Syawal 2007

Salam alaikum,



It's been quite some time since my last post. I have been busy with students' assessment and carry marks, invigilating exams (still) and making up some excuses in our defense to the attack from Pn. Z**m*H - well 'making up excuses' sounds negative, let's call it preparing counter-argument haha.



The first few days of fasting were pretty tiring...but overall I enjoyed it. However, I do feel that I did everything lesser than last year. I missed tarawikh prayer twice perhaps and felt very extremely lazy to wake up for tahajjud. I practically had to drag my feet to the toilet to peform wudhu', then quickly perform the prayers in the hope of having some time to take a short nap before going down for sahur... Thinking of it makes me feel so teruk!



Hari Raya was extremely fun! We went back to my mom's hometown in Perak and stayed there for five days! Well that's an 'achievement'! When I was a lot younger, I used to stay there for weeks during school holidays because I enjoyed the company of my male cousins. We'd climb trees, go 'fishing' and laga ikan at a nearby parit, 'lastik' each other with small stones and played many2 'kampung' games (kids nowadays ah... they don't appreciate this kind of fun) like galah panjang and konda-kondi together. As a grown up, I seldom stay there for more than 3 days, mostly because of other commitment that I have in K.L. (in other words KERJA!!!)



This year however was quite special. We went back to Perak on the last day of Ramadhan. We had sahur earlier than usual, at about 3.30 a.m. and started our journey an hour later. At around 8 a.m. we reached Tok's house. I then had a short nap and woke up just in time to see how ketupat is 'woven' (leh ke cakap camtu?). My mom and her youngest sister were very good at it. My cousin, At*Q**, and I tried our hands on it. After one hour, lunyai semua daun kelapa tu kitorang kerjakan, but none of us managed to produced a useable sarung ketupat. I could hear somebody screaming "Horror...horror...horror!!" (Conrad's Heart of Darkness haha).



We had a great buka puasa spread and it was really satisfying. Before breaking fast, I helped my mom and aunties to cook the dishes. Cu prepared the lemang and took the liberty to erm...how to say bakar lemang ek in english? Grill? Let me try to sound educated like Dr. C*ro*... Cu prepared the lemangs and, in need for a better word, grilled them hahahaha. (Dunno lah, they really like to sound like literary journo even when they talk you know).



To cut the story short... On hari raya, we had an even greater spread of food. We had lemang and rendang, lontong with sambal sotong and kuah kacang, nasi goreng (for breakfast...or was it nasi lemak, can remember it now, really...). For lunch, they cook nasi campur with many2 dishes. In the evening, my family and I headed to Tok Su's house (within walking distance) and had laksa and bihun sup. Pergh..I tell you ah, the next morning, my stomach protested kaw2!!



Second day of hari raya, went for raya visit to my aunties' in Ipoh and Simpang Pulai. Had laksa (again) and nasi tomato. At Cik Dah's house, we had chappati...yes, something rather different, but still very satisfying! Went back to Tok's house and had nasi campur for dinner... MAKAN, MAKAN and MAKAN some more! Had runny nose and started to feel uncomfy that night...



Third day of raya, we had a 'mini' kenduri. All siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, in short relatives, were invited. I helped to grill the fish on dapur kayu api. Mak aih, the asap ah, can really kill u! (Statement orang bandar hahahaha!) After standing in front of the heat for 2hours, I 'collapsed' ... not literally tho'. I took a shower, quickly ate something which was served on the saprah and then went into the room and dozed off. By the time I woke up, almost everybody had went back to their homes. I was terribly sick; feverish, having cold chest and flu. I really missed my bed and my home!



The next morning, we packed up our things and went home at 9am. We were lucky because the traffic wasn't heavy, and we reached home in by 12noon. It was a wonderful experience as I had the chance to meet all of my mother's siblings, their children, my cousins and their children, my nephews and nieces...and my other relatives, the dua pupu, tiga kupu2 and 4 rama2 hahaha. The food was great, the environment was even better and the best thing was...all of my beloved ones were there under the same roof! What a great hari raya it was!




Here are some pictures for you to sow the seeds of envy and jealousy hahaha...

Roti Arab being fried

Roti Arab in-progress

Ayam kampung

Sabut - bahan utama untuk menyalakan api

Ikan bakar

Betik Jala (hope I spelt it correctly)...it looks like betik, smells like honeydew, tapi tawar hebiaq!

Roti Arab, the finish product

Barbeku di bulan Ramadhan, hangat babe!

Bahan utama lemang selain pulut and buluh

Lemang sebelum dibakar

Mama menunjukkan cara2 menganyam ketupat

Tinker and me killing ourselves over the airbed...tak2 kitorang tak rebut airbed tu, kitorang nak pengsan try inflate kan airbed tu...tengok dalam TV sonang yo...jadi kawan2 jangan tertipu dengan 'sematsop' dan sewaktu dengannya.