Ramadhan '11 - Selasihku Sayang

Aah, first day of Ramadhan. Typically the hardest, at least for me. By 8 am, I was already craving for food. By 11 am, I was sleepy and I was yawning excessively.

And hungry.

(Mind you, I was in the comfort of an air-conditioned office, and was practically using only a few brain cells. Other than that the only bodily movement would be my fingers excessively punching the keyboards.)

Alhamdulillah, so Ramadhan is here again.

What do I expect to achieve this Ramadhan? I hope to be maximized my ibadah in the month of Ramadhan. More solat including terawih, and more mengaji Qur'an.

And professionally I hope to accomplish more work i.e. get more work done during this month.

Well, work is also an ibadah, right? So even if I stay at work until bukak puasa time, I would be in ibadah, just as if I would be performing my solah and zikir.

I have told my boys and girls at work, the only reason the office would close early (an hour earlier at 4 pm) is that we don't have lunch hour. It is not because that we would be working less, or that in Ramadhan, things would slowly come to a halt, as everybody is hungry.

They can take break for their zohor, but nothing beyond that please.

Yes, I certainly would like them to reach home in time to break their fast, but that is not the reason we close early during Ramadhan. If we work hard in the non-Ramadhan, we should double the effort during Ramadhan!

It is certainly not the time for us to take afternoon naps!

Anyway, while food should be taking a backseat during Ramadhan, in reality the reverse is true. Stalls sprouting everywhere to cater for the whim and fancy of Malaysians breaking the fast. Yes, I do frequent these stalls during Ramadhan, I have to admit, but I still prefer home cook. Pasar Ramadhan are typically manned by the amateurs looking to make a quick buck or two - make that thousands buck or tens of thousands, so it is typically not worth it.

I look forward for some sweet tidbits during Ramadhan. For a family of four, with the boys typically not into conventional food, it is not worth it for us to cook all the food that we ear.

There are two simple things I would enjoy in this Ramadhan month eventhough one could still find them off Ramadhan I guess.

Buah kabung with syrup. Take it cold.

Aah, heavenly.

It is really cooling at the end of the fasting day. It has that effect on the body.

I have no idea where this buah kabung comes from. Surfing the net, I found this pic. Thanks to those who upload the picture.

Another drink I love to have during Ramadhan is selasih. Again you have it with syrup. Similarly like the kabung, it is also cooling to the body.

Aah heavenly. This selasih seed may look
like telur katak, but it is really lovely to drink with.