ATTENDING A DEEPAVALI POTLUCK SESSION IN SCHOOL

The Principal of SMK Dato' Jaafar invited me to the potluck session in conjunction with the Deepavali celebration in school. When the big boss personally conveyed the invitation, it was hard to say "no".

As usual, there were varieties of food available and you could just eat as much as your heart desired.

However, the most interesting part was meeting [and gossiping] with old friends once again.

I also got to meet some students but I was not sure whether it was now permissible to take photos with the juvenile and publish them in social media.

VISITING A FRIEND FOR DEEPAVALI LUNCH

24TH OCTOBER 2022 ~ A friend of UPM TESL class of 1993, Puan Aishah Aboo Bakar, was in Johor Bahru will her family members to celebrate Deepavali with her husband's family this year. And I was invited for lunch at their house in Mutiara Rini.

The house was full of joy and laughter of family members and friends. I wanted to take photos but they were just too many strangers in the house and I was a bit shy to do that.

The food cooked by Puan Aishah was delicious and festive environment had brightened up the day. Thanks my friend for inviting me to join in the fun and I wonder when will this happen again.

BLOGGING FROM BELITUNG ISLAND, INDONESIA

It is already the third day of my Deepavali short break in Belitung Island, Indonesia, and am having a whale of a time here - with 3 friends of my TESL UPM classmates, the daughter and husband of one of them and another newly made friend who is actually an ex-UPM alumni of the same batch. Will update more later, definitely. Going for more island exploring and am ready to get wet after this. See ya!

ATTENDING MR. SARAVANAN'S DEEPAVALI GATHERING

26th OCTOBER 2017 ~ We were invited again by Mr. Saravanan, an English teacher of SMK Seni Johor Bahru, for a Deepavali open house at his place in Mount Austin. There were also many other guest - Mr. Saravanan's friends and relatives. It was already the 9th day of the celebration but it was never too late to hold function like this in Malaysia.

As usual there were a lot of authentic, delicious Indian food being served. This was actually our second time visiting.

We had to give away our seats to people who were arriving and decided to extend the gathering for coffee (among ourselves) at a McCafe in a McD outlet nearby (as these people had endless stream of gossips to deliver).

Thanks Mr. Saravanan for inviting us. You should know my friends would never say "NO" to meetings when there is food available, during or after. Hope to visit you again next year.

DOING A HOUSE VISIT FOR DEEPAVALI

1ST NOVEMBER 2016 ~ One day before the school reopened, a few friends and I went to visit Mr. Saravanan Palanisamy and his family at his beautiful house in Mount Austin, in conjunctions with Deepavali celebration. It has been a long time since I last visited a friend for this occasion. Mr. Saravanan is currently teaching English at Sekolah Menengah Seni and we used to meet during meetings and briefings.

Not only the house was beautifully decorated for the celebration, but the host also served delicious authentic Indian cuisine. The dosa (Malay spelling: tosai) and the chutney (the gravy) were something to die for and I could just eat that particular dish for the next Deepavali (if invited again). *hint hint*

Thanks a lot Mr. Saravanan and family for opening the door to your house on the 4th day of Deepavali. We will always treasure the warmth and hospitality. I could still remember that delicious "dosa" and chutney until now. *sigh*

HAVING A DEEPAVALI POTLUCK IN THE STAFFROOM

A pot luck was held in the staffroom in conjunction with the recent celebration of Deepavali. Therefore we had Indian delicacies this time like putu mayam, idli, muruku and vadeh. Thanks a lot to Mr. Narasimman for ordering all the delicious food for us.

Mr. Ong was also here to celebrate with us.

I was happy because my girlfriend came today.

with Mr. Narasimman and Pn. Parimalah

with Miss Indra

The next pot luck will be for the celebration of Eid Adha next week.

DEEPAVALI POTLUCK

We had a potluck for Deepavali today. One main dish we could eat was Idli, which I like very much, eaten with chicken curry. The students were not in school so we could have our food peacefully. So thanks to Mr. Narasimman, Mr. Punithan and Miss Indra for organizing the session.

ENJOYING THE DEEPAVALI TITBITS

So when Deepavali came, I would get to enjoy the Indian specialty, i.e. none other than muruku. Being in a multiracial society, muruku is no longer the food only for the Indians. The crunchy and crispy sounds of muruku munching is something addictive. However, the muruku that I always eat for Hari Raya is always more spicy and hotter. The ones given by my Indian students taste sweeter but crunchier and creamier at the same time. I wonder if the creamy taste comes from the coconut milk or just milk added to it. Another type of titbits that I got was the kuih goyang (translate: shake cookies). The name derives from the way it is produced. You have to shake the ingredients of flour, eggs and sugar that stick to its metal mould with the shape of a flower in hot boiling oil so that the whole thing will drop after some time. It is very common in the Malay society which made me wonder whether this traditional recipe originated from India after all.

Thanks to Dineshwar, Dinesh and Anita, and also another form boy whose name I have forgotten, for the special Deepavali delivery.

DEEPAVALI HI-TEA IN THE STAFF ROOM

food, food, glorious food

In conjunction with the recent Deepavali, another pot luck was held in the staffroom. But they called it high-tea because the food was prepared by our Indian colleagues so we did not have to bring anything. So this time, we got to taste Indian cuisines like idli and putu mayam which was eaten with either brown sugar and grated coconut or curry, and not forgetting muruku. That was my first time eating idli, which was tasty. The taste was similar to tose but instead of being fried on a hot pan, it was steamed. It had this tender and smooth texture like vadeh, best eaten with curry and then you could savour the melting taste of it in your mouth.

happy faces

with Miss Indra

So thank you to Mr. Narasimman, Mr. Punithan and Miss Indra who had prepared the hi-tea for us. I guess we still have time for one more pot luck before the long school holidays.