Heather & William's Wedding

Heather is the daughter of my childhood best friend Joanne. I've watched her grow up and as she said her wedding vows and cried with happiness yesterday, I too cried with joy for her. Heather is a beautiful, capable, wonderful, warm-hearted, unspoilt and unpretentious girl, a daughter that I would be truly proud of. In my husband's Cantonese words as they danced on the floor later that night, "Goh nam jei jen hei jeb doe" (it's hard to translate but it means the fella's real lucky).

You'd think that when she moved to Shanghai to work 2 years ago that Heather would meet a Chinaman but no, a Frenchman moved to the 'Paris Of The East' at about the same time and they were introduced by a friend a couple of months after arrival to the city. That was 1 1/2 years ago and yesterday Heather and William were married at the Pacific Sutera Resort Hotel just before sunset.

There are three resort hotels in the city and we the locals take them for granted, never visiting them until some visitors are in town. The city of Kota Kinabalu is blessed with a coastline of calm blue seas and fine white sandy shores and I've said this before: KK is on the west (unlike Sandakan and Tawau, which also have long coastlines but the sun rises over the sea) and the sun sets over the sea, offering us the most beautiful glorious sunsets everyday.

The night before was the hen (bachelorette) party but the guys who dropped their wives/girl friends wouldn't leave and the plans to belly-dance the night away were shelved. The professional manicurists did such brisk business that I only got my nails painted mauve at about 10 pm.



The mostly vegetarian Kadazan spread was a welcome change from the rich CNY food that most of us have been eating and helped the ladies keep their waistlines trim for the next day. I made chocolate cupcakes with Valrhona cocoa powder Rei gave me (finally, an occasion fitting enough for such a special present from another blogger) and topped it with generous swirls of pink Swiss meringue buttercream. Thinking back, I should've flavored the buttercream with raspberry. William is the much-awarded French chef of Papillon, the top French restaurant in Shanghai, located on The Bund, Shanghai's most famous spot. It was he who designed Joanne's new outdoor steel-cladded kitchen with pots and pans on the wall. No wonder Kevin, Joanne's husband who loves to cook, is enamored of his son-in-law. Yolanda reminded me that it is traditional to serve tang yuen, glutinous rice balls in a sweet ginger soup, to symbolize a sweet marriage. I bought the white sesame-filled balls and made the pink peanut butter-filled ones (peanut butter made by Joanne) and cooked them with candied ginger.





Don and Bryan (here with their girlfriends) are Heather's younger brothers. I caught them as they were about to bring their suits to the hotels. There was so much joy and laughter that night. That's when I think again that I should've had more kids. Joanne did well, 5 is a record among our classmates. Before I get slammed, I should mention two other classmates, Benny and Genie, who also enjoy that high productivity status.

The next afternoon, at Pacific Sutera:



Bryan sang " I'm Yours" as the bride and her dad arrived in a golf buggy. The wind was gentle and the coconut trees were swaying; it was such a happy and beautiful wedding. The bride and groom, family and friends were beautifully casual in the tropical paradise setting. And just as the ceremony started, the battery icon on my camera began to blink. I had forgotten to charge it or bring the spare. I should never turn to photography as a career.



Heather's off-white made-in-Shanghai chiffon gown was perfect for the beachside wedding.



Heather had asked me months ago, and I had agreed, to make her wedding cake because I used to make her birthday cakes. But I soon backed out because I was nervous about making the cake topper. When I saw this pretty single tier cake and saw that they used only fresh flowers, I felt terrible inside: I could've done it. I wish I made good my promise.









Isn't she beautiful, isn't she lovely? Many of the guests who haven't seen Heather for years were awed by the ravishing bride. Heather stands at 5' 8" (the perfect height for a girl, I've always said. Any taller, a girl can risk looking like a tranny and any shorter, an ordinary plain Jane) and William complements her height. They make such a beautiful couple.

Kev made the best father of the bride speech I've ever heard. His advice to William was that only 3 words were important (something he picked up on the net when he googled for father of the bride speeches) in marriage. Those 3 words are "You are right". Hub said he has learnt a lot from Kev. He said he'll have 4 words of advice for my daughter's husband: "You are always right".

Heather and William, join the club and dance every night.