Raya in Auckland

This year saw a much more festive Aidilfitri celebration for me.

On the eve of Eid, I made some Honey Joys (a success!)while Kak Zaidah cooked up a storm. Lontong, nasi impit, rendang daging, kuah kacang, and sambal udang...Our apartment smelt like a proper malam raya.

Last year, my apartment had smelt of multi-purpose cleaner and bleach. I was living alone, had nothing else to do but to go on a cleaning frenzy.

Back to this year-Right before I went to bed, I realized I hadn't changed my sheets! The horror! This is a ritual of mine. My room HAS to be spick and span for Hari Raya. So even though I was mighty sleepy, I managed to replace the sheets and tidied up the whole room.

Early in the morning Kak Zaidah and I took the bus to Ponsonby Mosque. I managed to get myself a source for my news story. Sweet.

Unfortunately for me though, I had a tutorial at 3. No one else in class knew it was a special day for moi and millions around the world, except for my tutor. Good on him.

Neway, Kak Zaidah's open house was due to start around 6. So we waited for people to come over.

And waited.

And dozed off.

When our very first guests rang the intercom thingy, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Hahah.



By 8 our apartment was jam packed with people. Having heaps of people around, even though I had no idea who most of them were, certainly made me feel like I was at home. Good food and good company equals great fun. It really did feel like the first day of raya this year in Auckland :)

Reading mokciknab's blog reminded me very much of beraya kat kampung. So I've decided to go down memory's lane.

Every year from when I was 1 til about 17, we would make our way back to Bota Kiri for Eid. The drive there, depending on where we were living at the time, could be very very long indeed. Long and WINDING before PLUS highway was built. Bless you PLUS.

Then petang before raya, nenek would get her api ready. Yup she made her own lemang. Aunty Ayang and Mama would start preparing all the dishes. Usually Mama would work on her laksa Sarawak and rendang while Aunty Ayang would be making her special ketupat.

My siblings and I would be in front of the TV of course. The older I got though, the more I was in charge of cleaning the dining and living room. I was also in charge of filling up the glass jars with biscuits. And ah yes, changing the cushion covers. Then we'd wait patiently for my cousins to arrive from Ipoh.

At night, we would main bunga api and mercun. Man I miss bunga api.

Nenek would crank up her radio to hear takbir raya right about this time.

Sometimes late at night, she would put inai on our lil' fingers and we'd hold our hands over burning candles to make it dry faster. But that stopped as soon as I turned 13...I think. Inai is not something I miss to tell you the truth. I find it terribly ugly. On my fingers at least.

On Eid morning, we'd have breakfast/brunch together. Then the usual salam salam stuff, which I dread. Guests would start coming over with pesky lil' kids (only there for the money and fizzy drinks). Later on, we'd make our way to relatives' houses. Pak Din, Pak Lah..and ntah siapa siapa lagi. Most of them were really poor and I remember they'd always say stuff like, "mintak maaf le takde apa nak hidang". And yet they still managed to serve us awesome teas and biscuits.

I would say the thing I miss most is not hari raya itself but malam raya instead. I think the whole atmosphere-mom cooking all night long and frantically decorating the house, Aunty Ayang on the floor still weaving her ketupat,neighbours coming over to see what mom's cooking, crappy Malay movies playing on TV...I miss the whole chaotic air about it.

Being in an actual kampung for Aidilfitri is a unique experience.

I miss it teribly. But now, my kampung dah jadi kampung orang lain. Haha. So I shall not dwell on it any longer.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin all the way from Aotearoa.