After months and months of continuous planning and relentlessly running around to prepare for our most important day, May 22nd finally came. Sally and I, together with our exceptionally energetic friends and families, went all out to make this a special, memorable and truly once in a lifetime experience.
The alarm on my iPhone beeped at 2:15am. I opened my eyes wide, feeling fresh even though I slept at 11pm the previous night. I remembered vividly the mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety. Adrenaline was in my blood. I knew I had to follow my schedule strictly because everything was planned out down to the minute.
There was little time to spare and I went straight for my Koko Krunch.
My dad entered the kitchen shortly, probably awakened by the lights, wondering why I was up so early. His first assignment on that day was to cook tang yuan at 4:30am. So I explained to him that I had a different timetable to follow. He nodded sleepily before going back to bed.
While preparing my breakfast, I presumed Sally has awakened too. Maybe even earlier. She should be as excited, if not as anxious as me. After all, it was our big day. Jie meis and xiong dis were likely up and about. But it wasn't just us, there were more. Clement and Jessline, who both willingly shoulder the heavy responsibility as our escort drivers. Little Soniyha, Sally's 5-year old niece who was all eager and ready to help. Our parents. Our siblings. Bridal car chauffeur. Makeup artist. Videographer. Photographer. Everyone woke up extra early to accommodate our 5-7am auspicious hour. Tough one.
I finished my breakfast quickly and proceed to shower with some odd-looking leaves that Sally's mom gave a day earlier. Not entirely sure what it does though. The smell was strong but it didn't linger. And then I spent the next 20 minutes styling my hair.
I took a quick look at my checklist, went to the kitchen to prepare the oranges, then noticed a white MaxiCab driving into the parking lot. Must be my xiong dis. 3:15am. Earlier than I expected but it was good. And they were all smartly dressed up. I waved to them from the kitchen window. The sleepy heads came up looking blur, which was not surprising, considering the fact that they spent half a day earlier at Universal Studios and had barely slept. We caught up with the good old times and I realized we've been friends forever. My mom, who used to be our Math teacher, was also able to recognize my friends.
Chon Shen was kind enough to tag along and helped my parents in the kitchen. He arranged the oranges and roasted pork. At 4:15am, I called Ery, our chauffeur, to enquire his whereabouts. He said he was around the corner. Great. Both our escort drivers arrived shortly after. Jessline, who double-up as our overall coordinator, readily took out a copy of our schedule to go through the morning events. Talk about efficiency. Oh, and she triple-up as our ang pow caretaker too. Now that's multitasking. I was extremely at ease due to her constant reassurance and also her experience in operations. She was like managing a huge project. Time. Resource. Execution. Contingency. She was the best person we could find for the role.
received more than a year ago
By 4:20am, Chiang arrived together with Irene.
It was exciting. We were all ready to prove ourselves worthy of receiving the bride. The 4 brothers I handpicked for this momentous task are no less capable of facing the grueling tests ahead. Jie meis are always in control of the games, yet we can't let them have all the fun. So our plan was to delay the ang pows and finish off as many games as we could. Then demand for more. Yes, and disgusting games are our favorites too. Jie meis won't get the chance to see us flinch.
Xiong dis tied up the remaining decorations at the escort car handles before we left. I hopped on the comfortable, sun-roofed BMW bridal car and led the way. Our convoy arrived shortly at Teck Whye at 4:45am, honking away like nobody's business. Ery initially honked twice. TWICE!? I told him to blast away. Here we are! Qi and Soniyha came down a minute later. Show time.
Soniyha opened the door, grinned at me and readily handed me two oranges. I thanked her and passed her an ang pow. My xiong dis came to me and everyone seem excited. Qi, Soniyha, Clement, Jessline, Jonathan (videographer) and Michael (photographer) promptly went up to get ready. Then I told Ery to go to the nearest 7-11 and buy some newspapers because it'll take us some time. Hehe.
I was in the mood to play.
As we approached the gate, jie meis were already waiting for us. Fang fang gave me her sweetest smile and said two words.
Hong Bao.
And we were all like .. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
So fast meh.
Way to early. Nah, I thought we should play some games first so I told jie meis that I wasn't carrying the ang pows. My xiong dis kept them. And they're all eager to play some games. I negotiated with Fang Fang and she relented. Yes, rare indeed.
Gotta talk nicely to her :P Heeee..
Soniyha came nearer to the gate and gave me 5 different coloured sticks to choose from. I picked one and it says Fondle. Sounds like fun. But the jie meis were behind the gate, so that means we're fondling someone or something else.
We were told that one of my xiong dis need to pass a rubber ball from one end of my pants on the right leg, up all the way, then go down and finally exit from the end of my left leg. Easy. Terrence was a doctor, so for obvious reasons, he was morally the right person to do it. He volunteered and finished it easily in less than a minute.
Then the second game. It was surprisingly easy. I thought our life was about to get more difficult. But no, we were asked to eat an apple stuck to a stick, and a banana dangled upside down. Without using our hands. JauRhen held on to the stick while Tze Ping and Hock Ling chomped hungrily at the apple. Same goes to the poor banana. I had a bite too.
I picked my third game. Solo. I guessed I was about to sing Gei Wo Ni De Ai from Tank, simply because I used to hum that song and Sally hinted that she'd want to hear me sing it during our gatecrash. It was a Chinese song and everyone knew my Chinese is half-assed. But I did not prepare for it because well, I wanted to be true to myself. Any preparation beforehand would make it all so fake. And so I sang like an idol-wannabe. Right.
As soon as the jie meis confirmed that song, I whipped out my iPhone, searched for the lyrics in PinYin and Tze Ping readily stood by my side to assist me. I took a deep breath and sang as loudly as I could, near Sally's bedroom window, fully aware that the neighbors are totally gonna hate me. I stumbled upon some words while singing but Tze Ping guided me, while the xiong dis stood behind me supportively and sang together on the last line of the chorus.
so we searched for the pinyin version
When we're finally done, jie meis reminded us of the ang pow that we were suppose to give earlier. Oops! Ok lah, it's about time anyway.
Feeling contented, I gave away the first ang pow to the jie meis. And boy, they had no idea what was in store for them. Hehe.
$2.
Lalala.
Ok. $2 wasn't enough to open the gates, so we had to play more games. No problem. I picked my next game. 69. You really have to admire how the jie meis name their games. They can be really misleading :P Fang Fang proudly announced that it was a math question. We had to formulate an equation that uses +, -, * and / to produce the number 69. Tze Ping and JauRhen jumped on it and quickly came up with a set of numbers for the equation.
So we have completed a few games and it was time to use our ang pow trick again. Will it work? Let's see...
but needless to say, it didn't work
In the next game, we were each given a balloon. We were asked to blow the balloons, put them between two xiong dis, and burst it with a nice, tight hug. We were in a mischievous mood, so we lowered the balloons to our crotch and burst it with a little pelvic action ;) And you can see the jie meis blushing.
Finally it was time to give the big one. Will we finally get our breakthrough this time?
Jie meis were satisfied this time. So, does that mean we can go in already? Well not so fast. Not until we finish the last game.
The last game was a common one. And I was actually waiting for it. Sour. Bitter. Sweet. Spicy. We were given bitter gourd and cocktail mixtures of sour, sweet and spicy liquids in small little cups. JauRhen and I took on the bitter gourds. Hock Ling took on the sour substance. Terrence grabbed the red, hot and spicy goo. Tze Ping took the sweet one. We did a yam seng toast and finished our breakfast with ease.
With the last game completed, the gates finally opened! But that wasn't the end. Phase 2 just kicked in. We were given fake moustache, party garlands and big round spectacles to put on. I had an extra sparkling white hat and was told to put on a bright orange wig. The jie meis then handed us a bunch of ridiculous props like frying spade, umbrella, toilet pump, etc. Now we look like a bunch of homo clowns. Perfect!
Qi pulled out a radio and told us to get ready to dance. Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal blared loudly and we all started dancing in our nonsensical outfit. It was fun to see all of us kick into action regardless of how silly we looked. I danced like I was being possessed by Michael Jackson, but I did a bit of Grease too, so it was actually rojak. And where is my white glove?
After the dance was over, there was one final task to be done. All that stood between me and Sally was this piece of paper with 10 commandments.
I read through it loudly so that she could hear me from inside the room, and ended it a long smooch to seal the deal. Fang Fang passed me the key and I opened the door to peek at a rather excited bride. All the noise and shouting earlier must have made her quite curious!
I got rid of my crazy wig and went in to receive her. The bride is now mine.
After we picked up Sally, we headed right back to our matrimonial home for tea ceremony, which was suppose to be completed by 7am. It was approximately 6am and we had plenty of time. No need to rush. I had earlier passed two oranges to Terrence, in case Soniyha was too tired to come along, so that he could open the door for me upon arrival. He was the youngest amongst the xiong dis anyway. But little Soniyha came along, still looking amazingly upbeat. Awesome. She must have had plenty of rest the day before.
My eldest brother and Fuon had arrived. And breakfast was already on the table for everyone who came back with us. Cakes, chicken bites, chicken wings, sausages and drinks. And best of all, the air-cons were all turned on. Just what we needed.
We proceed with tea ceremony for my parents and my elder brother. Followed by tea served from Chiang and Irene. Now the most time-specific, crucial tasks was done. Huge relief. We had about 2 hours to spare before our next destination. Time for everyone to take a short break. Jessline came to me, diligently inspecting the schedule and checklist to ensure we didn't miss out anything. And everything was in perfect order.
We then enjoyed the tang yuan in our room, while our family and friends had breakfast, took photos and relaxed outside. Sally changed into her kua and little Soniyha appeared in our room shortly after. Though we initially didn't arrange for a kid to jump our bed, we decided to let her do it anyway. She quickly hopped on and wouldn't stop jumping. Well, I suppose new beds are the coolest thing to jumped on.
This interval allowed me to catch up with my elder brother. He flew in from across the world, all the way from Canada, and reached Singapore only at 8pm the day before. And I requested him to be at home by 5am. With jet lag, it must have been tough for him and Fuon, but well, he wanted to be served tea within the auspicious hour, so he didn't have much choice either. Ha!
At this point, it has already been 5 hours since I woke up and so many things have happened. Everyone was resting comfortably at home. Some dozed off. Some were still eating. The others were either taking photos or watching TV. At around 8:45am, I announced to everyone that it was time to move. We had to return to the bride's home for a second tea ceremony. Suddenly, the whole house was abuzz with activities again. Everyone helped to carry our bags, gowns and other solemnization and wedding items to the cars. My parents, siblings and Chon Shen stayed back to help tidy up the house. We were to meet directly at Traders Hotel at 10:30am.
We left for the bride's home. The second tea ceremony was completed in less than 10 minutes. We had a second serving of tang yuan and took some photos. Sally packed her remaining items and we were all set to move again.
We were roughly 30 minutes ahead of schedule but we thought it was OK to reached the hotel earlier. Time buffer is always a good thing. And now, we're going for our next big thing - solemnization at Traders Hotel. During our journey, we told Ery to open the sun-roof, just for fun. When we were about to reach, I called YiYing, our events manager, to prepare for our arrival. It was about 9:40am.
Our solemnization was scheduled at 11am. While Sally's friends helped her to change to her ROM dress, I helped my parents and grandmother to check-in to the hotel. After everything was settled, I went up to the suite to fetch Sally.
By 10:45am, most of our guests have arrived. Peter, our solemniser, briefed us on the things we were expected to do, when and how.
Uncle Choon and Aunt Mary
Sally and I both stood outside and I cheekily asked if she could remember her vows, which I suggested we memorize for maximum sincerity. At 11am, we were ready for the ceremony. The solemniser went into the function room and closed the doors, together with 40 of our guests inside. I stood with Sally, feeling really, really excited. And I could tell from her broad smile, that she was looking forward to it too. After being together for more than 2 years, after my proposal to her more than a year ago, we have finally reached this stage. And our lives are about to change.
The door opened.
What we saw next, was unexpected. The solemniser decided to give us a surprise.
Xiong dis and jie meis were lined up by near the entrance on each side. Our family and friends were crowded near our solemnization table, with the solemniser standing in the middle. Everyone started clapping and cheering loudly, as we marched into the room slowly. I could see and feel the happiness around us. And it was the most amazing moment I've ever experience in my life.
The solemniser was fluent in both English and Chinese. He joked with the crowd, spoke about us, and the solemnisation began soon after. We were asked if we understood our purpose at the ceremony, and if we would accept each other as husband and wife, in complete, very cool, solemnisation-style sentences.
I do.
I then put on the ring on Sally's finger, took a deep breath, and recited my wedding vows from the bottom of my heart.
In health, I will nurture you.
In sadness, I will bring you joy.
In happiness, I will share with you.
When you need encouragement, it will be from me.
When you need a helping hand, it will be mine.
With this ring as a token, I pledge my love to you forever.
And I now marry you.
Sally then did the same thing, and recited her vows.
In your laughter, and your tears,
In your comfort and your fears,
In your happiness and your sadness,
In your sickness and your health.
I vow to always cherish you.
I vow to be faithful to you.
With this ring as token, I pledge my love to you forever.
And I now marry you.
Having exchanged our rings and vows, the solemniser led us to recite the vows again, this time in Chinese, for the benefit of the other guests.
And now the signing of our marriage certificate!
The solemniser then passed the microphone to us, encouraging us to say a word or two to the guests. We were both unprepared for this.
I spoke about how Sally stood by my through the ups and downs in our relationship and we've come so far now in our relationship. And I was happy beyond words. Sally took up the microphone and talked about how 3 years ago, I promised to marry her and now I've kept my word. And I totally remember telling her that!
The solemniser then turned to our parents. He spoke about how proud and happy any parents would be to see their children grow up and get married. He spoke about how each and every parent would want to turn back time and hug their cute little child again. He said we did our parents proud and they deserved a hug. I was really touched. I hugged my dad, not knowing when was the last time I hugged him, because he was such a shy person. Then I hugged my mom. And Sally hugged her parents too.
of me hugging my dad.
We took pictures and did a quick tea ceremony in the function room for my grandma, uncles and aunts who missed the super early 7am ceremony. The guests were led outside for light snacks.
With our solemnisation completed, Sally is now my wife, and I'm now her husband.
We. are. married.
The following video is our express highlight, which summarizes the entire morning's activities, up until our solemnization in the afternoon. Wedding dinner photos are shown right after the clip.
Finally, here are the photos taken during our wedding banquet. Enjoy!
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Sally and I are indebted to the following people who have selflessly helped us, before and during our wedding, shouldering immense responsibilities, and knowing full well of our grueling schedule which starts unsympathetically at 2am. With your help, our most important day was flawlessly pulled off and we will forever be grateful to you.
Jessline, as our main coordinator for the entire day, escort driver and ang pow caretaker. Thank you for keeping everything in order, and even asking for more, but sorry, we honestly couldn't make you MC too.
Fang Fang, Lilian, Xin Lerh and Qi as Sally's jie meis. Thank you for waking up so early, preparing games for me and xiong dis, and helping us out the whole day. I know you gave us an easy way in, during the morning gate crash, and I believe the games could have been worse. But hey, you girls rock!
Terrence, Hock Ling, Tze Ping, Jau Rhen as my xiong dis. You guys flew in all the way for me, played the morning games like real men, and helped us carry things around. What else can I say?
Clement, as our escort driver. You woke up very early and ferried my xiong dis around. And we heard you washed and cleaned your car specifically for this event. Thank you so much for going the extra mile.
Xindi and Liling, as MCs during our wedding dinner. Thank you for lending your lovely voices on our most important day. Not many people are courageous enough to stand and speak before a crowd, but you girls delivered it superbly. We couldn't have done it without your help.
Chon Shen, for volunteering to tag along in the morning, helping out in the kitchen and staying back to accompany my family to Traders Hotel. Special thanks to you.
Soniyha, for opening car doors very early in the morning. Not once. But twice! And at such an odd hour where other kids would rather be sleeping in their cozy bed.
Wendy, Celine and Janice. Thank you for taking polaroid photos for our guest during our cocktail reception, and arranging them nicely on coloured papers. These photos will definitely bring back sweet memories.
My cousin Ah Liang, who drove Grandma all the way from Malacca to Singapore to attend my wedding.
Our parents, siblings, relatives and friends who directly or indirectly helped us on May 22nd. Thank you all so much!
To all of you, who came to us when we needed you, especially on our most important day. You made a difference and we are truly grateful.
