On the first day of Raya

Another early day for me as i didn''t really get a good sleep..maybe because of the change in the sleeping ambiance..i might have closed my eyes throughout the night, but i wasn't really sleeping! Nevertheless, i got ready, woke up amin and went down for some breakfast!!! Yaayyy after not having one for 29 days, it was surely something to look forward to. There was the typical ketupat, kuah satay, rendang, but no lemang! Amin insisted that it was lemang on the table, but i say it was ketupat palas..so it's different. he said it's all the same...same ingredients, therefore same thing..only different shape (it was triangle)...

Just before 8, we made our way to the new mosque in Repoh, which is amin's late grandfather's mosque. I didn't get the honor to meet him in person, for i was still not married yet to amin when he passed on. The mosque is simple, yet beautiful. This could have been my 6th or 7th time performing the Aidilfitri prayers..i too used to think that ladies were just supposed to sit at home and prepare the food while the male family members go and pray...but idea has changed for quite some time now and i think it's more berkat if you get to pray the sunat prayer...and more meaningful..

As soon as i got back from the mosque, my eyes caught a glimpse of a cute handsome boy in a navy blue baju melayu, with matching sampin, and a black songkok being carried by a familiar looking face..it was my baby nazim all set for Raya!!

After taking some pictures, we headed to the Istana Arau to pay the Regent and his wife a visit. As per our last raya there, they still had things organized for little kiddies like playhouses, games, clown to entertain and lots more. Nazim wanted so much to go inside the inflated playhouses (but it was more for bigger kids). He kept on fussing about it..so, his obliging mommy took him there and went inside the playhouse with him! and boy...did i have a ride inside there! the bigger kids kept on jumping regardless of who was around them and the little ones had to be constantly looked at, if not they might get stomped by those giants..i felt like i was in a boat travelling in rocky waters. After about 15 minutes, even Nazim couldn't take it anymore and told me he wanted to lie down and have his milk there and then. hiyoooo...so he literally lay himself down on my lap (with me still rocking vigorously) and asked for his milk (which i didn't have with me). luckily, the person in charge stopped the bigger kids from jumping and asked the little ones to come out from the playhouse...and amin came just a few minutes later to rescue us.

Our next visit was to amin's late grandfather's makam, as well as other family members who have passed on. Next stop, lunch at amin's aunty's place where she served her delicious laksa johor...and then, that was the end of our raya visiting activities. we had a good rest in the afternoon and night, more chit chatting with families and simply enjoying each others' company. i was also busy packing our stuff for tomorrow: Langkawi here we come!!