Iftar at Villa Seroja

My family was at my place on Saturday for Iftar. Well, not everyone was there, but the majority of them were there. The most important guest was there! My mom and so were my sisters. Both my brothers couldn’t make it, but Bang Ngah sent his kids and grand kids. He had other appointment that he could get away from.

I was happy as it went well. We started the event with tahlil for my late father and followed by doa selamat. When we started the prayer, it was after 7pm. My fault because the prayer was added at the last minute. They only know about it at 5.30pm, so can’t blame them when they reached my place late. By the way, the prayer was led by my father in law.

We had kuih muih, murtabak, pengat pisang, santan durian, orange juice and teh Tarik for the break fast. Some we bought and some were brought by my sisters. The table was full of food. The hit of the day was Tembosa, which was made by my sister, Ami. I called it a giant curry puff, but the filling was made from egg, black pepper, chili and onion.

We then adjourned for Maghrib prayer, and this time, the prayer was led by Ustaz Najib. He was the only non family member that was invited. After the prayer, we resumed our dinner. We had rice, chicken kurma, prawn sambal, fried Kailan, fried chicken and fried ikan pari masin. My mom brought Sambal Tempoyak goreng with anchovies. I was very happy to see that most of the food finished and only left some for sahur.

I was lucky to have my mom’s helper and my sister's maid to help washed the dishes. After they had left, my nieces, Yasmin and Nadia turned to wash. Without them, I guess I would be busy washing dishes the whole night.

Since my house has a lot of spaces outside, my sisters proposed barbecue for another family gathering which we planned to do it during Eid. Hmm... No problem for that as long as I have someone to help the cleaning.

Should I help her?

Oh I hate this feeling! A young lady, selling books, stopped in front of my house this evening when I was about to go to my sister in law house for Iftar. It was around 6.50pm.

 I was in my car, and about to drive it into my gate when I saw her. She was walking from Jalan 7/5 before she turned into my street. I was hoping that she would continue to walk and would not stop in front of my house. But my hope was in vain.

She stopped, and waited for me to come out from my car. Once she saw me opened the car door, she greeted me with “Assalamualaikum.”

“Wa alaikumussalam,” I replied softly and locked my car.

I knew she was not a local girl. Most probably, she was from Manymar.  Before she said anything, I shook my head to indicate that I was not interested in the books. Furthermore, my hubby and kids were waiting for me in the car.

She tried to explain, but I told her that I didn’t have my money with me. My bag was in the other car.  She stared at me. Her expression was kind of hoping, angry and frustrated. I pity her, but I don’t like to buy books in hurry. I need time to choose and select my reading material.  Since it was almost 7pm, I don’t have time to do that.

I walked to my car, and before I open the door, I looked at her. She was already walking towards my neighbor house. I’m not sure whether she managed to sell any of the books, but her timing was not good. People were busy for iftar.

In the car, I kept on thinking about her. I wonder where did she goes for iftar, does she has  money, and where is her house. I tried to forget her by reading Victoria Dahl’s Good Girl Don’t book on my iPad, but I failed to concentrate.

I felt guilty for not helping her. Until know, 4 hours later, I could still see her angry, hoping and frustrated expression. Gosh!

I feel bad. I feel that I should help her, especially in this holy month of Ramadhan, but I failed to that. Failed to help another person, who is in need.

Salam.

Ramadhan in Wisconsin

Not everyone has the opportunity to fast in the foreign land. So I was glad that I did experience it, twice, and on both occasion I was alone. No family members. Just friends.

The first experience was way back in 80’s, in US. I studied in UWEC, Wisconsin for 2 ½ years, and Ramadhan was during the summer. Oh boy! It was the longest day in my life. The Imsak was around 4 something in the morning, while the iftar was around 8 something at night. To make it worse, it was a hot summer day, and I was still adjusting to the weather in US.

Since the day was long, it gave us time to cook for iftar. Nothing fancy. Just some simple malay dishes with rice. No noodles, no kuih and definitely no teh tarik.

Since it was summer, the favorite drink was cold drinks. Carbonated drinks or fruit juice. That was the first thing that entered my mouth after a long hot day. 

Since I took summer classes, it was not so bad. At least half of my days were in the classroom, but then morning was never really a problem. It was only in the afternoon and evening when the weather became unbearable.

To keep me cool during the hot day, I normally spent my time in the basement. It was much cooler in the basement compared to my apartment. Furthermore, when you were on scholarship, you tried to save every single penny for other things, and air-condition was considered a luxury for us.

And one great advantages fasting in a foreign land (non-muslim country), you can eat if you are not fasting. I remembered that I went to KFC or other fast food outlets to have my lunch, but then I replaced those during winter, which posed another problem.

No doubt, the day is shorter in winter, but the body also becomes hungry very fast. We really need to keep our body warm with layers of clothes. Eh! Winter in Wisconsin will always requires you to wear layers and layers of thick clothes. Macam Michelin tyres. But it was still my favorite time of the year to replace those days that I didn't fast. 

Ahh! What an experience, and I cherished it. Nothing can take that away from me. 


Oh ya! Tomorrow, I will blog about my experience fasting in Jakarta with no kids, no hubby except office mates.

Sekian. Salam.

Let's play quiz!

Haha! My kids were very cute today. The youngest two, Zaki and Zara, were testing my knowledge on animals.

I was having my iftar when they kept me company. Zara had her dinner earlier with her grandma while Zaki was waiting for me to get home before he had his.

Dinner was good as we had curry crab, mushroom soup and fried chicken. Since I was fasting today, my kind mother-in-law also made ‘lepat pisang’, and it’s our favorite.

As I was eating, Zara, with her book and color pencil, were sharing her story with me. So did Zaki. Suddenly, Zara said, ”Let’s play. Whoever can answer the question will get 5 points.”

Her first question was directed to Zaki, “What’s animal eat grass?”

“Cow,” said Zaki confidently.

“Five points for Zaki,” said Zara raising her hand and show five fingers.

“Now, your turn ibu. What animal live in the tree?” she asked.

“In the tree?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Quickly Zaki answered, ”Ants,”.

"Not your turn yet!” chided Zara, and then whispered to me,” If you don’t answer you will not get five points.”

“Oh! In or on the tree?” I asked again.

“Never mind! I rephrase," said Zara. “It climbs the tree, and then stay on top of the tree.” She made of snake movement going up the tree.

“Oh!” I said smiling. “Snake.”

“Yeah! Five points for ibu,” she shouted. “Now your turn to ask a question to us,” said Zara.

“Okay. What animal has black and white stripes?”

“Zebra,” answered Zaki. “Five points to Zaki. Now Zara, your turn. What animal has trunk?” I asked.

She looked puzzled. “Trunk?”

“Yeah! Trunk.”

“Elephant,” said Zaki.

The game continued until I finished my dinner. The last question that I asked, “Who is the most stubborn?”, and Zara, raised her hand and answered, “Me.”

“Yeah! Fifty points for Zara,” I said and she was so happy because she finally got points from me.

Hehehe…. All the day job stresses went out of the window.

For your info, Zara is only five year olds while Zaki’s seven.

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.