Let's talk about the not-so-nice stuff first then the nicer stuff so we will end off on a sweet note ok diary?

Today I have learned the hard way that there's a button for slides and handouts option when it came to printing for ppt2003. So I embarrassingly printed many huge big slides, one slide per A4 page of paper for 3 of my notes - and spent a lot of money on that. Now I know how to print at CBLC.

YIH canteen western food is so expensive and not good - no wonder very few ppl go there -like duh. So I didn't want to travel and ate butter rice with chicken kebab and coleslaw($3.20!) add on some cauliflower and carrots(40cents for that little bit?!). At least they didn't skimp on the butter rice and the kebab chicken size. But really, it's very expensive. Engin canteen is the best. And there went my plans for a healthy lunch today. read lower down for reason why.

And tomorrow is CCA. I feel the pressure I have placed on myself - from all that uncertainty since I don't know when the CAC+US 2009 meeting would be held - like what day. So I gotta do my homework, and physics lab is next week. BUT HOMEWORK! I must discipline myself.

Good things now.

Firstly, tonight Mum was cooking dinner so she cooked a roast chicken spread. One big glass tray of roast chicken for our big family, and one small clay pot of one chicken without soya sauce for her and KM. With that was one plate of steamed broccoli, one plate of steamed carrots and roast potatoes sharing the plate, and one plate of french beans and asparagus. And that with rice. YUM. (except I don't eat french beans and asparagus.) But it made me A HAPPY EATER.

Last night was my cousin's wedding dinner at Civil Servants Club in Bukit Batok at the Crystal Ballroom (top floor) of the chinese restaurant there. The place is posh! The swimming pool and landscaping that I can see from the window and small balconywalkway, the curtains, the decor inside the room - it was the best room out of the 3 available (passed by when walking downstairs on the way up). I felt so inappropriately underdressed cos my aunties and cousins and the others wore gowns or at least long business shirt and such. I? T-shirt, vest, black pants and sneakers. I had a really tough time deciding what to wear when I didn't know how much to dress up and I rushed off to Church. gah. My cousin at another table also was like me, dressed in jeans. Well, can't go home to change again. Fortunately, I was at the cousins' table, located at "the end of the world"(in my terms) at the back corner of the hall on the bride's side, which was very cold for the air con draft blew at us following the sloping ceiling down the wall. brr.

Sidetrack here, do you know how difficult it is for females to dress up? I seriously have no clue what to wear to a formal occasion, for casual I'm ok. But look at the list of questions/things to do for guys vs girls for a formal occasion:

GUYS
1) Wear suit(long pants and long sleeved shirt, belt. tie optional)
2)remember to comb hair. wear court shoes.

GIRLS
1)wear dress or pants?
2)how do I style my hair
3)what colours for makeup (if wearing "war paint")
4)accessories part one: what jewelery?
5)which pair of heels do i wear, slingbacks? strappy? stiletto? does the colour match my dress?
6)what shawl or cover up when cold thing?
7)what handbag or clutch?
8)last minute check - don't forget anything.

Now you know why females take longer to dress than males.

I sat with my cousins including the bride's sister - who I'm not sure why didn't seat at the VIP table but I'm sure that there must be their reasons. 7 of us did 9-10 people's work to eat the food (we left one person's portion left on some dishes). My cousin tried to act drunk - quite silly and lame, but entertaining for us to watch him a bit, but at the same time annoying. A 10 course meal - quite full at the end of it all.

There were clay dishes in the shape of a leaf at each table cutlery set up, one for each person. Those were hand made, 550 of them, all by my cousin, the younger sister of the bride, as the door gift. Each one painted individually and each made with it's own sea hibiscus leaf so each heart-shaped dish was it's own shape and colour. amazing.

You know, it was quite weird, I realised that night. usually I would see my uncle, auntie and cousins as just another attendee, like we all are, for one of the big hokkien family clan gathering at my auntie's house. Now, it's them who are an important focus, for they're the bride's family, my cousin is getting wed! MY GENERATION! It's quite funny weird feeling when we all grew up together, like oh-my-goodness, you're going army, or you have a boyfriend, you're already in uni, etc.

And this marks the time that in future, my older cousins will get wed, then it'll be my friends of around my age, then I would have to attend lots of weddings (and hence I should make formula cards for all the different type of functions I have to attend and just wear whatever clothes and accessories is stated on the card) and then, - I'll be left alone. (*insert appropriate song* ~lonely, i am so lonely..~)(haha, joking, but can't hurry/force love, no?)

The food was good that night, I didn't taste any extravagant use of MSG or corn starch, and the salt fried chicken, for once was moist! not dry and tasteless! I'm very impressed.

I saw the video presentation - my face was in the photo for the "my family" photo, a big group of the "hokkien clan", but that's not the main point. The main point was the video of the proposal (ahh, the juicy bit). The groom didn't do anything super fanciful or extravagant but what he did was heartfelt and you can feel the earnestness and the love. He and his friends worked together to create placards, one for each letter to spell "MARRY ME" and got a BIG bouquet of red roses and a ring, and got one of his friends to videotape the event while the others hold up the placards.

So at Changi Airport Terminal 1 arrival floor, the family of the bride comes out from the luggage area returning from the holiday. She wonders why there's a camera filming them. Then at the right end of the long stretch of corridor, she sees her fiance with his friends and the big message. She is stunned and amazed and has to take an embarrassing walk down the hallway to where he is, but the main feeling was overwhelm, she was just overwhelmed. When she reaches him, he gives her a A4 board that wrote down a message for her from him and he then goes on his knees and proposes after talking a bit with her.

now everybody, one, two, three. aww......

The wedding photos were very nicely done, the lighting was good and they had a good time and had nice locations for some of them. She went to Batam and took photos at the wooden resort chalet building as well as the beach and the pool, and in the studio took photos with some props, themselves, and her 2 dogs!

I had a goodnight that night. This Sunday would be the ceremony at a park, so that her 2 dogs would be able to attend the event. This is definitely not your average church/ROM-wedding ceremony and chinese restaurant/hotel dinner, but at the same time, unlike my other cousin twice removed [(not really close cos it's an auntie's nephew so it's cousin's cousin) (this cousin is my mum's cousin's daughter) wedding dinner which I felt was a bit stiff and poor location cos it was cramped upon the Cheng Ho, a dining ship in the form of a chinese boat, though the boat ride was something different and had nice view and wind out in the sea] , this wedding that is happening isn't too far-fetched for us to appreciate and understand. I do hope there would be good weather that day and we can bring our dog, and I believe I have a much better idea on what to wear to the ceremony! (but first must get sister and mother's approval.)