Love Story

Son No 2 has taken an interest in his daddy's and mummy's past. He has asked to see our photos when we were children and was keen to know how we got married. From his questions, it would seem that it never occurred to him before that daddy and mummy grew up separately *smile* - he probably thought that right from day one, mummy and daddy have been together - exactly like how it was in his world. That's why when I told him I was from KL and hubby grew up in JB, he seemed incredulous!

Time to dig up the archives. Unfortunately, most of my photos when I was a child are still in my mother's safekeeping - these will have to wait until another suitable time.

Then I remembered something. Years ago, before the advent of the blog and the omnipresence of the internet and the word processor, I have attempted to diarise my wedding day. I wrote a short piece, in the style of a newspaper report or a society magazine feature, in which I was the star (see below). It was carefully written in my best handwriting, blue ink on a piece of A4 paper, a photograph pasted at the side, and get this - it was written in 2 columns and the subheadings were in bold (I wrote many times over the words to create the effect - lol)!

This piece of memory was tucked safely between the pages of my wedding photo album. My name was there at the top, but I cropped that out, together with the heading. As I re-read what I have written, I am immensely glad that I did what I did. Memories can so-easily slip through the fingers. And when the children grow up, they too will be able to share this moment of our lives.


Here I will now transcribe what I have written:

A Once-In-A-Lifetime Day
Corporate banker wedded EW, 29, a property consultant on October 27 1991


How they met: When I entered Varsity in 1985, he was in his final year. We were staying in the same hostel and there were many opportunities for group interaction. There was once, however, just the two of us had dinner at Pizza Hut, Bukit Timah Plaza. It was a Saturday night and the hostel did not cater for dinner. All our other hostel-mates had plans and so, it was left the two of us. He was an easy person to talk to and we talked until 2am on that occasion. We remained friends when he started working while I stayed on in the Varsity. It was not until two years later that we went on our first date. We went to the movies. The show we watched was An American Tail.

The Proposal: There wasn't one specific occasion. In the early days, he seemed more ready than I was. Perhaps it was because he was already working. I used to evade the subject when it was brought up. Gradually, things just fell into place. We finally set a date for the wedding when we realised that we didn't want to say goodnight after a day together. Our family members were also complaining that we hogged the phone too much!

The gown: We saw some wonderful designs from this bridal shop during a Wedding Fair and promptly placed a deposit. However, when we visited the shop, we learnt that those designs have been reserved and there was little choice left. I was livid! Not wanting to forfeit my deposit (and it was kind of late to try another shop), we managed to have a gown tailor-made for me from the shop. E was very understanding. I recall changing my mind on the pattern (of the gown) overnight and was so afraid that the tailor has already commenced work on the gown that he rushed me down to the shop in Hougang during our lunch hour.

The wedding day: The weekend before our wedding, we had the tea ceremony and a dinner reception in KL for relatives from my side of the family. We drove to KL and back - it was hectic. He caught the flu bug but recovered sufficiently for our wedding day. I slept well the night before and had to be woken up to do my make-up and hair at 6:30am. My mom and I shared a touching moment alone just before he arrived with his entourage. The rest of the day passed by in a haze. We took some outdoor pictures at the Botanical Gardens and were even asked by some Japanese tourists to favour them with a pose. We proudly obliged. While I savoured the limelight, the day seemed unreal. We managed to catch forty winks before our dinner reception at the Marina Mandarin Hotel. I wore a slim-fitting dark green gown which received many compliments.

The wedding night: It had been a long day and everyone was considerate, leaving us to rest at 11:30pm. I was somewhat reluctant to remove my make-up and wash my hair as it signified the end of this once-in-a-lifetime day. The hotel suite was very luxurious. The next morning, we had breakfast served in the room and felt like The Rich And Famous.

The honeymoon: Four days in Bali at the exclusive Nusa Dua resort. After the excitement of the wedding, it was good to relax and enjoy the gentle serenity of the tropical island. On our first night there, we were serenaded by a group of Filipino guitarists with Love Me Tender.

Home: A four-room Bukit Batok flat. Every piece of furniture and decoration has been chosen with love and care. After all, home is where the heart is and when the wedding ends, a lifetime together begins.