For this year's Eid holidays, we get to go back 2 days before Hari Raya as opposed to last year where we only go back the day before and got caught in a terrible jam and extra long hours of driving.
This time it still took me 12 hours to reach home but at least I got a couple of days to rest. This year we will be celebrating the 1st of Syawal in Tanah Merah after a forgettable Raya in Pasir Mas last year where everybody in my family, Mia, Linda, Adam and me got chicken pox. We stopped in Pasir Mas first for iftar and stayed for the night. The next day we travelled 30 kilometers south to Linda's home town in Tanah Merah.
Hari Raya (Eid Mubarak) morning, we got up early and get ready in all our brand new and best dresses including Mia here.
After the usual Aidilfitri morning prayers (wink-wink!) we headed to the cemetery...
... to offer our prayers to our dearly departed.
Over at my wife's side, they have this tradition where we visited almost every family member and relative in Kampung Sat on Hari Raya.
This year we've decided to wear red after the greatest football club in the world (no not that devil-worshipping-club, the real classy one at Anfield).
Later that afternoon we returned to Pasir Mas to be with my side of the family.
This year everybody made it back including Miza from NZ and also my sister Lina who made a last minute 'special-appearance'. I thought she was supposed to go back to Johore Bharu this year? Zaidi is always full of surprises!
In the evening my siblings and I had a little get-together with my Dad and our sole step-sister in downtown Pasir Mas. Why we don't just meet at either one's home? Well it's a long and complicated story. Suffice to say there's a lot of feelings and emotional well-being at stake. That's why we had to settle for this kind of arrangement instead.
So that's my Hari Raya story for this year. Selamat Hari Raya and as always I apologized for all that I've said and done wrong whether intentionally or otherwise.
Owh did I tell you I got dengue fever on the first day of Raya? But don't worry because I almost fully recovered now.