Was at the Malaysian Embassy on Saturday for the Raya celebrations. I thought I was late becoz Zad said prayers at 8am and makan at 9am. I was a bit lost at first so ended up reaching there about 930. Saw a few guys hanging out near the entrance and some ladies waiting at the foyer. I thought the whole thing had ended and that I was too late to join in the celebrations.
While I was asking the ladies about Niigata students, out of the lower floor came the guys. A few, a few more, many more, soon they all began to fill up the whole foyer. So many Malaysians! This must be the biggest gathering of Malaysians I've ever been in. Later I found out as many as 700 of my compatriots from all over Japan had gathered at the embassy that morning. More so this year because it was over the weekend.
Made some friends while we were eating nasi briani with lemang, peanut sauce, rendang chicken and daal. Somehow, the many individuals I met apparently knew each other for about a year back already. What a small world. Some had already been there for almost 10 years and I can only imagine how good their Japanese must be. This group was further invited to the residences of the embassy's staff for more makan.
About 20 minutes walk away from the embassy is an apartment block designated for the employees, with a proud signage at the front stating the residences of the Kedutaan Malaysia. 3 of the apartments were having open houses, and we chose the top-most since Iqbal remembered the guy's name. We excitedly made our way to Encik Zakri's abode.
We were greeted by his family and friends who were already there eating. More food awaited us. The sight of laksa made me heady for awhile there, and while the others went for more rendang, I helped myself to a large bowl of the spicy noodle dish. How could I have forgotten to eat laksa during my last trip home??
While trying out the food provided by the generous host, we were also taking in the luxury of his home. Here in Tokyo, expats were given such big apartments to live in. I'm not sure whether it's because his is the top floor, but he has a balcony which sorta circles his apartment from end to end. So his guests were not only in the living room, dining area, but many more were found enjoying the autumn breeze at the balcony!
It was quite amazing that the kids had already adapted themselves to this foreign land and speaking the language so fluently. Some are sent to international school, and with 3 languages intact in their impressionable brains at this age, that even if they returned to Malaysia, it wouldn't be difficult for them to pick up Japanese should they decide to come back here.
Surrounded by Malaysians speaking Malay and Manglish, it felt like home again. Even though we could see the skyline of west Tokyo from where we were (I almost called it a penthouse relative to the cramp spaces I am used to!), everything inside was decidedly Malaysian. From the furniture to the cutleries, from the traditional costumes to the hospitality, from the smile of the hosts to the ease in which we talked among ourselves.
I'm sure for many of us, this Raya was more meaningful because of friends like these, things we hold dear to us which remind us of home while we are away from Malaysia. I'm not surprised if this scene was one of the many around the world as Malaysian Muslims gather to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
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