Of Ramadhan and Syawal

Huh! I'm finally back home after my Raya holidays in Kota Bharu. It was a good raya for me, Alhamdulillah :)

But...i'm feeling like i need one more month of Ramadhan. Tak puas.

I have been unsatisfactory in my behaviour, my thoughts, my perceptions.

I was so so so pessimistic about Raya. I heard that the land near my grandma's house has gone all dry and 'bald'....no more shades...no more trees and foliage...no more GREEN...no more arwah Ayah Su's bushes...not to mention the missing chicken of his...and also no more pokok rambutan for me to observe and 'attempt to help' to kait the fruits with that longgggg pole which actually made me imagine i could reach out to the sky and make the plane passing by go catapulting...you know me once my eyes go to the sky...

My brother told me if given the choice he would like to be the cloud. I see his sense. It's just so peaceful being there...except when the lightning threatens to tickle you (now that's an afterthought i neglect to mention to him, haha)..

Puasa has gone by with events and multiple antics from humans around me...nothing much...one of my favourite November people has resigned, i gave him a white fluffy bear and he gave me a non-foldable fan with his own crafty knot...we gave each other November birthday presents!

Thank you very much, you know who you are :)

Cancer girl, also going to be resigning. *sigh*. I got to know more of her and believe it or not, we bonded too. Cancerian females seem to be allergic to me...all my life...and this one took about 2 years to really harmonise with me...her with her direct talk and sharp behaviour, me with my irritating loopiness and Plutonian ignorance...haha...we both hang out together since our 'joint predicament' at work. Ah well, let's not dwell on that.

I didn't feel the Raya atmosphere in my life. No kuih making (only my mum made some jam tarts while i was asleep like a log at night)...no baju raya (the tailor got H1N1)...

Exactly 12:30am Friday/Saturday, we set off for Kelantan. Had a meal first. Me with my dad, mum and my bro. Miracles of miracles, my MP3 player can be played in the car! One less of my glumness of the impending journey. Me and my dad, we can listen to whatever melody...we have high tolerance for each other's music tastes...i even enjoyed his songs and discovered new ones for my ears! So the journey went by smoothly with both individuals' music playlists.

Smoothly? Just the music. The ROAD....

Spent 4 hours on that Karak highway. Darn bloody traffic. We had to stop before the second toll to sleep till dawn and just not waste petrol, see...

6 am. Continue the drive. Surprise, surprise, sensing the terrible jam up ahead, we had to decide to go through Terengganu. Twice we stopped to sleep and refresh. I actually DREAMED...

I was spiralling (in a moving car) up a mountain and down again. It was pleasant. Hmm, that's the main theme i remember.

Reached Wakaf Che Yeh, 6:45 pm. In time for last buka puasa meal. Next day confirm Raya Puasa. Alamak..so sad...the end of Ramadhan never made me feel down that way...8:30 me and mum went to SACC mall...i mean, KB mall...to get our pre-ordered blackforest cake.

Next day: 1st Syawal...helped my mum prepare food for guests. Cut the blackforest cake to put on a platter and it looked like a....disaster. Presentation-wise. Not that's it's anyone's fault though...it just happened that way :D

The cake is wiped clean at the end of the day. Shows that TASTE is what matters most to the Raya guests, hehe!

Next on the menu, satay. Already grilled (err how do you describe 'bakar satay' again??), so we just need to heat it up. Accidentally, i was put in charge of the reheating. Not that i'm complaining...i do want to have something to do during Raya...i'm not that good at sitting around in the living room and *gulp* socialising.

I can just say that it was a sweaty hari raya for me. I worked at clearing up the table and adding more food and drinks, washing the dishes and cups the whole day. It's where i can be left by myself and not being watched so much by the people. Surprisingly, i was comfortable in that situation :)

The only time i went out to greet people and my family members is toward the afternoon...when the table is all set for the next set of guests, i sat down and relaxed and....got to see ALYA!!! She wore a pale blue gown and had two braids in her hair. Gosh her nose is as alluring as ever, wakakakaka....

Naturally she stuck to my dad the most...after some prodding, she did that amazing and shocking thing: jumped to me and held on/hugged. Ahh well she's still that same baby who i've held in my arms long time ago :)

Next Afrina came. She just decided to observe all the cars parked in front of the house and trying to investigate to whom each of it belonged. Stood by and talked to yours truly and i just layan her. Haha....she's so much of a Capricorn babe! Grandma-like.

My father, Alya, me and Afrina later went to 7-Eleven for, what else...the children's titbits. Alya stuck like a magnet to her grand-uncle and i took charge of little grandma...she's just so dainty and pretty and so matured-like...hmm, she is one soul i can like :)

Aries Alya buys a lot of things. Cappy Afrina buys only the things she wants. I don't have to describe more :)

Next phase of guests, this one comes in the evening. This one guy suddenly got all chummy with my mum and i got to know that he's the one who asked her last year to matchmake him with any single girl she knows. He talked with me and i talked with him. After he finished eating, he still came to talk with me, and i talked with him.

Let me explain: i've never seen him before, or i was just so ignorant i never did know who he was. He doesn't know who i am too. Seems that he is one of my dad's saudara-mara. The extended ones. Double-triple extended ones. So me and him are just simply related somehow. Anyway, he asked for my phone number and i too got his number. Totally Harmless. Next paragraph.

Later at night went to Che' Dah's house for her own spaghetti bolognese. It's good too.

Next day, Raya Kedua. Went for nasi dagang at Aunty Limah's house. First, me and my mum helped to prepare the table and roll up the roti jala. Then we went to the tanah perkuburan to pay respects.

3rd day. Ate pancakes made by Ayah Mat. Delish. And then i'm the one who continues making it, and finishing the batter. Haha. Then later my mum made kuey teow for the day.

4th day: sent Ayah Mat and Uncle Ian to the airport and then we started off for KL. I bought this Sour + candy which is absolutely shocking. It made my smugly self-confessed relaxed daddy change into unrelaxed sour candy victim. It made my asam-eater mummy into a shocked and blinking driver. It made me a new fan :D

We reached home 1:30am. Safely. Alhamdulillah :)

Sunday photo detailing

Adding my photos from my Prism, and some other collection. Haha, sometimes i feel i am only one of the very very few people who owns a Prism and liking it. Next phone? Shhh, my Prism will hear and she'll go sulky :D

The above picture is my father's idea of food art. At Restoran Azira. Sempat jugakkkk susun sambil ambik makanan...



Ghastly. I meant to put 'o' in place of 'a' there hehe. Nahh just kidding. But i'm using a half-serious tone :) This was the dawning sky back in the 1st week of puasa, sahur at MMZ Bukit Jelutong. Actually it looked more prettier looking at it. This pic was...of course, flawed.



New Gladiator model. My mum's kaki. Tangs Pavilion. No actually it was bought in Parkson Grand. MODELED in Tangs later :D Suddenly it occured to my vision that her legs looked like it belonged to Cleopatra. *gerenti ada orang KEMBANG hidung...*



This was my little road beside my house in somewhere England. If you believe that, i pity you. Haha, this....was somewhere in Harvey Norman...my brother and i got obsessed...wonder if we were being videoed ourselves *tsk tsk*...



GSC Pavi Lion. *rolls eyes*. This was on the space after the 1st escalator leading to the cinema halls. It was RAINING how can i resist NOT admiring the moment? There were actually raindrops splattering on the glass roof. I feel like an alien. But i'm no chicken. Uh, NEXT PHOTO please...



My space in my office (new layout). My screen is so so precious....and my tiny flag sticking dutifully to my CPU...this was taken when the restless part of me comes...during my free time at work...


There you go, i get paid to fool around...and i'm not pleased with that of course :/