Semua daripadaNya

i would be lying if i say that my umrah trip tidak merisaukan. gusar dan gemuruh for months. decided to go for umrah in october last year. There were issues and i needed to seek for answers. At the moment, going for umrah was my best option. The main problem then was, wanna go but no money. how???? However, i was adamant that i want to go...

one fine day, right after isyak, was staring at the wall thinking of means for the trip, it dawned on me of what to do and ikhtiar apa...masa tu juga, air mata bagai tak boleh dibendung-bendung lagi mengalir deras. Sebelum itu buntu sesangat, bagaikan magis, idea menjelma ke dalam benak fikiran. there is light at the end of the tunnel. dari mana datangnya idea ini jika tidak dengan kuasa dan izin Illahi.

Planned to go in April...but after some traveling arrangement hiccups, we moved to June. But, we were advised that it will be very hot then....so how? Dah tergedik2 nak pergi juga. No more seats with Tabung Haji in April. Alhamdulillah, we were fortunate that we managed to secure seats in April, just like it was originally planned. How do we deny what is destined...?

Our umrah was from April 23 to May 5, 2009.

3 in 1 birthday celebration

arif dgn fav cousinsnye

amongst the friends yang dtg

BBQ pit with the big boys

arif pun nak tiup lilin juga...

last saturday...celebrated the birthdays of my 3 children. afiq's and marsya's birthday is on 21st may and atikah's on 22 may. ramai tanya for tips on how we managed to have children with same birthdates, well almost the same dates...no tips, just rezeki daripadaNya, atas kehendakNya juga..Alhamdulillah. Although they share same birthdates, perangai are so lain between them. Abang, quite reserved, dont say much, handal with computer games., sensitive...Atikah, the popular one, lots of friends, the musical inclination., can sing. Marsya, the gedik one. dream of becoming the Permaisuri Agung one day...(hehehe), love acting and of course the drama princess of the house....

we normally would celebrate their birthdays sekali, 3 in 1 and we have not been doing it for the past 4 years. tiap2 tahun dok merengek, especially marsya. so finally tahun ini, we have one for the 3 of them. Afiq ikut je...Atikah and Marsya yang dok atur the menu...mama cooked. they wanted to have BBQ, ikut je...they invited their friends. mama and ayah invited the family. the house was a hive of activities from noon till midnite. but they were happy....mama and ayah were dead tired....

Arif's bday is in October...

Booster, anyone?

Has always been a problem of mine to menyahut panggilan alam if i am at a new place. mekah is no exception. different diet, different weather...can disrupt anyone's daily lives. gas built up is no laughing matter. especially when u are in mekah. ideally should always be in wuduk. tak kan la 10 kali sekejap nak kena amik wuduk. u know what i mean...kan? to answer this 'little gas and waste issue', we were fortunate for a tip from my sister who got it from her sis in-law. a simple recipe which any 5 yr old pun boleh buat.

beli laban or yogurt which are sold in carton and mango juice or tropical juice. an equal amount of laban and juice, mix it well.....lepas tu apa lagi telan la...elok amik after isyak...so that when u wake up for yr subuh prayers, the booster will be doing its job! InsyaAllah, bila solat, perut pun does not emit any polution to the environment and u will be in wuduk longer than usual, tanpa gangguan untuk menyahut panggilan alam or the need to take fresh wuduk.

Booster anyone? cubalah...if u face the same problem, do like we did..like i do..eh we did...eh...

Selingan 1

I like this, simple yet meaningful...hopefully u like it too

The power of choice

Choose to love, rather than hate
Choose to laugh, rather than cry
Choose to create, rather than destroy
Choose to persevere, rather than quit
Choose to praise, rather than gossip
Choose to heal, rather than wound
Choose to give, rather than steal
Choose to grow, rather than rot
Choose to pray, rather than curse
Choose to live, rather than die
Choose to say something nice, rather than hurtful words
Choose to do something nice, rather than hurtful actions

We have a choice, choose wisely



#from the book "Say Something Nice"

Massive people, traffic, dust and ....black veil

The temperature was between 43 degrees to 45 degrees when in mekah. Panas!!!! tapi tak berani nak cakap apa2. Redha je la. Diam je la...go with the flow je la.... Kalau panas, pakai payung, pakai sun block, wear dark glasses. me and kakak bought for ourselves a veil to protect us from the dust and the sun. we were the black ninjas!!!! the difference between me and the arabs when wearing that was...hidung ku tidak mancung!!! bila pakai, kain dok tersedut sekali masuk hidung when i breath. hehehe...hidung pelepah nyior macam tu la...

the black ninjas

Mekah is so the sibuk. Massive construction. hotel2 lama dirobohkan, bukit2 batu diratakan. habuk...ish tak usah cerita la. the objective is to besarkan Masjidil Haram, improved infrastructure for pilgrims. more comfort, convenience. pening juga when i first arrived there. dengan manusia yang ramai, the noise, the habuk, the traffic....so much difference dengan madinah. But soon i got accustomed to that, alhamdulillah.

The journey begins

Our umrah journey started with a delayed flight for 2.5 hrs. Saudi Arabia Airlines flight KUL to Jeddah was suppose to take off at 3.00 but took off at 5.30pm. Is this a sign? “Ya Allah,…permudahkan urusan kami…permudahkan perjalanan kami. Jangan kau uji kami dengan dugaan yang tak mampu kami tanggung.” Well, must remain positive. Dugaan kecil sahaja. Just enjoyed the moment.

Before we took off, we were to wait at the departure hall before finally boarding the plane…well another security check point… …scanned our hand luggage…and hey news flash!!!! no water, fluid into the plane…whatever u have in the bag, drink it all. Just bought a 750ml mineral water, throw it or, yup….drink it all before boarding…me and my sis had to finish it all between giggles that is…glug, glug, glug…lepas tu …bila jalan berkocak perut….hehehehe…

Slept for the 1st 2 hours of the journey. Lepas tu terlelap sekali sekala. Buat la revision le sket hafal doa2 apa yang patut. The meals on board…well, have tasted better. But, no complaints. Alhamdulillah, rezeki malam tu.

After the meal, terlelap kejap…tetiber, dengar comotion? What?...ada 2 mamat arab bertumbuk about 10 rows away from us. Hey action drama! Wow, they really swing their punches.. the stewardess was running looking for help, soon after a steward was running to the scene and both were separated. Phew!!!..One of them was taken to the business class. Ok le…lepas bertumbuk, dapat masuk business class. The other man…remain at the same seat.

We arrived at Jeddah International Airport at 1.50 am (Malaysia time) or 8.50 pm local time. How long was the flight? 8 hrs 15 minutes. Di Jeddah, filling in the disembarcation form, smooth immigration. We were greeted by the THTS and was ushered to the coaster which will ferry us to Madinah. Kira berapa orang…dah cukup? Mana lagi 5 orang? 1½ jam tunggu, rupanya…kes beg hilang. Alahai….senyap je la. Jgn complaint. Masalah org lain lagi teruk. Beg hilang. Kita setakat tunggu je. Naik coaster for the next 5 hours. Stop for Isyak and dinner. Sejuk juga kat desert ni. Makan nasi ayam mandi tengah2 malam...ish...tersekak tekak. Sampai di Madinah at 4.30am, dah nak subuh.

Go there when u are still strong

Secara umum...pergilah perform yr umrah or haj (kalau u have the financial standing) when u are still young. u need the physical strength. bukan dalam mengerjakan ibadat tapi to fend the others for u to perform yr ibadat. generally, the arabs are aggressive lot. kita orang asia ni, terlalu lembut and bersopan santun. the malaysians and indonesians wear putih and they wear black. Kita kecik, and they are bigger and bolder. survival of the foetus really... nak solat pun kena berhati2 takut kena langkah je bila tengah sujud, or worse, kena pijak. kalau they pintas your path when u tgh solat, that's normal....mula2 tu terkejut and geram juga, tapi bila dah lama...lali and i did the same. bukan apa must understand the need coz the space in the mosque are limited and jemaah ramai, so kongsi la sikit sorang.

the arabs juga suka lepak kat masjid. macam kita kat sini, suka lepak kat shopping complexes. anak beranak kat sana. dari yang baby sampai la ke datuk nenek. yang tak boleh jalan, wheelchair ada. between waktu, berkelah kat situ. food and drinks dari rumah. Air zam-zam aplenty. siap ada yang tapau air zam-zam balik ke rumah pun ada. bergelen-gelen la. tapi semua peringkat umur ada kat sana. yang bawak anak kecil, sebelum solat the kids behaved well, bila emak solat...wah!!!!semua melalak. mula2 tu so upset with the extra background 'music' but soon u get used to it and as though it is part of the whole process.

Blog ku sepi...

Pose with anak2 before we depart for Jeddah

i have not been updating this blog for months. the writer's block melanda. bz pulak dgn new department and projek2 lain yang menggila. feel tak mari nak buat camne...insyaallah will try and update apa yang patut. baru balik mengerjakan ibadah umrah with my husband, sister and brother in-law. entirely new experience for me especially. eye-opener, self realisation, insaf le betapa semua dalam dunia ni tak akan happening selagi tanpa izinNya. alhamdulillah, i am blessed and kira macam guided coz my sister performed her haj in 2007. so kira macam ada personal adviser gitu. kalau my sis tak de, sure melilau. love u kakak. selain selalu menangis keinsafan, kira macam empangan pecah ever so often, sentiasa bersyukur dengan rezeki yang dianugerahi Illahi...

nanti i will update bit by bit my 2 weeks umrah.