Ramadhan Ramblings

"where will you be raya-ing this year?"

usual answers from many will be to their respective kampongs.

in my case, i will most probably be in Cyberjaya, a piece of land where only foreigners will take the opportunity of a short break either from their studies or works. No Raya Prayers could be heard and baju raya would definitely not be the usual sight on the 1st day of Syawal.

this is one of the reasons why i no longer yearn for Hari Raya simply cause i know nobody here and nowhere that i can go to for the celebration.

Back then, I was just like any other children, anticipating the announcement for the sighting of the new moon as well as the ending. On most of the nights, our sungkais would be followed with a visit to the mosque to complete our Terawih.

I would be helping my mom preparing Kuih Raya; one of my most fave moments. I guess that was how my interest in baking grew. i also miss the time when we would clean and decorate the house as well as shopping around for new bajus.

It would also not be a complete Ramadhan without playing firecrackers. In Brunei, firecrackers were sold openly to Public. I remember we used to have a fire battle with our neighbours. This game grew even more dramatic especially during the last week of Ramadhan.

Then, our first day of Raya would start of with the delicious traditional cuisine; rendang, lemang and ketupat. The first visit of 1st Syawal would usually be that to our uncle's crib and the visitings usually continue from there on. The highlight of Hari Raya would definitely be the feelings upon receiving the green packets.

Now, the word Raya sounds pretty miserable to me. I have cousins and relatives but they are distant to me. All this while my definition of family is only inclusive of my grandparents, my parents and my siblings. Sometimes, i do feel jealous upon looking at my friends' photos in FB with their family members. I wonder how the feelings are like.

Well, fortunately this year, i have a new member to celebrate Hari Raya with. Instead of 6 family members, we now have 7. Selamat Hari Raya Betty!