“Raya” means Eid al-Fitr. In Indonesia, it’s commonly known as “Idul Fitri” while in Malaysia and Singapore, it’s usually called as “Raya” (with the greetings “Selamat Hari Raya”.)
Eid al-Fitr/Raya is Islamic two-days celebration after a month-long Ramadan fasting which celebrated publicly/nationwide (not restricted to moslems only because, hey, festivities!) The word “fitr” means “oneself/one’s original soul.” During Raya, folks ask for forgiveness and forgive each other. After 30 days of fasting, one can finally celebrate it together with friends and families. This is the time when families and friends gather — and the main theme of Raya is balik kampung or mudik (in Indonesian); means, homecoming.
Raya started early morning when the moslems are going to a public field or the biggest mosque in the area to have Eid shalat/prayers. After the shalat, folks usually hanging around at the mosque while greeting each other — even strangers. Then, we all come home and prepare for Eid meal. Neighbors, friends, and families usually visit each other too.
Raya songs usually really cheerful, upbeat, and pretty loud. I feel the Lofi Raya Beats do a really good job on giving the ?aesthetic? vibe.
A couple of days ago — last week, I guess? — I decided to restart my Animal Crossing game. I’ve been working on redesigning my island but I got stuck (mostly on the villagers’ houses and buildings) and it’s really expensive to relocate them. I refuse to use time traveling (you can set the date and time on your Nintendo Switch to do “time travel” so everything can go as fast as you want or you can turn back in time) because it’s too much of efforts for me.
So I deleted the saved files from Animal Crossing game and it whirred everything back to the moment we meet Timmy and Tommy on the airport as we embarked on our Deserted Island Getaway Package.
Other than the design-block, I also would like to replay the game in a more relaxed manner. I used to hunt bugs and fishes obsessively, I ended up wondered what should I do next. “This time,” I promised, “I will just go with the flow and not running around the island with bug nets and fishing pole.”
It’s a website where you can design your island and use it as your layout plan/blueprint. I spent a good 45 minutes to check which island with the most optimum potential (land coverage, amount of bridges and inclines needed, and the distance between the island plaza to the airport.) Then, I restarted the game twice because I just feel the island was not it.
I ended up not using the website because they don’t have my island’s map. Well, they do, buuuut the beach rocks locations are tad incorrect.
So I screenshot-ed my island by opening Maps feature and transferred the image to my iPad.
I opened the image and clicked Edit so I can scribble on it to mark the areas I would like to put the shops, bridges, inclines, houses — and most importantly, landscape planning for easier access to the northern part of the island.
Ramadan is an Islamic holy month. During this month, the moslems fast by stopping eating and drinking when the sun rises (subuh/soobooh) until the sun sets (iftar/maghrib) — and we do this for 30 days.
“No eating, I can understand. NO DRINKING? Even water?”
Even water, yep. It’s a literal fast as nothing should be consumed for a whole day. It’s the time for the moslems to reflect oneself and learn about patience, perseverance, and kindness.
And yes, I already used with, “… did you die?” questions ?
Ari and I have been revamping our suhoor (the morning meal) menu since last year. We found that the more we eat during suhoor, the more we feel uncomfortable (hello, gastric acid,) and lethargic we are during the day.
Apparently, our best type of suhoor meal is the one with less carb, and more veggies and fruits.
Ari made a tomato and cucumber salad with yogurt and olive oil. I made myself omelette (with chives), and we also have sliced oranges.
We do put more attention on water, though. Two glasses of water during suhoor, two glasses of water during iftar (breaking the fast,) and two glasses of water before bedtime.
So far, things went pretty well. I had a headache in the noontime because the blood sugar dropped and my body still adjusting (telltale sign that I’ve been snacking too much when I’m working ?) I had to take a longer break due to that — although luckily, it was pretty quiet on the office’s Slack channels too.
I’m pretty pumped about tomorrow. Hopefully my body can adjust things better as Ramadan progresses.
Happy Ramadan, folks! May all of us have a blessed Ramadan.
When I was only ten, I was told by a man
He smiled as he said, “You just need to understand
Unless you grow thinner, no man would ever want you”
And what a grownup said I believed as children do
She wasn’t made for your pleasure
Don’t you blame it on human nature
She wasn’t made for your pleasure
Oh, who will love her?
Daisy, go dress yourself in a red disguise
To look like a rose, you must pay a heavy price
Try to be beautiful and pleasing to the eye
Run after your youth ’til the day that you die
She wasn’t made for your pleasure
Don’t you blame it on human nature
She wasn’t made for your pleasure
Oh, who will love her?
I first learned about Sherlock Holmes — yes, we will talk about Agatha Christie later. THIS IS IMPORTANT — when I was an elementary student. When I was still a kid, we had — and I guess we still have — this children magazine named “BOBO”. Originated from the Netherlands, “BOBO” magazine had such a long affection and connection to Indonesian children as it became part of our childhood. I remember I read Sherlock Holmes’ ‘The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire’, translated to Indonesian, in the magazine.
From there, I entered a wonderful world of detectives genre on literature.
As my admiration to Sherlock Holmes grew and as I learned more about the fictional detectives, I, too, learned about Agatha Christie and her famous Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
Unfortunately, it was an unsavoury experience as I found everything by Agatha Christie as “dull” and “rambling.” I was used with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fast-paced short-stories style, I couldn’t stand to read a whole novel of one single case.
I didn’t even bother to read Agatha Christie’s works until a couple of years ago (?) I saw ‘And Then There Were None’ on Netflix.
No. I didn’t watch it. I only saw the thumbnail on the Netflix app.
I watched it only for the first 10 minutes then I got too scared (I’m serious.) Yet the curiosity started. What is this about this lady, Agatha Christie, that she could build such legacy with her detectives? Surely a proud Belgian man and a chatty elderly lady should do something extremely right that made the world fall in love with them?
Last week, we went to a bookstore in KL East after we had dinner in Cafe Chef Wan. The bookstore’s name is ‘BookXcess’ (read: Book Excess.) This bookstore is the parent group of Big Bad Wolf Book Expo, a really famous book expo in Southeast Asia (mainly in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia) for super cheap price. I kid you not, the price can be third or even quarter of the actual price.
Then I saw this Agatha Christie box set. Five novels: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Evil Under the Sun, The ABC Murders, The Five Little Pigs, and Murder on the Orient Express.
I took it without second thought. That, and because the price is not super exorbitant so my wallet can still breathe after my multiple stints with Neil Gaiman’s graphics novels and Kinokuniya Bookstore.
I decided to open my journey with a murder of a gentleman in a, supposedly, closed room: “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”
And I had to remind myself again and again, “this is 1926. You do NOT yell, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DICTAPHONE IS REALLY BIG? SONY HAS ONE THAT’S SMALL ENOUGH FOR YOUR POCKET” because for God sake, we have this thing called history of technology.”
Reading detective novel is fun. You found yourself trying to guess from the very first page. This man looks suspicious! Oh, this lady looks like she knows nothing— but who knows? You tried to outsmart the author. You wished you could scoff and remarked, “HAH! I KNEW IT!” in such triumphant manner. You, a reader, able to guess whodunnit! That’s surely an achievement worth to brag about!
Then came ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ and when Hercule Poirot uttered the name of the killer, I found myself in Error 404 Not Found for five seconds.
“Wait.
What.
What.”
Then a complete 5 minutes of, “are you kidding me, are you serious— WHAT,” and aggressively turned the pages again and again, from chapter one to the last chapter, tried to connect the dots, “did I miss anything?”-panic, and ended up with a quiet realization followed with a final, “… Now I know why.”
I admire Agatha Christie’s way of portraying her characters, especially the women. I love how she breathed such variations on the women — they can be a schoolgirl dabbled in occultism or a naive temptress. I love how Agatha Christie able to give different perspectives and personalities on one single character — somebody that we thought using other people for their own expenses yet craved, and manipulated, by another (‘Evil Under the Sun’.)
Now, I keep turning the pages, craving for more.
Thank you for the magnificent works, Agatha Christie. My deepest apology, as it took me 36 years to recognize you.
Quick blurbs
Saw this site mentioned the other day on Slack: neocities.org.
Scroll down and you will see “Featured Sites”. Never knew it brings back early 2000s, and it makes me so, so happy.
the blogger
Nindya. Kapkap. she/her. Indonesian in Malaysia. Millennial. Lo-fi. Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Murder mystery genre.
