Wedding Bells (... not mine...)

I'm going to Seattle for my cousin Charles' wedding.

I'm excited because I've never attended a wedding ceremony outside of Singapore, not to mention in the U.S. of A (I'm thinking Hollywood weddings now), and I've absolutely no idea what the hell to wear. It's going to be a beach wedding (indoors though) on a Saturday afternoon - bikini? sundress? skirt and tee? flip-flops? or my usual wedding dress? I'll figure that one out when I start my packing.

But more so, in recent days, I'm feeling more relieved than excited - at the thought of spending two weeks away from here. Away from it all. In all honesty, I don't know what might just happen in the two weeks I'm going to be away. Better? Worse? In this very case, what they say is true - only time will tell.

To a certain extent... dread. Of leaving it all behind. But I have to.

In our tradition, it's not quite right for a younger person to be giving 'ang pow' to an older one (unless it's like a bloody Chinese wedding dinner, where you're paying more for your seat at the table than anything else), but I figured I couldn't just go empty-handed, so I thought I would try to find something Oriental that is meaningful for a wedded couple. Search is over (I don't have much energy for a long search this time), I'll get that something tomorrow after work.

'Toured' Chinatown alone in search for that something. I realized I haven't been to Chinatown for the longest time, except to stop by with the man for our porridge fare. Chinatown is so touristy now, it has lost its original ancient charms. I miss those olden stores, and those olden folks sitting outside their stores. In place now are new, brightly lit stores, manned by younger Chinese folks trying to peddle their ware to tourists. Anyway, if I were a tourist in Singapore, I would've known better than to buy those stuff in Singapore. To a certain extent, Chintatown reminds me a little teeny weeny bit of the Xiangyang market of Shanghai - not as crowded but almost a wannabe.

I'm leaving in two days' time - or one day, however I want to think it since I'm flying freakin' early Wednesday morning. I still have loads of work to finish. I still haven't packed - and I'm dreading the packing because I don't know how to pack light for two weeks.

I'll have three free days to myself in Seattle, before Charles' wedding, and before I need to 'train' back to Portland for my meetings. I am so looking forward to spending three days on my own, in a foreign land, without having the slightest clue where I'll be heading.

This sounds a little like my life going forward...