hajj fulfilled

a bit chilly and windy today.
Alhamd, borrowed ridzuan's jacket to masjidil haraam for solat fajr.

6:30 ~ 7:45am
Tawaf ifadah (rukun).
With this, alhamdulillah, my hajj is performed. Now, i need to perform my complementary umrah (wajib).

Stayed a while in haram for dhuha.
Met Saiful Rahman, from Bangladesh. At first I just wanted to walk away (and answer his salam in my heart) when he approached me. Anyway, I shook hands with him and see what’s next.
“Malaysian?”
“Yes.” (hoping he’s not a conman).
“What do you do in Malaysia?”
Hesitated, “engineer”.
He introduced himself as Saiful Rahman, a nuclear researcher of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
We talked for a short while, and before we went our ways, he asked me to convey his salam to his acquaintances from Malaysia – from MINT and from UM, whom he met during a course in Japan not too long ago.
Well I said I could try, while in my mind I pictured Hairul a PPP friend from kempas working in MINT.

Bought a pair of sweater top & bottom for myself. adidas original. SR50. Not a bad bargain.

Visit Naza in her room. Still not better yet. bought her breakfast - fries, kebab, veg nuggets. I pray that she’ll recover soon and could finish her hajj works insyaAllah.

me, ridzuan, rashid, ustaz wan nik and ustaz daruddin in our tent in Mina

well of top level jamrah

jamrah al qubra

the top level jamrah al wusta. not many people during this time the photo is taken.

the entrance to top level jamrahs. adequate signage and top quality service.

aftermath of the Mina flood

this brand new ford interceptor (seats still in plastic wraps) had dents and litters jammed on the underside and front.

i don't know how much it costs, but this guy would take you for a ride behind his buggy to take you anywhere in Mina for a fee.

a prettied up camel waiting to be 'rented' for taking photos. for SR5 you can have your polaroid - sitting on the camel's back.

jamrah's well. stones and what not.

me and Naza towards three jamrahs for melontar day 3

me and Pak Lang in our tent in Mina

Melontar – day 3 of 3: to Makkah today for completing hajj - tawaf ifadah at Haraam

continued sleep after fajr. had breakfast after that.

8:30 ~ 9:30am
Melontar
Went with mak, Naza and akak. Not too many people around at this time.

9:30 ~ 10:00am
gave a call to Marsya with Naza.
they are all in Juasseh, celebrating Eid ul Adha over there.
Ayah said she was saddened by the news that Naza was not well recently. tak lalu makan and termenung. Kesian dia. so, never more bad news for her.
As a parent, I feel good and bad at the same time. For one, there’s the sign that her EQ is good. Another is that she’s not supposed to be burdened with her parents’ troubles, let alone being apart for quite a long time. Well, I know that beyond everything lies hikmah.

today is the last day for melontar.
after that, (everybody) will get back to Makkah (less those who were already back to Makkah after performing nafar awwal) to conclude hajj works – tawaf ifadah.

10:00 ~ 11:30am
sightseeing - top level jamrat
bought ½ bird chicken + fries for Naza SR10 at Al-Baik near jamrat Ula.
Not many people around the jamrat area right now. This vast area of tents filled with people a few days ago are now deserted.
the jamrat facilities & signages are quite good. emergency clinics at both sides every certain distance. signages in various languages to cater for Muslims from all parts of the world.

11:30 ~ 12:30pm
not taking lunch. grew bored with the meals. Had biscuits & apple.

after solat Zuhr, get ready to board bus getting back into Makkah.
nose starts getting runny. hope that it wouldn't last long. I suspect that I have colds, due to yesterday’s raining. went here and there within the tent area to take photos.

3:30pm
board bus to Makkah. the roads are jam-packed. As usual, these drivers honking away like nobody’s business.
it took us an amazing 6½ hours to get from Mina to our hotel in Makkah. i’m pretty exhausted, sitting in the bus. lucky that I had biscuits, chocolates, fruits and water ready in my small bag. Alhamdulillah, not starved.
had to perform solat hormat waktu for asr and maghreeb in the bus.

10:00pm
reached Makkah. Alhamdulillah! It feels like coming back home from a long trip. An undescribable good feeling for me – regarding Makkah as home.
Had dinner - Akak's curry instant noodles tastes so good!
Off to sleep.

tired from the bus trip, we scheduled tawaf ifadah (plus sa’ie for Naza and akak) tomorrow insyaAllah.

jamrat al wusta

the flood receded. and cleaning up starts.

and rescued someone.

a heli wanders above.

the street outside our maktab 105 turned into a shallow river.

dark clouds emerge.

the sky is getting dark, very windy. plastic bags and small litters floating high in the air.

out to Bin Dawood. seems that pepsi rules here, compared to coke. oh, and there's a camel walking by. have to pay some SR to have your photo taken mounting on the camel.

Melontar – day 2 of 3: The day Mina flooded

4:30 ~ 6:45am
Fajr, tazkirah.

6:45 ~ 9:00am
Breakfast, rest.

9:50 ~ 11:50am
To Bin Dawood - buy things for Naza.
Naza can’t eat solids. bought cereal & choc drinks, milk & chocolate snacks - twix, lion bars. Ah, been years since my last lion bars.
It’s quite windy on my way back, dust and light trashes on the streets blew away up to the sky.

3:30pm
Heavy rain.
Streets of Mina flash flooded.
most people's footwear washed away by rainwater. alhamd, mine (the pair ayah gave me) found ok. Found only one of Naza's, though.
Tents have drips of rain trickling in.
Friends received sms from Malaysia saying that the flood is in the news, citing sighting of twin rainbow. tried looking for the twin rainbow, but not allowed to go outside.
pity the sellers outside, they lost their trade things to the flood.
The streets turned into a river now.
I went here and there in maktab 105 to take photos in the rain.

Flood receded at 5.15pm thereabout.

Ustaz lead recital of Yaseen and Tahlil at 5pm til 6pm.

at around 8:30 after isya, went out for melontar with mak, naza and akak. we went with UTAS group along with guides.

going bald - done!

going bald - nearly there

going bald - before

barber shops available here.

public toilet

hajjs queueing for their turn at one of the public toilets. if one person takes 5 minutes, the 12th person would only have his 5 minutes an hour later... so one would have to be very, very patient out here. or, be there early.

maktab 105 view from top. in the background you could see the upper level of jamrah .