The old lady

Something amusing took place on the train today.

I was on the train with a colleague (photographer) on the way to an assignment. It was not too crowded, there was enough standing space, but all the seats were taken up, and we were both standing.

Just then, someone stood up, I signalled to my colleague, in his 50s, to take the seat because I knew of the heavy load (camera and lenses) he was carrying, and I thought it would be good to spare his shoulders the torture. As he moved towards the seat, somebody young beat him to it.

"Aiyoh, you see lah, nobody want to give up their seat to us..." The voice of an old lady (in dialect) rang out from behind me. I turned and saw this old lady standing near the door, one hand on a walking stick, the other holding on to the pole for support.

She half smiled and sighed at my colleague as she said it. I reckoned she saw what happened, and couldn't help it but lament about such a "plight".

Almost right after she said that, a young man stood up, and offered her his seat.

"It's okie, am alighting at the next stop."

Another young lady sitting right in front of her also gestured that she wanted to give up her seat. The old lady declined again for the same reason. The young lady then gave a sheepish and embarrassed smile.

It's funny that there are people on the train who can give up their seatsvto others who need it more than they do, yet they only decide to do so when the poor old lady spoke up. It's like if you want a seat, you have to ask (hopefully not to the extent of begging) for it. Not many people would have the initiative or be considerate enough to actually "volunteer" their seats.

Japan has special carriages on trains for "ladies only" during a certain time of the day, I doubt an "elderly-only" carriage system would work in Singapore, and that would probably not solve the root of the problem as well, but it would certainly be interesting to explore other possibilities.

Bridal studio

Just when I thought things were going to get better, I had an unhappy incident with the bridal studio.

There is something similar between the photographer and the bridal studio which I chose. Both are relatively new. The photographer had a few years of experience as a wedding photographer, but only recently established his own studio. The bridal studio started its business last year, the bosses are friends who were previously from other bridal studios.

They may be in the industry for a while, but they are quite new in their new establishments, and I think that explained their lack of experience and foresight. And well, who can I blame now, for things that are not going as smoothly as I had hoped?

Initially, I decided to use both because we trusted their service and quality, and more importantly, we wanted to give them a chance. Well, if everyone goes for the long-standing shops and photographers, how are the green horns going to gain experience? At least, that was what I thought then.

I guess that's the risk one has to take. Not to mention that their charges are not much lower than the major players in the market.

I chose this new bridal studio because I find that their studio photographs are quite well taken. Their staff are quite friendly and approachable too. My ROM gown selection went quite smoothly, even though there was limited choices.

However, recently when I wanted to fix a date for studio photography, they had apparently no dates at all, all the way until October.

For those who have been through bridal photography, the common practice is to do photo shoots in the studio during the day, before proceeding outdoors in the evening time.

However, the bridal studio told me, as of now, they only have one full day available in mid June. The next alternative would be to do photo shoots on two separate days. Otherwise, I would have to wait all the till October. But my wedding is in November, how will that ever be in time?

I have never heard of such arrangements (to do photoshoots on two days), unless in the event when it rains. The main reason to do photoshoots in a day is to save time for everyone, makeup charges and transportation etc.

I was truly baffled. They told me quite firmly, and rudely, that they have absolutely no other free dates. I then asked them why they had not told me to book the dates earlier? I recall that I have asked them on a number of occasions if I need to settle the studio photography date, but they told me it was still early. And now they say usually they would not go after the customers to fix the date.
This is ridiculous. What if I fall sick (touch wood) on the day I was supposed to do photography? That means I would not get a chance to take pictures? I don't suppose they want me to do it after my wedding?!?!

Anyway, in the end we had to settle for a two-day photography, which means Xiangrong and I have to take 2 days of leave, instead of 1. (Leaves are extremely precious once we start renovation, final wedding preparations and honey moon!) The bridal studio said they would bear all extra costs for arranging for bridal photography on two days, of course they should!

Another bad thing about selecting a new bridal studio is the lack of gown selection. I previously did not think much of this caution given by friends, since I thought, even if the bridal studio has a huge number gowns, I am only going to pick one. So if I can find one that I like, it doesn't matter if they have just tens or hundreds of gowns.

After I went to try on my wedding gown and evening gown recently, I decided to take back my statement.

I managed to find a wedding gown which looks quite nice, but when it comes to evening gowns, I got a shock. Are they trying to dress me as a ge-tai singer or a ma-ma-san? I almost fainted when I saw the gowns (limited again) they gave me to try. I will have to go back again when more gowns arrive (I hope), and the next time, I certainly hope they offer me something better!