RANDOM RANTS

For some weird reasons *cough* obsessions *cough* I just feel the need to post my fave David Mitchell's rants from British TV show "Would I Lie to You". These are the antidote to any of my bad days.

THE GRAND MOSQUE

One of  Sheikh Zayed Mosque's dome in the female ablution room

So the elaborate planning that I mentioned last time was the entire trip to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Istanbul. The main point of our UAE trip was to attend the wedding of a couple, two dear friends of mine. We spent five days in Abu Dhabi, where I met the then-groom-to-be before we head out to Dubai for the Mehendi and wedding celebration. It was super warm at 38C when we arrived at midnight, so imagine the blazing heat during the day. Z has warned us about the heat and I was still in shock anyway during the first direct contact with the temperature.

Anyway, as it is one of the prominent examples of contemporary Islamic architecture in the UAE, we definitely couldn't miss visiting Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and in fact dedicated an entire morning to spend in the mosque. I haven't been to Makkah/Madinah (just yet) and I know the feeling was probably nothing to compare about, but that feeling of praying inside this mosque...just...Masha Allah!

My friend told me that what we see today is only 25% of the initial plan. Had it been completed, then truly a grand display of opulence it would be!

Bright lights lit up the mosque, made tourists like me go "ooh-aah!"

Those are 24K gold at the the top of each dome and minaret

Loving all the details!!

Colorful marbles from 10 different countries, cut in vine-y floral pattern

With 7 Swarovski chandeliers in total, this one's the biggest weighing 9.5tons!

The mosque can cater up to 40,000 prayers at once and it is open for visit to non-Muslim visitors too. And upon arrival, we can borrow headscarf and abaya for free (refer to the mosque manners/dress code from the photo below). Have to bare in mind to keep the head covered at all times inside the mosque. I joined the free one-hour tour that's available at 10am, 11am, and 5pm and got fully informed with the magnificent facts about the mosque. The tour starts from the entrance and finishes at the main praying room which is used for Eid prayers and taraweeh (yup, the one with the extravagant chandelier in the middle).

That's it for now. More Dubai and Istanbul posts soon!

RAMADAN KAREEM!

It's been over a month since the last time I posted. Time has passed by too quickly sometimes I wished there's a pause button somewhere (look where we are, it's already Ramadan again :)

What I've been up to? I just came back visiting some dear friends of mine. Will shortly update you guys (hopefully) after suhoor. Now, happy fasting to all Muslims in the world...may Allah make everything easy for us and bless us every step of the way :)

RAMADAN KAREEM!!!

FUCHSIA

 Bestie's super-envy-material fuchsia Lacoste shoes, just because :)

Writing this up because I'm in such a good mood (rumour has it, fuchsia on a mood ring represents happiness, hence the title). I once again am into planning stuffs. This time more elaborate and it actually has started to manifest itself into some sleepless nights (no no no, I am not planning my wedding, unfortunately...haha). Hope things will go as planned, inshAllah.

Here's to you, one of my fave happy songs....Happy weekend, lovely people :)

THROWING 2 (LOVE) BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

Here's what I've been up to while I was supposed to look for job vigorously  all the while I've gone missing from this blog....planning stuffs! I love planning. That's mostly because I'm slightly pedantic and basically still a jobless nuts *ahem* And this one involved quite a few friends whom I really enjoyed spending my time with. 

Since I'm a weird mix of erratic planner and clueless INDECISIVE creative (spoken like a true Gemini), me and my bestfriends ended up spending lots of time discussing on how to throw these two love birds with one stone successfully. We had to tackle lots of time and place considerations, given Bride #1  needed to go home early and Bride #2's house is just too near to our selected venue, so we decided to break the surprise in two parts, each one for each bride with 30mins gap.

Handmade gift cards

Me and two happy brides

Bride #1's wedding gift: a set of bodycare products with embroidered towels

Bride #2's wedding gift: a pasta maker and a cotton candy maker

It felt like it was just yesterday we were just wearing our white-blue school uniforms and look at us now...two besties are getting married 2 weeks apart haha. Glad everything went well :) Seeing the smiles on your besties face was just priceless!

PS: thanks to all of our friends who have participated (you know who you are) you guys rock!!

THE FATHER OF ALL BEAUTIFUL DRESSES

If you're following me on Pinterest, you must've noticed how I've been pinning like crazy of Elie Saab dresses (fine! maybe a little of Marchesa too). I think it's the glue-sniffing version of pinning. If you haven't seen them...well lucky you, come check out my godress board on Pinterest :)


It all started when I first saw Halle Berry in ES's stunning, stunning maroon dress back then in 2002, and then Miley Cyrus in that gorgeous scallop dress (altho some thought that it was too much of a dress for Miley).

 image from Stylelist

Now that I've exposed my addiction all over Pinterest, I just feel the need to expand it here. This Lebanese designer has never failed to work his magic through his work. And as besties-wedding-season is coming my way far too fast than I expected...I got the inspirations for my dresses from none other than Elie Saab.

From Elie Saab Fall 2012 Ready to Wear collection, spotted here

From Elie Saab Spring 2012 Haute Couture, spotted here

From Elie Saab Spring 2012 Haute Couture, spotted here

So beautiful I think I just cried a little :P

STILL ALIVE AND KICKIN'

I'm back! Been busy with family and I've a couple of freelance projects going on. I have totally lost direction of where this blog should go, cause as far as I wanted this to be a publicly decent blog free of emo posts over another phase of transition in life, I found myself clicking 'new post' and I ended up writing like a 13 year old girl on PMS.

So I've been trying to stay away from this blog (to no avail...notice the 'visitor' bar on the side) and now that I feel a lot less 'confused'...I'M BACK!! haha

Still taking baby steps here, so I'm gonna post photos from the farewell months and just bits and pieces of my most beloved city Melbourne. Ta :)

I hope that all my familiar faces of Melbourne are taking good care of themselves, wherever they are...miss you guys and our amazing city SO MUCH!!