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Oft misunderstood soul. Shy, reserved, likes to stay in the background, but inevitably mistaken as not shy, extrovert etc. Originally meant to be a culinary blog, but in due course discovered man does not live on cake alone..hence the waffle.

Monday, June 26, 2006

It Must Have Been An Auspicious Date

I'm wondering if it was an auspicious date in the chinese calendar, or whatever other calendar that people follow to track auspiciousness. It's been one of those weekends that have rendered me SOOO exhausted, I need the weekdays to recuperate from the sheer hecticness of it all.

It started with Friday night, with pre wedding dinner buffet at young lawyer's house; he and his family have just moved into a huge mansion, where the dry kitchen alone, is the size of a small apartment. The refrigerator, not available locally, can probably fit 3 of me, easily, which is saying A LOT!!! Food was excellent, by one of my favourite caterers, Han Nam Fong, who have been very consistent so far. Their roti bom is to die for, and their roast lamb, curry mee, etc, all very very palatable. Young Lawyer understandably was busy as a blue arsed fly, but nevertheless, we had a leisurely and enjoyable dinner. Enigmatic Woman (of ELR group) is now leading the race in the FONG FEI KEI (standing up at the last minute) stakes, and is pretty much certain of the FFK Queen crown. Previous FFK champion, Mr Actuary, was actually there early. Forgot to take pictures.

Then it was time to adjourn to yet another party, a housewarming in Andalucia, Pantai Hillpark, where Young Looking Doctor, ex Paed, (Paedetrician, not paedophile), had set up nest.... he is sharing an apartment with Mr "Articulate Lawyer". Now, as I mentioned at the party, and Red Planet concurred, that the event was most blogworthy, alas, it's not bloggable. Mr Bad was in top form, while chubby sabahan was as usual, teetotalling. Young Steward represented chubby sabahan in the drinking. Mr Reliable was in a foul mood probably from the football score. What? Was he supporting KSA???

One of the highlights of the party was the impersonation of opposite gender show, ..... or more crudely known as drag.


Quite honestly, if no one told me, I would not have been able to tell that the who the person was, when dressed normally. Anyway, because of other obligations, such as having to put finishing touches to a wedding cake, I had to ensure my sobriety and left the party early.

Saturday began unusually early for me, as I had to wake up at 7am to ensure I got the decorations onto the wedding cake on time, (for the full story of the wedding cake, go read about it here), and get the 1st bride's (I had two weddings on saturday) house for the cheep sun leong. (collecting the bride).

The coven of witches had already congregated at the bride's house,

brooms all parked neatly in a row, as they waited for their male prey. We were assigned our tasks; the groom had to roll a giant dice; which indicated the floor to which they were allowed to take a lift up to. Since he tossed a 4, he could take the lift to 4th floor, and walk the rest of the way to the 7th floor, where the bride lived. As did all of the other guys as well. Some later confessed to cheating, and taking the lift all the way to the top, because it was a matter of principle, and they could not let the women have the victory. Way to go, guys. The first game was to pass a polo mint relay style via toothpicks in the mouth. I seriously wonder which cauldron the women picked out these ideas from.

The other task was to compose a song containing the words, Piaw Liang (pretty), Dim Sum, Sweetie Pie, Honey Bun, Darling Dearest. .... writing songs can somewhat be considered my forte....ahem, so to the tune of Shanghai Bund, the groom sang;

Daling Dearest, (teng terreng), Sweetie Pie, (teng terreng)
You so piaw liang, you make me wanna fly,
My dim sum, my siew mai,
Honey Bun, I'm so glad you are mine...


One interesting task was for the groom to pick out ice cubes with his toes to spell out the words I LOVE YOU..... talk about literally giving him cold feet!!!!!

The other one, that fell flat, was having to form a pyramid to lift the groom for him to reach above the barrier, because, unbeknownst to the girls, we had Samson with us, aka Greatest American hero, who could single handedly lift the groom like a father lifts his toddler, on his shoulders.We finally got through all the barriers, and the bride made her appearence, looking resplendent with her bouquet interspersed with kumquats. The same fruit that she wanted on her wedding cake.It was then time for the church wedding. It was a lovely ceremony, and one of our friends, (name of old shopping centre since gone bust), gave a solo rendition of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING.



Very nice, save for the last stanza which he missed a beat, .....but valiant effort nonetheless. Well done, (name of old shopping centre since gone bust)!!!!

There were also hilarious sms-es being exchanged, but none of which are bloggable. (not pertaining to the bride and groom...more to do with ppl in the congregation).

After the church wedding, it was over to Sunway Lagoon Resort, for the luncheon, which was a full 8 course chinese dinner thingie. Evil Twin kept saying how surreal it was that it was still daytime, and we were feasting on an 8 course dinner, with wine. It was nice milling around the foyer for pre lunch cocktails, lots of old friends are in town, Hox and Hax, (aka quodlibet), Mr & Mrs Brash, and another surprise, Freon Mind, whom I completely didn't recognise....because of the socialising, I missed the cake cutting, much to my regret.

I was also entrusted with the toasting, which was an easy enough task. A lovely afternoon, indeed, and a lovely wedding it was. God bless you both, dear friends, as you embark on your new life together, and as you move to Hong Kong, we hope you won't forget us, and please keep in touch.

Moving on to the next big event. Of course, before the night dinner, I collapsed into a short deep nap, and even 3 screaming kids failed to wake me.

Dinner - Young Lawyer and Pretty Young Wife, KL Hilton....

Ah, what a lovely glittering gala it was....lovely food, lovely wine, lovely company.....our table consisted of mainly the original ELR (Everybody Loves Raymond) Group....even the fong fei kei kings and queens were there, (we had young engineer, his sister, patriarch of the ELR group, mr actuary, ms enigmatic, cousin in law & gf) ....we seem to have quite a number of common friends, so saw more familiar faces, some which were at the wedding this afternoon, like Pits and Chungs. FCI and GF were there too.

The traditional toast. Young Lawyer's Cork flew rather far,
when he popped the champagne.


A toast with new old friends.

The ELR group

Where the boys are....
FCI and his GF....

The party went on till late, .....the gents toilet was like a warzone. Blood colored (coz of the red wine) spew all over the place.... Haha...they don't make the young people like they used to.

We wish the happy young couple a lifetime of bliss, and joy together. (as in the bridal couple).

SUNDAY DINNER - Potluck at LTA's house, in honor of the PhD returnees for their summer hols.

I expected to be severely hungover from yesterday's activities, but surprisingly wasn't. Even had the energy to whip up 3 pies, ie, one chicken pie, one bacon quiche and one lemon tart, for the pot luck.

The food was great at the pot luck....Cantonese yee mee and hokkien mee, BOUGHT by pits and chungs, lovely potato salad with bacon bits, by the new Mrs Tan, Greatest American Hero's Potatos with cheese and sun dried tomatoes, (YUMMM), Quodlibets Baked Chicken With Onions and Potatos, Zan's tiramisu, and my stuff. Oh, and the cherry tomatos with cheese and cucumber, and Haagen Daz ice cream fromSai Low.

My Lemon Tart

That lovely potato salad with bacon bits


Twas nice catching up with all the old friends.....


Birthday of Chungs and Greatest American Hero

Boy having a gala time pretending he's superman.


And while we're at it, a recent picture of my darling baby girl.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

She Leaves For Boston





Remember the Hen Night that we attended a few months ago, with the Brokeback Mountain theme? Well, time has flown, and that "hen" has since roosted with her rooster, and since she's Malaysian, and he's American, she is uprooting from her tanah pusaka, journeying across distant seas to be by the side of her new husband.

After several foiled attempts at a farewell, a few of us finally got together, thanks to the impeccable planning skills of Red Planet (it's quite disturbing that most of my limited edition entries revolve around this particular social group) we got together for a quiet night of mainly non alcoholic drinks, at CLEAR. When we first arrived, the only drinks on the table were mineral water. Had to quickly rectify that dry situation with a beer. More people trickled in as time went by. The celebrant had a house red which she swore had turned into vinegar, (and actually, I had a taste and thought it quite suspect as well, and I am no connoiseur, and usually knock down anything without much complaints), but the waitress very authoritatively avered that that was how that particular wine is supposed to taste. A bit sweet, sourish....Hmmm, very suspect indeed.

Anyway, if you are reading, or ever read this, here's wishing you all the very best in your future life together as wife and man, and do keep in touch. The good thing is, in this day and age, the physical distances don't seem so big anymore.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Dinner With The Queen

...as in the Permaisuri Agong.

Anyway, on Saturday night, I bumped into old friend, in BSC, who had a trolley full of very expensive packaging boxes, like RM40 each. She was telling me that it was for cupcakes, for the Permaisuri, no less. Of course, I had to up the ante, and announce that I was having "dinner with the queen" the following night, and if I do speak to her, I would tell her, "oh, I hope you enjoy your cupcakes tomorrow".

In actual fact, I was invited to a wedding dinner, where their majesties, the King and Queen (of Malaysia, that is), would be present. So, in a way, I was having "dinner" with them, albeit with 800 other guests. No big deal la, actually. Wedding dinners with royalty are full of protocol, and can be tedious, and in the case of Muslim weddings, there is no alcohol either. These are usually sure recipes for boredom, BUT for the fact that your own table is full of fun people, and the ever handy hip flask, filled with vodka, acts as a perfect complement to the blackcurrant cordial that is served.

Nevertheless, we were very honored to be invited for this glittering gala. It truly epitomises the Malaysian Muhibbah spirit. The groom is Indian Chinese descent, whilst the resplendent bride is Malay. It doesn't get anymore Malaysian than that, unless you throw in some Kadazan/Iban/Dayak blood somewhere along the line. The bersanding ceremony was a colorful affair, of course, the first to bless the nuptial couple being the King himself.

Mr Reliable and Red Planet had foreseen that dinner would be more like suppertime, and had earlier on had their fill, with Mr Reliable tucking in a club sandwhich at the hotel lounge. By 9.15, I was getting ravenous, and had walloped the wedding cake. (as in the little complimentary pieces on the table, not the main cake on the dais)

. Anyway, we initially had some problem getting a table to fit all of us. Complacency had us entering the ballroom a bit late, assuming that there will be an entire empty table, but as luck would have it, this group is good friends with the emcee, so we conveniently plonked ourselves on the table marked EMCEE/USTAZ.
The emcee was famous ex newscaster, Mahadhir Lokman.
He is a friendly guy, rather jolly, and very down to earth. Pantuns and sajaks in tow, he glided through the protocol like an old hand. Ampun Tuanku Beribu ribu ampun, sembah patik harap di ampun.....
Wonder if you have to say that with the british queen. I can't even begin to translate.

Food was finally served at 9.23pm, (I checked my watch for precise time, coz Red Planet and Mr Reliable said no earlier than 9.30)...the usual fare for malay weddings. Briyani rice, rendang, chicken curry, etc etc. Very tasty. Problem with this kind of menu is, its a carbo nightmare, as all that lovely saucy food MUST go with rice.

Our happening table, with the bersanding dais as the backdrop

Well, it turned out to be a rather enjoyable night. Good company, good food, glitterati all around, not a bad way to spend a Sunday night.


The bersanding dais.