Recce Trip to Northern Singapore - Seletar Country Club

The last entry from Qi Qi provided the spur for us to move on to the next stage of our preparations - starting on recce trips to potential ROM venues to have a 'feel' of all venues on our shortlist. The past weeks have been hectic for me, to say the least - pre-exhibition work, 3 long days of exhibition, continuation of my projects covering 3 countries, brainstorming sessions to tackle the economic crisis, and losing the use of my room for one week =p

This shall not be used as an excuse of course. I decided to drop all my work for the day and focus solely on our preparatory work, since this was a rare day we could spend some time together working on our wedding.

Our first recce trip proved to be a long one - a 30 minute drive all the way to the northern part of Singapore, to an all-too-familiar place. Having spent 2 years of my life in Seletar Camp, getting to Seletar Country Club didn't prove to be too difficult, albeit it was deeper into the camp. In fact, the inaccessibility was something we both noted that reduced the appeal of the place. Even if shuttle services were to be provided, the nearest train stop was still a 15-minute ride away. Parking was ample though.

With no one to guide us around the place, we assumed the responsibility of being tour guides. We tried to match what we saw on the websites with what we actually came across on the ground - and being the resourceful chaps that we are, we naturally found Tavern & the Fountain Terrace on our own. And being the naturally-unconfident chaps that we are, we decided to do a double-check with the General Office. And we were lucky to have a very kind-hearted Indian security guard who willingly offered to show us all the potential solemnisation venues there are in SCC.

We went direct to Tavern first. The following are our comments regarding the place:

Qi Qi: "Tavern's too small. And dark. But the view is nice, and a major plus is that we have the whole place to ourselves. But it's a no, cos it is highly unlikely that we can accommodate 60+ people within the premises."
Jeff: "Tavern gave me a relaxed feel, a little bit of a rock-chic feel with the elevated stage and drum sets, and I rather liked the bar counter at the centre - it'd be cool to have this bar where guests could order their drinks from. But it'd be a no for me cos it doesn't satisfy my basic criteria of having an outdoor solemnisation."

Next up was the Fountain Terrace. It also overlooks the golf-course, except there's a nice fountain area in front of the eating area. Here's our comments:

Jeff: "It's definitely one notch higher than Tavern. The setting would be perfect especially if the weather holds up during the solemnisation. However, I do not really like the eating area just behind the Terrace. They would have to do a major spruce up of the place to make it cosier than it is now."
Qi Qi: "Think I personally like the Terrace more than the Tavern. A major plus point is Terrace's spacious area, with a fountain overlooking the greenery golf course. But the eating ground is not to my liking too, for one, it would not be exclusive to us only. :( "

Overall, both of us still feel positive about this place, and so we are not ruling out Seletar Country Club completely till we complete our recce trips. :p

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By the way, Qi Qi has something else to say:

Received 2 little presents from Dear today. :) Want to know what the gifts were? The answer is in the pics below:

So Dear has kept his promise of getting me a set of pyjamas. Yeah! And it surprised me with the good choice he has made - A really lovely comfy white sleepwear robe! Really can’t bear to wear it, hehe. Thanks Baby! :)

And of course, Jeff received something in return for his efforts...