Ramadan bits - The starting block habit

I remember..

When I was a kid of 5 or 6 years old at buka time I got this habit, I am sure most have seen it, I called it the starting block habit.

The few seconds countdown to buka time was like being on the starting block of a world championship blue ribband 100 metre dash event. I would have gone past the 'get set', 'ready' stage, my hand would be holding a big koleh of air sirap biji selasih - a mandatory thirst quencher in my family buka time, close to my lips anticipating our kampung mosque muazzin's bang! - rhyme with abang, the call for maghrib prayer that signals buka time.

The picosecond, yes picosecond folks! the muazzin's bang! went - as a comparison Usain 'Insane' Bolt reaction to the starting gun bang! - sounds similar to bank, is in the milliseconds, a slight tilt upwards on the koleh would send the ice-cold sirap biji selasih rushing past my parched lips, into my mouth, down my throat and all the way through the rest of my alimentary canal like water rushing through a bursting dam, giving my bodily system a blissful shock as I bottoms-up the big koleh of ais sirap biji selasih in rapid successions of revenous gulps.

That was the first liquid of the day folks! a big koleh full of ais sirap biji selasih and it taste like kids heaven and the dash to the finish was accompanied by a long satisfied aaaaahhhhhhh..!

Later I was told by my father to buka according to the Rasullulah PBUH way, to have a bite on the dates first, but the starting block habit didn't go away. Now at the 'starting-block' my hand would be holding a date close to my lips instead a of a big koleh of ais sirap biji selasih in anticipation of the muazzin's bang! Hey! I was a kid ok.

I tell you folks..! it might look silly but it was no ordinary feat. As for liquids being bottoms-up goes.. I am sure Ronnie Liu or his chip of the old Gee Hins and Hai Sans ancestor block samsengs cannot 'take beer' and yamseng as quick as I bottoms-up my big koleh of ais sirap biji selasih at buka time.