4 Syawal 1428 – Is everyone* still in Raya mood?
Iz wrote about missing the Raya feeling. I never really felt the excitement and anticipation leading to Raya myself. I hate the housecleaning and the massive crowd at the shops and shopping malls. I hate the thought of having to wake up early Raya morning, dress up in full baju melayu, and rush to a crowded mosque for Raya prayer. I hate the thought of having to go on rombongan – a neighborhood travelling party going house to house to celebrate – afterwards in the hot and humid late afternoon to midday weather.
Then the day came.
While I am definitely not the beraya sakan type, the Raya feeling is definitely there; though it is more of a feeling of significance and appreciation than festivity. Raya is religious festival; waking up early and dressing up to go to the mosque is part of the whole celebration. The mosque next door was not so crowded this year, as the neighboring villages now have their own mosques; and as the rombongan leader said, it was our opportunity to get to know each other as neighbors.
One of the best thing about Raya , though, is definitely the food. My favorite is lemang and rendang. I don’t care about fancy cakes and cookies, but I just can’t have enough lemang and rendang.
What’s your favorite Raya dish?
__________
* If you celebrate Raya , that is.
Iz wrote about missing the Raya feeling. I never really felt the excitement and anticipation leading to Raya myself. I hate the housecleaning and the massive crowd at the shops and shopping malls. I hate the thought of having to wake up early Raya morning, dress up in full baju melayu, and rush to a crowded mosque for Raya prayer. I hate the thought of having to go on rombongan – a neighborhood travelling party going house to house to celebrate – afterwards in the hot and humid late afternoon to midday weather.
Then the day came.
While I am definitely not the beraya sakan type, the Raya feeling is definitely there; though it is more of a feeling of significance and appreciation than festivity. Raya is religious festival; waking up early and dressing up to go to the mosque is part of the whole celebration. The mosque next door was not so crowded this year, as the neighboring villages now have their own mosques; and as the rombongan leader said, it was our opportunity to get to know each other as neighbors.
One of the best thing about Raya , though, is definitely the food. My favorite is lemang and rendang. I don’t care about fancy cakes and cookies, but I just can’t have enough lemang and rendang.
What’s your favorite Raya dish?
__________
* If you celebrate Raya , that is.
totally agree with paragraph 1. Hehe. and my fav Raya dish would be ketupat and kuah kacang :-)
ReplyDeleteLemang/KetupatPulut/Ketupat Nasi dengan Kuah Kacang.... alahai...
ReplyDeleteHmm... ketupat and kuah kacang comes a very close second in my book. Any luck for any of those in Atlanta, Mon?
ReplyDeleteI don't like the taste of bottled peanut sauce available here... well, it's not Malaysian product. Indonesian or Thailand punya peanut sauce lain mcm saja taste dia :-(
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that -- coming out of a bottle. Nowadays we have premixed kuah kacang sold dry -- only add water -- instead of in bottles, but I don't think they sell it out of the country.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of some fresh, like prepared by Malaysians, but I bet there aren't many Malaysians in Atlanta, huh?