A weekend of eating

Semalam we (the girls) got invited to our new next door neighbour’s house for a makan2. They had a prayer session sebelum majlis makan2 tu and I happened to terpergi masa diaorang tengah berzikir. I thought at first diaorang tengah baca yassin sebab semua tengah pegang buku but try as I might, I really couldn’t understand what they were saying. Dalam hati I berkata, kalau baca surah Yassin, sure I boleh faham sebab I dah selalu baca surah Yassin. But mungkin jugak sebab lagu bacaan diaorang lain sikit tu yang I tak dapat tangkap kot, hmmm. Tapi memang I tak dapat tangkap langsung zikir apa yang diaorang tengah baca until towards the end when I could hear them chanting Hassan and Hussin repeatedly.

Oh, before I forget, our new neighbours ni we think are Syiahs. Sebab kalau tak silap I, most of the Afghans kat OZ ni yang were granted refugee status are the Syiahs who are the minority group in Afghanistan. So, bila diaorang berzikir Hassan and Hussin banyak kali, I rasa betul kot our tekaan kan. And malam sebelum tu I pergi rumah diaorang and I saw the grandmother tengah sembahyang and she’s got this round stone on her sejadah which she kissed lepas habis sembahyang.

Anyway, so we girls got invited to the makan2 after the prayers. The girls makan with the kids and I dijemput makan with the adults :-). Now I sort of know how The Other Half feels like when he’s invited to a Malay gathering and he doesn’t know anyone there and everyone speaks Malay! Sebab I felt so leftout semalam sebab semua yang keliling2 I bercakap bahasa diaorang and I sorang2 makan terkulat2, hihihihihi….

I was watching everyone else makan dulu sebab tak nak lah buat faux pas kan. Ye lah, kang tersilap etiquette makan, sure kena gelak dengan diaorang ye tak, hehehe. Kot2 I termakan dessert bersama2 dgn nasi ;-). Diaorang hidang lebanese bread, nasi basmathi, salad with yoghurt dressing, this dish called ghorme sabzi and another eggplant dish. I was telling The Other Half after that yang I dah biasa sangat makan nasi with lauk pauk yang spicy and hot so bila makan lauk diaorang, it’s a totally different experience lah :-). I rasa kalau I bagi diaorang lauk pauk yang I masak, mau nya susah jugak diaorang nak telan kot sebab pedas sangat :-).

But it was good to get to know the neighbours and at least they are friendly!

Today pulak we went to send The Little Misses to Sunday school. They looked so cute in their tudung, hehehe.. Terus nampak naik muka jawa diaorang ;-). They told me they want to wear baju kurung pulak next weekend :-)

And The Other Half asked for nasi lemak for dinner malam ni. See, dia yang teringin nak makan nasi dulu, hehehe….

Nasi lemak with its accompaniments. Meriah kan pinggan I :-).