Early this month I flew to Singapore for just 2 days – to attend my cousin’s wedding.

I went with my husband and my 1.5 year old toddler. My other two kids stayed with their cousins.

It was the first time we flew on a plane with a child, and we were both very nervous about it. You see, our toddler hates being confined. So the thought of our free-spirited, young toddler sitting ON MY LAP for 5 hours – made me tense like you wouldn’t believe. What are we going to do in a plane jam packed with people?

On the afternoon of our departure, we sat at the airport gate, ready to board our flight to Singapore. But we heard an announcement that our flight was DELAYED. Bummer! So we let Liam play with stuff on the shelves of the duty-free shops.

And we waited and waited. And then the airline started handing out food vouchers. Not a good sign!

Then we saw the pilots of the plane talking to passengers, and overheard them say “Nobody has ever seen this particular problem before.” Great!

After a total of 8 HOURS of waiting, we were told that our flight had been cancelled due to mechanical difficulties, and that we should come back the next morning to catch our flight. Argh! What a hassle!

The next day, we woke up at 4:30am to catch a taxi to the airport, to find that our flight was DELAYED AGAIN!

The plane eventually left at 9am and we arrived in Singapore at 2pm.

And the wedding was at 5pm!

We ran out of the airport, jumped in and out of a taxi, and wolfed down some hotel food. I sprinted in and out of the shower, threw on some makeup and clothes, tossed some bits and pieces into a handbag, made sure I was wearing matching shoes, changed my toddler into his outfit, made sure my husband (who was wearing a kilt) looked great… and hey presto, we were at a wedding! Crazy!

A few weeks ago I wrote about my crazy plans to buy a special ethnic outfit, called a kebaya, on the AFTERNOON OF THE WEDDING. Well, the delayed flight totally screwed up that idea.

This is me in my back-up dress – the Ultimate Black Dress by Sacha Drake (I did a review on about it here).

It was perfect – no fuss, no ironing, just threw it on and it looked fabulous.

Both our accommodation and the wedding were at the Shangri-La Hotel, which was simply amazing. The hotel lobby and the function rooms were so impressive – oh those chandeliers!

The wedding event was so lovely and so much fun! It was great to be with all my cousins and family members.

My cousin looked stunning. She wore a specially designed (by her), hand-made, scarlet red, lace + sheer kebaya… and looked freaking hot in it!

My 1.5 year old, who had been up at 4:30am, only managed to sleep 45 minutes in the plane – the only nap he had all day. He was so tired that he passed out in my arms, at 8pm.

Liam was so totally and utterly conked out that we placed him in a pram, wheeled him under a table and didn’t expect to hear a peep from him all night!

But while I was eating my dessert, someone was giving a wedding speech. Then I heard the word “YUM SENG” and my eyes widened with alarm. I reached for the pram, and was about to race Liam out of the ballroom, but it all happened so quickly, and I could hear the words come out of my mouth in slow motion…. NOOOO-OOOOOOOO!

“Yum seng” is a tradition in Chinese celebrations, particularly weddings, where all the guests are invited to make a toast to the bride and groom, by shouting YUM SENG! (which means “drink to victory” or “bottom’s up”). The louder and more drawn out the words are shouted, the more prosperous the blessing.

It goes something like YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNGG! But very, very loud.

So of course, my poor kid woke up in a strange place with a spectacular fright – to the sound of 800 DRUNK SCREAMING ADULTS – and he started wailing in terror. That was when our night ended.

Thankfully I was able to take a picture of me and the CHOCOLATE FONDUE FOUNTAIN before we left! Oh the melted chocolate goodness!

Anyway, by the time we went up to our hotel room, and finally lay our heads on the luxurious buckwheat pillows, it was 12:30am.

So we were awake and about, travelling and merry-making, for 20 HOURS STRAIGHT.

Crazy! But fun.

And even though Liam hardly slept on the flight back to Perth, he didn’t cry at all. Yay! The cabin crew were so grateful that they gave us a bottle of champagne as we left the plane!