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An Unforgettable Wedding Banquet                   Contents

Links Pictures Chines Info. English Info. Spanich Info. Contents of ESL Yu Zhen Chan David Chen Ofelio Chen Wah You Lee Marisa Leung Pak Ping Ng Elena Tang Sau Mei To Wen Fei Liang Winnie Leung Man Ying Wong Pauline Yau Muhammed Gunsel Y. Faraguna

I attended an unforgettable wedding banquet in Hong Kong 25 years ago.

One day, my father handed me the mail and said happily, “You cousin’s daughter is getting marred to the son of a millionaire who is a famous real estate merchant in Hong Kong. Here is the invitation.” Ah, yes. My cousin was a very kind and elegant gentleman, and also was one of the partners of my father’s Import & Export Consignment Co., Ltd. He was rich but he never despised the poor. However, in my mind I still had some hesitation. My mother seemed to be reading my mind and said, “Put 100 Hong Kong dollars in a red envelope as you present. He won’t mind if it is cheap of valuable.” Whoa, it was one-sixth of my monthly salary. Anyways, I nodded.

I attended this 90 table luxurious wedding banquet with my daughter. My parents had to help my cousin take care of the older generation of guests, so they left home earlier than we did. I did not understand why my mother put a small chocolate bar in my handbag before she left. I wore a little makeup and put on my best dress, a light sky-blue evening dress, and a pearl necklace to match. I thought it was nice enough.

The banquet was held in a big restaurant in Kowloon, on the opposite end of Hong Kong Island. We needed to go by ferry and bus. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was 6:45 PM. I took a look at my invitation. It showed that the reception was at 6 PM. Dinner was at 7 PM. I was glad that we were not too late. A waiter wearing a black suit came up and led us to the first floor. It was a large hall and was decorated splendidly. I thought that I was very lucky to have a chance to attend a marvelous wedding banquet. A pretty lady sat in front of a mall table. She was the receiver. When I handed her my red envelope, she looked me over from head to foot, her eyes like a pair of searchlights. Then she threw my present into a box, cast her eyes down, squeezed a smile at me, and said coolly, “Table No. 88.” As we were walking to the table, she stood up quickly with a big smile, to welcome a couple wearing fine clothes. Suddenly I thought her face was the ugliest I’d ever seen, and recognized the true saying, “Fine feathers make fine birds.”

There were 40 tables in this hall, but only about 50 people sitting there. My daughter and I found No. 88 table and sat down nervously. After 7:30 PM more people came and the hall became noisy and crowded. A middle-aged couple came to our table. They looked noble and very proud of themselves. According to etiquette, I greeted them. The man spoke in English: “My lame (some people mixed up the pronunciation of “l” and “n”) is Philip Chan. He is my wife.” Before I could answer, he said scornfully, “Oh! What a pity, you don’t low (know) English.” Then they ignored us.

At 8:15 PM, a family of four joined us. The father was an easy guy. He just sat down, and then talked volubly. “I am Chang. Call me Leo Chang. Hey, you people lack the experience of attending this kind of banquet. You don’t need to come so early. The right time is ten minutes before the dinner begins. Am I right? Ha! Ha!” His wife was quiet, only held up her right hand wearing a shining diamond ring.

A fat woman, holding a skinny little old man, asked “Which table is No. 88?” Mr. Chang responded at once, “Ah! Lam Ba (elder uncle), sit here!” The old man sat down, opened his toothless mouth, breathed heavily. Mr. Chang continued, “Lam Ba, see, this is Xo, the best French wine. Do you know there are three special courses on the dinner menu? The first one is the whole roasted baby pig. The second is Shark’s skirt-shaped fin with crab pawn soup. The third is the big abalone; everyone has a whole one. The food of this banquet must be very delicious. Ah! Magnate’s banquet is really special, the best!” I saw the old man close his eyes as if going to sleep; he barely swallowed his spittle.

My daughter whispered to me, “Ma, I’m hungry.” I looked at my watch. It was 9 PM. It was her bedtime. That was why she complained. Suddenly I remembered the chocolate bar my mother had put in my handbag. It saved my daughter from starvation. Thank you, my smart mother! Even Mr. Chang became impatient. He sprang up and went to ask the chief waiter. After five minutes, he returned and spoke loudly: “You know why? A high ranking government officer will come in 15 minutes, because his airplane from London was delayed. The master table is set on the third floor with 19 other tables, and there are 30 tables on the second floor. This floor is the lowest part; we can only hear the ceremony from the radio. But don’t worry, the menu is the same.” He was so exited, as if he were the host of this banquet.

“Ladies and Gentleman…” A voice came from the radio. Immediately, all the guests sat down in their seats and the noisy hall turned silent. “Mr. and Ms. Y, the bridegroom’s parents, the most successful and wealthy…” It seemed to be an endless introduction.

At last, the wedding banquet began. The first course was the whole roasted baby pig. In lieu of the pig’s eye, two small light bulbs were set in the eye-holes. Whoa! Most of the guests praised it. But I had a strange feeling that made me uncomfortable. The noble couple lost their elegant manner. They were the first to pick up the meat to eat. The old man held out three fingers, the fat women (maybe his wife) picked up three pieces and put them in his dish. Mr. Chang scolded his son and daughter-in-law who were talking so amusingly. “Stop the nonsense, eat!” When I finished one piece of meat, there was nothing on the platter.

When the shark’s skirt-shaped fin soup was put on the table, all eyes watched the waiter put the soup in to bowls with the soup ladle. Some soup remained in the big pot. I wondered how this soup tasted, because usually this kind of soup was cooked with needle-shaped sharp fin. I drank slowly. Then I was two hands grasping the handle of the soup ladle. One was the fat woman’s and the other was Chang’s. I was very surprised that the old man’s bowl was empty already. A solemn voice said, “You must respect the elder people.” This was the only sentence the old man spike at the banquet. Mr. Chang gave up reluctantly and he had a long face now. “Thank God! No fighting!” I said to myself.

The third special course, the big abalone, was a very pretty dish. Ten whole abalones were put on the green vegetables, and around the abalones were mushrooms. It was a pity toothless old man could chew the abalone. Oh, he had a private knife. The fat woman was cutting the abalone into small pieces for him. He swallowed fast.

Maybe the banquet was taking too long. The waiters impatiently put all the last dishes, fried rice, noodles, sweet soup…, on the table.

When the banquet (on our first floor) was finished, it was 11 PM. I did not see the bride and the groom, or the wedding ceremony-only eating. However, it was an unforgettable banquet. It let me know about some characteristics of people; let me see the other side of Hong Kong society.

By Lisa Lee                                    Back To Top                                            Contents