Happy Eid Mubarak, Yet?

This year's Lebaran will be slightly different from previous ones.

Yea I went mudik already. To Cirebon, of course, where else?

Turns out that the other families of my big family had already planned their own Lebaran trip and won't possibly come to Cirebon during the holiday. So why bother coming, my family thought?

But we have to.

Every year, we have to.

So yea last weekend, the weekend I supposed to have at home, celebrating my first joyful weekend after spending my first occupied week working, sitting-by-the-desk-doing-nothing-kind-of working, I went on a road trip instead. Like a "pay in advance" kind of trip.

At first, got to be honest -and dad, please don't be mad yet,

I was totally bummed and hoped that I could skip the trip.

But one thing led to another, and eventually,

I enjoyed the trip.

The whole trip was set just like we were having the real ones. By car, shifting in driving -and yea, I got the least portion of the shift, drifting through the same roads and streets we usually passed, overall, the ambient, the euphoria, it was all, all the exact same with Lebaran days.

What made it memorable was the culinary trip. We never miss the signature dishes Cirebon has, and those dishes never fail my tummy. So we had ayam bahagia, nasi jamblang, mie koclok and some nice Sundanese meals for lunch before heading home. Damn I'm hungry.

So yea, that's how we eat. You pick what you like, and pay at the end. And it's so cheap :')

But you know what, the best part is not yet to be told. Well I'm telling now.

Long ago, before my grandma passed away, we always stayed in this hotel named Cirebon Plaza. After her funeral, grandpa built a small house near the graveyard and forced us the whole family to anually stay there during Lebaran. But things changed quiet much lately, and we tend to celebrate Lebaran in Jakarta more often.

But for this trip, my mother booked rooms on the hotel. The. Hotel.

We were all so excited, it's been a while since the last time staying there.

It rebuilt the memories of my childhood, with my brothers, cousins, everyone.

God. I'm a little bit carried away typing these stuff.

It kinda broke my heart seeing grandma's tomb yesterday.

Knowing that this Lebaran, I can't pay her a visit.

I know I paid her in advance, as I said.

But still...