Raya!!

Sunday was rather hectic for me. Called sweetie to wish her a selamat hari raya. Talked to my family a little later. I woke up later than I had planned to, and after a shower and a quick comb of what little hair I have, dashed over to the girls' place. Was planning to help them out in the early morning preparation of food, but by the time I got there everything was pretty much in place. Luckily I had helped out the previous night, or I'd have felt rather guilty!

The girls' did a rather good job of cooking up rather yummy dishes...we had nasi impit, lemang, rendang ayam n daging, chicken curry (for the first time ever, I actually cooked something for raya! Not that it went as planned...), kuey teow goreng, choc cake, jellies...and I'm probably missing something else out...Oh yeah, lodeh... assuming that's how you spell it! The guests weren't many, but it was a small group that got along well with each other, so it was fun. And that's what's important at the end of the day. No point inviting folks who're gonna end up alienating others.

Rushed over to Reem's place in the afternoon...and was about a couple of hours late for that! Her mum prepared a delicious roast that was just drool-inducing (come to think of it, everything on Sunday was drool-inducing...with the possible exception of the Vanilla Coke). Had a lovely time chatting with them, before Reem rushed me off to St James' for the game.

The game...well, Newcastle might have lost 3-1 but it was amazing being in a crowd of 50+thousand folks who were chanting the same thing and cursing Wayne Rooney simultaneously. Was also pretty amazed at the height of the players. They just looked shorter on the telly... (yeah, this is me being ignorant!) I have to say it's a pity Newcastle lost, especially after Shearer's amazing goal. Argued the finer points of the game with Radzi last night, but heck, I'm totally biased and everyone who knows me as a football fan knows I don't have a soft spot for Man Utd.

After the match, we ended up at the girls' place, filling our already swollen tummies. Ended up playing a Harry Potter board game which was definitely dominated by raucous laughter and Elly's amazing knowledge of Harry Potter trivia. The night was capped off with the arrival of Mocque with 36 Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Bliss... Left for Carlisle the following morning at 6, but I was so damn tired that when we arrived, I just crawled into bed and slept 'till 12. First time in Carlisle that I've actually missed a morning session I think...

All in all it was a rather memorable raya. The important thing about raya (to me) is spending time with those you love and care for. Although not everyone I love and care for was around, I was quite ecstatic about the time spent with my friends over the weekend and am grateful for the love and time they shared with me. You always end up feeling warm and fuzzy inside when you're around loved ones, and this was no different. Was actually quite sad when the weekend was over and I had to drag myself back to Carlisle.

Most folks tend to miss M'sia and their kampung during Raya and will reminisce about times gone by. It's a little different for me, having spent my formative years without any traditional 'balik kampung' or other raya celebrations. For me, I've only properly started celebrating raya whilst in England. Every year was spent with my friends, and even though things aren't the same anymore with some of them, I'll definitely treasure the memories I've shared with them.