Eid

Found this from somewhere:

Forgiveness is something we should all practise. Not just for Hari Raya but every day.
We should celebrate it and embrace it as an essential part of our lives.
There is nothing so bad that cannot be forgiven.
Hurt will never heal until you forgive.
If you are at war with others, you cannot be at peace with yourself.
You can let go and forgive. It takes no physical strength to let go, only courage.
Forgiveness is the single most important process that can bring peace to our souls and harmony to our lives.
Forgiveness is not something we have to strain ourselves to do.
Forgiveness helps you move forward.
No one benefits from forgiveness more than the one who forgives.
Give yourselves the gift of forgiveness today.

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Mahatma Gandhi

Our Eid.

The night before Eid, I already made plans to work late as our report was due on Friday. Up until I found out that Eid fell on Friday and it seemed impractical to stay late (I had many errands!). So I mentioned to the boss that I could stay until 9pm but he told me to leave asap (it was 730pm). Told me to have a good Eid and not to worry about the report (he still had other team members on site).

So I went back, rushed to the stores and got the ingredients needed for our dishes. The nanny and lil went out earlier to get our meat and on their way back, they dropped by at the mosque for 'takbir' or Eid recital.

The next day, I gave lil time off from school (which I later found out that they do give one day off to all muslim students and staffs. Cool!). We went to perform Eid prayers. Lil was overjoyed to wear her baju kurung (a traditional malay dress for ladies) and to see the Malaysian crowd. After prayers, we headed to Chinatown to meet a good friend (she's here on holiday). She helped us to buy some more stuffs and carry them home. By 3pm, I started making rendang. Lil slept as she only had 7 hours of sleep (her usual would be 10-11 hours).

At 7pm, we left to a friend's place for her open house. Her family helped her to cook whole day (quite amazed with the number of dishes and guests). Got back by 9pm and I continued cooking until 2am! Called mom before I went to bed (it was so hard to get hold on her for the last few days. Busy with raya preparation). Woke up at 630am and continued cooking. By 10, everything was ready. First group of guests arrived at 1045am.

Menu include rendang, pulut kuning (yellow sticky rice), lamb curry, soto (rice cube, with soup and shredded chicken) complete with bergedil (potato + minced meat cake/balls).

Most friends made it. Even Mrs Rock and Mrs Dior loved the soto (they are great cooks, ok? I was so worried my food was not at par. Hehhehe). Most importantly, our party truly reflected Malaysia. Malay, Chinese, Indian. Also, I had my colleagues from European and South America continent. Would have had guests from Down Under and New Zealander but they couldn't make it.

Anyway, like I said, it was a good party.

Ps: My colleagues fell in love with lil. She was such a great host!