Raya Haji Feast

selamat hari raya haji, everyone!

dubaians celebrated eid adha today, 16th, unlike our family and friends back in malaysia who will celebrate hari raya haji tomorrow. it’s kind off weird for me. this was the first time i called abah to wish selamat hari raya, and forgot that he hasn’t celebrate it yet! hihi.

as usual, here in dubai, malaysians gather at the matrade office, oud metha building for the eid prayer. my boys were all-blacks today. being the only female, i have every color in the world to choose from. hihi.

 

there’s a huge improvement this time around – kahfi and khaleef kept their sampin and songkok on for much longer than last hari raya. haha.

 

yes, that’s kahfi on his routine run-around walk-about activity. and while kahfi roamed around the place, khaleef made friends with izani – and they instantly hit it off.

 

khaleef & new buddy izani

 

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ah, the food.

 

fida, did you make these yummy buns & delicious mini pizza?

yes, those (pict above) are my two trays of baked mac & cheese i brought for the pot luck. hopefully sedap and semua enjoy makan! hihi. and the next picture is the roti canai that myUAE pro (msian assoc) ordered specially for this makan-makan

 

lin, if you’re reading this – are those brownies yours? coz i think i remember eating them at your place last raya. sedap sangat!

there’s even baklava! which i didn’t get to try. somebody brought cakes too. kesian khaleef wanted the chocolate one, but when we finally got to it, it’s completely GONE. really. yang tinggal only half of the tutti frutti cake.

 

 

some sitting on the soft orange blocks that act as sofas, some on the swivelling chairs, most of them standing and some groups were even sitting on the carpet floor.

every malaysians were enjoying the scrumptious dishes! i myself were stuck at my corner because of kazim, so mr. khairul were coming and going – adding yummies to my plate! hihi.

 

me with the ladies : us, wives of malaysian government officers in dubai

 

to dear fairus (who had gone back to malaysia for good), i really miss having you around during these gatherings! and fida, nape takde tadi? but it was a nice surprice to meet a friend of mine back in my melbourne days, akmal. it just brought a piece of melbourne back in the recesses of my mind…

to akmal, call me! forgot to invite you to my place this 19th la! *smile*

* * *

every year, raya gatherings in dubai for mr. khairul wouldn’t be complete without a photo session with his fellow malay college alumni.

abg zaim, abg faisal, mr. khairul and this other mckk dude 

 

decked in the school sampin, their smiles showed a bond that transcends age. heck, even us wives are dubbed mcobanita (mcoba stands for malay college old boy assoc)!

and as usual, abg faisal’s wife kak muna and i enjoyed making fun of our husbands’ obsession with their alma mater. udah udah le tu bang oii.

 

kak muna & me, kak muna, kak rozi (abg zaim’s wife) & me

 

* * *

kahfi!

thanks to aunty lin for coming to the rescue! haha. lin’s hubby bob was like, “syigim, ko tengok apa anak ko dah buat,” and i thought he broke the large glass flower vase that was blocking the stairs. rupa-rupanya there he was taking off his pants, socks and shoes and was sitting on the floor scratching! 

drama hari raya haji!

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last year, i remember clearly going to my dear friend fauziah’s house for beraya with her delicious homemade roti canai. and in the evening of last year’s raya haji, we were enjoying fairus’s satay – grilled right in her backyard.

this year, fauziah went back to malaysia for raya haji, and fairus had gone back to malaysia. this was a quiet hari raya haji for us. went straight home to plan a birthday dinner for khaleef since we didn’t go for a special dinner yesterday.

beraya-raya haji will have to wait til this weekend – to whom this may concerned – jangan lupa on the 19th, 3pm onwards, people!