It's Ramadhan! :-)

Probably no one would argue that Ramadhan is indeed a very special month... well at least for us Indonesians. We've got shorter working hours, and long holidays at its end (for idul fitri). People will most probably go "mudik" to their hometowns, reuniting with their families and friends.

Hey... Ramadhan's actually also special for every muslims all over the world.

On this first day of this fasting month, my mind brings me back to approximately a year ago.

Ahh... yes... those were the happy yet stressfull days of graduate school in UNSW.

It's not easy to forget how lucky we were for all those FREE IFTARS every single day! ^_^
(contrary to the popular belief that fasting will cause you to lose weight, i actually GAINED weight)

I can see the warm square house hall, with its light brownish carpet, covered with ugly blue or transparent plastic sheets for us to sit down: rice with yoghurt, soup, thai food, indonesian nasi goreng, hariri chicken, HUGE DATES, fanta, grapes, apple slices, poured with vanilla light cream.... yum! :D

And now, after 3 times going through Ramadhan in Sydney, I am sooo lucky to have this Ramadhan back in my hometown! :-)

It's way more "ramai" here!

Mosques are packed.

Kolak and fruits are sold almost everywhere.

Radio shows are more religious than usual. More religious songs are also played. New ones too. (i think i heard Gita Gutawa's voice singing some sort of a new arrangement of a well-known Javanese Islamic song.. i'm pretty sure it's her voice... does anyone know about this? is there anything else i've missed while i was in Sydney??)

Anyways,

Let's wish and pray to God that this Ramadhan will be our best one ever.

Amin...