The beauty of Inai

Here in Malaysia, we have quite adapted the Indian/Arabic culture of having henna on the bride's hands and feet during weddings though theirs are usually very complicatedly designed. I on the other hand have almost opted for not having any henna done on me for my wedding. Even if I do, I wanted the simplest of it all, having it done only at the end of every fingers.

What? I'm simple like that!

One day, my cousin bbm me asking how's my henna design going to be and I told her of my plans. She thought I was insane for not getting any flowery details done! So she started to google up pictures and tag me on facebook in hope to change my mind. But what really did made me changed my mind wasn't the pictures she found, but that one statement she made...

"Mun dah umor 50 baruk nak polah, lak orang madah gila!" (If you only plan to do it when you're 50, then you'd look like some kinda old hagged woman trying to relive her youth cos she missed out on it on her wedding day!)

Come to think of it, why not? So I did it! It went way out of simplicity cos the person who made it and my Mak Andam wanted to try something different and bling it up. It looked weird at first and definitely soooo not me, but a few compliments that morning and I just gave it a go (it's either it really looked good or they just wanted to make me FEEL like it looked good).

Anyways, it does look good in pictures I think?

Taken while waiting for him to get the other hand done

Hubby waiting for his turn

Almost done! This was the night before the Akad Nikah.

On my Akad Nikah day

Beautiful and I was satisfied indeed. Now 3 months later, this is all that is left. Yup, only the thumb! Sooooo sad :(

It's been too long

*vacuums away dust, mops every corner of the screen, sweeps away spam comments*

Firstly of course, I'M MARRIED!

Well, hello! I know that it's been THAT long since I've last posted anything. I knew I had the whole wedding countdown thing going on with details on the event and such. Everything has been quite overwhelming the month prior to the wedding, and even the month after. Not to mention on the day itself!

Just two weeks before the wedding, the whole family was in shocked when Zech's Mom collapsed and had to be hospitalized for a minor stroke. It saddens everyone, including myself. This is the main reason why and when I lost the vibe in updating. I just didn't know what to update anymore and at most times, I'm lost for words. We were at the point of contemplating whether to go on with the wedding.

The family discussed, and we did. Though we had minus out a few events that seemed inappropriate. The next two weeks after that, I focused on the wedding while Zech took care of his Mom.

Fast forward to the wedding day, Alhamdulillah it went well and Zech did well during the akad nikah with only sekali lafaz :) It was a joyful day though there were times we would shed tears wishing Zech's Mom was there with us.

We had to cancel our honeymoon plans. 3 days after the wedding, Zech and I went to KL and spent a week there visiting and taking care of his Mom.

She is now recovering well, and have started to speak as of yesterday. Lets all pray for her speedy recovery.

I'll post up a different entry on the wedding day itself with tons of gorgeous pictures to share.

Til then, wishing everyone a belated Hari Raya Aidiladha!

The happy Van

Not so happy but still definitely is a VAN! We made a trip to Miri from KK on Monday using this van to bring over all my boxes of wedding stuff we've bought. We couldn't use flights to carry them over all at once. Actually we can, but the overweight charges would be good enough to buy myself a new plane. We can't really use a forwarding company because most of the things are fragile, everything might arrived shattered in pieces.

The van was surprising comfortable (or I'm just too Sakai). Came back on Tuesday. The trip was really short because we had to rent this Van and rental is quite pricey. Plus, my brother had to work and we'd be in Miri again this Sunday anyway for Hari Raya.

The journey was about 8 hours per trip so the past two days, 16 hours of my life was spent on the road! Glad I had my pillows with me.

Busy Bee

I am way busier while I'm on a break rather than being in the office! I've taken the month off before starting work at the new place after Hari Raya to help out with the wedding preparations and maybe get some mental rest while I'm at it.

Wrong.

Other than not having to wake up really early, my time is occupied with so many things to do and not to mention the traveling! This month alone I've been to KL and Miri both twice. I just got back from Miri last night and I'm heading to KL again tomorrow to accompany my mom and dad for a medical checkup. Then back to Miri again in two weeks for Hari Raya. How time flies! We're half way through Ramadhan already.

Some good news though. Our honeymoon plans are ON! We almost canceled any plans to go anywhere after the wedding due to the time constraint but Alhamdulillah thanks to Abg Boy and mom for their HUGE and generous wedding present, we're going ahead with it.

I'm not getting my London trip but that's okay. This is just as equally exciting if not better! So where are we heading?

SINGAPORE!

We've been wanting to visit Universal Studios Singapore so this is definitely a dream come true! We'll be going two days after the wedding. Now I just need to draft out a really nice and awesome letter for my leave -_-

Image googled.

My wedding invitation cards

Now I'm in the midst of going trough our guests list and distributing the cards and it sure is giving us headaches. We started distributing the cards after receiving them to our families there in KL and Zech is in Kuching for the next 2 days to extend the invites to his side of the family while Mom & I try to settle with the invites for our side.

Our wedding invitation cards and 'thank you' tags are done by Walimatulurus.net

I once praised and applaud my wedding invitation designer for her patience towards me being too detailed on A LOT of things for the cards, I can't even remember the amount of time I change the fonts alone!

I found out about them after trying to source online for possible companies or individuals who are able to do hard cover cards with great quality yet with a reasonable price in Malaysia. We know how Indonesia are famous for their really cheap hard covers! But we couldn't possibly travel that far and spend that much money just to get our invites done.

So I bookmarked the site and fast forward to a month ago, we went over to their office to meet up personally and discuss about what we want, what they have and what they could come up with. They actually do online orders but I can't risk doing my cards with an unknown person. After the meeting, we further finalize everything via emails.

We agreed on hard cover invites design for our Akad Nikah, while postcard type card for our Reception.

I've said it in that same post and I shall say it again, I give them infinity stars and an A with multiple plus (A+++?) for VERY GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. She attends to my every single email with very fast response and make changes accordingly with no sighs and Sorry we can't do that but always with a Sure! and a No problem!

We went to KL to collect the cards (explains the absence). I personally asked a favor from them to drop it off at our hotel and again, I get a Sure! and they sure did. I'm not sure about you brides-to-be out there, but not many companies (or maybe none?) would go to such level with their customers so I was indeed lucky to have chosen them to do our cards.

Anyways... Mom, Zech and I were so happy when we saw both our Akad Nikah and Reception cards as well as our 'thank you' tags! We get exactly what we wanted and it definitely meets up to our expectations. Thank you Najah!

So to those who want hard cover cards for their wedding in Malaysia, try them out. They also do good quality postcard type cards, soft cover cards and thank you tags.



P/S: I am not paid or sponsored to write this post. Just a sincere review to share because I was so happy with my cards!

Our wedding website

Cuts head wide open, takes out brain, place on table, letting brain rest and cools off.

Been sleeping at 2am twice this week trying to get done with more wedding related stuff. Specifically, the invitation cards and our wedding website. No, I am not designing or printing my own invitation cards because I have tons of other things to do. Better get someone good at it to do the cards so if anything goes wrong I can shoot them they'll get all the blame and I have someone to point my finger at.

Ok lah, that's not the reason. I don't trust myself in doing my own invites. I'm too detailed with everything I might shoot my own brain out while designing. Luckily I've got a great team to do it and the designer has been super nice and super friendly accommodating to all my fussy little details. I hope she doesn't hate me!

I go as bad as wanting them to change fonts of our names a couple of times -_- Not to mention my mom who wants the Kepada on the envelope to be aligned to the left instead of the center. See?

But I had to provide them samples, details, and since I almost exactly know what I want, I go very specific in my emails so I ended up with endless correspondence with the designer. Plus, I had to always ask Mom and Zech for approval.

Will let you know who are the team that's doing my invites once all cards ready, printed out, distributed and I am one very contented and satisfied customer. So far, I give them infinity stars and an A with multiple plus (A+++?) for VERY GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. Will have a separate post thanking them personally.

Last but not least, while they try to finish up on my invites design, I try to finish up my wedding website. I kinda like the idea of Save the Date wedding sites in the US and they're slowly picking up here in Malaysia. However, again, since I'm too detailed and know exactly what I want, I opt for doing it myself. It's difficult to get someone to do it and explaining long long how you want it to be. It may not look very professional or awesome, but I like it! Of course lah I like, I designed it myself -_-

Pictures used in the website are our Pre-Wedding pictures taken by the extremely talented Anna-Rina.

So, here it is! Our wedding website world premiere! (Rasa macam world premiere video clip MTV)

Nadia & Zechary | Our Wedding

Do drop by and leave a message on our Guestbook :)

Sleeping at 2am makes my head dizzy in the morning and I'm being less productive in the office. Will get back on track by next week, hopefully.

Where the journey begins

It has been a year...

Our wedding journey shall end in 2 months time, but it will be the beginning of another new lifetime journey where we'll write our very own happy ending :) I love you. Forever and always.

KL - KK - Miri

The past one week has been BUSY!

1. Went to KL for 5 days mostly to settle more wedding stuff. Managed to get done with the doorgifts for Akad Nikah, invitations cards, our shoes, outfits for malam berinai, kain for families and... I'm not sure what else.
2. Got myself a new handbag and purse. I got these and pretty much ended my shopping spree there. The two items burned whatever cash I had with me -_-
   
3. Came back from KL and I had TWO interviews. One of it was yesterday, on the same day of my flight to Miri (yes, I'm in Miri now). I had to wait from 10am to 2pm for my turn and my flight was at 5.15pm! I didn't pack my stuff the night before so the only time I had left was after the interview. Rushed home, packed, then off to the airport!
4. My flight got delayed for TWO hours -_- free mcD meal though.
5. Arrived Miri last night then went directly to the Hotel where our reception will be at for food tasting.
6. Then PENGSAN!

Finally sitting down at Grandma's dining table typing this out while catching a breather. Hope to get some rest this weekend before having to face 'some attitude' at the office on Monday.

As for the interview, I'm gona cross my fingers and toes until tulang patah, pray really hard that I'll get it! Insyaallah :)

I love food

Yes, that simple. I love food!

But with the wedding coming up, all I get from everyone around me is asking me to skip meals, not to eat rice, skip dinner, no fried food, skip any type of cakes, skip fast foods, skip desserts, and yes go on... add on to the list.

If I do it anyway, they'd tell me... "It's okay, you have months to go!"

I am pressured to be thin :(

I can't blame them. I do need to loose weight if I want to look good that day. Why does looking good is associated with being thin? So not fair! I feel guilty just thinking of Carbonara right now!

Let's do the math. You go all way out being skinny for your wedding, you throw confetti over yourself because you think you look good on your wedding day and everyone complimented you look good, then you're happily married and cook dinner for your hubby every night where you would join him because you're so happy, then you would gain more weight because you're happy, 3 months later you're pregnant.

Then? See where I'm going with this?

I have been short and chubby my entire life! Not fat... just you know, chubby.

Ok, fine. No more excuses. Will start my diet soon.

Yes, SOON! ;P

Promosi 2011 Kraf Malaysia

The weather has been exceptionally hot today. No, make that the past few weeks now. It hardly rains and when it does, it'll be raining for 15 minutes max somewhere in the middle of the night! I could roast beef and chicken, maybe boil an egg or two on my car's dashboard.

Visited the Kraf Malaysia's exhibition at Lintasan Deasoka yesterday and today. Except for the heat, I would have stayed a lot longer to view all the things they were selling but it was too unbearable. Managed to purchase things for Raya and the Wedding!

Mom and I have been worried about the heat during our Akad Nikah because it will be held before noon. By the time it's done it will be noon and if this weather stays all the way until October, imagine the heat our guests will have to go through sitting under the canopies on our front porch! So we've decided that other than receiving door gifts, each guest will get a hand fan to ease their pain! *Tell me I'm smart now*

Getting the right one is tough. Really good ones are expensive and if it's too cheap, it'll break even before you start to fan yourself. Luckily we found a type yesterday at the exhibition that has an acceptably good quality and reasonably priced! And the colour is perfect, it's Blue! Got the person to order hundreds more and we collected it today. Another item to strike off from our endless to-do list!

We also got Zech's Kain Songket as his samping for Akad Nikah. It is authenticly hand made from Terengganu. I also got myself a kain Sutera Batik from Terengganu for Raya! SUPER HAPPY! Going to send the kain to my tailor tomorrow and hunt for matching kain for Zech's baju melayu. We bought all these from a lady named Kak Yah. She's really nice for giving us a REALLY good bargain!

My kain for Raya

With Kak Yah

Bought a bangle for RM5!

The sellers were complaining of the heat because the exhibition was done in an open space unlike last year, it was done in 1Borneo. Perhaps the organizer might want to reconsider their next exhibition venue.

Can it please rain already? *fans self with some random piece of paper*

Hello there

I start to blog again!

I have been neglecting my blog for more than a year now especially since I had the Blackberry, I seem to constantly update my twitter and it's just way more convenient compared to opening up blogger then start to compose something out word by word.

But I have to admit there are times when 140 characters are just not enough! So I guess after going through a series of unfortunate events (i just had to type that out!) I mean, after going through a lot of times when I wish was still blogging because there is so much more to say, here I am.

Going through my old blog, I love how I documented my life in Uni and there were things I don't remember now that I did then. I wish to do the same now (hopefully!) so that one day, I could still look back and go through my daily rants and remember the littlest things I have forgotten.

I wanted to create a new blog but I hate trying to find the right url name. I usually come up with the lamest things! So before I embarrassed myself with something like icantcomeupwithaniceurlsothisisit.blogspot.com, I might as well use this url back.

What happened to the old entries? Changed the url to something else and made it private. I didn't have the heart to delete everything because there were so much memories in there. Reading them back, I also noticed I haha, hehe, LOL, and ! a whole lot! I'm such a syok-sendiri-blogger! Will try to minimize that from now on so that I'll sound more sensible and matured *pukes-a-bucket-of-blood*

Come to think of it, I started blogging at the age of 16 while I was in form 4. My classmate kinda intro-ed to me the whole thing and it has been going on since. Blogging has come a long way the past 9 years. I remember the internet connection then was a dial up 1515 that goes truuttt tuutt tuutt truuuttt eeeee oooo tutttt before it actually connects!

Oh I sound so emo and serious.

As for life updates after my graduation, to simplify things;

1. I got a job based on my obtained degree though I still wish I'm doing something else.
2. I work on Saturdays which I hate very much. I have so little time left during weekends to do whatever I want do!
3. I got engaged to the love of my life on 17 July, 2010.
4. Now I'm a bride to be :)
5. The wedding is on 1st October, 2011!

Yup, that pretty much sums it up! Now I need to go find a new layout cos these cupcakes are making me hungry.