Serene signed her life away on 26 Sept 2009

So after the bachorelette party comes the real deal. Serene signed her life away, AGAIN on 26 Sept 2009 to Kenny. That's right, you heard right, AGAIN. This is Serene's 2nd chance at love and I applaud her for her bravery and tenacity. Everyone deserves a 2nd chance and it's great that she has found someone whom she can spend the rest of her life with.

A small cluster of us were invited to her solemnization at the Marriott on this bright, cheerful day so I sacrificed some much needed sleep on a Saturday morning and got ready for Serene's big day.

Bought a new dress for the occasion! A slinky asymmetrical piece. Love my snake skin vintage purse.

This is the most Chinese Joan is ever gonna get, so yah, enjoy it while it lasts.

The bride makes an appearance in her moulin rouge inspired gown.

Sha is looking like she's ready to hit an island and sip on a mojito!

The couple sharin' a cuppa, to calm the nerves. Hehe...

The grand entrance, Kenny is all pimpin'.

The funniest thing I've ever witnessed at a wedding - right after the vows were exchanged, Kenny grabbed Serene's hand and shook it, like he just closed a business transaction! He was probably like, "sweet, that's a done deal! Now she's all mine!"

2nd funniest thing ever, the Justice of Peace urged Kenny to read out the numbers of their marriage certificate so that people in the audience could buy lottery with it!! We seriously almost died laughing. Joan, Sha, David and I decided to chip in for it but in the end no one bought coz none of us know how it works! For all we know it was one of the lucky numbers. Ah well...

Camwhoring with the bride.

Sha, who caught the bouquet was super happy. Then again, there was only Sha and Joan and David kept Joan busy by trying to tackle her down, yes, for the bouquet.

2 days later, we were back at the Marriott for the reception. Juliana, Joan and myself chilled out in Serene's suite while she got dolled up.

Juliana and Joan, one for the road...

...while I helped Serene get dressed for the evening.

On my way down to the ballroom.

BTW, I just found out that all wedding cakes in Singapore are fake! There's only a real slice in the whole cake that is designated for the couple to sink their knife into!! *Gasp* I would feel so cheated...

Having cocktails and waiting for the rest of the IJ girls to slowly filter in.

Grace and Ben are next. Wedding date has been set for June next year...26th or 28th...can someone confirm please?

Taking over for Ris Low, who's infamous for all the wrong reasons. Who will it be??

This is how silly we get when we're together. But, oh so much fun! Even though we have't seen some of us for about 20 years, we just seem to pick up where we left off. It was so special, talking about the past. There was a stack of old photos circulating among us and we had such a blast laughing at them. well...mostly laughing at my super big hair and super big glasses and Cherilyn's super big mouth! ;p We were such a riot that it felt like there was no one else there but us and we were totally in the moment. Serene said she heard us laughing and screaming all the way from her bridal table.

The thing that has not changed after all these years is this spirit that CHIJ girls posses. It's heartwarming to know that we haven't lost our bitchiness.

We carted Serene out for the finale.

Thanks for super yummy mango pudding, Serene! :) We love you lots!!

Grace is up next, or is it Juliana since she got a SIGN during the reception? While Kenny was popping the cork, it flew right across the room and landed in Juliana's tea cup and broke it! Talk about a sign. She's now convinced she's gonna be married next. It's a race to the alter...Grace or Juliana? Juliana or Grace?? Stay tuned.

Singapore Marriott Hotel
320 Orchard Road
Singapore 238865
T. 65 6735 5800

Taking a break from weddings...

Lady Partay.

Weddings & Funerals Bring Families Together

4 years ago, my family came back to Singapore to carry out the final rites of passage for my grandma (bless her soul). She was very sick and we didn't make it back in time to see her for the last time, in fact, we were 10 hours short coz we were air borne.

Chinese people believe in sending our dead off in style and that was my grandma's wish as well. It symbolises prestige and wealth in the living and guarantees an even better afterlife. It was the passing of my grandma that brought my extended family closer together than we've ever been.

We took the opportunity to bond, to reminisce, to laugh, to cry, to mourn lost chances and to cheer over good fortunes.

4 years, some new births and several gatherings later, we are back together again, this time to celebrate the joyous occasion of my cousin's daughter's wedding. My cousin, Ah Ngoh single handedly brought up 4 kids on her own. She rose from a simple seamstress to a successful and capable woman and all of her children turn out just fine! Her daughter, Jaclyn, is the first graduate in her family, and the first to wed so really, we all saw this more as Ah Ngoh's moment more than anything.

The wedding was held over the F1 weekend on Sentosa Island, off Singapore, where a major casino and a Universal Studios theme park is currently being built. The resort that hosted the wedding was Rasa Sentosa by Shangri-la.

It was a pretty big wedding, with over 400 guests. Well, that's big to me, but according to Singapore standards, about right. There were other weddings at the resort so it was pretty crazy getting there and finding our way around. The resort was beautiful though but we didn't take any pictures of the resort coz we got there just in time.

We mingled with the rest of the guests and looked at some of the bridal pictures which the couple went to South Korea to take. Very enchanting idea, the thought of going away to another country to have your bridal pictures taken, with the whole entourage following them en route. In Asia, unlike North America, couple take bridal pictures and portraits before the actual wedding day. In North America, it's bad luck to see the bride in her wedding trousseau before the wedding day. In fact, most grooms usually have no idea what the gown looks like until the bride walks down the aisle.

The Chinese dinner was a long drawn out affair, like all Chinese dinners due to the abundant amount of courses. The best part of the night was when everyone left and Da Bi and I adjoined in my cousins' hotel rooms and drank and laughed and made merry.

My cousins and aunt.


Mother of the bride, the proudest day of her life!


My cousin, David and his wife.



My cousin's wife and son. Poor kid, had an eye infection.

Another cousin of mine, Ah Keng.

My cousins' daughters, my nieces. They were quite the drinkers that night! :)

Da Bi and Ah Ngoh, toasting each other.

Jaclyn, in a splendid red dress, like a present waiting to be unwrapped! I love this dress, unfortunately, this pic does it no justice.

Big brother cousin with Da Bi. Speaks not a word of English but gets along with Da Bi just fine.

2nd favourite gown - her white chantilly lace gown was gorgoeus, very Vera Wang. Maybe it was, I never got to ask her.

Ah Keng and Joe, my cousin and her hubby.

My cousin's kid, he's like a little gangsta! ;)

My nieces and nephews, plus my aunt.

Rasa Sentosa Resort

101 Siloso Road

Sentosa 098970

T. (65) 6275 0100

Tis the season of weddings so I'm off to the next one!

Peace out,

Lady Partay.