back to the real world...

Assalamu'alaikum...So, I'm back! :) The plane from Jeddah touched down at KLIA yesterday at about 8:05am. We got our luggage and air zam zam pretty quick. After saying goodbye to our group, Abang Chor greeted us outside the arrival waiting area. The flight home was uneventful...I slept the whole way, only waking up during meal time. If I had a choice, I didn't want to, but Abah woke me up and truthfully, the food was nice. Unfortunately, I threw it all up after the second meal, which was about an hour before the plane touched down. Oh well...my stomach was pretty upset even before we flew. The food was really good...too bad, huh? ;) Anyway, today's the last day I'm on leave...so tomorrow is back to the real world.

As for the Umrah, it was good, alhamdulillah. :) The weather was extremely hot and dry (for me, at least!) My face really needs some TLC this weekend...hehehe. Okay, back to the story...we arrived in Makkah at about 2am on Monday, 2 May 2005. We were still in ihram, so we went ahead to do our Umrah after checking into our room...habis2 aje Saie, dah masuk waktu solat Subuh. So terus solat...kebetulan the Imam baca surah panjang. I couldn't describe how exhausted I was, but to cut things short, I almost fell flat on my face twice during solat Subuh coz my legs were shaking from walking so much and from lack of sleep. But fortunately, I didn't fall. :) So after Subuh prayers ended, we headed back to the hotel and had breakfast. Lepas tu apa lagi...collapse on the bed lah! :D

Madinah was pretty much the same - hot and dry. The heat was exhausting our body, especially when the distance from the hotel to the mosque was much farther than in Makkah. In Makkah, our hotel was right in front of Masjidil Haram. :) Nevertheless, in Madinah the walk was good. I was a little disappointed that our trip was short...I wish that we could stay longer. It gets better every time you go there. And the first moment you set your eyes on the beautiful Masjidil Haram and Masjid Nabawi...you're in awe and somehow your heart just felt so full of love for your religion and God. Then when you see the Ka'abah, your full heart just overflowed. Tears just automatically spring from your eyes. I'am very grateful that I was able to look at it and to actually be there. I was also very lucky that I got to pray in Hijir Ismail and berdo'a at the Multazam. Alhamdulillah... :)

Rasa sebak masa buat Tawaf Widak tu, usah la nak cerita. Before we left Masjidil Haram, I insisted that we stand and take a last look at the Ka'abah. Who knows when's the next time I'd get to go again, right? :)

As for our group, they were great. We went with Triways, and the rest of the group were a mix of families, couples, and single people. Good company were they. :) We certainly had a good time with each other during our meals at the hotel cafeteria and during our ziarah trips. :)

Now is time for me to save money for Haji pulak...insya Allah, kalau ada rezeki, nak la pegi masa tengah kuat lagi ni. :)