#RabbitMuffin Proposal - 29 Oct 2013

My Birthday and His Proposal

HE chose to propose to me on my birthday almost a year ago.

My evening started off with Sweetie Muffin picking me up for birthday celebratory dinner. As usual, the dining venue remained a secret till he parked his car at Hotel Grand Pacific that I knew that we were going to have an abalone feast @ Ah Yat Abalone.

Was rather disappointed that he got a Groupon Deal (yet again) for this festive occasion because the food never tasted good from such deals to be frank. Indeed I was right about it and actually that dining experience spurred me to start a blog to document my life story whilst I started my very first post reviewing this restaurant (read HERE).

Birthday Treat at Ah Yat Abalone, 29 Oct 2013

With a queasy stomach (due to indigestion), we strolled to Bugis Junction to make myself feel less nauseous and I felt slightly better there.

Sweetie Muffin bought me a laced ribbon for my plain Mary Jane Sketchers Shoes to cheer me up (after the abalone ordeal). 

My Birthday Present

We then headed off to Marina Barrage to waste our time since the night was still young as Sweetie Muffin suggested. 

He then started to act weirdly as he insisted on finding a secluded place to park his car.

I did not suspect much but was really frustrated and annoyed with him wasting my time with his car park hunt. 

Finally, he found an ideal spot to park his car and we alighted for a stroll.

The Singapore's Night View was indeed splendid - we get to see Marina Bay Sands and Singapore Flyer all at once!

Splendid Singaporean Night View

Marina Barrage is an ideal place for couples to hang out and chill because it is the most cost-effective place. You get to enjoy the breeze and scenery or even see others fly kites at night. 

We were then done for the night as I started to feel cold from all the breeze and hence we headed back to the car park and Sweetie Muffin declared that he needed to visit the washroom to clear his bowels (nothing new when hanging out with a Muffin).

I was told to return to the car to wait for him whilst he do his 'business' and he passed me his car keys. As I do not know how to drive, he told me to press on the middle button of his car key in order to unlock the door...

Are You Sure?!

I was studying the illustration on his car key and was doubting his instruction as the illustration does not indicate that it will unlock the doors of his car. 

Thinking that he gave me the instruction in a flurry as he needed to visit the washroom badly, I proceeded to press the second button in order to prove him wrong.

Indeed, the car boot opened and I walked over to close it but realised a mysterious object floating out from his car boot --  it was a balloon!

The reason why I emphasised on the word "a" is because Sweetie Muffin filled the balloons with Helium in the afternoon but most of them had lost their gas and only one managed to float out of his car boot whereas the rest hobbled lifelessly in the boot. 

Then, Sweetie Muffin reappeared and started exclaiming that ALL the balloons were supposed to fly but a small 'mishap' happened along the way. Then, he apologised for the awkward mishap and told me to look into the car boot.

I was dumbfounded.

I saw the my Le' Sucre Rabbit Doll lying in the boot alongside with Sweetie Muffin's DIY Comic Strips (printed on a few A4 paper) using LINE Characters which looked somewhat like the illustration below.

I was not touched to tears. 

I was simply dumbfounded because that was totally unexpected from a Muffin.

How the Actual Scenario looked like...

Then, Sweetie Muffin took the ring box and went down on his knees to do his proposal. He was mumbling throughout and I couldn't really remember what he said except for the most important sentence that our relationship would work out with God being in our midst. 

OK, that was all I need to be assured of and I proceeded to say "YES!" without hesitation.

Then, he tried to slide the ring onto my ring finger.

Only to realise that he bought a size too big for my petite finger!

MEH!!! I HATE MUFFINS!

I had always dreamt of shopping for my OWN Engagement Ring because I am very fussy when it comes to design and Sweetie Muffin's taste had been pretty bad in my opinion. 

I was rather cross that he went ahead to buy the engagement ring without consulting me and even got a ring that was many sizes bigger than my finger in the latter (after the excitement from the proposal faded off of course). 

My Engagement Ring

However I was grateful that his taste wasn't so bad after all as he chose a design with 2 rows of side diamond as he know that I love bling! And he also tried his best to be very romantic in his proposal although it was on a quiet night at the secluded corner of the car park at Marina Barrage *Chuckles*

So, that was how I got myself stucked with a Muffin for a lifetime.

I am glad that God has given me a Muffin for me to love and bully cherish and to share my wonderful and not so wonderful experiences with.

Thanks, Muffin for tolerating my nonsense for almost another year after the proposal and counting on for more (nonsense) ahead.

Thank you always for being my best-est companion and soulmate for so long without getting sick of me (perhaps you will after 7 years) and trying your best to be a better Muffin (although you can't become a Cupcake *Oops*). 

Can't wait to begin a new chapter in life with you and hope we have many more beautiful moments ahead with God witnessing our matrimony and filling our marriage with abundant blessings :)

Rabbit Eats Muffin - Let the Countdown Begin...

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We are ENGAGED!!!

#RabbitMuffin Engagement on 10 October 2014

Hi world! We are finally ENGAGED!!

Special thanks to our relatives, friends and blog readers for the never-ending well-wishes.

As mentioned in my previous post, 10 October is a special date for us and we are very fortunate to be engaged on this date :)

We made a trip down on the day before (9 October) to verify our identities and also to make an oath to declare that everything we declared is truthful and that we are above the age of 21. It was pretty weird having to raise our right hand and read the 'script' provided to us. I tried to read the entire passage within one breath because I wanted to get over and done with it. LOL!

I was grateful for attending the Korean Make-Up lesson with Cynderella by Cynthia Oh earlier as I saved a lot of money on engaging a Professional Make-Up Artist for my Engagement as I can DIY. Thank God I managed to paste the double-eyelid tape and falsies almost effortlessly although I did not practice putting them on again after my previous lesson.

I spent the entire morning dolling myself up and fixing my irritably straight hair.

Sneak Preview of my ROM look :)

Then we set off to the venue - Registry of Marriage (ROM) as our appointment was at 1.53pm and we were encouraged to reach at least 15 minutes in advance. The time slot allocated to us was weird as it is like between lunch and dinner. Hence we cannot have a family gathering over lunch but were compelled to Yum Cha (drink tea) after the solemnisation.

Sweetie Muffin had arrived earlier whilst my family and I reached at 1.30pm as my dad had difficulties finding the car park.

When I arrived, Sweetie Muffin gave me a very sombre expression and said in a low-tone:

"I have something to tell you"

I was very hesitant to listen to what he was about to say. Because his expression looked grave and I thought he was about to tell me that we have not enough budget for house renovation and hence he wanted to shelf it till a better timing...



I was trying hard to avoid him but he pulled me to a corner....

And He said:

"I forgot to bring something..."

I heaved a sigh of relief when it was not about cancelling my renovation plans...

But.. What did that dumb muffin forget to bring? If he did not bring his NRIC, can we still proceed to register our marriage??

"I forgot to buy flowers!!" Sweetie Muffin mumbled.

. . . . . . What is the BIG deal about flowers?

He explained that he saw that other brides have a bouquet of flowers but I do not have any and he was afraid that I would feel mentally imbalanced because of that. That is just so LAME! I thought it was something very serious... *MEH*



Anyways I wasn't a flower person. I scolded him when he gave me flowers for Valentine's Day as it was extravagant and useless. It added on to my woes as I have to spray water at the roses but to see them wither away and have to bear the heartache throwing them away since they started to rot.


I am a pragmatic person. A mere bouquet of flowers cannot satisfy me. I want a muffin who loves me more than anything and be good by applying sunblock on a daily basis.

I would seriously prefer to have something that is more functional like a decent handbag (my dream CC), shoes (my dream Ferragamo), accessories etc (Yes, I don't deny that I am materialistic. So?). At least something that is of use to me rather than flowers because the garden in our church has plentiful.

So after the "Flowers Episode", we continued to wait outside Solemnisation Room 1 for our turn.

Waiting for our names to be called...

There were many other couples waiting outside together with us as well. 

Finally ~ it was our turn and we entered into the Solemnisation Room to be greeted by a pleasant looking lady in her late fifties. 

She requested to verify our identification documents and  started reading her 'script' in slow-mo and we have to agree with her statements by saying "Yes". 

Finally, it was our turn to recite our marriage vows and it ended off with:

"In token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love, with this ring I marry you"

Then, we were pronounced as Man and Wife. 

That was how I became Mrs. Muffin Poon in under 15 minutes and that felt surreal! 

I think the registrar sounded rather robotic to us because she has conducted too many sessions in one day. Everything just happened almost abruptly and before we notice anything, we were already considered lawfully married. 

We were ready to leave the room via where we entered but the registrar reached out to a remote control and pressed a button. Suddenly, the curtains on the other side of the room parted and she gestured to us to exit via that direction. We didn't expect the ROM to be so hi-tech! *COOL*

We were being greeted by a flower arch for photo-taking and we stopped by to take a few photos under the scorching heat. 

Photo taken on 9 Oct 2014 (My "Rehearsal")

Then we headed back indoors to take photos with the heart-shaped rose bushes before we call it a day and proceed to Mouth Restaurant @ Plaza Singapura for Dim Sum. 

As our parents are not youngsters, we did not take many photos after the solemnisation as they are not into photo-taking. Hence I will be reserving the photos taken during my engagement to be displayed on my actual wedding instead. 

We did not hire photographers for this occasion and hence I brought my own tripod stand to take group photos. We saw other couples doing the same as well and hence we were relieved :D

Really can't wait for the renovation and our actual marital life to commence!

Wedding Countdown

183
Days:8
Hours:0
Min:11
Sec

Wedding is on  Sunday, 12 April 2015

Wedding Countdown

183
Days:8
Hours:0
Min:12
Sec

Wedding is on  Sunday, 12 April 2015

Wedding Countdown

183
Days:8
Hours:2
Min:53
Sec

Wedding is on  Sunday, 12 April 2015

Until Next Time :)

#OOTD at Singapore Philatelic Museum nearby ;)

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Revised 4-Room HDB Renovation Ideas

~ RENOVATION IDEAS  DRAFT 1~

It has been quite some time since I gave updates on my resale flat renovation.

We have revisited our home-to-be this morning together with our contractor and was pretty disappointed that our house was not as spacious as I imagined it to be :(

Life is always full of unexpected stuff and we just have to take them by our stride and adapt accordingly :)

You might be interested to read my previous musings on my housing journey if you have missed them earlier:

• Sales of Balance Flat, November 2013

• Sales of Balance Flat, May 2013 (**An Update)

• My Dream Home (Interior Designing)

• HDB Resale Flat Journey Part 1: Getting Our House

• HDB Resale Flat Journey Part 2: Interior Design -Kitchen, Living and Dining Areas

• HDB Resale Flat Journey Part 3: Interior Design - Bathrooms

Entire House

As only the Master Bedroom and one other Common Room has air-cons, we intend to run the air-con pipes for entire house in case we need to install air-cons in other rooms as well.

Master Bedroom

How our Master Bedroom Looks like

Yes! I am so going to hack off that wardrobe!!! Dislike the yellow wardrobe door and that orangey wooden doors. And away with that dressing table in the indented wall over at the corner!

I have intended to do a platform storage by the window like the picture below so that I can sit by the window and dry my hair and paint my face with skincare (I know it sounds eerie but I buy that idea OK?). However, my window area has an indent underneath which we did not realise until we revisit the house again and that portion is a wasted space which can be converted into a storage cabinet. 

However that height is simply too tall to function as my 'bench'. HAIX. So there goes my dresser by the window concept LOH!

Bye Bye Storage Bench besides window idea ~~ T.T

I am thinking to do a customised cabinet under the window which connects all the way to the dressing table area. 

Then, do the platform storage at the dressing table area for me to sit down with side open shelves to store my hairdryer and skincare :)

My Revised Idea

Hence this solves the problem right?!

My idea for accessories cabinet.. With glass top (not necessary have to be compartmentalised) to display my jewellery and accessories :)

Also, I was thinking of converting the window cabinet to have flat drawers with glass top to display my jewellery...

Chest of Drawers

Chest of Drawers (SGD269)

Yes I am so obsessed with this piece of furniture from IKEA.

Will want to use it to store my lingerie and pyjamas :)

Thinking of placing it at the wall under the air-con unit. 

Perhaps I should replace that matching mirror with our wedding photograph? LOL.

Doors

Nice Wooden Doors

I intend to replace our bedroom doors to something classy like the picture above.

Wardrobe Design

Gone were those days when I fantasised about walk-in wardrobes like those in boutique shops. 

It is not practical to have on in HDB and I might go cranky if my clothing get attacked by mildew and mould due to Singapore's humid weather.

I want a wardrobe with sliding doors now ~~

I like how the parquet floor is still preserved even with the wardrobe.

Somewhat Similar to IKEA's Pax Wardrobe System

Idea from IKEA :) Love the pull out drawers.. Can use that to store scarves and misc items but I would like more area to hang my dresses and skirts.

Railings to hang Sweetie Muffin's pants

Full-Length Mirror that can be conveniently tucked away in the wardrobe

Belt Hanger!!

Bed Ideas

Our room is too small to squeeze TWO bedside tables. So I was wondering if we can squeeze a wall cabinet (for my handbags) cum bedside table like the picture below. 

I can charge my phone, and place my laptop there as well :)

As for bed frame, we are pretty undecided. 

My original intention was country style with nice solid wood bed frame. However country style is a budget burster. Hence we might just make do with modern contemporary style instead. 

My idea of cosiness is that of a hotel room - minimalistic and yet elegant. 

Bill recommended us to consider the Divan Bed base with a high headboard. 

I was actually pretty in for that idea as I adored that idea when I watched the American Youtubers do their room tours. 

I think Sweetie Muffin would say a BIG 'NO' for that princesscy headboard.

Soz... Here a a few more 'normal' looking bedrooms:

Master Bathroom

How my Actual Bathroom looks like

My Dream Bathroom Design Idea (Flopped)

Bathroom Floor Plan

1. Vanity Counter

I had wanted a spacious vanity counter with side wall shelves to store my toiletries. 

However the space provided is too narrow to squeeze in a side shelf. 

2. Wasted Space

Just come to realise that there is wasted space on the right of the toilet bowl. We CANNOT shift the position of the toilet bowl to accommodate my vanity counter so that space at the right is WASTED.

ARGH stupid toilet bowl - why are you located in the middle of nowhere?!

3. Wall behind toilet bowl

That wall can be hacked. But can we shift the toilet bowl backwards to make it more spacious? Doubt so.. ARGH!!

My Revised Idea

Yes, my 'patterns' are always more than 'badminton' as quoted from Sweetie Muffin. I think he had enough my my suggestions although my brain is still generating different ideas ~~ 

So I have racked my brains and shrunk my 'dream' a little to the below layouts.

Layout 1

This is the proposed layout by our contractor - Bill. 

Layout 1

Perception of Layout 1

However, the sink area is really very pathetic loh. To have more countertop area, I think we need to have a protruding bowl like wash basin. 

I like the idea of building an additional wall at the shower area with indents (or holes) to put our shower gel, shampoo etc.

Storage space wise is still OK because we can have the mirrored cabinet which extends horizontally from above the sink to the toilet bowl and hence you will have more storage. 

But... I still prefer to place my regularly used toiletries on the countertop because I dislike the hassle of opening the cabinet doors every time I need to brush my teeth / wash my face. Functionality wise is not as good. 

Moreover, I hate it when there are fingerprints on the mirrors. 

In order to solve this problem, perhaps we should do an open shelf above the toilet bowl instead like the picture below and maintain the wall behind the toile bowl to act as extra space for my countertop?

Currently, this seems to be the best solution under Layout 1.

Creating storage around the toilet bowl area...

Open Shelf on top of toilet bowl, Mirrored cabinet on top of sink

Layout 2 (Shrink Shower Area)

Wonder if this is feasible if I 'eat' into the shower area - will that create more space for my vanity counter?? I am vain ~~ I want a huge counter top!!! But don't think Layout 2 will help much in space creation...

Smaller Shower Area

Does this layout create more room for my vanity counter if the shower area is hexagonal in shape?

Layout 3 (Sink on the Right)

Don't think it is feasible to squeeze the basin on the right?

If can do it horizontally, my countertop will have enough space to accommodate my toiletries!! Moreover, I can have a wider piece of mirror to see myself and have an expanded shower area too!

But I like the shower area design - wall indents created to put shower gel etc...

Layout 3 (Sink on the Right)

We can even have a tall side cabinet if we have our sink placed on the side...

Moreover, if the countertop area cannot be wide enough, we can incorporate the idea below with the sink protruding out from the sides.. *Helplessness*

Narrow Countertop

Narrow Countertop with Huge Basin

Colour Scheme

I like this warm and nice feeling ~~~

And the wall tiles which looks like cobberstones - wonder how much is that.. 

Earth Tones with Orangey Hues makes the bathroom looks more spacious

Kitchen

How our Kitchen looks like

My Proposed Layout

We initially thought of just hacking that wall with the 'window' and perhaps replace the ugly cabinet doors to save cost.

Will be hacking the Wall as it is an eyesore.

However we were told that hacking the wall would affect the cabinets behind that wall and hence we might as well hack off and redo the ugly cabinets. *HOORAY!!!*

Kitchen Layout

My ideal layout is something like below - the L shape is still maintained but I want to shift my basin to the island facing the dining area - so that I can wash dishes and watch TV at the same time.

Ideal Kitchen Layout

Then I want cabinets mounted near the laundry area to house my oven and microwave.

Sweetie's Muffin intention of having the island is to have bar top to house additional guests..

My idea is to have a sink there so I can watch TV whilst doing dishes.

Hence the combination is to have a larger island like below...

Design 1: Level Island with sink

Pros of having the same level island is that it is shortie friendly. No offence because I am not very tall and I find it a challenge to climb up the elevated bar stools. It is children and old folks friendly as well. Moreover, you have additional surface area to prep your food!

Design 2: Elevated Bar Top with sink below

This looks aesthetically better as there is a partition between food preparation area and the sink and also the area for your guests to sit by the counter. Looks more like a bar counter in this instance. 

The pro is that water will not splash on the bar top whilst washing as compared to Design 1. 

For the basin material, I am not into stainless steel. Would want something matte like the picture below. Reason being is that this is more durable and scratch-resistant. Easy maintenance too :)

Granite / Quartz Sink

Also, I want to erect a pantry cabinet opposite the stove (i.e. the fridge area) for extra storage.

Pantry Cabinet

Colour Scheme for Kitchen

Photo taken at IKEA

Would propose to have wood laminates on the cabinet doors with light coloured granite top with backsplash.

Woody Laminated Doors

Living and Dining Area

Living and Dining Area

Nothing much has changed since my last update at http://musings-of-a-rabbit.blogspot.sg/2014/08/hdb-resale-flat-idea-part-2-interior.html besides having my proposal for Eubiq tracks rejected by Sweetie Muffin earlier due to budget constraints *MEH*

We want to erect a false wall to function as TV console at one side and shoe cabinet on the other.

Just a simple TV console on the fake wall will do as I want a swivel TV bracket

Entry Way Shoe Cabinet with space for displaying stuff...

Oh we will be replacing our door to something which looks aesthetically better and functional and do away with the iron gates. Have always wanted to go keyless anyway ~ That will free our bags of the extra weight of metal *LOL*

A sturdy door with digital lock
Source: Xiaxue's Blog

We will be considering to knock down the cornice at the living and dining area and replace it with something more simple instead. Also, adjustments need to be made to my 'fake' wall as it might appear too thick if I want to incorporate the entry way shoe cabinets - food for thought.

Will be updating my blog on my House to Home transformation progress when I have time to do so.

"PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS HELP TO ELIMINATE SOME OPTIONS TO ENABLE YOU TO MAKE A FASTER AND SOUNDER DECISION" ~ Da Rabbit

Hence do not be too discouraged when you face with disappointments and unexpected things because you might still benefit from them instead.

Until Next Time :)

**Image Credits: Google Images

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