tentang My Raya Report (2010)

today is the 6th of raya.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! eid mubarak! happy eid!
to everyone and maaf zahir batin :D

the preparation
our raya this year is to me the best raya in adelaide so far. we made some kuih raya (well.. my wife did. i provided the moral support). got some kuih last month when we transit at KLIA too. we got 3 kad raya (proper ones, not digital/text) and stuck it to our board. bought a raya furniture and some other stuff for the house for raya.

1st of shawwal
we did not cook anything special today as we plan to spend the day in the city visiting friends. so early morning we went to al-khalil mosque for the eid prayers. unfortunately, we couldn't make it in time so we went to the city mosque instead. the prayer in the city was 30 mins later. after the prayer, we stayed at the mosque and had biryani rice, some roti and various dessert. there was nobody that we know there but we made some new friends.

we then head to bonython park where a group of malaysian post grads are meeting up to celebrate raya. it was not a huge group but there was plenty food for everyone. we have never taken part in their activities before (although we've been in SA for almost 3 years now) so i had to make a formal introduction.. which was embarrassing and unexpected. but it was not too bad. there we met Kak Gina (blog sweet like candy). my wife loves to read her posts

after bonython park we went back to the mosque for friday prayer and then went to an aunt's place. the aunt and her family were going to a malaysian student's open house so we tagged along. turns out, the hostess, a student, is attached to UM. the place where my wife went to for her degree.

the earlier beautiful day is starting to get cold again and rain is on the way. at about 4 we decided to go home. we were full and kinda tired anyway. so we went home, cleaned up the house and started cooking for the next day. we're having our closest friends over to celebrate raya with us

the open house
because it's raya, we invited our dearest friends over on the 2nd day of raya. my wife made ketupat, lemang, rendang, chicken korma, peanut sauce, the kuih raya, and fruit cocktail for desert/drinks. Since that is sort of aussie culture to bring a plate, the guests brought vegetable curry, steamed rainbow trout, a carrot cake, a chocolate cake, ice cream, and juices. that is a lot of food!

the firsts to arrive were the group of malaysian-chinese undergrads who live in roseworthy (where we lived before). the had other plans later that day so they had to come early. then an aussie friend (who is really like our foster mum) arrived with her steamed fish. our chinese friends, the newlyweds, arrived later followed by another chinese couple (also from china); and another aussie friend. the last to arrive was our taiwanese friend who used to be our neighbour in roseworthy college.

so no malay friends? no, our closest malay friends have gone back to malaysia for raya, and some for good. the indonesian family have gone back to indonesia a couple of months ago. we kinda miss them, they were like family to us.. we used to have tarawikh together at their house, we celebrated raya together and because they are a lot older then us, they would look after us and helped us whenever we had any trouble.. and when we're being naughty

the day went really well. we ate and chatted. we showed pictures of our recent trip to the UK and France. and when everyone was done eating, we played wii games - wii play, wii sports, and finally guitar hero. it is really fun playing simple games with a fun group. especially boxing! XD

3rd hari raya
the malaysian carnival 2010 was held that day in victoria park, which is right in the center of adelaide city. we only heard about it the week before, and because of the location, i expected there to be a lot of people. but the sight that greeted us that day was way beyond what i thought it would be like.

we arrived there at around 12pm. the carnival was set up in a simple way - the food stalls on the left, the stage in the middle, and other stalls and booths on the right.

there was not too many people at the 'other stalls' area except for the cooking demonstration tent. the runner-up of 2009 australian masterchef, Poh, was there to do some malaysian cooking demo. a lot of people went to see her and later ask for her autograph.

at the stage area, there were many people, just not too packed but the large opening behind the seats for the stage, people with their food sat down on the grass making the whole carnival look like a massive picnic!

finally the food stalls. there were people everywhere. the lines were super long and the food wasn't prepared quick enough.

after saying hello to friends that was there, we decided to line up for food. we planned to buy a nasi lemak and karipap from one stall and a ramly burger (ala burger special tepi jalan), muar chee and some kuih talam from another. so we each stood in a line and waited. after over 1 hour my wife finally got her turn and then she found out only the nasi lemak is available, and there was another 20mins wait for that. since she waited in line for so long, might as well buy it. just a little later, my turn came and almost the same thing happened. only the burgers were available. so i bought one and waited for the burger.

we walked around to other stalls to see what else is there (and with the shortest line) and got samosas, chee cheong fun, tau fu fah; came back to the earlier stalls to claim our nasi lemak and burger. then we head to the picnic area and sat down to have our lunch in the midst of the mostly malaysian crowd :D. we went home stuffed and happy

4th hari raya
it is a monday so my wife will have to go to school today. i started blogging again and check the many updates on facebook. uploaded a few raya pics for our family to see. but 4th day is still raya right? i was still in raya mood because of all the raya vibes online blogs and such. it was great. for dinner, my wife made an awesomely hot lontong with even spicier sambal ikan bilis! it felt like raya all over again.