Wedding at Wardieburn

This particular aunt of mine finally received a daughter-in-law. A fee years back, his eldest son was engaged, but then wedding was called off at the last minute. His son had since got engaged again and InsyaAllah would be receiving another daughter-in-law some time next year.

Today, it was his younger son's wedding - well it was the reception today as the wedding proper was held a couple of weeks back. Understandably everybody was relieved and it was a happy occasion. My Mum especially got to meet her old friends and relatives after a number of years.

The wedding was held at Wardieburn Camp, not far from our Gombak place. It had lately becoming a popular venue for wedding despite the hall located inside a military base. It was kind of surreal since I was born into a military family, I always remembered the camps to be heavily guarded. I just couldn't get used to the sight of the guards on duty waving cars in without inspection. Time has certainly changed.

The ceremony was very well attended and by the time we left, there were still throngs of people parking their cars and queuing to get into the hall. With the restless children - NY two boys plus Julia's two girls - we had to leave rather early. But not before catching up with our relatives.

Post-call were never good days for me, but meeting my relatives and even teachers from my primary school in Kepala Batas soon certainly took the fatigue away. But now, I could do with some sleep ......

After-Lunch Mints

I wouldn't call this after dinner mints. In fact, it was quite the opposite. A durian pancake. After a hefty dinner. Take it at your own risk ......

Angry Birds Water

This is a novel one. I have yet to see this before and it was Irfan who noted it. It was on the table at my cousin's wedding this lunchtime.

How did it taste? Just the same as normal mineral water. And no, I didn't go into a rage or gain the ability to fly. Maybe I needed to drink a lot more of those ......

Xmas Dinner

I was about to leave the hospital to get back to the apartment for a quick shower and microwave dinner when I found out that Anita and the boys would be out with my in-laws for dinner. The boys wanted Chinese, so we went to my Dad's favourite at Corus Hotel.

Anita had just arrived at the restaurant when I called her. And since I was already in the car, I decided to head to the hotel as well. Luckily the traffic wasn't too bad, although it was a crawl in front of Sunway Pyramid.

The hotel was packed with people having their Christmas dinner at the main cafe, full of singing and drinking. There were live bands playing, and people mingling about. The Chinese restaurant - Ming Palace - was a lot more sedate. And we were able to have the dinner in peace. The food was already served when I arrived, and being hungry from work, I went straight for the food. Much better than the microwave dinner I would have otherwise in store.

By the time I was done with dinner, I already had a couple of patients waiting for me at the hospital. I went straight in, and was back the apartment by midnight. Shower only came after that ....

A Draw Was A Draw

A draw was a draw. And it was still a point in the bag, but that was no consolation really. We should have put then game to bed, but from a toothless performance up front. Maybe it was the Xmas round the corner. Rooney especially was sluggish with both his passing and finishing. And even van Persie was not his usual deadly self.

Swansea played a clever game. They pressed United using a high line and compacted the midfield. At times, Carrick and Cleverley were overrun and struggled to get a hold of the game. This allowed Swansea forwards to run forward, especially Michu and get into good positions. It was also quite clear that Vidic could do with a couple more outings before getting his fitness back. His reading of the game was still there, it was just the speed.

Understandably, Swansea struggled to keep such a high energy game throughout, and was getting tired after the hour. We tried to capitalise with the introduction of Chicarito. But apart from a good chance that missed his stride, he was rather anonymous. And then, there was Valencia. He was really struggling. With United only have three wingers in the squad - then other two being Young and Nani if we discount Giggs - we would have problem playing our usual wide game going forward. Both Young and Valencia was below par in then crossing department yesterday as well.

Hopefully we would clear the cobweb before the next game on Boxing Day. The lead is now down to four points after our first draw of the season. But putting things into perspective, getting a point away to Swansea was never a bad thing. On their day, Swansea could play proper football and out any team under pressure. It was just not our day, with us hitting the bar twice and the Swansea defense putting their bodies on the line last-ditch defending. The real blow came with the news of Chelsea putting eight past the Villan. Now, that was an attacking display .......