Last weekend was apparently a good time for weddin…
Last weekend was apparently a good time for weddings, according to Chinese astrologers. Chinese couples like to get married in the latter half of the year, due to local customs, so there’s always a bit of a rush in the fall and winter. I went to two weddings, one on Friday and one on Saturday.
The one on Friday was that of a former co-worker at TVBS (which is currently under “investigation” by the government after it made some rather uncomfortably revealing reports on government scandals), Lee Jian-wei. He and I were both camera assistants back in the day, though he left the station and I got promoted to cameraman before quitting, but that’s a story for another time.
The banquet was held at the Santos Hotel on Chengde Road. I got off the MRT a bit early and spent some time taking pictures of the pedestrian overpass before heading over. It had been a long time since I’d seen any of my old co-workers, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
It turned out that none of my former co-workers were able to make it, and I ended up sitting at a table full of people I didn’t know for the whole thing. It was a rather economic affair, with the MC announcing specials and advertisements for the hotel’s services the whole time. Little “gift coupons” were located under the tablecloths. The food was ok, though. The whole time they had a mushy video playing over and over again of how Jian-wei and his new wife met, and by the time I left I was getting really sick of the repeating music.
The wedding on Saturday night was that of Azuma, a friend who has helped us out a lot with filming over the last few years. It was a much ritzier affair, held at the Grand Formosa Regent Ballroom and involving hundreds of tables and mirrored ceilings. Really professional photos of the happy couple were being projected on two large screens on either side of the huge room. Oldies were being played, good oldies, that is.
The actual marriage ceremony had taken place in Guam, and nicely edited video of it was shown as well. Although I was wearing a dress shirt, neither Dean nor I wore a tie, and I felt a bit underdressed among all the glittery celebreties. Not the first time, though.
It being Azuma’s wedding, there were large unwiedly lightsabers and congratulations from Darth Vader on video. They also played the video Dean and I made, though many people still commented that Dean looks like Jonathan Frakes, and thankfully nobody mentioned my appearance in the film.
The food was pretty good, and there was plenty of wine as well. Azuma nearly broke down in tears during his speech, which was touching. Although theirs is an arranged marriage, they obviously really love each other.
Weddings often inspire conflicting feelings in me. On the one hand, I find all the ceremony somewhat annoying, yet on the other, I’m also reminded that I most likely won’t ever be able to have one myself. I’ve resigned myself to this, but now and then it still sticks in my craw.
The weather’s been gray and gloomy the past few days, though it was nice all last week. Hard to believe it’s almost November already. Last night the Muddy Basin Ramblers, all except Thumper, who is in the South mountain climbing or something, got together at the Sandcastle for some jamming and delicious homemade soup courtesy of Sandman’s wife Jojo. We’re going to be playing at around 4pm at the Blues Bash 2 on the fifth at the Breeze Center. Hopefully it won’t be as cold as the first one, held in Taichung earlier this year.
All in all, things are good, if a bit hectic at times. As the man said, I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do. Wouldn’t be much of a journal otherwise, now would it?
