The first thing we were told to do was to get the mandatory meningococcal vaccination before submitting our passports to the travel agent.

So on Monday night, I called 3 clinics / hospitals in Kajang to ask about the charges. 2 out of the 3 places I called told me the charge is RM155. The third place I called told me I need to make a booking for the vaccination and that it will cost me RM250 not yet including the consultation. I have no idea why this particular hospital is charging so much more than the rest. It could possibly be the validity of the vaccination. I was told that there are 2 variations, one that is valid for 3 years and another one for 5 years. I am not so sure about this. But we decided to have it at the clinic nearest to us: Klinik Kita in Saujana Impian and the charge was RM155 per person.

(It doesn’t hurt, trust me. Hehe – This is more like a note to myself for next time, InsyaAllah. Since yang penakut jarumnya saya lah)

The vaccination is made compulsory by Saudi government in order to obtain our Umrah visas.

Well, that’s basically all we had to do actually.

Fortunately for me a few friends just came back from Umrah as well, so I quickly emailed them asking for tips. Thanks Ghose, Ija, Figette & Azlan! I find their tips very helpful. Lots of reading and googling helped too of course.

For self preparation, the advice I normally received are nicely captured here.

During the 2 weeks before going, I felt extremely nervous and scared. Rasa tak percaya pun ada. People who knew kept congratulating me for being ‘invited’ and I was thinking… “betul ke ni?”, '”layak ke?”, “ilmu & amal sangatlah tak seberapa… boleh ke?”. I am lucky to be going with Shahril ( I won’t have it any other way. :) ). So our nights were usually spent talking about our upcoming trip: about how it was going to be our longest trip so far, about leaving the kids (sapa yang nangis nanti Mama ke anak2?), about the umrah itself etc.

One thing that keeps coming to mind is this: Ever since we got married, I have always persuaded Shahril to go for a holiday abroad. Tak kisah la pegi mana pun.. Perth ke… Gold Coast ke.. London ke, Bandung ke… but every single time, Shahril will give me the same answer: kalau boleh, biarla our first trip nanti pegi ke Mekah dulu.

Honestly, I’ve always thought this was a nice way of Shahril trying to silent me on my persuasions (it worked everytime). Tapi, betul lah Arwah Ummi selalu pesan..”kata kata tu do’a!”.  

A few days before the departure, I was already feeling the ‘heat’ of leaving the kids. Cakap pasal anak2 je, mata dah siap2 berair. Tengok anak2 tido pun, hati dah sayu.

Next: The departure day