Which came first? The haggis or 松仁小肚?

I came across a remarkably similar food item to the Scottish haggis known as the 松仁小肚 on my honeymoon in Beijing, China.

The first question that popped into my head was, which came first? The haggis or 松仁小肚? If you know me and my hubby well enough, you will know that the first thing we always try to nonsensically do is to link everything to Admiral Cheng Ho.

Now everyone knows that the famed eunuch Cheng Ho went down several times to Asia. But did you know that he was possibly the first human to discover America years before Christopher Columbus? So I am not surprised that he would also have landed on the shores of Scotland and England, so I am pretty certain that he would have introduced 松仁小肚 to the dang ang mohs who have since made haggis their national dish.

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha! The truth is, while haggis was already enjoyed by the English prior to the 18th century, 松仁小肚 was a recent invention by some chinese factory and is only 80 years old. So this little invention is not attributible to Cheng Ho.

All the same, the similarities are remarkable... they both use an animal's stomach for a sack and both are round in shape and stuffed with a variety of items. They are even cooked similarly, i.e. boiled and then cut open for enjoyment..

The difference is, no one has ever written a poem for the 松仁小肚 while Sir Robert Burns' Ode to the Haggis is recited every year on January 25th before being split open and enjoyed with a dram (whisky) or two!

Weird.. just plain weird

I think my in-laws are a bit weird.

They just want to compare.. Maybe cos' Hubby's sister just got married one year ago, so the tendency to compare is there.

First, they compare the make-up and the hair, then they compare the food, and then compare the total ang pao money that they get..

And when they find out that my mom wants me to have the ang pao money as a gift, they find all sorts of things to say to mitigate the perceived "loss" in the previous year's wedding.

Honestly, I don't really care. A wedding is not about making money, or which bride is more beautiful. A wedding is just simply one day out of the rest of your lives.

Please.. just focus.. now that the wedding is over, its time to take a step back and look at the marriage. It takes 2 hands to clap. It's not about how much money you make in a day, but how much you still value each other when you are both old and bent.

Marriage is for eternity - the money spent, please.. it's not worth it to make a fuss over. No point splurging millions and then still end up in a divorce ultimately. Instead, it should really be about how much you love each other.

Love may not exactly be eternal because honestly, to love each other until the day you die in hot heated passion is seriously not likely to happen. Instead, its about the committment to want to remain in love with each other that will last.

So please.. look beyond the financials, the food and the pomp and pizazz.. just enjoy your day if its up and coming because honestly, when it all boils down to the basics, it is really just another day....

My favourite part of the day

My favourite part of the wedding was actually the post-dinner party with my friends.

My wedding wasn't really particularly memorable because I spent most of the time toasting, taking photos and changing.. so it was great when I had time to chat with my friends, laugh over some ribald jokes and chill over a glass of Scottish mead or 2, specially flown in by Nickie and Larry from Edinburgh.

I'm very glad that Ed, Shiyu and Peiling could sit around and chill, chat and laugh. I am sure there probably won't be many occasions such as these any more, but I am still thankful that there are at least once in my life that had this wonderous event.

This morning was also a very memorable one... Because we didn't have supper or dinner the night before, Hubby asked room service to give us 2 sets of breakfast instead. Which was fine, because we ended up with 4 sets of breakfast shared by the bunch who stayed over.

The kids also had a lot of fun in the jacuzzi splashing away, which I also joined. A nice, relaxing morning.

Ah... still, I don't feel any different.. I am still me!

Thanks for attending my wedding!

Thanks you every one who have attended my wedding.
Really glad to have everyone's presence at the wedding to make my day extra special.

Unfortunately, my in-laws didn't like my hair and makeup. I think it was OK lah, just that maybe it wasn't my usual style, so maybe people just weren't used to it. My mom-in-law likes my usual style. The Scottish make up style which was completely natural.

I personally liked the morning hair better though the curls didn't stay on long enough. The evening hair, erm.. yea, the front was rather flat, although the curls did stay.

Other than that, the make up I think was rather unique, even though it was rather smokey.

Ah well, it's over lah, so shan't think about it anymore.

How to be a perfect spouse...

A question posed by my solemiser Edwin was this.
"How exactly do you be a perfect spouse?"

How to be a perfect husband:
1) Financially able
2) Morally supportive
3) Perform tangible acts of support (e.g. change baby's diapers)

How to be a perfect wife:
1) Good Sex
2) Great Sex
3) More fantastic, orgasmic, mind-blowing sex

Honestly! I ain't kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before the wedding, keep both eyes open...

After the wedding, keep both eyes shut if you have to!

Mom was telling me some stories about this super flirtatious old man whom she knows who has like 1 official wife and at least 3 mistresses.

The official wife has since left the old man because she could not tolerate his flirtatious ways. Even his mistresses are complaining about his roving eye and complain non-stop.

Chubby Hubby once said, "Choosing to marry someone is like a set meal and package deal. Even if you don't like something, you don't really have a choice. So either you learn to love everything, or else you have to reject everything. If you want to pick and choose, then go a la carte"

I agree. The same applies. These mistresses and wife of the man complain like crazy and pick bitch fights amongst theimselves fighting for his attention (and money, I should think). They complain all the time that the man has got the roving eye and is never sex-tified.

The thing is, I don't think he turned Casanova overnight. Chances are, he was already like that when they got to know him.

What? Did they expect that he become a one-woman man just because they are with him? Pur-leeze... A leopard can hardly expect to change its spots. Did they honestly expect that he would give up the forest for a handful of trees? What on earth would even make them entertain the thought? They aren't his first women, so I definitely don't think they're his last.

Same goes. When you are dating, keep your eyes open, date as many as possible until you have fully weighed all that is most important to you. Once you are married, love that person and don't expect to change that person to something else that he/she is not.

And if that person is a Casanova, pauper or whatever that you later find that you cannot tolerate, I advise you to stop and think. Afterall, no one pointed a gun at you to ask you to marry him/her. If something bugs you now, stop and think. If it really matters to you, work it out. Otherwise, break up and move on.

Don't wait. He may be wonderful in many ways, but if there's really something that bugs you now, which you think you have the ability to change because, "if he/she loves me enough, he/she will find the change a good one," then sorry.. snap outta it, because it ain't gonna happen.

But if you can live with it, congratulations!

2 more days to my wedding!

Last month, I still felt that time was creeping by. Outta the blue, it seems like my wedding day is just around the corner.

I am not really excited or whatever, maybe because all my jie-meis are the ones being excited for me! Even my usually calm, composed and collected Ming Yue managed to squeeze out some excitement.

Tinkie Winkie and the girls actually went to surf the web and do results. Seeing them discuss animately in between singing out lungs out at KBox was actually rather interesting. TW tells me that we simply cannot any ol' how open the door easily because that would mean that the bride is too easy to obtain.. Must play hard to get so that I am valued.

Haha! Nickie's coming to S'pore today! I am so glad she is flying in for this event.

I love my girl pals...

Today is 纳彩 day!!

Today, 2nd Dec 2o07 (021207) is my 纳彩 day!
Basically, I am about to be officially engaged.. haha!
Cheers to a lifetime with my Chubby Hubby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!