Chelsea's wedding invitation

Being a slacker for a while, I knew the next post has to be an exciting one!

Here comes the freshly designed and hand-printed wedding invitations for Chelsea and Matt!


Chelsea came to me and asked if I would be interested in designing wedding invitation for her. Hell yes! Sure I am interested! She likes a simple invitation with drawing of herself, Matt and their kitty. After a few conversation understanding her wedding style is causal and fun, I suggest screen printing the invitation, as it gives the same human touch and uniqueness, but more cost effective than letterpress.



The best part of this project? The illustration! I understand what Chelsea was looking for and got on the right track all the way. The final illustration was actually the first sketch!

Project overview

Description: 5 x 7 wedding invitations
Client: Chelsea Hare
Date: August 2010
Quantity produced: 135
Time: 2 weeks
Print method: Screen printed

Give me a shout if you are interested!

more...

everything about my wedding 婚禮籌備攻略

Wedding day: August 23, 2008
Guests: 160

Theme

Color: Yellow, green and white
Mood: Happy, fun and be ourselves!

Vendors

Venue:

Pick up the Bride: Radisson Hotel
Ceremony: Swan-e-Set Golf Club, outdoor on the lawn
Reception: Swan-e-Set Golf Club, Banquet room on 3rd floor
Swan-e-Set Golf Club is an excellent venue for wedding ceremony. Our ceremony was stunning and awesome! The funny thing is that they NEVER have ceremony on the lawn before! They only held their outdoor ceremony on the tiny deck that's shadowed by the trees..........what a waste!
I really love the venue, but Swan-e-Set hires the worst event coordinator ever! I have NEVER meet/heard of anyone did such a poor job than our event coordinator...She is a nightmare. If we contact her thru email, she just do not replied until 2 weeks later (only reply if I left voice message on her phone or cc the email to her coworker); Always always answer to something else than what we were exactly asking and mixed up with our situation all the time. Paid ZERO attention to details. Extremely slow respond and you actually have to search for her on the wedding day....awesome. Worst over all the vendors.

Cake:

Anna's Cake Shop
Mango & coconut mousse with pineapple chunk mini cakes
We are quite satisfied with the service in Anna's. Good quality and lots of choices. They provide cake tasting and you don't need to confirm the order until the week before. To avoid delivery fee, we picked up the cakes at the North Road store, which is just half hour away from our venue.

Stylist:
Jessica Hsia
Jessica or Sara are probably the busiest Chinese makeup artists in Vancouver, both of them feature in making you look nice and natural. Book in advance!

Photographer:
Rick Collins :: http://www.rickcollinsphotography.com

I am disappointed. I am really disappointed. I trusted he takes stunning photography and have high expectation on his work, so I didn't even bother to ask my photographer friends to take photo as backup. I mean, there are some pretty good ones, but snapshots were just bad. A lot of blurry images at night. Come on, he uses D3, I would expect to see good photo under low light situation. I felt the post production is also somewhat careless, there are quite a few photo burnt white, apparently those ones are overexposure. Another thing is, I don't even have a photo with my bridesmaids. No photo of me before the ceremony and very few photo from the reception. Most photo from the reception were blurry. I understood we were moving all the time in the reception, but he knows we are moving from table to table to greet guests and shouldn't he prepared for that? Second worst vendor.

Stationary

Invitation: DIY


I am a visual designer, of course I made my own invitation!
See my fabulous invitations here:: http://yujai.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-fabulous-invitations.html

Favor:
Ceremony: Bubbles (theKnot.com)
Table Gifts: mini Ferrero Rocher bouquet (DIY)

Believe it or not, I used to run a business that sells handmade paper flowers with two of my friends back in high school and it was a blast! I had been making these Ferrero Rocher bouquet for years, but I didn't make any of these for the wedding because I was just WAY TOO BUSY! A big big big thank you to my mom, aunties and cousins who helped making these flowers! I won't recommended this as favor if you are not familiar with handcrafts or you do not have friends to help out, it's just way too much work.

Decoration

Flower: DIY

My craftster mom did all the wedding flowers, she is awesome!
I wish Vancouver has flower market like Hong Kong, or online wholesaler like US, but this is not going to happen. If you are not going to use fresh cut flower for the centerpieces, it's very easy to do all the flower yourself.

We bought flower from Kits Food Market and Costco. Costco has the best price on roses, while at Kits Food Market you can place the ordered on the week of you wedding day (compares to 3 weeks in advance in most florists). If you are on budget, definitely go for in season flowers!

In my case, we just picked from the flowers that available in stores. My mom made 2 sets of bridal flower (a pink one to go with the Chinese wedding dress and a yellow one for the ceremony) with matching boutonnieres/corsages for Groom, Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, Parents, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 10 sets of flower decoration for the aisle. Guess how about in total? Less than CAD$180! My mom actually placed a wrong order at Costco and bought extra 4 dozens of roses, otherwise it would be even lesser.

Kits Food Market
1575 Yew Street, Vancouver, BC V6K 3E5
Telephone : 604-731-1441
Btw, the lady in Kits Food Market speaks Chinese/English ;)

Centerpieces: DIY

I had decided not to go with fresh cut flowers arrangement for centerpieces to cut cost (which really helps!). At the same time, I was tired with candles (I don't think it's appropriate since we have long day during August and the venue have ceiling to floor windows) or single cut flower with tall glass vase and marbles. I had been using my brain at the very best to come up a solution: hand craft centerpieces!

Car decoration:

I finished this pair of dolls for the car just the day before! I was sooooooooooo tired and exhausted at that time......nightmare!

Aisle


We have 10 rows of chairs with 8 chairs on each side. I've asked my mom to make 10 sets of flowers and alternated with balloon bouquets. Oh I also bought 3 bags of silk petals to sprinkle the edges of aisle. I recommended silk flower petals because fresh ones would dry out easily during the day and guests are very likely to step on them and kill them all before you walk down the aisle. (That's what I saw from my friend's wedding)

Attire

My first ever experience on "natural weight lossing"! Yup, you will definitely loss weight before wedding because of stress! I can totally tell my weight was dropping without stepping on a weight scale. So don't worry about diet, you will need energy. I ate normally, ice cream, chocolate, desserts... except deep fried food. My first to-do list after wedding #1 is to have English afternoon tea, #2 is KFC....hehehe!!
on Me:
Chinese wedding dress: Some store that I forgot the name (China)
Wedding dress: Verna Marina (Hong Kong)
Evening gown: BCBG (eBay)
*I am trying to sell these dresses, contact me at yujaii@gmail.com if you are interested!*

Shoes:
Red heels for 褂: ELLE (Hong Kong)
White heels for wedding dress: Staccato 百麗 (Hong Kong)
Gold heels for evening gown: Le Suanda (Hong Kong)
All my shoes are super comfy, highly recommended for brides with fat feet like me! I bought red heels instead of the traditional beads shoes because I can still wear it afterward and honestly, it's just HK$100 more. (In a way, this is more eco-friendly ;p)

on Mr. T:
White Tuxedo: custom made (Hong Kong)
Black suit: custom made (Hong Kong)
Cuff Link: Wing On dept. store (Hong Kong)
Tuxedo shirt: Dunhill (Hong Kong)
Shoes: Aldo (US)

Long story short, in the beginning we thought we will have reception in both Vancouver and Hong Kong, so it's logical for me to go with the option of buying my own wedding dress. I know I am very picky on design, so custom made is the way to go.

It will takes at least 2 months for making a dress(something very simple that does not involve lots of details or beads embroidery), this does not include the time you spent visiting stores for comparison shopping, so I would say 3 weeks at least. You have to be in Hong Kong during that time for fitting (unless you are willing to fly to Hong Kong at least 3 times in 3 months). Be aware that it will take much longer if you are going back just before holidays, esp Chinese New Year. Prices can be vary depends on which kind of dresses are you looking into. Price range can be divided into 3 groups: bargain(less than HKD$2,000), budget(HKD$3,000~9,000) and by designer(more than HKD$10,000).

Bargain is buying off-the-rack at wholesale price. So it's a matter of being there at the right timing. Remember to check magazine or newspaper everyday.

For budget, I recommended to custom make a dress with their existing designs. A lot of time the stores do not have enough knowledge to create a brand new design even thought they said they can do it, unless you can provide all the details and measurements.

If you have a design in mind and can afford a little bit more, definitely go for designer ones. I especially think girls like me, who are infused with western cultural, would probably don't like Disney Enchanted like fancy styles that most stores carry in Hong Kong.

I will just write the rest in Chinese, since it's pretty useless for non Hong Kong ppl:

回港前我從各個討論區做了一大堆research，記下訂做婚紗的公司，在兩個星期內差不多走遍全港九，再一一視察環境，所以你有福了！以下是我的心得：

基本上可以分為三類：bargain, budget and designer。婚紗款式大多大同小異，如果你要特別一點的就得去找designer造了。普遍來說，香港女仔喜歡爆閃令令，實在非我這類北美燦能理解的能力之內(我成日有個疑問，香港女子個個都弱質纖纖，如何穿那些訂滿珠的裙呢？會否太重而弄至寒背呢？)我那個讀時裝的朋友說得對，如果你是外國回去買婚紗你大慨可以直接找designer造，香港那些fancy款式你都不會喜歡的。訂造最起碼要2個月，其間會試起碼２次身～

個人認為婚紗還是不宜放太多閃令令，點到即止便可，don't let the dress wear you out。尤其是個子小的新娘，更不適合太複雜的款式，放太多東西上身只會令你看來個子更小。

一開始可以先在這邊去bridal store試不同類型的婚紗，看哪一種最適給你的身型，你喜歡的不代表穿起上來會好看(除非你有模得兒身材啦！)；另外也因為香港有些婚紗店有試裙費，試都要俾錢！這邊的bridal store服務始終好得多，任你試之餘地方比香港的寬敞得多。除非是樓上舖，香港的婚紗店地少人多，轉身都困難，更不可能讓你扮香港小姐繞場一週。試裙時最好自備無帶brabra(香港流行用girdle)和鞋子，反正帶齊你當日會穿上身的東西就對了。


Bargain | less than HKD$2000
以下這些都是批發價出售的，通常只會有中碼的現貨，好彩的話會執到寶喔！

香港工業中心時裝批發總匯
地鐵荔枝角站C出口的工業中心
不用介紹了吧？有幾間是專賣晚裝／婚紗／姐妹裙的，我原本的姐妹裙就是在這裡買，但後來沒貨只好作罷...！款式跟出面旺角呀銅鑼灣的一樣，因為他們也是從這兒入貨的～～

詩韻婚紗晚裝有限公司 Vincci Wedding Gown Limited
23147310 | 尖沙咀金巴利道45-47號金巴利廣場1003室
這裡的晚裝／婚紗跟其他婚紗店賣的貨式一樣，同一裙可能是$2000和$5000的分別！不過改裙和配料則不算便宜但我覺得都Ok啦

Budget | HK$5000~10000
它們的所謂訂造大多是指照店裏現有的款式，用你的呎吋做一條新的婚紗。當然店員/老闆亦會說可以按你給的design做，但本人認為可信性頗低，極有可能最終是亂做。有好幾次我給她們看我想要的款式後，不是答非所問就是答案很錯得離譜：如我想要訂做我想要的款式，那個老闆娘居然說是先起一個中碼版，再跟我的身型放大縮小，原來這樣就叫做度身訂造呀？所以最保險還是選現款造。

紅磡淺草婚紗公司 | http://www.asakusa.hk
23659952 | 九龍紅磡蕪湖街70-74號潤達商業大廈二樓B室(近紅磡觀音廟前)

Full Rich
21578868 | 利源東街9-12號利東大廈6A
服務態度極差，個人建議可以直接skip

Elisa Bridal Workshop 依莉莎婚紗設計工作坊
31711978 | 山林道20號錦興大廈1202室

Peony Bridal｜http://www.peonybridal.com
28824688 | 銅鑼灣百德新街42-48號銅鑼灣大廈2樓A

麗晶｜http://www.weddingdress.com.hk
27800113｜九龍旺角通菜街1A-1L 威達商業大廈612A室

Commix Workshop｜http://www.commixworkshop.com
68510748｜上環永樂街121-125號永達商業大廈3樓A室(入口設於急庇利街，上環地鐵站A2出口步行1分鐘)

Scent of Bride | http://www.scentofbride.com
61124002 | 銅鑼灣耀華街21號華耀商業大廈23樓2307室


Designers | HKD$10,000 and above
其實你在香港也可以找到出式的設計。手工及款式實非以上可比，service就更不在話下了。本土設計師的婚紗約HKD$10,000~HKD$20,000，top designer頂籠HKD$80,000(如果你要訂滿鑽石就另計啦)。如果你afford得到又想要好一點的，可以考慮以下這些：

Walter Ma
23656095 | Rm 308, Tower 2, Harbour Centre, Hok Cheung Street, Hunghom
心水之選！不虧為著名設計師，cutting當真一流，非常適合中國人身迎，每一條裙不論什麼款我都穿得下又穿好看。價錢也跟以下兩家差不多。若非我當時太遲去看，一定會在他那以買喔，晚裝可以改成白色做婚紗。

Verna Marina | http://www.vernamarina.com
25691080 | 2/F, 23 Connaught Rd Central, Heung Lam Building, Central
我的婚紗出至阿designer姐姐Cara Kara之手～連同一件小外套和頭紗。裙子裡面內有日本特製的魚骨，較平常的粗，乘托力特強，所以不用來穿其他undie打底。裡面還有一條橡根固定在胸下，任我怎跳都不怕走位喔！結婚前那個月壓力超大瘦了很多，幸好有那條救命橡根０者！

Noel Chu Wedding gallery | http://www.noelchuwedding.com
23806381 | 1102 Wellingtom Place, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central
我無試過，不過聽到唔少不好的傳聞

Resources

Chinese
ESD Life :: http://wedding.esdlife.com

Inspiration
Wedding Bee :: http://www.weddingbee.com
The Knot :: http://www.theknot.com
Brides :: http://www.theknot.com
Style Me Pretty :: http://www.stylemepretty.com
Snippet and Ink :: http://snippetandink.blogspot.com
Offbeat Bride :: http://offbeatbride.com
Elizabeth Anne Designs :: http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com
Once Wed :: http://www.oncewed.com
A Practical Wedding :: http://www.apracticalwedding.com
Brooklyn Bride :: http://www.bklynbride.blogspot.com

Where to shop
Etsy :: http://www.esty.com
Craigslist :: http://www.craigslist.org

Flower
Mints Flower :: http://www.mintsflower.com

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reborn! 復活!

我回來了~~~~~~~

人生以來最大的project終於完滿結束了!!! yeah!!!!!

相片嘛，尚在整理中，不過已有少量post上facebook了～
我edit了一個好玩的video喔，想看的話，msg我啦～

今年中秋節終於到了，登！登！登！月餅模終於出場了！


今次用了椰奶的冰皮果真寧舍不同，又香又軟，好味！

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my fabulous invitations

I've finally have time to update this blog again! Gosh, I was like in hell for past couple weeks!

My Invitation Set

Invitation:
cover & back cover - letterpressed by a local printer
insert - doubled sided printed by myself using Gocco
map - digitally printed by a laser printer
envelopes - decorated with a custom-made embosser

front cover

Letterpress front and back cover by a local printer. It's great that we did this over barter of services! Yeah! Always cool to be a designer XD

back cover

To save $$ for response card (and also to kill less trees), we used evite.com for confirming our guest lists. I seriously think response card is a waste of $$...

invitation insert

Insert printed double-sided, printed using Gocco. Corners are made by craft punch, you can get them in most craft stores. Time consuming but low cost!

map

Digitally printed by laser printer

envelopes

I custom made an embosser in Hong Kong (less than US$20!! HK rocks!! no tax dude!) with the birds that I drew. Stamped it on the back of the envelope, nice touch erh?!

The making of...

Cutting the paper

Yup, I hand cut all the papers! Oh yes, I am loca

Rotary Cutter

This is probably my best ever investment in crafts tool

Ready to print!

It actually turned out quite nice, even though was trimmed by hand

Gocco Machine

Drying the ink - Chinese side

I want to have both languages printed on the same page, the guests just simply doesn't need that much info, so I decided to do one side with Chinese, another side with English and use the side whenever it's appropriate.

Drying the ink - English side

Assembly line of invitations

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Wedding moodboard/inspiration board

Color: yellow, green, white
Mood: happy, young, fresh

I usually called it moodboard, but seems like they called it inspiration board in the wedding design industry.

A moodboard is a collage of materials (images, text, colours, textures, website screen shots, whatever you like) which captures the ambiance or feel of a place or design. Widely used in interior design and advertising.

Yes! No wedding cake, but cupcake tower! No tiara, but fresh flower on my head XD

more...

Pain Au Lait 牛奶麵包 + 雜談

懶惰的我回歸了！

經過３個星期的折磨，終於解決了invitation design，大慨月底就印好囉！現在先賣個關子，印好再給你們看，呵呵！

設計給自己的東西果然是惡夢，我太淹尖了！設計改再改，改到面目全非，幸好終於給它嘔出來了，幸好幸好！我都快精神分裂了！

Letterpress果然是一條不歸路！看過就沒辦法不選擇用它了，好漂亮又好昂貴，真是可怕的惡靈！幸好本人還會動點腦筋，最後以barter of service成交，嘻！出賣勞力(design service)去換取invitation cards printed，還好，只要別在我的荷包內掘＄＄就ok!

Invitation 印好後還是需要點assembly工夫，不過吾乃熟手女工，所以應該Ok啦～除了淪陷於letterpress外，還買了Print Gocco的PG-11 kit！可惜友人未能在日本幫我買到，結果還是得幫襯eBay，program和其他stationary就靠這玩兒了～

我想做invitation design喔，有誰要設計請帖呀？玩具到手後就可以幫人設計／印請帖了！空想也覺得好玩呢！

香港之行: 戰利品


魚仔有一雙肥腿，更有一雙肥腳丫，所以很難買到合意的鞋子。今次都算破記錄，一共買了6對鞋！還有一對sneaker沒拍到。米色那對鞋就是襯婚紗用，當然會拆掉那個黑色牌子，購至我最愛的HK牌子；紅色那對是用來襯裙褂的，Elle的，非常適合肥腳一族的牌子；金色那對則是穿晚裝時用的。

Wedding planning方面，找不到人做場地佈置！問了好幾家都說fully booked了，所以可能還是得自己來。Tabletop的我不擔心，我比較擔心大型佈置，Swan-e-Set的樓底好高，不知道該怎樣佈置好呀~>_<~

姐妹裙也出事了，沒貨了！找不到黃色，只有香檳色的，可惡！人家要黃黃黃黃黃黃黃黃黃黃黃色啦！嗚～還得忙當天的租車接送，親戚們的accommodation，忙忙忙～

還有呢，就是我下星期開始返工囉！no more 少奶奶了～

我好威呀！這份工上班只需５分鐘到office呢！係唔係好威呢！？比火星人返工還近喔！超級開心！

新公司跟我之前那份工差不多，也是marketing + technology的公司，主要還是做web/interactive design，也是directly report to Creative Director，不過這次的CD是男的。再來就是這公司有Wii和xbox360可以玩喔！真好！

這份工apply得很好笑。話說我１１月尾回香港前見到這job posting，還真的沒想到有我想做又不用去downtown上班的工作(horrible horrible traffic & horrible horrible downtown XD)。雖然知道時機不對，但我還是apply了，也告知我要２月才回來。我心想也該是兇多吉少，但１月時居然有reply，不過我又要２月尾才能回來，就沒下文了。最後再發email HR姐姐，才知道原來他們re-org，HR姐姐說要再幾星期後再跟我聯絡。直到３月尾才去interview，一擊即中喔！呵呵　是的，我就只apply過這份工已而！威到丫！

不過上班前得把手上的事情先解決掉，真的不能再拖了～！

Pain Au Lait 牛奶麵包 (aka 歐蕾麵包)

牛奶麵包

4 servings
recipes revised from // 歐蕾麵包 : 天然、無添加的手作麵包

高筋麵粉 // 300g
砂糖// 36g
鹽 // 4g
奶粉 // 18g
冰水 // 180g
全蛋 // 24g
乾酵母 // 5g
牛油 // 48g


1. 將所有材料(牛油除外)放入攪拌盆中，拌成粗麵糰，再加牛油再搓至光滑接近薄膜狀態。蓋上保鮮膜做基本發酵至2.5~3倍大。

2. 分割成四個，滾圓靜置15分鐘。

3. 鬆弛完畢後麵糰用手壓扁後，以桿麵棍桿平，再輕輕捲成長條狀，兩端稍稍拉尖。

4. 最後發酵至2.5倍大，入爐前掃上蛋液，快手在表面劃上交叉斜紋。

5. 180C/350F 焗25分鐘。

* notes *
1/ 這個麵包好香牛油味！！單是帶起已聞到那香味，好吃到不行！焗起外脆內軟，一絲絲的喔！做餐包真是無得頂！

Pain Au Lait

4 servings
recipes revised from // Pain Au Lait : 天然、無添加的手作麵包


: Bread dough :
Bread flour // 300g
Active dry yeast // 5g
Sugar // 36g
Salt // 4g
Ice water // 180g
Egg // 24g
Butter // 48g

1. In a large bowl, combine everything except butter. Beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add in butter and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 60 minutes (2.5~3 times larger in size).

2. Divide in the dough into 4 balls. Let rest for 15 minutes.

3. Roll each dough into long strip and roll it up to form a loaf.

4. Let rise for 45-55 minutes or until 1.5~2 times larger in size. Brush egg wash on the top. Use a knife to draw the cross lines on top of each dough.

5. Bake 180C/350F for 25 minutes.


* notes *
1/ This is a very light loaf with a lovely golden crust. The bread has a buttery fragrance and slightly sweet taste and is perfect to pair with butter, jam or whatever else you choose to top it with.

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wedding invitation design 婚帖切雞

終於著手設計請帖了。

在internet上繞了一圈，看到有些不錯的切雞，也有一些純屬搞笑的內文：

本人大喜之日訂在下月10日喔!各位錢包還有一個月囤積時間！

當日現場備有刷卡機(未超過2000元需加3元手續費)及禮券、股票質押服務！
不然先押工作證、身份證也可以，一個月內補錢過來有效(否則就拿去亂壓漫畫！)。

凡出示失業遣散證明者可享受1200元早場特惠價。
科學園區工作者一律1600元起跳！
凡於上市上櫃公司任職，公司股價在30元以上者一律以3000元起跳！

包600的請在第三道菜上完後離席，否則由禮金招待員轟出。
包1200的請注意食用速度及量，以不得超過每道菜上桌轉一圈為限。
包3000元以上享有攜帶1名家眷名額，身高不得超過120cm。

敬請詳閱此文，違反規定者當場轟出、禮金沒收！不明瞭之處……可來電洽詢。

via 983 Wedding


via Velisian的生活記事本


via Unique Wedding Scroll Invitation


via Elum


via Bumble Ink



好想用letterpress，可是好貴！看看die cut要多少＄＄啦...始終有點手痕想搞搞花臣...嘻！

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納徵.隨拍

納徵 aka 過大禮

This is betrothal ceremony, kind of like the official engagement of the marriage. Nowadays families have greatly simplified most of the pre-wedding ceremonies, but this is one ceremony that cannot be omitted.



幸好我們是新界人仕，還比較有門路找這些古老野。扁柏、碌柚葉都是魚婆婆摘來的；發芽蓮藕、大薑(差不多兩隻手掌般大！)則是託一個新界原居民auntie買來的。

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Friend's wedding @ HK disney resort

今次回港除了辦結婚事宜外，最主要就是去一個朋友的婚禮。我跟新娘子並不算深交，但我們兩家人卻是非常熟識，算是世交。當初他們選Disney hotel魚爸媽都有幫忙說服長老們，選好菜單後也有份試菜喔。

我覺得比我想像中好(可能我沒什麼expectation，哈！)　各道菜都是分好再上碟的，味道各方面也不錯，最重要是上菜時還是熱的，這點頗為impressive!

Wedding @ Disney hotel

美點雙輝: 米奇鳳梨酥! Suprisingly 好味, 吃的時候還是暖暖的!

Inside the hotel room

Slippers were gifts to take home XD

Outside Disneyland

The Disneyland MTR station (subway station) is pretty neat! I didn't take the mickey mouse train though....

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eye candy to keep me moving

great wedding shots...



image credit :: 6 of Four Creations



image credit :: Matt Adcock


image credit :: Sol Tamargo


image credit :: DQ Studios



image credit :: Cliff Mautner



image credit :: Lucida Photography

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