Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Eid Mubarak 1430H!:)

Salam..

Ramadhan has gone and now we're in the 3rd day of Syawal.. All praise to Allah who has blessed us with the holy month of Ramadhan.. I pray may we be given the chance to meet Ramadhan again..

We spent this Eid in Limerick.. my dear hubby had to go to work for 4 hours on Eid day, hence the decision to stay in Limerick.. as there were only a few Malaysian families left here (and many of them have plans on Eid), we had a potluck session in Ustaz Wan's (& K.Riza's) house.. so there were me and my dear hubby, Ustaz & K riza, Mas & K Aini.. and later that day, Fadzrul joined as well (after we left K riza's house)..

I cooked a few dishes - the usual dishes - soto, nasi impit, rendang & pulut kuning.. I also made a choc cake & few raya cookies - makmur, suji badam, almond slices & tart.. all of these dishes were my 1st try except for nasi impit & makmur.. God, I barely could stand on my feet on Eid morning after spending the last evening of Ramadhan in my kitchen.. now I know, cooking can actually be exhausting.. I don't know how did my mum able to cook ( in large quantity) by herself.. usually for raya, she would made ketupat daun palas, rendang, kuah kacang, and the main menu would be different from day 1 to day 7... I remembered when we were living in Kepong, mum's laksa was very famous as that was the main menu for the 1st or 2nd day of Eid every year (without failed!).. Arwah Uncle Safari (a family friend & my school van driver) was amongst the 1st to come over to my house.. he was one of the biggest fan of my mum's laksa.. He would make sure that he came over to my house on the right day;) I can't deny it was yummylicious! not only the gravy, but the laksa itself, she made it from scratch!! I would sat beside her, watching her making the laksa.. she used a special mould for that, and I liked seeing the laksa falling down nicely.. it was like playing with play dough;p hehe.. for me, cooking laksa is quite a hassle.. making the gravy is another long process.. we need to boil the fish first, then separate the bones before blending them.. sometimes they ended up in my mouth first;D hehe.. but the end result, is worth it! I guess most people would say mum's cooking is the best!! same goes to me.. mak is very good at cooking.. even until now, everytime I go back home, she will make sure that I get to eat my favourite dishes..

Usually for the open house, while my mum would be busy in the kitchen, abah would be busy tidying up the house.. making spaces for the guests, and taking out the serving plates & casseroles.. that was his specialty! and on the Eid night, he would be busy following the group reciting the takbir from house to house.. I miss to hear abah reciting the takbir & I miss to perform the Eid prayer with my family.. made me more homesick!!

Writing about Eid, I can't stop myself from reminiscing about the unforgettable memories of Eid.. there was one time when I spent my Eid with scars all over my face ( my forehead, my chin & some on my nose!).. due to my 'stunts' riding a bicycle without a brake! hehe.. I didn't realise that the bicycle actually didn't have a brake (or probably it wasn't working), not until I was riding it down a hill.. I was so terrified cause I was riding it in the middle of the road (which was quite a big & busy road).. and I have no idea at all how to stop the bicycle.. and I ended up hitting a tree (I would called it a 'head on' collision except that trees do not have head;p).. You can laugh about it but it was actually a horrible accident.. sore, a little dizzy and scared, I went home walking.. I didn't even remember crying probably because I was scared to death! when I reached home, my plan was to hide myself (haha.. of course it was truly a failed plan).. abah noticed I sneaked in slowly and ran upstairs, and of course he could sense something was wrong.. ;p so abah was the first to know about my accident.. it happened during Ramadhan and that Eid, I had a few extra 'features' on my face ;D hehe.. my mum was worried about the scars on my face, but Alhamdulillah as I grew up, they disappeared.. but if I touch my chin, I can still feel a small scar.. the scar that reminds me of how 'adventurous' (ie naughty) I was!

Another incident that happened around Eid was an injury to my big toe.. that Eid, my mum cooked satay-styled chicken (ayam masak sate).. and I was the only one who really like it.. there were lots of leftovers of that chicken.. so after the guests went home, as usual mak & abah cleaned up the table & kept the leftovers in the fridge.. then we all went for a quick evening nap.. but I woke up earlier than the others and I was hungry for that chicken.. I knew that my mum kept them in the fridge, in a beautiful casserole ( a white casserole with some small flowers decorations - I can still remember it!).. I didn't want to wake my parents up and I thought I would manage to get them myself.. so I went down to the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out the casserole.. and suddenly.... pranggggg!!! the casserole fell onto the floor (actually onto my foot!!).. Oh God.. I didn't expect the casserole to be so heavy that it could slipped away from my hand.. my good intention of not waking up my parents obviously didn't turned out well.. my parents was shocked by the noise and they rushed down to find me standing in front of an opened fridge with pieces of chicken and shattered casserole at my feet.. haha.. but of course their reaction was more on concern rather than anything else.. and of course i wasn't scolded as I was hungry and was just trying to feed myself! pity me.. not only I didn't get the chicken, I hurt my big toe! I had quite a big cut just underneath the toenail.. it was so sore.. and the next morning, it got swollen and I could hardly walk properly.. so for the next week or so, everyday abah would put the gamat oil and massage my toe, to reduce the swelling until I managed to walk properly again.. both of these incidents happened when I was in primary school..

Hmm.. what a nuisance I was;p hehe.. but my parents have been so patient with me.. that is what we called parent's love.. A love that is given whole-heartedly, not asking for it to be returned.. and all I can do is to try my best to keep them happy, in every way that I can, so that they're not worried about me or my siblings too much anymore.. it's time for them to rest and enjoy their time.. they have done so much and I know anything that I do is not even close to what they have done for me since I was born (or even before I was born!).. but all I can do is to try my very best.. I pray may Allah bless them always.. and I pray may I be a good daughter to them..

All in all, this Eid has been a moderate celebration for us.. we spent the Eid day at one house only and we spent the rest of the Eid day on the phone, calling our families in Malaysia and my mum in Macca.. and on Monday, we all went back to our usual routines.. maybe this weekend, we'll host an open house.. to all of you, I wish Eid Mubarak.. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.. Maaf zahir & batin.. may the spirit of Ramadhan stays alive.. may we meet again in the next post, InsyaAllah..


A special thanks to mama (my mother-in-law) for the beautiful baju raya.. you really made my day!:)

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