Ben Shyen and Gloria’s Wedding Day

One of my oldest friends had his wedding ceremony on the 6th of December in Penang! Ben Shyen was from my primary school but we only met in high school and he was the school’s joker/jackass/comedian/busker (he would sit with his guitar in the hall ways and take out one of his shoes for coins to be thrown in. and there were coins in it too after awhile.)/Mr. Popular. My high school life would not have been as colorful if it wasn’t for all the Ben Shyen shenanigans, songs that he spontaneously created that totally stucked in all our heads coz the lyrics were damn stupid can die and he was my sifu when it came to having a really dirty mind. Reaaaalllly dirty. *eyes become small to emit sexiness* He rid himself off the hamsap traits when he got an Asean scholarship to study A-levels in Singapore. It was a trying time for him and like how people grow up, he too grew up and became very decent, studied medicine and all.

And now he is married to a beautiful Miss Gloria who hails from Negeri Sembilan. 

He proposed to her at a bus station in Negeri Sembilan before going back to Johor for his clinical (he was still in final year at that time, I think) as they were so very sad having to part each time he came to visit her in Negeri Sembilan. His story damn drama one lah, typical Ben Shyen. Something about how he asked her mum if he could take her with him to Johor/Kulim and the mum was like, “You marry her lah!” and that’s exactly what he did! In his words, “So after proposing to her, I drove…” “WHAT!!!!” I shouted, incredulous. Coz Ben Shyen, being a very good citizen has refused to bribed the JPJ people for his kopi-o license and has not got his driving license yet. He has not had the time to retake his driving test and for years have become a running joke among the bunch of us. We still love him just the same, always so fun to tease him. <3 

I need to share the infamous incident where Ben Shyen failed one of his driving tests. Hope he won’t kill me for this.

He was all ready and set to go in the driver’s seat when the instructor asked, “Hujan kah hari ini..?”

“Ya Tuan, Ujian!” he replied.

Abit frustrated, the instructor asked again, “Hujan kah??”

“Ya Tuan, Ujian!” he answered again, perplexed. 

“HUJANKAHHHH?!?!?!” the instructor shouted, pointing at the swinging windscreen wipers.

So anyway he said, “OKAY fine, WE drove to a nearby goldsmith to get our rings. And when I came up to Kulim, she followed me. :)”

*sigh* HELLO LAM CHEE KIANG APAMACAM! GOT TAKE DOWN NOTES AH. 

 

Ben Shyen’s bunch of guy friends were our other close bunch of guy friends who were from the 1984 batch. This means that most of them are two years older than us but my bunch of girls (the dahlings who are all 23 year old grandmas this year) and them got on like a house on fire. Many thanks to Interact Club and being on the Volleyball Team. 🙂 Because of them, I had wonderful wonderful high school memories. 

So for them to come all the way up north was a damn fun road trip that I wished I was a part of. The boys bought a Doraemon helium balloon and was voiced by Dennis all along the high way. The balloon was supposed to be tied to Mel’s car because she apparently drives like a demon on the North South Highway. All the better they could see her with, my dear. 

Since I’m already in Kedah, all I had to do was drive down about 45 minutes to Penang to meet up with the rest who started their journey about 6am from Subang. It’s quite nice to be in Kedah for once so that I can wave my hands dismissively at them when they offered to fetch me from Sungai Petani, “Pfft..it’s okay. I can drive down myself, very near only.”

While leaving Sungai Petani, I saw this signboard. Quite demeaning lah. Like Kedah is not ALL about paddy fields okay! 

Long story short, my gps sucks balls and meeting up with the rest took far too long so I spent my afternoon on the internet at E-gate while waiting for further instructions to meet up. Since the rest were still gallivanting around mainland Penang, trying out the local rojak and what not, I was alone on Penang island hoping they would arrive soon. Wai Kit too arrived in Penang airport and so I offered to pick him up as I didn’t have anything else to do at that time.

The moment he got into my car, he snapped his phone shut and was like, “Okay, we need to have operational base here in Penang. I’ve booked a room at Rasa Sayang in Batu Feringghi!”

Room is an understatement though. 

The awesome awesome bed that I didn’t land my ass on.. abit paiseh.

And there was a freaking open air hot tub!

The living room..

The bathroom which could do with a little bit more privacy.

The hugeee wardrobes… gosh. I would love to stay there again!! 

The idea was to make full use of the beach as the sun set on the straits of Malacca but they were STILL stuck in a long crawl all the way from the Penang bridge right up to Batu Feringghi. If you know your Penang roads, you would shake your head too. So it was just Wai Kit and me. Haven’t seen him in about 3 years and there we were hanging out together, doing beachy stuff.

Wai Kit grew up with Ben Shyen, Dennis, Joshua et all when they went to primary school and high school together until he left for Singapore in form3 when he got the Asean scholarship. Being the smart fella that he is, he later went on to further his education in US, scored a really good job and was sent over to Hong Kong where he now works. He comes home frequently and hangs with his high school friends so as you can see, they have rather strong bonds! 

Growing up with Dennis, Ben Shyen and the rest, I did not really have the chance to know Wai Kit like how I got to know the other guys (can insult until the sky fall down that kind) as he left my high school when I was in form1. Still, it’s nice to see him in short spurts whenever the chance permits. :) 

For a damn long time I have been meaning to try parasailing and with Wai Kit’s encouragement, I just thought, “Ah what the fuck” and decided to go on one. 

It’s quite scary actually because the guide’s like, “Must run fast okay!! MUST RUN!!!” I’m all so what if I don’t run fast enough will I die or what!!! and before I know it, I’m dragged on the sand for a bit before my entire body is lifted off the ground and I’m floating through the sky, about a 100m above the sea.

My parachute is damn cute right! It’s like so happy go lucky while I’m screaming like a little bitch.

Happily sailing over the sea. 

At that point I was totally taking in the sights, regretting not bringing my camera with me. Could have tied it to my wrist, no problem one.

It’s a short ride. But for RM80, it was worth it as I will probably never have the chance to do something like that again. If I don’t pay RM80 to do it again la. -_- Must always try everything once right?

Happily landing.

Got dragged on the sand again. Such is life.

You can’t see Wai Kit in this picture but he was happily having a swim while I sat gloomily at the side waiting for the rest. Should have brought my bikini damnit! The lack of a bikini also contributed to an event where Mel, Mun Teng and myself took our friendships to whole new levels while using a certain facility that we would never ever have the chance to use again if we didn’t fork out huge sums of money. Desperate times.

And the gossip girls hath arrived!

While the boys decided to do some catching up by the pool..

Mel, Mun Teng and I made full use of the open air hot tub in the room. I wish I could stay in that room again and again. This time must substitute everybody in that room for just one single person. 😛

The wedding boy treated us to seafood at Batu Feringghi! 

I think these were baked prawns marinated with salt. Or seawater. Tastes real good!

We couldn’t care less and used our hands anyway!

There were so many crabs – no shortage at all! Usually when I get to eat crabs, I have to make sure that other people have enough to eat before I take a second piece.

If you like crabs slightly salted, this is good!

Meet Soon Han and his coconut!

LOL Joshua wasn’t trying anything, poor guy was just caught in a candid pose.

Jiun Jeh and Mun Teng who sat at the other end of the table and had their own jokes going on and all. 🙁 Boo.

See how Vern Yang enjoys his food!

L-r: Jiun Jeh, Soon Han, Myself, Sarah and Yuen Fatt!

Jiun Jeh and Soon Han seemed to be trying rather hard to be in the photo. 

This is basically the entire bunch who were there for Ben Shyen’s bachelor party that night.

Since it was a bit improper for the bunch of boys and us girls to be getting naked in the tub together, we just soaked our legs and talked cock the night away.

Some bachelor party this is. -__- The boys were lying in bed together watching some football match. That’s Ben Shyen on the floor waiting for his stripper who never came. (We never called also)

So of course the idea of a bachelor’s night is to get the wedding boy drunk. This is my first bachelor’s party (and I think the only one ever) so I don’t quite know the traditions. 

But I think in Malaysia, birthday boys and wedding boys all same only ya? Idea is to get them pissed drunk so that we’ll have plenty of stories to tell in the years ahead.

Because we were near water, the boys parked all their gadgets on the massage bed. YES there was a freaking massage bed too.

A  very unflattering photo of me and the wedding boy. Only Yuen Fatt looks nice here.

L-r: Dennis, Wai Kit and Mel having a good soak.

Joshua emos on the massage bed as he wanted a good rub.

Best friends forever! Since standard 3 apparently.

Josh wanting in on Mun Teng and my intimate moment.

Dennis and Mel being bodoh as usual. Thank god for Yuen Fatt and his sanity.

Sigh…*proud momma tone* See how the boys have grown! Met them when they were all tiny 15 year olds hitting on my best friend. 

top l-r: Jiun Jeh, Jit Seng
bottom l-r: Soon Han, Tze Hur and Wai Kit.
I was never really close to most of the guys in this pic with the exception of Jiun Jeh and Wai Kit (thanks to Interact Club) but because of Ben Shyen’s wedding, I got to know them all a little better. All damn funny one!! 

Josh finally got his massage.

As part of his bachelor night, Dennis offered to give Ben Shyen’s feet a good rub.

He even went in between the toes!

A clearer picture of Ben Shyen’s infamous bulus. Back in the days, Ben Shyen was already very hair for a 16 year old and volleyball tournaments meant Ben Shyen would be owning the court in his short shorts with our volleyball coach goading him on going, “GO BULU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

Volleyball practices were whiled away seating by the benches and finding ants on the floor to be put into his mass of leg hair. The ants had a tough time finding their way out.

As for Interact Club projects which involved some arts and crafts (think cutting hearts/roses thorns for V’day projects), the scissors would come out to snip snip away at his hair. It was okay, he always had more to spare. 

This was when Wai Kit popped a champagne bottle and splashed it all over Ben Shyen.

Poor thing.

Totally not helping.

Even though a lot of the champagne spilled, there was still quite a lot to go around.

Cheers to the first one of us to get married!

Dennis taking care of his buddy.

After a few drinks, all the emoness started. Dennis damn make spoil the moment lor. 

I can’t remember what happened in this photo. But there was a running joke that since there was no stripper for the night, Mun Teng could fill the spot. She’d stand in the middle of the tub and prepare a bubble bath and we were like, “Oh show starting already show starting!” and she’s only trying to make more foam in the tub.

From Batu Feringghi we then made our way back to Kulim using a GPS, which meant getting lost until almost 4am. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Once we reached our accommodation for the night, I asked Dennis, “What time are we getting up tomorrow?”

He deadpanned, “6am”.

So after an hour’s worth of sleep, I was up at 5am blow drying my hair while cursing. 

Mel and her sleeping gear.

Everybody loved my mirror. That’s Jiun Jeh shaving.

Dennis in his bad ass get-up as Best Man.

They even made t-shirts for all the heng tais. The girls had t-shirts as well but we were like, “AND PASS UP THE CHANCE TO PAN LENG LENG?!! Go die.”

Best friends since 1984.

The design was done by Jiun Jeh who is pretty much our designated t-shirt designer since forever. Volleyball team t-shirts, Interact Club t-shirts, Project t-shirts… all thanks to Jiun Jeh! He went on to become a superstar in his hall (Raffles Hall) at NUS and if you are aware of the traditions at NUS, Rag Day is a huge thing! He designed one of the rag float during his years there!

The guys looking dashing in their heng tai t-shirt complete with blazers.

At 7am we made our way to Ben Shyen’s house. He has now officially moved away from Subang Jaya and is staying in Kulim. It’s only like half an hour away from Sungai Petani, technically I could visit him whenever but since Mr. Doctor Ooi is always so busy……so.

Josh staring in amazement at his own reflection.

I joined him.

Dennis damn traditional right, came complete with a fan and everything.

Aunty and Uncle Ooi with their son on his big day.

MEET GUCCI!! The family’s pet dog who can give Angel a run for her money.(not like she has any)

So damn teddy bear right <3

Awwwwww.

Ben Shyen tries to garner the same enthusiasm for his pet cat….. so I layan only. 😛

Camwhoring with the groom.

Making use of the big mirror in his house.

While waiting for the rest before we left for Pearl View hotel, where the bride’s side was waiting, I kepohed around and found their wedding pictures. So nicely done!

I want to get married too!!! Fasterfasterfasterfaster. 

Dennis carrying out his best man duties.

Big boy liao. *sniff*

One with the wedding car!

Instead of the usual ribbon on our antennas or car handles, we got a sticker! It was my first time being one of the cars partaking in the Heng Tai entourage!

The gorgeous view of rolling hills outside Ben Shyen’s house.

Much thanks to Josh who offered to drive my car, I could spend some quality time with Stitch.

Stitch is damn nice to hug one.

Heng tais!!

That’s Ben Shyen’s brother who look pretty serious about photography.

This groom ah, still got time to camwhore one. -_-

One with the pseudo heng tais.

The heng tais and pseudo hengtais plus one Ah Soh (Marcus’ girlfriend, Pei Yong who was also our senior from school!). Trivia: Marcus’ dad was my Add Maths Tuition teacher, Mr. Chan who is one of my most favourite teacher ever! He loves cooking and would always share with us his latest baking attempt. He would even whip up extremely delicious meals for us during chinese new year. :) 

All 11 of the heng tais. Just you wait, during my wedding, all 11 of the Dahlings.

Mun Teng was designated camerawoman for the day. Mel handled Jit Seng’s DSLR and I, my own camera of course.

So that i could camwhore whenever I wanted.

Don’t know what Dennis was up to lah.

Here comes the groom!

Make way. Dennis really kept up with his act.

Jiun Jeh totally spoiled the cool look.

He invited himself into the frame when I was camwhoring with the heng tai entourage.

As per our tradition, the bride’s chi muis will make the heng tais play some games before they allow the groom to see the bride. Would have been better if it was at a proper house, but since it was held at a hotel, the only place they could play the games was at the corridor. 

This was a strange game. They made Ben Shyen eat an entire rope made out of dried sotong, and it stretched on for about 6-7 doors. 

Cruel.

See how demure he is, eating everything obediently.

Lousy heng tais, just laughing at their brother and taking photos.

The next game involved bananas.

The bananas were tied around their waists…

And a poor unsuspecting heng tai would have to eat it without using their hands.

Some of them had the better end of the deal.

And some, not so.

Dah kenyang kah belum?

I didn’t quite understand this game as it involved some seashells and some alphabets… but apparently he had to put some ice in his mouth etc and say how much he loves Gloria.

I really don’t understand the point of this game.

As you can see it was really packed.

The heng tais trying to push down the door.

This was when Ben Shyen had his mouth full of ice and declaring his love for Gloria. Tough work.

SUCCESS!!!

I bet the bride was anticipating it for a really long time:) Must have been very exciting for her.

LOL see Josh and Yuen Fatt’s face, so full of love for Ben Shyen, seeing him all married and stuff.

Awwwww <3 🙂

And here begins the photo session with the bride and groom.

Plenty of people waiting for their turn to have a picture with the happy couple.

I’m not sure what these were for but they were on the table.

First off, the heng tais and the couple.
L-r: Jiun Jeh, Soon Han, Joshua, Jit Seng, Tze Hur, Chee Seng, Vern Yang, Dennis, Yuen Fatt, Wai Kit and Marcus. 

The pseudo heng tais. There are supposed to be more of us but a lot of them could not make it=(

Gloria and her chi muis!

Mel found some left over bananas.

And me a carton of drink somewhere. Damn tak malu, we just helped ourselves to whatever food that was lying around. And then took stupid photos. -_- Such is life.

Not satisfied with first stupid photo.

Scandalous photo of Mel and Josh sneaking off together.

We left the happy couple to have their tea ceremony in peace while we waited outside or else the entire room would have been cramped with unnecessary guests (ie. us). 

This is when the sohai photo taking session took place outside the hotel room. Here is Vern Yang trying to hit on Mun Teng who is supposed to be a hot chick.

Too eager already, Mun Teng’s face.

Suave guy then digs his nose.

And he gets the girl/gets the girl drunk.

Third party comes into the picture.

Wife of third party wants him to come home.

Bloopers wtf.

Damn depressed coz he didn’t get the chick he wanted and the wife (me) left him.

Then the older brother comes into spank his backside.

Some incest takes place.

Promotional poster for the stupid short story.

Trying to give me looks worthy to be in Vogue/GQ.

Our turn to act slutty.

This is me with the “Such is life” pose where two guys check me out. Josh fail lah you. Cannot smile so happily, must smile with bad intentions.

Mun Teng was seriously sleeping due to the extremely short sleep we had.

Josh continues with the sohai photo taking. This is the one where he acts as some rich man who could have any woman he chooses. So he sees a sleeping beauty unconscious somewhere in his hotel.

One last group photo before we took Gloria back to Ben Shyen’s house.

Man and wife. :’)

Gosh I absolutely love the ruffles at the back of her dress. It’s so dreamy.

They take the chinese traditions quite seriously. What does a red umbrella signifies anyway? Wait, what’s the meaning of the umbrella in the first place?!

Typical wedding day process photo.

The entourage on the way home was far larger.

Bringing his wife home to show his mum.

Gucci has a bow tie on for Ben Shyen’s big day.

Ben Shyen’s uncle could not stand Gucci’s cuteness. His cat Lulu was wearing a tutu and was looking damn grumpy.

Gloria’s gorgeous hair.

There was nyonya cake for lunch and I said the stupidest thing, “Eh? Ben Shyen got nyonya blood ah?”

Couldn’t stop eating..:P

Can see the boys emoing to Boyzone which was playing in the background. Jiun Jeh seemed to know the entire album by heart.

More evidence that we were seriously lacking of sleep.

Heng tais without their blazer! 

Looking at this pic, I thought about the shared history between this bunch of boys and the dahlings. At least half of them were involved with at least one dahling during our high school days. Some were involved with two dahlings, many had hit on the same dahling, some one way, some two ways, some three ways *shifty eyes*. But we still remain good friends despite it all. <3 And none of us ended up together. -_- FRIENDS FOREVER!!

They are very proud of the back of their t-shirts.

Me and my korkorbear, the older brother I never had. Dennis had always taken care of me since I was 12 years old and has seen me and the other girls grow up and sideways (me). He was there to mediate our arguments and he always gave the best advice. 

I haz tutu. 

And a nice ribbon too I just realized!

Someone’s not too happy about his red bow. 

Even Doraemon had a tutu to wear! In case the cat crapped her first tutu, there was a back-up tutu! I don’t know which is cuter, the doraemon wearing a tutu or Mun Teng’s face. <3

Mun Teng terrorizing the animals.

Mun Teng terrorizing the toy animals in my car. Poor pink flat bunny with wings can’t seem to breathe.

Aforementioned Doaremon balloon which seems to be made of very good plastic for a helium balloon.

When one has balloon in hand, one must act cute. An idiom I learned during my english classes long ago. 

This Jiun Jeh ah, when I told him, “I take photo ah!”…he’s like, “go out go out!” I didn’t believe him. He then took off his pants. X_X

Wai Kit and the bed.

The cat tries to hit on Doraemon but he was totally playing hard to get.

Josh asked us if we could help him to sew a button onto his pants but we forced him to do it himself as it was for his own good. If other girls saw him do his own sewing, they’d just melt inside and want his number. 

This was him laughing after we explained to him.

Being girls, we took a damn long time to get ready.

Such a necessity these days. What happened? When was the turning point?

Damn lazy lah the boys, still wanted to lepak around.

Bimbo shot in the girls’ room!

Wai Kit, not quite James Bond.

Some kungfu action takes place while waiting for the rest.

Very pretty already lah Dennis.

This was actually a strappy dress and in the car I turned around to say something to Mun Teng and Soon Han and the straps broke just like that coz I’m just too fat.

A proper photo to be used on my Mail Order Bride application forms should anything happen to my relationship. One must plan for the future.

HAHAHHHA I’m feeling ya, buddy.

Just to check if Dennis The Monkey had any remaining kutu.

Sensitive topic, apparently.

Why does Wai Kit want to kill Doraemon! Why?!

Totally satisfying Doraemon. Mmm.

Best friends forever and ever!

LOL Soon Han, looking good already.

This was when I asked them to give me their most CEO face. You know, the usual pose when some big shot in a company stands in front of his manufacturing plant in a presentation video or something. Josh nails it.

There’s a tiny smile playing at the side of Jeh’s lips.

Emo CEO. WTF Soon Han! 

Pan cute CEO! Hahahhaa. Maybe Sanrio punya boss.

Damn seductive right his lips, partly open and all. I don’t know lah, new year resolution is to think less dirty thoughts, so better not come up with any idea. You guys go ahead!:P

As for the girls, I made them give me their most pan cute faces! Awwwwwwww.

Why my friends so cute one.

Not my friend. 

My so called pan cute face.

It works for some.

Without any effort too!

Heh, this was no need to say lah. He’s got it already.

Hahahaha, he kept laughing. But this is like a CEO asking you, “You sure you know what you’re doing, boy?”

Haih. Friendly CEO.

Vern Yang works the lanci look damn well.

Tak kenal siapa ni.

*ignores*

Wah this CEO look can make you shit in your pants.

The CEO who made it look.

This is what happens when boys find your hair curler.

Seriously, got to keep it out of boys’ reach.

Mun Teng’s won-an-award face.

Long story short, we were damn late for the wedding. When we went in, the bride and bride groom were already sitting down. It’s very very very very bad. We know, we were damn guilty. Probably some of us are still feeling guilty to this day.

Butterfly and heart and Mel’s tattoo! 

Interesting idea for table confetti! 

The people at our table minus Dennis. Well in a way we were glad that there were so few of us at the table. All the more for us to eat!

The heng tais and the ah sous.

As best man, Dennis had to give his speech.

Gloria’s brides maid. (I think)

Ben Shyen sang a song for Gloria. The cha tou part was that he had to ask Gloria what the title of the song was coz he forgot. -_-

The usual yam sengs.

Vern Yang damn gentleman, serving everybody and all.

The girls and myself in our dinner dress.

Sigh, didn’t think I’d live to see this day. Ben Shyen growing up and getting married…:)

Yam seng one more time! 🙂

Marcus and Pei Yong who are now based in Penang!

Josh and Mun Teng. josh sure has a damnnn big smile on.

Vern Yang and I.

Joshua and I.

Yuen Fatt and I.

The heng tais and the chi muis!

And finally I got one with the newly weds.