Wedding dinner at G Hotel, Penang

We left BG just after 4 pm for Penang to attend a wedding dinner at the Ballroom in G Hotel. But first, to deliver an old planter's chair for the rattan man's service and to collect one which has been restored with new rattan. All the way, it was raining and the traffic was heavy. Going from Chulia Street to Gurney Drive took an hour because of the traffic jam. SP's sister and husband were already at the hotel, having taken a flight direct from KL. Being early, they had hawker food and husband had an unexpected 'detoxing' effect!

The first time I heard of the G Hotel was when a British jazz singer took time off her contract at their G Spot, and sang at the Little Penang Street Market. Since then, a number of those who performed at G Spot also performed at LPSM. One day, while with my brother and sisters-in-law in Gurney Plaza, I popped over to see what it was like. That short visit served me well on this trip.

For once, I was more familiar with Penang than my wife, who had been navigator for so many years whenever I drove with her as passenger in UK, and back in Malaysia! I am not rejoicing over this little fact because I believe her memory could be affected by the drug she is taking now. But it was difficult on my part to overrule her suggestions as to which were the correct routes, after so many years of her having a much better sense of direction.

Angela is SP's cousin and when she attended Beng's wedding she took the opportunity to invite us for her son, Ryan's wedding dinner. Her husband, Alvin Pereira and his brothers were former students of Sultan Yussuf: brother George used to be SP's classmate while eldest brother Lawrence used to be her English teacher! Ryan's brother, Darren was Beng's classmate at International College in Penang. Alvin's sisters, Sheila and Mrs. William and husband from BG attended too. There were also Angela's relatives from Pusing. We were seated with her niece's family who we have never met before!

The Ballroom's acoustic helped in enhancing the performance of the bridegroom when he sang to his bride before they walked into the hall. It was something different and took us by surprise. On stage, we could see his brother, Adrian holding a lead guitar while a cousin holding a bass guitar. Then the MCs announced in English and then Mandarin to welcome the new couple. Suddenly, in walked Ryan singing, followed by Darren with a guitar, from an entrance near the stage. They walked towards the centre before proceeding towards the main entrance where bride, Elynne stood waiting! He serenaded to his bride as he walked towards her before coming in again to the main table! The three guitars were meant for this special song only. The rest of the evening we were entertained by a man on keyboard with three pretty vocalists singing a mixture of English, Chinese and Spanish songs.

I parked the car along Gurney Drive so it was easy to just drive for home. Wished we could stay longer to chat with my sister-in-law and husband who had booked to stay for the night. But we were still gung-ho with our usual drive back after dinner, be it KL or Penang. It was already past 11 pm when we left the ballroom, past 1.30 am when we reached home.
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