I promised that there would be more on Namu's wedding in Nepal and here it is! I asked her to respond to a few questions. Also, click here if you want to see her photos.
3 of your favorite memories of the wedding
*A. Coming into the wedding venue and seeing Nikhil waiting for me. He looked quite handsome in the traditional Nepalese wedding suit he was wearing (not many men can pull it off).
*B. The unexpected tears - at the end of the wedding ceremony, there is one more ceremony where I am "given away" to my husband and new family. Traditionally, this is a very sad time for the bridal family because the daughter is now apart of another family. But since my family and I are from the U.S. and we see each other daily, didn't think we would cry. But everyone cried! Even I cried. One minute I see my dad dancing with my father in law the next he is in tears. It's emotional time because the entire party is outside seeing the bride off. The bridal party is sober while the groom party is happy! They are dancing in the streets because they have a new addition to the family. A male representative from the brides' side (in my case, my uncle) speaks to the groom's father. He tells the father we are not giving our daughter to your family, please make sure you take care of her and make her happy. And then the band plays that sad dramatic music! So, the tears roll down without control. The funny thing was, everyone is crying as if we will never see each other gain. One of my sisters is in tears and then says "see you tomorrow". LOL!
*C. Traffic stopping dance - Most of the groom's party was tipsy to say the least following the wedding ceremony. The groom's side bought a band to the wedding and left with it also. When we reached Nikhil's house area. The band out out and so did the groom's party. They danced in the streets for 15-20 minutes holding up traffic!
3 your favorite memories of being in Nepal
*A. The adventure of a lifetime via microbus - After our wedding, Nikhil and I went on our mini-honeymoon to a place outside of KTM valley. The place was called "Pokara". It is a beautiful lakeside community with the himalayas in the background. Anyhow, the memorable part was our way of getting there! We took public transportation called the "microbus" which is a minibus. We made plans to go to this temple on our way to our honeymoon site. We booked the microbus to the temple but had nothing booked to get to the honeymoon site. We just were told we would find buses along the way - so we did just leave without furhter plans! We did manage to find second microbus after finishing with the temple to get to honeymoon site. Here comes the adventourous part: The road is so windy and steep and it was raining like made that day. The drivers of the microbus drive like the own the road, real fast and they overtake other huge vehicles on that windy inclined road. Let me not mention the fall if you get off the road - definitely not for the weak stomach kind!
*B. My very help family from Mom's side - I was touched by helpful my aunts and uncles were. The wedding would have not been possible without the coordinating and planning they did for us. Since we were across the globe, had not been in Nepal for 24 years, arrived only 1 week before my wedding - we relied heavily on their help. They delivered big time and were always pleasant about it. Which is amazing since we were asking for quite alot . They did everything from booking venues, getting invites, going shopping and researching on customs. They definitely went above and beyond!
*C. Namu's Lazy Sunrise in Sarangkot, Pokhara- We went to this village located on a very high Hill to watch the sunrise. It is a 2 hour hike but we went the majority of the way by taxi. We did have hike the last 45 minutes to reach the peak of the hill. I was not wearing hiking shoes, instead I was wearing a pair of cheap flip flops. After 20 minutes of hiking, I was out of breath and could not take anymore but Nikhil wanted to continue. So, I stopped at a little hillside cafe and Nikhil went to the tip alone. I enjoyed by Nepali Tea with the breathtaking view in the background. The true way to enjoy a sunrise!
your favorite new in-law
It's a tie between my father-in-law and Nikhil's paternal grandmother. They were both very sweet, welcoming and always tried to engage me in conversation. They always cared about how I was doing and what I thought!
something you would do over again if you could (during the wedding)
My own make up. The make up people have an interesting way of applying make up to brides. They have set ideas on how a brides' make should look. Think a slightly toned down clown. Wish I could have brought a make up artist from the US to Nepal with me. And I forgot to pack facial blotting papers since my tends to get oily and it was hot in Nepal! Oh well!
favorite wedding present
3 mounted wedding pictures from Anshu (my sister) and Prince (my brother in law). Prince took pictures during our wedding and selected 3 to have professionally mounted! They are beautiful! One picture was a close up of me, another was a close up of Nikhil and the third was one of Nikhil, Ajay (my nephew - my sisters's son) and me.
favorite food in Nepal
All cooked vegetables in Nepal are delicious because it is all organic and you buy it fresh every day. Also, these samosas from this very famous place in New Road, Kathmandu. It's just a little stall which you have to get to by going down this shady alleyway. Anyhow, you have to get a ticket with a number on it and wait in queue for the samosas. It's a long qeue but so worth it! Fresh, hot, and so good! Not sure of the name of the place but everyone calls it the "Tip Top Samosas" because it is right next to this famous tailor place called "Tip Top Tailors".
favorite purchase from Nepal
The wedding band we bought for Nikhil! Nothing extravagant but it was the simplest one we could find for a male. Apparently, men in Nepal like to wear bling but Nikhil hates it! So finding a simple but elegant band was not the easiest task. But we found it thanks to this awesome jewlery store and the help of my aunts.
3 of your favorite memories of the wedding
*A. Coming into the wedding venue and seeing Nikhil waiting for me. He looked quite handsome in the traditional Nepalese wedding suit he was wearing (not many men can pull it off).
*B. The unexpected tears - at the end of the wedding ceremony, there is one more ceremony where I am "given away" to my husband and new family. Traditionally, this is a very sad time for the bridal family because the daughter is now apart of another family. But since my family and I are from the U.S. and we see each other daily, didn't think we would cry. But everyone cried! Even I cried. One minute I see my dad dancing with my father in law the next he is in tears. It's emotional time because the entire party is outside seeing the bride off. The bridal party is sober while the groom party is happy! They are dancing in the streets because they have a new addition to the family. A male representative from the brides' side (in my case, my uncle) speaks to the groom's father. He tells the father we are not giving our daughter to your family, please make sure you take care of her and make her happy. And then the band plays that sad dramatic music! So, the tears roll down without control. The funny thing was, everyone is crying as if we will never see each other gain. One of my sisters is in tears and then says "see you tomorrow". LOL!
*C. Traffic stopping dance - Most of the groom's party was tipsy to say the least following the wedding ceremony. The groom's side bought a band to the wedding and left with it also. When we reached Nikhil's house area. The band out out and so did the groom's party. They danced in the streets for 15-20 minutes holding up traffic!
3 your favorite memories of being in Nepal
*A. The adventure of a lifetime via microbus - After our wedding, Nikhil and I went on our mini-honeymoon to a place outside of KTM valley. The place was called "Pokara". It is a beautiful lakeside community with the himalayas in the background. Anyhow, the memorable part was our way of getting there! We took public transportation called the "microbus" which is a minibus. We made plans to go to this temple on our way to our honeymoon site. We booked the microbus to the temple but had nothing booked to get to the honeymoon site. We just were told we would find buses along the way - so we did just leave without furhter plans! We did manage to find second microbus after finishing with the temple to get to honeymoon site. Here comes the adventourous part: The road is so windy and steep and it was raining like made that day. The drivers of the microbus drive like the own the road, real fast and they overtake other huge vehicles on that windy inclined road. Let me not mention the fall if you get off the road - definitely not for the weak stomach kind!
*B. My very help family from Mom's side - I was touched by helpful my aunts and uncles were. The wedding would have not been possible without the coordinating and planning they did for us. Since we were across the globe, had not been in Nepal for 24 years, arrived only 1 week before my wedding - we relied heavily on their help. They delivered big time and were always pleasant about it. Which is amazing since we were asking for quite alot . They did everything from booking venues, getting invites, going shopping and researching on customs. They definitely went above and beyond!
*C. Namu's Lazy Sunrise in Sarangkot, Pokhara- We went to this village located on a very high Hill to watch the sunrise. It is a 2 hour hike but we went the majority of the way by taxi. We did have hike the last 45 minutes to reach the peak of the hill. I was not wearing hiking shoes, instead I was wearing a pair of cheap flip flops. After 20 minutes of hiking, I was out of breath and could not take anymore but Nikhil wanted to continue. So, I stopped at a little hillside cafe and Nikhil went to the tip alone. I enjoyed by Nepali Tea with the breathtaking view in the background. The true way to enjoy a sunrise!
your favorite new in-law
It's a tie between my father-in-law and Nikhil's paternal grandmother. They were both very sweet, welcoming and always tried to engage me in conversation. They always cared about how I was doing and what I thought!
something you would do over again if you could (during the wedding)
My own make up. The make up people have an interesting way of applying make up to brides. They have set ideas on how a brides' make should look. Think a slightly toned down clown. Wish I could have brought a make up artist from the US to Nepal with me. And I forgot to pack facial blotting papers since my tends to get oily and it was hot in Nepal! Oh well!
favorite wedding present
3 mounted wedding pictures from Anshu (my sister) and Prince (my brother in law). Prince took pictures during our wedding and selected 3 to have professionally mounted! They are beautiful! One picture was a close up of me, another was a close up of Nikhil and the third was one of Nikhil, Ajay (my nephew - my sisters's son) and me.
favorite food in Nepal
All cooked vegetables in Nepal are delicious because it is all organic and you buy it fresh every day. Also, these samosas from this very famous place in New Road, Kathmandu. It's just a little stall which you have to get to by going down this shady alleyway. Anyhow, you have to get a ticket with a number on it and wait in queue for the samosas. It's a long qeue but so worth it! Fresh, hot, and so good! Not sure of the name of the place but everyone calls it the "Tip Top Samosas" because it is right next to this famous tailor place called "Tip Top Tailors".
favorite purchase from Nepal
The wedding band we bought for Nikhil! Nothing extravagant but it was the simplest one we could find for a male. Apparently, men in Nepal like to wear bling but Nikhil hates it! So finding a simple but elegant band was not the easiest task. But we found it thanks to this awesome jewlery store and the help of my aunts.