Gained few pounds…check
Bank balance reduced considerably…check
Feeling extremely knackered….check
Feeling contented…check
Having severe tummy ache…check
... er, i guess this post is an obligatory Eid Mubarak post
Since the passing of the last of our grandparents last year within months of each other, me and my dearest no longer have a kampung to call our own….tsk…tsk..tsk… Henceforth our Raya will be celebrated in Muddy Rivermouth i.e. KL.
So was it a fun raya? Hell, whomever that said KL will be a dead town was wrong! WRONG I tell you! The road was jammed up all the way from our house (yes that tempat jin bertendang) right to his parents in Sg Besi and my parents in Ampang!! Where did all these cars came from? It was just like your everyday mad rush hour traffic! And the newly built three stories high mosque in Sg Besi was actually packed to the brim with the majority being Africans and Bangladeshis.
Bank balance reduced considerably…check
Feeling extremely knackered….check
Feeling contented…check
Having severe tummy ache…check
... er, i guess this post is an obligatory Eid Mubarak post
Since the passing of the last of our grandparents last year within months of each other, me and my dearest no longer have a kampung to call our own….tsk…tsk..tsk… Henceforth our Raya will be celebrated in Muddy Rivermouth i.e. KL.
So was it a fun raya? Hell, whomever that said KL will be a dead town was wrong! WRONG I tell you! The road was jammed up all the way from our house (yes that tempat jin bertendang) right to his parents in Sg Besi and my parents in Ampang!! Where did all these cars came from? It was just like your everyday mad rush hour traffic! And the newly built three stories high mosque in Sg Besi was actually packed to the brim with the majority being Africans and Bangladeshis.
So it was not a quiet raya as we all had expected since most of the extended families decided to spend their 1st day raya at their better halves’ side but it was fun nevertheless. As we grow older, I guess, the excitement to celebrate Raya just seems to fade. But it was still fun seeing some of the family members, exchanging stories and whatnots. Raya is probably about the only time we get to see our extended family and really talk. Yes, yes, we do meet during kenduris or weddings or parties but most of us will be busy with other duties limiting conversation time. But not raya! Raya is when we get to gossip!
There were plenty of houses to visit to fill the void made by puasa in our tummy, plenty of balang kuih to raid and most of all plenty of duit raya to collect for cheeky bom bom!
So yeah, we had a blast on our 1st day of raya!
Amidst all the fun, of course we missed the crazy sister in Brisbane. Our first raya without her. And dad didn’t make it any easier too. The man who was a tyrant in my younger days. The only person whom I was afraid of, not even mom! Just one look from his eyes can make all your bones shudder! No need rotan rotan also. Anyway, I could see his eyes all red and shiny after the long distance phonecall. Mom has always been the waterworks but I guess old age can mellow even a tiger of a man. But I’m sure crazy sister, El is having a blast as I did during my first raya away from home. Surrounded by friends, learning to cook your 1st raya meal, decorating your own pad for the raya gathering, yeah, definite fun!
2nd day raya was extra special because it was my dearest’ birthday. I didn’t know what to give him so I gave him shopping vouchers (hoping he had no clue how to use em’ and pass it back to me!!). We painted the town searching high and low to splurge his gifts on but he couldn’t find anything to buy. Men! I would have finished them in seconds!
Anyway on the 3rd day we were down with a tummy-ache...actually it was food poisoning but since I got a lil history with food poisoning, that granted me a lil immunity...so less severe and less painful but still lots of trips to the loo!
So in conclusion, raya in KL does not take up too much of our time. In the kampungs, it would take few days to cover the houses that we must visit but in KL, it just took us 1 day to cover everyone. Less time, less headache, less duit raya to fork out albeit the jamlah!
And we still have the big Kasbon Clan family gathering (my dearest side) to look forward to this weekend in Fraser Hill!
