Ramadhan and Raya 2012- To Travel or Not

Today is the 27th of Ramadhan 1433. Quite hard to imagine I've been through this summer fasting, but thankfully the weather on most days are mild and very pleasant. None of the heat wave.
Still, my sister said I looked very thin. Maybe the lack of sleep and insufficient water.

I've celebrated Raya Aidilfitri once here in Germany, which was followed closely by exams. Compared to that, this time I have some lax time and initially wanted to travel to Bavaria(Bayern) and celebrate the end of Ramadhan there. But then the guys down under had to move out of their big house with super cosy guest room(I'm taking the liberty to call it a guest room, here) so accomodation became a concern. I can still stay with others but my plan seems not so concrete then. Plus I haven't bought a ticket yet so I was still 50-50 on where to celebrate Raya. A friend (Fathi) suggested I first end Ramadhan at home, then travel to Bavaria.
"Bergilir-gilir raya?" I thought. no way, I'm not married yet.

The thing is, I've never had a problem of 'balik kampong' and 'raya kat mana tahun ni'. My parents were both Kedahan and my house neighbours my paternal grandmother. My mom's kampong is in Jitra, which is only 30 minutes by car. Hence it's not a riddle how I spend raya in Malaysia every year: at home.
Faced with choosing between spending this year down in Bayern or here in Nord-Rhein Westphalia(NRW), I feel blessed that all my life, I was never plagued with this problem before, mainly because it's cumbersome and annoying to plan and secondly it takes time and money.

My eldest brother had the luck to be married to her wife whose kampong was 15 minutes from his. My second brother remarked, "Kahwin orang dekat la senang faris*, tengok abang ali. Bukak posa sini, balik terawih rumah mentua." I can see the wisdom in that, as nothing beats breaking fast at home, right.
In the case of my second sister, she married a Selangorean/KLite but since she worked at KL, they normally spend Raya in Kedah. On the rare occasion her family was to spend the 'first' Raya in KL, we at  Kedah would call her and tell her all the special things we eat and stuff. Hahaha.
This year my mother said they're going to skype, and probably show all those ketupat through the videofeed.
T.T   padan muka hang faris.

Anyway, I've decided to spend Raya in NRW, my current resident since there's no cheap tickets plus the hassle of travelling haunts me. I'd love to go down to bayern, but maybe not this Ramadhan. minta maaf rakan-rakan, lain kali ada rezeki jumpa lagi.

So the question of where to be on Aidilfitri 1433 is settled. I hope in years to come, I won't be bothered by the same question. What about you guys?

Ever had the dilemma and if you were to choose, would you prefer a person with a kampong nearby to yours? but then again, love beats all. Kalau dah suka, seberang dunia pon sanggup. dak?


Thank you for reading and have a blessed Ramadhan.