1000 days of love

You know what day is it today? Yup, Friday. Good boy. Now take this ice cream and off you go. Hahaha..

Ok, ok, I'm in very good mood today coz I celebrated the 1000 days of my married life with my dearest husband. You might think, budak ni mesti takde keje, tiap-tiap hari kira hari ke? Unfortunately the first part of that question is true but the second part is not. It is not that I have a countdown timer in my room counting down how many days that I have been a wife. It was happened unexpectedly actually. I was counting days for other thing and then I put my anniversary date and see how many days already. At that moment, it was day 980 (plus minus). So I thought wow, we almost 1000 days. So I just put a reminder in my phone calendar.

So there you go. 1 0 0 0 d a y s . . . .

My finance professor in Duke counted his marriage days. I remember when he introduced himself, he said something like, "I have a wife and we have been married for xxxxx days." Yeah, he has OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). You should see how he put all his money in his wallet. It's according to the serial number okay. But he's really a fun but quirky professor and I enjoyed his lectures even though I still couldn't understand finance whole-heartedly. Haha.

Anyway, celebrating how many days you have been ...... is harder than remembering a certain date. I remember by heart my anniversary date but how many days have been married, that 's more challenging. Because the date can be fall on random date and after a while you stop counting.

So to commemorate this day (which might not be remembered if I didn't accidentally count it), I have made this photo mosaic which consisted of 1000 (+18 more) photos of us from the day we tied the knot until today. Yes, that's 1000 unique photos of us only.

The main picture is Day 1 - our akad nikah

While doing this, I realized:
We have a lot of photos of us alone rather than us together. This couldn't be avoided as we always travel just the two of us. So it's always he took my photo, I took his. Even though we have X-shot Extender and a tripod to help us, sometimes we were lazy to use it. Yup, we travel with 2 kind of tripod (well, one is more like a monopod). Believe it or not, all of that can be put into my handbag. But towards to end, the laziness improved and we have more photos together.

I'm going to print it (in large print obviously) and framed it after I perfect the mosaic. Kind of neat kan...

Ps: Actually I wanted to be a surprise gift for my hubby, but I am very bad at keeping secret and spilled my plan to him. He thought it was a cool idea. I will post the final product when I finish it, print it and frame it.

Wedding and more weddings

Early next month will start the fasting month of Ramadhan. This means the wedding season will take a pause for a while. 2008 has been the most wedding I've been. So today was the last wedding I had attended before Ramadhan.

Interestingly, today was one of the most memorable wedding. It's the wedding of Ain & Amri. Both of them I knew since secondary school. They have same love story like mine except for few details. Like us, they knew each other since secondary school but only in latter years they become a couple. Ain is one of my closest friend and I'm very happy for them.

What interesting about this wedding that the bride & groom arrived in boat. They made it at Taman Botani Putrajaya beside the lake. Personally I think it's a very beautiful venue. Even though it was a very hot afternoon, but the wind and trees made it bearable. The fun part was that at the end of the day, Ain threw her flower bouquet to us. It's supposed to be for only single girls but it seems that everybody wanted to catch it and all tak malu guys and married girls pun sibuk sibuk. And guess who catch that bouquet? Not me, silly. I'm married remember.

It's Zainal. Yes, my Zainal. My dearest husband.

Can you believe that? Do you think is his subconscious mind that he wanted to marry again? hahaha... okay that was very negative thinking. I know he loves me only, right sayang. Just because that flower dropped at you, you will get married right. But on the safer side, I've asked all the Al-Amin there to take care of him, if they see anything suspicious, please contact me ASAP. Haha... just kidding sayang... I trust you okay...

Okay, let's recap the weddings...

January:

Mas & Odie4/7 of these lovely ladies already married by now. FYI, all 7 were not yet married during this picture was taken.

Of course moi married in January also.

Then,

in May:

Nadhirah & Faka

in June

Faraha & Zul

For the first time I become a pengapit and I think it would be the last time.

in July

Syarah & her husband... for the first time I was not in any picture in this wedding.

Me & Zainal - the reception

Lisa & her husband... we have to go back by just after the bride & groom arrived. So no picture.

in August

Ain & Amri

Coming soon would be Hidayah in October.

While few Pharmaniaga friends like Ida, Niza, Sazani & Imran. (I only went to Niza, the others are quite far to go).

And also few engagements like Fadli, Liya & Mai.

Wow... the Subang girls really love 2008 right. So hopefully in 2009 & 2010 would be the guys turn.

Ps: If you see Zainal in anywhere with a girl with a radius of 0.1 m around him, please contact me ASAP kay.... hehe....

Wedding Reception, finally

I would like to thank all my dear family members, all my friends and all my colleagues for coming to my reception held last night. Can't thank you enough.... Here are some sneak peek of what happen last night.

Photos credit to Kak Mala, Pharmaniaga's own photographer (thank you very much!!)... more photos from her fotopages.

The Wedding Reception part 1

There’s so much things happened at the same time and need the same amount of attention. I don’t want to summarize everything in one post which can become very confusing at the end. Let’s start something that don’t need so much attention or should I say less job on my part. The wedding reception.

Yes, I’ve been married more than 5 months now but we haven’t done the wedding reception yet. So we have decided to do it on 19^th July 2008. Thank God, mak has been the best project manager and ensure everything ok. My part was quite small even though I’m the main character in this wedding ( with my co-star Zainal of course). I have to order the invitation cards. It was ok but there are few problems at the delivery and unnoticed mistake in the card (like my email address. Just hope nobody email me. Hehe).

I was also supposed to send the invitation to my friends but getting everybody’s address is a challenging task as most of the people change their handphone number like changing clothes. This is the disadvantage of selling cheap sim cards. Thank God for friendster and email, some people still can be contact, the rest I’m sorry. If you read this my dear long lost friend, please send your address to me by 25 Jun to munmzzz[at] gmail.com.

The next thing is inviting my office people. Should I invite him or not. Should I invite the whole department or just few people. If I invite the whole department, imagine production department, then there wouldn’t be enough place even for my family in that hall.

Oh yesss… we decided to do it in Dewan Siviks MBPJ. It was very nice place and can accommodate up to 900 people. A bit pricey for our budget. But at short notice, that’s the only date and place that available. Would love to have it at my abang’s reception which was at Dewan Jubli Perak, Shah Alam. But my mom find out that they have stop doing any weddings there since early this year. Furthermore, Dewan MBPJ was quite near to my house which is very important aspect if you are planning a wedding. Furthermore the cost of petrol has risen, so it is wise to focus to anywhere that near. Hehe.

What is pending for this event:

1. Cards that haven’t been send.
2. To find cheap shop to do tiny thank you cards.
3. To get all RSVP so estimate attendees.
   

Dateline: 4^th July 2008

Album part 2 (& final)

Apparently I forgot to continue the album post due to the work stress.... hehe... This is the last part and after this, no more wedding pictures okay....

The final product... Nice huh.... love it very much!!
(Don't like my pic on that cover though... I look fat...eurgh)

Album part 1

Obviously I have no idea what to write.... therefore I keep posting the album pictures...hehe

Album part 0

Finally.... my album preview.... lame kena tunggu.... biasanye, hidup kena bersabar kan....

Just a rambling of bride-to-be

Yea... today is my 1st day of wedding leave. Seronoknya. Was vacuuming my room suddenly I remember I need to burn wedding songs cd. I need to hear first all the song and make sure that all the song is suitable for wedding. I don't want song like Avril Lavinge's Girlfriend end up playing at my wedding. So not suitable okay. And I don't want people saying stuff like 'oh this is not a wedding song'. I know people said that coz I always say that in weddings. Haha..

The lilies starting to bloom. I forgot to place them somewhere cool and left them in my room instead. Just realize it last night and immediately they placed in the toilet. According to the florist, the lilies need to bloom at lest 4-6 days. So you need to buy them early. I bought my flowers at this one flower wholesaler at Bandar Menjalara. We find a good deal as they sold 2 dozens of roses for RM14-16 only. Thay have this one big fridge that placed all the flowers. There are so many types of flower. I was impressed. The rest of flower will arrive tomorrow... Later I will list down all the shops that recommended that I've found.

Ok, better continue vacuuming my room back before supermom datang mengamuk.

Unrest thoughts

I stumbled upon a blog last night that keep me thinking the whole day today. At first I was impressed by this guy achievement in his career which he described in the blog (plus there’s a link to his resume). As I read through, I discovered that he was having affair behind his wife back. He even post his ‘girlfriend’ picture with different pose and comments.

Well, this is not a shocker to me. Growing up in the family where men ratio is bigger than women, I’m used to hear about this stuff. I was even involved in this situation when an uncle of mine brought me along to spy on my another uncle second wife. At that time I was a naïve little girl but big enough to remember the details. These few years, Raya had been different when second wife topic is a taboo when two of my uncles actually took a second wife each. My grandma was sick for more than a week after hearing that news. She has specifically told her every son that whoever who wish to have second wife must wait till she died. She said as long as she live she doesn’t stuff like this happen. Not to mention in office where mostly married men were the ones that most gatal.

So who can blame woman when they refuse to get married. Unmarried women are on the rise. They are successful and single. They choose career over marriage. What they choose has sparked fury from men. Men said that they are choosy, fussy and tak ikut sunnah Rasul la. But who can blame them when men themselves who create this unfaithfulness condition.

Okay, this is seems paradox for someone who’s going to get married in 4 days. Even though the reality is this, but I still believe in marriage. I believe if we BOTH work hard enough to sustain our relationship, we will be the happiest couple till end of our life despite all the hardness in the world. But if one failed, this matrimony will collapse easily. Yes, I’ve learned that and so did him. We are not the saint couple. We have our highs and lows in our relationship. We’ve been hurt from each other but we recovered and we learned from our mistake.

Not all marriage must end up with an affair or second wife or divorce. There are many more that are still deeply in love after 50 years of together. In fact I think there are many couple like this in the world but never been highlighted. I understand that being a Malay people always don’t like that kind of stuff. They think it’s mengada-ngada la, geli la etc. But when cases like divorces, affairs and stuff like that, they will follow throughout. Maybe we should changes this mindset. Then, without we realize it, we will follow the happiness and adopt it our life.

Easy said than done but hard work will be paid though. Let’s pray happiness to all mankind.

All you need is a Supermom

Who needs wedding planner if you have a supermom? Supermom has the ability to organize a beautiful wedding to her daughter within the tight budget. Instead of pay people to do it, she does it all with help from other members of the family. What interesting about her that she managed to convince everybody why they have to help even thought that’s not their wedding.

Supermom is come is many types and sizes. I am glad to have one. She is tough, restless, creative and patient. She knows what best for her daughter and yet know how to implement that with the sometimes-weird-and-crazy taste of her daughter whiningly wants.

Last week was without doubt that the most tiring week even though it’s my holiday. Everyday was filled with different task for the wedding. From choosing flower in freezing huge cabin-size refrigerator, painting house and my room, sending invitation cards to relatives (plus eating at each house), dismantle and assemble back together a cabinet, to joining the last minute shopping crowd, I have done it all. From morning to night, my supermom has a tight schedule for me (and others). Lastly, I asked for a day off on Christmas day. Of course my supermom would approved my application but does she stops working when I’m stop? No… She maintained her cleaning & decorating momentum even though I’ve stop long before.

This weekend is going to be a surprise schedule. I still didn’t know what I have to do yet as all the important stuff has been done. Wah, nak balik rumah pun rasa takut. I can’t imagine in another 2 weeks, the pressure will be bigger and oh God, let’s not talk about it okay.

Oh, did I mention that my supermom did herself every single bunga telur for the guests and extra special bunga paha? That’s roughly around 250 pieces and another 450 gold bunga telur for the kenduri mid next year. Previously during my brother’s wedding, she managed to do almost 1000 pieces of that. Seriously, she ought to open a shop someday. Haha..

Getting married is so tiresome. But I can’t complain, can I. Coz I want it. So I take this opportunity to be closer to my mom, having that mother-daughter moment that I missed out before and going to miss after I get married.

Thank you mak. You are my supermom. I don’t know what happen to me if I don’t have you. You are the best mother ever.

The Wedding Invitation

When you are planning for something, time flies so fast. Before you realize, you event is coming closer than you think. Although you are excited about the event, you also need to rush for everything single thing that need to be taken care of. Seriously banyak benda okay...

The one thing that need to have during a wedding is invitation cards. I don't know if people have invitation card for akad nikah, but I have. I think it's quite important since open house pun ada invitation card, ni kan pulak your own wedding. In a wedding, akad nikah is the main part while reception is the second part of it. I mean akad nikah la when you are officially married.

My idea of perfect akad nikah invitation card would be just a piece of card, something like a postcard. Anything fancier than that considered too much for akad nikah. And for me, it shouldn't have map to my house. Because if you don't know how to come to my house, you are definitely not in the list of 'families, neighbours & very close friends'. So the purpose of the invitation card is to tell when is the event. Other than that, they should know about it already.

So I went hunting for my 'perfect' akad nikah invitation card. Apparently there are not many card that like a postcard kind of thing. Then I found this wedding card in Bangi that has the card of my criteria. But, (there's always has but) for 100 pieces or less, they quote me RM2.60 and if 500 pieces and above, they quote me RM1. WTH? And I don't think the card worth RM2.60. If RM1, yes la.

Then suddenly I have an idea (actually, it was that shop's idea. hehe). Why don't I make my own card? Since I love this paper craft thingie. I asked uncle google for idea and finally I discovered that if we print on vellum paper, we can save a lot of ink. Vellum paper is a thin paper that look like tracing paper. So when you print, you can set your printer to draft mode and faster printing mode (it will use less ink). Since it's thin paper, it takes longer time if you use normal mode, but if you change the mode, it will dry faster.

But I couldn't find vellum paper since the uncle google said that vellum paper can be found in Jalan Pasar or near that and I don't have time to go there, so I just bought tracing paper. It's cheaper and I think it works as good as vellum paper. (when I compare la).

Then I bought other materials to make my card & envelope. At the same time, Zainal helped me as my pemotong kertas and voila! my cards is finished (actually I got few cards to go). I make 100 of them and this is exclusively for those who are invited to my akad nikah. The best part of printing of your own wedding invitation is, you got to print for invitees name on the card, making it very personal. And you can choice your own font. Not like the usual font you always find on wedding invitations. Hehe...

Anyway, this is my card...

My precious akad nikah invitation

And this cutie envelope...

The best part of this, it costs around RM0.60 only per card!

So anybody wants to order from me? (this could be my part time business... hehe)