My girl came home last Friday arriving here at around 3.00 p.m. in the afternoon from Penang, transit KLIA and Kuching and she was able to attend the engagement party of her cousin, my niece…
– the daughter of my cousin on the maternal side of the family, the very next day.
These were some of the engagement gifts…
…and these too…
…and these were the engagement rings…
There was a simple ceremony, blessing and all and the cutting of the engagement cake…
…and the eating as well…
And talking about cakes,there were lots of those…
…lots and lots of them…
…and cupcakes too…
We had brunch as soon as we arrived at around 10.00 a.m. Melissa loved the pumpkin and cangkuk manis…
…which, I would agree. was very nice and I liked the masak hitam beef too, the ulams…and I absolutely enjoyed the salted fish…
…with the dabai (black olives) and the sambal petai with Β tempeh…
…was so very nice as well.
This is a group photo of the couple with the immediate members of the family…
…after the ceremony, followed by hi-tea and the distribution of door gifts to all the guests…
Melissa was called upon to lend a hand in doing that…
We left at about 3.00 p.m. and I must say it was a really great gathering indeed – lots of smiles, lots of laughter…and meeting familiar faces, both friends and family…and I certainly look forward to more joy-filled events like this!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
o.0 Your daughter lives in Penang ?! Those layer cakes look decent, I wonder how much does 1 piece costs?
Nope! She was in Sg Petani, Kedah…but coming home, she would have to fly through Penang. The cakes were very nice – dunno the prices…will have to drop by the bakery one of these days to check it out.
A very nice party…
I like wedding lunch/dinner….
Can get together with all relatives…
Yes, it certainly was. Great opportunity to catch up one another’s lives…
Pumpkin with manicai? That sounds rather interesting! What does the sauce taste like?
I think they fried it with sambal hay bee (dried prawns) – we fry pumpkin like that at home…but they probably added a little bit more than just that. My daughter said it was nicer. I fried pumpkin with tapioca (bandong) leaves together before but with belacan when the KL/Ipoh bloggers came to my house for dinner and everybody loved it: https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/make-yourself-at-home/
haiyoh, so busy lah these few days.. no time to drop by your blog to comment.. while printing my dissertation now so i just take the opportunity to do some blog hopping lah..
Not coming to the end yet? Gee!!! That’s a long long time…
now after posting the first comment, all the photos in this post show up!! just now they kept loading and loading but i can’t see anything.. now good, i can see those nice food and it makes me hungry!!
Ok with mine, even though I’m on throttle till the 18th. You probably need to upgrade your system…
Dabai? where? where? I would love the ikan masin and the sambal petai with tempeh.The manicai with pumpkin is not a very pretty looking dish but I bet the taste is heavenly.Anyway, is it a new trend in Malaysia for non- Muslim couples to hold engagement party with the hantarans like the Malay? I’ve seen a few recently in FB and blogs but I don’t remember we have these in my days. All I remember having was the man side sending Babi panggang, bakul siah full of stuff and the most important thing a pair of red candles.All done quite chor-loh ( rough ) without the rambu-rambu tray.. Hehehe.
Ya…I’ve seen those pale pinkish pig legs, uncooked…with little squares of red paper stuck on them…and live chickens in shabbily-made bamboo carrier cages. There’s a lot more than that…the sweet cakes (lay peang), the gold etc…etc…etc… Quite a hassle really! We did not have all that when we got engaged/married – I just gave an ang pao and did away with all those intricate customs & traditions.
I think this is a lot classier…and very much nicer, a lot more pleasant to the eye. Actually, they’re Melanaus – my late maternal grandma was a Melanau too…and we do see a lot of inter-cultural influences and crossovers. I guess what is good we should emulate and follow – what is not good, we discard.
I didn’t take any photo of the dabai – I’m sure we have enough already in my blog. The pumpkin and manicai…see my reply to Kelly Siew.
Thankful that becos of your blog I can see all these familiar faces again that I havent seen in ages! But some I can’t put a name to the face already. yes….jackfruit community always have a very joyful spirit in them!
You’ve been away too long… Ya, the true kampong or village communal spirit – lots of joy and laughter. Quite different from some communities where such occasions would be an opportunity for gossiping and backbiting and bad-mouthing…their own next of kin.
So nice!! We Malaysians really do know how to celebrate all occasions with FOOD! hahaha~~~
The way to a man’s heart…or anybody’s heart, for that matter! Good food…and don’t we have the best right here in our midst? π
Love young couple! It’s always nice to have a family gathering like that to share a joyous occasion. Yummy, lots of good food to eat! I like that pumpkin and cangkuk manis dish. I should try to replicate that at home. Your heart must be filled with joy having your daughter home, eh? π
Yes, of course…and very relived unlike when she was alone in no man’s land!
I meant “Lovely” young couple. I’m getting a bad case of the typos lately π¦
The slip of the fingers, not the thought of mind… π
haha initially i thought is ur daughter’s engagement party. =p
Not yet, no boyfriend…how to get engaged? You have any good potentials to introduce? π
Congratulations to the blessed couple!! Soon you will be attending and enjoying good food again!
hey Arthur, nowadays no need to introduce or match make already… Facebook ada, Blogging ada.. so easy.. by the way, mine is like yours.. no girlfriend as yet! π
Wink! Wink! Come, come…JB to Sibu direct! What for go back to Ipoh all the time, nothing there! Here, food’s so much nicer and cheaper…and my missus and I can cook lots of yummy dishes too. Hehehehehehe!!!!!
Build an airport in Sg Petani so that she can fly direct to Sibu that’s what Dad are for right?hehe..Engagement is still popular these days though everything is about super speed so why not straight away get married haha.
No need! She has completed her studies, now waiting for her convo – coming soon! So, we do not need to go to that place ever again! Well, it’s all up to the young people – want to be engaged first, or straight away get married…no problem, up to them. It is their lives, old people no need to meddle so much.
I love such occasions π and all those kek lapis, so beautiful. Arthur, those salted fish (looks like only fish heads in there?), and I note the chillies and limes to go with them – they are not the kind of (dried) salted fish I know of… More like the salty ikan kembong my mother used to fry maybe..I don’t know what I’m trying to say..haha!! π
Yup…kembong masin, “long” type…add chili & squeeze lime….oooo….out of this world! I did manage to pick the body… Hehehehehe!!!!!
A very nice family gathering. The gifts were properly done and the kek lapis!!! I got those from Yee Ling last time. Sedap!!
She gave you too? Oh my! She did not buy that many leh? Had enough to give to so many people…
although the party was lovely, I was drawn to the pics of the food… especially the lapis cakes! Is Sibu famous for kek lapis too? I thought it was more famous in Sarawak…
Congrats to the Happy Couple!
Thanks. Hmmm…you mean Kuching? Sibu is in Sarawak and so is Kuching but they call their cakes kek lapis Sarawak. We have ours here too, very nice ones – some say nicer than Kuching’s as they are not mass produced…and they must be chilled, no preservatives and not sold by the roadside stalls for months and months like some in Kuching. I wouldn’t want to eat those… π¦
CONGRATS to the couple! I saw many nice kek lapis! Gonna wait till CNY to spau them :-p
Nice gathering and also nice food goodies π
Thanks. You’re coming back to your in-laws in Sarikei, come Chinese New Year?
Yeap….as usual every year. But I’ll usually come back Seremban earlier than HB…hehe…
Hmmm…hope to see you then! With me around, you’d wish you could stay longer… π
Wow, all the nice food. Salted fish and sambal petai surely boost up ones’ appetite. Everyone seems to have an enjoyable time. When is your turn to host such gathering, hehehe?
Waiting and hoping… You come over lah, bring your children… Wink! Wink! LOL!!!!
i luv cangkuk manis.. but can’t find it here in kelantan..
So when are you coming over? You can eat all you want here… π
Delicious food. The kueh look so lovely. Btw, are Melanaus muslim? Kinda surprised not seeing any present in red wrapper but mostly greenish.
Congrats to the lovely couple!
Thanks. Nope, Melanaus are not necessarily Muslims. Some are Christians and some have no religion – they practise their own ethnic traditions and customs. Red is very Chinese but they may choose that if that is the theme of their choice. I would think the shades of green are less glaring and more pleasant to the eye…and it’s my daughter’s favourite colour.
Actually, the families of the bethrothed are Christians and they had a priest to come to the house to conduct the blessing ceremony…and there were Muslim relatives and friends around who stayed to witness the ceremony – they did not go to the kitchen or elsewhere. I think we people here are a lot open and a lot more understanding – that’s why we always say this 1Malaysia thing is nothing new – it has been part of our lives since time immemorial.
Of course, we need to understand one another’s do’s & don’ts…and like at this function, for example, they had a caterer to cater the food that everybody would be able to eat and enjoy. Otherwise, we would just tell them and apologise for that and they would just not eat, it’s as simple as that – they would still come just to share the joy and offer their good wishes (unlike some who would come just to eat!). I’ve had friends and relatives coming to the house e.g. during Chinese New Year and I would quietly put away the bak kua and stuff and just tell them that we cook the food ourselves and they would understand and just help themselves to the drinks and the commercially-made cakes and biscuits perhaps – mutual understanding, that is very much predominant here…which is a good thing really.
Thanks for the clarification, STP. It’s a lot clearer now.
Yeah, green is a soothing color.
Welcome. It’s the same with the other ethnic groups here – the Ibans,the Bidayuhs and the rest.
I looked at the gift presentation and thought how very “Malay”ish it was. π
A great celebration and union.
Plus, your daughter gets to be home too. π
When’s the wedding?
According to them not till at least a year! Yup, we have here an integration of cultures…not exactly nyonya or peranakan but something like that. My mum wore the sarong kebaya…but when she grew older, she would reserve her best outfits for special occasions only. That is why my cooking is more inclined to ethnic or kampung-style, not purely Chinese…or not all the time at least.
Congrats to the lovely couple.
The engagement party is Green theme? I can see all the gifts and flower wrap with green colour papers. π Nice.
I think that pumpkin & cangguk manis, i will like it too, food look awesome..but that petai and tempeh…hmmmmm..i won’t touch. kekekekkekek
Thanks! Yes, nice shade of green too! Very nicely done, I would say. Melissa’s favourite colour – green! Hah!!! I’m not surprised…and you would give the ulam a miss too. Hehehehehe!!!! π
that is such a beautiful engagement party. *Drool* at those food!!!
Yes, lovely party, lovely food! Had a great time!
Sobss…how come I have no such a beautiful engagement reception.
Come, come… I will hold one specially for you. LOL!!!!
Dun worry, Ling. I oso dun have such privillege. Come, we bodek Cikgu throw us one. LOL!
Come, come! Will have to be in Sibu… π
What cleverly designed cake with all of those geometric shapes inside.
Yes. I thought that would be a lot of work. Will drop by the bakery one of these days…
Gorgeous close knitted affair!
Yes, thought that was really very nice… π
Just in time. wah got petai…yummy.. super sedap
Yum! Yum! π
Congratulations to your niece. She’s so lovely. π
Thank you on her behalf. She would be pleased to see this… Good looks run in the family eh? Muahahahahaha!!!!! π
Congratulations on such a happy occasion! I love all the foodie pictures especially for someone like me who can only afford to drool over your pictures!
Why just drool? You can’t eat these things?
Cannot get this kind of food where I live uncle π¦ sob sob .
Can always try and cook your own, substitute or make do without the ingredients that are hard to come by. Where there is a will, there is a way. π
what a sweet and lovely couple they are
and im loving the color theme for that wonderful event
Yes, and I love that shade of green too… Soothing and nice.