Pakistani culture in Malaysia

Working with Pakistani boys in Malaysia gave me an opportunity to learn a bit about their culture. I am very grateful for that.

Very  quickly Biryani became my favorite dinner dish.
Biryani is a rise with ginger sauce and red chicken baked on fire!
Mniam!
(there are many versions of Biryani but generally its rise is fried or cooked separately from a thick sauce)

In one of cafeterias around the Universiti Teknologi Petronas one can get very nice Pakistani breakfast. It is very filling, and oily, but I like it a lot.

Cafeteria.

As a change to Malaysian Nasi Lamak I got to like also Pakistani food for breakfast.

Breakfast.

I got a present from a friend from Karachi, Pakistan. A modern version of traditional Pakistani outfit Kurti made by Sheep.

I have worn my Kurti to university, because after hours we planned to eat Raya dinner together with other students and professors from my department (Raya at university).

I have used my friend's scarf as dupatta, I wear it across shoulders which is a typical way of wearing it. One can easily wear Kurti as a shirt over jeans - and that is what I did.

A useful tip (that is probably only new to me) how to wash clothes like cotton Kurti. First of all hand wash, second of all if after washing you realize some unevenness in coloring then add a bit of vinegar to the next washing.

Malay wedding

I have attended first Malay wedding. It was organized at home.

It is typical to have an available karaoke for guests.

It was a lunch-time wedding reception.

Typical souvenir for guests traditionally contain an egg.

I had an honor to serve just married couple for a bit.

This is used when parents bless the couple.

One more souvenir and one more egg. Btw. those orange chips are really good!

Raya at University

Our department organized Raya for us. 

We were served chicken rendang and chicken satay with peanut sauce with sticky rice. Both dishes are sweat in taste, of course spicy but very very good! Those two I am gonna miss for sure when I am back in Europe.

Eid ul-Fitr (Eid) - Hari Raya

I have eaten a lot during Raya.
It was all delicious and for a surprise of my hosts I had no stomach problems.
In some way I actually think it is easier to eat food during Raya than what we serve during Christmas.
Here you travel from house to house during one day so it is enough you take a little bit of everything and everyone understands.
Christmas are like a food competition you sit done by the table and eat until you drop ;)

Holidays like Raya are fantastic. You meat friends, family and just relax and enjoy seeing people you love.
I always eat as much as I can and do not worry about belly getting bigger and bigger...
However, when the new days come I quickly go for a exhausting training to the gym!
You want to eat till you drop you need to train till you drop as well ;)

Chicken soup with fish cake. Delicious!

Layer cakes are very popular. My favorite from those I tried was a two layer cheese cake. Very creamy sweet chocolate part balanced with a bit sour plain part!

I ate almost all black and white pieces of cake!

Pulut Lepa.

Rendang is a typical Raya meat dish eaten with a pulut lepa - a glutinous rice flavored with coconut milk and barbecued in bamboo leaves.

In a jars with cookies one can find huge variety of cookies where most traditional ones are: kuih bahulu - mini sponge cakes, and kuih loyang - honeycomb cookies.

In a jars are cookies, next to them rendang and on a right side pulut cut in cubes.

During Raya kids and those unmarried get small envelopes with money. In every house host will distribute them. I was lucky to get one too :)

My Raya present.

hopping on a train to Kuala Lumpur

For some reason I find myself very often going somewhere spontaneously. This time I decided to join a friend on his trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL). I've packed within an hour, put my hair up and run down to a taxi.

My ultimate best sandals ever were an obvious choice (honestly I have no idea what I am going to do if they fall apart?!), and some comfort clothes for sitting in the train and, as it occurred later, watching a movie in theater (The Man of Thai Chi - I liked it, but I would recommend it only to those that can appreciate martial arts) and getting a beer in a pub with a life music.
btw. It was my first and last beer in Malaysia.

I also met two new great friends that night, and one of them would help me not once when I got into trouble in KL. A life lesson is: stay tuned good people are around you!

Nasi Biryani (India).

In front of Pavilion.