Durian

Durian is commonly know as King of the Fruits in Malaysia. And it is in season now, so one can get it everywhere.

They not easy to open, because it has very sharp thorns.

Durian is very milky, sweet and sometimes has a bitter after taste. Its most unique feature is a horrible smell. When it is fresh it is not so bad, but if it lays for an hour the smell is very strong. And if you burp it seems like you dead or rotten inside.

I have tried two types one mild and second one more aromatic.

If you eat to much of durian you can get a fever so it is adviced to drink a lot of water.

It is claimed to be an aphrodisiac.

To wash the smell off your hands it is best to put the skin of durian under the stream of water.

mango steen

Mango steen is in season now. Sweet and sour in taste. Be careful while peeling because peel can color your skin.

Except of name it is nothing like a mango.

It look like garlic but the taste is completely different.

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!

Gua Tempurung

I went caving with two of my friends...

Gua Tempurung it is a beautiful cave. However, if you expect that inside is cold then you very very wrong! Inside the cave is very hot and humid, this short walk squeezed a lot of sweat from me.

Raya at KLCC

Hari Raya starts with few intensive days of celebration just after Ramadan.
However, visiting friends and open house events take up to a month.
During that time cafes and malls will be decorated with green Lanterns - embellishments in a shape of Ketupat (rise in a young coconut leaves) and if you lucky you can come across some life traditional music performances.

There is ongoing project in Kuala Lumpur to have everywhere a skywalk. Here is one that connects hotels near  KLCC with Pavilion at Bukit Bintang.

Impiana hotel where I enjoyed my Hari Raya weekend.

I love city landscapes like that.

Green Lanterns in a shape of Ketupat.

Malay house in a mall.

Life music - I have enjoyed it a lot!

I was sipping on my tea at KLCC Starbucks and admiring this city landscape...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

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.