Happy Ramadhan all!
So, how’s my Ramadhan so far?
Alhamdulillah, it had been great. I promised myself to
finish reading 1 juz of Al-Quran everyday and perform tarawih. 1 juz means try
to read 5-7 pages of Quran after each prayer.
Celebrating Ramadhan in Yangon has been a good experience so
far. Everyday(except Friday, Saturday and Sunday), most of the families in our
big family in Yangon will organize iftar, tarawih and moreh at their home. No iftar on Fridays as there’ll be less
number of ppl on Friday, since some will go back to Malaysia. No iftar on Saturdays as we’ll attend iftar
at the embassy. Sundays are rest days.
Imsak time in Yangon is around 4.09-4.11am and break fast
will be at 6.30pm-ish. Working time is
as usual- 8.00am to 5.00pm or 9.00am to 6.00pm.
I normally set my alarms at 3.00am, 3.15am and 3.30am for sahur. During the first few days of fasting, I was
very slow at eating during sahur. But I
know that I need enough time to drink coffee and cups of water. Soon I realized, I have enough energy even if
I only have oats, dates and water during sahur.
After Subuh, I’ll read Quran and since some days I don’t
meet my target to read 5-7 pages of Quran after each prayer, I’ll try to make
up the losses after Subuh prayer. Normally
this will finish around 5.30-6.00am. It’s
already sunrise by this time. But, it’s
another 2 hours before I start working (lama tu). Some days I’ll take a nap, some days lazing
around-web surfing-reading-beating my eyes.
Transport to the office will arrive at 8.10am normally. But since I’m carpooling with others, the
transport soon getting to be late and late.
I hate being late to the office as I appreciate the golden time in the
office when people is yet to arrive at the office. Luckily, there’s a change of contract to the
transport company this month. Under the new contract, the drivers will work
from 7.00am to 7.00pm. So, I made up my
mind. I need to go to work by 7.30am. No harm in being the earliest, right? At least I got my golden time and I don’t have
to waste my time unsurely waiting when will the transport arrive.
Working will be as per usual. Though sometimes I’ve hard times beating my
sleepiness and connecting dots in meetings. And some meetings just spill into our ‘lunch’
time where I’m suppose to read the Quran.
By 5pm, I’ll go back to my home-bath and get ready to attend
the iftar by 6pm. This is where I shall
prep ahead- ironed & clean cloth for prayer and food to bring to the iftar’s
house. Else, it’ll be a rush.
Usually if the traffic is good, by 6.15pm I’ll arrived at
the iftar’s location. Food will be a
lot. People will bring lots of kuih- a
smaller version of Param that we have here. Thanks to the ladies with wonderful cooking skills that we have here. I really appreciate their efforts in preparing the food as they save us (office people) time for food prep and thinking on what to eat for break fast.
During the early days of fasting, I tend to eat a lot, I wanna taste all
sorts of kuih, eat all of the food prepared..and I discover that I get tired
after return home. Meaning, after Isya’
prayer and tarawih, I’ll go home and straight to bed. Gosh, I’m too tired to
read Quran. Too bad right?
By second week of Ramadhan, I took cautious step to eat
moderately and remind myself of my Quran goal.
Alhamdulillah, I think I made some improvement as my weight is reducing
now and I’ve more energy to celebrate Ramadhan.
Hopefully I can khatam my Quran on time J
