Exactly a year ago, Shahril and I went for the most meaningful trip of our lives. It was life altering in so many ways, I can never be thankful enough that Allah has bestowed upon us the ‘rizq’ and invited us to be His guests.

 

It honestly doesn’t feel like it has been a year since then. There hasn’t been a day that I didn’t wish we could go back. Go back we must, as it felt like we belong there. Hopefully soon, we will be called to perform the Haj. Soon too InsyaAllah, we hope to be able to go with our kids in tow. Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin.

 

 

Wahai Tuhan kami! Janganlah Engkau memesongkan hati kami sesudah Engkau beri petunjuk kepada kami, dan kurniakanlah kepada kami limpah rahmat dari sisiMu; sesungguhnya Engkau jualah Tuhan Yang melimpah-limpah pemberianNya.

 

 

 

 

 

Please grant us your blessings and rizq Ya Allah.

 

 

Rindunya hati, Masya Allah.

Jabal Rahmah on the background.

Mengikut sejarah, Jabal Rahmah merupakan tempat pertemuan semula Nabi Adam dan Hawa di dunia setelah sekian lama terpisah. Maka, ramai yang berdoa di sini agar dipertemukan dengan jodoh yang ditentukanNya. Doa saya, semoga jodoh kami berkekalan hingga ke akhir hayat dan semoga dipertemukan semula kami di Jannah. Amin.

 

I’m wearing exactly that to the office today. Have never done it before as I’d usually pair the jubah with a coloured tudung. Tak tau kenapa hari ni terasa nak berpakaian serba hitam. I started to love wearing like that then, and I love it even more now. It makes me feel liberated. Semoga ia sesuatu yang dapat berterusan, InsyaAllah.

Our boarding passes stated that we’ll be sitting at 38H and 38K. I was anxious about this as I wanted us to sit together (but of course!). Logically H doesn’t sit beside K, but I was hoping that they have a unique (funny?) way of sorting alphabets.

 

Turns out, they DO! Imagine my relief when the stewardess told me at the door (after inspecting our boarding passes) that Shahril’s seat is next to mine, before showing the way to us. So yey!

 

I have no idea whether it was Boeing ke Airbus ke. I just don’t digest that kind of information, hehe. The seat arrangement was 2-4-2 and it felt spacious, so no complaints there. Apparently A sits beside C, H sits beside K.. Yang 4 kat tengah tu ada E ada F.. lagi 2 I’m not sure. Hehe

 

One thing that really stood out for me is that, before the plane took off, after the usual safety video, there was a do’a recital. I thought this was a nice touch. Little thing that differentiate one from another. It would be nice if MAS can do the same, kan?

 

Just before we took off, the head stewardess announced (announcements were made both in Arabic & English) that the they have among the crew who can speak Arabic, English, Malay, Hungarian and also Chinese. I remember thinking: I didn’t know Hungarian is THAT common. :).  That’s kinda nice too, I think. But this is probably more common than the do’a recital. :)

 

Eventhough by then I realized that it was really happening, that we were really going for Umrah, I was still as nervous as before, if not more. So nervous, I didn’t even bother to check what movies were available for example. Banyak nasihat2 yang saya baca pun bagitau yang we should utilize the time to do zikir etc, preparing our minds basically. I tried reading the do’a book provided by the TA but I couldn’t seem to focus either. Rasa macam last2 minute before exam, try baca buku tapi tak masuk apa2 kan.. haaa macam tu la lebih kurang. (Nampak sgt biasa buat last2 minute baru nak baca buku untuk exam. Muahaha)

 

There were a few strong turbulences along the way as warned by the pilot, but other than that it was OK. Dinner was yummy (we chose chicken curry with rice ) and despite rasa kematu ponggong (ni baru 7-hour flight!), we managed to get some sleep. Next thing we knew, we were about to land in Abu Dhabi.

 

 

* Pictures are either from Mr Google or Etihad’s website.

*Next: From Abu Dhabi to Jeddah

One week before we were scheduled to leave, we attended a class organized by the travel agent on Umrah. Alhamdulillah, the class really helped in boosting our confidence before going. The HQ of the travel agent (TA) which we were registered with is actually in East Coast, but they do have a branch in KL, therefore we attended the class in KL. (I shall not name the TA, takut nanti2 ada cerita2 yang menjurus ke arah komplen2. Hehe. Kalau dah buat statement macam ni, maksudnya, ada lah kot tak? :D. Not necessarily… takut2 je.. ;) ).

The day I was eagerly waiting for… but at the same time dreading, finally arrived. Our flight was scheduled at 8.30 p.m. that July 11th, but we were told to be at KLIA at least 3 hours prior to the departure time. The Group Leader (GL) whom Shahril has been in contact with, was also travelling from East Coast and he told us that the group from East Coast will be at KLIA as early as 1 p.m.

 

I woke up that Monday morning feeling excited and nervous. At 11 a.m Shahril and I went to Little Caliphs to collect Afiq’s & Mariessa’s report cards. I was nervous about that too, first time ambik report cards anak2 lah katakan. :). The ‘report card’ day was actually going to be held the coming Friday and Saturday, but since we were not going to be around, the teachers were kind enough to let us come that Monday.

 

Shahril’s younger brother was going to send us to the airport together with Mak & Wan. Shahril and I decided that we won’t let the kids come to the airport to see us off, as I feared seeing us off might be a little traumatic for the kids (and for me, to be honest). Takut nanti tengok diorg nangis, tak senang hati saya 2 minggu. (Kemungkinan untuk saya berdrama swasta di airport juga sgt tinggi kalau anak2 ikut sekali).

 

So we performed solat Zuhur, had our lunch and got ready to leave. Dari pagi tu sebenarnya dah berapa kali ntah air mata saya berjurai. Tak pernah tinggalkan anak2 sampai 2 minggu. Tak pernah jugak both of us takde at the same time. Kalau pegi outstation pun setakat 3-4 malam paling lama, and at least one of us is at home. Itu la yang rasa berat hati sangat2 tu.

 

Bila salam dengan anak2, air mata saya dah tak boleh ditahan dah. Macam empangan pecah la agaknya. Mula2 dengan Afiq dulu. He was upset that we didn’t let him come to the airport together with his cousins (Shahril’s younger brother brought his sons along). Hilang lah kisah sedih sekejap, as he was upset and I had to pujuk him.

 

I have to say it was Mariessa’s reaction that surprised me. Seeing that I was crying, she struggled to control her own tears. When she hugged me, I could feel that she was trying her best not to cry. She said nothing… but just held on to me. When I let her go, she quickly wiped her tears and went to the sofa and sat there. Only after I went out the door, I saw her putting her face in between her knees and sobbed. :(

 

Leaving Adreena was the hardest. She’s too young to understand, but I was afraid 2 weeks might just be a little bit too long being apart from us (vice versa).

 

So we left home at around 3.30p.m. as I wanted us to be at KLIA at 4.30 so that I have one hour (from the agreed 5.30) for the unexpected.

 

Seeing that I was (still) crying in the car, Mak cakap.. “Jangan risau la Nil… Mak ada tengok budak2 tu. 2 minggu tu kat sana… kejappppp je nanti ko rasa. Orang pegi haji 40 – 45 hari pun… bila nak balik tu ada rasa tak nak balik..”.  :)

 

We arrived at KLIA at 4.30 Alhamdulillah. We went to look for the GL to introduce ourselves and at 5 after performing our Asar prayers, we began checking in.

 

We were scheduled to leave via Etihad Airways on EY 411 to Abu Dhabi at 8.40 p.m. and to arrive at 11.45 p.m Abu Dhabi time. As the time difference is 4 hours, that means it was going to be a 7-hour flight.

 

I have never heard of Etihad Airways before, to be honest. So when we first received our itinerary, I quickly googled to find out. I even made a comparison between Etihad and Emirates upon finding out that Etihad is the National Airline of the United Arab Emirates (I always thought Emirates is). Bila dah baca2 tu, rasa lega la jugak. :). Transit in Abu Dhabi Airport will be for 3 hours before we leave for Jeddah.

 

Alhamdulillah, checking in was a breeze eventhough the queue was very long! We met the rest of the group there. It’s a small group of 16, with only 4 ladies (myself included) and 2 children. Nak kata budak pun tak.. teenagers pun tak sgt, the girl was probably around 10, and the boy 15. Agaknya lah. :)

 

After checking in, Mak, Wan and Shahril’s brother left. I was feeling a little hungry (masa lunch kat rumah, takde selera sebab tak senang hati mengenangkan anak2) so we sat down at KFC and shared a burger while contemplating our trip. I called home to check on the kids, Afiq was no longer upset Alhamdulillah, but Mariessa refused to talk me and I could hear her crying on the background. :(.

 

We then took the aerotrains to Gate C12 for boarding. It was almost Maghrib when we arrived at the gate so we went for our Jama’ prayers at the surau nearby first. Just before boarding, I called home again and this time Mariessa was done with her crying Alhamdulillah and was her normal self again.

 

Makanya, we boarded the plane dengan rasa senang hatinya, Alhamdulillah.

 

Next: Our first Etihad experience.

Even before we received the confirmation, my MIL has volunteered to come over to Kajang to ‘supervise’ Bibik and my kids while Shahril and I are away. Alhamdulillah, we are lucky that we don’t have to worry about the kids. Bibik is reliable and having my MIL to supervise her is exactly what we needed. I am a little worried my MIL would be bored staying in Kajang – she is afterall a very active lady, ayamlah, kolam ikan lah, berkebun lah, macam2 activity kat kampung. Kat Kajang where got ayam ikan? Tanah sekangkang kera kat belakang rumah tu, tanam pokok pandan & kari je dah penuh. :) But she assures me she will be fine and it’s comforting knowing that she gets along very well with Bibik too.

 

So among the first things we did after knowing the date was breaking the news to Afiq & Mariessa. Adreena was there too of course, but si kenit ni belum faham apa2 lagi. :)

We told them that we would be going for Umrah, and that Madinah and Mekah is very, very far that we will be gone for fourteen days.

Afiq (mata terbeliak): FOURTEEN days, Mama??? Laaaaamaaanyaaaaaaaaaa…  * menung *

Mariessa: Mama, kenapa Mama dengan Ayah kena pegi Umrah?

Mama: Sebab.. Mama nak pegi solat kat sana.. Mama nak berdoa kat sana. Mama nak doa utk anak2 Mama… Mama nak..

Mariessa: Mama nak doa untuk Opah?

Mama: *tersentak & terdiam*.. pause.. Ye sayang, Mama nak doa untuk Opah

Mariessa: Ohhhhhh….

Afiq: Fourteen days, Mama???  (still in shock, hehe)

Mama: Iye.. Nanti bila Mama Ayah takde, Wan datang sini tolong Bibik jaga Abang, jaga Kakak, jaga Adik ok? Nanti Wan hantar Abang and Kakak pegi sekolah. Kena dengar cakap Wan tau?

Afiq: Ok!

Mariessa: Tapi…. Wan tau ke macam mana nak pegi Little Caliphs?

Afiq: Takpe, nanti Abang tunjukkan jalan kat Wan! Abang tau jalan!

 

Alhamdulillah, so they took it well. I was actually amazed by how well the took it. Except for Mariessa’s initial question as to why we are performing the Umrah, they never asked why again, after that. It’s amazing how they could ‘understand’. I had anticipated at least one of them to wail ‘nak ikut’ or asking why the both of us have to go at the same time, but Alhamdulillah they didn’t. I think it helped knowing that their Wan will be there to look after them. Of course they also know Wan is not as garang as Mama and Ayah lah kan, and that Wan will layan their requests more! :P

 

Next: The preparation

Alhamdulillah, syukur kepada Allah, atas  izinNya, Shahril & I are back from what must have been the most significant trip of our lives thus far.

 

If and when time permits, InsyaAllah, I’ll be writing on our experience … for now I’m just trying to break the ice. It’s been so long! ;)