Country Cottage Arts

Monday, 1 August 2010


Farrah's ' berinai' ceremony was held at the Concorde Hotel's Ballroom in Kuala Lumpur on the same evening of her 'akad nikah'  ceremony.  The dress code stated 'Arab' and the function started at 8.00pm.   Since I had no Arab like anything, my good friend, Roslinda Ismail, kindly offered me a few ' jubah' to choose from.  I tried on a few, but as you might have guessed, the nice ones didn't fit me, it was either too long, too short or too big and swallowed me in complete.  Finally, I chose one , a leopard print like design with a hood at the back.  Don't laugh when you see the picture okay..... my daughter told me I looked like Merlin's mum and my son said I was a cross between Yoda ( Star Wars)  and Gaius!   All I could do was give them a killer stare and huffed off to Concorde!


The ballroom was themed in an Arabian Night style with rich colours of crimson red and gold.  The VIP guests for the occasion were the Sultan of Selangor and the Ambassador of one of the Eastern Europe countries, which I can't get the name right now, but it did end with a 'tan' like in Krygstan, perhaps.?

The glowing bride was dressed regally in a lush  green and gold Egyptian styled  long gown with a beautiful and intricately designed train.  Oh, was she stunnning or what!   Her fair skin against the rich brocade of Irish green and gold was a real stunner.  She looked sooooooo beautiful when she made the entrance from the back, where I was temporarily seated, that I forgot to take out my camera! Holy Cow! what a waste....... sigh...........

The groom was dressed in an Arabic headgear  and looked quite lost  beside the glowing bride in her regal gown..---- oops!  did I say that?!    Well, you can't blame me,  for all eyes were totally fixed on the bride!  My, my, Arfiz is one lucky lucky guy, that's about how I can sum it up. 

Farrah walked down the isle  with Arfiz , holding hands together and took their place on the dais on the stage.  The resplendent couple then went through the ' merinjis air mawar' ceremony.   The Sultan of Selangor was the first to start of, followed by the other VIPs and dignitaries present.  The Ambassador presented Farrah and Arfiz with an ethnic costume in rich gold and  he draped it over her shoulder.  Farrah  looked like the Queen of Sheba herself !  Unfortunately, I could not get the picture as the paparazzi were all over them.  Hopefully, I'd be able to  click a copy of the  photograph of the couple with the costume when  I go over to lunch with Puan Sri Sabrina tomorrow.


After the speeches were over,( thankfully not that many)  the Arabic songs were on and professional belly dances were dancing to the rhythm of the beat. .......... it was a mesmerising and hypnotic dance, for sure.  I honestly wished I could dance like that but with my Yoda cum Gaius costume, I didn't think I would have had any admirers, so I silently sat through the whole belly dancing routine although my hands were tapping the table.  One of the dancers danced behind a transparent screen and her dance kept the entire guests glued to their seats.   Totally, totally awesome!


Hmm.... the food, glorious food was, of course  authentic Arabic style -   flat bread with  hummus and mint/tomato dip, 2 different types of  fragrant long grained   briyani rice with  roast lamb and another with tender chicken.  There were also  ' bamia  '  which was okra in a spice based preparation, another  dish of grilled lamb and chicken,  a fish based dish which I left out as I don't take fish and the best spicy prawns ever,  which i totally 'whalloped'. And guess what ? the 3 Aussie guys sharing our table were stuffing their faces silly with the hot stuff too.  (heard from  the grapevine later that all the dishes were prepared in one of the best Arabic restaurants  in KL as Concorde did not have an Arabic chef )  Everything was done in the best possible way with no stones unturned.  Dessert was a mix of local cakes and an Arabian dessert - hallabah ( or something like that ) which was an overly sweet sweet mix of honey and ground nuts and spices.  Otherwise, everything was perfecto !  Even the waiters were in Arabian garb............. the whole works !  I must say that Tan Sri Syed Yusof and Puan Sri Sabrina gave the best of the best to their daughter's wedding. 

It was time to call it a night at about 11.00pm when coffee was served in small cups and sweet cardarmom tea was served in gilt demitasse cups.  The music was still on and the some of the guests were warmed up enough  after the dinner to go the the floor and dance their calories off.

Too bad I couldn't join in but on second thoughts, with my Merlin outfit, it was best that I left quickly..............................................!!


I happily share with my readers, some of the pictures taken

That's me with the Merlin/Yoda/Gaius costume!

Roslinda Ismail, my dear good friend, without whom I would have had difficulty in arriving at Concorde.  She kindly took me in her car.























Ha, that's Puan Sri Sabrina in a gorgeous deep fushia red Arabian kaftan and me ?  Haiyo ! in my Merlin/Gaius costume, I don't dare describe myself !   Only consolation is my wide wide grin and happy face - readers  are severely warned not to  comment either !!





                                      See what I meant when I said Farrah was a real stunner ? 






 I told ya !  Arfiz is one extremely lucky lucky guy, no ?

Note the beautiful long train of brocade on the floor.  Simply gorgeous!












 The Sultan of Selangor is seated on the left of  Puan Sri Sabrina. ( probably shying away at the paparazzi's camera lights )










 Thats' all folks that I have for the 'berinai ' ceremony.    Next will be the wedding dinner proper at the cavernous hall at KLCC.  Now, that was  THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR....... if you know what I mean.



Gosh, I was sooooo carried away with the wedding that I haven't had time to slot in my painting pictures.......................  what the heck! it was for a happy and joyous occassion anyway, so me think it's okay, what say  you ?


Happy reading and painting



Lakshmi



PS:  Wait until you see the KLCC dinner pics, you'll fall of your seat .... ( but that's for another write up so have patience, ya !)