Of being a Witness, a 'bidan terjun' Emcee and Prayer-guy for Makan...

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRIS & EVONNY (hurrayy!!!)

Last Saturday, 4th September 2008, was THE day for my cousin Christopher William & my wife's cousin, Evonny Jintara... yupp, you got it right, it's their wedding day. Congratulations to both of you.. may both of you have a blessed and great life together, until the end of time...

I hope that both of you will 'live' the Vow that you has spoken before God, all throughout your life ahead. It's not just words, but it is about being true, of your undying love to each other and honoring one another..

"I, ___ take you, ___ for my wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." 

Me and my wife were their witness, because of that, I had to take a one-day leave from work (lucky those who have 5-day working week ya...) to attend the Wedding Mass. But, for this big occasion of them, I am glad to do it, no problemo, though now, my leave balance for this year is only 1/2-day left.. hahaha. Can't go for holiday during Christmas, I suppose.. hmmm

The ceremony was solemnised at held St Michael's Church, Penampang then proceeded to the reception at KDCA.

Well, after the Mass, I thought that I have done my duty as witness after signing the dotted lines (though, in actual fact, the responsibilities as a witness does not stop here, it's only the beginning....) and this day will be just another ordinary day besides my cousin's wedding. Who would've thought that last Saturday and Sunday will be quite an eventful day for me.

At KDCA, while waiting for the arrivals of guests and the program to start, I was busy snapping pictures of JJ with my old faithful 3.1 megapixels camera (though this camera is already showing signs of wear and tear), I was approached by Chris. They needed help... Apparently, Chris friend who is supposed to be the Emcee had met with an accident. "Alalala..." I said. But they needed help and fast, not to go and 'rescue' the friend but to replace him instead!!

I am not an expert in emceeing functions, but I do have some little experience coupled with some knowledge gained through watching many master of ceremonies doing their job 'live' or on TV. The last one being my niece's wedding last year.. I did a quick thinking - "can I do it? with the few experience I have? I don't want to spoil the wedding with my inexperienced emceeing and certainly do not want to be a laughing stock!..".. Well, help they needed and help they get from me. So, I was the emcee of the day..hahaha. Anyway, I don't want to go into the details but the event turn out to be great - great couple, great crowd, great food, great "Diompong Old School Village" kulintangan and tagung team and great band with Martha Ginun on the mike. Everybody had a great day that day. Chris and Evonny wanted a great day, and a great day they get...

The reception at KDCA ended around 6pm. But, there will be another small reception for close friends and families at the Bride's house that night. So, we rushed off home to have a bath and dashed again to Evonny's parents house. A good 25km away from my place. But, this is their big day and we want it both of them to be happy, so I don't care too much about the distance. Luckily, JJ, my very naughty son, was so understanding today. He was not too naughty at all, according to his mom.

We arrived at the bride's house around 830pm. Everybody are sitting or chatting and the food's on the table are ready. I didn't realised that no one is eating. Dinner is served but no one is eating - a peculiar scene here. Well, I was getting hungry anyway. Then quite suddenly, someone asked me to do the prayer over the food. I rejected as IMHO I am not worthy.. someone more senior than me should do it, since this is a 'big' occasion. After a good 5 minutes, my wife persuaded me because according to her, nobody wants to do it.. a bit reluctantly, I did the prayer over the food (but again I did it in the spirit of joy and happines today for Chris and Evonny)... and you know lah what happened after that.... everyone is rushing to get their share of the food, it seems to me that they are waiting for this very moment for quite sometime. I was wondering, what if I came very very late.. or didn't come at all.... hmmm. Nobody wants to say a simple 'makan' prayer but everybody 'berebut-rebut for makan'.

But hey, I don't mind about it lah, at least I can do a little bit to make a great day for Chris & Evonny..

This ramblings is getting ridiculously long... very very long indeed... so I put a full stop here. Perhaps I will post some of the pictures I manage to take in a later post..

Congratulations again to Chris & Evonny... may you lead a great life ahead as a family. Cheers!!