3 Months To Go!

9 July 2009.

Wah, only three more months are left before AstroBanana's big day! In the past month, Astro Girl has gone for her second fitting and trial make-up, and AstroBanana have had their bridal photoshoot. It was done over two days as it was raining the first time round. Not wanting to spoil their outdoor photoshoot, they adjourned it to another day, and the end-product turned out very well. Too well, in fact. AstroBanana are facing a headache trying to select the photos - right now, there's a huge top-up risk.

AstroBanana had their delayed food tasting session last weekend, and their parents met for the first time. Originally, they did not plan to make any changes to the menu. However, after some deliberation, they decided to change a couple of the dishes. Also, having found their wedding solemniser, they are able to officially file their Notice of Marriage from today onwards.

There are still many many things to be done. AstroBanana will hopefully shortlist their photos from their bridal photoshoot this sunday. They need to work on the guest list for their wedding dinner. They also need to print the wedding invitation cards. What else? Argh, so many things, so little time!

Wedding Solemniser Found!

Come tomorrow, AstroBanana would be able to file their Notice of Marriage with the Registry of Marriages. Actually, they are being on the kiasu (read: afraid of losing) side of things because they would be filing at the earliest possible date. Then again, it makes sense to get some things done as soon as possible because there will be many other things that demand their attention in the next three months.

A couple is able to file their Notice of Marriage as early as three months before or as late as three weeks before the solemnisation date. For AstroBanana, that means 9 July 2009 at the earliest (3 months expiration date) or 19 September 2009 at the latest (21 days notice period). Before they can file their Notice of Marriage, they would have to find a solemniser first. This involves poring through a list of licensed solemnisers (which include religious leaders, grassroots leaders and Justices of the Peace), invite him/her to solemnise their wedding, send him/her the completed Solemniser Consent Form and obtain his/her signed consent either via fax or in person.

After some discussion, AstroBanana decided to invite Mr Phang Tai Heng, JP, BBM(L), PBM, who agreed to solemnise their wedding. Yay! Actually, they have met him before - he solemnised Ee Huei's and Ying Chien's wedding last year. In addition, online reviews about him are mostly positive.

Next, to file that Notice of Marriage...

A Taste of What Is to Be Served

AstroBanana had their food tasting session at Club Chinois this evening. It went okay, except for some minor fine-tuning needed for a couple of dishes. Anyway, the food quality was probably as good as it gets. A lot of people commented that the food served during the actual wedding banquet will usually not be as good as the food served during the food tasting session. AstroBanana focused on savouring their food today because they won't get to eat much of it during their actual wedding dinner.

Astro Girl: So what do you think of the food?

Eric Banana (in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone): Me? I am a vacuum cleaner lor. I don't think, I just eat.

Astro Girl (lost for words): ...

Today was also the first time Eric Banana's father met Astro Girl's parents. Thankfully, it was nothing like the Ben Stiller movie Meet the Parents II. Then again, Eric Banana is no Gaylord 'Greg' Focker either. Hmmm, silence can be deafening sometimes though...

From 392 to 97

AstroBanana went to My Bridal Room this evening to choose the photographs for their wedding photo album. Hmmm, they seem to be going there quite a bit these days - today was the fourth time within two weeks!

Anyway, Weijie took a total of 392 photos of AstroBanana from the studio and outdoor photoshoots. As they went through the photos one by one, AstroBanana could see that Weijie is an outstanding photographer. The photos turned out very well even before any editing. Of course, credit must also go to Dily for her excellent make-up skills.

Actually, it's not difficult to take great photos of Astro Girl 'cos she's very photogenic in the first place. Eric Banana, on the other hand, is not photogenic at all - it's therefore an uphill task to take good photos of him. A colleague who saw a picture of Eric Banana in his wedding outfit would disagree though - she commented, "其实你蛮上镜的。 你真人没那么好看。" (Read: "Actually, you are quite photogenic. You are not so good-looking in person.") *BLEAH*

AstroBanana spent two hours selecting the photos they want. They managed to weed out about 75 percent and shortlisted 97 photos (36 outdoor; 61 studio). As part of their package, they are entitled to 33 poses for their album.. To avoid any top-up expenditure, they would have to weed out another 64 (or about 66 percent). Tough task. While Astro Girl is adamant about not topping up, Eric Banana has already cleaned his neck and gotten it ready (read: 已经洗好脖子准备被砍).

They will go back to MBR on 12 June 2009 for the second round of photo selection. Wish them luck.

AstroBanana Got Shot Again!

And yes, AstroBanana are finally done with their outdoor photoshoot!

When it rained in the afternoon on Monday, Eric Banana was concerned that the weather for the week will be unforgiving. He was also concerned about his karma points. Yesterday morning, the weather forecast on the NEA website didn't bode well either - "Showers with thunder mainly over northern , eastern and western Singapore in the afternoon. Partly cloudy at other times." As it turned out, it was AstroBanana's lucky day - it did not rain. Guess NEA was Not Exactly Accurate after all.

The contact lens curse struck again as Eric Banana faced major problems putting on his contact lenses, resulting in an unnecessary delay. He doubts he will become a big fan of contact lenses in the near - and distant - future. AstroBanana ended up taking a cab to My Bridal Room, where Dily worked her magic on Astro Girl.

Astro Girl - Hairstyle #5, Wedding Gown #2

After they got ready, AstroBanana and Weijie then set off for the outdoor photoshoot. They reached their first stop - HortPark - at about 4:30 p.m. It felt more like Hot Park! When the weather is too good, it's sometimes not a *erm* good sign either - AstroBanana were perspiring like mad. They next skipped over to Hyderabad Road, which is just nearby. Weijie made AstroBanana go through a lot of poses and took most of the shots here. When they left to set off for Changi Boardwalk, it was already 6:00 p.m.

They reached Changi Boardwalk at 6:45 p.m., just in time for sunset. By then, AstroBanana were already very exhausted - the long journey didn't help. A huge cloud was blocking the sun, which meant no sunset pictures for AstroBanana :( Thankfully, a while later, the cloud decided to go play somewhere else, allowing Weijie to take some pictures of AstroBanana with the sun setting beautifully in the background. The photoshoot ended at 7:30 p.m. after Weijie took some shots of AstroBanana lying on the beach. They managed to get back to MBR slightly after 8:00 p.m.

At the end of it all, AstroBanana wondered how a typical couple could survive both the studio and outdoor photoshoots all in one day. They did theirs over two days - and they were damn tired on both days. Hopefully, the photos will turn out well!

'Til the End of Time

Eric Banana came home this evening to see a surprise early wedding gift for AstroBanana - it was from his brother Francis and sister-in-law Minhui. The present is *drum rolls* a Precious Moments figurine from its wedding series...

... titled "'Til the End of Time".

As a result of buying the limited-edition figurine in January, AstroBanana have temporarily banned themselves from getting any more Precious Moments figurines. The only one Eric Banana wants to get is not from the wedding series. Well, this is probably the only appropriate time in their life to get a Precious Moments wedding figurine so if they don't get it now, they are unlikely to get it in future.

Thanks to Francis and Minhui, AstroBanana are now the proud owners of a Precious Moments wedding figurine. They have excellent taste too - it's one of the better-looking figurines in the series, and the only one where the bride wears a real fabric veil.

Thanks bro and sis-in-law!

The Beautiful Weather Today...

... is one day late really. It irks Eric Banana that they could have their perfect outdoor photoshoot if the weather was this good yesterday. Okay, maybe Eric Banana needs to be less evil so that he will not be at the receiving end of bad karma taking the form of uncooperative weather. With a bit of luck, the weather next Tuesday will be beautiful too :)

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AstroBanana Got Shot!

A dark cloud loomed over AstroBanana this morning, threatening to derail their bridal photoshoot plans. To complicate matters, Eric Banana encountered problems putting the contact lenses onto his eyes - maybe they were too dry. After all, it was only Day 2 and he has not adjusted fully yet. When he finally succeeded, he was close to being late. By then, the light drizzle has stopped, allowing AstroBanana to at least get to the bridal studio dry. Eric Banana took a cab and reached there first, followed by Astro Girl. They met up with Dily who proceeded to give Astro Girl an extreme makeover.

Dily is very skillful and experienced, and gave the couple many useful tips. They felt very at ease with her and liked the make-up and hairstyling she did for them. When she was done, AstroBanana changed into their respective outfits and waited for the bridal photographer, Weijie, to arrive at the scene.

They started with the studio photoshoot. Weijie gave the couple many pointers on how they should pose. These pointers sounded simple - turn the face, tilt the chin, twist the neck, smile, smile more, don't smile, and so on - but AstroBanana struggled a fair bit in comprehending his instructions. Some of the poses were challenging too! AstroBanana are so glad that they practise yoga regularly. As for Weijie's photography skills, AstroBanana will comment after they see the final product =P

The weather turned out to be really horrible. It rained throughout the day. 讨厌的长命雨! With the lousy weather being such a spoilsport, AstroBanana's outdoor photoshoot options became extremely limited. Eventually, they decided to postpone the outdoor photoshoot to another day instead. If nothing goes wrong, it will take place on 30 June 2009 - with Alexandra Road and Changi Boardwalk as the tentative shoot locations.

And now, presenting some exclusive behind-the-scenes pictures!

Astro Girl - Hairstyle #1, Evening Gown #1

Eric Banana - Hairstyle #1, Evening Outfit #1

Astro Girl - Hairstyle #2, Evening Gown #2 (to be worn in the evening on AD)

Eric Banana - Hairstyle #2, Evening Outfit #2a

Astro Girl - Hairstyle #3, Evening Gown #3

Eric Banana - Hairstyle #2, Evening Outfit #2b (to be worn in the evening on AD)

Astro Girl - Hairstyle #4, Wedding Gown #1 (to be worn in the day on the AD)

Eric Banana - Hairstyle #2, Wedding Outfit #1 (to be worn in the day on the AD)

After the photoshoot, AstroBanana were really tired. Yes, despite not going for the outdoor photoshoot. Dinner was a brief affair - all they wanted to do was to go home and zzz....

First Contact

After he knocked off from work (or was it "got knocked off by work"?) this evening, Eric Banana made his way to the Optical 88 outlet at Plaza Singapura to collect his contact lenses. The optician, Dennis Tham, got Eric Banana to wash his hands thoroughly with soap before he briefed the latter on the supposedly easy process of putting on the contact lenses.

Theoretically, Eric Banana understood what Dennis was saying. The practical part was... a little more challenging as he embarked on the grand task of putting on his first pair of contact lenses. Eric Banana started with his left eye and... after a long while, he was still at it. Wah lau eh! Frustrated, he then asked Dennis if he has ever encountered anyone who did not manage to successfully put on contact lenses. The latter's reply was no. No? How can it be? Eric Banana was quite sure that he would be the first one to break the record... when all of a sudden, he managed to successfully place the contact lens onto his left eye. His right eye took a *erm* longer while since he used his right hand (his master hand), which was kinda awkward. Nevertheless, he succeeded eventually. Yay, clear vision without spectacles! :)

Mission accomplished? Well, not quite. There's still the even grander task of taking the contact lenses out. Dennis said that the removal part is much easier - just pinch the contact lenses out with the thumb and index finger. Erm, like how? After the world has abandoned him and moved on, Eric Banana still could not get the contact lens out from his right eye. Dennis - bless his kind soul - even went to the extent of demonstrating the process of putting a contact lens on his eye and removing it. Seeing that Eric Banana's right eye has turned all red, Dennis offered to end his agony by removing them for him. That was awfully nice of him but Eric Banana declined politely - he was not about to let another person's fingers touch his eyeball. After much difficulty, Eric Banana finally managed to remove the contact lens from his right eye. He then proceeded to remove the one on his left eye with relative ease. Okay, maybe Eric Banana belongs to the rare group of people who are not fated to wear contact lenses.

For reasons unknown to Eric Banana, he found himself popping the contact lenses back onto his eyes at Dennis' urging. This time, it was faster. It had to be, since the first attempt took something like between eternity and forever. The removal process was also faster.

At the end of it all, Eric Banana was extremely grateful to Dennis who was very patient and helpful. He will try putting on the contact lenses tomorrow morning. With some luck, he can pop them in before lunch time. Maybe he should start trying to put them in now so that he can get a super early headstart or something.

Oh, and Eric Banana cannot believe he spent 1.5 hours stabbing his own eyes just now >.<

Eyes, Eyes, Baby!

In the prelude to their bridal photoshoot next Wednesday, AstroBanana had to make a trip to My Bridal Room yesterday to get some things done.

Previous trips have revolved all around Astro Girl so the limelight was on Eric Banana this time round. Eric Banana can only vaguely remember that he started to try on some suits. Exactly how many and how they looked like were a huge blur as he tried to recall exactly what happened. It was as if Astro Girl conspired with the MBR folks to make him go through the ultimate life-"changing" experience :|

Before he could make a decision, the make-up artist, Dily Ng, arrived and it was time for Astro Girl's trial make-up. Haha, so the limelight was on Astro Girl after all. It was the second time Eric Banana has seen Astro Girl with such heavy make-up, which prompted him to ask her, "Excuse me, have you seen my fiancée around?" after Dily was done. :P Eric Banana still insists that Astro Girl looks better with no or minimal make-up. In Dily's opinion, applying light make-up equates to not bothering with applying make-up at all in the first place.

After the trial make-up, Astro Girl started to try on some more gowns before she finally chose the outdoor wedding gown and evening gown for the photoshoot. Linghui also took her measurements to alter the gowns to fit her. By the time Astro Girl was done, she was already very tired - it didn't help that she had to work that morning.

The attention was switched back to Eric Banana as he went back to trying on the suits again. He was contemplating the all-white look - he looked okay with a white jacket - but when he tried on a pair of white pants, he decided that it wasn't such a great idea. White is not a flattering colour after all - at least not for a budding fatso like him. Eventually, he decided to pair the white jacket with a pair of black pants. Linghui said that there were previously three guys who thought of this combination but they changed their minds eventually. Undaunted, Eric Banana decided to add a black vest to the equation. He will wear this combination on the actual day. For the evening, he will switch to the all-black look. In addition, he will wear another suit with a mandarin collar for the photoshoot.

For the upcoming photoshoot, Linghui asked Eric Banana to take out the lenses from his spectacles so there will be no reflection. Erm, so how will he see? "Wear contact lenses lor." But Eric Banana has never worn contact lenses in his entire life before. Furthermore, his eyes dry up easily. And he won't have much time to adjust to the contact lenses before the photoshoot. "How about just wearing the specs without the lenses?" Well, Eric Banana's eyes tend to become very small when he doesn't wear his glasses :( Haiz, if only they have informed him way ahead so he can at least have time to experiment with contact lenses.

Dily also gave Astro Girl some advice on her hair so she went to dye and trim it today. She hasn't had any luck with getting a suitable pair of shoes though. Eric Banana's contact lenses will only be available on Monday, so he has to collect them after work tomorrow, giving him a grand total of one day to adjust to his contact lenses. Tough task. Although Uncle Quek assured him that it would be okay without contact lenses, Eric Banana is not too keen on the idea of having squinty eyes for the photoshoot. To a certain extent, AstroBanana are disappointed that these issues have cropped up at the last minute. It would have been easier if they have had more time to prepare...

A Yoga Resolution

Despite the immense workload he has nowadays, Eric Banana has decided that he will try his best to go for his yoga lessons regularly. Given that he pays a three-digit amount for the luxury of attending unlimited classes each month, under-utilisation just doesn't make economic sense. While it's difficult to embark on an exercise routine, it's probably even more arduous to maintain it in the long run. And his recent acute arthritis + pulled ATL did not help things, although it would seem that his ankle problem is under control for now. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

Besides shaking off his natural (read: sleepyhead) instinct on Sunday morning, Eric Banana is trying to squeeze a weekday yoga class back into his life. Well, he does need an excuse to bail out of the office before the sun sets. One day beats none.

While he nearly died during last Sunday's Hot 1 class, he secretly aims to take more Hot yoga classes going forward. It's an excellent way to detoxify one's body. Eric Banana also hopes to start running again. No long-distance aspirations there - just short jogs every now and then. For now, it's one step at a time.

In case you are wondering about how random this blog entry seemed to be, well, Eric Banana was just trying to while his time away before his yoga lesson commenced :p

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4 Months To Go!

9 June 2009.

Like a ticking bomb, time has passed like nobody's business. Fortunately, there are no wires to cut. Nor is there a CHEE-BA-BOOM at the end of everything. Or is there? Hmmm. Anyway, in the past month, AstroBanana's original timeline seemed to have taken a life of its own. Dates started to skip happily all over the calendar. The best laid plans apparently do not exist.

The bridal photoshoot was rescheduled from 30 June 2009 to 24 June 2009. With that, the date for the second fitting / trial makeup rearranged itself before settling at 20 June 2009. The date for the food tasting session took a big leap from 7 June 2009 all the way to 4 July 2009.

Since the beginning of May, work has seized Eric Banana and thrown him upside down. By the time he finished work each day, he was too tired to do anything else, much less work on his wedding preparations. Hopefully, this madness will stop by the end of June. He doesn't like this feeling at all.

AstroBanana will be able to file a Notice of Marriage as early as three months or as late as three weeks before their solemnisation date. Not the type of people to leave things to the last minute, AstroBanana plan to go for the earliest option and do the filing on 9 July 2009. They are currently looking for a solemniser. Hmmm, where to start?

When Schedules Conflict...

According to AstroBanana's wishful thinking, they were supposed to have the food tasting session for their wedding banquet today. Well, as it turned out, it did not take place today. In case you are wondering why... which part of "wishful thinking" do you not understand? :p

Unexpectedly, coordinating the schedules of the Banana Clan, the Astro Clan and Club Chinois almost qualified as the plot of Mission Impossible IV. A few dates were proposed but somehow when any two parties' schedules were okay, the other would invariably have a schedule conflict. Maybe AstroBanana should have taken the restaurant manager's ba zi (八字) into consideration as well back then *hee hee*.

After much effort in her Herculean task, Astro Girl finally managed to fix the date of 4 July 2009 for the food tasting session. Kudos to her!

Eric Banana (in an observant tone): Hmmm, 4th July is Independence Day leh.

Astro Girl (not sure where the conversation is going, but unwilling to entertain any more rescheduling): So?

Eric Banana (cheekily): Erm, so we can feel FREEEEEE... to eat :p

Astro Girl (rolling her eyeballs): Whatever.

Incidentally, the food tasting session will mark the first time AstroBanana's parents meet each other. Hope everything goes well *gulp*. In this regard, Meet The Parents would be the ultimate scaaaary movie

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Just Another Random Sunday

Eric Banana kept up the momentum from last week by going for not one, but two yoga classes this morning. Actually, attending Sunday morning yoga classes really boils down to having discipline and not allowing oneself to invent excuses, or conjure ailments for that matter. Hopefully Eric Banana will not be forced to break his routine anytime soon.

In addition to his usual Yin class, Eric Banana decided to do a Hatha class this morning to derive some yang energy. Geez, was it "yang"? Eric Banana thought they said "young" :P It has been a while since he did a Hatha class, considering his ATL headache. Okay, technically it's an ankleache but you get the point. Today, the yoga instructor talked about the fourth chakra - the heart. It was the first time that Eric Banana has seen a yoga instructor draw and write on the mirrors in the yoga studio. Cool! She even shared an interesting phrase with the class - "What makes us human is the strength of the heart." In case you are wondering, she's not quoting any great yogi. Not unless you consider John Connor a great yogi :p

In a way, Eric Banana is glad that he went for two yoga classes today. After all, he did gobble a fair bit during buffet dinner at Zhou's Kitchen in Jurong Point last night :s And that is a fine (under)statement. Then again, whatever benefit that was accrued through the two yoga lessons today was swiftly vapourised by lunch time, no thanks to Ichiban Boshi. For the record, Eric Banana categorically denies having consumed any tempura ice-cream. AstroBanana did scale down their dinner portions though before they start to balloon so much that it's enough to fly them to the skies.

The shopping malls along Orchard Road were impossibly crowded today, not surprisingly so since the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) has started. AstroBanana did not chance upon anything they fancy. It could be because they were half-hearted about plunging themselves into the heart of crowds gone crazy.

Anyway, AstroBanana cannot believe that their long weekend has zipped past so quickly :( They are already looking forward to their next break, however short it might be.

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Prawn Noodles Bliss

After nearly three years, Eric Banana finally got to doing his first Pranayama/Meditation class. While he feels that Pranayama is generally beneficial, he doubts that he's going to lose 15 pounds in a week through intense pranayama practice (a benefit extolled by a yoga instructor some time back) anytime soon. Especially not when he ate this right after his class:

Yup, Thye Hong Fried Prawn Noodles at Food Republic - yummy!

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Eternity Ring & Perpetuity Ring

While AstroBanana were gallivanting in Orchard this afternoon, they decided to make their way to Tiffany to collect their engraved wedding bands. Okay, enough with the mystery - so what exactly did AstroBanana engrave on their rings?

Well, they decided that simplicity is the best. Instead of the full wedding date, they opted to include only the year - 2009. Playing with the timeless theme, she chose "ETERNITY 2009" while he went for "PERPETUITY 2009".

"Eternity" is synonymous with "perpetuity" - both words represent infinite duration or existence - but in Eric Banana's mind, there is an added twist. Sitting on Astro Girl's finger, the "eternity" ring will remind her that love lasts forever. The "perpetuity" ring on Eric Banana's finger will probably remind him of the same thing but let it not be forgotten that "perpetuity" also means an annuity payable indefinitely. Oh, and isn't there some truth in it? :P

On a separate note, AstroBanana are glad that they decided to collect their rings today. It turns out that their favourite Tiffany sales rep Dorothy's last day is tomorrow. If they have gone some other day, they would have not been able to see her again. As usual, she attended to them with a ready smile. As they watched her tie the white ribbon expertly around the famous little blue box, AstroBanana realised that it was the last time they will see her do it and actually felt a little sad. Nevertheless, they would like to thank her for all the great service and assistance she has rendered them and wish her all the best in her future endeavours. From AstroBanana to Dorothy: "You will always be in our memories."

AstroBanana Have Received Their First Wedding Present!

Their wedding may still be over four months away, but AstroBanana's first wedding present has already boarded a plane from New York and flew itself to them in Singapore, courtesy of Eric Banana's junior, Chee Sin. Thanks dude!!

The present is a bronze-like statuette of two mermaids holding a clam shell that has dried flower buds on it:

Too Much of a Good Thing Is Bad

While Eric Banana adores Japanese food, he has arrived at the conclusion that having too much of it within a short period of time, say four times within a week, is a baaaaad idea. Talk about food fatigue!

It started with AstroBanana going to Shimbashi Soba at Paragon last Saturday. They both ordered the Paragon Soba, which comprises warm tempura soba and chilled oroshi soba. Eric Banana prefers the Paragon Soba to the usual set meals because whenever he goes to Shimbashi, he would rather place his focus on the soba - and nothing beats trying both warm and chilled soba in one go. Oh well, who needs an excuse to be a glutton anyway? :P Tally: one time in one day.

Two days later, Eric Banana bought his intern lunch at Shinobu Dining (the former Yuzu-Shimizu Japanese Restaurant) at PSA Building. Surprising, there wasn't much of a lunch crowd. Tally: two times in three days.

On Thursday, AstroBanana finally got to trying the food at Wasabi Tei - which is located at Far East Plaza - with DGT after several postponements. DGT was right - the food was really good. However, there is always a queue, the waiting time is fairly long, the place is small and cramped (not to mention the food smell that lingers on one's clothes after the meal), and the service is so-so. To Eric Banana, the eating enviroment plays a big role when he wants to enjoy a meal. Tally: Three times in six days.

Yesterday, AstroBanana met Celine, Joel and Song for dinner at Sun with Moon at The Central. It was a belated birthday celebration for Song and an early birthday celebration for Celine. The original plan was to go to Ma Maison instead. However, when Eric Banana called to make a reservation on Monday, it was already full :( Strong dinner crowd despite the recession. Tally: four times in seven days.

Eric Banana thinks he will stay off Japanese food for the time being before he starts to develop japfoodphobia :|

The Ultimate Flotation Device :P

Eric Banana doesn't know what's wrong with him but when he read that a recently-recaptured fugitive swam across the Straits of Johor using an "improvised flotation device", the only thing that came to his mind was this:

AstroBanana Get Their Bean Bags!

Okay, Eric Banana knows that this blog entry is way overdue but here it is!

It all started with Eric Banana browsing idly on shopstyle.com one night. He was about to go to bed when he spotted a nice black-colour Ralph Lauren Large Polo Player Canvas Tote Bag and decided that he must have it:

Oddly enough, Ralph Lauren itself doesn't carry the graphite/silver combination but Macy's does so Eric Banana ordered it from Macy's through ComGateway instead. Yay? Well, not exactly. A few days later, Eric Banana found out that Macy's rejected the order for unknown reasons. Hmmm, Eric Banana has used ComGateway to make purchases from Banana Republic and Kate Spade without any hiccups so he is not sure why it did not work with Macy's. Kena snubbed!

Sorely disappointed, Eric Banana tried to look at other sources. His Internet search pointed him to blog shops and sprees but he did not feel assured enough to make a purchase. Well, the scaredy cat is not about to pay good money to buy counterfeit products. Eventually, his web idling led him to L.L.Bean's website. He spotted a few bags which he thought look okay and decided to make a purchase from there instead. Commendably, L.L.Bean accepts international credit cards and ships orders to countries worldwide. Okay, so International Airmail takes two to four weeks but hey, who's in a hurry anyway? There is an International Express option as well but it costs more.

Anyway, AstroBanana's "Bean" bags arrived last Saturday. Hurray!

Here's what Astro Girl bought:

It is a red-trimmed L.L.Bean Boat & Tote Bag made in Maine using heavy-duty 24 oz. cotton canvas and signature double-layer base and handles. Its reinforced flat canvas bottom and overlapped seams double-stitched with nylon will not rot or break. It is so tough and rugged that it can stand on its own. Astro Girl went for the Medium size (12"H x 13"W x 6"D) and opted for Regular handles (6") and a zip-top (not depicted in the above pictures). Oh, don't underestimate this bag - it was featured as a "must-have" in either The Lucky Shopping Manual or The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style (Eric Banana cannot remember which book he saw it in - both books are currently with Astro Girl.)

In addition, Eric Banana gave her a charming Leaping Labs Boat & Tote Bag as a lil' present:

It is a variation of the regular Boat & Tote Bag but has a screen-printed graphic that wraps around the tote. It comes in Large size (15"H x 17"W x 7.5"D), and has regular handles (8") and an open-top.

As for Eric Banana, he ordered two large zip-top Hunter's Tote Bags:

The Hunter's Tote Bags are made from a tough 1,200-denier polyester shell with a thermoplastic interior coating that is both highly durable and highly water-resistant. Its overlapped seams double-stitched with nylon won't rot or break. An extra layer of polyester reinforces the bottom. The Large size measures 15"H x 17"W x 7.5"D. The colours Eric Banana picked are Advantage Max 4 HD and Olive Drab. Only the first one has arrived - the second one is still on the way.

The best thing about the four L.L.Bean tote bags? Well, you can buy all of them for the price of the Ralph Lauren tote bag :P

5 Months To Go!

9 May 2009.

One month passed really quickly - there are now only five more months before AstroBanana's big day. Eric Banana has more or less finished shortlisting the wedding music list. Now it's over to Astro Girl for review. Eric Banana has also begun to gather his wedding dinner guests' mailing addresses. On Thurday, they went back to the bridal studio to revalidate Astro Girl's wedding gown choice. Today, they brought their wedding bands back to Tiffany for engraving. As for what will be engraved on their rings, it will be revealed when they collect their rings.

June will be a busy month for the couple with the food tasting, second fitting/trial make-up and bridal photoshoot. Eric Banana was originally supposed to travel on business so he was shuffling dates and rescheduling appointments pertaining to their wedding preparation. As it turned out, he does not need to travel after all. However, they plan to change the photographer for their bridal photoshoot so they still need to reconfirm the dates.

Gowns Redux

On Thursday evening, AstroBanana went back to My Bridal Room for Astro Girl to try on *erm* even more gowns. Well, it's common for a bride-to-be to cast doubts on the wedding gowns she has chosen and whether it is really the best of them all. Abbie had to go off early that day so another coordinator, Linghui, attended to them instead.

Five wedding gowns later, Astro Girl decided to try on the one that she chose originally. (Haha, she actually didn't recognise it at first.) And guess what? Her choice remains the same. But this time she is more convinced that the wedding gown is the right one. Previously she was simply giddy from the euphoria of trying 21 wedding gowns in one go.

As for evening gowns, Astro Girl tried on a couple but did not change her mind about her original choice. She did pick one of the evening gowns she tried previously for the photo shoot though.

All this while, Eric Banana kept mostly quiet. He felt that Astro Girl's original choice of wedding gown was an excellent one. Then again, he was quite tired from work that day.

Without a doubt, Linghui must have been thinking, "讨厌, 这对男女真麻烦!" (read: "Oh what a delightful couple. I adore them to bits!") Ok, that was just a joke :P She was very professional and helpful. AstroBanana would like to thank her for her help :)

Grilled Chicken Foldover 2004 - 2009

Today was a stressful and frustrating day for AstroBanana on the work front. It must have been particularly so for Astro Girl because she actually suggested going to McDonald's for dinner. Wah~! Nothing extraordinary, you say? Well, in the past 25+ months that AstroBanana have been together, Eric Banana has never heard Astro Girl agree so readily to settling for a McDonald's dinner. Not today. Today she just wanted something "sinful".

And nothing is more sinful than what McDonald's has to offer. It used to have some semblance of a "healthier choice"in the form of the Grilled Chicken Foldover but somehow Eric Banana could not find it on the menu just now. A quick check with the website confirmed that it has been taken off the menu. Silently but surely. Hmmm, so much for a so-called "milestone". It's true! The McDonald's Singapore website lists the introduction of the Grilled Chicken Foldover in Dec 2004 as a milestone. But apparently the Grilled Chicken Foldover saying bye bye wasn't milestone-worthy enough.

Anyway, Eric Banana has always wondered why it's called the "foldover" instead of the "bendover" since they essentially mean the same thing. He would have loved to hear people say, "And I would like to have the Grilled Chicken Bend-Over, please~" to the McDonald's cashiers and see the latter try to maintain a straight face. It does sound kinda wrong though. Oh well, at least McDonald's has decided to stop pretending that it offers healthier alternatives. After all, Singaporeans don't go to McDonald's for healthier alternatives - they just want their fattening burgers that scream S-I-N-F-U-L out loud. Actually, most people don't even go there for the burgers - think french fries and ice-cream instead.

Pulled ATL :(

Following his acute arthritis attack a few weeks ago, Eric Banana has been on the road to recovery - even managing to make his return to the yoga studio - until he was derailed again on Monday :( He knew the pain will only escalate if he delayed treatment so he decided to see the doctor. Pinpointing the exact pain spot, the doctor concluded that Eric Banana must have pulled his ATL. Huh? Simi ATL?

For reasons unknown to Eric Banana, he did not ask the doctor what ATL stands for, except that it's an ankle ligament. A quick check on Google revealed that ATL stands for anterior talofibular Ligament, which is the most frequently sprained ligament in the ankle.

Sigh. Eric Banana has decided to abstain from yoga and running for the time being although his doctor said that it is fine to engage in those activities. Then again, his doctor never thinks any ailment is serious. To him, everything is "small matter". Until a patient actually lies face-down on the floor without any sign of life, it will be classified as a "small matter". The eternally-optimistic doctor. It probably pays to think positive because the doctor looks damn young although he is not damn young. Either that, or botox works wonders :P

Hmmm, Eric Banana can do with some mutant healing factor right now.

Half-Burnt Labour Day

Yes, it's a public holiday in Singapore today - Labour Day - but Eric Banana's perfect grand plan to sleep until the cows come home did not quite materialise, unduly disrupted by a conference call that was scheduled at an unearthly 8:30 a.m. Wah, siao ah? (read: "The sanity of it all amazes the poopoo out of me.") Guess the grand plan wasn't that perfect after all.

Unwillingly but certainly, he dragged his donkey back to office this morning, his eyes merely two slits on his face. And it certainly didn't help that the conference call eventually overran by an hour :( Thankfully, his boss decided to be merciful and delay the work to be done until Monday, which happens to be a proper, wholesome working day too. Sounds healthy huh?

It seems that a curse is developing around Labour Day for Eric Banana - at this time last year, he was happily roasting his Labour Day over a campfire in the mountains of Taiwan, courtesy of an ill-timed SAF100. This reminds him of the curse of Valentine's Day a few years back, when he would be inadvertently forced to spend it in some foreign land every time 14 February came around.

Anyway, Eric Banana is moving to another role at work, which promises to be an absolute excitement *yawn*. In addition to a whole new world of tidal wavy work, he also gets to keep some of his current work. In short, it's a losing proposition - 1.x job for 1 pay. Hopefully, he will dig his way out of this sometime in the near future. Oh well, it's better to have 1.x job than no job during such hard times. Better to be "entrenched" than to be retrenched.

One big plus though is that his travel geography has been upgraded from "regional" to "global" again :) *whee* It's been too long since Eric Banana travelled anywhere on business.

Sent via BlackBerry from SingTel!

Holland V Completed The Major Banks Grand Slam!

Walking along Holland Village earlier this evening, Eric Banana observed that the renovations at the new Citibank branch are almost done. While Citigroup is almost going under globally, the local operations are apparently lucrative enough to fund the opening of a 21st branch at a high-cost location. Well, Holland V is not a cheap place to set up business in. Many have tried over the years. Not that many are left today though.

Wah, that would also mean that Holland V has kinda completed the "Major Banks Grand Slam". DBS, UOB, OCBC, , HSBC, Standard Chartered and Maybank already have branches in Holland V. With Citibank's entry, the *erm* fellowship is complete. Outside of the CBD, it's probably a first. Eric Banana cannot think of another location in Singapore with so many banks closely bunched in one area (100 metres radius).

Got so many banking customers in Holland V meh? Oh well, Eric Banana doesn't quite care - he shall be thankful that banking amenities in his backyard are so adequate and accessible :P

Kate Spade Part II

And yes, Astro Girl's second Kate Spade bag finally arrived today!

It is a Kate Spade Charlottesville Small Darla cowhide leather handheld tote with zipper closure. It has an interior zip pocket and double slide pockets, and sports custom baton rouge rose print on faille lining, 14-karat light gold-plated hardware and ksny blind embossed signature on body. Grass in colour, it measures 9" x 9.9" x 3.1".

This uber-chio bag was first spotted by Eric Banana, who managed to convince the impossibly thrifty Astro Girl to buy it. Haha, most guys can't wait to stop their partners from buying bags. Eric Banana is the exact opposite. Anyway, back to the bag, the shape and size are just right, and the colour is eye-catching a.k.a. outstanding without being outrageous. Although Astro Girl already has a very nice Kate Spade tote bag, she knew deep inside her heart that she couldn't give this a miss. Well, to Eric Banana, different bags serve different functions on different occasions.

As to why AstroBanana do not buy Astro Girl's Kate Spade bags from the local boutiques, they do not quite like the attitude of the sales staff, who seem more interested in the art of ceiling appreciation. Besides, buying online at the right time is a cheaper option, even after factoring in the shipping costs and GST.

Eric Banana: So, any thoughts on your new Kate Spade bag?

Astro Girl: It matches the other one.

Eric Banana (puzzled): It does?? How so?

Astro Girl (in a cheeky tone): They are both tree colours - one green, one brown :P

Eric Banana (lost for words): ...

P.S. Kudos to DHL for making an exception to deliver on a public holiday.

6 Months To Go!

9 April 2009.

There are exactly six months left before AstroBanana walk down the aisle. Nothing much has happened in the past month, except that (1) they have decided on what to engrave on their wedding bands, and (2) they have paid the second deposit for their wedding banquet at Club Chinois.

They will next review their guest list. Some names will be dropped *ahem*. Some names will be added. It may be a bit early to launch a "Save The Date" campaign but this type of work does take up a fair bit of time.

They need to start waking up their ideas!!

Acute Arthritis Is Anything But Cute

Eric Banana's left ankle condition took a turn for the worse this morning - it was so painful that walking was near impossible. Even placing his foot on the floor was unbearable. O-U-C-H. Maybe his left ankle is protesting against his ballooning body weight.

Anyway, according to his family doctor, it's acute arthritis of the left ankle. Basically, it's some form of joint inflammation. The cause is unknown at this point of time. The doctor has prescribed a short course of COX-2 selective inhibitor, which is a form of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that directly targets COX-2, an enzyme responsible for inflammation and pain.

Eric Banana hopes that the pain will go away soon; otherwise he would have to go for further tests to determine the cause for the sudden onset of acute arthritis.

A-cute arthritis? It's anything but cute lor :(

The Girl with Mutant Eyelashes

The Bananaman was minding his own business onboard a MRT train yesterday evening when he spotted this girl with mutant eyelashes just as he was about to alight. Wah, her eyelashes were ridiculously long - they must have been like 10 cm long or something. Right then, Eric Banana wished he was Eric Scissorhands because all he wanted to do was *snip snip*.

Okay, that was just plain evil but Eric Banana has not understood - and probably will never understand - why some girls put on false eyelashes or eyelash extensions. Apparently, the longer eyelashes accentuate their eyes and make them *erm* more kawaii (read: cute) or more princess-y (read: whatever). (Following the same logic, girls should put on nose hair extensions to accentuate their noses. Hahaha.) But it's such a labourious process to apply the eyelash glue/adhesive and put on the false eyelashes. Eric Banana is sure the application of eyelash glue part must have led to numerous accidents before. Then, there is also the removal process, which is not as bad but not that simple either. All that amount of work to end up looking like... Mutant Eyelashes Girl :|

Thankfully, Astro Girl doesn't put on false eyelashes and is not interested in them at all :)

Sympathy For Mr Banana

For no rhyme or reason, the Bananaman's left ankle started hurting yesterday. He thinks it's a sprain but he doesn't know how it happened - he did not slip or fall; neither was he involved in any strenuous physical activity before that :( Maybe he kicked the wall in his sleep or something.

Anyway, the pain worsened this morning and the ankle became slightly swollen. As a result, Eric Banana can barely walk now. Even standing poses a challenge. Although he went to see a Chinese physician earlier, he is not feeling any better except that his ankle is bandaged like a rice dumpling now.

Haiz. Maybe Eric Banana is not as forever young as he imagines himself to be :( Anyone wanna spare some sympathy for Mr Banana?

Sent via BlackBerry from SingTel!

Which is Worse? Bad Service or No Common Sense?

The skies were not smiling at AstroBanana this afternoon after they finished watching Confessions of a Shopaholic. Deciding not to brave the rain as it was a rather heavy downpour, they walked around and did some idle window-shopping. Stepping into a certain outlet that sells a particular brand with a swoosh, Eric Banana spotted a small pouch which he took a fancy to and took it to the counter for payment.

After waiting for what seemed like a lifetime at the counter, he finally got the attention of a female retail assistant. Another male retail assistant also emerged at this time. Apparently, they were helping two customers to look for a certain item in the storeroom while leaving the rest of the store unattended. The male retail assistant even went on to use the barcode scanner to scan the price tag of the other customer's item in Eric Banana's presence. Whoa, Eric Banana just became invisible. Just because one of the customers was a Caucasian male, so he deserved priority service?! Oh please~ the other customer, a non-Caucasian, went to the extent of asking whether there was a further discount for an item that was already marked down at 40% off *eyeballs roll*.

At that point of time, the female retail assistant spotted the pouch on the counter and asked Eric Banana the ultimate obvious question: "Are you making payment for that?" And that would be a no - Eric Banana was merely posing with the pouch at the payment counter and taking up valuable space while denying others of a chance to make payment. Sensing Eric Banana's impending fury, the retail assistants had the common sense to serve him first.

Okay, maybe it was a bit premature to comment about their common sense then. Within 30 seconds of leaving the store, AstroBanana had to make a u-turn and head back for the store. Apparently, Mr. Smart Genius had forgotten to remove the security (sensormatic) tag from the pouch. The security sensor alarm did not go off when they left the store but gave a low whimper when they re-entered. Wah lau eh~! Had Eric Banana not checked the merchandise, he would have triggered the security sensor alarms at all the subsequent stores he went to. And he sure did not fancy the idea of having to explain himself to the security personnel for someone else's mistake which arose due to the latter's utter negligence and possible stupidity. Also, how do you explain stupidity?

"Oh, he's stupid. 'Nuff said."

Sing For Joy With Each New Day

The latest addition to AstroBanana's Precious Moments figurine collection is...

... titled "Sing for Joy with Each New Day".

What? Another figurine?! Well, technically AstroBanana did not purchase this figurine per se. It is an exclusive figurine that came along with their 2009 Precious Moments Collector's Club membership. Stocks only arrived this week, so AstroBanana collected the figurine after dinner earlier this evening.

Eric Banana thinks it's a rather cute figurine, except that it probably won't symbolise Astro Girl. The representative figurine of her would *erm* be still sleeping away :P

You Are A Victim Of Your Own Success

The perennially whiny Eric Banana was complaining to The Boss about the recent explosion in his workload when the latter made a comment that shut him up: "You are a victim of your own success." The Boss was essentially trying to explain how good work is rewarded in real life - with *even more* work. Eric Banana wonders if he can even be considered to be a good worker in the first place and plans to further assess the implications of being one.

It also means that it does not pay to be a top performer. While top performers are more likely to draw higher salaries, they are saddled with heavier workloads in return. On a per hour salary basis, they may be no better off than the cleaning lady. And the cleaning lady gets to knock off on time. On the other end of the scale are poor performers. It can be assumed that lousy performers will be eradicated by the organisation. This is somewhat true, at least in the long run.

So what about average performers? Well, they just do what is required of them. There is little need or motivation to go beyond the bare minimum - after all, the fate of a top performer is to be "rewarded" with more work while earning less than the cleaning lady on an hourly basis.

Nevertheless, Eric Banana is glad that he can *erm* do.

Why? Because according to the adage "rubbished" by Dewey Finn in the movie School of Rock:

Those who can, do.

Those who can't do, teach.

Those who can't teach, teach PE.

Eric Banana can't teach to save his life, and teaching PE is next to stabbing his wrists with a blunt pencil on his to-do list :P But while he somewhat agrees that 能者多劳 (read: the capable should do more), he also feels strongly about the incapable - 无能者绝对不可饶! Hey, it rhymes :)

One Year Of Being Engaged, Two Years of Being Together

AstroBanana met for dinner this evening at the Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge & Restaurant for an early celebration ahead of their first anniversary of being engaged and second anniversary of being together. The actual date is 23 March, which is tomorrow. Two years ago, she said yes. One year ago, she *erm* also said yes :P

The dinner crowd at Royal Copenhagen was virtually non-existent. Maybe most people opted to go there for high tea today since it was a Sunday. Eric Banana ordered a soup of the day, which was nothing extraordinary. For the main course, he had a Norwegian Fish and Chips while Astro Girl went for the Crispy Oven Roast Chicken.

After a satisfying main course, they decided to share a dessert - Warm Baked Chocolate Explosion. Eric Banana would say it's on par with the Valrhona Warm Chocolate Cake at Bakerzin.

AstroBanana's plan to have coffee and tea with their dessert was nearly derailed by a technical problem with the machine that dispenses hot water. What, no coffee and tea?! Thankfully, the problem was resolved just as AstroBanana were finishing their dessert so they managed to get their caffeine fix after all.

So why did Eric Banana decide to meet Astro Girl today instead of tomorrow? Well, it was because Astro Girl's present arrived at his doorstep today, courtesy of DHL's excellent service:

It is a Kate Spade Tarrytown Charlotte boarskin leather over-the-shoulder tote bag. It has an open top with an interior centre zip divider, and sports custom woven noel jacquard lining, 14-karat light gold-plated hardware and light gold floating noel signature. Dark chocolate in colour, it measures 12.5"x 13.3" x 3.9".

And yes, Astro Girl loves her new bag :)

The impossibly thrifty but exceedingly considerate Astro Girl felt that it was too expensive for an anniversary present though so she decided that it will count as an anniversary cum birthday present. Eric Banana is a lucky man! He also got his early birthday present yesterday - a nice wallet from Braun Buffel (which matches the card case he already has):

Finally, A Sensible MRT Train Improvement~!

Eric Banana was taking the MRT train from Orchard to City Hall yesterday when he noticed that something was amiss - the advertisement panels on top of the train doors were gone! Hmmm, bye bye advertising dollars :P Saying hello was an active route map. SMRT calls it STARIS, which stands for SMRT Active Route Map Information System. Oh, anyone could have *erm* figured that out. In addition to the active route maps, there are also Vacuum Fluorescent Displays (VFDs), which show a multi-language transcript of audio announcements.

Actually, Eric Banana considers STARIS to be a lagging improvement, as opposed to a leading improvement (that is, "Singapore is the first country in the world to ______"). While AstroBanana were in Hong Kong last year, they observed a similar system on their MTR trains and Eric Banana thought it was really useful. He wondered back then how come MRT trains in Singapore, which supposedly incorporate all the best features of subway trains around the world, did not have such a system. Then again, Eric Banana is a laggard too. Apparently, STARIS came into place in November 2008. Hmmm, guess he only managed to hop onto STARIS-free trains in the past few months (C'mon, only two trains with STARIS in service - what are the odds?!)

Some people will argue that STARIS is not useful because there is already an audio announcement system in place. Before the train reaches a MRT station, there will be an announcement to indicate what the upcoming station is. This is repeated when the train stops at the station. STARIS is a blessing to people with impaired hearing, as well as those people who are plugged on earphones to prevent themselves from going mad from exposure to the impossibly noisy train crowd. Of course, there are also the extremely blur people who only figure out what station it is just before the doors close and attempt to do an Olympic-worth mad rush while avoiding being sliced apart by the doors.

While Eric Banana thinks that STARIS is particularly helpful to tourists, it is definitely useful for Singaporeans as well. Those who want to go to a certain MRT station can track their journey and know how far or near they are from their destination stop. Also, not everyone memorises the entire MRT network map. The typical commuter will probably be familiar with a particular section due to daily commute from home to work, but may not know the other sections of the MRT network. Like Eric Banana knows the West section like the back of his hand, but is hopeless with any station in the East section - he thinks they are called Bugis, dunnowhat, stilldunnowhat, fareast, furthereast, yetfurthereast, amithereyet, wasitthelaststation, shouldiaskothers, mencannnotaskfordirections, shouldijumpoffhere....

Well, at least STARIS represents a more sensible MRT train improvement than removing 30% of the seats from MRT trains. While admittedly more people can be crammed into the trains during peak hours, those people who have a genuine need to sit down are deprived of 84 seats on each train. Very considerate of an aging population's needs - let them stand and be sandwiched by the train crowd. Don't even get Eric Banana started on that one time when ALL the seats were removed from certain cars of each train.

What Not To Engrave On Your Wedding Bands

It has been over nine months since AstroBanana bought their wedding bands but they only managed to agree on what to engrave on their rings yesterday. They did not expect it to be so complicated. Here is what didn't work:

Of Convention

The conventional words engraved on a pair of wedding bands are usually the couple's names followed by the wedding date.

• His ring: "Eric Banana 09.10.2009"
• Her ring: "Astro Girl 09.10.2009"

Sometimes, the couple's names are joined together, like:

• Their rings: "AstroBanana Forever"

Well, let's just say that the conventional is a.k.a. the ultra-boring. To Eric Banana, it's called the last resort - he would have to live with the label of UNCREATIVE for the rest of his life if he really went for it.

Of Meaningful Phrases

Some couples go for a short phrase that is meaningful to them. AstroBanana have a particular penchant for a phrase, which is...

• Their rings: "Every Day We Have, Is One More Than We Deserve"

This was what AstroBanana really wanted but there was a slight technical issue. To engrave the entire phrase, they would probably need a wedding bangle each. It was too long! Even splitting the phrase to two parts wouldn't work :(

• Her ring: "Every Day We Have..."
• His ring: "... Is One More Than We Deserve"

Of Secret Codewords

AstroBanana tried to shorten their meaningful phrase into an acronym and it ended up like some secret codeword:

• Their rings: "EDWHIOMTWD"

The acronym for AstroBanana Chronicles turned out to be really easy though, as easy as:

• Their rings: "ABC"

They also played with the idea of using the acronyms for Ministry of Astro Girl and the non-existent Ministry of Eric Banana:

• Her ring: "MAG"
• His ring: "MEB"

If they both have senile dementia one day, the chances of them remembering what the secret codeword on their wedding bands are close to nil. Erm, forget it!

Of Foreign Languages

Eric Banana thought briefly about engraving the latin translation of "Love Conquers All" on their rings but he could not figure out which version is the right one:

• Their rings: "Omnia Vincit Amor" or "Amor Vincit Omnia"

Well, at least he was sure it wasn't "Omnia Amor Vincit", "Amor Omnia Vincit", "Vincit Omnia Amor" and "Vincit Amor Omnia". Thankfully, Astro Girl came along and solved his headache for him by simply declaring, "I don't want any foreign language on our rings!" Wow, that's what Eric Banana describes as a display of democracy in its finest form

Of Humour

What? Humour on a wedding band? The audacity! But here goes anyway:

• Their rings: "Priceless Tiffany Ring"

Except that the rings are not priceless and already have "Tiffany & Co" engraved on them , this would have been an excellent idea.

To prevent Astro Girl from misplacing her ring accidentally and Eric Banana from misplacing his ring DELIBERATELY, they toyed with this idea briefly:

• Her ring: "Irreplaceable Ring!"
• His ring: "Don't Even Think About It!"

They also tried to inject their personalities into the rings:

• Her ring: "Up To You Lor!!"
• His ring: "Up To Me Meh??"

By now, you should be wondering what exactly AstroBanana are going to engrave on their wedding bands. Well, if you have read the title of this entry properly, you would have realised that the answer will not appear here :P Let's just say AstroBanana do already have an answer and will post a separate entry when they finally get their rings engraved.

A Bangle For Eric Banana

Ahead of AstroBanana's first engagement anniversary nine days later, Eric Banana received a lovely present from Astro Girl today - a stainless steel bangle from Goldheart!

Actually, he was the one who spied it a few days ago at the Vivocity branch but he was kinda hesitant about getting it. When AstroBanana walked past the Wisma Atria branch this afternoon, they decided to pop in and take a look. Seeing that Eric Banana seemed to like the bangle, Astro Girl bought it there and then and gave it to him as an anniversary present. Yay, Eric Banana is a happy boy now - it's his very first bangle! *EB shows off his brand new shiny bangle* :D

Sidenote: If you are thinking, "What about Astro Girl's present?", you have grossly underestimated Eric Banana :P

{Edited}

Yet-Another-Sidenote: In response to Peace/Piece of Mind's suggestion, pictures of Eric Banana wearing the bangle have been added. No comments on the hand please~!