26/3/2011 Day 2
Sun rises pretty early in the east… at about 6+, the day light peeps through the window curtains greeting us. We rose with an excited feeling as today is the long anticipated day. Our breakfast was hanging at our door which consists of two sandwiches with egg, bacon and meat floss filling, together with two packets of fruit juices. We top that breakfast set provided with the instant cup noodle we bought last night.
After washing up and packed up, we headed out to IVY Bride. By 8.17am, to be exact, we are on the train heading to IVY Bride.
And by 8.30am sharp, we arrived at our destination to begin on a journey that we will never ever forget!
Vicky, wifey’s makeup artiste was already there with Xiao Kai my wardrobe assistant which soon after joined by Yang Sir, our photographer for the day. We started off by making up while Yang Sir planned our photo-shoot locations according to the weather and our likings. Vicky did the set up for the hair first and then proceeded with the face. While waiting for the hair to set, she changed into her gown before doing the hair do. And boy oh boy! The effect was stunning!
All smiles =)
And that’s both of us after makeup and dressing up! Smile! =D By 10.45am our driver Huang Sifu was already waiting for us. After getting all the necessary gears into the MPV, we set off for the day!
Due to the weather condition, instead of choosing the beach area and waterfall sites which would be freezing cold, we concentrated in Taipei City itself. As we wanted a pic with us buried in sea of flower bed but not wanting to go Tai Chung for the shot, hence our photographer Yang Sir brought us to a plot of private property grown with all kinds of flowers. And there we took our first shot.
After that location, we proceed up to Yang Ming San. Yang Ming Shan is actually one of the eight national parks in Taiwan. The National Park is famous for its Cherry Blossoms which was one of the reasons why we picked the place. The first stop in the national park was to its nursery. After few shots at their garden path, we changed into the second dress. To change, Huang Sifu opened the back of the MPV and drop down a foldable cloth made changing room. He was gentleman enough to even volunteer to safe guard the changing process by standing beside it and holding on to the door making sure the wind doesn’t blow away the cover. After the changed is done, Vicky redo the hair to match the dress. As the temperature was getting colder and strong wind is blowing, the thoughtful Huang sifu quickly find for a warm scarf to drape over my wifey to keep her warmth.
My honey while doing the hair do and draped with the scarf Huang Sifu provided
Once the change is done, we proceed to the next location which was the “Black Forest” to get the mythical scene. Unfortunately, it was raining and the mist was too thick for an ideal shot and sadly we had to miss the place. We then continued on the journey to the following location for the cherry blossoms scenery. As it is situated at a much higher ground than the rest, the temperature recorded was only 8oC! At the time we arrived, it was blowing strong wind which made us freezing cold. We had to fight the wind with our umbrella to walk to the cherry blossoms and the gust of wind was so strong that it blew away one of the umbrellas and spoilt another one. Huang Sifu jokingly said if we were to spoil one more, he will need to charge us for it. =P Luckily after that no more umbrella casualty.
Though it was freezing cold and was still drizzling, the team especially Yang Sir maintained their professionalism and kept their words of encouragement to us, telling us to hold on in order to capture the perfect shot. In order not to make us freeze to death, we have to give credit to Yang Sir for being able to pose us and still manage to take good shots at a record time! Following the cherry blossoms scene, we proceeded to the nearby lake “Meng Hu” for few more shots before ending the second dress shot and calling back to the cozy MPV.
Before we know it, it was already 2pm. That explains the synchronized stomach grumbling =P We reached at the next venue of our photo-shoot location. It was a park meant for bridal photo-shoot equipped with all kinds of paraphernalia such as the wind mill, baby grand piano, swing, pond, bicycles and etc. The park also has a restaurant and facilities necessary for gown changing. After paying the entrance fees of NT800, we went to the restaurant to have our lunch. As time was of the essence, we changed into our third set of dress while waiting for the food.
Vicky doing her magic…
Waiting…
When the food arrived, we wolfed it down instantly. The bowl of hot noodle soup warmed our stomach and instantly we felt energize again. After a brief rest and some final touch up on the make-up, we went out for our third set of shooting.
We spent about an hour plus at this place. Unfortunately due to the cold weather, we were not permitted to try out other shots such as the bicycles or the swings on the water. Nevertheless we did captured what we needed. Once we were done with the third dress, using the facilities there, we changed into our fourth gown before heading out to the next spot. The fourth gown was an exclusive white gown, another designer gown of IVY Bride. Apparently you don’t alter the dress to fit you but you alter yourself to fit the dress. =P
The missing Greece princess…
A pose to halt men…
NOT… Pose was actually taking warmth from the burner… hehe
When we were ready, we headed to the next set of location. For the fourth dress, we went to a field and a Taiwanese Church near “Fisherman Wharf” for more shots. Though it was drizzling then when we reached the church, however, thanks to the drizzles that made the effect of the pics as though as it was snowing! We especially love those stunning pics taken there!
After taking those shots at the church, we proceed to “Fisherman Wharf Lovers’ Bridge” for our final dress and also the requested night scene pictures. Just next to the location is a spacious public rest room. We changed there and so did another couple. As it is dusk by the time we changed, the wind was pretty strong and temperature has dropped further! Sensing our weariness, Yang Sir assured us that we are doing fine and the ordeal would soon be over. Trusting him, we put up our best and took the final few shots before finally wrapping it up. As soon as the last shutter clicks, the team gave us thumbs up and applauses giving us the overwhelming feeling, smiling from ear to ear. As everyone was famished by then, we went to the nearby Subway Restaurant to grab a 6 inch and a hot cuppa to warm us up before heading back to Taipei IVY Bride. Exhausted from the day, all of us fell asleep throughout the journey of about 45 minutes. When we finally arrived back at IVY Bride, the staffs were excited and greeted us. They immediately served us warm tea while waiting for us to relate our experiences. We all chatted for awhile before reluctantly leaving the shop.
The group photo!!
From bottom left anticlockwise, Kelly, Jolin, Lisa, Vicky, Yang Sir and Xiao Kai.
All in all, though the weather was not ideal as what we wanted for our photoshoot (blame it on global warming =S), however the team managed to make the best out of it and created stunning photo for us despite the bad weather. It is a truly sweet and memorable experience! Something that would always bring us smiles when walking down the memory lane... Thank you IVY Bride and each and every one of you (Kelly, Jolin, Yang Sir, Vicky, Xiao Kai, Bi Xiang, Huang Sifu and all the other staffs of IVY) who made this happened!
25/3/2011
The alarm went off at 5.45am. Stifling a yawn while killing off the alarm, it was earlier than the usual morning call but woke up with an entirely different mood! With the love of my life still in my arms, gently I planted a kiss on her forehead to wake her up. Is gonna be an exciting day! Today would be the day we would be flying off to Taiwan for our pre-wedding photoshoot. =)
Well, it all began with a trip to MATTA Fair in September 2010. As we were walking down aisle and aisle of promotion booth, a gentleman caught our attention and insisted us to visit their booth. It was booth of IVY Bride, a bridal company based in Taiwan with their 2nd fair in Malaysia. Captivated by their sample album, liking their style and after much convincing by Kelly and Jolin, we signed up for a package.
Soon after the fair, we liaise with Kelly via email to find out the best time to go as well as arranging the logistics. It was also then we were introduced to Lisa who would be our chaperone. Lisa was very helpful throughout. Apart from providing relevant information on the photoshoot, she helped in planning our travel itinerary even as far as paying upfront for our lodgings!
Back to the present, we managed to catch on the 6.30am sky bus to LCCT and by 7.20am we reached the airport terminal. Though it was still early, but the counter was already filled with loads of people.
After we have checked in our luggage and gotten our boarding pass, we went for a quick bite. Instead of McD we opted for a nasi lemak offered by a stall we stumbled upon. Judging by the pictures shown, we thought it was worth a try but it turned out nothing spectacular. The meal costs us RM7.90. After the brief meal, we went to Chocolate for desert! Savoured a vanilla sundae and we were at cloud nine ^^
Savouring Chocolate’s Sundae
Soon after we checked in to the lounge and at approximately 8.15am they called for boarding gate. We were greeted by a large steel bird, it was an Airbus A330! Cool!
Boarding the plane!!
4 hours and 30 minutes later. The plane touched down and we are now at Taiwan soil.
Welcome to Taiwan!!
After getting our luggage, we went to the arrival hall. It was not hard to spot our driver. He was holding a pop up card with both our names on. With a warm smile he greeted us and told us to wait at the gate while he fetched his car. And boy oh boy! It was cold! The temperature was only 120c and I was in shorts and t-shirt. Brrr… Minutes later, a black S-class merc appeared in-front of us and in it sat our driver with a smile. Our jaw dropped... This is what we called first class service. Now I feel underdressed… =P
45minutes later, we drove up to the door step of IVY Bride.
The door man opened the door for us and we were warmly greeted by all the staffs there. Wanted to help the driver to carry my luggage down but was rejected by them. Kelly (the managing person of IVY Bride) gave us a warm welcome and the other staffs brought us two hot cups of Jasmine Tea while we were introduced to Lisa the liaison officer who has been in contact with us and also our officer in charged. As soon as Kelly got to know that we have yet had our lunch, anxious about the fact, she immediately brought us out for food together with another couple from Singapore. A short walk later, we reached the restaurant – Hang Zhou Xiao Long Pao.
With Kelly at the front of the restaurant
It was a two shop lot restaurant but the set up was cosy. Knowing that we were hungry and freezing cold, Kelly immediately ordered a hot bowl of “suan lak tang”. That warms us up immediately!
The hot and sourish soup!
This was followed by a “spicy tang hun noodle” dish. Either we were hungry or the dish was extremely tasty. Either way, we gulped down the noodle and the soup within minutes.
The mouth watering spicy tang hun glass noodle.
As we thought that was it, more dishes were pouring in on our table. The amount of dishes that arrived made us speechless! It was meant to feast a king! No joke! There was the “Xiao Long Pao”, clams, vege, “Sui Gao”, “Shui Jian Pao”, “Phoenix claw” etc etc. Look for yourself below.
The dishes were all, er, how shall I put it? “wonfantabulous” if I may (wonderful, fantastic, fabulous)! =) After we are all stuffed, Kelly foot the bill and we all took a stroll back to IVY Bride for our gown hunting! Despite the cold weather, the hospitality was warmth to our hearts!
Back at IVY Bride, Bi Xiang and Lisa were assigned to help us with our gown hunting. We were brought to the second floor where all their gowns were displayed. Flabbergasted by the rows and rows of beautiful elegant gowns, we stood there not knowing where and how to start. Understanding our emotion, Bi Xiang and Lisa started the ball rolling by asking some simple questions on how we would like our gown to be while taking some mental note on the measurements before going off to select a few for my wifey to try on.
Part of the colourful collection of gowns awaiting us to choose to our heart content
Within minutes, they reappeared with few collections that were deemed to fit her. Starting off with evening gowns before finishing it off with the most elegant white wedding gown, all the choices that they picked was a perfect match and we fell in love at first sight especially with the two white gowns chosen!
One of the evening gowns chosen
Itching to try other gowns, Lisa obliged our request without any hesitation. Though all was pretty in its way, but in the end we still stuck back with the original selection made. Seeing that we were satisfied, Lisa smiled and said, “Haha! Do trust our judgement, those that we picked for you is tailored to your style and will definitely look elegant on you. Besides, it is also special on it’s on as they are designed by our in house designer.” Making sure we were contended from choosing the gowns, we were then brought to another place next door to choose my suit this time. The lady that was in-charged really knew her stuff on guys suits. She was able to transform a frog to prince (not saying that i am a prince =P) by just with some flick of a style to another. Adding on a vest, changing the bow tie, the tux to Armani, changing black to white etc gives a different feel with each transformation making you want to get them all. After a few tries later, we made our pick and heads back to IVY Bride for our second round of gown trying!
As soon as we are back in IVY Bride, we were served hot jasmine tea to warm us up and were also offered coffee while waiting for Lisa to bring us another set of wedding gowns to try on for our actual day. Again, it was a professional pick and we needn’t have a second opinion. These guys were really the pros! Kudos to them!
A steal shot while trying on the gown
The exhausted but happy look after the gown trying session
Once we have picked all the gowns and make the necessary arrangement for the photo shooting next day, we head back to the hotel provided by the bridal company. The hotel is situated at “Xi Men”. It is just two MRT stations away from IVY Bride and five minute walk from the station to the Hotel. After checking in, we decided to go walk around “Xi Men Ding” and have a feel of Taiwan night life before calling a night.
At “Xi Men Ding” the food peddlers caught our attention and we bought our first Taiwanese “Xiao Chi” which is “Chung Zua Bing”. It resembles the Malaysia’s “roti canai” but with a different kind of taste. Inside this so called “Bing” you can choose the toppings i.e. bacon, corn, chicken, curry and etc. This would then be top up with a special sauce to make it mouth watering!
Next stop, we went to seven eleven to purchase warm beanie bag “Ruan ruan Bao” as we were told by Lisa and Kelly that the next day would be a cold day and the beanie bag would be a handy thing for us to have. Each of the bag costs us NT15 and we bought two of it. We also bought two Taiwanese cup noodle for supper and breakfast.
Once we have gotten all the stuffs required, we headed back to our hotel. On our way back, we stumbled upon a shop selling “Ru Ro Fan”. Entice by the smell, we take away one! =P
The warm bowl of “Ru Ro Fan” and the cup of hot noodle were very satisfying on a cold day like this. After washing up and preparing for the next day, we hit the light and called it a day...
-End of Day One-
