Chris's Wedding Day!

Again, got woken up by mum. I got quickly chased into the toilet to take a bath while the other guys all struggled to pluck themselves out of bed... soon we were all ready... in shirts and slacks and ties. Chris started to get his photo taken while he arranged his sleeves in the toilet.

I came down to realize that most of the convoy was here already. Later on mum and dad
'escorted' Chris downstairs and did even more praying (praying had begun last night based on the auspicious times of the day). Later on everyone quickly got into their respective cars and we tried to set off, only to realize Daryl forgot the Chinese fan which he was suppose to carry to fan Chris all along. Next the 6 car convoy set off together with the camera and video men. It was a long trip up the hill (we were going from Sungai Dua to Balik Pulau, go on this road and you will understand why it took long)

This convoy is unprecedented in our family history. For the first time the groom drove the lead bridal car all the way to the bride's house. As we approached Balik Pulau town there was an issue at a T junction where there were too many cars, so Daryl went to be an instant traffic cop and halted all traffic. As the neighborhood was quiet and serene, Chris parked the car so that Yang (Priscilla's brother) could open the driver's door with it facing the house. One ang pow (red packet) down. Next we weren't allowed into the house until we cleared all the 'challenges'. If you played Super Mario when you were young you will understand how it feels, except this time the developers can be bribed for you to win the game XD...

OK! First challenge! One of the 'ji mui' (sisters or close female friends, similar to heng dai) held out 2 hula hoops. One was fat but had a long circumference, the other was thin but had a shorter circumference. The challenge was to pick one and shake it for 50 times. Somehow Ming stepped up and amazed the crowd when he completed it in one shot. Even his mother was in disbelief, telling me 'I didn't know he was that good!?!?!?'

The next challenge was right out of fear factor. We were offered two cups of green liquids which they said was kiwi juice. Fat Chance. Me and Daryl went bottoms up and as I expected, bitter gourd juice (Better than a previous wedding of my cousin Patrick when I drank a whole cup of Guinness Stout with chilli, soy sauce and god-knows-what that made it spicy and salty). Mum later told me I should thank them for offering me something to help with my lunar surface face.

I should have drank it more slowly... They mentioned that we did it so nonchalantly that they put in another challenge for us (I personally believed that this would be still imposed on us even if we took a long time in the previous challenge). We were made to use a lipstick and draw an animal on each of the 'heng dai''s faces. I drew a snake on Daryl's face and a chicken on Ming's, while Daryl drew a turtle on my face. Up till now we never let down Chris =D

Next was a near impossible challenge. They handed us the day's sudoku and gave us a time limit of 1 minute. 1 Minute!!! 3 guys couldn't even write 6 numbers down before the end of the time limit. Oops for once we let slip. The first bribe 'ang pow' went out of my hand.

After that came the most unsightly challenge. Being a political commissar on Chris's side, Anthony kept on complaining and complaining from the back like a loudhailer and I guess this kinda ticked off the ladies. They singled him out for the next challenge and made him eat a banana. Sounds simple enough right? Yeah a banana with chilli padi inside. Anthony took it like a man. Ate the whole damn thing and continue to complain all the way LOL...

Later we went all the way into the house and we thought that it was over, we were challenged to help Chris shout 'I love you' in Thai, Cambodian and Vietnamese (or Myanmar I forgot). After some adversity we got through that. A piece of paper was then presented to Chris. It turned out to be an ultimatum from Priscilla with 14 points of interest. I could only roughly remember the first one which was 'I will not play so many online games...'. After he read this all I could think of was Daryl since he was actually the one who plays the MOST online games in the house haha...

After that the door was opened and Priscilla was inside. Chris brought her out into the main hall where even more praying occurred and the tea ceremony began. First I had to take care of who gets which ang pow, and next came the worst part. Chris and Pris had to offer tea to Priscilla's relatives and guess who had to record down the people who gave the ang pow? My G-Tech was in my hand scribbling away endlessly while my brain tried to recollect the chinese characters for uncles, aunties, granduncles, grandaunts and cousins.

After that came the '3 day' ceremony. Traditionally, the bride and groom has to return 3 days after the wedding to the bride's house for a meal. But in the modern day we have no time for that (time is limited for the folks living in Queensland) and so they had the meal on that day itself while I had to take care in providing the correct ang pow for each person. Once this was finished Priscilla sat in the co-driver's seat while Chris returned to the driver's seat in the Mercedes and they drove into the sunset... NOT! With the old ceremony auntie (sang kek mm) at the back how to drive into the sunset?? Instead we all returned to our house.

Actually when I got home I just tried to serve the people who came to our house some beverages such as packet drinks and I had no idea what happened. Somehow there was some ceremony which I didn't take note of where bride and groom exchanged rings and stuff and kissed. Later on we were hurried out of the house again and this time was to go to The View for some photographs. We went to The View and the first place we took photographs was at the apartment unit, especially the room which we decorated for Chris and Priscilla. Later on we went to take photographs at the swimming pool but I swear it was hot as hell...

After that everyone went home to rest for a while. I had some trouble with my belt which took 3 person's intellect just to remove (Ming, Ah Yee and Chris) and so I wasted a lot of time figuring my belt out instead of resting. Barely a few moments of rest after I removed my belt and western trappings Priscilla was near panic as 3pm loomed closer. Oh yeah I forgot. Family photo time. The new couple plus I were the first group to leave, and thus found out that the wedding dvd that was going to be played that night was left at home. Mum was requested to turn back her car to look for it.

Everyone was already at De Santia having their make up done and trying on their formal clothes for the night. Priscilla and Chris went straight into the dressing room to have their make up done and try on their own suits and gowns. Priscilla's family was already 90% done with their make up, so their family photo shoot was done first. The rest of the family was finally here (inclusive of 2 chek and 2 chim plus megan) Oh dear did mum take long for her make up... Finally it was time to take our family photo. We took several photos (which I have in my possession) and once again it was the couple and me rushing to E&O hotel to meet the solicitor who will host the garden reception of the couple. It was 5.25pm... we agreed to meet him at 5pm... I will never forget Priscilla being at the back of the car praying that he doesn't leave.

We arrived soon after and the couple rushed to check in while I went to check on the guests and solicitor while there was Valet parking for the Mercedes. Everyone was around... even the solicitor, a Malay gentleman who, in my opinion, was near boiling point due to the waiting. Well I believe we can't blame him for that.

Later everyone else arrived and we begun the garden reception. I was trying to take a few photos but sadly no matter where I tried to take the pictures from there will definitely be something in the way. Trees, trestle, microphone, solicitor himself, you name it and there they were blocking my view.

After that was over, I was instructed to set up my laptop to prepare for the upcoming slideshow. After copying everything over and setting the slideshows up I passed all operation to a young gentleman who was a staff of E&O. Right after this I got the greatest surprise of the day. Firstly there will be a surprise birthday bash for mum (since it is her birthday) and secondly I would have to be in charge of the confetti during the first and second walk-ins.

Later there was the tea ceremony where me and Daryl shouted 'AH SOH!' (eldest sister-in-law) and I received my red packet. But I was so busy I didn't even open it even up to now. To me the red packet was sufficient, the credit inside was just a step up.
What surprised me was the break in tradition where the younger uncles and aunts stepped up to collect their share of red packets. Financial issues aside it was a total breach of tradition and generation. I will not allow this to happen on my own wedding. Even my aunt (who was older than my mother) only shook my mother's hand during my parents' wedding.

Later everyone started getting seated in the ballroom. We didn't assign porters but we had factored in our helpful uncles and aunts who could seat themselves and others.
Me and Daryl were ousted from the main table after we found out that the manager in charge only placed 10 seats instead of 12. Anyway it would have been weird for me and Daryl to be seated at the main table while Lynn and Yang sat somewhere else. Chris later came over to explain the confusion but I didn't mind. Uncle Thor and Dua Gu found us 2 seats on the front. Apparently mum had forgotten to put in some old neighbours' names and they came. They requested to be seated together with some old relatives and yet requested to be seated near the front which was near ridiculous due to the urgency and limited seating. In the end the whole lot was banished to the back of the ballroom.

As the night went on, the band played good music. One thing to note was Ming and I were requested to use the confetti. Mine went off, Ming's didn't. We were literally staring at each other dumbfounded. It was later learned that the body had to be held halfway instead of near the trigger. The second time when confetti were used we had too many going off ==... Next time, remind me to buy 20 confetti instead of just 6. There were no pilot models to train the crew and there were no spares as well. Sigh. Imagine an army given their weapons without teaching them how to use the weapons.

Mum tried to get me to go on stage to sing, but I had no energy left and also the band's music list was full already too. Later on we went on stage for the Yam Seng (toasting the guests to a drink for their participation) and after that, the surprise was sprung on mum. Me and Daryl went backstage to prepare and we later pushed a cart out with a Hard Rock Cafe themed birthday cake on it (It was mum's birthday after all) after Chris spoke how grateful he is to both mums =D. I placed my bet that mum would be moved to tears but unimaginably I lost that bet. We all gave mum a hug (including Priscilla's mum) but dad looked on from a corner. He was happy but didn't wish to be involved in such lovey dovey matters (so much as a public hug). Somehow dad got nudged up to mum and mum gave him a kiss on the cheek (The person who pushed him to mum was slated up for a death sentence I swear). For the rest of the night we just went around tables to thank everyone for coming while the guests left. One thing to note was the sago honeydew which came at the end. Damn it Eastern & Oriental Hotel was so efficient they cleaned out the leftover sago honeydew so fast I didn't get a 4th bowl. I should have just ate from the bowl that came with all of the sago honeydew to start with.

As everyone went off we also sent Chris and Priscilla to the lift. Sorry I don't have backstage passes to the venues beyond this. All the main participants were all terribly worn out (I was near shut-eye status in the car) and we all went home. Tired but extremely happy. Happy that we have a new member in the family, happy that we pulled through this event, happy that we all attended this once in a lifetime experience.

When we all arrived at home we were horrified when ming asked 'what the f*** have I been sitting on?' and pulled out Chris and Priscilla's registration papers signed during the garden reception from under his arse. Imagine the faces of the angry birds when they found out that their eggs got stolen.

Later on came the hilarious but sometimes frustrating tasks of opening the red packets. Sometimes this can be even more tense than a general election as there are only set numbers of political parties while money could not be known until it has been seen. I will not elaborate much as it was filled with praises and curses through the whole session. One interesting thing we found was that we found an empty red packet amongst all and we could not come up with an explanation for it.

That's all for now for the story of the wedding of the new Mr. and Mrs. Cheah, this post will still be updated once my memory catches up with me =D

Due to confidentiality I shall keep some information to myself prior to receiving approval for publishing. I sincerely apologise for inconvenience caused.