Monday blues...

After a long break, I woke up this morning with super lazy feeling and a blurry mind. I was like..Huh?! Why wake up so early today?? Aiseyman, today is Monday already, got to work bah pulak. *sigh* Eventually, I managed to drag myself from the bed.

Surprisingly… but gratefully, today is not as busy as I expected, only some documents need to finalized and double-checked. Thank God, I’ve prepared them before the break. Today, tinggal sign, seal, deliver. Bersusah-susah dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian, right?! It’s peaceful in the office today, no KL staff fussing this and that. Perhaps, they are still on leave.

As I mentioned in my last post, my holiday schedule is quite tight…Well, it is. BUT it didn’t turn out as I expected. Hmm…a lot of changes here and there. First of all, I only attended one open-house on the 1st Raya. The host, hubby’s colleague was very generous with all the delicious food (rendang, ayam masak merah, serunding daging etc) and drinks served. However, I’m a little bit dissappointed bcos all the kuihs are modern type (almond/chocolate cookies, fruit cakes, carrot cakes)…my favourite batang buruk was nowhere to be seen.

On 2nd day of Raya, didn’t attend any open-house as MIL summoned us to go back to Keningau. She insist to do daughter Vanessa’s 1st birthday party there on 3rd Oct. Initially, we planned to do it in KK but had to postponed as most friends and relatives were unable to make it.

Next day, we rushed back to KK as we need to attend cuz daughter’s birthday party. Niece, Bethany was also celebrating her 1st birthday. We reached Atlantis Restaurant, Bundusan an hour late. Nasib baik the party is still on going. When it’s time to distribute the goody bags, all the children went out of control, all swarmed cuz hubby at one time. Not long, cuz’s hubby surrendered and left the goodies on the podium. LOL …The children masing-masing berebut, takut kehabisan bah. When the function is over, they berebut again, this time for the balloon decorated on the ceiling. After that, we’re supposed to attend hubby’s friend garden wedding at Lembah Impian Resort, but we’re too exhausted to go.

However, we attended their reception at KDCA Hall yesterday. It was a nice one, although not many guests attended. The setting was quite interesting and a bit different from other weddings, the lights were dimmed, so the backdrop with all the blue lights really stood-out. I should have snapped some pics and let them do the talking. But I didn’t…am too occupied with daughter’s antics. She wants to explore he whole dewan…excited that she can walk already *sigh * The 3-piece band was good too…they belted some popular songs in harmony accompanied by acoustic guitars and the upright bass. It sure was an evening to remember. And of course, as well as the Sumazau, the Poco-Poco dance was also performed.

Congratulations to the bride and groom, Didi & Jojo!! :)

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Wedding 'must-have'

Attended many weddings reception over the years here in Sabah. Regardless of where it is held, be it at the bride/groom’s residence, community hall, restaurant or hotel, I noticed a few things in common.

Most obvious one is the song, Yue Liang Tai Biao Wo De Xin/The Moon Represents My Heart. This evergreen song by the late Teresa Teng is a ‘must sing ‘ song in every reception, regardless of whether the wedding couple is Kadazan or Chinese. This song has simple yet meaningful lyrics and perhaps easy to sing or memorize, making it so popular among the wedding singer. And, the wedding singer wasn’t even Chinese…Wonder if it is the only Chinese song they can sing? *smile*

Yup, this song is also sung at my wedding although it’s not in our requested song list ya. Hmmm…we listed some other Chinese song but instead we got this one. But, never mind la since it’s a beautiful song also. * smile * Now every time we heard this song, hubby and I always tease each other…”Nah, lagu kau!” LOL . Since then, we always compete whose first to point it out. Before long, it has become our personal game pulak….lol

Another compulsory song is Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. I bet it’s popular for the same obvious reason, easy to sing. If the wedding singer does not sing it, then surely one of the guests will belt out this song. It’s also a signal that the floor is opened for couples to do the slow dance. * wink-wink*

There is one more ‘must have’, the Poco-Poco Dance. It’s a traditional dance originates from the Minahasa people of Manado, Sulawesi. Whenever the song for this dance is up, you can expect a crowded dance floor. The juniors, the veterans and children all scrambled to their feet, to get a space on the dance floor and proudly show-off their skills. Poco-Poco is a type of line dance with easy-to-follow steps. No wonder it's such a hit among the crowd.

But when it’s time for the Sumazau dance, only a few people whose willing to participate. Most of the time, the veteran. The teenagers even kena paksa pun, still refuse. Reason being; don’t know how to do the Sumazau. Common, what’s wrong with these people?? I don’t think that the Sumazau is that difficult, is it? Surely, nothing some practice can’t fix. Tiring, yes, but nobody’s going to scold you if you wanted to stop earlier than the other.

If we can spend some time learning the Poco-Poco, why not put some effort into learning Sumazau. It’s our own cultural dance we’re talking here. If our young generation refuses to learn, sooner we’ll be loosing a part of our heritage, our culture. It’s bad enough that most of us cannot speak our own Kadazan language. Sad but it’s a fact though. Then again, it’s never too late to learn.

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