Posting Pasal Ramadan Lagi

I was di cabar oleh seorang makcik bernama Mak Andeh untuk menayangkan my cookings in this blog. Untuk menyahut cabaran ini maka, hari ini tersiarlah secara langsung di blog yang bersejarah ini, pada hari yang sangat mulia ini. Semuga satu dunia akan di kejutkan oleh pendedahan ekslusif ini , semuga semua sotong sotong dan udang udang dipasar habis laku pada hari ini. Silakan....

Chicky taking charge .

Tolong jaga bahan bahan mentah dari di sambar anasir jahat

Chicku taking over the shift from her sister.
So loyal, never taking her eyes off her care. Is she drooling already ?


Bawang di belasah dengan sedikit
tenaga yang ada pada insan berpuasa ini..owh..

Cili ditumis, meleleh air hidungku,
bersin tak henti di landa bau belacan
Dan akhirnya..berkat kesungguhan dan ketabahan.
Maka terhidanglah
Sambal Tumis Jin,
Sotong Goreng Kunyit ,
Pisang sebijik, kacang panjang potong potong dan

lettuce di carik carik.. Lazat wa cakap luuu..

Out of the 5 rukun Islam, fasting is the one that i once dreaded most. No matter how much I try to read and understand God's intention to impose fasting on His subjects, I failed to convince myself to fast.

Last Ramadan, with much hesitation and doubts, I wanted to give it a go and I did quite well. It was no an easy measy task for a 39 year old kid to learn 'berpuasa' but towards the end of Ramadan, I began to see some light.

We were born amidst a tradition, that after going through many phases of advancement and gained enough sophistication along the years, had blended beyond recognition, with the elements of Islam. For example the bersanding during malay weddings, with scented water and 'bunga rampai', which is a replica of a Hindu tradition, has been Islamised by the Malays. Then we have the 'berarak' with bunga rampai, and the 'kalungan bunga' to the VIPs at official functions, again, another pagan ritual that has evoled well into the 21st century Malaysian culture.

I attended a wedding, where the 'pengantins' were paraded into the lucurious hotel ballroom with the 'Salawat' being read by an imam, then upon reaching the stage or pelamin, was slowly being replaced by a song made famous by Mariah Carey. That shows how screwed we are at understanding religion.

So it cannot be that surprising when we have this new breed of the society who agonised themselves by fasting hard during the day, then simply lost it all at dusk. They stuffed themselves silly at buffet lines, piling into their empty stomachs with whatever they can find on the buffet line, sometimes eating more than they would have eaten outside the Ramadan months.

We see people who are willing to spend up to RM80 per pax at hotels and restaurants to break fast, paying for the food they don't even need. Splashing on such extravagance once or twice as a treat to family members and friends would probably be okay, but there is a trend nowdays to try eat out during breakfast at different hotels each day, a trend that is seeping into the society.

I hope i am not preaching a hollier than thou kind of remark with my ramblings here. I am just trying to figure out the facts. Learning, as I move along.

So, why do we puasa ? Do we really starve ourself silly ? Being denied the freedom to eat and drink ? Cannot korek hidung ? Well partly true i guess. But then, I learned the meaningof puasa in the second week of Ramadan last year. I learned it with the first sip of cold water that I had during iftar. The same sip that would not have meant much during other months , but that first sip was so delicious and pure, so beautiful. And that is what God wants of us. Appreaction towards all the things that we had often ignored and forget. Things that we took for granted . The first sip that is started with a Bismillahirahmanirahim and ended with Alhamdullilah, is all that God wants as a return to the luxuries and life He has accorded us with. Bersyukurlah kita.

And now , i look forward to Ramadans, not for the splendours of the pasar ramadans, not for the extra pahalas that comes with the holy month, but I look forward for that very first sip, every day of Ramadan. Insyaallah.