Still in love with you (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 5)

This blog post is a follow up from:
1) "Why so susah wan?! (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 1)" 
2) "The Video... (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 2), and
3) What we didn’t tell our guests (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 3)
4) A Walk Down The Aisle (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 4)

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“I think I must be dreaming that you are here with me
Must have died and gone to heaven and it’s all that I hoped it would be
When the eagles forget how to fly, when it’s twenty below in July
And when violets turn red and roses turn blue
I’ll be still in love with you”

— Brian Mcknight

If it was up to me, Brian, would’ve been singing it LIVE. It just so happened that we let our wedding budget decide, so I ended up walking down the aisle (or more like an entire flight of stairs) to a CD. *laugh*

As promised, here’s the video from that very special morning.  

Make sure you watch Part 1 before you watch this video ya! :-D This is Part 2 of our wedding video. More pictures from the #WeddingMonth in the following links: 1) http://www.hannahtan.com/journal/2014/02/why-so-susah-wan-keepcalmandsayido-part-1/ - Pictures from our Kelabit wedding dinner in Sarawak, Chinese Tea Ceremony in KL and "exciting" ROM at JPN.

Video Credits:
Director/Producer: Yee Wen
Video Crew: Ryan /Andrew / Francis / Tze Ken / Sandra / DG
Ayria Consulting
Forza Pictures

Music Credits:
Still In Love With You by Brian Mcknight (iTunes)
Love Will Be Enough for Us by Joe Moralez (theMusicBed.com)
Marry Me by Jason Derulo (iTunes)

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READ NEXT: DIARY OF A WIFE

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A Walk Down The Aisle (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 4)

This blog post is a follow up from:
1) "Why so susah wan?! (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 1)
2) "The Video... (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 2), and
3) What we didn’t tell our guests (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 3)

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Hey guys! Hope you had a good week so far, in spite of the haze.

Continuing with the #keepcalmandsayido series, you would’ve already known by now:

1) What we susah people actually subjected ourselves to during the #weddingmonth (by choice, so unfortunately we can’t blame anyone ) Click to read more...

2) How #babybaby and I “fell in love”; and how he proposed (hope you had a good laugh with our dumb down version of the video reenactment) Click to view video...

3) The things we DIDN’T tell our wedding guests…(not to mention how much $$$ we saved by DIY-ing the little things that made the difference) Click to read more...

Sorry. Side track a bit – If you’ve emailed me from the previous blog post requesting for my wedding planning/budget templates, you should’ve gotten a personal reply from Moi with an attachment of the files; but if for some reason it didn’t reach you, please let me know in the comment box below ya!! Mwah mwah!!

Ok, back to this.

So yeah, I didn’t wear a Vera Wang, yet I still felt like the most special girl in the world because the man I love thought I was worth the commitment of a lifetime.

Out of all the 4 events we had, I'll admit that the last one at the church was the most emotional one for me. I don’t remember crying so much in public. So embarrassing.

Unfortunately for me, our very efficient videographers caught every embarrassing detail, so you’ll have the joy of seeing the red-nosed version of this Panda in next week’s video. Lol

For now, here are the pictures from the actual day, from my hair and makeup with Joey Lau just before 6am (thank you Joey for waking up at such an ungodly time for me!)… 

…to the quest of “getting Hannah into that impossible dress”; spearheaded by my mummy-in-law and aunty-in-law (please excuse my English lol), assisted by Joey and mum. The 2 superwomen probably grew instant biceps from the exercise of holding up that dress and trying to lace me up. Mafan but totally necessary. What to do? Lol

BTW, thank you Suzanna for the veil, and thank you Aunty Kelene for fixing my dress and bedazzling Suzanna’s masterpiece for me. Loved the bling!!

Point to note for all future Brides: If you’re going to wear a dress like mine for your wedding, you’ll want to make sure you have strong bladder control.

Meantime, at the church, our helpful family members Christian, Joel, Ru and Nancy had their smiles on to orientate our very punctual guests upon arrival.

I was told that my Japanese family, including Akiko Mama and lil’ brother Tomoki were the first to arrive. Early and before time somemore. I call this the "Japanese timing", from which we Malaysians have a lot to learn.  Tabik [Respect]. 

Everything was going well and according to schedule that morning (or so I believe) until the team discovered that some of the most important people to the wedding (including the father-of-the-groom and our 2 opening emcees) were stuck in a plane that could not “park” according to schedule. I’m not sure if those were the exact details but that was what I was told; apart from the standard “don’t worry”. Yes, I understood at that time that nobody wanted the bride to have an anxiety attack. 

Dunno whether to blame the airlines or the airport , but really kesian the people in the plane and also kesian the guests at the church who had to wait.The entire family felt so bad, and I felt even worse for not having a contingency plan to keep our poor guests entertained during the wait. 

[p/s: Perhaps something for you to keep in mind when expecting out-of-town family members at your wedding.]

Anyway, we thank God for such patient and understanding guests who made all the difference, especially since they had every right to get upset about the delay.

Thank you David Oh for keeping our guests updated in the hall during the wait. 

Thankfully, once the event started with Su Yen and Su Lin’s opening, everything else just fell into place…

We rolled this video...

...following which, Dad walked me down the back of the auditorium (which was no easy task in that poofy dress and tall-shoes).

Reverend Kevin – our spiritual father, mentor and friend – graciously committed his entire morning to us and undertook the ceremony in spite of his hectic travel schedule. I'll save the details of the ceremony for next week's video post. :-D

Before we knew it, the BIG day was over... 

...and it was time to toss the bouquet. Guess who caught it?!!! 

1pm. A sigh of relief, as that meant I could finally drink something and stop worrying about bladder control.

Our eventful morning concluded very efficiently, thanks to my Superwoman Jamie, Wonderwomen sisters Gloria and Victoria, Superman Joel Liew, my very gracious mummy-in-law and aunty-in-law, Mui Lin and the brilliant team.

Thank you Cayman and Li-Hsia for coordinating the busy weekend with Mui Lin and assisting Jamie, Gloria, Victoria and Joel in the setup the night before; thank you Sean Teh, Charis Tan, Vincent Kusuma, Wilson Lee, Cheryl Lee, Edmund Lee, Desmond Ng, Anna Leong, Min Yang, Chee Heng, Yuan Yuan, Ed Jane, Johnny Ng and Sabrina Chin for looking after our family and friends throughout the entire morning (not forgetting the venue setup and staying up so late the night before).

Terry and Wei Shen, thank you for sweating for us and managing our traffic flow in the unbearable Malaysian heat.

Thank you Adrian, Angelica, Emloyd, Jacob, Sharon Boon, Tressila, Johnston, Yin Har and Eleazar Ting for leading us in Praise and Worship; and thank you Zia Hao, Kim, Kelvin Lo, and Kelvin Su for making sure our ears were not abused haha. You guys did a brilliant job with the sound!

Thank you Brian Tan and Michael Tong for looking after the lights; and thank you Yee Wen, Ryan Tay, Lee Peng, Grace Khor, Francis, Tze Ken, Andrew Lee, Vernard, Sandra Boon and Dsir Shooter for the making the magic and doing such a brilliant job with the TV/media and cameras. Gordon Lee, Nelson Tan and Thomas Lee – you gentlemen made all the difference by managing all the corresponding facilities that weekend, thank you so very much.

Next week – pictures with our guests, the video that made me cry over and over again and the colour of my wedding shoes (which were not white BTW).

Love you!

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All photos (unless otherwise stated) by Cornelius Lim

Design/Concept/Direction of all “A Walk Down The Aisle” materials (invites, wedding favours, stickers, food toppers, guest photo printout template, button badges, etc) by Joey & Regine Khor. 

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The Video (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 2)

[This blog post is a follow up from "Why so susah wan?! (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 1)"]

So now you know that we had 4 events over 4 weekends just to commemorate 1 occasion.  Yes we are very susah people. Lol 

You’ve also seen the pictures from our Kelabit dinner event in Sarawak, our Chinese Tea Ceremony in KL and the oh-so-romantic ROM at JPN. Hehe. 

How did you and #babybaby meet?
How did you get to know each other?
How did he propose?
And why #babybaby? What’s the significance?
Etc, etc, etc.

#babybaby - the nickname (which FYI, applies to both Bryan and I) was inspired by Amy Grant's song "Baby Baby". I shall answer the rest of your common questions in this video, but if I may suggest, do leave your brains behind before you go ahead and press PLAY >

As a continuation to Part 1 of my wedding blog series (http://www.hannahtan.com/journal/2014/02/why-so-susah-wan-keepcalmandsayido-part-1/), here's the video produced by the brilliant team at Core Studios. :-) p/s: Leave your brains behind and enjoy the video! Hehe.

PRODUCED BY Core Studios

Director: Ho Ming Han
Director of Photography: Raffi Th'ng
Editor: Bryan Lim
Audio file(s) provided by http://www.audiomicro.com

http://www.youtube.com/dmingthing
https://www.facebook.com/themingthingTV
http://thecorestudios.com

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Why so susah wan?! (#keepcalmandsayido – Part 1)

4 events, 4 weekends, 1 occasion.

I’m now a Mrs. Lee; and now you know why I keep calling it a #weddingmonth. Lol

If you know me well enough, you’ll know that I’m one of the most unlikely candidates for marriage to a human being.  My mum, out of all people, actually confessed during my engagement, that she thought I was going to stay married to my work and my laptop for the rest of my busy existence. Such a joker you are, mum. Lol

Aaaaanyway, I’m here, so I suppose that’s a testament to the fact that:

1)    There is a God

2)    Miracles do happen

Lol. So why 4 events just to commemorate 1 occasion?

Here’s the thing. Our initial plan was to keep it really simple and just elope. Or at most, have a small ceremony with our immediate family outside of Malaysia. That way, it would save us the headache, the hassle and to a certain extent, the heartache of cost on a lot of unnecessary things.

Nevertheless, things don’t always turn out as planned, and for us, that was exactly the case. On top of that, we didn’t end up with just 1 “wedding” but 4. Talk about unexpected. Lol

However, I must say that although it was a very “insightful” and, shall I say “character-building” process, #babybaby and I have no regrets. Well, not for me at least. 

I’m not saying that I recommend having more than 1 event to celebrate the fact that you’re getting married (unless you’re looking for every excuse to go bald), but if you and your fiancé come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, having something of traditional value to mark this once-in-a-lifetime affair can carry a lot of significance (not to mention priceless memories) in your decades of marriage ahead.

My mum is a Kelabit (they were named as one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities by World Teleport Association, Dr. Roger Harris, 2007) and my dad is Chinese.

On the other hand, my #babybaby’s dad is Chinese while his mum is part Peranakan, Part Eurasian.

Because of the geographical circumstances – mum and most of her immediate family members live in Sarawak while dad and #babybaby’s family are predominantly in West Malaysia – we decided to have a Kelabit dinner in Kuching…

…and the Chinese Tea Ceremony in KL.

Of course there was also the church ceremony to observe our combined religious practice with closer friends, relatives and associates (more pictures in the coming blog posts). 

So that makes 3.

Granting the fact that it was the first to take place, event #4 was the ROM with our immediate families (although my youngest sister in New Zealand wasn’t able to join us).

I must say that JPN isn’t the most romantic place to exchange vows, but having a fun family with a good sense of humour made all the difference. We definitely had our share of amusement and laughter.

It is said that the attention span of a goldfish is so short that every trip around the aquarium is a whole new experience. That would be me. Lol

But then later, I also learned that the average attention span of an adult is about the same as a goldfish, if not shorter;

so assuming you have better things to do than read my blog for another half hour or so, I’m going to break this wedding blog post into 3 more posts over the next few weeks. *grin*

A lot of you have asked the same questions over and over again,

How did you and #babybaby meet?

How did you get to know each other?

How did he propose?

And why #babybaby? What’s the significance?

Etc, etc, etc.

So to answer your questions, we’ve recorded a short video (with the help of Ming, Bryan and Raffi of Core Studios; and a few other very important people hehe) to reenact the key series of events that happened, leading up to the wedding day.

Will upload it at 9am tomorrow (GMT+8) so till then, have a fantabulous day at work/school! Love you la. Mwah! Big hugs.

Photo credits:

• Kelabit Dinner: Edwin Lay
• Chinese Tea Ceremony: Timo Plattner
• Church Wedding Ceremony: Cornelius Lim
• ROM at JPN: Vincent Cheng
• Video Behind-the-scenes: Bryan Lim

A New Chapter (Part 2)

Since my last post on Part 1 of this “New Chapter”, I received quite a number of messages from long lost friends and former colleagues which read along the lines of “…I can’t believe you’re actually getting married!”

What’s that supposed to mean?! Lol

*smirk* I guess mum wasn’t the only one who thought I was going to stay faithful to my first love – my computer/work – for the rest of my busy existence. Either that or it just insinuates ineligibility. Lol

Oh and BTW, #babybaby did read my blog post and I must say…I don’t think he was very pleased about the comment I made about him being… I quote:

“…camera shy – meaning he’s only shy with the camera and nothing else. *laugh*”

*sheepish-grin*

Aaaaaanyway.

Sure, we have our differences. We have a different opinion on a lot of things. We have different taste in things (lately and more apparently as I discovered - in home deco and interior design *hand-on-forehead*). Believe me, we are having a hallelujah time deciding on the style/furniture of our first home together, but that’s another story. It’s an interesting journey alright – this marriage thing. Nevertheless, I cherish every moment of it, and believe me, having a wonderful mentor to guide us through this oh-so-interesting journey makes all the difference.

We’re currently undergoing a pre-marital counselling course with our Pastor – Rev. Kevin Loo – and I must say that we couldn’t have asked for a better counsellor/mentor. It’s been such an eye-opener and I’d love to share more about the funny yet practical things we picked up from our sessions with him, if he gives me his permission of course. All that in another blog post, but in the meantime, back to this.

So #babybaby and I have our differences, but at the same time, we also share some similarities:

1) We are boring people.

Or should I just speak for myself (otherwise, kena marah again). *laugh* Boring – perhaps I should re-define that for better understanding.

bor·ing (bôr ng, b r -)
adj.
Doesn’t like to go out, doesn’t like to party, shy of crowds, loves to stay home and be anti-
social; not the biggest fan of fine dining, doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke.

2) We are gluttons.

Okay. I’m the glutton. Lol

glut·ton (gl t n)
n.
Foodie; gets hungry every 2 to 3 hours; wakes up hungry, and doesn’t stop eating until it’s
time to sleep

3) We are techies.

Or more like #babybaby’s a techie, I’m just a regular gadget enthusiast. :-D I may be a Computer Science grad but that doesn’t make me a geek. Lol

tech•ie or tek•kie (ˈtɛk i)
n. Informal.
Fascinated by all things digital, especially relating to music, mobile/communications,
audio/visual…and now, home improvement. lol

Obviously those are not the only reasons why I love #babybaby. I love #babybaby for a lot of reasons (he’s the absolute best!) but since we’re not each other’s clone, it sure does help that we agree on some things. Haha.

Picture credits: Photography by David Bacher, Outfit/Styling by Kristie Nichol Lee and Datin Kessy Theseira, Hair and Makeup by the #HTlook Paris team

A New Chapter (Part 1)

Blogging is something which is still relatively new to me. If you knew me in person, you would know that I’m not the best when it comes to articulating my thoughts and feelings – and when I do (especially when I’m upset *laugh*), it usually doesn’t come out right.

So over the years and especially in my past relationships, I’ve learnt to…how should I put it…well, basically just shut up until I can find the right words to articulate my sentiments and thoughts. Yeah. Lol

You know how they say that with everything you do, having a reference or source of inspiration helps? Well, I have to be honest with you, that because of my work schedule (which I’m trying to change for the betterment of my health and well-being this year *laugh*), leisurely surfing the net for anything other than work comes across as quite a treat. The same way sitting in front of the TV is, to me. Yeah, pathetic, I know. I don’t deny that I’m a boring person, but that’s another story. *laugh*

So you can imagine – I barely had enough time to sleep over the past decade (most of you would know that I used to average about 4 hours of sleep daily) let alone indulge in the more recreational things in life – watch movies, follow a TV series, “yum-cha”, go shopping, play candy crush, maintain a life on Facebook/Twitter, etc. Heck, I used to kena kutuk by my girlfriends for not knowing what the TV series “Sex In The City” was all about. Never watched an episode of it, nor have I seen the movie. I actually thought it was some kind of porn when I first heard the title.

Ok, back to blogging. So I don’t have time to follow a lot of recreational blogs (wait is 3 blogs a lot? Haha), but the ones I do have indeed inspired me to keep this journal alive. See, while the pro-bloggers seem to have so much to share and say, here I am cracking my head on what to write next. Noob. *laugh* So seriously, where do I start?

*zone-out-for-10mins*

Lol

Perhaps, allow me to start from the very beginning…of this new chapter in my life. *insert-blog-title*

2013 is a year that has a lot of significance to me. So far, it’s been semi-retirement (sure, this is relative to my previous work schedule :-D), 6-8 hours of daily sleep, a healthier lifestyle, a proper vacation and most importantly for me – a new chapter in life *big-smile*.

So, what’s this new chapter all about, you ask.

You probably noticed since I started blogging in 2009, that I never talked about my relationships, or anything personal for that matter. I'm a very private person, and I appreciate the fact that my readers/followers have always been very gracious and respectful towards that. #blessed. Thank you guys. *big-panda-hug*

Most of us have had the privilege of experiencing both good and bad relationships in the past, and while we progress in life and love, we also remain grateful to the people in the past (ex-boyfriends/girlfriends/partners/spouses, etc.) who have contributed to our character-building moments. They taught us to forgive and help us to value the people we have in our lives today.

Betrayal, infidelity, violence, a broken heart and all things unpleasant in a relationship – like you, I’ve had my fair share of painful doses in the past, and I’m glad I moved on to arrive at this chapter.

By now you should know that this new chapter involves a very special human being – which I refer very fondly to as #babybaby. I’m being very specific here, since you used to know my boyfriend as my faithful laptop/computer *laugh*.

So guys, I'd like like you to meet the love of my life, #babybaby. Hehe. He's camera-shy, meaning he's only shy with the camera and nothing else. *laugh* OMG, I'm so dead if he reads this post.

To be honest, I didn’t expect to arrive at this chapter in life so soon but then again, it’s all in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and I couldn’t have been more blessed. If I want to be a bit emo now, I can say that the song "ANGEL", which I wrote many years back (before I left for Japan), now has a face. *smile*

This year on May 6th, I put up a post saying:

“Amidst d divide in ‪#‎Malaysia‬ w ‪#‎GE13‬ &on a non-political note ‪#‎unity‬, my biz partner/bestfriend/eating buddy proposed& I said.."

Well, obviously I said yes. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. Lol

Marriage and starting a family. Overwhelming, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good type of overwhelming feeling because I am the luckiest girl alive. *big-smile* Mum always thought that I was going stay married to my work for the rest of my life but for once, she’s wrong. Mwahaha!

I will share the story of #babybaby’s thoughtful proposal in another post but for now, I’d just like to officially introduce you to the very special man in my life. We’re getting married next year (not sure when, not sure where, not sure how) and my only request to you as my online family (if I’m allowed one) is that you’ll accept and love him for who he is, just as you have done with the imperfect me. As always, I appreciate your unconditional love, prayers, support and encouragement – and now – your ideas for our wedding as we plan the big day.

Unlike the typical bride, I don’t know what sort of dress I want to wear, what theme/colours I want for my wedding, what style I want it in etc. – shame on me! – (thank God I know for sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with #babybaby though *laugh*) so I’d love to be able to be able share that very significant journey with you if you, if you’ll allow me to. *smile*

In the meantime, does anyone know a good wedding venue for an intimate reception in KL? :-D

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