Marriage at ACM

Dear Diary,

At last they got married at the Asian Civilisation Museum this afternoon. Despite having 6 wedding invitations this year of which I attended 4 of them, this wedding today was little closer at heart because the person I know is the bridegroom instead of the brides in the other 3 weddings I attended. Somehow, I could relate a little to his joy in finding a girl he loves and setting up a family with her.

The day started off wet… literally… it was raining for long periods. I decided that I would just pop by the newly renovated Church of St Stephen just beside my house. It was the first time I stepped into the church’s sanctuary since they completed renovated it. The place was beautifully adorned with the colourful stain glasses depicting the Passion of Christ through the 14 stations. I sat in the Mass and was quite surprised to see the worshippers more attentive now with the new powerpoint projection. It was easier to follow the liturgy I guess. Somehow, the Eucharistic prayer is almost similar to that of the Anglican church’s! No wonder I felt quite comfortable in there. Then received one SMS from a friend asking me to help him bring a red packet. Another message came in shortly asking me if I could give a red packet on her behalf as she fell ill… hmmm….

The rain halted for a while when Mass ended and I left for the Asian Civilisation Museum. In what was yet another fortunate occurrence, I realised at the end of the day that the every time I stepped out of the sheltered building, the rain stopped! Every time I stepped into one, the rain poured! Thank God for that! Did not get to use my umbrella which was a good thing! =) I reached the place just on time and met up with a classmate at the entrance of the former Empress Place. I saw two juniors at the entrance too and winked at them. Spoke a little to one of them whom I was familiar.

The event room was pretty small for that huge crowd. I had small chats with some male classmates at some stand tables… Hadn’t seen them for ages. One of them was doing his medical degree in Duke-NUS and he told me that most of the students were children of highly prominent figures. The degree was financially taxing. Anyway, as more guests poured in, the place became over-crowded and I decided to retreat to the seats in front of the stage to eat my lunch with another friend.

The solemnising ceremony was pretty short but tastefully done I guess. I thought a church wedding ceremony would seem more meaningful though… but that is probably because I am a Christian. Taking vows in front of a priest, in front of the altar, stained glasses and the relatives and friends in the pews… oh well…. Anyway… I could see that the bride (pharmacy class of 2007) has a more confident and sociable demeanour compared to my friend the bridegroom (pharmacy class of 2005). She is the first person in her class to marry. The bridegroom is 4 years older than her. Hahaha… I lingered on after the end of the ceremony and had a pretty long chat with a junior whom I never spoken to in my life! Quite a sociable lady I must say. As expected, the sociable ladies are usually attached, haha…

It was pretty much a pharmacy family reunion. Met some of my old bosses at Tan Tock Seng Hospital too… a good reunion. Soon it was time to part ways again after the photo-shoot. I took a long walk with a friend to Raffles City. Had a chat over coffee at Gloria Jean before I left for home. Another wedding ceremony to attend this coming Saturday… One of my classmate confided that he feels sad each time he attends a wedding. Maybe it is all about wanting to be part of that “marriage” trend… I don’t feel sad though, haha… I trust God has his timing for me. However, silly me… I was daydreaming earlier… thinking of whom I could invite for a wedding… seems like a lot of people. Then again, I know that the number of friends will shrink with the passing of the years… so how many guests will depend on how long I take to get married too! Haha…

Okay, meeting some colleagues (including my boss) for dinner tomorrow… I take my leave from the blogging world. Goodnight!

God Bless,

Andrew