Joyous Occasion #1: R's Wedding
One of my babes, R, finally tied the knot! I never knew being a "jie3 mei4" (i.e. part of the entourage) involved so much work, though comparatively, I didn't do as much as some of the more veteran "jie3 mei4s".

All I did was buy sour lemon sweets and help in the making of the potent concoctions while awaiting the arrival of the guys, affectionately known as "xiong1 di4s" (brothers). Admittedly, experience counts when it comes to "tekaning" the brothers, and who better than to take on this task? The veteran jie3 mei4s of course!

Of course, it also helped that the veteran "jie3 mei4s" knew the equally experienced "xiong1 di4s" (brothers) personally. These guys are really old timers when it came to this, and I would really consider them the kingpins of all xiong1 di4s.

Not only were they reluctant to go through the various rituals that we painstakingly prepared during the wee hours of the morning (ok..I'm exaggerating), they kept telling us "Aiya!! Do or don't do also must give you money!! I don't want to do lah!". :( One of them even tugged so hard at my spoon that he managed to snatch it away from my hand with his mouth!! It was hilarious yet exasperating at the same time! I didn't know if I should laugh or cry hahaha.

In the end, the groom proved to be the most sporting of them all (ok I shall also give credit to some of the xiong1 di4s too :) ). The groom did practically everything that was asked of him :

1) Kiss R's Dog

2) Eat all the "Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy" food (For the uninitiated, this is one of the classic tricks to pull on the groom and the xiong1 di4s - you either make them eat foodstuff belonging to each category, or blend all the food to form a lethal infusion that's almost worthy of gracing the "Fear Factor" show)

Yes, R, I'm certain that you married the right man, because he will pander to your whims and fancies! (Note: I'm using the literary technique, euphemism). In other words, I mean he's easy to bully. Haha! No lah, I'm just kidding. :P

The wedding dinner:

Joyous Occasion #2: Our 6th Year Anniversary!

Yesterday marked the 6th year of our commitment to each other. Our relationship has definitely grown stronger over the years, having shared weal and woe together (ok lah, it's actually not so drama in real life haha).

Throughout these years, I have advised my bf time and again not to buy flowers for me because it's equivalent to throwing money down the drain, since flowers wither and die ultimately, leaving you with nothing to hold on to except sweet memories.

And, time and again, he has chosen to disregard my advice (actually it's not surprising cos does this to me all the time!! :P).

Actually, I do feel elated when I receive flowers. But after I think about all the money that is wasted, I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness and well..also a teeny weeny bit of regret, though the overall feeling is still one of happiness. In Chinese, tian2 zai4 xin1 li3 would be a very apt description.

Anyhow, I was truly shocked when I received this in the office yesterday:

I had no idea how many gazillion roses there were in the bouquet altogether, so I asked the delivery man.

Reg: *visibly aghast* how many stalks are there ah??

Delivery Man: er..99.

Reg: *faints and nearly dies from lack of oxygen*

Haha after which, everyone in the office decided to pay me, AND my 99 stalks of roses a visit. All of them were gushing about how sweet and cute my bf is, and some even proclaimed him the Don Juan(Qing2 Sheng4) of Singapore. Yes, I am aware of how wonderful my bf is to me, and I am really touched by his actions!

My manager kept going on about how he is really "chi1 qing2 yi1 pian4" (loosely translated as very devoted), then she gradually upgraded him throughout the day. First, he became "chi1 qing2 yi1 da4 pian4" (immensely devoted) and then, finally, "chi1 qing2 zui4 da4 pian4" (the most devoted of all men). Of course, if you understand Chinese, you would know that both expressions are grammatically wrong Hence, my dear manager and everybody else's thunderous guffaws could be heard from a mile away.

While my colleagues were fussing over my 99 roses, I was busy worrying about how to carry the bouquet downstairs without attracting any form of attention. These were the various ways that came to mind during the course of the day(incl. suggestions from colleagues):

1) Put a paper bag with 2 holes in it over my head (Cannot cos I'm afraid the guard will think I'm a thief - a grossly stupid one at that)

2) Cover my flowers with my purple shawl and pretend they're not flowers (Like HOW?!)

3) Carry my bouquet, but hide my face behind the base, which is big enough to hide my identity (Vincent even did a demo for everyone to see..and we all nearly died from an overinhalation/overexhalation of laughing gas)

4) Ask my bf to come up and carry it down (the boy didn't want to do it lah. *pout*)

None of the above worked, so I carried the bouquet down the normal way in the company of 2 trustworthy escorts - Hsing and Vincent. I refused to go down alone cos I was too shy. :P

The lovely boy brought me to Altivo@Mount Faber. The view was bewitching, the decor was stylish but the service was horrendous. Nonetheless, we didn't let the service dampen our spirits. :) I feel so blessed!