This story is about how a M’sian family accidentally attended a stranger’s open house, ate a full meal, and somehow left with more family than they started with.
Hari Raya is all about togetherness, tradition, and—if you’re anything like my family: Chaos. Whether it’s last minute packing, to last-minute shopping, to traffic jam navigating to balik kampung. My family has done it. Incredibly, we’ve even gone to a Raya open house, enjoyed a meal, laughed with our “relatives” and then discovered we’re in the wrong house. Really.
The Invitation Mix-Up
It had been a few years since we’d last visited our family’s house in Subang Jaya’s SS14 neighborhood for Raya. But with the spirit of the season, sheer overconfidence about the address, we set out that fateful afternoon, eager to reunite with relatives.
Now, for those unfamiliar with Subang Jaya, the streets in different sections look nearly identical, and the house numbers don’t help much. Both SS14 and SS18 had a “Jalan SS XX/4” with a house number 32. A small but critical detail no one in my family seemed to notice.
We pulled up to what we thought was our relative’s house, fully prepared. Arms laden with hampers and homemade kuih muih, we knocked on the door and were immediately greeted with warm smiles and enthusiastic greetings. If anyone was surprised to see us, they certainly didn’t show it. They welcomed us with smiles and laughter, and we walked right in.
The Warm Welcome
The house was lively with guests, the unmistakable aroma of rendang and satay filling the air. It felt exactly like any other Raya gathering—adults catching up, kids running around, plates being loaded up with all the festive favorites.
“Lama tak jumpa! Makan, makan!” the host urged us, ushering us toward the dining table.
There was no hesitation. We dug in, chatting with fellow guests, making small talk, and savoring the home-cooked dishes.
I even remember one auntie commenting on how much I’d grown. Which was interesting, considering I had no idea who she was. But hey, it was Raya. People always say things like that.
For a good hour, everything felt completely normal. Until the phone rang.
The Awkward Realization
Midway through my second helping of lemang, my cousin picked up a call from our actual relatives. “Where are you guys?” they asked.
“We’re here already,” my cousin replied, confused.
Silence. Then came the reply that changed everything. “No, you’re not.”
A slow, horrifying realization crept over us. Eyes darted around the room.
The faces we were so sure we recognized? Strangers. The decorations? Slightly different from what we remembered. The warm, welcoming hosts? Definitely not our family.
Realization dawned. I also learned never to answer a phone call on speakerphone in public. There was a beat of stunned silence.There were furtive glances all around. Then one of the nephews, who was 8 or so, looked at me and said, “Salah alamat ke?”
Almost simultaneously, the entire family broke into laughter—both us and our unintended hosts.
The Unexpected Friendship
Instead of being offended, the host family found the entire situation hilarious. They waved off our embarrassment and insisted we stay a little longer. “Sudah makan, kena tambah lagi! Baru betul-betul Raya,” they said with a grin.
We ended up staying for another hour, swapping stories and laughing about how no one had questioned anything earlier. Turns out, they had assumed we were distant relatives from another branch of the family, hence the warm welcome.
We even bonded over shared recipes—my mom and their auntie exchanged recipes for Bahulu and Kuih Kapit.
There was a good natured argument going on over who was going to win the next world cup. We swapped phone numbers, emails, FaceBooks and Instagrams.
At one point, they even tried to return our Raya hampers, but we refused. After all, we had enjoyed their food and hospitality—it was only right that they kept them.
Eventually, we made our way out, profusely thanking them for their kindness. But before heading to our actual destination, we had one more stop to make.
Rushing to the Right House
There was no way we could turn up to our real family’s open house empty-handed after gifting our original gifts. So, our next adventure involved frantically searching for last-minute Raya hampers and kuih through Subang Parade and The Summit, grabbing whatever we could lay our hands on.
By the time we finally arrived at our real Raya gathering, it was well into dinner time. The moment we walked in, our actual relatives burst into laughter. They had heard the whole story over the phone.
“How did you not check the address?!” they howled.
From that day on, our family had a new Raya tradition.
Every year, before heading to any open house, someone will inevitably yell: “Oi! Check the address!”
A Mix-Up to Remember
What could have been an awkward and embarrassing mistake turned into one of our most cherished Raya memories. That wrong turn led us to an unexpected friendship, reminding us that Hari Raya is about more than just reunions—it’s about warmth, generosity, and the spirit of togetherness, even among strangers.
Oh, and in case you were wondering—we did keep in touch with our accidental hosts. This year, we’re planning to visit their open house again and we are invited this time.
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Read also: This Family Mistakenly Packed Garbage on their Balik Kampung Trip for Hari Raya – In Real Life
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