pardon my selfie but this is my favorite batik skirt

Last Sunday we all dressed in kebaya, batik or tenun to attend my sister's sidi. Sidi is a ceremony in Protestant churches, including in HKBP (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan or Church of Bataknese Christian Protestant --Batak is one of Indonesian ethnics from North Sumatra) which is more like a Confirmation Sacrament in Catholic, or a Catechismal/Baptist, if he/she had never been a Christian/Catholic before. This is more like an inauguration to become a good Christian and as one of the important conditions to get married in HKBP Church.

all women!

So we all departed from South Tangerang to Central Jakarta (which took us just 50-60 minutes on Sunday but would take 1.5-2 hours on other days) dressed up like we were going to a very formal party (which is how the Bataks are dressed for their Sunday Church) and we arrived for the 3 p.m. service at HKBP Menteng. The building is more like a chapel for Catholic's standard and seemed to lacking of this and that to me, for I had been going only to Catholic church my whole life.

after the ceremony

My sister did well on the ceremony and got her legal documents on becoming a Protestant (which sounds and seems so odd to me till now). That night we all had dinner at Singapore restaurant, our whole very big family of ours and of my sister's fiance. As the date of the wedding gets closer we are all getting busier but happier. It really is a great occasion, especially to extend our family members. I am very proud of my sister (;