Tak riang pun, tak ria pun, tapi definitely raya.

Where to start? Lets start with I thought Im gonna be a huge bimbo this raya dengan kamera P90 baru ku, dan rambut yg nampak baru sebab pergi relaxing dan baju yang asal-asal beli untuk ke Indon tapi tak jadi lalu ku pakai di pagi raya. Sadly memang tak laaahh!

For one, we were late to gather at Nenek's house in Kajang therefore Abah didn't go for solat raya which simultaneously made us forgot to salam raya with each other because we usually do that after he came back from the masjid.

No pictures, kumpul-kumpul to makan almost 7 different type of rendang as it is a potluck. Bayong buat kelakar when he asked "Who made the rendang with lots of kunyit?" Turns out it is my mum's sate goreng with lots of serai instead of kunyit. Hahaha.

House hopping begins. Tapi pun tak berapa best sebab out of Abah's 12 siblings minus 2 (one died, the other resides in Bath, England), only 5 went house-hopping with us. The other 5 can't join in. Furthermore, my married cousins went back to the spouses's side. So the convoy and the visits are not as meriah.

To top it all, I have blocked/runny nose throughout the whole day. Which result in having fever on the second day of raya. This morning I decided not to follow house-hopping sebab x larat! Kepala berat, hidung tersumbat, prut memulas, teran-teran tapi tak lepas, mata berair, rahang lenguh, tekak sakit. Lengkap lah! Pukul 1.24 baru bangun sebab Abah call offer ikan keli berlada serai yang dimasak dari rumah Pak Lang Hadi hasil tanggukan dari kolam ternakan keli di belakang rumah Tok Teh. Mana nak menolak kan!

Jadi bangkitlah saya dari tidur lalu mandi dan tidak semena-mena pakai baju kurung. Bila Abah balik dia pun offer pergi beraya ke rumah Nek Alang di Ulu Kelang. Ikut beb jangan tak ikut! Lagipun Nek Cik ada kat rumah nek ALang. Kasi settle melawat semua adik-beradik arwah nenek. First day tu dah ke rumah Tok Long, Nek Dik dan terjumpa Nek Busu, kemudian sesat barat ke rumah Tok Ngal.

Anyway, main points!

• I love this house-hopping ritual on Kajang side because Im not close to the extended family. Its a chance to get to know them better sebab ramai!

• Tok Long ada 13 anak. Haram sorang pun aku tak kenal except for Tok Long and Nek Ulong. Tapi descendants mereka bole differentiate through their Chinese looks and Mat Salleh look-a-likes.
• Nek Cik punya family tak jumpa lagi. But Nek Cik really made me laugh by showing her cancerous breast they got rid off AND her other breast. Hahahahhaha!
• Nek Alang's family biasalah. Inviting but not warm enough to be close with. I know some of her kids. Not all. She got 6, I know 4. Okay lah kan?
• Tok Ngal's family! I love them! Walaupun jarang jumpa tapi the 3 of them Pak Long Emy, Pak Ngah Yazid and Pak Lang Syukur sangat warm. Including their wives. Plus they got little kids. Boleh melayan budak-budak. Rumah dorang tu bila dah sampai memang selesa.
• Oh! Their house served Anam! Its a Palembang dish made from a herb called Temu Pauh. Yellow gravy with sliced chicken or fish eaten weith ketupat/mi hun/lodeh. Tak semua orang boleh terima, bagi yang boleh..its a favourite! Lupa ambik pic.
• Nek Busu punya family i know all her 4 kids tapi macam biasalah, tak rapat. Nama cucu-cucu pun baru start hafal sebab ada majlis qiqah and khatam cucu dia haritu.
• Tok Teh's family ku tidak beraya pada tahun ini sebab tidur kerana demam. Family ni pun tak berapa ingat who is who. Except for Pak Uda Wan sebab he used to block me behind the door when I was smaller.
• And Nek Dik's! 3 kids, Im scared of Pak Long Mariss, okay with his wife, so-so with Pak Ngah Mahfuz and Pak Lang Yek. Sangat ngam dengan Cha! its all about the age gap and growing up together.
• Tok Long will always be the cutest and funniest atuk. This year we showed his picture on the camera and he said "Wah kamera sekarang ni cepat betul siap cuci gambar!"
• I love the non-traditional food we had, especially masak Lemak Siput sedut at Andak's. The house got quiet except from the sucking and chewing sound. Hahahaha!

Dengan itu, post ini diucapkan dengan ucapan Selamat Menyambut Aidilfitri. Saya tau mulut ni banyak mengata, tangan ni banyak menulis yang sepatutnya tapi hati ingin kemaafan sepenuhnya.

To my lecturers Puan Azian, Puan Gina and Miss Ad, to best friends di negara orang Iza Sharmila dan Izzah Razanah (with love and rendang breath), to family members who read Serendipity: Kak Lisha, Anteyna, Tantiey, Kak Su, Aqi, Ya, Danial dan lain-lain yang belum dikenalpasti. To friends in the blogroll Abu, Ashley, Aien, Awin, Ann, Anip, Ana, Eikha, Ema, Nana, No'on, Shammy, Wawa and ALL readers including the silent ones. Setulus ikhlas kemaafan dan ingatan disampaikan. Salam lebaran!