I know Raya was a week ago and this is probably more than way overdue but what the heck:
SELAMAT HARI RAYA!
maaf zahir & batin
I have been MIA for quite some time now and that I do apologise. Having realised that timemanagement isn't one of my strong points, it all starts to make sense hehe. With exams round the corner and my surgical run taking up my everyday...not much room to even breathe haha but that didn't mean that I couldn't enjoy Raya ;).
One good thing abt being busy tho was that fasting month went by oh-so-quick (besides the fact that I almost fainted in the operating theatre once..and I felt like sleeping 24/7 hehe). We budak2 melayu did manage to meet up a few times tho to buka together-gether:
~ Potluck buka puasa at Azri & Khairi's place over the weekend. Khairi ajar buat ondei2, wah best dapat makan kuih Msia hehe.
[(L-R): Ain, Azri, Khairi, Me, Fizah & Nadia]
~ Majlis berbuka puasa held by the Msian students society here - even more kuih Msia! Yum yum hehe and Msian food on top of that: ayam percik, rojak...hmmm nope, not missing Msia at all ;).
Last weekend was extra special as the biggest event of the year at IH (International House) took place on Saturday night - International Night! Preparations began 2 mths prior, with the residents of IH forming groups according to their countries/cultures and set to the task of a performance as well as a 'culinary cuisine' to be prepared by each group.
We Msians were semangat of course..wanting to perform 3 dances and cook 2 dishes! What better way to encompass the Msian culture than by performing Chinese, Malay AND Indian dances (that was also the only way we could involve the 20+ Msians we have at IH hehe since the typical 'Dikir Barat' had already been performed last yr). Being the only Malay girl no guesses for what dance I was put into ;). I did however volunteer to cook something up - ayam masak merah to be exact (mama's recipe hehe) and Han, the sole Bruneian here (who is our honourary Msian), had his recipe for longan in lychee agar agar with coconut jelly...hmm yum. We would all look forward to nights when we had 'dance practice'...a provided excuse to get thro the day. Believe me, those were definitely nights of goofing around and mimicking each others dances, with the songs to the dance playing in our heads the entire next day. It gave us all the chance to bond hehe and by the time the 'Night' came...we were ready!
The morning of 'the Night' I spent with my helpers (thanks Chris, Micheal & Ivan) in the dining hall kitchen whipping up the ayam masak merah. Woah, never have I been in a 'professional' kitchen before...you should see the size of the cooker I used! Wait a min..I'll put a pic up hehe. Will you take a look at the size of that thing! Sudahlah we had to cook for 160+ people who live at IH hehe ;). Like the hairnet look on me? HAHA please don't answer that. (that's Elton - our chef, in the background).
And now on to the actual Night!
International Night was considered a 'formal dinner' occasion, so everyone was all dressed up =). Here are some of my fav pics:
[With my 'go-for-meals' buddy ~ Lin Hui]
[The dashing men - (L-R):Alex, Yewin, Khan, Anil, Tung, SJ, Ivan, Junway, Foong & Meng]
And finally, the video of our performances...this is my first video on my blog so be patient with me ppl, it's a tad long n semi-clear hehe but still enjoy!
[Uda & the girls]
[LinHui & Uda]
