The trip to Married life

Again, DO NOT PANIC. Yes, I went for a trip. But it wasn’t me who got married.

The trip began after I successfully packed my bag I made a ‘quick-stop’ at the hospital for my now-routine-lung-function-test (yes, it’s lung function, and not as previously described ‘punctured’). The supposedly ‘quick-stop’ became a long wait for the doctor. While waiting, I couldn’t help but wonder, why on earth didn’t I become a doctor, hence set my own working hour.

I had to meet the rest of the entourage at our predetermined rendezvous point at 11am. But no thanks to the long wait at the hospital, by the time I left the hospital, it was already past 11am. An hour later, I reached the rendezvous point, took a 15minutes rest, picked up some passengers – 2 adults and a toddler, then continued driving.

Four stops later – one for gas, one for lunch, one for sleep (I was very tired) and the last one for “sata” (a delicious traditional seafood thingy wrapped in banana leaf and cooked over charcoal) – we finally arrived our destination. We unload our things and rested for a while before getting ready for highlight of the day: “akad nikah” (solemnization).

We droved to the bride’s house a few hundreds metres away from our rented bungalow. We were greeted by the bride’s family and ushered into the house. The groom sat opposite the “juru-nikah”. It was perhaps the quickest and simplest ceremony I have attended so far. Before we knew it, the two lovebirds are officially husband-and-wife.

Perhaps because everyone in the entourage was tired, after a short photo session, and a great dinner, we –including the husband - returned to the rented bungalow. We immediately went to bed. Unfortunately going to bed early didn’t mean sleeping early for me. Perhaps because of the unfamiliar place, or perhaps because of the poor air circulation in the room, I had a restless night.

The next day, around noon, we got ready for the “bersanding”. The groom had some trouble with his outfit. He couldn’t seem to get the “samping” (a ‘sarong’ worn around the waist) right. There’s an art to folding the “samping” to make it look good. We finally left the house around 2pm.

The bride and groom were reunited at her house. There were a short “silat” (Malay traditional martial art) demonstration. Surprisingly, I could recognize that it was “Silat Gayung”. Even though I haven’t seen any “silat” demonstration for a long time, I still remember and very much prefer the ‘fierce’ version of the “Silat Gayung”.

The “silat” demonstration was followed by “bersanding” ceremony. During “bersanding”, family members and friends did the “bertepung tawar”. By the end of the ceremony, I was already hungry. We headed to the main table for the “makan beradat”. I am ashamed to admit that I pretty much gobbled down my food shamelessly. We said our good byes and left the groom with his new family.

With the insistence from a few members of the entourage (needless to say against my will), we packed and headed home. I braced myself for another long drive! Thankfully we reached home safely around 9pm.