Showing posts with label Ramadan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ramadan. Show all posts

Terima Kasih, Ramadhan



Terima kasih, Ramadhan.

Begitu cepatnya rasanya ia berlalu. 
Bulan terbaik dalam satu tahun.

Ramadhan yang selalu istimewa ini memang berbeda di tahun 2020.

Segala keriuhan, denyut tradisi dan kegembiraan Ramadhan yang biasanya menghiasi hari - hari di bulan puasa kita berubah drastis. Tidak ada sholat berjamah di masjid, tidak ada traweh bersama di masjid, tidak ada keliling - keliling mencari makanan berbuka, tidak ada sujud sungkem dan tetesan air mata saat memeluk orang tua. Tapi tidak mengapa. Sepanjang hati ini terbuka, selalu ada cara untuk berbagi maaf, cinta dan sukacita.

Dan Ramadhan kali ini tetap menjadi yang terbaik.
Bulan yang membawa segala asa, doa, dan harapan untuk menjadi hamba-Nya yang lebih baik dan baik lagi. 
Menjejakkan semangat bahwa selaksa kebaikan ada di dalam diri kita. 
Selalu ada. 
Bahwa perjuangan menaklukkan kebhatilan dan kedangkalan hati bermula dari diri sendiri. 
Bukan dari tempat atau orang lain.

Ramadhan juga mengajarkanku akan indahnya sabar.
Syahdunya menanti rahmah-Nya.
Dan betapa Allah SWT memiliki cara ajaib untuk membuka mata dan hati kita. Betapa Sang Maha Pembolak-balik hati ini sungguh penuh belas kasih bagi hamba-Nya yang bersungguh - sungguh.

Saya ditunjukkan indahnya keteguhan hati lewat seorang tukang sayur sederhana. Juga nikmatnya mencari ridho-Nya dari seorang penjaga keamanan yang selalu menjaga sholatnya. Serta ampuhnya kejujuran yang membuka rezeki dari seorang supir ojek online. Even my beautiful daughter Nadine becomes my constant reminder of how I should curb my fiery emotions. Ada anak cantik ini yang selalu tidak ragu - ragu memeluk saya dan bilang," sabar, mah.. sabar" saat suara ini sudah meninggi karena satu dan lain hal yang seringkali sepele.

Saya malu, kalau menjadi hamba-Nya yang diberi banyak kemudahan dan keringanan tidak bisa menjadi orang yang baik seperti mereka yang berjuang jauh lebih keras di luar sana. Saya sungkan mengeluh pada-Nya akan satu dua batu kecil yang saya hadapi dalam hidup ini. Saya hanya berharap Ia terus memberi kekuatan dan kesabaran kepada kami dalam menjalani skenario indah-Nya.

Semoga, meskipun dengan segala kekurangan dan beribu alasan yang ada, kita masuk dalam golongan hamba-Nya yang tidak merugi. Ketika bulan penuh rahmat ini kembali pergi, untuk insya Allah kembali lagi. Satu harapan kami ya Rabb, semoga kelak kami dipertemukan kembali. 

Terima kasih, Ramadhan


WW: Mudik - Going Back Home for Lebaran Day

Going back home to Lampung
M.U.D.I.K
Mudik.

There is no single word can be directly translated to this particular term of heading back home for Lebaran Day. 

In Indonesia, country with the biggest moslem population in the world, Lebaran Day or Idul Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan, is truly celebrated. People are taking their days off to go home to their family, mudik. 

Wherever you live, you will try your best to go home to meet your parents and families, pay homage to your loved ones' graves, sharing joyous moments over delicious special food, cookies and cakes, as well as THR, a term we use for special allowance given to celebrate these momentous days. Kids lining up and get some money in colourful envelopes from their parents, aunts and uncles, and whoever would like to share some fortune. Zakat are paid and distributed to those who need it, holy Quran are read on daily basis along with taraweh and all the sholat jamaah.  Kitchen will suddenly become the center of the universe, with pots and cooking pans are packed with rich-and-long-cooking staple such as rendang, opor, semur, sambel goreng ati, sayur ketupat and more, sending aromatic herbs and spices aroma all over the house. A lovely tradition that my family still hold dearly.

Such an addictive ambience I won't trade with anything else, whenever I can.

But before we can enjoy this embracing moments with family, first we have to mudik.
Go home.
Either by land, by air, by the sea, or the combination of those.

As everyone is doing the same time, you really have to get the time right.
Otherwise, you will be trapped in the middle of mudik inferno, where lines of lines of cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles are waiting for the ferry to take them to the other islands, or tons of passenger roaming around the air terminal, waiting for their mostly-delayed flights. This can be ugly.

It will be our first Lebaran day in Indonesia after almost 5 years.
Excited? For sure!
But of course, we don't want to be trapped in the chaotic mudik tradition which, no matter how good the Government is trying to manage, will always take place. 


The road was clear..

This time, I took my days off earlier and went back to Lampung with my family at the earliest time. We were privileged to have one holiday before the peak season of mudik started. 
And we were lucky indeed.


Lampung, here we come..

Bridge the nations..

The line is manageable

The roads were relatively clear, we got lovely ferry (it means it's clean, not too crowded and smells good :)), and no traffic jam. 

Port Link, the ferry taking us to Lampung
We left Jakarta on Saturday, May 29th at 1.30 PM and touched down in Lampung at 6 PM. Not bad at all!
If we decided to go home on day later, we will spend at least 15 - 24 hours on the road, for the same destination!

And we got ferry with the view :)




So, that's a little story about our mudik.
Will certainly share more stories on our Lebaran day and the in-betweens.

What's your story?
Are you heading back home?
How do you go back home?

Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the Link party.

Wonderful Wednesday with My Purple World, Oh My Heartsie Girls and Friends

Ramadhan is here! 

And we are so blessed to be able to meet this holy month again. My family and I went back to Lampung again for some errands as well as paying homage to our big family. It becomes sort of a tradition in many part of Indonesia that before Ramadhan starts, we visit our family as well as the graves of those members of family who have passed away. Ziarah or visiting the graves of our relatives is often done days before we start fasting and later on the D-Day or the Eid-il Fitr or Lebaran.


Sunset at Sari Ringgung Beach
Back to Lampung before Ramadhan

We visited around 10 relatives' graves, starting from my father, our grandparents as well as uncles and aunties and other extended families. They buried in different cemeteries so we went to around 4 different places.

Visiting my late grandma, who passed away in 2018 when we were in NYC

It was such solemn moments when, after all those years being away from home, we no longer meet our grandparents or extended families but on their graves. I lost my grandma and my uncle in 2018, when my hubby lost his dad in the beginning of 2018 as well. 

I also visited my dearest Papa's grave.
I miss him so much and Ramadhan always reminds me of him.
All those great memories come pouring in and I can't help but smile and wish he enjoyed Allah's heaven. He is always in my prayers.




Again, the best thing we can do at this point now is to send prayers to them and hope that they have wonderful after-life in heaven.

Nenek or my grandma's grave..
Meanwhile, on a lighter note, we went back to the snorkeling spot in Lampung on the last days before Ramadhan. We obviously had tons of fun! Never get enough of Sari Ringgung Beach and its snorkeling spots.

At Mahitam Island..



This time we ventured to Mahitam Island as well, slightly different from the previous islands, Tegal Mas and Tegal Perak. We snorkeled in two different spots and this time we saw many jelly fish. Well, apparently it's the season and we really had to be careful not to touch this graceful yet dangerous creature. Stay away from its tentacles.

My hubby and my daughter enjoying the crystal clear water
We bid farewell to the beack around dusk, beautiful orange-and-purple sky really melt our heart. Sunset on the beach will always be heartwarming. 

As we are ready to enter the holy month with a pure heart, the masterpiece of our Creator, -the sunset - is a vivid reminder of His great creation. May we all have a wonderful and blessed month, filled with joy, peace, and tranquilty.

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And after the first sholat tarawih, the additional sholat done only in Ramadhan, in the mosque near our house in Lampung, we headed back to Jakarta as office starts at usual in the following Monday.

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