We are more than half way through the whole month. I guess an intermediate reflection on my resolutions seems inappropriate at this stage. Obviously, I can’t judge my own performance…and I only hope that God Almighty will accept my amalan…….InsyAllah.
So far this Ramadhan, I have only been to one Iftar invitation and it was quite an experience. It was at a fairly nice place…of course when the price per head was in the region of RM80, you’d have to say by default it was supposed to be nice. As it turned out…the food was decent but it the whole experience made we wonder….was it all worth it. The word that kept buzzing in my head throughout the occasion was "stampede"…and many other synonyms. The alleys were narrow, people piled their plates with food (I know one of my friends would describe this as …kucing lompatpun tak lepas, literally translated as a cat will fail to leap over it), and that was only the beginning. The Qs were expectedly long…but what really bugged me was the feeling that I was back in military high school….holding my tray in line waiting for food to be served. Only this was worse, because I felt pressured to move quickly leaving me with little time to contemplate…"let see….. beef or chicken or lamb or fish or satay or the other beef, or the other chicken, or the other lamb or the other fish or the other satay….". No…no…this is Iftar at a nice place where you pay RM80 for your meal…so don’t think, juts move along. I could just feel the little "nudge" from behind every time I needed that additional nanosecond to decide. No wonder people didn’t contemplate, they just piled everything in and move along happily. And the thing was…the stampede continued on, before and during Iftar and up to at least 8.30 pm.
Anyway, I just pity this one makcik who decided to go for Gearbox Soup to start her Iftar…well, I failed to notice the many other food on her table but obviously the soup stood out like a sore thumb. I pity her because she sat right at the entrance of the buffet line and everybody who passed by would give her the OMG look when they saw the humongous cow’s knee in front of her. And it was 15 minutes away from Iftar when I saw that….it must had been the longest 15 minutes in her life I’d imagine. I guessed once Iftar arrived, people would be pretty much engrossed in their own devouring task that the image of a makcik staring at a huge knuckle would be long forgotten….and as it turned out, 3 people at my table tried the soup later and testified it was not that great…..I sure hope for the makcik’s sake, that she liked it.
I was in a great company…they paid for the meal so obviously I was expected to have a jovial time. But with the Indonesian band singing along in the background, it was rather difficult to have a decent conversation…what more with the need to join the stampede from time to time as I migrated from fruits to entrée to main course and finally to ice cream. The following band was even beyond my comprehension. They happily sang along when right next to the stage was a big screen showing "Forum Perdana"….talking about making difficult choice….and even more difficult when the band had two girls in skimpy outfits (the choice between good and evil didn’t get any clearer than this). I must confessed that I did look…(just look:)).., but hey….I thought they couldn’t have this kind of thing in Shah Alam….Anyway, after 10 minutes the hotel staff came to their senses and flipped the channel and the screen was showing a football game…..so it was easier I guessed for people to just concentrate on the band …and the mini skirt, minus the guilty feeling:).
I left the place with a mixed feeling….and without elaborating further, I was pretty sure I’d be better off having the Iftar at home, in the company of my beloved wife and kids……albeit probably having only 3 dishes, and having to chase after my kids to ensure they finish their meal…and I would probably not miss my Tarawih….which I did that day….
Last I look at my calendar, I have 3 more Iftar invitations to go to (and I have turned down a few already)……..is it going to be any better????
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