I guess this Syawal would be one of the most traveled and most house/friends/families visited during raya.
1st Syawal:
We spent the morning visiting Ayah’s grave like we normally do. Then, after Friday prayers, we went to Malim Nawar to visit Uncle’s late wife. While we were there, we stopped at Opah’s friend’s house. Opah is Uncle’s mother in law and Opah stays with Kak Ina and Leman. Right after that, we were off to visit Leman’s family in Tapah. It was me and my siblings first visit to both houses.
2nd Syawal:
We spent the day mostly on the road as we were heading down to our grandparents’ in Muar. On the way, Jaja waved excitedly to a family in a car whom I thought was the family of my aunt. Well, I thought wrong. So when they stopped next to us at a traffic light, both of us pretended that we were exercising our hands to avoid the embarrassment of waving at the wrong people.
That night we held a small makan-makan since Tok Ngah’s and Tok Ning’s family are coming for a visit. Tok Ngah’s family was one of the nicest family that I have ever met in my entire life. They were the people that I eager and anticipate to meet every Syawal.
3rd Syawal:
We went back to Yong Peng to visit my grandparents’ on Ayah’s side. We missed to see all other relatives again this year.
4th Syawal:
Headed to KL from Muar. On the way, we stopped at Masjid Tanah in Melaka to beraya at Nida’s house. Nida is Sarep’s girlfriend.
5th Syawal:
Headed to Sitiawan from KL.
6th Syawal:
I spent half of the day sitting and waiting at Bank Rakyat as I had some thing to settle. While I was there, I became restless and annoyed because parents who brought along their children to the bank let their children running around screaming to each other. This is a bank and not a playground. The bank became too noisy. Then, there was a man who brought his son and daughter along. His daughter is around 4 years old, I would say. What her father did was, when he was settling some things at the counter, he sat her on the counter itself. She would then stand on the counter and touch the ceiling. He did nothing about that. I almost took a picture of them to be sent to any newspaper. As soon as this family left the bank, the manager gave each child a lollipop. Only then the bank became quiet because everyone was busy eating lollipop.
I went to the clinic after that to get an MC. Only then I got to know that I was feverish. So as the doctor said, ‘Eh, you demamlah”, I had a wide smile on my face. Hihi.
7th Syawal:
I cooked some laksa Johor since Azwan requested for it. He came down all the way alone. So, since Aunty Pah invited us to her house, I took him along. It turned out that Aunty Pah’s son, Hidayat, has a few friends who work in Dell. Azwan also knew his girlfriend who used to be an intern in Dell. What a small world. That night I took Azwan to Seaside Cafe in Lumut for supper.
8th Syawal:
Sarep was still recovering from fever. So instead of going to KL with him, I went back with Azwan so that Sarep will have another day to rest. We hit the road after Friday prayers and headed to Ipoh as he wanted to see a friend there. His friend then took us to Restoren Nasi Vanggey, which is almost similar to nasi kandar. It was pretty nice. I always find ayam goreng and kari kambing a nice combination. We then headed to KL just before 7 and stopped at R&R Tapah to get some fruits. Reached Jaja’s house at around 10.
9th Syawal:
Azwan picked me up after Zohor and off we went to Jihan’s house. We stopped at R&R Seremban and ate some KFC. So when we reached Seremban, Azwan gave her a call to ask for the directions to her house. After driving around for almost 15 minutes we managed to find her house. After that, we headed to Eine’s place in Melaka. She made nice laksa Johor. Only that, instead of using spaghetti, she used the normal laksa.
We didn’t stay long as I promised Pak Ngah that I will pay him a visit. So off we went to Shah Alam to fetch Jaja and Sarep at Mak Cu’s. We went to Pak Ngah’s house in Kelana Jaya. Pak Ngah is Ayah’s elder brother and since I was small, we never failed to go to his house during raya. Now that Ayah is not with us, we made an effort to visit him during raya and to continue what we had normally done.
Then, we sent Jaja and Sarep back to Mak Cu’s and headed to Azwan’s house where his parents held an open house. We chatted for awhile and Azwan sent me back to Jaja’s house.
10th Syawal:
I had no choice but to go back to Sandakan. Haha.
I guessed I had spent my time worthwhile while I was on my raya leave. The only thing that turned me off right now is the fact that I am still left clueless about my transfer. No news, no letters. Still nothing. *sigh*
