Banting delight....always!

Deepavali has always been a very special occasion for me and my family. Together with good family friends and family, we would always ensure that we make our much-awaited food galore pilgrimage to Banting to visit Sathy's family. This year was no different and as we gathered in the morning near the toll house in Ayer Keroh, we know that we would have a really good time together. To be honest, it wasn't so much for the food but the opportunity to travel with good friends, fellowship and honest discussion helped a lot in a long way. We started out our journey at about 10.00am and by the time we reached Sg.Raba, Banting, it was hitting 12noon. We were happy to meet up with Vive, Vive's mom, Sathy and her family and my son, JWee . There were hugs and handshakes all around and it was like a big happy family reunion on a very special occasion.

As usual, Sathy's mom had prepared a real feast for us. She is such a wonderful Indian food cook and her dishes are ALWAYS finger-licking good, I tell you!  Chicken curry, chicken varuval, mutton parietal, sweet acar, vegetables, briyani rice, putu mayam and fish cutlets were the sumptuous spread of food laid out on the table. Finally, some good home cook Indian food to wet one's culinary palate and taste!

The fish cutlet was easily THE dish for the day and Auntie Ellama's speciality while the mutton was succulently tender, nicely marinated and infused with all the spices and herbs. We had a great time downing the food in record time though I have to watch the diet a bit because there were just so many nice dishes. Half an hour after our arrival at Sathy's home in Banting, Eddy and Alicia together with their cute daughters, Tiffany and Symphony arrived at the home. Eddy & Alicia are our friends and the friendship we have is simply marvelous. Two of the most genuinely good people you can find and that's my compliment to them. Again, we greeted each other with warmth pleasantries and we had a great time of fellowship and playing with the girls. By this time, Steven, Errol and myself gathered around the newly erected roofed extension at the back section of the house and took a swig at the local nice brew called the toddy! As it was a fresh and came only from one tree source, the taste was sweet and nice. Yes, there may seemed to have a tinge of sourness due to the fast fermentation basis but it tasted really good. The chilled toddy made it extra special nice-lar. It seemed to cooled off my body after the blistering sun started it's human melting rays that morning. By mid-afternoon, the rain started to fall insanely at the vicinity area followed by a blitzkrieg of lightning and booming thunder! Ginger tea made by Sathy's mum made a whole lot of difference to a gloomy cold weather.

We were thinking, " There goes of Tg.Sepat pau and fishball escapade!" Anyway, the weather ruckus stopped and it was time to go. We were dragging our feet from leaving our Deepavali sanctuary but after some effort to lift our butts off the sofa and comfort of the cool tarmac of tiles, it was time to seek out the pau. Oh Yeah! The pau we got indeed but just the vegetarian ones and the meat pau were all sold out. We shared two packs of fishball and decided against getting fish ball to our home but will get the pau for breakfast tomorrow. After some deft moves by our cars in small and narrow roads of the track to the pau rendezvous point and exits, we were off to Teong Ji Restoran in Lukut for some seafood fare. Kum Heong lala, Assam Jenak fish ( the assam is quite 'kao' in taste and nice ) , paku vegetables cooked with sambal (over-burnt a bit but a delicately nice vege! ) , herb wrapped chicken, egg oyster omelette, house speciality seafood tofu ( this is really nice! ), yam with slices of pork and another vegetable dish fed 15 of us that night. 

Honestly, that's what happens when you travelled with a bunch of fun and peace-loving friends on a day out for a festival celebrations. It was unpretentious, it was fun and most important of all, it was a day for friends. Thank you , friends for a really good time. It was nice to be able to reminiscent on some golden years of my kampung life too. Something we all should do from time to time as I reflected on what Sathy's dad said to me ( some very meaningful aspects and reflections of life ) that moment we were drinking our toddy at the back extension!