We spent the raya in the old house this time. I grew up in this house but funny how it felt so much bigger those years ago. And I have forgotten also how the floors creaked. The first day we opened all the windows and let the wind blew in (I should have taken photos then). And dawn is the best time to be in the house, dingin.
The lawn was newly mowed. The smell of newly cut grass reminds me of days when we mow lawns ourselves (it was a big place to mow actually). We kicked off our slippers and walked barefooted on the freshly cut grass (and did the unhealthy thing of membakar sampah..)
We visited my aunt in Matang (which is on the way to Kuala Sepetang where you get your mee udang). This is (part of the structure of) Kota Ngah Ibrahim in Matang. I pass by this building maybe more than a thousand times my whole life, but I have never stopped to look / visit. This raya I said we should stop, but it was closed (naturally). The children asked, kita nak buat apa kat sini? (they do not share my enthusiasm for adventure).
A bit about the kota - it was built by Ngah Ibrahim (of course) in 1854, the orang besar Perak who ruled Larut then and who had rebelled against the British. When Ngah Ibrahim dibuang negeri the British took over the place and it became the official resident of the Asst Residen British di Perak. It was also the place where Dato' Sagor and Datuk Maharajalela were executed in 1877 for allegedly murdering JWW Birch, Residen British pertama di Perak (jahat kan orang putih ni..?) Much later it was also used as a maktab perguruan before Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris (now university) was built. It was also a school once but now turned into a kompleks sejarah. So there. Some history of Taiping.
We took lots of photos, but only a handful turned out alright (I think I need an SLR.. what else can I put the blame on?) And the children always 'misbehave' whenever we take photos (terfikir pulak, maybe it is their own unique way of telling me letih la nak melayan mak (asyik) tangkap gambar..)
He's my eldest brother. When my arwah father passed away, he took over the (impossible) responsibility of taking care of us, along with my mom. My adik was only ten then. I am sure we put him through many loops (have we ever said thank you? Thank you, thank you, thank you Abg Nan).
This is like (less than) a third of us. Having everyone together at raya is definitely impossible. My mom will fret who sleeps where and if she has enough bantal (she definitely does not have the space nor the bantal for everyone actually).
So that's a wrap for raya.
*****
2 comments:
if i were to have children, i guess they too will complaint on my obsessions of taking photos hehee. agaknya jadik mcm you lah, asik kena paksa berposing hehehe
We will be doing something and then I will say ok berdiri baik2 mama nak tangkap gambar (!) Memang dia orang fed-up kadang2.
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