Malaysian Malay Wedding on Flickr by NPNG!

Walked past a ginormous entourage of motorcyclists today, posse to a Malay wedding car. They were honking and revving their bikes, creating a huge racket below the HDB flat.

And then the smell of Malay food reached our noses. Not too sure what the distinct smell is, but it's probably rendang, curry, sambal and all those spicy spices.

Seeing all those Malay folk dressed up for a wedding made me suddenly miss one thing for the first time: Malaysia's multicultural friendships. Never really appreciated the different-ness of being in my friends' houses, like Nat and Golo (let's not talk about Shang who's never let us in to her house without force, haha), and the awesome food. And just being in a different kind of atmosphere and vibe, where the house layout is different, the furniture's unique, and the religious idols/decorations/ornaments are the identity of the person. You're a little more wary of your actions and mannerisms, because you're afraid to do something that will be out of culture or offensive.

Takes me back to my childhood, or more accurately, teenagehood. How marvelous it is the way friendships blossom, from tentative self invites to each others' houses to treating each others' homes like your own home. How shy people like me meet more vibrant, exciting people like some friends of mine and start to open up. Start to be less hesitant in giving and taking in the friendship, less careful and ultimately, much closer as friends.

Just Googled Malay wedding pictures and the photos reminded me of the awesome Malay wedding processions, with the shiny fake tree fronds and the awesome kompang!

Back to the Malay wedding. I really really wanted to just pop by and say 'Tahniah!' and hope they'd invite me for their kenduri.