the story never ends...

at Riyadh airport, the Saudi Airlines aircrafts, yang kecik tu, is MD90 aircraft (boeing aircraft), kat Mesia, we don't have this "ekor ikan paus" aircraft... MD would stand for McDonnell Douglas, but this company was bought over by Boeing some 15 years ago, I think...

I wonder how Saudi Airlines will do in a survey if they conduct a "Customer Satisfaction Survey"....

my adventure in Riyadh continued until the very last minute of my presence in Saudi... received my flight ticket at 12h30 on Thu, cleared everything, then went back to the hotel, picked up my stuffs, then go to the airport. If you are taking Saudi Airlines, you better check in early as sometimes if the flight is full (or overbooked), priority is given to Saudis... so, you might actually not get into the flight even if you have a confirmed ticket... if you are on waiting list, and you have registered earlier at check in counter for "waiting list seats", don't have high hopes as all Saudis who come later and register for the "waiting list seats", will have much much more priority than you... well, that's how it works there... I have heard stories where Malaysian travellers are being kicked out of the flight because they come check in late... (one instance, sorang kawan nih nak balik Mesia coz adiknya meninggal, got a confirmed ticket, can you imagine how he felt when he arrived at the airport and discovered that his seat "has been taken away"...? tak jadi balik Mesia kawan tuh...

Saudi Airlines Boeing747 flight... harapkan aircraft jer besar... inflight service, big fat ZERO

on my previous trip to Dubai (from Riyadh, last May), the flight took off on time, but after 15mn on air, the flight came back to Riyadh due to some technical pbm... we touched down at Riyadh airport 45mn after take off... after ding dong here and there, we were told that we had to change flight... the replacement flight came 3.5 hours later and instead of taking off at 5h30pm, we finally left Riyadh at 11h30pm... arrived in Dubai just before 1am, then no more parking at Dubai airport, it took sometime for the buses to come and fetch us to bring to the terminal... ambik luggage and all... finally arrived home at about 2h30am... all together (from arrival time at Riyadh airport, and arrival time at home), the journey took 12 hours... imagine that...

the Boeing777 flight that I took... aircond was also not working properly during the whole journey...

well, this time around... it was not far different... checked in, got into the flight... and by 6h30pm, we were still at Riyadh airport (in the flight)... "flight engine tak leh start...", boleh camtu...? (that's what the Captain said)... hehehe... Don't really understand what the pbm was but at 7pm, we were told to get off the flight... tak ker tension? I mean... 2 times in a row, I encounter pbms with Saudi Airlines flight... luckily, this time the delay was a bit shorter... after 1.5 hours at the terminal, we were called to get into the flight again (same one)... flight finally took off at 9pm... arrived in Dubai around 10h30pm, and after dingdong immigration queue, pick up luggage, customs clearance... reached home just after midnite...

nasib baik that this time, I was ready to expect the worse... so somehow, I was not fuming that much....

private terminal far across the runway..., tengok camna besar private jets dia orang... rezeki petrol money...

in the flight, the guy next to me was a French guy who came to Saudi for the first time... boy he was fuming mad big time....!!

took the opportunity to practice my French again talking to this guy....

my opinion of Saudi Airlines...? bad, very bad... kalah Air Asia.... hehe....

Riyadh airport domestic terminal, that's SAMA air aircraft (budget airlines)

macam2 cerita I experienced during my stay in Saudi... memang boleh buat novel... hehe...

well, resting now... tomorrow will start new work at Dubai Internet City...

Last day... and fuming...

tmrw will be my last half day at PCard.... I am REALLY looking forward to tmrw 1pm... ciao, take luggage at hotel and go to airport....

despite being in the last few days of my service in PCard, I still cannot tahan the attitude of the people in the company....!! really hilang kesabaran...!

pls... pls... if anybody have any idea on how I can "bagi depa balik"... pls share with me some ideas before 1pm Malaysia time (it would be 8am in Riyadh)... I will definitely do it....!!

1. up to this moment, I still don't have my ticket to go back Dubai tmrw flight at 5pm (10pm Mesia time)... I have been following up on this matter since early this week (that means Sat)... awat tiket tak ada2 lagi...? what the hell have they been doing...? if the flight is full and I am on standby, can't they get anthr flight? an earlier flight? a later flight? or as simple as using another airline? Emirates? budget airlines like FlySAMA? NASair?... awat bengap sgt? why insisting on Saudi Airlines? and the exact same flight? the guy told me at 5pm today that I will get my ticket tmrw, don't worry.... OK, jaga ko... kalau aku tak dapat tiket aku esok, memang aku akan sabo company nih...!!
   
2. this IT Admin guy, keep on coming back to me about the laptop.... tanya bila nak surrender to the company... hello...!! last day is 31st July, that's tmrw OK, not ystdy, not today... berapa kali aku nak cakap...!! dah la Arab tak gheti cakap English...!! IT Admin bodoh lak tuh...!! dah bagi tahu dah dua tiga kali that I will surrender everything on 31st July... awat dok tanya benda sama banyak2 kali...?!! furthermore, this morning I was still doing tender responds for the RFP which we received Sabtu lepas... decided to stop at noon, so that I can start cleaning up this laptop... hish...!! geram aku dgn budak Arab bodoh tak gheti cakap English nih...
   
3. and at 5pm today, si drebar yg sorang lagi Arab bodoh tak gheti cakap English tak datang ambik aku.... dan dia tak bagitahu aku awal2 yg dia tak boleh dtg ambik aku.... makachaohai...!!! kanena...!!! lepas dia tak sampai2 jam 5h30pm, aku mintak tlng sorang budak nih talipon si drebar tuh, dan masa tu lah dia bagitahu that he couldn't make it...
   
4. and as usual, gaji tak masuk lagi... hari Sabtu depan nih baru nak buat telegraphic transfer dari Riyadh ke akaun aku kat Dubai... that will take another 3 days to clear... lambat dpt gaji lagi... (last month, received my gaji only on 10th July)...

hai... for those kengkawan who are in Saudi and reading this posting, you all might smile/laugh... coz you all are used to it alrdy, but... oh my God....!!! aku memang tak leh tahan this stupid unproductive, irresponsible kind of people yg tak gheti buat kerja nih.... lagi lama aku stay kat sini, sama ada aku makin jadik gila atau give up dan teruih jadik cam deme...!!

tu lah tu... baru balik umrah, dah sembur2 dah....!! (tapi dlm hati laaa.... tak terkeluar lagi kat mulut...). fuih kalau dulu...!! si Kingkong nih dah mengamuk sakan melompat-lompat hentak2 tanah tepuk2 dada dah.....!!

sabar... sabar....!!! I just need another half day... (kalau dapat flight ticket pagi esok ler pun....). hmmm...

Makan2 Lebanese food

bila teman dah nak ciao nih, banyak ler pulak makan2 nya... I feel totally bloated the last few days.... had Lebanese food for lunch with the COO today... Lebanese food is quite nice if you have the right combination

if you go to a good Lebanese restaurant, once you seat down, you will be served with a plate of vegetables as appetizer.... carrot, cucumber, celeri, peppermint leaves and green pepper... ala2 macam ulam2 dia lah... just eat raw while waiting for the dishes to arrive. and of course you will also have picked olives (jeruk Zaitun? kat bawah )

for the auspicious occasion (that I am leaving the company in 2 days:)), we had these dishes.... above is minced raw meat mixed with spices... dunno what's the name. really raw one you know...! if you wanna try this dish, pls make sure that the reataurant prepares it really really fresh, if not, you'll end up having food poisoning... taste wise, it was OK... I think that I would say that it was tasty if I didn't know that the meat is raw... bila cakap daging mentah je, walau sesedap mana, tekak ada sikit susah la mau kunyah & telan... hehe...

Fatoosh (salad mixed with some crackers), dah nak abis dah baru nak ambik gambarnya...

we also had kebabs, of course.... beef & chicken... (the fries tu tersesat into the plate:)). in order to absorb any oil/fat from the meat (because the kebab meat has been marinated in spices & oil before being grilled), the kebabs are often served on (and sometimes covered with) Lebanese bread (hubos) - like above... (the kebab meat is covered with the Lebanese bread, yang ada colour merah2 & oren tu). Kebabs are generally served with grilled onions & tomatos...

hummus (chickpea paste), makan dgn Lebanese bread...

and this kinna sausage, served in picked sauce... a bit lemon-ish for me...

hubos bread... bila dia panas, dia mengembang like this, bila dah sejuk, dia kempis... kosong inside... Btw, Lebanese bread & Syrian bread is the same - hubos

malam nih makan kat Mutiara restaurant again with this fellow Malaysian keje kat bank.. ala2 farewell dinner laaaa... banyak nyer makan lately... balik Dubai, kena exercise intensively... really look forward to bulan Ramadan to loose some weight.... hehehe...

Kacang fool....?

dulu2 tak le pernah teman dengo nama makanan nih, tapi masa kat Singapore dulu ada gi makan kat rumah famili angkat nih & Mama masak "kacang fool"... makan dgn roti... something new for me then... guess what...? I have discovered where it came from.... makanan arab rupernyer....

original kacang fool

Pak Arab Pak Arab makan kacang fool for breakfast... makan dgn roti depa laaa... kacang fool nih is made of "kacang kuda" (omputeh cakap "kacang kuda" aper huh? lupa teman, "pois chiche" - chickpea ker...?), depa masak dgn cili.. dan may be some sort of curry kut... tak tahu ler... teman makan jer.... "hantam saja la Labu...!!":)

bukan tangan teman... hehe...

Counting days....

Tinggai 2 ari ja lagi teman nak balik Dubai.... hepi tak terkata...!!

sebabnya naluri tak sesuai dgn kompeni ni...

• balik dari Mekah ari tuh, ada tender sampai from one of the banks here... gua pun bertungkus lumus lah check the tender doc... closing date hujung Ogos daaa... sebulan lagi... banyak masa depa yg kena tinggai nih settlekan tender respond tuh.... but, but... still went through the docs and prepared whatever that can be prepared now sebelum gua ciao... tak nak lak depa kata gua tak buat keja gua kan.... 3 days ago, passed some of the docs to the COO/acting CEO coz some of the questions are related to Perso Centre Operation, and also needed some technical feedback from him.... guess what? sampai sekarang dia tak baca2 lagi tender doc tuh... COO/acting CEO camni, anak2 buah dlm opis camna...? teman tengok attitude dia camtu, teruih teman stop jap reviewing and preparing the tender doc and update blog ni sat.... leadership by example... lantaklah ko Labu...!!

• hujung bulan lepas kompeni nih bayar gaji lambat again... gua dah kena ciao ke Riyadh, kad kredit payment kat Dubai tak buat lagi... tak sempat... hari nih, bank dah call, awat tak bayaq2 lagi kad tuh...? hmmm... tu lah akibatnya, dpt gaji tak menentu nih... hopefully kompeni nih tak buat sial kat aku bayar gaji lambat lagi bulan ni... siksa camni, semua yg di arrange lari...

• semlm surf internet, ziarah blog2 kengkawan... huih...!! mcm2 ceghita ada...

oklah... kena sambung kerja...

Umrah trip - various photos

Masjid Nabawi at sunrise

Minaret Masjid Quba

coming back from Subuh prayer?

going for 2nd round umrah?

just thirsty

melepak after subuh

clouds over Mecca 1

clouds over Mecca 2

saudi architecture 1

saudi architecture 2

jangan buang sampah merata2, kalau tak paham2 jugak, tak tahu ler...

Fri prayer at Masjidil Haram

it starts here...!

Umrah Trip - Exclusively Invited

During the umrah trip, met up with Uncle (http://uncle815.blogspot.com/), a fellow blogger who is working in Mecca… He also happens to be my senior in SDAR (eh… ngaku pulak budak SDAR…??? Hehehe.. Uncle, if you are reading this, jangan marah, k… :))

gi minum2 kat Felda D'Saji.. terserempak pulak dgn Jamaah Mesia from Jeddah... kerja kat Jeddah deme tuh, constructing a Saudi university

tengah syiok sembang tuh, sambil pekena teh tarik secawan

2nd floor Safwah Tower, just in front of Masjidil Haram..!!

Can you imagine how lucky Uncle is? To be working in Mecca, with a workplace which is just in front of Masjidil Haram…? Tiap2 hari boleh solat jemaah kat Masjid Haram... fuhhh...!! rezeki, rezeki...!!

Now, that’s what I call “exclusively invited”

Umrah trip - Saudi buses

Don’t be surprised if you see Saudi buses with the engine compartment open like below photo… for long trips, the buses will leave the engine compartment open… paneh sangat kut… takut2 malatops engine tuh sebab dah paneh sgt…!!

Also take note that most of the time, the “bas2 persiaran” nih will have funny German/Italian names on the body (and funny signage inside the bus)… Because, most of these buses are actually “Reconditioned buses” from Europe, yang dah kena reject dek org2 German/Italian… they don’t even bother to change the look of the bus…

Btw, learned a new word during the trip….
“kullumwujud…?” = “semua dah ada…?” = “everybody is here..?”
Kang ada yg tertinggal dek bas kang…!! hehe

Umrah trip : Mubarak Hotel

Mubarak Hotel

When I did my booking, they told me that it was a 5-star hotel… errr… don’t think so..!! I was even wondering if it reached 4-star status…

the room... biasa2 jer...

Tak ramai staffs yg boleh cakap English… I have the impression that it was an Iranian hotel (full of Iranian Pilgrims), bilik dia biasa2 jer (nothing in the fridge), I was told upon checking in that breakfast would be sent to my room (not buffet breakfast as I thought earlier), but at the end, I didn’t get my breakfast coz... the Chef hasn’t arrived (boleh gitu…?) ... haha...!!!

May be this thing made the hotel become 5-star… shower yang airnya datang dari pelbagai penjuru… hehehe… dahsat tu… dahsat…!!

Umrah trip... the journey...

Warning : this is a very long entry...

My umrah trip went quite well actually... (despite my fear of doing the whole trip and umrah exercise all by myself...). It was a bit tiring though, but it was not due to the umrah exercise but mainly because we went to Madinah first and spent quite sometime there....

Rambut dah panjang, muka pun dah semakin montel… hmmm… dgn Pak Arab yg settlekan hal jemaah yg naik berpuluh2 bas tuh…

Trip didn’t start smoothly, my name was put in a list of those going straight to Mecca to perform umrah (not going visiting Medina first), but it was settled at the end and I was put on the right bus…

Bus wasssss… er.. ok laaa… When you always travel in a 3 seater bus for long journey in Malaysia, it’s a bit hard to get used to the 4 seater bus again… a bit crampy (especially for me yg dah bertambah2 sihat nih…). But I got lucky, after a gruesome 10hour ride to Medina, a few guys got off the bus, and I found myself with no one next to me… (for the rest of the trip : the tour of Medina, the trip to Mecca, and the return trip from Mecca to Riyadh…. :)). God wanted to facilitate my journey, I guess… alhamdulillah…

The bus… Nampak canggih, tapi dalam bas rasa mcm dah seasoned (nak kata "macam dah nak runtuh" boleh...? hehe...)

Bus departed from Riyadh at 5h15pm…. I was told that departure time was 4pm… that’s Arab time for you… lebih sejam delay…

Arrived in Medina at 3am… went straight to Masjid Nabawi… performed Subuh prayer there, and managed to get into Raudhah after that, and visit Prophet’s (SAW) tomb… didn’t make it the first round, was pushed out with the crowd on the first try (Subuh prayer crowd)… Too many people at that time, and the Police closed the way to Prophet’s (SAW) tomb for awhile. And I was pushed out, but after that, I went back into the mosque,… managed to get into Raudhah (berhimpit2 ler…) and perform Sunat prayer there, and immediately after that joined the crowd again to visit the tomb… I was really lucky I guess, coz they were about to close Raudhah & Prophet’s tomb area for the ladies to come in… managed to sneak in among the last few visitors… rezeki, rezeki…!! Again, alhamdulillah…

Self pic – in front of Masjid Nabawi, after subuh… rambut berserabut…!! Muka hepi sebab achieved target…:)

Jabal Uhud, dah tak tinggi dah… Macam bukit kecil boleh panjat laa… view facing Jabal Uhud “offensive side”

View from on top of Jabal Uhud (eh… kita panjat…!! Jgn tak panjat..!!), “defensive side”/Kota Madinah side

View from on top of Jabal Uhud, offensive side. Makam Sayidina Hamzah & Para Syuhada are also seen here (in the enclavement, surrounded by high fences)

Makcik Arab jual paying…!! Paneh weh paneh…!! 43 degre Celsius

Minaret of Masjid Qiblatain (masjid 2 Kiblat)

After that, we were supposed to make the move at 7am (Arab time…), we actually made the move at around 8am… the driver (supirnya Wak Jowo dari Indonesia..!!) asked if we wanted to visit some of the other historical sites in Medina… couldn’t say anything actually, coz I was the minority among the other passengers… had to pay anthr SAR10 per person… we went to Jabal Uhud (and makam para syuhada…), Masjid Qiblatain, and Masjid Quba (and the Datte market nearby)…. Was nice visiting and performing prayers there, but it would be nicer and more interesting if you have a guide who will explain to you the stories behind these historical sites and show you around the area…

Minaret of Masjid Quba (1st mosque built by Prophet SAW upon hijrah/migration to Medina)

Btw, aircond in the bus was not working properly, so I was sweating a bit… we made the move from Medina at around 1h30pm… we put on ihram at Bir Ali (just 10km outside of Medina)…. arrived in Mecca at 6pm… by that time, I was alrdy exhausted (imagine, more than 24 hour trip…), and with the heat, I started to have pening2 lalat… After checking in at the hotel, put my stuffs away, went directly to Masjid Haram… waited for Maghrib, after Maghrib, perform tawaf (yes…!!! for those jokers,…. I saw Ka’abah, thank you…!! :)), solat sunat, minum air zam zam, then go straight for Saie… half way Saie, it was Isyak, performed Isyak, continued Saie, finished, went back to the hotel…, tahallul, then KABOOOMMMM….!! Tido till Subuh… that was exhausting…!! (before KABOOM, had light dinner and panadol 2 bijik)

Minarets of Masjidil Haram at sunrise

Following day, after subuh, went around Masjid Haram surrounding “ambik feel” of the city… then went back to hotel. at 10am went to meet up with a fellow blogger kerja kat Makkah (you see…!! the power of Blog networking…!!), then went for Jumaat prayer, then head back to hotel, check out and I was on the bus back to Riyadh at 2pm… very fast… (btw, janji Arab, the bus departed at 3h30pm…)… oh yeah, after Fri prayer, managed to run quickly to get some air zam2 (bought from a street vendor)

Sampai Riyadh at 1h30am… arrived hotel in Riyadh at 2h30am….

Alhamdulillah… although it was a very quick trip and very tiring, it was worth it… next time, have to spend more time and not make a quick wknd trip like this… too tiring and cannot really concentrate on performing Umrah… Medina was great, I really “enjoyed” it and felt fulfilled (coz was still fresh from the trip), unfortunately I didn’t/couldn’t give my 100% when I was in Mecca…

Target in Medina : to get into Raudhah & visit Prophet (SAW) = 100% fulfilled
Target in Mecca : to perform umrah 7 times… failed big time…!! Performed umrah only 1 time. Failed to get any near to Hajarul Aswad, failed to perform prayer in Hijri Ismail (too many people), failed to perform Tawaf Wida (not enuf time)

Tips for those coming soon :

• Do not use “sandal”, especially new sandals… you will do a lot of walking, and if you are using new sandal, you will get blisters on your feet…!! Padan muka aku…!! Pakai selipar jepun jer (if you know what I mean), use slippers, not sandals…(unless you are using seasoned sandals)…!!



• Brush up your Indonesian… it will come handy here… sudah..!!! jangan nak perli2 org Indonesia kat Mesia tuh… these people will be the ones who will help you here…, a lot!! Padan muka korang…!! Luckily my Indonesian was still OK, they didn’t think that I was from Malaysia, they thought that I was Singaporean…!! Hahaha…!! Coz orang Singapore are still quite good in talking in Indonesian, unlike most of us now in Malaysia (we will naturally talk Bahasa Malaysia with them and not adopt their accent)



• Patience, patience, patience… it’s holiday season now, so there was a lot of people… lots of characters… lots of pushing, people overtaking, people gttng angry… so take your time, and avoid rush hours (I performed Tawaf & Saie during peak hours – Maghrib/Isyak… I was amazed on the attitude of some of the people…). Just get away from them…!! Special note for Kalel, August is also the hottest month of the year, and it seems that it is also the time where people come the most to perform umrah (school holiday in many parts of the world, a part from Ramadan & Hajj season of course). So banyak2 bersabar, k…!!



• Also try to learn basic Arabic… (I actually started to think that I could get by easier in Indonesian than in English in Mecca)…


• Felda DSaji is open at 2nd floor of Safwah Tower. You can go there for teh tarik & some Malaysian food if you want. Teh tarik is SAR2.50 per cup (secawan OK, bukan segelas), and mihun goreng is SAR10 per serving (sepinggan/sebekas). If you are facing Zam2 Tower, Safwah Tower is located on the left. Zam2 Tower has 2 tall twin towers, located in front of King Abdul Aziz Gate of Masjidil Haram (also not so far from King Fahd Gate). If you ask the locals, they should know where Zam2 Tower is… Btw, Felda D’Saji is basically 2 stalls in a foodcourt… not really a restaurant…


• For those in a group tour, I believe that you should get a big size “bottle/tank” of air zam2 arranged for you alrdy (by the tour agent)… if no, check with your hotel if they can arrange for you. Or you might find some people selling air Zam2 in the streets (not many coz, they are not supposed to sell Zam2 water). Big “tank” will cost you SAR10, smaller one SAR5… (don’t pay more than that, the guy who sold me the big tank bukak harga at SAR50…!! Luckily I knew the price). Another way is to buy the “empty tank” at a nearby supermarket, and go get Zam2 water yourself (there is a place just on the boundary of Masjidil Haram where you can collect air Zam2 yourself, btw, that’s the place where the hotels/street vendors fill in the “tanks” to give/sell to pilgrims). Err… ask around, especially the guys carrying the tanks, they will tell you where the place is.


• Practice long walk barefoot on cement (Saie)… I dunno why, but my feet “didn’t cooperate much with me”, one spot at my tapak kaki sakit2 lak lepas buat Saie… I wonder if it is not a sign of some kind of sickness that I have… (reflexology theory)


• And the last tip, just go with the right intention (bukan mau pegi shopping daaa…). You will be amazed on how God will facilitate your journey… I surely was amazed.

I guess you all wouldn't need so much those tips as you would have an Ustaz/guide with you (if you are going in a group from Mesia). The Ustaz would also have worn you of other things to take care of...

p/s… no…!! there was no lightning, or any kind of electric current passing through my body… :) alhamdulillah… :)