Wedding Dinner at GoodHope Hotel, Skudai.

When my mum called to tell me that we've been invited to a wedding in JB, I was half-wondering why does she sound like she won some lucky draw.

She gushed that the wedding dinner would be held at some hotel in Skudai, JB and we're the only neighbours at that block that was invited. We even need to RSVP our attendance.

In all honesty, I know very well that my mum had every intention for me to drive them there. But seriously, the last time I drove into JB was when I was 4 mths preggers. My son is almost 2 years old now. Secondly, are you expecting me to drive to and from unfamiliar territory at night, mum?

So I suggest that we include my very 'sporting' cousin, 'Tim' Zahrah. Best. Decision. Ever!

Not only did she became the driver throughout, she's also my photographer and babysitter for my kiddo. A great companion, too (I know you'll read this, girl!).

One thing totally slipped my mind. We're attending a banquet at a hotel, right? So why in the world didn't I think of spending the night there in the first place?! Only 2 days before the event did my dad made the suggestion and I felt like slapping myself before hurrying with the reservations.

No more worries about driving back to Singapore at night! :)))

We met another family of old neighbours and joined them at their table. They lived at Woodlands, which is right by the Causeway so I guess it's ok for them to travel to the wedding and back, on the same night.

Reception at the Golden Ballroom

I was mentally prepared to wait out for the bride and groom before eventually being able to eat but they only came in when it's close to 9pm. NINE!

Then there's some prayer recital and some speeches by BOTH sides of the family. Even a dance performance (see picture below).

My stomach was already growling, seriously. One guy at my table got really cranky due to the hunger. Seems like he also travelled across the Causeway just to attend this wedding.

Traditional Dance performance

Thai-style Fried Fish

This was the first dish to arrive and boy, it sure was a grand entrance!

The large seabass was nicely crisp and the sauce was slightly spicy with a bit of tang from the julienned green mango. Despite trying to appear demure, I can't resist nibbling at the crispy bits (the tail and fins).

Chicken Korma

'Korma' is a type of curry, with heavy cream (usually coconut) and spiced more lightly as compared to regular curries. This dish was pretty good, save for some of the potatoes.

You can see in the middle, were the potatoes that's been stewed in the gravy. Its colour, deep-yellow and they appear spiced. On the side are some potatoes that's only been boiled in water and placed onto the plate prior to serving. Still hard and very bland. :P

Anyway, still on the topic of 'korma'.

Cue the next day, we went to the small shop at the hotel lobby and bought the local tabloid paper. We saw an article where a Pakistani woman had killed her husband (for some reason), chopped up his body and cooked Korma with it.

My mum and I looked at each other and giggled. "Thankfully, we never read this before the dinner last night. Or we'll never know how good that chicken Korma was!"

Dalcha

Vegetable curry. They went pretty heavy on the spice for this one. But it's still good, nonetheless.

Ok, at this point I got too busy feeding my toddler and my hands got too dirty for me to handle the camera. The cranky man at my table was already asking the servers to bring out the rice, pronto.

I think he was thinking the same thing as I do, "What if they serve foods just like a Chinese wedding dinner? Then the rice will come out last! Gah!"

Thankfully the 'Biryani' rice came soon after, along with a whole plate of fruit 'achar' (Indian pickle). Funnily enough; considering one only consume a small portion of 'achar' with their meal.

There's also beef 'rendang' (meat stewed in spiced cocunut). The meat was a tad tough, for this one. But the spice was sufficient.

Finally, there's 'sambal' udang (shrimps in chilli paste). Unlike what we're usually served with at wedding banquets, the shrimps here were on the small side so we didn't really bother to take more than a couple, seeing that the size made the shells such a hassle to peel.

My cousin however, loves her shrimps and she was aghast to see so many shrimps going to waste (there's still half-a-plate left). So she volunteered to peel them for us (with her hands, no less).

Funny thing was, the emcee was going around the hall, stopping by some tables to have selected guests say their wedding wishes for the couple. He also had the video guy in tow. He eventually came by our table and stopped right behind my dear cousin, who was in the midst of peeling them shrimps (her plate was heaped with a pile of shells and can be seen in all its glory on the large screens).

Her bashful face appeared on-screen as she had to give her wishes (stuttering a bit, while her fingers still didn't stop peeling them shrimps!). I was already giggling hard (although careful enough so that I won't get captured by the video cam).

You made my night, Tim! I can definitely say that I sure didn't regret bringing you along!

Ice-cream

Ice-cream

We saw in the food listing that the dinner will end with a fruit platter and ice-cream. The latter took really long to arrive and most guests would have left if not for the fact that they're waiting for the ice-cream (I know that the ones at my table did).

I thought that they were busy scooping ice-cream into some cute little bowls so I was pretty surprised to see these. Not that I mind, anyway.

Wedding Cake

The sweet couple.

Ok, here's another story. As you know, my family was invited by the bride's side. The bride had lived only a few doors away from me, so we kinda' grew up together. Well, until the family moved to JB, that is.

Then I got pleasantly surprised so see some members from my father-in-law's side of the family, at the banquet. Not just one but a whole group of them! It eventually dawned upon me that the groom is actually my FIL's grand-nephew (his dad is my FIL's nephew). Such a small world!

Guess I'll be seeing more of the bridal family at the guy's wedding reception, come next week.

Seems like having eventually moved across the causeway doesn't stop fate from bringing these 2 together, eh?

To Fadli & Alifah, may you have a blessed marriage that will last till Hereafter. Amin.