Here comes the bride, all DRESS in white

Initially, i planned to have wedding gown like Kate Middleton have on her wedding day. Its beautiful but at the same time decent. Since our guest will be from all stage of ages and religion, my mom advised me to wear something decent. She said that my dad relatives are religious. :D

(I do want something like this)

Nico doesn't want to wear traditional clothing for our reception since we going to wear one during our solemnization. I didn't have any problem with that because which women didn't want to wear white gown on her wedding day isnt it? 

We only have one month left to get our dress and suit reserved for us. So we went to Jalan Loke Yew where we can find a lot of bridal gallery there. We went to few store and i ask immediately if they have something like Kate Middleton and they all say no or show me similar design but look out dated. 

We finally went to check at Ivory Romance since they have a lot of choices compared to few shops we saw before. I read a lot of bad review regarding Ivory Romance but finally decided to give it a try.

We so happy to found out that they have varies suits for Nico to try. Most of the shops only have normal black suits which even Nico have it. We want something different for him to wear on our wedding day.

My idea for wedding dress is just something simple. I prefer a lot of details on my dress so i dont' have to put so much accessories on me. So, i go try one gown after another and i think i tried around 20 different gown before i finally met the one.

It was a wedding gown which they put on a display on a mannequin which attract me. Before i try it on, the sales person already told me that it will cost me RM1800 for renting. I told myself there's nothing wrong to give it a try since i don't even know if i like it or not.

When i put it on, i knew that it is the one. The only problem is, its not as decent as i initially plan to get. So i called my mom and she said, "You only marry once, if you cant find something decent then just choose what you like. Who cares about what people say as long you are happy". I was so happy to hear that from my mom and we immediately search something for Nico. Thank god there's  a white suit that we both like and the color matched my gown perfectly.

I never felt like a princess before but i definitely did on my wedding day. Never feel so beautiful, what do you think? :D

Our Official Henna Night

I was so excited to have my henna night. I grew up in a village where wedding was a big celebration and enjoyed by everybody for 3 days and night. It was long-long time ago of course but i still want to carry few of it tradition for my own wedding. Since i also married to foreigner, i think it will be a nice experienced for both of us and for him to learn about our culture.

So on 19th September 2013, i scheduled to have my henna night or malam berinai around 9pm. My mom was so excited inviting her friends and family since this is the only time where we will have party at home since our wedding reception will be held some where else.

 (supposed to be our wedding cake but we have it for henna night)

(Briyani, sticky rice, pulut kuning and lot more good food)

(with my uncle, aunt and cousins)

I booked my henna from Norish Keberg,  https://www.facebook.com/noor.collection?fref=ts. She arrived around 9pm with 2 assistant and was shocked to see that my small home full with people. I was then been seated and she told me, that everything will be done from putting the henna and washing it in an hour. I was so relieves to hear that since i was thinking that i have to go through traditional way which took the whole night.  

(Excited crowd...and me:) 

  

(Final look)

I do think i make the right choice in choosing this design. I tried to avoid looking too crowded but at the same time want to look as mush as a bride. I just hope that these henna can last a bit longer but since it fast to put it on so its only last for a week. Traditional way will last for a month and i really love having henna on my hands and feet. 

Henna for Nico since its was a simple one was done by my cousins. It was also requested by them so they can bullied him and to let him feel welcome to the family. We did have fun that night even thought he have to rush to meet his friends for his bachelor party afterwards. 

 (It seems easy but its not..lol)

(He looked awkward isnt it)

 (Our henna night)

(2 days before the wedding)

Pre-Honeymoon #2 : I am in LOVE with Jogjakarta

I thought Yogyakarta or Jogjakarta (from local dialect) will be boring since i only heard about their temples before and nothing more. Nevertheless, i was still excited to go on vacation.

It was afternoon when we arrived in Jogja, after check in at The Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta we decided just to stay in and rest before heading out for dinner later. We wasn't care about expensive hotels before but lately, we cannot resist hotels with swimming pool and good location. Its feel so good to get into the pool after being outside all day in the heat.

 (The Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta)

(Nicely decor swimming pool)

After recharging our body we head out to find transport for trip the next day. We didn't booked any driver online and we seriously didn't know where to find there. Unlike Bali, it was so easy to find driver and usually this is the first question people asked you at the airport. We try to get help from hotel reception but it was painfully expensive. So we just walk to Malioboro to get dinner and hope we will see tour agent along the way. 

It was obviously nothing to worry about because the tour agent was everywhere along Malioboro street. We get Toyota Avanza with driver for IDR 650, 000 for 12 hours. Expensive? This is the price they gave us on the price list and since we wanted to go to Dieng Plateau which is 4 hours away from Jogjakarta we think the price is pretty reasonable. We also booked driver for the day after for another trip to the temples which cos us IDR 400,000. 

After get everything booked its time to fill in our tummy which didn't eat much since afternoon. We saw few stall along the street and we stop at the third one to check what they have. Behind every stall, there's a lot of people sitting on the carpet and having their dinner. This seems to be their style of eating out in Jogjakarta which is pretty unique to me but will seems to be unhygienic to the tourist. Thank god that my husband have been living in Malaysia for 2 years and this view doesn't shocked him and he willing to try and didn't make a fuss about it. 

There's a lot of choice for the food. Mostly fried and rice which they already pack in a small quantity. You can take anything you want, put it in  a plate and they will charge you according to what you take. 

 (We didn't sit on the carpet, it was full)

 (I tried sambal belado....was so good)

(seeeeeeeeeeeee that)

I really like food in Jogja because it was spicy, make me feel like home and it was so tasty. Majority population in Jogja are muslim and javanese, so i didn't have to worry about halal or not. 

After dinner, we take a walk through Malioboro to Sono Budoyo Museum to see shadow puppet or wayang kulit. Malioboro was busy with tourist since the street are famous for shopping.

(its 2 hours long and in javanese)

We start as early as 7am in the morning heading to Dieng Plateau which is highland and famous for its volcano crater and colorful lake. The scenery along the way was beautiful and we really enjoyed seeing beautiful rice field every where. Our first stop was Candi Arjuna. Its nothing much to do here but this is where i first discover carica, Wonosobo specialty and so tasty. 

(IDR10k to take picture with them, which only RM3.50)

The highlight on this trip was Sikidang Crater. I never see any volcano or crater before and didnt know what to expect. When we arrived we have been greeted by foul smell, sulfur. There's a lot of people selling mask here, but we already brought it from KL and you dont need one actually. 

 (It has lot of smoke which make it difficult to see what actually happen inside crater)

 (We are lucky that wind flew the other direction and voila.......bubbling mud)

(Scary no?)

After Sikidang Crater, we went to colorful lake. It was so refreshing here. The area was big and nice for a walk. They even have few small caves to see here.

Together with this trip we combined trip to Borobudur on the way back to Yogyakarta. The whole idea of this trip is to see their temple. Entrance fee to Borobudur & Prambanan are really expensive. But thank god that i speak malay and copied their accent. We also get a help from our driver who bought ticket for us. So my husband paid foreigner entrance fee and i paid same as local. 

 (Borobudur Temple)

Third day in Yogya, we start our day with Merapi Adventure, which is a trip by jeep to the foot of Merapi Volcano to see the ruin and bunkers after the volcano irrupted in 2010. 

 (IDR300k for Merapi adventure)

 (Activities along the way)

 (Museum)

 (bunkers that kill 2 people)

(little adventure)

We then went to see Plaosan temple before proceed to Prambanan temple. When we were there, there's people doing work reconstruct the temple which destroyed because of earth quake. Even though this temple wasnt big, it has its own charm. 

 (Plaosan Temple)

 (Twin temple)

Compare to Borobudur, i love Prambanan temple more. The park was big and the temple itself looks amazing. The details in every single stone simply beautiful and full with stories. 

Its hard to say goodbye to Yogyakarta, we spend our last day exploring the city which we didn't have much time to see. We went to Kraton aka sultan palace to see the life of royal people of java.

I was also excited to see Taman Sari which is bathing complex for the princess. Unfortunately, they clean the pool when we were there and there's no water inside to show how beautiful the place can be. 

 (Will look so much better if there's water inside)

 (The tower where the king feast his eyes when the princess take bath)

I really hope that one day we can go back to java, take that becak ride and eat that tasty food again. My mom will definitely love the food and shopping here.