Tea Ceremony

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We were collected at 8.45am & Luke was dropped off in Bangsar at Mei & Francis' flat whilst I was whisked to the Wong household. When I arrived, Bee bee was completing the final touches to Mei's hair. She looked radiant in a superb traditional white wedding dress & intricate jacket hand-tailored by Tracey (who has created all the family dresses I am told!).
Meanwhile Francis & the boys arrived. I was told by William that tradition holds that the girls are supposed to test the groom-to-be's love with various trials (e.g. eating something horrible/wearing a Man Utd. shirt/etc) but I wasn't informed of this until late the night before under specific instruction that this was not required today! Anyway, there was a lot of bowing & clapping before Francis took Mei home to the flat with various people (us included) to wait to be recalled (if Francis' family were also Chinese the tea ceremony would be held at his home first- I think!).
We were called back to the Wong's for lunch- the star of which was a massive roasted pig that attracted a queue of people. The actual tea ceremony then followed- Mei & Francis served tea to their grandparents, then parents & then all the elders in the family & received red packets (of money) or another present from each one. Following this, Mei & Francis are served tea by all the Wong family members younger than themselves who receive red packets from the couple. It is all very formal, overseen by a lady in red employed specifically to ensure the ritual is all done perfectly.
Following this we ate a fab cake created by Mei's friend with a marzipan Mei & Francis on top- brilliantly done down to Francis' glasses!
Much later, we all headed to the fantastic Luna bar on the 33rd floor of PanGlobal apartments. From this futuristic space you can see the Petronas towers above the KL skyline- really spectacular, & they have glass booths which jut out from the building itself providing even better- if slightly unnerving- views. Definitely recommended.

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