I know, I know...Eid does not start with F. But it is a festivity, a big celebration at the end of our month-long fast over Ramadan. It's a time for get-togethers among family, friends, foe...okay, maybe not foe. But it's definitely time for fun and feasts everywhere. In Brunei, everyone's invited to join in the celebrations because we have this concept of 'Open Houses' where we throw our doors open and anyone (and I mean, anyone) can literally just walk in and sit on your chairs and eat your food on the same table as you. Now, while this might not work in bigger cities or countries, here, it's tradition to encourage such forms of harmless freeloading in our homes, if only for a few days during Eid.
My camera was put into good use, snapping away at the happenings around me. So allow me to share with you some of my Fs of Eid. All family-friendly stuff, of course.
Family and Friends
It's a time for all sorts of gatherings and catching up with family and friends,
young and old... the good, the bad (haha) and the beautiful.
(Update: My wonderful grandma above passed in June 2012, and everyday I miss her dearly)
(Update: My wonderful grandma above passed in June 2012, and everyday I miss her dearly)
Food
Cakes and cookies galore
Plenty of chocolate too. See that potato chip chocolate? Yup...it's over-the-top!
Fun for the kiddies
The equivalent of 'ang pow' packets
My incredible non-stop hula-hooping niece, Sophia
These kids' antics were such a delight to capture.
Flowers and Fireworks
Anti-histamine pills were employed in full force, but these vibrant flowers were so worth it.
Fireworks lit up the sky at night. Extremely loud, and gloriously beautiful.
Foodie Friend!
I finally met my first online foodie friend, Kate of It's The Norm blog! She made something (dragonfruit ice cream) off my blog too, so I reserved a special seat for her in my house :-). Kate was so lovely and warm, exactly as I'd expected from reading her blog posts all this time. I don't know or have many food-blogger friends in Brunei, maybe because I'm just a small fish in a small pond... I'm really not sure why that is. Anyway, I was just so thrilled when Kate came to our Open House and she even baked me some cookies for the occasion, bless her. We managed to have a good old natter and planned to meet up again soon. Yeaayy!
Kate chatting with some students from her school who happened to be my niece's good friends
Will be back with regular food posts starting Monday. Have a super weekend, everyone!
Nice post. I've been to Eid celebrations, its nice. Did strangers come to your house? And did you and your family visit strangers homes? This is something I have not heard of before.
ReplyDeleteYes, lots of strangers walked into out house and we served them food and drinks. Questions like, "Where are you from (ie. which area they lived in)?" and "How many houses have you visited today?" are the norm. As for visiting strangers' homes, we ourselves haven't done that for a long time. Perhaps we've grown a bit thin-skinned or cautious in our old age.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post, I now have some knowledge concerning Eid. I am sure that you have to have plenty of food on hand for unexpected visitors, running out would be not so fun.
ReplyDeleteLooks like everyone enjoyed themselves and there was lots of great food. Nice pictures.
Oh yes, there was plenty of food! We made sure we had enough to feed a couple of hundred people each day because that's the kind of numbers to expect when you're having an Open House. It's mind-boggling if you're not used to it, but we have been doing this forever... :-).
ReplyDeleteHappy Eid! Delicious looking cake and other goodies you've got there :D Looks like you had quite a celebration! Nice post :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post, Maya. It is so nice to see celebrations like these that involve family and food. Beautiful photos. I munch like pacman so the assortment of nibbles is just so tempting.
ReplyDeleteLOVELY..i miss the hari raya celebrations..
ReplyDeletefab blog
What a wonderful post Maya. Food of course look extremely delicious and you capture beautiful moments with your camera. I enjoy seeing happy faces:))
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Everyone looks fabulous in their fun colors and the food looks delicious :) Invite me next time!
ReplyDeletemaashallah lovely pictures from the celebration delicious food and everyone looks fabulous
ReplyDeleteEid mubarak to you and family
Love the idea of throwing open your doors and letting anyone in. So trusting and communal...wouldn't quite work here in suspicious, distrustful North America!
ReplyDeleteI just got lost in this post and now I'm going to read your 7 links posts, thanks for sharing and entertaining me with a slice of your life;-)
ReplyDeleteThe food looked delicious and how nice that you were able to meet a fellow blogger!
ReplyDeleteEveryone looks so festive! The cookies look tasty, especially the ube ones.
ReplyDeleteWhat a smile-filled post!! And thank you so much for my invite Maya, I REALLY enjoyed meeting you - and I know we'll get together again soon.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy this tradition of Open Houses - we went to another one today. It's such a lovely celebration, and wonderful for us to feel so welcomed into other people's homes.
Kate x
beletad Eid Mobarek,it s nice traditions you have , we spent eid to visit friends , relatives and graves..
ReplyDeleteMaya - thank you so much for sharing! It sounds like a lovely time and what a great way to celebrate. Really lovely.
ReplyDeleteSmall fish maybe but small fish with a big HEART! Look how many real friends you have that celebrated the end of Ramadan with you! And of course you have many blogger-friends outside of Brunei, who bugs with this type of comments. Haha!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post, Maya! Happy end of Ramadan to you and your family. :)
~ ray ~
Wow, everything looks beautiful! I can't stop staring at those round red and green cookies in the right-hand corner. I don't know what they are, but I want one!!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful women and wonderful pictures - thanks for sharing this lovely post :) Cheers, priya
ReplyDeleteMinal aidin... something something (I can't remember what I'm supposed to say).
ReplyDeleteWhat a merry jolly celebration you are having! Makes me miss a lot about home, Indonesia, and its beautiful bountiful feasts during the celebration.
Hope you had a wonderful time!
Haha! Oh my goodness, this looks like so much fun! The kids look like they had a blast, too. I can't believe you found another blogger in Brunei! What are the odds?
ReplyDeleteWhat are the cookies with the little yellow, pink and green bits inside? This is quite a spread! That's incredible, that you can just leave your door open for folks to mosey on in. This looks like such an amazing celebration :)
Maya thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures! It looks like you had lots of fun. The food, flowers and people are all beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe you had an open house! I think it is a wonderful idea. It’s a great way of eating different food and making new friends. That is if everyone plays by the same rules. Unfortunately something like that would never work in Holland. I think the house gets robbed even when we’re in it.
Happy Eid Maya! You have a such a beautiful family - what a lovely post! I did 5 days of Ramadan fasting once when I lived in Tunisia for a few months many moons ago, unfortunately, I had to come back home before Eid, so I didn't get to experience it. I love the idea of an open house. I think the world would be a better place if everyone did that every year :-)
ReplyDeletePriya@Now Serving, thank you! It's been a few days of merriment and now I think I need to rest. Correction, my stomach needs to rest...haha.
ReplyDeleteAdora, you and I can sit together and nibble all day. In fact, there was so much nibbling going on, I haven't felt any hunger pangs for the last 5 days!
ReplyDeleteTina, I bet these are the few times you must miss living here. If we could only trade places for a day, eh...you be here and I'm in that chocolate place where you work. That will be such a dream swap!
ReplyDeleteSandra and Parsley Sage, you're both officially invited to our next Open House, ya hear me!
ReplyDeleteAkheela @Torview, thank you and Eid Mubarak to you and your family too!
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, strangely enough this concept doesn't work in many parts of Asia either! Which is why I feel doubly blessed to be living in Brunei for quality times like these.
ReplyDeleteAnn, yes meeting Kate was really a lovely tangible outcome of having this blog. It's become more than just food, it's also very much to do with human connections. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteYummychunklet, yes those purple ube ones are my favorite too!
ReplyDeleteKate@Norm, so truly happy to meet you. We had a blast! Can't wait to get together over (surprise, surprise) food again soon!
ReplyDeleteCher, thanks for taking the time to read this post and leave a nice comment...even though there's not a single recipe in sight!
ReplyDeleteAww...Ray, you NEVER bug me when you leave sweet comments like the one above! I guess I'm that small fish who dares to swim in a very big ocean ;-). A bit like Nemo.
ReplyDeleteEi, those cookies you mentioned? Well, they're not cookies but Swiss roll-types of cakes, sliced! I don't know how they were made into those leaf-like patterns...I must find out how it's done.
ReplyDeletePierre, it's 'Minal aidin wal faizin'. Wow, I'm so impressed that you still remember the first two words of that phrase! Must be all the visiting during open houses in Indonesia when you were younger, huh?
ReplyDeleteYou must still be on your travels, update your blog with more of those interesting travel stuff, please!
Christine@Sugar apothecary, it's been a fun few days. Those colorful cookies were actually slices cut from a Swiss roll cake, I was entranced by their appearance too but didn't manage to taste one as there were so many other things to eat! That blogger meet up was so much fun, we hit it off immediately!
ReplyDeleteLilly, haha... touch wood that sort of thing doesn't happen during our open houses. Although one year, our guests' shoes were stolen by other guests (strangers to us), and those poor shoeless guests had to go home wearing our house slippers. Not funny at the time, but definitely a laugh when we think about it now! Little crimes still happen in our little village.
ReplyDeleteAube@Kitchen Vignette, you actually fasted once? That's something new I learnt about you today. You're right, the world would be a better place because in order for an open house to take place successfully, there has to be two essentials - trust, and an open heart :-).
ReplyDeleteSo great to learn more about this celebration, Maya! The food, the flowers, the children...all just beautiful! And how exciting for you to meet a blogger friend, too. Wouldn't it be wonderful if your two essentials were present in all our communities :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Lizzy. Yes, it was all quite wonderful and the highlight was of course, meeting Kate. How lovely would it be if I could meet with all of you Doristas too someday and have Dorie as our host - in Paris? Haha, I'll just keep that thought alive because who knows, it might come true :-). Dorie, are you reading this?
ReplyDeleteWhat a heart warming post- full of family, food...and more food! I love reading about family traditions and how each culture celebrates with food.
ReplyDeleteWow what an amazing insight to your life and your culture. If only the rest of the world adopted the tradition of open house...
ReplyDeleteGreat read!
The food and festivities looks glorious! So happy you were able to meet up, make an new friend, that's what blogging is all about, eh?
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, that means you need to prepare food for any number of unexpected guests, within reasonable limits of course. I know that the door must always be open to guests during Eid but its the first time I've heard that it literally happens. Well I hope the spirit of sharing/caring etc is maintained throughout the year, not just during Eid.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, me too, that's what I love reading about too! That's why I'm more than just a little envious when I read about your cultural potluck parties in Melbourne! :-)
ReplyDeleteGerry@Foodness Gracious, I thought about what you said and it's really up to the rest of the world...why not? Here, there's even Open Houses to celebrate Chinese New Year and some people used to do it for Christmas too when I was little! Maybe this concept is not unique to Brunei, but it's one that's still expected and widely practiced here.
ReplyDeleteElle Marie, yep, that's one of the loveliest perks of this food blogging business. Meeting someone who has the same crazy passion for food as me!
ReplyDeleteThree Cookies, of course the goodwill spirit extends throughout the year. The large scale, indiscriminate feeding part however is pretty hard to maintain beyond Eid!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing these wonderful pictures and telling us about the Eid celebration!
ReplyDeleteNatasha, it's always such a pleasure to share part of my life with my friends and readers!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much for sharing your photos of the people, kids and food. Everyone looks so happy and I could certainly dive in to any of that food. :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I could come to your house for something like this! If we tried that in our neighborhood, I am afraid we wouldn't be left with even a chair to sit on by the end of it. I'm glad there's somewhere in the world where you can be so hospitable. You look beautiful by the way!
ReplyDeleteTrixiebella, oh I think they'd leave you with one chair, otherwise what would they tie you to? LOL. I guess we're really blessed in Brunei that we can still entertain guests this way...who knows how long this peaceful way of life will last? Lastly, thank you, thank you...I knew you'd be the one to notice my, ahem, beauty :-). Haha, modesty is so overrated nowadays!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful Eid celebration...lovely post Maya, thanks for sharing the festivities with us :)
ReplyDeleteHehehee indeed, you two are Kawaii!! It seems like you had a wonderful holiday with family members and new foodie friend, and lots of delicious food and fun events. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAlisha, a merry time was had by all, and some houses will still host guests at the weekends until the end of Eid. As for us, we can relax and be the guests for now onwards! :-).
ReplyDeleteNami, I knew you would totally get the Kawaii thing! It's so Japanese but everyone in the world seems to be doing it...well, everyone below the age of 40 (except me), anyway. LOL.
ReplyDeleteMaya- This is my absolute favorite post. Sharing and celebrating with others is what's life is all about in my book. I want to visit during Eid. Such a beautiful celebration and pictures radiate such love. I wish you were here to tell me who everone is and their story. XOXO
ReplyDeleteI wished I could fly to Brunei and enjoyed all the festive foods :)
ReplyDeleteJenny, you're most welcomed to visit us during Eid but make sure your stomach can handle it as there's some hardcore feasting involved! Most of whom you see in my photos are family and friends, I could introduce you to all of them when you come!
ReplyDeletePeppy@ Indonesia Eats, hey please do come over. I'm sure if you're back in Indonesia, it will be exactly the same thing, if not better! Happy Aidul-Fitri to you too :-).
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post, thank you so much for sharing. I love learning about different holidays, especially ones which feature hospitality and food!
ReplyDeleteAwesome personal pics your shared with us, thank you. And YAY for Kate, meeting fellow bloggers is a treat.
ReplyDeleteSelamat Hari Raya Maya...seronok tengok gambar2 maya ni..cantik2 semua..di Kuala Lumpur pun meriah jugak...keep up a good work maya..now we will be ur die hard fan!! :)
ReplyDeleteRose@oneexpatslife, being an expat in a foreign country, you will surely appreciate these kind of cultural happenings. And yes, food is always something that connects people of all backgrounds!
ReplyDeleteEvelyne@CEE, so now I'm still waiting to meet YOU! ;-).
ReplyDeleteE SanThai Kitchen, terima kasih! Ni baru pertama kali my blog mendapat die hard fan dari Malaysia, dari restoran lagi kot! Datang lagi yah..
ReplyDelete