Balik kampong trip this time was with adik and family driving down from hometown, fetched Q, bibik and moi in KL and drive back from KL to hometown (hmm – inilah yang dikatakan nikmat & hikmah kancah kehidupan :). Full of excitement - were Fatihah, Aiman and Q - so very much in 'balik kampong' mood. Aiman & Fatihah never experienced balik kampong - so this marked their virgin trip. Allahyarham Sudir's balik kampong dibibir - each with different pelat - kecoh. But later - it got quiet and peaceful pasal yang bertiga tu masuk ke alam mimpi jua.. Traffic was smooth as we were among the early birds to balik kampong i.e 2 days before deepavali. Yes – it was a looonng holiday.. Cek ghaya sakan!
A day before raya – adik, Q and I visited kubur arwah beloved abah and mak tok. Did some cleaning work sambil berdoa for all beloved ones.
Di pagi raya – bermaafan and photo session. As early as 0830 hours the doorbell rang dek budak-budak kampong – tersangatlah comel-comelnya. As tho ada standard practice – after the bell rang, Fatihah wud be racing against Aiman to the door - both would be smiling broadly while waiting for the bebudak to jalan from the gate to pintu rumah. Next – exchange of greetings ‘asalamualaikuuumm – waalaikumsalaamm’. Next - supposedly - Fatihah kasi duit raya to the girls and Aiman kasi the boys, but our little heroin main kromo jer.. so ada gak adegan berkuntau between the 2. Anyway - what amazed me was that NONE of the little visitors accepted our offer untuk masuk makan kue ghaya! So much about silatulrahim & bermaaf-maafan or is it - money matters?! Kena review concept next year..
2nd raya – Nek Su’s annual event – kenduri laksa which is so sedap.
3rd raya – 5th November - ada wedding ceremony of a 1st cousin. Both bride and groom are still studying in Cairo. She’s 24 - married to her senior of 7 years – match-making result by another senior friend.
Coincidentally – 11 years ago – I had my wedding. Bad sign ka apa tak tau - I was down with viral fever plus bad coughing – therefore remained ‘inactive’ – heheheh!
4th raya - as body still aching – had to postpone my trip back to KL (which is a blessing because accordingly it was a BIG VERY congested and BAD traffic).
Q stayed back to spend school hols at kampong. Mak wanted to accompany me – but she’s been coughing so bad she lost her voice. I know any trip could worsen her coughing – so I convinced her that I would be fine.
D i d n ’ t t h i n k i t w u d b e t h i s q u i e t t h o …. Hm - Must be the impact from the (nak pantun siket)
hiruk-pikuk beraya sakan,mengacau dodol di rumah pak long,
lodeh, lontong and sambal sotong jadi hidangan,
berat badan naik balik – mak oi – tolong!
Was back at work today. Office is rather quiet – morning meeting only with 6 attendees. My email account was closed for obvious reason. Coughing getting worse and everyone who called commented on my husky voice.
Despite it all – I am glad I am back again.
