'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 :)

Sent via BlackBerry from SingTel!

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

Sent via BlackBerry from SingTel!

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

Sent via BlackBerry from SingTel!