0636 It’s still pretty early, but I’ve woken up about 3 times so far this morning. There’s already activity happening outside and wifey is long out of bed. I think about doing a live blog type thing and decide to fire up the netbook.
0640 Netbook doesn’t seem to want to resume from hibernate. I think it’s the HDD problem again, which I’ll have to sort out when I get back to Oz. Hope a full reboot works…
0650 Now working on netbook after full reboot. Needs to hold out for another week. Loud (to me) chatting outside, I can hear my wife being a part of the conversation. Wonder when I should actually get out of bed.
0654 C’s ‘sisters’ are due to arrive in a few minutes. I think I should start wiping the sleep from my eyes. M is due to arrive with his ‘brothers’ at 8am to pick up his bride and go through the ‘negotiations’ to get past the front door. I’d better be dressed and fed by then.
0721 Time for breakfast. I feel like I’m in a house of strangers - many unfamiliar voices.
0736 The sisters have prepared some pretty nasty stuff for the groom and his men. Hope they don’t go overboard with these ‘games’. Time for me to make myself look presentable.
0747 Dressed and ready for action. The house is suddenly quiet. I’m going to stop being antisocial and see what’s happening.
0749 The closing of the veil by the parents being done. Photos with family and
sisters.
0753 More photos - closeups of C’s nail art. Brothers are here.
0756 E touching up C’s mascara and attending to some last minute adjustments. Relatives starting to arrive too.
0803 The boys are congregating downstairs, while the girls realise they have no structure to their tortures I mean tests, and knock up a plan/sequence.
0806 The boys have arrived at the front door. Door bell rings. The negotiations begin.
0810 The flowers have been rejected, the ang pao has been rejected. The boys get to work on their first challenge.
0815 The brothers are now watching a video clip on the laptop - I think it’s a music video that they need to perform / dance to.
0821 Dance is done, and to reward them for their hard work, the girls serve some “snacks” for the boys. So thoughtful, eh?
0824 Thirsty? The girls have prepared some drinks too… meanwhile the boys continue on another challenge - something to do with unscrambling some letters to form a sentence.
0826 The door is momentarily opened to let some relatives through. The boys make a half hearted attempt to force their way through.
0829 Next game - photo quiz. See if M can recall details from some photos with the mystery sections covered up.
0831 The boys offer their third ang pao, the girls approve of the increasing figure. Boys enter.
0834 Photo quiz continues indoors. Each wrong answer results in some food/drinks to consume.
0841 Games over, drinks consumed. M moves onto the last hurdle - signing and reciting the love contract before he enters C’s room and sees his bride to be.
0844 Last last hurdle - M has to pass E’s test before she will let him in to finally see her little sister.
0847 M kisses his bride to be.
0851 The couple are now out in the living room and group photos are being taken.
0855 The brothers and sisters depart. Things are running on schedule. Those who remain at the bride’s family can relax awhile. There’s talk of playing mahjong… hmm…
0905 People retreat to the air-conditioned bedrooms. The mahjong table is out and ready for action. We have about 3.5 hours before the bridal party returns here for the bride side tea ceremony and lunch.
1102 Have been playing mahjong, finished two rounds. The caterers have already arrived to set up the food - we’re having Peranakan fare from Ivin’s the Peranakan specialists (www.ivins.com.sg), yum yum! More relatives have come and E says it feels like Chinese New Year.
1140 I’m sitting down to my meal. It’s nice :) Don’t want to overeat, even though I could definitely have more of this…
1223 We get word that the bride is back - tea ceremony will follow soon.
1301 Tea ceremony and lots of photos now done. Things are running ahead of schedule. Time for a bit of rest until the evening program.
1316 People are leaving. I think I’ll stop this now cos not much will be happening the next few hours, and when it does I won’t be near a computer so can’t really keep this up.
was it a night ceremony?!
ReplyDeletewhat was E's test?
yum!
k.
the solemnisation (to use the term singaporeans tend to employ) took place in the evening ~6pm, just prior to the dinner. i have some photos on my facebook.
ReplyDeleteE asked a few questions like what is C's shoe size, waist size etc.