Couple weeks back, K & I went to a street festival celebrating Thai New Year. mmm.. looking forward to Thai food.


First thing we saw, actors glammed-up for a play.


Stores selling bags and accessories. The umbrella is a smart idea. It was a super hot 30+ degrees with no shelter. Good thing we applied sun block on our faces before stepping out the house.



If you are worried that the sun exposure is giving you wrinkles, no worries! Wrinkle Iron to the rescue!


Hee, this guy seems to be enjoying the pampering.


Tired from walking? Get a soothing massage.


If you are feeling lucky, have a go at lottery. You just might win a car.

Oh my.. look at the pouf and oversized rhinestone sunglasses on the TV host!


Ccool way to beat the heat! I love her mohawk, cheery yellow dress and orange wedges!


Time to grab lunch! Uh oh, look at the queue. All the stalls had snaking lines like this.


Watch the fierce Muay Thai fighters,
while sharing Pad Thai,
Spicy stuff to sizzling match


Traditional Thai dance


This spontaneous couple were twirling to the music. With matching outfits somemore.


Beauty pageant. She was my favourite contestant.


Free beer on hot days draw the crowds. We didn't want to stand in line to get a coupon, then line up again to get a beer.


So we pop into a little shop beside the beer tents for some respite from the heat.


And order a freshly made banana smoothie and Thai Ice Tea. aaaah... sooo good.


I must have my dessert after every meal. Who can resist home-made sticky rice with mango? :)


The stall next door was selling Thai-style meatballs and Thai sausages which looks exactly like Taiwan sausages. But it's not as sweet and definitely more greasy than the Taiwanese stuff which I prefer.


How does hotdog and Thai food gel? Well, this store used to be a hotdog stand. When the current Thai owners took over it, lease stipulations forbid the removal of the giant hotdog.

Now, it's a fascinating attraction for curious tourists.


Art Deco clutch from Nine West



Somehow over our nightly phone conversations, K sensed that I was feeling low. So he came home last week with a surprise. It's the Marc Jacobs case that I blogged about!! *squeals* So K does read my blog. Brownie points to him! *feeling loved*



My jewellery thanks him too. Now they don't need to squeeze together in a tiny travel bag.
We have been busy. Weekends gone from scouting potential wedding locations. So far every place we have seen is compared to location #2. That's when we realised THIS IS THE ONE!

Place #2 is the Los Angeles Fine Arts Building. It's seriously one of a kind. A designated historic-cultural monument, the Romanesque revival arhictecture dates back to 1927. Originally envisioned as an artist cluster with workshops, studios and an exhibition hall, the building was sold upon completion instead due to the Depression.


View standing in the ornate lobby of coloured tiles and terra cotta


View from mezzanine level of lobby


Fantasy figures on the arches of the mezzanine level

View from the entrance


Elevators where the bride and groom makes a grand entrance

******

This bridal salon near our place was having a sample sale so we went to check it out, thinking there can't be any decent gowns at a sale. But to our surprise, we ended up paying for one.

My criteria was pretty simple: mermaid-style, ivory and <$1500. The salesgirl and I picked out 5 to try on. These are the 2 I like best.

Choice One
Presenting *drum rolls* ... the Grace Kelly gown! Classic and classy, this is Kelly's idea of the perfect dress. But I always want something a little more drama for my wedding. After all, this is only once in a lifetime. Plus the salon only had size 6 which means I need to pay couple hundred more for alteration.

Second Choice

Presenting *drum rolls* ... the Mermaid gown! It has all these ruffles at the bottom that reminds me of seafoam so when I stepped onto the platform to look in the mirror, I felt like a mermaid preening on a rock. When I put it on, I immediately knew this was what I was looking for. The good thing about this dress is that it's a 2008 design so they can order it in my size.

I know Kelly likes Dress #1 so I turned to the salesgirl for advice and she chose Dress #1. In desperation, I called my friend and described the dresses to her. She also prefers Dress #1. Sigh.. why doesn't anyone like Dress #2? The only problem for me is that I can't visualise Dress #2 in the location we have picked out. Since the reception and ceremony are in the same place, almost all our pics are gonna be taken there. So the dress must look the part.



There is a third choice of course. Which is to check out another salon. I dunno what possessed me not to do so. Anyway, the 'damage' is done but I keep wondering if I made the right choice.

Which gown would you have picked?

(Update: I ended up with Dress#1. )

Kelly's friend, Nik, was moving to Thailand so she hosted a farewell party at The Hollywood Canteen.

A club that spins pop! I likey.

Girl-of-the-moment in a hot red dress with her boyfriend

who I think looks A LOT like Vincent Van Gogh.

Group shot. Oh, see that thing behind us? It's a REAL trailer bus that the club converted into a chillout room.

As usual, after clubbing I always want some warm comfort food which would be roti prata and teh bing if I can choose. Of course there is no roti prata nor bak kut teh. So my options are ang moh-style breakfast like ham, sausage, eggs and pancakes or 24 hours Korean food.

my first time having Korean food for supper. i think it's a great idea. Everyone too. The place is pa-c-ked.

Look at our spread! We only ordered 2 tofu casseroles but it comes with a whole lot of Korean-style appetisers eg. fried fish, kimchi, pickled radish, hard boiled eggs and potato salad. Our casseroles also came with 2 bowls of rice and 2 bowls of soup. Eat until peng.

Ajuma scooping rice for us.

If you are feeling extra healthy, there's ORGANIC vegetable.


Name of a building we saw on the way home.


Babes, i need some ideas on what to give wedding dinner guests. Of course, I do hope to give something unique but that's not very possible I know. What do you think of 2 Chinese wedding cakes in a small bamboo steamer? Share your wedding gift ideas?




Source

this restaurant started it all.


i discovered Daikokuya on my trip last year. their tonkotsu ramen is the perfect antidote for a cold spring day or a chilling night. you know that scene in Ratatouille movie where the food critic took a bite of ratatouille and was immediately star struck? this happened to me when i had my first taste of the ramen. the broth is warm, rich and fragrant with sesame and the thin slices of berkshire pork just melts in your mouth. the hard boiled egg is soaked in a special sauce overnight. i like to break it and mix the crumbly yolk into the soup. mmm...

of course i HAD to introduce kelly to Daikokuya. he was hooked from his first bite. a lot of other people are as well and the wait is at least 1 hour long. we have resorted to coming here at 10pm cos the line is 30mins shorter. if we are really really desperate, we go at midnight where we can get in 15mins later. AND we do the midnight run a lot.

this place started our ramen craze. we found a top 10 ramen restaurant list and are steadily narrowing the list. most of them have a long wait too so by the time we get in and have our food plonked in front of us, we are too busy wolfing down the ramen to take pictures. as you can see, i don't have a pic of Daikokuya ramen too despite all the times we have been there.

Can you believe it?!? There is a website devoted to Ramen Haiku!
Quoted -
eating ramen now
mouthwatering thin noodles
slurping very loud
by Amako

found in my neighbour's yard. why not right? I love Christmas. Everybody loves Christmas. It should be all year round.