What a weekend.

Friday was like any other, work till about 8 pm. Uneventful night, leading to a relatively early bedtime. Which was just as well, because it turns out that Saturday would be a very tiring day. I cancelled my Chinese class because I had a wedding to attend which was scheduled to start at 12. I left the house at about 10 as I needed to get the cash coupon for the wedding from the bank. Did you know that instead of real money in the red packet at weddings, here they buy cash coupons from the banks ? It was something new to me. I immediately felt poorer, as the going rate here is about 4 times as high as back home for a wedding red packet !! In fact, it was about 20% of what I would usually spend in a month ! Having planned my route with the help of Centamap, I then took a slow walk to the church. It was still early, as it was easier and nearer than expected (note that maps in Hong Kong are pretty deceiving as the distances are actually much nearer compared to maps in other countries -things that look far away, are actually near and very walkable).

I reached the church at about a quarter past 11 and walked into the midst of a wedding. All too soon I realised that this was not the wedding of my colleague but I stayed to watch anyway. It was over by 12, and my other colleagues starting flowing in. Then I learnt that, most weddings are run with a strict schedule and usually only take an hour to start and end. This is because there are many other people waiting for their turn to use the church as well ! A bit sad really, since this once in a lifetime experience is so rushed !

It was pretty nice though, and we travelled to the Aberdeen Marina Club later for the wedding reception. It was a poolside lunch buffet, and was very yummy. The place was all silver and white, and it was fun. I think it is very true what was said in the movie 27 Dresses, that one of the best things to watch at the movie is the groom's face. It reveals a lot about his feelings about the whole thing. It was great to see him so happy.

Got home at around 5 and changed. I had a few friends coming over for mahjong. Played a bit and ordered in pizzas as we were all reluctant to go down to eat. While we played we watched Kung Fu, and then Finding Nemo, and then Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. And somehow, we ended our game at 5 am ! By the time I showered, it was pretty exhausting and I woke up finally only when my phone rang.

Had a late lunch of some curry noodles at about 3, and then I did my laundry (ugh) and then watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Took an afternoon nap, only to wake up when the sun had started setting. We went down to the Macau ferry pier, to pick up FredBear's crystal coffee cups from a friend, and had dinner at a Macanese food restaurant. We had some pork chop buns and roasted pigeon. It was raining quite heavily though, and now that I am back I am drowsy all over again even though I had coffee to drink.

It is a pretty good thing though that Tuesday is a public holiday again, because it means that I get some additional rest. The flip side is that this means that I will probably end up at work on Monday for quite a long time. I predict a 9 pm finish.

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