For Eid this year, my wife and I made the decision not to go back to our home town as usual. This is after our obgyn advised us not to travel long distance because Linda could be due anytime now. Despite just being on her 36th week, the baby’s size is a little bit on the large side so our initial calculations might be a bit off. So we decided to err in the side of caution and heed the doctor’s advise. Of course our children were not about to miss their Eid celebration back home so we send them to tag along their aunts and uncles. As much as I’d like for all 5 of us to be together on Syawal morning, we thought they’d be much happier in Tanah Merah with their grandparent, cousins and relatives.
So for the first time in my 39 years on earth, I didn’t go home for Eid. How does it feel? Nothing much really. To be honest as I age, I become to dread the annual exodus and massive traffic jam along the highway and byways to and from our hometowns. I’m tired of plying the same road, seeing the same sight and doing the same exact thing. I don’t mind driving for a nice vacation to a brand new faraway place, seeing new sights, doing something different. Anything other than same old Tanah Merah and Pasir Mas. My wife might disagree but that’s how I feel.
Despite not going back to my hometown this year, I have applied for my Raya leaves well in advance and for 5 days earlier. So by Friday, 4 days before Eid I was already on leave. My wife however worked until the 2nd last day before that. So what preparations that we have for this year? Nothing much really. It’s a brand new neighbourhood and below 50% occupancy so we don’t expect much visitor or any visitors at all to be honest. I did clean up much of the house though for Eid and also the upcoming baby but that’s about it. No special menu or delicacies nor new decorations to cheer up the house.
Come Eid morning, I’ve decided to do the morning Eid prayers somewhere less common which was the Tuanku Mizan (a.k.a Masjid Besi) in downtown Putrajaya. There were quite a number of people attending that morning since I half expected many of them to be back in their hometown this festive season. Perhaps their hometown is somewhere nearby or inside the Selangor state borders. Perhaps that is their hometown now. Anyway, the Tuanku Mizan mosque is partially in renovation so that kinda spoiled the beauty or the mood that special Eid morning. Fortunately there’s ample parking space around the mosque so at least we didn’t have to walk far. I actually left my phone at home that day. It was the longest two hours of my life. Imagine sitting at the mosque doing nothing but staring at the people around you. Stuff of nightmares.
Our next plan was to visit the Prime Minister’s Raya open house at his residence in Seri Perdana. I thought if there’s a good time to visit a minister’s open house it’s this year. Who knows whether the old guy is still going to be around next year or he’s gone into retirement (or ousted) already. If Najib was still around, I won’t even consider it. Getting to Seri Perdana that day was not exactly straightforward in spite of using Waze. Many of the regular roads were closed and we had to detour a few times to get to the designated route. Naturally the parking lots were quickly filled with motorcars and we had to park haphazardly by the roadside. After that we walked a short way to Seri Perdana and surprise-surprise, people were basically queueing (more like swarming) the entrance for at least 300 meters back to get into the residence. Either people really wanted to see Tun Dr Mahathir this year or it has always been like this, I’m not sure. But that was the only entrance set up and everybody had to go through the inadequately provided 4 security scanners hence the bottleneck at the gate. There’s no way my heavily pregnant wife and I is going to stand around for long especially under the hot sun for that so it was with heavy heart that we just turn around and go somewhere else instead. If somebody from the Prime Minister’s Office is reading this, please set up more entrances into Seri Perdana, at least one more on the opposite side maybe. And if you really have to do it, provide more security scanners or at least use one of those handheld ones to make the queue less insufferable.
So where do we go next? My wife insists that we go somewhere other than back home this special day. I have always wanted to drive around KL city centre and see for myself how empty the streets are as some people have been saying all this time so we did just that. After driving along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and the surrounding area, I can say KL on the first day of Raya is not empty but it’s not exactly bustling either. There’s definitely less car and many of the popular shopping centres (even Sogo) is closed for the day. After KL we came up with the bright idea of visiting my uncle in Kota Damansara. By stroke of luck, my wife saw their family photos on Instagram so they’re definitely in town. Now at least there’s one relative’s house we can visit that day, not to mention enjoy glorious Raya food. Had my uncle been elsewhere that day, we would have gone to The Curve and had lunch at Warong Leko instead, if they’re open. Later that day, we visited Linda brother’s in law’s place in Seri Kembangan. They were celebrating Eid here this year.
That’s basically how we spend our first ever Eid in Selangor. It’s not that bad really, even without the kids. Sure there’s one or two moments when I miss their laughter (or wailing) around the house but that’s about it. Back when I was younger, I always look forward for this special day like most other normal kids do. As I grow older though, I become less and less thrilled at the prospect of driving 24 hours return trip just for the occasion, not to mention the associated costs. At the risk of sounding like The Grinch, I don’t mind celebrating festivities once in a while, I’m just not very fond of the routines connected to it. Someday when all of our parents are gone, I don’t think there’s any reason for me to continue the tradition of going back there for Eid at least. Semenyih will be our new hometown.
Come Eid morning, I’ve decided to do the morning Eid prayers somewhere less common which was the Tuanku Mizan (a.k.a Masjid Besi) in downtown Putrajaya. There were quite a number of people attending that morning since I half expected many of them to be back in their hometown this festive season. Perhaps their hometown is somewhere nearby or inside the Selangor state borders. Perhaps that is their hometown now. Anyway, the Tuanku Mizan mosque is partially in renovation so that kinda spoiled the beauty or the mood that special Eid morning. Fortunately there’s ample parking space around the mosque so at least we didn’t have to walk far. I actually left my phone at home that day. It was the longest two hours of my life. Imagine sitting at the mosque doing nothing but staring at the people around you. Stuff of nightmares.
Our next plan was to visit the Prime Minister’s Raya open house at his residence in Seri Perdana. I thought if there’s a good time to visit a minister’s open house it’s this year. Who knows whether the old guy is still going to be around next year or he’s gone into retirement (or ousted) already. If Najib was still around, I won’t even consider it. Getting to Seri Perdana that day was not exactly straightforward in spite of using Waze. Many of the regular roads were closed and we had to detour a few times to get to the designated route. Naturally the parking lots were quickly filled with motorcars and we had to park haphazardly by the roadside. After that we walked a short way to Seri Perdana and surprise-surprise, people were basically queueing (more like swarming) the entrance for at least 300 meters back to get into the residence. Either people really wanted to see Tun Dr Mahathir this year or it has always been like this, I’m not sure. But that was the only entrance set up and everybody had to go through the inadequately provided 4 security scanners hence the bottleneck at the gate. There’s no way my heavily pregnant wife and I is going to stand around for long especially under the hot sun for that so it was with heavy heart that we just turn around and go somewhere else instead. If somebody from the Prime Minister’s Office is reading this, please set up more entrances into Seri Perdana, at least one more on the opposite side maybe. And if you really have to do it, provide more security scanners or at least use one of those handheld ones to make the queue less insufferable.
So where do we go next? My wife insists that we go somewhere other than back home this special day. I have always wanted to drive around KL city centre and see for myself how empty the streets are as some people have been saying all this time so we did just that. After driving along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and the surrounding area, I can say KL on the first day of Raya is not empty but it’s not exactly bustling either. There’s definitely less car and many of the popular shopping centres (even Sogo) is closed for the day. After KL we came up with the bright idea of visiting my uncle in Kota Damansara. By stroke of luck, my wife saw their family photos on Instagram so they’re definitely in town. Now at least there’s one relative’s house we can visit that day, not to mention enjoy glorious Raya food. Had my uncle been elsewhere that day, we would have gone to The Curve and had lunch at Warong Leko instead, if they’re open. Later that day, we visited Linda brother’s in law’s place in Seri Kembangan. They were celebrating Eid here this year.
That’s basically how we spend our first ever Eid in Selangor. It’s not that bad really, even without the kids. Sure there’s one or two moments when I miss their laughter (or wailing) around the house but that’s about it. Back when I was younger, I always look forward for this special day like most other normal kids do. As I grow older though, I become less and less thrilled at the prospect of driving 24 hours return trip just for the occasion, not to mention the associated costs. At the risk of sounding like The Grinch, I don’t mind celebrating festivities once in a while, I’m just not very fond of the routines connected to it. Someday when all of our parents are gone, I don’t think there’s any reason for me to continue the tradition of going back there for Eid at least. Semenyih will be our new hometown.
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