last month, on 27022010, and in my 29 weeks of pregnancy to be exact, tingkeban ceremony was held in our parents' house in jakarta. tingkeban ceremony, also known as mitoni or nujuh bulanan, was done as prayers and rituals are meant to keep the pregnancy safe til the mother give birth to the baby. our tingkeban--which was held in yogyakarta style--was truthfully, a very exciting experience for me, for i've never watch any tingkeban ceremonies before... and now when i saw it for the first time, it was me as the main actress!! teehee... ^^ and the differences from the rituals held during the wedding, tingkeban ain't that serious--it was mooore fun, exactly.
 some of the ritual offerings--in indonesian; sesajen the first of all interesting things in tingkeban ceremony for me were the ritual offerings. there are more than 30 kinds of ritual offerings!! and most of them are 7 in counts (7 ~ pitu ~ mitoni).
 in the top above, there's a cone-shaped white rice surrounded by 7 kinds of red'n'white javanese porridge; (1) red porridge, (2) white porridge, (3) half red'n'white porridge, (4) white porridge poured over the red porridge, (5) red porridge poured over the white porridge, (6) white porridge crossed over the red porridge, and last (7) red porridge crossed over the white porridge. in above left, there were traditional cakes, all 7 in counts ;)
 another ritual offering in the morning, together with our family from both sides, prayers were done firstly before the tingkeban ceremony. hopefully both the mother & the baby--which is my baby berucil and me!! :D--are stay healthy and safe til the laboring process, and for the ceremony itself so that it'll done smoothly.
 we're soon-to-be mommy and daddy!! :D  ask for blessings from our parents after the prayers were done... then it's time for the show!! :D i changed my clothes into green jimpitan cloth--the same cloth i wore in my siraman before our wedding months ago--and hubby wears his dark-green beskap. and, yes, honey... you do looked handsome :)
 sungkeman with our parents, and an extra sungkeman of me to hubby ^^ before the siraman was started, first we did sungkeman process to our parents, asking for blessing for our upcoming baby, and as for me, i also did sungkeman to my hubby--the soon-to-be daddy :)
siraman process started with hubby as the first person to bathe me. siraman in tingkeban is indeed different than siraman in pre-wedding events, still according to the 7-rule, there are 7 spots to be bathe in tingkeban; (1) the head, (2) the right hand, (3) the left hand, (4) front body, (4) back body, (5) right leg, (6) left leg. fyi, the water dipper used in siraman tingkeban was made from a-halfed coconut fruit with a tiny hole in the bottom, and the bather must bathe the soon-to-be mother--which is me--quickly, resembling a pray so that the laboring process will be quick too.
the next bather were our parents, but there's a special task for my mother-in-law and my mother before they bathe me; they must scrub my body with 7-colored body scrubs, resembling a pray so that the baby will be born as a clean, enlightened, and bright child. after our parents, 7 aunties from our family who already had at least a grandchild also bathe me. 7 in javanese was 'pitu', and these 7 aunties were meant to give 'pitulungan'--literally means help, but i think it's more to the prayers for the laboring process.
 wudhu after the siraman process  ...and the surprisingly intact funnel :D after siraman, my mother and mother-in-law poured water from a jar for my wudhu, and after that the jug was broked down into pieces--and being examined... for what? ^^ for the jar funnel itself, is it intact or broked in pieces too as the jar body?? surprisingly, it is intact!! means the baby was possibly a boy--according to the 4D USG i'd done several days ago, it was correct!! :D, because if the funnel was broked into pieces, means the baby was possibly a girl. phewww... then the 4D USG was a waste after all ;p
7-colored cloths wrapped; (1) white cloth, resembling that the baby will be born as an innocent & pure child, (2) red cloth, resembling of how God creates human from blood, (3) purple cloth, so that the baby will be an obdurate person and won't be easily cast down, (4) green cloth, so that the baby will bring such a cool breeze for everyone's heart, (5) yellow cloth, so that the baby will be a noble person, (6) blue cloth, so that the baby will be a loving person, (7) brown cloth, so that the baby will be a 'down to earth' person. they were such beautiful hopes for my baby... *touched*
 pre-wedding session di parangtritis yogyakarta, taken by kenvin pinardy 22 may 2009: wedding reception
this is it... the final day aka the wedding reception. truthfully, i can't thanked my parents enough for this... it's definitely the wedding of my dream; rich in yogyakarta atmosphere, completed with soldiers and opening traditional dance, got my favorite band 'romantic 4' as the wedding band--you should watch'em on stage every monday nite in pisa cafe menteng, trust me, they're lovely!!--also classic style of our make-up and wedding clothes, flowers and foods, family and friends all around... i couldn't have a better wedding than this, it's so perfect! :)
 wearing yogyakarta's kanigaran (kebesaran) clothes, similar with those worn by sultan hamengku buwono for crowning ceremony in the palace. black was the only original color for this, beautiful! as if we're the real king and queen ;)  before the long march being started  with paes ageng make-up which was rich in yogyakarta philosophical meaning and dressed in kanigaran, i never looked beautiful than before... teehee! :D  watching the srimpi dance while sitting on the marvelous stage in joglo-style  the new happy family the wedding vendors: wedding organizer >> purusatama (they organized the wedding of agus yudhoyono and anisa pohan) traditional make-up and kanigaran wardrobe >> mrs. tari donolobo from sanggar sri renggo sadono, visit her website hereparents and siblings wardrobe >> busana jawi, bara, and sri djaja (most beautiful batik cloth i've ever seen! also sultan's favorite) pre-wedding pictures >> kenvin pinardy (his works were awwwweeesome!! view his portfolio here) decoration >> k'jogjacatering >> gandrung (good price came as good food too) venue >> balai samudra
 pre-wed session taken in keraton ratu boko, yogyakarta, by kenvin pinardy ...and so the next morning, the "ijab kabul" of akad nikah or wedding solemnization process started...
22 may 2009:
1. akad nikah
 the groom came to my house  me--as the bride, of course--came to witness the ijab kabul process between my dad and him as moslems, our wedding solemnization called "ijab kabul" of "akad nikah" was the main part of the wedding itself. the father of the bride will officially spoke the ijab words in the bride's name and the groom replied with qobul words. in our faith, it is better if we don't repeat the ijab kabul until 3 times... well, since i'm not my dad and i'm not him also, i can't feel the nervousness speaking those words, but of course they do! and they made me sooo proud at that time for they've made ijab kabul process done in once! i love you sooo much, daddy... :')
 ijab kabul process between my beloved two men  praying and signing the marriage papers afterwards  my husband--finally, yeay!!--giving me the mas kawin or wedding gifts 2. panggih
as we're officially married, next "panggih" is a process of how the groom and bride met in front of the door house. first we will throw betel leaves tied with a white knot--4 for him, and 3 for me--on each other, then i will wash both his feet with waters and flowers to show my devotion for him as his wife. pssst... i do tickle his feet while i washed'em, teehee!! :D
next the traditional make-up artist will take an egg from inside the water jug, she'll get it touched to our forehead, then breaks it down. in yogyakarta tradition, the groom didn't stepped on the egg, different with surakarta's. the broken egg means that the bride and groom are no longer virgin since they're already became husband and wife.
3. tampa kaya / kacar-kucur
"tampa kaya" or "kacar kucur" is a process when the groom give the bride a package of uncooked yellow rice, some seeds, and some moneys in a red cloth. the bride will accept in different red cloth, tied it tight, and then ask her mother to keep it. means that the groom must be ready to fulfill his duty as a husband which is to earn a living for his wife, and the bride must be a wise and thoughtful in keeping his husband's earn.
 notice in the right side that we--the groom and bride--came in to the house by ourselves, accompanied by the bride's parents behind. in yogyakarta they don't do 'sinduran' as in surakarta's 4. bubak kawah & tumplak punjen
"bubak kawah" is done when the first daughter of the family get married, whereas "tumplak punjen" is done when the last daughter of the family get married. since i was the only daughter of my family, both processions were done. "bubak kawah" done as a man, a member of the family came in to the venue carrying a load filled with 80 cooking utensils hanged in the load. then the female guest on the venue will snatch away those utensils. it was really fun seeing snatching this and that!! "tumplak punjen" done as my mom carrying a bowl filled with uncooked yellow rice, seeds, and moneys in coins and bills and threw it away around the guests. we were laughing watching these 2 processions, never thought it could be so fun!! :D
and in the middle of the day when the males were prepared to do jumat prayers, and so i hoped for tomorrow night's reception will be carried away smoothly and safely...
 the happiest newlywed ;)
*the one i've ever dreamed of...
 my fave pre-wed pic, taken in tamansari yogyakarta by kenvin pinardy it tooked 3 whole days to complete all the wedding process, since me and him came as javanese in yogyakarta traits, we need to do some traditional rituals before we were pronounced as husband and wife. it was tiring for us, of course... but surely those were the happiest moments in our life, once in a lifetime, and gladly we enjoyed all with unstoppable smile and heart that palpitates fast... :)
21 may 2009:
1. the prayers (for me and him)
held in each of our house, as we're born in moslem family, we gathered our families, friends, neighbours, and colleagues altogether that morning. we all prayed so that all the wedding process could be done entirely safe and complete...
 the prayers in my house  asking for apologize, permission, and blessing from my parents  the prayers in his house  asking for apologize, permission, and blessing from his parents  his family :) 2. bleketepe hanging and assembling the tuwuhan (for me)
"bleketepe" is a form of coconut leaves assembled together into a criss-cross pattern in rectangular shape. in javanese traditions, if a family is hanging the bleketepe in the frontgate of the house means that the family is about having their daughter married. whereas "tuwuhan" were some earthy products suah as wheat, rice, banana, coconut, etc which were assembled also in the gatefront of the house, means as a hope for the marital process could be done safely and for prosperity of the family. my parents also mixed a jug of water compiled from 7 watersprings for my "siraman" process which comes next, and send a bowl of the water for the groom, called "tirta perwita adi" which will be used for his siraman.
3. pelangkahan (for him)
as the duta tirta from my house arrived in his house, he started a process called "pelangkahan". since he's the last child and his brother--the 1st child--hasn't married yet, he needs to ask permission and blessing from his brother for getting married before him, and also giving him some gifts as a hope that he will gladly give the permission and blessing.
 him and his brother on pelangkahan 4. siraman (for me and him)
 me, before siraman "siraman", or the last bathe, was done in order to clean up ourselves physically and mentally. our parents became the first to bathe us, continued by several aunties (for me) and uncles (for him) who already had at least one of their children married, and their counts must be odd.
before "siraman", it is a compulsory for us to asking for apologize and blessing from our parents and the elderly. i want to make this moment special for me and my parents, so at that time i decided to read my 9-verses poem as i found it will be touchful for us. fyi, many of my families said that it is indeed a touchy poem, so you may click here to read it ;)  my siraman process  my mom selling dawet on the right  his siraman process 5. midodareni (for me & him)
at night, all of his family came over to my house for "midodareni". "midodareni" in javanese word derived from "widodari" which means a beautiful fairy. there was a javanese folk story telling that when princess nawangsih is about to get married, his mother--a fairy goddess--dewi nawang wulang came over from heaven to beautify her beloved daughter looks one night before her wedding. so it became a faith in javanese people that in midodareni night, fairies will came down from heaven to beautify the bride-to-be looks, so she'll looked much more beautiful than before.
 my prince has come... :) his family brought me "seserahan" or love gifts in odd counts that will be given through my mom, but before that my parents will "tanting" or ask me again, for the last time, whether he was the man i chose to be my husband, and whether i was ready to be married. once i replied, "yes", i will also ask my dad to read "catur wedha" for him, which implies the duties of a husband to his wife and his family.
 tantingan by my parents  my dad reads the catur wedha for him after my dad reads the "catur wedha", my mom broght him a drink; a glass of water, which he must drink in once and left not even a drop of it. he's not allowed to eat--whereas his family were allowed to--and he also not allowed to see me during this midodareni, it's a patience test from the bride-to-be parents for him to see his sincerity to marry me tomorrow.
 a glass of water; the only thing he could consume on midodareni  my mom giving the angsul-angsul to his mom as a thank you for the "seserahan", my mom giving "angsul-angsul" or some gifts back for him through his mom. he also be given "kancing gelung" or the fashion and accessories he'll need to wear tomorrow for the wedding solemnization. yes yes yes... once the night became the day, we will be pronounced as husband and wife ^^
aaaahhh finally i'm baaack!! and i'm sooo glad for it!! ^^ blame all the gsm networks providers in europe (except orange f, swisscom, and nl kpn--at last) for having me ended being away from writing in here. hey, what makes it so difficult for them to provide gprs access for their overseas roamers??? uuuuggh...
anyway, i just came back from my winter-to-new-year holiday about 5 days ago. started in netherland--to meet my long-lost big-fat-bandit cat,of course!!--where we spent our first night in one of my parent's friend's lovely dovey three-storey house in den haag. it wasn't a very big house, but it's nice, warm, and furnished with antiques--and i loooove antiques! especially the piano and candle stick!! ^^ me and my bandit cat were given a place in the garret room, it was small, cozy, and simply nice. there's a lovely garret-window facing the sideyard of the house, just exactly a window i've ever wanted long time ago for my own bedroom, but somehow it wasn't done as i want it to be :p we arrived in schiphol at 6.30am, it was still dark outside, and we could feel the chillness outside as we stepped out from the plane. it's winter, i know, but i've never expected before that winter and its -4 degrees temperature was like that!! >,< snow was rare in sight, but at every tip of leaves, all over the grass, and in every cars outside the morning dews getting freeze into ice. imagine a greeny waft grass sprinkled with powder all over. it was simply beautiful. beautiful beautiful beautiful. even when we went to volendam to make that classic dutch-like family portrait, the beachwave foam was turned into white powdery ice! it was cold, for sure, not forgetting that netherlands was such a windy country... so it doubles the coldness especially if we don't cover up our face ;p
we had our dinner in a chinese restaurant called "oriental city", it wasn't a very big restaurant, but they cooked the crispiest peking duck with the tastiest sauce i've ever eat!! it's sooo yummy... unfortunately i don't have 2 gasters or longer intestine, or else i'll finished up that duck all by myself ;9~~~ the next morning we drove away to paris through belgium, and stopped in brussel having our meal. that lil' maneken pis?? ahhh just forget that lil' creature, i'm craving for souvenirs and chocolates more than that ;9
arrived in paris around 8pm, we directly checked-in in our hotel with just a bit sneak peek to the eiffel tower--which lights was changed to ocean blue with sparkling dimmed flashes in every hour for around 5 mins... cute!! ^^ and i'm pretty sure i had a very goodnight sleep with eiffel outside my window...
we're all a bit excited when we found out that paris was a bit warmer than netherland, oh well... moving on from minus 4-6 degrees to 2-3 degrees could make myself grateful, and the most important is... it's not windy at all!! so at least i finally could rolled down my shawl a bit lower than usual, and looked nice in some of the pics taken... teehee ;)
...but not until we arrived in versailles castle, it was december 31st, and there was an extremely loooong queue to enter--and to make it even worse--in a freezy temperature, zero degree at that time, and horrible wind >,< so that after taking some pics--and tried my hardest to hold on the freezy wind as long as possible--we turned around back to the eiffel. oh well... no wind in paris, but there's one in versailles ;p
there was a huge crowd in eiffel, with a long queue to get on the top of the tower, but we'd rather walk a bit and taking some pics. besides, we've been there before--the top of eiffel--at 2001. and for me, there's nothing special 'bout it. then we drove to napoleon bonaparte's mausoleum, oooh how i loooooove those classic european architecture!! i wonder how they could be sooo perfect in every details of pillars, walls, and carves. it's just gorgeous, from every point of view ^^ the egyptian obelisk was our next stop, there's a small carnival with a merry-go-round near by. cute... ^^ but now it's time for our stomachs to be filled in with a bowl of vietnamese rice noodles with extra slices of beef. hmm... we're already tired that evening, but somehow the bling-bling eiffel still attracts us to be there at the countdown. but what can i say?? i'd rather had my countdown in ancol beach, jakarta, rather than in eiffel! you see... no fireworks, no music, no trumpets, none at all!! aaaggghh... is it expensive to give all the crowd something beautiful to see? i'm soooo disappointed i'd rather be inside my blanket than freezingly stand outside waiting for nothing! >:p the road trip to lucerne, switzerland, the next day was a chance for me to have a nice dream sleep along the way. sophisticated 2-stars hotel (and it's cheap, oooh i love online booking!) to stay n super-super-suuuuuperrr wide bedroom for 4 of us. early in the next morning we drove up to mount titlis, and it was snow all over!!! ^^ i can't believe my eyes seeing that sparkled wet snow here and there. and i'm soooo speechless i'd better let you have a look on these photos.
taken by mommy before the tragedy
*i've never been uglier than current
it's a bit awkward spending those precious holiday only with my parents since someone as the member of the family wasn't there with us... oh sorry, not someone, i mean a cat ;p but n'mind, just enjoy my holiday and he'll be just fine though...
first of all, thailand and its beaches are amazingly astounding, they're really are. thailand itself already famous for it was a really attractive place to shop, and it's true!! ethnic bags decorated mostly with beads and elephant ornaments (yeah~ it's thailand, anyway ;p), painted colorful wooden bangles, those heavenly seafood including the best taste of tom yam in the world... *omg, i'm drooling... ;p~~ not forgetting those bling-bling temples which always decorated in golden colors, with fresh lotus buds sold everywhere for the prayers.
and about phuket, krabi and ko phi phi islands... if you watched the 1st season of amazing race asia in the episode where mardy and marsio succeed in finding the fast forward ticket which is hide inbetween those beautiful rocky cliffs islands, or if you remember one of leonardo dicaprio's movie "the beach"... well, it was made there, with its beautiful landscape of its island with slitted cliffs and caves everywhere, greeneries mushroomed inbetween, and beautiful, beautiful clear aquamarine sea together with sparkling white sand beaches. gorgeous! i've to say that ^^
i wish i was there forever!!
the water, the cliffs, the greenery... they're beautiful, aren't they?
as i said, gorgeous isn't it? ...but not the sun, since such a cruel thing happen to my face after that one-full-sunbathing-day >:(
i got sunburns in both my white smooth cheeks, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!! T.T
today was an important day for me and my family, the day my one and only brother went abroad alone for the first time, having double degree program arranged by his faculty and erasmus uni in rotterdam, nederland. alone without any family around, only with a bunch of his friends... no doubt we were worried a lot 'bout him, of course, regarding his known behavior for his 19 years of life til this second, typical of the last child, if you get what i mean ;) the last 4 weeks were spent preparing all the thingies since his faculty seems "too care" with this double degree program, so it was all by ourselves from visa to departure, from residence permit prerequisites to the housing... for us, it's such a great wow plus a great dissappointment >:( i can't believe they arranged such an unprepared program!!
we're arrived at the airport at 9am, waiting 'bout 1 hour for the other members to come, and hoping that there're no more probs happen... but still, the f***ing luggage rules of max 32kgs for each baggage-through and max 5kgs for each cabin luggage made us repacked some of the stuffs in his already-tight baggage and throwing out some like a pair of suit, one winter vest, one jeans, and a goddamn thick book, before mixed it up with his other friend's cabin luggage to distribute the weight evenly. and it definitely makes us hungry... ;p
when the time has come to board the airplane, few parents--mothers, especially--are cried and hug their soon-to-be going child, including my mom. i knew this could be hard for her, for knowing my brother's behavior all this time, yet she has to let him go to prove that he can do what previously he can't do. but the jetplane's engine reminds us that this is one of a phase of life we must learn, that we'll wave our hands in order to hug'em when they're back. maybe that's the reason i didn't cry... (or maybe because i'm not a mother yet?? hahaha :D) i'll see you in the upcoming new year, bro! well then, bye-bye my big fat bandit cat...! promise me you'll be allright, pray well, eat well, and don't embarass me by spraying everywhere and scratching your seat in the plane!! ;p
*the title means: i will miss him
from 29072008 til 30072008 my family planned to spend a night in safari garden hotel, since at the same our beloved first niece was here--imported by his smart mom ;p--having holiday with his grandparents--my uncle and auntie. surprisingly, 6 families of my mom's siblings could make it!! so there i am, happily surrounded by my family, whole lot of my cousins and a niece... it's been quite a long time since i enjoyed this kinda holiday with my big family ^^ plus, my soon-to-be sis-in-law came from padang! even though she caught a cold the night when she arrived but she managed to catch up with us the next morning, of course, with some drugs and antibiotic in her bag... but still it's ok.
weeks before, my mom went to taman safari together with a workgroup of his office, having a leisure time after a meeting. she told us about a performance held there called "wild wild west: cowboy show", she said it was awesome, funny, with real horses, ducks, sheeps, eagle, and even mouse! so that right after we passed the entrance to the main amusement park we drove straight to the highest part of the hill to watch the show. before the gate was opened, we're being entertained with a small-but-nice country band wearing cowboys-like stuffs, and 15 mins before the show we're able to try using the cowboy leash, spankin' it!! unfortunately we're not allowed to use video camera during the show--or else the security staff will warn us--so that taking photos were the only thing permitted, but trust me the show was really worth to watch!! the stage performance was nice, the actors and actresses make-up were good, two-thumbs-up for the combos of action and comedy, and not forgetting the real animals!! they're sooo damn cute!!! from ducks, horses, dogs, cats, mouse, sheeps, and eagle... it was outstanding!! i bet not only children, but you'll like it too ;)
oh, and btw... my happy holiday was even more completed with a happy news: my cousin's getting married next month!! i'm sooo happy for her so that i immediately messaging all my cousins 'bout it ^^ kyaaaa...
the soon-to-be bride ^^
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