Saturday 13 January 2007

Day 4- reception!

Day 4- Reception! We had moved rooms the day before which was bigger and more comfy. It was very kind of the groom to put us up there..! When we went around later I saw for myself the hotels which we thought of booking when I thought my husband was coming- they were far from her house and we would not be able to enjoy ourselves so much!

Of course, went over (rather lateish) ostensibly for breakfast but since it was close to lunch, Auntie whipped out lunch (she told me she has had everything prepared earlier and managed to make it sound really easy , this cooking business!). Actually she had mentioned to come for breakfast earlier! We slept in and arrived around 11 actually! I had to conserve battery of phone so could not call the house! When finally I did I got the idea that we had better go over there elpronto! I can imagine auntie asking my friend where her ditzy friend was heh heh..!

No pics sorry as camera died the day before. I wore my modern black short kebaya top and camisole , with the sarong from another outfit - mix and match! The other outfit's top was a proper baju kurung which I thought was not suitable. Nadine wore her blue baju kurung with lace over it and I had clipped some blue orchids in her hair, which she had taken from the wedding before. I wish now that I had kept some of it back as souvenirs...The groom was in a suit today. Everyone looked so dashing!

Zooming straight to the reception time, around 6.30 we set off, Nadine went off with M, Aka, M's daughter G, via cab. Me, Auntie, Ana(N's sister inlaw bythe way) and someone else, all went into the car. Which stalled in the middle of traffic, in the middle of rush hour Mumbai. It was already 7 plus by then, and we were definitely late. Happily the other side was also late.
Back to the car..it stalled again. Amazingly no one honked like mad, they just drove around us. The second time it refused to budge, we all stopped. So smoky! I read that the pollution is very bad- and it is a real problem esp during traffic like that. Auntie tried hailing cabs and guess what??All cab drivers around the world act up during traffic jams- they refused point blank to take us to the Matoshree Club where the reception was held.

Then Auntie turned to me and said do I have money? Yes Auntie just Rupee 100! (No one brought money) So she hailed 2 rickshaws. Now, rickshaws are like tuk tuks..they have no door. And forget about seatbelts. Aka and I went in one rickshaw and off we went. It went very fast and when it was about to hit a car the driver of the rickshaw would swerve and then curse the car. I hung on for dear life to the rail between us and the driver. I did not know where the club was or how much the fare was going to be, and I told Aka I was glad she was there as I would not understand anything the driver may ask us - she said "neither would I!" Waaa?? Har har har...Aka hails from Mangalore and speaks a different language. She thought I was hilarious as I was telling her that the driver could well afford to sing as he drives as he did not have the five kids!

We passed through Mumbai and I note that there were a lot of squatter like houses. I peered into the homes and they have clothes hanging etc and its like any other flat Perkeliling in KL - we are not that different eh. One heck of a fire hazard though. It was a priceless and memorable adventure although I was very glad to arrive! Thank goodness Ana was waiting with the fare money. He had heard as auntie's tuk tuk had arrived before us!

We went up to the club's room where the groom and N and family were getting ready. The reception was held on open grounds slightly bigger than where the wedding was. There were screens on the left and right side of the garden which shows the picture of the wedding the nite before as well as random pics of the bride and groom - a bit like our wedding eh? There were chairs on the stage for the couple to sit on . A bit more modern. The couple went up the stage with everyone. Sarees galore and more elaborate than possible. More people this time round lining up to shake the couple's hands. In fact they came immediately up ! N, her husband, and sons all lined up. N's 6 year old son who had to stand with his family finally cried off and went to play.

Again, there were stalls set up around the garden which served the food. Fresh bread and puri was done on the grounds and captivated Nadine who stood before them for a long time. She kept nagging me if she could go and eat. I let her go around to see the stalls herself as we sat below to watch the bride and groom greet their guests - the line was long!

Menu was not vegetarian this time and included chicken and fish and even one Thai green curry chicken! I was trying to convey to my new found friends that we are a multicultural country over in Malaysia- yes I have eaten tosey and I have seen sarees but the reason I do not feel odd wearing my bajukurung in the sea of glittering sarees is that in Malaysia the bajukurung would stand next to the cheongsam and the sarees and no one would bat an eyelid! Same with the food. The best way I could demonstrate our Malaysian essence is that a typical dinner would probably consist of curry, sweet and sour fish, and kangkung belacan! Malay Indian and Chinese all juxtaposed! How to explain yah.

Don't you think that Asian values tend to be the same- except over in Mumbai apparently the Muslims are a bit more traditional- this is told to me ok I did not verify this myself). No movie stars today!
After a lot of food where the waiters came to our spot to offer food (there was so much food!) we started to leave. Had to say thank you to the Bride's family for graciously allowing us to attend (and hog) at their daughter's do.

This nite was the official "wedding nite".. the groom's family went to the hotel where they were going to spend their "first nite" and spread rosepetals all over and "Malaysian" bubbles - god knows what this is- the first thing Malaysian and I have no idea what it is! Some feather boa was also involved I heard. We were of course directed to go home with the "Kids" ie G, N's sons and Nadine..Awwww mummy!!! But actually glad of the rest.


The sad part was we had to say bye bye to M.....she left for Bangalore at 1.30 in the morning. Her daughter would be flying off the next day so she spent that nite with us, staying up and watching movies - She was telling me all about this sad ShahrukhKhan's movie where he was having an affair with this married woman- Khabi Alvidaar something. This girl, is half an English girl, actually, and she is very very Indian. So good that she is very much in touch with her heritage. I told her I am into Korean drama (yes, me who have watched all of 2 shows??)

We also watched STAR . Nadine was tickled that the shows are in Hindi- like Spongebob Square pants etc.

No comments: