Six years ago I made a promise to my dear friend Stella that I will be there in her wedding day. So there I was in her Wedding day, July 9th 2006 in Hong Kong. The lucky guy is Rickson. The very funny and friendly guy who I feel like an old time friend the first day I met him.

The wedding banquet room was open for guest start at 5PM. It is located at the top (42nd fl) of the fancy Langham Place Hotel, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Sitting at table 15,  I was one of the 216 guest attending the party.

The reception itself started at 8PM. So what did people do in three hours waiting? Mahjong game! The is a room connected to the ballroom, specially for the game. Most of the elderly guest will be here and put their bet in the game. If you are not into it, you can also stroll around the shopping mall adjacent to the hotel. And for me, what I did was: enjoying the spectacular birdview of Hong Kong skyline from the window, in and out the bride’s dressing room watching Stella being dressed and make up by the pro, down to my room (I stayed in the same hotel, at 25th fl) to re-charge my camera’s battery and took off for a while that killing high-heel shoes, seeing the mahjong game, talking to friends…
Red is the wedding color. The wedding dress, the bed cover, all in red. The guest should not dress in red.
The Bride and Groom several time make the appearance in the ballroom. First, in Kwa, the traditional Chinese red wedding dress. They stood on the stage and people will then take pictures with them. When the elderly family came, they will go on stage and the Bride and Groom will do the traditional custom: serving the tea. In return the Bridge will receive a set of gold bangles as gift. At the end of the night Stella ended up with almost no space left on her arms to hold the gold bangles…

The MC opened the party at 8:15. Two MC, friends of the Bride, chat casually leading all the program. It is all in Cantonese but I got my good friend Sandy who translated all the detail. The video of the couple history was shown. The light off and then the couple enter, this time in the classic white western wedding dress.
Thank you speech from the Bride and Groom and family (so sweet of them to specially mentioned my name and the light went on me!). Then light was off again, very cheerful music was on and suddenly a troop of waiters bringing big plate on their hand marching in the room. One of them stopped at each round table and start to serve the food! Thanks God…I was starved it almost 9PM. The audience clap their hand happily to welcome the food, which sound interesting to me as in Japan people behave as if food if not so important (while actually it is!) and people will usually eat so slow and concentrate to the talk and socializing. Not in Hong Kong. The food was a fourteen course set of served-in. It was an express culinary experience! It takes minutes for each course, everyone at each table will  raise their goblet and shout "Kampui!" before each dish. So you will here kampui here and there. People eat fast, not talk much, finished and ready for the next. It was a bit tough for me to catch up. I was a speedy eater long time ago until changed in Japan where eating fast and not talking around is consider improper.

I have to mentioned that no matter how busy I was with the food, Stella was much more busy than me. In fact, she is the busiest Bride I ever seen in any wedding party. During that short hours, she got five, yes FIVE, dresses to wear. Every after 20 minutes or so, she got to run to the dressing room, followed by Yvonne the Bride’s maid (maid in the real sense!) who will assist her to change to the next dress. Every time she made appearance, people will praised how pretty she is (she is!) and people want to take a snap with her. Rickson luckily, got only two costumes. The Kwa and the tux, so he was not that busy and able to gobble some food in between waiting his Bride changing.

I was so hungry, Stella was in red Kwa.
I tried to chew my mushroom kailan after the Shark fin soup, Stella was in Tosca dress.
I struggled with my chopstick to get this slippery noodle, Stella was in White dress.
I enjoyed the delicious steam Garoupa and Oyster, Stella was in Maroon dress.
I sipped the delicious sweet red bean soup dessert, Stella was in Orange dress.

Part of the culture is, the Groom got to sing a song for his Bridge. So Rickson was nervously sang the song with the guitar played by his best friend. Not like a Grammy star but I think he sounded so nice, so gently and honest, a touching love song…
After cut the wedding cake (which is not a real cake, and instead to replace that in the invitation you will receive a cake voucher that you can change with 6 slices of cake you like in Maxim’s cake shop all over Hong Kong, I think this is a great idea!), the couple followed by both family will go around from table to table for greeting and raise the wine glass and "Kampui!"
Out of the topic, but it is so interesting how "Cheers!" is said in different language. Hong Kong: "Kampui!", Korea: "Kampei!" and Japan: "Kampai!".

The Hong Kong wedding is a happy cheerful moments of event. Very different with Japan culture where wedding is a very touching formal event where all audience will remain quiet and sit following the very formal MC leading the whole procession. In Hong Kong, the audience is much more lively. They stand, move around, shout to tease the Bride and Groom. Both got its own things, but both is perfect to each culture’s personality.

At around eleven, with the song from the Sound of Music " So long good night, I think I got to go…", the Bride and Groom and family stand on the door and the audience shake hand and leave.

I am glad to be able to witness that glowing spark of happiness in the eyes of my best friend.
Congratulations Mrs and Mr Cheung!

She prefers not to be called by here real name. Instead call me "Oba-chan" (Granny), she said. Oba-chan bought and moved in the apartment next door from summer last year. In her late 60s or perhaps early 70s (you do not ask a lady age here in Japan), she is so funky old lady. She dress: jeans, legging, fancy tops following the trend, shorts, gypsy style dresses all in the catch-me-in-your-attention color. Her habit and all stuff is not those of Oba-chan’s. She drives a new 3 series BMW. She smokes and cut her hair short and change the colour in different type of shade.
She owns two very cute but naughty Persian cat who often get lost and thought my apartment is theirs and when I opened my door the cat just jumps in and explore the house in wonder why the format and every thing is changed.

Every morning when I go to my back yard, she always there at hers. She fonds of gardening and her yard is just awesome (and she spent BIG money for that tiny but full of flower and decoration garden). So we always greets "Ohayou gozaimasu…." and start chit chat here and there.  This become morning routine. My kids love her. The talkative Oba-chan who like to throw some gift over the fence that bordered our yard. From all sort of food until all sort of toys.

She lived alone after husband passed away five years ago. Her two sons are grown up, married and live with their family. The first son is a professional hairdresser. He learned the skill and lived in Germany for years before some years ago moved back to Japan and open his own Hair Salon in Tokyo. It works well.
The second son is a professional pianist. He is good that he was contracted by an European orchestra and had tour here and there in Europe countries.
Oba-chan said, you don’t need to push your kids to be in the line of standard profession like doctor, engineer, economist, etc. If you follow your heart and talent, you will make your life. Well life.

Inspired from the current technology to make life easier and happier like the URL of children day care center here that enable you to just log on and see what your kids currently doing from the video cameras in every corner of day care’s building which link to the net, plus my many automatic home gadgets, my imagination dancing around…

If only there is a web service that connect to my home appliances, my life will be much much easier. Because I can:

1. Program my rice cooker (which connect to my rice supply box) to cook the rice to be ready at 6:30PM for dinner, and small quantity to be cook and ready at 7:30AM for Raisa’s bento (lunch box). In the case we decided to eat out, I can just connect to the web to cancel the operation for dinner.
Perhaps, if the spices supply box is connected too, I can program for saffron rice, risotto or nasi uduk every two weeks or so.

2. Program my refrigerator to inform me when there is food supply lack, and perhaps the refrigerator can connect directly to any supermarket online to order, home delivery in front of my door on Saturday morning. This way the frequent incident of "oh no…I didn’t realize it but the milk is finished, honey can you please grab some cartons of it in nearby grocery store?"

3. Same as above for my toilet when the toilet paper supply is getting thin and my toiletries supply cabinet when baby diapers is nearly out of stock.

4. Program my home aircon and floor heater to manage the room temperature to be 23C at summer and 26C at winter, only start at 6:30PM when we are home. When the humidity is low, the mist to be on, when some dust particle fly around, my air filter on and add the minus ion to the air. Surely that is all can easily terminated/changed from the web in the case we decided not to go home and enjoy the evening outside.

5. Receive a service of suggested menu of the night for our dinner, all connected and considering the weather of the evening (so we should not eat hot soup at the summer or cold zaru soba at the winter). This should be connected too to number 2, our individual family member body weight and diet restriction. This way, my "oh my God what to cook tonight! " feeling while children is crying of hunger coming back from the Day Care Center can be eliminated.

In addition to that, I am anxiously waiting the day where the following machine is sold the market:

- The two in one is common now, but I want the three in one: Wash and Dry and Iron machine. So not only : dirty clothes in and clean clothes out, but it is ironed as well.

- Anti-mosquito machine which will radar and sensor mosquito by perhaps its temperature or movement or smell or whatever and the machine will kill this tiny flying monster precisely (using human-friendly-but- deadly- to-mosquito rays or laser, perhaps) so mine and my kids’ very-sensitive-to-insect-bite-skin will now be spotless and itchiless.

- A car which self-cleaned, specially the cabin. It can get rid of all juice/milk spilled and cookies crumps instantly.

- Automatic diapers change machine. Specially for big ‘potty’ case.

- Too much to ask but if any machine, small like thermometer, put in armpit or mouth that you can use to your kids to know what is the reason of her/his cry or tantrum (can simply give indication like: hungry/sleepy/wet/feel hot/cold/stomach pain, etc). This can be used to your boss too.