Eid Mubarak

Today is Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Daddy went to pray with the boys at the mosque, and when Daddy got back, we celebrated Raya “Old School” at our home. Mommy prepared some delicious Malay cuisine, namely, Rendang and Nasi Impit. Mmmm…. Yummy…

Before I continue, let me just say, we took some awesome pictures and videos on this day, but we lost them when I suddenly had to reformat my hard drive due to an OS failure… Hopefully, it won’t happen again. Maybe I need a new computer?

UPDATED: I forgot that this video was already uploaded on you tube. Hurray!!! Check it out:

Before eating, we did our customary round of forgiving, cause that’s what we usually do the morning of Eid. We also gave the kids some Duit Raya. After that, it was on to the food. The food Mommy prepared was great. And just like last year, Daddy bought some Danish butter cookies to mimic Malaysian “Kuih Raya”.

UPDATED: We found more videos. After our feast, we started our customary tradition of forgiveness:

And that’s how we spent out modest Eid in Vancouver. Later in the day, I also took a video of the kids singing ABC. They love to sing. But unfortunately again, that video is lost forever.

To everyone who read this: Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir & Batin

Turkey Iftar

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and we decided to host a little Turkey Iftar at our home at Acadia Park. As usual, Mommy (and Daddy, kind of) picked a recipe from the Internet, and Voila! We have turkey.

The turkey we got for today was a little smaller than last year. It was the last one they had (again…), and we didn’t really have much choice. And, we have more guests this time around this year. Hopefully, it’ll be enough. Everybody was anxious to start the feast. And Mommy made a bunch of other things as well, which hopefully complemented the spread.

The party was festive. I thought it was a good idea for the guests to write their name on their little plastic cups. You know how you always lose your cup at a party and have to get a new one? Well, as it turns out, people got pretty creative with their cups. Some people wrote catch phrases, while others drew cartoons. Too bad I didn’t take any specific pictures of any cups.

This year’s crowd was a lot more ‘turkey-savvy’. Many of us actually camped out near the turkey, while the rest ate in the living room in front of the TV. It was a good time. Daddy hung out with the ‘turkey-savvy’s.

Mommy hung out in the living room. Looks like she’s doing well socializing with the other ladies. Too bad people didn’t stay very long. Despite it being Thanksgiving weekend, there are apparently a lot of exams this week, and so everybody left quite early, certainly a lot earlier than last year. But that’s okay. It was fun.

In any case, we made a pretty good dent in the turkey. No much left over, which is a job well done. I wonder when we’ll have our next turkey session. Christmas perhaps?

Cleaned Out!

Dancing Arman (And Melur)

Sometimes on the weekends, the kids would hang out in Daddy’s room before taking their bath. On this particular day, Arman ventured to the bedside and turned on the clock radio. I was so surprised so see him dancing to the music on his own. He looked so cute that I just had to get it on camera. Take a look:

And of course, Melur being the attention seeker she is, had to get herself on camera too. She was very persistent too. And so, to be fair, I got her on video too.

And this was how we spent this Sunday morning, as Mommy prepares for the great feast this afternoon. Today is TURKEY DAY!!!

Iftar at the Boys'

Today, some of the students were hosting their own Buka Puasa at the Boys’ Place at Fairview. We’re planning on hosting our own Iftar tomorrow, so I guess they’re in the same spirit. We weren’t originally planning on going to the Boys’ Place because Daddy actually has a gig at the CSSA Mid Autumn Festival. But Daddy met Zul and Ina at Safeway while doing the groceries. Zul and Ina were busy preparing for the event, and urged us to come over. And so we decided to drop by, even for just a little while.

The mood was very festive. Raya music was playing on the stereo. Ina and the gang prepared a huge assortment of food. Quite impressive… Thanks, Ina! Since we didn’t stay very long, we didn’t get to take that many pictures. But our brief stay was extremely enjoyable.

Sorry we couldn’t stay longer. Daddy had to leave in about half an hour, and so Mommy headed home with the kids at the same time. The event went pretty well. You can view Daddy’s rendition of “Tong Hua” on You Tube. Tomorrow we prepare for our own Iftar with a big ole turkey.