August 9-10, 2009W and I arrived Kuching at the same day. W has been working in the Oil Town this past year, aka Miri. It left a week till his big day so he has to be back for all the preparation of the wedding.

Mama Wong and Ming. I know Ming before she was born. Mama Wong was Ming's nanny, even till now, Mama Wong is her guardian while she stay with us in Kuching.

Ming was a good baby when we babysit-ted her. I remembered she was only 1 year old, her mom dropped her off around 7am at our house and she would climbed the stairs slowly to second floor of my house where all bedrooms were. She then knocked on my bedroom door, "Doreen Jie Jie, wake up, it's morning already" with her cute, sweetest voice. She is now 18. I'm 36. Time flies.
W & N. Look at W, he had been out for too many nights of bachelor party.

Deer meat with ginger and spring onion. The meat was very tender, juicy and lean.

Steamed sea bass. This is called Teowchew Style and it's the best way to eat fish. My favorite way because you can really taste the freshness of the fish, the meat is soft and texture is smooth.

No meal is complete without fresh cut chili.
And we had lots of other dishes. I paid for the dinner because it's the first family meal at home and I want to feed my family.

Here we go. The last week before the wedding on weekend. Lots of things to do but first we need to get carbs packed breakfast before we start the day. We went to Kuching famous Laksa place at Golden Arch. It's hard to find parking there.

Koo Loo Mee. It literally means "dry-stir-noodle". This is the staple of Kuching people and it's our pride.

When I was young, I always wish Mama Wong had to run errands in town and can't cook lunch for us to bring to school, then she would give us RM$1.00 to buy lunch. I would buy Koo Loo Mee and a soda for just RM$1.00. I remembered eating the noodle slowly to enjoy every bits of it. Then drank the soda because I was too thirsty from msg used in the noodle! The taste is actually pretty basic but it's the noodle itself that makes the different here. It's very "Q".

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is all Sarawakians' pride. It's usually seafood soup base in coconut milk with lots of spices. It's spicy and served with belacan sambal. We eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just anytime you would like to. Yes, it's heavy for breakfast I must say. And paired with a strong Kuching Coffee...yes, it's send you to toilet right after.

There is a place in Kuching where they sell wedding preparation items for Chinese style only. As you can see here, red, gold is the must color for wedding. You wonder why baskets, luggage are sold here right? Well, in the old time, the bride would be carry to the groom house and with her gifts from her family that packed in basket. The luggage, well now it's modern day some bride uses luggage instead of basket.

The couple choosing Ang Pau for the event. Ang Pau is red envelope in Hokkian dialect. They have to give out Ang Pau to kids on that day and to their friends and family who helped with the event.

There are a lot of symbolism in Chinese wedding. Like this here, all those beans mean having lots of off spring.

I joke you not(I heard a lot of Malaysians said like this.... ), some people really decorate their room like this.

This is "spit bucket" symbolizes having lots of off spring again.

Our family is not traditional at all. We didn't get any tacky stuffs to symbolize anything but just some red cloth. The cloth will be hang at the door way.

A few of this

A few of that

Let's move to the check out line. The second basket was gift we got for Eddie.

Next on our to do list was: Getting bottled waters, soda, juices for guests at our houses on the wedding morning. So we went to this whole sale supermarket. I saw this big bag of MSG. I hate MSG. Whenever I order food at restaurant I will tell them no MSG and insists NO MSG because I'm super allergy to it and can cause me serious reaction and I can die.... Yes, I say that sometime just to screw with them. haha

Met up with Mama Wong for lunch. Check out her new tattoo. Didn't see it? It's right there... there above her eyes.
We took Tau Keh W to Bee Hin Goldsmith for a new pair of pearl earrings. I was too busy catching up with Uncle and Auntie Liu. I didnt' take any pictures. Aiya! Then we hang out at Carpenter Street. I saw this. Talk about safety.... this is complete violated electric code if it's in USA but it's Malaysia, anything can, no problem. Aside that, I think it's a cool picture.

It's dinner time! Two mothers so concentrated on their food. That is W's mother.

oh mine, this restaurant sucks ass. We ordered a few dishes and they came out one by one instead of all together. I hate eating like that.

Look at this sorry ass soup....

Shrimps were over cooked and sauce was way too gluey.

Only dish that night that I gave a thumb up was steamed fish. Very fresh but I gave a thumb down for serving the fish last!!! We already fulled and the fish was served. WTF.

W was politely serving fish to everyone. That's E over there, W's brother.

Is it cool how the cook(I won't call chef) split the fish in half so it's easy for customers to eat the whole fish without flipping the side. In Kuching, you order fish in whole, there is no fish fillet.

At night, we had meeting for the wedding committee. W was being a good host and served beverage to his/our guests.

He had the first sip while other listening carefully to N.

One bottle done.

Second bottle half done. T started to get a bit silly while N still seriously discussing about her big day.

I had some instant tanned too. That's what I called healthy glow!

The ceremony handout still in it's first draft. Need pastor to do his final review.

The time schedule for the big day. I was the time keeper.

We have a very spacious property. Mama Wong did a good purchase and Ann managed the remodeling last year while I did the conceptual design. Aside of poor workmanship, I really like the house. Big sliding doors, lots of natural light and air. So if you happen to visit Kuching, feel free to stay here. We love to have guests.

W enjoyed his tuak (Iban rice wine) with fancy crystal glass.

Third bottle done. W confused and not sure what's his task was....

Women went to the room for further discussion.

Mama Wong's handy work. She made all the flower girl dresses and N's wedding gown and night gown. She is truly talented and skilled. At age 71, she still have good hands.
We went to bed late. Tired but had lots of fun. More preparation work for next day.
Labels: My life