Aidiladha 2008

Earlier this year we made a pact, which is to celebrate Aidilfitri in Kelantan and to celebrate Aidiladha in Johor. People said that the celebration of Aidiladha is more ‘meriah’ in the East Coast, especially in Kelantan. I had an extremely wonderful Aidilfitri celebration in Kelantan this year. So for this reason, at one point I was thinking of ‘breaching the contract’ that we had because I wanted to celebrate Aidiladha in Kelantan. Surely it’s going to be relatively great compared to the one in Johor. But this was opposed by my husband. He said it is not fair. He said that he should be given a chance to spend time with my extended family. So, okay, I said. We went back to Johor.

We made our way on Saturday morning. We stopped by at my auntie’s place in Bangi so that we all could go together in two cars. After breakfast, we were on the road. The weather was good, The North-South highway was packed with vehicles. It was a long weekend and everybody was going back to their respective hometown. Kindly be informed that I was behind the wheel at that time because my husband was tired after a long, hectic day the day before.

The playful Aqil, fooling around shortly before leaving Bangi.

We reached my grandparents’ house about an hour and a half later. Pak Alang and family were already there. So did Pak Uda and Pak Andak. Pak Itam and family arrived later. I spent the rest of the day at the kitchen, where everybody ‘lepaks’. The kitchen is now huge after being renovated by Abah. Huge enough to accommodate a dining table, a TV set and a queen-sized bed for Achik and her newly-born son to rest. The next evening, we were going to have a kenduri kesyukuran for this newly-born baby.

Amir Faiq

The next morning, we had a gotong-royong for the majlis kesyukuran. My husband woke up as early as 6 am. Immediately after subuh prayer, he followed Pak Alang to buy 10 chickens from a nearby supplier. They also brought back some beefs and fishes. I helped my one and only bachelor uncle, Cik Dan, to prepare breakfast. It’s worth mentioning that Cik Dan is a good cook.

Assisted by Syamil, Pak Itam’s son, my husband took the task of “menyiang” the 10 chickens and the fishes. Pak Alang was working on the beef. And me, I did various jobs together with my grandma, Cik Dan, and my aunties Mak Uteh, Mak Andak, Makni and Mak Itam.

Penyiang ayam - My husband and his sidekick, Syamil.

My grandma and Mak Uteh

Pak Alang marinating the chicken. At the back, Penyiang Ayam are now Penyiang Ikan.

Later on, somebody brought 3 ayam kampungs (living ones). One of them got away into the nearby bushes. So we were left with 2. Pak Uteh, the “established slaughterer” in my family performed his job on those 2 chickens. Eventually, Pak Anjang took the task of ‘processing’ the ayam kampung. Makni prepared her special rending recipe and Pak Alang later took over the cooking of the rending ayam kampung. We also made kuih koci and ketupat.

Pak Anjang working on the ayam kampung

Teknik menyebatikan ayam dan rempah.

Pak Alang struggling with the rendang.

Banana leaves for wrapping teh kuih koci.

Cik Dan - the specialist.

The gotong-royong continued after lunch. The 10 chickens and the fishes were to be barbequed.

The making of Kuih Koci

Pak Alang getting the ketupat done

Ketupat

Additional fishes to be BBQed

Later after Asar, my mom arrived with my sisters Dibah and Atak together with my trio brothers Azwan, Azri and Anwar. Everybody was quite tired by this time. The only thing which needed to be done was the barbeque.

The barbequing started after Maghrib prayer. This time the gotong-royong crew increased. My younger cousins were very helpful when it comes to membakar ayam. Some of them even placed their bookings on the chicken - which drumstick belongs to who, who wants the thigh, who ‘chop’ the wings, who gets the breast, etc. Some of them even holding empty plates while waiting.

Chicken BBQ

Fish BBQ

Getting hot

The BBQ crowd

Anwar just cant wait

Dibah and Pak Uteh

Pak Uteh working on the BBQ

My twin cousins BBQing

The guests arrived after Isyak prayer.

Abah and my sister Mira, who happens to be his unofficial driver, arrived shortly after midnight. Abah was having some business matter that day, hence he arrived late.

The house was packed with family members that night. And those who didn’t get to sleep in the bedroom slept everywhere in the house, even in the kitchen.

The next day was Hari Raya Aidiladha. It rained heavily. Only Atok Abah, Abah, Pak Uda and Pak Anjang managed to make their way to the mosque in one car. At around 10 am, my husband followed Pak Uda and Cik Dan to Tok Uda’s house, which is situated about 1 km away. Tok Uda is my grandaunt. That was where they performed the ‘qurban’, lead by Pak Uteh. Pak Ngah and Mak Ngah arrived later that evening.

Pak Uteh - Chief Executive Slaughterer

Tok Uda and me

The rain stopped sometime before Asar. Later that evening, we went back to Tok Uda’s place for kenduri. Immediately after the kenduri, we, together with Abah, Mak, Pak Uteh, Mak Uteh, Cik Dan and Mira (Abah’s driver) went to visit my sister who stayed at her father-in-law’s place. At first, my husband refused to go because he wanted to lepak with Pak Alang to watch a football match on TV. I think it was Malaysia vs Vietnam, or was it Thailand? I don’t know, and I don’t care. But I insisted him to come along because he rarely met Kak Long and her husband, Zahir.

We went back to KL the next day. It was a wonderful Hari Raya Haji for us.