two weeks into syawal and i still don't feel like hari raya. *sigh*. is it true, that you feel less excited about celebrations as you grow older?
this year ramadan was my worst ever - what with me getting so caught up with work matters and preparing for the perth trip. rushed home at about 5.30 ish everyday, trying to make it home for buka. then at home, aby and me will take turns to prepare food/amuse hamza.
then after maghrib more entertaining and making silly faces at him while the other cleans up and runs around the house doing what needs to be done.
after he's gone to sleep at about 9 plus, both aby and me will collapse. pengsan kau. thank god alhamdulillah there were the days that we went over to mother's for buka where there were at least more hands around to carry/watch/play with the babies. at the very least, abang ilhan was more than willing to entertain ilyas and hamza while the grown-ups ate.
i had very mixed feelings while in perth. one minute i would miss hamza so much i'd leak and the next, i'll be so relaxed and happy that i can just do my work and enjoy perth's weather. fasting in perth was a bit hard, especially with sahur coz my hotel didn't have 24-hour room service. oh well, i made do with cold fresh milk (yum!) and bread of biscuits. buka was not so bad.
they called this the "combination" - chicken, beef & mutton kebab with veggies, onions, tomatoes and hummus.
hot chocolate from fast eddy's.
then i came home and it was one week to raya. i barely had time to clean the house, attempt to buat kuih and go through the traditional routine most people do in preparation for hari raya...and then raya pun tiba.
with our mishap in the baju kurung for hamza, aby got him a pair on petang raya. oh well, he can fit into it next year too.
then in a blink of an eye i had to leave for melbourne already. note to self: avoid midnight flights. my very groggy team and me grabbed a quick breakfast at queen victoria's market barely 3 hours after we touched down. sitting by our table was this busker singing "country road".
"i should have been home yesterday. country road, take me home. to the place i belong."
sitting there in the cold with my tepid hot chocolate and rock-hard pastry, i suddenly felt a sob choke up my throat. for the first time ever, i felt homesick seh. not just missing aby and hamza and my family, but everything about home.
so i was quite happy to be at the Singapore Day on that saturday, surrounded by other singaporeans who are also away from home. the queue to get into the park was a few kilometers long, apparently singaporeans from all over australia and not just from melbourne came. i met quite a number of friends from home there, even an old crushee from good ole' cckss! best of all was meeting my dear chicken nurizan and her hubby there. (note to izan: how come we don't have a pic!!!!)
so you've heard that it was a big success and there was so much food there like nasi lemak, nasi ayam and chilli crab, right? get this: none of them was halal. and for the last time, "no pork, no lard" does not mean it's halal. the only thing i had all day was combat rations from mindef's mobile kitchen. that's. just. great. *pout*
i must have been the happiest person on board that qantas flight coming home. but upon sampai rumah, my poor baby was running a 39 degrees temp. hai...
"wow...besar nya stamp. nak post pergi mana?"
but he's all better now. boleh jalan raya lagi : )
selamat hari raya to one and all. maaf zahir batin.
