Category: Travel

Taken on vacation trips

The Sky’s Alive!

The Sky's Alive!
Taking a break from the Javanese wedding pictures (not everyone’s cup of tea judging from the lack of responses/feedback :P)…

This an even wider view of the clouds dancing to the setting sun over Ceromo Lawang (see the previous posts here and here). I simply love the unusual cloud formations as well as the lighting! Dad has got a different interpretation of the same scene here, captured with his Leica Digital Modul-R. Sometimes, I feel that the beauty of photography is seeing the different interpretations that can be derived from the same subject material. The difference is in what the mind’s eye see.

Chanting His Blessings

Chanting His Blessings
In continuation of the recent series on the Javanese wedding at Ceromo Lawang…

When the groom arrived at the bride’s house, they were led into and seated in the hall where blessings were chanted by this man in a religious ceremony. I am not exactly sure what he was chanting, but I guess it was all for good luck. As he chanted, he would use a brush and glisten offerings of food with (what I assume was) “holy water”. I managed to catch him in his chant against the interesting wedding decor within the hall. I am not sure what a fellow photographer actually shot right beside me, but I was quite pleased with the composition I got in the end, given the tight space constraints 🙂

I Wonder When?

I Wonder When?
More from the Javanese wedding ceremony that we witnessed in Cemoro Lawang…

For Singaporean Chinese customary weddings, the groom arrives to fetch the bride at an auspicious hour, accompanied by his entourage of “brothers” (male friends/relatives). When the bridal car arrives at the bride’s home, the car door has to be opened by a male member from her family. The usual choice is a young male cousin of the bride’s. I am surprised that an almost similar tradition is practiced in Java: Though I didn’t really see this boy open the car door, he played a central role in accompanying the groom and his mother in the wedding procession.

I racked my brains for a title for this. I eventually chose this title because I thought it was interesting in that it can be applied to both the groom, his mother and the boy (as to when they can enter the bride’s house). The curious look the boy had on his face also makes me wonder whether if he was wondering when his turn will come when he grows up and gets married eventually.