I’m not going to lie. Today is the 8th day and I’m a bit pooped. I’m suddenly running out of steam! We have been constantly on the go since day 1 with a few mornings where we’d “sleep in” (sorry but an hour of more sleep in NOT sleeping in, in my book). I know I’ll be able to push through it all just because this is my life long dream; to come to Hong Kong while my grandparents are still alive and well!! Too bad I couldn’t accomplish the fluency in the language bit of that dream ;D.
So! Day 6 dad left for mainland. We were to be ready to be picked up by Auntie Barbara by 12 – 12:30. Katy and I headed down to the lobby around 12:10 and met Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence in the lobby! They were checking in for 2 days! Yay!! Soon, Auntie Barbara, Uncle Henry, and Bonnie all came to the hotel. We talked a bit and found out the schedule for the day. We were going to Dim Sum with the family then go shopping with Uncle Henry, then around 10:30PM we’d come back to grandma’s place and start with the traditional wedding rituals (?).
Dim Sum was awkward at first, just because we didn’t know ANYONE and EVERYONE spoke Cantonese. Thankfully, we were introduced to Maggie!! Dim Sum was especially tasty. We tried a lot of new things! We had abalone (when you chew, the texture is kind of like making out with a tongue . . . Katy said that and I couldn’t eat it anymore) and jellyfish!
All I have to say about the past three days is, wow. Chinese families are complicated and intense. At one point, while eating dim sum, I asked Maggie about our relation and she said she had no clue. I was happy there was someone who grew up in the area that didn’t really know our family. Basically, my great grandparents had 13 children who went off and had a billion offspring. My grandpa is child number 9/13. In the Chinese family, my grandpa’s brothers and sisters are considered Uncles and Aunts. At dim sum, we met Uncle 10, 11, and 12 and their wives. We also met Chi Wa who is married to an Auntie . . . I think . . . either way, Chi Wa was hilarious. He’s definitely one of my favorites. Uncle 12 spoke English amazingly, but I think the age/cultural gap lead us to not talking very much. Then we met all of the Uncle’s children who are ALSO considered Aunties and Uncles, even though they’re like late twenties/early thirties.
After yum cha, Uncle Henry took us shopping. I wanted sandals, since I was walking around in the hot weather in my tennies. We went to a shop and got shoes, then walked around SOGO and Times Square. I can’t believe how many designer brand stores there are here. Maybe it’s just because I hardly saw name brand stores in New York that I didn’t expect very many in Hong Kong. Very mistaken in that assumption.
We headed back to the grandparent’s house to head out for dinner with the family once more. We ate at the Jade Garden restaurant that we had gotten the “meh” dim sum at earlier in the week with Auntie Carrie and Uncle Lawrence. I think the restaurant excels more in dinner foods than in dim sum. Katy and I sat by Maggie again so we didn’t feel so estranged. After eating , Katy and I realized that we hadn’t taken any video of things that we ate. An unspecified drunken Auntie walked over and over heard my concern while draping herself over Katy and me. She pointed to the platters and said that we could just make them look like they were full of food. My unspecified drunken Uncle said that we shouldn’t bother, and the two had a little argument. The Auntie leaned over me, pushing me forward to fix up the plates. The Uncle apologized and said that the Auntie was drunk. I asked if he was drunk too, he denied it but I still have a feeling they were both pretty gone. After fixing up the platters, Katy took video of the food for dad. So. Freaking. Awesome. Hahahaha!!
Maggie, her mom, Katy, and I decided to just walk around some shops around the grandparent’s place until we had to be back for the ceremonies. We kept checking the time, willing it to be time to go back. We were a bit tired from walking around earlier.
Finally! Time to go back!! And we got there just in time too! There were two candles burning on the table, and Ada was sitting in a chair looking into a small red mirror. Ma Ma had a red comb and she combed through Ada’s hair. Once that was done, the elder people bowed to the ancestors. Then, the most glorious thing happened! We at homemade red bean balls and some other filled balls. Oh my goodness they were soooooooo delish!! I seriously want the recipe because they were amazing. Dad showed up in time to get some of those and some chicken feet/duck tongue.
We headed back home and went immediately to bed since the next day was going to start early.
The next day, Katy and I found out that we were going to move out of the hotel to Ma Ma and Ye Ye’s. We rushed to get ready and pack everything and get down to breakfast in time to meet up with Uncle Lawrence and Auntie Carrie. Unfortunately, we were too slow and missed them. After a 5 minute brekky, we rushed back up to finish packing everything up, then headed down to the lobby with all of our stuff. Once in the lobby, we gave our luggage to the concierge and got on the bus specifically for our family. We headed to a hotel where Ada, Auntie Barbara, Uncle Lawrence, and her bridesmaids were setting up for the games. It was then that dad introduced us to all of the Uncles and Aunties. It was a bit easier to remember who was who after that.
Thus Starts the Best Freaking Wedding Traditions. EVER.
The family shoved into a small apartment bedroom and waited for the arrival of the groom and his groomsmen. When he came and knocked on the door, the bridesmaids asked, “Who is it?” He answered that it was him and the girls started telling him that he couldn’t come in and that Ada looked SUPER gorgeous! I’m not sure what all was said since it was all in Cantonese, but the groom had to pay the girls money to get through. I’m sure they counted up the money and told him it wasn’t enough to see his precious Ada and they most likely demanded more. Genius. After about 5-10 minutes of talking/closing the door/talking/giving money/closing the door/talking, the bridesmaids finally let the groom and his men into the hallway of the apartment. Once there, the girls had the groomsmen put on lipstick and kiss a paper. They then hung up the papers and mixed in a paper with Ada’s kissy lips on it. The goal: Find Ada’s kissy lips. If he chose the wrong set of lips he had to kiss that groomsman! Kevin got about 3-4 guesses wrong. It was hilarious to see him have to kiss all of his groomsmen.
The next game, Kevin had to put on lipstick and kiss all of the pictures of Ada posted around the room, which allowed him to get a little further into the apartment. Hilariously, most of the pictures were on the ceiling, so he had to have his groomsmen pick him up and carry him so he could kiss the Ada pictures across the ceiling.
Once the task was done, one of the bridesmaids pulled out pictures of Asian celebrities. She made him pose like all the pictures and they were pretty hilarious. After that she pulled up a picture of Kevin in some tighty whities with pictures of his groomsmen doing sit ups next to him. I’m not really sure what the goal was, but I saw a girl timing it so me think this is what it was: Kevin had to put on the tighty whities over his tux. Two groomsmen lay on the ground on either side of Kevin, with lipstick on, and did sit ups. Every time they sat up, Kevin would turn his butt to them, with a finger on his lips, and his groomsmen would kiss his bottom, leaving pink kissy marks all over. I’m thinking 4 or 6 groomsmen had to do it in a certain amount of time. Best. Game. Evar. The best part is that all of this stuff was being done in front of elderly people (including my grandparents).
After butt kissing, Kevin was finally allowed to stand next to a ribbon with a ball of roses hanging from it. In order to cut the ribbon and see Ada, he had to find her missing shoe in the apartment that was LITERALLY packed full of Ada’s family members. Chi Wa was a little devil and helped Kevin. Hahaha!
After finding the shoe, he had to recite something written by the bridesmaids. He started out, “Wifey! Can you hear me?!” and began reading. Obviously I didn’t understand any of it, but dad told us some of it. It said something like I will do all the laundry and I will give you all of my money, I will love you forever, etc. I’m hoping it said something about taking all the blame when fights come around ;D!
Once he was done reciting, he was given a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon and enter the room Ada was in.
Let me just tell you, Ada was totally worth the embarrassment. She was so gorgeous!!!! Since my camera isn’t wide angle and room was scarce, I couldn’t get a full body picture of her, but man, she was stunning. He entered the room and put on her missing shoe for her. He left the room again and went to wait for my uncle to hand her over to him.
Once handed over, it was time for the tea ceremony. Kevin and Ada knelt on pillows and offered tea to all of our family’s elders, starting with Ma Ma and Ye Ye. Each time tea was given, the family member would give them a red pocket full of money. Apparently, at Chinese weddings, presents come in the form of red pockets with money rather than house gifts. When it was time for my dad to be given tea, my Auntie Barbara told me that I had to go with him, but I wasn’t allowed to sit. I just had to stand next to him since I wasn’t on the same level as the elders. Kevin shook my hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you for the first time,” and then they offered dad tea.
After the tea ceremony we hung around for pictures then headed over to a restaurant to eat lunch. This time Katy and I had dad to translate for us. After lunch we headed back to the grandparent’s apartment to take a rest. I passed out while Katy and dad took laundry to a cleaner’s. They slept a little but not half as much as I did. When I woke up it was time to get ready! The dress code at the reception was “glamorous and chic.” Auntie Barbara had told me that I’d better put on my lipstick for the event.
Katy was so sweet. She glammed me up by doing my makeup and hair, even at the expense of getting herself ready. We walked out of the grandparent’s apartment and Katy was instantly accosted by one of the kids who hangs around the area to try and sell real estate. He asked her if she was a model. When she said no he asked if she was sure. She said yes. Then he asked her if she had two minutes to go get a drink with him. She said no. He said that she’d be doing him a favor since he was really hot and needed a drink. She informed him that she was off to a wedding and couldn’t, so the kid finally bugged off. I was laughing the whole time. Hahaha!! It was pretty hilarious, though. Katy and I were wearing heels and we TOWERED over our ENTIRE family.
We headed to the convention center where we were greeted by Uncle Henry and Auntie Barbara (who was gorgeous in her self designed fusion of cheung sam and Indian robe). Auntie Barbara said that Katy and I looked like models even though Katy hadn’t done her hair yet. After we took pictures with Auntie Barbara and Uncle Henry, Katy and I went to the restroom where she fixed up her hair. Auntie Barbara wanted another picture with us after Katy had done her hair. We have constantly been stared at before, when walking around places, but this night we were seriously being STARED. DOWN. O_____________________O
The reception was amazing! There was a jazz band playing the whole time so I felt like I was at a swanky billionaire’s party . . . which I probably was ;D. After taking a Polaroid with Ada, Ko, and Mil Mil’s (the kitty) cutouts, we dashed away to the stage to get a picture with Ada, in her new age cheung sam, and Ko real life. Mil Mil was left at home =\. Katy and I went to the candy bar and were video recorded from outside of the convention center . . . at least 3 – 4 times. True story. Nothing better than having your gluttony recorded to be remembered for years to come. We headed back to the table and were introduced to about 1500000000 more uncles and aunties. I gave up trying to keep track of how we were related. The only one I actually semi-remembered meeting was Uncle Fung, but that was a semi-remembrance.
We began dinner and I was starting to feel the beginning of a brainache. The added grossness of too much ingested grease added a sick stomach to the sick brain. I had to take 800 mg of Ibprofen. It didn’t even help. I didn’t eat much food and just sipped water and drank OJ. I was kind of sad to miss the food, but with the sick tummy it just wasn’t going to work. The waitress who served our food was super nice. At one point she purposefully gave Katy and me the white meat of the chicken. My dad traded me plates because his had less and he knows I don’t like chicken. The waitress explained that she had served me that plate on purpose so my dad had to tell her that I don’t eat chicken. I felt bad but I was grateful for her consideration (/discrimination ;D let’s be honest). The night quickly came to an end. Ada was gorgeous and Ko was handsome. They were so beautiful together and the party was amazing!! I will definitely remember all the amazingness of the day!! I’m so happy to be related to such amazing people!
Thus ends my explanation of the greatest day of my cousin’s life! I'll be honest, pictures probably won't be posted until after I get home. There just isn't enough time! Soooo sorry!!
Loves,
Becks.
Sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!
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