My buddy Halim, who commented on my blog about the Petronas Raya commercial, took more than 17 hours to balik kampung from where he is based in Central Asia. I’m happy that he saw the TV commercial to make his homecoming even more special.
"…it is exactly 8.10 am Friday morning where I am at and I have a 7.10 pm flight home to catch. Another 11 hours. I have got all my bags with me here at the office. Exactly 17 hours later I will be landing at KLIA. I know the meaning of balik kampung for Hari Raya now. In the commercial, it was about a mother and her son, who came home for Hari Raya. I will go see my mother before Hari Raya and I will see her during Hari Raya and I will go see her after Hari Raya....
Never has a flight been so looked forward to...," he wrote on his blog: dudaesimboyo.blogspot.com.
Another buddy, Fisol describes vividly what balik kampung means to him on his blog hardkocks1961.blogspot.com.
"A friend asked me today whether I would be going home for Aidilfitri. I believe the question should be, when. As far as I’m concerned, not to return home for Aidilfitri is not an option, simply because my Mak is expecting everyone to be home for the festival, no matter how tight our schedules are or how crazy the traffic heading north would be at this time of the year," he said.
While many KL residents have made their way to their hometowns and kampungs to celebrate Hari Raya, the city’s main shopping areas remain busy with last-minute shoppers looking for bargains.
(Along the back lane between Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India at noon today)
