#benwedsrae

I am really not blogging as frequently as I'd like.

I've been really busy and packed since I've gotten back. I am actually watching Conan's Clueless Gamer while blogging right now. And I am really bad at multi-tasking!

Anyway, we recently got to see photos from the wedding (which I aptly coined #benwedsrae but nobody seems to be picking it up!) from our lovely photography buddy, who runs Shots By Joss.

Team Bride :) with my beautiful best friend, the Bride

The other bridesmaids were really nice. From L to R: Beckie (Bride's younger sister), Janus and Betty, both from school and originally from Hong Kong.

The Bride and Groom, with the Groom's adorable twin nieces

 Group photo!

The night reception. English weddings were new for us. Instead of those like Chinese weddings, the English wedding starts with the vows, the speeches, promises, and then its photo taking and drinks, and the food only comes at around 4pm. We were all really hungry by then! After that, there was an after party which lasted through the night.

Beautifully captured by Shots by Joss

Rae and her father, and her parents together on the right

 Ben, the groom gave a really sweet Promises speech, where he fondly states that he promises to try strange Asian food with my best friend. She's half Chinese and half Bruneian, and she loves Asian food and culture.

The groomsmen and bridesmaids

Never did I think I could jump so high and look so nice jumping!

The wedding was lovely, and I wish I could experience it again! It was so beautiful. I didn't get to take many pictures because I was Maid of Honor and I could not bring my phone around everywhere. I did manage to take a few shots before and after the wedding though!

Lovely set up of the tables, differentiated by countries. This Brunei table consisted of friends from Brunei and Malaysia. Rae is also crazy about elephants so the theme was sort of lavender and elephants.

East meets west: Rae is really proud of her roots and never lets people forget it. here, she has her party favors in ang paos (red packets). Inside were cute little elephant bracelets

This was a really amazing candy stand!! it has all kinds of candies, from gobstoppers to marshmallows, to lollipops and so much more. I remember taking a whole bag but I left the bag somewhere without eating them :(

Epic candy stand!

My table spread! Being Maid of Honor, I was seated right in front with the bride, groom and family

We could choose what we wanted to eat prior to the wedding, and I opted for the pork. Can't remember entirely what it was but it was really delicious.

Hehe, follow me on Snapchat at 'abbyccy'

Gifts for the bridesmaids. Thank you! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, or anybody else but at your wedding as your Maid of Honor!

What was really amazing was that there was a lion dance performance! Smack in the middle of nowhere in Dorset, Bournemouth, England! Ha! 

What was even more amazing was that Rae actually got a call 2/3 days before from the troop she hired, calling to cancel because one of the Founding fathers passed away. Its taboo to celebrate occasions when someone passes away in the Chinese culture.

I remember she was really upset, and she called Ben to tell him. So what Ben did, the sweetest thing really, he secretly found another troop (I really don't know how, and where from!) and surprised her on the wedding night! Her (and everyone else's) reaction was priceless :)

Here is a short clip of the lion dance performance:

The wedding was amazing. And the Bride was really beautiful. Can you believe that woman did her own hair on the big day? She carried her own wedding gown, and everybody's dresses (bridesmaids, flower girls) and everything for the wedding by herself in her own car (with my help). She really was the ultimate iron woman, who held it all together so well. I would imagine that anyone else (especially myself) would have freaked out because so many things did not fall according to plan the night before, and the day itself. Makeup took really long, and hers was one of the last to be done, and she was only completely ready less than an hour before she had to walk down the aisle. Truly an amazing woman, who pulled it off and looked so beautiful you wouldn't have expected any hassle behind the scenes.

I was really glad and thankful to have been able to be a part of her Big Day :)

Congratulations to the lovely couple. They are now on their honeymoon in Bali, and I'm so jealous because I am stuck back at work! xx

Bournemouth part 2: Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Jurassic Coast

This post will be about our trip to Lulworth Cove in Dorset, Bournemouth!

Lulworth Cove is a cove near the village of West Lulworth, on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in Dorset, southern England. The cove is one of the world's finest examples of such a landform, and is a tourist location with approximately 500,000 visitors a year, of whom about 30% visit in July and August.^[1][2] It is close to the rock arch of Durdle Door and other Jurassic Coast sites. - Wikipedia

It took us around an hour ish or so to get there by car, from where we stayed. We then had to take quite the hike of around 40 minutes to see the Durdle Door.

Hiking up, this was my POV halfway to the top. We came from the bottom as seen in the picture.. It was quite tiring as it was a pretty steep hill

Halfway there..

 the beautiful bride-to-be

This is the Durdle Door! It is a natural limestone arch; a true geology wonder.

p/s Tears for Fears filmed their music video "Shout" here in 1985!

with my lovely girls, we were classmates at one point or another back in school :) We are all now kinda scattered around, but we still keep in touch!

#ASIANS lol

The street where Rae stayed. We were there for a couple of days so it was quite bittersweet to leave. But it also meant it was time for our LONDON adventures to BEGIN!

Bournemouth part 1 2015

Hello!
I just got back to Brunei yesterday after a 3-week holiday from the UK and Europe! Boy, was it tiring! Tiring mostly due to the fact that we took a tour around Europe and the entire thing was so fast-paced.

We flew on a Saturday and reached Heathrow airport, London on a Sunday morning. We took the National Express bus that my friend booked for us 2 hours later, and off to Bournemouth we went! The bus ride took about 2 hours.

The main reason for our trip (boyfriend and myself) was to attend my best friend, Rae's wedding in Bournemouth. To attend is to speak humbly, because I was one of the maid of honors. As children as young as 15, we have already spoke of our weddings, and how we both promised to be maid of honors at each other's weddings, no matter where our weddings were. Back then, we already knew she was going to be in England, so our pact was for me to be in England! So yes, we made it reality and I finally got to England for my first time!

Bournemouth is to the south of England, and it is situated near the sea, so it has lots of beautiful beaches. We stayed there for a few days, where we got to shop, eat and prepare for her wedding. I really liked Bournemouth because it was quaint and really lovely, with friendly people. I would go on to realize Londoners are less friendly.

My best friend, the then bride-to-be

Best friend and the Love of her life

True to blending in wherever I go, Rae and her parents brought us for English Breakfast and a yacht club.

 We got there only to realize one person had to have one tray; it was their restaurant policy. I was okay with the top and bottom layer, but having none-existent sweet tooth, I could not do the middle tray!

Love these bunch xx

What else did we do? SHOP of course! Rae promised to take me to a huge Primark. Now, I have never been to a Primark before, so imagine my awe when I realized how cheap everything was. 2 pounds for a pair of shorts? 5 for a shirt? etc etc. The novelty soon wore off though, as I didn't even step into the one in London.

Walking to New Look!

Then one night (I forgot which!!!!), we had yummy dinner at Casa Pepe for steak!

Scampi

My steak with wine and mushroom 

There was one morning where my best friend had plans, so my boyfriend and I took our way to walking around to find food. We found this amazing brunch place called Ludo Lounge after around 15 mins of walking from where we stayed.

Our Flat Whites and English breakfast! Eggs, bread, beans, mushroom, hash brown, bacon and blood pudding which I wouldn't even prod with a lightsaber

We have the tendency to order the same everything haha

 Ludo Lounge (this was the first place where someone called me "luv")

Me and my giant breakfast! It was so good, I particularly loved the hash brown!

Um. OOTD:

I remember it being sunny that day, and was one of the none cold days so I was mostly without my jacket.

We had loads of time in Bournemouth, so we spent one day in a nearby town called Christchurch. Its tinier than Bournemouth, and we walked around the shops there, as well as visit their resident church, the Priory Church.

It was stunning, both inside and out. Like most churches, no pictures were allowed. I have a fascination for churches, so this was like a little starter for me before our Euro trip (read; Paris, Rome).

A street in Christchurch

Okay now back to the epitome of all blog posts; food!

Like Brunei is famous for its ambuyat (except different in a way that most people DO want to eat it :P), Bournemouth is famous for seafood, mainly its fish & chips!

 Harry Ramden's is one of the most popular places for fish & chips in Bournemouth

So good!

On the day before The Wedding, Rae gathered up all her close friends and family and we had a nice dinner at this place next to the beach called Noisy Lobster.

My starter: cold prawns and salmon

my main: the Noisy Platter! consisted of half a lobster, fries, soft shell crab, clams and salad

My dessert of Cheese Plate and grapes that I almost completely wasted, because everyone was too full to have any after dinner. :(

This clown came along too, and she was the official Photog of the Wedding

Will blog about our hike up to Lulworth Cove and the Wedding soon x