Remembering my childhood Hari Raya...

It's 28th of Ramadhan... 2 more days before Syawal! Alhamdulillah... we had such a wonderful and meaningful Ramadhan this year!! But somehow, I wonder where has the mood and the pre-festive excitement that I used to have when I was younger gone?? I used to get so excited... siap menghitung hari lagi nak raya!, belek2 and counting my baju raya(s) , polishing my new raya shoes and so eager to meet cousins and other family members whom I seldom met! Nowadays... dah tak sama lah... :( The new generation kids seemed to take things for granted... even my kids are not THAT enthusiastic as I used to be!! :P

I remember once upon a time..... raya means getting new clothes and new shoes... but nowadays kids get new clothes and shoes any time they want! :P

I remember once upon a time.... family members (cousins, uncles, aunties and all sepupu sepapat lah!) would gather and make dodol together (kena paksa dera by my so-dominant late grandma... LOL!).... and I remember very well how my dad complained kepenatan... those who knows how to make dodol would understand what I mean.... nak mengacau dodol tu agak mencabar babe... needs lots of energy! And in the end... there was just tiny potion of dodol left for us... the rest were divided and send to other family members, neighbours and close friends (walau pun diorang tak tolong kacau dodol! :P). Nowadays, jarang kedengaran activiti2 sebegini happening... *sigh!*

I remember once upon a timeu..... the day before raya, all the family members would come balik kampung and gather at my late grandma's house... together we would prepare lemang and ketupat, cooked chicken and meat rendang, ect. I was quite small then... tension je terbau makanan yang enak2 being prepared in the kitchen... huhu! And the night before raya... we all berbuka puasa beramai2.. and later solat jemaah and berdoa minta berkat (lead by my late PakNgah Jalil I think! But later when my cousin Abang Rosli dah besar... he took over that role! And is still holding that role now when we (the BIG family) gathered anywhere.). I remember seeing my mom and aunties cried when the dua was read... sayu sangat! :( and that night.... infront of my grandma's house... dah macam pesta!!! Pelita was everywhere... and the kids (myself, siblings and cousins) had fun playing mercun, bunga api, main kejar2, ect.... punyalah meriah!!!! How I miss those moment... *sigh!* Nowadays... most modern families prefer lampu lip-lap! :P Mana saamaaaa..... it kills the festive atmosphere! :(


I remember once upon a time..... getting the raya greeting cards throughout the Ramadhan month!! Tiap2 hari tunggu postman depan rumah.. LOL! How I missed getting the Raya cards! I remember getting all excited receiving those beautiful colourful cards.. siap kira lagi dapat berapa each year!! and later compared with my other sisters and cousins.... who got the most raya cards!! LOL! Nowadays, I only received e-cards, and messages via email, SMS and facebook! :P But I am still thankful... ada gak orang nak wish kan.. hehe :)

Wahh... nostalgia betul raya zaman2 tu... *sigh!*. I will try to make Hari Raya as special as possible for my kids... so that one day they would reminisce over the fun they had during their childhood hari raya.... ;)