Newly Wed.. almost

Reason for the title is that the second banquet is on this coming Sunday! We just had the first one in Ho Chi Minh city on 22 July 2007. Its great, with a big fanfare. "Cinderella" carriage, 20 restaurant staff as brides maid, huge party poppers, live video feed for guests as we alight from the carriage and do our march-in on red carpet. Reminds me of the Golden Horse award stars arrival when I watch the video now.

My family and friends were awe-struck. This could never have happened at home, unless Im loaded. I had a good time, no stress at all, and my family enjoyed it. The language barrier during the customary session turn out to be hilarious on video.

I had my bachelors' night last Friday. Going back to Zouk after a 9 year absence is a walk down memory lane. The 6 of us were reminiscing on which platform we used to dance on and which songs were played as we walked on the empty dance floor before the crowd arrived. Its like a group of retirees returing to their school compound. Its not that we spend lots of time dancing and drinking away during NS days. Its just that those were the things we can only do at that point of our lives and it feels good doing it with the same gang after all these years. And we met more of our unit mates at Velvet. I cant believe they are still chionging after all these years. Its a clean bachelors night out, no strippers or girls, but a night of recollections. A kind of "been there, done that" feeling.

Wedding in Vietnam was a bang, getting set for the Singapore version.

Go to my Flickr page to view the pics.

The Eve of our Wedding

I am writing this from a hotel in Ho Chi Minh city, sharing a room with Chiong Hien, my army buddy. And we are going to fetch my bride tomorrow. Its been a tiring day, but happy and exciting. My whole family is here together with aunt, cousin and friends (17 of them). It will be the only time that so many of them come together....for my wedding. Not nervous yet, but guess I will be when there are more than 400 people attending our banquet at Sinh Doi restaurant. There is going to be a "Cinderella carriage" that brings us to the entrance of the banquet hall, with 20 or so waitresses lined up along the aisle, with emcee and sparklers...quite a big fanfare... and we have told them to cut it down. I hope it ll turn out well. Thao's extended family is huge, and I worry about going to 40 tables for toasting. I have never gotten drunk in my entire life, and do not wish to. There will be good drinkers backing me up, including my father. Every member of her family has done something for our day and all are excited for the 1st wedding of the 3rd generation. The pictures and decoration that Cau Tuan made are incredible. I am glad my family is here too.

Its been fun so far. I hope she will be the prettiest bride they have seen. Time to get some sleep before the biggest day of our lives.