Of 9 years and now a wedding

Made a trip up to the Pearl of the Orient to attend my cousin's wedding recently, with this being the fourth and final matrimonial celebration. Typically, there will be a tea ceremony, but before that, there is this tradition of the groom and his merry mates being "bullied" by the bride's "chi-muis". I do wonder how did this culture arise, as the groom with his friends will need to brave the many challenges set forth by the ladies before the groom is able to claim his "prize". Many a times, the groom and his entourage will be "forced" to hand over angpows, eat specially made popiahs, or other food stuffed with hot peppers and perhaps wasabi, as well as perform feats which endanger the masculinity of the groom and his mates. My cousin's event even had an Oriental theme. Now seriously, why go through all these playfulness? What's the thinking behind it? Hmm... Something else which my other relatives and I were discussing as we were watching the happenings, is that most of these tradition have been passed down by word of mouth, and before long, most would have deviated or be lost through the generations. Wonder if anyone has ever compiled such variations in tradition for the Chinese folks.

Well, a wedding can be a momentous occassion, but stories abound which now sends laughter and disbelief that such happenings could occur, even with the best of planning. For example? Someone delegated with the task of bringing the wedding rings to the church service in Kuching, forgot to bring them on the actual day. Luckily, a mad dash home resulted in a delay of only about half an hour! Imagine if it had happened in KL and the one doing the mad dash home to retrieve the rings had to brave incessant traffic flow! That someone also almost forgot or was it totally forgot(?) to bring the groom's speech for the wedding dinner in Kuching! Egads indeed!!!

Through it all, I missed the three previous celebration, but managed to go for the Penang one. Lovely weather, and managed to visit "Lorong Bangkok" which had rows of houses of an era gone by. My cousin's wife's sister-in-law opened a boutique along the British colonial heritage row, nestled amongst stay-in houses and various other types of shops.

All in all, it was good to see my cousin again. Haven't seen him and his then intended for a while as both are working overseas. They have been going steady for over 9 years and finally tied the knot. Best wishes to the lovely couple.