Raya 09: Justified

"Dalam kubur mana pun jasad aku ditanam, aku, akulah jua," Semangat Yang Hilang by XPDC.

We did a sing-a-long of that song. It's fun, singing in a group where nobody notices that you sound pitchy and can't sing in the right key. It's all about the fun and stress release.

But noting that, it hasn't been an eventful Raya at the Institute much. Other than the feast that the Student Council organised just now, we haven't had a real Raya celebration yet. Just some small gathering of 6 to 8 guys in a room, eating their kuih raya that they brought back from their respective homes. Then the inevitable "What I did this Raya" stories would arise. And my story would go a bit like this:

From all the Aidilfitris that I have gone through, it wouldn't be an exaggeration if I said that Aidilfitri 2009 was the best and most packed Raya I have ever had. I really felt the in the Raya mood throughout the whole week-long break. Although being 19 (one more year to hit the big 20), I got more than my fair share of duit raya, and I am oh so very grateful for it. Alhamdulillah..

Different from my previous Rayas, 09 we did at our home, in Kedah instead of Kelantan. I forgot to mention in my previous post that my grandparents weren't there to celebrate Raya. They were at Mecca. So celebrating Raya in Kedah brought with it more familiarity, as we went Raya-ing to people that I actually know, or at least recognise. Not to say that I don't know anyone in Kelantan, but I know a lot more Kedahans than Kelantanese.

This Raya also had my family host an open-house celebration, a family first. So we were all excited in the build-up to this debut, with Mak Yan coming from KL and cooking us her famous Biryani rice, which was exquisite, by the way. Mak cooked up bihun sup, which better than delicious, I must say. I had some parts to play in this open-house, and that was doing the dishes, refilling the drinks, soups, and clearing the table, besides chatting with guests. Without those jobs, I would have thought myself a bad host by stealing bones (curi tulang) and doing next to nothing.

We did go to Kelantan eventually, and that was on the 3rd day of Raya because Tok Ayah and Nenek came back to their home then. Aildilfitri in Kelantan went by like it usually did, and it's always fun to see your aunts pooling in the living area and picking out souvenirs from Mecca. I was offered some rings, but I'm just not a ring-wearing guy, period. Sorry Tok Ayah. But he did give us (Boy and me) a shirt each. Thanks for that.

Most of my friends here beraya to their friends' houses riding motorbikes and cars on their own, but to me, going with family still rocks 'cuz you don't get much chances of celebrating anything with your folks. Me, I treasure these moments 'cuz these are the occasions that I'm going to remember 'em by. Think about not having your folks around anymore and regretting not spending more time with them on Raya day. Sad thought that is.

I guess this post was done because, after rereading and rerereading the previous post, I think it doesn't do this year's Raya celebration any justice.

Raya 09=best so far. Let's hope the next Rayas we have will bring about more improvement and be better than this year's.

Cheers!