Syawal in Jeddah

so the journey continues... (read previous entry)
from Mekah, we drove to Jeddah, which took about 45 minutes. Did I mentioned that among the 4 families, only 1 own a car - Siti and Shah. So, for another 3 families, we rented 1 car and 1 mpv - toyota previa. My family and Yusof's family were in the mpv. En. Sabri's family were using the car. However, En. Sabri's family did not follow us to Jeddah, instead they went back to Yanbu.
We reached Jeddah about Zohor prayer.. We arrived at a place called Balad. Neither of the 3 families have reached Jeddah by car. So, Balad it is... Almost every shops were closed and its looks like a dead town. Everybody started to wonder.."are we at the right place". After checking-in at a hotel, we rested until night time.


after isya', we went out to have a look at how Balad is at night. and it really give us a surprise, Balad was so different than what we saw at day time. All shops are now open, everyone is everywhere, either busy shopping or just window shopping. and the best part was, we get to drink "air tebu"... bestnya....
the next day, before leaving Jeddah, we have our lunch at a Thai restaurant.. feel good to be able to eat Tom Yum.. eemm..yum..yumm.. Last stop in Jeddah is Aziz Mall. A mall just like KLCC, everything is expensive.. we had dinner there before heading straight back to Yanbu.
That night when we reached Yanbu, put everything in hall, then go to sleep. Tiring but enjoyable. One different experience celebrating syawal in KSA.

p/s winter cloth in KSA is cheap! In Jeddah, I bought 2 winter coats for my daughters and cost me only about RS 50..

Eid Mubarak

even though it is 17th Syawal today, but I hope it is not too late to wish all Eid Mubarak. SELAMAT HARI RAYA dan MAAF ZAHIR BATIN.
I've been too lazy to write lately... perhaps i'm enjoying the Eid holidays so much :-)
Just like 1st Ramadhan, alhamdulillah, my family was able to celebrate 1st Syawal 1428 in Mekah. We went to Mekah with another 4 families, Thursday - the last day of Ramadhan.
Friday 12/10/2007 was the Eid. Eid celebration here is nothing like Malaysia, except that the Eid prayer can be performed at the MasjidilHaram. It was so joyful celebrating Eid back in Malaysia. [Well, this is another experience I need to face] However, the night before Eid, there were so many people on the road - some doing last minute shopping (read: I'm one of them, that's how I know there were many people) and many were doing nothing.
Breakfast at the Hotel were all Malaysian-Eid-dishes!! We're not missing anything then.. :-) There were rendang, ketupat, nasi impit and kuah kacang, serunding and cookies.
After Friday prayer, we were invited to 4 open-houses organized by Tabung Haji staffs. There, we felt the real Malaysia-Eid celebration with all Malaysian-Eid-dishes, including kuah durian!! We left the last house just about the Maghrib prayer. So happy...that's what I can say...
We left Mekah second day of Syawal, heading for Jeddah.. stories coming up in next entry..

Iftar di Yanbu

Dah nak sampai ke penghujung bulan Ramadhan.. Meriah jugak iftar di sini.. dengan komuniti melayu yang kecil, asyik bertukar-tukar rumah untuk beriftar. Rasanya tak pernah seaktif ini beriftar masa kat Malaysia dulu.. :-)
Bermula di rumah kami sebenarnya pada Khamis 20/9/07... buat secara join-venture dengan penghuni tingkat 2, 3 dan 4. Kami berkongsi jadi tuan rumah (venue: my house). Juadah utama nasi putih dan lauk-pauk serta kuih-muih. Masing-masing ambil bahagian untuk memasak sejenis-dua masakan. Bila dah kumpul, banyak rupanya makanan... Memang kekenyangan la kami hari tu. Siap boleh dibungkuskan untuk masing-masing bawak balik, habuan untuk sahur pula.




Selang 3 hari, Ahad 23/9/07, dapat lagi panggilan iftar. Kali ini diadakan di rumah Siti dan Shah, dan ini lebih merupakan perjumpaan dengan semua Malaysian yang ada di Yanbu, terutamanya untuk berkenalan dengan mereka yang baru sampai seperti kami. Kali ni lebih meriah kerana lebih ramai yang datang termasuk non-muslim.




Hujung minggu, Rabu, berarak pula ke rumah Iskandar - a singaporean. Disebabkan hari bekerja tak sempat kami sediakan juadah apa-apa. Apa lagi, call for home-delivery la jawabnya. Sini nasi bukhari dan lauk-pauknya ada sediakan home-delivery service.
Selasa 30/9/07 kami beriftar sesama kami - my house, tingkat 1 dan tingkat 2. Saja nak bermeriah sebab family Sadimin dan Juwana (tingkat 2) akan balik berhari-raya ke Singapore. They went back on Wednesday, the next day. Juadah, semuanya from delivery.. :-)
Akhir sekali (buat masa ni..), Khamis lepas 4/10/07, beriftar di rumah Kak Ayu pulak. Menu utama - laksa.. eemmm... lama tak makan laksa.. Laksa ni import dari Malaysia ada di hypermarket sini.
Alhamdulillah.. dapat beriftar sana-sini.. dapat jugaklah merapatkan silaturahim antara kami yang berpuasa dan bakal beraya jauh dari kampung halaman.

Ramadhan in Yanbu

Alhamdulillah dah 20 hari umat islam berpuasa.. Pengalaman berpuasa di sini tak rasa perbezaannya sangat. kalau ada pun, yang paling ketara ialah tiada bazar ramadhan di sini.. hehe.. home-cook everyday.. Anyway, ada 3 perkara yang menariknya berpuasa di Yanbu ni, which I never experience back in Malaysia.
Firstly, waktu imsak lebih kurang pukul 5.00am dan berbuka lebih kurang 6.20pm. Waktu antara Maghrib dan Isya' sangat panjang.. Kiranya sempat la berehat kejap bagi makanan turun ke perut :-) Compare to malaysia, waktu antara Maghrib dan Isya' pendek, kita akan sentiasa terkocoh-kocoh, berbuka, maghrib dan isya'.
Second, waktu bekerja berubah sepanjang Ramadhan. Kebanyakan pejabat dan bank akan beroperasi mulai pukul 10.00am dan berakhir pada pukul 4.00pm. Begitu jugalah untuk sekolah dan kolej. So, like myself after sahur, bolehlah berkemas rumah, basuh dan sidai baju serta sediakan makanan untuk children. Balik petang nanti, hanya perlu sediakan juadah untuk berbuka sahaja.
Third, cuti untuk menyambut Eid Mubarak sangat panjang, tak payah apply cuti macam kat Malaysia. Esok dah mula cutinya; 4/10 hingga 19/10. Tak payah la nak pening kepala nak pikir berapa hari nak apply cuti, berapa hari cuti tinggal, bila nak mula buat kuih raya... Cuti dah diberi, so you can plan for your Eid. Syoknya kalau dapat cuti macam ni kat Malaysia.. hehe.. mimpi la..