*Cue ear-to-ear grin*

I am so super excited for this jaunt since it's been a while since I got to go on one.

The last I've been to has been all the way to the northernmost part of Malaysia, the Cross Northern Malaysia Trip, we crossed Perak, Kedah, Penang and, Perlis. That was a shopping sojourn.

This excursion however, is to attend a wedding reception of my parent's good friends, that of their daughter's event.

I woke up pretty early, (for my standard) which is a little after 9 o'clock.

I got to wear my elegant dinner dress just for the occasion!

It's a shimmering navy satin Baju Kurung adorned with jemeki and beads in swirling pattern across the dress, the wrist and the hem. I paired it with plain cream scarf pinned with a single black pearl brooch and a matching bracelet set with sparkling stones in simple swirly pattern and also, my precious white pearl and diamond ring. I take the trouble to bring out my special pair of black kitten heels with velvet bow to complement the whole look.

My extra efforts were worth it though, when I saw upon my arrival that most of the crowd present are dressed to the nines.

Hmm, it just goes to prove the theory that people dress to impress at weddings...

I kept nodding off all the way there, but hey, I'm deprived of vital hours of sleep here okay?

The event was held in a hall inside of a white-washed building with a colonial architecture.

We got there just in time for the couple's entrance into the hall.

The wedding was between a bride of Pakistani descent and a Malay groom. A mixed-culture marriage you may say.

Since this is the reception on the bride's side, naturally the elements of Pakistani culture is resplendent in almost every aspect of the reception. From the Bangra music, the cuisines, up to the decor and the dresses.

I noted with a small amount of jealousy the prettiness of the bridesmaids with enviable features of pert noses and classical quality of their smiles.

I too, posses some Pakistani blood, coming from my father's side but it seems like I inherited only the bad genes for I have very little resemblance to those beauties. Well, maybe a little, on the nose...

The couple was decked in exquisite dhoti and salwar khameez of red and gold fineries.

My father was obviously in his element. The dishes served were to his taste, the guest mostly looked like him...

The food was okay, not quite bad but I personally loved the golden ball-shaped laddu.

The fathers of both bride and groom made heart-warming speeches, congratulating the couple and delivering subtle advices in subjects of marital harmony for the benefit of the couple.

My family and I stayed until after the cake-cutting ceremony and left shortly later, in quite a hurry if I might mention it, maybe on the pretext of giving way to the crowd forming at the back of the hall, waiting for emptied tables in order to be seated.

The real part of the road trip is on the way back.

We went on the North-South Highway on our way to Ipoh from our house but my dad opts to go through another route for the return leg, i.e. the Federal motorway.

While the Highway promises soothing sceneries of lush wooded hills, the motorway calls for a more relaxing pace along transient suburbs and tranquil villages.

The journey was mostly silent but frequently interjected with outburst of humorous banters among Amat, Adik and I. Those rare moments of delights are perhaps the highlight of the whole trip.

Talking bout jokes, something funny happened on that journey....

The sun decided to go on full steam today and the weather is scorching. Although the air-cond is on, the atmosphere was quite stifling, our throats were soon parched.

My idiot brother spotted a HPA stockist and my dad decided that hey, why don't we relieve our thirst by buying HPA Cola?

I objected to that decision because I didn't really favour the flavour of that particular Cola and it's a very biased decision on his part. I know he's big on halal products, I am too but, he would never have reacted as swiftly if I asked to stop at a McDonald's branch to buy drinks.

I said, on the basis of principle, I'm going to hold on to my thirst and wait to buy other drinks; I am not going to drink that cola.

Since he stopped anyway, I thought what the heck, I'll go and get us some choc ice-cream. I said choc eventhough my fave ice-cream flavour is vanilla because the HPA's version of vanilla ice-cream is not at all nice, the choc flavour however, is very good.

Only after mum paid for the whole purchase that it occurred to me, how exactly are we going to eat the ice-cream?

There were no spoons in the car!

As soon as we realised that, we erupted into shouts of frustrated laughter, at my (understanble since I'm dehydrated) lack of foresight and the fact that we cannot enjoy the ice-cream over something as ridiculous as that.

So we all have to wait to devour the ice-cream, and me, to satisfy my thirst for a while as the nearest town after that is quite far way.

I was saved when dad pulled over a petrol station and I got myself two tins of tea and juice and at last, spoons for the ice cream.

By then, the ice-cream was melted for quite a bit. Haish...

Moral of the story, have a spoon readied in your car in case of emergencies like this... :P

Anyhow, the journey continues and then we stopped over at Mini Bazaar Changkat Jering.

There weren't a lot of people there since it's quite early for a crowd to gather, the normal hour would be after 6 p.m.

The stalls were not as crowded and squished closely together as the one we went to in Alor Setar, and the offerings that ranged from foodstuff to textiles were not so varied, often the stuff are repeated at intervals. The walkway was very narrow though.

We bought some traditional snacks and delicacies there.

Then, we passed through Kuala Gula, the attraction site for bird-watchers and nature-lovers alike.

Unfortunately for us, it wasn't the migrating season so there's little to do but to enjoy the waterfront before continuing on..

Since we are already passing through the area of my grandparent's ancestral home, my dad decided that we ought to pop in for a while.

We did, and to our patent surprise, Mak Teh and her broods and Mak Tam are there.

It was pretty rare for us to chance a meeting with each other so coincidently, considering we infrequently, if ever cross each other's path these days, with everyone so busy it seems...

And we have Amat with us too, which is an even exceptional occurance, as lately he seems to take an exception in travelling along with the family, well he's a teenage boy with raging hormones, that would explain it.

We stayed for quite a while, catching up on news about each other.

We got home right after dusk sets in after starting our road trip earlier in the morning.

All in all, although the later parts of the journey were unplanned for and unexpected, it was satisfying and fun in a weird way. We were there as a family unit and that is the coolest part of it.

Sorry coz it's a really long post but I've tried to write it as succinctly short and precise as possible and I hope I succeeded.

I wish I'll be able to write about a voyage like this soon in the future...

Au revoir....