6 Days of Shawal 1429 H

SALAM AIDIL FITRI 1429H, MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN

Yeah...bummer....back to work and all. Dragged meself off my bed to come to work today after like 1 week holiday. But once I am seated at my working desk, I am all geared up to do what I needed to do, checking on things, emails from the RSCE-SOMChE 2008 conference participants and many more. I guess it all came naturally to me, being diligent and committed to my job (have to innit??!!!)

Baru 6 October 2008, and I have effectively used up all my monthly salary plus the half month bonus. Over Rm3000 (raya bonus + a portion of my salary) were gone to pay off a third of my Natwest overdraft debt (as they have been pestering me to do so, sob sob sob), more than RM1200 gone to the TAX (inevitable kan?), and the rest went to house loan, car loan, credit card, food and some simple raya shopping (beli 2 helai tudung jer ok?) and DUIT RAYA. Am I whinging and moaning now about it? NOOOOOOOOO !!! That Duit Raya is a must and I have given to those deserving members of my family, especially to my father and mother. What makes me a bit put off is that, the country only deducted another 10 sen off the petrol per liter value when they know that the current petrol price per barrel kept going down! And dah la last year langsung takde bonus, this year pon sama kadakoootttt bagi half half konon. Siap la I tunggu another half this December so I can pay my Natwest debt.

Nevertheless, alhamdulillah, I am also OVER the MOON (macam la over sangat happy nya , but ok la happy la jugak kan) that I have successfully made 3 kuih raya: Chocolate Muffin (just the right muffin feeling that melts in your mouth, so soft and moist, abso-****ing-lutely lovely), Choc Chip Cookies ( Famous Amos Who??? Move over brother, Ini Manal Ismail punya cookies enak berkhasiat, rangup, spanking gorgeous) and honeyed cornflakes with raisin (yang everytime i check the balang, it kept getting less and less even though i thought it wasnt that great but others think it is perfect?). Baru buat 3 kuih dah berlagak la yea....No la, I was just sharing my happiness as they were a success. I am my own critique when it comes to my own cooking and when I say it is GOOD, it is GOOD. Similarly, when it is BAD, I would be unashamed to declare it a FAILURE. Next time, cuba lagi.


I have also managed to do a full 30 days fasting. No menstruation during Ramadhan means I have successfully avoided doing Qadha puasa.

What else? Oh yea, although I didnt do my Taraweeh prayers every single night save for some few days a week, I managed to do the 1st night and the final night of Ramadhan. I also got 2 new baju raya tempah (tailor made, another one will be completed after raya) and a new shock absorber for my front left tyre FOC as the car is still within the 3 year warranty. On top of that, they also patched a teeny, tiny hole in my back right tyre and a duly aknowledgeable car wash both for free too! Thank you Toyota Sales and Service Centre Cheras (near Taman Midah).

On that pagi raya, I felt glorious celebrating this victorious Aidil Fitri day. I woke up early in the morning, took my sunat bath, and clad in my new baju raya and new telekung, off I went to Masjid UKM with my family to perform the solat sunat aidilfitri. That day memang melantak saja...sampai ke dinner the same dishes: rendang daging, rendang ayam, kuah kacang eaten with nasi himpit. Sampai sendawa pun bau rendang. In the evening, I went with my mum to Desa Pandan to visit a family friend, and they came the next day beraya to our house. We also had a few guests on the 2nd day of raya and we served them with masak lodeh, sambal tumis udang and the remaining rendang ayam and daging as side dishes to our nasi himpit.

Nothing extravagant, just the family reunion, photo taking, duit raya giving, solat raya and rehat2 were all we did on the 1st day, but it was certainly a good feelings for me.

The next personal challenge is to do the 6-days puasa sunat Shawal. I tried to wake up for sahur this morning but felt too sleepy.