Hari Raya Aidilfitri - The end of the fasting month Ramadan

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri
to all our Muslim friends!

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the celebration all Muslims look forward to each year after a whole month of fasting. Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the Malay term for Eid ul-Fitr which literally means “Celebration Day of Fast”. It falls on the first day of Syawal, the month after Ramadan in the Muslim calendar. The date for Hari Raya is determined by the appearance, in Malaysia by the sighting of the new moon. In 2009, Hari Raya will be on September 20. Monday 21st will be a public holiday.

In the week before Hari Raya, houses are thoroughly cleaned, decorated - if necessary repainted and curtains, carpets or furniture are being replaced.

ketupat, packets with sticky rice - empty packets are also used for decorations

In the last seven 7 days, oil lamps called pelita are lighted - originally to welcome the spirit of passed loved ones and angels which are believed to be visiting the earth during the seven days preceding the festival - nowadays they are mostly decorative.




A shopping spree for new clothes for the whole family is on everybody's list: On Hari Raya it is customary for Malays to wear new clothes, traditional Malay costumes.


The dress for men is called baju Melayu while the women's are known as baju kurung and baju kebaya. Traditional textiles such as songket and batik are worn favourably during this day.

Kain Songket

The day is started early in the morning by congregating in the mosques to perform Hari Raya Puasa prayers followed by visiting the graves of the departed. The young will ask for forgiveness from their elders. Families have open house for relatives and friends to come to their house. Plenty of traditional Malay delicacies are served during this festive season.
Children receive their duit raya, until a few years ago a token of coins, today bigger amounts in green envelopes.



The celebrations concentrate on the first three days after the fasting month, but the whole month of Syawal is a festive month with open houses and visits among friend and relatives.

One of the most popular Hari Raya songs in an old version by Saloma

The Chinese Ghost Festival in Mersing

Yesterday, just before sunset, I walked to the supermarket here in Mersing. I took the shortcut through the backlanes. At almost every back entrance I saw the same picture: People busily preparing rows of joss sticks and piles of papers and laying out trays with food (you need to know that in Mersing town the majority of residents are Chinese). Oh, Ghost Day, I thought .... I rushed through the super market because I wanted to go home, get my camera and take pictures. By the time I reached home, is was dark already and the joss sticks were burning, the paper piles almost burnt down. But I was lucky! My neighbor was a bit late, and I asked him for permission to take a few pictures. So here are some of them (and you can find some more information about the ghost festival at the bottom of this post):



In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day (2009: today, September 3) and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm.
Both Taoists and Buddhists perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased.
During this month, the gates of hell are opened up and ghosts are free to roam the earth where they seek food and entertainment. These ghosts are believed to be ancestors of those who have forgotten to pay tribute to them after they had died, or those who have suffered deaths and were never given a proper ritual for a sendoff. They have long thin necks because they have not been fed by their family, or it is a sign of punishment so they are unable to swallow. Family members offer prayers to their deceased relatives and burn joss paper. Such paper items are only valid in the underworld, which is why they burn it as offering to the ghosts that have come from the gates of hell. Like in the material world, the afterlife is very similar in some aspects, and the paper effigies of material goods provide comfort to those who have nothing in the afterlife. People also burn other things such as paper houses, cars, servants and televisions to please the ghosts. Families also pay tribute to other unknown wandering ghosts so that these homeless souls would not intrude on their lives and bring misfortune and bad luck. (Source: Wikipedia)

In my neighborhood, people avoid traveling or dangerous activities during the ghost month ... an angry hungry ghost might cause an accident or worse. In fact, at the beginning of the ghost month this year a young Chinese girl was hit by a lorry and died on the spot. Many people attribute the accident and her death to the Hungry Ghosts.

Ramli's Farm Guest House

Now I'm getting a bit sentimental.... Urs and I used to live in that place, for 8 years! We so enjoyed the house, the big garden (my hobby, I spent hours doing gardening every day), the beach.....

Have a look at his homepage, it's a great place to stay if you want to relax away from the masses!
Check the location on the Map of Mersing!






Farm Guest House, Kg. Tenglu Laut, 86800 Mersing, Johore, Malaysia

Teluk Iskandar Inn

Teluk Iskandar Inn, a charming place on the coast, a short drive from the town center. Have a look at their homepage.... And find it on the Map of Mersing

1456 JALAN SEKAKAP, KG TELUK ISKANDAR, MERSING, JOHOR 86800, MALAYSIA - Ph.+607-799-6037

Basil for the tomato salad....

My new basil plants, 72 hours after I planted the seeds! We serve our tomato-mozarella salad with fresh basil leaves!

Kali's Prada Villa

Kali has moved! He built a new charming place in the middle of the padi fields (rice fields) near Air Papan (the public beach for Mersing), about 15km from Mersing town. Have a look at the map. I hope I placed it correctly, but even if I missed it by a few hundred meters , it's there abouts....

That's his business card:

We were there last week. I took some pictures - enjoy!

Kali's "Swiss Cottage"

And a few impressions

Google Map of Mersing

Click on the link below the map (Mersing Town)and you will see a list of restaurants, Guesthouses, hotels, banks, supermarkets, bus- and ferry terminals that hide behind the little "indicators" on the map. Click Restaurant P1 (for example...) and you will find us on the map!

View Mersing Town in a larger map

Mersing is changing so fast....

What you see in this blog is what happened right opposite Restaurant P1: The busy old
wet market was demolished and new shop houses were built up.


This was the wet market in Mersing town in October 2006

December 2006 aaaaaaaa aaMay 2007 aaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaMay 2008

And now: No more wet market in town, 1 km away from
it's original location, situated next to the new busstation.
The buildings in these pictures are shop houses. For the next four years,
so rumor has it, they have been rented out to a poly technical school with
700 students... Right now it's so quiet in this street, I wonder how it will
be when this really happens....

aaa


Here some pictures of the new wet market, situated next to the new bus station,
in the river knee - check out the Map of Mersing

We are still here

just not blogging right now!

We are open
- for dinner every day from 5.30pm - midnight
- for lunch Thursday - Tuesday from 11.30 am -2.30pm

Hope to see you at P1!

What to do in Mersing: Walk to the mosque

If you are not used to the hot weather in Malaysia, you may not be keen on walks. But this one is short and worth your while: Take a walk to mosque. Just follow Jalan Ismail, past Giant Supermarket, past the Telecom Building. When you reach Jalan Ahmad, you turn right, about 100 m, in the curve, you will see steps that lead you up to the mosque. The view from the hill over the the sea is certainly worth the 10 minutes walk from center town! Even with cloudy skies (see below)!

Map of Mersing

Here a map of Mersing. I deleted the one from 2006. Hope it helps you to find your way around.
Have a nice trip!

Cat tails on the menu????

At least once a week we hear these questions: "Why do the cats here in Malaysia have short tails, or no tails at all? Is it true that people cut them off? Do they eat them?" No, nobody cuts their tails, there are no restaurants that specialize in the preparation of cat tails! The cats are born like that. One litter can surprise you with a whole range of different tails (as well as colours): perfect long tail, long tail but twisted or a bit curled at the end ..... almost no tail at all. I know for sure, because Pedro and Lucy were born in my wardrobe, and both of them have short tails, from the very first day!



















Lucy has one more special feature: 6 toes on each paw!

Mutations. Inbreeding: Suara, Pedro's and Lucy's mother, was "given" to us by a neighbour, so chances that the father of her kittens was her own father, or a brother or another male relative are quite high! Whatever the reason: the variety of colors, sizes, tail length, tail form, paws, ears, eyes of the house (stray...) cats here is enormous! Go for a walk in any Malaysian town and look around, it's amazing!


Or just have look at Suara, she's got a bit of all of them!