Victor and I finally got engaged on Dec 30, 2018. I must say that, after so many years of dating each other, it feels somewhat of a relief to have our relationship declared official (in public’s eyes).

I must say the event itself went by really fast (in my mind) but the build up to the day lasted for weeks. We had the house revamped with new furniture, curtains, carpeting and what-not.

As per tradition, Victor sent his representatives on the engagement day, bringing along the the required items: cincin (ring) and wang (money) pembuka mulut (there’s no equivalent to this in English but basically this ring and the money signify the opening of the negotiations between the couple’s families), cincin tunang (the engagement ring itself) and mas kahwin (dowry). Typically the first ring would be the ‘lesser’ ring, and not necessarily worn while the latter would be worn by the girl throughout the engagement period.

Here is a pic of me pre-engaged:

There are the items brought over by Victor’s entourage:

And this is what I wore on that day. Funny story, I was actually set on a different dress but on the day itself I decided to wear this one instead. And boy did I made the right choice. Had I worn the other dress, I would’ve blended into the surrounding backdrops.

I also decided to go cheap on this day so I didn’t hire professional make-up artist and photographer. My make-up was done by a cousin of mine and I just got everybody to take the pictures.

The nerve-wrecking moment was when I was sitting on the couch getting stared at by so many people while Victor’s aunt put the (engagement) ring on me.

And so, I am now officially engaged to Victor. The next step is planning for the wedding day, which would be sometime in April next year.