Raya Photos Galore 2007

For your entertainment, my happiness!
Coz sometimes memories are all that you might be left with and
I might be missing this next year.


Day 0 of Syawwal

The day before Raya wasn't like this for the past ten years or so. It would just be an ordinary affair at the multi-purpose hall in the neighbourhood with neighbors and friends gathering, reciting prayers and having a feast to celebrate the end of Ramadhan and the start of Syawwal. What you see here is actually a photo of me and bro and the paternal relatives.




Onward Syawwal and beyond.

This is only part of what you will see when you have about 6 families in my house... and football on tv. It's been two weeks we've seen each other and it's already becoming addictive. Weekend of week one was more of the grandparents, grandaunts/uncles and the seniors from the ten paternal aunties and uncles i have. Sounds hectic but the fun you can have is imaginable. Weekend of week two completes all ten houses. My house was the last and also the only place we took photos. How sad.



I often see these two wayyy back during my childhood days. You'll get to see their childhood photos somewhere below. On her left is her brother who happens to be a classmate of my distant uncle. This is when i sing "it's a small world after all..." I was told she bit the left dorsum of my hand which became a mark, almost similar to a birth mark. I thought it was my maternal aunt who did that. This happens when everyone wants to bite your hand. Your left hand. Whatever I've done to deserve that.



Many many things can happen in ten years. Soccer shapes the body and facial features, and sharpens the mind. NCC the same or maybe to a small extent. School develops everything when there are friends. Great friends. It becomes interesting when your memory is put to work, you recall how your relatives look like when you were very young and after many many years you look at them again. They look good. I wonder how i would look like many many years ahead. There's talk about how close i resemble my dad's youngest brother. No comments.



My eldest cousin by seniority and his dad on my favourite daybed. Proved to be the best resting place for toddlers and infants and also the best place for photo shoots... and because the tv is mounted quite high up the wall, it has become the best place to watch the tv as well.



The paternal side was the most happening group of people this Raya, it has always been the friends for the past few years. These two kids are my maternal cousins, the only ones in Singapore. The other one is migrated to California and the other other one in Sulk land but we're pretty much close to the maternal relatives coz the maternal grandparents are close to their siblings and it's a big family up there. This is when i get to see Shamsul Maidin, Singapore's much celebrated referee, Yakob Hashim ex-national goalkeeper and current goalkeeper coach, B.J. Kadir the celebrity chef and entertainer. Distant relatives i have yet to see.



Ok, back to the paternal cousins. Who would have thought Karim's gf is my distant cousin? (It's really a small world.) The photo you've just seen are the middle persons that linked us. The girl who loves to grab my friendster photos, the guy on my right had his hair shaving ceremony after birth together with me. You would never imagined the other guy on my bro's left is a gymnast. OK well maybe now that his stretching and all. I still cannot fathom why my bro's in shorts. Kids these days.


Backtrack 1994

...and here they are in their childhood days. The girl who bit my left hand and her brother. The cousins who's also Karim's gf cousins. There's also my mum and Pak Busu. Notice how Men in Black started from the kids in white shorts, me and the brother. They improvised the placing of the shades from hanging on your collar to inside your jacket pocket. Kental siak.


Forward 2007

What it looks like when all the attention is on you without you knowing.



...and what happens when you start to like it.


Backtrack (again) 1989


There were times when you look at a kid and you find them so familiar but can never get the person it reminds you of. Only when i look at these photos, i do realize that it's them i've been missing and reminded of. This was when me and my cousin had our hair shaving ceremony. I'm blue ranger.

2005

2 years ago when things were looking on a bright side and me on the other hand was still on the darker side. Funny how soccer players look like when their muscles are all aching after training sessions. It shows on their faces. The want-to-kena slap face.




This is when i challenge you to spot my parents.




Nokia no longer connects people the way they do. Cameras are now the reliable thing that connects people and ensure they have fun at the same time.



No matter which camera you're using. It's the same. Remember that.


Backtrack 1989 yet again


A bit wasted i didn't make it a habit to wear my headdress since young. Also reflected on my friendster photos. Can't spot me? The clue is below... coz she remembered she took a photo with me when i was young.




i hope i'll never miss all of this next year for NS...