“Sakura Bride” by Jonathan Lee
1: “Here comes the bride…”
Place: Sri Paandi Banana Leaf Rice Restaurant, Section 11, Petaling Jaya
Date/Time: Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 7:30pm
Objective: Mini-reunion dinner of former Siemens interns/colleagues and the giving-out of wedding invitations.
I was there early, of course.
After all, when you’ve had some sort of German education and regimented living in ya, it’s hard to be anything else but punctual. And we were all influenced by that wholesome, beer-guzzling nation in one way or another, having worked for one of their industrial giants.
But this, if you may have noticed, is not Germany.
This is Malaysia, where it’s traditional to be fashionably late to wedding banquets to the count of even an hour or two past the specified time. And apparently this applied to a small dinner cum get-together to present dear friends with one’s wedding invitations also.
Hmmph.
The hostess sashayed to our table an hour late, gracefully ignoring the fumes and aromas of rava thosai and chicken varuval, smiling like a million bucks. It’s true what they say then, wedded bliss does make a woman glow. Or at least, in this case, pre-wedded bliss. At this rate, she’d probably shine like a row of stadium spotlights after marriage.
But I digress. Once I was presented with my very own wedding invitation, I discovered a little problem.
“Eh, you getting married same day as my friend come down from UK lah.”
“So?”
“I promised her I’d go have dinner with her di. She comes down only once a year, you know.”
“You bleedin’ fool, I only get married once in my life!”
“Er… Guess I’ll be going to your wedding then?”
“You guessed right.”
And so, dear readers, I find myself promised to an Indian wedding feast held at a Hokkien Town Hall of all places. Should be loads of fun. How very muhibbah. Me, I wonder if they can manage a plate of thickslurpyoily Hokkien Mee and a mug of teh tarik susu lembu just for me.
To be continued in Part Two next week…
32 Comments
Hehehe…good luck is all I can say. Oh and don’t u ever bring that “Trained on German Timing” up in my presence! You’ve been nothing late on all our meets. You’re Malaysian after all Kenny Mah!
I bow out to the superior claims of a bride.
We’ll get to to do lotsa other stuff together…damn I love banana leaf curry. My cousin oredy promised to take me in Penang, drool.
A Lil Fat Monkey
Uhm, well, that’s not entirely untrue. But I must point out the factor of my better half tagging along. It’s correct, you know, what they say, about having a partner — one must add on another half an hour at least!
And I am very proud to be Malaysian ma, liddat…
Msiagirl
Thank you for being so understanding, my dear fairy godsister (Ed. private joke, this one; you’d have to be there when she came down from Bath last year). I couldn’t quite best her at her use of logic. But we’ll still do muchly together, don’t worry… especially with my evil stepsista joining us!
maybe its more like pple in KL who are the more ‘atas’ people, used to watch KL Fashion Show, etc… so must find change to practice sashay-ing in fashionably late. haha…
malaysian in other towns don’t do that lah. they are more punctual so the wedding banquets start punctually to. people are more ‘malaysian’ so not as to penalize those who come on time.
pple in KL are ‘kl-lites’, should not call u guys ‘malaysians’
mencemar nama baik aje. LOL.
here in Sg, sama sama lah. invites say 7pm cocktail, no one appears until 8 pm or 8.30 pm. urrghh.. horribilis
Hey my baby Kenny… it is not just German thingy-lah… US also. Anyway, I told her I would be there 8.30pm, and I was punctual. But I was shocked that the bride-to-be called me at 8.15pm to say that she is on her way. What????!!!! You are not there yet?
And yes, I agree with you that I had the same comment with you, an Indian wedding at Hokkien Association. I laughed at the exchange of your conversation with the bride-to-be. See you on May 24.
keropokman
LOL. I think a lot of ‘KL-lites’ are gonna take offence at your comment, bro. I’d say we are all Malaysians, but yes, us ‘KL-lites’ do operate slightly differently on some levels.
Let me assure you that small-town folks do turn up late for wedding dinners also, just not as ridiculously late as Kl-lites.
As for Singapore, I thought you had this “Be Punctual to Chinese Wedding Dinners” campaigns? I used to make fun of all the campaigns the Singapore Govt. had, till I realised most of them actually worked…
Esther
Yalor, this bride-to-be better not be too fashionably late at her own wedding dinner. Her guests, especially a certain gym-going / story-telling blogger, get hungry very fast one, you know.
But it’s cool, no? Indian wedding at the Hokkien Association. While the politicians talk about muhibbah this, muhibbah that, we the Rakyat actually practice it!
oh have you watched 27 dresses.. ahaha, i think you’re having a problem with that so I suggest you watch this movie so you will have an idea how to handle two weddings in one day.. hehehe
Getting into movie-for-post-titles lately, ya?
So is 2 going to be: dressed all in white….
3: here comes the bride with the bxx bxxxsxxx?
Woops, I just wanted to sing that!
equilibrium2008
No, I haven’t watched “27 Dresses” yet, but I wouldn’t mind watching it for pointers, hehe. And I don’t have to handle TWO weddings in ONE day, not yet anyway…
Watch out for the next part… It’d surprise you guys fer sure…
tigerfish
Hmm, you’ve guessed the title for Part 2 (sorta) but I assure you Part 3 will not comment on the bride’s rear end, plus-size or otherwise… (Not if I want to live to see another day, anyway!)
yeah, I do agree. KL-lites does operates differently. Look what they’ve done to me. OMG!!! - Joking!
Hmm… You too do not like being late huh? And yet you’ve done it before. And are you blaming your late arrival on your partner? Is that what you are saying Mr Kenny Mah? Lol…
cibol
Oh do tell, what exactly have they done to you?
McC
I’m not saying that’s what I’m saying; I’m not saying that’s not what I’m saying either…
haha… no lah, KL-lites wont take offence. i was a temp KL-lite for 2 years. i din take offence then.
the latest dinner I had in KL was at nearly 10 PM. the dinner was at Jalan Ipoh. we were wall waiting and waiting…. the bride did not arrive. the bride’s father’s car apparently forgot to exit the highway and was heading to Ipoh! aiyoyo!! It’s Jalan Ipoh not Ipoh. haha…
I got wedding invites with the “please be punctual card” before. nowadays most weddings seems to start on time, because the bride or groom is the punctual type. exactly 8.00 the food with the pyrotechnics starts!
are you going to have only 3 parts? part 4 lah….
keropokman
Wow… 10pm? That makes all my previous encounters with Super Late Brides and Datins/Tai-tai’s pale in comparison, bro!
And kudos to the new generation of brides and bridegrooms who start on time… There are now some couples who have the obligatory banquets for relatives (more traditional, more likely to be late) as well as more casual luncheons for friends & colleagues (who are more likely to follow the “please be punctual card”).
Part 4? Haiyo, the next part not even out yet… Hehe, it’s not what you expect… Let’s just say each part may spawn its own sequel… (This bit probably confuses more than clarifies… oops!)
heh. u’d be surprised how many indians utilise my (chinese) school’s hall for their functions. yep. weddings included.
ps: common love for beer aside, if germans are punctual, aussies are anything but. a leeetle too laid-back IMHO -_-
Jun
Hmm, makes me wonder what a German-Aussie couple would be like… but then they do say opposites attract, no?
lol @ chat with bride-to-be
singapore or malaysia, sama sama la…cos there are just too many malaysians in singapore! hahaha
p.s. the “please be punctual” clause only cheeses off those who follow it, because inevitably the whole event is still delayed by those who don’t!
love the photo, btw!
I think it’s just the weddings that are somehow later than planned. It’s like we get invitations that say 6pm SHARP, but we arrive at 7pm anyway. Reason? “They’ll only serve dinner after 8pm, no matter what it says on the invitation”.
ps in reference to Jun: looks like aussies and kiwis have this laid-back thing in common.
Nice pic from your friend — real situation?
Nice wedding invite, too. ;-D
When you’ve friends like these, who needs a whack on the back of the head with a lidi broom?
P.S. You wanna one-pot meal? Just boil together potato chunks, chicken or pork, sliced onions and carrots with 1 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 150ml water, salt and pepper to taste.
Congrats…we wants lotsa kissing wedding pictures, not the posy ones.
yr dear friend shud have said, its not only once in a lifetime.
But instead more correctly
its gonna be obsolete soon , my dear
better late than never, soon
hahaha i’ve seen a few. usually the guy’s german, and guess wat? jt give him beer, and he’ll be as laid back as an aussie *grin*
Camemberu
Hahaha, I love your postscript cos it’s SO TRUE! I was usually the one haranguing my parents to hurry up when younger, worried we were gonna be the last guests arriving and thus embarrassed as heck, when my wiser and more patient parents knew that wasn’t ever gonna happen.
The last wedding I went to, I was the first to arrive at the old high school boys’ table and had to wait aeons for the rest to arrive. Perhaps it’s time to join the crowd, since I can’t beat them?
Michelle
“They’ll only serve dinner after 8pm, no matter what it says on the invitation.”
This is news to me and may explain A WHOLE LOT about the entire process. One more reason to join the crowd?
P.S. Aussies and Kiwis do have certain things in common, though my friends Down Under might claim otherwise…
argussimo
1. The Pic is a real situation; it’s from a reader of mine and the bride’s her sister; the photographer a cousin. I’ve always wanted to use this photo and have asked permission for it quite some time back. Now’s the perfect time, no?
2. Yeah, with friends like this, one can keep the lidi broom in permanent storage! Lol. (The bride’s so gonna kill me for this…)
P.S. That sounds like a super stew… kinda like a real world version of the Stone Soup? Will definitely try it. Thanks!
Henry Yeo
Posy? I assure you this picture was not posed lah… Very the candid.
team bsg
Oh you’re terrible fler lah… “Obsolete” indeed!
Jun
I can attest to the laid-backness-enhancing abilities of beer on Germans…
loving the new look! wordpress is always supersexy.
dizzy
Thanks, and I completely agree about Wordpress being supersexy… It’s kinda like having my blog wear Prada or Ermenegildo Zegna or something sleek and sophisticated… Hehe.
i absolutely agree with keropokman and camemberu…malaysia/singapore all same one…
it’s kinda embarassing if you turn up early..sorta like an alien liddat…is it a crime to be punctual??
having said that, i’m thankful i’m part of the culture, good or bad
Nic (KHKL)
Well, I wouldn’t turn up too early (again, why are we embarrassed to be early — as you said, is it a crime to be punctual?) but rather try to be just on time, albeit a few minutes earlier rather than say an entire hour before the scheduled time.
Still, it is an interesting culture, this… and I’m glad to be part of it too. Even if it means I’m sucking the whole dish of roasted peanuts proffered to the early birds through a straw while waiting for the rest of the guests to grace us with their presence.
I love the ‘Sakura Bride’ pictures.
Oh and I live in Germany..and still have timing issues. Although I’m better than most Malaysians, so I’m sort of in-between.
elfiejane
I love the photograph too, which was I wanted to post it on my blog when I first saw it. Just one of those perfect candid moments captured for prosperity.
Ah, another Malaysian living in Germany? Which part? I miss Munich so much, but it’s always nice to hear from others based anywhere in Deutschland.
you wrote this so long ago and i did not know and guess why? your site change and i was still diligently waiting for you rss feed from the previous! no worries, will update for sure and can’t wait to continue to part 2 now!
rokh: And it’s all thanks to you! The photograph, I mean… it gave me the headstart.
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