Iftar...Some Life Experiences...

We went to Maxim supermarket last Saturday to buy some groceries. Strolling in the evening to the 1 km away supermarket might be challenging enough for the fasting Ain. But jalan-jalan punya pasal, she was just excited. Furthermore, it's the end of September which means the heat isn't as maddening as when it was in July or August. So there we went from our green and yellow striped apartment building.

There were some interesting life experiences that we managed to capture on the way to Maxim. As we passed by the mosque, we saw a few people (could be the AJK Masjid or volunteers) busy spreading plastic mat in the open area in front of the main entrance to the mosque. Some were seen putting boxes of orange drink, mineral water, dates and bananas on the mat, while some others were seen carrying more dates and more boxes of drinks. This sight really attracted Along, Ain and Apit as they'd never seen this in Malaysia. Ain, as seen in on of the pics with her favourite yellow winnie the pooh bag, looking on curiously. What are they doing and who's going to eat and drink all these. Along, Ain and Apit kept asking. I did not know, probably the poor or any musafir or just anybody but obviously they were preparing for iftar. I wonder if on the way back we could drop by and have iftar here if we happened to pass by this area in time of Maghrib azan...he he. Well, let's see...

When we arrived here at around 6.10 pm on the way back, this was what we saw. The place was already packed with people, all men. It seemed that no rezeki for us to even sniff the food there...he he. Looking at their faces, we could tell that they were the more unfortunate people than us and they deserved that free iftar, not us.

Iftar was at 6.21 pm and we had a few more minutes before we could reach home and have iftar on our own. Upon arriving, sempat panaskan roti Arab on the frying pan with butter and the smell was so mengancam. This Arab bread is my kids' newly found favourite bread. So,that evening we had simple but delicious iftar with roti Arab cicah kari daging campur dhal and bubur lambuk that I cooked the day before. (My mom said jangan membazir...). Kenyang Alhamdulillah.

Later that night, I baked Dates and Raisin Bread Pudding sebab dah tak sabar nak makan puding ni. This is the newly learned recipe that I got from a friend in Sungai Kurus. Amacam...jadi tak puding roti I Teacher? Out of 5, agak-agak berapa markah Teacher nak bagi? Alhamdulillah, hubby and the kids gave the thumbs up...sodaaapp he he he.

We are really, really grateful even though we had simple iftar with no rice (because we chose not to have), it could be so lavish as compared to the iftar that this group of labour workers had when we saw them on the way back from Maxim.

I just couldn't imagine these Pakistani workers, who had to work from morning to evening under the scorching hot sun of Dubai, just had watermelon for iftar to cover up the energy they had lost during the daylight. It was really a very touching experience that I've seen. If only we were having some decent food at hands that time, we'd surely give it all to them. Unfortunately, what we had in hands were flour, uncooked roti paratha and fresh vegetables. The curious Apit and Ain asked...kenapa orang tu makan tembikai je, kenapa dia tak beli makanan lain, kenyang ke orang tu makan tembikai, orang tu takda duit ke nak beli...

Hubby and I made it a point to show Along, Ain and Apit how very fortunate they are for always having enough food unlike the 'uncles' that they saw before their eyes. So, stop grumbling if Ibu prepares food that does not fulfill their likings. The kids were in total silence as if they could understand the situation. Hopefully they do and learn something.