After fasting during the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr. In Malay, we call it Hari Raya Aidilfitri which translates literally to Day of Celebration of Aidilfitri. We were very excited to visit my cousin today because her mother-in-law made some delicious food as part of the celebration.

The city of Klang is about an hour’s train ride from Kuala Lumpur. We saw many Muslim families dressed in coordinated colors around town and on the train, probably on their way to visit friends and family. My cousin and her husband brought us to their rice stall which offers more than 100 items as rice toppings. It was close to 5:00 pm so many dishes were sold out, we were still astounded to see so many. Of course, I started picking my favorites and I told Kenric not to pick the same things as we created small plates to sample; variety is the spice of life!

Delicious Rendang

After visiting their other stall and eating some Nasi Lemak and Satay, we arrived at their home. Their girls were not as shy with us this time, and were a lot of fun. The girls led us to the next block to check out my cousin brother’s house that’s undergoing renovation. Back at the house, the girl’s Grandma had set out the food she had made and once my cousin brother and his girlfriend arrived, we started a really enjoyable dinner with delicious rendang (a slow cooked meat dish, something like a dry curry, with coconut milk and lots of spices). Spices are the spice of life!

Of course, we shamelessly packed some leftover food for tomorrow. And, instead of dropping us off at the train station, my cousin and his girlfriend drove us all the way back to our place in Kuala Lumpur. It’s been a great Hari Raya. Thanks for inviting us FO and SK, and Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim friends!