This year our team name was “Don’t forget the pickles”. I’m sure it means something to someone. I liked the name we used last year, “The science of winning”. Much cockier.

This year was another victory (fourth consecutive year!). We trailed in fourth place until the last 30 minutes and finally won in a lightning round tie breaker. Good times.

My ‘sconny friends: team “Don’t forget the pickles”; 14 Mar 2009.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84315541@N00/sets/72157614747723551/

Nes forces a smile from her hospital bed

The US embassy here gives you a 45-minute window to pick up your visa so we had to get on the early train to make sure we made it on time (just in case). We took the Argo Gede train to Jakarta; it’s the nicer of the two available. It was comfortable and clean. A US movie was shown, “No good deeds” with Samuel L. Jackson. I couldn’t hear any of the dialog, but it looked like a really, really bad movie. They also played some weird old German cartoons.

We arrived in Jakarta about three hours later. We had a quick lunch in the train station and then walked to the US embassy. It’s a quick 10-minute walk to the embassy, but it involves crossing several busy streets — not a trivial task in Jakarta. I waited for Agnes outside the gates and tried to chat it up with the guards. It turns out they’re not there to help Americans practice their Indonesian. They’re there to hold machine guns and look intimidating. Nes appeared several minutes later — not with with a one-year visa, but with a 14-day visa. Ugh. It’s enough to get her back into the country. We’ll worry about that problem later.

Kids climbing atop a passing train (this train is not stopped; it’s moving — quickly)

From there, we walked back to the train station and bought our tickets for the ride back to Bandung. To avoid an additional two-hour wait, we purchased tickets on the grungier of the two trains. By the time we boarded, I was starting to feel like Nes did earlier this morning. I took one of her mystery medications and it helped, but it was still painful. The ride was supposed to be three hours, but it turned out to be almost four. We had to keep stopping to let another train pass on our track (the nicer train I suspect). To make things worse, the door on our train car was broken, allowing the smell of the bathroom to waft into the passenger area. But finally, we arrived in Bandung. Om Thomas picked us up from the station and brought us to several food vendors to pick up dinner to bring home. Another long day.

The sun rising over the mountains outside my hotel room; 22 Feb 2009.

The day started early for Agnes. She awoke at 2:00 AM so she could get to the salon for her 3:00 AM appointment. I woke up at 5:00 AM and met the photo/film crew at my hotel room at 6:00 — and it was a crew. There was the wedding organizer and her two assistants, two photographers, two videographers, and one lighting technician. It was all a little surreal.

From the hotel, my driver took me to Agnes’ parents house escorted by two police motorcycles. In Bandung, the police escort turns an hour drive into 15 minutes.

At Agnes’ house, I met my two stand-in groomsmen (Agnes’ cousins) and they escorted me inside to meet Agnes and her parents. Inside, I gave Agnes her hand bouquet and she pinned my corsage. We took more photos and then performed a Chinese tea ceremony with her parents and grandparents. From there, Agnes and I got into the wedding car and followed our police escort to the chapel.

The wedding went well. I didn’t screw up the vows or any of my other lines like I had feared. And we both only cried a little. Even though we protested, Agnes and I released balloons and doves on the steps of the chapel after the ceremony. Once again, we climbed into the wedding car and followed the police motorcycles to the reception hall.

The reception was held at the Grand Eastern ballroom in Bandung. We estimate that just over 400 people attended. Indonesian wedding receptions are very different from their western counterparts. They’re almost like an awards show. We entered entered the ballroom in a ‘grand procession’ and were seating on a stage with our parents. A professional emcee was hired to lead the whole affair. After a few short speeches, the first of eight courses were served to the guests after the wait staff entered in a parade.

Halfway through our meal, Agnes and I returned to the stage where we cut the cake, had our first dance and a wedding kiss — the cue for the confetti cannons. A few more speeches were delivered, pictures were taken (the Widjaja family barely fit on the huge stage) and then we lined up to shake 400+ hands. The reception started around 1:00 PM and wrapped up around 3:30 PM. Afterwards, Agnes and I headed straight to the photo studio for even more photos. Several hours later we were finally able to return to the hotel for about 30 minutes before we met Agnes’ family for an impromptu family reunion. It wasn’t until 10 PM that we were able to return to the hotel and get some much needed sleep.

Without a doubt, the most stressful ordeal I’ve ever endured — but so absolutely worth it.

Om Thomas accompanies Joe on the keyboard

Tonight my family joined Agnes’ family at their house for the traditional pre-matrimonial gift exchange, called Sangjit. Sangjit is a Chinese tradition that, from what I’m told, differs quite a bit from family to family. For our Sanjit, we each exchanged eight decorated baskets of gifts (clothes, shoes, perfume, jewelry). Although mostly symbolic now, sangjit is traditionally meant to provide everything a couple would need in their new life together.

To start the ceremony, I entered her parents’ house followed by my family and eight unmarried boys (nes’ cousins) carrying the eight baskets. Inside, the eight baskets were handed to eight girls; usually the bride’s friends or family. Ang pao is then given to the eight gift carriers in appreciation of their help. Typically, the girls will immediately do the same, carrying in eight baskets of gifts for the groom. Our sangjit included a mini Catholic mass at the house — priest and all.

It was quite an affair. Agnes’ parents ordered lots of food (nasi tumpeng, a variety of dejen pasar, several soups, and much more) and a giant tent for the front yard to accommodate the 100+ guests. Agnes used the opportunity to get a trial run of her wedding makeup and hairstyling.

Agnes’ makeup is removed — transforming her back into the person I know and love.

Afterwards, we ate more and mingled with her family that had arrived from all over Indonesia for the wedding. Another exhausting day but only a warm-up for what’s in store for us Sunday.

Luckily Nes’ cousin Dani works at Bandung’s international hospital and agreed to meet us. She was seen by two doctors in the emergency room, three x-rays were taken, drugs were prescribed and her foot was wrapped. It turns out nothing was broken [UPDATE: she’s almost 100% again now and feeling much better] but here’s the interesting part:

Services/medication

• Use of the emergency room
• Doctor’s examination
• Three x-rays
• Ace bandage
• Two prescriptions

The bill

All together, Grandma guessed around 800 USD; my dad guessed more. The actual bill was just under 260,000 Rupiah — about 24 USD. Amazing.

Sukahaji 87, Agnes’ parents’ home

We’ve been busy running around town finalizing wedding plans. Yesterday we met with the florist and picked out flowers, bouquets, and corsages. Today we’ll meet with the band and reception emcee. Yes, you need an emcee for wedding receptions here. From videos I’ve seen of Nes’ friends’ receptions, they’re quite a show. Not exactly our style, but it’ll be interesting. We were able to talk them into downgrading from fireworks to confetti canons though — just to give you an idea of what we’re dealing with here.

Tomorrow, we’ll head to Jakarta. Nes will visit the US embassy to renew her visa and We’ll pick up my parents from the airport. Right now Nes and her mom are out running errands, so I have a few hours to myself.

Nes vs. laptopzilla

Not much to do for the next several hours, but the airport has free wireless and laptop stations with the biggest damn laptops I’ve ever seen in my life (yes, that’s a full 10-key pad).

The airport here offers an interesting set of “transit tours” for travelers with extended layovers. The tours are nicely packaged into hour-long increments, so instead of sitting in the airport, you can get out into the city and explore Seoul’s popular neighborhoods and landmarks. We had really wanted to do the 5-hour tour, but by the time we located the tour desk, it was too late. Maybe next time.

Just another two hours here and then it’s a seven hour flight to Jakarta. From Jakarta, we’ll share the road with the thousands of Jakartans making their way to our final destination: the Paris of Java, Bandung.

Bandung priorities

1. Shower
2. Seek out the nearest bowl of Bakso Malang
3. Sleep