It's hari raya soon

It's on everybody's mind. You can feel it in the air. You can practically see the excitement on everybody's face. Although on some, it's more to panic. People are rushing to get themselves ready for THE day.. or month. It seems that a lot of people have this silly idea that fasting for a month means celebrating 'hari raya' for a month. Where did they get the idea from, only God knows.

Here are some things that always happen before hari raya (aside from the list I drew up earlier on the fasting month - It's Ramadhan Again). Feel free to give ideas. I'm missing quite a lot here :)

1. Bus tickets, flight tickets, train tickets, you name it.. all sold out, even as early as one month before 'puasa'.


2. Sales sales sales everywhere..


3. Tailors are no longer taking orders to make new clothes. Some even closed shops a month before 'puasa' and went under quarantine to finish all the orders. If you're unlucky, you'll get your clothes after raya.


4. Vehicle owners all queueing up at the service centres to get their vehicle spruced up for the long 'balik kampung' drive.


5. People took long holidays (including myself).


6. Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur become the areas to avoid especially if you're driving. You're better off going there using public transport. Or if you're prepared to park some distance away.


7. Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India are also the area to go if you wanna go shopping. There are clothes, imitations, accessories, raya cookies, home decor, flower arrangements (some of them are actually quite ugly), never seen before stuffs like.. errr... I dunno. I have to see them first. Hehehehe.. It's actually quite hazardous for pedestrians. Just too many people. Really.


8. A week before raya, driving in Kuala Lumpur feels like heaven. This is one of the few times KL has no traffic jam during peak hours. The jams are now on the highways as the KLites are rushing to go 'balik kampung'.


9. Ops Sikap. It'd be number 13 this time. No matter how hard the authorities try to prevent it, accidents still happen. (There will be another topic about this later.)

During hari raya:

1. On the first day of raya, the mosques are filled to overflowing with people attending the hari raya prayers. I personally think the adults should just leave the kids at home rather than taking them to the mosques because they really are a nuisance.


2. People wear their new clothes while eyeing other people's new clothes. To praise them, of course. Hehehehe...


3. The only time people are in festive moods when visiting the graveyards.


4. All of a sudden you have relatives you didn't even know existed before.


5. There are kids everywhere. They will suddenly be nice to you, shake your hand and expect you to give them 'duit raya'. And nothing less than RM5. The more the better. Pirates!


6. Food food food and more food. Those who have lost weight during 'puasa' will regain their weight and more.

After hari raya:

1. A lot of broke people. A good thing this year's 'hari raya' falls in the middle of the month. So these guys don't have to wait a long time for pay day :)


2. Plenty of open houses. This is where the idea of celebrating 'hari raya' for a month seems a really good one. One can really save money every weekend by going to open houses day and night. Hahahaha...


3. Traffic jams on the highway again. This time inbound to Kuala Lumpur.


4. Ops Sikap again. I wonder what the toll is like this year.

What else have I missed?