ALL WELL, ENDS WELL

I think a man and a woman should choose each other for life, for the
simple reason that a long life with all its accidents is barely enough time for
a man and a woman to understand each other and. . . To understand - is to love."
-William Butler Yeats -

For the past one week, the entire family was busy preparing for the event of the year: My only brother’s wedding. Char Siew Bro tied the knot in Thean Hou temple about a little over a year ago – Christmas Day, before the tsunami hit. This time, it was the customary Chinese wedding banquet, and another “tsunami” hit us. It was quite chaotic.

We usually attend wedding banquets of friends, and most of the time, we would be critics, and conveniently picked on people’s mistakes – why not they do this way, why not that, how come, this, that etc. Well, now I understand the tremendous effort needed to make all these happen and the wide smiles and grins of every guest, after the banquet, being the ultimate reward. No wonder so many couples lost so much weight before the actual banquet! It is so damn tedious!!

A week before the wedding, I was already having nightmares of forgetting to check them into the apartment which I was put to be in charge of. I didn’t know that was stress. The jitters didn’t hit me till two days before the actual date. I was still enjoying myself, watching a free movie with WY.

Everything was pretty well taken care by Char Siew bro himself. Hats off to the man himself! Till last minute – I was put to be the back up photographer as his main photographer’s grandma unfortunately passed away. It was a lucky thing that he had another main photographer as backup. Both are his good friends.

We had to coordinate his tea party after fetching the bride in the morning. It was a last minute thingy put up by my mom and aunts and sis. I was glad things turned out okay. The portion was just nice and we didn’t have to eat left overs for days.

The day before the wedding banquet, I decided to take leave to standby for any emergencies. I was glad that I took leave. There were a series of unfortunate events on the eve of the banquet, adding pressure to our already overwhelming jittery.

The new gas stove that mother bought was faulty. My car’s auto key lock decided to give me problems by locking and unlocking itself as if being possessed by a poltergeist. When I went to pump petrol, I accidentally broke my finger nail and it bled profusely! There goes my initial plan of getting a manicure and I would have to take pictures with my middle finger perpetually erected in the air. How obscene!

Relatives from Taiping arrived in the bus station without giving us notice and I had to brave the unusual jam in KL (due to some road closure thingy) to get them. My sis-in-law left home to the rented apartment without leaving any keys for my brother and he got locked inside his own home. I had to get keys from my sis-in-law, then go to Puchong to fetch my brother home for the Chinese customary prayers. On our way home, we almost met with an accident as a bastard cabbie driver drove dangerously right after the Puchong toll, overtaking us without signal and it was a lucky thing that I hit the brakes on time.

The rented apartment’s air conditioners were out of order and the bride and family had to fan herself to sleep. Never ever rent Golden City Apartments, next to Dynasty Hotel for your event! It was disastrous! It used to be alright till the quality began to deteriorate. I don’t understand why they want to let out the units if things were all falling apart and breaking down! (I used to have my regular booze parties there). They should change the name to Roasted City Apartments.

Nearing midnight, just as we were thinking the worse was over, the asshole Lai Ma decided to add salt to our battered tolerance by sending me this sms - “I got a new job teaching at college (start Feb). They pay about 4k. I work part time tutor and part time teaching online student. 3 jobs will get about 6k. Keep in touch. Regards, Lai Ma”.

@#$%^&** Like I give a flying fuck??!!!

When I hit the sack on Friday night, it was already 3 am (Saturday morning actually). I sent a text to the Monk to complain about that asshole Lai Ma and to my sis-in-law in the faulty air conditioned apartment about the events tomorrow. I didn’t get a wink of sleep.

In the morning, I rushed to send relatives to Puchong for the tea party while waiting for my brother’s friends to come, and be a part of the entourage to Roasted City Apartments.

I still couldn’t understand the custom of having to bribe the way through the door to get to the bride. This time round, instead of the usual task that my friends would require of me – trying to extort the bridegroom for money and his “brothers” from barging in the door, I was in the opposite team now – the one trying to bust the door open. Oh boy – how I enjoy this! Revenge is sweet.

Before the dinner at Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club, it was raining cats and dogs. How we prayed!! We put some joss sticks to the God of Heaven to stop the rain. It was a good thing that the rain stopped one hour right before the wedding dinner at 7 pm.

As usual, being the Malaysians who didn’t know how to properly read time, some were late. It was quite embarrassing to keep guests waiting – especially those arriving from Penang, Taiping, Klang, Bukit Mertajam and Kedah were already there – and those from KL, especially in Selayang – which was only 20 minutes’ drive away were all late and got lost.

Despite the lateness – the entire hall was packed by 8 pm. It was a good thing that everyone was sporting enough. The champaign didn’t pop. Both bottles. Double jeopardy. However, my brother joked about it saying that, the champaign already “lau fong”. Everyone on the floor laughed.

The usual “yum seng” hit top notch with brother being a damn loud and long winded toast host. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Everyone stayed on till the last dish and took turns to make a toast to the newly wed couple. We, the family and relatives, went on yum seng-ing again and again till everyone left the hall. I was a bit tipsy after two glasses of Shiraz Carbenet and a glass of whiskey.

It was a great dinner. It was memorable for us. Everyone dressed up to the nines. Some even wore wigs, everything was glittery and shining, my sister took the center stage, by wearing a blue velvet dress and adorned with purplish silk scarf and great make up! Everyone was merry and happy. You can see smiles on their faces – and it was not from the influence of alcohol. The beauty of close knit family. Everybody knows everyone. Even me – being the social outcast when it comes to relatives – everyone knows me by my name. I was embarrassed by the thought and vowed to go visit my relatives more often.

There was a frenzy moment when we were served steamed kampong chicken with grounded ginger. The jokers from Klang were the loudest; screaming away and asking if they should eat the kampong chicken; apprehensive due to the recent bird flu epidemic. An aunt retorted by saying – “Lepas makan ayam kampong, semua orang balik kampong lah!!” The answer was applauded by loud snigger and laughter by everyone present. We don’t need stand up comedians to light up the atmosphere. Everyone at the reception was practically jokers. Humorous bones run in the family.

I loved the smiles of everyone’s faces – especially my sis-in-law and my brother. The contented smiles that were beyond description. (You know – the type which shows you were really, really blissful and happy and sometimes look like a silly smirk on your face, as if you had your first orgasm.)

I was very glad that everyone pulled their weight together to make this a real success. Despite the hiccups the day before, things were pretty alright in the end.

Brother and lovely sis-in-law, Jenny, will be leaving for New Zealand tomorrow for honey moon.

Here’s toasting the newly wed, may they always be well and happy.

And I truly thank those who made it a success, especially the guests who had bear with us for the delay.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The Beauty of Love:

The question is asked, "Is there anything more
beautiful in life than a young couple clasping hands
and pure hearts in the path of marriage? Can there be
anything more beautiful than young love?"

And the answer is given. "Yes, there is a more
beautiful thing. It is the spectacle of an old man and an
old woman finishing their journey together on that path.
Their hands are gnarled, but still clasped; their faces are
seamed, but still radiant; their hearts are physically
bowed and tired, but still strong with love and devotion for
one another. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than
young love. Old love."

P/S This poem is also dedicated to a dear friend, Takeshi, for tying the knot with his long time sweetheart on the same day. Wishing you a love that grows day after day and year after year.