A wedding to Remember

Derek & Junia's Wedding

It was fun wedding, as usual i shall pen it down in sequence so I dont forget.

8am : Jiemei's Joy
Went to her place at East Coast, Y and D were making up for her. Poor dear had probs with her contact lenses. After she was done she looked as radiant and gorgeous as any bride would be.

Her mom cooked breakfast, tang hoon was yummy. Her brothers, John and James looked super handsome.

835: Groom is Late!
As punishment, he was made to do pushups, its not as though his brothers were very helpful..... had to name the jiemeis and the relationships etc. The best part was James had to help him out some. So cute. Came in, made to drink the standard xuan tian ku la. He puked in a flowerpot and dirtied his tie. Mommy in law came to the rescue to wash and iron out his tie. Before he could enter the room, the was made to comeup with and sign 10 commandments. Still wanting more, our bride made him sing for her before he could enter. it was funny!

930am: To church we go!
Had some last minute packup then went to the church of St Peter and Paul. Few people, like about 20-30px,it was just a service so its short. Had to sing in the "choir" which was made up of 5 of us, ellie, jeff, john, kb and me. The organist was young and did his best to play the tunes ( it was very last minute but he dod alright). After service by Father Thomas, we had pictures taken.

11am: An accomplice to phototaking
She took photos in the convertible outside the firestation area. i drove by with the photographer etc.... fun....

12pm: Lunch with KB at Prego
It was a great lunch, food is great! had the italian degustation for $45 + pizza. Went shopping, lotsa sales but nothing affordable which is nice.

330pm: went home to get my battery which i forgot with KB in tow.

430pm: reached fort canning to prepare reception. everything started after that. they had a tea ceremony and solemnisation, they sang to each other, didnt quite see what happened as I was registering the guests.

730pm: dinner started some cocktail appetiser, soup dinner and dessert with songs, dances and speeches inserted inbetween. I gave a speech. yikes! took photos etc.....

11pm: Surprised her at her Fullerton suite hotel eith her friends. Loved the suite! 2 storey with a fantastic balcony, pity not much of a view.loved the secluded bedroom onthe 2nd floor.

1am: Unwind at the Courtyard with drinks from the PostBar with KB till 2am. It was yummy. Alvin the photog came down to join us. Yen and Derek came by for a while.

Postmortem: Met some of my old sec/tjc friends, yiwen called from france/london,had some problems with the seating, the weather was absolutely perfect!, made friends with the photographer, somehow liked Grace, James's Girlfriend very much, loved the wine, had fun, who's getting married next?!! KB? BER?

At Fort Canning


The Happy Couple


The 2 storey suite at Fullerton

There and Back Again-Kallang Theatre

ITs been a long time since i ran around the backstage of Kallang theatre. I could still remember bits of the backstage, nostalgic, sweet memories haunting me. it was like back to the future. The dressing rooms, the smell of make up and hairspray, the odours of costumes worn over and over many times, the props, the stench of dancing shoes, the place where people with the passion to dance gather and showcase their talents (or love).

Stepping back there on 18th of May 2006, Thursday. Perhaps one of the last years I can recall standing there on stage, with an audience applauding was in 1993. I started dancing since I was 5 years old, in Marine Parade Community Centre (it was known as centre then, then it became a club, now it has the library with starbucks!) Started off with Chinese Dance, we were taught the basics, the hankerchief, the red ribbon, the fan and we did special dances like the peacock dance and the mother hen dance, the snail dance (with umbrellas representing the shells), the cute doll dance (yang wa wa). Then we started taking ballet lessons and moved on to contemporary dances and fusion dances. IT was a wonderful experience. Looking back, i really did learn a lot from dancing. I danced from 5 till I was 15. 10 years of my life.

You cant blame me for picking up a red ribbon i saw backstage just now to try out a couple of moves.... it just seemed like yesterday I did my solo with 2 red ribbons (Hong chou). So nice. An the best part is that it seemed so natural to me, I remembered it all.It came back to me so easily. Sighs.....

I remembered sitting backstage in the dressing room and someone's mother is doing make up for me.

I remember that the entire troupe payed respects to an altar backstage and did a kinda group hug thing to wish each other all the best.

I remember them giving me a chinese name, though I hated it.

I remember eating chicken rice in the dressing room and the room smelt like it for days.( we have repeat performances).

I remember running around backstage of Kallang Theatre as though it was my second home, we started rehearsals early and ended late at times.

Kallang was not the only place we performed frequently, over the 10 years, we also gave performances at Victoria Theatre. I wonder what memories it will bring when i step backstage.

Anyway, we performed the last Bollywood dance of the year (hopefully), it was a grand finale for us. All did well. I think TL really put in alot of effort and time into this. Makes me feel small with my almost 50 people in my team and I have no idea the name of half of them. But I'm super bad with names.... even now, I forget some of whom are in my own...... It must the BSE.....

Food Reviews

Ah Hoi
Teochew Food at mosque street in chinatown. Very good sucking pig, crispy skin but it cost ($50) well worth it!!! pity i din bring my camera)Crayfish in really cool sauce etc. We also tried this 8 treasure dessert. interesting.....
Rating: 9.5/10
Service: 10/10
Return: Yes please!!!!! once a month enough to try all their dishes? Quick Sil treat!!!! Cant wait!!!

Bad Thursdays, Sad Singapore

Bad Thursdays

1) Give kids instructions, clearly stated, in black and white. Save the file as Question 1. Cant even do that.

2)Tell kids to cheer and clap whether the point was won or lose. Cant even do that.

3) Presentation time 10 minutes. It ended up to be 15 mins.

4) Screen capture the first 3 parts of the file. ?? What you mean??

5) Arrange your tables so that you are in a single file. "What do you think happened??"

6) Pass me your letter of excuse if you cant come for class. Cant even do that.

7) Dont do question 2. "Ms___ I did question 2. how ah?"

8) Move up to the first 3 rows. Take so long.


I mean, they cant follow simple instructions. Its not like I ask them to answer questions in class or score an A or even just pass a test. Those listed above were very easy to follow, Simon says kinda questions. All you have to do is to follow. Cant be done. Our future leaders?!!! I need to migrate!!!!!

How can my thursday be good if I start at 730am and scramble to work all the way till 600pm? All my breaks were taken up. School Practical.... I need to add one more job title to my CV. Actually, many more

1) Collect and distribute the forms by______ collect it from them by_____ and return it to _______ by ________

2) This person has not enough money in his Giro account. Please collect a sum of $___ by _____

3) Can you please fax over the form signed by _______

4) This_______ got a demerit point. Please follow up.

5) This ___ has been skipping my lessons.... what happened??

6) THis programme for _____ can you inform them.

7) Journey of learning, please follow your _______

8) Need to go to another institution, please book a bus.

9) Can you collect balls from xxxxxx

10) Need information about your______ please fill in______

This is not even half of what goes on in a day! And none of the above has nothing to do with my main job!!!

Sad Singapore


Welcome to Four Seasons Hotel Singapore. An oasis of calm just minutes from the financial district, Four Seasons is around the corner from Orchard Road, Singapore's Fifth Avenue – and features the exclusive Club at Four Seasons, with the country's only air-conditioned tennis courts.
Managed by world-renowned Peter Burwash International, the Club at Four Seasons include four tennis courts, two indoor and air-conditioned and two flood-lit for night play. An auto-retrieval ball machine is available in the indoor courts.


http://www.fourseasonshotel.com/singapore/tennis.html
Facility details
Total number of courts 4
Number of courts for night play 2 outdoor floodlit and 2 indoor lit courts
Number of indoor courts 2
Outdoor surfaces Greenset
Indoor surfaces Greenset Trophy (Semi-cushioned hard court)
Complimentary racquets
Ball machine
Restringing services
Court fees and stringing services are additional costs and vary by location.
Open to guests 12 years and above.


Hours
Indoor courts
Every day 6:00 am – 10:00 pm

Outdoor courts
Every day 6:00 am – 10:00 pm

Tennis lessons
Tennis pro on staff
Tennis lessons For a fee

Lessons available for all levels of play with PBI coach. Fee applicable per hour inclusive of court fees.
Packages for multiple series of lessons and group coaching are also available.

** WE only have ONE PLACE with airconditioned(obviously indoor)tennis courts!!!!!** How sad is that??!!! Do we even have real claycourts??????

DragonBoating.Tennis.Soccer.Turkish.Jln Kayu. All in a DAY

Dragon Boating
On Sat, ss and I had breakfast at Mac's in Kallang. It has been almost a year, perhaps more than a year since I had hotcakes! Yums Yums. Its expensive though! Like one hotcakes+sausage+hash brown and coffee (refillable) cost $5.30!!! Yakun is much cheaper and nicer! Well, I doubt I'll have breakfast at Mac's for a long time yet. Then we went down to the Sports Centre next to the old Police Coast Guard. Perfect weather (for tennis that is!!!) !!! The sun was out, not too super hot, some breeze, many hot bods, water wasnt too super dirty, more hot bods, haha....

Anyway, waited for the rest to come, there were abt 20 of us. Apparently the boat was free but we had to hire a coach and a steerer. Had some briefing, geared up with hot pink life vests and armed with a wooden paddle, we headed off on the dragon! It wasnt as fun , not to mention the aches and pains i got after but the experience was good! I think the last time we went dragon boating was at the NUS orientation camp way back then. Sports camp if I'm not wrong. So fun! We cruised along the Kallang River, had great views of the ultra expensive penthouses by the bay (i bet some of those houses have indoor tennis clay courts.....am I obsessed or what!!!???) with gold plated temperature controlled jacuzzis with a super high tech massage system and 20 carat diamonds as control buttons, not forgetting the retractable roof to let in some sun over the olympic sized swimming pool. Sighs......

Had great views of the city too, our fav hotel, the Ritz was invitingly situated in the center of the skyline. Yikes! daydreaming while dragonboating isnt a good sign that evie would jump at the chance of being invited to dragonboat again. Reminded me of windsurfing, not to mention wakeboarding and waterskiing..... woohoo.....! Blah.... I'll be groaning in agony of body aches!

Bumped into Faz! Apparently he's some serious competitive dragonboater.

Anyways, I enjoyed the experience while it lasted. Had to reserve some energy for tennis later.

Tennis
Did some warm ups then conditioning exercises before we were drilled on the volley. As fun as it was, I never really liked approaching the net. I never used it in match plays or rallies. But its a basic technique and I love all things tennis so I HAVE TO MASTER IT....... waah hahahaha

I got the coach who went to the Bollettieri Tennis Academy http://www.imgacademies.com/tennis/jump.sps to train before. He taught me the serve. Systematic. As usual, they dont let beginners jump for the ball. " Easy serve, watch the toss and the swing, dont worry about power, relax, just hit the ball, remember to follow through" etc.... when will I ever learn to serve like Sharapova?"


Before we practiced the serve he asked the class, what must you do when u serve? The kids answered, pace, technique, toss, follow through, body direction etc... guess what I said?! I said," Ace the opponent" in a soft meek voice.... hahaha.... but he heard me anyway..... hahahahah

What I learnt
1) Body ppd to net
2) hand at side of body
3) ball held in hand by all 5 fingers on the last 2 digits
4) bring racquet to ball
5) toss straight up while bringing racq back
6) swing, hit ball, protonate body, follow through

Blah... long way from aceing. It was so humid that I finished 1.5L of ice cold 100+ all by myself!

Soccer In Robertson Quay
Mind you I'm still relating what I did in the same Saturday. After tennis practice, we stayed back till about 7 to rally. Fun! Then ss called and asked me to join him and Irwan in Robertson Quay. Chelsea and Man U. *Yawns* So trooped down to Cappadoccia Cafe, Turkish food. Had some Grilled Prawns and Pilaf (Food: 7.5/10 service 4.6/10), a lot of Tiger to rehydrate and some bunch of fools running for the ball as entertainment. Lucky I had baby Sonia to keep me company. Carried her around and played with her. She is so cute!!! Only a year old. Such a darling and she hardly cries!!! Rooney broke his foot! Poor chap. (not that i care that he cant play in the World Cup but he broke his foot!!!! Ouch!!!)

Anyway, the atmosphere aint that fantastic. I kinda liked the atmosphere in the London Pub in 2004. It was squeezy, cramped, smokey, not to mention I left ss to go shopping and crawled back to the pub grudgingly. But the support and cheering from the pub was strong! They have PASSION!!!!

Anyways, after Chelsea won 2-0, evenbefore the match ended, we headed for the dessert shop. Cant recall what its called, for sweets. Had Nougatine. Hazelnut praline ice cream. Yumms. Bumped into Sherlee, a secondary school mate.

Jln Kayu
Went there for supper, boy was I hungry after tennis! Had bandung and kosong. Met another couple, talked about the elections and politics and work. Boring. But the baby was such a delight. Love her so much!!! Cant stand it.

Thats all in a day folks!

After effects on Sunday
After effects of dragonboating and tennis on the same day under the freaking hot sun on a twenty four year old is not the same as an 18 year old. I woke up with aches and muscle soreness all over. I essentially ate and slept all day.