Grumpy Boys

We brought the two boys along for the wedding reception in town. This was initially planned for yesterday evening, but was delayed until this lunchtime due to the road closures. The venue, Dewan Tun Rahah, at Menara Tun Razak off Jalan Bukit Bintang. That was the first time I had been to the hall, a not particularly big one, but nice and intimate.

There were plenty of Consultants from UM present just then, took me a good 20 minutes to go and talk to most of them. Some of them happened to be my patients believe it or not. I was really glad that the hall was full, as the fear was, should the situation yesterday was worst than it was, nobody would want to travel into town. Another worry was the weather, as it started to rain heavily when we arrived.

Unfortunately my boys were really grumpy at the hall, Irfan especially as he was still carrying a sniffle. He did not want to come along initially but since there were nobody left at home to look after him, we had to drag him along, minus his iPad. He was a right strop. I was not able to enjoy much of the food and to calm him down I had to carry him out.

The nice pelamin that they hadSpeech from the hostOne thing about a lunch rather than dinner wedding was how fast the ceremony seemed to go. By the time everything was done as dusted, it was only 2.30pm. If it was dinner, I can imagine it dragging in for a couple more hours. The food was good, catered from Seri Malaysia. The boys has some rice, then went straight for the dessert, some chocolate cakes. Sufficed to say, I was not able to get many snaps.

Intan's Akad

We were apprehensive and were prepared to turn back on the way over yesterday. We were debating the route. Would we take the DUKE? How about MRR2 then LDP? Definitely center of town was a definite no no. Federal Highway might have been risky. So we journeyed from Gombak to Kelana Jaya via Kepong, then Bandar Utama. Traffic was smooth. We reached our destination in under half an hour.

Yesterday was the akad ceremony for my cousin's daughter. It has been planned since the beginning of the year, and the Bersih rally nearly derailed the plan. The initial plan was also to hold the reception on the evening - last night - but since the venue was smack in the middle of town, it was elated to this afternoon. At least the delay was not that bad since some of the family members traveling from far - the groom side was from Kedah - did not have to arrange for an extra day stay. Most of them were planning to return today anyhow, and a delay of a few hours were more better than having to plan to come back on another day.

The waitAn it was officialThe akad went ahead. The only disruption was the caterer getting stuck in a roadblock off Subang and food only arrived after 11 am. The groom party turned up on time, and so was the Ustaz, a young gentleman in his early 30s who was clearly very good, giving nice straight advice to the happy couple, while administering such a smooth ceremony. After the merenjis ceremony - the happy couple being doused with flowers and perfumed water - we settled for lunch.

The happy coupleThe father of the brideMy Dad-in-lawThe customary row of photographersThe return journey was also smooth, and we reached home just before 1pm. Anita did not attend as her mother was having stomach cramps since the evening before. So, we were all looking forward instead for this afternoon reception. The slideshow for the event was ported here.

Update on Monday, July 11, 2011 at 10:55PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

The photo from the slideshow can be downloaded by clicking on the actualy photo when displayed. Follow the onscreen instruction from then on.

Time Will Tell

There was a famous saying that only the victor will be remembered as they were the ones writing the history. One day we would look back to 9th July to learn if it was a wise decision to overreact and lock down the capital city, or was it a necessary action. Certainly the rally has disrupted my plans for the weekends. However, to claim that it would be a loss to me would be selfish. The rally that day might shape the future of the country, and for that, I would rather sacrifice the cancelled meeting and wedding reception.

My wife's cousin, who also happened used to be the Dean of the UM Medical School until recently, was planning the akad and reception for her daughter on the very same day - 9th July. The akad would be in the morning, a private ceremony at his house, while the reception would be smack in the middle of town. That was postponed to Sunday, when hopefully, all the excitement of the rally would have died down. On the Sunday as well, there was a planned symposium at one of the hotel in town, during which I was scheduled to give a brief talk. That was put back to later in the month as well.

In its own way, the Bersih rally has affected my plan for the weekend, and I would be keeping a close look at the twittefeed to catch up on the eye-witness account of the event as they took place. Hopefully, I would be able to as plenty of us were expecting a media black-out. And that would include disruption of the Internet service and possibly the cellular network. If that was the case - the Internet being cut - then it would be safe to assume that something ugly might have happened. And nobody would want that. Here is hoping that no blood would be shed in what was hoped to be a peaceful rally at the start.

Kenduri at Flamingo

CongratulationsDecember has always been busy for me. Not because of work, but due to the number of weddings I had to attend. It seems that I had invitations every weekend. Even though I was keen to attend, they can be a bit of an issue you if it were to happen every Saturdays and Sundays. I don’t usually talk about them, but I will have to give an exception this evening for a couple of reasons. It was the first time that I attended a wedding at Flamingo Hotel in Ampang. Secondly, it was one of the better organise one that I been invited to.

The gorgeous pelaminThe wedding was of the daughter of a very close family friend. I practically knew the bride since she was a young girl. A couple of months back, she, her mother and my Mum went to Indonesia to shop for the preparations. The akad nikah was held yesterday at the bride’s house, but was I was not able to attend. My mum did so on our behalf. Suffice to say that they make the plan well in advance for the ceremony and I was glad to see that everything turned out very well indeed.

My sister and her good friend texting while the proceeding was going on .... Oi! You should be concentrating!Flamingo Hotel was only about 10 min out from where my mum lives. Traffic getting in there can be tricky but it was rather light last night. After finding a parking spot, we went straight into the hall. We were given a number on to which table we were allotted to. We sat right in the end of the hall, maybe not to cause to much of a stir. We were well away from the pelamin, and since it was my sister, parents and another family friend, we spent the evening chatting away and laughing out loud. Walking in we were really surprised at how nice the hall was. It was a square, with the plumbing at one and and the high table on the side. 

 The pelamin was exquisitely prepared. There were adorned with clear crystal chandeliers with lightings and crystals, creating a shimmering reflection. The couple entered in a light gold traditional costumes, followed the obligatory doa and tepung tawar ceremonies. Very classy, and after the main meal, the they made a quick escape to change into a dark brown evening attire. The meal itself was very nice. I have been to a few other venues before and after being there for a few times, you can sort of guess what the menu would be. The change certainly made the difference, and we were served with tasty soto as starters before starting the nasi minyak meal. I must say that the meal was well above average to what was normally served. The rest of the ceremonies also went through without a hitch, and we left at about 10.30 before the crowd built at the exit.

I wish the happy couple the best for the future in starting their new journey together. And should I get another invitation to attend a wedding at Flamingo, I will definitely attend without hesitation. And for those planning a wedding, this place deserves serious consideration.

Wedding in KB

The main event for the trip to KB was to attend a wedding. Wedding of Puan Anita’s cousin. Marrying another one of her cousin. Confused? Well, we were as well. The crowd had to be split into two, so that some remain at the house with the bride, while the other half with the groom!

This way

Anyhow, weather was gorgeous. Food was gorgeous. Bride was gorgeous. Everything went well. Irfan had some sniffles after the flight in, so we served him some flu medication. He was out for 3 hours while the wedding was going on. Less drama! The akad ceremony was held at the bride’s house earlier in the morning. After a short break, it was the actual wedding feast.

The Qadi doing the akadThe groom in Malay traditional dressLater in the after noon, the groom came for the bersandingThe bride at bersandingThe MC for the day belting out some local favouritesThe theme was blue, which was just as well as the boys were both in blue, so was Puan Anita. My batik had a shade - well, a couple of stripes of blue - so that was OK. There were a few tradition that I was not familiar with - we had Perak and Penang ceremony for my wedding. For example, rather than bertepung tawar, the visitors came over, dropped some cash on a collection vessel and embrace the host. The bersanding and all the rest were I was quite familiar with. Hmm! I should study more wedding I think - the real ones. The ones held in the kampongs with all the traditional regalia rather than the pseudo-modern ones held in KL at big hotels with Western-style reception. There’s so much to learn ….