Roller Coaster Week

I have been back for almost a week, and have finally gone back to the daily grind of local life. For a few days, I was in a daze, trying to readjust back to the fast pace after more than a week of being so relaxed, carefree and laid-back.

Last weekend I was in Tasmania, and there were riots in Sydney. I wonder how my relatives are doing there. If we have gone up to visit them, perhaps we would be caught in the middle of everything. And if a certain friend has gone to Sydney just a week later, it might have been dangerous for him as well, so it was just as well he went there when he did (not that he really had a choice when he was supposed to go anyway, since it was a business trip).

The unrest came as a surprise because as far as I know (although I may be mistaken), Australia has always been a rather peaceful place, with racial discrimination not as prominent as other countries. Even with the tension of about a decade ago where some prominent person was speaking on how non-Australians, ie non-Caucasians, should get out of the country because they did not belong, there was no real harm done.

So now part of my roller coaster week had gone by. After this coming Tuesday when my friend's wedding is over, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and start looking forward to Christmas. Yesterday was a packed day for me. My friend came over to my place in the morning to use my CD burner to make a compilation of wedding songs. In the end there was something wrong with some things, and my CD burner refused to function properly.

So I have to go down to another friend's place later on to use his CD burner to make the compilation. And since the guy making the wedding flowers lives near my friend, I will be helping to transport the flowers over to one of the bridesmaid's houses in the evening, where we will be decorating the bridal car, practising the song(s) we will be singing for the wedding, and probably go through the final rehearsal on the entire wedding procedure.

I met K in the afternoon yesterday, and finally caught "Pride And Prejudice" and "King Kong". Yeah! Two good movies in a day. The "Pride And Prejudice" movie is more light-hearted than the book. The same jeers and subtlety humour is prevalent in the movie as well as the book, but the characters were really brought to life. How Darcy's cold and aloof exterior infuriated Elizabeth Bennet, but later she found out how wrong she was about him when she realised just how kind he was and started falling for him was diligently played out.

So why were there only a few of us laughing at the funny parts? Most people would not find the parts funny. Perhaps only those who have read and appreciated the book, or able to understand the old Victorian way of speech which so distinguished the different classes in society would truly be able to appreciate the movie. I really love the way those old writers play with the words! The modern language is so simple and mundane in comparison, pale in the articulation, flow and poetic beauty of the words of old.

"King Kong" is also very well-done. The ending scene is so touching that I almost cried. It is not just a mere story of a big gorilla, but of how even a big fierce animal also has feelings and a heart to love, who yearns for companionship. Reminds me so much of my favourite "Tintin" story - "Tintin in Tibet", where the Yeti or Abominable Snowman saved Tintin's friend Chang from starvation and illness, and cried when he was saved by Tintin and Captain Haddock and left. Perhaps these stories teach us that big creatures are often misunderstood, and they too can be compassionate if need be, but often people are frightened of them and kill them on sight.

My day ended off with the wedding dinner of my former law classmate. She is the Legal Counsel for Creative and promised to help me get the Zen Mp3 at staff price. Hooray! I can get a Creative Zen at even less than wholesale price! It was a typical Chinese sit-down dinner of eight courses, the bride changed her gown thrice - march-in with the white wedding gown, toasted with a sky-blue shiny gown, then came in for the third time and performed a waltz with the groom in a baby pink gown.

There were only a few of us former classmates around. I was rather surprised that the top student of our batch did not come as he is the bride's best friend, but according to my other friend, he is now practising in the United States. Throughout the dinner, we were catching up on old times, and the work we do. The girls are still single but the guys are either attached or married. Hmmm.... why is there such a growing trend?

My girl friends actually have the same sentiments as me - decent local guys with any smarts and willing to commit are already all taken. Those local guys that are our age and above but still single are either not ready to commit or totally "cannot make it". My friends also have their own shares of shallow guys whose topic of conversation does not range beyond his income, car and how good a time he can show and think all females deem him as a good catch due to the number of 'C's he has. My friends are also "outsourcing" - looking for foreign guys who they unanimously agree are better in almost every aspect. So I am not the only one who think that way after all.

There are certain things I observed from almost every wedding dinner I went to. Since it is a wedding dinner that is supposed to be a formal affair, why are there people who turn up in T-shirts and jeans, short-sleeved shirts and jeans, or sports jersey and jeans with sneakers for the guys? Some girls turned up in a T-shirt and denim mini-skirt with sneakers, totally devoid of any make-up. In what way are these type of dressing "formal"?

I always feel that for a wedding dinner, one should turn up in no less than a formal evening gown. Even smart casual attire is a little too dressed-down for an occasion like this. No doubt not everyone is comfortable to dress up, but a wedding dinner only comes few and far in between, surely it does not matter to dress up for just that one night affair? It is not as if one dresses up everyday. After all, I am sure no one wears evening gowns or black-tie suits to work.

Some people will think it does not matter how they dress since the focus would be on the wedding couple, but still, I will think it more respectful to the couple if one makes the effort to look presentable for the wedding celebration. The couple invited you for the wedding as they liked you to share in their happiness, the least one can do is to show their enthusiasm and respect to the couple. By dressing-down, it will give the impression that one cannot be bothered to even show respect to the wedding couple. No wonder there is so much feedback on how some Singaporeans are bad dresses, in every aspect and occasion.