A Tribute To My "Melbourne Family"

I was just having a heart-to-heart talk with Grace about friendship. We were discussing about how tightly knit we all are: Moo, Bambi, Rich, Jun and CE.

I told her that I believe that we will be friends forever; that even love doesn't last forever, hahaha! And besides our respective partners (or ex-partners), no one else understands us besides us. The world moves so quickly and people change ever so often and to have friends to see you through the change AND accept you for who you are, is truly a blessing. The friendship we share between us is one where no expectations are placed on one another, no pettiness, no one is calculative with one another and all we have is just genuine love, understanding and compassion.

During my teenage years, I never understood the true meaning of friendship. I constantly fell out with my secondary schoolmates, there was always an air of rivalry at school, and my "friends" were just "friends for fun". So I can never understand the meaning of "childhood friends".
The support that all of them have given me is worth more than anything in my life. Their kindness, generosity, sincerity and honesty has taught me so many things. I've become a better person because of them and I've learnt to be positive and less cynical. Every single time when I was down and out, there will be at least one of them around, guiding me and providing me with strength and supporting me all the way. I can't say the same thing about some of my relationships and even family members.

What's truly amazing is that despite the physical distance between all of us, we're still able to understand one another without having to converse every single day. And when all of us meet again, nothing would have changed - we'll still be sooo comfortable with one another.

When I look back at my life and all the people whom I've crossed paths with, I realised that I can't live without them...because they are one of the reasons who and how I am today. I'm so glad I didn't do well in my O levels, otherwise I would never have gone to Melbourne in the first place and I would never have gotten to know such amazing friends.

Thank you, guys! I love you with all my heart.

Wymen and Laysie's ROM Lunch Reception

It was so nice of Bunny's brother, Wymen and his wife, Laysie, to invite me to their ROM lunch reception yesterday. It was the first ROM I've attended as most of my friends won't get married and the only ones who will are either not married yet or haven't held a reception.

Prior to the wedding day, I was deciding between two dresses: a long maxi dress or a tartan short dress, both blue in colour. I finally decided on the maxi dress and so I bought it for this occasion. We had to wake up around 8.30 in the morning to prepare and reach the hotel room by 10.15am.

Applying make-up for Bunny's sister with my unmade hair

Waiting for a cab - Bunny's looking very smart


Where the hell are the cabs??


Making our way there

Arrived at the Carlton Hotel and waited for Bunny's sister to get her done by the make-up/hairstylist.

Bunny and her morning caffeine dose


She's getting her hair fixed


And I'm fixing my dress


Bunny's sister-in-law - Mrs. Laysie Choi. Hehehe.


Done!


The Choi siblings

After fixing our dresses, hair and make-up, we made our way to CHIJMES with the rest of the troop (Laysie's "sisters"):

No, Baby, we're not on a holiday.


"Solemnization of Wymen and Lay Sie"




Their "message tree"

While waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive:

Bunny's sister's maxi dress is really nice!



The stark difference between enthusiasm and indifference

"Here comes the bride..."

"...all dressed in white."



I love this shot that Bunny took of them.


Going through the formalities and exchanging of vows

What's new in this reception was that the Justice of Peace actually went through some advice on a blissful marriage, stating the hard facts about arguments, financial problems, and so on. I guess it's quite a good thing to do and it's probably something that is now required to mention during registration.

It warns the couple of what they're heading into and allows them to understand that it's not always that easy and "blissful" as it appears. The JP started off with a talk on financial stability and how this is the foundation of a marriage or family, and then he went on to mention about other issues like arguments, compromise and so on.

He's kissed the bride and we missed the shot!

Picture-taking time with family and relatives:



After which, we adjourned to the restaurant for lunch. It started raining almost immediately after they finished taking photos and we were all saying that the rain held for them, and that it was a good sign. It only started to rain heavier once we were indoors:

I think Bunny's dad arranged to have big roses placed on each table. I saw him supervising and cutting the stalks earlier on.

The couple made the menu, name tags, and wedding gift

Lunch comprised:

- Mushroom consomme soup as the entree

- Raspberry sorbet to cleanse your palate

- Beef

OR

- Fish

- and tiramisu for dessert, followed by coffee or tea.

During dessert, Bunny made a toast to the newly weds and thanked everyone for attending this joyous occasion. Hehehe. She's the public speaker for the family:




What's amazing about the weather was that it cleared when we were done with lunch! I really do think that Bunny's mother held the weather, creating a magically sunny and a tad bit rainy day for them. :)

Congratulations to the newly weds - Wymen and Laysie! I can't wait to attend their customary dinner now. Hehehe.

29 Friday, Leap Year

Friday was an awful, awful day for me at work and one when it was the first time I actually cried because of work. In short, it was something that could have led to the company giving me the sack.

After that incident, the rest of the day was extremely hectic for me (last weeks of the month are usually my busiest period). I wrote a report to explain myself (read: redeem myself). I rushed home during lunch to bring a winter jacket that I promised to pass to my colleague but totally forgot to pack it the previous night, rushed back to the office for a meeting and followed-up some stuff that were due that morning.

Being the sweet girlfriend that she is, Bunny suggested we go for a full-body massage at Trinity Spa Therapy (newly opened gay-friendly joint). And when I met her near the spa, she came along with a sunflower to cheer me up. I've placed the sunflower on my work desk to remind me that nothing is worth getting upset over; not even your job:



The massage session wasn't too bad. We weren't entirely comfortable with it though, because the masseuse used a bit of acupuncture techniques and it was rather painful. They spent a lot of time on our shoulders, pressing the hardened muscles with their knuckles until it loosened. It was a great experience overall because we felt comfortable there, the co-owner is Bunny's friend and also...it's gay-friendly!

Dinner was at a Japanese restaurant at the IRA building (idiots that make us pay our taxes). The serving style there was similar to Marche's concept: you walk around the belt, pick up ice-cream sticks that represent different types food, consolidate these sticks into a cup on your table and they'll serve you the food.

Bunny's Perth friend was leaving SG soon and so we met her in town and headed to Alley Bar:

Bunny and her friend, Emm.

Thanks to Bunny, the Friday ended on a happy note! :D And the next two days were spent sleeping and sleeping and sleeping.