A Short Trip Home
Yes, that was another trip back to Singapore. This has taken our total visits back home to 3. Hold on to your horses as we are going back to Sg in June too! This year, Sang's brother is getting hitched in June. We have just returned from his engagement and lawful marriage, more commonly referred to as ROM, back at home. The one in June will be the traditional ceremony which is the more definitive occasion in Hindu culture.
Eventually, Sang and I did get to our accommodation, teary-eyed and almost in a state of decay. After a short snooze, we left to collect Sang's 2nd cake for our seafood dinner with our friends. The choice of restaurant was the House of Seafood. It is definitely my favourite seafood haunt, particularly for their black pepper crabs. Once again, fun and laughter with our close friends, more food and a fantastic chocolate cake from Chocolate Origin.
1) Walked 2.5km in rain with 12kg of gear
With the shoot out of the way, I lugged everything, flagged a cab and headed to 126 Dim Sum restaurant at Bendemeer to meet Alvin for dinner. After relating the episode to him and enjoying a sumptuous meal, we headed over to his place to relax a little. By this time, it was almost 10pm. Sang joined us from her day out running some errands, getting her nails and hair done, and meeting her friends in between. After a brief visit to her previous workplace, she had dinner (and dessert, which happened to be part of Sangs birthday celebration) with her close friends at Orchard. At Alvin's place, cake number three came out. After more catching up, it was time to head back to our accommodation.
It was Murali and Misha's engagement day. Sang and I spent the morning and my parents' place where we had prata for breakfast and caught up. Friday is still afraid of me and stuck his butt into a corner each time I approached. Some things don't change I guess. We then moved on to see how the condo we had purchased was progressing. It was built up to 5 storeys (it only has a total of 5 storeys by the way). I did feel a pull to move back to Sg once its completed. What a difference owning a home makes. However, I highly doubt this will happen. Next, it was back to Nex again where I got a funky hairstyle and we indulged in char kway teow and hokkien mee for more unhealthy delicacies. The engagement in the evening went smoothly. I was called upon to entertain the crowd which I duly did. Its not that I love to be in the limelight and want to perform. But I guess I am comfortable with it and I always believe that when called up to do something during a function or celebration, I would want to give the audience some reason to be there amongst the festivities. I can either choose to stand around awkwardly on stage and everyone would force a smile (some probably wouldn't) or I could go on and genuinely make them laugh. Anyway, everything went smoothly and Murali and Misha were happily engaged. I must admit I was surprised and also wronged. Having dated Sang for 8 years before we got married, I did not really believe in arranged marriages. However, with Murali and Misha, albeit introduced to each other on purpose and therein 'arranged', they have been left to date each other and get to know each other and I must say that both look equally elated. So good job to all the parents and relatives out there and Sang and I wish the both of them the very best of married life.
We packed our luggage, checked out and headed to Sentill's place to spend time with his family. His mum had cooked up a storm! There was an endless supply of masala crab, prawns chicken etc. We feasted to our hearts' content while sharing many stories. We are really looking forward to having them over in April. Oh! and cake number 4 appeared, once again from chocolate origin. We then headed to the opposing block to visit Aemeeliyaa. There, the entire cousin populous was present and once again it was very difficult to tear ourselves away from them. No surprises when cake number 5 appeared! I don't remember anyone having 5 cakes for a single birthday! Sang was really reveling this time around. Finally, we got back to Sentill's place where we showered, changed and headed to the airport. There, we had a Swensen's dinner with Sentill's and my family while Manoaj joined us a little later. Cake number 6 appeared although Sangeetha and Sentill arranged for this and it was more to celebrate my mum's birthday and it was she who cut the cake.
Day 1
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| Sang and me at Fort Canning |
Our trip back home was really quick this time. We left Darwin at 4.30am, landed in Singapore at 9.00am and, along with our luggage, made our way to Fort Canning Park to attend the ROM. Once, done, we headed to a nearby temple for some short prayers and for the newly, legally married, couple to receive their blessings. From there we headed on to a reception lunch where it was time to bury our faces in traditional North Indian cuisine. Towards the end of the ceremony, the bride's family decided to surprise Sangeetha with a birthday cake. It was Sangeetha's birthday after all and although a nice gesture, Sang was a little sheepish about the whole thing with over a hundred pairs of eyes watching over her. Never one to enjoy the limelight I must say.
We were not able to check into our accommodation till 4.30pm so we had to move on to Sang's parents place where we continued chatting and did the customary Lo Hei that Sang's family does each year. Nothing surprising if you are a Singaporean as the amalgamation of cultures, particularly during festivities, well transcends beyond ethnic groups.
Eventually, Sang and I did get to our accommodation, teary-eyed and almost in a state of decay. After a short snooze, we left to collect Sang's 2nd cake for our seafood dinner with our friends. The choice of restaurant was the House of Seafood. It is definitely my favourite seafood haunt, particularly for their black pepper crabs. Once again, fun and laughter with our close friends, more food and a fantastic chocolate cake from Chocolate Origin.
Day 2
We slept in a little. And by that, I mean we woke up at 8.30am. Shortly after, we found ourselves at Nex in Serangoon Central feasting on kaya toast and eggs at ToastBox. There on, Sang headed her way to continue her day with various groups of friends while I went to Plaza Singapura for some...hehehe...digital indulgence. Now that Funan has been levelled, albeit temporarily, I had to find a new haunt. With my photographic equipment in tow, I headed to Punggol to visit Punggol Cove Primary school where my ex-boss, now friend, was stationed. Before I got there, I found myself entangled in a web of the LRT network. After 30min of jumping in and out of at least 3 trains, I finally got to the intended station and walked over to the school. It was a pleasant surprise to be greeted by Benjamin who was seated at the front office. After a little chit chat and realising that Mr. Yap was not in, I took off only to be called back shortly after thanks to his return. It was a good catch up that lasted for about 30-40 min and I then headed back to the accomodation to prepare my gear for Gerard and Phoebe's photoshoot at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. What happened at SBG would have made Lemony Snicket proud. I am going to pen it down as an executive summary as I am over repeating the story.
1) Walked 2.5km in rain with 12kg of gear
2) Set up my lights only to realise that I had forgotten my flash batteries
3) Ran to Gleneagles hospital's Guardian Pharmacy with a right bare foot (the sandals had broken)
4) Arrived at Guardian only to find they do not sell the required batteries (AA by the way)
5) Tried running back to SBG but got lost
6) Finally, got back to the waiting couple and began shooting without flashes
So that was basically what happened. I can only apologise a dozen times to Gerard and Phoebe and hope that they get some decent photographs that they would be pleased with.
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| Sang having dessert |
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| At Alvin and Elaine's place |
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| Sang enjoying the evening out with her friends |
Day 3
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| Adana in progress |
It was Murali and Misha's engagement day. Sang and I spent the morning and my parents' place where we had prata for breakfast and caught up. Friday is still afraid of me and stuck his butt into a corner each time I approached. Some things don't change I guess. We then moved on to see how the condo we had purchased was progressing. It was built up to 5 storeys (it only has a total of 5 storeys by the way). I did feel a pull to move back to Sg once its completed. What a difference owning a home makes. However, I highly doubt this will happen. Next, it was back to Nex again where I got a funky hairstyle and we indulged in char kway teow and hokkien mee for more unhealthy delicacies. The engagement in the evening went smoothly. I was called upon to entertain the crowd which I duly did. Its not that I love to be in the limelight and want to perform. But I guess I am comfortable with it and I always believe that when called up to do something during a function or celebration, I would want to give the audience some reason to be there amongst the festivities. I can either choose to stand around awkwardly on stage and everyone would force a smile (some probably wouldn't) or I could go on and genuinely make them laugh. Anyway, everything went smoothly and Murali and Misha were happily engaged. I must admit I was surprised and also wronged. Having dated Sang for 8 years before we got married, I did not really believe in arranged marriages. However, with Murali and Misha, albeit introduced to each other on purpose and therein 'arranged', they have been left to date each other and get to know each other and I must say that both look equally elated. So good job to all the parents and relatives out there and Sang and I wish the both of them the very best of married life. 
At the end of the evening (1am to be exact), we headed to Chijmes with Sreeram where we found the quietest bar and enjoyed a a beer each.
Day 4 - Final Day
We packed our luggage, checked out and headed to Sentill's place to spend time with his family. His mum had cooked up a storm! There was an endless supply of masala crab, prawns chicken etc. We feasted to our hearts' content while sharing many stories. We are really looking forward to having them over in April. Oh! and cake number 4 appeared, once again from chocolate origin. We then headed to the opposing block to visit Aemeeliyaa. There, the entire cousin populous was present and once again it was very difficult to tear ourselves away from them. No surprises when cake number 5 appeared! I don't remember anyone having 5 cakes for a single birthday! Sang was really reveling this time around. Finally, we got back to Sentill's place where we showered, changed and headed to the airport. There, we had a Swensen's dinner with Sentill's and my family while Manoaj joined us a little later. Cake number 6 appeared although Sangeetha and Sentill arranged for this and it was more to celebrate my mum's birthday and it was she who cut the cake.
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| Cake - This time for mum |
Hugs and farewells later, we found ourselves back in Darwin after a knockout flight. And there you have it, our trip report from visiting Singapore. Tomorrow night, Andrew and Victoria are touching down in Darwin. So you can expect another blog post from that in the coming weeks. Till then, adios.
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