::p!gG¥ cafe::

weLaine @ Jiu Zhai Gou :: Part I

2009-12-27T09:39:00.000+08:00

Long long long long overdue post, all because of one reason, i m too lazy to start editing those picture, freaking loads. Finally yesterday i decided to start part by part, and here you go , the first part of our Jiu Zhai Gou trip!

The trip started off bad with the flight delay of nearly 2 hours @ Chengdu Airport due to the very bad weather @ Jiu Zhai. We were all trapped in the small domestic airport of Chengdu not knowing what to do other than wait. Terrible experience.

Luckily the plane is able to take off after 2 hours plus and not cancel, we board the flight , but who knows it was another hour of wait in the flight itself, due to too many flights taking off and have to queue. The whole flight is in a hoohaa when the waiting time getting long, poor those cabin crew that need to calm everyone down. Finally, we took off after the long wait , and arrived at Jiu Zhai Gou's Airport after 55mins later.

It was freazy cold when we reached, too cold for me to withstand especially with the drizzling rain! Put on my thick cashmere jacket and walked fast to meet the driver for our land tour there! We then proceed to our hotel, Intercontinental Jiu Zhai Paradise, but the whole journey took nearly 1.45 hours to reach due to the bad weather and slippery mountain road.

The hotel is one of the best hotel in Jiu Zhai Gou! Very beautiful constructed, the whole lobby is constructed with an artificial sky rooftop, and the whole area is with little stream ,bridges and rocks, totally a paradise.

Settled the check-in fast, and we hurried up to our hotel room simply because we are too too cold to stay outside! The hotel room is amazing, luxurious and cozy! I love the big big bed and the cozy little corner with a bay window that has the most beautiful greenery scenery! The bathroom is authentic with rock finishing tiles totally match the Tibetian style.

Too much of writting today, and i shall continue on the tour to Jiu Zhai Gou Park the next day soon soon! =) Enjoy the peekturess! =)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-12-25T00:00:00.000+08:00

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way.....!!

Ho Ho Ho...

weLaine wish everyone a Blessed Christmas! =)

Enjoy & Cheerss! =)

Lights UP!

2009-12-23T17:21:00.004+08:00

I think i've been neglecting my cafe for too long, but i m back!! And most importantly back with some great updates of weLaine's Loft!

All the lights are UP @ the house, no prize for guessing our excitement level when we first saw it!! Phew, finally, finally, we are able to view the house when the sky is dark, and we are able to see whether the lighting planning works!

Thanks God, everything turns out well, i must say beautifully in fact! Pardon me for being so "proud"of the house, but it does contains our hard work, and most importantly all the contractors, electricians and plumber hard work! 2 more weeks, 2 more weeks to go before everything to be completed!

What's next? CARPENTRY! =)

Stay tuned! =)

The sick month

2009-12-20T22:42:00.003+08:00

December seems like a bad month for me , even the fact that it is my birthday month doesn't seems to bring much luck to me.

It was a month full with sick and visiting doctors. The eyes are swollen at first, followed by a flu that i m still having, 3 times to the doctors, and i really hope there won't be the 4th time. I pray hard.

Pardon me for not updating, feeling under the weather is killing me. Looking over the house reno took part of my time too, and of course the big event of cousin's M wedding last weekend totally tired me out!

No time, no strength to edit all the photos, so pls bear with me with a few sneak preview, more to come , i promise! =)

Lil Bob the Builder Birthday Party

2009-12-16T10:36:00.000+08:00

The main reason weLaine went back home is to attend our precious Lil. Marcus birthday party last Saturday!

The uber creative daddy of him transformed the whole living room into a cozy , nice little construction site, full with tower cranes, paper buildings, small small construction workers, signs, totally according to the theme of the night, Bob The Builder!

We were glad to be part of them, to celebrate lil Marcus's 1st birthday! Looking at him in his dashing Bob The Builder outift, we know he is very blessed, with all the love showering him !

Of course, it was a good opportunity for all the ah yi to catch up with each other, updating each others. In short, a wonderful birthday party, and we love the Lil Bob the Builder so! =)

Have a blessed 1st birthday, Marcus Jay!

Eat. eat . eat.

2009-12-14T00:03:00.001+08:00

Guess how piggy was pampered during her 26th Birthday this year?

. Eat .

. Eat .

. Eat .
( Must Go, if you are @ JB, San Low Seafood )

. Eat .

. Eat .

See how happy she was at the end of the day?

♥ Reno :: Electrical & Partition Work

2009-12-12T12:17:00.001+08:00

I need to be more diligent in updating the reno progress of the loft, haha! Too busy these days, work-->loft --> home, everyday same routine. Just for the sake of the renovation!

Now, the electrical has started, and the lights will be up next week ( hopefully) , as too hot and too dark dy approaching night time! We are full of praise of our electrician, very professional guy and delicate in details, always try to search for the nicest wire routing for us! This has to thank to gf's mum for her recommendation, at least one big portion we don't really have to worry about the workmanship.

The partition works are undergoing now, in fact completing soon. All our false ceilings, partitions, boxups, were done pretty fast. The house is slowly falling into shape, and this is making me so eagerly want to see the carpentry work to be up too!

The ID informed us that the carpentry work has started at the factory, so soon, soon, December gonna be an interesting month with the Loft! =)

♥ Reno :: Cold cold air

2009-12-10T00:05:00.001+08:00

YaY! Finally our air-conditioners were UP!

Thanks to the Gain City people who came up twice ( with no extra charges), to accommodate our partition guys because the partition in the both common rooms need to be fixed before the air-con installation can be done!

But now they sealed all 4 air-cons up , prevent them from turning dirty due to renovation work, and to make sure that they are well protected. We are glad also for the guys to plan the trunking route in quite a good way, where not much exposed can be seen, boxup helped us much though!

Now, awaiting The Day, for it to finally "function" !

Next up :: electrical works & partition works! =)

Sweet surprise

2009-12-08T10:09:00.003+08:00

How sweet it was to receive such a surprise delivery from the sis last week?

The whole office were saying how cute and beautiful it is!! But it is the words in the card that made me teared...love ya! =)

. Blessed . thankful .

Turning wiser

2009-12-05T00:00:00.001+08:00

Yes, i refuse to say turning one year OLDER, haha! It's my 26th Birthday, finally! A long awaited day for me, Dec babies , no good no good! Haha!

Not having loud celebration party, but just with all my love ones celebrating for me, piggyparents & The Boy, i m more than contented. Not to mention also the pack list of dinner dates next week with all the friends, i know i m loved, very loved.

Every year when my birthday approaching , year end is just near the corner too, therefore i always took this day to do a small recap back. It was an important year to me. Looking back then, i kinda feeling amused how did the 365 days passed through...i adore every single details of them, and i love every single day spent. This year , i added two new roles to my life, a wife-to-be and a house owner! Unbelievable, those two roles that used to seems so far away from me and from my life, yet now i m learning to play these roles each and every day.

I gonna take this opportunity to thank, thanks all of you who has stood by me all this while, thanks all of you who have loved me unconditionally, and most importantly thanks for loving me for who i was, who i m and who i will be .

Happy 26th Birthday, piggy!

@ Cova

2009-12-04T00:04:00.001+08:00

The Boy's sisters had been very sweet to plan a birthday treat for me earlier, since on the actual day itself piggyparents will be in town to celebrate their daughter's birthday!

They even decided the place that they knew i gonna love it, and don't care about their bro preference (ya, the boy prefer zi char stall lah , hah! ) So, yes off we go, to Cova! Seated at the end of level 1 @ Paragon, gives it a pleasant quiet corner for the guest to enjoy good food and wonderful catching up! We choose the seats outside, because the cafe itself is quite fully occupied!

The eldest sis has full of praise of this place, especially for their desserts bar, and yes, i was truly captivated when i entered, and looked at those tiny little pastry and their slice cakes....*slurp*

We went for their set dinner, starter, pasta, main course, and most importantly we can choose either a slice cake or 4 mini pastry to go with their coffee or tea ( wide selection )!

= Cream of potato soup served with grilled cod bites and fresh chives =

= Parma ham served with fresh pineapple bites and balsamic vinegar reduction =

= Angel hair pasta served with porcini mushroom ragout and fresh mint leaves =

I simply love my main course, the Boston lobster is grilled to perfection and when goes together with the orange sauce, it is heavenly!! THe Boy's ribeye steak in medium is quite nice too especially with the truflle sauce, but a little too dry for my liking, but overall still not bad!

= Seared half Boston lobster served with grilled radicchio and orange sauce =

= grilled rib eye steak served with balsamic scented antichokes and truffle sauce =

I love their dessert selection, we choose two slices of cakes and 8 mini pastries for our 4 sets of set dinner! Tiramisu and mango mousse cake , as for the pastries too many, can't list down all here, in short, all are yummilicious!

Well, their tea selections are wide too, more than 10 to choose from, and if you are wondering what my tea selection was? Christmas Tea! Just nice for the season!

= for me =

= for The Boy =

A pleasant birthday treat, and i know i will be coming back for more !

= thanks for all! =

♥ Reno :: Sleep well

2009-12-01T10:25:00.004+08:00

A good mattress is essential for Welaine, especially when both of us love sleeping loads. Hah!

So we have been searching for a suitable one, and in the end our eyes landed on this model of firm mattress from Sealy. Since ours will be a platform bed, we need a very good support mattress, so their posturepedic series is our choice!

The Boy :: we definitely need the King size ok ?

piggy :: why? expensive leh..

The Boy :: to avoid you from rolling down the bed ah!! you forget about your 360 degree turn?

piggy :: ohh... *_*

♥ Reno :: The list goes on

2009-11-28T10:11:00.001+08:00

Shopping time again!

Since we have 3 bedrooms in the house, one of it the Master of course will be ours, while the 2 others, 1 will become a study room cum guest room, while another one gonna be purely a guest room.

We wanted to move over our single bed over to one of the guest room, and to buy another good sofa bed for another. The Boy wanted a good one, because mostly this will be used by our parents, and he wants them to sleep on firmer bed so that they won't feel backache or so.

Searching ups and downs, we finally found one solid sofa bed that we love! Very firm mattress and solid base, when uses as a sofa, looks very coy too! So, we happily placed the order and now waiting for it to be delivered and to be seated nicely in our guest room! =) The colour that we choose for the fabric is not red , definitely !

So you see, the list does go on ...........

♥ Reno :: What we picked

2009-11-26T09:35:00.004+08:00

weLaine had so many fun ( and also bickering ) shopping dates recently. All for our loft!

Too many things to survey, too many things to buy , too many things to consider, and most importantly too much money need to pay!

But a house couldn't be complete if without the daily necessities such as fridge and washing machine. So these are the two that we selected and happily bought it back!

We were in a dilemma when choosing for fridge, although the heart skipped a beat when we saw the white Samsung Fridge, but suddenly i become a rational buyer worrying that the white might turned yellow. While The Boy ( being the usual very rational buyer) insisted that we buy this, since it is made in Korea and it matches our kitchen cabinet very well. In the end, i gave in, thinking that it is really a pretty piece in white! Vain me.

Thanks God for the washer, no arguement , we both wanted this washer and dryer ! So, this is till date the easier purchase so far! hah!

More , more and more to come ...

♥ Reno :: The weekend fully oocupied

2009-11-23T00:03:00.001+08:00

So weLaine spent their whole weekend fully occupied with events for the loft!

Started off Saturday with furniture shopping at IKEA and Courts, Yes, Again, we went for furniture shopping, but the list-to-buy seems never ending! Finalize a few, and will come back to order when it is nearer to date, since IKEA can only keep the goods for 3 days, any days after that will be charge at $5 /day. WTH?!

But of course shopaholic piggy need to carry back something after a good ~7 hours of walking around IKEA and Courts! We got ourselves vacumm cleaner, mugs, and foldable mattress ( for guest )! And, look at my superman who carried all these stuffs , how can i not adores him?! hah!

Then on Sunday afternoon, we went over to the loft, just to have a good look at it during day time. As we always went during evening time after work, and it was quite dark by that time. Of course the Chief Engineer of the Loft has to do a thorough inspection of every corner and details, make sure that everything is within his standard! Hah!

- he : inspecting carefully
- she - messing around happily

Looking at the floor tiles that going to be completed soon, i start to see how weLaine's Loft is taking it's shape, and very soon, i gonna have all the carpentry works up, and partition works up ......and that is really building up our little home.

And yes, i heart this special journey of constructing and building up our house, it is too memorable that even words can't describe the feeling of the owner, of weLaine. =)

weLaine @ Xi An :: Day 1 (鼓楼&钟楼)

2009-11-20T15:18:00.000+08:00

我想我也真的是太懒惰了,这么能到现在连西安的最后一个部分都还没完成. 不行,不行, 今天就要把西安, 我最喜爱的部分与你分享.

站在西安的市中心, 你肯定不会错过这非常宏伟的西安鼓楼.鼓楼位于西安城内东西南北四条大街的交汇处。鼓楼创建于明洪武十三年（公元1380年）,楼体为砖木结构，呈长方形，通高34米，东西长52.6米，南北宽38米.鼓楼.外观楼体雄健宏大、优美，极赋浓郁的民族特色。

在西安城内，与鼓楼相媲美的姊妹建筑当是西安钟楼，两楼遥相辉映故有“姊妹楼”和“文武楼”之称，西安钟楼始建于明朝洪武十七年,位于西安市中心城内东西南北四条大街的交汇处，是中国古代遗留下来众多钟楼中形制最大、保存最完整的一座。钟楼呈典型明代建筑艺术风格，重檐斗拱，攒顶高耸，屋檐微翘，华丽庄严.

我尤其喜欢这两座姊妹楼在夜幕低帘的时侯的样子, 是那么的壮观, 看着它们耸立在这繁华都市中,路上车子,行人来来往往, 却似乎无损它们的高贵,庄严韵味. 哪怕这城市多么繁华，傲立在中心的这两座姊妹楼，竟也没让人感觉格格不入。我仿佛有种置身与古代的错觉. 或应该说, 我有种古代与现代的交错感, 而且那感觉竟能如此强烈, 旧旧挥散不去.

这是我西安最后一篇回忆录,但我却竟然有些不舍. 当我把旅程在用文字与图片一一记录下来的当儿, 我就犹如在重游了一次西安, 这座坐落在现代的古城, 美丽而神秘, 宏伟而古雅.难忘非常.倘若还有机会, 我必定会再重游一次, 再一次来敢受着非凡的古城气势.

♥ Reno :: The perfect door grill

2009-11-17T00:03:00.001+08:00

WeLaine are currently searching for a good and nice main door grill! We don't really like those grill with designs, while prefer something simple.

Did some browsing and found this one that we love! Simple and nice!

So set, this gonna be the one that is guarding weLaine's Loft!

And , see what we found while surfing around, such a super cute and lovely door grill, such a happy family ya! =)

♥ Reno :: updates!

2009-11-15T22:10:00.004+08:00

Updates! Updates!

The tiles for the MBR bathroom were up last Friday! Now, two bathroom's tiles are fully done! I love them both!

A close look of the wall tiles and the feature wall.

The common one is grey/dark themed and MBR one is creame/bright!

The dark one is apparently The Boy's favourite, while the bright one is piggy's favourite!

Now i want to see how my floor tiles looks like!! Be fast pls!

♥ Reno :: The tiles are up!

2009-11-12T10:21:00.003+08:00

I have been neglecting my blog for quite some days, too busy. Too busy with the renovations, too many with all the discussion, too busy with all the decisions needed to be made. Work is not busy, but it is the 1-1 trainings for 3 days drained me out totally!

Ok, stop rambling, some updates for the house reno! The whole house tiles and unnecessarily things (old ceiling lamp, kitchen cabinets...etc) have been removed, and leaving me a clean house waiting for cement screed and the tiles to be up!

It was a pleasant surprise to see the wall tiles for the common bathroom is up when we went over yesterday evening! And, thanks God that the effect turns out to be what we want! The pictures did not do them justice , as it was pretty dark when we were there! I love my tiles! =)

Now, we wait, oh yes again wait patiently for the floor tiles to be up!

But first, we need to solve the water leaking problem in the MBR with the HDB officer, we need to confirm all the details drawing, we need to choose another wc for the common since the one we choose initially doesn't fit.......and the list goes on .....

Anyway, i m happy although the to-do list are lost, purely because all that are the fun of setting up a loft, Welaine's Loft!

* heart *

♥ Reno :: Filling up slowly

2009-11-09T12:03:00.001+08:00

Today weLaine's Loft will be filled up with beautiful tiles.

Love the matching colour tones tiles that we choose together, hopefully when it is all done up , it gonna be a pretty little house with our effort in it!

We were a little happy couple after all the tiles has been selected last weekend, and decided to end the day with a little dessert, Rochor Beancurd! Ah, i have to end the satisfying day with something sweet and yummy simply because One/Big mission accomplished!

I can't wait, can't wait to see how it gonna turn into, when dreams become reality, when the little house become the house that full with our effort and love. We are filling it up slowly, parts by parts, putting in all the bits and pieces that represent us !

2 months more, weLaine's Loft gonna be in a totally new appearance and i truly looking forward to it! =)

Family Day

2009-11-08T00:02:00.000+08:00

It was a date with the lovely niece for our company 40th year celebration aka Family Day back in 1 month ago!

Thanks God to the lovely weather today, rise and shine, and we were at the zoo for the celebration!

It was really fun with all the small booths of games, performances, lucky draws , although we didn't really participate in most of it, but i think we did enjoy much!

Not much walking arounnd the zoo due to the high humidity in the weather, and also i think we are all grown up, even the niece is not that excited when she saw those animals. I started to miss those days back then when she was still a small little toddler, how excited she was everytime she visited the zoo!

But i truly enjoy time spent with her today, it was hard to meet up with her nowadays, due to busy schedule of hers and mine! Oh ya, she is a busy little princess! But i must admit, this little young lady, i truly love her much!

The perfect escape

2009-11-05T10:14:00.004+08:00

I don' t really remember when was the the last time i went for a high-tea session, i used to go for it quite often during my high-tea addictive days, be it all by myself or with my gfs.

Thanks to the dearly sis who arranged a nice high-tea session yesterday, i tell you , i enjoyed so much the whole afternoon. With all the good food, nice brewed tea, and of course with you, it was lovely and sweet! =)

But the fun does not just ended there, we then proceed to the sis's mum shop. I love visiting the sis's mum, i love to chit-chat with her, cracking jokes, and i enjoy time at the shop! I tell myself i must visit often, or tag along the sister there more often!! We left the shop around 7 and proceed to visit the star of the night - Baby Javan!

Has been hearing news , seeing cute pics of this lil guy since he was born, and finally i have the chance to meet him in person! Such a cute little baby, charming yet cheeky! See you soon ok baby? Grow well with all the love surrounding you baby , hugsss!

It was a very wonderful Wednesday spent, and thanks for giving me the chance to escape ONCE from Body Combat class, haha!

♥ Reno :: Before the show..

2009-11-02T10:30:00.004+08:00

The renovation works going to start Today, so here's a collage of how the house used to be (after today's hacking), was also the view of the house that actually attracted me to offer! haha!

All the stuff has been cleared away by the previous owner, left us a good empty house. In fact, i told The Boy, i still feel good when i entered the house, just like how i felt the first time i came ! So i guess, it was not an impulsive buy -lah!

Will post the reno progress here bits by bits, since we will be visiting the house almost every night to see the progress! =)

weLaine @ Xi An :: Day 1 ( 回民街)

2009-10-31T10:39:00.000+08:00

下一站, 我们来到了西安另一个必到之地, 回民街.

这个非常富有民族色彩的一个景点, 从西安市中心钟楼向西100多米、穿过鼓楼门洞，就进入了西安回民历史街区。约2万名回民依寺而居，维持着原有的宗教传统和生活习惯。回民街在西安，绝对是一个志标性的地点. 四条街道，基本上提供着西安大部分的美食，来西安旅游的朋友，绝不会错过这样的一个街道，既能满足食欲又能满足旅游的乐趣。

西安著名的北院门小吃街、中国现存年代最早的化觉巷清真大寺，以及中国三大城隍庙之一的西安城隍庙都在区内，以汉族和回族为主的多个民族于此居住，呈现出多元化的文化氛围，具有独特的历史与文化价值。

这里有着各种类型的小吃, 品种繁多，口味地道。一步步走去，腊牛肉、灌汤包子、羊肉泡、令人目不暇接，口味大开。街上人来人往, 热闹非常. 但是我个人不可不提那皮嫩汁浓的灌汤包子, 还可真的是回民街好有名的一道小吃! 要吃地道, 好吃的灌汤包子, 就绝对不可错过这闻名全国的贾三灌汤包子馆. 我们对它可是非常想念, 想念的是那浓浓的汤汁, 一口咬去, 从那嫰皮的包子中流出,堪称一绝. 现在想起,真是回味无穷.当然, 店里也有售买其他小吃,烤羊蹄, 炒凉粉, 还有我们都觉得新奇的八宝粥. 八宝粥味道甜甜的, 吃起来,就象是一道甜品般, 不错不错!

=八宝粥=

这里的回民和本地常看到的回民没什么不同, 头上依旧是披着头巾, 男回民依旧需要到清真寺去祈祷. 唯一另我们不惯的是这里的卫生水平似乎有些低,但这也不可避免, 毕竟是小吃之街,难免会有些垃圾之类.

回民街区内的街道都具有非常浓郁的伊斯兰风格, 历史也已经很久了. 看着他们用自己的宗教形成了高度的凝聚力，在汉人占主流的社会中，顽强地坚持了自己特有的文化生活圈子,实在佩服.

若有机会到西安一游,可别忘了把这特色景点列入你的行程中哦!

102809

2009-10-29T10:07:00.003+08:00

102809, the day that we have been waiting and waiting for has finally arrived, in fact it is already O-V-E-R!! =(

After months of anticipating, finally yesterday was the day we collected our house key, and be officially the home owner of our loft, weLaine's Loft!

Nothing beats the excited feeling that lasted for the whole day, big big smile was hanging on our face, and i kinda feel numb at the end of the day! But, who cares? It is the biggest purchase in life for weLaine, how can we don't feel wonderful!

The 2nd appointment went on smoothly, luckily no hiccups , and then the previous owner hand over to us the set of keys, and YAY, we are , we are, the OWNER now!

The Boy is very funny, he wanted to perform some ritual yesterday for owning the house, as taught by his colleague! So, we bought rice and salt and he sprinkled all around the house. Guess it is to indicate a new ownership and to blessed the house and us , the one who will be living there!

= sorry for the blur photo, as it was getting dark when we were there =

What is coming up next? The reno of course, gonna start from today, the pre-reno stuff, site measurement, on site viewing, discussion, i really hope that nothing much need to be added in to the renovation works, as we are really broke! haha! =)

Let's see, will post the progress here soon! Stay tuned!