The Really Nice Wedding Dinner

Well, see - I am not always sour and negative, and writing bad reviews of others' weddings! I do praise when things deserve to be praised.

ST and I went to a wedding dinner last week. It was held at Tai Thong Imperial China Restaurant in Subang Jaya, on a weekday. Despite the rain which caused a massive, MASSIVE, MASSIVE jam which turned our supposedly 30-min drive into a 150-min journey; despite that we arrived about 90 minutes later than the time printed on the invitation (that was very, very late, even for Malaysian-time standards); despite that the first dish had already been served when we arrived, and we missed the very beautiful (so I was told) and special march-in of the couple, I still enjoyed the affair very much. Here's why --

The food was simply marvellous! I am no expert in describing tastes, but if I'm not being sarcastic about it, the reader can be sure it was really good. I was also very impressed with the restaurant's service. The waiters / waitresses were quick, light-footed, observant and professional. For instance, our glasses of tea were never empty - almost never half-empty either, because the refills were very prompt and regular. For another instance, someone at my table finished his bowl of sharksfin soup, and almost as soon as he placed his spoon down, one of the head waiters (I think you call them... captains?) stepped in to serve him a second helping. Call it an isolated incident, or coincidence, if you will, but I'm pretty convinced of their superior level of service. I'd never experience such efficiency during wedding dinners, or any dinners, before.

Since the bride and groom are ACTIVE members of the Young KL Singers choir group, there were numerous live performances by their counterparts. I simply love live singing! They did several songs beautifully, and even sung one called How Do I Love Thee? which lyrics are of the very famous poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning of the same title. I had no idea someone had it put to song! The melody itself didn't impress me much, but who would need the music to be great, when the words alone could melt one's heart? Here:

How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

*melts* Never mind that 2 of them butchered the duet version of From This Moment, and later, also butchered TTSG (a person who refers to Time To Say Goodbye as TTSG is, most assuredly, a super big fan of it, so I may be biased...) - I was mesmerised all the same by the performances that evening. When the groom played and sang a song, which he himself composed, to his bride, I knew I would most probably never experience another wedding as special.

One more thing - NO boring speeches! There were speeches of course - 2 speeches, to be exact, but they weren't boring. There were 3 collective toasts, and no compulsory table-to-table toasts. The entire program was just so smooth, elegant and romantic!

So there - a really really nice wedding dinner, and I've written about it really really nicely. I am not as evil as some people make it seem.