Wenjie and Li's marriage
At long last, on the 29th Dec 2003,
Wenjie is happily married to Li. After so many years of drifting in the wilderness (ok, ok, so I am exaggerating a little), I am really happy to see that he is now settled down with a lovely wife. The wedding took place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Scotts Road. Wenjie looked elegant in his black, bowtie suit, and Li had an exquisite appearance in a sleeveless wedding gown. I was assigned table number 13. Why 13 I wonder? Well, since Wenjie is Cantonese, I'll try to look at the number 13 from the Cantonese perspective. :P In any case, I was glad to meet friends I had not seen for many years -- Crysania, Mystic, Chronos, Makkie, Ged, Metalhead and Drakken.
As the bride and the groom entered the hall, they left a trail of petals, thanks to the people on both sides of the path who liberally sprinkled the flowers on them. It was the first time I had seen this occur in a wedding in Singapore, so I thought it was a nice touch. The groom gave a short speech thanking his parents and everyone else in the world who had touched his life in a certain way. This was soon followed by his bride and his father. It would have been nice if we could have seen a short video clip about the bride/groom's life, so that we might learn a bit more about them, but I suppose I'll have to obtain these details through my informants.
As usual, the first dish was greeted with much pomp and fanfare as the waiters streamed into the hall in an ordered formation designed (I presume) to impress us. This was followed by chicken, fish, prawns in some kind of sauce, mushrooms (real, genuine mushrooms that are in no way related to pot) and shitake mushrooms with some kind of vegetable, e-fu noodles and some sort of pudding for dessert. I must assure you however, that the food is quite good, and my plain descriptions do it no justice. Describing a cuisine is, sadly, not one of my talents. My favourite dish is still the fish. It had a certain quality to it that left me craving for more. My least favourite was the dessert, which was some kind of purplish pudding mixed with lychee, strawberries and pineapple. Not that the dessert wasn't nice, but it wasn't exactly the sort that I liked.
In the middle of dinner, there was the traditional "yum seng", where the bride and the groom's best friends go and stage to perform the cheer. From our table, Mystic and Makkie went up stage to give Wenjie support. I'm not quite sure what is the purpose of this tradition, although I think it's supposed to be some form of blessing where you go "yuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmm" in one breath, followed by "seng". I did my best to hold my breath, but many others who couldn't last as long as I could cheated by going something like "yuuuuuuuummmmmmmm, yum, yum, yum, yum, yuuuuuummmmmmmmmm". Sigh.
Now, let me come to my friends. Drakken (I still cannot believe
Crysania mistook him for Anomius) does not seem to have changed much. Resourceful as always, he can help you host a site for free. I'll be certain to keep that in mind. Ged, who has been working with his Japanese company for many years, seems to have adopted his company's culture as a part of his life. In fact, I'd even venture to say that he looks far more Japanese now, sporting a Koizumi-hairstyle and smaller slit-eyes.
During the Tang Dynasty, the most prosperous era in China, being plump is considered a sign of prosperity. The famed beauty Yang Gui Fei, the favourite concubine of the Emperor Tang Xuan Zong, was said to be very plump. Having said that, I must say that Chronos looks far more prosperous today than before. Life has certainly been treating him well. Metalhead -- surprise, surprise! Had caught me in a place I had least expected to be found in, but for now, I shall not tell you where and why.
If you had thought Mystic (Makkie's brother) was handsome, well he is even more handsome now. He is currently teaching in a certain JC in Singapore. I'm sure the girls at the JC must be filling his mailbox and ICQ with words of adulation and love. Makkie, I hope, will take my advice to protect himself from a certain someone. After all, once you lose it, you will never be the same again. Better safe than sorry, right?
All in all, it was a typical Chinese wedding, made more memorable by the fact that I had known these people for many years. I wish I could have known them better, and will certainly make an effort to do so in future. Last of all, Wenjie, I hope you will treasure and love your wife for the rest of your life, as all husbands should. Here's wishing the both of you a joyous and eternally blessed marriage!
