Chun Ching and Jin Yee's Wedding

At long last, my long time buddy CC Liew has gotten himself hitched! The night before was bachelor's night at his very own home, which was just 10 minutes drive from my office. This deceptively implies that it would be a simple task for me to at least arrive on time. Alas, that day, I receive a last minute high priority task at work, hence it wasn't until after 8pm could I only leave my office. A seemingly quick stop for refueling took much longer than expected (there was something wrong with the credit card reader at the pump, eventually forcing me to move to the next pump). Hence, upon my arrival, practically everyone had already left, save another of my old friends Pon, Yip and David. Together with Liew, we all worked (some still are) for my old employer.

The next morning, I arrived at Liew's house at eight. It was going to be another wedding day ritual. There was no shortage of "media coverage" as there was a videographer on scene (I overheard that his name was Benny) and also one of Liew's friends was wielding a Canon DSLR. I had my Tamron 17-50 on my S5, for expected action at close quarters. The band of "brothers" assembled and after a light breakfast, we set off towards the bride's place in a convoy led by Liew's VIP car, a current model Camry 2.4. It was a rather short drive, as the bride's residence was just 10 minutes away (in the housing estate next to my workplace).

Upon our arrival, we were met by the reception committee made up of the bride's "sisters". Our first challenge was to get past the front gate, by successfully threading a row of sewing needles embedded into a block of polystyrene, without removing any of the needles in the process. Once of the brothers stepped forward to accept this challenge (undoubtedly, he's probably the one with the best eyesight / hand-eye co-ordination). Seemingly easy task, but it took minutes to complete, with Liew taking over at some point. Finally, as the thread passed through the eye of the last needle, Liew proudly presented the finished puzzle and we were allowed access to the next gate. Some conversation and exchange of words in Chinese, 10 push-ups done by yet another brother, saying "I love you" in 10 different languages (dialects are allowed), a few ang pows and we were in front of the door to the room where Liew's bride awaited.

At that point, it was getting a little congested, so I was moving in and out through the crowded hallway to get some shots, and to allow some space for others to do so too.

Anyway, at the door, more exchange of words and Q&A session. Through my limited comprehension skills of the language, I could just make out questions like "where was your first kiss" and "what is her favourite food". Liew was also asked to read something out aloud, which was apparently quite funny to those who understood what he was reading. There were only two physical tasks here. One was to retrieve the room key from a basin of ice-cold water using only bare foot. The other was to drink an unidentified glass of greenish liquid (exact formulation remains unknown to yours truly). Eventually, after the fun, the room door finally opened, and my friend Liew was at last united with his bride.

The tea ceremony ensued shortly after exiting the room. After which, everyone got into their cars and started off. Due to some communication break down, I thought we were going back to Liew's house already, when in fact, the plan was to go one round and come back to the bride's house. So, while everyone went for a small round in the housing estate, I went for a big round to Liew's house and back...!

Well, eventually, we made it back to Liew's house, where there was some photo-taking in the master bed room. The Chinese seem to have a custom, where they get one of the kids (a boy) to roll and jump on the bed. It is believe that this ritual would increase the likelyhood of the couple's first child being a boy. This boy also is required to punch through a paper-covered potty (which is exactly what you think it is) which contains an angpow and a pack of preserved fruit.

By then, it was almost noon. I headed home to shower and change as the wedding lunch would start at 2.00pm. Later I found out that the "official" starting time of the dinner was 1.00pm, which I would have realised too had I read the invitation card with greater scrutiny. You know that you're practically the last one to arrive when the lights dim and the music comes on for the wedding march as you're walking halfway down the hall towards your table!

The restaurant of choice was none other than the YPL Restaurant at Malim Jaya, situated next to a large Brothers Car Accessories Outlet. I brought my wife along, and at our table were Ho and wife Tham, Lee KY (another old friend) and his wife Mok, Pon and his wife and finally Alex and wife too. Ho, Lee and Alex each brought their kid along. Also in the table next to us were Tan TT and daughter (husband David was seated on another table somewhere), and on that table too I recognized Heng and Swee Lan (formerly from my company). I later managed to walk around to shake hands with Gary and HS Wee, bosses from my previous company, and also right at the back I met up with Mary, my former lady boss (in my entire working career to date, I have effectively had only two direct bosses, and Mary was one of them). She looked almost the same after nearly 10 years since I left for my current job.

Our table was situated halfway from the front of the hall, which unfortunately, put us in too close proximity to one of the two loudspeakers which flanked the main stage. Thus, through the karaoke sessions we were trying hard to have a legible conversation among our group of old friends.

Alex brandished his D90 DSLR, and so this event would be well covered. I try to go where none of the other cameramen were, to avoid redundant / repeated shots / angles. It was difficult for me to mobilize myself in the packed restaurant hall, so I switched to my 18-200 Nikkor for that extra reach in case I could not get somewhere in time. On my S5, cranking up the ISO to 3200 still gave acceptable results. Hey, it's no D700, but at least it handles high ISO shots with aplomb when compare to my D200.

Well, at the end of the dinner, our old bunch of friends gathered with Liew for a group photo (taken with Alex's camera, so I'll have to wait for him to post it on FB).

My heartiest congratulations to Liew and his newly wedded wife on their marriage. Best of luck to them and may they have lots of kids coming soon! :)

A small photo gallery can be found here : http://mcwk.multiply.com/photos/album/84/Chun_Ching_and_Jin_Yees_Wedding_-_Feb_2010