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A friend, Weng, who helped shoot some of our pictures during our wedding has a new website.
www.wengyapphoto.com
Well, I designed it, and you may be able to view the photos in his photographs page.
Cheers!
Michael
I’ve just uploaded a bunch of photos from our honeymoon to our Flickr site.
Go check it out. Have fun!
Greetings from The Andaman, Langkawi! It has come the the end of our honeymoon! Boo hoo :““( But it has been simply superb! The place is incredibly beautiful and close to nature. The sun, sea, rainforests, impeccable service and of course, Michael’s new found friends, the crabs! Lots of them! (He spent more time catching and examining them than he did anything else!) No wonder he can be so full of c!@# at times. *smile* Everything went well, the weather was kind to us and we got to enjoy lots of sunshine before it poured yesterday night. The food has been memorable too. The first night, we went to Barn Thai, a Thai restaurant in the mangrove swamp. Very romantic indeed. The second night, we decided to save some money, and bought buka puasa juadah for dinner instead. We enjoyed the simple food while watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (a movie we missed). And yesterday night was a blast! We had steamboat with lots and lots of fresh seafood! It was really a new sight watching Michael gobble down so much crab, prawns and his favourite- the sea cucumber. *smile* Ok, I’ve done the food bit, let’s hear it from the groom…I mean, the male.
Well, this post is two days late. But, hey, if you were every married, it’s difficult to blog when you’ve geared up to get the bride.
So what happened?
I’ve got some pictures which I will upload later. So that will explain the things I’m going to write here.
First, some of the ‘heng tai’ came over the night before (29th Sept) and we worked on getting our stomachs filled with hokkien mee and hainanese yin yang noodles. Then helped with covering the ribbons of the bridal car. It rained quite heavily that night.
We then got together and started to chat while Chee Yeong and I worked on our guitar gig.
Yep, the surprise was that I would be singing in Mandarin (a language I don’t speak, read or write). And playing the guitar (which I have never learned to play, I used to play the Electone/electronic organ) I was a bit worried that I would forget the lyrics and mix up, since I was still messing up the lyrics, and even the guitar. Meanwhile dad was working on my MacBook on the guest list. Finalising the table arrangements. It was already past 11PM.
When he finished, we were still working on the guitar gig. The rest of the boys just watched and gave support. Thanks guys!
Then I went upstairs to print out the guest list and other items. The last thing was extra angpows and the big angpow for the Jee Mui. Yep, we had planned to give them fake ang pows and then only to finally ‘console’ them with the big one. If they were going to have fun, we should have fun too!
Finally we went to bed. I was the second last to go. I keyed in the last entry for the pre-wedding events and finished up my speech. Chee Yeong was still working. Poor boy.
0600 hours
Look… the boys were all on the floor, even as the alarm rang. I had a headache. The fan was blowing and the air was deflected onto my head all night. I quickly went to take my shower and came down for a good session of True Light.
Donevan and Li Kun arrived. Li Kun, a girl, was walking in the house while the guys were still in their underwear and pants unzipped… gosh.
We certainly did not expect any girls to come in the morning! But after the guys slowly got ready, had breakfast and True Light, we were all good to go. Except for me. I was the last to dress up. Interestingly I felt so unprepared. A little scared and half-wishing that all this was not happening.
Weng and Pei Yuh, arrived and started shooting stills and video.
After I got my hair damped (in Don’s words “WET!”) Don was going to style my hair, but Li Kun got into the picture and havoc ensued. She took the gel into her dainty hands of hers and… World War 3 started. She kept spraying that gel at POINT-BLANK range. I screamed for mercy everytime the cold liquid impacted my scalp. In the end, I did not even look at the mirror. I was supposed to look good. I suppose the end justifies the means…
Pei Yuh could not keep the camera still as she was in stitches watching the scene.
With my parents helping me with the jacket and corsage, we were ready to go. Final hugs to mum and dad, and we were off.
0900 hours
The bridal car with me inside lead the 4 car convoy. We moved with ease through the KL morning traffic. Since it was a Ramadhan Saturday, the roads were clear. We reached quickly and got in quite fast. The only boo boo was that Sean, my cousin got bitten by Chin Jin’s dog. Poor thing, he should not have tried to pet her. Sean, Ong Ong is not the same as Buddy (Seans large dog)
We waited for the bride to get ready and the relatives started taking photos with me. Boy, there were more excited than me.
1000hours
The girls (jee mui) probably had the most fun. After the few rounds of ‘questioning’, they demanded to have Ang Pow. One for entering the house, and one before they open the door to the room. So we negotiated to give them one Ang Pow for every step I take in the house. Every time I put my foot on the floor, I would have to pay them one red packet. This was a problem because I only had 6. Then the guys came up with a brilliant idea.
So I payed up one red packet and they opened immediately to check. So I took my first step in.
Immediately the girls ran upstairs to protect the second ‘gate’.
So the guys lifted me up! Ya, I was off the ground. So I was flying up the stairs!
Human Shield
It was so unfair for them to use young boys as human shields. *smile*
Anyway, we were faced with three of CJ’s little cousins and they all demanded money. God, what’s the world come to.
So after that we reached the top of the stairs, we had to pay them. They took all my money!
They gave me a glimpse of Chin Jin, no, not once but two times! I wanted to just give them the money, but it was going to be no fun. So we haggled until Oh Papa came to intervene. He told the girls to hurry up. Hahaha. Thanks Papa.
So we got in after they snatched all my red packets.
She was so beautiful! I dropped to my knees and passed her the bouquet.
We went to offer greetings and tea to the ancestors and went down for prayers and serve tea to the relatives. Then we were off!!
1130 hours
We reached my house and it was great! We got down and went in. Tea ceremony and my dad was so emotional. SO unlike him. He is usually very calm.
Soon we were finished with the tea ceremony and went up to have the bed jumped on my my little baby cousin, Tze Min. Then my brother punctured the ‘tamtung’ and we were done!
1230 hours
Lunch for the bride and me. The heng tai left to the Mahikari Centre. Soon, when we were done, we left. So off to the spiritual union ceremony…
More later. I got to rest my fingers now.
This is it. Already gone.
At 9AM, I spent the last 24th hour teaching the kids at college.
Well, the rest of the day was so much of a rush, but the only time calm was when I was in front of the Altar, receiving and giving Light. *smile*
Well, I think I’m ready. I’ve got to go to bed.
“Forward… March!”
Gosh, Thursday has come and gone.
I’m sitting down here typing… with a pile of ang pow for the family members. Now I know how much I need for new year.
Talk about big family… my dad comes from a family of six boys and two girls. Chin Jin’s dad comes from a family of eleven siblings. Then mum’s… (I’ll stop here… I still want to sleep tonight)
Well, today was a rushed job… I got up at 6am to send my car for service, and then worked frantically to try to finalise the dinner seating and at 10:45am to the hotel to meet the piano tuning guy. While he was tuning the piano, Chin Jin and I had brunch and worked some more on the dinner seating arrangements.
Soon, at about 12:30, he was done and we paid him. Apparently, he is also tuning the piano for Michael Wong’s concert. We had the cheek to ask if he had any connections to get tickets… no such luck.
Anyway, we were soon off, back to my studio. Worked on the wedding ceremony programme and went on the print it out. I rushed back to get somethings printed at the print center, and met my dad, who found that the wood shop had already closed for the day. So we went together to try our luck in Taman Melawati. In the end, I bought some mounting board. I spent 2 hours reinforcing the board with engineering techniques learnt from physics class (material physics) and I think I did a pretty good job.
“They should have consulted me for the MRR2 project,” I joked with my dad. Coincidentally, the TV was airing a NGC(National Geographic Channel) programme on construction in Japan. *raise eyebrows*
Anyway, I also learnt that Ang Pows are given in pairs. Some Chinese meaning of always being a pair (husband and wife). So there, I had to double my output… I wish I knew this earlier. I had the impression that we both gave ONE out to everyone. Well, we all learn things all the time. It’s not too late. I dug out my cache of old but crisp bank notes. Now that wad of cash is kind of thin… *smile*
It’s 10 minutes to 12. I havent written my speech… ahhh… no more time already. Well, just one more day of bachelorhood. The question remains, - “Would I freak out?”
For now, I think not.
Gosh, I’m sweating in an air-conditioned room. This is panic.
Things to do:
Things already done today:
Now back to work!
Tuesday is here. I’m lecturing today. Lots to do too.
I went to finish 1 and 2.
But I did not have time to do the rest and still lots of unfinished work. Client is waiting to pay me, but so hard to find the time to go and collect the cash. Ha! Ever had that problem? Well, I do. I suppose I have to have a paradigm shift in the way I view money. I’d rather it didn’t exist. I suppose I’m too idealistic.
Since I did not have time to finish the work, I had almost no time to eat (lunch) too. I fueled my car and bought McDonalds and ate on the way to work. Yes, I am teaching in college today. Just one class as a guest lecturer.
So I was driving a little slower because I was trying to eat the burger with one hand and steer with the other. Almost ate the burger’s paper wrappings. Yes, almost like talking on the phone, but eating, I can kinda let my mouth do the chewing and swallow without having as much distraction as talking.
Now, to attend to ending the class. It’s already extended a bit.
Wow. It’s Monday already.
So what do I have to do today? Well, for starters, I have to be at home in the afternoon, to
prepare the bed. Then Chin Jin is bringing some things over… like the spitbowl (tam tung).
Here she comes…
More later. Busy day.
Ever wondered what that logo means?
Well, here is your chance to take part in our quiz! One lucky person will win a special treat from me and Jin if you can correctly figure out the meaning of the logo.
The final decision of the winner lies with us though.
Go ahead. Try it. Good luck.
Terms and Conditions:
Blah…blah… blah… no immediate family member… is entitled to any prize…. yadda yadda…