Our hunt for banquet venues!

So here comes the wedding planning!


Well technically, there isn't a real perfect wedding venue  but we try our best! 

It is not easy to hunt for the best venue when you are also looking for a new abode concurrently. Throw in budget considerations, table count requirements, unavailability of dates in shortlisted venues, I can assure you that the adventure of scouting for the ideal wedding venue can be both fun and frustrating! Hahaha. 

After the proposal on 30th September 2016, we decided that we needed to nail down some dates first. We made an appointment with Master Long before the proposal (funny I know hahaha) and our appointment with him was 2 days after the proposal. Pretty good timing I say! Hahaha. 

We were given 3 years worth of dates (2017 to 2019) and they were applicable for ROM, banquet, moving into the house, An Chuang, Guo Da Li et cetera. VERY USEFUL STUFF. Especially when it comes to checking out availability of certain popular wedding venues. 

Our initial hunt for wedding venues wasn't exactly fruitful because we weren't clear what we were looking for  We made appointments with banquet coordinators and some of them kind of headed nowhere because we didn't know what we needed, what was important to us that we wanted to negotiate for. 

So word of advice: Do try to shop around different venues and get a feel of the pricing of the market. If you already have a budget and know you will not deviate from it, it's much much easier. If you have a rubber budget (i.e a range) like us, it would be better to go online to search first before meeting the coordinators. 

We decided to go back to the drawing board once more and also clarify with parents on both sides on what is important. Once we settled a rough table count and budget, we (or rather, I) got down to some serious online shopping for rates and offer. We came to a few key things that are considered important to us:

• Within Budget - This is evidently very important. I don't wish to fork out additional money for a one-day event; 
Accessible - most of our relatives don't drive so a venue that is easily accessible by MRT is very much preferred;
Min. table count of 20 and below - We are looking to have 20-22 tables max so that eliminated quite a number of options for us. Most venues are either too big (25 or 35 minimum) or too small like YAN at National Gallery and the Straits Room at Fullerton Hotel (max 12 to 15 tables);
High Ceiling - Though I wouldn't call this a deal-breaker but it would be nice to have!; and
Natural Light - This is more like my criteria because we plan to do lunch and it would be nice to have natural light! 

1. Grand Hyatt Singapore

I was so convinced this is THE hotel. It is an absolutely stunning hotel and I've read so many glowing reviews about the food here. Because of our table count, we were offered the option of The Gallery or the Grand Residence. 

The Gallery stole my heart. Really. The area is very exclusive with only one escalator leading up to it. You can have the whole area to yourself, which includes a pre-function area, a bridal room for ease of change and touch up, the solemnization room and also the main banquet dining area: 


Image credit to honeybrides

The package listed online is fairly straightforward but it also meant they were a little rigid with their perks - which was affirmed when we went down for an appointment. Despite that, because I was so sold by the space (le sigh), we almost signed with them. Of course, they also had the date we want available in late 2017. However, when we changed our minds to have ROM in 2017 and our banquet in 2018 instead (as we still have potential house renovation to consider in 2017), we were given quite an unfavourable offer - We had to top up $100 more per table if we wanted to secure the date in 2018. And if they do come up with a better package for 2018 with no change in prices, we will have to stick with our old package at a higher price. It was quite a deal-breaker for us so we walked away from it. 

You can read some articles on this beautiful space here, here and here.  

Personal Pros & Cons:
 Good location, walkable from Orchard MRT
 Beautiful space and all activities can be contained into one area
 Rave reviews about food
 Upfront perks are decent
 Pricey
 Rigid with perks
 No natural daylight and ceiling is quite low for The Gallery. Grand Residence has a much higher ceiling but it has a huge pillar in the middle of the ballroom which may block the view of some tables when there are activites on stage. 

If we were doing our banquet in 2017, I would seriously consider it!

2. Hilton Singapore

We chanced upon this hotel because they were running a bridal show somewhere in October 2016 - though we didn't make it for both wedding shows as we were out of town both times. So we made an appointment with them separately as their package was extremely competitive. 

The hotel isn't at the most accessible location in Orchard and the photos online didn't encourage us much. Nonetheless, we still headed down to see it for ourselves. Due to our table count, we were given the option of Vista Room on the second floor (next to the largest ballroom) and the Panorama Room on 23rd floor. 

Both Vista Room and the Grand Ballroom were recently renovated and are very new and pretty. Unfortunately, I didn't like the Vista Room as much as I expected to. The deco and lighting are nice but I didn't like that the pre-function area was so close to that of the Grand Ballroom's. The boy liked the Panorama Room as it's on a higher floor next to the pool (which means poolside solemization - but not that we need it haha) and has full glass panels which meant natural daylight. However, I didn't like that it was L shaped and that 2 to 3 tables won't be able to see the march in until the couple reaches the stage. 

The coordinator was very friendly and professional, she was also very generous and flexible with the perks. I found it so hard to turn it down thereafter! But a venue that we both like is important for us - so this became a no go.

If you have larger table count than I do to qualify for the main ballroom, this is a good option. The coordinator is also very friendly and prompt - which is pretty important!

Personal Pros & Cons:
 Newly renovated main ballroom and Vista room
 Flexible perks 
 Extremely friendly and prompt coordinator (important as I've noted some coordinators needed multiple follow-up emails which is quite the red flag)
 New themes - they are launching new themes to match the newly renovated ballrooms!
 Pre function area for Vista Room is right next to the main ballroom - no exclusivity
 Panorama Room is L shape and some tables will not see the march in. Some tables are blocked from the LCD screens too


3. PARKROYAL on Pickering

Banquet venue hunting can be quite tiring - especially if you are as clueless as us haha. We don't really have a theme in mind yet though I'm more steered towards a garden theme (which only came along the way while venue hunting hahahaha) But given Singapore's weather, I wasn't that keen to take the event outdoor (either you melt or you get drenched ). So towards the last leg of venue hunting, we decided to give PARKROYAL on Pickering a try. 

Prior to the meetup, I emailed the coordinator multiple times for different queries and it was always promptly replied within 24 hours (except over weekends or when she's out of office). That gave me a pretty good impression already.

They only have one main ballroom in the hotel which takes 20 - 30 tables - perfect for us. Our tiny table count for other hotels meant we could take the main ballroom for this one! 

Image credit to PARKROYAL on Pickering

I love that it has natural light and it's almost like getting married in a garden but not quite. 

Personal Pros & Cons:
 Accessible location as it is walkable from Chinatown MRT - the boy remarked that he likes the convenience as it is near his workplace and he can pop over anytime to run errands if required;
 Within budget! 
 Accepts our 20-22 table count and qualifies us for the main ballroom;
 Friendly coordinator who's prompt with her replies;
 High ceiling at 6m
 Natural daylight and could definitely fit my garden theme (that is if I don't change my mind half way hahahaha)
 Limited reviews online about this venue (they are quite a hot choice for weddings - previously when we enquired for late 2017, they only had 31 Dec 2017 left! - which left me thinking why there are limited reviews online but if they are so popular...  should be okay!)
 Mixed and limited review about their food.

We are still in the midst of finalizing the perks and the chances of signing with this property is pretty high! I did raise the concern of food quality to the boy as our main focus was to also ensure our guests have a delicious meal while celebrating our matrimony. He countered it by citing we can opt to upgrade the menu if we wish to as he likes this venue the most out of the few we went (including those unfruitful ones earlier haha)

Shall see!  

UPDATE: We signed with PARKROYAL on Pickering! One big ticket item off the list 

Hello November!

It's my favourite month of the year again!


As a child, this month meant two things - end of examinations (i.e school holidays!) and also my birthday 

The start of November is usually when the sweltering hot weather in Singapore starts to take a turn for the rainy monsoon (hello 25 degrees wet weather!) season and Christmas decoration starts for the shopping malls . Preparation for Christmas shopping and gatherings starts to gain momentum as well. For the Chinese folks, Chinese New Year is usually just 2 months away. November always seem to be the starting month for an extended long period of celebration, from my birthday to Christmas to Chinese New Year in late January or early February.

As I grow older, it becomes a period of reflection of the achievements and pitfalls of the year, a moment to give thanks and a moment to internalize what can be done better in the coming year. Office activity also begins to slow this month, giving me more time to plan my work schedule in the months to come.

So hello there my favourite month of the year, please be good to me! 

Getting the e-ring


I wanted to write about this for the longest time since we went shopping for the ring together last year. However, I did not get to see the final product (in real at least) until I was proposed to.

So.... that's why the post is only published now. Well, I also don't want to sound so presumptuous - writing about something that I have yet to receive officially  So yes I've received my ring on our anniversary dinner celebration about 2 weeks ago. Although I had shopped for the ring with him, he still managed to surprise me with the proposal 

Back to the ring. It all started middle of last year when a friend of mine introduced me to Jannpaul as that was where she got her engagement ring. Not that I was shopping for one, but besides making rings, they also customize other forms of jewelry like necklaces and earrings. When the boy told me his friend is looking for a place to buy rings, I threw up Jannpaul as an option that he can consider. 

When the boy returned for a 3-week long holiday in October last year, he surprised me with a visit to the shop in Orchard. 

"Since you will be the one wearing it for life, I want you to pick your own engagement ring"
You can imagine my shock when he dropped the bomb on me while we were waiting for the lift at the carpark. And thankfully that wasn't his idea of a proposal 

Our first visit to Jannpaul was completely unplanned and it turned out they close at 7.30pm on weekday nights. Our first visit and it was closed - bad on the boy for not researching properly haha. So he made an appointment with one of the sales person and we paid the outlet a second visit - which made it the first official visit to the store.

We were tended to by Cheyserr - a very sweet lady. She's extremely vivacious and pleasant to chat with. The boy made it clear that while he will make suggestions, I will make the ultimate decision on the design and carat size (subjected to being within his budget of course!). In my opinion, it does help that we were tended to by a female sales person - she could understand some of my concerns and design ideas better. If you search around the forums, you will notice everyone will go through the same diamond education course on their first visit to Jannpaul. We were no exceptions. It was educational and I was impressed she spent a good 1.5 hours with us and didn't push us to buy anything. Instead, she wanted us to discuss and think through what we want and if we are still keen, we could always drop her a note.

And so we left Jannpaul and went around other bigger chains to shop. By the end of that day, we were still thinking about them and decided we will go with our hearts 

We (or rather me, since the boy flew off after paying a deposit on the diamond I picked) made a few more visits after the selection of diamond and setting - I wanted a little customization and it needed a fair amount of tweaking. They even provide complimentary wax mold to give you a rough idea how the final product will look like.

All in all, I must say I was impressed with the level of service that they provide. There was not a single point in my whole experience there that I felt I was being forced or pushed to buy something beyond my budget or something that I didn't like. If anything, Cheyserr was open to providing advice on the setting whenever I ask. The whole experience felt more like going diamond shopping with a friend.

Now that the proposal is done - we will need to start planning the banquet! 

Beijing Trip (Jun 2016) - Prince Gong Mansion

The last time I went to Prince Gong Mansion (恭王府), was a good 11 years ago when I did my internship with a private equity firm in Beijing. I feel old just saying that! It was one of my favourite tourist spots back then and still is today. 

Different from other tourist spots in Beijing, Prince Gong Mansion is not the most easy to find. It is nestled inside a Hutong (a type of narrow meandering old Beijing street) and is located within a residential area.




 



It has an unassuming frontage and would be easy to miss if you don't look out for the signage. 

Constructed in 1777, Prince Gong Mansion is the biggest and most well preserved Princely residence (accommodation of an imperial Prince) in Beijing. It occupies an area of around 60,000 square metres.


It was first constructed for He Shen, a prominent and corrupted official of Qing dynasty, under the Emperor Qianlong's reign. He was favoured by the Emperor at a young age and rose through the ranks rapidly - he rose 9 ranks over the course of 3 years. To put things in perspective, it would be from a Grassroots leader to a role of the Prime Minister of the nation within 3 years. When Emperor Qianlong passes away in 1799, his son, Emperor Jiaqing, accused He Shen of corruption and ordered for his execution. The property was then confiscated and passed onto Prince Gong, the 17th and youngest son of Emperor Qianlong, whom the mansion was named after. 

There's a saying that says one Prince Gong Mansion, takes up half the history of Qing Dynasty. If you have no time for the Forbidden City, I would highly recommend dropping by Prince Gong Mansion. It is a much smaller space and less crowded (it took me around 2.5 hours to finish touring the place) and they provide free guided tours as well. 





We were extremely lucky because one of the free guided tours was just starting as we stepped through the door. The lady with the loudspeaker is our guide. 


Before the start of the tour, it is imperative to understand the backstory of the original resident of this place - He Shen. 

And before we start on He Shen, it is important to understand the story of why he was so close to Emperor Qianlong. When the Emperor was 15 years old and was a crown prince, he played a prank on one of his father's concubine. He did so by creeping up behind her and covered her eyes with his hands while she was putting on makeup. Taken aback by the sudden action, she hit him. The news of this interaction spread swiftly in the harem. In order not to ruin his chances of being the next emperor, Qianlong's mother sentenced the concubine to death on 2 counts of crime - one being inappropriate behaviour with the crown prince, and two for hitting him. Guilty for being the sole cause of her death, Qianlong paid her a visit before the day of her execution. 

The Manchus believed in Shamanism, a religious belief that the afterlife and reincarnation. Qianlong promised her that he would treat her well and compensate her if they get to meet again in her next life. Qianlong then bit his thumb and left a blood print behind her neck, in hope of identifying her should she gets reincarnated. 

20 years later, Qianlong is now the emperor and meets the 20 year old He Shen for the first time. He Shen was at time, a lowly guard who's in charge of horses in the imperial stable. The emperor was very certain He Shen was a reincarnation of the late concubine because of 3 things - 1) he is exactly 20 years old (the concubine died 20 years ago), 2) his looks resembled that of the late concubine (He Shen was noted in historical records to be a beautiful looking man who's fair and has red lips) and 3) He Shen had a red birth mark at exactly where the emperor had left his thumb print! 

Long story short, He Shen rose swiftly through the ranks, in part due to Emperor Qianlong's favoritism and in part he is a brilliant man himself. Not only was he well versed in all the ancient teachings and poetry, he was multi-lingual as well (in Manchurian, Mandarin, Tibetan and Russian). As he got more and more powerful in the courts, he also became increasingly corrupted. When his property was being confiscated, the treasures and wealth he amassed was noted to be worth SGD360 billion in today's valuation. 360 billion!  So crazy. 




Upon entering the main gate, you will be greeted by a long stretch of double storey building. Length of this building is exactly the length of the entire Mansion. It is also the only double storied building within the whole compound. From the front, these looks like very ordinary guestrooms but these are the rooms which He Shen had used to store all his treasures! He had made special code on each of the rooms, which only he knows which rooms store what kind of treasures. It is visible only if you go towards the back of the house. Notice that the shape of each window is different? 


Prince Gong Mansion has a huge garden, almost twice the size of the Imperial Garden in the Forbidden City. He Shen has once made the statement that "Whatever the Emperor have, I have. And whatever the Emperor do not have, I have too". This was illustrated in the amount of treasures seized from his home and also the size of his garden, which implied his ability to utilize expensive land for grounds of leisure purpose. 

The entrance of the garden is arch also known simply as the "Western Style Gate". It is made entirely out of white marble stone. In China's history, 2 of such gates were made and this one in Prince Gong Mansion is the last one standing. The other one belongs to Yuan Ming Yuan (Yuan Ming Garden) and was burned down by the 8-Alliance army. 




Once you enter the gate, you will be greeted by a sea of greens and fake mountains. 


Before the pathway opens up to the main garden area, you will be greeted by a stone fixture that resembles a woman holding a baby. This was a naturally formed stone that He Shen had installed at the entrance of the garden. In Chinese saying, there is a 送子观音 which signifies the gifting of a son from Guanyin. He Shen does not have a son and had this rock placed in his home for fengshui purposes. Strange as it may sound, he did eventually have 2 sons thereafter.

If you pay attend to all the carvings in the garden, you would have noticed there are many many carvings of bats (as seen in the picture below). In the Manchu belief, bats are creatures of luck because in Chinese, bats are called 蝙蝠 (Bian Fu), where the Fu sounds like 福 (prosperity). He Shen had carved 9,999 bats in this residence because 10,000 as a number is related to the Emperor (recall 万岁万岁万万岁!) and carving 9,999 bats signifies that he is only below the Emperor but above everyone else. So power hungry and so sneaky! 


Right in the middle of the garden is a small pond that is shaped like a 葫芦 or a gourd and surrounded by a type of tree that is known by the commoners as the money tree. It is called the money tree because it's leaves are shaped like ingots (currencies of the ancient times) and turns yellow in autumn. During that time, all the yellowed ingot-shaped leaves will drop into this pond, making it a wealth collection point for He Shen's house. This was verified in modern times by various Fengshui masters to be one of the rare houses in Beijing to have excellent Fengshui. Based on the amount of wealth he accumulates, you can't say they are too wrong! 


There is something precious in the gardens - and I wasn't allowed to take a photo of it. It's the 福 word that was penned originally by Emperor Kangxi. Since I do not have a picture of it, I've Googled one:


If you are wondering why is something penned by Emperor Qianlong's grandfather doing in the house of He Shen, let me start with yet another story. Emperor Kangxi was a man known for his love of calligraphy, but he hardly put his imperial seal on any of his works - which makes this word all the more precious. When Emperor Kangxi was 19 years old, his beloved grandmother fell ill and none of the imperial doctors could put a finger to what she was down on. Worried for his grandmother's health, Emperor Kangxi decided to go on a vegetarian diet and spent time meditating in a temple to pray for her health. One night, after a strange dream in the temple, he woke up and penned this 福 word. To which, to his surprise, he realized this was an atypical 福 word that signified what humans have been pursuing all their lives. Let me break it down for you.




It is atypical because this word can be broken up into many words. The top right corner of the word is broken down to form the word 多 - which means plenty. Let's move on to just the left side of the 福 word. The entire left hand side of the word (including the dot) can be viewed as 才 (which refers to talent), and removing the dot is a 子 word (which refers to offspring). Moving on to the right side of the word, the entire right side is a 寿 word (which refers to longevity) and the bottom of the right word is a open ended 田 word (which refers to land, and it being open ended means endless land/wealth). Put them together, it forms the 福 word!

In other words, this word brings about 多才,多子,多寿,多田 and 多福 - talent, offsprings, longevity, land/wealth and prosperity - which is what humans aspire their whole lives to have. When Emperor Kangxi tried to recreate the word the days after, he couldn't and hence deemed this word special. Instead of putting an imperial seal at the bottom right corner (the usual for imperial seals), he placed it right at the top of the word, meaning the maximum prosperity (福已到顶). The word was then gifted to his grandmother who eventually was so touched by the gift she recovered and lived to a ripe old age of 75 years old (which is quite a feat in the olden days). 

She believed that the word shouldn't die with her and she gifted it back to Emperor Kangxi who in turned gave it to his son, Emperor Yongzheng and then Emperor Qianlong. The reigns of these 3 emperors were known as the golden era of Qing dynasty and historians have also attributed it to the gifting of this atypical word. He Shen was the last to have "received" this word - he was never officially gifted it and it was believed he had it stolen from the Imperial archive. In order to retain the exact handwriting, He Shen had a stone carver carved on the paper directly onto the stone. The paper is then officially destroyed and only left this stone. 

He Shen was once quoted to mention he wanted this word in his house to stabilize it (镇宅) and to bless his offspring. He sure got what he wanted. While many old Prince residences and buildings were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, this property remained unharmed all through it. Despite his crimes, he was only sentenced to a self induced death by being provided a bale of white cloth. During a time where your entire family tree will be wiped out because of your crimes, his whole family was spared, including his wives (yes all 600 of them) and his children. Maybe you could call it luck, or maybe the word really brought him and his family luck. After the word was gone and not passed down, the start of the decline of Qing dynasty begun after Emperor Qianlong passed on. 

The middle building in the compound is He Shen's bedroom and is a duplex. In those days, only the ultra rich gets to stay in a duplex and was previously called the 仙楼 (deity complex) which implies it's so luxurious it's meant only for the deities. 



His bedroom complex was made entirely out of 金丝楠木 (Phoebe Zhennan), a type of wood that has a natural golden sheen. The other person who had built his bedroom out of this wood was the Emperor himself. This type of wood is not considered a national treasure and the market price of this wood went as high as almost US$15K per cubic square metre. 




It's amazing how much of the Qing dynasty's history can be learned from one Prince Gong Mansion and that is why I highly recommend it for anyone who has only a short time in Beijing but wishes to visit at least one spot to get a taste of China's rich history. 

That pretty much wraps up my Beijing trip back in June 2016. And it's August now. Took me so long to finish writing this! 

Can't wait to plan more trips with the boy! 

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