Saturday, December 20, 2003

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Many people are looking for the DSL305E firmware. Please try the Aztech website. If you have any technical queries, you can ask me and I'll try to help.

I also provide consultation for networking, wireless, and software. Feel free to contact me.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Virgin Performance

Nov 24, 2007: I've had many hits by prospective wedding emcees looking for a script to follow. These can usually be obtained from the hotel banquet manager (that's where I got mine). However, for the convenience of those who want some prior preparation, here is a pretty good one which has both English and Chinese versions. I'm also available for hosting arrangements, please leave me a comment!

Sunday, December 14, 2003 will be a forever memorable day.

I did it! I did it for the first time. I have ventured into uncharted waters.
Just what the heck did I do? I hosted Guowei's (one of my best friends) wedding!
On top of that, I was also time keeper and contact person for the ceremony in
the day activites (tea ceremony, etc). This certainly is a great honour to be
such an important person at my friend's wedding!

Guowei and I have been friends since Secondary 3 in school. We went through the
last 2 years of secondary school and 2 years of JC. Though we took separate
paths since then, through army and university, I can say we have that unique
irreplacable connection between us that time will not be able to break.

It was 3 weeks ago that we met up. Then he popped the question to me - he asked
me to be the MC for his wedding dinner! I have absolutely no prior experience,
but the lack of experience is no excuse, because everyone has to start
somewhere. After a grand 10 seconds of comtemplation, I agreed, knowing full
well in my heart that I have many obstacles to surmount. There is only one
option for me - that is I have to do a good job - nothing else!

There would be two emcees for the dinner. One would be a friend of the bride
(her name is Xinyi) and myself. The choice of the co-host was a toss up between
Shan Shan and Michelle. Michelle was originally asked to be the English speaking
host, but she declined, stating stage fright. So Shan Shan was was asked to be
the Mandarin speaking host. We decided on Michelle in the end. I was happy to be
speaking either English or Mandarin.

I was apprehensive and nervous prior to the big day. My mind was in a constant
whirl because I didn't know exactly what to do, which given my character, I
absolutely dislike. I even paid my uncle a visit to get some pointers from him.
This uncle of mine is a veteran in hosting wedding dinenrs, having done so for
more than 3/4 of the weddings in our family. He is the de-facto MC for every
event.

After all the preparation, quesions asked, I still felt unsure. This confidence
has to be built from experience, through actually hosting events. I'm just going
to do it. Things will turn out fine. Positive psychology helps, definitely!

I put on my new shirt and tie, made sure my hair looked good, and put on my
jacket, looking my best. They say any guy looks good in a suit and tie. Haha. A
good thing, since the air-conditioning in the hotel was extremely cold. Michelle
was feeling cold, but looking stunning in a simple black dress.

I kept fumbling during the rehearsal. I either forgot my lines, or mispronounced
words. A clear sign of nervousness. I was thinking that if I fumbled during
rehearsal with no one watching, then how I would perform with 400 paris of eyes
on me. More about this later...

Michelle and I had only about one hour to plan what we were to say and how we
were going to say it. We decided that I would first speak in Mandarin, and she
would follow up with the English version. Most of the guests would understand
Mandarin, so it would be more appropriate to start off in Mandarin. We didn't
want to deliver a clinical performance, which while proper, was boring. Luckily,
despite our inexperience, we managed to plan in some banter to make the event
appear to be more lively and spontaneous. We also had help from the event
manager at the hotel who provided us with a wedding dinner script template, from
which we extracted information about the champagne pouring ceremony into the
speech. Someone later told me that it was a good move to mention the
significance of the champagne pouring, which my the way, symbolises wealth and
the overflowing of the couple's love.

I was already down with a bad cough. In the morning, I was still feeling
relatively alright. But into the evening, no amount of lozenges could sooth my
irritated throat. I just kept coughing and coughing. I had to drink lots of warm
water and chinese tea, which helped somewhat. Thank my lucky stars I could
finish my speech without breaking into a coughing fit.

I didn't dare to eat anything because I feared agitating my throat. So I only
had shark's fin, some vegetables and noodles, which came after we have finished
the champagne pouring and toasting.

Guests at the wedding, please skip ahead two paragraphs ... ignore the following
one.

Things went without noticable hitches. But there were some unexpected turns. I
forgot to ask the guests to raise their glasses before the 'yum seng'. I did not
expect that I had to lead the 'yum seng' as well! I also forgot to touch glasses
with my co-host during the 'yum seng', how ungracious of me! There was also once
that Michelle had to remind me to stand straight, because I was leaning on the
rostrum with my weight on only one leg; that looked ugly!

While our performance cannot be compared with the professionals, but I think it
was a credible first time performance for both of us. It was hard, but yes, we
pulled it off! Good work, Michelle!

To Guowei and Xinyi, I have witnessed your romance blossom 10 years ago; you
have stayed with each other through the years. I only have this to say - that
you two are a perfect match - althought you still have your little arguments. I
have not seen another couple who fit each other so well. Now your love has
matured, become more deeply rooted; may your love be stronger with each passing
day. So, when is the tree bearing fruit?