AIDILFITRI 1431 H

Aidilfitri this year was without much fanfare and a lot of modesty on our part. We had khatam Qur'an at Nenek's on the last day of Ramadhan and then Huda and me proceeded to sleep, leaving Zaim and zaid with Abah and Mama for the Raya cleaning. Heheh, sorry for that.. Of course, I only slept after my weekly dose of TakGu on KBSWorld..LOL.. Also, I found out that my nervous system was under attack from a virus just a day before Raya, which didn't help in the food part. I was diagnosed with shingles, which is kinda like chicken pox. Which meant any meat made me all itchy and uncomfortable as hell. And I had to take my meds five times every day for five days.. Crazy.. In any event, our Raya was somewhat subdued this year. On the flip side, I did manage to get a few Duit Rayas, which is always a good thing in my book..

10 September 2010 (Friday)

Nothing really pops out when I think of that pagi raya. Just that we all obediently woke up and got ready for Solat Aidilfitri. Because of last year's wet disaster, Husna and me were quite adamant that we find a spot inside the masjid. So much so that we left Huda because she was a little bit late (as always). Alhamdulillah, we managed to squeeze in the last few lines when suddenly Huda appeared and joined us. I did my usual people watching during the khutbah, and as previous years, forgot to bring any money for sedekah. Sorry..

When we got back home, we had our Raya breakfast and then changed into our green Raya outfits. I love this year's Baju Raya although it looked cliched but I still love it. SO THERE! Running late, we quickly had our salam and duit raya (cum photo) session with Mama and Abah before heading to Nenek's. Almost everybody was there and once more, we helped ourselves with their Raya fare. I had spaghetti and some kuih. Yums.. As usual, right after Nenek's is Tok Mat's turn and everybody quickly filled their bowls with the delicious Soto. Abah and the boys went to the masjid for Solat Jumaat, leaving the girls there with Nenek. After they got back, we had a small salam and duit raya session with Yours Truly.. We managed to get ourselves two whole packets of the candies, which is like soo heavenly.. It has been a few years since we last made the candies, and I don't know when we will ever make it again.. Huu~

In the past years, we've always gone to the studio before heading to Nenek's. But this year, we went there a bit late in the day. When we got to the studio, there were already a few families waiting for their turn. And what else was left for us to do but to have our own photo session. Haha.. When we got to the back room, we had quite a hard time deciding which background to use because we kinda used all of them by now. So we settled with a red background, typically used for visa photographs.. LOL.. Then, we went to Cik Ros's house. Kak Win has just delivered and we came to check out the newest addition to the family, Khalys Zahin. He's soo cute! Unlike past years, we didn't sleep at Cik Ros's and just fell like flies the moment we reached home.

After Isya', we headed to Kota Damansara as usual. I couldn't eat Nenek Long's famous daging because I was starting to feel itchy and was just content on munching the kuih raya. Our last stop for the day was Taman Harmonis for Aunty Linda and Co. We couldn't eat much, so we just took pictures and listened to her stories of the recent disappearance of her famous neighbour.

11 September 2010 (Saturday)

The second day of Raya was also quite eventful, but unfortunately not too many pictures that day. Same goes for subsequent days actually. Anyway, our first stop today is to Atuk's kubur with Nenek. Because Abah and the girls got there first, we read the Yaasin and then again when Nenek came with Mama and the boys. We stopped by Haji Tapah for breakfast, where they told us all the roti finished! So we just ordered drinks and Huda had half-boiled eggs. Mama and me went to a nearby Guardian where lo and behold, we found Neutrogena Rainbath!! So, Mama promptly bought four because the freaking thing is so freaking hard to find.

After a brief stop home, we went to Nenek Salmah's. I had only a moderate amount of nasi lemak and had some of the sinfully delicious chocolate fudge cake. Then, we set on for photo op around the hall. After that, we headed to PJ for Datuk Wan Abu Bakar's house, Abah's former boss. We haven't seen him in a long while and it's nice to see him and aunty doing well. We spent quite a while at their house, and even took a picture at their gazebo.

Then, we went to Datuk Wan Mokhtar's, whose wife was Mama's former boss. Hee! It's the visits to the former bosses!! OMG..! Haha.. They served us with Nasi Arab and lamb, which I only had some of but the banana cake with nuts was tastey.. It was getting late, so we stopped by the Masjid near UM for Maghrib and originally we wanted to stop by Mok Yah's but their family went back to Perak. So, where else but HOME SWEET HOME.

12 September 2010 (Sunday)

We spent the day on the road, on our way from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan. I think we only managed to start the journey at 2pm and reached Kuantan at about 5pm. First stop for today was Pak Soh's family. Most of our cousins were there and we even managed to take a look at the newest addition to this side of the family; Abang Zul's son. But only on their computer. I know, so many babies.. Haha.. Zaim took the opportunity to bring Aina out and took pictures with her. Then, we made our way to Pok Mat's in Sungai Ular to see our favourite little boys and girl namely, Ina, Faiz and Fariz.. We just hung out until we realized that it was getting late and we needed to check in our hotel. Ina wanted to join us, and after Kak Sikin said OK, we went to Legend Hotel in Cherating. After we got to our rooms, everyone (except Mama, Abah and me) went out to get food. I fell asleep waiting for them.

13 September 2010 (Monday)

Kak Sikin came with her boys and all the little ones played at the swimming pool. Whilst I watched an episode of My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.. SeungGi as DaeWoong is pure fun and the Hoi couple is infinitely sweet. Since I planned to work the next day, and Husna wants to have an open house for her friends, the three of us went back to Kuala Lumpur and the rest made their way to Terengganu. We stopped by Gunung Senyum in Temerloh to meet up with Zaim's girrl.. Haha.. It was almost dark when we reached home. After freshening up, Husna and me headed to JJ Au2 for dinner, where we settled at Oldtown. Kaya bread, Yum! No pictures of me this day as I was not feeling well.

Oh, and by the way, Happy Birthday Amalina (13th September) and AKM (10th September)!!

AidilFitri 1430 H

Sadly, now it's time to say goodbye to Ramadhan and welcome in the joyous month of Syawal. For some reason, Aidilfitri this year seemed a bit lacklustre for me. Maybe because I'm getting older and the joy of Raya celebrations has worn off. Plus, I no longer am the one receiving the Duit Raya *sniffles* It didn't really help that I was be working soon after the celebration.

1 Syawal

I woke up amidst Mama's cries for Husna to get ready. I slept at about 1.00am the previous night, which makes me the earliest to hit the bed. I was actually intending to take a nap to be a little bit more energized for the raya cleaning but ended up sleeping for real. As I was getting my bearings, everybody else was also just stirring to life. I heard Abah go inside the boys room and said something to Zaim. Then, all of us shifted to full gear to get ready for Solat Aidilfitri. By the time I got out of the shower, Mama had left. So in the end, I went to the masjid with Husna. Because we were late, we had to pray outside on the cold , wet floor (because it was raining earlier in the morning). I'm a little embarrassed to say this but we didn't wait for the khutbah this time because we felt so uncomfortable and decided to go back home.

Mama and Abah had to be at the Istana by 9.45am. Zaim sent them there. So, whilst waiting for Zaim to return, me and the others lounged around and had the usual raya breakfast fare: nasi impit, rendang ayam, kuah kacang, masalodeh and soto. He returned earlier than we thought, which made me and the girls scramble to get ready. Before I forget, the theme for this year is Red for the Girls and Off-White for the boys. Why red? Because I wanted to have a Cassiopeia Aidilfitri. Hee..

As we were on our way to Nenek's house in Gombak, Mama called. They've finished their business at the palace. So we agreed to meet them at Gombak. It turned out, Nenek was at the kubur and nobody was ready yet when we got there. Once again, we took our time eating the spaghetti, laksa johor, and when Nenek got back, she made her cho umaei mihun hailam. Cik Ros and clan arrived shortly after which is when the house increased in volume significantly.

First up is the raya and duit raya part. We took turns in giving the money, starting with Nenek. I got some from her, Alhamdulillah. Then, it was the uncles, aunties and us. We also had a session just for our family. Next is the photo op. Not much though. Just a picture of all of the girls (except for Nani) on the staircase, reminiscent of the good old days.

We made our way to Tok Mat's house, Nenek's younger brother and had the mecchha umaei soto. Even after we've filled our tummies almost to the max, me, Husna with our two cousins were practically finishing off their supply of pineapple tart which is delish. Who can also forget their candy. We forgot to make one this year so we sneaked some out, with permission of course.

We split up with the rest at this point and went to the studio in Sri Gombak to take our Aidilfitri family photo. We felt a bit out doing this because we didn't do it last year. It felt somewhat new. And it was also the first time I'm standing right smack in the middle of the group. For the past years I was at the extreme left of the picture, which consequently allowed me to show off my baju raya. None of that tis year. Then we also took some passport pictures with the 'mengiring' pose. Haha.. Alang2...

Abah wanted us to see the house at Pinggiran Gombak, so that was our next stop. We took some pictures there while the younger ones do their thing... At last, we headed home for some RnR. But not before we took some group shots even though we were SOO tired. We just haven't had time to take a picture of the five of us together.. So...

We were out again by 8.30 that night and headed to our usual destination for Raya night: Nek Long;s house in Kota Damansara. We were the first ones in our group to get there. So, once again we had ample time for picture taking. Then, we sat ourselves down and enjoyed their raya offerings. all of it (sotong sambal, sate ayam, rendang) were heavenly. The next stop was supposed to be Mok yah's (Abah's younger sis) house in Shah Alam but we found out that they have all gone balik kampung. What else could we do but head home..

2 Syawal

We woke up quite early because we wanted to go visit our grandfather's grave that morning. Afetr we recited the Yassin, we cleared the area for a bit and then, we went to Cik Ros's house . We spent quite some time there. I even managed to sleep for a good half an hour. We took our time eating at her house. I helped her out a bit at the kitchen. And guess what she brought out for desserts? Baskin Robbins icecream!!

We went to Nenek Salmah's house together. I think we were the first ones there because they were just bringing out all the food. Because I had my tummy full at cik Ros's house, I ate a little bit later than everybody else with a smaller portion. Just having a taste is OK than not eating at all, right?

Next stop: Home! We were going to Kuantan that night and none of us have packed. Aish.. We said goodbye to the house at about 5.00pm. At first, we wanted to stop by Tok Long's house but we got a call that he wasn't home. So we stopped at the Burger King off the MRR2 and bought some food for the 3 hour trip. We made a brief stop at the Temerloh RnR for some hot drinks and bathroom break.At first we played Michael Jackson's songs then, Abah played the Cinta Bollywood Cd. Ah, Bollywood. How I've missed you... We checked in our room at about 9.00pm. The others ordered a late dinner while I quickly changed and went to sleep. Dunno why, but I felt soo tired...

3 Syawal

The hotel only gave us 2 breakfast coupons, which Zaim and Zaid used. Abah bought some nasi minyak for the rest of us. The first agenda for the day is: shopping! Haha. Mama wanted to have a bit of massage so we decided to shop while waiting for her. And guess what I found? mirotic Concert in Seoul CD! And there's even a free file that comes with it!! Ureshii!! We also bought (pirated) DVDs of Haeundae and JiHwan's Secreat Agent. Husna bought me some drinks and Huda wanted to buy some Kenny Rogers. So we 'tapau'ed some Mac'n'Cheese and Whipped Potato. Yum!

We checked out of the hotel and made our way to Sungai Ular where our uncle, Pok Mat lives. He is Abah's eldest brother and has not been feeling well lately. I dunno why, but once again we managed to sleep at his house. Lunch was simple kampung fare, nice..

We made our way home at about 5.00pm. Although the weather was not looking too good, we managed to reach home at 7.45pm. After a bit of unpacking, it's time to hit the sack! But, not after my daily dose of Korean drama. I'm totally into "The Man in The Vineyard" these days. I've seen the ending sometime last year (I think) and it's too cute!! Oh Man Seok and Yoon Eun Hye make a very good pair.

4 syawal

Actually, Mama and Huda were already working that day so we didn't go to any house to 'raya'. Instead, the rest of us went to KLCC. First, we were at the Maxis Centre. Zaim and Abah took a while to settle their business. Then, we had lunch at a Sundanese restaurant. It was OK. I found an Arashi 10 year commemmorative photobook and couldn't resist not buying. And there was also on e little booklet on Jun. Best!! That's basically the highlight of the day..

Hmm, I dunno why but Aidilfitri this year has something totally lacking. We only went to a few houses and spent the rest of the time shopping and sleeping. quite disappointed, I a because this is supposed to be the only time where we could meet relatives and friends that we usually do not meet. If it were not for occasions like this, I doubt we will ever get the chance to see them..

I found this on soompi and thought it was cute. Don't credit me!