The truth about : BALLOONS!

I've been meaning to write about this long time ago...
But I would cease to give any excuse.
I received a lot of emails asking about this bunch of balloons I had on my wedding day. And instead of writing a post about it, I went all the way replying each personal emails. Sekarang dah malas nak dig out the old email archive dan juga malas menaip berkali-kali...

NOTE : I sourced for the raw materials (balloons & gas) myself.
But to save you all the hussle, it's best to find a helium balloons supplier and get them do it all for you.

So here are the things:
1. First thing first, in order for the balloons to float, you have to use helium gas.
Ada yang tanya did I blow all the balloons myself
ataupon guna pam basikal...Udara tiupan kita mengandungi kandungan karbon dioksida yang tinggi dan karbon dioksida lebih berat daripada udara sekeliling, maka belon anda tidak akan terapung. Same goes to pam basikal, yang sumbernya juga adalah udara sekeliling. Gas helium lebih ringan daripada udara.

But anyway, here's the trick:
You can blow the balloons yourself, tie it up with a ribbon, and put doublesided tape on the top-side of the balloon. Lekatkan ke siling. It will look like its floating ~ saw an optical shop did it ;)


2. Gas helium
These are the normal sizes for gas tank.

The cheapest I found was RM 380 for size G.
Tapi itu di Selangor. Di Alor Setar RM 420.
Itu hanya harga gas.

Tidak termasuk deposit untuk tank.
Dan sewaan harian tank. Dan caj pengangkutan.

Deposit untuk tank size G = RM 500. (smaller tank, cheaper)
Sewaan harian tank = RM 1/day. (habiskan dalam masa sehari)
Caj pengangkutan = RM 10 pergi balik. (bergantung kepada jarak)

And pressure regulator to control the tank pressure output.
Sewa RM 50.

*I arranged all that with pembekal gas industri.
Sebab tak jumpa helium balloon supplier di Alor Setar.

3. Balloons
Ada banyak gred, warna dan saiz.

I bought metallic balloons in bulk (600 pieces) from a rubber factory that produces all kind of rubber products (latex gloves, co**om, etc). I didn't know it at first, dah sampai tu baru terkejut and I texted Nasrah, "Gigih gila aku mai beli belon kat kilang getah... Hahaha..."

And she replied, "Hg mmg psiko."
Those balloons I bought are shining (nama pon metallic), tebal dan tak mudah meletup walaupon kena cahaya matahari atau rumput. They are not the normal balloons yang boleh ditiup menggunakan mulut... Sbb dah cuba dan hanya menyebabkan pipi sakit tapi belon tak kembung. Heh.


4. Ribbon to tie the balloons
Jangan guna benang bulu kambing atau any fabric type of ribbons to tie the balloons. It will entangle. Sila gunakan riben plastik yang bakery-slalu-ikat-kotak-kek ~ if you know what I mean...


5. Helium balloons do not last long
Give it 3-4 hours or 5 hours max. Ia akan mengempis/mengucup dgn sendiri walaupon cuaca tak panas. However, there is a glue-like chemical that we can fill in the balloons before we fill in the gas. It will prevent the gas from penetrating out. That can make your balloons last for a week.


6. Get a helium balloons supplier
..to get it all done for you. Senang cerita. Most of the time, they have their own supplies of balloons, gas and all the equipments required. Plus, you don't have to fork out the money on the deposit (though you will get it back...) and all the hidden charges... The normal helium balloon is sold at RM 2.


However, I guess what I did was all worth it...
For that amount of balloons, it's cheaper and worth the effort.
Actually at first I do think that it was totally unnecessary... mcm nak spend too much on balloons... but when I think about it, I don't have flowers deco... some more I didn't splurge on pelamin, makeup, doorgifts, hantaran deco, things like that... So all the savings make it up to it...

And the children love it.
So as the adults ;)


FUN Fact:
Swallowing helium makes your voice sounds like the Chipmunks/Donald Duck.
We had a good laugh finishing up the leftovers... :D