Eidul Fitr Celebration in Tumpat

Out of our almost 30 years of marriage, only 3 times we celebrated Eidul Fitr in my hometown in Sabah. The rest (excluding 4 times in the States) were spent in Tumpat, Kelantan. There's no such thing as taking turn. I prefer to go back to Sabah during the longer holidays so that I can spend more time with my family there. You know, the airfares are not cheap to go back often.

The same routine happened year after year like going to the market and preparing Raya food on the last day of the fasting month. Since my family was the one who often went back earlier than the others, I was the one who will do the cooking for the first Day of the Eid. Sometimes I also cooked for the second Day which I'd rather rest.

 We had simple dishes on the first day because we would be going out visiting and eating the relatives'  Raya food. I cooked 'lontong' complete with its condiments the next day.

Before going to the mosque to perform our solah, we took a little breakfast which is commendable or 'sunat'. Usually the solah would start at 8 am and then, there was the sermon. After the sermon, mostly everybody would shake or hug the person next to them and wish each other happy Eid.

Some families would have the family members asking forgiveness and hugged each other. We didn't. To me, this act is done whenever we did mistakes and not wait for this Day to do it.

The next activity was visiting the graves of my husband's father, grandparents and relatives. Visiting the graves reminded me that I would also be there sooner or later and so I should prepare myself before meeting Him. "Takut.."

Next, it was family photography session which is a must. 

On the first day this year, my sis-in-law and her big family were not in the picture as they celebrated the first day in Melaka. They were only here on the second day.

Visiting other relatives' open house was the next agenda and we never missed to visit them every year. On the first day, we would visit the relatives nearby while the next day, we would visit relatives in other places like Kota Bharu and Wakaf Baru. A few of them had passed away and I realized that we aren't that close to their children. I wondered who would visit us when it's our turn to be the elders.

On the third day, we had simple meals and finishing whatever leftovers we had. And more rest. However, we had another big dinner gathering involving three big families at Four Seasons restaurant in Kota Bharu.

Then, families started packing to go back home and before that, as other Kelantanese would do, some shopping must be done. You see, some things are cheaper in Kelantan and they have two free-duty shopping sites, Pengkalan Kubor and Rantau Panjang, both near the Malaysia-Thailand borders. However, the prices would gone up a bit during the festive seasons but this didn't deter the shoppers from spending their money. It's once in a year, they would say. Right.