Sunday 25 March 2012

The Hong Kong Sevens



Hong Kong Sevens - An excuse to get dressed up and consume copious amounts of liquor. Oh, and of course watch some seven-a-side Rugby...

Saturday 3 March 2012

Sydney Ceremonies

I had wanted nothing more than to laze on the beach with McMafia. The sound of crashing waves in the foreground, the insane screeching of seagulls in the background. Toes and back frosted with sand all the while the warming Australian sun canvassing my body. Expectation management, never goes too far. That was the best case scenario, what I got was the worst case scenario. 20 degrees, heavy showers. Sydney's Summer was colder and wetter than the Hong Kong Winter.

The flight in was tough - My unusual compulsion to catch up on new release movies on a 8 inch screen and the fact that I had discounted the timezone delta compounded with my strained neck denied me of any decent sleep. I arrived into wet miserable Sydney only to be greeted by my mother at the station. I was home and headed straight for my old bedroom. It was a going to be a long weekend and I needed every ounce of shut eye.


That same night the grooms men met with the groom for a dinner down in the Shire with the Bride and her family. It had only been a month since I'd seen the guys in Bail but it was nice to see everybody back in Sydney. The night was easy, sharing a couple of beers and reminiscing our history: The old university days, the old trips and the laughs and defining moments over the last eleven years. Eleven years, it's been an amazing ride, two down, three to go. I often wonder if it will be the same bridal party for each of our weddings (I mean, provided we all get married).

Wedding Day. It was the same nervous energy with the same group of guys. We all spent the night at the Camperdown apartment and woke at 8 am, it doesn't look like any of us got any decent amount of sleep. It was going to be a long day, charged with adrenaline and laughter. The photographer arrives and we go through the compulsory preparation photos as well as a photo session at our old stomping grounds: The University of Sydney.


The limo arrives and we're whisked down the Princess Highway towards Kareela. Straight off the bat, it would be day where we, the grooms men failed to receive the memo and would result in an comedy of errors. Blooper #1: We step out of the limo and stand around like a pack of lost children, "What do we do now?". The soon-to-be mother-in-law runs down to the driveway "You can't come out until he (pointing at the boy) opens the car door for you!". The groom jumps back into the car and closes the door.

10 minutes and 88 dollars later we buy ourselves into the Bride's house after an obstinate negotiation period. As a little bit of trivia, during the years in university we as a group were (unknowingly to us) known as the "Backstreet Boys".  Continuing on the tradition we were made to perform a Backstreet Boys song of our choice, are much bashfulness we decided on a rendition of "I Want it that way". To be fair we got off pretty easy, couple of eating challenges later and we're in the house with the groom claiming the bride.

The bridal party climb into the limo and make our way back into the City. Traffic is bad, the rain has wrecked havoc on the roads but the banter and chatter among the group distracts us from the severity of our tardiness. Unfortunately our time was limited and we could only squeeze in the Wentworth Park Shoot thereby forfeiting the National Maritime Museum  sequence.

We arrived to the ceremony late and the place was packed with so many familiar faces. The Uni Crew, The Seftoners, the Fairfield group, the Ticketek group, everybody was there crammed into the hall, we were late and they were waiting. The grooms men lined up as we waited for the brides maids and bride. Blooper #2: We were standing up on the right hand side, the wrong side. The groom casually whispers to us "Guys, we're on the wrong side, slowly move over to the other side". Sheepishly we shift to the other side. Soon enough the room explodes with Taio Cruz's "Telling the World". The bride and the father enter the room, the room stands and suddenly all notion of the wet weather outside is forgotten.

Blooper #3. Groom mis-pronounces the Bride's Surname. Blooper #4: Bride has a lapse of concentration during vows. The Groom, notorious for his uncontrollable perspiration had developed bullets of sweat, it was all too much. The "I dos" are exchanged and tea ceremony proceeds. The party then moves over to the Sydney Fish Markets, Fisherman's Wharf. The Bridal Party dance out to the throw back "Where the Party At" and a little bit of silly fun. So. Much. Alcohol. The guests look happy to be inside and there's plenty of socialising and plenty of drinking.

Delicious food, followed by a memorable Father of the Bride's Wedding Speech, whose content included "Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny". It would be a tough act to follow but Malcolm and myself gave a joint wedding speech: An underlying bully theme, the taunting prankster and a standard helicopter demonstration and we were done. After the formalities the ties became loose and so did the crowd. Everybody was dancing and having fun, potentially the most fun I've had at a wedding. The wedding ceremony ended at midnight and soon I was standing with the two other Hong Kong visitors in King's Cross.  It was a familiar sight, the same guys, just a different city.


Whenever I return to Sydney there's a pedestrian pace that lures you into a want for settling down. It's a strange sensation and it almost makes you want to find somebody, move back home and enter into some kind of mortgage. This proposition is even more compelling when you catch up with all the couples, new daughters and sons and of course a beautiful wedding. What a weekend! Congratulations to the beautiful couple. Thank you for an amazing weekend. I love you guys.

"I'm telling the world that I've found a girl; the one I can live for, the one who deserves" - Taio Cruz