Lianne was one of the earliest people I met at my first gathering of bloggers back in December 2007. Together with a few other foodies, the excited we just kept on talking about food until the organizers had kindly requested us to take our seats. I remember her speaking of her boyfriend, whom was still accustoming to the Asian palate and their plan to drop by Singapore the year after. And what was I to do when I hear the word Singapore? I gave her a list of my favourite restaurants in town, of course. We didn’t meet up though, as I was back in Kuala Lumpur for the Lunar New Year celebration.
In between potlucks and gatherings, I’ve read about her travels to Germany to meet her boyfriend and their wonderful trips across Europe. One can only be happy and envious at the same time. Haha! News of an engagement and subsequently, a marriage, came not long after.
On the way to their wedding dinner at Hilton KL Sentral, I jokingly told Lyrical Lemongrass of my expectation of weddings these days. The presentations, songs, themes and food. How interesting it will be to have an Indian lunch reception and Malay cuisine for dinner, I suggested. Well, if there is ever one such, please invite me.
At the Munich table (yes, they named the tables after some of the most famous cities in Germany), there were jokes, pokes and everything fun. Well, one can or should expect nothing less than that at a table full of food-loving bloggers. It was definitely a good reunion of friends, some whom I’ve not seen in a long time.
And there was music. No, nothing boyband nor Celine Dion. Katie Melua’s cool Nine Million Bicycles kicked off the wedding while Nat King Cole’s serenading L.O.V.E. and David Tao’s soulful 月亮代表谁的心 accompanied the video presentations.
The dishes that night were exquisite. I can still remember the deep-fried chicken with lemon sauce/sesame seeds and the fragrant fried rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaf. The sticky rice tasted even more interesting when Nigel told us to coat it with chopped scallion. In between, there were beers (which Fatboybakes and I totally dug), proseccos and reds. As the dinner came to an end, Lianne supplied us with some delicious stroopwafels. To have the sweet Dutch snack with prosecco was awesome.
Ah, it’s everywhere, this thing called love. It brought about a deep sense of appreciation towards food and through it all, gathered those who share the same affection for deliciousness, before flourishing into a something special called friendship. And transcending oceans via fibre-optic cables, has united this wonderful couple whom used to live thousands of miles apart.
Congratulations, Lianne and Jürgen. Here’s wishing you both a blessed marriage and a wonderful life ahead.
Let there be you, let there be me
Let there be oysters under the sea
Let there be wind, an occasional rain
Chile con care, sparkling champagne.
Let there be birds to sing in the trees
Someone to bless me whenever I sneeze
Let there be cuckoos, a lark and a dove
But first of all, please let there be love.
- Let There Be Love, Nat King Cole -
