The Wedding

The above picture was taken when I was invited to this wedding by my friend, who is quite successful in business. The wedding was for his elder brother, who is currently an investment banker working in Kuala Lumpur.
I always try to avoid attending wedding dinner. Unless the ones who get married are very close to me, I would give whatever reasons not to attend it. Number one, the food served is always the same. I am so familiar with the dinner menu like the back of hands. It won't change regardless of where would the dinner be held. Number two, the music and the songs played and sung are always so noisy that I had to get close to my friend's ear to talk. It is a torture, and I don't enjoy it!

I was expecting this to be different since it was lavishly done. Under the disguise of extravangant setting, they still serve the same old menu. Luckily there wasn't any loud music. Still I found an excuse to walk out of the dinner to enjoy a puff or two. To my surprise, I wasn't alone! Apparently there are others who felt the same and decided to enjoy the fresh air outside the hall. As usual, we talked bicycle and asked each others well beings since we had not met for quite some time. I lighted mine and they lighted their kretek. Under the frangrance of kretek we talked until the mother of the bridegroom came and shooed us back to the dinner hall! Too bad, it was a wedding dinner hosted by Muslims. So no rounds of wine for us to gallop!
So friends, if you wonder why I dissappear halfway the wedding dinner, you know what's the reason now. You may beg to differ since all wedding dinners are serving the same menu. I disagree. I once attended a wedding dinner for the wedding of the MD of the Penang Mutiara hotel. Same lavish setting and same dress code(I think I wore the same jacket, shirt and tie for that too). But their was simply marvelous. They served Maditerrenean dishes. A full eight course wedding banquet with Chiantis and a four piece band on stage from the Penang Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra playing pieces from Vivaldi. Man, that was the best wedding dinner I had ever attended. I remember I told my then girlfriend that my wedding would be just like that. But instead of an 8 course dinner, I wanted to do it cocktail style and by the poolside. Formal dress code would defitely be a must. Simple, elegance and yet very classy. Best of all, no kid singers wearing stage dresses that are beyond their ages and sing songs that they are so loud that your ears hurt!
Sadly, it didn't happen. Well, like my second brother always say, it was a long story. No matter what happen to me and my wife right now, I owe her that besides the honeymoon in the Caribean islands that I promise her. These two things she rightfully deserves, and I wish I will be abe to give her that before we are too old to do so!