Part Ithnani.

Published Monday, May 12, 2008 by uraniumwise in  

Salam to all.

On the day of 24th April, the 'official' journey started. At 12.12 p.m plus minus to be exact... Flight no. SV ??.



'Teksi dah sampai ker?'
Ayah Mie, Naim and Mama Shima.


Replica of KLIA.

Haaa.. here's a bit of info about KLIA.. It is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year! And as a way of celebrating, some sort of a 'mini museum' was set up.. It was really nice to read about the history and the original ideas behind Malaysia's most important airport. This work of engineering acts as a gateway for a successful business and diplomatic ties between Malaysia and the rest of the world (Of course you know that right?). What I can conclude from my observation of the busy people walking here and there is that, air transportation business is a really good way of making money, provided that you are excellent in managing all the sources wisely la~ (Learn from MAS)
Sepang Race Circuit.


Then, we had our lunch at McD (yang ni pun nak cerita ka?? Adoi~).. Haha, I'm glad to say that my family of 11 people had control over a little corner at the McD.. (just ignore this,haha!) Later, we performed solat qasar and jama' at the surau. Ya Allah, it was soooo full of people! I think some sort of an expansion plan need to be carried out so that us muslimat can pray with more khusyu' and take less time. Nevertheless, in terms of the quality of the amenities, I have no complain.. I mean, all the taps are working fine~

Suja, Zaim and Naim.
Again, at the escalator heading towards the departure hall, it was packed with people! Most of them were quite er.. aged, and I was right to think that all of them are also about to perform their Umrah too.. It was easy to spot really.. If you see a group of middle-aged people with the same kind of hand luggage (usually the name of the tour agent is printed on it), handsomely wearing songkok and baju melayu, they are most probably the Guests of Allah, who had the opportunity to be invited by Him to His House...

Okay, allow me to be frank alright? Since this was the first time I'm on an international flight, I was er.. how to say ah?? er.. quite fascinated by the whole process of going through the immigration checks and all.. Haha! You know, the one where we are asked to enter a 'cage', then put our red passport into a slot and then allow the machine to check our thumbprint.. Being a frequent traveller, my mom and my dad was cool with the whole thing.. Me on the other hand, well, being me lah! (my heart was like .. fuyoooo, hebat giler teknologi zaman skarang.. how that thing really works?? What kind of ray are they using?? And another 10001 questions..)

I thought we had arrived at the terminal as soon as we passed the body checks.. But to my surprise (and joy!), we were supposed to take the Aerotrain to the terminals.. Yippie!!! (hey, I'm still a kid at heart, okay~)

Little did I know that we were late. The moment we reached the correct gate, it read 'Last Call'. Haaa?? I took a look at my watch, it was already 2.45 p.m.. The flight time was at 3.00 p.m.~ Huhu... Thank Allah we didn't miss this flight..

Haaaaa! This was also the first time I'm on a long-haul flight! Haha! At first, when we were told to follow exactly the seat numbers as printed on our boarding passes, some of us were separated from the group. Some got the downstairs-seat and most got the upstairs-seat. (We boarded the 747, mind you, so it had two floors).
Bird's eye view of KL.
Then, the take-off! I expected it to be a rough one, but I was disappointed.. It was a smooth one really, the pilot surely did a good job.. Why I expected it to be rough? I used my experience with Firefly, to say the least. I mean, I enjoyed the rough Firefly take-off~ A more 'adrenalin rush' was felt when I flew from Penang to Langkawi with Firefly, haha!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one thing.. Before take-off, doa was being recited (although it was just a recorded one). I felt safer and in a way, that doa kind of mentally preparing me for the Umrah.. (Note: We flew on Saudi Arabian Airlines).
And of course, the announcements were also made in Arabic. So, using my unpolished Arabic knowledge I learnt during my lower secondary years in Almashoor, I was proud to say that at least I can understand more than two to three words.. Haha!

Immediately after the 'wear-your-seatbelt' signs were switched off, I rushed for the 'next-to-the-window' seat at the row in front of me. Surely I don't want to miss my chance of seeing the wonderful creations of Allah from the bird's point of view... Thank Allah the flight was not full. Suja came and sat between me and Che Je in the same row. The rest of our groups rearranged the seats to our preferences, acted as though the whole plane is ours...

Then came the food. No complaints about that. Actually it was kinda tasty~ Did I mention that I got the upstairs-seat? The whole journey was okay, though I found the seven-hour flight rather boring after a while.. I found it hard to sleep during this leg of the journey.. Maybe I was too excited?

Since the beginning of the flight, I thought that we will head straight to Madinah. But halfway through, I found out that we will stop over at Dammam for an hour. Since it was just an hour stop, we, the whole passengers were not allowed to leave the flight.

On our way to Dammam.

Well, well, what do you know? Ayah Mie, Naim, Sasha, Mimi and me had the opportunity to take a peek into the cockpit. My God, it was soooooo full of buttons. On the right, left, on the dashboard (I'm not sure if it's called the dashboard..), and all over the walls! Wow! I wonder how the pilots know which button is which.. (I try to picture Abe, a classmate of mine, as the pilot.. Yup, I can definitely see the pilot in him!)
Sasha, Mimi and Naim inside the cockpit.
Captain Jeff. Smart eh?
Buttons here, there and everywhere!

During the stop at Dammam, Suja checked the credit balance of her mobile phone. Initially it was RM 14.**. Then, she sent a message to a person back home. She checked her credit balance again, and all of us learnt afterwards that a message sent to Malaysia costs RM 2.00~
Airport in Dammam.
It was late evening when we took off from the International Airport in Dammam towards Madinah. I slept during this part of the journey, although it was just an hour and a half flight... By the time we reached Madinah, it was already night time!

Che Je and Suja doozing~
Madinatul Munawwarah, 'Bandar yang bercahaya', really matches its name. The city was literally flooded with lights here and there.. The view from above was definitely enchanting..

Madinah here we come!

As we walked out of the aeroplane, gushes of cool wind greeted us.It was really nice. Not the kind of 'warm welcome' I had in mind..Haha! I thought the wind would be warm, since this land is known for its warm weather..

Che Je and Tok We posed in front of our plane.
Tok We warned us that our patience will constantly be tested by Allah in the Tanah Haram. We should always stay calm and keep our mouth shut unless we have something useful or something nice to say. I guess, our patience were tested when Ayah Mie and daddy among other people had to struggle to locate our bags.. Seriously, it wasn't easy..

One proof that Bahasa Melayu is widely used in Saudi Arabia: the guards at the arrival hall keep on screaming 'Malaysia, Malaysia, satu baris, satu baris!!!' I was like.. huh?? (Bangga giler! Cayalah!)

Later, when we found all our bags, we gathered outside the airport, waiting to be 'chauffeured' by our tour bus. The airport seemed busier than KLIA.. I noticed that nearly 97% of all men, wear jubah, and nearly 100% of women wears the black jubah. I think that is part of their culture~

The city of Madinah Al-Munawwarah.
The bus arrived at last, and we quickly put our bags into its place. We (my family of 11 plus another small group of people) were under the supervision of Ustaz Faris (from his slang, I think he is from Indonesia). He welcomed us and told us important details during our way to our hotel. He mentioned that Subuh is pretty early (4.30 a.m++) and that each time we want to enter the Masjid Nabawi, our bags will be checked by the guards (this rule is for women only, if I'm not mistaken).. Imagine that?

Our hotel is quite near to Masjid Nabawi, Alhamdulillah. It was so beautiful and sooooo full of lights!
Masjid Nabawi.
*to be continued* InsyaAllah.. But not so soon la~


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