UK & Eire trip 2025

Yes!  Another family trip just before the year 2025 ends.  This time, we started the trip with just the four of us and we started from Saudi of course.  Angah waited for us in Cork, his new home for the moment.  In the wee hours of 14th December, we left RUH for LHR, arriving LHR at around 5.15 am.  Shortly after, we left LHR for EDI to get to our first destination, Edinburgh Castle a.k.a Hogwarts Castle.  Weather was supercold, windy and gloomy when we arrived, and we went straight to the castle right after dropping our luggage at the hotel, stopping by a Christmas market on the way.

View of Edinburgh from the castle

Edinburgh Christmas market

We left EDI for ORK the next day and arrived at the latter around 9.00 pm.  Achik & I stayed at the hotel room while Abah & Along went out to pick Angah up.  Soon after, our family of five reunited again.  Yeay!!!

Click!  Five in a frame

After breakfast the next morning, which was not that early anyway, we left Cork for Dublin because Angah needed to settle his residency permit.  We spent the night at a freezing Christmas market in Dublin where Along & Achik enjoyed ice skating that they missed in Edinburgh.

Dublin Christmas market

Ice skating duo preparing for a show

When we returned to Cork the next day, it was already dark.  We had to postpone our trip to Cobh and went to another Christmas market instead.  This time, an indoor one, which was less freezing.  We went to Cobh after breakfast and check-out the next morning, dropped Angah at his home and then went to Cork airport to begin the return journey to Riyadh.

Cobh, we made it!

It was a very short trip indeed, but one where we spent time together, which makes it so priceless.  Looking forward to another one soon!

First visit to Madinah as a Saudi resident

We visited Madinah the first time as a Saudi resident in September 2023.  Yes, this post is long overdue.  We drove there 😅.  That was the only striking difference I think.  It took us around seven hours to get there from Riyadh.  This visit was also to complete my Hajj trip.  I didn’t get the chance to visit Madinah after Hajj as I had to leave early.  For record, I left for Hajj with KT110 and returned with KT9 😬.

Achik was super excited because everything was like new to her.  The last time we visited Madinah was in March 2013.  She was few months shy of three years old then and could barely recall anything from the umrah trip.

2013

Ten years later

Living life as expatriate

It was never part of our plan to be residents of another country, until recently when my husband was headhunted for a job in a middle east country.  The offer was good and made us question ourselves, “why not?”.  So, here we are, starting our life as expatriates.  Getting acquantanced with the new environment is neither easy nor straighforward.  The culture, the language, the weather and the cost of living to list a few.  Despite other benefits, we have to admit that being outsiders, we missed the perks of a citizen.  We look different whenever we go out.  We are the minority.

Of all the things, prices of items hit me the hardest.  Everything is more expensive here.  I always find myself comparing them with the prices of the same items in our country.  Thus, scouting for cheap, or at least reasonably priced items at least to me, has become my new hobby.  I also revive my passion for gardening, focusing on edible garden, to cut costs.  From this point onwards, this blog will share our experience living in the middle east.  Happy reading!

Road to Makkah

Alhamdulillah, it's our turn to perform Hajj this year, 1444H/2023M.  Our turn was supposed to be last year, which was delayed due to COVID-19.  Didn't expect it to come so soon actually, considering no Hajj in 2020 and 2021, and half the quota in 2022.  Nevertheless, Alhamdulillah.  We are ready, Insya-Allah.  I've been making the necessary preparations, including walking for about 8 km a day to get me physically used to walking back and fro the Jamrahes for four days in Mina.  May Allah ease.

Today’s 8 km

I am also testing the performance of the mineral sunscreen that I'm planning to use there.  It's the Supergoop Mineral Matte Screen SPF 40.  So far so good.  Looking fine after 2 hours of walking and sweating under the morning sun.  It is a tinted sunscreen but leaves neither lines nor cast.

Passed the challenge

Switzerland in 25 hours

In June last year, I was on my way to attend a research meeting in Porto.  But I yearned to go to Switzerland since God knows when.  We didn't have the chance to go there when we were in Denmark at the end of 2018.  The weather was not that good at the time too.  So, this time around, I made it a point to drop by Switzerland on my way to Portugal.

It was a long journey indeed.  From Kuala Lumpur to Zurich with Emirates via Dubai.  I left KLIA during the wee hours of 15th June 2019, arriving Zurich Airport at about 1.30pm on the same day.  I was due to leave Zurich for Porto on the next day at 3pm, hence the 25 hours.  I quickly hopped on a train to Interlaken, which took me about 2 hours.  Such a beautiful place to be at.  It was picturesque all along the way, the rivers, the buildings, the snow capped mountains, the lakes, the houses, the countryside and everything.  A dream came true for me.

I spent that afternoon in the small town of Interlaken, in the heavy rain, with two friends who arrived there a day ealier.  The next morning, we went to one of the mountain tops where there was still snow.  We left Interlaken in the afternoon so that we can spend a few hours in Zurich, before boarding the flight to Porto.

At Mürren

Sønderborg by chance ...

What a title :). But that was what actually happened.  On one of our last days here in Odense, we would like to visit Aarhus.  We landed on Zealand and staying in Fyn.  A visit to Jutland would complete the picture, thus Aarhus.

We left the apartment as early as 7.50am to catch the 8.00am bus.  Everything went on smoothly, we boarded the supposed train, knowing that it would later split at one of the stations along the route where the other half would go to Sønderborg.

So we made sure that we were in the right coach, or at least that was what we thought.  The trip to Aarhus should take about one and a half hours and we should get there by 10.43am.  Since this was our first time and there was neither printed map nor internet connection for us to verify, we could just assume that we were on track when the train splitted and when the next stop was Kolding.

But somehow I could see that we were moving away from towns into countrysides and small villages, which was not what I would expect if we were bound for Aarhus.  I began to think that we could be sitting in the wrong coach and were on our way to Sønderborg instead.  When the time was 10.50am and the next station name was still not Aarhus, my thought was confirmed.

Since it would be both costly and time consuming to backtrack, we changed our plan and continued to Sønderborg impromptu.  What a beautiful place!

Breathtaking view

Research attachment at Odense, Denmark

Wow.  So many incomplete posts in the draft list.  An evidence of how little time I have for the blogging activity.  I hope this one goes through.

Looks like we're ending 2018 in Denmark, or more specifically, in the plane.  It has been almost two months since we landed here, the first time for us all.  This time, for a longer period of time and commitment, unlike our previous trips.

I am serving a two-month research attachment at the Center for Energy Informatics, University of Southern Denmark, which is coming to its end.  Life has been great, and colourful here, though dull at times.  You come to work ...  So ...

A personal achievement for me too, as I have never had experience working with international research team.  Looking forward to complete my work here and further collaboration in the near future.

London 20 years after ...

It took us some 20 years to come back.

I left London in 1999 after completing my degree years there, wishing to come back sooner or later.  The opportunity only came recently, when I had a few meetings to attend in London and Dublin.

We flew with Qatar Airways this time, arriving Heathrow at 8.30 pm, 28th June 2017 after some one hour plus transit at Doha.  By the time we reached the rented apartment, it was almost 11 pm.  The kids had their bath, prayer and slept.  Fajr prayer time would be around 2.45 am.

Sydney Revisit 2016

I guess the post about our Japan trip will never complete.  It has been superseded by another trip to Sydney which took place between 11th to 17th March this year.  As usual, I had to go there to participate in a conference and brought the whole family with me.  For Achik, this was the first time.  For the rest of us, this was our second time.  Our first visit to Sydney was in 2009 when I had to attend a conference too.

This time, the conference took place for one whole week!  So we had a lot of time to explore Sydney.  We purposely arrived two days earlier so that we could spend the time going places.  We arrived at Sydney on Friday night and went straight to Hyde Park Inn.  It has a room with a stove that can accommodate five people (1 queen bed, 2 single beds and 1 sofa bed), which was just what I was looking for.  I cooked simple dinner with whatever packed food that we brought with us and we had a good rest after that.  Sydney is three hours ahead of Malaysia.  So it took some time before everybody was asleep.

First day - 12th March 2016

Our first destination was Taronga Zoo.  We took a bus from the inn to Circular Quay and took a ferry from the quay to Taronga Zoo.  Moving around was easy.  We relied on Google map and it was really helpful and reliable.  We spent almost one day there.  Unfortunately, by the time this post is written, the photos were already accidentally deleted from the phone :(

The only one left.  In a cable car to the zoo entrance.

Japan trip - Day 2: Exploring Hakodate

20 January 2015

I spent the whole of the second day at the conference (of course!).  The kids and their father went to explore Hakodate town, the fish market and the port after they had their breakfast.

Snow 'mountain' near Hakodate port

We met briefly during lunch break, and then the kids went up to pray and rest.  Right after the first day of the conference was over, we rushed to Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse, as it would be closed by 7 pm.  It is basically a shopping mall that sells a lot of items, mainly souvenirs.  Achik taxed us there, as usual.

When the warehouse was closed, we headed to Mount Hakodate.  The night view from Mount Hakodate was rated three stars by The Michelin Green Guide Japan whatever it is.  Again, finding the exact locations of the two places was challenging.  We asked around, communicated like chicken and duck, and finally managed to reach both places :)

Journeys up to and down from Mount Hakodate were via cable cars (they called it ropeway).  Travelling time from the base station (Sanroku station) to the top station (Sancho station) took less than five minutes.  It was freezing cold of course.  We didn't linger there for the sake of the kids.  We had been out for quite a long time already for the night.

At Jujigai trem stop.

View from the top of Mount Hakodate.

At the base station, just before leaving.

Japan trip - Day 1: Travelling north to Hakodate

19 January 2015

We flied Malaysia Airlines MH88 and arrived at Narita Airport (terminal two) at 7.15 am as scheduled.  Achik was fast asleep when we landed.  Everybody was in good mood, despite feeling sleepy.  Right after settling the immigration matters, which didn't take long at all, we went to collect our luggage and then headed straight to the Japan Rail Ticketing office, which was at one level below.  Few things started to seem familiar to me from Nagoya visit in 2009.

 

The first thing to do was to exchange our JR exchange order slips to JR passes.  The exchange order slips were purchased at the Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) in Amoda building, right next to the Imbi plaza and opposite Berjaya Times square, before the trip.  The queue at the Japan Rail Ticketing Office was quite long.  Everybody was using JR pass I guessed, as it could save a lot of money on train tickets, depending on your journey.

 

Exchanged.  JR passes for me, Abah, Along and Angah.
Achik travels for free as she was below 6 years old.

Our destination on that day was Hakodate, which is located in the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan.  Upon completing exchange process and obtaining our JR passes, we were given three tickets each for the following journeys:

 

1. Narita Airport terminal 2 station to Tokyo station (approx. 1 hour via Narita Express train)
2. Tokyo station to Shin Aomori station (approx. 1.5 hours via Shinkansen)
3. Shin Aomori station to Hakodate station (approx. 2 hours via local train)

The whole journey, including transit time, took us about eight hours!  We departed from Narita Airport at 8.48 am and arrived Hakodate Station at 5.02 pm.  As the Hayabusa Shinkansen moved towards north from Tokyo to Shin Aomori, we started to see snow right before the Sendai station, which was to the kids delight :)

Amongst the first sights of snow, taken from the fast moving shinkansen

If asked, whether it is easy to get lost in catching the trains, finding the right platforms and et cetera, my answer would be yes.  Because we were not used to the train system, and we had the kids and luggage with us, and we had to catch the exact trains that were reserved for us, which departure times were printed on the tickets.  However, the stations staff were very helpful too.  But language was a barrier.  What we did whenever we were clueless was, showed one of the tickets to the staff and asked for platform number.  They would show the direction to the platform.  They at least knew the basic vocabulary such as one two three and left and right.  Good enough :D

During approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes transit at Shin Aomori station.
The snow was already thick there.

Kikonai, the stop just before Hakodate station.
This train didn't stop at all stations along the route.

Welcoming 2015 with new hope

Yes.  With the hope that this blog is able to have at least one entry each month :)  It has been a long time, and it's good enough that I didn't forget the password.

Few things that I missed to update in 2014 are our trips to Singapore and the northern states up until Padang Besar.  And also about Along and his achievement in the UPSR.  Oh yes.  I must be very busy helping him with the preparation that I almost entirely forgot that I have a blog.

Few more things to look forward to in 2015 are Along entering secondary school, Achik entering kindergarten and trip to Japan.

May Allah bless us all always, aamin.

Cameron Highlands 13 years after

It was almost the end of the school holiday and we hadn't visited anywhere yet.  Mainly it was because Along was not around until 22nd of December 2013, attending a tahfiz camp, and Angah also had school holiday programme that ended on the 20th of December 2013.  During the last weekend of the school holiday, when everybody was eventually home, we decided to go somewhere and that somewhere was ...  Cameron Highlands!

The last time I went to Cameron Highlands was 13 years ago!  No joking.  And that was on official visit to one of the hydroelectric power generation stations there arranged by the company.  I could hardly remember anything from that trip.  I was a bachelor then.  And now, I am back 13 years after with three kids.  And a husband, he he he ...

It was 28th December 2013.  We departed from home around 8 a.m. and reached Brinchang through Simpang Pulai route around noon.  It was still foggy and cold when we stopped by at Kea Farm.  We checked in at Equatorial Hotel (that is now known as Copthorne Hotel) after lunch.  The kids really enjoyed being engulfed in the mist most of the time and having vapour coming out from their mouth when they talked.  This was their very first time there.

During the 2-day trip, we managed to visit the Rose Valley, Lavender Garden, Uncle Sam Nursery, Big Red Strawberry Farm and BOH Tea Plantation and Tea House at Habu, Ringlet.  Hopefully I will have the time to share the stories later.  Just look at how long it took for me to update this on the blog "(

Umrah journal: Summarising Makkah

7 March 2013

The remaining 9 days of our trip were spent in Makkah.  Nada Deafah hotel where we stayed was just about 120 metres away from Masjidil Haram, making it possible for us to be there five times a day.  But with the kids, we had to take turn of course.  On one occasion, Angah was able to return to the hotel from the masjid alone!  On one of the days, we were taken to visit Jabal Nur, Jabal Thur, Arafah, and Jabal Rahmah.  The rest were spent on our own.  On the way back from the masjid, we took time to drop by at the many shops within the vicinity of the hotel.  I didn't spend much.  Well, when you have taken the whole family for the umrah trip, you just don't have much left to spend :-)

Dragging the kids along, we spent as much time as we could at the masjid, performing as many prayers and tawafs whenever possible.  In between, we took photos and strolled along the area around the masjid.  Dust resulting from the demolition of the buildings around the masjid permeated the air, preventing us from lingering around the area.

Our utmost gratitude to Allah the almighty for accepting us as His guests.  Seeing Kaabah for the first time, praying and supplicating right in front of it was an unforgettable experience.  The feeling was indescribable.  The feeling that you can't get anywhere else.  We will definitely come back.  That was what we asked during our last tawaf before leaving Makkah.  May Allah grant our wish, Amin.

Umrah journal: From Madinah to Makkah

6 March 2013

Our stay in Madinah was shorthened by one day due to slight problem with the hotel arrangement.  After spending two nights in Madinah, we visited the prophet SAW and spent few minutes at the raudhah on the third day morning.  In the afternoon, we were ready to leave Madinah in ihram attire.

The journey from Madinah to Makkah took about 6 hours with a short stop at Bir Ali mosque for performing ihram.  There wasn't much to see along the route.  Only deserts and barren hills, giving us the chance to closely imagine and contemplate the journey that our beloved prophet and his loyal companion, Abu Bakr, went through during the their migration to Madinah.  Achik slept during most of the journey, which was to my great relief.

Arriving at the Nada Deafah hotel in Makkah, we had our late dinner and then getting prepared for our first umrah.  It was about midnight when we eventually entered Masjidil haram.  Along and Angah were already exhausted from the long journey and were dragging their feet to complete their saie. 

Umrah journal: Visiting outer Madinah

5 March 2013

We first went to Masjid Quba', the first masjid built by our beloved prophet upon reaching Madinah.  We performed tahiyatul masjid prayer and one other sunnah prayer there.  We were not given much time as there were few more places to visit after that.  From Masjid Quba', we went to Mount Uhud.  It was very hot, dry and dusty, so we didn't linger there for the sake of the kids.  The sun was shining so bright that we could hardly open our eyes.  We took few photos, visited the martyrs graves and quickly went back to the bus.


With Mount Uhud at the background

On the way to the date orchard, we passed by the Qiblatain masjid.  We didn't stop there.  According to the mutawwif, the qiblah that is facing the Masjidil Aqsa has been demolished, leaving only the one that faces the Kaabah.  We finally visited the date orchard and did some shopping there.  Dates, chocolates and nuts.  We got back to the hotel just in time for lunch.  Lunch at the hotel was superb.  At par with buffet lunches that you can find in most of the hotels here.

After Asr, we went around Masjid Nabawi to visit the Baqi' Cemetery and the Baqi' market.  While waiting for the Maghrib prayer time, we sat on a spot right in front of the green dome of the masjid, retrospecting the sirah.  The wind was blowing strongly.  The kids were enjoying themselves.  Achik was singing and dancing around.  What a place to dance!  Along and Angah were excited to see the giant umbrellas at the masjid being automatically closed during sunset.  It was a wonderful moment that we are going to cherish forever.  Already missing it =((

The lost Japanese tourist with her bodyguards :)

"It's the green dome, don't you see?"

Umrah journal: The journey to

4 March 2013

It's the departure day. We were supposed to be at the check in counter at 12 pm. But at 12.15pm, we were still in the car. Finally, we managed to check in at 12.45 pm with the help of officers from Wira Saujana. We were briefed about the journey at 1 pm and went through the departure hall shortly after that. It was already 2.30 pm when we boarded the flight. Everything went smoothly except that we didn't managed to have a proper lunch :-(

In the train to terminal C KLIA

The flight stopped by at Riyadh airport to disembark few passengers. To my slight dismay actually because I was hoping and was promised a direct flight. We continued our journey an hour later and arrived at Madinah airport at 8.30 pm local time.

Upon reaching the hotel, we caught the sight of Masjid Nabawi. It was almost midnight, but I promised myself to perform my jama' ta'khir solat there tonight. The kids, though exhausted and drained out from the long journey, were all excited the moment they stepped into the hotel room. It was very comfortable. The five star Anwar Al Madinah Movenpick hotel which is just 20 metres away from the masjid. We went there right after cleaning and refreshing ourselves.

In front of Masjid Nabawi

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Umrah: All are set

One more month to go and the needed documents are all ready.

The required documents

I went to the travel agent yesterday to submit the documents. It was a long journey to Batu Caves, but managed to get there without getting lost, thanks to the google map and the built in GPS. Yes, we have chosen to travel with Wira Saujana Travel & Tours after considering and comparing some eight to ten travel agents. Hope that we have made the right choice.

Because of the visit to the travel agent, I was late by one hour to pick up the kids from school.  And the price that I had to pay was ...

the injury that Angah had sustained from falling down while chasing after Along.  The rain had just stopped and he was pulling along his school bag behind.  What a scene.  Moral of the story: with these superactive boys, just be on time!


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Passport renewal at Kajang Immigration Office

We arrived there at around 8.45am yesterday. The initial plan was to renew my mum's passport only. On a second thougt, I decided to take Achik along, half hoping that I would be able to renew her passport within a reasonable waiting time.

Right after coming out of the lift, I immediately saw the excessively long queue, extending beyond the office door, almost forming a square shape around the still escalators. Alhamdulillah, I managed to skip the long queue because I came just to collect the renewed passport and because my mum is over 60 years of age, hence eligible for 'warga emas' turn.

As for Achik, Alhamdulillah, the officer was kind enough to give her some consideration. All in all, we left the office at 11.15am. Still AM :-)

posted from Bloggeroid

Updates on passport renewal procedure

I am not sure about the procedure at other Immigration offices.  This was what I experienced this morning at the Immigration office in Kajang.  I had already renewed my passport online last Tuesday.  I came to collect it this morning.  I was told that I have to bring one copy of my passport size photo, even though I had already uploaded one when I did the online renewal.  It doesn't have to be the same as the one that you have already uploaded, which means that you can simply shoot another set of passport size photos at a nearby booth if don't have any with you and lost another RM10 of course.  That was what happened to me.  And in my case, the photo that I uploaded was exactly the same as the one used in my existing passport.  So it was rejected and they used my newly taken photo instead.

No form filling is required anymore for both, renewal and new passport application.  Just bring your identity card (IC),  its copy and 2 pieces of your passport size photos.  They will retrieve the information from the system and print the filled form for you.  Then you will just need to sign the form.  So don't bother to download the forms from the internet anymore.

I didn't find the above information on their official website.  Their website apparently needs updating.