Andrew's Wedding

This was our next trip back to Malaysia, this time only Christine and I catching Jetstar from Darwin to Singapore on the 30th December. The Christmas rush had now receded and the plane was about 80% full. By now we were clued up to Changi Airport so it was straight through to collect our luggage then get the bus to the Budget Terminal to book in then to have a meal.
The queue we were in moved very quickly unlike the other lines which were having problems with passengers trying to put overweight luggage through and a tour group missing some of their passengers. This time we travelled by Tiger Air to KL, the fare was very cheap compared to Malaysian airways and the seat we got was better than the MAS ones. As the flight was short the lack of meals or beverages was of no consequence. The only problem with the budget terminal was a lack of seats so you had to stand and wait to board.

We reached the LCCT terminal and after a long walk we reached Immigration. The queue for the Malaysian passport holders was long and it twisted up and around. They seemed to have open the same number of counters as for Foreign passport holders, of which there were very very few. In fact there was no one in front of us though we had to wait for the bored Immigration officer to stop reading his newspaper then he checked all his stamps, checked everything in his top drawer again, shuffle around papers on his desk then with a sigh, take our passports. The Singaporean Officers would have processed 7 people in the time he did one.
By this time our luggage was out – at the front this time so it was then straight past the 3 bored Customs Officers – but then we did not look suspicious! But then no one was checked, and around to where the bus to KL Sentral leaves. We were lucky as it only had 2 seats left so it left early. The driver re organised the passenger seating so the only 2 foreigners on the bus were together. The other passengers on the same flight as us had now a half hour wait for the next bus. One advantage of both of us having long legs as we overtook a few on the way out!!
We reached KL Sentral but there was no transport for us so after waiting for half an hour we rung them up to see if they still wanted to see us!. If not, I do believe there was a spare store room for us to sleep in elsewhere. That is the advantage of roaming mobiles as I did not yet have a local SIMS card, - where to get at 11.30 at night and we did not have any local coins for a pay phone.

The following day was spent as a catch up day and poor Patrick now had to put up with 3 giggling girls in the next bedroom as Evelyn from Bukit Mertajam was also staying over to keep Grace company. No wonder we rarely saw him!
On the Friday night there was a dinner for the grooms relations and in the afternoon the caterers arrived. There was a slight panic around lunch time when Andrew took a call then mentioned that the people who were providing the marquee and tables had their truck stolen. But whether Andrew was joking or not a truck did turn up with all the necessary items. Soon after this, the relations from the northern states arrived so there was some catching up to do before settling down for the meal.

Saturday morning we had to get up early and go with the groom to fetch the bride. The best man kept close to the other cars in the group as he not been to the bride’s house before or knew where it was.

However the KL traffic was very light at 7.30 in the morning. We arrived there by eight and disturbed the neighbourhood when the crackers were ignited to announce the Grooms arrival. The bride’s sisters had set several tasks for the Groom’s party to do before they could see the bride, these included doing the Limbo under the pole and for Andrew to write a poem expressing his love for her.

From here it was back to the Church of the Holy Rosary for the service at 11.00. This church is popular for weddings due to its fine collection of stained glass windows. By now the rain had started so all moved inside to wait for the bride.




































































After the service the tummies were looked after with a buffet being served in the hall behind the church then it was back to the Groom’s place for the Tea Ceremony. When the best man lit the fireworks to announce the arrival of the bride, he was a bit to close and his nice white shirt was singed down one side.
















The reception at the Sheraton Subang where more relatives were met. This time I managed to get photos of the Foo families for the family tree and also to scull some whiskies with some ones FIL. He is giving me a bad reputation! Many groups were there more from the brides side than the grooms. The following morning after a good breakfast we caught the local bus back to the KL Sentral. The bus gave us a long tour around the KL suburbs.





























After a couple of days it was then time to head back, leaving the Chung’s at 10.00am we finally reached our house at 7.00am the following morning. This time we caught Air Asia from the LCCT and it arrived at Terminal 1 Changi so it was convenient for us.