Monday, December 8, 2008

First Eid Adha in Dubai : Of Potluck & Sacrifices

it's the first hari raya celebration for me away from family & friends. even when i was in melbourne, i went home for raya. i was never so far away! yong celebrated raya in purdue when she was studying in the states, so as mr khairul, when he was in michigan. even syida & azi experienced syawal over at melbourne.

sigh. no yong's home-cooked rendang or lemang that abah bought from the road side. no hustle and bustle of a malam raya and the morning after. no nephews haiqal, haqeem annoying me with their constant chatterings.

malam raya felt like any other night. in fact, we went out for McDonalds!

then mr khairul said i could make something for the potluck. after the solat aidil adha @ matrade hall, there will be makan-makan and i can bring something. hmm..something.

..and voila! my popiah was served!

watchin aladdin sambil gulung2 popiah

since mr khairul knew about the potluck thingy at the very last minute, so we only had *so* much time to buy the ingredients, thaw the meat, cut the potatoes and onions and fold it into the popiah skin. slept at 4am!

but Aidil Adha is about sacrifice. And all sacrifices, ade hikmahnya! staying up until 3-4 am means i can call msia at their 7-8am - (at half the normal rate!) just the right time for abah to be munchin raya breakfast. if i had waited til 6-7am dubai time, their raya would be basi already lah!


we arrived at the matrade hall dubai just at the nick of time - and the prayer started around 15 mins after we came. after prayers, it's makan time!

no lemang or rendang anywhere - the closest thing to raya dish was probably the nasi himpit + kuah kacang. other yummies include some cakes, malay kueh-mueh, fried bihun and of course yours truly's popiah.

met some new gal pals - exchange stories, exchange experiences (of pregnancy & breast feeding!) exchange numbers, exchange salam...

overall it was a simple occasion - short and sweet. tomorrow, an open house awaits!

sacrifice.

i'm sure we've all done it. in what measure - that alone only we can say. monetery, blood, sweat and tears - sacrifice should first and foremost be a selfless act, sincere and discreet.

most of my pals are mothers now - and God knows how a mother's sacrifice overthrows everything! mommies, may we continue to sacrifice ourselves for our children unconditionally just as our mothers did without a word of sighs! even as i *labor* over preparing a simple dinner for my family makes me wonder how my mother managed to set food on the table again and again tanpa jemu for years - 3 meals a day - until the very last hours when she passed away - still a hot plate of cucur udang served during tea-time.

sacrifice, people. and that's just mommies...don't get me started on my abah's sacrifices...fathers do their part too...what was your father and mother's sacrifices that you can remember? more than words...

time to think of yours. and no, sacrificing lunch money so that you could buy top-ups to vote for Mawi in AF would probably NOT be the kind of sacrifice i'm talking about...besides, it's YOUR parents' money anyway. or the PTPTN funds.

in this wondrous Aidil Adha, i wish all muslim friends the best of days - may our sacrifices; and others humble us and make us a better person.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Elo Flen. I am AF fan!!! Dont pray pray aaa...

I got try oso your popiah this molning. Wat els to say.

Okay lor..

Arin said...

wah...khaleef nampak lain ngn kopiah nye la..

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