After the church wedding in my previous post, we proceeded to the grand reception at one of the ballrooms in a leading hotel in town…
This was the backdrop on the stage at the designated venue…
…and I must say that I was very impressed when the couple made their grand entrance…
…in their Melanau traditional costume. For the uninitiated, the Melanaus are one of the ethnic races here in Sarawak and my maternal grandmother was a Melanau too.
The food served was the usual fare, starting off with the Four Seasons…
…and I loved this duck stuffed with glutinous rice, very nicely cooked with a lot of dried prawns and chestnuts inside…
The steamed fish was all right…
…but after feasting on the duck, I was really so very full and merely nibbled at the rest of the dishes that were served which included this dish of broccoli and mushrooms…
…and another one of prawns…
…before the dessert was served. We had the Chinese fried pancake with white tau sar (bean paste) filling…
…and also the honeydew and sago pearls in coconut cream…
Fellow-blogger, Yan, who happens to be the bride’s boss, was there to share the joy at the wedding too that day…
Thank you so much, Alexius & Stephanie, for the invitation, our heartiest congratulations once again and here’s a toast to your everlasting happiness! Tuuuuuuuu…..terng!!!!
(“Tuterng” is a Melanau word meaning “drink” and is used for toasts as in “Yam seng!” or “Cheers!”)
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
i like the costumes very much… looks comfortable and decent… tuterrnngg… is … **pork intestines**…
Hah! That’s in Hokkien.
good looking couple in their melanau costume. Love the tuterng bit, yeah tuterng anum! 🙂 n keman puas puas!
Kau keman jumek aja’. Mei kenah mesin a’terng!…. LOL!!! 😀
Oh wow….beautiful couple. First time see a Melanau wedding. Thanks very much for sharing this. Love all the food……mmmmm. Always love wedding feast 😀
They had the traditional rites the day before – something like our Chinese “sang pheng kim” or the Malay “hantaran” and it seems they had some interesting activities like the folding of the headgear for the groom. I did not get to see that…unfortunately. Would be interesting to blog about that.
Lovely wedding reception! I would say that all the dishes served very “hoh liau” and no rice?
Nope, not at this hotel. I know they do that at another one in town… Not the usual practice here to have rice at the end as the food is usually substantial and heavy enough – people would not go home hungry.
wow very delicious dishes, i love that duck stuffed with glutinous rice~~
You too! Ahhhhh!!!! At least, we agree on one thing. Muahahahahaha!!!!
we must agree with everything here, no?? else kena scolded!! muahahahaha!!! 😀
Where? Where? I’ve scolded you before meh? Hehehehehehe!!!! 😉
haha one good thing about going for wedding ceremony….. FOOD! =p
I love the happiness all around, everyone so happy….
Lol. Bek nau jumek mak?
Mei kenah mesin lawoh… ‘ati merbei bajau, nak sukup semuah. LOL!!!
Me also first time see a Melanau wedding…
The foodssssss is sooooo tempting, kekeke….
Frankly, a lot nicer than what I had in the peninsula…or maybe I am more accustomed to the food here.
Of all the food, I only like the 1st and 2 last dishes ( desserts ) although I am sure the rest of the dishes taste equally fantastic. The Melanau’s traditional costume look so comfy and not fussy at all… nice!
Yes, simple and comfortable. The 1st was all right but we can get a lot nicer at other places here. I’m just ok with the desserts – I prefer or nee – the sweet yam paste.
I love their traditional costume which symbolize the authentic of Melanau. Not complicated but simple and comfy.
Indeed. Not so complicated like some of the others.
All the food looks so nice. The newly-wed couple looks good in their traditional costume, simple & comfy.
Yes, I like it when people take the trouble to preserve the good traditions and their remember their roots.
Yeah..something different from the normal gowns 🙂 It would be great if they serve some Melanau dishes too… Never really seen them before.. 🙂
Melanau dishes? You had those at the dinner at my house – the kunyit prawn soup (Irene Tan’s hubby’s favourite)…and I think I had the Bandong (tapioca) leaves fried with pumpkin and belacan….and those sago worms!!! Traditional Melanau delicacy and also the umai (raw fish)…Aiyor…so many and you have forgotten all.
very unique bridal wear 🙂 . Good looking couple
Nice, very traditional. Good to preserve one’s culture – like how trees cannot live without their roots.
Thks for sharing this Melanau wedding! Its really lovely to see what other cultures do or wear for special occasions like this!
Aside this, the food looked traditional… duck stuffed with glutionous rice.. I havent seen that for ages… must be super yum!!
Yes, at one time very popular, some years ago. Haven’t had it for a long time…and I loved this one – very well-done. Thinking of going back and order for Chinese New Year. Missus doesn’t like duck, so not cooking…so I buy and eat myself. Hehehehehehe!!!!!
duck stuffed with glutinous rice sounds new to me!
Very popular, I think in the 80’s and 90’s buit we do not get to see this at banquets so much these days. One hotel restaurant manager told me that it is for volume – to make sure it is filling for everyone as the duck, after it has shrunk – there wouldn’t be much left to go round.
which hotel? Nearby Wisma Sanyan or the one at the lanang?
Beautiful couple and love their traditional costume, simple and nice and unique.
Is that 8 “bou” duck? 8 “treasure” duck? And is it only serve during chinese new year or something? I think i had that before.
I always love the first dish and the dessert.
We used to have the duck at all wedding banquets in the past – not “fashionable” anymore, like the dry shark’s fins – seldom see that these days as well. Inside, the glutinous rice is something like lor mai kai – very nice. I like!!! Which hotel? The one behind Payung…
Such a good looking couple in their Melanau traditional costume. I like this kind of Chinese pancake, like it even more if it’s red bean paste, yummmm!
Not my favourite but I’m ok with it…
…yes, I can see in your reply to Shereen that you prefer Onnie…sorry, or-nee, that is! wahahahaaa!!!
Chesh! Who wants your Onnie? That’s or = yam and or-nee is the sweet yam paste dessert.
Look at the food. All of them so mouth watering. Hehe. I can speak fluent melanau dialect. I grew up in Mukah and most of my friends are Melanaus. 🙂
Not me, just a bit. Used to speak to my grandma in Sarawak Malay and she would reply in Malanau – two languages simultaneously but we could understand each other very well. LOL!!! 😀 Sibu Melanau is closer to Malay, easier than those down river.
ooo, i’m not sure i’ve personally met a melanau person before. i’m sure there were some at universiti sains malaysia where i was studying, but i guess i never got to make friends with them. so yeah, the only recognition i have of ‘melanau’ is from school textbooks…
Not that many here either.
Looks good because they wore the traditional clothes. 🙂 Now I wonder what to wear for my wedding. Maybe I’ll try the traditional clothes of my people.
You should. It is good to remember one’s roots and preserve the customs & traditions to keep the culture alive.
I always enjoy the first dish, maybe I’m hungry due to the long waiting for the arrival of the newly wed :p
My congratulation goes to the dashing groom and lovely bride!
Thanks. Well, this one that day was just so-so, all right…nothing great. Usually I would be like you – looking forward to the first dish and loving it.
*Cheers* yum seng…….
I like that duck stuffed with goodness. Can eat meat, tasty rice, all in 1 😉
I loved it too…a lot!
I like the duck stuffed with glutinous rice, and the honey dew sago coconut milk desserts. In fact, all dishes look fantastic. Credits to your good photographing skill.
Not really. You see that hand with the gold ring – always wanting to shift the plates of food for goodness-knows-what-reason – I was quite irritated while trying to get a good angle for the photos. Tsk! Tsk!
Tuterng …
you got mabuk that night or not? hehehehe
Of course not. I only drink water at such banquets, iced water…and it was a luncheon right after the wedding service in the morning., not dinner.
When you mentioned fellow blogger Yan, was thinking why not same same the Yan Taiping mali haha.
This Yan’s my friend from way back, here in Sibu but now based in Kuching.
So you went Tuuuuuuuu…..terng whole night through ;).
See my reply to Simple Person. I’m a 100% teetotaller.
Yeah nice marching-in with those Melanau traditional costume, Bananaz was thinking to wear those Indian style costume but then not to confuse the crowd who might think Bananaz is Chindian. The marching-in song was already Indian enough with ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ to surprise everybody.
Why Indian and not Chinese? Not your culture…so that would be so irrelevant.
Dare to be different mah.. Everyone quite like the Hindi song haha.
I wonder what the song means. Like I went to Penang for a wedding and they hired a band and they sang “How do I live…” and “I will always love you” – all the heartbreak songs. So inappropriate! Good thing they did not sing “Release me”! I guess by now, many would have used Oppa Gangnam Style for the grand entrance and horror or horrors!!!! Some might even have danced into the ballroom. I always imagine weddings to be romantic, so sweet, so nice…and I certainly would like to keep it that way.
What a lovely wedding, I really like their outfits too.
The top that the groom is wearing reminds me of an outfit I made for myself. It was a royal purple with a deep brocade trim going up the center and around the collar. The pants were made out of the same purple. I only wore it a few times but received numerous compliments on the outfit.
Hmmmm…bet you look great in that. I have a few traditional Indian tops that look similar too but they’re black – can’t wear in the daytime as I will come down with heat stroke so I can only wear to dinners at air-conditioned places. Yes, it was a nice wedding and reception.
all the food looks great most especially that duck dish!
I just had my dinner but that makes me
crave haha
Hah! Go and eat some more – you’re so skinny, not a problem at all. 😉
anyways I could see the happiness
on the newly wed’s faces
Yes, that’s why I love weddings. Everybody radiates happiness – really great vibes. Sure can do with a lot more of that in our world today.
Wow, the couple looks so nice in their Melanau costumes!
And everyone is smiling happily~
Yes, so glad to be there to share the joy.
nice… love the desserts, we call that tau sah peng here as “Wo Peng-Cantonese” and normally served with Hot Red Bean soup haha
Oh? I reckoned it’s Cantonese. Didn’t have that around here when I was younger, Sibu Foochow town mah – they only started serving this not too long ago. Not really crazy about it though…
Congrats to the beautiful couple. I never see the duck stuffed with glutinous rice before. That is very nice, but should be very filling.
Very very nice and very filling indeed! After eating so much of that, I could not eat much of the rest anymore. Thanks for your good wishes.