My Fluffy Pillows

Ok. That’s not funny. What I mean was, I went for a dinner together with my mum because my dad had to work overtime.

The dinner was organized by the temple committee in commemoration of the birthday of a deity. Other then the usual feast of around 10 Chinese-style dishes, there was also a Getai display hosted by veteran Lin Ru Ping and a Chen Lei impersonator (I didn.t manage to get his name).

The Getai was hosted in a mix of Hokkien and Mandarin, with the dialect taking precedence. And although I am a Hokkien, I must shamefully admit that I am not able to properly communicate in my official dialect. But despite my limited vocabulary range, I was still able to understand most of the jokes the compares came up with on stage.

One can easily tell from the way they carried themselves in front of the crowd and the stage presence they command, that they were pros in their league. And not only can they fluently host without breaking a sweat, they do the singing as well. Besides that, they even do voice accompaniment for the other singers that performed throughout the entire event. Take a look at that you trashy American rappers! Haha!

The different singers that night came from different arrays of the spectrum. There was a 14 year old teenage girl from Malaysia, a skimpily clad China songtress, a traditionally attired Thai lady who managed to belt out a 'hock kien gua' to the applause of the crowd and recieved $50 bills thrown on stage, a made-in-Singapore disco auntie, a champion Fei-Yu-Qing impersonator and a Malaysian uncle who sang a duet my himself (yeah, he did both the male and female voice). And of course a few other singers who did not leave much of an impression on me:)

The dinner went well. There was an estimate of 130 tables consisting of 10 guest per table, supported by less than 6 kitchen staff. I wonder how they managed to keep up. Plus, the service crew was excellent. My glass was always more than half full throughout the entire course of the meal.

Anyway, I thought it was really fun to observe the attire of the service crew. Basically, there were the Carlsberg aunties and the banquet aunties. Footwear varied from slippers to sneakers to sport shoes. Although that does not look professional, they were fast and really efficient. They can top up your F&N orange, add ice cubes to your drink and refill someone else’s tea all in a single trip. When can you expect such competence at a 5-star hotel banquet?

I enjoyed myself, despite the a-little-too-warm-for-comfort temperatures, getting distracted and disgusted from the ah-peks gooey sneezes and the lack of shark’s fin soup;P

A dinner event for atas Singaporeans - NOT