Sunday, November 11, 2007
Old School Saturday
At Wala Wala's on typical Saturday nights, the UnXpected has a segment called Blast from the Past - Karaoke Saturday. Today, Hil & I didn't go to WLWL, which in itself is rather surprising since that place has more or less become a regular hangout for us. Anyway, despite missing the music, chicken wings, pizzas and beer, we had our own blend of Blast from the Past...
While attending Greg & Joy's wedding mass this morning (congrats!), I was pleasantly surprised to find that the celebrant was Fr Anthony Ho. The younger folks may not remember him but Fr Ho was the former parish priest in CTK and I had the privilege of knowing him a little during my growing up years. As he was giving the sermon today, I was reminded of why he was, and is, a well-loved priest. Except for the added grey hair and wrinkles, he is still good ol' Fr Ho - Funny, friendly and lovable. At the lunch reception, when I was munching on my mutton stew, Uncle Nick came around to Hil and I and started reminiscing about the days of old. As much as I'd like to tell him to look forward and appreciate what we have now, I held my tongue and indulged in the snippets of flashbacks with him. Don't you sometimes wish that some things from the past could carry on into the present and future? Why can't good things last forever?
Anyway, during the sunset mass back in CTK, I noticed that our choir was belting out hymns from the dusty red songbook (projected on the new screens, in case you're wondering). We sang songs like 'Because He lives' - this is the first song I learnt to play on the guitar incidentally - which sent a tingling feel-good current down my back. At that moment, I just wanted to bob my head to the beat. For the safety of the people around me, I restrained myself.
Finally, at G&J's wedding banquet (congrats again!), apart from it being THEIR wedding, it almost felt like a CTK dinner & dance. Hmmm, ok, minus the dance...The tables were filled up with familiar faces - both young & old, and some of whom I haven't met in eons. It was a nice time to catch up and find out about how everyone's lives have progressed. Like how Jennifer's migrating to US and Moarie's baby is due in early Dec and Nick Dass has a kid. Oh no, I'm becoming one of those people who'll say how time passes so fast and how everyone has changed and started their own families, etc...
Well, I guess a little retrospect every once in a while can't do much harm. It kinda reminds us of the experiences we had and the crossroads which brought us to where we are today. So before I go to bed and switch back to Nerdy Jo mode tomorrow, I just wanna make a short note about weddings. (This is totally not related to the first four paragraphs, but what the heck. Haha...)
Note to self: A marriage is God's gift of love to us in the form of our life partner. At a wedding, not only do people come together to pray and support the union of the couple, God works through the lovebirds to show the world that He is alive and real, and inspires others to love as He loves. Amen!
Posted by Jo at 12:35 AM
