Our dear friend Angi is having a baby, and a Vegas style High Roller baby shower seemed to be a perfect fit. It was so fun to get all dolled up for the Sunday afternoon event.
Carmen, Amy, Angi and I
Only Angi could make being pregnant look so glam!
The decorations alone were very impressive.
Sasha the beautiful host
We even had blackjack, poker and roulette tables going throughout the afternoon.
We can't wait to meet the new addition to the Liddel family!
Labels:
Seattle
I made it back to Seattle last month just in time to watch the seasons change from summer to fall. I had a chance to breath in the crisp fall air and during the month I was there I observed the beautiful leaves turn from green to yellow and finally orange. There are so many things I love about Singapore but I do miss watching the seasons change.
I also made it back to Seattle in time for my friend Meaghans wedding. The 1920's themed event took place in a quaint town just outside of Leavenworth in Eastern Washington on a beautiful September day.
Shelley, Cynthia and I posing pre-wedding. We were roommates for the weekend and had such an ice time catching up together.
Meaghan was such a beautiful bride and planned every little detail of the wedding to perfection she even had 1920's furniture and staging done in the reception hall. It was such a special event that I felt fortunate be a part of.
Labels:
Seattle
Of course no trip is complete without a bit of adventure. Kingsley decided to take adventure to a whole new level when he experienced his first kidney stone attack in rural India. This required us to go to a small village hospital where he received interesting but adequate care. The stone was large enough to require surgery which we wisely chose to fly back to Singapore for.
Labels:
India,
Kingsley
The Grooms family very generously had Sari's and Dhoty's made for all of the foreign guests. It was such a kind and thoughtful gesture and I absolutely loved the sari material they chose for us.
At 6am the morning of the wedding I received a knock on our hotel room door and found a stoic older woman standing there. She stated "I have arrived to apply your sari". It was a bit of a shock as I was half asleep when she first knocked but I knew better than to argue with her! Within in 15 minutes she had me twisted, turned pinned and tucked into my sari. I was instantly transformed into an Indian Princess.
Kingsley and David wearing their Dhoty's
Once we arrived at the Brides house, where the wedding was to take place, we had Jasmine flowers pinned in our hair which smelled heavenly.
Eating breakfast at the brides house before the wedding ceremony.
We then spent about 2 hours sitting on the floor waiting for the wedding to begin in incredibly hot room crammed full of woman. The men waited in a seperate room.
The actual ceremony was simple but beautiful. Instead of exchanging rings they traded marigold flower wreaths. It was an arranged marriage by both sets of parents. The bride and groom had met only once about 6 months before the wedding at a 15 minute supervised visit with both parents in the room. Other than that they had absolutely no contact with each other until the day of the wedding. I remember how nervous I was on my wedding day, I can't even imagine what was going through her mind on her wedding day. They were essentially strangers that were committing to spend the rest of their lives together. It seems so foreign to me but they obviously are doing something right. The tradition of arranged marriages has been around for many generations and has been highly successful in India.
Labels:
India
The wedding tradition in this village is that the grooms family purchases all the clothes and personal items that the bride may need in her new life as a part of her dowry. These items are then displayed at the grooms parents house, during the week leading up to the wedding, for the entire village to view. The dowry items included beautiful silk saris and scarves as well as little things like a toothbrush, hair bands, handkerchiefs and even pajamas. Everything and I mean everything was on display for the 2000 friends, family and villagers to walk by and evaluate the dowry. I can't imagine knowing that the entire village would know what my PJ's were going to look like!
Evidently there was much chatter and excitement in the village as the bride received quite a large dowry of new saris.
In preparation for the wedding we had our palms decorated with henna. Kingsley was not sure this was a good idea as some types of henna can last weeks even months on the skin. I of course did not listen and had both palms decorated with a beautiful henna design. The girls doing my henna assured me it would be gone in 5 days...it actually took almost 3 weeks for it completely fade!
Dressing up for the rehearsal dinner at the grooms parents home. It was so fun to be part of the family celebrations though I found it particularly stressful trying to eat with my freshly henna covered hands while wearing such a beautiful outfit.
Labels:
India
The food we were served during the wedding was all vegetarian and absolutely delicious, but without napkins or utensils we were at a loss as to how we were to actually eat it. We seriously did not see a knife, fork, spoon or napkin (excect for the small packet of tissues I brought along with me which were rationed out with great care) the entire trip so we had a pretty steep learning curve on eating with one's hands. The first and MOST important rule is to ONLY eat with your right hand. The left hand is used for...other things... and must always remain below the table. At the start of every meal we were given a fresh damp palm leaf which served as our plate and placemat. A smart strategy when feeding over 2000 guests as it eliminated the need for doing the dishes after each meal.
We were each given a small amount of spicy, sweet and savory curries, dahls and vegetables. I loved almost everything I tried. While we ate the cook's helpers would come by with a large pot of each dish and the minute they noticed we were running low on a certain item they would scoop another spoonful onto our leaf. It was quite an experience!
As you can clearly see we broke the - eating with your right hand only - rule many times much to the shock and horror and even sometimes amusement of our ever present village audience.
After our first lunch we were given a tour of the kitchen where the cooks made food for over 2000 wedding guests using two large fire pits. It was something to behold. Watching the back breaking labor that went into each of our meals was humbling but I don't think I will ever feel comfortable eating with my hand(s).
Labels:
India
A few months ago Kingsley and I received a very special invitation to be part of one of Kingsley's co-workers South Indian wedding. It was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that we just couldn't pass up so on the weekend of Sept 7th we flew to Trichy unaware of what an eventful weekend lay in store for us.
Savoring our last Starbucks at Changi airport prior to flying to Tiruchirappalli a small city in Southeast India.
Arriving in Trichy we were greeted by the driver of the Royal Castle Bus which was decked out with neon lights and a disco ball inside.
From the airport we drove about 2 hours south to a tiny rural village where the groom's family home was and the wedding celebrations were to take place.
Kingsley and Al (groom)
Meeting Al's extended family who graciously welcomed us into their home.
Labels:
India
On sunday Sept 8th Kingsley and I were invited to attend his friend and co-worker Al's wedding in India. We were honored to be part of such a special event. Below is a short video summary of our South Indian Wedding adventure.
Labels:
India
