Memoirs of Roy & Lin's Wedding

Years ago, I was not a big fan of weddings. I tried to avoid weddings as much as possible so that I could avoid being asked that big "mystery question" (or being lectured about the blissfulness and contentment of being married) by Good Samaritans and .... to be honest, seeing two souls being reunited as one in holy matrimony "was too much" for my then faint heart hahaha. That's why Emel, Jett and myself decided to give standard answer ... "December" (tiba-tiba si Taylor Swift polah lagu Back in December indah).

But as years gone by and maturity starts kicking in, I realised that weddings are indeed also stressful on the part of the brides and grooms (let alone parents) as much as the "unmarried" ladies attending it. They couldn't eat much, (nanti lipstick hilang), couldn't move much (nanti tiara jatuh) ... let alone "nak kentut" (nanti hilang glammmm). I remembered Nijah's wedding, even during "bersanding" she still gave instruction to her parents and aunties on the wedding cues.

Sate tulang ... one of Negeri Sembilan signature dishes.

So I started enjoying weddings ... on behalf of the brides and grooms. Tasting the food and wine (Tony's wedding was set in a very famous restaurant in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur), enjoying the ambience of the banquet hall (Kazen's wedding was set in the latest hotel in Kuching, the 4-points), enjoying the marriage  of culture (Niejah's wedding incorporated a mix of Malay and Bajau tradition) ... and taking a point or two  (taknak bohonglah ..) for "any" future weddings. 

Roy and Lin.

Anyway, I guess this special wedding of Roy and Lin (the beautiful princess of Norzah and Datin Zaitun) deserve to be featured in my humble blog. All I can say is simple, creative and timeless. The wedding  reception on the bride side was set at the bride's residence in Taman Melawati. 

Kompang group leading the bride and groom's procession.

Traditional musical group.

These are not bridesmaid but more like ladies of the chamber and knights.

The gift bearers from the groom side.

The bride and groom on the ceremonial couch. Gifts from the groom were adorned with white flowers whereas from the bride were with bright coloured flowers.

Look at this very sporting and loving couple!

Actually, I knew Datin first when she was in KPKT with me and she was also the person responsible for pulling me to MOTOUR. Myself and Norzah only met for the first time (and briefly) in Langkawi but we bonded through our blogs and Facebook. Then Norzah bonded with Yoyop through my blog and Facebook, which then extended to my mum. Wah ... very the social network gitew.

My mum never attended a traditional Malay wedding in Peninsular Malaysia before. She had attended Indian wedding (when my foster brother Puvan got married last year where she even wore saree) and Chinese weddings. So when Norzah requested Princess Director to fly Pehin Datin Seri all the way from Kuching to attend the wedding, of courselah akan ditunaikan oleh Princess Director. 

My mum would love so much to meet Norzah and Datin (and in fact she did mentioned about wanting to meet them zillion times months ago). So ... untuk mengelakkan dari disumpah jadi batu (hahaha), I siap flew her to KL guna the brand new Firefly Boeing 737-800 aircraft. And when disatukan pulak dengan Cik Tipah .... memang happening!!!!

Actually Norzah, Tipah and myself were actually eyeing this one tall yummylicious looking guy ... Masa tu we all on the way nak masuk rumah nak tengok bride. Suddenly Tipah exclaimed, "Handsomenyer mamat tu Mieeeee"...  I pun dengan kepantasan luar biasa terus menoleh dan .... zasssssss pertembungan mata berlaku dan (quoting ayat feveret Niejah) "dada berombak ganas". Tapi Norzah recommended pulak geng-geng "overtime" dia yang eligible dan available sampai I ngan Tipah tak tau nak kata apa tengok "uncle-uncle" semua tercengang. Hahahahahaha

Sekadar gambar hiasan. Actually I took this photo because it was so 1Malaysia.

I think the best part of Roy and Lin's wedding was the phototaking sessions at the photo booth corner. We all had a good laugh there. But hold on a second .... wah apa nie???? PANASSSSSSS

Alamakkkkkkk .... kantoiiiii

What Are You Made Of?

Sugar and spice and all that's nice?

Ok ... I was reading Norzah's entry last night A New Wave Rising of Expectation on uprising in African countries like Libya, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Cameroon and Senegal that saw one leader after another being ousted by common citizens.. The same is happening in the Saudi Arabia States of Bahrain and Yemen.

What triggered all this? 

Well that was the interesting part.  My humble comment was:

African countries (which coincidentally in these incidents happened to be Muslim countries) might have opened their mind like the people of the Great Republic of China. Suddenly they realise how rich their countries are in terms of natural resources, however many still live in poverty and hunger.

Leaders should realise that internet technologies have made the world seems smaller and nearer (information wise) and have ears. Education and awareness made the people of these countries more exposed on what's going on in the other "negara aman dan makmur".

As oppose to this:

The cause of an uprising seems simply the wish of people for a fair share of wealth, or a fair share of suffering and poverty. But I wonder if it is more to it. Where we see the current uprising I fear other players, interested parties are the unseenn hands in the game. Their objectives are not about sharing power, wealth and suffering.

This is all very scary because we cannot say we are above it.

 (this is the comment by blogger Al-Manar in Norzah's entry)

Or this:

We still don't know whether the uprising and the revolts are bringing the results expected by the people or they are just jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Our fear is that the interested parties whether local or foreign will waste no time to put a quick end to the ousted leaders ( who to say the least have maintained peace and stability in the countries concerned for years) in order to do what they could not get done all these years, This is especially so with regard to leaders who have all these while defied the western powers. If bombs and mortars could not get rid ot them, the new uprising or revolt is doing the work for them. We'll have to wait and see to know the truth, But the uprising seems to be catching on before we can evaluate who is gaining from the hellfire and bloodbath.

(Norzah's own comment)

Can you see the difference in the opinion?

Of course ... if we are to compare, my thinking level (including proficiency in English) of courseeee lahhhhhh NOT AT PAR dengan buah fikiran seorang ex-KSU, ex-KP MAMPU and seorang philosophical doctor. However, I am not going to elaborate about the uprising but rather the way I see things (or choose to see things. If you read carefully, you will see I usually angle my opinion with a little faith on the people, the system or a little idealistic thinking.

However, these past few days I began to ask myself ... how long can I pretend "blind" to the self interest, personal agenda, hypocrisy and greed that is lurking at the corners. And here in Penang, I sudah jelak with the word sensitive (or its derivation) cause all I am getting is sensitive skin from all the stress.  Hahaha... gosh I really need the laugh.

I remembered years ago, I put my heart and soul in salvaging a low medium cost abandoned housing project only to realise later that the residential area had become a perkampungan Mat Hitam. So much of helping the so call poor people.

So sugar and spice and all that's nice? (maybe for now)

Be Careful What You Wish For ...

Do you know that certain areas along the highway have great views?

I am on travelling mode again since beginning of the month and just came back from KL few days ago. As I was driving from KL to Penang in the wee hours of the morning (5.30 am) I remembered those years, working under Dr. P and cursing like nobody's business because he just could not let me out of his sights (and out of the office). And there I was monitoring states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan from Kuala Lumpur, visualizing the projects progress from 7F reports and artist impressions on the brochures.

Now, since moving to MOTOUR, I am mostly outstation than in my office. Even when I was already back in the office, my meetings with NGOs and industry players were back to back. This month in particular, my punch card was like half empty ... CNY leave (Kuching), then Mallacca, then Lumut and then KL ... still I am cursing like nobody's business ... hahaha. Snapshots of some my journey this month.

@Seri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan

@Lumut Waterfront, Perak

@Botanic Garden, Melaka

 Be careful what you wish for ...

By the way, this is not my luck prediction. Mine's P&C but hehehe ... very lucky. To KK and Vincent dismay hahaha

Anyway I was inspired to share my thoughts about this topic after a successful program with Rapid Penang recently. We were testing some of Rapid Penang routes so that our team in Tourism Malaysia could promote it to tourists who prefer to travel with public transport in Penang, starting with route 101. So while stopping at the Siamese Temple, I decided to try out the wheel of fortune machine, which according to Vincent, my leader for Project Penang, the prediction is "very very true".

Vincent said that before I put in the coin and let the machine spin for my prediction, I should pray first and let some questions or wishes flashed through my mine. To be honest, I don't know why I was set of knowing what lies for me this year. Perhaps just a little reassurance? So in short these are some of my wishes and prayers ..

I wish for PINKEST of HEALTH ...(got some good prediction on that).

 

Bonding time with my family. Perhaps more family trips like this ... (we went to Haadyai last year). To be honest that trip was great. In fact CNY trip this year was great too. Everyone seemed relax and cool. I also had time to chill out with my friends in Kuching.

 I wish for great team in my office (plus great boss). Lady boss also seems more understanding lately.

I wish for more great friends (and colleagues). To be honest, it getting lonely "up" here. Thanks to BBM and outings like this. We could seek each others opinion and had our "bitching" time. Oppsss kantoi pakai baju sama!

I wish for less work related stress .. I know everyone knows about the issue related to the above project.  It was a real challenge for me, dealing with my management, the NGOs, the stakeholders. (BTW view was taken from the new furnicular train ... coming soon hehehe)

Ashton Kutcher's character in No String Attached - not Ashton himself. Susah akak nak jaga nanti. BTW, it was a great movie (must watch).

My wishes may be common and the usual but I think many always take that for granted (myself included). We wish for the stars when it was the sun and the moon that provide us the light. OK, my prediction readings didn't answer a VERY important question, instead it says ... something about travelling. Plus great luck this year. So contrary to my fengshui reading.

Anyway, I am rekindling with my passion with photography ... However, since I am also writing for my food blog, I noticed that most of the photos taken are mostly with my mind set for the other blog rather than this blog hahaha ... okaylah trying to adjust.

The Princess and The Froggie

Just my luck ... of all the days, Froggie chosed this day to "manja-manja" with me. And of all places, he chosed Shell station Datuk Keramat Road for our "romantic" rendezvous. Well to be honest, the guy who was pumping gas next door was kinda cute, but when I couldn't start my car ... dia buat tak tahu jer ... sialan! Menonong jer dia tinggalkan the damsel in distress.

Luckily abang Bangla was thoughtful enough asking Esso station owner next door if she sell any car batteries. The auntie even help to call Mr Ee, the 24 hours mechanic to the rescue (though I had to wait nearly an hour due to heavy rain).

Soon enough, Daddy also came to the petrol station just to see if everything was OK. Thank God he came.... else I terpaksa cari jalan yang "halal" untuk bayar service Mr Ee (tak dapek den nak bayangkan). I was short of RM 50.00 ... terpaksa borrow duit His Royal Highness The Emperor.

See, my Valentine's gift to Froggie. So romantic! With the date inscribed!

Mr Ee even paste his namecard on my windscreen in case of emergency. Here I share his contact information in case anyone got car problem in Penang. Sharing is caring! True Valentine spirit ...

Be My Valentine's ...

Despite the current hoo-haa in the country telling people not to celebrate St. Valentine's Day for religious reasons as well as statement from the Council of Churches saying that it's not a Christian celebration, to me I still embrace the spirit of St. Valentine's day.

Put aside the moral and sex education, let's face it ... the longer we are in a relationship ... the love tend to fade, couples found themselves drifted apart and eventually lead to divorce and break-ups. What's wrong of having one day in a year just to remind ourselves (mandatorily) about LOVE, PASSION and maybe some DESIRE hahahaha. Pheww ... it is a sexy day!

Ok ... I am not going to lecture about the issue but as the theme has something to do with LOVE, so I guess what other best day and time for me to introduce the new LOVE of my life, one that I pour my heart and soul with PASSION and burning DESIRE these past few weeks ...

My faithful readers ... please welcome Princess Di .... (my other blogger name) .... for my food blog known as Princess Di's Yummy Notes.


So far the blog have 7 entries .... about my food misadventures from Penang-Sarawak-Malacca. Well more entries are coming. So please feel free to visit my new Food Blog ... a journal of my food adventure in Malaysia and everywhere!

Last but not least, I would like to dedicate this video to all lovers and couples (old and new) out there. I have always love this song (original from Lady Antebelum) and soooo lucky that it was featured on Glee! Yeaaaaaa



Though this is a bit gayish but I don't mind being wooed by Darren Chriss like this. Anytime, anywhere hehehe