in sombre mood.

this time raya umah mak dan ayah. meaning few days before raya n first daya raya we will be 'berkampung' there before depart to my inlaw hometown in lenggeng usually after dzohor. 'berkampung' meaning helping my parents n sisters in making raya cookies, ketupat, ketupat palas, rendang ayam and rendang daging. in those old days the raya cookies could be mutiple varieties like kuih ros, bahulu, lemang etc etc that require us have a war with fore & heats while fasting. luckily this year no more raya cookies. strictly those rendangs and ketupats. due largely to 'tak larat'. age is catching up with everybody ... which left me time to go shopping at night with my own family at uptown sales as well as at komplek pkns on malam raya. then my wife got the first hand sexperience on 'malam raya lelong' there but she couldn't stand with the crowd.

as usual on first day hari raya after raya solat, we have this 'minta ampun dan maaf' with our parents. for the first time this year i hug them. and before my own family and i depart to my inlaws, i hug my sisters and kissed them. first timer also.

unlike previous year, this year my inlaws 'beraya' at the hospital. my mom inlaws and almost all her sons and daugters and cucu were there. kak lang still in hospital without any much improvement but we still pray for her recovery. just a couple of days before the doctor confirmed that my mom in law also had the 'stroke attack' albeit a light one. left her with difficulty to move. she really need to look after her diet and emotions.

we 'berkampung' at putrajaya afterwards. that evening and that night i was at the kitchen doing all kind of works like 'panaskan' all kind of rendangs, doing the cookings and wash the dishes while still clad in baju melayu. almost at midnight only i cud take a bath. all relatives from lenggeng came down to putrajaya, mainly to see my mom in laws. some continue to go to hospital to visit kak lang.

raya kedua, isteri pakcik pula mengetuai kerja2 di dapur. pak cik tolong2 aje jika perlu. hanya selepas semua dah selesai di sebelah petang baru lah kami sekeluarga bertolak ke kampung di lenggeng. tujuan utama adalah beraya di rumah kak ipar dan anak2 nya, isteri abang ngah yang meninggal beberapa tahun lepas. kemudian beraya di rumah mak long terutama nya dengan cik ila, sepupu bini pak cik yang kematian anak istimewanya.

late evening we depart for melaka. this year we have to go back. pak cik kena melawat pak cik sedara who is bed ridden. sempat juga beraya di rumah sanak saudara belah ayah. di sebelah ibu, pak cik pergi beraya di rumah mak long dan pak itam.

tengahari sabtu baru bertolak pulang ke shah alam. pak cik ikut jalan lama kerana hendak beraya du rumah abang chik di rembau. sebelah petang nya baru bertolak ke shah alam. lebuhraya serembam sedikit 'jammed'. dalam perjalanan kami mendapat perkhabaran keadaan kak lang di hospital semakin merosot, beliau mendapat jangkitan kuman di paru2 dan akan di pindahkan semula ke wad rawatan rapi. khabar berita ini dengan sengaja nya di sembunyikan dari pengetahuan mak yang pada waktu itu berada di rumah kak long di kuala selangor. tigas pak cik malam itu adalah mengambil mak di sana, kak long dan angah, our baby sitter sekali.

ke esok kan nya kami melawat kak lang. oleh kerana kak lang di unit rawatan rapi, waktu melawat adalah terhad. ramai juga sanak saudara yang datang 'berkampung' di sana walaupun hanya di luar wad. pukul 2, pengawal keselamatan pun datang minta kami semua beredar dari sana.

petang itu juga kami mendapat perkhabaran, mak cik tua jiran kami sudah meninggal pada pagi hari raya kedua. beliau sakit tenat beberapa hari sebelum raya berikutan 'komplikasi' dari obat antibiotik yang di ambil nya.

begitulah raya tahun ini .... banyak bertemakan orang sakit dan kematian. bawak2 lah bersabar ...