Eid in Sydney 2010

First Day - Friday Sept 10

Creative touch of the Malaysia Hall Sydney residents adds a festive mood to the venue.

The Eid prayer was led by Ustaz Sabri who later gave a short sermon and du'a.

Young men in traditional gear queuing up for a simple Eid breakfast of fried noodles.

Candidates for Angelina's fiance #4? hmmmm.....

Aunty H, hubby and youngest son. We adjourned to their home after the prayer at Malaysia Hall. Our first Open House for the day.

A familiar sight Down Under - bbq! Even on Eid! Oh, but this young man (Aunty H's eldest son) was busy bbq-ing the ubiquitous Malaysian satay....

Some of Aunty H's offering....our first burps...there were nasi impit, pulut, beef rendang, chicken masak merah, biryani, beef curry, beef and chicken satay....etc etc etc...her cookies were specially imported from Malaysia!

Some of Aunty H's guests. That cute little boy is Nicholas....he's so lovable!

Then we went to visit Ustaz Malik who was the imam of the Darul IMAAN mosque. There was a big crowd at his house. He still remain cheerful greeting his guests despite his illness.

Ustaz Malik's wife (right) with a guest. She's also ill and hardly leave the house nowadays.

Then we went to Nana's place in Camden and played with these kids, and 11 others! We stayed overnight at Nana's.

Second Day - Saturday Sept 11th

Another trip to Malaysia Hall for the 1Malaysia Open House. There was an abundance of food....glorious food...

Budding entrepreneurs? No....just some happy volunteers who helped out at the satay stall....

Hmmm...that looks yummy...oh yes...Eid is also all about sharing yummy food.

Some families had sort of a picnic indoors.

There was a live band too...no, nobody invited me to sing! sob sob sob....

1Malaysia in Sydney!

The muscles behind the scene....aka the staff of the Malaysian Consulate in Sydney.

Group photo of students who attended the Open House.

I love it when families come in colour coordinated outfits.

These Aussie lass have Malaysian origin! Brad was drooling at the sight of these lovelies.

Group photo of the organising committee and crew members.

After all that gluttony at the Malaysia Hall, we visited Aunty HH's home in Bondi Junction. There were mee kari, mee sup, chicken rendang, nasi impit, kek lapis, cheesecake, apple crumble etc etc etc....another round of burps....

Some of Aunty HH's guests.

Third Day - Sunday Sept 12

As of now, we are still at home though we've been invited to more Open Houses....we'll see.... Well, Mama decided to do her laundry today too. Oh well.... purrr....meow!

BazRam in Sydney?

Sweet lass hawking their wares....yummy pau goreng inti sambal there.

We got quite excited when we heard the news. Who would have thought that Malaysian culture would spread that way....

Anyway, Mama took us to the Bazaar on Sunday. Of course, compared to TK's or Pak Mat's depiction of bazaars in their place, this one is sooooo teenie weenie and only happens on Sundays. However, it's the spirit that counts, people.

Sibuk macam pasar...at the bazaar.

Mooted by the Malaysian Consulate in Sydney and held on the grounds of the Malaysia Hall in Randwick, students or their spouses were encouraged to set up stall and show us their culinary skills. Considering some ingredients for Malaysian cooking are hard to come by, the "entrepreneurs" didn't disappoint too much. While some dishes are way too different compared to the original (too much adaption here and there due to lack of ingredients I guess), some are quite authentic.

Hmm...their mothers would be proud of these blokes.

And people come from all over. We met people who came all the way from Penrith and Blacktown (about an hour and a half drive away) and there are those who come from Liverpool and Prestons (one hour away). Amazing, really, because publicity was none and the news spread through words of mouth only.

People came from all over to the bazaar.

If they were to hold more of the bazaars, the organisers should think of advertising it more. And it should be opened to everyone, not just Malaysians in Sydney. The Bangladeshi guys at the Caltex station next door thought they won't be allowed in....poor blokes. Mama took pity on them and gave them some of the "kuih" we bought. We got "Terima Kasih" and "Malaysia Bagus!" for that. Those blokes must have visited Malaysia in the past.

Food wise, there was a lot on offer. From Nasi Lemak to Nasi Kerabu and Nasi Permata (kinda like Nasi Minyak) and Nasi Ambang, and there was Soto Ayam, Mee Rojak, Pulut Kuning, Gulai Kawah, Kerabu Perut....and lots of "kuih" varieties - sweet and savoury - pau goreng, pulut udang, koleh kacang, bingka ubi, cara, seri muka etc etc etc.

Gulai Kawah in Sydney? That humongous wok (kawah) came all the way from Malaysia we were told.

We try to limit ourselves in the buying though...note that nobody was selling fish of any kind... for a cat, that's a tad disappointing. If there's another one next weekend, we'll surely be there again. purrr....meow!

Only one stall sells drinks though.