Our First Wedding Anniversary

9 Sept 08 - It's been a year since Her Royal Majesty and I were married, or to put it more accurately, it's been a year since our wedding solemnisation. In Singapore, some couples don't really consider themselves as being "officially" wedded until they complete the customary rites. In our case, we threw caution (along with a whole load of well-meaning advice) to the wind, and just latched on to our government-awarded licence to set up home together.

They say that the first time is always the best. I say it really depends on first time for what, how you measure "best", and who are "they" anyway?? Mindless comments aside, Her Royal Majesty and I both took special pains to ensure that our first wedding anniversary was a memorable one. Both of us had taken leave so that we could slowly savour the significance of the occasion, and schedule appropriately dim-lit activities.

The "celebrations" opened with a surprisingly quick lunch at the NYDC outlet at Bugis Junction. We had planned to watch WALL.E, but there was a slight delay getting to Bugis Junction, so we ended up wolfing down our pasta in record time. We probably took about 20min from the time we entered the restaurant to the time we left.

The movie was funny, smart and, I hate to admit this, touching at times. It was also the only movie that I know where the main characters only have 1 line each which they repeat again and again.

WALL.E: Eeeee....vaaaa!
EVE: Walll...eeee!
WALL.E: Eeeee....vaaaa!
EVE: Walll...eeee!
WALL.E: Eeeee....vaaaa!
EVE: Walll...eeee!

After the movie, we had originally planned to take a ride on the DHL balloon, but it was shut down for maintenance. Instead, we headed over to Clarke Quay, where we did a partial restaging of the events on the day of our proposal! Haha, yes, very tacky, but also very sweet. We went for a river cruise, but this time, the ferry was one of those modern types, not the original bumboat that we took on that fateful evening. Amazingly, we were, once again, the only people on board except for the crew. At first, the host started his usual touristy spiel, but gave up about 10min later when he saw that we were not interested in what he was saying at all. Instead, he volunteered himself to be our photographer and came over to chat with us.

Next, we took a cab down to Mandai Orchid Gardens, where we had held our wedding solemnisation ceremony last year. Unfortunately, we were caught in rush hour traffic, and the cab ride ended up costing a hefty $30!

Mandai Orchid Gardens was quiet and still. Except for the restaurant, Vanilla Pod, the rest of the place was pitch black. The smell of pollen was omnipresent and compensated for the fact that we could not see much of the flowers. There was only one other party in the small restaurant, and we were quickly seated by the attentive waiters. The restaurant looked rather much like a glass house, and with the lush greenery all around us, seemed to be situated in the middle of a forest.

Both of us had the cream of mushroom, while for the main course, Her Royal Majesty had the rack of lamb and I had the seafood platter. The food was passable, but we didn't really mind since that wasn't the main reason why we were dining at Mandai Orchid Gardens.

Halfway through dinner, I hastily excused myself and went out of the restaurant. Just outside the door, my accomplice, the head waiter, was waiting for me with the bunch of flowers that I had sent to the restaurant earlier today. Her Royal Majesty was all smiles as I handed her the 99 stalks of roses and wished her "happy first anniversary". We had also prepared gifts for each other. I received a pair of stylish cufflinks from Hugo Boss, and I gave Her Royal Majesty a silver DKNY watch.

This was our first wedding anniversary. There were no grand fireworks or marching bands, just a special day out for the both of us. In essence, the day was time for us to reminisce about the events on 9 Sept 07, to enjoy each other's company, and most importantly, to be grateful for having each other as we explore further adventures in our lives ahead.