First and foremost,i would like to wish "Selamat Hari Raya" and "Happy Eid" to all,whoever you all may be..it's almost one week since the arrival of eid is upon us..People say you never truly miss something unless it's truly gone,at least I think it goes sumthing like dat,hehe..anyway,whoever created or think of that particular phrase was a genius cause it's very very true. Last year,on the eve of hari raya,my family and I went to break fast at Chilli's,it's kinda one of those da pre-raya tradition, i looked forward to it since the beginning of Ramadhan.This year,on the eve of hari raya however,i didnt spend it with my family..My parents,two sisters and my lil brother are in Bahrain(they celebrated eid one day early) while my other brother is back home in Malaysia alone(celebrating raya with my aunts n relatives in PJ) and me,im here in Auckland,New Zealand..how time goes by and the changes it brought...and I really miss every single one of them. Celebrating eid in New Zealand is different,no public holiday(in fact,i had a test 6.30pm that day and an assignment due also),no sound of my mum's voice nagging and urging me and my siblings to wake up early on raya(i woke darn early this year on my own),no sight of lemang stalls set up along the roads(i was only able to enjoy lemang instant Nona)..that being the case,celebrating raya here is a pleasant experience. Wearing new set of colorful baju kurung to class,being able to go back and forth to several 'open-house' and class and wishing fellow Malaysians "Selamat Hari Raya"(even when Ive never talked to them before) were just some of the stuff that made eid in Auckland incomparable to hari raya in Malaysia. We tried to make the eid here as similar as possible to how we celebrate it in Malaysia. Rendang and ketupat are never short of supply and both delicacies are served here as well. The BIG difference is WE are the ones preparing them,slaving over the kitchen stove,stirring and waiting for the dishes to be cooked..i, for one,had to cook ayam masak kuzi myself..it's my grandma's signature dish..it turned out okay but not nearly as nice as the one my grandma made. Besides that, i made 'biskut raya'(milk chocolate chunk and almond cookies)on my own free will..sent them to my brother in kl just so that he knows that I remember him..kuzi and biskut raya may seemed petty things when you're in Malaysia but these things are soo much more than food when you're 10 hours away without your family with you..making and preparing them,seeing the end result helped me keep my emotions intact(i.e not break down to tears during dat 1st eid morning)...I miss my family and relatives(cousins n all)..THEY are the ones that made my raya, raya in most truest sense..I cant wait to be back in November