May 2009 highlight reel

My oh my, five months have gone by. And merry May was pretty much a month of weddings…

Yogesh weds Surabhi. Ah yes, my “son” actually beat me to the altar (although I’m not sure that’s what it’s called in Hindu weddings). As with other Indian weddings, this one also had other events leading up to the actual wedding, including the Youngsters’ Party.

Me in an ultra-comfy jumpsuit. Yogs with his beautiful bride.

People showed up in their pajamas, in keeping with the theme. The event was held at Club Mwah where everyone--clad in jammies and negligees--witnessed an elaborate show, danced to some hiphop/house/Bollywood beats courtesy of a Singapore-based DJ, and partied with a funky jazz trio flown in from France (the cost of which could probably surpass what I’m spending for my entire wedding!). It was awesome hanging with the Bintan peeps again!

(Top) A member of the French trio; (above) with my BFF Mads, "our" sis Prits, and Tash.

The next night was the actual wedding. It seemed like they booked all the ballrooms to accommodate all the guests (800 to a thousand, by Yogi’s estimate)—there was even a “kids’ ballroom,” which, funnily enough, was much quieter than the big ballroom. The whole event was ostentatious and crazy chaotic and utterly sparkly—even my bejeweled dress seemed terribly under-ornamented, next to all the bling-y traditional Indian outfits. Mark my words: I shall wear a tummy-bearing Indian outfit when Mads gets hitched!

My dress by Mads. I was happy to wear a bindi again after so long!

Kaye’s shower. Jackie planned a bridal shower for her best friend Kaye a couple of weeks before the bride-to-be’s wedding. We divided into two teams for one of the games, the Project Runway challenge: We had to fashion a honeymoon outfit using just black and red crepe paper (and some tape and scissors)! Since everyone else was in comfy PJs (another pajama-themed party!), and I was the harlot wearing nothing but a tight tank and hot pants, I had to “model” our creation. I made a really cute, super short ruffle-y skirt, while my teammates took care of making the suspenders and hearts covering the, uh, chest area. We even had a little ruffled garter! Sorry, no pics. Haha.

I was up against Claud, who was wearing what looked like makeshift clamshells. We, of course, were talking trash the whole time. (And by “we,” I mean “I.” Hahaha.) Me to Claud: “Outfit daw na pang-honeymoon, hindi pang-perya!” Don’t get me wrong—I love love love Claud to bits! This was all in good fun!

And guess who won? Yay us!

Gino weds Kaye. “Kasal nanaman?” It’s the typical response when I have to beg off a game or a training session. I left a game day early to prep for the wedding, and since I didn’t have much time, my hair was left kind of unstyled and in all its natural (messy) glory. Oh well. Perhaps the gorgeous Richie Ortega dress kind of made up for it…

One of the rare times that I wasn't in a Madhuri Hemandas creation! With my barkada, minus the buntis who left early.

The couple’s first dance was really cute—starting with Panalangin and ending with a wonderfully cheesy choreographed version of Chris Brown’s Forever. Unfortunately, I didn’t even get a single photo with them in my cam.

House blessing. Well, the renovation’s finally done, and the studios are now for rent! Hope the parentals find some awesome tenants! Oh, if anyone's interested in renting a studio with easy access to the Cubao MRT and LRT stations, and a really wonderful landlord (aka, my mother) let me know! I could send you pics...of the studios, not of my mother. Hahaha.