"the engagement of jaka63 ..." a Singapore Travel Page by sha_stallion

Yes if you have been following the innuendos through some VT Meet travelogues, jaka63 started off as an old friend of Minanga and joolssg as an old friend of mine. These two were extremely shy when it comes to matters of the birds and the bees. And so one day we got them to join us for a short trip to the neighbouring city [JB] and got them to sign up on VT, hoping this as a setup for more meets ; )

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nasi ambeng @ jaka63's home

Now the day has finally come for these two shy people to be eventually betrothed by their families! This day, by the way, is strategically also the very weekend of jaka63's birthday.

As with tradition, the couple could not physically meet on this day. Only the family of the male comes to the home of the female, bringing gifts and to announce the agreement to the wedding. So Minanga, being originally a friend of the male family, started the day there. This was the nasi ambeng served in jaka63's home. Very Javanese.

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beryani dishes @ joolssg's home

I, on the other hand, had to start the day at joolssg's. Over at her place, it was beryani along with the meat and pickled dishes to go with this rice.

As you can see in this pic, servings are usually brought to guests by this big tray. In the old days, people even share to eat a mountain of food in a tray like this. But nowadays, we all use individual plates ; )

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words of dedication to jaka63

Of course the female family has gifts for the male family to bring home too. Here's joolssg writing her words of love on the card that was to be brought back to the male home along with her gifts for him.

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gifts to be exchanged by the betrothed couple

Well, here's half of the gift baskets for the day. The little ring box with leaves of ten dollar notes signify the amount of dowry that has been set for the wedding. The wedding, by the way, has been officially set for two years. The couple can either haste or extend later.

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the 'bunga rampai'

This is the 'bunga rampai' brought by the male family. 'Bunga rampai' consists of shredded fragrant leaves that's usually put together in some kind of origami with handkerchiefs. This kind of fragrance usually signifies marriage within Malay communities.

On this day, the male family would distribute the 'bunga rampai' to members of the female family and vice versa. Goes without saying Minanga had the one from the female family and vice versa. hehhehh

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prayers for the betrothed couple

And thus confirmed and gifts exchanged, the family then recite prayers for a blessed and successful union of the couple and their families.

It was after this point that there was a slight confusion as the male family counted Minanga for the ride home whereas Minanga would instead join me on the female side the rest of this day! hehhehhh

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the engagement ring

Now the ring is on joolssg's hand, the couple is thus pronounced engaged to be married in the course of time.

To both jaka63 and joolssg, we wish you all good tidings dan semoga selamat ke jinjang pelamin! [that's wishes for marriage in Malay] As a gift, we will follow up with you two with a hard copy album ; )

For now folks, you can stay tuned with Minanga's version of this event in his same travelogue ; )