Dad's Birthday Dinner

Last month, dad celebrated his birthday with his family at Imperial Garden in PJ. By right, he's 50 this year, but if calculated by the Lunar calendar, he's 51 this year. Hmm... Dad's age is really catching up. Sigh... am feeling guilty all over again...

That night, dad booked 4 tables in total for his family. Even the dishes he ordered were very different from the usual, and of course tasted really yummy! For some, I really don't know the name as they did not print out any menu for displayed. But really, the food here are absolutely tasty!

Thai Chili Sauce - Absolutely appetizing!

Appetizer - Which I can't recall what it is

Shark's Fin Soup ala Thai

Bean Sprouts - To go with the Shark's Fin Soup

Beijing Duck - Yummy!

King Prawn

Longevity Noodle - This is very delicious!

Braised Abalone - The abalone is very soft and appetizing

Dessert Mango Sago - Very savory!

Most of my cousins didn't come, but my aunts and uncles all came. Here's a picture of all of the. Total siblings my dad has - 9!

One family

This is my brother... My true blood brother. Our relationship has gotten a little better, which I hope it could improve... If only he's not so stubborn and egoist.

My brother & I

Myself with my dad, brother and sister

The birthday cake is dad's favourite - Durian cake. I actually love it! Yummy! OMG I'm craving for it again! Must remember to ask my dad where he bought it and hope they sell in a smaller piece.

My "extended" family

Happy Birthday DAD~~

Wedding music

For our dinner reception, we will have cocktail session starting at 6pm. Throughout the cocktail session, the club has provided us a pianist to fill the environment. Of course, it is all great and fancy, but the pianist is only available during the cocktail session. Once the dinner starts, then the pianist is gone.

So that leaves us with 3 choices, which are:

• Leave it to the club to play any music they have in-house - Can't risk this cos I won't know what music they will play.
• Engage the service of local band/group to perform - Too pricey... At least RM1.5K for a band with 2 people.
• Play our own music - Which is the choice we have decided on.

Now, my initial idea was to select at least 100 songs that I want to be played during the dinner, download it, and burn it. Obviously, this idea has been banned because it takes too much time and unnecessary effort.

We went to a couple of CDs shop and finally came upon the Rock Corner in Mid Valley last month. I was just browsing and was actually tired with the huge variety of CDs when the security guard (yes, a guard) came to me and asked me what was I looking for. He then rushed to a couple of different racks and brought me a couple of CDs, and surprisingly, are exactly what I wanted!

As I couldn't decide if I want to have songs aired or just instrumental, he suggested this CD to me, which is a combination of both! WOW! Talk about convenience and solving my dilemma! This set which has 5 CDs and costs RM54.90 is a mixture of oldies (mostly) and some new songs, and of course has both instrumental and lyrical.

100 Best Wedding Classics

I continued browsing and I got my eyes set on this - The 101 Colours of Love. It is by far, the closest selected songs that I would want for my dinner and nothing too cheesy (or at least kept to minimal). Total in this was 6 CDs, which costs RM49.90! What a deal! I really like this set!

101 Colours of Love

As I busied myself with wedding stuff (as usual), hubby busied himself with anything other than wedding related stuff (as usual too). He came to me and said he wants to get this as well. It was a collection of Jacky Cheung's CDs. This compilation which consists of 8 CDs included some of his well known and most memorable songs. Can't really recall the exact price for this but it should be at about RM90++. Hubby has been listening to it ever since and he loves it! LOL what an uncle!

Jacky Cheung's CD compilation

Another item that he bought was the original DVD of Avatar. This is one of his favourite movies, and he has a copy which is pirated, and obviously, is really fuzzy. Remember the part where the Navi were speaking in their local languages? Yeah the pirated DVD has no translation for this. I was in a shopping mood, so I don't mind him buying it.

Original Avatar

I guess hubby's on a shopping spree as well cos he got another DVD for himself - La Brasesiere. They were having promotion for the older movies and this DVD only costs RM12.90. Hubby wanted to watch it again cos he said it is a good movie, which I have to agree.

La Brasesiere

After purchasing, I realised that I won't be able to play both the compilations I got for my dinner. I'll prolly mix it up and pick the CDs that I like.

And I can lend it to anyone who wants to use it for any events. So, who wants it, lemme me know!

2nd wedding gown trial

My 2nd wedding gown trial was done last Sunday, 08.08.10. This is to select the gown for the actual wedding day.

And YES! I have finally made my selections! At first, my choices were:

• 1st gown - Champagne gown
• 2nd gown - Long tail gown
• 3rd gown - Green mermaid gown

But after I've left the place, I was still thinking if I've made the right choice. I'm skeptical because I didn't on the fence with my green gown choice. Then hubby suggested a set of gowns for me, which is:

• 1st gown - White ball gown
• 2nd gown - Long tail gown
• 3rd gown - Champagne color gown

After looking at the pictures hubby took, I've decided to go with his suggestion. So YAY! Done!

We've also collected our photo album, photo frame and all soft copy of our pictures in their original file. Also got the touched up pictures. The photo album was freaking heavy! Hubby weighed the album and it was 15kg!

Discussion was quite long at the studio because we need to arrange for the photographers and videographers to come to our place and what time. I have to give them the itinerary for both days of my wedding.

Crap! We just realised our package did not include flower bouquet and boutonniere, and also car deco for the wedding day. The studio mentioned that it will be RM200 for this, but before I can persuade her to give it to us FOC, she voluntarily gave it to me! I was so surprised! Very rarely bridal studios would do this. They will take any change possible to earn every cent from your pocket, but not this bridal studio! I totally recommend them!

I've picked my flower theme for my wedding. It will be PALE PINK GERBERA! I love daisies! Gerbera represents Innocence and Loyal Love. Every time I see daisies, it makes me smile and brings the whole sweet, warm, fuzzy feeling, which is what I want my home and marriage to feel like.

Pale Pink Gerbera

These few days have been busy with my picture project for heng dais and ji muis. I've just finished it yesterday and sent it for print today. We are very happy with the result and pass it to them by this Thursday/Friday. I hope they like it!

Leaving this post with a one of the evening dresses that I've tried. I like this and especially the details at the back, but hubby didn't. So I had to say no to it.

Blue evening gown

Still have so much to do! I have to salute the brides that DIY their stuff... Really... Hats off to them!

Busy Busy Busy

It's been very busy and hectic time for me since my birthday. Ever since the birthday celebrations are over, I've been busy with wedding preparations. Mostly busy with the guest list and writing the guests' name on the wedding invitation card.

Last Sunday, I went to this factory outlet in Kepong that sells Chinese wedding stuff. We got lots of house deco there like stickers etc. Then, drove to mum's and pass her the wedding cards and ask her to come up with the full guest list. On Monday, we had dinner with hubby's parents and pass the cards to them.

Sigh... Every time the topic on wedding comes up, argument is definitely to follow suit. It always is like this! With my mum, I have to get her to confirm the list and when she was doing it, she realised she didn't have enough seats for her guests! And she still hasn't gotten her dress. I told her to go with my sister but they can never do that. They have to have me with them... If not, they will quarrel.

Then, argument continued at mum-in-law's... Mostly on the guest list. The thing that is very difficult with relatives is to confirm the exact number of people attending. How many children are coming? And will their children come alone or with a plus 1? There's just too many vague numbers going on the guest list!

Why can't they just come up with the full list?! OMG stress!

Tonight, we are going for wine tasting at hubby's friend's pub in Jaya One. He can get us a "special" price on the red wine. So hopefully, we will be able to get the wine that we want and at a reasonable price.

And tomorrow is my 2nd gown trial at Eyeshot!!! YAY!! More gowns to try on.

I know I want 2 wedding gowns and 1 cheong sam.

• 1st wedding gown is for the tea ceremony - preferably a mermaid cut dress.
• 2nd wedding gown is for the dinner march in - preferably with a long tail
• 3rd gown - preferably a cheong sam but I'm too short to pull this off, and my neck is too short to wear this high-collared dress.

Hopefully I can get it and enjoy myself after a stressful week!

Birthday dinner @ Biba's Cafe, Mandarin Oriental

For my birthday dinner, hubby has decided to bring me to Mandarin Oriental Hotel for their buffet. It's not like we have heard or was informed that the buffet there is fabulous... He picked the place because it is some place new and we wouldn't have to travel far on a Friday evening.

Biba's Cafe @ Mandarin Oriental Hotel

I called in a favor to Amanda and asked her to help book us a place. They only start at 6.30pm, and when we arrived at 6.35pm, we were not their first customer! Yup, there was another table occupied already.

Deco @ Biba's Cafe

We settled down and got our sofa seat. Hubby ordered a bottle of red wine for us to celebrate the occasion. A Merlot Chile red wine - Just perfect!

Merlot red wine

Whenever we go for buffet, the waiters will just bring us to our seats and just leave us to it. But in MO, the waiters actually served us with bread as appetizers. Yes, there is a counter at the buffet table for us to grab ourselves, but they served it to us anyhow. Great service! And their bread is very fresh!

Bread

To start, we have the Lamb Soup. We only took a bit cos we have to save the space in our stomach for the rest of the food.

Lamb Soup

This section offers raw marinated food that the cook will grill for you. They have fishes, lamb, beef, prawn, vege etc. I like the Lamb Satay!

Grill food section

This is one of my favourites - Steamed Giant Pomfret. I love steamed fish, and this is absolutely yummy! Fish is fresh, and the chili dip is the perfect thing to go with.

Steamed Giant Pomfret

Some of their food from the Chinese food section:

Lamb, Fish & Dim Sum

The mini Red Bean Pau - delicious!

Red Bean Pau

Then, it's the Japanese food section. Check out their offerings of seafood. I didn't try this cos I don't think I can anymore.

Seafood

L-R: Katsu Chicken, Tempura

Very fresh raw food!

L-R: Sashimi, Fresh Oyster

They also have an Indian food section, which I didn't touch at all. Kinda regretted not trying this out though.

Indian food - Naan Bread

My first time seeing this in buffet - Middle Eastern. I tried their Kebab, which is just tasty!

L-R: Kebab, Middle Eastern Bread

Then, it's my favourite part - the DESSERTS! Yummy!

MO definitely has a huge selection of desserts! I don't normally pay any attention to desserts offered in buffets, but MO has proved that I should never neglect desserts!

These are only some of the desserts that I've taken picture of. I don't remember what they are are call, but do check these out. Their desserts are totally recommended! All of them that I've tasted are just delectable!


Hubby got this when we came back from his round at the desserts section - Marshmallow dipped in Chocolate. Very sinful! I tried it and it tasted utterly savory! The chocolate didn't taste like those cheap melted chocolate. I couldn't help myself and went over to the chocolate fountain to take some pictures, and also some more marshmallow LOL!


As we enjoyed our food, I felt a lil cold and was yearning for something warm. Hubby said he saw a coffee machine somewhere near the dessert section and when there to get me a latte. He returned in just a short while. Apparently, the waiter will serve the coffee to our table. Fancy!

Cup of latte

Just as we were chilling and relaxing, we saw the hotel's saxophonist walked passed our table and into the kitchen. We were quite puzzled but none of take too much attention to it.

Then suddenly, IT came! The sounds of a saxophone at a birthday song's melody. At first, I was wondering who else is celebrating birthday, and then it hit me! The song is for ME! The waiters were all with the saxophonist and they were singing birthday song to me! What a surprise! First time I have a saxophonist for my birthday!

MO's saxophonist and waiters

I got a cake on the house! Wee~~ It's not like I can eat it anymore, but hey! I'm very touched with the gesture! I looked at hubby and hubby said it's not him... He didn't arrange this. He is as shocked as I am. Then I know who arranged this. It must be AMANDA! I called her immediately and she said she did arranged for the staff to bring the cake for me, but she didn't know anything about any saxophonist! LOL Anyhow, I thank her very much! Such a sweet gesture!

Me and my birthday cake

This is the birthday cake courtesy of MO. It is a rather huge slice. Obviously, none of us can take it anymore. I can't even take a small piece. We could only stare at the cake LOL!

My birthday cake courtesy of MO

I guess the waiter must have noticed that we were really stuffed, so he offered to keep the cake in the fridge and have it packed so that we can take it home with us. What a professional person! My, MO's staff's professionalism is without a doubt, the bestest best so far!

Packed birthday cake

So happy with all my birthday celebrations this year! Really really good surprises that I really treasure and am so touched with!

Us @ Biba's Cafe, MO

As we were leaving the cafe, the waiter gave us a piece of chocolate each. Although I really can't fit it anything else in my stomach, I really can't resist this beautiful chocolate. Took it and it was just sinfully delicious! Yummy! Hmm if only I can have more LOL!

Chocolate

Luv the surprise, and the service level by MO staff is more than satisfactory! I really don't mind coming back here. One thing they could improve on is their variety and amount of their food. Then, it will be the best buffet place!