selamat pengantin baru..

Went to KL to attend the wedding of my ex-housemate, Aishah, last Saturday.. :) :) :) :)

I've not attended a friend's wedding for a very very long time.. I am no fan of weddings, but I had to attend this one as Aishah is one of my dearest friends I've made while in Japan.. :)  And it was such a nice coincidence that my parents have their own dinner gathering on the same day in KL, so I don't have to trouble any friend(s) to drive me to the wedding..

We drove for almost 4 hours, directly from Taiping, before reaching Dewan De'Seri Endon in Putrajaya.. Some guests have arrived.. Majority wore baju kurung and baju melayu with the kids dressed in their cutesy (mini) versions.. the hall has been nicely decorated with many ushers and helpers putting in the final touches.. It was gonna be a very beautiful wedding.. :) :) :)

After a while, I met Nadia, Maow and two other friends of Aishah.. Nadia was one of the 5 bridesmaids.. and Maow flew all the way from Thailand the night before just for the wedding.. :)  They were on their way to see the bride to finalize some details about the ceremony later.. I joined them and met Aishah, all dressed up in a very beautiful (and sexy) traditional gown.. :) Didn't get the chance to chat much as she still has many other things to attend to.

Maow and I went back down to the banquet hall.. Met and congratulated Aishah's parents in the main hall too.. :)  We then went to take some food and sat down at a table near to the stage.. we continued with our catching up..  A while later, I saw Hoon among the crowd.. Then Chua, Erick, Jac Cis and Sarah arrived too.. in the end, we had a table of 8 friends, all "made in Japan"! :) :)  

We sat at Table 23.. next to the buffet tables.. :p

It was good to see friends... some more than others.. :p it was like a gathering of sort.. all of us who had came back from Japan, after spending between 6years to 6 months there.. some of them are now lecturers in local universities, with the rest working in the corporate world.. I've not seen most of them for almost 2 years, some even longer.. My last "outing" with Aishah and Maow was a trip to the Ueno Zoo in Sept 2009 which felt like eons ago....

dearest Aishah in her wedding 'gown'.. being the "Queen" of the day.. :)

Photos were taken.. lots of them.. lots of cameras around.. professionals, semi-professionals and amateurs alike.. somehow, I don't feel like taking photos.. maybe I am being self-conscious about my weight-gain, my am-not-happy-with-it hair cut or the operation has made me lazy.. :p Anyway, I am sure there will be plenty to share and seen in FB later.. but I did record a segment of the ceremony where the newly weds marched into the hall and was seated on their throne-of-the-day.. :)

It was a buffet-styled lunch..  guests were able to move and mingle around to chat with friends as and when they want, unlike typical Chinese wedding dinners where seating arrangement are fixed.. there were constantly human traffic in and out of the hall.. Although people seemed to be eating and chatting, their eyes did not stray far away from the newly weds and the ceremony happening on stage.. at least, I know I was paying attention.. :)

We managed to get some group photos taken with lots of 'line-up' variation in between.. I didn't really eat much as the food was, frankly, quite disappointing.. except for one or two dishes, the rest was so-so only.. I did, on the other hand, drink lots of the bandung, one of my favorite local drinks.. :p

It was a good occasion to catch up with friends.. talk about things that had happened in our lives..  although the time seemed too fleeting to chat to our hearts content, I did manage to sorta re-connect with them, especially with Maow... In general, everyone seems to be doing very well.. everyone seems to have move on with their lives after Japan...

Anyway, I need to go KL to get my visa done early August, so I will try my best to see if I could meet up with some of them, especially Aishah, and have a proper catch-up before flying off..

Once again, I would like to wish both Aishah and Jaouad  great fortune and life full of joy! Congratulations on your wedding day! :) :) :) :) :)