I used to attend Malay or Melanau weddings in the kampung (village) with my mum when I was young. I remember everyone sitting on the floor to eat – but don’t expect me to do that nowadays! In my present shape and size, getting up would be virtually impossible. I think I would need a forklift for that! LOL!!! All the guests would sit in groups of four and they would be served the food which usually comprised a meat curry dish and some others plus the acar timun (pickled cucumber) and rice.
No cutlery would be provided, so everybody had to eat with their hands – I tried but was not very successful and ended up with all the rice on my face, my shirt and everywhere else. In desperation, I would pinch one of the spoons from one of the dishes which were meant to be used when helping oneself to the food and putting it in one’s plate.
I remember that gifts of money were given to the host, wrapped in plain paper instead of red ang pao packets like in the traditional practice of the Chinese…and it was the norm at the time to give around RM3-5.00 only. After eating, we would leave and the space occupied by us would be cleared for other guests that were to show up later.
After all these years, I was finally invited to another wedding like this – two, in fact…as it was a double wedding – a sister and a brother, Nomie and Syaiffrie, both getting married simultaneously…
They’re my cousin‘s children, so actually they’re my niece (left) and nephew (right)…
It was a grand affair, held at the Sibu Civic Centre on Sunday, 10.10.10 or the 10th October, 2010, a once-in-a-lifetime date and it came as no surprise that there were many couples tying the knot on that same day.
Instead of the traditional bunga telur (literally translated as egg flower, which used to be a nicely decorated egg given away to every guest at such weddings), they had this…and inside, there was a key holder – with a miniature Eiffel Tower, probably a souvenir from the parents’ recent trip to France to attend the youngest daughter’s convocation…
There were a lot more dishes than what we used to have in my younger days at a Malay/Melanau wedding. We had chicken curry…
…and the celebrated Sarawak dish, daging masak hitam (black-cooked beef)…
See! I told you, didn’t I? It was really black, very black…unlike my FAILED attempt to cook this same dish.
Other than that, there was the sweet and sour fish fillet…
…and I liked the acar limau (pickled lime)…
…that went very well with the nasi minyak…
There were also a plate of mixed vegetables and fruits.
The food was good but what I really enjoyed a lot was the very formal affair – solemn, yet very pleasantly special and memorable as all weddings should be. I wonder when I will get to attend another one like this again…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
aww wedding! so many people married, there is still hope in this world, i love the curry and the nasi minyak yum yum yum. and the daging masak hitam is really black but i can’t remember eating it anywhere lah. sei lor, sarawakian but never eat that. hahaha
Yes indeed, what the world needs now is love… Gosh! You’re Sarawakian and you haven’t eaten masak hitam? It is available at any Malay stall here in Sibu – usually all quite nice. Must try when you come back.
haha. i rarely eat malay dish when i am at bintangor. i only see kampua and more kampua and chu mian. and porky thing . LOLOL
Small towns…only a few Malay stalls and usually the cooking is very simple. You’ll have to try the ones in Sibu or Kuching, I guess…
That is weird. Not many people would have organized their wedding together. 😀
Why? I would think it is very nice… A reflection of the closeness and love in the family. If I’m not mistaken, there have been a brother and a sister…marrying a sister and a brother respectively even – like in the old-time movie, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.
This must be a very delightful banquet for you since for a change you get to have something totally different from the usual chinese fare. the masak hitam really hitam for my liking lah! haha! i ve the eiffel mini keyhld too from my daughter last time,must be a ‘must- have’ souvenir from all who visited Paris.
It certainly was a nice, pleasant change. Hah…name already hitam bah. That was why I was quite disappointed when mine was not so hitam. LOL!!! 😀 Oh? KpgNangkaBoy was in Paris too for his honeymoon – but I definitely wouldn’t bet on him bringing anything back for me. Sulk! Sulk! 😦 Well, if you did, KNB, I don’t want a miniature Eiffel Tower… I already have three! Muahahahahaha!!!!!
The acar limau is one of my all-time favourites. When I was studying overseas, I would always tapau acar limau in one huge nescafe bottle back after my summer vacation in KK. And that would last for a year!
Hah!!! You should have asked your sisters to tapao that back to KK. I met them there – Christine & Marriane. Actually, that’s a HUGE plate – normally, we don’t need so much as we eat it bit by bit with rice – cubit2 only. Too bad you couldn’t make it – must plan a visit soon… Christmas perhaps?
Summons again! wow.. stp, u r really popular in Sibu… after the month of August, lots of weddings are on the way… when your girl gets married, make sure those who invited you now will get “summoned” back in return.. hahaha….
yes, Malay weddings are not as expensive as chinese ones, in terms of ang pow.. thank goodness…
These days, they’re all the same… Most of the time, they will hold their receptions at the major hotels, so we usually give what we will give when attending Chinese weddings. No more the kampung, sit-on-the-floor style…or maybe they do have, but only for their neighbours and the people in the vicinity…
Weddings are something joyous indeed. I haven’t attend one for some time now.
I suddenly miss the Chinese weddings haha :p.
For me, there was a long stretch when weddings were few and far between…but now they’re coming one after another…fast and furious. I guess the kids have all grown up now and are settling down one by one…
Food looks absolutely wonderful! Especially the black beef. Wonder how they made it so black. Will have to do some research. Looks like a very grand affair. Reminds me of my own special day. We just went to the government office, signed the papers and went home by cab.
Oh? You didn’t marry in church? Maybe you can have a grand one for your anniversary. Your silver – 25th past already or not? Hold it in Sibu, then I can attend… LOL!!!
my mum attend it as well. hihihihihi. heard a lot of ppl comes.
Ya…I guess the whole kampung was there! Dewan Suarah bah…so many people!
The daging masak hitam is REALLY black, now I see why were you sulking when you failed to cook it black!:p
p/s: But yours looked more appetizing wor!
Hehehehe…doesn’t put you off eh? But masak hitam is supposed to be black, otherwise how to call hitam leh? LOL!!! 😀
Now malay wedding also have so fancy gift. I remember last time they use to give the bunga telur. I love those.
Ya, the authentic traditional practice. Would be nice to retain that and keep the culture alive. These days, there is this shift to what’s new and trendy…
me attended malay wedding too n received bunga telur n handkerchief as gift! lol. nicely wrapped summore. 😀 yerr y so black one? i dnt like the color. lol! prefer urs! :p
Hahahaha!!! Mine is masak coklat, not masak hitam bah…FAIL!!! LOL!!! Ummmm…if Chinese, giving handkerchief is taboo. They give out that at funerals… 😦
Wow! You attended another wedding Suituapui. I was looking at the food and I was surprised by the dark food that I saw. It is very dark, it is as if a charcoal was placed on a dish to be eaten. ^_^
Hah! I dunno how they get it to be so black – mine turned out brown in colour, not successful at all. Ya…I’ve another wedding on the 23rd – 4 on the same day but I can only attend one… 😦
Very jealous to see the masak hitam. How come so hitam. Mine din turn out like that. 😦
Neither did mine. Well, my tuition classes end tomorrow, so I will have more time to try again. Hope mine will turn out good this time!
Wow..it look very grand!! The invitation card look very unique too, i thought that is a menu. hahahahha
The door gift look nice, at least something different. 🙂
Acar limau? First time i heard about this dish, eeeeeee…i can feel the sourish now.
Congrats to the two pairs newly wed couples. 🙂
Thanks. Ya…they must have spent a lot on the invitation card, really nice and special. No, the acar limau was sweet, only slightly sourish… I always thought the same and would never touch it but when I tried it the other day, I was pleasantly surprised. Really nice… There’s acar cili also…and I’ve never tried that either – I’ll just stick to my acar timun.
OMG… acar limau, acar cili… sedap… I need to cari some to makan liao. ishhh!
ps: I kinda hate Chinese wedddings, but i loveeeee Indian and Malay weddings. Gosh… been a long time since I attended one. Haizz… who… who wanna invite me??? Ishhh… wanna eat nasi minyakkkkk!
Hehehehehe!!! Can’t possibly be worse than me. The last time I attended an authentically traditional one was when I was a kid, tagging along with my mum! Hah!!! If you can get hold off some acar limau, give some to Annie – she’s never tried that before.
Hahahaha…. you know something about a Muslim-Malay wedding, Cikgu? Ohhh… I love them to bits. You know why? Because they are sincere enough to invite you to celebrate their matrimony without expecting you to pay ‘saman’. LOL. Usually when i attend Malay-Muslim wedding… I dun sumbat angpow to them. But i’ll give them pressies instead, and they would love you for even bringing pressies for them. Gawd… Chinese are sooooo calculative… go to Chinese weddings, really takut to see the damage to the pocket wan.
Not in Sibu. These days, Chinese weddings, the invitation cards will state: “Gifts are respectfully declined.” Seems to be the trend…but in that case, we would group together with friends or colleagues and chip in to buy a gold ring or a necklace for the groom or bride. Not nice to go and eat empty-handed like that.
But I do not mind giving ang paos – these days, not cheap to host receptions at hotels and big restaurants, so I do not mind giving a bit – that would help to cover part of the expenses. I wouldn’t buy presents – dunno whether they like or not – they can always use the ang pao money to go and buy some things that they need to set up the home…if there’s any left over after paying for everything for the wedding!
Wow..how nice to have your niece and nephew getting married…soon you will be grand uncle lo :p Malay wedding is so much simpler than our chinese wedding. But whatever I think I prefer a simple garden wedding , of course not for me la , but for my two children when they are of age…..:p
Not in this country… I’ll be dripping in my sweat!!! Chinese weddings are only troublesome when one has to stick to all the nitty-gritty details – all the traditions and customs. Usually, we have a Christian wedding…and we do observe some of the main Chinese traditional practices, more to preserve our identity than anything else, so it is not THAT tedious.
Drool!! Yummy! I miss Malaysian cultures. I will always be a kampong girl at heart no matter where.
I have not eaten daging masak hitam before… how does it taste?
Nice…very nice. You can try it when you come home…or I’ll cook it again one of these days and hopefully it will turn out nice this time – then I’ll post on it and you can try cooking your own over there. 😉
I am eager to cook this daging masak hitam. I have followed your kampua mee recipe and it turn out real good!! Thanks.
Oh? You mean you didn’t know how before this…? Gee! I thought everyone from Sibu would. 😉
Wah…..really HITAM. I would love to try that….never seen something like that. I used to have this eating together sitting on the floor with 3 -4 person sharing a huge plate of rice + dishes during schooling time. I think that was during one of the muslim’s festival. Can’t remember what festival was that. Nabi something? And I enjoyed eating with my hands. Those were the days.
Congratulations to your niece and nephew……I would love to attend such traditional malay wedding too…eating those nasi minyak…….have not been to such wedding for such a loooonnngggg loooonnnggg time….
Thanks. Me neither…and the main reason, I think, is that I no longer live in/near the kampung, so we’re somewhat out of touch. In the old days, when somebody got married, they would invite everybody in the kampung…so we would get invited too.
I used to enjoy going other ppl’s wedding…until i got tat stupid gout.
Aren’t you taking medication for it? Allopurinol? Doesn’t help at all?
Phew another wedding dinner for you woh the chicken curry looks good…
Another one in two weeks… and more to come! Gosh! It’s like an epidemic… 😀
Nice to flood the rice with the chicken curry. I like the meat masak hitam as well…..yum yum!
Yes…I love it like that too. You’ve tried masak hitam before?
i love those malay food..
Ya, me too…and I’m so lucky there’s a stall selling all these yummy dishes at the kampung nearby. Nice, very nice…and very cheap, and the nice fat guy would always give me extras….and the best thing is they’re not overloaded with msg…like at the Chinese places. Have to be careful with the santan and the oil though… Hehehehehe!!! Head, you win…tail, you lose! 😦
awww.. i wonder when is my time to get wed hahaha.. not getting any younger you know… hehehe
So when? Let me know well in advance…and I’ll try to make arrangements to fly over to attend. Gee! My first Filipino wedding – that would be a good excuse for me to go over… 😉
STP! it is official: Our new Proton Waja 2 Lancer is called Proton Inspira (unless if the flyer is fake). 🙂 http://www.tekkaus.com/2010/10/proton-inspira-new-proton-waja-lancer.html
Huh? Why are you telling me this? I wouldn’t be able to afford a new car, not me – poor old pensioner. Will just drive my old original Waja till it’s ready to be converted to scrap metal…😦
they should take the vows at 10.10am so that it’ll be perfect ten all the way!
…and 10 seconds? LOL!!! 😀
A lot of couples tied the knots on this special date ya…
Yea..it’s really dark. Now i see a big difference..LOL!!
There! I told you so! LOL!!!