a week off - r&h, the wedding

So, my cousin Ronny was getting married. He decided me to be their bridesmaid for the November wedding; I got cheap tickets as soon as I could because there no way I could not get out of it, even with excuses like schoolwork. He would be the pioneer amongst us third generation Xu, and according to my busybody aunts that makes me next in line.

We went straight to Malang on our second day, and met up with many relatives from all over. Next day was D-day - 22nd of November 2008. I went down to the salon early in the morning, met up with Henny and Ronny, had my hair, make-up done and put on my dress (which, in the beginning, felt very nice to be worn). Went back to bride's house, smiled around, chitchatted with the guests there, and had to keep telling them that I was the bridesmaid, not the bride. The dress and hairdo seemed to bring about more misunderstanding than anyone expected!

Finally the groom and best man came with our bouquets. Took pictures, did some ceremonies, but I don't remember what was what anymore, and left for the newlywed's house. It was my Grandmother's old house, where I lived for my first two-three years of life. However, they've completely renovated it; I've lost something which only exists in photographs and memories now.

After the ceremonies and a rushed lunch at the house, (again, having more guests congratulate me for the wedding, and having to tell them I'm NOT the one getting married!) we headed for the church for mass; my first religious encounter in months. After mass, we had photo sessions and some chitchat time; then, it was back to the bridal salon to fix the bride up. There was plenty of time to rest until dinner reception, but I had no change of clothes, so it was impossible to rest at all. The dress was starting to feel less fresh and firm, it was more like suffocatingly stiff. Still looked pretty, though.

I had no choice but to bear with it until -finally- the Jinjiu (gold and wine ceremony) at the restaurant's first floor. I was responsible for keeping the bag containing all the gold, and that stuff can get really heavy when people also stuff watches and rocks in it! Ko Piter came straight to attend this and also stuffed in a shiny iPhone box from Hongkong, whoohoo!

After that, they had no one receiving the guests and handing out souvenirs downstairs so Caroline, Yoseph, Kopit and I decided to help out. It was unbelievable how a lot of people remember us, but we had no idea who some of them were.

Dinnertime was torture. I had no proper breakfast and lunch, was very tired and hungry; I wanted to eat more but my dress didn't allow it. If I ate more, I wouldn't have been able to breathe. And there was so much food, mouthwatering dishes, one after another! I managed as hard as I could to still look descent by the time they took more sets of photos at the end of dinner, after most guests had left.

Well, I'd say that weekend was the most exciting part of my week off. I didn't tell any of my friends that I went back, because I know they're all busy, and I didn't have that much time. So the rest of the time I slothed around at home, went through my old stuff, avoided a certain someone, went out shopping (only for snacks, movies, and stuff people asked me to buy) with my mother, sister and cousin, and chatted to my father.

Now here I am, safely back in Tokyo, catching up with a pile of schoolwork, and enjoying the cold weather after my week in the tropical oven.