I know I am 1 month late for this entry, but, better late than never, right? (definitely my go-to excuse if I were late for my class, like, most of the times)
For those who don't know, Ramadhan is the month when Muslims will fast from dawn to sunset. In Malaysia, we fast for roughly 14 hours, which can be considered as quite short, compared to other countries, especially four-season, northern hemisphere countries since it's summer right now.
So, due to the non-eating circumstance, our lifestyle will also slightly change during Ramadhan. Let's start with:-
1) Sahur
Sahur is basically a meal you have before dawn. So, it's like a very early breakfast. Usually, we will wake up at 5 am to eat and since we're Asians, we eat rice. 5 am in the morning. Epic, isn't it? But during my time in boarding school, I was too lazy to dress decently and go to the dining hall for sahur, and plus, I was so sleepy. So, I would eat Oreos or Gardenia Cream Bread for my sahur in my dorm. And also, plenty of water 'cause let's be honest, when you fast, it's the thirst that will grasp your throat so bad that you won't even feel hungry. Just, extremely thirsty. Also, if my friends had some dates, I would ask for one because dates are very wonderful energy suppliers. And plus, it's the Prophet SAW sunnah, so there's nothing to lose.
I remember my primary school days where I couldn't eat rice too early in the morning, so I ate anything but. Mostly, roti canai 'cause it's simple. But seriously, I don't know how I survived that. No wonder I was underweight when I was little.
And, what's a boarding school student if you didn't oversleep and miss sahur for at least, once? So, I also did, like twice maybe. I didn't eat or even drink anything at all that day until sunset. Of course I was extremely drought by the end of the day. But miracles did happen 'cause I survived that day, just like I did for other days of Ramadhan. Indeed, Allah will help you if you do good deeds.
2) The Extra Time
Since there's no lunch, usually I'd use that time for sleeping 'cause it's so good and refreshing to take a nap at noon.
And do you know how torturing it is to go to a shopping mall during Ramadhan? It's so distracting to smell the food and see people eating in the restaurants. And what's more tempting is when you can't fast due to acceptable reasons but you can't buy any food 'cause people will either frown at you 'cause they don't know or they will smirk at you 'cause they understand why.
I don't know why when we fast, we will get so sleepy. Is it because I didn't eat well during sahur? I don't know 'cause fasting is not supposed to be an excuse for anything 'cause Muslims during Rasulullah SAW's time had a battle during Ramadhan. If they could win a war during fasting, why can't I, for God's sake, stay awake in class during Ramadhan??!! I'm so sad.
3) The Bazaar Ramadhan
Basically a bazaar with various type of food, be it be sweet traditional pastries, spicy chicken delicacies, Malay cuisines, Chinese dishes, Indian cookeries or even Western food. But Malaysian's favourites are martabak (yes people, that's how we actually and correctly spell it, not 'murtabak') and roti john, which are normally very popular in bazaar ramadhan.
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| this is martabak - basically pratha bread with chicken/beef in it and curry to dip in. |
roti john - basically long loaf with omelette and chilli sauce in it. and chicken.
When I was in form two, I used to eat onde-onde (it's also better known as buah melaka) for iftar every single day. I was addicted. That white flakes are coconut and inside the onde-onde, there's red sugar (I think that's what you called it, IDK... :P )
that's how our bread pudding looks like. :P
4) The Break Fast
Iftar. Or berbuka puasa. It's the most awaited meal of the day, right after Maghrib, around 7.30 pm. It's when you break the fast.
What more can I say? I am eating now. :P
5) Tarawih Prayer
It's an additional prayer after the Isyak prayer that you're very encouraged to do. It's 20 rakaat, but most people will do 8 rakaat only, including me. My family and I will go to the mosque and perform Isyak prayer, followed by Tarawih prayer. It's very tranquillizing to perform prayers in the mosque together with other Muslims. The Tarawih will end with Witir Prayer, which basically is a closure prayer, and usually is 3 rakaat.
And if you stay until 20 rakaat, there'd be a moreh, which is basically a free supper prepared by the mosque.
I think, there's more. But for now, that's it.
'Til we meet again, Ramadhan.
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