Won the battle but lost to uric acid

It was raining quite heavily that early Sunday morning in my neighbourhood. At 0730 hours, I went to check out the battle ground to see if all the troops were ready as commanded earlier and accordingly to our battle plan. Nope. Not a single soul, except a platoon of event organizer drenching wet under the canopy waiting for the 'family' to show up. At 0900 hours the rain ceased but ominous dark cloud still looming in the sky. I saw a stray dog appeared unceremoniously and pissing casually near the ground as if showing his discontent on the somber mode, while other 'family' members were still deep in their cold weekend slumber.

Thirty minutes later however, out from nowhere the whole battalion started to gallop into the field and all hell broke loose with the battle cry and the air was filled with high spirit and enjoyment .

It was an inaugural occasion for our neighborhood - a family day. It took the clan 8 years to have such a memorable family affair. My whole family came to the battle ground unprepared, as prior to this we actually had another important engagement and we thought we were going to miss this historical gathering. But a simple twist of fate prior to the opening ceremony gave us ample time to join the joyful crowd.

Everything turned out well at last. I met many new faces and get acquaintance with many new 'families'. The crowd was ecstatic. The food was good. I saw many happy and cheerful faces that day. Kudos to the organizing committee who had really done a very good job. That is what I called a neighborhood. A happy one.

However, after nearly two years or missing my intimate 'acquaintance', with a mysterious stranger, I had a surprise visit by my long lost friend later that day. Uric acid accumulation from over-dehydration and over-excitement greet me with a limping gesture. This friend resided for a week in my left toe. Another reminder that age is catching up.

My youngest superhero super-lightning dash left his peers still wetting their pants with excitement listening to lengthy instruction by their parents on how to win the race.

Those sweets littered on a canvas was the kids motivation in this race. Adults have their own rat-race to worry about - the prize are of course bigger and sweater 'sweets' if not bitter for the loser.

Another dash by my third superhero with a ping-pong ball in his mouth to win another game. Years of chewing eraser in his classroom had given some added advantage to him in this kind of sport.

My second superhero looked quite puzzled here as to whether he was putting the right make-up for the event. As this was not a fancy-costume party he didn't get any prize for that. However, he bagged his own prize in a game of 'tiup gula-gula dalam tepung' - a game probably created by the rich when the flour price was at their lowest.

Another classic game in most of the family days -'lari dalam guni'. It is a good exercise for those who don't like to jog or don't have time to jog around the neighborhood - just get into one of these 'guni' and keep humping on the same spot.

Look how cool my youngest superhero riding my back sipping his ice-cream in this 'lari kendong anak". I participated in this kind of activity because I want to test my back after a year of resting from any back-strenuous activities. That was a lame excuse though for being the last.

Thank you to Pak Mat (still could not figure out which one is Pak Mat though - coud be a nom de plume) for being so kind and generous in providing us with breakfast and that yummylicious briyani for lunch.

I spotted this cute little baby 'skodeing' me from his mymmy's cuddle while shooting the event. He could be the youngest participant that day. The organizer should consider this category too in our next gathering.

The grand finale - a tug-of-war to test ones muscular strength and wittiness. Out of my excitement and didn't want to let down 'family' request, I forgot that I had a back problem slightly over a year ago and join the rank.

Out of these many trophies, each of my family members took home a souvenir each to put on a shelf. That will be a good memento to cherish upon and remind us that next year hopefully will be another big gathering to meet our big 'family' again in a battle that will strengthen our mutual bonding.