Sunday 5 October 2008

Memory is Sweet

We went to my sister's house for Raya visit today. I tried to stuffed myself with all the food on the table, because my appetite is still on for Raya feast plus I do not have to be shy to eat as much as I can in my own sister's house. I spent the day at home yesterday, and eat nothing but some bread's slice and instant noodle.

On the second day of Raya, we went to visit few of my husband's friends and the last house we visited that evening was one of the stilted house in Tanjung Aru water village. I never been to any water village before, and it has been a very unique experience. I always thought people residing the water village are illegal immigrants, but now I know, local people do stay there! I was amazed how spacious and comfortable the interior, and the house is equipped with electricity and clean water supply. It was really beyond my expectations. According to my husband, the area we visited was the "legal" side, gazzeted by the goverment for the locals to reside long time ago. That is why houses there look much organized than the other side visible from the land. He used to follow his friends there when he was a kid.

As soon as we enter the house, the rain was pouring down like cat and dog! I must mention how great the hospitality shown by the host and her family. We felt so welcomed eventhough we never meet them. We only follow Abg Zul's family fulfilling the open house invitation. We waited till 5.30pm and chat about kuih sampan before we deciced to take a move. Sharing an umbrella with Abg Zul's youngest daughter does not help. My skirt was soaking wet. My hubby, Abg Zul and his wife, Kak Jah walked in the rain without umbrella. I could not walk fast because I was busy watching my steps. I afraid I would get tripped and fall off the bridge to the rough sea below. The bridge is quite narrow and almost only one person can walk at a time. The best part was, everyone walked behind us.

After walking about 1km, we reached Abg Zul's house before maghrib, but we all locked outside the house for almost half an hour. Abg Zul's eldest daughter was sleeping upstairs and unable to hear us knocking on the door. Kak Jah insisted that I should change my wet clothes before going back. She gave me a pair of baju kurung but the it was too short for me. I just use a batik sarong to absorb excess water. Lucky to my hubby, Abg Zul's jeans and shirt fit him, so he was dry and comfortable to continue chit-chatting. They were expecting another friend to come, actually. He promised to come at 5 0'clock, that is why we were rushing to get back to Abg Zul's house. There was me, maintaining my smile, trying to signal my hubby with eyes and body language but to no avail. When Kak Jah came, she offer me laksa. I could not resist and we stay there till my clothes almost dry from the fan blows. My stomach was very full. The laksa was hot, sour and tasty, but I bet the memory would be sweet.

In the car, I told my hubby that I was soaking wet, he said, "Eh, ingatkan you tak basah sebab pakai payung (I thought you're unwet because you have umbrella)". Duh...

I did not bring my camera, so I cannot show you the picture of the house. Above photo is from Flickr, credit to Phil Eadie.

8 comments:

Ciyou said...

Selamat Hari Raya, friend

Mariuca said...

Manggis, sounds like u had a busy Raya! Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin, and thanks so much for having Mariuca at ur lovely blog today! :)

bluecrystaldude said...

WOW..That is one heck of a journey! Hehe.. I am laughing my feet off when you said you are walking carefully (and slowly) with umbrella while others whom without followed closely behind. I wonder how their patience at that time.. hehe

Faisal Admar said...

mango, this is indeed a cool experience. i went to this kind of house once in penang, it was at kampung pisang, jelutong. scary though. i did the same, watch my step so that i won't fall!

mangosteenskin said...

hi ciyou!

thank u.

mangosteenskin said...

helo mariuca,

not that busy. raya di sini biasa saja, taklah meriah sangat. tapi pengalaman beraya sampai basah kuyup tu tidak akan dapat dilupakan. hehe.

mangosteenskin said...

bluecrystaldude,

Hahahahahaha!! if only you could see the bridge, berlobang2, reput dan tak rata! at one point, me and litle Farha stopped, and they all overtook us. They walked so fast, leaving us far behind. That time only I realized, mungkin kami berjalan terlalu lambat! Nasiblah. Hehe.

mangosteenskin said...

hi faisal,

ye, memang cool...sebab basah kuyup.. my sister-in-law kata, "memalukan". Haha. I'm normally adventurous, stakat jambatan buruk tu ok jer but wearing baju kurung, sandal and berpayung dalam hujan lebat sambil pegang budak kecik...buat saya jalan macam macik2. (Harap alasan ini boleh diterima. hehe.)