March 14, Sunday
Malaysian Wedding, and
Melaka>Penang via Car & Ferry

Sunday afternoon, 4 men from the guest house, and I, attended a Malaysian wedding. There was mutual confusion at first, but we eventually caught the 17 bus to the noon festivities. We were guests courtesy of our guest house hosts. They and their boarders were invited on the invitation. It seems Malaysian's are much less private than we westerners about such events. The more the merrier seems to be the theme... and people walking in off the street are even welcome to weddings. I believe it's a general understanding that one should donate to the father of the bride... in this case, our guest house host recommended we each donate 5RM (about $1.50) to help at least cover the cost of the meal. Apparently, the father of the bride is a cab driver, and must have saved up a long time to pay for this wedding. I felt humbled and priveledged to attend. We ate well in the huge hanger like tent, took photos, and chatted a bit with the guests. The bride and groom were gorgeously dressed in sparkling yellow and gold, and the bride had simple henna tatoos on her feet and hands. People here are not afraid to wear sequins and rhinestones! I believe the groom was ethnically Malaysian, and the bride was at least part Indian. The food seemed to me to be Indian Muslim. People were curious and friendly. Family is obviously important here, and there were lots of children. The dresses were quite colorful. Some locals were quite pleased to pose for pictures and gave me addresses and email contacts for later access. I explained I'd upload to ofoto.com, though I'm sure not all of the immediate group understood it, I've no doubt they'd find someone in their circles to download or order photos for them. Oldly, the cupcakes were presented in lidded plastic cups. I was thrilled to scavenge them for later painting use in Bali. I was unable find anything like it to buy in the stores.

I'll post wedding photos later, so check back.

Later, about 7pm. I caught a lift with Raymond and Ronnie to Penang. They have business there regarding a hotel that Raymond wants to buy. We caught dinner at the same Indian restaurant Raymond had recommended for Clare and I. This time, we were presented with some great pickles and cucumber salads... Raymond knew to ask. I learned that at the end, one folds the bannana leaf in half. Folding it in one direction indicates it's a happy event. Folding it in the other direction indicates a sad event (funeral) or that one is unhappy with the service. Goodness! Who would have thought that folding something the wrong direction could offend!

We continued on our 5 hour car journey, to the sounds of lightening and local soft rock music mixed with a healthy dose of American 60s music. About 2am we drove our car onto the impressively regular ferry boat, and rode it the the nearby Panang Island. Apparently this was a quicker way, than by bridge. Panang's bridge is (I believe) the longest commuter bridge in SE Asia. Panang's skyline is subtle and attractive. It definitely has an asian look, in a minimalist pointy sort of way. This town has food and drink available 24 hours. Our hotel management stayed up to greet us, and we sat out in the pleasant tree lined courtyard and had beers and chatted untill about 4:30am. There was a friendly young black and white cat on the premises. It's shiny coat, slinky long tail, and trusting languid nature showed how well taken care of it was. S/he was definitely one of the luckier cats in Malaysia!