Umrah Trip (Part 2)

On the 21 March 2011 we travelled from Madinah to Mekah. We did our miqat and Niat Umrah at Bir Ali Mosque. The trip was a bit "challenging". The bus driver took the wrong turn and a 2 hour bus ride turn into a 5 hours ride instead. Ryan who was not feeling well, was shivering in the bus and refuses to sleep as it wasn't comfortable. He was in a very bad mood.

We reached Mecca around 2 am (7 am Malaysian time), as we're already in our "ihram" we decided to go ahead and finish our Umrah once we stepped down the bus. Everyone was a bit tired and cranky at that moment but we pushed on.

I swear to Allah upon seeing Kaabah for the first time, all the exhaustion totally left my body. I seriously can't take my eyes off this beutiful structure in front of me. To think that all the great Prophets i.e. Nabi Ibrahim a.s, Nabi Ismail a.s and Nabi Muhammad s.a.w stood on the same grounds before, made me feel totally insignificant. Rasa nak nangis pun ada.

We perform our umrah and managed to complete it before the subuh prayers (around 5am), later we went back to the hotel and sleep. By 12pm (Zuhur prayers) I can see that Ryan is not doing to well. Lack of rest due to all the travel the night before set in, high temperature, wheezing, coughing all in a package.

I was scared as we're in a foreign country, with no real access to paediatrician and clinics. Alhamdullilah I had all of Ryan's medication with me, and we had this really nice Wak (the tour caterer) to drive us to the clinic's the very next day. My doa' was answered and Ryan got better almost instantaneously with the help of antibiotics and non-stop prayers :) Well you know what they say about "wishes" made in front of Kaaba' *insyallah* it would be granted. You just got to have faith :)

The shops are right outside our hotel. CRAZY ok :p

27 March 2011- Ziarah around Mecca

First place of visit : Jabal Tsur where Gua Hira' is situated.

As we all know, Gua Hira' is the place where our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W received his first relevation

Ryan just woke up, saw the camel and is in awe...

Somewhere out there, The hills to the cave is too steeped so we didn't go up. Jabar Rahmah in Arafah. The place where Adam and Eve met after Allah punished them to 300 years of separation for eating the forbidden fruit. They say if you're finding for your jodoh, go up here and doa' for your prince/princess charming :p insyallah you will find him/her soon after. More camels, and Ryan geram and actually pegang one ;p

Masjid Jarannah- where we Miqat for my 4th Umrah

In front of the front entrance of Masjidil Haram

With zee family...

Our 40 Riyal Burger King. Food are very expensive in Saudi. Tapi sapa suruh mengada nak makan, right??

Al- Bait Tower/ Shopping Mall. There's some cool shopping place. Didn't really shop much here as I'm more attracted to the street bazaar. But I love the shoes in Payless (crazy selection) and they have nice clothes in this boutique called Femi9/NEXT etc

The tower clock face would be white in the day

and would turn green at night :)

Cold and windy nights in Mecca,This was taken after our Tawaf Sunat around 9pm. Ryan social kat Mecca balik hotel late almost every night :p

28 March 2010

Ladang Unta/Camel Farm

There's some camel roaming around and you can get some fresh camel milk *yucks* Suffice to say I didn't bother trying.

Anyway, i know he's my son and all but he looks so cute lah in the picture *hahah* Mr Rosy Cheeks :p

The remains of the old Hudaibiah Mosque, where the Hudaibiah Agreement between the Muslims and Quraish Mecca was signed. The agreement was to discuss Muslims entry into Mecca to perform their haj yearly.

My sis in law goofing around

Lan and Atirah (sibling no 5)

Our Last day in Mecca.

Coming Soon: Last post on our Umrah Trip :)

Umrah Trip (Part 1)

I'm going to divide the Umrah Trip into 2-3 posts. There are 100++ pics from 2 cameras so you can imagine my laziness to edit + upload :p More pictures are on FB so check it out... The photos in this entry are the ones taken in Madinah where we stayed for 3 days (19 March 2011 to 21 March 2011) So enjoy the pictures/history/comments/captions etc...

19-20 March 2011

In front of our hotel in Madinah- It is called Hassan Palace and is about 10-15 minutes walk away from Masjid Nabawi

He insisted on walking everywhere on his own nowadays :p

With my in laws minus Lan

Ryan and his aunts View of Masjid Nabawi at night. Gorgeous right :) One of the many mosque entrances

Huge umbrella's to shield people from the sun...

View of Masjid Nabawi in the day. There are about 100 small stalls and shops at a nearby arcade selling jubah, shoes, ornaments etc. Plenty of variety and cheap. If you're not intent on prayers memang will lose your head over shopping.

Surprisingly I only bought one jubah for moi and mostly stuff for people. I bet Lan was proud (surprised?) over my self restrained :p my sis + bro in law serious beli bagful of pretty things

Lan and his siblings minus Ashraff- Yes there are EIGHT of them :p

My son is so photogenic UNLIKE the father (please refer to my wedding album for verification) hahaha

21 March 2011

Masjid Kubah- This is the first mosque build by Rasulullah SAW in Madinah. You're encouraged to perform your solat sunat 2 rakaat at this mosque as to follow Sunnah Nabi

"Whoever makes ablutions at home and then goes and prays in the Mosque of Quba, he will have a reward like that of an 'Umrah." This hadith is reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Hakim al-Nishaburi (Source from Wiki)

There are stalls selling shawls and little trinkets all over Madinah/Mecca. Most of the stuff is under 10Riyal (about RM9 ish) great from souvenirs

@ Ladang Tamar/ Tamar Farm.

The tamar/kurma here is expensive so people don't usually buy them but you can see the Tamar tree/seed up close. Anyway there's A LOT of tourist on that particular day so I didn't even bother going in the shops and stayed outside to camwhore instead.

I think those are the Kurma seedlings.

Ryan started having fever on our last day in Madinah. Weather was crazy hot in the day and cold at night but like the little trooper that he is, he followed us around with little fuss.

Bukit Uhud. This is where Uhud Battle happens. The Muslim soldiers lost that day as the defied Rasulullah order to stay in place after the battle. Morale of the story? Always listen to your leaders and don't defy commands *hmmm*

In front of the grave site of Saidina Hamzah (Nabi Muhammad's Uncle) and other syahid Muslim warriors

This my dear is the "Magnetic Hills of Madinah aka Valley of Jinns" . The magnate pulls can power the bus to move without starting the engine. Kinda cool but scary at the same time :p

Eating the creamiest vanilla ice cream EVER. They probably use camel's milk for the ice cream :p

@ Masjid Qiblatain

This is the mosque with two qiblats. At one time the Muslims perform their prayers facing Jurusalem but one day during prayers the prophet received a relevation from Allah to face Kaabah as a qiblat instead, so he turn during prayers.

The first 2 rakaat was perform facing Jurusalem and the final two was facing Kaabah hence the name Qiblatain

Pasar Kurma- Kurma , nuts and candies heaven :)

That's all for our Madinah Trip, Mecca journey coming soon.....

To be continued....

I'm Back....

Alhamdullilah we have safely arrived home last Wednesday evening (30 March 2011). The trip was a lovely one. I will update in sections once I find the time to edit the pictures accordingly. Currently, there are too many pictures to put in FB and Blog.

Anyway a little update on Ryan (since that is mostly what people been asking anyway) He celebrated his 15 weeks birthday in Madinah. He’s actively walking and “talking” as of late and I have to say he seem to be more keen on making friends, especially with boys around his age or older. I can see that he’s more independent and love doing his “own stuff” at home.

Despite the skepticism from several quarters on my decision for bringing Ryan along for our Umrah Trip, I have to say I think I did the right thing because:-

1. Lan and I get to spend time with our precious baby boy.

2. Muslims believe that Mecca/Madinah to be the holiest place on earth. I believe that bringing Ryan to the city would insyallah affect him in a good way somehow. The results may not be immediate but I have faith that it will make a difference.

3. We’re able to expose Ryan to other cultures, food, people etc. Some say he may be too young to understand. I say never underestimate a child no matter how oblivious he seems to his surrounding :p

I was a bit peeved on a comment made by a total stranger on how bringing a toddler for umrah is a “torture”. In her words “seksa”, well I guess when your intention (niat) is well, Allah will help us, I have to say that Ryan behaved himself (as any 1 year old would) during the trip. First of all we had no problem in flight (and NO I didn’t drug him in any way haha) Ryan played and slept most of the time.

We even brought him for umrah (in which he managed to follow a few times) and prayers. He was able to follow us through several “tawaf” and “saie” rounds and alhamdullilah without a show of tantrums or crying. Of course it wasn’t easy and I salute Lan for carrying him around 90% of the time during umrah but like I always say when there’s a will, there’s a way :)

I think Ryan enjoyed his time in Mecca/Madinah. The Arabs really like little kids. He can’t go anywhere without at least getting one “cheek pinch”. He received free cookies, chocolates, sweets, money and a small baby ring from strangers.

The money part is a bit funny, Ryan was sitting in his stroller with his Uncle Yusry, when he decided to “perform” Yusry told me he was waving/clapping hands at stranger and the next thing we know there was dollar bills on his stroller(haha). Another time while Ryan was walking between Safa and Marwah, a Turkey woman came and swoop him from behind and gave Ryan a big hug. Lan and I was shocked. Thank god I didn’t start screaming and beating the old lady with my water bottle :p

The only problem I’m currently facing is that Ryan’s sleep/plays schedule is currently messed up due to the 5 hours time difference. He’ll randomly wake up around 12am-2 pm and will start calling us to play with him or he will bang his cot asking for attention. It will probably take some time to reestablish his sleep schedule so Lan and I will need to persevere at the moment. Serious datang kerja mata gam :p

Ryan found his milk formula container and silently ate his milk powder in corner. It was too late when I cought him *sigh*

Ryan and Friends...