Kenduri Afternoon

One of Anita's cousin hosted the wedding of their son this afternoon and the whole family including my in-laws went with us. It was held at a hall in Bangi.

As my in-laws were the guests of honour, we had to be there early which did not go down well with the boys. They were playing up all lunchtime, refusing to eat. I had to stay with them out side the hall while Anita entertained her cousins and relatives.

The happy couple arriving at the hallMy Dad-in-law at the high tableAlready starvingThe ceremony itself went very well. Both the bride and groom were Doctors now finishing their housemanship. Food was excellent and the best thing was, the event started on time!

The theme was blue and it was clear everybody had a great time while I had to soldier on with the boys outside the hall. We should have left them at the apartment with our maid. The original idea was to take them to see some of their relatives who they have not seen for a while.

On the way ....On the way back, they were complaining because they were hungry. We stopped by at Express Sushi while our driver drove our in-laws home.

Muar and Back

It went according to plan. My parents joined me at the apartment before we drive down to Muar in glorious sunshine to attend my cousin's wedding. But unfortunately I couldn't make it any earlier and by the time we reached Kesang Laut, one of the famous ritual was done. It was called the toll.

Basically, when the party from the groom arrived at the bride's house, they had to pass trough a series of toll, members of the bride's family would actually stop then from passing through unless some amount of money - or gift - were passed. They may also have to sing or reply verses of pantun, and only then they were allowed to proceed.

And usually there was never a single toll. Yesterday, there four of them. Done in good spirit, it was a sight to behold. A real tongue twister at times, perfected into an art.

We missed all that though.

The other thing I noticed about weddings in Johor, was this lot loved their singing. There was always live bands. And oh boy, they really could carry a tune.

We could stay for too long due to the combination of having to return to KL before its dark and my nieces were getting restless. My boys and Anita didn't come along as they were attending a wedding and a birthday party in KL. Not to mention that they had their swimming lessons as well that afternoon.

We left Muar just before 4, a quick stop for Solat and reached KL by 6.30. The traffic was light as clearly the balik kampung crowd were still chilling back home. The road was empty and the weather was great. I then joined Anita and the boys at the Club, taking them to dinner before home. A nice productive day indeed.

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 ......

Cousin's Wedding at Istana Bambu

The weather was unforgiving tonight. This to a certain extend put a dampener to my cousin's wedding reception. A lot of guests turned up late, due to the combination of poor driving condition, and difficulty of finding the venue.

The reception was held at Restoran Istana Bambu, a Malay restaurant with a twist. The whole place was build up from bamboo, from the structures to the decor. Even the pelamin was made of bamboo. An open area, with small little eating areas in huts, where the patron would sit on the floor to enjoy their meal. A novel concept.

My sister had been there before, during daytime and better weather and attested to how good the place was. But for this evening's event, the food lacked selection, and being a buffet format, the spread was limited.

Anyhow, the ceremony pressed on on time despite the heavy downpour. Nice ambiance, but I didn't know that many guests as the majority were my cousin's work colleague. I went there with my sister and Dad. Anita was feeling under the weather. I didn't mingle for too long, and had to return to the hospital as a couple of patients came to Casualty that evening. The rain slowed down by the time we left.

I may visit the place again at some point. The restaurant was located by MRR2, but getting there was a bit tricky. One has to take the Keramat roundabout off MRR2, take the 5 o'clock exit if you were coming from Ampang. Unfortunately the place was not blessed with signposts however.

Weekend of Weddings

An akad nikah ceremony last night followed by a wedding lunch. And now, I need to chill and enjoy the rest of the weekend. The plus was, it was just me and Puan Anita going for the events, leaving the boys at home. Otherwise it would have been double mayhem.

The akad nikah last night was held at home, complete with a big feast and fireworks. The event started late however, well after nine, and we only managed to return home at around half past ten. The boys were still up then, and it was past midnight when they were asleep.

After the rounds this morning, we were off for a lunch wedding. The wedding was at Templar Park, the first time we attended a wedding there, but I must say that the food was gorgeous. It was not a surprise since the caterer was from Felda D'saji, a well known chain. The highlight was the tapai - fermented rice - for desert. I'm personally not a fan, but Puan Anita really enjoyed that.

So, we plan to take the boys out for the afternoon, to make up for lost times .....