Another Wedding in the Family

This month, another nephew married his sweetheart. However, their marriage was solemnised last month in the UK where she was working. They returned to Malaysia to host their wedding dinner and to have the tea ceremony, which all Chinese families regard as mandatory.

Ivan Tan’s wedding was very different from Adrian Liew’s. He had the main tea ceremony in his family home a week earlier, before the wedding dinner, instead of on the same afternoon. For those, like me, who missed the earlier tea ceremony, a short one was held in one of the hotel function rooms, so that the bridal couple could serve tea to the relatives who were unable to attend the earlier one.

                                                         Ivan receiving his Ang Pau

The wedding dinner was held in the grand ballroom of a 5-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

                                                Ivan & Crystal entering the Ballroom
         
The venue was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers. Each table centrepiece was a huge arrangement of fresh flowers, in a pink and white theme.

                                                             My sister & I with spouse

The main table had huge floral arrangements.

                                                             Main Table Centerpiece

A live band entertained us throughout the dinner which was individually served, course by course. Thus, dinner did not end before 11 p.m.  Take a look at the menu!!

                                                            Wedding Dinner Menu

                                                       Dessert- The Strawberry Garden

As usual, friends and relatives caught up with one another on this occasion and everyone had a good time.

                                                                Siblings and spouses

                                                         My sisters- Left is Ivan's mum.

                                                      Center: my beautiful niece Sunitha

Chinese Weddings

Weddings in the family are events to look forward to and these occasions enable family from far and near to gather together. My nephew Adrian married his dream girl Cheryl in May this year and it was such a romantic wedding, held at a very old church, St. Andrew's Church.

All his cousins, family and friends came from different countries to celebrate his Big Day. The wedding was very well-planned and everything went smoothly.

Photographs were taken together with the bride and groom. The family photograph of his aunts and uncles and the photograph of his cousins and their children show what a big family we are.

Together with aunts and uncles

                                               Together with cousins and their children

No Chinese wedding is complete without the tea ceremony. This is where the bridal couple serve tea to the parents and relatives as a mark of respect. Accepting the cup of tea means acceptance into the family. Ang Pau and jewellery are given to the bride and groom after drinking the tea.

In the evening a big dinner is held and it is usually a 8 or 9 course banquet and drinks flow freely, red wine, brandy and whisky. Chinese tea is readily available for those who don’t drink.
The toast of “Yum Seng” is always dragged out over a couple of minutes or longer and everyone joins in the merry making, shouting “Yum….m…m….m….mm… Seng” as loudly as possible!

The venue for Adrian’s dinner was the Glass House and it was beautifully decorated making the guests feel that they were in a garden. The lights and the ambience made one feel as if one were in fairyland.

                                                       
We enjoyed the wedding dinner, catching up with relatives whom we had not seen for a long time. Geographical location, the rush of life and work, etc. connive to make meeting up, rare occasions. So, weddings are happy events where everyone gets to see everyone else in the extended family, chatting, eating, drinking and of course, taking photographs!

To Adrian & Cheryl, may you both have a Happily Ever After while in Chinese we say, “Pak Tau Toh Lo” (Together until Silver-haired).

Birthday Meals with Family

I had a simple birthday on the 26th of June. Although this is a significant milestone, at 75 years old, I didn’t have a big dinner to celebrate as most Chinese people would have done.

My son had suggested that I return to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate together with my siblings but I demurred. It would have been a hefty expense which I cannot really afford as airfares and taxis from the airport are expensive.

Besides, hosting a multi-course dinner at a restaurant in KL is expensive especially where at least 3 tables would be required to accommodate my relatives. Not all my family members would be present, as my elder daughter doesn’t have anymore leave and she certainly would not be able to fly to KL.  Neither would my son and his family be there. So to me, it would not be meaningful.

Instead, I opted to have a quiet day at home, having lunch with my granddaughter and hubby at a restaurant known for its good food. We ordered the mandatory birthday noodles,

                                                                 sweet and sour pork,

                                                        Hong Kong Kailan with prawn,

                                                     deep-fried chicken with apple sauce.

Then dinner was at another restaurant together with my daughter, granddaughter and hubby. It was raining quite heavily and the traffic was heavy. So, it was quite a while before we reached the restaurant. The simple food turned out to be tasty although the crabs were not up to expectation.

 Deep-fried tofu topped with minced pork & pickled lettuce

                                      Soupy spinach with century egg & Chinese wolfberries

                                                    Crabs cooked with spicy curry paste

                                               Chicken skin stuffed with pork & prawn paste

After dinner, my son and his young children called to wish me happy birthday. Earlier in the morning, he had sent me a video of his children singing Happy Birthday Grandma. They were so cute! I was very touched, listening to their young voices singing to me. That made my day!

Later that night my younger daughter called from KL to wish me too; so did my nephew and nieces. My siblings had called earlier in the day and a few of them whatsapped their greetings.

I ended the day watching a Chinese serial on Astro, reading the subtitles since I’m not familiar with the language. It was a good day. Quiet and ordinary without any fuss.

I can say that I had a very happy 75th birthday with my buddies and friends taking me out and feting me with delicious lunches, spending time with me, not forgetting the many, many friends who wished me on Facebook and on other social media platforms. I am truly blessed and I thank the good Lord for his Love and Favor. God bless my family and friends too.

Another Birthday Treat

Another two friends took me out the day before my birthday. I'm so lucky!!

We had lunch at a restaurant recommended by a mutual friend. This place is in a shopping mall and serves dim sum. They had never been to this place so we opted to give it a try.

The food turned out to be good, slightly tweaked, so that they weren’t the typical dim sum available elsewhere.

As usual, we chatted more than we ate. I guess, being senior citizens, our appetites have diminished and we no longer consume large amounts of food. Hence we usually go for dim sum as the portions are small and we just order what we like.

After lunch we took in a movie, Blue Tears, which was filmed in Miri, Sarawak. It’s a local production and we wanted to see how it would compare with other films. It turned out to be quite funny.

Unfortunately, there were only five of us in the cinema, us three seniors and a young couple. I guess the local folks have yet to learn to support the local film industry.