Ramadhan Diaries I
The stars didn't fall today; Sunday, June 29
It seems like it's been so long since I last blogged. I don't even feel the urge to update like I used to. Back then, I used to go through the usual motions in life and think "Oh, I absolutely have to blog about this!" when something noteworthy happens. Not anymore though. Losing my drive I guess. Consequence of getting old? Maybe it's just me.
Today is the day of Ramadhan and while the day is passing by like any other (about an hour to go to buka!), I still am glad for it. Today felt like one of the most productive days I've had since forever. Finished one-and-a-half books I borrowed from Sakinah Tan when we met the other day and when was the last time I lie in my bed and read? One of the books I borrowed was The Fault In Our Stars. The novel was pretty sad and it also struck me how long has it been since I read YA fiction! The way the book was written seemed like such a foreign style to me. Too much readings for school and all that serious stuff, I guess.
These are the books I've been trying to read since exams ended. Also, I used to be strict about finishing a book before I start on a new one but I've been ignoring that rule for this set. Again, growing old, I guess.
Last Friday, Kakak Jaja, one of my paternal cousins, moved into her house and she held a kenduri. My aunts were griping about how her new house was so far; it was all the way in Punggol. The rest of my extended paternal family lives in either Pandan Gardens (like me), Jurong East or Jurong West. One of my aunts, Kakak Jaja's mum, in fact, used to live in Woodlands after she got married and my other aunts were always cracking jokes about how far she lived whenever we made our yearly Raya visits. She moved to Pandan eventually and we sighed with relief, thinking that we can ease up on the travel now. Looks like we're back to square one. Or even further.
Anyway, I mentioned that I met Sakinah Tan and borrowed books from her. I actually went out for lunch with her and Humairah at Seoul Garden Hotpot on Thursday. I haven't met the two souls ever since exams ended (okay I met Humairah on the day before, and the day before before. Uhh.) so it was pretty much a nice catch-up session and us playing counselor to Humairah, telling her that her Bollywood movie will end with her running around a coconut tree. Sakinah talked some too and I mostly listened. I didn't have any interesting stories to tell, or rather, love stories haha. Then we went to Ikea because Humairah had an interview for a part-time job and Sakinah ended up filling up a form as well and they made me think about it. Maybe when school starts..
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Seafood pancake is awesome. Whatever Korean pancake is awesome. Ah I should learn how to make these.
Later in the day, I met some of my secondary school friends at Masjid Sultan where we did Maghrib before leaving for dinner at Manhattan. I have not seen some of them for so long, especially Maiss, Filzah and Kak Yas and like I've always said, it always feels good to slide back into the old feeling of familiarity. Raje was making stupid jokes and being stupid, just like always, and Jem was being her usual loud self (poor kid had work the next day) (... okay, I laughed in her face about it) (Haha what are friends for). Sel and Mo were there too. Mo was from work and she brought this huge-ass bag along. And then Sel took a Polaroid photo of us using her huge-ass Polaroid camera.
I went home with Kak Yasmin and it didn't turn out as awkward as I thought it would be. I mean, Kak Yas is like, and I really do mean this, one of the nicest persons I have ever met. She is super, super nice and it's not even the annoying kind of nice. (Yes, there is an annoying kind of nice so believe me when I say Kak Yas is a really nice person.) Anyway, even though she is a really nice person, it's not like we were best friends or what. As such, I thought we wouldn't have much things to talk about but having not met her for a year or so, even talking about normal things like her family and all took up all the time from Bugis to Jurong East. I was a bit shocked to discover that Irfan, her youngest brother, is already in Sec 4, which means he'll graduate next year. It really must be all the getting old; it seems like only recently when we would all tease him for his lisp whenever he said his sister's name.
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I mentioned meeting Humairah on Tuesday and Wednesday. She needed a friend to help out for this pre-Ramadhan camp that Masjid Darul Aman was conducting for teenagers. Even though I'm not a camp person and my last religious camp or overnight stays was probably when I was in Sec 5 and the school conducted these compulsory monthly qiyam for us seniors, I said yes anyway. The first thing we did when we arrived was to set up the barbecue pits, which would be used during the BBQ session at three in the afternoon. Nice. Afterwards, we just chilled and I played Sudoku on my phone most of the time and wasn't really bored despite not having anything to do. I brought a book but I didn't feel like reading it. On the second morning, Humairah and I weren't needed for the camp so we chilled at the musolla and there was this baby named Amirah there. She was such a lovely baby, all dressed in pink with a botak head and she smiled really easily and had pretty good strength for such a small thing. I told Humairah I want a baby like her.
Okay, it's nearly buka now. Hope your first day of Ramadhan went well.
Today is the day of Ramadhan and while the day is passing by like any other (about an hour to go to buka!), I still am glad for it. Today felt like one of the most productive days I've had since forever. Finished one-and-a-half books I borrowed from Sakinah Tan when we met the other day and when was the last time I lie in my bed and read? One of the books I borrowed was The Fault In Our Stars. The novel was pretty sad and it also struck me how long has it been since I read YA fiction! The way the book was written seemed like such a foreign style to me. Too much readings for school and all that serious stuff, I guess.
These are the books I've been trying to read since exams ended. Also, I used to be strict about finishing a book before I start on a new one but I've been ignoring that rule for this set. Again, growing old, I guess.
Last Friday, Kakak Jaja, one of my paternal cousins, moved into her house and she held a kenduri. My aunts were griping about how her new house was so far; it was all the way in Punggol. The rest of my extended paternal family lives in either Pandan Gardens (like me), Jurong East or Jurong West. One of my aunts, Kakak Jaja's mum, in fact, used to live in Woodlands after she got married and my other aunts were always cracking jokes about how far she lived whenever we made our yearly Raya visits. She moved to Pandan eventually and we sighed with relief, thinking that we can ease up on the travel now. Looks like we're back to square one. Or even further.
Anyway, I mentioned that I met Sakinah Tan and borrowed books from her. I actually went out for lunch with her and Humairah at Seoul Garden Hotpot on Thursday. I haven't met the two souls ever since exams ended (okay I met Humairah on the day before, and the day before before. Uhh.) so it was pretty much a nice catch-up session and us playing counselor to Humairah, telling her that her Bollywood movie will end with her running around a coconut tree. Sakinah talked some too and I mostly listened. I didn't have any interesting stories to tell, or rather, love stories haha. Then we went to Ikea because Humairah had an interview for a part-time job and Sakinah ended up filling up a form as well and they made me think about it. Maybe when school starts..
Seafood pancake is awesome. Whatever Korean pancake is awesome. Ah I should learn how to make these.
Later in the day, I met some of my secondary school friends at Masjid Sultan where we did Maghrib before leaving for dinner at Manhattan. I have not seen some of them for so long, especially Maiss, Filzah and Kak Yas and like I've always said, it always feels good to slide back into the old feeling of familiarity. Raje was making stupid jokes and being stupid, just like always, and Jem was being her usual loud self (poor kid had work the next day) (... okay, I laughed in her face about it) (Haha what are friends for). Sel and Mo were there too. Mo was from work and she brought this huge-ass bag along. And then Sel took a Polaroid photo of us using her huge-ass Polaroid camera.
I went home with Kak Yasmin and it didn't turn out as awkward as I thought it would be. I mean, Kak Yas is like, and I really do mean this, one of the nicest persons I have ever met. She is super, super nice and it's not even the annoying kind of nice. (Yes, there is an annoying kind of nice so believe me when I say Kak Yas is a really nice person.) Anyway, even though she is a really nice person, it's not like we were best friends or what. As such, I thought we wouldn't have much things to talk about but having not met her for a year or so, even talking about normal things like her family and all took up all the time from Bugis to Jurong East. I was a bit shocked to discover that Irfan, her youngest brother, is already in Sec 4, which means he'll graduate next year. It really must be all the getting old; it seems like only recently when we would all tease him for his lisp whenever he said his sister's name.
I mentioned meeting Humairah on Tuesday and Wednesday. She needed a friend to help out for this pre-Ramadhan camp that Masjid Darul Aman was conducting for teenagers. Even though I'm not a camp person and my last religious camp or overnight stays was probably when I was in Sec 5 and the school conducted these compulsory monthly qiyam for us seniors, I said yes anyway. The first thing we did when we arrived was to set up the barbecue pits, which would be used during the BBQ session at three in the afternoon. Nice. Afterwards, we just chilled and I played Sudoku on my phone most of the time and wasn't really bored despite not having anything to do. I brought a book but I didn't feel like reading it. On the second morning, Humairah and I weren't needed for the camp so we chilled at the musolla and there was this baby named Amirah there. She was such a lovely baby, all dressed in pink with a botak head and she smiled really easily and had pretty good strength for such a small thing. I told Humairah I want a baby like her.
Okay, it's nearly buka now. Hope your first day of Ramadhan went well.