Mosque&Moon-cake Making:)

It is a really interesting afternoon, because our first outing with SKY people is a successful one. Setting off at 3:oo p.m sharp, we went to the Ar-Raudhah Mosque in Bukit Batok(just opposite the Regency Heights Condo:) On the way, we made a lot of friends. A large proportion of Sky people are 302ers, so the names of people from other classes are easy to remember. I get to know Karine, Jie Ling and Wan Ying from 301, and two guys: Benjamin and Timothy(Shi Jie if I am not wrong). Benji is a 93.3FM fan and he loves Fei Lun Hai, we talked a lot about pop stars.

They we went to the Mosque. We all removed our shoes before we went in. It is a big Mosque of five storeys with Library and IT lab(quite modern). We were invited into the Auditorium and the organiser made a briefing about Muslims' religious culture. We watched a video about Ramadhan, which is a fasting carried out by Muslims in the 9th month of Islamic Calendar(a month of Good Deeds&Charity, a month of Forgiveness and month of Worship) During the fasting period, disciples are not supposed to eat or drink or even smoke, or they will break the fast. However, this ritual is only applied to able-bodied men and women, those who are ill or old or on a long journey can be excused. So the customs is quite flexible.

Singapore carries out the Ramadhan by "mathematic calculation" while some Arabic countries by "moon sights". It is a mysterious and fascinating experience to learn about the "moon sights". I jotted down the eight phases of moon sights, which are New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter and Waning Crescent. They the guide let us to find the New Moon in the picture. It is marvellous! We have the chance to see the 30-min-old New Moon in California, 90-min-old New Moon in Iran and 24h-old New Moon in Kuala Lumpur, right between the Twin Tower!

I remember a book about Mosque, A Passage To India. It has certain allusion about Muslim culture, yet I think to really understand Muslim culture, I might have to find out the book, Come to Mecca. Indeed, pilgrimage is a nice scene to see, and we were so fortunate to have the chance to witness the prayer saying ceremony. Even when you are not a follower of Prophet Muhammad, you cannot help to marvel in this atmosphere of religious devinity. One curious thing to note is that males and females have to say the prayers separately to avoid "distraction". That is quite unusual!

After visiting the Mosque, we went to make moon-cake at Toa Li Food Products Company. There was a high demand for the food to be made in totally hygienic conditions, so every one of us was to wear a white blouse, a white cap, a white mouth-cover, a pair of white gloves and a pair of shoe-covers. Then we discovered that we look exactly like a heed of surgeons! Richard, Benjamin, Timothy, Yan Hui and I were to put processed dates into moon cake doughs(I don't know what is that!) But the whole process is super fun! Then we were asked to see the moon cakes being baked in the oven, and I tried to spray egg yolk syrup(what is that?) onto the moon cakes, and they were sent into the oven to bake again~

We played the name game on the way back home, but the game stop halfway when some people have to go off the bus. But overall, it is a nice outing and I am looking forward to the next outing with them on Sunday!

What will we do on Sunday? I have already known:) but I am going to keep this secret temporarily. I am sure we will be very happy together.

And And... in November(my month!), we will walk along the Singapore river... that will surely spice up our holiday!

Ok, stop here, and pray for a peaceful and wonderful September. Amen.