Saturday 22 July, 2006: May 2006

Hua Zhou?

I don’t know how or when we’ll manage it, but it would be great to get all those coming to Singapore along to a pre- (or post?) wedding dinner at Huay Zhou: a nice little restaurant, about 10 mins away from where we live, where the food and staff are both great.

Plus we can have a photo like the one above, which was taken when Pete and Pam were last over.

Les Roast Beefs & Yorkshire Puddings

Sadly, Rachey-Rache, or Rachel to her parents back in Leeds, will not be able to get away from gay Paris in July.

Instead, she will be embarking on married live herself, with her beau, Julian, and her belle, Astrid – who, by all accounts, is a little star!

Girls will be girls

When Sarah’s not at work (chained to the phone and to the PC), nor at home (chained to the sofa by two ferocious felines, Jaffy & Halia), she can usually be found in the company of one of these lovely ladies

Holly*, Claire, Esther & Viviane all share Sarah’s passion for champagne, Heat/Now magazine and gaining control of the TV Remote Control!
*Holly is now back in the UK and is planning some fun and games for Sarah a week on Saturday, when they hook up in London.

Boys will be boys

When Damian’s not at work (chained to a Mac, tapping away on a keyboard), nor at home (chained either to a PC, tapping away on a keyboard, or to the kitchen, chopping away on a board), he can usually be found in the company of these fine, upstanding gentlemen:

Andrew, Geoff and Ads all share Damian’s passion for the arts – or is it beer and darts? Anyway if not at Coolies (now known as the Beer Cellar), this lot can usually be found on a golf course or on a footy pitch!

Would you Adam'n'Eve it?

Adam and Evelyn are joining us in Bintan. And will be bringing their first born, Isabelle. (In the photo below, Evelyn is on the left, Isabelle's in the centre and Evelyn's sister, Clara, is on the right)

And another couple that could be bringing their first child over, are Mark and Nicole.

Though how Mark will get through the weekend without his true love, his bike, is anyone’s guess!

Sin, Sin, Sin..gapore!

After years of refusing any applications to build a casino, the Govt. announced last week that they were going to allow one to be built here, Though as the term ‘casino’ may be seen as a ‘U-turn’ by the Govt., it will be called an ‘Integrated Resort’.

For any would-be punter attending our wedding (eg Mark ‘Get on Sweden to win the Eurovision Song Contest’ Thomas), you may have to wait a while before you can place your first bet. As the casino, sorry Integrated Resort, is not expected to open until 2009!

Robin Star Apartments

Holly, who came out to Singapore around the same time as us but returned to London two years ago, will be hooking up again with her old roomies, Georgie and Graham.

All three of them (seen in the photo below, looking remarkably sober for a change) used to live in Robin Star Apartments, off Bukit Timah Rd, where many a mad party took place.

Holly was a fellow founding member of the infamous ‘No-Hopers’ quiz team, who won many a Carnegies’ quiz and a host of prizes, ranging from the good (flights to Koh Samui), the bad ( a tray full of dodgy cocktails/shooters) to the ugly (awful t-shirts, jerseys etc).

Before she left these shores, Holly hooked up with Hugh – a good pal of Sarah’s from London. Hugh was travelling around SE Asia, after taking a year off work, and paid us a visit for a week. And that’s when he met Holly!

Hugh and Holly hit off it big time and within four days they were hosting a party in Leedon II. [Not that either of them lived there but that’s another story].

Anyway, Hugh had to leave Holly the next am to continue his trek around the region and travelled up to KL – while Holly nursed her hangover at ours with copies of Heat/Now, eats and DVDs.

But fate then played its hand – as no sooner had Hugh got off the train in KL, then when he noticed that his wallet had been stolen. [Funny how Hugh had been all the way across S America and even up to base camp of Everest without losing a thing. Yet a few hours after leaving Singapore/Holly, his wallet goes walkies....]

So the hapless Hugh ditched the idea of touring Malaysia and returned to sunny Singapore and young Holly. And now they are living together in 'sin' - or some place near Shepherd's Bush.

Thus Sarah and I were somewhat instrumental in Holly and Hugh getting together – so much so, that I am responsible for ‘their song’ being that great track by Daniel ‘I’ve got a sister who can sing too’ Beddingfield, ‘If you’re not the one’.

Which reminds me, I must ask the DJ if they can play that on the 22nd....

Get well soon

There must be something in the water in Church Lane, as both Uncle Wally and Pam are a tad under the weather at the moment.

And best wishes also go to Jean Kennedy, who’s having to take it easy in the early stages of her second pregnancy.

Here’s wishing you all a speedy recovery.

Regrets? I've had a few...

Unfortunately, Damon and Alison Scott are unable to make it over. They were going to pop over, when something else popped up. Click here to see what their ‘little’ problem is.

And, sadly, Dev and Karen are also unable to make the trip due to their little ‘uns.

Two zero and not two two? That is the question!

As you probably know, Sarah and I are having two bashes: the legal ‘I do‘ on Thurs 20th and then the main ‘I do’ on Saturday 22nd. So it kinda begs the question: Funnily enough, Sarah and I disagree as to what date it should be!

The lengths some people will go to....

Even though we're still waiting for a number of RSVPs to wing their way into our electronic mail bag, we think that we may have our most distant 'yes'.

Clare Brown, a Scottish lass currently residing near Mexico City, will be coming to the bash! And according to our stats, it's some 16,633km (or 10,331 miles in old money) from Mexico City to Singapore!

So either Clare thinks that we have a free bar going on or she really needs to top up her air miles! [Though Sarah thinks that maybe it because she really wants to be here on 22 July]. Whatever the reason, way to go, Clare!

As it's been a while since we last saw her (probably back at the start of the Millennium, at Magnus and Jean's NYE's bash), Clare has kindly sent in the above photo to help remind us of what she looks like. Though as Magnus&Jean's bash was quite a drunken affair, I am not sure if she is the one on the left or the right!

Here's to you Mrs...?

Believe it or not, even though we are getting married on 22 July, Sarah is still undecided as to what her married name will be!

After hearing that my brother, Ivor, was coming over, she said that if the Robinson's outnumbered the Hargreaves, then she would change hers. So at the moment, the score is 2-3 to the Hargreaves. But with Joseph Robinson and Darren Robinson hoping to make the trip, we could see young Sarah having to change her name.

In the meantime, though, why don't you vote and let us know what you think Sarah should do:

Ivor...least one brother coming

My brother, Ivor, has confirmed that he will be over in July. And may be bringing his daughter,Heaven.

Ivor was over here last August and got to try his hand at golf for the first time. He was such a natural, that, thanks to Sarah and her connections/contacts, he managed to swing (pun intended) a wild card entry into the Singapore Open. And here's the proof:

The only thing was, as you will see from the photo above, he forgot to bring over any clubs! But he wasn’t the only one:

Rumour has it that my other two kid brothers, Joseph and Darren, may be able to get over too. Watch this space for further news!

What are the chances, eh?

While sipping my coffee this am and browsing the net, I accidently found this site.

Even though there are thousands of marriages taking place each and every Saturday across this tiny globe of our, how many of them have a website? And how many sites are there with '22July2006' in the title?

Anyway, be sure to RSVP to, and, more importantly, turn up at the right one!

Wednesday's Joke

Submitted by a certain Pamela Hargreaves..

Sven-Goran Eriksson is on 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' and has reached the £1 million question. Chris Tarrant says, "Right Sven, this is for £1 million, and remember, you still have two lifelines left, so please take your time.

"Here's your question: What type of animal lives in a Set? Is it. a, a badger b, a ferret c, a mole or d, a cuckoo?"

Sven ponders for a while and says, "No, I'm sorry Chris, I'm not too sure. I'll have to go 50-50."

"Right, Sven, let's take away two wrong answers and see what you're left with. 'Badger' and 'Cuckoo' are the two remaining answers."

Sven has a long think, then scratches his head and says, "No, Chris, I'm still not sure, I'm going to have to phone a friend."

So who are you going to call, Sven?" says Chris.

"Hmmm, I think I'll call David Beckham."

So Tarrant phones David Beckham.

"David, this is Chris Tarrant from 'Who wants to be a Millionaire'. I've got Sven-Goran Eriksson here, and with your help he could win £1 million. The next voice you hear will be Sven's."

"Hello David" says Sven. "It's the boss here. What type of animal lives in a set? Is it a badger or a cuckoo?"

"It's a badger, boss." says Becks without hesitation.

"You sure, son?" says Sven.

"Definitely, boss. One hundred percent. It's a badger. Definitely."

"Right, Chris," says Sven, "I'll go with David. The answer's a badger.

"Final answer, Sven?"

"Final answer, Chris."

"That's the correct answer. You've won £1 million!" Cue wild celebrations.

Next morning at training, Sven calls Beckham across.

"Son, that was brilliant last night. I thought I might be taking a gamble giving you a call, but you played a blinder! But how the heck did you know that a badger lives in a set?"

"Oh I didn't, boss..." replies Beckham, "... But everybody knows a cuckoo lives in a clock!"

My Dad & Trish

Unfortunately, my dad and Trish will be unable to make it over the 22nd of July

A combination of work and distance has meant that we will just have to celebrate with them later on in the year.

Natasha

Sarah's mate, Nat, has confirmed her flight (and hotel!)

And what's more, she's having a break from her twin daughters Nell & Alia - and her fella, John - to have a well-earned rest/holiday out here!

Nat used to work with Sarah at SMI (an old ad agency that has long disappeared into the Publicis empire), along with a certain Hugh Gage (more on him later). Nat's other claim to fame is that she was there when Sarah and I met all those years ago...

It's lovely here..

If you don't believe us, just ask Pete and Pam, who, as you can see from the photo above, are busy sunning themselves in Bintan.

Vivianne et Simon

Vivianne [Argentine, fluent in 4 languages (French, Spanish, English + Singlish) and a good, generous sport too] and Simon [Australian, fluent in 1 language (Ostralian) and not a bad tennis player either] are coming along too!

Simon will probably win any golf tournament over the wedding weekend, while Vivianne will probably win the golf cart race.

Mark and Tan? Can!

Good news: Mark and Tan are deffo coming over.

After badgering them for years to forego Europe as a holiday destination and come to SE Asia instead, we finally have to go thru' all the fun, games and rows that are traditionally associated with organising a wedding, just to see them out here. It will all be worth it, I'm sure.

For the record, Mark and I used to go to (Spencer Park) school together back in the days when:

Dexy's Midnight Runners were urging on a certain Eileen;

bad clothes/hair/make-up and school discos were the norm;and when

Jamie Oliver happily yummed up his school dinners and probably had seconds too.

And we were at their wedding in Las Vegas in March 2001 - when Elvis Presley pronounced them 'Husband and Wife'!

Gazza and Fi-Fi

We are chuffed that Gary and Fiona (a couple of aussies) are coming to our wedding.

[Apologies for the photo, guys. Will replace it when I find a better one - or you send us one. Honest].

They live just down the (Holland) road from us and we often hook up in Holland Village for a cheeky few happy hour drinks at Tangs. And we supped a fair few bottles of vino with them when we all went to Margaret River in Western Australia last October.

Gary and Fiona are getting married themselves in Melbourne at the New Year - so we're hoping to gate-crash that bash and also catch some of the Ashes tour down under!

Word of warning: do not attempt to play any cards with these two. Just 'one quick game' has been known to last 12 hours - with some 9 bottles of vino, 3 pizzas, 2 meat pies, a tub of ice-cream and a squirt of ice-magic (optional) thrown in for good measure. And that was on a school night too!

About that sailor's outfit...

I know that the poll below may have the sailor's outfit as everyone's preferred option, but do you really see me wearing one? Really? Oh well - better start looking in some fancy dress shops then...

Saturday 22 July, 2006