Oktoberfest Wedding! (Not)

Last Saturday. A wedding in the Botanic Gardens.

The first thing almost everyone said upon receiving the invitation was, "You're getting married?!" The second was, "Is there air-conditioning?"

There is, in fact, air conditioning. But it's confined to such a tiny area it might as well not be there. The 15-minute hike uphill and downhill from the Visitors' Centre got me sweating like a pig even before anything started. I brought a jacket I'd tailor-made in Shanghai along, but couldn't even stand the sight of it most of the night. In fact, I don't even have any pictures of myself in it - I'll have to wait till the bride shares them with the office.

Speaking of which...



A simple solemnization ceremony kicked things off. It was a good move, because it got people in the mood for the evening. I'm usually pretty immune to shit like this, but I'll have to say it did feel rather nice and romantic.



And here's my favorite picture of the night, bar none. It's an exclusive too, since I was the only one in that position. Everyone else with a camera was on the other side, so they only got the mother's face and not the bride's.



I like everything about it. The raw emotion, the tenderness, the anxiety. Even the framing works better than the one I took just before this, of the father and bride.

The rest of the evening was spent talking and mixing and smoking and, well, basically trying to have fun. Tiki torches are fun.



These people are responsible for one of the most-watched shows on Singapore TV.



It's always fun corrupting a decent woman. I think she's hoping her sons will never see this picture. Maybe they won't. But the internet's a scary place...



There are pros and cons to having a buffet-style reception at your wedding instead of the traditional 168-course Chinese dinner. The good thing is, people can start eating right away, and do so at their own pace. They don't have to be confined to their seats and wait for each course to be served. The bad thing is, precisely because of the reasons above, once they've finished eating, people tend to just fuck off without so much as a wave goodbye.

The happy couple had certain things planned that evening, such as throwing the bouquet off a balcony, but unfortunately by the time they did their toasts at each table, they realized the vast majority of their guests had, in fact, buggered off. Never fear though, her colleagues remained behind, and by this time everyone had quite a bit of wine in them. So she kicked her shoes off and got down to business.



This "business" included standing on a chair and making a speech thanking every single person present at the top of her voice, leading some crazy-long "yam-seng"s and playing a game in which she was blindfolded and had to guess who her husband was by fondling a series of asses.



This was downright hilarious, especially when she rejected the groom, saying his ass felt "too plastic".



All in all, good times. Even though I'd planned to leave earlier, I'm glad I stayed. One funny thing was, I was mistaken for an official photographer. Probably because my G5 was too bulky-looking, and because I was snapping away all the time. Everyone thought it strange that an official photographer would be taking more pictures of himself and his friends than of the proceedings, but no one asked me anything until a week later. Whatever.

Then the next day was the Erdinger Oktoberfest held in China Square.



There was great company, decent food (although far from the best), good beer, and rather insane music.



The band was Hüttenpower, who the program claims have "orchestrated a very unique 'Happy Power Sound' in their performances". I think what it means is that they performed as though they were on speed.



In the Strongman competition, if you're the one who hits the bell the greatest number of times in the entire evening, you get a carton of beer. There was this crazy old man who basically just stationed himself next to the setup and gave it a shot every two minutes or so. He hit the bell over a hundred times. That's just sad, and very kiasu.



In the speed drinking competition, Jingli came in second. And to think the emcee was pointing out that he was the smallest in stature among the three guys. I guess he swallows pretty fast. Must be all that singing and vibrato, making the throat more supple. But the winner though, that guy put it away even faster than I drink water. He was done when the rest were only halfway through. Ridiculous.


Prost!

There were lots of communal toasts, dancing and singing strange lyrics later on in the night. It was a helluva night, full of fun, drinks, and more drinks. And possibly some mild vandalism to follow too.

There are more pictures that I don't have right now, and they're a lot more fun than these are. I'll put them up once I get them.

The haul for the night: 1 one-litre Erdinger glass (bought), 2 Erdinger 500ml glasses ("spirited away"), 1 Erdinger/Vil'age T-shirt (bought), 2 Baron's Oktoberfest polo tees (free), 2 Baron's watches (won), 2 Erdinger limited edition boxed sets (1 won and 1 bought), $50 Vil'age vouchers (won), various keychains, flags, etc. (free).

But I guess the best thing was still the company and the sheer exuberance of the event. All that other crap doesn't hurt though. Oktoberfest next year? Count me in.