Selamat Hari Raya!

Happy holidays to everyone!

This year’s Ramadan has been quite challenging. Waking up at 2.30 am for Sahur, abstain from food and water for about 18 hours and only and breaking our fast at close to 9 pm. But it has been doable so far as it hasn’t been too hot in Rome with the frequent showers.

As always the day before Eid, we paid our zakat. And on the day itself, there were three masses – 8.30 am, 9.30 am and 10.30 am. We aimed to for the middle one, and thus left the house at 8.30 am. One hour was a good leeway to reach the place and it was such a pretty day, with big fluffy clouds and a clear blue sky.

Unfortunately, being a Monday, there was such a bad traffic going on that we reached there at 10.15 am instead! At least we managed to arrive for the last mass and we sauntered casually inside.

It was extremely crowded and chaotic in the mosque with children screaming and running around. This is something that I’m not fond of and I can only hope that it’ll improve the next year. Nevertheless, it was nice to see so many people coming together to celebrate and there was an air of festivity here – the smell of freshly made food and the excited chatter and the flurry of people doing selfies.

There was even refreshments given out that day, which was a pleasant surprise

When we reached back home, I was looking at all the posts on Facebook and saw so many lovely pictures of my relatives celebrating Raya with their families. makes me a little pensive that I’m not able to join them. Unlike in Singapore, when there will be cheerful music and people going around in colourful matching outfits and all the cheer, it’s very subdued here.

With it being Summer, my extended family, and many of my friends are already on vacation. So there really isn’t any point on doing a gathering when everyone’s away.

Nevertheless, I’m craving for some Ayam Masak Merah as that’s what I’d always eat during Raya morning, and for me it triggers some nostalgia so and I think I’ll make them this Friday when we invite some friends over for dinner.

I’d have to tone the chilli way down though! 🙂