A new day

Day 2 (Sunday 25th January 2009) – Early bird

Though I dozed off almost immediately, I did not sleep well (as if that is some thing new). I am known to have sleeping problem every now and then. Further more, the ‘ambiance’ that night was not much of a help. Some one snored. Some one talked in their sleep. And some one’s baby cried most of the night. It was around 5am when I finally left the bed.

Thinking that there will be a long queue once everyone woke up, I headed straight to the bathroom. As I tiptoed pass people sleeping in the living room, I realized that there are too many people in the house. Perhaps more than what the small house could fit. It might have caused the temperature inside the house to become a little hot.

The cold water was a welcomed change. As I hadn’t iron my clothes, I changed back into the clothes I slept in. It was way too early to dressed up anyway. After the refreshing bath, I decided to catch some more sleep. I was glad that I did. I managed to get a short but very deep sleep.

Eventually everyone woke up, and the house was a buzzed. I got to know more of Mutiara's family - her dad, Nini and Teteh (I later found out that 'teteh' is an Indonesian dialect for 'elder sister'). Final preparation for the wedding ceremony was on the way.

Day 2 (Sunday 25th January 2009) – Final Preparation

It was around 7am. The make-up artist was already in the house. The lady had already finish ‘working’ on Mutiara’s mother. Her assistant was working on another lady. Kakak took her seat. The make-up artist began to work her magic on Kakak.

I’ve seen people make up brides before. But this time it was somewhat new to me. The amount of work she did, was outrageous. It was as if she was going to perform a plastic surgery. What with the razor blade, the measurement, and the markings! Then there were layers and layers of powder (or was it called ‘foundation’? – I’m totally at lost when it comes to make-up jargons). Two hours later, she was still working on Kakak’s eyes. Growing bored and beginning to feel a bit stuffy, I went out to get some fresh air.

I tagged along Mutiara, M and D to a salon just a few metres away from the house. While the ladies were having their face done, I wandered around the area. There was a kind of a decoration to mark the wedding ceremony. In Malaysian Malay wedding, there would be a ‘bunga manggar’. I’m not sure what the decoration is called.

Then there were the tents in front of the house. Unlike so many Malaysian weddings, there were no tables under the tents, only chairs. I had noticed this when I arrived the previous night but I had thought they would take out the table today. I was very much mistaken. The only tables that were taken out, were tables for two ‘reception’ areas. On the tables were a huge jar (or what ever you want to call it), and guest books. The tables were manned by four lovely ladies. An online acquaintance had mentioned that it is polite to bring an ‘ang-pau’ (some money sealed in an envelop) to be put into the jar. Unfortunately, I forgot about it.

I went into the house, and got dressed. By then (almost four hours after she started!) the make-up artist was almost done with Kakak. Kakak already had her face and hair done. She was already wearing a lovely off-white ‘kebaya’. On her hair was some fresh ‘melati’ (I think it is also known as jasmine). The smell of fresh ‘melati’ filled the room. And Kakak looked different.

Me: Wah, cantik amat. Sampe nggak kenal ni! (translation: Wah, very beautiful. I don’t recognize you anymore!)
Kakak [jokingly introducing herself] : Yah, kamu. Kenalin, saya ….. (Oh, you. I’m … Nice to meet you)
Me [follow suit] : Ya, kenalin, saya ….. (Yes, I’m … nice to meet you too)

And so she waited for her new day and new chapter in life to start.

(p.s. A little trivia: If you are a lady still waiting for your other-half, you should try to steal at least one little 'melati' off the bride's hair. It is believed that it would speed up your love affairs.)