WEDDING ENTOURAGE TO JAKARTA-BANDUNG: FIRST DAY

 I finally have the time to document my trip to Indonesia. It was a 4 days 3 nights trip (1.2.2011 - 4.2.2011). The itinerary was set few weeks before with Kakmyra's MIL as guidance. She suggested a few places that we could go and some other places I found out through the trusted google. It was quite chaotic but so fun, because we travelled in a BIG group. I guess that is how my family rolls.

MEMBERS OF THE TRIP:

1. My family, minus Kakmyra, Adri, Lulu and little ARR in the tummy :) - so that's = 5
2. Nell's family + Kak Sumarni =7
3. Jidah and Kak Su =2
4. Kakmira's PIL = 2

Total =16

THE FLIGHT

Our flight was at 7.30am. We wanted to reach early so we don't lose the day. We arrived, via MAS at about 8.30am, Indonesian time. Food not so good la. quite dissapointed, luckily we had our breakfast prior to departure. MAS' food is usually nice. There was some drama before take off. My aunt brought on a luggage that was given to her by her son's ex girlfriend who was also a former MAS flight attendant as her carry on. Apparently, non-crew members are not allowed to use or possess "crew member's" bag. OK. So, the head flight attendant that day made a huge fuss over it. HELLO? it's your own regulations, it does not apply to every Malaysian citizen. So when my aunt said she did not know about such rule, you can politely inform her and she will take note of that. Don't need to be rude to an elderly, bitch. Malaysian Hospitality my ass. MAS is usually very delightful, but that day it was reallllly dissapointing. Anyway people, please take note, if you are a "regular person" and not a "crew member" do not use "crew member's" luggage.

FIRST DAY

Straight off the plane, me, Syida, Adik and Kakak bought Indonesian sim cards. We bought simPATI for RP65,000 and reloaded another RP50,000. Altogether it was RP115,000 equivalent to about RM38. Kak Su later told us we could have gotten it cheaper outside of the airport. Oh well. It is better to use Indonesian line to communicate among ourselves and also the people in Malaysia because roaming charges are quite expensive. This I learned during my trip to Chicago to visit Aliff - after I came back, I received a RM900 bil. yikes. The rate for calling Malaysia is RP2,000 per minute which is about RM0.66 per minute.

We were greeted by Ronaldi (the best supir ever!). My dad arranged the transportation for our 4 days there through his counterpart at the Malaysian embassy in Indonesia. There were 3 vans, 1 exclusively for all the luggages. Ahah. Everyone brought a few empty bags as we foresee a lot of shopping.

The 3 Supirs - L-R : Pak Ronaldi, Pak Tamam and Pak Feri

First destination: Pasar Mayestik

 

Knew this place from google and some blogs. Its like Jalan TAR here in Malaysia. Rows of textile shops. We first went in this shop called Mumbai Textile. We were there just for a while, because it was the first shop we entered and it was near where the vans were parked, so we thought we could drop by again later. Next we walked to this shop called Sanggar Textile. Ok lah. Mama Ina bought chiffon silk for Alia.  We found some beautiful white laces with vintage patterns and not the flowery normal patterns. But I already had my white lace, so had to pass. Come to think of it, alamak, patut beli je. Me and my mum came back to this shop on the third day and bought a lot, will talk about that later. Later in the day we got to know that Bapak and Syazwan bought materials and made suits with the in-house tailor at this shop. The suits would be ready on Friday, our last day and would be delivered to the hotel. Sempat tu, dalam diam.

At Sanggar Textile

Bapak and Syazwan checking out materials for their suit

Next we went to one of the biggest shop there, Silk Route. Spent the most time here and the entourage bought quite a lot here, mostly lace fabrics - I think about RM100++ per meter? Cheaper compared to in Malaysia, tapi tak adalah MURAH gila. French lace is about RM200-300 per meter.

I bought 3 metres of off white soft tulle (RP18,000/RM6 per meter) for my nikah veil. I wanted a long veil like Princess Zara on her nikah :)

I also bought me 6 meters of off-white chiffon silk (RP90,000/RM 30 per meter) and satin (RP25,000/RM8 per meter) for my nikah kurung. I think the chiffon was quite expensive because in Malaysia I think the going price is about RM25 per meter? I dont know, the shop assistant said its a good quality chiffon. Anyway, I asked syida to be my manequin to see whether the chiffon and the tulle suited the lace that I've already got.

 

 my manequin

*I noticed after a few days in Indonesia that different shops had different prices for chiffon, as low as RM3 per meter to as high as RM50 per meter...tapi the kind of material is still chiffon silk...ada banyak jenis chiffon silk ke? tak tau lah kena tipu ke apa*

Anyway, the shop assistants there were really nice, especially the one who attended to me, so whatever lah. She was VERY helpful and patient with me. I keep on changing how many meters I wanted. Ahah. So, then she brought me to their in-house designer for free consultation. She sketched me the kurung according to the design I described to her. She said they could do it for me but it would atleast take 1 month for first fitting. Hmm..will I be coming back? I politely passed.

Consultation with the in-house designer

Second destination: Tanah Abang

Wow, we were already tired from the travelling and from the shopping at Pasar Mayestik, but we continued and persisted because we did not want to miss anything. Tanah Abang was highly recommended by everyone when I told them I was going to Jakarta. So, we postponed lunch to later because Tanah Abang closes at 5pm. From Pasar Mayestik to Tanah Abang, we were caught in the notorious Jakarta Macet (translate - traffic jam!). Arghhh. And, bole tak, Syazwan had to pee. So our dear Roni (Ronaldi, but my mum shortened his name to Roni - suka hati), stopped at a shopping complex on the way to Tanah Abang. So, we arrived at about 3.30pm. If you come to Tanah Abang, go straight down to B1 and B2 for textiles and fabrics.

one of the shops at Tanah Abang

I don't know, maybe because we were tired and hungry, we didn't quite enjoy Tanah Abang. There were rows of small shops selling fabrics and materials. Most of them similar to each other and to what we saw at Pasar Mayestik.  And the number of shops were soooo overwhelming, you can not cover the whole place in half a day. We didn't get much there. Maybe if we had more time, we would have enjoyed Tanah Abang. Anyway, Ibu got her materials for the Nikah - pink chiffon and satin there. I think Mama Ina bought a few materials as well. I got 4 meters of sparkled black soft tulle for fun. Sangat cheap, RP10,000/RM3.30 per meter. Syida and kakak also got the same material of different colors.

 
At 5.30pm, with most shops already closing, we decided to head to the hotel to check in. Because it was rush hour, getting out of there was scary. There were shoe-less little kids "assisting" us to cross the streets and stop cars. Kesian. Mamaina tipped one of them after. If you want to tip them, don't do it where everyone else can see because then everyone will come to you.

Then we had our VERY late lunch at a restaurant near our hotel. A Nasi Padang restaurant called the Garuda Restaurant. Nice. First time I ate urat (?) ...

Checking In : Sari Pan Pacific Hotel

Nice hotel. You have to go through screening and metal detectors. I think its the same in most hotels after the Bali bombing. There was also a huge black bulldog sniffing the vehicles coming in and our luggages. Yikes. Anyway, the breakfast spread is yummy-licious.

Last destination of the day : Senayan City

That night our Supir brought us to Senayan City. Its one of the shopping malls in Jakarta - something like our KLCC, but smaller. The people who frequent there were stylish mylish. FINE. Indonesian girls are hot. whatever. Here in Jakarta, most of the shopping complexes and hotels had metal screenings that you have to go through before entering. Scaaarrryy. Makes you think twice before entering kan? 

 Didn't do any shopping sangat, I have to save for the main agendas of my trip. And it was only the first day. And we were quite tired, so while the mums walked around, the cousins and my dad hanged out at Coffee Bean, which was quite expensive compared to Malaysia, about RP45,000/RM15 for a small cup of coffee.

We retired for the night at about 12am. Early morning the next day: Bandung.

Tabahnya Hatimu Menempuh Dugaan

Today is our Prophet's day of birth and I heard this song on the radio. This familiar song brings back memories of elementary school, where every year for maulidurrasul, each class would compete in a nasyid competition and this song would definitely be part of the song selections of atleast one class. One of the best nasyid which rightfully commemorates the life of the Messenger.


Rasulullah dalam mengenangmu
Kami susuli lembaran sirahmu
Pahit getir pengorbananmu
Membawa cahaya kebenaran

Engkau taburkan pengorbananmu
Untuk umatmu yang tercinta
Biar terpaksa tempuh derita
Cekalnya hatimu menempuh ranjaunya

Tak terjangkau tinggi pekertimu
Tidak tergambar indahnya akhlakmu
Tidak terbalas segala jasamu
Sesungguhnya engkau rasul mulia
Tabahnya hatimu menempuh dugaan
Mengajar erti kesabaran
Menjulang panji kemenangan
Terukir namamu di dalam Al-Quran

Rasulullah kami umatmu
Walau tak pernah melihat wajahmu
Kami cuba mengingatimu
Dan kami cuba mengamal sunnahmu

Kami sambung perjuanganmu
Walau kita tak pernah bersua
Tapi kami tak pernah kecewa
Allah dan rasul sebagai pembela

The Make Up Artist Part I - The Reception Dinner

Work has been unbelievably overwhelming. Everything is super urgent and co-operation is not readily provided. Anyway, on to more happy things...My Wedding :)

So, the plan was to book the venue, then the designer for the dress, then the make up and then the photographer.

So much for following that order la kan.

The venue has been booked. Albeit Bapak's sudden change of mind , but I think that has passed and we're still with the innitial venue. Will write more on this.

Next in order was supposed to be the designer. OMG. This is by far the most "vendors" that I've seen. It started with 3 ... and I was pretty sure and confirmed that I wanted this particular designer, so I told myself I'm not seeing anyone else...BUT, because of some turn of events, I met another 2, and finally booked with the 4th one that I saw. Their prices are more or less the same. Will come back on this later jugak.

This entry, is on the Make Up Artist.

I finalised the booking for my MUA before the designer. Because there were some hoo ha-s with the designer, I could not follow the initial "order" because if I wait longer, I was afraid all the good MUA-s will be taken on my day. This fear was further exasperated by Kakmira's worried phone calls on why I haven't booked anything yet, 5 months to the wedding.

And so the SEARCH was on.

I already had a few names that I liked. And thanks to Izrin's blog post, I learned of some new names that I've not encountered, but quite established. She even gave me their rates. Thanxxxxx.

For the Reception Dinner, because it will be in a huge hall,  the make up has to be not-too-natural but at the same time I don't want it to be overdone with the foundation and the colors. In other words - Tak Tepung lah. So, experience is important. That is why I wanted someone yang ada nama lah jugak ...

First name in mind ... Sue Cantik (019-2742947)

She did the make up for Kakmira's Nikah and for both the Bride's and Groom's Reception Dinner.

Called her up (actually Kakmira called her, and every other make up artist - I put her in charge of the MUA - I just supply the names and numbers), but she's already booked for the whole day on the 18th ... Damnsssss!!. I thought I didn't have to go through all the trouble of getting quotations and researching for MUA.

Budget is around RM800 - RM900 ... and the SEARCH began.

1. Tiar Zainal (013-6284835) 

Recommended by Kakmira's friends. Quite popular. When I heard how much he charges mula-mula amik je lahhhh...tapi Kakmira put some sense in me...And I realised I can not let myself get tempted although it's just two or three hundred more than budgeted. 
  

    Nextttttttt........

2. Ayang Kamell (012-2720975)

Saw her work through Facebook. I like. Price lower than my budget. And most testimonials would always say that she is very nice. Plus pointssss!

Definitely under consideration.

3. Ian Sham (017- 2030635) 

Knew her from one Wedding Fair in Mid Valley last year. Price under my budget. Her work is also nice, but Kakmira don't prefer her so much ... Entah kenapa.

     Nextttttt.....

5. Sheng Saw (012-9005597) 

Nice artistic make up and he is quite good with hair as well. I fell in love. Tapi alamak over the budget. Damnsss.

Nexxxxtttttt!

6. Saidatulnisa (019-3128246/019-2094564) 

  

She is very popular. She does mostly VVIPs, Royalties and such. And I heard she can cancel on you if she gets a call from these VVIPs and Royalties. Don't know how true ... but, anyway she's expensive, so...

    Nextttttt!

7. Liza (aka assistant Saidatulnisa) (019-2094564)

The next best thing. ahaha. Other than being Saidatulnisa's assistant, she does make up for people as well. The times yang Saidatulnisa had to cancel, she steps in. She doesn't have her own page, so its quite hard to see her work...but from those I see, I LIKE. Price under my budget.

Sebab dah malas, and time ticking, and the fear of all the MUA-s getting booked by other Bridezilla-s, I had to make a decision.....and finally booked me ...

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No.7

Liza, the assistant.

It was actually between Ayang Kamell and her, and I've always had Ayang Kamell in mind even before I started looking for MUAs...but I don't know, that day I decided I want Liza. So, Liza it is. Bukan rezeki Ayang Kamell la kot. Liza seems nice on the phone. And from the uber-ex-bridezilla, Diah who is a friend to Kakmira, she likes Liza of all three 3 MUA-s she hired for her wedding.

Hoping that I made the right choice.

Here are other MUA-s out there yang I quite like tapi tak sempat nak contact (ranging from RM800-RM1000++ macam tu kot):

Nurul Shukor      012-2862286
Amy Janz           012-2763600
Fiza Zainuddin    012-2217031
Lova                  016-6720445

This is a useful link  - Top 10 MUA-s compiled by GLAM Magazine.

**Prices for Putrajaya is always more expensive than in KL. Booo.

Wedding Progress - 4 months till The Date

Dalam kesibukan dekat office, I managed to tick a few things last night...A little bit relieved that at least some things have been confirmed.

• Paid 50% deposit to my Reception Dress designer/dress maker.
• Paid 30% deposit to the Photographer.
• Paid the deposit for my MUA for the Reception Dinner.
• MUA for Nikah and Groom's Reception Dinner is semi-confirmed. Still finding a date for the test make up. But I'm 99% sure I'm going with her.
• I think the Venue for the Reception Dinner is confirmed, no changes because Bapak has stopped talking about "his" venue. Anyways, deposit for the innitial venue has also been made.

(Will write about each one when I have the time ... )


So, what's next:

1. Designer for the Nikah outfit. I keep on changing the design. Hopefully once I come back from Jakarta it'll be settled.
2. Canopy for the Nikah - still surveying the vendors. I like the one that we used for Kakmira's wedding, but he's a bit lacking in the creative side. The one I used for my engagement is also ok. But I'm not sure whether he has the things I want. I'm currently in talks with this one Event Planner, tapi their charges is more than the two that I have used before, tapi their results are gorgeous. See how this goes.
3. Catering for the Nikah - Probably going for the same caterer we always use, who is also a relative of my mother. But I'm still scouting around. One thing I definitely want in the menu is chopped lamb and mint sauce. yummmsss.
4. Pelamin and Decorator for the Reception Dinner - also still surveying. I already have my concept. Just need someone to realise it for me. Some "people" are quoting MAD quotations for their services - and what I'm asking will not be requiring much props like other pelamins pun. I'm not into the panel-type pelamin...and I wouldn't be requiring flowers sangat (fresh or artificial). Haih. Kakmira wants to quit and start doing pelamin after I told her how much "that" person quotes. Ahaha. "MEREPEK" is what Bapak would say.
5. Invitations and Door Gifts/Bunga Telur - Hoping to find these in Jakarta/Bandung. I'm not sure whether I'll be victorious in finding exactly what I want, because I heard the stuff there are more of batik/traditonal stuff and the cards are ready mades and it would be difficult to custom make. Keeping fingers crossed.
6. Entertainment - I found this looovely singer, she sang at Farina's birthday. She is the resident singer for 39 Restaurant at PNB Darby Park. Merdunyaaa. Tapi mahal sikit la dia. The one who sang at Andy's wedding pun sedap... Hmm see how this goes, depends on how much residue I have from everything else. I would probably just ask Kakmira and Adri to sing that night. Ahaha. Seriously. And other family and friends who have beautiful voices. More personal kan?
7. Videographer - this is a toughie. Mahal lah. I got a few quotes, they charge thousands just for a video of 5 minutes in lenght? GILA apa. I want a full video of both events, atleast 45 minutes in lenght lah. Kalau 5 minutes dah thousands...45 minutes? I'm not sure how videographers charge. The one who did Kakmira's was ok lah...tapi tak creative sangat lah...dia buat full video and the charge is reasonable. I also want a live feed for the Reception Dinner, which atleast cost another RM3k. ATLEAST. Fuhhh.  
8. Procedures and Approvals  - these have to be done before Aliff leaves to Jakarta (if he ever lahh - tak pergi pergi pun lagi).

Apa lagi eh? I think those are the big things. Yang minor-minor tu nanti lah. I have a loonnngggg list in my Wedding Binder.

Getting Married is EXPENSIVE. Especially if you want the finer things. SO, JANGAN MENGARUT ok. Something I have to constantly remind myself. And I'm feeling the heat now as this is the time deposits have to paid and the zero-s in the bank account becomes lesssss.

BUT, above all that, I still smile. Me and Aliff had our ritual morning conference just now and we casually just talked about how it would be like waking in the mornings to go to work once we're married. Because I leave the house earlier than him - would he stand the lights that i'll be switching on while getting ready and the fan and aircond that I'll be switching off because after the morning shower its collddd...and the hairdryer noise from blowing my hair...all these while he's still sleeping... (Syida, my current roomate always complains of these things) he said it'll be fine cause dia tidur mati. Ahaha. Hmmm....the thought of that made us smile...can't wait! :) :) :)

*cheh baru kahwin tak kisah, dah kahwin nanti? hopefully still tak kisah, or he'll have to build me a room-closet with an attached bathroom for me to get ready in*

Toodles.

STRESS Part 1

Semua benda mahal. Semua benda lebih from budget. And my budget is not cheapsket budget ok, I think quite reasonable. Hello, don't put your price too high lah. It's becoming ridiculous. Rezeki should come from working hard and not from making a quick buck by fooling the hopeless bridezillas. If you want to cater for the rich and famous only don't publicise your business lah idiots. Dah lah tak ada masa nak survey lebih-lebih and plan the whole thing properly. Work keep on piling like nobody's business. STRESS. I think it's the wedding ticker. Semakin cepat pulak the date. And probably because bitch hormone is kicking in. I'm almost due.

Kursus Kahwin

One of the requirements in this country for couples to get married is to attend the Pre-Wedding Course.

Every year you hear that the syllabus or the module of the course will change, from a 2 day course, to a 2 days 2 nights course where you have to participate and attend the qiyamullail at nights. Because December was just packed with weddings and other stuff, I called up JAIS (Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor) and asked them whether the syllabus will change in 2011. They assured me it was still going to be the same 2 day course where you basically just sit and listen. So, we decided to go in January 2011.

We decided to go to the one organised by JAIS, because it's just in Shah Alam which is 10 minutes from home, and Kakmira and Adri went there for their pre-wedding course and they enjoyed it. I downloaded the form here and faxed it from my office. I had to forge Aliff's signature because, well, he comes home too late for me to wait up for him just to sign the form. And I can't wait until the weekend because it becomes full very fast. So, if anyone wants to do their pre-wedding course there, you have to submit your forms atleast 2-3 weeks before the date you have chosen.

The date we chose were on the 22nd and 23rd January (the courses are only on Saturdays and Sundays).

So last weekend, me and Aliff had to sacrifice our "waking up late on weekends" to attend the pre-wedding course. Registration on the first day starts at 745am - 815am. Being me, I like to arrive early, so I woke Aliff up at 700am. Although it's just 10 minutes away and there will definitely be no traffic congestion as it was on a weekend, I purposedly told him to pick me up as early as 715am because I was anticipating the 15 minutes that he's going to be late, and the other 5-10 minutes of filling in petrol etc. He picked me up at 730am, stopped for gas and we arrived close to 800am. Imagine if I had asked him to come at 730am :)

The first day was interesting. Although the topics of the lecture was quite boring, but the lecturers were sooooooo funny that I hurt my mouth from laughing too much. Seriously. These people may be ustaz, but they are quite open and liberal about husband and wife relationship, if you know what I mean. The food was nice, nothing to complain. They served breakfast, lunch and tea. The first day ended at about 500pm.

The second day was not as fun as the first day, but still bearable. The lecturers on the second day was not as funny so there were times I almost fell asleep. So, I opened my Wedding Binder and started calculating the budgets and cutting where necessary - keeping up with my motto of "sticking to the budget". But there was one lecturer from Kementerian Kesihatan, who talked about health and STDs and pregnancy and giving birth....this lecture was very VISUAL. He showed us videos and pictures which brought back everyone's attention from the lack of during the prior lecture. One of the most impact-ful (is there such word?) video would be the video of giving birth. YIKES. Makes you think twice of getting pregnant and giving birth.....sakitnyaaaaaaaaa....and all the blood...alamak. It's ok. I am going to persevere. If I get pregnant, I am still planning to go for the natural birth. Kalau mati pun mati syahid kan?

Anyway, although there were some boring lectures, it was definitely a fun experience. The only downside is they did not allow us to eat with our other half...booo. But me and Aliff cheating sikit ... the did not put us in different rooms to eat, and there's actually no signage saying where the girls or boys eat. But there were 2 buffet tables. So, faham-faham lah. Me and Aliff sat at the end of the girls/boys area, so we got to seat next to each other. Hahahaha. It was my plan lahhh. Aliff penakut. Ahaha. A good suggestion would be that you go with a friend who is also getting married, if you don't plan to make friends, like me :) Other than that, anyone who plans to attend the requisite pre-wedding course, I would definitely recommend the one organised by JAIS.

The 2 day course was enlightening. Ofcourse there's the feeling of losing your weekend, but it sheds some light on getting married, especially the procedures. There's so many things that you have to do (tests, approvals, getting witnesses) to get married in Malaysia. It's not just saying "Aku terima nikahnya". Ahaha. So, we have to get all that done before Aliff goes to Jakarta, or it'll be too late and we'll be rushing.

NEXT: HIV Test.


Toodles.

Jakarta, here we come

Remember this entry on Aliff probably moving to Jakarta?

Well, when I broke the news to my Ibu, she was not happylah until I told her that the silver lining is that we can go visit him there and do the wedding shopping. After that she spread the news to everyone and everyone was suddenly excited to go to Jakarta.

My very excited mother had riled everybody up with the plan of going shopping at Jakarta that Kakmyra's MIL called her up one day and said there's a cheap flight to Jakarta via KLM (a dutch airline) for February, during Chinese New Year.

What?

Aliff's secondment has not been finalised yet. Going to Jakarta without him being in Jakarta defeats the initial plan of going to Jakarta kan - which was for me to visit him, and alang-alang dah dekat sana, get some stuff for the wedding.

Aliff said he can't join us because he wanted to do his studying for the CFA during Chinese New Year holidays.

Kakmyra wouldn't be joining us as well, because she's already in her third trimester...Maybe if she gets her OBGYN to sign a letter allowing her to fly and she feels fit she'll join us. But for now, she won't be joining us.

Anyway, because everyone else was so excited for the trip, and the tickets were quite cheap, Ibu managed to convince Bapak to fund the trip. So, on Saturday morning Ibu woke me up, told me to get Bapak's credit card and book the flight to Jakarta for the family. Since Mama-Ina and family will also be joining us, she asked me to call Nell to come over and bring her laptop so we can do the booking together.

I was quite sceptical with KLM...because I've actually never heard of it...but Kakmira's MIL had flewn with KLM many times before and they liked it. I did my research on KLM airline, and found a couple forums comparing MAS and KLM. Most preferred MAS, but those who preferred KLM, did not like MAS. hmmm?

We started  the online booking at about 4pm because everyone had stuff to do earlier in the day.

I don't know why, but there were so many problems with the online booking.

First, the internet was having problems.

Then, Ibu called and asked me to book for my grandmother and her maid. Her maid had an Indonesian passport, and didn't state her last name. So I didn't know how to fill in the "last name" column for her. Tried calling KLM hotline, but the Malaysia office has closed by then and we were supposed to call Amsterdam...what? Told Ibu the problem and she told me to book for our family first.

So I had to start all over again.

Nell didn't want to proceed with their payment just yet, she wanted to wait for me.

Then internet was slow again.

Then when it was finally time to make the payments, the page said they didn't recognise the credit card...whattt? I called the credit card company and they told me my dad has not registered for online banking. Luckily my dad was still at home (they were getting ready for a wedding). He gave me his other credit card.

Nell had to start over because her page has exceeded the time to finalise the booking. Ahahah.

We joked that probably it's a sign not to go with KLM.

Kakmyra and Nell browsed MAS website, just to check out the price....and they found that it was about the same, just a few RM more than KLM.

I ran back up and and told my parents, and they said proceed with MAS. (we always preferred MAS, don't know why...we feel more comfortable and more at home I guess ahahah).

So, then me and Nell abandoned the KLM website and started booking with MAS. By then, Kakmira's MIL came by, and they asked Kakmyra to do the booking for them. So Kakmyra took out her Ipad and started the booking for her PIL. Syida took over from me because I was tired from the whole KLM-booking problems.

Our booking was finalised. Tapi, Nell's and Kakmyra's had problems with the credit cards.  Then, we realised, Syida entered her name as "Mr Syaida Binti Abd Majid". Ahahahahahh. Ya Allah. So stressfulllll.

I called MAS, and they said its ok, that it wouldn't be a problem.

Nell called MAS and did their booking through the phone because they erred so many times, the credit card rejected the transaction.

Kakmyra's PIL ended up booking with KLM.

WOW. Such a stressful online booking experience! Those were some of the problems we encountered. There were many others (Mama Pogy, Sumirah related problems ahahah. FYI, according to MAS, for my grandmother's Indonesian maid whose passport didn't state her last name, suffice to put her first name again in the "last name" column - eg: First Name: Sumirah, Last Name: Sumirah. So her ticket will read "SUMIRAH/SUMIRAH").

My house was so noisy with everyone shouting at each other and on the phone, and running up and down. It was like at a stock exchange when the market opens.

At the end of the day, at about 10pm, everyone has booked a seat to Jakarta on the 1st-4th February.

Now, I'll just have to find out where to go, what to buy and how much I can spend.

Can't wait for the trip!

xoxo

27 Dresses

As I have mentioned in my previous entry, I have always loved being part of a wedding, be it as the MOH or bridesmaid, down to the usherers and the bunga telur girls (tho the latter 2 might be quite tiring, and sometimes you just have to ponteng for atleast 5 minutes). It's just so much fun to be part of the chaos during the last crucial moments before the wedding (tho it can be stressful at times). The best part is, you get to witness the beautiful moments of when 2 people become man and wife.

I have had the pleasure and honor to be part of the wedding of the closest people in my life. And, well, when you play a role in weddings, comes the matching outfits - be it the material or color. I have received quite a number of lace and satin materials for my roles as bridesmaid, usherers and the likes. This year alone I got 4 lace materials. Lucky me huh?

These past 2 years have been wedding frenzy, so I've got a lot of baju kurung, kebaya, kaftans to last me many Hari Raya-s.

So, here are some of my "27 Dresses"

1.    2006 - Kakmira's Merisik at home, Subang



Modern kurung with emroidered embelishments at the neck.
I love the multi-color-tie-dye effect. It is sari material if I'm not mistaken.

  This Merisik was very last minute and everything was done at the eleventh hour. We were told there were going to be hantarans, like the day before. We didn't expect that cause our understanding of merisik was just like a small informal gathering. (I deleted "small" because our family gatherings are never small bacuse my mum has a huge family). Anyways, the Merisik was right  after Hari Raya that year, so we (including Kakmira) wore our baju raya. I included this in this list because I was Kakmira's pengapit - whose duty was to sit next to her and wipe off the sugar from her lips and hold the glass of water for her to drink while the aunts and grandmothers shoved her face with spoonfuls of sugar. Its'a Penang tradition. Supposed to make you "sweet" or something.
I don't know.

2.   2007 - MOH for Shyra's Nikah at her home, Subang 

 

White chiffon baju kurung with pink dyed trims and hand painted flower motives

Shyra was the first of the gang to get married. She was 22 and was still pursuing her  M.D. Me and Nell used to have sleepovers and sneak-outs and ponteng tuition and drinking coke and laugh all night (know what I'm saying hihihi). So one day she texted the both of us at the same time and said: "I want the two of you to be my pengapit, one for the nikah and one for the reception. Both of you choose which one and let me know." Nell immediately called Shyra and said "I want reception!". Hahaha. So, I got to be Shyra's pengapit for her nikah, which personally I would have chosen, and not because Nell was so fast on her fingers calling Shyra to cop the Reception. Hahaha. I think it's really special to be next to the bride and hold her hand when the the groom say the 8 magical words and then realise the hand you are holding are now the hands of a different person, a wife.
I'm sentimental that way :) 

3.  2007 - Usherers for Shyra's Wedding Reception at Holiday Villa, Subang  



Materials for usherers were sponsored by the Bride's mother, sari material that she bought in India - very glittery :) Nabilla didn't wear hers cause her tailor botched her material. Yikes.

With the beautiful bride 

It was a small intimate dinner of close family and friends. So, the ushering was not that bad. Every attendees had been given table numbers beforehand. So all we needed to do was ask for their table numbers and usher them to their tables. We needed to memorise the table layout tho, but I think we managed to do quite alright. Just that we probably shouldn't have started taking pictures while on the job. Hihi.

4. 2007  - Pengapit for Kakmira's Berinai at home, Subang



Dark brown thai silk for the top and dark brown abstract batik for the sarung

 It was the night before the Nikah. I was sooo comot that night because I was running around that morning to get all the last minute preparations ready. There were actually 4 pengapit-s that night because Kakmira changed clothes twice. First she wore like a javanese ensemble to represent my dad's side of the family where Nell and Dzu was the pengapit. Then she changed to an arabic ensemble to represent half of my mother's heritage where me and Syida became the pengapit. It was more like the "pengipas". Because all we did was kipas her. Ahah.



5. 2007 - Dulang girls for Kakmira's Nikah at home, Subang. 



Peachy-pink plain chiffon for the chest and sleeves combined with peachy-pink floral printed chiffon for the body and the sarung

I came up with the "peachy-pink" theme. I fell in love with this color when I saw Sheila Majid wearing a dress of this color in one of her shows. The selendangs worn by the girls were sponsored by Ibu.

6. 2007 - Bridesmaid for Kakmira's Wedding Reception at Concorde, Shah Alam.  

 





Yellow crepe and chiffon for the top, songket for the sarung

There were 11 bridesmaids - 6 of them were Kakmira's besties. The theme for the family was light yellow. But the Bride decided that she wanted her friends to wear green. This reception was a double duty for me and Syida. Aside from being the bridesmaids, we were also incharge of the usherers. So we were literally running to the bridesmaids line up for the bridal march when the last guests were ushered in the hall.

7. 2007 - MOH for Kakmira's Bertandang at Holliday Villa, Subang 



Silver glittery net and satin lining with twisted emroidered lace at the neck and bust

It was the groom's reception dinner. The first time me and Aliff was the pengapit together for the same occasion. I don't think there'll be any other. Ahah. We get the usual "Ni, bila pulak?" :)

8.  2009 - Dulang girls for Aizat's Nikah



Styling the kurung pahang in pink songket

Aizat, the first of the 1985 cousin-trio to get married, at 25. The theme was pink. All 7 of us fit into the white allison behind us. The man in the baju melayu is Abang Imran, the so-efficient-and-organized wedding co-ordinator. He held a briefing before the rombongan went to the bride's place for the Nikah and the Reception, complete with white boards and the bride's home layout plan to make sure we know where to sit and put the dulangs. We were the most well-coordinated and organised rombongan, hands down.  



9. 2010 - Head of Bunga Telur at Aizat's Wedding Reception-I, Groom's home, Subang.  



Golden-Brown thai silk with black beadings at the sleeves and chest. The sarung had umbrella-pleated chiffon at the side - last minute installment as the original slit was too high ;)

As mentioned above, Aizat was lucky enough to have Abang Imran as the head co-ordinator. So the giving out of the Bunga Telur was also very organised. The cousins plus their plus-ones, (about 30 of us?) were split into 4 groups - which represents 4 shifts; 11.00am-1.00pm, 1.00pm-2.00pm, 2.00pm-3.00pm, 3.00pm-4.00pm. I was incharge to create a strategy/plan for the cousins to give each guest the Bunga Telur... the tricky thing was my aunt and uncle had bought different Bunga Telurs  for kids and grown ups and for the grown ups different casings. Then the anak yatim who came also had different casings of bunga telur. So we had to make sure everyone got the right Bunga Telur. On top of it all, I had to make sure that all shifts were doing their jobs. Fuhh. It was a hot and tiring day. Oh, the theme was golden-brown. Aliff only owns 3 baju melayu - peachy-pink, yellow and silver (all three from Kakmira's wedding in 2007), so he wore yellow, the closest to the theme. Haish.

10.  2010 - Bunga Telur girls at Aizat's Wedding Reception-II, Groom's home, Subang.



Turqoise chiffon shrug-tied in the front worn on top of a corset for the top. Light pink and turqoise embroidered lace and pink satin lining for the sarung

 Aizat had 2 wedding receptions, one during the day which was a laid-back reception for family and friends, and at night was a more formal dinner for close family and the parents's friends. Only the girl cousins were in attendance, beacuse we had Bunga Telur duties. The theme was turqoise.

11. 2010 - Usherers at El's Wedding at Holiday Villa, Subang.

  

Two-toned pink chiffon kaftan with a line of silver beads encrusted from the chest down meeting a ribbon at the waist.

El is Kakmira's brother-in-law. This was particularly hard because we didn't know the guest and who was who. Some people who were not in the "VIP" list were "supposed" to be in the list. The seating arrangements were very specific. The hardest thing was me and Aliff had to bring some of the family who came late to the coffee shop because the guests were too overwhelming. It was a tough crowd. El's reception and Aizat's reception was back to back, so I swore off weddings after that . But just for a while. Weddings are my thing. Can't let it go forever :)

Well this was the first wedding where Lulu made her first appearance, starting off her "career" as the flowergirl. More to come for sure. Brace yourself little darling. One day you will fill in my shoes :)

The theme was pink.

12.  2010 - Dulang girl at Endi's Engagement, Bukit Jelutong. 



Green french lace for the top and satin for the sarung with bordered lace patched at the trims of the sarung

The largest rombongan I've ever been part of. It was a convoy of about 20 cars. Reason being that the bride-to-be (who is the sister of El's wife. Small world) is from Sabah and the wedding will be at Sabah, so, many of the groom-to-be's family can't make it. As usual, muka sama lah untuk angkat dulang.

Theme: green

13. 2010 - MOH at Shereen's Nikah. 

 

Creme cotton embroidered kebaya top and cotton batik sarung

Shereen is one of my highschool best friends. We've actually known each other way longer because our parents are friends. We were inseperable in Form 2, going everywhere together. This girl was a heartbreaker. She has a long list of ex-boyfriends. And I was there for each one. I was also the shoulder to cry on for some of them. Ahaha. Nurman is a lucky lucky man to have captured her heart. And I felt so honored to be next to her when she became a wife. Poor thing, she had to rely 100% on her mother for the wedding planning, right down to the wedding attires, as she was so far away in Dublin. But she loved everything, so all was good.
The theme was creme.
The couple are currently still in Dublin, and we try to catch up every now then. I hope you guys can make it for my wedding!

14. 2010 - Bridesmaid for Shereen's Reception at Dewan SUK, Shah Alam



Lace modern kebaya with a square ribbon at the bust enhanced with a big purple brooch and satin sarung

I accidentally woke up late on the day and sped to Shah Alam, not exactly sure where the place was (altho I had went to the rehearsal the day before), I made illegal U-turns here and there, which caught the attention of a passing policemen. Shaitsss. Talked my way out of a ticket. "Sorry Encik, saya bukan dari Shah Alam, saya tak tau jalan and saya dah lambat untuk kahwin kawan saya. Saya pengapit ni. Janji tak buat lagi. Mintak tolong tunjuk directions boleh?" *smiles innocently*

(I think the Jabatan Peguam Negara sticker played a tiny part as well :)) 

He let me go on a "warning" and showed me the directions.Pheww.

The theme was purple. Lace and satin materials from Jakarta sponsored by the Bride.

14.  2010 - Bridesmaids at Y's Nikah, Masjid Al-Falahk, Subang.

Embroidered gold lace short kebaya and satin sarung

I knew Y when were in primary school but we belonged to different groups of friends. We met again in UIA for our undergraduate studies and this time, we were in the same group :) One of my closest friends in my varsity years. I was also asked to do her hantarans, flower bouquets and floral pieces for her room. Read this. The theme was gold. Lace and satin materials from Jakarta sponsored by the Bride.

15.  2010 - Bridesmaid for Y's Wedding Reception at Masjid Al-Falahk, Subang

 

Silver lace short modern kurung with 6 panel sarung

 It was at the parking space of Masjid Al-Falahk USJ 9 (hence the selendang :)). Other than lining up at the arch when the bride and groom made their entrance, we were also responsible of distributing the Bunga Telurs. What's a wedding without a slightly irksome relative (in this case "uncle") kan? Ahahah. "Beri laluan, beri laluan" Ahahah. All is good. The theme was silver and green.

Lace and satin materials from Jakarta sponsored by the Bride.

16. Bridesmaid for Nabilla's Nikah, at her home, Bukit Jelutong

short sleeved peach lace modern kebaya adorned with 2 big brooches and satin sarung with patched lace at the trims

Nabilla is another higschool BFF. Just recently got married in December. Like me and Aliff, Nabilla and Hanafi got together towards the end of the highschool years and have been together for 8 years when they got married. Our anniversary is just 1 month apart. Theirs in September '08 and ours in October '08. Beautiful couple and beautiful wedding. The lace and satin material was sponsored by the Bride. Tailoring was done in Bandung.

17. Emcee at Andy's Reception Dinner, Guthrie Hall, Bukit Jelutong

Yellow chiffon short kurung with crystal swarovski and yellow beads embelishments. This kurung was the one I wore for my merisik, which I shortened and added beadworks.

Me and Aliff were entrusted by my aunt MamaPoji to be the Master of Ceremony for Andy's wedding reception. It was my first time as an emcee, so you can imagine the level of nerves and sweats and stress I was under.

 I prepared the MC Script, which was a combination of the sample scripts that I google-d. It was definitely last minute. The script was ofcourse edited by Bapak, where he corrected the protocols, the sentences and QC-ed the contents. After a couple of rehearsals infront of Bapak (I can still hear his "dua suku kata"), and a couple more during rehearsal day at the hall, I think we did a good job that night, for amateurs. We received a lot of compliments :) 

All in all, it was a good experience, albeit, the sacrifice of my car on the way to rehearsal that morning...haih, something HAD to go wrong kan? (We hit a big-something, manhole? rock? we  didn't see, and the car stopped, 2 minutes away from the hall...had to be towed)

L: Lulu's second appearance as the flower girls. R: Me, Ibu, Kakmira and Syida

The cousins and the newly wed.

The theme was yellow.

Those are among my "27 Dresses" which were captured on camera. There have been many others especially relatives' wedding where me and my siblings and cousins were the dulang girls or the bunga telur girls.

I am sure many of us have our own share of "27 Dresses".

Good thing for me, the same with the ending of the movie, I'll be wearing my "28th Dress" soon.

I'll have my happy ending too.

Big Smiles.