My son estimated at least 10 tables were occupied by our extended families, despite some absentees who were away overseas, at work or on holiday. Not all in each family attended, for obvious or various reasons. Cheng missed it by just 3 days because she mistook the date my nephew (host) booked for his holidays in Malaysia.
Host's elder brother is already a grandfather since 6 months ago, elevating my status to great grand uncle, even though not yet a grandfather, not even a father-in-law. It is always nice to meet close relatives and catch up on news. Most do not know exactly how many children each family has, let alone their names. This dinner reinforces my view that a wedding dinner should only include immediate and extended families of bridegroom and bride, and friends of the newly-weds. Especially with our large extended families, the inclusion of parents' friends would make it too numerous to have a cosy event. What good is it to have a very large crowd who treat it as a subscription dinner, without any real connection to the people involved?
The dinner was held in Kepong Baru, at the Regal House Restaurant which provided just the right space for the number of people. Its interior decoration was good enough for us, the food suited us, and the MC was a nice young man with a good sense of humour. The karaoke facility was not used at all and this must have been a relief for those who are sick of it, though I believe there were those who wished to sing but were too shy to make the first move. The location amidst some makeshift market and hawker stalls leaves much to be desired but I had no problem finding free parking within walking distance.
To go there, I took the route which was familiar to me, from Section 14: via Hartamas, Jalan Segambut, then towards Bukit Maluri but before that, took a turn to the right to get into Kepong Baru. Thanks to the traffic light junction and the lighted red Denso sign on one of the shophouses to help my navigation at night.
At the end of the dinner, the relatives catching up on news took a long time before they said goodbye to the newlyweds waiting at the entrance. It was past 11.00 pm when we left the restaurant feeling glad.
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