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

Night Before The Nikah

Here are some photos taken by my photographer - Mr Mizi. There pictures were taken the night before the Nikah. These pictures have not been edited by Mr Mizi and since I have had a few requests for more pictures - Enjoy. :D

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

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!!!

Who to invite?

Weddings are one of the major events that happen in one's life. A lot of preperation goes into making that one day, a very special and memorable day.

My day is coming. Soon!! The above in my invitation card. Coincidentally the colour of newly crowned EPL Champions. GLORY GLORY MAN UTD!! My colleagues said 'Gong Xi! Gong Xi!' because my invitation card looks like a red packet for Chinese new year *LoL*. Come to think of it not many Malay wedding card use blood red as a choice of colour. Just wanted to try something new.

I still have somethings I need to settle and at the moment and trying to gather all my friends names. I never knew how difficult it is to decide who to invite and who not to invite. I wish I could invite everyone I know but some I have lost contact and I really have not seen them for a long time. So no point it inviting them right!

People at my work place. Who do I invite? I am inviting everyone but I can not give each and everyone an invitation card because I do not know most of them by name. Especially the women; Forgive my ignorance.

Do I invite my lectures from Uni? I am still trying to figure it out.

[Note: Sas - If what you said was true then I guess he is still waiting for his invitation card *LoL*. I went to see Dj Daffy of KFM a few weeks ago at the KFM Studio. I have not seen him for a very long time. We go way back! I hope not many people was listening to KFM *LoL*]

I wish I could invite everyone I know. I would like to apologise in advance if I missed your name. No hard feelings.

Thank You for Dinner

Wedding preparations are tough. I remember doing a post about what to reply to family and friends who ask about 'When is the BIG DAY?' sometime in January. Previous post [here]

For most people, getting married is a one time thing. So you want it to be a day to remember for as long as you shall live. You want to make sure you have exactly everything that you wished for.

Most of the time, it is very rare for the men in Brunei to envision what their wedding would look like. I am one of them. I never really thought about the big day. I look at all the weddings I attended and I say to myself. Everyone does the same things anyways so why should I worry.

I should, because at the end of the day it is my wedding as well. I want to look my best. I want to make sure the guests are comfortable and enjoy the food. I want people to remember my wedding like no other.

Wedding preps so far its taking its shape slowly. We have made our necessary arrangements and confirmed some important things.

This evening for dinner, his and hers had an informal meeting with Mr Muaz of MdesignZ. We approached him last year. We spoke about wanting to renovate 'hers' room for the wedding. Last month Mr Muaz & his Wife and his Project Manager were kind enough to spare some time and dropped by my fiance's house to have a look at the room and do some measurements.

After that we sat and discussed some of the aspect of the room which we wanted to change. Instantly he drew us a quick sketch and his ideas were more that what we had in mind. We loved the initial sketch and he promised to design it properly and show it to us.

Two weeks ago he showed us the design and it was brilliant. I loved it and I can imagine living in that room. It looked so serene.

Tonight he gave us a quotation and we did not really have much to disapprove. We have made a commitment to his design and I hope to finalise everything soon, so we could start working on the room.

If you plan to do any renovations and you seek professional help. Mr Muaz and Co. at MdesignZ would be my recommendation to you. You can get his contact number [here]

I wish I could post up the design of my future room but its a secret for now. But you never know, once the work begins I might take snap shots of it.

On a final note - Mr Muaz and wifey - 'His and Hers' would like to extend an invitation to the both of you for dinner sometime in the very near future. This time its on 'Us'.