Now that you’re all grown up, holding a stable job and happily attached to an amazing boy/girlfriend, the atmosphere during Hari Raya just seems so different. Here’s a recollection of the past moments and the things I miss during Hari Raya Celebrations that got me excited most of the time.
You miss staying up late till the wee hours in the morning because you’re too excited to sleep, thinking about meeting your cousins whom you’ve not been in contact with for five months now and all the fun you’re probably gonna have with during Hari Raya.
Now, you just can’t be bothered, at least not that much anymore, and you tuck yourself to bed early to brace yourself for the long day the next day.
You miss being awkwardly stuck next to your parents in every relatives house. What’s even more frustrating is the fact that you had to endure listening to your parents bragging about your fantastic grades and achievements in school. Along comes your aunt who starts comparing you with their kids. Let the battle begin!
Now, you put on a fake smile, maybe speak a couple of sentences or two before you flip out your iPhone, refreshing your Twitter newsfeed every two seconds (even when there’s no new updates, you just do it) to avoid looking awkward.
You miss ‘salam’ (giving greetings by the traditional handshake) every single person in the household in the hopes of getting the Green Packets (ka-ching!) at the end of the day. Even those Chinese uncle and Auntie also, you ‘salam’ them.
You miss counting your green packets secretly inside the lift or at the back of the car and having this reaction, “Huh?! $2 only? Why so cheapskate? Next time we don’t go to their house anymore! What a waste of time!”
Now you don’t even get Green Packets any more because you’re either working or in National Service to the extent that you’ll be so contented when a stranger offers you a green packet containing $2. “Whoa! Uncle (so and so) gave me $2!”
You miss bugging your parents to leave their friends place earlier (when you’ve only just reached like 10 minutes ago) just so you could go to your Uncle’s place slightly earlier because that meant that you could spend more time with your cousins! Even though you’re probably gonna be stuck there for at least 4 hours anyway.
Now, the number of houses you visit together with your family has significantly decreased to a miserable number that you just can’t wait to go home and lie down on your bed!
You miss getting yourself drenched with sweat in your baju kurung outfit. Because you were playing catching previously and sparklers before that.
You miss staying at your cousins place for hours.. and hours playing castle games that involved building a fort made of pillows, mattresses and blankets. Boys will have their own fortress and girls will have their own. And we’ll be in heavy battle the whole night.
You miss laughing at the simplest and the stupidest of things. Like that time when your cousin was eating Pineapple Tarts and almost choked on it because her baby tooth got stuck in the center of the filling and it fell off.
You miss going for Hari Raya visits together with all 8 uncles and aunts (and all 10 of your cousins), which involved taking more than 5 cars and two vans etc. It was always that chaotic week after week. We’d start from morning and end at about 1am. Whoa!
You miss getting stuck at the back of the van together with all of your cousins, irritatingly swaying your body in motion with the van and standing and jumping inside the van (I feel sorry for whoever had to drive all of us back then cos he had to tolerate our loud shrieks every now and then). When the van came to a sudden halt (I still think the driver did that on purpose haha!), all of us will, without a doubt, end up in uncomfortable positions on top of each other and laughing at the top of our lungs because we’d be lying on our back with our feet perpendicular to our body, splitting our pants and showing off our underwears. Laughing as hard as ever after that. Oops.
But the best part? You miss pretending to be asleep when it’s finally time to go back home in the hopes that your parents will allow for you to stay over at your cousins place. And when they finally leave, your eyes are wide open and the night has only just begun! Your cousins and yourself take out their tent and you pretend to be campers for the night, sleeping inside the tent, inside your cousins room.
Hari Raya can and will never be the same anymore now that you’re older. You’re too tired to do anything much and you sleep at every chance you get. Oh what I’d do to relive in those moments once again. Bittersweet moments. I’ve definitely had a great childhood and these memories especially during Hari Raya still remains to be one of the best ever.
You miss being awkwardly stuck next to your parents in every relatives house. What’s even more frustrating is the fact that you had to endure listening to your parents bragging about your fantastic grades and achievements in school. Along comes your aunt who starts comparing you with their kids. Let the battle begin!
Now, you put on a fake smile, maybe speak a couple of sentences or two before you flip out your iPhone, refreshing your Twitter newsfeed every two seconds (even when there’s no new updates, you just do it) to avoid looking awkward.
You miss ‘salam’ (giving greetings by the traditional handshake) every single person in the household in the hopes of getting the Green Packets (ka-ching!) at the end of the day. Even those Chinese uncle and Auntie also, you ‘salam’ them.
You miss counting your green packets secretly inside the lift or at the back of the car and having this reaction, “Huh?! $2 only? Why so cheapskate? Next time we don’t go to their house anymore! What a waste of time!”
Now you don’t even get Green Packets any more because you’re either working or in National Service to the extent that you’ll be so contented when a stranger offers you a green packet containing $2. “Whoa! Uncle (so and so) gave me $2!”
You miss bugging your parents to leave their friends place earlier (when you’ve only just reached like 10 minutes ago) just so you could go to your Uncle’s place slightly earlier because that meant that you could spend more time with your cousins! Even though you’re probably gonna be stuck there for at least 4 hours anyway.
Now, the number of houses you visit together with your family has significantly decreased to a miserable number that you just can’t wait to go home and lie down on your bed!
You miss getting yourself drenched with sweat in your baju kurung outfit. Because you were playing catching previously and sparklers before that.
You miss staying at your cousins place for hours.. and hours playing castle games that involved building a fort made of pillows, mattresses and blankets. Boys will have their own fortress and girls will have their own. And we’ll be in heavy battle the whole night.
You miss laughing at the simplest and the stupidest of things. Like that time when your cousin was eating Pineapple Tarts and almost choked on it because her baby tooth got stuck in the center of the filling and it fell off.
You miss going for Hari Raya visits together with all 8 uncles and aunts (and all 10 of your cousins), which involved taking more than 5 cars and two vans etc. It was always that chaotic week after week. We’d start from morning and end at about 1am. Whoa!
You miss getting stuck at the back of the van together with all of your cousins, irritatingly swaying your body in motion with the van and standing and jumping inside the van (I feel sorry for whoever had to drive all of us back then cos he had to tolerate our loud shrieks every now and then). When the van came to a sudden halt (I still think the driver did that on purpose haha!), all of us will, without a doubt, end up in uncomfortable positions on top of each other and laughing at the top of our lungs because we’d be lying on our back with our feet perpendicular to our body, splitting our pants and showing off our underwears. Laughing as hard as ever after that. Oops.
But the best part? You miss pretending to be asleep when it’s finally time to go back home in the hopes that your parents will allow for you to stay over at your cousins place. And when they finally leave, your eyes are wide open and the night has only just begun! Your cousins and yourself take out their tent and you pretend to be campers for the night, sleeping inside the tent, inside your cousins room.
Hari Raya can and will never be the same anymore now that you’re older. You’re too tired to do anything much and you sleep at every chance you get. Oh what I’d do to relive in those moments once again. Bittersweet moments. I’ve definitely had a great childhood and these memories especially during Hari Raya still remains to be one of the best ever.
0 comments:
Post a Comment