my big fat malaysian wedding

it's been a while since i've seen family, and it's always a good place to get back in touch where everyone is celebrating. off the top of my head, i'd place eid celebrations as most auspicious, followed by maybe chinese new year. though half my family is indian, diwali / deepavali isn't such a big thing. i guess mainly because most of them are non-practicing hindus (well, they still do a bit of celebrating, but it's really not as all-out as it was when i was a child), agnostic, or christians now. which makes christmas a bit more joyous, but hey.




it's all about the money - ang pau, duit raya, and just random bits of cash during diwali. i couldn't find diwali money sachets (which i don't think is part of the tradition anyway) so here's a picture of the next best thing - food. it's a savory desert known as murukku or chakkali. i didn't put one up of the sweet stuff because that gives me transient diabetes-induced comas.

most of my american friends say to me, 'what about new years? and christmas? and thanksgiving?'. yeah. we don't really do that. new years is pretty boring for me, because i won't even go out of the house. christmas is alright, i guess, and thanksgiving is not really something we get a holiday for, but once in a blue moon (maybe once in the past 4 years?) my aunt will get some turkey and we'll all sit down for dinner. but, never you mind all that.

anyway, one of those non-denominational events where it's always a blast is a wedding. chinese weddings, malay weddings, indian weddings, christian weddings, iban weddings - you name it. been there, done that, all awesome with a capital 'a'. which i should have spelled so. irrespective...

yesterday and today are my cousin's wedding ceremonies / receptions. unlike traditional christian weddings where there's one big church ceremony, and the bride and groom are off to who-knows-where, there's usually a small family event of 'akad nikah', and after a day or a week, there's the receptions where the bride and groom are 'displayed' on the 'pelamin'. most of my readers (all 2 out of 3 of them) are malay anyway, so i think you know what i'm talking about.

it's much less somber than the caucasian weddings i've been to. not as much drinking as the chinese ones i've seen. and the bride and groom are a lot more serious than in the wedding ones. but, as with all of them, it's the presence of family and friends in a social free-for-all that really makes the day. anyway, i'm off to the second reception today, and i can already tell it's going to be a blast. man, more of my cousins / siblings should get married while i'm around so i can meet the whole extended family (my father is the 10th child, and each of his brother and sisters have 3 - 6 kids each, some of who have kids of their own. that's just from my grandfather's 2nd wife... he had 3 throughout his lifetime, so the family reunions get pretty huge. and then, there's my mom's side...).

but yeah, one thing i noticed is that my brother and sister were supposed to be here, and i was not, due to some logistic issues. ironically, i'm the only one who's turned up and they're busy elsewhere doing their things. funny how that works out. but it's all good, i'll probably see them at some other point. oshi- gonna be late. etc out!