Rany’s my ex-colleague from NAC. She held a temple wedding ceremony and Singapore reception before she was going to leave our little island for down-under… so sad!! Another friend leaving us for good…*sob*
Let me start with the temple ceremony. It was the first time I attended an Indian wedding ceremony. There were many ex-colleagues of mine who were there as well, so it seems like a BIG REUNION of current and ex-NAC people haha!! Anyway, the ceremony was held in an air-conditioned hall within the temple. As you can see from the picture on top, the stage was quite shimmery ar.. gold colour..!! The rituals went on, with live music (live drumming/ strumming).. Thing was, none of us understood what was going on. One of them, an Indian herself, said the language was too “cheem” for her to grasp exactly what the priest was reciting.. but she did give us an overall idea haha! For fun, we suggested that there should be screens with commentary ;p The ritual went on for quite some time.. maybe about 2hrs? After the guests went on stage to “bless” the couple, we all proceed to the communal hall downstairs for food.. hmm.. if you notice, I didn’t put an exclamation mark next to the word 'food'…cos, unfortunately, I don’t fancy Indian food… I only (know how to) eat roti prata and papadum (crackers) ;p
It really wasn’t my day that morning. Firstly, I kena spots of curry sauce on my top & pants cos the waiter refilled the curry with the pot facing the guests!! Hello *duh*!! He should have held the pot facing inwards, not at the guests! Ok, ney-mind. Then, one of the kids spilled milo on me.. *sigh*.. This time, I had big patch of stain on my top, pants and handbag!! Ms J Lee, don’t worry, I wasn't blaming Ben ;) He was very sweet to want to serve me the cup of milo, just that I accidentally knocked into him. I hope he didn’t scald himself ;(
Then, the dinner. It was a buffet spread held at the Panorama Room on the 24th floor of Hilton Hotel. Thinking we shouldn’t arrive too late after the time indicated on the invite card (7pm – a bit early right??), Mr D Eng and I were there like 15mins after 7pm. While chatting over a drink at the poolside, a man approached us, introduced himself as the emcee of the dinner. He said he would be having a competition where he needed ‘volunteers’ to ‘weave’ stories of how the wedding couple met. He first requested Mr D Eng to do it but the darn Mr Eng didn’t dare to take the stage!!! Yes, you, Mr D Eng!! *Ggggrrrrrrr*.. Anyway, I thought I know a little bit of the true story, and so, no choice!! Shortly when the dinner commences, the emcee began the game. The first was the emcee’s niece who shared about the story I know of!! Jia-lart man!! Shucks, what story should I tell then?? Haha!! I only had 2-3min to come out with a new idea and the crap story I told was how the groom became the flyswatter and rescued the damsel from hordes of flies while she was in Perth during one summer. Ok, I know it was quite crap haha!! But I was left with no choice except whatever came to my mind in that short duration! Hiyoohhh!! So, that was my 2min of fame (if it ever was) at Rany’s wedding hahah!! Since mine was crap, naturally I didn’t win the prize which was a night’s stay at Hilton! Darn!!! But the winner, who is Rany’s sister-in-law did really great! I love her story amongst the rest of the other five story-tellers that evening haha!
Oh wait, one more funny speech. The groom’s dad went on stage for a short speech to introduce his son.. He was sharing how Evan was a great son & boy.. blah blah blah… and then I heard “he’s an axxhole”.. then I opened by eyes bigger (cos people already said my eyes very big hahaha!!), turned to my ex-colleague (shucks, did I ask Shar or Mr Eng?? Haha) and asked if I heard “axxhole” haha!! And yes, I heard it right! I wasn’t really paying attention so I don’t know in what context the groom’s dad was saying it. Perhaps that was how they talk to each other?? I will ask the couple when we catch up next week ;p
Overall, I enjoyed the dinner. It was casual and fun, with 3 parts of Bangra dancing throughout the dinner - something I haven’t experienced at weddings ;) And of course, the catching up with ex-colleagues was great too!
Oh wait wait, I forgot to comment about the hotel and food hahah!! Hmm… Rany, please don’t be upset if you read this… There seemed to be a shortage of serving waiters and waitresses, who obviously were inexperienced students/ teenagers.. The food was quite ok. Think many of us liked the prawns – fresh and sweet! And of course, the chocolate fondue that many adore.. one more.. the rice.. I didn’t take that but heard it was not nice… ;(
