It starts somewhere

On July 25, 2006 · 48 Comments · In Living, Places

Los Angeles
It's the same sunset, but you can watch it over and over again

If you were to tell me a cou­ple of years ago that I’d be stress­ing out over wed­ding plans right now, I wouldn’t even have laughed at you because I’d have thought you were talk­ing to your friend next to me or something.

This stress­ing out over wed­ding plans is new to me, so I sup­pose the unusual sit­u­a­tion of being thou­sands of miles away from home less than a month out from one’s own wed­ding just adds to the nov­elty of the whole thing.

There are so many things to plan, so many details to con­sider. And some­thing as sim­ple as what to say when offer­ing a toast at din­ner has me in knots (hur hur — tie knot mah, hor?) I can’t just wing it with this one. And you know what? I love the fact I’m not able to wing it.

You can’t wing a speech, really — you’ll end up say­ing some­thing, a noth­ing, like, ‘I’d like to thank my wife, with­out whom this would not have been pos­si­ble’, and/or ‘I’d like to thank my par­ents, I love you, haha, with­out whom I would not be here’.

I’m in knots over what to say, because my wife to be deserves some­thing said that can’t be just put in words. And she knows what I mean, because she reads my blog at least half a dozen times a day and she knows when I write some­thing, and when I write noth­ings. (She’ll also restrain her­self from smack­ing idiots who leave nasty or irrel­e­vant comments).

I’ve also got a real cham­pion of a best friend whom I’ve just remem­bered should be the best man, and when I asked him how one should go about doing the tea cer­e­mony thing, he said, “brb, I Google tea cer­e­mony”.

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  • geroithe

    Awwww. Con­grat­u­la­tions.

    Things always gets messy when you approach the one-month-before-wedding period. Calm down, ask mar­ried peo­ple for advice. :)

  • geroithe

    Awwww. Con­grat­u­la­tions.

    Things always gets messy when you approach the one-month-before-wedding period. Calm down, ask mar­ried peo­ple for advice. :)

  • http://ellisbeck.lah.cc PM

    That’s good news.. Con­grat­u­la­tions! It’s still a once-in-a-lifetime joy to be prepar­ing for marriage…

  • http://ellisbeck.lah.cc PM

    That’s good news.. Con­grat­u­la­tions! It’s still a once-in-a-lifetime joy to be prepar­ing for marriage…

  • tar­mack

    CONGRATULATIONS! its sure a day to remem­ber (make sure u do, if not u know who’ll come after you haha), worth every effort put in!

  • tar­mack

    CONGRATULATIONS! its sure a day to remem­ber (make sure u do, if not u know who’ll come after you haha), worth every effort put in!

  • http://passingsights.liquidblade.com yl

    breathe in… breathe out… good!! just remem­ber to breathe… you will get through it. :) congratulations!

  • http://passingsights.liquidblade.com yl

    breathe in… breathe out… good!! just remem­ber to breathe… you will get through it. :) congratulations!

  • http://shellylives.wordpress.com Shelly

    Wow! Con­grat­u­la­tions! Have you been keep­ing this under wraps until now?!

    If you need some help/ideas, I can pro­vide assis­tance since I’ve has expe­ri­ence han­dling my own wed­ding and a cou­ple of friends’. Just send me a mail eh.

  • http://shellylives.wordpress.com Shelly

    Wow! Con­grat­u­la­tions! Have you been keep­ing this under wraps until now?!

    If you need some help/ideas, I can pro­vide assis­tance since I’ve has expe­ri­ence han­dling my own wed­ding and a cou­ple of friends’. Just send me a mail eh.

  • Lin­coln

    Alright man.… congratulations !!!!

  • Lin­coln

    Alright man.… congratulations !!!!

  • Gil

    Con­grats!! My advice, “Never for­get why you fell in love with her, and you’ll always be in bliss.”

    haha, the part “brb, I Google tea cer­e­mony”~ had me laughing.

  • Gil

    Con­grats!! My advice, “Never for­get why you fell in love with her, and you’ll always be in bliss.”

    haha, the part “brb, I Google tea cer­e­mony”~ had me laughing.

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    I DID Google ‘tea ceremony’!

    And it was rather help­ful, but Mr Egoholic’s Anony­mous (Mr STB) him­self has offered to give suggestions.

    I don’t sup­pose Long Island Tea can right?

    Can you faster come back so I can get you fit­ted for your suit!!!!

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    I DID Google ‘tea ceremony’!

    And it was rather help­ful, but Mr Egoholic’s Anony­mous (Mr STB) him­self has offered to give suggestions.

    I don’t sup­pose Long Island Tea can right?

    Can you faster come back so I can get you fit­ted for your suit!!!!

  • http://hossanleong.com Hos­san

    Wah Lau stu­pid me.
    The above com­ment was of course NOT writ­ten by Mr Miyagi — but his rather blur and sleepy best friend who had to launch the Speak Good Eng­lish Move­ment this morn­ing! I’m gonna sleep NOW!

  • http://hossanleong.com Hos­san

    Wah Lau stu­pid me.
    The above com­ment was of course NOT writ­ten by Mr Miyagi — but his rather blur and sleepy best friend who had to launch the Speak Good Eng­lish Move­ment this morn­ing! I’m gonna sleep NOW!

  • bobochacha

    Google Tea Cer­e­mony cracked me up ! but some­times it’s really an occu­pa­tional haz­ard. I google just about any­thing and every­thing too !

  • bobochacha

    Google Tea Cer­e­mony cracked me up ! but some­times it’s really an occu­pa­tional haz­ard. I google just about any­thing and every­thing too !

  • ed

    Hey, con­grats. God bless with your wed­ding plans. =)

  • ed

    Hey, con­grats. God bless with your wed­ding plans. =)

  • smazh

    Wow… con­grat­u­la­tions!!

    Not that I know you, but I’ve been read­ing this blog for so long I just need to say it! :)

  • smazh

    Wow… con­grat­u­la­tions!!

    Not that I know you, but I’ve been read­ing this blog for so long I just need to say it! :)

  • chill­i­padi

    Poor Mr Miyagi!
    A tra­di­tional tea cer­e­mony hap­pens at both the guy & girl’s fam­i­lies. When u go pick up your wife, u will need to offer up tea to her par­ents and grand­par­ents first. This is to thank them for tak­ing care of your wife and also for them to say the “u bet­ter treat my daughter/ grand­daugh­ter well or ur body will be float­ing in kallang river!!” Tra­di­tion­ally, the cer­e­mony is con­ducted by an aunty. Not just any aunty, she has to be some­one who have lead a pros­per life (good mar­riage, many kids, etc etc). She will be the one hold­ing the tea cups and pass­ing them to u and ur wife while u kneel/ stand before ur in-laws to serve the tea. As u do that, she will say good aus­pi­cious words like “many many kids in the future” or “a won­der­ful mar­riage” etc etc. And there is two ways of serv­ing up the tea. 1 way is to hold the cup with ur wife and serve it together to your father in law then your mother in law (in this way, u only use 2 tea cups). The other way, is for you to serve up the tea to your in-laws and then ur wife to do so (this way, u use 4 tea cups) The tea u use is the sweet red date tea. (u can brew urself or buy instant ones from chi­na­town. The tea is sweet to sym­bol­ise “tian tian mi mi”, sweet hap­pi­ness for the mar­riage. And after all this trou­ble, u will receive ang bows or jewellery(usually for ur wife lah!). And then u can take ur wife home and do the same thing at your par­ents’ place.
    Hope that it clear ur mind abt the tea cer­e­mony. Drop me an email if u need more help. :D

  • chill­i­padi

    Poor Mr Miyagi!
    A tra­di­tional tea cer­e­mony hap­pens at both the guy & girl’s fam­i­lies. When u go pick up your wife, u will need to offer up tea to her par­ents and grand­par­ents first. This is to thank them for tak­ing care of your wife and also for them to say the “u bet­ter treat my daughter/ grand­daugh­ter well or ur body will be float­ing in kallang river!!” Tra­di­tion­ally, the cer­e­mony is con­ducted by an aunty. Not just any aunty, she has to be some­one who have lead a pros­per life (good mar­riage, many kids, etc etc). She will be the one hold­ing the tea cups and pass­ing them to u and ur wife while u kneel/ stand before ur in-laws to serve the tea. As u do that, she will say good aus­pi­cious words like “many many kids in the future” or “a won­der­ful mar­riage” etc etc. And there is two ways of serv­ing up the tea. 1 way is to hold the cup with ur wife and serve it together to your father in law then your mother in law (in this way, u only use 2 tea cups). The other way, is for you to serve up the tea to your in-laws and then ur wife to do so (this way, u use 4 tea cups) The tea u use is the sweet red date tea. (u can brew urself or buy instant ones from chi­na­town. The tea is sweet to sym­bol­ise “tian tian mi mi”, sweet hap­pi­ness for the mar­riage. And after all this trou­ble, u will receive ang bows or jewellery(usually for ur wife lah!). And then u can take ur wife home and do the same thing at your par­ents’ place.
    Hope that it clear ur mind abt the tea cer­e­mony. Drop me an email if u need more help. :D

  • ding­dang

    This is great news, it proves u arent com­mitt­ment pho­bic — yes we did think that . And I hv to say this : Do kick the smok­ing habit, take care of ur health, its no longer juz abt U. May d force b wif u, bro!

  • ding­dang

    This is great news, it proves u arent com­mitt­ment pho­bic — yes we did think that . And I hv to say this : Do kick the smok­ing habit, take care of ur health, its no longer juz abt U. May d force b wif u, bro!

  • http://thoughts-denzuko1.blogspot.com denzuko1

    Wah! get­ting wed, which hotel are you going for for your Din­ner? I rec­om­mend Hyatt Regency, they give you 2 days stay instead of one.

  • http://thoughts-denzuko1.blogspot.com denzuko1

    Wah! get­ting wed, which hotel are you going for for your Din­ner? I rec­om­mend Hyatt Regency, they give you 2 days stay instead of one.

  • http://www.sg-jav.blogspot.com Jav

    hey Miyagi, con­grats with your wed­ding plan! hurray!

  • http://www.sg-jav.blogspot.com Jav

    hey Miyagi, con­grats with your wed­ding plan! hurray!

  • http://9.liquidblade.com 9

    con­grats man!

    you gonna demon­strate any rugby moves dur­ing the wed­ding? heh heh

    =)

  • http://9.liquidblade.com 9

    con­grats man!

    you gonna demon­strate any rugby moves dur­ing the wed­ding? heh heh

    =)

  • http://www.eastcoastlife.blogspot.com east­coastlife

    Con­grat­u­la­tions!

  • http://www.eastcoastlife.blogspot.com east­coastlife

    Con­grat­u­la­tions!

  • http://mama-cin.blogspot.com teck­wyn

    Sim­ple. Just hold your wed­ding on a Mon­day morn­ing and inform every­one one about it the week before. ;)

  • http://mama-cin.blogspot.com teck­wyn

    Sim­ple. Just hold your wed­ding on a Mon­day morn­ing and inform every­one one about it the week before. ;)

  • kitty

    Ooh nice! Con­grat­u­la­tions! :)

  • kitty

    Ooh nice! Con­grat­u­la­tions! :)

  • http://chinglishchick.blogspot.com Eh-choo mui mui

    who knew! congrats!

  • http://chinglishchick.blogspot.com Eh-choo mui mui

    who knew! congrats!

  • http://yjblog.stupidchicken.com YJ

    Been away from your blog for a while now, and back just in time to read about this piece of great news. Con­grats, and all the best!

  • http://yjblog.stupidchicken.com YJ

    Been away from your blog for a while now, and back just in time to read about this piece of great news. Con­grats, and all the best!

  • dave

    “deng… deng… deng dend!” Con­grats old man!

  • dave

    “deng… deng… deng dend!” Con­grats old man!

  • The Ego­holic Himself

    thought i heard my name being men­tioned some­where in webspace…followed the won­der­ful sound and it led me here! miyagi…congrats! won­der­ful wed­ding, beau­ti­ful speech you gave. speak­ing of tea ceremonies…you know my acronym spells T.E.H right? why never come to me for help?

  • The Ego­holic Himself

    thought i heard my name being men­tioned some­where in webspace…followed the won­der­ful sound and it led me here! miyagi…congrats! won­der­ful wed­ding, beau­ti­ful speech you gave. speak­ing of tea ceremonies…you know my acronym spells T.E.H right? why never come to me for help?

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