Raya 1429H - Part 1

Eid Mubarak, everyone! bade farewell to Ramadhan...
like many others, we celebrate Raya with balik kampung trips, food, ziarah and more food.



The journey

Our last trip to Perlis was on March, 8th for cousin Imah's wedding. That time we 'transit'/ overnight in KL. This time the trip was different since we travelled direct from Kuantan - a straight 10-hour journey of approx. 800km...(i figured the distance is like from london to inverness; whoa!) Before we headed for the highway, we stopped by to visit Anisah bt Hashim at her home @ Bukit Galing. Anisah is my youngest / latest cousin born 4th Sept 2008. the children got to see their baby auntie...:)

Mak retiring

We receive good news that Mak will retire soon. she's got like 9 working days to go. i think the happiest person must be Abah...! She will have a short pre-retirement course and later join Abah in Perlis. Mak has worked @ the same govt agency since i was little. (Abah had been working for the same company for 30++ years too before he retired in 2003). u think i'd follow their footsteps and remain with the same employer till 55? hmmm..

Tok

One of the wajib things to do once we reach Perlis is to see our grandmother, whom we call Tok, or Nyang (by my children). She doesn't really remember her age, but she knows that she was 19 when she gave birth to Abah. So we always have to add the numbers every time. That means she's 79 this year. When i was about 5 or 6, i stayed with Tok and arwah Cak at Seriab. The small house faced their paddy field. i still remember riding on Cak's motorcycle; and we went to Pekan (town). Then i saw this beautiful pink dress, and asked Cak if i cld have it. Later, the dress became my favourite wear. During their younger days, my grandparents worked the paddy field themselves. Now someone else had to do it but they pay Tok some rent. Arwah Cak died in 1988. It's been 20 years now since Cak died. And it has been 20 lonely years for Tok too...Tok refused to move to Abah's new home as she wants to be at the old house, which has the memories of arwah Cak..

Tok can't move very much. Mak Su is constantly looking after Tok now.