Selamat Hari Raya - Eid Mubarak

It's my first time away from family for Hari Raya. It's even far more different this year, as I didn't get to celebrate it yet, until today. On the first day of eid, I was still on placement. I arrived the night before at Brunei Hall from work and heard raya songs streamed on the PA system. Everyone was in a raya mood, except the yours truly. I was already knackered after work, all I wanted to do was sleep. Contemplating between joining the crowd for takbir, or the bed? I chose the bed in the end as my priority was to conserve as much energy as I could after a long day at the hospital. Juliana called whether if I wanted to meet her for her home-made kek batik. Again, I decided not to go out as it wouldn't look nice, me loitering around not joining the takbir.

Early that morning, I woke up earlier than usual just to skip the anticipated crowd, making beeline for the shower. In addition, I wanted to escape from the raya mode that people would be hustling and bustling with in the early morning for prayers. Just before I left, I could smell the aroma from the kitchen. It simply made me mellow, thinking about the fun I would have if I was at home, sniffing mom's morning raya food being prepared. Rather on that day, I left walking in the dark, alone and cold towards the train station to catch my 7.40am train.

As I arrived at the station, it didn't feel eid at all. The usual noises and looking at the crowds of people running around trying to make it for the train suddenly swept away my feelings of being sad. Called the family home, and they were not celebrating it yet until 2 days time. The usual raya breakfast which usually consist of kelupis, satay, nasi minyak and all the good food you could imagine were then replaced with Caramel Macchiato and Mediterranean Pesto panini. Thanks to Starbucks for at least making me a good but not at par of food replacement.

The day went by, and Razie a friend from Brunei who's on holiday in the UK and and his GF had kindly phoned me up and asked if I wanted to join them to watch a Grease play at the West End. I thought, why not? I bought the ticket online and met them at Piccadilly circus. As I was still in my work clothes, and no time to head "home", I decided just to pop into the clothes store somewhere to get something more appropriate. Looked in Gap, then finally Zara had something to offer me. I bought them and changed that instant. Plus, it's raya, time to treat myself. The play was all good.




On a brighter note, I'll spend the next weekend to a Raya open house, hosted by Hazim in Manchester. Yippie!