28 June 2007 – It’s been over two weeks since I got back to Hilton, and while the five week sojourn’s just a distant memory and it feels more like I’ve been back for two months, I must admit that on the whole, the state of affairs is heaps better than before. Well, firstly I no longer have to plan a wedding, and I no longer have to diet for a wedding, or exercise for a wedding, nor bug my husband to go chase after florist, hotel, bridal house, photographer, etc, etc, etc, MOST of all, Elli has left the building, more precisely, she has left the island.

Yep, by some strange turn of events, apparently right after I left for Singapore, she developed some health issues that needed to be addressed immediately. So she’s gone back downunder to get it sorted, following which she’s going on a vacation. So in the very least, she’s gone for a couple of months, that’s what she says anyway. Her actions though have suggested otherwise. She’s packed up all her stuff and had them arranged to be shipped home, she had a continuous chain of farewell parties leading up to her departure, and perhaps most telling of all, she left a bunch of us advance-birthday cards. Very 做做 if you ask me, but considering my birthday’s in November, and she’s supposedly due back in September anyway… hmm… in any case, it doesn’t concern Rachael and I anymore whether she returns or not, ‘cos someone else has already filled her space in our room! Yippee!

And phew! Cause Khallida the new Russian GRO is really nice, and as Rach says, just a lot simpler. And yes, she means it as a compliment! None of all that OTT drama that one would undoubtedly associate with my former roomie, what’s her name again?! These days, the room just feels so much lighter, as if the big black stormy cloud that was looming over it has finally dissipated away. Ah….

But actually it’s incorrect to say that Khallida is Russian, cause yes, she speaks Russian, but she’s actually from Kyrgyzstan, which is completely independent from Russia now.

I know, how exotic is that?!? So now, we have a Singaporean, an English and a Kurgis all living under one roof – freaking amazing stuff!

So was I sad to see Elli go? Erm, no comments. But one good thing that came out of it was that we finally nabbed ourselves some seats at Wine versus Chocolate in the Wine Bar (the one with the black sand from NZ), which brings me to the real crux of this blog entry. Seating no more than 10 persons at a time, this exclusive bar is usually out of bounds for staff, quite hard to get a seat really, but well, with Elli going away, concessions were made. Whoohoo! For those who have no clue what I’m talking about, well, basically in this private tasting, guests travel to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Tanzania gastronomically to savour the cocoa from these different regions. Laurent, our resident cheese and wine expert then introduces three beautiful pairing wines, all with names that one can hardly repeat, and to top it all off, three pastry temptations created from the three distinct chocolates. Check out the menu, it’s so atas!

Tell me, is this not every woman’s dream dining experience? To die for lor. And I SWEAR, it’s not just a bunch of fluff, palatably the experience truly lived up to its description, if not better. And without further ado…

walls and walls of wine

spa chicks

Here’s Laurent giving the wine blurb in his very French accent

Tara giving it a go in her not-so-French accent

This wine-sniffing apparatus, whatever it’s called, is brilliant for extracting the bouquet… we just could not figure out why but strangely the aroma was so much stronger, smoother and sweeter than the regular glass. Awesome!

Just check out the number of glasses we had on the table!

Is this not a gorgeous sight – wine, chocolate and pastry X3! Yumm…..

Must be because I don’t usually drink much cause after those three small glasses, I was already in a very happy place. So funny too, because we had a team meeting later that night at 10.30pm. The rest of the spa team must have wondered why us managers and supervisors seemed to all be in such a good mood for that time of night. Haha! Oh well, it’s an island. We’ve got to live a little and enjoy these little perks.

So yep, overall, the situation is much better than before, and returning here after the wedding was a little less devastating than I had imagined. Having said that, I still miss my Billie like crazy of course… sigh… wished I was with him, ESPECIALLY because the last few days, he’s been in Puerto Rico wolfing down fresh seafood, salsa-dancing and having girls lapdance for him in strip clubs! @#$%! I OSO WANT! Yep, I’ve decided. That’s my next job title — professional ICANN tag-along attendee.

Oh oh oh, one last thing. Khallida says “Don’t believe Borat! Kazakhstan is nothing like what he makes it out to be!” Being a neighbour, I think we can trust her. Ciao people!

15 June 2007 – Back in the RV (River Valley, our secondary school) days, as you do when you are 15, we formed a clique of 10 girls. Over the years, several of us had gotten married and many have already become mummies of a kid, or two. A few years ago, a few tied the knot all within the same year, a bit taxing for the wallet with all that angbao giving… so imagine this year, haha, as another 3 of us held our weddings, not just in the same year, but all in May! Yes, isn’t it wild?!! Peiling & Fukky’s on 6 May, ours on 26th, and on the 27th, Peishi’s and Ken’s! I couldn’t believe my good luck, being able to attend both their weddings. It was so much fun! An entire month of merry-making from beginning to end!

It all began in Bali. Fukky’s family resides in Jakarta, so as a compromise on both sides, Peiling got her wish to have her wedding in Bali at the Conrad. She chose it namely for the Infinity Chapel, and boy, what a choice! The location was absolutely gorgeous!

The day itself began with the usual round of torture and torment the groom had to endure to prove his love…

…all worth it of course.

Just look at how beautiful Peiling is.
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15 June 2007 – My first off day since I’ve been back in exile, not counting the day I arrived of course… And geez I just realized you haven’t heard from me in like almost TWO FREAKIN MONTHS, which needless to say have been nothing short of being downright CRAZY!!!! Oh My Gawd… this whole wedding has DEFINITELY got to be the biggest endeavor I have undertaken, I think even worse than writing my Honours Thesis or moving to Australia then to Thailand then to Maldives! At one point, I was so dead-tired I told Ah Bi, “Can I go and sleep, and you just wake me up when the whole thing is over?!?” Really, we were so sleep/rest-deprived it wasn’t funny.

And don’t get me wrong, we had so many offerings of help, and indeed lots of family members and friends chipped in their precious time and energy, but there was also a ton of stuff that we had no choice but to do ourselves. How I WISHED I could have told someone, “Go do my gown-fitting for me” or “Go get my mani/pedi done for me” or better yet, “Go lose the weight for me” or “Go diet for me (whilst I pig out on ALL my favourite foods!!!)” but cannot right?… Sigh… some things still have to ga gi zou…

And of course the night of the 25th, there was just no way José that I could sleep lor… tossing and turning for the entire night. Meanwhile at 3am, William was still at Mustafa trying to find an outfit for his mum… and on that morning of the 26th, there were still so many things left undone!!!! Speeches unwritten, overnight bag not packed, guest seating plan incomplete, march-in music unprepared… Argh!!!! How we ever managed to pull the whole thing off is nothing short of a miracle, and Wil and I certainly could not have done it if not for the generous outpouring of warmth and loving support from those family and friends who lent a hand that day. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You know who you are. Eva, our videographer asked us towards the end of the evening which was our most memorable moment for the day, and yep, Billie and I agreed that it was the moment we first marched into the ballroom, seeing all our family and friends gathered together to celebrate with us. Actually at that point, I already wanted to cry, and prolly would have if vanity had not stood in the way… no, no, mascara running down my cheeks, so tak-glam… cannot cannot, must 忍…

All in all though, the day turned out to be truly enjoyable! The weather was fine, we had so many good laughs and certainly love was in the air! I have such wonderful memories of it, ones that would last a lifetime. The banquet especially, it was a BLAST! For those who weren’t there, our theme was 花样年华 (think Shanghai in the 1930s) and it was just REMARKABLE how everything came together in perfect unison. The floral decorations were stunning, the guests in good spirit partook by dressing up in their Chinoiserie best, the food was reportedly (since we hardly got to eat any of it) very tasty and thankfully sufficient, the songstress and live band we hired to perform Chinese oldies ala 周璇 and 白光 entertained and livened up the occasion, Sean and Sanchia were brilliant as MCs especially since we left them with no instructions nor program list, the banquet team deserved a standing ovation for their professionalism and prompt service, Elbson made me feel gorgeous and glamorous, William was charismatic and simply dashing, and the very best part was that everyone was just in such good and high spirits. It was perfect! Perfect!

And you know what else is great? To see the beam of pride and joy in our parents’ eyes. Other than perhaps the two of us, our parents must have been the happiest people alive. To see the look of pure delight on their faces that day… man… it was absolutely priceless.

Ok, without further ado, I know, I know, pictures, pictures! So here are just a few of William and myself in our different costume changes for the day…

The groom brings the bride to his home… accompanied by a shower of rice

Us in our traditional gear for the tea ceremony where we receive blessings from our elders

The white numbers again, but this is the evening look where I literally let my hair down

And here we are in our evening attire. That’s Elbson, the “magician” who completely transformed us!

There are much more pictures of course. For the full-length version, please click on the link below:

Tiffany & William’s Wedding

For those of you who have previously received the earlier link in an email from me, this is actually a more complete version with TONS more photos. And unlike the first link which were pictures chosen by the photographer, these ones were chosen by us – the day as we remembered it. So yep, if you’re still suffering from wedding-fever or would just like to relive the day, please feel free to browse through the album.

Once again! Thank you so kindly everyone for all your love, support and well-wishes. William and I are truly blessed to have you in our lives.