Family, food and fun

I was at a wedding over the weekend. A cousin's daughter was getting married and my mum was helping out. Which means, we get pulled in and are expected to pitch in and help, too.

Malay weddings, to those who are not familiar, can run up to two to three days. Yes, DAYS. On Friday night, the bride had a henna night. She had henna intricately painted on her hands and feet. I have halaqa on Friday so I couldn't go but I heard it was quite a fun night. This tradition is an adopted practice from back when Malays were Hindus. But it's done today not because we want to be Hindus, but more for the girls to get together and be with the bride and have a good time.

Sara and I were at the nikah on Saturday afternoon. The husband had some work to finish off and the other two kids had some homework to complete. And as usual, I cried. I always find the entire thing meaningful and touching.

And then we headed back to the wedding on Sunday where a major feast has been arranged for all invited guests. Malay weddings run from 11am to 5pm and everyone comes and goes as they please. It's tiring. And I'm not even the bride's mum!

What I love about Malay weddings are the FOOD and the company. Who can resist the briyani and oh-so-tender meat cooked in curry and a host of other sinful desserts. After a futile argument with myself, I gave up and had another couple of slices of kuehs. And another. And another. Yums.

I caught up with so many cousins whom I rarely meet. And there were lots to catch up on. I also noticed one of my cousins' sons (he's seven) who was either staring or stealing glances at Sara. He kept looking at her whether he was sitting next to her or while he was from across the room. Heh, how sweet.

Besides the food and company, Malay weddings are also notoriously associated with loud music. And in recent years, we added bad karaoke-ing to the list. We had a DJ who was playing good (but too LOUD) music but there were times when he decided to get in on the act and started karaoke-ing. He really shouldn't. My ears are still ringing.

The weddings I attended in Melaka when I was growing up, always had joget lambak, which literally translated means mass dancing. Someone would just play an accordion, someone else will bring out their rebana, and some other neighbour will pull out his violin and lo and behold -we have a joget lambak in session. Now, *that was good fun.