The first night of Raya and we're having dinner at a food court

Aidiladha in Selangor

It was Hari Raya Aidiladha. We drove down south towards Salak Tinggi to Anya’s house even though they were spending their first few days in Kelantan. They would return home when we were still there. For the first few days, we were at their place with Cik Su F as company. On the third day of our visit, I went […]

Continue reading
See you guys next time

Old School Mates in Lumut

Not only is it Labour Day here in Malaysia, but it’s also Hari Raya Aidilfitri! It is very rare for our old school mates to meet up when we return home for the holidays. So it was a welcome pleasure to have met up with these dudes in Lumut. We talked about the future of the county, old times, lost […]

Continue reading
We wonder when the pandemic will end

Second Pandemic Eid of 2021

Sure, we had Aidilfitri a couple of months ago. Before long Aidiladha was before us. As usual we stayed at home. I imamed the Aidiladha prayers for Ain & Irfan. Ain made laksa johor with the help of my colleague Azreen’s pre-packaged spice. Ultimately we stayed at home and watched TV. (I put on The Empire Strikes Back for the […]

Continue reading
Then we headed for Bukit Jerneh

The Outbreak Aidilfitri II

Previously, on “The Outbreak Aidilfitri”… It has been 12 lunar months since the last Hari Raya and now Eid has returned, just in time for another nationwide lockdown. So that means we are unable to balik kampung again during the festive season. We had actually planned to spend Eid at a hotel but I decided against it for safety’s sake. […]

Continue reading
Ain in Lumut

Aidilfitri After The Lockdown

During hari raya, we were unable to cross state borders to balik kampung thanks to the COVID-19 quarantine. It was not the first time for us. As the MCO downgraded because of the reduced infection rate, we discovered that we were able to travel back to Sitiawan to meet up with Atok and Opah. We thought it would be good […]

Continue reading
After Eid prayers at home

The Outbreak Aidilfitri

And so it came to pass that Hari Raya Aidilfitri was held during the Covid-19 pandemic. We were forbidden to cross state lines, nor be in a gathering of souls that numbered more than a prescribed number. Thus we stayed at home during the first day of Eid. Ain made nasi dagang which was delicious. We packed some in takeaway […]

Continue reading
Ilham Bestari

The Place Where He Grew Up

The day after Aidiladha we thought we would head into the city to check out the borough of Pandan Indah where Irfan grew up. It would literally be a balik kampung for him even though the kampung was Kuala Lumpur. Born less than 10 klicks away as the crow flies in Kuala Lumpur Hospital, he knew no other home other […]

Continue reading

The Botanical Garden Expedition

We had to balik kampung this Aidiladha holidays. The kampung we returned to was neither Ain’s nor mine. It was Irfan’s.

On Saturday, after my Research Method class and my colleague Anis’ sister’s wedding, we drove from Perlis all the way to Nia’s house. Nia was happy that we came. We also met Aiman, Zara and family there.

The plan was that the next day, Sunday, we would all rendezvous at the Botanical Gardens at Shah Alam. Ain and I have not been there since before we were married. This was the children’s first time visiting it.

There were flowers. There was a rope bridge. There was archery. There was even a troupe of monkeys.

Irfan and his cousins entered the bunny farm where Nia became superlatively elated. According to Irfan, she even fearlessly fed a large goat by hand. There were no photos of the goat, but we do have other photos.

I posted on Twitter videos of Irfan shooting arrows at orcs a bullseye:

We were having lots of fun and it was only the second day in the Klang Valley.

Some Salam Lebaran From Sitiawan

For Eid, we were at Sitiawan taking photos with Atok and Opah. We also visited Marina Island near Lumut to see what the artificial island was like these days. Sometimes friends visited us. Sometimes we visited friends. We also took a trip to Ipoh to visit Wan Cu’s family.

Check out the photos in the following gallery:

Before long it was time to head home.

Pre-Aidilfitri in Pasir Mas

After our journey through Thailand to get to Pasir Mas, we finally arrived just in time for buka puasa at the dinner table with the family there. Nia and family were already there to greet us.

Here are some photos of the fun times over the days before we drove to Sitiawan for Aidilfitri!

Perak beckons.

When I grow up I want to be Iapetus

A Sad Raya Haji in Sitiawan

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha from the whole lot of us in Sitiawan… …or something. It was Eid and it was Sitiawan’s turn this year. The trip to Sitiawan was not stressful for traffic was more than manageable. After nearly three years, I am still getting used to raya traffic being bad in the opposite direction. Irfan and I performed […]

Continue reading
Nia in Jitra

Nia Nia’s Hari Raya in Kedah

En route back to Perlis, we stopped in Kedah where Nia Nia and family were celebrating Aidilfitri this year. Also present were Nia’s cousins Nawal and Adenin. Nia of course was a busy little girl with a lot of self-appointed assignments and jobs to complete. (Usually with toys.)

Continue reading
Three of NABO

Aidilfitri 2017 at Pasir Mas

Eid Mubarak from Pondok Lubuk Tapah! Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitir. Maaf Zahir & Batin! Our family were clad in blue this morning, as Irfan demonstrated in the picture above. I’m wearing my old baju raya from several years ago, by the way. Irfan with Ciksu, Ayah G, Tok Ma and Tok Bah. Us in blue with Ayah Long, Aiman, Mak […]

Continue reading
Early bird gets to jump on the still-sleeping cousin

Aidiladha Games

The second Eid of the year has come and gone. For Hari Raya Haji, we took the bus back to Pasir Mas. But for this Aidiladha post, we focus on games played by Irfan, Aiman and Zara when the cousins rendezvous at their grandparents house in Pondok Lubok Tapah. The bus arrived two hours late at the new Pasir Mas […]

Continue reading