A day of niceties and critical photographic analysis

I woke up with bleary eyes - from a night of KTV interruptus and boring football played by my beloved Les Bleus. With barely 4 hours of shuteye, I tried to psyche myself up for the lunch ahead and looked forward to rest thereafter.

I had planned for this day some time in advance (though several things worked in my favour, the Great Singapore Sale notwithstanding). So the plan was for my parents and my 大姑 in her alternate capacity as my godmother to meet her family over a lunch at Peach Garden - my third most frequented restaurant in the world, with KFC and Mac being the first and second respectively. And this was thanks to Laura Foo and her mum.

As is always the case, fate has the last say in determining my itinerary for the day and my eyes were to be denied their rest for another 14 hours...

The 提亲 event was originally scheduled to happen in July, with the plan being that my mum and dad would pay a visit to Sonia's place to undertake the necessary negotiations in the comfort of their home. Then it became a visit to her place followed by a lunch at someplace nearby. The home visit scenario prompted her mum to buy a whole new set of dining table chairs for the occasion, but again, a last minute suggestion by Sonia's dad prompted a sea change in our schedule.

Thankfully, Laura's mum stepped into the picture and I'd always longed to bring my parents for a good meal at the nice locations in my working area. Since I could not have afforded Tower Club and China Club (a.k.a. canteen by Boon Kiat), Peach Garden @ Executive Club in OCBC Centre seemed like a good bet. Situated on the 33rd floor of the OCBC Centre tower and given a private room facing the Esplanade (thanks to Laura's Mum's hospitality), we held our discussion in relative comfort supplemented by the excellent (as usual) collection of dim sum and Peking Duck.































As I was anticipating a fair bit of parry-riposte (though not like the tales of table-banging and hand-wringing that were making their rounds in our age group), I was pleasantly surprised that the whole affair was a very cordial and polite one, given that demands on either side were nothing like the horror stories told by my well-meaning colleagues and married friends.

Over wasabi prawns and shark cartilage soup, the bride's side had the following requests:
- Cans of pork leg and cakes for the parents' siblings;
- Tables for the wedding;
- Some traditional sweets for the elders in the extended family; and
- A nominal sum for the 嬪金

My side requested for the following:
- Sets of Dragon and Phoenix candles;
- Traditional sweets for my elders;
- Nominal red packets for my sisters to replace the 手信; and
- Red packets to replace the 痰桶 and the other (quite antiquated and unnecessary) betrothal gifts

We concluded the meal with an exchange of pleasantries, with both sides agreeing that other requirements could be added if something was thought of later. And it was during this time that Sonia's handphone rang, and it was Kat from La Belle Couture on the line. She told us that our photos were ready for selection and scheduled a Monday slot for our that purpose. I knew that Sonia was terribly excited about the photos and I suggested that we go down today, an idea which she immediately warmed to. And so we arranged with Kat to go down at 6pm that very day, which really should have warned me that the day would not see me getting any rest (nor
any chance to visit the ongoing PC Show).

My mum, aunt and I first adjourned to SGH to visit 阿公, who was in significantly better shape since his admission some 2 weeks ago. His spirits hinged on the date of discharge though, and I was feeling quite helpless at not being able to accompany him through the days here. In the ward, 小姑 (who had been there since noon) was suggesting that we visit On Cheong for our 四点金 needs, and so yet another impromptu plan was formed.

We met Sonia at the On Cheong outlet at Chinatown along Smith Street, but the array of gold pieces (as well as the lacklustre service quality) did nothing to convince me that they were interested to do our business. We switched over to Poh Heng and Tian Po at People's Park Complex, and though we concluded our visit to the small Tian Po outlet in a jiffy, the Poh Heng store was one of the largest that we had seen so far. 大姑 was especially mesmerized by the intricate traditional Chinese neck adornments like the following piece:
















We looked around the area and decided to proceed on with our remaining task as there was nothing exceptional about the selection at that particular Poh Heng store. We trekked some 1 km (in a roundabout manner thanks to my trusty iPhone and the buggy Maps app) to reach La Belle. Kat was all ready for us - and for the ensuing bargaining war.

We had looked forward to this day for quite some time, and when it finally arrived, we were not let down by the works of the photographer, Kenny. It was really a sight to behold, and we had a very difficult 2 hours poring over the selection of photographs trying to isolate the best shots of the lot without financially crippling ourselves.

The fondant colours and vivid hues introduced by the expert editing of Kenny really put us in a spot, and we eventually paid an additional $1,500 for more pages and poses. That brought our total expenditure at La Belle to $5,400, and whilst I had heard of astronomical sums, this figure was quite a big outlay for us as well.

We ended the day on a happy note, and some sneak peeks of the photos chosen are as follows:

The Great (Photo)shoot

The day began like just another workday - with the usual insistent ringing of the two alarms - my iPhone and her Samsung Jet. Albeit this was no ordinary weekday (as evidenced by the two alarms set on each respective handset. It was the day of the bridal shoot.

*********

Many months ago, a certain mammoth creature resolved to lose some weight in anticipation of this day, where his likeness and his build were to be caricatured for posterity. Fast forward the months, and this creature is no less mammoth... Sigh...

Bintan and binging and synonymous.

Furthermore, the creature longed for a return to the place where he had first met his mate, but owing to a lack of response and enthusiasm from the school authorities, the plans were shelved for alternative locations.

*********

That aside, the day started pretty inauspiciously, with heavy clouds and a light drizzle mocking our journey to Tanjong Pagar. My future mother-in-law had kindly agreed to tag along, and boy, were we glad that she was there to smoothen out the tribulations that peppered our activities throughout the day.

We reached there ahead of the makeup artist, and were greeted with a locked door. Thankfully, Lily (the MUA) was there in a matter of minutes after us, and we eventually settled down to tuck into the breakfast that we'd brought along.

From my impression of the studio on the previous trip, it seemed like a dinghy little place, and I was none too impressed with the 'props' and the layout of the place. I had underestimated the human quotient for creativity and adaptability and how wrong I was proven.

Lily set up the items of her trade on the old dressing table, and very soon set to work on the still-munching Sonia. She told us stories on the people she had plasticized done their makeup for, and took great care to explain her steps to Sonia whilst doing up her problematic (in Sonia's own words) face.

Very soon, it was my turn to be put under the brush. I was relieved that there was minimal touching up to be done, as I had foreseen that the foundation would soon be dissolved by the ruinous effect of my old friend Mr. Perspiration. I am known as a 大汗, unfortunately not in the same way as a certain Genghis Khan - he was 成吉思汗.

Kenny then came along to brief us on the agenda du jour, and at that time, it certainly didn't seem like that big a deal and wouldn't last longer than 4.30pm (it was 11.30 at that point in time). This assumption was sadly off the mark by about 4 hours.

We started off with the main wedding gown and my newly-tailored (and perfectly-fitting) suit. It was a blast. The order of the gowns and their accompanying suits were as follows:

• Main white wedding gown;
  Reflective black jacket with white inner shirt and silver tie

• Black Kimono with yellow sash;
  Mandarin collared Mao jacket with white shirt (my favourite)

• Red halter gown (her favourite);
  Flat black jacket with black inner shirt and red tie

• Royal blue gown with added diamante linings;
  Reflective black jacket with dark blue inner shirt and silver tie [We were busy changing into the outdoor gown and eating lunch and did not have the chance to take a picture]
  

We did a variety of poses for each getup and our jaw muscles ached after this exercise, which took us up to 3.30pm. We barely had 15 minutes for our lunch (courtesy of Sonia's mum at about 1pm). Sonia then changed into her final outdoor white-and-black gown and me into a similar black-and-white ensemble.

Our first outdoor destination was the Supreme Court area. The studio had kindly hired a large BMW 520 to ferry us around. There were plenty of kids milling around that area (Dr. Goh Keng Swee was interred in the Parliament House for grateful Singaporeans to pay their respects). Their enthusiastic waves in airconditioned comfort were returned with much less energy by the two nuts in full suit and gown.

We took a few photos at the side of the Art House at the Old Parliament House and then Anderson Bridge, before making our way to the Victorian arches at beside the annex of the Old Supreme Court. Unfortunately for us, the iconic Supreme Court pillars were taken up by plastic chairs à la Formula 1 Singapore, and we had to pass on the original intention of coming to the Civic District.

I was hot and drenched in perspiration when we got back into the car. The usually cool and un-sweatable Sonia was perspiring too, but the weather had reserved its best for the last leg of our photoshoot. We had initially worried about the weather being rainy at Upper Seletar, but it soon turned out that our worries were unfounded. It was BLAZING HOT AND HUMID.

I had changed into another shirt in anticipation of taking off my jacket sometime into our photoshoot, but the perspiration soon put paid to my plans. It was an amazing place, and Kenny apparently knew all the ideal locations and angles to take the photos. There was the long horizon, the high plains on the grass, the unmistakable 'Tree of Love' (red ants included, as we were to learn very soon) and the rocky edge of the lapping waters of the reservoir. Interestingly enough, there were a large bunch of inquisitive monkeys and one even got near enough to attempt to grab our belongings in the pavilion.

And so that concluded our adventures for this very tiring but ultimately fulfilling day. Many thanks to all that made it possible, namely Joey (our coordinator), Lily (our very personable makeup artist) and Kenny (our professional and knowledgeable photographer). Not forgetting Sonia's mum, who had been 任劳任怨 all this while...

We polished off a memorable day with a meal at Cumi Bali, which saw a staple ordering of Ikan Bakar, Bayam, Madura Sate, Cumi Bali and Kambing Rendang with Sonia's dad as well.

Bob

Videographer confirmed!

After a heated debate over which, where and what videographer to get and a whole lot of online streaming (where we saw the bad and the marvellous), we met up with a chap from Forest Productions. We had previously viewed their clips online, and were impressed enough to warrant a face-to-face meeting with the videographer himself.

We finally met up with the videographer on Friday for the demo. He was very young ... probably younger than us (which really says alot about our demographic progression). Wanjun and Marcus also came along for the demo as they were contemplating a video montage on their tight budget.

We had critically evaluated the quality of his previous works, and the layout of his presentation did not differ too much from the clips that we had seen online. He went through with us the deliverables and the timeline for the day itself, and he got us thinking when he mentioned that he would need 6 hours to do up the express highlights in time for the dinner.

As I would set off from Sengkang at 9am in the morning, the time spent on the 'games' and fetching of the bride to and fro might be a tight squeeze, given that we were to do our ROM on the same day as well. Owells. We might have to consider doing up the to-the-minute schedule done up by one of Sonia's friends.

All in all, his services were pretty well presented and we were confident enough to confirm his services on the spot that day. We then fund transferred the deposit of $300 immediately to his account the following day.

Ryan Bob

The ticker says it all...

It was a Friday.

Setting: The meeting with a client.

The insistent beeping on my mobile signalled that someone somewhere was looking for me rather urgently.

I excused myself and answered the call.

Cue the sweet voice on the other end of the line - "Thanks, dear. "

She liked it. And didn't have a clue about it.

I only had the time to reply with "Anything for you, paozy" before I exceeded the time allotted for courtesy calls.




















Her smile, quite simply, completed my day.

Bob

Shopping for our wedding bands

This year's National Day fell on a Sunday so we got a Monday off for the week ... weeeeeee. Since there would be no work on Monday, we decided to go wedding band-hunting. We had been scouting around for the ideal pair of rings for a few weeks now and we had been to Lee Hwa, Soo Kee, Tian Po and SK thus far.

Although the current designs for the wedding bands were pretty standard across the different jewelry dealers, there were still a few unique designs that caught our attention (Lee Hwa's crisscrossed, white- and rose-gold wedding bands [left] vs Soo Kee's white gold and rose gold digitalised wedding bands).

They looked something like this:

So we thought it would probably be good for us to start doing some serious comparison work and probably make our purchase on 9 August 2009 (sounds auspicious).

Our day begun with the intention to make our rounds about the Orchard locale, with our first destination being the newly opened Ion Orchard and then the other jewellers around the area. Fate had nothing to do with our divergence from our original objective, as we were soon to learn (to the peril of our collective savings). The large 50% off posters at each jeweler's entrance were ominous signs of things to come...

Stop 1: Larry Jewelry

Our first stop was to visit the branch of the place where I had bought the proposal ring in hope that we could find something that suited our fancies. A mere 5 minutes of looking was enough to convince the both of us that Larry's was not going to be our choice du jour.

The designs were relatively dated and quite forgettable, which certainly highlighted the fact that they were a specialty diamond shop.

Stop 2: Lee Hwa @ Ion Orchard

Armed with 2 x birthday vouchers courtesy of her mum and Auntie Irene, we stalked out the largest Lee Hwa in the area, inside the spanking new Ion Orchard. It was no easy feat navigating around the mall though as the jewelry street was located away from the main mall itself. We made a few fruitless trips around the complex before finding the outlet.

However, we spent the better part of the next 6 hours in this shop agonizing over the bands. And more [signed an NDA therefore no elaboration will be made on this part].

We were initially quite disappointed to learn that they did not have the crisscrossed rings in stock, as they were our bands of choice from the onset. However, a pair of Destinee rings caught our eyes. They were similar in design and looked more solid (the crisscrossed ones looked as though they were welded together. Unfortunately the 50% off did not apply to wedding bands. Smartasses.

We looked at them for a while before heading over to Goldheart. Unbeknownst to me, she was stealing glances at the diamond sets (which she had always dreamed of having).

Stop 3: Goldheart @ Ion Orchard

The Goldheart designs were nondescript, nothing fancy and pretty safe.
NEXT!

Stop 4: Soo Kee @ Ion Orchard

At Soo Kee, we rediscovered our liking for the digital / checkered wedding bands. But her mind was on something else altogether...

Stop 5: Lee Hwa @ Wisma Atria

Although the service we had received at Lee Hwa @ Ion Orchard was excellent, Sheena had specifically requested that we spend our money at Wisma if we could (she had some rewards points to be earned). Unfortunately, the store did not have the bands that we wanted in stock.

The retail executive was pretty persistent, and kept presenting us with bands that we did not quite like. We then adjourned to Starbucks for a Green Tea Frappe and to contend over our findings and observations.

We then decided to wait for her mum (who, like most women) are BFFs with their jewelry. I even had the time to pick out 3 shirts at the G2000 nearby.

Final Stop: Lee Hwa @ Orchard Ion

I suppose it was apparent that we would settle for the pickings at the Ion Orchard Lee Hwa store by now, and unsurprisingly, the selection of the bands took a back seat to the diamond jewelry which took up most of our time.

We chose the Destinee wedding bands without much hassle, and I was thankful for not having to settle for the initial pair of keychain-ish bands.

And so, proudly presenting the fruit(s) of our labour (the male counterpart is a mere peripheral of the female):

I wonder what has religion got to do with Gross Sales though. The Merchant of Venice harks to mind. Of Jews, Shylock and Usury :)

Ryan Bob

The search for the wedding banquet venue (Part 2)

First stop: Swissotel Stamford / Fairmont Singapore
The second day of our search started in earnest with a trip to the Swissotel Stamford / Fairmont Singapore. With the numerous makeovers that the former Westin Stamford had seen, many a guest had been left wondering about the newest name for the hotel. However, both of us have had our D&Ds here (Sonia has had 4 years' worth of crap food and equally inept performances). But we just went there to get a brochure anyway. Looked at the price, compared our reviews and decided to chuck it aside.

Second stop: Carlton Hotel
For some reason or another, I was particularly fond of Carlton. It could have been the food (my Company Law prof brought me and the SMU gang to dine at Wah Lok) or it could have been the promise of a spanking new banquet hall in the wing under construction (slated to open in late 2Q 2010). However, capacity constraints meant that Carlton had to be considered carefully, as it had a maximum capacity (think of a packed HK mahjong centre) of 40 tables. Nevertheless, we put down a tentative booking for the 3 dates in advance.

Third stop: Park Royal on Beach Road
As opposed to its sister hotel Park Royal at Kitchener, we both felt that the lobby and the reception area of the Beach Road version was relatively new and appealing.


The banquet hall was nicely furnished as well. The sole sticking point was the fact that 4 thick pillars were located towards the rear of the hall, and coupled with its elongated rectangular shape, the people who were going to be seated beside and between those pillars would not be able to see the stage. This bothered me greatly.


What really caught Sonia's eye was the promise of an open-air pavilion in which we could conduct our solemnization ceremony. The sales manager promised a view of the Flyer and the CBD area (we realized the Flyer was pretty insignificant at that distance) but the pavilion was something else in itself. This was a major contributing factor in our decision to consider the locale, even though it was relatively inaccessible (it fronted Beach Road on one side and The Furniture Mall on the other). In addition, it was still available for booking on 10 October 2010 (our priority date) and the surcharge was only an extra premium of $50 per table only!


Fourth stop: Grand Copthorne Waterfront
This was by far Sonia's favourite in terms of hall layout. As the sales manager was describing the sequence in which weddings were typically conducted, I could see that Sonia was visibly attracted to the 'Garden' sequence. The spacious ballroom had high ceilings and relatively modern decor, and with the unique 'unveiling' of the garden (on the left of the following picture) during the wedding march, it was certainly part of our plans.


Unfortunately, most of the auspicious dates had been taken up by other couples (remember that we were planning 1 year 4 months in advance) and the sole auspicious date available was the 10 October 2010. This came with a hefty 400 dollar premium over the usual price, and we decided that the premium was not acceptable.

Fifth stop: Holiday Inn Atrium
We crossed the road over to the other hotels located within the area. We chose the Holiday Inn Atrium for our final destination of the day (the rest looked slightly dodgy from the outside [Copthorne King , Furama Riverfront and Riverside Hotel]). Bob had a funny thing for the design of the high roof of the hotel. It looked something like this (although a tad more grimy):


The interior of the hotel was acceptable, if a bit dated. The reception area was narrow, but the manager suggested that we could use the meeting rooms to the right of the corridor for our reception as well.

The pillars in the banquet hall were not too obstructive either. The manager attending to us was very helpful and agreeable to most of our requests, and we were quite taken in by the large number of free perks that he promised to throw in.

It was a good day for us because we both found a hotel that we like at the end of the day's search. Sonia preferred Park Royal on Beach Road (because of the outdoor pavillion and the overall furnishing) while I voted for Holiday Inn Atrium (because the pillars were less obstructive than Park Royal's and the perks were better). Since we could not decide on the same hotel, we decided to rope in our families and get some third party opinion for reference. Sonia managed to persuade her family to visit the two hotels with us again over the weekend.

Bob

Getting the auspicious date

Our plan is to have the wedding next year. So Bob's mum and grandma were supposed to help us get a list of the auspicious dates. But because the "tong shu" will only be issued in August, we were afraid that most of the banquet venues would be snapped up by then.

Instead of waiting for the "tong shu", we went to the geomancer recommended by CLK. The auspicious dates were available in 2 days time. Our preferred dates are 10 Oct 2010, 23 Oct 2010, 12 Sept 2010 and 18 Sept 2010. We would love to have it on 10 Oct 2010 but we also understand that this is a hot date and there will probably be extra charges for having the banquet on that day too. With the list of auspicious dates, we are ready to start hunting for the right wedding banquet venue.

Sonia

After getting the name of the geomancer from Sonia (who had displayed a very welcome dose of initiative to source for the contacts), we secured his services and were supposed to make a trip down to Beauty World Complex for a face-to-face meeting.

I had expected an incense-ridden dingy shopfront with a white-haired mystic poring over voluminous tracts of ancient scriptures to determine the dates that did not clash with the Chinese zodiac signs of our immediate relatives (and us).

In the end, it was a fairly modern cosy corner with a desk (and airconditioning, thank goodness) and a full size advert of the man himself. Apart from the Chinese compass / 轮盘 that he held in the ad, it was a fairly modern geomancer that we were speaking with.

As the saying goes, judge a man by the company mobile phone he keeps. And he kept a N95 8GB. Not too bad.

He showed us the dates and gave us a set of ancient coins (古钱) that we were tasked to keep under the matrimonial bed. A senior member of our family was to place the coins at the four corners of our bed during the 安床 ceremony, all whilst verbalizing auspicious phrases such as 百年好和，白头偕老，早生贵子 and 子孙满堂 or something... This would happen on the day before the actual wedding at an auspicious hour.

Also, the part I found the funniest was the act of getting a non-member of my family (undoubtedly a guy unless Sonia gives the green light) to sleep beside me on the night before the wedding. I was wondering which of my bros would sleep with me... HAHA

Ryan Bob

It all began with a...

Kiss?

Nah. I don't do things the simple and sweet way.

It was just another Boxing Day, albeit one with a party (of my friends) thrown in.

But first things first...

The Ring

Planning had started way back in September. Having broached the idea to Koof, I set myself to learning all about diamonds. And boy was there a great deal to learn. This site helped immensely - the accountant in me appreciated the fact that the diamond merchants saw it fit to attach alphanumeric ratings to the various Cs of a diamond.

And then the diamond hunt started in earnest October. It was a period packed with diamond fairs (I remember Celest's "3 months gross pay minimum" at the fair in Ngee Ann City's Civic Plaza) and some random hunting. Huimin, Jing, Ra and Koof tirelessly went with me on those (fruitless) escapades. I was torn between the Carat and the Cut. A combination of both would lead me straight to Chapter 11, and after much torment (and irritation on the part of my friends), I decided on a compromise of both. At Larry's.

Smoke Screen

I had surprised her with a new pair of couple rings on Christmas Day itself packed neatly in a nice jewellery box - this was in a desperate attempt to throw her off the scent. I had 'borrowed' her diamond solitaire that her mum gave her for her 21st to ascertain her ring size. It just so happened that she went into spring-cleaning mode, which was triggered by the mysterious loss of her pendrive.

The Proposal

And so came about the Day.

My friends were the ones who made it all possible.

The original idea was to kidnap Sonia (after work) and then chauffeur her to a romantic setting where I would then propose and we would live happily ever after. It was soon thrown out of the window after we considered the following:

• It would have been a sweaty proposal
• Sonia might call the police

And so some other ideas were thrown up: TJC Sports Complex, someone's place, the Flyer...

Until the idea of a hotel party was suggested. Immediately the negative aspects of so doing became apparent:

• Heated food would be a problem
• A standard room would not suffice (we had 10 pax)
  
• Logistics would be a nightmare
  

Still, my dear bros (and erm, girls female friends) bent over backwards to make it all possible.

A big THANK YOU to my bros and the girls

It was a wonderful event (and a visual feast [of the culinary kind]).


Whilst she wasn't at all touched by my botched script (she said yes before opening the ring box / I could have saved on the ring), we both agreed that it was a night to remember.

She thinks that it's just another exchange of Xmas gifts. She has absolutely no idea what's awaiting her...

Success !!!

Ryan Bob