Nikah, Bersanding, Ambil-ambilan, Mulih

Eight event: Majlis Nikah (the agreement). Usually holds on Fridays, this is when the groom and the bride sign their agreement/contract.

This event usually accompanied with Berian (refer previous posting)... (pic shows majlis Menapakan, the event after both groom and bride wear their wedding ring, and the groom reads a short prayer for blessing)

Ninth event: Majlis Bersanding/Perkahwinan (the wedding day or the BIG day). 99% holds on Sunday morning. From hundreds to thousands of people are invited. Also commonly holds on two different places between the groom and the bride. Lately people prefer to hold this event in a big hall. I did mine in chancellor’s hall with 3000 invited guests form both sides. Both groom and bride wear kain jongsarat/songket (a traditional golden weaved dress)

(pic on left shows a nephew wears yellow strip prior to accompanying the groom for "mandi bedian", right pic: the groom eats nasi kuning (yellow rice)

(Left: blowing off candles with 7 strings made-up of different colors, right: going to Masjid)

(the groom and the bride or the king and queen for the day)(pic at bride's house, the bride's family shakes with all invitees... and of course...biggg makan at the bride's house).
(back from the big day, get-together at the groom's house, chit-chat before going home... kind of reviewing of the events, what went well and what's not... or taking of someone they met, etc and etc.... actually the moment the pic was taken, we were waiting for ice-cream cake from DQ store). There are actually many more small events that are not captured here, like mandi pagi (morning shower), breakfast, wedding charriot (the car) preparation... some of them as simple as daily things and some are actually more than words..

Tenth event: Malam Ambil-ambilan. Event holds the night after the big day at bride’s place attended by both families and relatives. Both groom and bride may wear western dress, or uniform for uniformed staffs. This event is getting less and less popularity and usually replace with Thanks-giving prayer.

Eleventh event: Mulih 3-hari or 7-hari (the return of groom and bride to the groom’s place). The translation explains the whole thing

Berian

Seventh event: Maljis Mengahntar/Menerima Berian. This is when the groom sends his gifts to the bride and usually countered by the bride’s gifts. Gifts are usually bought together by the groom and the bride a few weeks or months before the events. On top of the gifts, there are also mandatory/compulsory “gifts” that the groom must surrender. The list of mandatory gifts is the outcome of Majlis Bersuruh’s terms and conditions, such as Belanja Hangus ($$$ gifts for the bride to hold the wedding), kain jongsarat (a traditional golden weaved cloth, usually around BND400 – BND5000). The range of gifts varies from person to another, some like to show-off with luxury stuffs such as Hugo Boss shoes and wallets and handbags, LV, Cerruti 1888, Platinum and Diamond rings and necklace, and some go for simple gifts. In terms of economics, total of gifts can reach over BND20,000.

Berdikir & berbedak

(final tough-up before going up on stage)

Sixth event: Majlis Berdikir dan Berbedak. Offical event, usually held Friday or Saturday night, when the groom/bride sits on a stage wearing “pakaian Brunei” (traditional jewelries, gold, kain jongsarat) and accompanied with dikir. Usually they invite quite a lot of people for this event including friends and neighbors. Special guests are invited to “membedaki” the groom/bride. After the event,... asian way again... makan/dinner... sometimes dpending on how fast they do the event, the dinner can be at 10pm! so if you think that you want to come, better have somthing first before attending the evening event. Note this event is hold separately between groom and bride. One thing worth mentioning here is that the “bedak” is made up of 7 different colors, why… uuuhhh I don’t know.

The night after the bebadak, the family and relatives usually gather to keep the "night young". Pic shows the youngs entertaining themselves with kareokee, the elders usually just sit around, watching news or talking about current news... and in some homes, they have traditional band/gambus!

Membuka bedak and Berpacar

Fourth event: Membuka badak. For both bride and groom. Occasion when they both start preparing for the wedding. Start with whole body scrub, installation of wedding stage, start wearing traditional jewelers (keroncong, for hands)…pic shows one of the ingredients used for the scrub… its NOT the same as body scrub you get in shops… the idea is the same but the ingredients are different… well in-a-way maybe about the same if you go for traditional scrub.

Fifth event: Berpacar. I can’t recall the name in English… this is when they color their fingers and feet with traditional coloring (orange color). Believes to be originated from India.

Malay wedding / perkahwinan Melayu

There are actually many stages during the wedding and it could takes more than a month, depending on which indigenous group they come from. Brunei Malay is actually made up of 7 indigenous groups, namely Melayu Brunei, Tutong, Belait, Kedayan, Bisaya, Dusun and Murut. The followings are just snap shot on some of the occasions for Melayu Brunei…

First event: Berjarum-jarum. This is when the groom’s family visited the bride’s family for the first time to get to know each other. Now a day this event is commonly hold in restaurants rather than in private residence. And surely, the bride’s family will not their daughter go out without knowing who she’s going out with… hence one way or the other both families will know each other.

Second event: Bersuruh. Official meeting between groom’s and the bride’s families to discuss on wedding occasion. Usually this is when the bride’s family gives their terms & conditions. (pic above: 2 rings: membuka mulut and tunang/engagement, obviously asian style... eaaattt first! and last pic shows the lead group rehearsal what to mention during the event later).

Third event: Pertunangan (engagement). The groom’s family visited the bride’s family again to surrender an engagement ring hence to book the bride. This event usually combined with Bersuruh

sorry for delay

sorry... too busy with many occassions and activities... including offshore duty, brother's wedding, offshore duty again, labuan trip... public or bank holidays.... name it.
anyhow... i have few articles coming up

ambok

sayang anak...

6 kapal

6 kapal nelayan besusun...view from LeMeridien Kota Kinabalu

Fourth day - balik Brunei

Like the bed/room so much… it’s so comfortable that you don’t want to wake up… but hey wat to du, need to catch early flight. Hotel review: located on strategic area, walking distance to The Centrepoint, Wisma Yayasan, Philippines Market, night stalls, etc. Well design and well equipped. Spacious room with lovely view. People are friendly tho it takes awhile to check-in and out. Lots of courses held in the hotel as well. Value for money. Will come back and stay in the same hotel. Overall rating: 9/10.Checkout and went straight to KKIA. While checking-in we found out that there is another restaurant in the departure level… damn we thought there is only i.e. McD … knowing that the flight serves no meal, we have our breakfast there, mee hon and sandwich. Went through security control waited at departure launge, kinda empty and only few shops open, like any other airport, Starbucks is there. Walk through departure gate and off we go come back to Brunei. Planned to go to KK again this Dec… Insya Allah.

Hari ke tiga - Le Meridien

Straight from Rasa Ria Resort to Kota Kinabalu and stayed at Le Meridien Hotel. Got a deluxe room facing the South China Sea, it’s a fantastic, excellent view! Price: RM310, room no. 1033. If you stay in this hotel, always go for sea-view and top floor.Some of the views from the room… Philippines market, night stalls, kampong ayer, pulau2 and fishing trawls.
Obviously, datang sana after tengah hari, perut pun bunyi2 udah, ketaisan liur lagi meliat air piasau di bawah.. we went straight for lunch at Chicken Rice restaurant, Wisma Yayasan…. Delicious and excellent service … tapi parut kami atu.. order sampai 3 set inda mau sharing.
Went to Sabah Centerpoint and look around on the latest, didn’t buy anything as there is no intention of shopping on this trip. Tukar duit hati, Tanya dulu, lain kadai lain harga… BND1.0 = RM2.2 to RM2.4. Obviously, before heading back to the hotel, we went straight to the market…minum air piasau fresh… and its soooo cheap that you want to drink all! Wat to du… parut is 98% full. Surveying around, its also a good spot for drivers, simply stop on the road side, drink a coconut juice then continue driving.
Walk to Philippines Market, bought a local basket, made from rattan… remember to bargain! Price is always expensive, you must, must bargain… unless if you are well off and have lots of $ to spare.
Went back to the hotel and freshen up. Evening, went to Wisma Merdeka, RM6 by taxi from hotel… its not like what it used to be… its getting smaller and deserted.

Third day - Rasa Ria resort

Went for brunch as usual. Then wife and daughter went for swimming pool and I went to nature’s reserve to see Orang Utan. Payment: RM60 for dewasa. First listen to briefing on rehabilitation and relocation of orang utan. Walked about 10mins into the jungle. Met a local Ranger, took him 30mins to call the Orang Utan, hence just stand on the observation tower chit chat with other guests. There are 3 Orang Utan and lots of Ambuk. Went back to hotel, they were also just come back from swimming pool, pack out stuffs and prepare to check out. Eat another piece of KFC ayam leftover from yesterday.Overall view of the resort: a very ideal place for honeymoon, lots of things can be done inc paragliding, jungle trekking, jetskiing, horse ride, they also have baby sit centre called PongoNice building design and interiors, but accessories macam murah2, bathroom is not as expected… its more like a 3-start bathroom than a resort. The service is excellent! Downside: macam over-price saja resort ani, RM570 net per night for garden view.Will I stay there in future? Maybe I’ll, but this time, I’m gonna make sure wife is not pregnant.Rating: 7/10

hari kedua

Woke up early, straight to main halaman in front of the main lobby and join the tai-chi session. Very relaxing and enjoying, even my daughter likes to do it (only for few minutes before she gets bored). Half-way through the session, we decided to escape and breezeeee along the beach. An orange flag was raised, again not good for swimming. Damn! Don’t know when are we gonna allowed to go for swimming on the beach. Feeling hungry after few meters of walking, hehehhe, straight to main restaurant, charged RM50/pax (ours are inclusive of room rate).

Not to waste money and thinking of not to have lunch so we eat all we can. Looking around… the others are doing exactly the same.Right after brunch, went for swimming again. Noontime, wife went for head and shoulder massage while me and daughter stay in the room watching cartoon.
Afternoon, went to pekan Tuaran, kinda very low tech town, blocks of small shops but buildings are kinda old. Reminds me of Bandar Seri Begawan in mid-80s. Went to tamu and buy rambutan and air kelapa. There are lots of halal restaurant but we end up at KFC… seems like that’s the only clean and trustworthy shop we found. Dine-in and tapau some back to the hotel
Planned to go for swimming in the afternoon, unfortunately it was raining… heavy with thunder. My daughter ends up swimming in bathtub.
It was raining until evening and we run out of things to do… we went to Fun Corner and played pool. Me vs wife. Don’t ask the result! I have 1001 excuses to give heheheh.

first day - part 2

Tanpa berlengah lagi, kami terus turun ke pantai…not to swim but to scout. Such a nice beach with almost white sand however it was unfortunate that at this time of the year, rough seas, strong wind and heavy rain are very common. A red flag was raised which means no swimming!Feeling a bit hungry cannot do much on the beach, but they do have nice swimming pools with many segments with different depths, so we end up lepak2 near the pool and dine in at Tamu Tamu restaurant. Price is obviously gila and service was abit slow… took more than 20mins just to serve two simple orders! My daughter was also start feeling uncomfortable; we end up having out lunch in our room, asked the room service to deliver (5% govnt tax and 10% service charge). Late afternoon, after a quick nap, go for swimming in the poolsss. Back in the room and order room service again… too lazy to go out. And for info as well, there is not a single shop outside the resort, either dine in at the resort or go to Tuaran (10mins by taxi)

first day

3 anak beranak... Departed from Brunei Int Airport at 0840hrs. 45mins flight to Kota Kinabalu Int Airport - no food, only drink and sweet - wat to duuu.
Arrived in KKIA, suprised to see airport, its much different from what i can recall 10years ago...? The construction is not completed yet, designs looks similar to KLIA + aerodynamic shape.
Since its still early in the morning, decided to have breakfast at the airport, makan bubur nasi ayam at McD... thats the only restaurant we can find at the airport. My daughter loves the bubur so much that she finishes 1 bowl herself! fries were abit too much salt.
Took airport taxi 9budget service) straight to Tuaran - costs RM80 for 45mins drive.
Along the way, chit chat a bit with the driver, a Sabahan, ... not really musim buah but fruits can be seen everywhere, slightly expensive tho. seen the new City Masjid - "floating" concept, pass-by the new 1Borneo mall... according to him, its damn expensive! another mall is coming soon, 1Sulaiman just next to 1Borneo.
After 40mins, enter the junction to the resort, first impression, incredible! a luxury golf course in the middle of nowhere. Arrived at Garden's Wing of the resort, greeted by the staff and a traditional gong was played to announce our arrival, followed by guling-tangan.
Served with minuman sambui - really feel fresh after the journey. The lounge is similar to Nusa-Dua & Miri marriot. Express check-in since I have pre-register myself. Given room 538 facing the forest, as requested...

my vacation

Last week, took a 4d3n vacation to Sabah, Malaysia with my family. Purely for relaxation with no shopping and it was great! Slightly different from most of my previous travelling/vacations... this time, i go for posh living with no shopping.
Took a direct flight from Brunei Int Airport to KKIA (45mins). Spent 2 nights at Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort in Tuaran and the last night before going back, stayed at Le Mariedien Hotel in Kota Kinabalu.

called "air-plant" dari states. lawa eh kalo disimpan dalam umah... ani rah kawan ku. ganya payah kali ah menjaga.. harga ok pulang.

m.halusss!!! trick kali ah...mun lakonan boleh buat... aku pun boleh... senang ajee