Salam Aidilfitri from New York

AllahhuAkbar... AllahhuAkbar... AllahhuAkbar... walillahilhamd.... We celebrated 1st Syawal on Friday, Oct 12, one day earlier than M'sia... It was drizzling and so cold outsite.. 7.30 am, my hubby and I left home, getting on the subway to the 3rd Ave Masjid at East 96th St, 3 stations from our home... Thot of wearing baju kurung... tp hujan2 mcm ni, lupakan saja.... end up wearing jeans and blouse, sneakers and my weatherproof jacket.

The 3-story Masjid was immaculately beautiful and huge. That was my 1st time there... there were so many people of different races and color, men, women and children gathered for Eid prayer. Subhanallah!!... Due to the huge number of people in and out, the solat had to be performed 3 times led by 3 different imams with 3 khutbahs, one after another.

I went to the lady's floor, so many mak arabs and mak gagaks (majority), not so many asians... cari gak kalau2 ade spot minah melayu... tak jumpa... indons quite a number of them mostly students. Started with my TahiatulMasjid and suddenly I felt a strange feeling inside of me.. rasa sebak semacam... i don't know how to describe it.... rasa insaf, kerdil di hadapan tuhan looking at both diversification of culture and unity of Islam.... rasa syahdu dan best sgt time tu.... teringat kat M'sia rakyat majmuk berbilang bangsa.... but I never felt this way back in KL.... Before solat, there was an annoucement of a new sister embracing Islam... as she was declaring her new faith with Syahadah.... rasa sebak dan happy bercampur baur.... i got so emotional sampai menitis air mata tak dapat di tahan2 lagi.... huhuhh... thank you... thank you... thank you Allah for giving me such a wonderful experience.

Went home, makcik cooked ketupat nona and soto ayam... rempah soto spacial made frm Muar, Mak Jah (my aunty) gave us. Nyamm...Nyammm.... brought some for Ucop & family (our neighbour upstairs, office mate hubby) and had our makan2 raya at their house... hehehe.. Shelly made Kuzi kambing... perghh sedap giler... she's really a good cook, with her kuih arab and cornflake.... and special home made 'Shawal Ria' cake.... best!! I ate like nobody's business... hahahah lupa diri lak kejap.... Burpp!! Alhamdulillah.... again thank you Allah for giving us a friendly and helpful neighbour.

In the afternoon... hubby had to go to work... arrghh boring! petang raya kena keja.

At nite... Skype time.. hehhehe punya la excited... borak2 with family at Tok Baah's house... Everybody sgt cantik dan handsome ngan baju raya... huhuhu... jelesnyer!!.. Lama gaks conferencing. Managed to talk to emak, abah, hik, baah, haiat, maknem, akim... hekal erin.. makcuana... along... aunty nailah...uncle rashid etc... emak has significantly lost weight... tp rambut mak dah nak tumbuh... emak still under treatment.... rindduuu sangat!!.... cried some more.... huhuhuhuu.... mak tunggu saya ye... lagi 2 thn saya balik cuti!!.. saya sayang makk...

2nd Raya... went to open house at Roosevelt Island (Ucop & Shelly's friend). Za and her hubby, Shahrul hosted the makan2 very well... the food was superb... mix of M'sian and Brazilian cuisines, contemporary touch of the house decorations with romantic and peaceful scenery of the island... hmmm really beautiful... best...best... i like! Balik naik cable car... Hanna punye la jakun! Kecoh satu cable car dengan suara dia.... hahahaa... but I know... she really had a good time with her friends Aiman, Danial and Nisa.