An additional Candle

An additional Candle,

Gosh, we elders don't pay much notice to being a year older ourselves, just a day like any other if you ask me......

But for our girl it's different, and remembering back when I was a kid myself (yeeeeaaaaaaaars ago), each birthday was a big happening which I eagerly looked forward to......thus can easily imagine her excitement as her DAY came closer and closer.

This year we made it a low-key affair, asking her to invite her best friends to come over to our house to celebrate her birthday.

Some party-balloons, snacks, my home-made spaghetti, fried chicken, soft drinks......doesn't take much to keep the young crowd satisfied,........ easy peasy.

Brought out the Xbox with its Kinect controller from storage. Add in a laptop, desktop, Ipad, mp3 players, piano and a guitar.....+ additional party games, and the party was set to go....

One of Laetitia's best friends, Denise Tan who had arrived early, was more than willing to help out to decorate and prepare for the party.....that's what friends are for.......

Too bad the weather didn't play along, thus prohibiting them from going out to the garden and run around......luckily our house is big enough to cater for them all.

The moment supreme was undoubtedly the ..... guess once......cutting the birthday cake......:p

The chocolate birthday cake went in smoothly down their throats....chocs and kids, can't go wrong heh?

And the kids continued playing till the wee hours of the evening.......I do wonder when it comes to studies, they are not that enthusiastic.....:p....education ministry should consider throwing in a few parties at school to get them going.....at least at our girl's birthday party it works :)

No wonder the kids were bit reluctant to go home,....but not before each and everyone of them received a goodie bag :)..........and foremost our door is always open for them,....

We're damn glad to see that our birthday girl has chosen out a good bunch of friends........and teenagers, be it in our days or at this present moment,........friends are and have always been important....

Happy birthday girl and hopefully your friends and you will remain best of friends for a long time to come :)

Malaysian Chinese Fairy Tale Wedding - Final Chapter

Malaysian Chinese Fairy Tale Wedding - Final Chapter,

Venue : HGH Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur

Date : Saturday 5th November, 7pm 

(but knowing Malaysians by now....you can easily assume they WILL NOT be on time.....after all, "on the way" is one their most favourite expressions....could either mean 15 mins or an hour or two.....so when somebody tells me that they are on their way, I always demand an exact time frame, ........ don't tell me I didn't warn ya)

Event : Keanwai's and Joanne's Grand Wedding dinner,

Guest list : well over 1000 people, inclusive some local tow kay's (in proper English : an euphemism for distinguished and renowned guests.....don't ask me who, 'cause I bleeping don't know them)

With practically all the guests being late, save for some exceptions (but they were rare indeed), we had time on our hand to roam around this grand hall for ourselves.

Phew, I bet there are not that many air-conditioned halls in Kuala Lumpur who are capable of hosting weddings and other events for such a large crowd, ...... 

I suspect that the venue floor manager must have been a decorator in  his/her previous life, 'cause the attention to detail is exquisite, ranging from the flower arrangements, the table settings, stage decoration and appropriate usage of light fixtures.........it sure looks grand and massive indeed. Truly, an appropriate setting for a fairy tale wedding :)  

Kinda shame that in a matter of a few hours, the whole place would be pretty messed up, with F&B spilled over the tables, chairs not aligned anymore, .... 

Well, the 'Family' helped out with attending to the guests, e.g. appointing them to their respective tables, the occasional small talk, making sure that everything was going A-okay, thanking them profusely on behalf of the bride and groom for coming, even though I didn't know every Dick and Harry who was present........and most importantly........collecting the 'ang pows' :p 
(a marriage costs money, no exception in this case, and any form of monetary contribution is more than welcome to cover the expenses, simple as that)

Ofcourse, everything went smoothly, the guests enjoyed the dinner, darn right they did 'cos we pre-tasted it and gave our seal of approval back in Sekinchan....:p....

The DJ's and Emcee played and hosted up to our expectations, what more can you expect?

Almost a year of preparations and so many other prior ceremonies.......it felt like the wedding dinner itself was over in a blink of an eye...

Too much happening in such a short space of time, and truth be told, we felt obliged to make certain everything went as smooth as silk, thus nah, apart from the guests and the bride and groom, we didn't really  immerse ourselves into partying along....but that's not the point, is it? It is after all in honour of the bride and groom that we all had gathered.

After the curtains had dropped, the last guest leaving, we couldn't help but feeling that "This is it" or rather "This was it"......

Returning back home, dead-tired but adrenaline still pumping through our veins, and realizing that we had managed to do our part,....albeit just a small part...


Now it's up to the newly-weds, Keanwai & Joanne, to make their fairy tale marriage successful.....


The omens are good, a better start than this is impossible to find :) 

Malaysian Chinese Fairy Tale Wedding - Chapter Six

Malaysian Chinese Fairy Tale Wedding - Chapter Six  

Final Home Coming and Tea Ceremony, 

.....the Big Day has arrived......


Adhering to traditions, Keanwai and Joanne, will enter our house as officially declared newly-weds.

Before that to happen, the ancestors are once again called upon to bless their arrival, clearing the 'air' from any evil spirits and entities.....in return for their blessing, they are ofcourse treated to some goodies, including a wholly roasted piglet....tit for tat :)

Everyone, inclusive our life-long household maids partake in the preparation of this oh-so-important event.  Strings of firecrackers and their equivalent paper strips handheld canisters were put ready ..... not only to announce/welcome the arrival of the newly weds, but more to scare away any lingering spirits who have no business being at our place. "shoo, shoo....!!"

At last the motorcade with the posh bridal car, accompanying cars and motobikes arrived, announcing their arrival by honking their horns incessantly. (I'd suggest you better turn down the volume on your laptop/desktop pc when you click on the below vid)

The bridal car came to a stop before reaching the gates of our casa,.......2 strings of fire crackers were lit up and going off with a bang and resulting smoke, 


There's no rule which says that the limo had to stop before the fire crackers were extinguished..........I highly suspect that the chauffeur was not daring enough to put a scratch on his valuable limousine :p

The newly-weds stepped out of their limo under a deluge of paper fire crackers....and made their entry to pay respect to Keanwai's parents......

The age-old tradition which has endured centuries if not millennia is the Tea Ceremony performed at a wedding.


The 'Tea Ceremony' is by far the most important ceremony, 


In short, it is a sign of respect and reverence of the married couple to the parents and the family by serving them tea by either kneeling down or just simply bowing......and in return, by accepting the cup of tea, the parents and the family welcome the bride or groom into their family (usually the parents in return will also issue a dowry in the form of a red packet or 'angpow').......

A new person has joined the 'Family clan', ......... Joanne is now a member of the "Inner Circle"....:)

And that has to be celebrated with........eating again.....:p......yuppers, all the various ceremonies are taking their toll on our energy levels, honest truth!!  

We need the nourishment and a bit of a time-out before we head off for the Grande Finale....

Next and Final Stop......Wedding Dinner :)