Aidilfitri is just around the corner. I called home a few days ago. Mak is still so tired. She just got back from Terawikh and reheating her milk.( I used to do that for Mak every single night. The cawan bunga merah must be half full and 1 minute 30 second in the microwave. Kalau terbanyak, guess who kena habiskan he..he… And Puteh, yang suka susu inspite of dia kucing and tak leh minum susu lembu, akan trail around nak mintak sikit he..he…)
I asked Mak about her Raya preparation. She said, nothing special this year. She is just waiting for her only two cucu to balik raya. He..he… She said, everything else is normal. Mak kata, Aunty Wan pun baru je kembali ke rahmatullah, jadi tak semeriah dulu. Usually, Aunty Wan will come and have raya with us. She will come 2 days in advance and we will spend most of the time in the kitchen. Bukan masak banyak pun, Ayam masak merah, daging hitam, Aunty wan’s bengkang hijau the rest just chit-chatting je dlm dapur tu he..he…
Our family dah lama tak balik kampung. Because the place we called kampong is now a town. Those were the days when my grandma, Mak Tua is still around, we always look forward to balik Penang, infact masa dulu, cuti sekolah je mesti balik rumah Mak Tua. Seronokkk!!!! My Mak Tua is a soft spoken lady, She never raises her voice to us. She calls me ‘Kechik’ being the youngest at that time, and then when my cousin, Aida was born, she is Kecik number 2. Mak Tua passed away when I was in standard 2. My grand dad, Tok Ba, passed away long even before my mother was married. He was 72 when he passed away. But from the photographs, he is a very tall, dark ( Indian blood) and so skiny with his songkok and sweet smiley face.
The bunch of cousins I have back them, they of course dah bertambah now. This was taken at Mak Tua’s place. Look at that girl who was being called as “Kechik” in baju biru with curly hair next to Kak ita holding Kusyairi. He..he..he… ( wink….wink…wink….) .
Those were the days when you suka duduk kat dapur tgk Nanab and Mimin buat kuih raya, krim puff, masak anything lah.. even when they kukur kelapa pun I tgk gak. Then we will round up belakang rumah Mak Tua main ‘Puteri Gunung Ledang”, main bawah pokok durian sampai petang, then walk to the nearby like bazaar ramadhan, ( it is not actually a bazzar ramadhan, because it is there the whole year he..he…) Kalau ikut Nanab pi kedai mamak, nanti dapat ice cream magnolia yang ada gajah tu.( it was my favourite back then) and Appollo wafer tu.
Well, things changes now. Rumah Mak Tua pun dah tak da lagi dah kat Glugor tu. Its so sad when each time we passed by the area, teringat childhood memories. Sejak 15 years ago, me and family dah tak balik penang for raya anymore, and since 1996, kami berkampung kat shah alam je.aunts and Uncles pun kebanyakkan duduk shah Alam and its just around the corner je. So, lepas solat aidilfitri, we usually, jumpa mamat kat 7 eleven dulu, beli paper than balik rumah, breakfast with ketupat palas, nasi impit, and ll those raya stuff, then, My Dad akan bagi sign, dia dah ready with duit raya in his pocket so, its time to salam raya now. He..he.. and by then mak pun mula la,… nanti nanti, nak salin baju pakai tudung for family photo .he..he… Lepas salam raya, bermaafan, dapat duit raya…smua orang dapat duit raya. Mak pun dapat duit raya gak he..he… Later about to lunch time, gerak gi rumah Bapak Latip, Mak’s eldest brother, and kat sana, joined by another 3 aunties and their families, with cousins punya anak anak and all. Lepas tu bermula lah rombongan. Mcm rombongan meminang. Lepas rumah Bapak Latip, SERANGGG rumah Aunty Mas, then Our place and CIca Hassan’s place will usually be ‘serang’ed during dinner where they usually masak Sup tulang …. Oooohhh I am so gonna miss the soup this year. Well that’s practically all in a day of raya. And the next day, its either cousins or friends will come visit or we go to cousins’s place or whichever.
Okay this year, it will be a whole new experience for me, Looking forward for it. I have never spend Raya away from my family but we’ll see how things goes la. Lagi best, on the 2nd and 3rd of October, I have to attend Seminar he..he..he…
Anyway,
SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI,
kepada anda semua, sekiranya ada terkasar bahasa atau tersilap kata di harap dapat memaafkan saya seadanya.
Maaf Zahir Batin.
