So, let’s select a hand bouquet that will look gorgeous on you.

Ask yourself this question: “What specific flowers do I want?”

Consider the color, shape, and fragrance when selecting your bouquet flowers.

Keep in mind that some flowers are not in season all year round. For example, tulips are not suitable to hot climate while roses, especially the red ones are all time favorite for weddings.

Which Hand Bouquet Styles is Right for You

The next thing to consider is the styles of hand bouquet: posy, nosegay, cascading, sheath, crescent, hand-tied bouquet and etc.

In order to choose a hand bouquet style that looks good on you and in your wedding photos, the most important thing to consider is your height and body shape.

If you are a not-so-tall bride…

Go for a large sheath or cascading bouquet, as they need to add height. These two types of bouquets give the illusion of length. Avoid posy bouquet as it would make you look more compact and even shorter.

If you are a tall bride…

Go for a large posy or a medium cascading bouquet. A large posy bouquet will draw the eye down and give people a focal point so that they won’t be focusing on your height.

And if you think you are a large bride…

Go for a large bouquet. A bigger wedding bouquet will make you seem much slimmer as opposed to a small bouquet will exaggerate your width, and make you look larger than you really are.

Photo: fineprints.ca

Planning for a Wedding

However, if you intend to do your own wedding planning, you will probably need 9 to 12 months of lead time. You need time to research for the bridal shop, wedding photographer, florist, caterer and to reserve the venue for your reception.

Here’s a sample of a list of things to do prior to your wedding day:

• Select ROM date
• Select date for wedding ceremony
• Reserve reception venue
• Compile guest list
• Choose bridesmaids and groomsmen
• Shop for wedding bands
• Shop for bridal package
• Book honeymoon
• and the list goes on…

How Much Does a Wedding Cost

And yes, you will have to set a wedding budget and with the average wedding cost skyrocketing, it is not uncommon for the bride and groom to share the cost.

A large part of the wedding cost goes to the wedding gown, wedding photography, wedding reception and the honeymoon. Even with portion of the wedding dinner cost recoverable from the wedding red packets, the cost of a wedding will set you back by $15,000 to $25,000.

Natas Fair 2010

Opening hours: 10am – 10pm
Friday to Sunday
26-28 February 2010
Singapore Expo Hall 4 & 5
Entrance fee: S$4

Unfortunately, I don’t think I will visit the Natas Fair this year. I think it’s not worth the time and effort to book a discount travel package at the Natas travel fair. In fact I find it quite stressful to make any travel decision at such a crowded event. And I will do my holiday travel shopping online.

Avoid the Crowd, Book Online

Frankly, online travel booking is convenient, easy and secure. When I know where exactly I want to travel for my holiday:

• I can book my cheap air ticket online.
• I can book my hotel accommodation online.
• I can do all my research and travel planning online from the comfort on my home. So why queue to pay $4 and get myself crushed in the crowd.

Lately, I heard too many stories about last minute cancellations of confirmed departure date travel booking and lost confidence in travel agencies, big and small.

The truth is, that wedding gown of your dreams does not have to cost an arm and a leg, you just have to look really hard and shop around.

Wedding Gown Designs

Are you looking for the classic strapless wedding gown? Or are you the sporty type who prefer short wedding dresses instead?

Bridal magazines offer a quick and easy way to browse the latest trend in wedding gown designs. You may also research on Google, ask questions on a wedding forum and post them on your Facebook or Twitter. But nothing beats visiting a bridal shop to try out the various wedding gown designs and see for yourself which looks best.

Wedding Package Deal

Bridal shops in Singapore offer a whole range of services from wedding gown to wedding photography to bridal car decoration.

A wedding package deal will save you time and money. Such a wedding package usually includes both indoor and outdoor wedding photo shoot, bridal makeup, the wedding gown, wedding dinner dresses, bridegroom suit, bridal car decoration and etc.

Wedding Gown Rental

If you are on a shoestring budget, you may want to consider wedding gown rental from a bridal shop in Johor Bahru. The wedding gown designs are as good as those from Singapore and costs as little as half the price.

Using a bridal shop in JB doesn’t mean you have to move your wedding there. You can bring the wedding gown and wedding suit across the causeway into Singapore.

Don’t let your budget limits your choice of wedding dresses. Plan early to give yourself more time to look for your perfect wedding gown.

• Screen Protector
• iPhone Cover

iPhone Accessories Voucher from Singtel

The reason why I forgot their existence was due to the fact that I have them on the very moment I bought the phone. Thanks to Singtel which gave me a $50 voucher to buy the iPhone casing and the screen protector film.

Even thought I have the iPhone screen protector on the touch screen, I don’t feel the phone is any less responsive.

And I really like my leather iPhone case. It looks stylish and at the same time very functional. Believe it or not, I was asked by a passenger(China nationality) across the aisle on my flight returning from China last month. Isn’t it where they make all these iPhone cases for the rest of the world!

Both iPhone accessories became part of my iPhone from the very first moment I used it. No wonder I took them for granted. Without the iPhone cover, it would not look as brand new after 6 months of heavy usage.

If you are going to get your iPhone, make sure you invest on a good casing and screen protector.

I am thinking of getting a bluetooth headset for my iPhone but really concerned about the iPhone bluetooth connectivity and voice quality.

What accessories have you bought for your iPhone? Write your list of iPhone accessories in the comment box below.

Click here to see Singapore Airshow 2010 Photos at Flickr

Singapore Airshow Aerial Display Photo Tips

If you want to taking photos of the Singapore Airshow aerial display, you will need a long zoom lens that extends 300mm and longer.

Since you will be shooting in bright sunlight and hopefully clear blue sky, you don’t really need a fast lens. I was shooting at aperture at ISO100, F/8 and shutter speed 1/1000 without monopod – tripod will be useless, unless you have one that is as tall as you.

Why a Long Zoom Works Better than Long Telephoto

For DSLR users of Nikon, Canon and Sony Alpha, I would think a long zoom lens is more practical than a long telephoto. You can zoom out(shorter focal length) to locate the jet fighter and zoom in when you take the shot.

Even if you are using a long zoom compact camera with F5.6 or slower e.g. Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1, Canon PowerShot SX120 IS or Lumix DMC-FZ35, no worry. Because you should get enough light to shoot at high speed by increasing your ISO.

And it really doesn’t matter if you are using DSLR.

Singapore Airshow Aerial Display Checklist

Here’s my camera equipment checklist for Singapore Airshow 2012 Aerial Display:

• Set auto-focus to Continuous AF
• Set exposure control to Manual
• Set sequential shooting to Hi (approx. 5 frames/sec)
• Long zoom lenses 100-600mm (35mm camera equivalent)
• Bring extra battery
• Bring monopod

Lim Chee Guan and Kim Hock Guan win. Apple loses.

I was quite surprised that people, the non-geek and the non-techies included, are actually searching online for their favorite Chinese New Year food.

Shouldn’t they already known what and where to buy their favorite bakkwa?!

Here’s some of the more popular search phrases used by Bakkwa lovers:

• bak kwa singapore
• best bak kwa in singapore
• duck bak kua

Yes, people are searching for the new Duck Bak Kwa.

Who’s selling this novelty bak kwa?

Fragrance Bak Kwa used to sell them but I am not sure. If you know, write in the comment box below.

I still prefer Lim Chee Guan Bak Kwa & Kim Hock Guan Bak Kwa.

As for the iPad pricing, here it is…

iPad Price Singapore

There is no official price of the iPad in the Apple Singapore website yet. My guess is that the iPad 16GB will be priced between S$700-S$800, the iPad 32GB S$800-S$900 and iPad 64GB S$900-S$1,000.

iPad 3G Singapore

As for the iPad 3G, none of the local telcos support the micro-SIM, so I believe pricing and availability of the iPad 3G in Singapore will largely depend on Singtel, Starhub and M1.

Initial Reactions to iPad

Apple sold more than 75 millions iPod and iPhone worldwide. I guess many of them will also buy the iPad. I will. The iPad 64GB. And I already know how I am going to really use it.

When I first viewed Steve Job’s keynote announcing the iPad and discovered about the affordable iPad price, my reaction posted on Facebook was…

“iPad… Why only $499? I want it now!”

“if you have an iPhone, Life Will Not be Complete Without the iPad!”

However, I also discovered that not everyone loves Apple products. Some of my Facebook friends said:

“iPad, No Multitasking, No Buy”

“guess it is just like iPhone .. just BIGGER”

“The iPad (the name is soooo =_=|||) is disappointing. No SD card slot, no drag-drop, no USB port, no flash (!), no camera…a whole lot of new accessories to buy. Will wait for the Android-powered tablets, Asus is coming up with one soon.”

MrBrown thinks “Apple’s iPad is a giant iPod Touch“.

And people are already mocking at the iPad – the other kind of pad?!

What do you have to say about the iPad?

Please leave a comment below.

So I did a Google search… I didn’t see any interesting news on the school except for Commonwealth winning Pioneer 68-43 in The B Division West Zone Basketball Championship at the Clementi Sports Hall.

Then I did a search in Facebook, and found the Commonwealth Secondary School Alumni Association fan page. I became a fan.

Why write about Commonwealth Secondary School?

Because I was a student of Commonwealth Secondary School in the late 1970s during the time of Mr Balagopal at Queensway just next to the railway track. Very often, our assembly at the canteen was interrupted by the passing KTM train.

Yes, that was more than 30 years ago and the nostalgia – it was a very good 4 years for me… very memorable. I met some of the best teachers in my life: Mrs Seet (my Sec. 1 form teacher) and Mrs Ong (my Sec. 2 form teacher). I did well for my GCE O-Level and got into Raffles Junior College – the first student from Commonwealth to study in RJC!

So much has changed. Even the uniform is different from what I used to wear.

Luckily for me, the Kunming-Lijiang express rail link will start operation on New Year Day 2010.

5-Day Kunming-Lijiang-Dali-Kunming Trip by Rail

Day 1: Arrive Kunming

Day 2: Kunming-Lijiang by Train
K9606/7 Kunming 2200 – Lijiang 0655 (next day)
Fare(CNY): ¥130 (upper berth), ¥137 (middle berth), ¥141 (lower berth); ¥200 (upper berth soft), ¥207 (lower berth soft)

Day 4: Lijing-Dali by Train
L9020/17 Lijiang 0810 – Dali 1025
Fare(CNY): ¥48 (hard seat)

Day 5: Dali-Kunming by Train
K9616/3 Dali 2058 – Kunming 0520 (next day)
Fare(CNY): ¥74 (upper berth), ¥78 (middle berth), ¥80 (lower berth)

It’s amazing that I could find all this information on the internet at the official Kunming Rail website – http://www.kmrail.com