Small Town Wedding

You’ve heard it all before. Small Town Boy meets Big City Girl (Big as in the city, not the girl). They fall in love and love plays all these tricks on them. They finally realised that they can’t live without each other. So, they walk down the aisle with the blessings of their parents and a lavish wedding is thrown in the Capital City. But before they can walk into the sunset together, they have to attend one more wedding dinner in the boy’s hometown, the final matrimonial act …. this is where my story starts …

Last weekend, I was summoned back to Muar to attend Saye Chuan and Julia’s wedding. Saye Chuan, whom I have known since primary school, had decided to surrender his bachelor club privileges to tie the knot with his lovely sweetheart from PJ. It wasn’t too long ago(OMG it’s 3 years already!) when I first heard the story (fondly recounted by excited friends from KL then) of how the two met in Bar Fly and how Saye Chuan romanced his future bride (with flowers on the first date and plenty of support from his buddies). Well now to end the fairy tale for our very deserving friend, a befitting hometown wedding was held to celebrate the day with friends and family.

Where was I , oh yeah, I reached Muar about 10:30pm Friday night. After taking a hot shower and while sipping my mug of refreshing hot coffee, I got a call from Will (or Willie to his hometown friends) announcing the arrival of the KL entourage (made up of fellow friends, their mates and Julia’s girlfriends from KL) and an invitation for supper. So in spite of having just gorged on two moncakes, I decided that enjoying late night supper with good company was a chance not to be missed.

Late Night Supper at Muar's famous "Long Poh" Seafood Restaurant

The next day we were greeted by bright sunny weather. The guys made their way to Saye Chuan’s place for the morning’s activities. While waiting to set off, we amused ourselves with idle chatter, photo taking and mild sun-tanning.

Justin clowning around

Steven and Ray

‘Then the horn sounded, a loud blast coming from the east. The men were roused. They quickly mounted their steeds and led by the leader they rode towards the rainbow’s end (or Hotel Pelangi as the locals call it). The seven magnificent mounts were adorned with gold and silver banners (more like ribbons, some straight, some curled) and rode in a tight line towards the tower. At the tower gates, the party dismounted and raced up 5 levels to where the Princess was imprisoned. Then at the final door, the leader was ambushed by two evil stepsisters who were out to thwart the gallant heroes. A riddle was thrown at the leader but due to his sharp wit he easily gave the correct answer. Next to break the spell on the door the leader broke into song (a Chinese love number), and by the sheer force and strength of the emotions emoted in the song, the door’s resistance gave way. Much rejoicing and fanfare took place in the small crowded room as the hero and his princess bride were finally reunited. A mass medieval portrait painting (photo taking) session soon ensued.’

Pretty please... let us in

Together at last

This was followed by the obligatory tea ceremony and buffet lunch. In the afternoon. some of the guys brought the KL guests out for hair-wash (at Helens’) and a food fest at Glutton Street.

That night, the wedding dinner ran smoothly and peacefully. Maybe it wasn’t so peaceful to the ear as we were entertained the whole night by an unending stream of local Hokkien Idol wannabes (restricted to 50 yrs and above). In between, we had a poetry recital by one of the bridesmaid, a ‘this is your life’-type power point clip, a duet by two of the bestmans, a group singalong and many rousing ‘Yam Sengs’.

The Muar Po gang and their mates


Friends of the bride and groom

After the wedding we gave our friends from KL a typical Muar night tour - trips to the two Tanjongs, a visit to the local ‘Ah Kua’ or transvestites fav hangout, and a drink at one of the few late night drinking holes.

Sunday morning came to soon, we set off again in search for more food. Steve and me being the two tour guides, brought the ladies for Mee Rebus, Roti Pratas, Rojak Petis and Ice Kacang. The morning breakfast tour came to a close at 12pm, just in time for them to prepare for lunch at 12:30pm.

A mouth watering plate of Mee Rebus at Jln Haji Jaib

That afternoon, Vicky and I got on the bus to JB at 3pm. So ends the short weekend getaway in Muar.