Where do I even start?

It has been a long long while since I updated this space. I won't deny that I kind of lost interest in blogging here in this space cause, hey no one is reading anyways & I really don't have that much interesting topics to cover all the time haha.

Anyways, the reason behind me starting to write on this space is really just to have some fun where I can talk about almost anything or everything that I am interested in but no one else is 😅.

So far I talked about planning my wedding(s), holidays, beauty buys, etc. And guess what! Just yesterday, a lovely bride-to-be who was gonna celebrate her wedding at The Garden Pavilion at Ritz Carlton Millenia mid this year dropped me a DM on my instagram. Like me, she didn't find a lot of wedding photos or details about the venue online but she chanced upon my blog post randomly! I was of course, very happy to share my great experience with Ritz Carlton Millenia and also glad that she have me now to ask about anything about the venue. I wished I had a bride (who held her wedding at the Garden Pavilion) to speak to when I decided to hold my wedding there but too bad I don't think it's a popular choice of venue for Singaporean brides (I'll talk about that next time).

So yea, I thought it's actually a good idea to continue writing in this space because someone out there might want to read it one day? Lol...

Anyways, it might be a better time now to start rattling here again as I am at a stage where I am more "settled". Since the last entry in August 2016, a lot of things happened!

GOT MY DRIVING LICENSE

Come come clap for me please 👏 ! I finally took the test again after failing my first attempt almost 2 years ago! By the way my test date was 9 days before our wedding. As if wedding planning isn't stressful enough, I remembering semi regretting my decision after booking the test date but eh the amount can't be refunded so I had no choice haha. It was pretty hard to schedule my lessons as I was spending much of my time in Sarawak and of course after not driving for so long, I gave back most of what've learnt too! 

And guessed what, I got one of the most-warned-against tester AND it was raining (not heavy but still of all days!). Lucky me, I overcame all odds and passed the test! Phew!

I GOT MARRIED (TWICE!)

Twice but to the same man la! I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but we had a dinner reception in Singapore and Sarawak. The wedding reception in Singapore took place in December which happened to be my favourite month of the year 😍! By the way I've received all the actual day photographs from my photographer, Samuel Goh. I posted a handful of wedding photos on my instagram so if you are interested, please head over to @abcdefginayin 😊 . Our wedding reception in Sarawak was in January (less than a month apart) but we had a planner for that dinner so everything turned out really well! I actually loved our wedding in Sarawak more to be honest and I seriously am looking forward to our photos!

WENT FOR OUR HONEYMOON(S)

We visited Melbourne after our wedding in Singapore, a minimoon before our wedding in Sarawak! Usually we travel in December as it's dear husband's birthday month, so just nice! I've never been to Melbourne so it was pretty exciting for me! We had some really good brunches, stayed a night at Meletos Farmhouse, ate really awesome cheeses, picked strawberries, had some really fresh seafood, took a hot air balloon (omg), did some shopping (year end sales are 😍), had the best cupcakes in the world and got blown away by the amazing food at Vue de Monde.

In January we went for our actual honeymoon! We actually planned & booked everything when we started our wedding planning haha! Guess where we went? *drum rolls* We went to Finland! Insanely beautiful place, we decided to stay at Kakslauttanen Artic Resort. We tried husky sledding, horseback riding, took the snow mobil & a snow tank! We stayed one night at the glass igloo (the rest of the nights we stayed in a regular cabin) but too bad we didn't manage to see those crazy northern lights (another excuse to visit heh).

We ended our honeymoon in Paris! We enjoyed Paris so much, Louvre was amazing, we had some really great Parisian food, had a romantic dinner at Guy Savoy and did some really intense shopping (c'mon its Paris!!!). We stayed at Hotel Regina and we were so lucky to get a room that had a view of the Eiffel Tower, absolutely stunning! Limited photos here but you get the idea!

I HAVE BRACES ON (AGAIN)

I got them fixed on Valentine's Day! I've only got myself to blame for not wearing my retainers like I should (many years back). My lower teeth was moving a lot for the past 2 years, I couldn't stand it anymore so yeap! I went with the ceramic ones this time round, so it will be less obvious. I didn't choose to do Invisalign as I am not confident that I'll keep them on all the time 😅.

GOT THE KEYS TO OUR APARTMENT IN SARAWAK

I've been waiting for this day since forever! I am so looking forward to have own space in Sarawak! I think the first step to feel at home here is to build my own home. Renovations have officially started days ago and I can't wait for everything to be completed! It'll probably take anywhere between 2-3 months since we are doing quite many things for this apartment. I'll definitely do a little apartment tour when it's ready.

Wa, what a lengthy post! I really didn't mean to talk that much but might as well! I'm not sure when I'll update this space again but we'll see! I'm more active on Instagram/ Dayre, follow me there if you wish 😉. Meanwhile, keep shining!

With love,

Gina

The Most Important Furniture At Home!

Oops, neglected this space for a while as I was quite busy planning the wedding & I did some travelling too!

But I've been wanting to share this post for the longest time cause I'm sure every couple will be fussing over this particular piece of furniture when you are moving into a new home together!

I don't have the greatest back in the world and I am a little slave to lower back aches. I grew up sleeping on very firm beds cause my parents think it is the best kind of bed to sleep on, and I've been sleeping on those firm beds for close to 20 years!

Then came the day when I moved out, I bought my very first bed 4 years ago! It was really fancy compared to those plain rock hard ones that I was using. The bed has this aloe vera knitted fabric which is suppose to have a cooling effect on the skin and therefore promotes a 'refreshing' sleep. Next, it is the comfort layer and that bed of mine had a 4" memory foam which will conform to my body contours and assist proper spinal alignment when lying down. And it was suppose to help relieve or prevent pressure sores/ aches. Finally, we reach the core of the bed...or the mattress system, mine was filled with individual barrel pocketed springs to provide support!

Sounds quite good right! Yes, it did feel good for the first 2 years. However, I started to wake up with 'chest pains'. No, I'm not kidding. I brushed it off for a while and finally took time to visit the doctor. I had an ECG done to make sure my heart is working normally (don't worry guys, my heart is working fine phew). I had a chat with the doctor & he said based on my description, it sounds more like a strain on my chest than a heart issue. He asked if I did any sports recently, and the answer was a quick & firm no (I was just busy with work & nothing else then lol). Then he said it could be my bed that is making me uncomfortable! It might be too soft for me, so when I sleep on my side (my usual) I'm like all curled into ball and sinking into my bed! Imagine how horrified I was when I heard that my bed could be the cause!

Fast forward   

Prior to getting the keys to our new place, we were already researching on the kind of bed we should get. We googled, read reviews online, we went mattress shopping, etc. It was tough! There's so many brands and sooo many types of mattresses available! We were in a major dilemma. One moment we were so convinced that we should spend on the bed, next moment we were afraid if we spend too much & the bed isn't 'the one' for us (like my little experience )...then how?! 

To be honest, at the start of the search I only had Tempur (memory foam), Sealy, Serta & Simmons (spring) in my mind, you know ads lol.

I was worried the same thing will happen to me if we got a spring mattress, but I didn't want to rule out that possibility since mine wasn't one of those 'famous' brands. However, they didn't seem to have very good reviews on sleeplikethedead.com (note the spring mattresses we were considering are mostly hybrids with at least 2" of memory foam as the comfort layer). In a nutshell, owners satisfaction weren't too great, not very durable & prices are high (very true for the brands I mentioned above haha).

While memory foam mattresses like Tempur has always been somewhere at the back of my head but its hefty price tag always puts me off. It's just too much money to spend on something we are unsure of. You can read reviews on memory foam mattresses here.

And we were introduced to LATEX MATTRESSES. We didn't think much about Latex mattresses until we visited a furniture fair held at the Singapore Expo. We chanced upon this Malaysian brand Getha, the salesman who attended to us was very patient, knowledgeable & frank. Just what we needed! We didn't make the purchase immediately cause to be honest we didn't hear of this brand before & we wanted to do some research before buying.

There's a few other latex mattress brands available in Singapore, there's Omazz & mylatex. We didn't really pay much attention to the other brands as we felt quite comfortable with Getha after the session with the salesman, reading about them via their website & reviews on sleeplikethedead.com. Impatient as we are...we went back the next day to make a purchase. Total damage: S$4,449.20.

We got the 'Silk Kingdom 200'. I like how their mattresses are 100% natural latex, feels very real and very green!

Yup, my Getha mattress is certified to be 100% latex by Eco Institut and certified Oeko-Tex standard 100 which means my bed does not contain harmful substances which are 

1. Banned by law, 

2. Regulated by law, and

3. Known to be harmful to health which have not yet been explicitly regulated by law.

We were gifted with two latex pillows too! I could't decide which was better so we took one 'soft' and one 'medium'. I prefer higher pillows so I don't usually sleep on them.

You can see many little holes on the latex pilows (same for the mattress)! These holes provide flexibility, provide ventilation & prevent the pillows/ mattress from tearing if rolled or folded. But the main reason of having the holes is to rapidly distribute heat during the solidification process, to prevent the latex from being scorched.  

A free bolster too! But it's too soft for my liking, I still prefer my body pillow.

Ok as if not enough freebies, lol. We were also received 2 pairs of bedroom slippers! 

For those who are curious on my quilt & other pillows. I'm using the Serta Nano Gel series which I got from Takashimaya.

These are the pillows I sleep on! We got this in 'Soft' & 'Medium' as well. I prefer the firmer one.

I HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS ABOUT THIS.

When the mattress first arrived, it was all wrapped up in this plastic cover zipper cover. We didn't think too much of it until we realised that there was a padlock!

We casually asked the movers to help us remove the plastic case and dispose it. Then the guys went "OH NO NO, you have to unlock it yourself, we are not allowed to open it on behalf of the clients!"

Why so interesting? 

We had to get the code from the warranty card to unlock our bed! 

TADAH! That's our lovely bed (photo taken when it was freshly delivered). No complains so far, although I'm not clocking enough time on this bed but every single time I do, I feel really nice & comfy, no backaches or strains! Although potential buyers, do note that you will have to endure the rubber smell emitting from the mattress for a while. It doesn't bother me too much since everything is 100% natural & nothing harmful! 

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G