Umrah and Cairo

Gosh..I haven't been updating my blog for over a month! No entries at all for April?! Before anyone says anything about my resolutions to update every week, well I have a perfectly good reason.... we had been doing some travelling and I didn't have much time to blog. The hubby and I had been planning to perform our umrah for quite sometime and we started our 16-day journey on the 12th of April . It was about 8 years ago that we performed our Hajj and since then we haven't had the opportunity to go for umrah. Ooh..I was that excited when the hubby started booking our flights since September 2011.. I did intend to write about my preparations but so many things happened leading up to our departure date. First, the hubby caught the flu. Then it was my turn - must have caught it twice because it was like forever that I suffered from a cold that even affected my hearing! (visited the homeopathic clinic twice) Anyway, another thing that happened of any interest was an accident involving the hubby where he went a bit too fast round a bend and our car flipped on its side about a week before our flight! Miraculously, Alhamdulillah, he came out without a scratch (started driving at a snail's pace after that - traumatised he claimed - only he almost always drives slower than me...). The car is still under repair, meaning another month driving a monster of a car; an old Pajero lent by a contractor which emits all kinds of sounds its embarrassing to stop at traffic lights..(*sigh*)

Well, we went for umrah without joining any Group Packages but on our own. That is, we book our own flights and hotels; only procuring the visa needed to enter Saudi Arabia through an agency. We found out that it was much cheaper than going with a Group, obviously and we had much more freedom in terms of decision-making. ( Hmm.. I might just make an entry or two after this about how to go about going umrah on a budget..)

Anyway, below are some pics of our trip. And oh yes, we took the opportunity to visit our youngest in Cairo after our umrah.

We started our journey from Kuala Terengganu, boarding Air Asia Wednesday night (11th April) to LCCT in Sepang.

At Sultan Mahmud Airport - crowded with people (going to umrah, too but most were the senders-off)

Hubby with our luggage - travelling light (we were actually underweight)

Arriving LCCT at about 10 pm

Our next flight was to Colombo, Sri Lanka which was at about 6 the next morning so we had to pass away the night at the airport (on the cold floor..the most uncomfortable part of the journey)

Yeay.. the Nasi Lemak Pak Nasser on Air Asia! (RM20...gasp!)

We were like the only Malay couple on the flight. An air-stewardess we passed by on the way to the airplane even asked me where I was heading for, seeing us among the crowd.. probably making sure I was on the right airplane!

We reached Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo morning, and our next leg of the journey was to Jeddah on board Saudi Arabian Airline in the afternoon (it was delayed for about 2 hours). By the way, the airport seriously needs to add more trolleys..

The Saudi Arabian plane was HUGE and the stewardesses were always busy, busy especially before take-off. At least they (the girls) were better-dressed than Air Asia flight attendants! Although there was this one intimidating hostess who was quite scary with her blue-painted nails, ruby-red lips and braces..

At Bandaranaike International Airport.

In the departure lounge - we were among the Sri Lankans going for umrah

Arriving in Saudi Arabian International Airport, Jeddah

Queuing up at passport control - shown are groups of umrah goers from India

From Jeddah, we took another flight to Medinah, arriving at Medinah Airport late in the night. Managed to get a taxi to get to the hotel that we had already booked. Unfortunately the bookings were not verified but we waited patiently for things to sort out and about after midnight we were able to rest our weary limbs..

The Prophet's Mosque

This is the hotel that we moved to for the last night in Medinah

Fascinated by the unfurling of the giant umbrella around the mosque

Selling wares along the street to the mosque - really cheap stuff!

The sliding roof - open in the early morning

I am really happy that I managed to go to Raudhah and prayed there despite the really long wait to enter the chamber! Well, after 3 days in Medinah, we left for Makkah taking a bus for the 6-hour journey.

Sights along the way - either rocky or sandy..

Yeay.. camels!

At last.. Makkah, where we were going to do the umrah. I'm not going into details about the umrah rituals but just to show some pics taken round and about Masjidil Haram. They used to ban cameras when we were there for Hajj but these days you can snap pictures to your hearts' content. (though it seems inappropriate, I feel to assume the Kaabah like..erm..the Eiffel Tower for instance where you pose and snap pictures like you're some kind of tourists..)

Sitting-down view of the Kaabah

Peak time for tawaf (construction seen going on in preparation for the Hajj season)

Night view

Viewed from the inside the mosque - I think this is the last picture I took before leaving Masjidil Haram.

The clock tower - a land mark that can even be seen from outside Haram land

A row of Zamzam water dispensers..(best drink in the world)

Inside Masjidil Haram

Outside the mosque - construction workers making supplications before starting work

Two of the hundreds of workers keeping the mosque spick and span day and night

A street in Makkah - usually it's more hectic; traffic jams, horns blaring, exhaust fumes... God, I miss Makkah!

Construction workers taking a break - a rather...err..creative way to use your safety helmet when there's nowhere clean to sit on..

After about a week in Makkah, we got on a bus to Jeddah (about an hour ride) and a taxi from the bus station to the airport. We boarded Saudi Arabian Airline to Cairo arriving in the evening on the 22nd of April (we were the only Malaysian - the rest were Egyptians). Adik waited for us with a rented car - his friend drove us to the place we had booked at Rumah Perlis. We didn't do much sight-seeing as this was our 3rd time in Cairo. However, some pics of our activities in Cairo:

The living room of Rumah Perlis (comfortable and affordable)

Love the fruits here!

Hubby buying souvenirs for his staff

Adik buying T-shirts - time to spend dad's money eh dearie...

Old man selling tea - everything carried on his back; poor thing

Went to part of Cairo not visited by regular tourists

Adik buying perfume from his favourite shop - dad's paying of course!

So, we were in Cairo for about 5 days, leaving on the morning of 27th of April. From Cairo we transited in Jeddah (7 hours...), boarding Saudi Arabian straight to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (this time the passengers were 90% Malaysians)

This is Cairo Airport - just to show how airport officials flaunt their disregard for their own rules of no smoking..

Aerial view of Sepang - ahh back home at last!

Waiting for the daughter to pick us..

We arrived on the 28th of April (Bersih 3.0..) at about 1.30 pm and that night we drove (daughter's car) back to Kuala Terengganu; me driving from Kemaman to our home for 3 hours straight, arriving in time for subh - thanks to jet lag! (Alhamdulillah)

How to make Yogurt! (using the rice-cooker)

In one of my earlier entries I wrote about the hubby's adventure in yogurt making. We love yogurt because it has many health benefit though not many Malay/Asian dishes use yogurt as an ingredient. Thus, we don't find that many kinds of yogurt here in Malaysia as you may find in other countries. One of the ways that we use yogurt is in smoothies (we love that in the mornings!). Anyway, since those early experiments in yogurt-making, the hubby has 'fine-tuned' his method and now we have yogurt every-time (or whenever he has time to make it..!). Some people use the oven or cooler or heating pads or whatever to keep the milk warm in the final process but the hubby uses the rice-cooker. Actually we have a rice-cooker which does not keep the rice fresh very long in it after cooking so I refuse to use it (wasting good rice!) and now we have another one (the 'old-fashioned' one with the take-off lid that makes easy washing) Well, so now the hubby has found a use for it - yogurt making!

So. if you have that kind of rice-cooker lying around why not try your hand at making yogurt..eh? It's so easy and the hubby doesn't use thermometers and sterilisers and what-nots.. Okey dokey, let's start:

1) First, you'll need to fill the rice cooker with water and turn it on; like so:

This is the kind of rice-cooker that I mean..

2) We use powdered milk (the low fat kind) but if you want to use whole milk, you may do so..or if you want to use the regular milk you will need 3 mugs (we're not making a lot of yogurt - just to last us for about a week or so for our smoothies). 9 tablespoonfuls of powdered milk into the pan:

There you go...you may use your regular tablespoon - not rocket science

3) Then we add in 3 mugs of water:

Regular drinking mug..

4) Whisk the milk mixture thoroughly and heat it up on a stove. Turn it off when you see it starts to bubble at the edges and just before it boils over.

On the stove - make sure you watch it or else it'll boil over..

5) In the meantime fill in your sink with water:

Sink filling in..

6) Put your pan of milk in to cool in the sink. Let it cool until you could dip your finger in without scalding yourself (it would take a few minutes). You don't want the milk to be so hot that it'll kill the bacteria that we're going to add in after this..

Pan sitting nicely in the sink..

7) OK..when the milk is about ready (lukewarm), we add in the 'starter'. This is yogurt that you get from the supermarket. You just need a small tub that they usually sell; make sure you get the 'natural' one and not the flavoured kind..

Add it all in..

8) Whisk the 'starter' thoroughly with the milk..

Whisk, whisk..

9) Have an airtight container ready (Tupperware would be ideal) and pour in the milk/yogurt mixture.

Pouring it in..

Putting on the lid..

10) Now, immerse the container into the rice-cooker that has been filled with water and heated up. You need to switch it off when the water bath is about lukewarm.

Now you see why you need to have an airtight container..

11) Snap the lid shut and wait for about 8 - 12 hours (you can do it at night and by next morning, InsyAllah, it'll be ready)

This kind of rice-cooker is a good insulator and will keep the milk at the right temperature for the process to complete.

Ta daa...

You may find the resulting yogurt to be rather watery at times. That's OK; all you need to do is to spoon or drain it off, but don't waste the liquid! It's called whey and very nutritious; full of protein. You could add it to soups or use it to make bread or whatever...

(Actually, I've never tried my hand at making the yogurt myself.. I usually watch (and take pictures) as the hubby makes it. But I think I'll have a go at it one day..now that I have this entry to guide me..or the hubby to make me! I always say: if you have somebody to do it for you, don't bother to learn it, just keep the person happy doing it for you..lol!)

Rallying for Syria!

Last Friday we were back in Klang to check on the old house; the hubby had to attend a meeting on Saturday and a lot of other things to attend to on the Friday. Got news on Facebook that 20 or so NGOs were going to hold a peaceful rally for Syria after Friday prayers on the 16th.. so, (yey!) I had to join them - some friends were planning to travel together from Meru to the Tabung Haji in KL where they were going to start the walk to the Syrian Embassy. We got on three cars and drove to Kelana Jaya LRT station.We took the LRT to Ampang Park which is just a few metres away from the Tabung Haji building. The last time I did this was for Palestine (2010 blog entry: What I did Last Friday) - when I was a little bit younger? Anyway, this time the walk to the Syrian Embassy was much longer (it seemed like forever to reach our destination...) and the sun was beating down relentlessly... But now I understand crowd psychology - having a shared objective gives the individual the strength that you thought you never have! So there I was waving a poster and chanting: "Freedom.. freedom.. Syria! Allah..! Suria..! Huria..! Wabas!" On reaching the Embassy (which of course was locked with no one about) I was quite relieved to be able to sit down on the kerb while listening to the speeches (and catching up with old friends who came as well!). It was on the return journey that my legs appeared to be heavier and my tiny little handbag seemed to weigh down on my shoulder like lead...We made a number of stops along the way to rest (and eat ice-cream! The ice-cream man seemed to know just where to lurk...) and reaching Ampang Park LRT station was just heavenly; a cool welcoming place! Some of the pictures below I got from FB; you can tell by the quality (sharper and clearer - expensive camera..*sigh*)

Here we are at the station...: 

In front of the Tabung Haji building: waiting for Friday prayers to start..

Friday prayers

Start of rally

The front lines - obviously I didn't shoot this..

Didn't realise this many people attended when you were part of the crowd..!

I caught this one

Save Syria!

Way to go sistaahz!

Nearly reaching the embassy

You can see from the perspective that I took this sitting down..so tired..

Despite the tired feet and sun-burnt skin, I am very glad to be able to show support for my brothers and sisters in Syria. What they are going through are much more horrible... 

I did mention in another entry (The Spring in Syria) that it reminds me of another rally that I attended in the 80s in London. Hubby said I got the information wrong; it wasn't about Sabra and Shatilla (it was like ages ago and my memory got fuzzy..) Sabra and Shatilla was about the Israeli army that massacred the Palestinians in a Lebanese refugee camp (we must have had rallied for that as well, I think..). Anyway, I Googled and the one that I attended was actually about the massacre in Hama which: "occurred in February 1982, when the Syrian army under the orders of the country's president, Hafez al-Assad, conducted a scorched earth operation against the town of Hama in order to quell a revolt by the Sunni Muslim community against the regime of al-Assad." God, these leaders must have thought they'd live for ever! Like father, like son... Basyar al-Assad..your days are numbered..!

Three Weddings and a surprise..

 Yesterday we did 3 weddings in one day. The first one was in Paka, which is about 100 km from our home in Kuala Terengganu. It was the wedding of the daughter of friends of ours. We started off at about 10 in the morning and arrived around 12. The journey took longer than usual because of the increase in traffic due to the start of the school holidays (Terengganu being the favourite holiday destination...). Didn't take any photos of that wedding though, having to rush to the next one back in Kuala Terengganu (another 100 km drive - hubby drove all the way... sometimes in a 'trance' because of the warm weather and a full stomach... lol).

Next wedding was 'family' (refer to 'A Wedding in Terengganu') - wedding of the hubby's uncle's wife's... bla bla... two sons (double wedding..). This time around they were hosts and the event was held at the Conference Centre at Taman Tamadun Islam (Islamic Heritage Park). It was almost 4pm when we arrived (it was supposed to end at 5pm so we were still ok). Of course we could only manage some fruits and teed-bits. Here's a picture of the happy couples:

The boys resplendent in their traditional costume (the brides' wardrobe are more modern, I think..but matching colours though)

The last wedding was at a 'neighbour's' - not exactly next door but another block perpendicular to ours. I don't actually know them but the hubby knows the husband from the neighbourhood 'surau' where he goes to pray. Since the card says the feast is until 6, we did this one last of all (arriving around 5.30 - still good). And surprise, surprise we met two couples that we know; one from when we lived in Kuantan (1998-1999) and the other one lives in Kuala Terengganu itself (and a member of my own Happy Circle...) Apparently Zi'ayah's husband (from Kuantan) is cousin to Fuzi (my friend in KT) and both of them are nephew and niece to the host... MashAllah, what a small world! A picture of us:

Couldn't believe meeting them there!

These last three pictures are the gifts wedding guests received from the hosts.. the traditional one is the bunga telur or a boiled egg presented wrapped into silk or paper flowers but these days people are giving away other stuffs according to one's whim and fancy... you can even make a substantial collection from these gifts!

From the wedding of our friends' daughter  in Paka..

...the family in KT (not mug for drinking, this..)

...the neighbour's

What a tiring day....!

Mukhayyam Dakhili

'Mukhayyam Dakhili' is Arabic for indoor camp. That's where I was last weekend; attending a training programme (for ladies only) organised by the NGO that I belong to (IKRAM). The camp was held at Anguilla Beach House Resort, about 20 minutes from our home. It's a lovely place; comfortable rooms and the food was good... The programme started around 11 am on the 4th and ended about 2.30 pm the next day. The first day was more of a physical and out-doorish type of activity while the next day was filled with talks. We were quite worried at first because a couple of days before, it was raining on and off (with high winds). In fact the morning of the day we arrived it was blustery and wet. But Alhamdulillah, the weather cleared up in the afternoon...and the next day!

Anguilla Beach House Resort - by the beach..

Pretty landscaping

Well, the first activity was ice-breaking and yours truly and another friend were given the task of coming up with ideas and managing it and also the team-building after that.. (Thank God for Google!) Here's one activity which was quite effective in breaking the ice: The ladies pair up, look into each others' eyes and say: "I love you sister (or name of the person) but I just can't smile". The other person says the same thing and they have to remain serious. Whoever smiles or laughs first will be out of the game...Hillarious! The winner finds another partner and it goes on until only one person remaining. However we had 5 winners who were quite serious in remaining serious..

Trying not to smile, trying not to smile..

Two of the winners (God, they're both headmistresses - and, no wonder)

The first team-building exercise was the 'Helium stick', so-called because it tends to float up no matter how you try to bring it down. The stick is just an ordinary lightweight rod but when a group of people hold out their fore-fingers together to lower it down to the ground without anybody's finger leaving the stick...you get one stubborn rod which keeps floating upwards.. (it's the upward pressure of everyone's fingers which is greater than the weight of the stick) Brilliant! This teaches the group about teamwork: strategics, patience, leadership, concentration...

All right, everybody concentrates..

Oh no..it's rising again!

Ok girls, lower it slowly, slowly..

Next is the 'group-hugging' activity.. the tightest group-hug wins! This emphasizes communication, cooperation, patience as well as issues pertaining to physical proximity...

OK gang, are we tight enough?

Help..I'm gonna fall..!

Time to measure the length of tightness.

Next on the programme was the treasure-hunt/explorace activity (I didn't get to take part as some of us had to help fascillitate..*sigh*). There were 6 groups and they had to find clues, solve puzzles, recite a surah from the Quran from memory, answer quizzes and find stuff for cleansing apart from water.. (one of the groups used my camera for documentation, so I have their pictures to blog):

Finding the first clue 'washed ashore'..

Putting together the 'text'-puzzle

5 things to cleanse with (Please God, help me not to ever have to resort to using them..)

Answering the quiz..

Unfortunately this group didn't win (but they got a hamper anyway!) but we had fun and learn many things in terms of working together. The next day we sat indoors for talks session and after lunch and prayers we had the closing ceremony with prize-giving and cleaning up and straight to postmortem (for the committee members) before heading home exhausted..but contented for a programme having achieved its intended objectives..or most of them anyway!

Listening to a talk on the second day..

The participants nearing the end of the programme