the amazing race of kiara's wedding

day 1 - october 21, 2005

we were all on vacation leave. me & my sisters spent the whole morning lazing around the sofa in the oppressive heat, making a few preparations as to what to bring to the hotel. after lunch & the last tango practice between the couple, we all dress up to go to linden suites. finally able to leave the house at 2 pm. the suite was gorgeous! it had a ref, a microwave, a stove, a coffee maker and a hot pot, dinnerware, glassware & cutlery. only pots & pans were missing in that kitchen. the living room was huge, with a big tv & component (ooohhh dvd's & music galore, if only we knew!!!), 2 bedrooms with king-sized beds, each a toilet & bath (bathtub!!!), a tv & a nice closet. an iron & ironing board, even. and our gowns had all been delivered and nicely arranged on a trolley with the pillows & accessories, and even a mannequin for tomorrow's photo op.

after settling in, lala & i decided to walk to shangri-la to do some window shopping. instead, we were given half a dozen errands: balloons, fake rings, index cards, paperbags, candles & takeout dinner. but of course we still got out kicks at the souk gallery (where lala left one gold hoop earring.. d'oh!), mango, topshop, and crossings. after dinner & watching vera wang's intimate portrait, i take a soak in the tub and slept just past 9. kiara & mum, who was fussing with marj the wedding coordinator, decided to leave the hotel to borrow jewelry from her boss sylvia. they return to the room at 11 pm. i don't even stir.

day 2 - october 22, 2005

it's 6 am and it's been wired into my brain to get up. after some dilly-dallying, mum & i go downstairs for the complimentary breakfast. when we return, my sisters were getting ready to follow. we made dad some munchies for his meal. after a quick shower, the make-up artist zarah (giron/heron - del rosario, a full-time research & development chemical engineer at unilever... does she sound familiar, baby?) & 2 hairstylists liza & hazel (big burly gay men, make no mistake) plus the couturier's assistant jackie and ate carol arrive. so between 8-12am, zarah, hazel, liza all beautify 6 of us -setting our hair in curls, concealing eyebags, shaping eyebrows, ironing gowns, pinning linings & drapes, etc. at some point marj & the flowers arrive - beautiful yellow & white gerberas, roses, carnations, and 20 yellow tulips for kiara. at 11am enter photographers & videographers, and kuya danny the driver. kiara can't sit still in her robe & full hair & make-up. she orders cheeseburger meals with twister fries for 20 of her family, rein's family, and crew. it's 12 noon and we have to let go of the suite and move our things down to the car or up to the couple's new room. except that a) we're all too dressed up to move, b) the photo op isn't done, c) kiara's still in her robe, d) lunch hasn't arrived yet, e) we all have to get touch-ups from zarah. and the hotel has told us that we have to vacate the suite & our keycard only works till 1 pm. we keep the door open. at 1 pm, we all leave the goddamn suite (kiara without lunch in her tummy but stunning of course), and take pictures going down the lobby. lala's boyfriend brian was waiting already and the family portraits still had to be taken. so finally we leave the hotel & are unable to get to edsa so we take katipunan then up village, kalayaan, circle before even getting to quezon boulevard. when we arrive at the twin hearts parish, not only were all of rein's family there, even my parents & kiara's bridal jaguar was there. ha!

so anyway, kiss kiss with all these pseudo-relatives, neighbours & family friends. once the entourage was complete, we started at precisely 3pm. march march march, blah blah blah. then the church doors close & the quartet starts playing a very slow version of elton john's tiny dancer. the doors open, light & bubbles flood in and in comes kiara with her looonng veil & biiiiigg ball gown. TEAR! anyway, i guess everything pales in comparison to that moment. the ceremony ensues, (with a priest who doesn't have good diction no less) and next thing you know she's hitched. with 16 witnesses on her wedding contract. gak. after pictures & poppers, we drive to gazebo royale, had another processional & a grand feast and um, a stellar? avp (full of talent center talents, that is), a great speech from my dad (ooohhh he came prepared with a romantic dedication from some girl at their wedding), and an idiotic bouquet & garter game. questions of the evening: a) saan ang honeymoon; b) sinong susunod. dammit!! why are we wired into asking parents to marry off their children?

ok. so, several things i noticed:
a) we were dissuading kiara from getting a wedding coordinator who had a huge fee. BUT it was well worth it, seeing that we had a good one but we were still all harassed. a coordinator might be dispensable though if you had a simpler wedding.
b) for someone who doesn't care, they won't join unless it's a real party for them - with people they know will be there to mingle with.
c) for people who DO care, you probably won't notice if things weren't as nice or expensive as my sister all planned it out to be. that's how i felt, personally. except maybe for the gowns, hair & make-up. hey, it's always a pleasure ogling at an attractive couple & entourage.

by 8 pm, we were all ready to go home. we hauled out the gifts & items to be brought home on brian's revo and waited for the food & cake to be packed up. many would have the wedding feast for breakfast or lunch the next day. i sat beside 2 big bags of yummy cupcakes which are up for grabs until today. upon dumping them all at our house, lala, brian & i changed into casuals and went to klite's 10th anniversary drink all you can party and brought nigel the station manager some cake for his graciousness. oohhh what fun. i saw some of my wards, namely ethan (who performed) and half of cherry cornflakes, and caught a GREAT 3-piece band called nerveline. they were supposed to open for tropical depression at my riverbanks show last year and were yet unsigned. nigel told me they're with ivory already. they're really proficient with their instruments and are not afraid to use them to rock out with 5 minute songs with guitar solos. they remind me of an early silverchair with maturity. in 15 minutes, i developed a crush on the amboy vocalist/guitarist and was too shy to approach him when he passed by after the set. d'oh! (i can't believe it, after blatant flirting with miko, mon castro & karl, i'm still shy!!!) i tried to win their giftpack (with their album i suppose), but i was ONE FUCKING INCH short trying to guess VITO'S HEIGHT!!!! dammit. of course, i was already on my third drink when i joined the contest. so anyway, i'm trying to make contact with the band now so that karl can write about them. heeheehee... we all went home with a nice buzz after three bottles each of smirnoff vodka ice (only two for me plus a cup of bailey's). a good day to get smashed indeed!!!

day 3 - october 23, 2005

the house is crowded with all the stuff from the wedding. we eat the fettucine from the wedding feast for lunch. karl arrives. rein & kiara come home from the hotel & there's a huge gown to stow away. they show karl their avp. less than halfway into the 13th warrior, i'm falling asleep. i spend the rest of the afternoon curled up on the couch sleeping on karl's lap. we walk to the nearby coffee beanery and play checkers. i actually win once!!! and as karl says, that's always the best time to stop playing... in this case, typing.