Knocking on our door...

Hello! I’m back. Have I been away? Not really. I was just busy playing with Wordpress. Trying to out what is good and bad about Wordpress. So far, I like it…. Check me out at zaiabdrahman.wordpress.com; just a caution though… the blog is in mixed lingo… I have english and malay update that I posted over there… Hmmm… actually there are more malay post than english.., apa-apa aja lah.

Hey, do you know that something is just lurking around the corner? No? Yes? Well…if you know it is good, if not let me tell you what it is… (1) Ramadan is just around the corner. It will be knocking on our door this coming Saturday. (2) Tomorrow is a big day for me and my hubby. It is our 22nd anniversary… Wow… it has been a long journey full of ups and downs, lows and highs… but I won’t share the story on my journey with my partner in crime today. Let's talk about Ramadan….

How ready are we with Ramadan? If you are adults and  teenagers , you should be ready. Ready to give our tummy a rest for a month. But is it really a rest knowing that our society has a tendency to eat a lot during iftar? Or some might be eating and drinking for three quarter of the night. Well, if you do, cut down on that.

Okay, back to my family. Are we ready? Of course… that is always a standard answer. Right? Well, actually my two young kids are really looking forward to this fasting month. They have been talking for a week on this. If Zaki is confident that he can fast the whole month, InsyaAllah he can, I’m not sure about Zara.

Zara is only eight and she has been having some tummy problem, on and off. To be exact, she has gastric. It will be very challenging for her. Well, nothing much I can do except to make sure that her condition did not get worse during the month of Ramadan. Anyway, both of them are not at the age where it is compulsory for them to fast yet. But somehow, they need to start practicing it.

Oh ya… in this holy month of Ramadan, Insyaallah, I am going to cut down on reading those books. What books? Hah…the lovey dovey, mushy mushy novels. I’m gonna spend, Insya Allah, more time reading the Al Quran and also a few books that I bought earlier like Aisyah Ummul Mukminin, Hassan Al-Bana, Salahuddin Al-Ayubi and few others. Those books have been in my TBR (To Be Read) list for quite sometimes. Instead of gracing my bookshelf, it is time for the books to grace my nightstands and my table.

Okay folks… gtg.. haha.. what the $$$$ is that.. Well... I got to go. I need to finish this book Cooper-K by RodieR before the month of Ramadan and also wishing you selamat berpuasa.
find

Zara and her first attempt at fasting

Alhamdulillah, the kids get through the first day of Ramadan without any problem. For Zaki, this is the first time he fast the whole day while Zara was only for a short while.

The night before, they were very excited and can’t wait for sahur (the early-morning meal). Since they need to last the whole day, I cooked rice and fried some curry puff.

I woke up at 4.15am this morning. Actually, I wanted to get up at 4.45am, but my dear hubby set the alarm at 4.15am. This gave me ample time to fry and heat whatever food that we have during dinner. The kids didn’t get down until thirty minutes later. Zaki and Amir were the first to sit at the table.

“Where’s Zara?” I asked.
“Still sleeping,” said Zaki.
“Eh! Better get her up. She wanted to fast,” I said.

So, off went Syafiq to wake his little sister up. When she reached the kitchen, her eyes were still closed. She sat quietly while the rest were already eating their food.

“What do you want? Rice?” I asked.

She shook her head and pointed to curry puff. I gave her one piece, and she ate slowly. She was still eating her curry puff when the boys finished their food. I offered her one more curry puff, but she doesn’t want. She said she wanted her milk. 

I thought she would go back to sleep after she had her milk, but she, Amir and Zaki decided to play, and they kept on disturbing me. I have to ask them not to disturb me as I was sleepy. I only had four hours of sleep before I got up for sahur.

When I was about the leave for work, Zara quietly came to me and said she wanted her milk again.

“Eh! Aren’t you fasting?” I asked.
“I am, but I want susu,” she said.
“No. You cannot eat or drink anything if you fast. Why not wait until 12pm, okay?” I said, and she agreed.

At 10am, she called me at the office, and said she wanted her milk. Since she is only five, I told her that she can have her milk, and to ask her Uwan to make the milk. 

Since she didn’t want Zaki and Amir to know, she quietly told her Uwan, and had her milk downstairs before joining the boys watching TV.

At 3pm, she called me again, and said she wanted her milk. I asked her to eat something before she got stomach upset, and no milk. No objection because she must be very hungry. Hah! Normally she would eat in front of the TV, watching the Indonesian drama, but this time she told her Uwan that she would have it in the kitchen. She didn’t want anyone to know that she was not fasting. Smart little girl!

During iftar, she wanted exactly like what Amir and Zaki had, and told me that she wanted to get up for sahur again tonight. Heh! I don’t think I want to wake her up because tomorrow is a school day. She might use sleepiness as an excuse not to go to school.

Do it before its too late.

Today, I was a little bit slow and tired. Not that I’m not feeling well, but I fasted today. It was actually replacement for those days that I missed fasting in last year's Ramadhan. I still have quite a number of days to do. What about you? Have you replaced yours? If not, better starts now before its too late.

I got up at 4.50am this morning for sahur (early morning breakfast). I normally have light meal for sahur. It was just toast and coffee and imsak was at 5.30am I cannot eat or drink anymore after imsak until the sunset.

Since the iftar (breaking of fast) is at 7.25pm, I left office by 6pm so that I can have my iftar at home. When I reached home, the kids just got home from schools and tuition. Everybody has something to tell me about their first day back to school. Since I was tired, I lie down on the sofa while waiting for iftar.

For iftar, I had a simple meal. It was just a cup of coffee, kurma and curry puff. It was so kind of my husband to bought me the curry puffs; otherwise, I wouldn’t have anything to eat except for the kurma.

Not that, there was no food, but I just don’t feel like eating rice tonight even thought there was ‘lala masak cili api’. Maybe, I go out later when I feel hungry, and when the kids are already in bed. I need to eat something or else I might have problem to fast tomorrow.

It's always take some time to adjust to the fasting no matter how long I have done it. I always felt slow, especially my brain, on the first two days, but once the body adjusted, I would be back to normal. Did I lose any weight when I fast? Yes, but not much. 

Heh! For your info, last year, I didn’t lose any weight at all. I blame it on the varieties of foods that was available for iftar. Talking about varieties of foods, I’m looking forward to the Pasar Ramadan in Bangi. One just need to have the money ready.


Sekian.