#Rayamoodon

Salam everyone. How's your Ramadhan so far? Today should be the 18th day since we started fasting. Alhamdulillah.

Today is also a public holiday, specifically for Nuzul Qur'an.

As expected, traffic jams everywhere in KL. With the public holiday and Raya/Eid fast approaching, everyone was most likely shopping for Raya and picking up their clothes from their respective tailors (including yours truly).

We started off our morning at the Kraftangan fair in Chulan. It's a yearly thing for us. I must say that it's poorly organised though. A disappointing start to the morning. I refuse to hear such excuses as "Malaysian work culture" or "Ikut Malaysian time looor". Really? NO! Such wastage of both time and money. It was advertised that the fair was to start on 22 June at 10am hence it should begin rightly so. Everything should have been set up last night. To boot today is a public holiday and is the best time to capitalise on people having the time to go through the booths. Yes, the fair will only be officiated by our Minister tomorrow. Regardless, things could have been prepared in advance. Things can proceed and all booths open for business with the opening ceremony being held tomorrow. If the idea was to only begin after the ceremony, then it should be advertised that the fair will only be held on the same day as the ceremony itself or the day after. I felt like we wasted time coming over on the first day, hoping we could avoid the massive crowd. Yet, many of the booths were still not set up or still preparing for the day. The confused faces of some tourists who were there also does not bode a good start to the fair. Ayoyooo... sayang sungguh! Hubs suggests that we come again this weekend. I don't think I can though with revision classes and all.

We then moved on to KLCC to finish off our Raya preparation. This year we gradually bought the necessary and with exams looming over, not much is needed with Raya time most likely being spent in our library in my case. We managed to catch a performance in KLCC as part of their Raya celebrations. Nice deco at the concourse. A colourful rendition of life in the kampung.

By noon, we were already heading to Jalan TAR. Fuuh, so many people. Even then the sales lady at one of the boutiques mentioned the crowd was even more massive two weeks ago. Wow! We were in Jalan TAR to pick up our baju raya. At the same time, we went to look for something for my mum and sisters. With her impending move to KL, thought a nice baju raya would cheer her return to KL. She is definitely a bit sad leaving Kuantan after many 'more or less' peaceful years there with things such as 15 minute jams and bird watching almost everyday. However with everyone here in KL, the move is definitely for the better.

The Raya mood is definitely in the air. Our initial plan to spend only an hour or two in Jalan TAR extended to more than that. Despite the crowd, I do feel my Raya spirits lifted seeing people's excited faces shopping in Jalan TAR. The next trip there will most likely to go for their night markets. Hubs especially loves this specific stall which sells mini keropok lekors.

I hope your Raya mood is ON as mine.

Wishing you all well with the preparations.

It's All About The Beach

Third day of Raya finally arrived.

Both Husbie and I woke up early and took a lovely, long and qualitative stroll along the beach. Oh, not forgetting plenty of photos and selfies too!

Masih Raya so posing kat pantai mesti control ayu.

Husbie's impersonation of a starfish 

Sitting on a bench, contemplating what can we get for breakfast without breaking the bank. I was starving and all Husbie was none too eager to feed me. Hmpphh!

Husbie posing next to the Resort. I still prefer the one in Langkawi! Jom sayang, we go langkawi pulak! 

Missing the beach already.

Nor Your Typical Raya - Part 2

On the drive down to town from Baru Feringghi lar BIL whatsapp'd sebab MIL marah Husbie. Adalah reason MIL yang I thought boleh ajer easily resolved but because of it, my Husband and I got into a huge fight. Sedih sangat, both of us dah lar hungry. Now tengah 'panas' ngan each other. DI HARI RAYA! 

(Big NOTCH there)

Sampai bandar terus gi another relatives house. In-laws were already there but all the men have started driving out to the mosque for Friday prayers. Husbie was lucky that he bumped into one of his cousins and ikut sekali ke Masjid. So, I was left on my own to make my own way up to the flat where his relatives were. 

Masuk-masuk memang muka tebal. MIL was chatting up with her older brother whilst watching TV. Definitely don't want to interrupt. So, the relatives can agak-agak ajerla yer I siapa but of course I was gracious enough to beri salam masa masuk rumah and introduce myself. Masuk rumah orang kot. Walaupun bukan kampung and family sendiri, adab still ada yer. Ingat jaga nama baik suami. Lucky for me, some still recall my face from the wedding.

There, sedara-mara Husbie pelawa makan minum but I minum sikit and makan sebijik kuih dulu. Despite dah banyak kali dipelawa and with my continuous response wanting to wait for Husbie, they continued to invite makan minum. Rather than menyinggung perasaan these nice people, better makan minum sikit lar. Baik sungguh Husbie's Aunt and cousins. I am very lucky to have nice people around me for Raya.

A visit to the washroom, jeng jeng jeng, Bendera Merah berkibar! Lucky for me, I have the car keys, Tapi masa nak turun ke parking lot, time tu lar the men sampai. Husbie dah kasi jelingan maut suruh tunggu and tanya kenapa tak buat tadi. At this point, tahap 'panas' bini kena tamp down puas-puas and bini dok kena explain betul-betul that Laut Merah baru datang melanda and any further delay to take my pad from the car, lagi teruk jadinyer.

Double notch here in the "So Hate Raya" bedpost.

Just Husband and I at the dining table, we only started eating our first Raya meal for the day around 3 p.m. In-laws still kenyang from the first house so we makan lah dulu. 

Another "notch" there. Lebih setengah hari 'berpuasa'.

Masakan rumah Penang best. Ayam piru i.e. turkey masak merah and masak kurma. I find that kurma Penang pedas sikit and with Ayam Piru makan ngan Roti Benggali, perghh, the BEST! Aunty dia baik sungguh, even offered for me to bring some home. I had to graciously decline with many thanks. Dah kenyang and with the plan to visit other relatives takut tak termakan pulak. 

Few hours later, we decided to move on to the next relatives' house. Sebelum tu, sesi menyampaikan duit raya.

The other house is somewhere across the main Penang bridge. Tak ingat aper nama area nih.

It's here where I saw for myself that dua masjid yang berdekatan tapi sebab berparti berlainan dibina. So it's TRUE! I've only heard of them but never believed it. One painted green and the other blue. Supposedly if a person from the other party prays at the other mosque, tak sah! Isssh, tak elokkan tu! Masjid untuk Islam. Party politik set aside.

Sebelum tu, sempat bergambar in my Raya baju. Finally dapat a picture of my full ensemble albeit muka dah melekit and tengah tahan sakit and lenguh.

Please ignore the bag of cookies and focus on my ensemble. 

After makan-makan, smelling like ayam goreng, menahan badan yang lenguh, with my first day of the red flag kaki bengkak and feeling sweaty and sticky, we made our way to two more houses.

Sebelum tu, I got another nice picture with a rustic background. This time ngan suami. Muka sticky and sanggul memang tak ngam, but I don't care. Asalkan dapat gambar elok for options to choose from.

It was at the final house, I broke down. Like tears streaming down hidung merah and all. Cried in the car with Husbie at my side. Memang raya yang berbeza for me. No time to the point tak sempat call my own family pun to wish them Raya. So dissapointed with myself and current circumstances.

Dah puas nangis, finally made the call to my mum. Brief tapi sambil tu ngomel lar.

Kesimpulannyer- SERIK! It was such a stressful time for me. We only returned to the resort 12ish am! Itu pun gerak dulu leaving my in-laws at the final house which they've visited first thing in the morning. 

--------------- END DAY 1, PART 2 -----------------