mano po (the wedding)
the other night i attended my second chinese wedding ever. it's always a delight to go because it's a cross-cultural experience in itself. You learn some new traditions...not to mention partaking a great lauriat at century seafoods! the thing with chinese weddings is that the mass is at 2pm while the reception is at 7pm so you'll notice that the crowd swells at dinner time. the weird and long interval in between is supposed to be a tea ceremony with the in-laws but nowadays the couple just rests at the hotel prior to the reception. what i love about this event is that you don't have to dress up. the first time i attended i wore a barong and i felt so overdressed. my chinese friends weren't kidding when they told me to dress simply lang.the reception started with a very talented chinese host who had a pang-broadcaster quality voice of ted failon and the singing prowess of basil valdez. he sang both english and chinese songs. free entertainment is provided by the equally talented friends of the bride and groom who belt out the usual wedding songs like "minsan lang kitang iibigin", "ikaw" ,etc. as you wolf down your peking duck (syempre removed the skin) and hot prawn salad.
i guess what made this wedding unforgettable for me was the fact that unfortunately i was the guy caught holding the garter when the music ended for all the bachelors. i had to play a game blindfolded wherein i had to choose a girl based on their answers. parang it's a date na show back in the '90s. well it was a fun experience naman and it wasn't too embarassing coz i only knew of less than five people in the crowd. as good karma, i got the ubiquitous red envelope (aka ampaw) with 800 bucks inside for my embarassment! i learned that inside the ampaw the amount should be an even number. hey, i like this tradition! haha. pambayad rin yan sa doctor for my follow up appointment with my cardio the next day.
(postscript: my bp is back to normal now thanks to my anti-hypertension drug although it makes me feel dizzy sometimes. i'm also working out in a brand new gym that opened in the condo last week so here's to a healthier holidays and year ahead. )
posted by absession @ 7:06 PM
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