Jamuan Raya Blok A : Preparations...

We planned to have Block A Jamuan Raya on Friday the 16th of October. Some of the preparations had to be made way before then. We even enlisted the help of those who went back to Malaysia for the holidays to bring some things back to Khartoum. We asked them to bring back instant ketupat, santan and also condensed milk. Our house became the collection centre...sigh

Alhamdulillah, we got the cooperation of those single men to bring stuff back. We reimbursed those who bought those things from Malaysia. But, most refused to take payment. About 80 percent were generous enough to just sedekah to the Block. 

Nazri was asked to bring back kerisek and rempah soto. Pity the man because one of the kerisek's plastic burst in the box and the oil seeped into the bottom of the box. Even though he was the first one out of the airplane, he became the last man out of the airport in Khartoum. All because the box was oily and the imigration officers had to call the agricultural officer to have a look and as usual, the waiting took forever. Kesian dia... Thank you, Nazri!

 

Some of the stuff!

Thank you, guys!

The dry stuff like tissues, paper plates, oil, sugar etc, I bought in Marwa with the help of Aseh. My husband and Ipin already ordered the khoruf from aljazar a few days earlier. I just went to Aljazar to add  a few items. We ordered 100kg of khoruf meat, 20kg (meat and bones for gearbox soup), 30kg of meat for rendang and 5kg of khoruf fat for the Kandahar style khoruf. 

On Thursday morning, Kak Jas, Ina Sakinah and me went to souk Bahari to buy the wet stuff, vegetables, onions, garlics, potatoes etc. We also bought the fruits in Souk Makazi. It was the first time that I went there and I was very surprised that instead of choosing the fruits outside, we were invited to went in their 'fridge' or cool room. I loved being inside...hehehe

We bought 10 boxes of grapes for the Jamuan as well as Sudanese oranges and Egyptian oranges. We also bought watermelon for lunch the next day...hehehe. To tell you the truth, the van was full of stuff. We bought 20kg of onions among other things...hehehe. If I'm not mistaken we bought all the spring onions and daun sup from the whole market! Hehehe... Thank you, Kak Jas and Ina for the lovely company and for laughing at me... 

Well, in my defence, I was the least skilled in conversing in Arabic and I did not know how to choose good vegetables. Normally, I would just let the seller pick for me...hehehe. So, Kak Jas and Ina ended up picking and choosing everything. I was the 'purse-holder'. I'll pay while these two ladies did the leg-work...hehehe. Look at some of the stuff we bought!

Some of the stuff...

The green boxes were full of grapes...

Some of the spring onions...

10kg of kacang tanah for kuah kacang!