Raya & Food!

YES! That's the annual theme of Raya in Brunei.. well, every Bruneian on the face of Mother earth.. There's food everywhere. From biscuits and cakes to rendang beef and curry chicken. From plain water to bandung and varieties of soft drinks. Everthing was served on the table.

The biscuits..

The cakes..

SOTO everywhere!

I received many invites to 'open houses' the past few days. Not just me. My parents, siblings, aunts and cousins, too, got their own invitations. Just imagine how many houses we had to go to and how many calories of food we consumed in the past four days.

On the 2nd day of Hari Raya, my aunt and grandparents on my mom's side invited us and we went there first right after a last minute grocery shopping with my mom and my little sister at Manggis Mall Hua Ho and R&T Electronics in Kiulap. All my cousins were there and it was a very merry gathering. This was a family convoy day. Five families in four cars.. Last year was much merrier than this year. Since my uncle left for Germany for his course and since my aunt was hosting the open house, we were short of two families in the convoy this year.

Cousins...

Relatives at my mom's cousin in Jalan Pasai

Next, we went to Sengkurong area to 'ziarah' some relatives there. First, we went to visit my mom's cousin in Jalan Pasai. Besides taking a few sips of some soft drinks, I did not eat here. I was still still too full after the heavy lunch (very heavy!) at my aunt. I took some photos instead.

My uncle, aunts and cousins on the way back to their cars

Cousins again...

Later, we went to our 'nini amit' in Mulaut and the house was totally packed with our other relatives who visited the place at the same time. It was at this very rare time we met our relatives and exchange stories and gossips, share ideas and experience.. It was a memorable time.

My mom, my little sister and my aunt with my 'nini bungsu'

The third house we went to was my mom's cousin somewhere beyond Mulaut.. I don't remember what the place was but it was really far from Mulaut and further from Lampaki. (Aaaah.. I just can't remember it.. teehee~) Anyhoops.. last year when we went here, the mango tree was fruiting and my aunt gave my granddad some to bring home. So nice of her..

After that, we went to my aunt and grandparents on my dad's side in Jangsak. They had an 'open house' as well. Here, they served satay and ketupat. It was tasty.. I can still taste it in my mouth.. teehee~ (Kidding!) As usual, there was an almost 'free show' incident by my autistic cousin. He's always like that.. but he's a really good kid. We all love him..

The next destination was two of our relatives who are neighbours and whom I know nothing about.. teehee~

My mom and I decided to collect my brand new bar fridge for my room and left the convoy only to join them after I picked up the fridge somewhere in Telanai. We joined the rest of the family meeting them at my aunt's friend's place in Rimba. It was already 7ish PM and this was our last destination and I had to send my aunt and cousins to the jetty near Yayasan.

My brand new bar fridge ;)

Today was Fifi's open house as well and she invited me to her place but unfortunately, I couldn't go. My sincerest apologies to Fifi. I had to go to work at 9PM and I was dreading to go.

It was a little busy at work that night and I had to finish my statistics for August. By 1AM, I was too tired already and I had to take a rest. I fell asleep in the resting room and only woke up at 4AM. I was happy the phone did not ring and I got to finish my work by 7.30AM and I left the lab early.

Last Saturday, my family held an open house and we invited lots of people, family and friends. I personally had sent out text messages inviting my friends and colleagues to come over. A number of them turned up and as expected, it was rather a very busy day for all of us in the household. Thank god my sister got herself a housemaid and she helped a lot in the kitchen with the dishes and I had more time to entertain the guests. Otherwise, I'd just be saying hi-hello-enjoy-the-food-and-bye to everyone and returned to the kitchen to do the dishes. Not this year. I had more time to talk with my friends and colleagues.

Guests at my open house last Saturday

My mom with her siblings and my grandmother

Cousins and I..

Thank you to those who came and to those who were not able to come, there's always next year. Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Dan Batin to everyone.. again.. teehee~

My friends back at school

Lee, Anis and Arin

Zillah and her fiance at my open house

Oh.. My sincerest apologies to Shahiran who invited me to his place on Saturday. I'm so sorry I couldn't come and I know you must be expecting me.. So sorry..

Moving on.. Sunday was supposed to be another family convoy day for me but I had to change my plans. Anis and Zillah invited me to their open houses..and so did my eldest aunt (my mom's side). I was unable to decide between joining the family convoy with my mom and little sister or going out with Yusre and Zul to our friends' invitations. It has been a valuable family tradition to go in packs visiting our relatives but this year, I had to make a difference. So I decided to pick up Yusre and Zul.

Yusre

Zul

There was an open house at Zul's so Yusre and I were invited to come in to his place and enjoy the food. Afterwards, we went to Serasa to my aunt's open house but I was greatly misinformed. The food was only served at 2.ooPM but we were already there at 1.00PM. The food, as it was catered, only arrived at 3.00PM. We should've gone to Arin's and Anis' first. But we had a good time in Serasa. We spent our time taking stupid pictures of ourselves.. Teehee~

Aren't I bored?

When the food finally arrived, the place was already congested with our visiting relatives. I helped prepare the food into the chaffing dishes and invited people to dig in. I wasted no time and reached for the plates and got in line with the queue.. teehee~ it was late and we still had several houses to go to.

Next, we went to Kg Pandai Besi in Kampong Ayer to Zul's friend's (Muiz) place. Here, Yusre and I were stuck in front of the TV watching billiards 10-ball game. England's World Champion Darren Appleton was playing against Wu Chia Ching! We didn't get to watch it to the end as I was dying to leave to go to our next destination - Anis' in Jerudong!

On a boat trip back to jetty near Yayasan

Jobless at the Tugu Peringatan near Yayasan

Scenic view of the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddein Mosque and a Primary School just before it

Yes! It was a long drive and I practically driving around the whole of Brunei-Muara District yesterday.. teehee~ We were late to Anis' place.. sorry Anis.. it was Yusre's fault (teehee~ yes! blame it on him.. kidding!) nonetheless, the nasi impit was scrumptious and we got to watch Iron Man (or as Anis' brother put it, the terikah man..)!

Zillah's place was the next house to go to. I like the laksa Zillah served..it was really good. I didn't to eat the rice and other dishes as I was too bloated already. Oh and the custard biscuit was good too..

A detour to Court Furnishing.. I had to find a new coat hanger for my room. I just had to.. ;)

We had run out of place to go to so I decided to call Monne to inform that I was crashing her place.. teehee~ Actually, we were supposed to go to Zul's aunt in Kelugos, Tutong but his parents were still in Muara so we had to go somewhere else first. I was thinking to go to Yusre's place but his family went out to Rimba to visit some relatives. I thought maybe we should just go to my place after Monne's.

While waiting at my place, Zul's parents were on their way back home. Tutong was cancelled as it was pretty late already. After sending Zul home, Yusre and I went back to Subok to get his stuff before he returned to the hostel.

It was a great day yesterday... ;)