Life is Marvelous, every second counts: Aidilfitri 2012/1433

Aidilfitri is always a joyous event in any Muslim family and I am no different. It was so humblingly happy to have my three children with my son and daughter-in-law as well and my two grandchildren around at the same time and place. My sister, Anah and her family came to join us and we went through the same usual practice, asking for forgiveness from the old ones to the young. The young people collected Raya money from their elders. Whether the Raya money is in small or big amount, it didn't matter, it was still an exciting process. We went to our mosque a door away to do out Aidilfitri prayer. Late last night, ex-sister-in-law Kathy, arrived from Adelaide to celebrate this joyous occassion with my family.
On the second day of Raya (20 August 2012) the whole family drove to Melaka to visit my brothers and sisters' families. Most of the nieces and nephews meet one another once a year during Raya and there was a lot of exchanging news. New young members of the families enjoy one another's company so naturally. I was glad to see Rania got on unconcernedly with the many second cousins she met. In fact she was playing together with her other curly-haired cousins and they do have similarities even though she has the mat saleh looks.She was accepted without question.
To avoid the rush driving back to PJ, we decided to stay overnight at Holiday Inn Melaka. Kak Nor and I stayed an extra day to enable us to visit another nephew in Muar.On our return from Muar, we deviated to look for an homestay advertised by the signage. Obviously the concept of homestay in Malaysia is different from the concept of homestay in other countries I have been. It was a good decision as we met nice people in Sungai Rambai and was invited at the Qeqah kenduri. The owner of the homestay is a teacher and his doctor wife who stay a door away.
The homestay is an old traditional Malay wooden house which was kept in tip-top condition. For RM 250.00 per night for the whole house with 3 bedrooms, it is quite attractive. Food and activities can be arranged.Interested call Hj. Ismail bin Samad, Hp 013 6105534 and email ismail583524@rocketmail.com The name of the homestay is Laman Cikgu Bedah (LCB) Parit Penghulu, 77400 Sungai Rambai, Melaka. What pleased us was the friendliness of the owner and the kampung people there. Cikgu Ismail took us around the village and we were pleasantly surprised to see an open green padi field. I thought padi field does not exist anymore in Melaka but it does. The view of the field and the kampung is magnificent.
We spent the evening at Mahkota Mall. The next day after visiting my father's grave in Tg. Kling, I drove back to PJ stopping for a while to visit my cousin, Jaafar, in Rembau. Thank God the traffic was normal.