Celebrated Aidiladha in Abu Dhabi

this year, 2013 is our 6th year celebrating aidiladha (hari raya haji) in UAE (united arab emirates). wow. 6th.

I still remember clearly our 1st ever aidiladha when we’re still a one-kid family. just the 3 of us; and I had just arrived in dubai the month before. I remember making popiah daging the night before hari raya haji 2008 to bring to the potluck breakfast at matrade building after the eid prayer (sembahyang raya).

6 years later, here we are. another aidiladha in the middle east! alhamdulillah!

 

berkorban apa saja untuk lelaki-lelaki ini.

 

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this year is interesting as we spent the whole day in abu dhabi, beraya with mr. khairul’s fellow bikers.

we first went to manx and zira’s house. they prepared a scrumptious spread of various malaysian delights. I was so excited to see so much food, especially one coveted food of mine – pulut kuning! haha. thanks zira, thanks manx for having us!

 

with tuan rumah, the spunky zira

 

my favorite and long-coveted pulut kuning (yellow glutinous rice, eaten with chicken curry) and on the side is the garnishing for curry mee.

 

sempat pulak menjala! that’s the soft roti jala with the delicious chicken curry.

 

garnishing for noodle soup. yum.

 

 

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this is one awesome drink. lime and asam boi. sugar and lots of ice. perfection. good job, zira!

 

oh my goodness – there’s even tapai!

 

mr. khairul in green sampin hanging out with tuan rumah manx in red, and another good friend wak.

 

spoilt for choice!

 

kiddos have the most fun during raya gatherings!

 

gorgeous malaysian ladies of abu dhabi & dubai; after such delicious variety of aidiladha lunch from manx and zira’s crib. there’s even laksa from zuraidah (along’s wife). burp, alhamdulillah! thanks so much you guys!

 

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the next house we went to for dinner – don and jaja’s place. don is another fellow biker, and I SO enjoyed talking to their daughters. smart and chatty! being a mom without daughters, I tend to be that one creepy aunt who likes to talk to little girls at gatherings. haha.

 

don and jaja served another fantastic spread for raya haji – malaysian style still! chicken satay complete with tasty peanut sauce. lontong (not a fan) and nasi tomato (HUGE fan!).

 

It was heavenly when I saw the nasi tomato complete with tomato-ish ayam masak merah (chicken cooked in chilli and tomato ketchup). love love love! my favorite nasi perisa aside from mandi rice!

 

from left zira, zuraidah, hostess jaja, balkish and me

 

from left : my mr. khairul, along syamsulfaiz, wak, host don, manx & bro razali

 

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another memorable aidiladha in the middle east – especially grateful for all the delicious malaysian dishes that we still get to taste all the way out here, jauh dari kampung halaman. thanks so much to manx and zira, and don and jaja for inviting us to beraya, and for that moment of borak-borak and makan-makan, aidiladha felt just like home.