As I've mentioned earlier in the previous post, I am now officially jobless until the moment I will be called to serve the duty as a pharmacist, which I doubt will be any time sooner. So, here I am, serving as a full time daughter, sister and aunt to 3 adorable kids at home. Now, since it is in the month of Ramadhan, I am trying my very best to perform as a good Muslim, at least better than yesterday.
Enough of the introduction, let's proceed to the main topic of this post, Australia! It's been almost a year after I traveled to Australia (Melbourne-Sydney-Wagga Wagga) and the memories still remained in my heart. Well, it has to be since it was my first overseas trip and I couldn't get any more excited than this. So, after reading few of other bloggers who write their experience overseas, I've noticed that I haven't shared any individual experience being a tourist there, especially as a Muslim tourist.
I've to say, at first I was a bit intimidated with the perception of the Australian there, as we were traveling in a large group, and all of us were wearing headscarves. I think it was a rare sight for them to see as wherever we go, we managed to catch everyone's attention on the street. However, the people there were very friendly, they respect our religion, and most importantly, sometimes they are the one who is more concern on halal food than us.
In Melbourne, we met a few of Malaysian students who took us for a leisure walk nearby their university. It was almost dinner time and since some of us wanted to buy Malaysian foods, we were separated into half. As I wasn't interested to eat Malaysian food and wanted to eat something other than rice, the students recommended us to the Pancake Parlour, where they served delicious and affordable pancakes. There, we chose a new menu, with a chocolate ice cream. The waiter who took the order was a middle-eastern man (or Indian? I'm not sure), and he told us that the ice cream contain gelatin which might not be originated from Halal source. He admits that he is a Muslim and it is his responsibilities to inform us as a fellow Muslim. However, he offered us to make the ice cream without the gelatin. And the result is really good! I love the waffle and the ice cream. We're very thankful to the waiter as if he doesn't inform us, we wouldn't have known about it.
inside the cafe. pic cred to google
the waffle that we ordered.
The next experience that happened to us was at Sydney. Before shopping at Paddington Market, we decided to have our lunch at a fast food outlet, Oporto. (Menurut sumber dr pelajar Malaysia kat sana, makanan kat cni halal.) So, dengan confidentnye aku pn pergi order kat kaunter. Sebab nk jimat punye pasal, kitorg order family set utk 4 org. On the menu, it said chicken burger. Ok fine, we'll order that. So, the waitress took the order at the counter. Suddenly, her friend whispered something to her. Then, she asked me back "Are you sure u want to order this set, because actually there is a slice of bacon inside the burger." Masa 2, the rest of the girls yg kami pakat order skali 2 dah pergi cop meja, so aku sorg2 kat c2. Aku pn tgh fikir sambil tgk menu lain, pas2 dye cakap "Or if u still want it, we won't put the bacon in the burger." So, I agreed with the recommendation. Again, I was very thankful to the staffs who are very considerate towards us seeing that we are wearing hijabs which shows that we are Muslims. Alhamdulillah, we managed to indulge the burgers and the fries happily accompanied by a flock of birds in the background.
lbey kurang camni la rupe kaunter dye. pic cred to google
nampak x burung2 kt belakang 2? skali skala baling gak fries kat dyorg.. hehe
For the rest of the journey at Melbourne and Sydney, we just decided to go to the certified Halal restaurants, so there is not much of a problem there. Then, we continued our journey to Wagga Wagga, where we met Dr Hassan and his family, from Egypt. He's the one who told us that all of the chickens in Australia are slaughtered in Islamic way, so they are halal. So, u don't have to worry if u want to cook the chicken.
One evening, Prof Ball ordered Fish and Chips for our dinner. Untuk memastikan kehalalan makanan 2, Prof Ball even provided the restaurant with a new cooking oil so that they won't be frying the fish and chips in oils which was used to fry pork/bacon before that. See how considerate he is, right?
us having the fish and chips on the same table with Prof Ball
After we spend days at Wagga Wagga, it's time to go back to Melbourne as we would be departing to Malaysia from Melbourne Airport. At the airport, I was given the responsibilities to take care of our belongings while the others went food-hunting in the airport. I asked one of my colleague to buy me a Subway Sandwich, (we can order the seafood one only, because we're not sure about the status of other sandwich). After a while, he went back and brought the sandwich and telling his story. According to him, upon seeing his appearance which may appear as a Muslim (my colleague is a male, of course he's not wearing hijab =P) the staff even change her(?) plastic gloves to a new one to avoid mixing with the rest of the non-halal food. He said that she (?) didn't even change it when the person before him ordered their sandwich and the staff did this without my friend's request.
Thanks to Allah, whom I believe allowed us to encounter these type of people who are considerate towards us as Muslims and I really cherished these experiences. Hopefully I'll continue to meet good people along my journey in the future. Till then, bye!
p/s: special kred to kimi and k.dhobit (kot) for all the photos!
