Raya Diaries

Eid Mubarak fell on Saturday. That Friday, the last day of Ramadan, I felt a bit out of sorts. I was not in the mood for Raya. The month of Ramadan went by so fast. I wasn't ready to let go. I haven't made the most out of the blessed month. Too many Ramadan resolutions are still unaccomplished.

Thankfully, I have my house mates with me. They were in full-swing Raya mood. They have made Raya cookies a week ago, put up 'lampu lip-lap' in our house, bought ingredients to cook the Raya delicacies, put Raya songs on full blast, etc... If it weren't for them, this Raya would have been very gloomy indeed.

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Woke up at 3am that morning. Planned to go to Lakemba for the Eid Prayer with Farah and Rym. Took a taxi at 5.45am and reached Lakemba 25 minutes later. The taxi driver was also a Muslim. He's very friendly and talkative. When we were nearly there, we could see people in groups walking towards the Masjeed. It was a beautiful sight.

A long stretch of road (about 150 metres??) was closed for the Prayer. The traffic marshals were all wearing a white jubah with a skull cap. We entered the Masjeed. The women's section was packed but there was still room for us. Prayed tahiyatul masjeed and settled down. There was a big screen in front showing the imam leading the Takbir. Looked around and was thankful I had the chance to experience all this...

Finally, it was time for the prayer. The imam's recitation was beautiful. It was slow, steady and deliberate. After it was over, people started to embrace and wish each other 'Eid Mubarak'. We didn't stay for the khutbah since it was in Arabic.

At the back of the masjeed, there were sisters selling hijab. I impulsively bought one in cream :)

When we exited the masjeed, we saw just how large the gathering was. The closed road were filled with people. Subhanallah! the feeling was indescribable. Rym said it reminded her of the time she did her Hadj. (In the newspaper the next day, it was reported that the gathering was attended by 40,000 people).

We walked towards the train station. Most of the shops were closed. Only bakeries selling baklava seemed to be opened. Farah and Rym bought some. It was then that I realized I was hungry and that I haven't eaten much since morning.

Rym wanted to visit a family she knew that lives nearby but they couldn't be contacted. So, we sat on a bench, ate the baklava and chatted to while the time away. After some time, the family was still unavailable, so we decided to go home. But first, we wanted to go past the masjeed one last time.

We took a different route on the way to the train station. It was a quite an exercise. Finally we reached the train station. The train to Central just past us by. The next one is due in 23 minutes. I suggested that we take the train on the next platform.

Bad move. We ended up changing trains 4 times:
-From Lakemba to Bankstown
-From Bankstown to Lidcombe
-From Lidcombe to Strathfield
-And lastly, from Strathfield to Epping.

Fuh! We finally reached Epping at 11.30pm. I panicked a bit. My house is supposed to have its open house at 12pm! Reached home in time. Everything was ready. Felt bad for not helping my house mates. Prayed Zuhur and just then out first guest arrived: our lecturer: Pamela.

More people started to come and the atmosphere was lively. It was nice to see everyone in their best attire and with a big smile on their face. Everyone was greeted with the customary embrace and a "maaf-zahir-batin".

Everything ended around Asar. After that, we came over to Unit 38 (Fatin, Farah, Fariza, Wanee & Hannah). That night, the juniors came over. We played bunga api together. It was fun. I was so tired that I slept at 8.30 that night. Tomorrow should be less tiring, I thought.

Boy, was I wrong. The day started off with Unit 36+37's open house. I went back early because I remembered that I haven't properly talked to everyone back home. After talking to my mum, dad, Kak Yom & Abafan, I went downstairs.

People who didn't come yesterday came that day. There were probably more people who came that day. We were a bit frazzled - will there be enough food?? Nisa whipped up Pengat Pisang & Tom Yam in record time. Alhamdullilah, everything went well.

I was a lousy hostess though. I really didn't know how to entertain the guests, especially the ones that I'm not closed to. So, I shirked from my duty by busying myself in the kitchen, washing the dishes.

After Asar, we went to the juniors' house: 128 + 110. By the time we reached Amrien & Syikin's house, we were so full, we couldn't eat much. There was still one more house to go that night: 107.

So, after Maghrib, we stuffed ourselves again at the Lysa+Aini+Aimi+Ida+Ain's house. They really outdid themselves by cooking beryani, satay, serunding, etc...

That night, I slept around 8.30pm again.
The next day, I have a class test which I still haven't studied for.
I'm banking on my MCQ-literacy to get through the test (!)

X X X

A friend I haven't contacted for a long time wrote me a letter. It was a very intimate letter detailing what she's been up to and her personal thoughts and feelings.

I felt touched. We used to be so close. But we've grown far apart ever since we changed schools. I thought that we are far too different now that it's unlikely for us to be close again.

Then I received her heart-felt letter... *lump in throat*