Misteri 10/10/10 <-- entry basi hahaha

TAHUKAH ANDA?

• Semalam dua bas telah terbalik di Lebuhraya PLUS berdekatan dengan Simpang Ampat, menyebabkan kehilangan 12 nyawa dan lebih 40 orang lagi cedera. Kemalangan ngeri ini telah menyebabkan gangguan trafik yang bukan kepalang selama berjam-jam lamanya, sehingga menyebabkan polis terpaksa mengambil langkah menutup jalan lebuhraya di kedua-dua arah dan trafik dialihkan ke tol Alor Gajah untuk yang menuju ke utara dan Pedas untuk yang berhaluan ke selatan tanahair. Boleh dikatakan kemalangan sebegini ngeri yang melibatkan dua bas, sebuah van dan tiga kereta ini amat jarang berlaku.

• Perjalanan yang sama melalui lokasi kejadian menjadi bertambah pelik dengan kehadiran sekumpulan lelaki yang menaiki kenderaan Exora bernombor plat XXX YYYY yang berkelakuan sumbang dengan mengganggu keharmonian perjalanan yang sudahpun sedia terganggu dengan cuba menggoda wanita-wanita didalam kenderaan lain dengan pujuk-rayu bodoh dan menunjukkan isyarat-isyarat seolah-olah mahukan nombor telefon bimbit mereka. [Penulis dan enturaj antara yang menjadi mangsa. "Pelik doh, lama dah aku drive tak penah kena cmni"- Miza (bukan nama sebenar].

• Semua ATM yang digunakan penulis sewaktu di Batu Pahat sama ada kehabisan wang atau pun mengalami kerosakan apabila giliran penulis menggunakan mesin tersebut. Yang tambah menghairankan, kedai-kedai yang dikunjungi penulis juga mengalami gangguan teknikal dan tidak dapat memproses transaksi menggunakan kad kredit*.

• Lebih ajaib apabila seorang jejaka yang selama ini selesa berpakaian kasual dan sepanjang hidupnya TIDAK PERNAH memakai baju melayu lengkap dengan samping dan songkok secara TIBA-TIBA berpakaian lengkap, awal pagi ini.

ten ten ten....

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Hahaha. Saje bikin panas. Bikin heboh. Bikin kecoh <-- eh, macam rap plak. Too Phat masih hebat!

Ok. Ok. Let's get to the point:

The above stories are all true (well, almost). The man who actually wears the complete Malay traditional outfit from top-to-toe is my man, Isuzu because he's finally getting married. And guess what? Yeah, you know that already. I'm the -- wait for it -- BEST MAN!!! Whoohoo. It was legendary.

("Lelaki Terbaik", talking about upping your own ego, haha!)

As promised, I will now explain the experience to you; my observations and understanding of the whole wedding ritual. Job scope and some criterias will be added, as well.

[i] Background

I think it's better if I lay out the details of this wedding; it's cultural context, flows and other quirky stuffs and observation. Let's get to the bottom of things:

1. The bride and bride groom's family are very traditional. The former is from Javanese ancestry and has a very profound Java overtones. The latter is from Negri Sembilan and is famous for it's Adat Pepatih.

2. The Malays of Javanese origin are not homonogenous in its cultural observation and as such are not uniform in practice. Yet, they do share some commonalities between, say, the community in Sg. Besar and the ones in Johore. For example, they both still speak the dialect. And some of them do live in a close-knit community; the uncle being just next door, and even second-cousins are all within walking distance from each others' home.

3. Each of the Malay states have their own customs and practices; some are more restrictive than the other, and even then are not exactly observed unanimously. The bride, Dayanah hails from Batu Pahat. Johore, as often understood, stand as the Malay par excellence when it comes to customs, particularly Melayu-Riau traditions: it's accent, religious understanding, cultural practice, etc. However, they have a unique set of customs Marriage-wise and it can only be found here. I will explain more on that later.

To be continued..

P/s: we've been MIA for quite awhile, and we're sorry for that. As you can see from the ticker, the day is almost upon us and preparations are being made as we speak. So, hold on, dear readers. I'll try to come up with a few entry now and then (Sue is busy with her work, pelamin, dowries, and the list goes on. Tuan rumah lah katakan! I, on the other hand, will come to her house leisurely.. jalan melenggang woohoo!)

Mekap-mekop dan Gubah-gebah

As I'm writing this, my darling Suzie is attending her course on makeup at Zila's. (Takpe kan yayang?) Since we love the idea of having a hands-on approach on everything (because of both fun and economic reason :P), why not D-I-Y all the way, even makeup right? So instead of spending some more money on some MUAs, better invest it in some education, no?

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime" - Confucius

"Hire a woman a makeup artist and she will look great for a day. Teach the woman to make-up and he (the boyfriend/spouse/partner) will die waiting for his whole lifetime * "

hahahaha
* - due to prolonged duration from sayang-jom-kuar till the actual start of the date

Ok-ok stupid joke. I know. Moving along...

I know I've been neglecting this blog for quite sometime. Been very busy, with work and Ramadan and then Eid; with the preparation and everything. <-- alah, ke alasan je ni Razi? C'mon admit it: u're a procrastinator! :P (hey, that made it two of us, Suzie! Talking about being soulmate huh? (albeit in a bad way)) So, while she's busy with the M.A.C. set and some Bobbi Brown brushes, why don't I keep you -- dear Readers -- busy as well. Nak? nak? (kalau nak tengok before-and-after pictures, then you guys have to ask her yourself k?)

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All right. The engagement is approximately 684 hours from now, and yet my hantarans for her is still in its conceptual stage. I've a few options, but in order to make this event more eco-friendly (and also pocket-friendlier that way :P) I managed to actually gather up all wedding-related stuffs from my relatives; to see whether some of them still reusable or could be deconstructed and remix into something new. I admit that I don't have much at my disposal right now, but you can never know how a little bit of creativity could save a lot of money :D (effort too!) So here's a sneak peek of one that I really like (sorry gamba burok; pki fon camera je):

Razi: Honey, i concur with you. We better get ourselves a good DSLR lah

Sue: Kan i da ckp.. lama dahhh

[DISCLAIMER: The final product might be different altogether; you know with the oh-tu-tak-cantik makciks and baik-buat-camni kakaks]

My plan is quite simple for the gubahan hantaran:

1. Dig up the old stuff (completed) -->
2. Go to SSF with my fellow Pak Andam, Francisco The Magnifico (hahaha toksah la nak Google plak. I know that's a bombastic name but he's not established like Nas Great Idea) to take note of things and their price -->
3. Go to Nilai 3** If they are found to be really cheap than I'm gonna bag them all mwahahahaha -->
4. End of journey

** - Suzie actually just went there the other day with my in-laws <-- kalau Suzie ada skang mesti dia ckp "amboi amboi, blum pape da panggil shentu? Perasan!" and I'll answer in a hip hop manner "SSap Mak! Ayah!" (ada beran ke ckp cmtu in real-life en. Razi? :P) She said actually sama je. Ada yg even mahal daripada kat sini.

If you want to know what will be in those trays, stay tuned. (might leak a few pix later, hehe)

Now, now. Where am i? Sheesh. This always happen. Dah la dulu punya entry pun dok lamaaaa dlm draft. Ni kena lagi. Haih

Oh, ok. baru ingat.

I'm the designated Best Man for my bestie, Isuzu. His will be on this coming 10/10/10 and I'll be in Johor starting from the 9th (don't miss me that much my dear!). I'm hoping that the experience will give me more insights into the whole procession, and observations that I'll make could help me in avoiding the same pitfalls (if there are any). For the moment I was only briefed to wear my full prim and proper Baju Melayu with the Songkok all through the day (hahaha, the very thought of it makes me laugh. Never once wear the full attire in two straight hours, let alone the whole day -- dengan songkok plak tu. Mati aku!) Plus, I might have to wear something that could hold a lot of envelopes -- apparently I'm entrusted with keeping the whole "toll" expenses along the whole majlis, heheh! Will write the full report next week.

Roger and out!

P/S: Baby, I know I owe the readers that little story of which you've already photoshopped the pix -- I'll finish them later aight?

This entry is actually written on the noon of 2nd of October 2010 as a surprise but due to his abovementioned friend's arrival to pick him up to go to an open house, the author had to save the entry first and had only been finalized just now.