Aidilfitri 2010 (versi Perantauan)

I experience different types of Aidilfitri every year, it's not even funny. Last two years was the 'family' Raya; last year was 'colleagues and relatives' Raya, and this year... well, not shockingly -- it's the 'friends' Raya.

BEWARE LARGE POST.

Malam Raya 2010

We celebrated at Corio, it was a fun potluck session with group photos at the end. (Photos by Alif, Julie, Amy and Tasnim... thanks!)

Pagi Raya Pertama 2010

Maaf ye, tak pergi solat raya kat masjid... no transport and it's too far to walk ;_; (and it was raining and cold outside).

Walked to Yuille house around 10.30am, while enjoying the spring blooms and the crisp air. The lovely atmosphere quickly turned sour 2 minutes after I started my walk (bloody ffff) with light rain and a drop in temperature. Dahlah baru iron rambut... haih. Naz pulak was unlucky to cross my path during my bad mood, sorry ek... maaf zahir batin lupakan salahku pagi tadi hehehehe.

Anyways, other than that slight damp in my mood, I actually had a pretty blessed week. The night before Raya, I found out I was accepted for JPA loan.... Alhamdullilah. Though, it was a bit bewildering knowing I got it because I wasn't serious when I applied... The deadline was near and I knew I had no time to send the hard copy documents in Malaysia (I only applied for the online form)... so I wasn't expecting to get it AT ALL. It was a sweet bonus, I have to admit. Now that I got the offer, I'm gonna make sure everything works out till the end!

(Photos thanks to Julie, Amy, Aishah and Tasnim! Oh my camera too)

Other than the JPA loan, I saw TWO cats today. Two cats since 4 months ago. LUCKY ME! 8D

Seekor muka bengis, seekor lagi muka bosan. Ah, cats. How I missed your disdainful/arrogant/holier-than-thou/tsundere attitudes <3

Majlis BERMULA!

Hadiah cabutan bertuah. I lost my number 2 minutes into the party (....) so I didn't get the chance to see if I won anything or not. Sedih.

Arif as emcee. Hee bengong la lawak dia pasal 'emergency exit'.

Dikir barat oleh pelajar2 lelaki Malaysia-Geelong. Cot pun join, tak sangka!

Kommuniti pelajar Malaysia/Singapura-Geelong :DD

Rumah Yuille + Nell (wakil rumah Ryrie) + Me (wakil rumah Mercer) lol

Raya Kedua 2010

Kali ni rumah Mercer a.k.a my house buat open house pulak, untuk Kathy and gang, Sky and gang, Kuhaz and rumah Preston (Bee and Aleng).

We started cooking at 11am, after a quick trip to Westfield to buy some plastic cups, cutleries and plates. The event was supposed to start at 4pm but Mandy was so worried that there would be too little food that we just kept on cooking and cooking till 4! Rupanya Kathy pun bawak laksa johor and ayam masak merah... we ended up with SO MUCH FOOD. Gila!

(photos thanks to Kuhaz@facebook!)

Awal2 makanan nampak cantik dan lawa.... tapi lepas 7 jam entertain orang (Kathy and Sky smua balik kul 11 malam kot), rumah jadi macam ni:

Buruk nak mampus.

We decided to leave the food overnight; too exhausted to do anything (muahaha thank god the climate here doesn't kill food as fast as in Malaysia) and only started cleaning the next day.

I think the leftovers can last us a week, seriously....

I was supposed to follow Julie and Nell to their friend's open house in Melbourne the third Raya, but I was too tired from hosting, short on cash and have no more baju raya to wear. Dammit. Hopefully there will be another chance to beraya next week.

To summarize, this has been a 'different' but still amazing Aidilfitri. I still miss my family at home (and all my pretty kurungs and kebayas I foolishly left at home), but what was lacking here was made up with another blessing in disguise. Hmmm... next year's raya nak buat apa pulak eh? Hehe. Raya kat Melbourne cam best je...