Selamat Hari Raya!!!

Selamat Hari Raya everyone. Maaf Zahir Batin. I can't believe that raya is Wednesday! This will be my second raya in the US.

I remember fondly as a child celebrating raya in Teluk Kumbar at tok wan and tok's house. It sure was a full house since all the children (my grand parents have 11 children) would be there with their kids in tow. So that was the time when I'd meet all my aunts and uncles and my cousins. The things we did as kids during raya was loads of fun. At that age our number one mission was to collect as much duit raya as we could from family as well as the neighbors. So Itos, myself and few of our cousins would 'round satu kampung' and go door to door. However, as we grew older, we became a little bit shy and would not go round making our collection. This tradition is however carried on by our younger cousins :)

The other thing that I remember about raya as a kid was the food. There would be tons and tons of food and drinks. My favourite had to be the drinks that my grandpa would order especially for hari raya. We would get Coke, F&N Fanta, 7UP etc that came in glass bottles. Man, that was so special and I loved my grandpa for that. He was so cool to get all those drinks :) And at that time, being able to drink fizzy drinks was a treat since it was only once in a blue moon that I was able to get my hands on those bad boys (mama doesn't think fizzy drinks are good for you). Also, it was like a tradition that every year I would eat and eat and eat and puke right after for eating too much! You think I'd learn. But noooo, I do it every year. But I'm happy to report that I do still eat and eat and eat now during raya but thankfully my body has learned to adjust and I am able to hold my food in! hahah..

My favourite food for raya has got to be nasi impit with rendang daging (my mum's), rendang ayam (my aunt Q), kuah kacang with perut (my cousin Kak Ina), and my own kari ayam. Yum..yum..yum.. Hari raya now as an adult involves eating, relaxing and socializing in front of the tv, eating some more, relaxing and socializing again, eating, you get where I'm going with this... ;)

Once again, Selamat Hari Raya and don't be eating too much of that rendang now...Save some for me!!!