Preparations for Raya

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updates! Ha ha. I know knowww I said it many times already! But erm...ermm...ermmm.....I forgot my blogger password? heh. Okay. No excuses! I was just..err...busy? ;p

So anyway, here is an update of my Raya in kampung... It's in Pahang - my dad's hometown by the way.  We spent two nights there. Then, we all Raya in KL, my mom's side..

I'm glad that I still have at least one kampung to visit and spend the night. If let say both my parents are from KL...Hmm, I think it'll be kinda plain to celebrating the festival in the city... Somehow I think, the Hari Raya spirit is much stronger in kampung area as compared to the city... Err... although we, city people might have the spirit in some other sense, like shopping raya for example. hehe. But for that gathering, and helping one another, masak beramai-ramai, gotong royong, and visiting relatives and things like that, I think we can see more of that in rural areas... - KLites punya style raya, buat Open House panggil caterer and ajak random people. (Maybe) heheh

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So since my dad always go back to his hometown every two weeks (since the day he started his first job working in KL until now, he never fail to visit his mom and dad every two weeks!), so we just spend two nights in kampung - and that's on the last two days of Ramadhan. That evening on the first day of Raya, kami turun beraya kat KL pulak..as my mom's siblings and relatives banyak kat KL..



So here is a little update as for my Hari Raya preparations...

On the way to the East Coast. Woohoo...jalan clear! 

After 2 hours of driving, here we are..arrived at Lanchang

This house is situated beside my grandma's current house. 

This house above used to be my grandparents' house. So yeah..my dad grew up in here. Hmm...when I think about where my dad came from and where he grew up, I'm just amazed with what he has now and has achieved today... He's one amazing guy..  O_O 

And I love listening to his stories about his life and about the things he did when he was little... Seriously, he did so manyyyyy things during his young life, that I think he can write a book about it! hehe.. Just give him a village or maybe even a jungle/woods, I'm sure he'll come out in one piece and survive perfectly! hehehe... 

(And I wonder howwww this city girl gonna live, if someone ever throw her in the village or the woods! haha.. I don't think I can survive long! Cuz I don't even know how to rubber tapping or.. make a sampan or even a simple rakit! haha.. Or staying up all day and night in the tree to watch the animals from eating your fruits, or whatever... Or dealing with all kinds of creatures like lipan, lipas, lintah, cicak kuning, cicak kobeng, cicak coklet, cicak gemuk, cicak hitam, cicak terbang, cicak lompat, cicak tidur, and segala jenis cicak, ulat-ulat, harimau, ular, and the list goes on and on! You know laaa kan.... Kat kampung ada banyak binatang yang boleh buat you either cry or scream or maybe stand still. haha. 

Eh..saya ni dah lari topic ni. LOL ;p But really, my dad is a true hard core orang kampung. It is SO cool when you know all the kampung, hutan belantara stuff and yet you know all the technical, engineering, buildings, and all the intelligent stuff! I salute sama dia! hehehe ;p 

By the way, I once went inside this house and went to explore the house to see where my dad used to live.. It was very dark that time (no one lived there anymore, so no electricity), and it was so creepy! I felt something or someone was starring at me.. Eeeekk...scary! So I just went there for like 5 minutes only! haha.. But at one glance inside the house, it looked quite big actually... I can imagine my dad balik sekolah naik rumah, tolong Wan (my grandma) saya..hihi... 

So anyways... here's where my current kampung really is...

So this is where my 90+ year old grandma lives now. Sorry, there's my grandma's pokok in the way, not allowing me to take the house picture. hehe

....and that's her cat named Awang, who eat all kinds of food including durian. Seriously! haha

And these are the chickens who made me awake all night long because they can't stop crowing and clucking.. Ugh. My grandma has a lot of pets around her house.. She has ayam, itik, kucing, err...what else? Hmm... Oh! And my dad used to have a beruk too, named Awang as well! haha. (Apparently  all of his pets were called Awang! haha. What a funny name!)

But anyway, I guess that explains where I inherited the interest in monkeys! (and other animals). 

Seriously, I would love to own a chimpanzee or a monkey to be my pet! They are too cute and they understand us! So that's awesome! hehe ;)

Anyway, two nights before Raya, after tarawih with my dad and the whole family, I helped the two maids making ketupats..

I wanted to learn how to weave the traditional squared ketupat. But that night they just made the triangle ones -which is a lot easier, and which I just found out that the name is Ketupat Palas. hehe.

I've seen them before, but I don't know the name! I thought all ketupat is the same and shares the same name! HA HA.. My dictionary for Hari Raya is only "nasi himpit", "ketupat" and "lemang". I didn't know they have different category and names for that! I really thought we only have one type of ketupat.. heheheh. ;p 

Anyway that night they made the Ketupat Palas and another one I forgot the name, but it's a different ketupat too. Ketupat Gulung, I think. Because it looks like they've rolled them up! haha. Ok whateverrr...don't believe what this silly girl is talking about! ;p Later I'll go ask my mom what was the name of the ketupat that the maids were making that night k..hihi

Anyways..

Here's my attempt to making a simple (as my maid said) ketupat!

LOL. Tak jadi/tak cantik! My ketupat seems a bit senget..haha. "Simple" lah sangat, kan?!  haha.. Never mind, first attempt..let's try again! 

So my bibik taught me..

And here's the result! hihihi. Berjaya! 

So these are called Ketupat Palas! hehe ;p

(I used to called them Ketupat Tiga Segi)

So the next day, which was a day before Raya (on Monday), everyone did what we're supposed to do from morning till evening. The Preparations. Semua ada tugas.. Adik aku yang dari tak tahu buat kayu api pun, dah tahu sikit-sikit...hehehe.. But it was fun actually! I mean..I saw a lot of things that we did from scratch. So traditional. Me likey! Dodol je beli. Kalau dulu, Wan saya buat sendiri jugak tapi now, my dad beli jer... 

Anyway, I helped my mom in the kitchen too...but only half way! Heeee.. Bagusnya anak dara ni..haha.. Well actually because remember that little chickens that made me stay up all night long?? So yeah.. That explains why. Bcuz at 3 pm, I just couldn't tahan anymore. Body was too tired and sleepy, so I HAD to recharged my energy until 5.30 pm, otherwise I'll turn into a zombie. tskk

My lil' brother trying to find some "kayu api"

Setting up the fire..

Boiling some water..

Seeeee...so traditional! So classic! hehe... We used "kayu api" instead of stove or gas! hehe

Back in the kitchen, I helped my mom washed the Nasi Himpit packs

Time to cook them!

My brother watching it..

These are half of the 6 coconuts that my Mak Long have shredded (for the lemang and rendang)

Daging kerbau... (I thought they were yucky. But actually they're yummy!)

Ayam for Rendang Ayam

Santan for my grandma's awesome creamy yummy lemang! Oh my god, that's a lot of santan eh?! There goes my diet! >_<

I watched carefully how my Mak Long did the lemang... So now I know how they are made! But if you ask me to do it, haha... It won't happen cuz I don't know how! ;p

This is my bibik. She's always too nice to me (Probably bcuz I'm too nice to her too! heheheh ;p)

(there are a lot of other things that I forgot to snap or too busy doing something that I can't snap photos for me to share it with you guys here... Sorry about that!)

While all the ladies were busting their butt off in the kitchen, the gents were outside, setting the fire and bakar lemang..

My granny's lemang yang sangat berkrim!

This is my Wan, my grandma. She's 90+ year old already, but still so strong and healthy. Alhamdulillah.

...and that's me, unhelping..looking at how the lemang is cooked. 

I'm one jakun fella, I tell you. I need to see and touch and take photo of all things nice, that caught my eyes, which sometimes annoys people. haha. Sorry peeps! But I'm always so jakun! haha ;p

And that's my dad, doing a little barbeque..

.....nak buat Daging Salai katanya

And back at the kitchen, mommy were doing her delicious award-winning awesome fantastic Rendang Ayam, Rendang Daging, Kuah Kacang, Kuah Lodeh, etc. Mmmm.... Honestly, NO ONE  could ever beat my mom's awesome rendang and kuah kacang and kuah lodeh! I dah pergi mana-mana rumah, tak pernah lagi orang boleh kalahkan my mom's cook! hehehe.. Even my sister pon cakap, dah pergi banyak-banyak rumah, my mom's still THE BEST! Tapiii...aku ni haa...bila entah nak tahu masak lauk-lauk Hari Raya ni.. (please high-five with me! :p)

When my mom asked me, when one day I got married and have family and all, what am I going to cook when it's Hari Raya if I don't know how to make all these! .....errr...errr..... I said, I'll ordered pizza and make a lasagna and spaghetti! Easier! Hahaha. She just nods her head from side to side and I could imagine she whispered to herself... "Apalah nak jadi anak aku ni...makan makanan orang putih on Hari Raya" haha ;p

Okay okayy mum....  I. Will. Learn. SOON! hehe 

Cooking is in progress.. Yum. Yummy....

Rendang Daging

Rendang Ayam

Kuah Lodeh 

(Kuah Kacang lupa nak ambik gamba..hehe)

Dan ini adalah.... Ketupat Plastic! hehe

Mmmm... Bon appetit!

(Classic tak pinggan ni? hehe.. I feel like I'm in the 60's, 70's era. hihi)

Okayy...Selamat Hari Raya semua! Nanti I sambung lagi cerita Raya I, ok? Now nak makan! Byeeee! :)

XOXO,

S.