The Bunga Telur

So, OK. This was supposed to be one of the items that I would get from Jakarta. BUT, I guess our supir that day didn't exactly bring us to the right place, so we didn't get them at Jakarta. I think that was one of (or the only) upset of the Jakarta-Bandung Trip.

Anyway, last Saturday (when I started writing this it was last Saturday, now it's two weeks ago? I think), I managed to get Ibu and Bapak's time to go and find them. Getting their time during weekends are quite hard because of the endless wedding invitations they have. And, as I have said, countlessly, I have a F.O.B-zilla. He veto-s everything, including the Bunga Telur. And we hardly agree on the same Bunga Telur.

The week before we went to SSF Puchong, PKNS Shah Alam, Alam Central Shah Alam and SACC Shah Alam. Couldn't agree on a Bunga Telur. Well, there was this one shop at PKNS, where he kind of agreed with one of my choice, but I was not so sure myself so we KIV-ed that one. We decided to go to Nilai 3 as choices are a lot more there.

We left home at about 10am and reached there by 11am. It was still quite empty, not so many people so that is a relief. BUT what a HOT day!! Parked the car and went in one of the biggest shop there. Nothing that caught our eyes. Walked around and went in a few other shops nearby...there were a couple that were nice, but too expensive (RM10 and above). Kalau ikut hati memang lah nak yang cantik and yang besar yang RM15 punya tu...my dad almost succumbed but Bunga Telur is not one of the items that I feel I or my parents should invest a lot on for the wedding. Biasa-biasa je pun ok.And we have to cut on the Bunga Telur because I'm spending a HUGE amount on my reception pelamin already, something which I also feel is not something that I should spend so much on, tapi susah lah, pelamin sangat mahal!! Will blog about that later.

Back to Bunga Telur. So, after going to a few shops and not finding what me and the FOB-zilla can agree on, (if I like something, he doesn't like it. if he likes something, I dont like it...it went on like that for the first hour we were there), we decided to move on to the shops further down. Unlike the first time I went there, which was for my engagement, Bapak drove all around going from one shop to another, by car. The first time, me and my sisters parked at one spot and only walked around that one street. Anyway, we got to one shop and FINALLY AGREED on one! YEAY!!

Because some of the ones on display had some defects, we decided to check EACH and EVERY SINGLE ONE. All 800 of them. The shop assistants brought boxes of the Bunga Telur casing, we set up camp on the floor and opened each box and inspected each Bunga Telur. Wahhhh...this is us exercising caveat emptor!

 *I blur-ed out the pictures of the Bunga Telur - kena lah surprise sikit :)*

So, after 1 hour I think, they packed all the ones that we did not reject and put them in the car. My parents want the doorgifts to be the Telur itself, so someone will be put in charge to prepare the eggs to be placed in the Bunga Telur casings. I'll also get some net material to wrap the eggs. 

So Bunga Telur, CHECKED! Big relief! 

Preparations for the Engagement: Nilai 3 and Hantarans

Preparations for the engagement started right after the Merisik. The first thing that I did was to check out Nilai 3, a one stop center for malay weddings. I've always heard of this place, so I thought I'll check it out and see if I can get anything for the Engagement and also look out stuff for the Wedding.

I managed to convince Ibu, Kakmira and Syida to follow me to this famous Nilai 3. But we didn't know the way. Aliff said that his mother was also interested to check out the place, and that his dad knew the way, so we decided to go together. We heard the place was huge, so we decided to move as early as possible, so we can cover the whole place and also to avoid human-traffic as it was a Saturday. Me, Kakmira and Ibu had breakfast before we left, but Syida woke up late, and didn't know that we all had our breakfast, so she followed us with an empty stomach. Note: Eat before you go, because there are no decent places to eat around that area and you will be spending a lot of time there.

                                                         

We reached there quite early, before noon, so there were still a lot of available parking space. So, that is also a plus for going early. By noon the parking spaces near the warehouses were full and people were double parking. The stores start to open around 10.30am I think. And they close around 9.30pm. The place is like Taipan in USJ, but the shops are warehouse-like and it's 90% Wedding related. I didn't have anything specific to find, just wanted to browse through the items that they have and the prices cause I've heard they sell at lower prices compared to in Jalan TAR in KL. Aliff and his Dad surrendered after the second shop, Ibu surrendered after the third or fourth shop and Aliff's mum surrendered after that I think. But me, Kakmira and Syida pretty much covered the whole stretch of the block where we parked. (We didn't know there were more behind, but we found them when we were about to leave :) ).

All in all I find that Nilai 3 would be a good place for those who already have something in mind to get, because if you don't have at least an idea of what you are finding, you will definitely be lost as there are soooooo many things. It is also good for those who wants to get things in bulk. The stuff there are pretty much what you can find in Semua House and other shops in Jalan TAR, KL, but I guess there are more choices in Nilai 3. There is definitely a difference in their prices, cheaper than those in KL, but if you plus your travelling expenses (petrol, toll charges) it might come up to the same. But the prices I think are pretty decent, especially if you buy in bulk. So, it really depends on a person's preference and convenience. If you don't mind travelling, I guess it would be a bargain to shop there.  

As I said I didn't have a specific thing that I was looking for and the place was too overwhelming, so I only  found a few stuff I could use for my Engagement, particularly for my hantaran decorations. I knew I wanted blue hydrangeas for the hantarans, and I actually planned to use fresh flowers. But I found a fake blue hydrangea which looked so sweet, so I bought 1 stalk, so I can use it to create a prototype for the hantaran decorations. I also got a brown-glittery-thingy and a black-glittery-butterfly to use as decorations for the hantaran. The theme for the Engagement was blue and brown.

                                 
                                    

So, yeah I only got 3 little things from my trip to Nilai 3. Ahahaha. When I reached home and put all three items together I was quite satisfied with the prototype. I fickled a few times whether to use fresh hydrangeas or just use the fake one that I found in Nilai 3. Fresh hydrangea would range at about RM12 - RM22 a stalk. The fake one in Nilai 3 only costs RM5.90 a stalk. I also found a similar one in Semua House for RM12 a stalk.  Having fresh flowers, especially hydrangeas which needs a lot of water, would mean that the hantaran can only be done 1 day before the actual day of Engagement, and I have planned to have fresh flowers as centrepieces for the guests' table, and i had to ensemble the mini pelamin on the same day, so I might not have enough time to do everything on my own. (Yes I DIY most of the stuff for the Engagement). But if i use the fake hydranges, I can do it progressively, weeks before the Engagement, thus would have time to do the centrepieces and the pelamin. So, after weighing all the pros and cons, and the fact that this is just the Bertunang, and that it was just going to be a small and simple event, I decided to save the fresh flowers idea for the hantarans for the wedding.

So, when my mum called me one day on the way home from a wedding in Seremban, I jumped at the opportunity and asked her a huge favor to drop by Nilai 3 and get the hydrangeas and the brown-glittery-thingy. I found the black-glittery-butterfly in Semua House, which surprisingly I found to be cheaper than the ones in Nilai 3, so I got them from Semua House instead. So, I mms-ed her the pictures of the hydrangeas and the brown-glittery-thingy that I took from my phone, and I don't know how she did it, but she convinced my dad to stop at Nilai 3. Heeeee. Thanx ibu!  

She also managed to get the gift bags for the yassin-s that we were giving out as Engagement-favors. Yeay.

The other things that I did for the hantaran was getting materials for the square pillows for each dulang and also material for the alas. We went to Nagoya and got like a thai silk-golden brown material for the pillow and black lace for the alas. I also bought the dangling-tassle-like-thingy to be sewn on the four corners of the pillow. I sent all this to this chinese lady who sews for my grandmother. She charged about RM150 for 9 pillows and 9 alas. An aunt lent me her tembaga dulangs which I loved. Looked so classic, with the black lace. I had some weird faces when they (the elderly) saw the black lace as the alas. But, i like it. I don't think there's anything wrong with black. :)

All in all, excluding costs for logistics, I spent about RM45 per dulang for the decorations.

So, here are the pictures of the hantarans that I made for the Engagement.

I did the Sireh Junjung myself as well. Hahah. First try. Didn't actually know where I was suppossed to put the gambir, bunga cengkih, kapur and so on. Ahahahah

Pulut Kuning. I think they forgot to take out the plastic wrapping. Oh well.

Cupcakes from Aunty Abrina, PJ.

The Ferrero Rocher was sponsored by Mama Pogy :)

Kakmira had a secret tip to making the grapes shiny

Issey Miyake for him. We bought his and hers cause he likes the scent. Also, there is a history behind this perfume. It was his first real gift to me :) I think it was my birthday the first year we got together.

The linen-material for his nikah baju melayu

Golf shoes - See, the hantaran from my side had to be 9, and we couldn't think of anything else to put on the 9th dulang. He was planning to buy this , so I thought, let me buy it and put it on my dulang. heee