Ive been meaning to blog, its just that the last mth was soooo hetic what with Raya and preparations for my sis's wedding and all....oh and on top of that I had a few diaper cake orders the wk after Raya, the pics are still not loaded up to my Multiply....haiz...so much back log I dont even know where to start!
Right, so Raya is basically the same as in previous yrs. First was to my in-laws's place. However, this yr we arrived really late, and that in turn upset the whole plan for the day.
As we were getting ready, I couldn't find the anak tudung which I bought to be worn with the ever difficult, but cantik tudung fr Jelita, so I had to make do with the normal anak tudung I use and the outcome is evidently seen in the first day Raya pics! Haiz...(guess what, I just found them yesterday! in the second drawer of my cupboard! I swear I looked there then! anyway...)
Then my hubby couldn't find his songkok! He searched high and low and I think to date he still have not found it...I thought we were like jinxed or something that day.
So anyway, my family had bought the same material but in different colors this year. It was supposed to be a Baju Kurung Pahang, you know those very flair types with big pesak....but the material was a bit stiff so I felt like a robot the whole day and although I had lost 5kgs during Ramadhan (more on that later), I looked like I had put on double the weight I had lost!
[Sidetrack: Achieving my pre-pregnancy weight was such a struggle. Loosing weight is easy (as long as I avoid rice for lunch) but gaining it back is double as fast!! If I skip rice for a wk during lunch, I am sure to loose 1kg. However, the moment I start having rice for lunch or dinner, I will gain back 2kgs!]
Through out the month of Ramadhan however, I didnt have much apetite and time, I guess, to indulge in food. I could hardly eat rice for Sahur and prefered noodles or bread. So I guessed that is how I lost the 5kgs which brought me from the "pre-obese" state, as my family doctor said, to an acceptable BMI! Yipee!!! I was so happy when some of my relatives commented that I had lost weight during my sis's wedding last wkend! =) =) =)
Back to Raya...since my Hubb is on shift duties, it is quite difficult to jalan raya. So we tried to visit as many houses as we possibly could on his off leave and off days...sorry to those that we didnt visit this yr...paham2 aje lah yer....
The highlight of this year's Raya was when we visited a distant relative's house, partly bcoz my mum wanted to pass to her my sis's wedding card. It is my mum's maternal cousin's house...and it is in a kampong...yes, a kampong but right smack in Singapore!
I was told that it is the last kampong left in urban Singapore. Lorong Buang Kok...as my uncle pointed out, Buang Kok not Buangkok as it is spelt now. It is located off Yio Chu Kang road somewhere near Hougang and Serangoon North estate, behind the old Woodbridge hospital., infact it is so near my house!
Once we made a right turn into the old dirt track, we were greeted by the crickets chirping away. Immediately it reminded me of the school holidays we would spend in those kampongs in Klang-Selangor.
On my right was thick green lush trees and on my left was a big big drain full of filthy water which I believe came from the private houses on the opposite side of the drain. The dirt track was lined with granite chips and was very uneven with big pot holes. The houses that we wanted to go to was a short walk away. The minute we started walking through the kampong, my sis went shutter-crazy. She took pictures of everthing around her, the lampu colok, the leaves, the wooden bridge...we joked that she short of took a picture of a lump of chicken droppings! Hahaha...such Jakuns we were!
The surrounding looks so serene and peaceful. Its hard to imagine that just a distance away is a busy road and concrete buildings where people live in "pigeon holes". It was obvious that the people who stayed there took pride in their house. There was a small lawn where they had planted cactus and flowering plants and although it was in the kampong, the place was so neat and tidy. There were hibiscus flowers as big as my palm and a swing which was made of a plank of wood, tied to a big, tall tree.
Unfortunately, I had left my camera in the car and so I only took some pictures before we went off. Ok, enjoy the pic peeps...Hope your Raya had been wonderful as mine!
posted by LiN at 5:07 PM
