The next big celebration would be the addition of new family members - yes KIDS! While some couples are opting to have pets rather than kids, i guess at a certain stage, many women will have the desire to not just be a wife, but as a mother too…

While some couples are eager to have a football team size of kids, most are just satisfied with one or two. For me, one or two is great, and most importantly to be able to raise happy, and healthy children.

The journey has been mesmerizing and despite the number of years being together, we still find some time to “argue” just like newly weds haha. No matter what disagreements or misunderstandings, we have managed to stick together despite new challenges.

I compared the price between Tiffany & Co Store at Pavillion KL and Hong Kong store, but in KL , the salesperson did not seem to be interested to serve me (since i was dressed in my fun clothes) and they didn’t have the carat size i needed, plus they had to order all the way from US for it. Therefore, we decided to buy it from Tiffany Hong Kong store.

Here’s me just outside the Tiffany store at Elements Mall Hong Kong after picking up my Tiffany blue bag…

I’ve always wanted a Tiffany Diamond ring so that Harrace’s gift to me for 2010 wedding anniversary and i’ll need to be ultra careful to make sure i do not misplace this as i’ve even experienced throwing a diamond ring into the dustbin once, by accident of course.

The Tiffany diamond ring has a nice sparkle to it, don’t you agree?

Even though on the specific day, we had to be apart in 2 different countries, we were able to stay connected using video call on Skype and phone calls.

I was browsing online and realised that each year, there are some recommended annual wedding anniversary gifts
1st Wedding Anniversary
Traditional Gifts: Paper
Modern Gifts: Clocks

2nd Wedding Anniversary
Traditional Gifts: Cotton
Modern Gifts: China

3rd Wedding Anniversary
Traditional Gifts: Leather
Modern Gifts: Crystal

What have you bought for your loved one?

For us, we had a similar themed gift - HERMES !

Harrace received a Hermes men’s watch (silver colour with H logos on the strap) while i got a Hermes bag in white (ladies Hermes sling bag). Excited? Yes of course.
- as some of you might know how shopaholic i can get, so i ended with additional wedding anniversary jewelries of 1 pair of Chanel earrings, 1 Chanel necklace, 1 Tiffany ring (whale fish silver design range), and 1 pair of Dior clip on earrings with padlocks & keys.

How i wish each day was an anniversary day….!

If your loved one is away from you now, send them a Skype message today!

We arrived on Christmas eve, Dec 24 early morning (we left on Cathay Pacific flight 1am on Dec 24 from Hong Kong). However, we made a mistake and thought that we will arrive on Dec 25… therefore our hotel for London was only booked starting from Dec 25. We are well known for last minute arrangements and yes, the London hotel reservation was also done via online london hotel website just a night before we left London…. Luckily upon arrival, we directly went to our booked hotel near Paddington Station, and they managed to allow us to extend our stay and offered us a good rate for this walk in hotel booking.

From the Heathrow airport in London, you can easily take a train to Paddington Station (a choice of either Gatwick Express about 16 pounds per person or Gatwick Connect about 6.90 pounds per person). We tried with the the Gatwick Connect and upon arrival at the Paddington Station, we just walked over to our hotel called the Shaftesbury Paddington Hotel, located along Westbourne Street. The way was only 10 minutes and very convenient. The rooms in this hotel is brand new but very small compared to what we had expected. The good thing about staying here is that the internet connection is Free…

From Santa going online for Christmas

Looks like Santa Claus is also using the Internet!

After having a simple breakfast of bagels at a cafe around our hotel (plenty of choices just in front of Paddington Station), we headed back to the hotel for a good sleep as we were not sleeping in the 12 hour flight from Hong Kong to London. After our nap, we took the Tube ( underground ) from the Paddington tube station to Oxford Circus station. This costs 4 pounds each and it was only a few stations away.

From Fione spends Christmas Eve in London

Upon arrival at Oxford Street, we walked around and the streets were filled with last minute Christmas bargain hunters. We also could not resist and ended up buying “some” items of course (check out the slide photos to see what we purchased).

As it was Christmas eve, most stores will close by about 5pm.

Christmas eve was a romantic candle light dinner with 3 course dinner consisting of :-
Appertisers / Starter : * sushi platter, grilled octopus,
- Harrace ordered extra oysters too

Main courses of : * barbecue ribs and barbecued prawns with potatoes (really small round ones the size of baby tomatoes)

Dessert : Creme Brulee

From Christmas eve dinner at London Oxford Street

We also had a glass of wine each (red wine for him, white wine for me). After a sumptuous Christmas eve dinner, we headed back on the underground to our hotel and managed to take photos of the items we purchased. Jetlag and the cool weather ensured we feel asleep really fast on our first night in London.

I actually found the Taiwan bridal photography to be more special, compared to my Hong Kong wedding photography done with a Hong Kong bridal house. Recently, i’ve just reconnected with a good friend of mine, Steven from Taiwan, whom i have known from over 5 years now. He just announced to me 1 month ago that he was settling down with his long term sweetheart, and will have their wedding in Taiwan in November.

Just last week, they had their wedding and his bride was very creative by putting pre-wedding photos on online sites. Those photos allowed me to see their tea ceremony and the lavish exchange of gift items between the 2 families, as well as their Taiwan bridal pictures. Even though they did not have an official wedding website, or a marriage blog, it was still fun and helpful to post the photos online like what they did, as your friends could then view the wedding photos and reception videos oline, no matter where they are.

Check out this cute slide show of their wedding photographs taken in Taiwan

http://www.slide.com/r/I8GIZCYt5j8jkxmS7B321u4xSRRSQ_qc?

- yes, the in studio bridal shoots and i find the most interesting outdoor photo was the beach wedding photos, where the bridal studio even arranged for a white PIANO at the seaside photo shoot!

When i asked him about the wedding slides and bridal photos, Steven immediately told me that, actually it was all his wife’s hard work and he had her to thank, for coming up with the awesome slides. Maybe it’s just in the nature of us, as women, to be more creative in our wedding plans!

Now, i’m just looking forward to meet his wife in person!

To get a great luxury honeymoon to Japan or a Tokyo trip on a budget, both of you need to decide on your holiday theme. For us, it was First Class travel holiday of our choice. Going on the Business Class flight from Hong Kong to Japan, we enjoyed the champagne and entire flight timing. I was actually reluctant to get off the plane… check out how comfortable the business class ticket seats looked here:-

And not to mention the tempting cuisines and choice of drinks

Champagne for him and Cathay Pacific’s famous Cathay Delight drink (mixture of kiwi juice mocktail)

Spoiled for choice of starters, main courses & desserts on the Business Class menu

Comfortable automated seats that allowed almost 90 degrees of fully laid down bed

NO wonder Harrace looked so happy on this flight!

He was even happier when the team at Cathay Pacific showed a Birthday message on his flight screen as we were flying to Tokyo for his birthday vacation…

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tokyo, japan, business class flight, luxury honeymoon, romantic holiday

One of the best method is to upload your photos to the free slide show website like slide.com

Check out the sample above which i took after my Bali Holidays in Indonesia in June 2008. Here is just the 1st slide show and i’ve got over several hundred of photos taken during this 1st year anniversary holiday, so i’ll be creating additional slide shows.

You can even add in the music to play when your slide is being viewed. Isn’t this cool?

We took time off for a romantic holiday to Bali Islands, as part of our first wedding anniversary celebrations. This is a memorable experience for both of us and it was our first time going to this island as husband and wife.

Day One : Shopping in Kuta Town

Day 1 started at the Hard Rock Hotel, just in the middle of Kuta town centre and facing the beach. Flying in from Kuala Lumpur, our Malaysia Airlines flight arrived in the afternoon and we took a cab to the hotel. We decided to use the money exchange downtown in Kuta as I found those rates better than what we could get in the airport. Be sure to hop around different money changers (some are just changing $ in their retail outlet), and you will find even up to 10% difference in the rate.

We had lunch in a local restaurant in Kuta centre ordering shrimp spaghetti in olive oil, shrimp crackers (keropok udang), and seafood tom yam soup (tom yam kuung), with his drinking ice lemongrass with honey tea, while I went with a fresh mixed fruit juice. Harrace made full use of his laptop by checking his email in the Coffee Bean Tea Leaf café while I sipped on the fruity ice-blended Malibu Dream drink.

The whole afternoon was just spent shopping on the main street and you’ll be amazed on how much genuine “fake” brands were around – Versace, Gucci or Calvin Klein. Therefore we ended up not buying much that day, but only local Balinese jewelry made of sea shells and silver jewelry.
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How do you choose a gift for your girlfriend or wife?
1. Does brand matter?
- well it’s extra advantage of course, only if you can afford it. No point breaking the bank just to satisfy a girl and then end up being broke for 3 months.
- for beginners there are many USA affordable brands like Guess? and then later on, you can move on to present her French or Italian brands like Gucci, Prada or Louis Vuitton.

2. What are popular items suitable for women?
- this depends on the age group and the style of your girl. Buy something that will match her identity or image.

Here are some ideas on what you can purchase:-
a. Cosmetics items such as lipstick, lip gloss, eye shadow, or fun make up kits (especially during Christmas season, you have a wide selection of make up kits that are suitable for parties at night)
- for women that enjoy playing around with make up, popular brands include MAC, Shu Uemera, and Stila.
- for women that are sophisticated and prefer natural make up, the popular cosmetics brands include Lancome and Estee Lauder or Shiseido.

b. Fragranced products such as Perfumes, Body Lotion, Body Shower and Massage Oil.
- check out what type of perfume she already owns to make sure that you do not end up buying something that she already has
- bring her to the fragrance counters to see what scent she prefers eg is it fruity, or strong
- EDT = eau de toilette
- EDP = eau de parfum (this will be more long lasting and therefore more expensive)
- good choice includes perfume sets or fragrance coffret sets which comes with the perfume and the body lotion or shower gel too

c. Jewelry ranges from affordable ranges like Folie Folie Italian 925 sterling silver, Swarovski crystal jewelries, up to the more luxury brand of jewelry from Tiffany
- avoid buying genuine gold jewelry unless you know that your partner actually likes to wear gold jewelry
- simple platinum or white gold chain with pendant, bracelets or earrings with semi precious stones like topaz, or citrine are good choices too

I can still remember Harrace presented me with a Chanel lipstick during our first week of courtship and i was so happy as it was my first time to own a Chanel range cosmetic. The only thing that went wrong was that the lipstick colour was not something that i would normally have chosen, (so check what lipstick colour she normally wears, eg it is bright red, ruby, peach, or nude tones that she wears usually).

FREE Stila gift with purchase over $25 USD & Free Worldwide Shipping!Choice of products and colors (new customers, while supplies last).

Of course, the longer you’ve been together, you will be more likely to know your partner’s taste. The recent items he purchased for me in April? Two Louis Vuitton bags, including a luggage bag (as i’m always rushing to the airport every fortnightly), and a Sony Ericsson brand new W960i mobile phone.

In the next posting, i’ll share tips with ladies out there on what gifts are great for your boyfriend or husband.

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gift for women, gifts for girlfriends, gift ideas for ladies, what to buy for her, gifts for her