of exact table no - May/June?

14) Coordinating exact helpers roles - June

That's all I can think for now! Actually i think we've been pretty efficient...!

What else, what else? What else do I need...........? Hmmmmmmmmmm........

Collected the softcopy pics!

It's FINALLY friday! Was such a long week!! Collecting the photos from Gray was the highlight for the week! My friend is a hobbist photographer (he has a full time IT job) and wanted models for his portfolio... of coz we volunteered and he kindly agreed!

Here's what i call a "Timberland" catalogue shot.... Hahhaa...



It's all leg shots coz we really wanna save all the ones with the faces as a surprise for our guests!




Gray's photos are really really nice! I just think that we're so blessed with kind friends that photograph for us!

Another old friend of mine's also taking an album for us... I'm so thankful for him coz he's a commercial photographer who dislike taking wedding shots but made an exception just for us! He showed us a sneak peek of the photos we took 2 weeks back.. All i can say is I never knew we could look so romantic!!!!!! Looking forward to seeing all the pics taken by him..........! That's the next thing to keep me happy to last through the next week... Heh...

Our 8th CNY together

Since the time we dated, me and Randy has been doing CNY visitations together... We'll collect ang pows from both sides... Heh heh.... And the strange findings we've gathered through the years was that his relatives thinks that he's been changing girlfriends... Do I look that different? Hmmmm.....

DAY 1:
Randy with his "brother"........

The nieces...

We've learnt to work in a tag team.... I'll usually carry Belle...


and Randy will usually carry Laura... Coz Laura's growing bigger and too heavy for me...

Stanley's family pic...

The siblings...

Pic 1: The CHAN family photo...

Pic 2: I'm the new addition...


Day 2:

On route to Daniel & Ivy's place, we decided to snap some pics at the carpark of uncle dong's...

This is us with ND Quek and Pearlyn..... The Dec couple!

Here's us with ND Teo & Stacia... The 2010 couple!


Randy & his best pal since pri sch....

When we got to Daniel's place, a sumptious Sukiyaki treat awaited us!

We had MEAT, MEAT, MEAT and more MEAT....

And plenty of different drinks thereafter.... Compliments from the guy behind the bar counter....

Then we had a game of "BATTLEFIELD"......

Happy Niu year (or whatever's left of it before the festivity fizzles out)!

My photoshoot bouquet!!!

Randy will tell u I'm a girl that doesn't love flowers.. That's what I thought too... But this bouquet made me fall in love! I ordered this bouquet from Aunt June who's a florist and owns her own shop called "Arts n' Roses" at Novena's Square 2....




Aunt June was really kind to make this really really pretty peony bouquet for me at such short notice!
I was just sharing with Randy that day about how blessed we are... So many friends volunteered info of their wedding planning experiences to help us in our planning, we had nice photographer friends who agreed to make models out of us.... We had so much fun during our photoshoot!!!

At first, I was quite hesistant and afraid that Randy wouldn't enjoy taking all these pics... But in the end guess who was the kancheong spider who kept asking me to check with my friend if the pics are ready??? Haahahah....... So glad for his spontaneity!

-Kara

Grand opening!!!

After a suggestion from a kind friend, we've finally decided to embark on a couple blog... To update whoever-cared-abt-our-wedding-preps about the progress we've made...

As the date draws near (Eleven July 2009 is THE big day for those who still haven't realised from the blog title), I've getting more and more excited!!!

I'm going to try backtrack some of the preps that we've done since Randy popped the qn in Sep 08... EG: Sketches of the wedding gowns, themes for the wedding, bouquets etc etc...

We've taken some of our wedding shoots and I'm so excited to see them all!!!

- Kara