First day of Raya Down Under 2008

Raya Day 1
"Raya in spring!"

What a great first day of Raya it was! Meriah lah raya this year, despite my earlier musings that raya this year kami nda kan celebrate banar since kan hampir exams kan. But you couldn't help but be drawn into the spirit of Raya, especially when you are celebrating with friends who are considered to be your second family here in Brisbane. This is how my first day of Hari Raya went. This morning, there was a gathering for Raya prayers for all Muslim brothers and sisters in Munro Park, St. Lucia. Yunyun, Sa'dy and me datang ahir ke sana. When we arrived, the trees in the park are in full bloom! Beautiful purple Jacaranda flowers were sprouting here and there, giving a scenic and calming effect. So kami begambar-gambar lah seperti biasa, haha. After that, we went to Bluehouse to bekumpul and wait for the others before kami bejalan.

Munro Park, where the Raya prayers were held this year. With Yunyun.

With Sa'dy

Empat dara pinggitan :p

Sambil menunggu-nunggu the others arah bluehouse

At 11am, we went to our first open house arah pak haji and mak hajah dari Brunei arah Warren street. Siuk rasanya macam beraya di brunei

Sama mak hajah and cucu :)

With some seniors and ex-MS juniors, c Rina

Some biscuits and kuih from Brunei

Group photo with host family

From there, we went to the BSS Raya open house at the Rooftop Terrace at UQ. I only stayed for about 15 minutes since I have to get to Wesley hospital for my clinical summative exam. Kesian, kelurusan ku ada clinical exam masa first day raya, haha.. I left uni at 1:30pm to catch the bus to toowong station, where I boarded on the train to Auchenflower. Malas tah ku tukar baju lagi, iatah memakai baju raya tah ku on the way to the hospital. I did get a few stares in between, but buat macam nda ku saja, haha. I arrived at 2:05pm at the hospital and that gave me plenty of time to revise for a bit. Our tutor tadi atu masih ada patient so we started our exam ahir sikit, at 2:45pm. I think I did okay for the exam, baik jua nada ku lupa-lupa the sequence apa, haha. I am so relieved. That would be my last clinical exam for this year. Wah, nyaman jua hatiku sudah lapas, haha. We finished by 4pm, then I boarded the train back to toowong station. Dari sana naik bus balik ke St. Lucia. Went home to freshen up and rehat skajap. Some of the girls came over to bekumpul before we head to Hsn and Mea's place at Durham St for an open house at 5:45pm. We had a great time there. Ada jua yang sampat main big two apa atu, haha..

Begambar on the way to our third open house :p

Hazzie, Syimsyim, Nabnab and Sa'dy with large containers of kerupuks :)

Sa'dy, Farah, Azim :)

Colourful raya biscuits and cakes

Makan-makan

Kanyang sorang-sorang, haha

Some of the first year med girls :)

Group photo. Year 1 and 2 meds

From there, we then made our way to Irfan and Imran's place at Munro St for another open house at 7:45pm. By this time, meladus jua rasanya udah parut atu, hehe. Ramai orang Malaysia kami tejumpa di sana, as well as orang Arab apa. The family is warm and welcoming. Masa kami di sana atu, ada anak Arab kali tu, yang hyper berabis, nda ia ijap kan orang ani bah. Ada kali 5 or 6 tahun. Ada skali atu, belusir ia and tarus tia melimpang arah pahaku, haha. Belabih kanak-kanak atu. Ada jua sampai di pigang-pigangnya kepala orang tia apa, haha..

At Irfan and Imran's place, at the large rooftop balcony

We left at close to 9pm. By this time, kami kengalihan and kekanyangan sudah. We went to 4 open houses today, and sudah bejalan dari 9 pagi ke 9 malam. Hahaha, beraya sakan during first day raya ani. Siuk brabis lah jua raya this year. Baik lah jua, kurang jua rasa rindu kan beraya di Brunei atu kan. Thank you all for the invites and all the good food tadi atu, hehe. Nyaman-nyaman ku makan tadi atu.

Actually I took lots of photos lagi. Will post up the pics on facebook soon. Bah, I need my rest now.

Gd night! :)