{ 5 months old }
03-07-2010
It must have been an auspicious date, that my cousin from mum's side choose to tie the knot with his high-school sweetheart this day. It was a day of union between the 2 lovebirds, in the historical town of Melaka, the bridegroom's hometown. His sweetheart hailed from Penang, which is Malaysia's other Unesco World Heritage Site.
The bride's family and entourage had traveled from Penang and made their pre-wedding preparation here. In the morning, my cousin the bridegroom, hailed from the Yeow clan, set out with his gang in an entourage of white cars to fetch his bride. Prior to receiving the bride they would have to overcome various challenging obstacles set up by the bridesmaid's family as a part of Chinese wedding culture and tradition.
...something like what i had to go through, only that i heard they had it far worse than me.
 |
| The arrival of the wedding entourage, the moment everyone has been waiting for. |
We waited at the bridegroom's house at Ayer Keroh, all of us. My mum has a huge family of 10 siblings and the Yeow family now spans 4 generations at "press time". Everyone waited expectantly outside the gate when words were out that the entourage were on their way.
At last, their arrival were preceded with loud -blazing car honk from hundred of metres away...another part of the chinese wedding tradition. It was a grand sight with the lining-up of half a dozen wedding decorated white cars. Leading the pack was of course the bride's brand new Toyota Altis, followed by other white Mitsubishi Lancer, white Mazda 6, etc. Truly a brilliant awe-inspiring white theme.
 |
| Nana, momma and Chi Phoy waiting at another wedding event |
 |
| Average of RM 120 K for each of these posh cars |
And that was just the build-up to the climax, wait till you see the bride and her bridegroom emerge from grand leviathan (sorry I got a lil' bit carried away by the excitement). The massive descend of 2 angels, bringing shock and awe to every witnesses. My cousin looked the part in a sharp suit and a fashionable short neck-tie. The bride was pretty and her smile bright it charmed everyone. Her wedding gown accentuate beauty and grandiosity. Together they're nothing short of spectacular and touching...
 |
| A Love Story |
My cousin bros, Dandy Yeow Swee Han the lucky man, Felix and Leonard
Grandma and granddaughter happy posing in front of the wedding car. My mum, a grandma at 55 years old. Come to think of it, its about time.
|
|
Tea-serving ceremony. The elders get served tea, drink it and gives ang-pow (red packet) to the newly-wed to equip them for a journey of lasting love, to go forth and multiply.
.
.
.
Today's wedding provided us a chance to our own family reunion. Melaka became our meeting point, a place 8hrs away from home, Tanah Merah, by land journey. Mum and dad still lives and work there. Chi Voon is studying aviation in Johor while Chi Phoy just started his dentistry course in UKM, KL. While the 3 of us are sort of settled-down in Seremban. Our family is just all over the country, ironically.
When ah ya (grandpa) was still around in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, the Yongs never failed to meet up every Chinese New Year. We even had a weekly family gathering among us, our grandparents, family of 1st aunt and 2nd aunt (dad's side). Ah Ya passed away in 1999. Since then, 1st aunt and her family moved to Subang Jaya while 2nd aunt and hers moved to Melaka.
So here we are, paying our 2nd aunt and husband a visit. They live also in Ayer Keroh, away from the terrible traffic jam which plagues Melaka town centre. Their 1 son and 1 daughter weren't around. But guess what, they have a new addition to the family, KENDO~.
Nana's first time meeting with her 2nd grand-aunt
and grand-uncle. She was a tad distracted by Kendo.
The princess loves all the attention she gets from "the Elders"..
Until she came upon...KENDO! When they met, we all immediately felt a very tense situation boiling. We weren't exactly sure who was intimidating who.
Kendo 1st greeted us fiercely inside the gate when we arrived. For such a small being, he packed quite big firepower for his size. He's usually let loose around the house, but for us, Kendo had to be wrestled to the ground by uncle. We later realized that Kendo was very much being treated and spoken to as part of the family, and he never had any restrainer on until we came and uncle had no choice. One thing for sure, Kendo was very eager to "engage" Nana, and vice versa.
Status: friend or foe? Unknown. The observation continues...
It seemed that Kendo's master, my uncle, bite even harder.
He used to be a school head disciplinarian.
My mum: :_l (tightening her grip on Nana).
Nana got an ang-pow (red packet) from 2nd aunt. They have
called for seize -fire. Nana...is safe,my mum..is relief.
My uncle used to be our favorite. As a child, i used to find him very jovial and funny. With his loud piercing laughter, he was the heart of any gathering. Somehow as i grew up, we fell out with each other, mainly based on the issue of religion. Me and Chi Voon used to have sleep-overs in 2nd aunt's house
when we were little. They own a computer with computer games which seem
sooo super-duper cool back then. They own every boy's dream of virtual entertainment that parents over-their-dead-body wont buy for fear of affecting their children's studies.
So here we are now, in our aunt and uncle's house, all grown up. Dad sure had some catching up to do, but with the state of once a close knitted big family being scattered, we were simply glad to see each other. And happy for each other for their respective new family editions..Nana and Kendo..
The Lord blesses us and keepeth us.
Nana is very intrigued with her "treasure".
.
.
.
The wedding banquet that night, held at a school multipurpose hall, a 10 course dinner. We arrived late for reasons i forgot, presenting ourselves like embarrassed VIP. By the time we sat, we were just in time for the second dish. The video presentation of the wedding day events was playing, the wedding photography presentation was rolling. I had only 1 important task to carry out, which was to pacify Nana.
My double chin gives you the delusion that i'm overweight.
But my growth chart is just right.
I can't enjoy the food cos i've got not enough teeth. {frusrated*#+}
Nana dressed in yellow, the little Tweety Bird,
with his 2 handsome uncles.
After countless wedding banquets i've attended, its only fair for me to provide my humble evaluation on the banquet, to keep myself occupied while waiting for the next dish.
Ratings ( 5 points max):
Food : ***** Delicious and something different. Well selected menu.
Waiting time : **** We had the karaoke performers to keep us distracted from our hunger.
Environment : ***** Very happening.
Entertainment: ****** An extra star for the bridegroom's solo keyboard performance that awed his bride and even me.
Crowd : **** Well behaved, not too rowdy.
Booze : **** Fine wines, but the big guns were limited.
Nana's behavior: *** Cranky all the time, her 1st time in a big crowd. Had to maintain her cool being passed around from 1 relative to another.
Herbal chicken in a steaming casket.
Definitely something different.
2 of my favorite uncles, uncle Jimmy and uncle Francis.
My dad entertained the crowd with his oldies, from
the side of the stage, behind the DJ, for free.
Well, wonderful traditional Chinese wedding that was. We enjoyed ourselves, with my immediate and expanded family members and relatives. Its the occasion to celebrate union and reunion; catch up and be merry. Time flies, i'm seeing my younger cousins blooming into school kids and teenagers. I hope we'll all stay happy and joyful forever, healthy in mind, soul and body, and may God bless us in all our endeavor.
Lets have nicer stories to tell the next time we meet again.
Remember my 2 flower boys from my wedding, Felix and Leonard
(from Left) Uncle Jeremy, me, Ah En (En Cik), Ah Yang, Karling & Nana (zzzzz),
Chi Phoy, Uncle Francis (drunk), Aunt Lilian, Mei Xian, and momma.
