Day 13 - Wedding Reception

Wedding reception day finally arrived. The reception was in one of the function rooms at the hotel a lot of us are staying at. 53 tables of 10 people meant it was going to be a pretty big event.

Apart from being big and spectacular, it was very special to be part of and there were some lovely speeches by the families, friends and by Gan and Renu. We were honoured to be a part of it.

Renu's uncle thanked the Australian contingent in his speech and commented on our dedication to dressing up in the traditional Indian style, saying "the Aussies from down under have stolen our thunder".

Some people even asked Gan and Renu how much it had cost to bribe us to dress up. "It was easier than you might think", they said.

They named tables after Australian towns. We were at Fremantle.





As Gan and Renu made their entrance, they were accompanied by these dancers throwing petals, and the dancers made a few more apperances with traditional dances.



In another highlight, two glow-in-the-dark swans came swimming out from the sides of the stage. Then the love hearts appeared above the swans' heads... then three baby swans popped out above each swan! So romantic. And symbolic.



The swans were followed by these lovely signs... "Marriage Made in Heaven", "Murali loves Renukha" and "Dinner is Served".

Matt gave the first speech and passed on some good wishes from people who couldn't make it. He also kicked off the traditional roasting of the groom with some comments about his dedication to cars. Gan's dad followed this up by talking about his collection of toy - I mean model - cars, and how he wakes up with John Bowe and Dick Johnson looking over him every morning. I hope he's talking about posters.

Here's us with Mel, showing off our 'party sarees'.

Karen, Mel and the lovely bride, in another fabulous saree.

The fish was particularly spectacular and the standout of the night... and this is saying something as there were 8 other courses vying for our attention.

The bride and groom enjoying toasts.

We start carving up the dancefloor, Bollywood style.

Day 12 - Shopping and Steamboat

Friday was a good day for recovering from the wedding ceremony (not too hard as it was alcohol-free), doing some extra shopping and eating tasty food.



Even Gan and Renu showed up bright and early for breakfast at the hotel. Here's the henna tattoo on Renu's hands.







We headed back to our favourite haunt, Masjik India. There are two "Little Indias" in KL (that I know of). The one at Brickfields looks like a village from Movie World, newly renovated with a giant fountain featuring Hindu deities in cartoon colours and all the buildings painted purple. That's also good for jewellery shopping. Masjik India is a little grittier but has great food and shops, especially for sarees, material and all things Indian. A few times I found myself thinking I was on holiday in New Delhi.



We stopped for sizzling Thai chicken and smoothies of mango and honeydew melon. For 6RM ($2) a meal, no complaints here. Note my hardcore tattoo remains.









After some time to relax at the hotel, we went for dinner at a Chinese and Japanese restaurant at the hotel. We opted for "Steamboat", where they serve up giant plates of ingredients which are all cooked on the table in a pot of almost boiling broth. We were originally at a smaller (but still quite large) table, but they moved us to this one so they could fit all the plates in. Apart from the three platters in this photo, they brought another one or two. It was quite an event as the waiters gathered round to check out our steamboat skills - you're meant to start piling ingredients into the pot and then fish them out at just the right time.







We clearly failed as the waitress started piling ingredients into the pot for us. Then as she fished the cooked morsels out and starting putting more in, we could barely keep up with the pace of the food being provided.



We ate a ridiculous amount of food and still only scratched the surface. It was a bit sad to see the waste, but we tried our best.


This photo rotated because the camera thought it was vertical when we took it.

Day 11 - Wedding Day

Yesterday was Gan & Renu's wedding ceremony. Renu looked gorgeous and there ceremony was very interesting. Here are a couple of photos - I'll put up more later on. Now we're about to go shopping in Little India.

Day 10 - Karen gets a tattoo

On Wednesday, we left relaxing Langkawi to head back to Kuala Lumpur to start the wedding festivities.

Here's Mel and me with all our luggage, made heavier with our craft-shopping from the previous day. We looked less happy later when AirAsia's computers at Langkawi check-in were down, so it took two hours in a queue to get from the front door of the airport to the check-in counter. Luckily they held the flight until everyone could check in. (Fair enough since it was their error.) Stress factor 9.

O

Have you ever had to walk this far across the tarmac to get to your plane?

Matt found this interesting safety card on the plane. Ostensibly, it's telling you to remove high heels, luggage and backpacks before using the emergency slide. Subliminally, it's giving you the message that the menfolk should be allowed to escape first.

We checked into Holiday Villas at Subang (just south of KL) and then went our separate ways to events for Gan and Renu.

I went to Renu's house, where she was getting henna tattoos on her feet and hands. We had a lovely vegetarian meal and met more of Renu's friends and family. Everyone in Malaysia has been very welcoming and interested to hear about our experience of the country as visitors.

They also like to hear that you've been getting good bargains.

When I arrived at the house I was greeted by one of Renu's aunties with "aaah, Mrs Danger...".

Matt took the camera so my photos are on my phone or on someone else's camera so I haven't included them.

Matt went to Gan's uncle's house.

Both houses had a stunning coloured-rice decoration.

Gunny's family gathered around.

Christian and Matt turn up to help along the festivities.

Gan's aunties carry out the ceremonies - When they wave the fire in three circles in front of the face I think it is a cleansing ritual.

Dave, Noel, Matt, Gan and Christian carry on with their own cleansing rituals.

As I said, I don't have any photos to help me piece together what happened, but I woke up with this tattoo...

Day 9 - Relaxing in Langkawi & another ride on the Cablecar

After yesterday's big drive around the island, today we planned to do very little and enjoy the pool and beach. This was the view from breakfast.


First we had a trip into town to get cash, and sadly the ATM swallowed Matt's card and didn't give him the cash. The ATM was attached to a bank so the manager got the card out, but Matt figured out that according to our bank we have withdrawn money even though we never actually got it. Matt's working on that one.

While Mel headed for the pool, we decided to take the Cablecar again because it was a lot clearer this time. We discovered that there is a 'Skybridge' up the top which last time we couldn't see at all due to the clouds. Here are some photos...








After the Cablecar, we joined Mel for a swim in the pool and then lying on the beach. To our delight, the pool even had a swim-up bar so we had a cocktail in the pool.


Matt's view for the day:


Karen's view for the day... We didn't organise to take matching photos, it just happened by accident.

Day 8 - Driving around Langkawi

Today we hired a car and drove around Langkawi. This was the view from breakfast.

Shark Fing anyone?

We went to Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) Waterfall which is the biggest Langkawi. We had looked down on it from the cablecar the day before, and I had noticed its height with the creeping suspicion I would soon find myself having to walk to the top of it.

Less than 24 hours and 638 steps later, voila! We were at the top.

An example of a "backronym" at its best - helping the enironment.

Mel and me, powering on.

Looking back up at the Cablecar. Did I mention it's quite high up?

Another lovely view on the drive.

We then spent some time at a Craft Complex which had some pretty Batik prints and handmade jewellery.

We went looking for a Buddhist temple and found that this one was still under construction.

Back on the road, we had a quick look at Kuah and then continued our loop around to Cenang Beach (where most of the resorts are) for some shopping and then Thai food at a restaurant on the beach.

The sunset was pretty.

Nowadays I refuse to sleep in a bed unless it has two swans made out of towels on it when I get home.