Congrats B.A.T.A

Congratulations to Brian and Tina. Thank you for the invitation and the food was great. All the best to married life. Oh and AloHa! :)

Love,
Fadly & Zara

Welcome to the PHD Family

First off this is way over due and I would like to congratulate my cousin and his wife on their marraige last week. I deeply apologise I was not able to be around as much as I would have like but I was there for the nikah and sanding.

Congratulations to Fizul for getting married - 'Welcome to the cub geng!' and to Lina - 'On behalf of the PHD Family I would like to say welcome to the PHD Family.'

Today will witness yet again another wedding, another extension in the PHD Family. The first girl in the PHD grandchildren to get married today. The Nikah will be held this afternoon. I am so happy for her.

I know the groom from my MD years and he is a great guy. Here is an advanced 'Welcome to the PHD Family' greeting and it will be official once the 'ijab kabul' has been agreed.

Congrats to Ainan and Zary - Love you guys to bits.

Cool thing about this Nikah is most of the guys will be in black, nya urang Brunei 'beristiadat'.

So till then. It is a very busy year for my family. First my wedding. Then my cousin Fizul, then Zary. It does not stop there. We have another wedding coming end of this month on 'Hers' side.

This is the year of the Baby Boomers getting hitched. :D

The Nikah Ceremony - 31st May 2007

Again photos taken by Mr Mizi. These photos have also not been edited and were used for the picture video during the reception at the UBD Chancellor Hall. Here are some pictures. Seriously I kid you not, these are only some. Enjoy!!

Getting Ready

Azad and His

His and Zary

Uncle Agee, Ajeem, His, Fayad and Aunty Nunah

His and Nini Babu

Hello...

My Sisters - Naza and Lina

PHD Princesses

PHD Princes

His

Getting ready

Focused

Smile

Solemnisation

Nearly there

Sah!!

Yes!!

Hers

My Wife

With this ring...

With this ring...

His & Hers

Zan, Louie, Hers & His, Cy and Zie

Azie, Zary, Naza, Lina, Nazirah, Hers & His, Nana, Nisah, Gete, Qee, Mizah

Let me wipe that for you pose

Hers & His - 31.05.07

The Rings

Everybody say 'Aaaayyyyyy'

Hers & Cousins

Hers & Cousins - Free Pose

One more sunset - Thirty First here I come

It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to sit down and work my fingers to compose a proper post. I, however, have had the opportunity to play around with some amature CS2 editing. The above picture was taken using my K800i a few days ago as I was driving home from 'Hers' place to drop off something. I just adjusted the exposure and color contrast using CS2 to create the photo above.

One more sunset tomorrow and on Thursday afternoon I will have to opportunity, with Allah's will, to perform my 'Nikah' or 'Solemnisation ceremony'. Then a series of events that normally take place during Malay weddings. The whole 'Hu-Ha'!

Everyone close to me have been teasing me about being 'Nervous' - a feeling you normally get when you about to go on stage and sing infront of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. You heart beats so fast you would have thought you were at a Rave party Ha!Ha!

So the question is, Am I nervous?

At this moment I am not. I am unfazed by the whole Nikah ceremony which will happen like the day after tomorrow. I should be nervous because I have to say my 'Akad' in one lafaz or so they say. However, I am not. I figured it will all dawn down on me when the actual ceremony begins and all the eyes in the room, in the house and all the ears of the guests sitting outside will see and hear me say my 'Akad' or 'Solemnisation'.

I would love to believe that I will be confident and at ease when the ceremony happens. I am usually the collective one and I hope I do not crack under pressure. I normally do not but a wedding is the single most biggest event in a person's life. An event that will change their lives forever.

Alhamdulillah, most of the preparations are nearly done.

The Family will be gathering over at my crib tomorrow night to help set up the chairs and tables. Then we will stay up all night to play video games and 'karaoke-ing'. Maybe even play the traditional round table 'SamChung' with the Nephews Vs Uncles with our 'kacang tanahs' and hot 'Teh'O's'.

For me it will feel like 'Hari Raya' all over again. Everything I wear will be new and I am excited about that. I always get excited when I get to wear new shoes. Yesterday morning after my last Pre-Marital marriage course I went to pick up my 'Songkok'. I am very happy at how it turned out and it actually is the first time I made one. I normally just buy one but this is special. I will make sure 'Mizi' gets good shots of me in my new headgear Ha! Ha! Ha!

One more thing - I love the camera. I have a feeling 'Mizi' will not have much trouble from me. I will have a great time 'Vain-ing' Ha!Ha!Ha!

Wish me luck Friends, Long Lost Friends, Colleagues, On-Line buddies, Family and Readers -I hope I do not mess it up *LoL*

The Pelamin - Groom's place

Counting down the days...

In seven days

In seven days,

I will sit on a white cushion,

Four tall candles lit at four corners,

Dressed in white,

Just a distance from me,

Over my shoulder sits the lady whom will be my partner for life,

An Imam will hold my hand,

I will answer him,

I will annouce my 'lafaz',

With the blessings from the witnesses declaring 'SAH!',

I will then read out my 'Ta'liq',

I will 'salaam' my new family members,

I have arrived,

I will be announced as Husband & Wife,

All this 'Insya-Allah' will happen in seven days.

Amin.

by,

SiRT - The Poet

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

First I would like to thank Baby D's Mom - MamaSuds for finding that countdown timer widget that you may see on the your left side as you view this on your screen.

I cannot believe the day is coming soon. I have a few more things to settle but that does not mean everything is done and ready. There are a lot more things to do at home. Weddings are big events in this country.

I have some more invitations to send out. Some of my friends have kindly requested to just send them a text message with the full details of address and time. Thank you guys!! I can only thank you so much for your kindness. Its cheaper to send an SMS than print the card. But who's complaining? You only get married once right!

Most of my guy friends have made some 'kind' remarks about my upcoming wedding. Some remarks from them;

'Alhamdullilah! Kawin ko jua ah Hahahaha!'
'Apa ih! Kan kawin ko wah?'
'Syukur tah ko kawin! Nda jua ko begatal lagi!'
'Selamat tah bini-bini lain di Brunei ani hahahaha'
'Kawin jua ko akhirnya ah! Kira tah nda mau kawin Hahahaha'

Most of the people have greeted me with a simple 'Congratulations!' or 'Congrats'

My personal favourite - 'Welcome to the Club!'

This 'Club' that I am about to join, (1) Where do I sign up? (2) Do I have to pay an annual fee? (3) What privileges do I get? *LoL*

Answer (1): No need to sign anywhere - just the dotted lines on that piece of paper which will certify me the right to become a husband.

Answer (2): I reckon this one is the 'Nafkah' for the wifey.

Answer (3): Privileges - A plenty! Once I am married I have every right to make fun of the ones who are about to get married and I can finally fit into conversations where only 'Married' people are allowed. Hahahaha!

I am estatic. Tonight my uncle will help me to 'usai' my barang hantaran for 'Hers'. I am itching to take pictures. But I will restrain myself.

P.S: Bro Adidarwish - I found the Adidas MEGABOUNCE for men at Hua Ho Manggis Mall. Thank you so much for the review. The price is as you mentioned in your post. Its going to be on my hantaran. Yipeeee!!! Opss!! That was suppose to be a secret but I could not contain myself. I tried the Supernove as well but the Megabounce felt much more comfortable.

I have not been to the gym for over a week now. Busy with school work and wedding preps, I have been fidgeting to go on a run. So I woke up at 7.30 this morning to do my 3.5 km run outdoors in my kampung. I started my run at 8.20 a.m. The sun was bright and it was hot, but I am not complaining. The sun was brilliant. I needed the extra Vitamin E's. Eventhough I have not been to the gym I have been doing 3km run outdoors. So it had been four days since my last run. My run in the bright Friday morning sun was great and I managed to do it in a time of 19 mins 37 secs. But about 3/4 of my run I felt a sharp pain under my ribs. From experience it mean I am dehydrating and my water reserves are low. I should stop and walk. But I did not and just continued to run at a slower pace. I reckoned if I did not get the sharp pain I would have finished my run at a record time. Morale of the story: Do not forget to eat something light like a banana before a run and a glass of water. Hahahaha!

I'm getting married!! Yipeeeeeeeeeee!!!

'Bah Bila?'

Many have written their own versions and understanding of Brunei Malay weddings. Writing from experience of being involved in the whole wedding process or from a guest's point of view or the Bride or Groom's point of view.

Weddings are huge events in Brunei. A Sunday without a wedding somewhere in this country would be like no internet connection for 12 hours. Last year I attended some weddings of distant relatives and also my close friends.

Back in college, my gang and me, we called ourselves 'Barang Dapur' would figure out who would get married the first and the last. I was the youngest in my gang, so I was definitley the last to get married and that prediction is true.

All my friends in 'Barang dapur' have gotten hitched and three of them, 'Sudu', 'Sambal' and 'Sinduk' are now proud father's. Everytime I see them for 'Teh Tarik' or just bumping into them at a shop somewhere, the question would pop up. 'Bah Bila??'

My Fiance and myself have encountered this alot and we have come up with different answers all the time. Practice makes perfect.

Possible answers:-

'Ada tah tu' - 'We'll see'
'Tunggu saja' - 'Just wait'
'Alum ku puas bujang' - 'I still want to enjoy bachelorhood'
'Jan tah ingar' - 'You don't have to worry' (No exact word in English to describe 'ingar')
'Lau ku kawin ada ku manggil' - 'when I get married, I will invite you to my wedding'
'Malas ku kawin! Mahal' - 'I don't want to get married! Its too expensive'
'Ko mau sponsor?' - 'You want to sponsor me?'
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So many things to consider and so many things to plan. The 'Antar Berian' Ceremony, The 'Nikah' ceremony, The 'Berbedak' Ceremony and the grand finale - The 'Bersanding' Ceremony.

2007 will be a major year for myself as I will go through these various traditional Malay wedding ceremonies for my wedding. So I revisited MR BR's posts about weddings and he has quite a collection :-

Male Wedding costume - link here
Wedding cost again - link here
Brunei Wedding practices - link here
Questions to ask before saying yes - link here
Bunga Telur - link here

I think I am missing a few so I hope Mr BR could fill me in on some more wedding related articles if I missed any. My big day, insyallah will be in June.

We decided on the date last year in November and we have settled some major things for the wedding and it did not struck me that I was really going to go through with this until last night.

I was pouring a glass of cold milk when my father asked me what colour would I like to have for the family. The usual Brunei wedding is that the close family will be wearing the same colour 'baju cara melayu' and 'baju kurung' or better know as 'Sekayu'. I asked him why was it my decision and my father said 'Well this is 'Your' wedding'.

BAMM!!

As if my head my hit by a 9 degree Stiff flex shaft Titleist driver. I am getting married this year and we had a 'Father Son' talk about how my preparations have gone so far. We still ahve som many things to do but at this rate, I figure we are doing a reasonable job at planning our wedding.

So I will start counting down the sunsets before I am binded lawfully and rightfully to my Fiance that one afternoon in June 2007.