Raya & Night Market

Natalia, my friend from Yemen study days, arrived last night.  We didn’t have any commitments for the day except one Raya visit around noon.

But as we had some time, we squeezed in a visit to the Darul Hana bridge and a walk along India Street in Kuching’s Old Town.  We returned to freshen up so that I could get dressed in traditional garb for the Raya visit.

On to the Raya visit, which was kinda a belated event on the fourth day of Syawal.  I guess it was timed to fit in with the weekend.  My friend’s husband is a senator for with increasing number of visitors he now holds it in a hall rather than their home.  Many of my school friends turned up and it was a very pleasant catch up.

Of course, there was lots of  yummy food there.  While I love cakes of various sorts (E-numbers and all), the one that really stands out is Hati Pari (Stingray Liver).  It’s made from mashed prunes (or sultanas in some versions), sweetened condensed milk, flour, butter and all things bad for you. Steamed for 8h.  To die for. If you think Christmas Pudding or Fudge is rich, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

That evening, we went to Siniawan Night Market south of Kuching. My step-sister who had arrived from the USA loves the place, perhaps more for the atmosphere than the food.  It was the busiest I had ever seen it!  There were more tables and chairs than ever before and despite that it was still hard to get seating.