Puasa di Oman

 Sedar tak sedar dah masuk minggu ke 2  kita berpuasa, alhamdulillah my daughter is still fasting. Teringat plak masa puasa kt Oman dulu. Kat sana meriahnya lain... eventhough there's no pasar Ramadhan (param...hehe i just learned this term recently) sapa lah yg duk come up with such term, there's iftar invites. Kat oman dulu time puasa, masa mula2 kat sana, weekend jer memang penuh dgn jemputan iftar. After that weekdays pun ada jemputan iftar. Ada tu yg siap book awai2  nak buat iftar supaya x clash. Kadang2 serba salah bila dapat 2 invitations sekali...but I always said to mr.hubby utamakan la jemputan yg pertama kita dapat, yg kedua tu tgk la mcm mana, kalau dekat and sempat, singgah kejap pun jadi la.

 Masa first year puasa kat Oman, i just gave birth to my daughter, fasting started during my second last week of confinement. My parents were still there with us so they get to experience fasting in Oman. Dapat la pegi a few of our friends houses for iftar. That year we didn't get to host our iftar... maklum la baru bersalin, mana dgn baby lagi, nak masak lagi... dah la masa tu x pandai masak...hehehe..

 During times like that i learned to cook  especially malay traditional kuih... ye la dah pegi berbuka tu takkan nak pegi melenggang jer kan... my mother in law taught me never go to somebody's home empty handed... x kira la reason apa pun we went in the first place. Masa muda2 tu benda2 macam ni bukan kita nk pikir sangat kan... but now we've become accustom to it... bila nak g umah sesapa jer i will ask mr.hubby nak bawak apa ek?

 Tarawikh is similar everywhere i guess, we get to go for tarawikh prayer at the mosque near our house. I think the difference is maybe there, the ladies side is full with kids.. i mean toddlers and babies... The Omani tend to bring along their children to the mosque which is good in a way but not when the baby starts to cry, then somebody if not all will definitely feel distracted. When we took our 2 yr old boy for tarawikh a few days back, I can't concentrate when i hear him crying and calling me because he got saparated from his father. I don't know how the Omani ladies do it. Idon't think i've seen mothers here in malaysia bring their babies along for tarawikh prayers.. They usually just stay at home.

 During our stay in Oman, fasting falls during winter. Winter in Oman is not like winter in the west where u get snow. Winter in Oman is actually nice, it's not hot yet it's not too cold. The temperature can go down to less than 15 deg at night and only up to 20 deg during the day so u can imagine how nice it is.

 The first time we fast in Oman i did miss pasar Ramadhan... but i think mainly because i have to cook my self and i'm not a good cook and i can't just go out and buy whatever i want. After a few years experiencing fasting in Oman, my cooking skill is getting better and i realize i miss pasar Ramadhan less.

What i miss now is the iftars we had  in Oman. During our 2 years in bangi, kalau ada iftar invitation pun it's always at an iftar buffet at restaurants or hotels... not at home. I miss the home cooked food we shared during iftar but mostly i miss the company of good  friends we have there...