A Week Ago

Dah seminggu dah Raya? Time surely flies. Macam baru je sibuk-sibuk in the kitchen getting things ready for Raya celebration. Macam baru je rasa, membuka periuk at Mom's house yang isinya penuh dengan rebusan tunjang and daging. Macam baru je berebut lemang and rendang. And macam baru je rasanya having to organize the 4 maids' kitchen duties at Mom's house during the Raya preprations. (of course after I did this, I became the most unpopular Maam in da house, but ada I kisah??? Sudah tentu tidak...)

This Raya we came back rather late. Only after the rendang making, the cake baking, the storage space cleaning (this not moi's doing - it was a "boys only" affair....) and doing the meticulous packing we headed for our kampung in Seremban. Bunyi macam jauh kan....

Nissa and cousins Nadhira & baby Nasiruddin

The Zuls, Shah Feisals & Al-Bakers and their Uwan

Nasiruddin & Aunty Kay

Yes...both Abe and I are from Seremban. And I am so thankful and greatful for that. Every time I hear friends' stories about their long haul travel balik kampung, I cringe. Imagine traveling 12 - 14 hours on the road. Aduhhh sakit pinggang wooo. But visit the elders and the loved ones we must, no matter how far is the ride, no matter how long is the journey. I guess I must have hung onto my late grandmother's words of asking me not to go look for orang jauh. Mau nya tak; she drummed it into me ala-ala lagu P.Ramlee and because of this too I extend my sincere apologies to that Penang guy (siapa dia??? Tak boleh reveal identity woo...biar pecah di perut, jangan ter-blurt out di mulut!!) whose wanna-get-serious friendship I had turned down masa kat UW dolu...hu hu... Kalu tak harus I'd be stucked on Penang Bridge this year, figuring out how to get to the other side since the bridge was closed due to the cable explosion!!


So how was our Raya this year? I'd say, okay je. Nothing fancy, spirit beraya pun suam-suam kuku je. A few matters-of-the-heart incidences have been bugging me prior to the big celebration day and that I must say had dampened my Raya mood too. I take everything as a test from God Al-Mighty. Indeed Ramadhan was a month of muhasabah diri, but it's now time to pick up the pieces and move on. InshaAllah....I'll pull through this test.

Crawl up Bukit Putus despite the new straight road...guess that's how it will be during festives - cars by the throngs, chocking up state roads

Perhaps the other reason why I wasn't into Raya this year was because the dear ones whom we have not missed visiting each Raya year are no longer with us. Our dear Mak Lang in Juasseh passed away Shawal last year, followed by Abe's Pak Ngah not so long ago and the most recent one was my Mak Lang in Batu Kikir.

The majestic old Seri Menanti Istana - minutes drive from Abe's kampung house

With a heavy heart we still went back to Seri Menanti on the first day of Raya and visited the family of Abe's Pak Ngah. I was so touched when Mak Ngah hugged me so tightly and held my hand so long when I was exchanging greetings with her (even MIL doesn't make me feel this close...I don't know, perhaps it's chemistry...) The mood was somber but I could see that everyone was coping pretty well....Alhamdulilah. Yang pergi tetap akan pergi and the best we could do is to pray for them. After that visit, the mood was just not there to go to Juasseh, so we headed back to Seremban.

The Tadin-Ambons - 4th generation

The Tadin - Ambons 3rd generation with 2nd generation Induk, Uncle Kassim, Aunty Shidah & Mom

Makan berselerak at Mom's all 57 of us

Induk (arwah Abah's youngest sister) and Moi at Mak Yan's house during our visit. Induk's rendang tastes exactly like her late mother's - ghondang orang Josseh!!

Well, the rest of the Raya days, macam biasa. Relatives came to visit Mom and us girls took turn to help prepare the dishes. On the second Raya night, my cousins, nieces and nephews came and Mom's house was packed to the brim. Farah counted the number of pax and there were like fifty seven of us. Macam family day jadi nya.....

And that's it, pretty much in a nutshell how we spent our Raya. I'd say we can close beraya di kampung chapter and soon about to kick off the beraya di kota episodes starting with the open house invites this weekend. And this will be another set of interesting tales to tell.

The trio

Our own MizzNiss (when asked where is her kampung - Juasseh or Seri Menanti, she picked Shah Alam..... Apakah??)

Lastly, welcome back to those who have returned from kampung. To those who will be traveling back to the city, drive safe.

Salam Aidilfitri from all of us and Selamat Menyambut Raya in the city :)