Angela and I are now married. We met in 1997, shortly before the handover, and dated for about 4 1/2 years before I proposed during our trip to Cambodia. An email followed at the end of 2001, with a note (which not everyone read) at the bottom indicating that we were engaged. At the time we thought that without the church ceremony or the traditional Chinese tea ceremony, we'd just have a few friends & family for over to help us celebrate. That was at the beginning of the year when we thought that this would be a simple affair.
We knew we wanted to get married in the fall as this was the best time of the year in Hong Kong in terms of weather. So we decided on October the 14th, which was a holiday. That turned out to be Cheung Yeung Festival, or pay respects to the dead day. Probably not a lucky day so that date was changed to a week later. Later found out that in October all hotels double their price as this is the height of the trade fair season.
I asked my parents to come so that they could meet Angela's parents, and my brother Rob so that he could be my best man. My sister Diahann got herself pregnant and would be giving birth just before our big day. So I guess she and her husband Chris had a good excuse not to come. I wasn't really expecting any other out of town guests until my aunt and cousins (on both sides of the family) expressed interest. This was good but around then I started to know things were going to be more complicated that we had initially thought.
A week of festivities were planned and on the 12th of October, the family arrived. My folks and brother got in at 6:30 in the morning. They had free transportation to the hotel so it was decided that I would meet them there. Around 8am, I got a call from my brother telling me that the hotel wanted to charge them extra for a third bed even though they had pre booked everything with a travel agent. Dad was not happy but eventually they a room, although it was a small one. My aunt Joyce and cousin Rachel arrived later in the afternoon but I wasn't there to meet them as Rob and I were off to Macau for the bachelor party. We had a fun filled night with some good Portuguese food, lots of sangria, a bit of gambling at the casino, and a visit to the Canadian ballet (well...the girls there were Canadian and they were dancers).
The next day was family day, starting with dim sum with distant relatives (my mom's dad's brother's wife and her children) followed by a big Chinese dinner with all of Angela's family. The parents met for the first time. My parents couldn't speak any Chinese and Angela's parents couldn't speak any English so the meeting went great! Angela's brothers were not happy and complained to the restaurant that we had booked a big room but got a small one. In the end we still had the small room but got a few free beers.
For Cheung Yeung Festival, we decided to take the family to my mother's ancestral home in a small village near Zhu Hai. Although their brother was born there, the two sisters (my mom and aunt) had never seen the house that their father built before moving to Trinidad. Got an email from my other cousins, coming to the wedding, that they had made it out of Bali safely. Of course this didn't make sense to me until I saw the newspaper that morning. The next sign of trouble was in the line at Zhu Hai immigration when Angela suddenly asked me if I thought that she needed her passport. She had brought her HK ID card but had forgotten her Chinese passport so Immigration wouldn't let her through. She would have to meet us in Macau. The rest of us went through Immigration without a word from the Immigration Officer except for cousin Rachel, who I should mention is also a model, and got chatted up ("So...where are you from?"). Rachel also speaks some Mandarin so did most of the translations even though most people in Zhu Hui spoke Cantonese.
At the village we were met by my grandfather's brother's wife's adopted daughter (Get that? Ok, adopted daughter of the lady we had dim sum with). Some confusion with the villagers wanting to have a Buddhist ceremony at the house and my aunt wanting a Christian prayer but eventually things were worked out. We took our taxis to the border and walked across to Macau. Massive lines at the border made us a hour late for the rendez-vous with Angela in front of St Paul's cathedral, where there was an open air concert with huge crowds taking in the Japanese drum performance. In the end Angela found us on the street and a large Portuguese meal was enjoyed by all. The rest of the week was spent with the family shopping during the day and more large meals with Chui-Inn & Jay (long lost uncle on my father's side who found our family website on the internet) and the Huangs (old family friends). Some of Thursday was spent confirming with guests if they were attending or not. Had several cancellations, additions, and still half a dozen maybes (RSVP was a month earlier!).
Friday was the signing ceremony at the marriage registration office. We woke up to find it pouring rain outside. Solid walls of water were coming down, so much so that the red storm warning was raised. Angela double checked that the registration office was still open and then went out in the rain to the beauty salon. By the time she got back and we dressed, the rain had stopped. Dad and Angela's friend Winnie were the witnesses at the ceremony. Mom didn't know how to work the camera so repeatedly walked in front of Rob, while he was video taping, to ask Dad how to work the his video camera. The vows were said, rings were exchanged, and then we were married. More cousins arrived, Annette & Lisa on my father's side and Paul on my mother's. Rob and I took Rachel to the central bar area in Lan Kwai Fong. At one bar, in the span of one hour, Rachel was hit on by 3 guys while a fourth guy threw up on her feet (Rob and I were wondering why she was taking so long in the bathroom). The big celebration was still to come in 2 days.
The next day was for us to relax. My friend Michael had booked his company boat and we cruised out of Hong Kong harbour, with many of the wedding guests, and anchored by a deserted bay in Sai Kung. Everyone brought a little food and drink. It was a beautiful day spent relaxing on the boat and swimming ashore to the beach. For those not swimming, Angela brought a video of our trip to Egypt. All had a wonderful time. Tomorrow was the big day.
Woke Angela up at 6:30am. Angela spent the morning either on the phone with her relatives explaining where the reception was, or getting ready. I checked email and watched some star trek on video. Angela had on a yellow & red Chinese long dress or cheongsam, while I had on a black suit and matching golden yellow shirt. The taxi driver got a little lost so we arrived at the Foreign Correspondent's Club, which my Uncle Jay had helped book, about half an hour late.
The reception was held in the main dining room, decorated with 3 paintings of Angela and myself that I had done for her past 3 birthdays. The paintings were of us at different settings, the first in Old Montreal, the second in the green hills of Hluluwe National Game Reserve in South Africa, and the most recent at a wedding last year. I had also designed the entrance poster which featured a picture of Angela and myself at the Angkor temple complex in Cambodia, the same I used on the invitation.
Our families were all waiting for us. My ex-roomie Jerry was there to help us take photos down by the staircase on Duddell Street, although we had to ask some Philippine maids, who were picnicking, to move out of the way. By the time Angela and I got back to the FCC, guests were already starting to arrive.
There was just enough time to give last minute instructions to Angela's sister Maggie and my friend Caryn at the entrance table ("No lai see/lucky money, get out!"), before we began to greet our guests. I had Dean then Malcolm taking photos with my camera while Derek M took video. Food was laid out for the buffet and guests were encouraged to eat. Angela disappeared for a while to help her niece who choked on a piece of food.
The open bar was made good use of as time for the toasts approached. When I announced it was time for the toasts, nearly all the women decided it was time to go to the washroom. Then Jerry ran out to get more film. More time for a few drinks. Gerald got up to introduce my father, Rob who was the best man, and Eva who was the maid of honour. The ones giving the toasts all had a little drink to work up their courage.
My dad told a funny story of when we were coming back from the States many years ago. At the border, the officer asked if we had anything to declare. After my father listed a few items we had bought, I piped in, "You forgot something Daddy!" The border officer asked what did he forget. "Groceries!" I answered.
My brother Rob told another amusing story of how he only found out that he was the best man after Mom told him that it was at the bottom of my last email. Eva, who had drunk the most, made no sense whatsoever. My Dad and Rob spoke in English while Eva spoke in Chinese. Gerald also translated the speeches, having a little more difficulty with Eva.
I got up next and told the story of how I proposed to Angela at sunset in front of the Bayon Temple at Angkor, Cambodia. After a full day of temple viewing, I asked Angela if she wanted to watch the sunset with me. She said, "No, I'm tired, I'll wait in the car." After a few seconds of panic, I told that if she did I would have a surprise for her.
The lights went down and the video I took of the actual proposal started. The scene began with a view of the Bayon temple followed by a close up of Angela as the music of the Platters' "Only You" began. Everyone shrieked with laughter as they saw me go down on one knee and take out the ring. After the video, Eva tried to make up for her earlier attempt at a speech but faired no better. Jerry stepped in to the rescue making a delightful impromptu toast starting with, "I think what Eva is trying to say..."
A group photo was taken before the guests left. Decided to met up with friends at a bar next door. Of course it was closed so we went to Lan Kwai Fong, which was having a carnival so the streets were packed with a party atmosphere, somehow appropriate.
The next day it was off to Bangkok with my parents and Rob for the family honeymoon for two days before we left them for Koh Samui for our romantic honeymoon. After trips to Cambodia and Egypt this year, I had promised Angela that we would just relax on the beach this trip. My family had fun in Pattaya after we left them but when they went back to Canada, Rob got really sick and was diagnosed with dengue fever. He is now taking lots of drugs. My sister told me that she had really wanted to come for the wedding. I told her not to worry as we were coming to Montreal at Christmas to get married in Canada and do the whole thing over again. Aya!
02 November 2002
