to the newly weds

Andrew & Swasti Photoclip from Axioo on Vimeo.

the world's sweetest video

a brief introduction to the morning of 23 October 2010


Andrew + Swasti Video Summary from Axioo on Vimeo.

leo's 80th birthday celebrated 50 years ahead

starting 16th oct for the birthday boy's real birthday on the 17th...

instructions were to dress up as old people or basically anything to do with the hospital... and best part was leo was suppose to be either in london or on his private island celebrating his big 3 - 0

received an email 2 weeks before saying to keep the 16th free for him and i really thot it was him being silly or something. fast forward 2 wks... leo comes round to pick me up in his porsche that he rented for his duration of stay here hahaha that crazy boy flew all the way back here really for his birthday! and it was a totally unglamorous debacle

sinclair went as his old self - even falling aslp towards the end, gina came straight from work plus she's the youngest of all of us so its fine... sarah wore her mom's dress and the rollars were really hers, swas had on her mom's vintage dress - going for the western old aunties look, i had on my grandma's clothes + handbags + mom's curlers and best was the birthday boy himself! the bald part on top of his head is really his head... no wig... he really shaved off only that part!!!! omg! for a sec, swas cldnt even recognise him when we walked in.... he had on a colostomy bag filled with warm "beer" and a walking stick too

the following is a whole series of totally unglam pictures that was all thanks in part to the tab leo had running

and of course as the night went on.... the pictures got more RA-ted

there was the wardrobe malfunction...

the old man getting a massage....

the fights....

and of course the birthday boy... wasted, old and eating his all his birthday cake (including the candles... and in the words of gina - SURREAL)

happy 30th my dear!!!!! hope your liver made it that night :D

and to a great nite out with my own darlings :)

pre-wedding preparations

6 days and counting..............

i've known swasti since my scgs days. so that brings it to a total of 10 years in school together before we moved off on our separate ways before finding each other again in LA and since then pretty much going to stay in each other lives for a very very long time. the way i remember it was that we were friends in school by default that she was a full on indo while my mom is... so our mothers would converse and leave us alone to be friends. but she seems to remember more details of it. the swas i remember had those huge mad scientist hair and she was such a nerd with fantastic artistic sense. her art works were always displayed on our art board and printed in the school yearbook. so much has changed and now she's a beautiful, crazy, full of life person, i've grown to become best friends with
and im really proud/excited/estatic to say that she's met someone she can spend the rest of her life with and their wedding will be this week!

these are some of the pre-wed pictures she took in france by axioo

the photographers did such a great job capturing their happiness and goofyness it was really difficult for me to choose which ones i like best. but as always with great shots, it was tiring and at times really nasty (esp in the sunflower field) haha i was really surprised to hear that all their shots were done over just 2 days and swas took care of her own hair and makeup!

both swas and andrew come from really traditional families and over the last weekend i was very very fortunate to be able to fly to jakarta and participate in their dowry exchange which took place in the hyatt suite and in andrew's house. i was 1 of the 8 girls helping "represent" swas with her dowry to her in-laws

preparations were crazy with every having to be pasted with double fortunte stickers and clothes, shoes, bags, makeup all wrapped with red bows.....

towels folded in a shape of a rabbit... she's really proud of this...

it was just such an elaborate ceremony, i'm so glad i made an effort to go coz i dont think i'll ever participate in something like this anymore. it was great to see the amt of work and attention to details it had to be put into. and since everything needed to be near perfect, maids were not brought in to help - so it was between swas, her mom, her aunt and myself to get everything ready and looking great.

so on 10th oct, the 8 single girls gathered in the suite alongside 7 red new luggages filled with "1 years worth of goodies" along with numerous other trays of goodies including a piss pot with a huge ginger and aloevera plant stuffed into it. some other items to exchange included 2 pairs of chicken which must lay eggs and packets and packets of garlic peanuts, beans,, rock sugar, sliced melons etc. if anyone ever needs help with the details, aunty belinda is the person to go to now :) i swear that the stuff that went into the dowry was made up by match-makers of the past coz they liked to eat the items hahaa

so the process was 8 aunties of andrew came to visit the suite bearing gifts which took a few lifts worth of trips and more goodies, ate there, took photo and with the 8 single girls, we life in an entourage of alphate to andrews house. there, we would eat again and bring the bags into their new room and more photos would be taken

as it was only a weekend trip and i was really busy dealing with the stuff, i only pretty much got to see hyatt, grand indonesia (the mall that was connected to hyatt) and andrew's house. but as i havent been back to jkt for a very very long time, and i have friends who've moved back, sat dinner was a chance for all of us to catch up and it was great!

with swas moving back to indo... looks like i might be making jkt one of my stops more often :)

this week is going to be madness with the last few days counting down and all our friends are flying in... it'll be so exhausting but great fun installed! i'm really looking forward to sat, to see how everything will come together then

jpn! tokyo

so much has been happening in my life... it doesnt seem as if i can keep up with it.... i want to write abt jpn while its still very fresh in my mind coz i sure do owe it to jo for his wonderful understanding and for putting up with a very grumpy me

anyway...... this was our first sight into tokyo

the sight out of our bedroom:

and thks to our severly delayed flight... dinner was purchased in family mart :D

Day 1: Eiji, Sony Building, Ginza, Majestic Bar, Pachinkooooo

first proper meal out in tokyo was chosen by eiji... unfortunately our trip was the exact same week as when he was going back to cali so this was the only time i cld see him :(

he brought us to really really yummy tempura!

then eiji left us to wonder arnd ginza while he ran off to catch his flight!

the streets of ginza

we spotted architecture specialty #1... it was by total luck too!

and building #2 (this is by far jo's fav building of this whole trip)

its a really cool building where each lift takes u straight to the floor of the designated watch store

after a full day of shopping and basically scaring ourselves... we called it a day. but on the way back... we stumbled onto

inside jo cldnt help himself but sit down and play a few rounds

and this is basically what you aim to win.... baskets and baskets of them

Day 2: Sadaharu Aoki, Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi, drinks with friends=wasted in tokyo

of course while in tokyo i must go try all the pastry shops and i swear... they were all mindblowingly great. first stop sadaharu aoki in tokyo midtown...

for starters we had macarons, a burnt vanilla thingy, their sea salt caramel eclair and a giant vanilla thick cream puff.... omg just thinking of it now makes me want to go back for more
main was the world's best macha.... u have to order it when there! and jo ordered their club sandwich and i had a croque maddame... thing is the food was yummy, i'd say better than canele, here in sg. only problem is... the menu was in japanese so we didnt quite know what we were ordering and even thou the waitress tried to explain, it was still a little hazy but we still walked out very satisfied

spent the whole day being absorbed in tokyo midtown only to leave in the late afternoon to the museum arnd the corner. spent some time there looking at exhibits before taking a walk down roppongi. here, jo found he's next pet.... a tiny little monkey! and it was tiny....

went home to change to head out to meet aaron for drinks... and as with all outing with my dear friend, everyone walked out having farrrr toooo much to drink :p

day 3: hung over, katsu, attempted harajuku, night market

woke up with a sever headache... and jo finally believe i get horrid hang overs!!! haha

met aaron at his apt for him to bring us to eat yummy katsu..... not that i really appreciated it much since i was terribly out of it....

after we left for harajuku to see the cosplay pple since it was sunday....

in front of harajuku park

i pretty much gave up after seeing a group of cosplay pple and opted to go back to pass out while jojo was left alone to wonder arnd omotesando hills by his lonesome self

thankfully after a nap... we met up at Azabu Juban to go thru their night market!

there were rows and rows and endless streets of food stalls and games... we cldnt decide on wat to eat coz everything looked awesome but the first 2 dishes were... steamed potatoes with just jap mayo, salt and butter... sooooo fatty but absolutely YUMMY. i dont think i've ever tasted potatoes that good ever... and of course we had octopus balls!

it was packed full of people and very very hot too, everywhere we turned it was a new street full of stuff to see



Day 4: Tsujiki Market, Asakusa Temple, International Forum, Muji Flagship

jo and i really tried our best to wake up really early to try and catch the morning auction but unfortunately we were still too late :(

but coz everyone else was still watching the auction, we instead decided to find a very early morning breakfast.... we didnt know which restaurant to choose from so like everyone else, we looked for a local and joined the queue that had the most of them.

an hour later..... we finally managed to enter into this restaurant

the sashimi was good but was it really worth waking up so early? i didnt quite think so coz i cld possibly haf gotten the same quality in LA for arnd the same price... but i haf to say the range of stuff they had were awesome and its the first time having shrimp sashimi and it was GREAT. as my special request last order... i had my sweet shrimp :D havent had it in forever and im really looking forward to having it again in LA.

jo and i basically rolled out of the restaurant... and by that time the line in was crazy long! i wldnt have bothered lining up if it was that long

in front of asakusa temple is a row of stores... selling really nice local stuff. of course aimed at the tourists but a great place to buy souveneirs

at the temple...

just around the corner... i had the world's best green tea icecream

and then it was off in search of muji's flagship store... but before that.... i spotted the international forum, my favourite building of the trip

Day 5: Odaiba, Sega World, Department Stores in search of pokkies, Kinokuniya

at sega world... the car games were in real life-size cars... unlike any other archade i've been to we had to enter into a car and race in it! it would turn as per normal... totally cool. funniest thing is jo beat me by a pretty impressive margin considering he doesnt even drive! haha

of course once it comes to jo and his books, we didnt leave kino for a very long time

Day 6 (Wed): Studio Ghibli Museum, Shibuya, Opening Ceremony, Comme des Garcon, Loft

 we had to travel for some time to reach Studio Ghibli but it was totally worth it... and im really glad jo dragged me there :)

no pictures were allowed to be taken inside but these were taken outdoors..... towards the end, we had awesome milk icecream too

then it was back to town, shopping at shibuya

bought lots of gifts at loft... and jo and i got a black harem pants each frm CDG... also i introduced opening ceremony to jo! the interior here is soooo much better than LA's store

Day 7: Moriyama House, Roppongi, Toto Bookstore, Mori ARt Museum, Awesome Udon Dinner

in a bid to keep me less grumpy, jo decided to let me slp in while he went off to the suburbs to see a house he absolutely worships

and boy i needed that sleeping in... i felt sooo much better after thou i did feel bad leaving jo alone

dragged him to try another pastry store which this time specialised in mousse

jo didnt really feel like eating but once we started... we had to stop ourselves from ordering more than the 2 we had already consumed in our beyond stuffed tummy

then it was back to roppongi to search for toto bookstore and walk around the smaller streets to find quaint stores and houses.

at the mori art museum...

an exhibition of fluff representing snow

all these were made from paper mache... very very cool

off we went for dinner at a nearby udon place that was recommended by aaron and oh my goodness the place totally blew our minds.....

braised pork that melted in your mouth



the udon here is to die for... and i will forever remember this place. their noodles were served in huge bowls bigger than my face!!!!

DAy 7: our very last day.... split up with me going to Omotesando hills and Harajuku while jo ran his own errands

in the morning... jo and i decided that for the most parts we would split coz he was going to figure out what he'll do with his 5kg+ worth of books while i haf yet to find the pokkies that i was tasked to bring back. so off i went to a local supermarket a few blocks down from our hotel... bought instant noodles, all sorts of jap snacks and umeshu!

then i went off to harajuku with instructions from jo where to go and an end point - CDG store at a certain time.

spotted the audi showroom off omotesando... and its really cool

and as i walked off in the small streets off omotesando hills, i walked into a store which had this at the back

peering through the back door,the sales lady told me i could go and check it out... and to my great surprise, it was a grape tree with fairy lights hung on it!!! i got to try the grapes and it's the sweet kind too!!!! very very cool experience

jo went off to check out Shima kinazawa and after meeting up we went off to Shibuya to pick up a great black jacket from comme that was pre-ordered coz there weren't any in jo's size... and as always, picked up krispy kremes for the girls. as we were unable to get over our previous nite's dinner, we decided to head back to Roppongi  for more udon for dinner.

exhausted... we decided to head back and haf umeshu at our bar while we reflected on our trip.

2 weeks later jo and i left tokyo very much heavier

i dont think i wld haf enjoyed the trip any more if it was with someone else... jo was really the best person to travel with thou i think next time im making sure im bringing ear plugs! hahaha

it was certainly a very memorable trip and memories of it will be with me for a very long time

this entry is for johan my dearest... thanking him for going crazy with his camera and taking over 3600 pictures for me to filter and pick and for being the greatest friend one can ever ask for