Last night, my husband and I attended the wedding banquet of one of his clients in a leading restaurant in the city. Sharing a table with some strangers (the client’s relatives) during the ten-course meal became a daunting task for us when:
1) Two of them lighted up their nicotine sticks non-stop in the air-conditioned hall despite the “no smoking” sign prominently displayed for all to see. Pleas for them to stop fell on deaf ears.
2) One of them also coughed and sneezed loudly and openly throughout the night without covering his mouth and nose. Obviously he was suffering from a bad flu.
3) As if this is not bad enough, he kept digging at his nose to clear his nasal passage.
4) An elderly lady who sat next to me farted half way during the meal.
5) A few of them talked with their mouths full of food. They were commenting on how fresh the prawns are!
6) One middle-aged lady had chili sauce at the corners of her mouth without realizing it.
7) Her husband threw up at the table after one beer too many. It turned rowdy when he got into a heated argument with the person who sat next to him.
8) They liked to flip and stir the food with their chopsticks while eating, thus distributing their saliva all over the plate.
9) When the meal was over, one or two of them used the tooth picks without covering their mouths with the other hands.
10) And finally, here is the best for the last – one of them loved the roasted pig so much he even took its head with both his hands and munched it up there and then, much to our amusement!
Boy, were we glad when it was over three hours later and we quickly made a dash for the exit! The food does look sumptuous and the overall ambience was nice but I could not eat much. Could you eat too, if you were at the same table with these people?
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188 Hugh Low Street, Ipoh 
oh man, i couldn’t help laughing. Though you cannot eat in peace, these people did provide some kind of entertainment for you and your hubby..hehehhe
Hi Barb,
With so much going on at this table, no one could eat in peace. 😦
From the annoyance with the cigarette smoke and germs flying over our heads, speechlessness from that loud fart and the disgusting vomits on the floor, to the amusement of seeing someone digging at the pig’s head so publicly, it was some entertainment indeed! 🙂
This kind of dinner with all this character that I will most likely to miss it. People are less manners & inconsiderate for others, none of them will give a damn about it. Rude & no table manners.
Hi John,
The problem with attending a Chinese banquet is that you only get to know their antics once the meal had started and by then, it is too late for you to do anything!
Most of the time you do expect people to be like this kind of unwanted manners. I always do not like to attend but give the host an angpow or my family will attend on behalf. Kind of can’t accept people like this ’cause I have organise many charity & Alumni function and most of them are well mannered in their own way irregardless of the race. so free to socialise & plenty of food still left behind for each other to enjoy & good company. It is a yuk yuk for me and to loose away appetite.
Hi John,
I have no issues with people who have a healthy appetite….yes, eat all you can, the food is there for people to eat, so don’t waste them.
What really pissed me off is when some people are inconsiderate of others. Like smoking for instance. If they wanted to smoke so badly, can’t they go outside and smoke all they wanted to instead of smoking infront of those who could not tolerate cigarette smoke in an enclosed area?
Also, if one has a flu, at least cover the nose and mouth with a handkerchief when coughing or sneezing. Maybe they are ignorant of the fact that some virus are air borne! What you cannot see does not exist!
It all boils down to social manners and considerations for others that will make or break a meal.
Disgusting…. what a terrible time you must have gone through, I can imagine it.
Most Malaysians are greedy when it come for food, as if they have never eaten for days. Some of these fellows ought to be sent to Ethopia to see how they strive and value food.
Hi Sundra,
Some years back (I think it was 2004 or 2005), I went to the Hari Raya open house of former PM Abdullah Badawi, not on purpose but to have a look since we were around PWTC that day. That will be my first and last – you have to see it with your own eyes how greedy some Malaysians can be when it comes to free food.
They actually pushed and shoved madly near the aisle leading to the kitchen. It got chaotic when people were grabbing pieces of butter cakes and chocolate cookies even before the waiters could carry the trays of food to the hall where many others were waiting. Of course the waiters got very upset and shouted at them to back off but no one listened. Meanwhile, there were many empty trays on the banquet table – not even a morsel of food was spared! It was a horrible scene which I could not forget until this day! 😦 I thought I was in North Korea and not Malaysia that day. 🙂
There is a Chinese saying one type of rice eaten my hundred types of people. Must say everyone is unique. When I attended wedding dinner I enjoy a motley crowd of strangers in my table. The good, bad and the ugly. It fascinates me to listen to them and ask them questions. It gives me a new learning curve how to interact with all of them. Some you can make friends with, while others are just haloo and goodbye. Anyway I just love to have an opportunity to meet new type of people during the wedding dinner. If we are not so personally, we can enjoy their company. You get to know their characters and personalities. Wedding dinner can be boring or interesting according to how we make it to be.
Anyway we like or dislike it, the wedding dinners will be here to stay until kingdom come. Might as well make the most of it.
Hi Katherine,
Yes, you’re right! Attending a Chinese banquet can be fun and enjoyable as it is a good way to socialise. Somehow it was a disaster that night – maybe it has got to do with the cigarette smoke- I am very sensitive to this type of smoke. 😦