Following
the March ROM, and the April photo shoot in Melbourne, the penultimate event in
the very long runway of events leading up to Choon and Phoebe’s Big Wedding
Lunch in Singapore was their wedding in Kuala Lumpur.
(This year
is really the couple’s year)
Phoebe is a
KL girl. While her father and three siblings reside there, she’s the only one
who came out to Singapore during her university years. She goes back pretty
often and she’s got heaps of family and friends there.
The
Singapore contingent heads up North and comes back down in two cars. Three
days, two nights. This was our time to get to know our new "relatives" in Malaysia a little better!
* The patriarchs
We mostly hung out at the KL suburb where Phoebe’s family
home is located, in Jinjang. It apparently used to have loads of gangsters in
the 70s, but is now a residential neighbourhood with a high proportion of
Chinese.
* View of Jinjang from our hotel room window
These are
the wedding bits which struck me:
The Dowry
Phoebe’s
family is fairly traditional and there are many things – never done during my
wedding because we are so bo chup - which
I see for the first time.
My parents
have to present her dad with a dowry.
Upon
arrival in KL, my folks quickly assemble a basket of fruits and alcohol. I
think the dowry also includes gold jewelry and a roast suckling pig (money was
passed over in a red packet for the pig to be served during the dinner).
* At the KL bridal shop, Fai Fong Bridal Gifts & Bakery
* Selecting beautiful fruits for the basket
* My parents present this basket to Phoebe's dad
The House Buffet
The night
before the formal dinner, Phoebe’s family host an outdoor buffet dinner at their family home for what feels like hordes of people.
* Before the deluge...
* Phoebe in white in the middle, greeting all her relatives
* Us
Tents were
set up, tables brought in were accessorized with pink tablecloths and red plastic
chairs, the cooking (including the preparation, we saw them cutting and slicing
at about 3pm) was done on-the-spot, in huge woks, with gas and water tubes running all
over the sidewalk.
* Preparing food at 3pm, next to the er, lamp post and street sign
* Frying chicken wings!
Phoebe’s
brothers, in preparation for the onslaught of cars, “booked” lots with the
neighbours. And there really were so many cars, after the party there was a
traffic jam with cars passing within inches of each other. But I don’t think anyone
really minded. That’s the nice thing about Malaysia. If we did that in
Singapore, the neighbours would raise a ruckus and complain to the Prime
Minister. (I suppose one could argue that in Singapore, no one would organize a party which spills into most of the neighbours' private spaces..)
The food,
was divine. Maybe because it’s piping hot, it was really excellent. Especially
these chicken wings which were snatched up batch after batch, despite being
fresh out of the oil and sizzling hot. KK ate tons.
The Dinner
The wedding dinner was
at a Chinese restaurant which wasn't an ordinary restaurant, it looked as if it had been built for events.
It had a cavernous ceiling and no pillars, with an enormous stage and what looked to
be a super-bright LED screen on which Choon and Phoebe’s wedding photos were
beamed with crystal-clear clarity.
* I wrote that board!
* The unforgettable first-dish song, which was so blaringly loud it caused quite a few guests to clap their hands over the ears
* Our menu, which I can't read. But food was great
Por Por was
asked to sing a song at the last-minute. She showed off her karaoke chops with
Shanghai Beach.
Phoebe’s
father, we find out, is also a karaoke fan. He showed off his vocal prowess
with Cao Yuan Zhi Ye.
4 comments:
Nice! Will there be a lunch/dinner in Singapore too?
oh yes. its over already. i'm just taking my time to blog :)
The house buffet looks fun! Can sense a strong 'kampong spirit'.
Yes it was very fun! Noisy, open-air, lots of alcohol, kids running around..
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