Spent the whole Friday with Doug for it was his wedding day.
I learned that a Taiwanese wedding is very much the same as the ours back home. It was the parents' wedding day actually, as they tend to be more involved than the bride and groom.
Anyway, since there wasn't going to be a church wedding, the day's schedule was a lot less hectic compared to the weddings back home.
The actual fetching of the bride starts only after lunch and the tea ceremonies at both sides finished within 2 hours.
All was over and done with by 4pm as we all returned for a quick shower and a change of clothes, before heading for the hotel where the dinner part of the wedding would be held.
The dinner banquet was pretty S.O.P.. I guess as long as we are all Chinese, the wedding all same pattern one. With the usual entrance, speech, 10-course dinner, champagne toast, cut wedding cake, more speeches, make bride and groom do stoopid things on stage, table-to-table toasting and picture taking and then f*ck off.
The only difference for them, is that the bride's father decided to book the hotel's entire KTV for the night. What is a wedding without a bit of Karaoke to end the night huh? There were easily over 150+ people taking up the entire third floor of the hotel. They literally invaded the place.
"Big Riot Style" KTV was obviously not our thing as the four bridesmaids suggested that we sneak away from the big massive confusion and do our own partying. How do you say no to 4 beautiful ladies? I went, taking Richie along with me. So there I was plonked in the backseat of the car with Bridesmaid #1, Phyllis taking the wheel, with Bridesmaids #3 and #4 joining us separately after helping the bride and groom tie up the wedding's loose ends and then ditching the couple into the sea of the karaoke crooners.
"We are heading down to ShenZhen, which is probably an hour away." Bridesmaid #2 Trish said.
"Hey Richie," I continued as I noticed Richie looking a tad worried. "do you know how to get back from ShenZhen later?"
"No." came the mousey reply.
"Hong Kan!" I muttered, though nobody understood what that meant.
"Don't worry about it," said Phyllis. "You can stay over at our place."
"Yeah, we'll give you a ride in the morning." Trish added.
Tio Beh Pio Siah...
Anyway, we reached this place within an hour due to smooth traffic and one thing I can tell you about the difference between pubs in ShenZhen and back home. ShenZhen pubs are filled to the brim with women. Being a foreigner has its advantages here.
Here's the strange thing. I didn't even get a chance to pay for any of my drinks. Other than the few Barcadi&Ts that Trish and Phyllis bought me, someone was always a step ahead of me, signing my chits. How bizarre! Well, whoever you are, I thank you for the drinks.
So there I was partying away with them and a few new friends, I made that night. It's nice to meet you Nikki and Suzanne!
Richie, on the other hand, was a different sack of potatoes as he sank into a corner nursing his coke with a very stressed-out expression.
I decided to take a time-out to check on the poor boy.
"Hey, let me ask you a very important question." I asked. "Do you have enough cab fare to go home?"
"Yes, I think so." He replied. Good. So much for the time-out as I plunged back into the party.
As tempted as the Trish and Phyllis' offer was, I was glad I had enough brain cells left to stumble out of the pub and into a cab. I was due for a client meeting at 9 in the morning. Die die must get back before sunrise. Machiam Count Dracula siah...
It was a little over an hour on the highway back to where I stayed, as we raced against the sun. The cab fare came up to almost RMB 200 (SGD 40) which caught me off-guard a little but heck lah, it was the only damage of the night, anyway.
For us guys who are used to having chauffeurs here, getting around in cabs can be a challenge for those who are newbies in Ch1na as in the case of Richie. I hope Richie spent the night with the girls as I doubt he had enough money on him anyway. Local cabbies do not accept credit cards.
He's screwed either way.
UPDATE: Finally managed to track Richie down today. He was still in Trish's place, two days later. Ok... my imagination is running riot now....
I learned that a Taiwanese wedding is very much the same as the ours back home. It was the parents' wedding day actually, as they tend to be more involved than the bride and groom.
Anyway, since there wasn't going to be a church wedding, the day's schedule was a lot less hectic compared to the weddings back home.
The actual fetching of the bride starts only after lunch and the tea ceremonies at both sides finished within 2 hours.
All was over and done with by 4pm as we all returned for a quick shower and a change of clothes, before heading for the hotel where the dinner part of the wedding would be held.
The dinner banquet was pretty S.O.P.. I guess as long as we are all Chinese, the wedding all same pattern one. With the usual entrance, speech, 10-course dinner, champagne toast, cut wedding cake, more speeches, make bride and groom do stoopid things on stage, table-to-table toasting and picture taking and then f*ck off.
The only difference for them, is that the bride's father decided to book the hotel's entire KTV for the night. What is a wedding without a bit of Karaoke to end the night huh? There were easily over 150+ people taking up the entire third floor of the hotel. They literally invaded the place.
"Big Riot Style" KTV was obviously not our thing as the four bridesmaids suggested that we sneak away from the big massive confusion and do our own partying. How do you say no to 4 beautiful ladies? I went, taking Richie along with me. So there I was plonked in the backseat of the car with Bridesmaid #1, Phyllis taking the wheel, with Bridesmaids #3 and #4 joining us separately after helping the bride and groom tie up the wedding's loose ends and then ditching the couple into the sea of the karaoke crooners.
"We are heading down to ShenZhen, which is probably an hour away." Bridesmaid #2 Trish said.
"Hey Richie," I continued as I noticed Richie looking a tad worried. "do you know how to get back from ShenZhen later?"
"No." came the mousey reply.
"Hong Kan!" I muttered, though nobody understood what that meant.
"Don't worry about it," said Phyllis. "You can stay over at our place."
"Yeah, we'll give you a ride in the morning." Trish added.
Tio Beh Pio Siah...
Anyway, we reached this place within an hour due to smooth traffic and one thing I can tell you about the difference between pubs in ShenZhen and back home. ShenZhen pubs are filled to the brim with women. Being a foreigner has its advantages here.Here's the strange thing. I didn't even get a chance to pay for any of my drinks. Other than the few Barcadi&Ts that Trish and Phyllis bought me, someone was always a step ahead of me, signing my chits. How bizarre! Well, whoever you are, I thank you for the drinks.
So there I was partying away with them and a few new friends, I made that night. It's nice to meet you Nikki and Suzanne!
Richie, on the other hand, was a different sack of potatoes as he sank into a corner nursing his coke with a very stressed-out expression.
I decided to take a time-out to check on the poor boy.
"Hey, let me ask you a very important question." I asked. "Do you have enough cab fare to go home?"
"Yes, I think so." He replied. Good. So much for the time-out as I plunged back into the party.
As tempted as the Trish and Phyllis' offer was, I was glad I had enough brain cells left to stumble out of the pub and into a cab. I was due for a client meeting at 9 in the morning. Die die must get back before sunrise. Machiam Count Dracula siah...
It was a little over an hour on the highway back to where I stayed, as we raced against the sun. The cab fare came up to almost RMB 200 (SGD 40) which caught me off-guard a little but heck lah, it was the only damage of the night, anyway.
For us guys who are used to having chauffeurs here, getting around in cabs can be a challenge for those who are newbies in Ch1na as in the case of Richie. I hope Richie spent the night with the girls as I doubt he had enough money on him anyway. Local cabbies do not accept credit cards.
He's screwed either way.
UPDATE: Finally managed to track Richie down today. He was still in Trish's place, two days later. Ok... my imagination is running riot now....
- Voxeros
1. a reader left...
FF
Sunday, 5 June 2005 12:50 pm
Ha, I'm sure they've been doing the dirty the past two days.FF
2. JayWalk left...
Sunday, 5 June 2005 1:46 pm
FF: I am SO going to find out when I see Trish later this week. Confess! Confess!
3. anna left...
Tuesday, 7 June 2005 6:30 am
I bet you wish you were in Richie's shoes right?
4. JayWalk left...
Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:06 pm ::
Anna: Can't say that thought didn't cross my mind. Heh heh....
But the bottomline is that I woke up in my own bed.
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