Well we survived.  Dad and Janice (who have been married already for six months) have now had their wedding, complete with Chinese tea ceremony, banquet and karaoke.  There was no death or structural damage (to borrow a phrase from some dear friends).  The family were all well behaved.  It was quite a pleasant evening, although I did have a few moments of feeling upset but they passed (mainly when I remembered it wasn’t about me, it was their wedding!).  Nick and I didn’t have to sing formally, but we did end up doing a duet on karaoke of Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable, which actually made dad’s boss cry (aww - possibly we’d be useful to have on hand for a negotiation).

I don’t really have the energy to write all about it, so I’ll post a slideshow of photos that will probably explain it better than I can at the moment.

Afterwards, Nick and Janice went out with Janice’s girlfriends to drink.  Dad and I came home and counted the ang pow (red packets with money inside, instead of giving gifts).  I thought briefly that was a bit odd, but hey, not my wedding.  As a result, Nick and Janice have been totally hungover today.  Dad went to work.  I only had one glass of wine last night and so wasn’t hungover at all, and was very bored all day while they all tried to lie as still as possible.  I played games on my computer, did a little work on Salt, read my book, but was just kind of listless.  I still don’t feel safe walking around here by myself; Nick doesn’t have issues with it, but then, he’s not a woman in a Muslim country.

Eventually dad came back, everyone lay around a bit more, then we went out for a very nice dinner for Janice’s birthday (which was today) in the extremely rich part of town.  Then we went bowling.  And tomorrow we are leaving for Redang at 5.00 in the morning (which is better than the original plan of 3:00) - it will be about a six hour drive and then a ferry ride to the island.  I’m not looking forward to our accommodation, which from the website looks pretty basic, but I am very much looking forward to the swimming and snorkeling and the reputedly beautiful beaches.

I’m mainly trying to stave off the intense homesickness I feel at the moment, and remembering there are lots of wonderful things to see and do.  So I will catch you in a few days when we are back from our island adventure…