The Sacred Journey Part 2: Mecca & Jeddah

This entry will describe my travel in Mecca and Jeddah. Keep rolling down the blog and enjoy. (:

I stayed for 4 days at Ufuk Al-Fath Hotel Mecca for 4 days. It's located approximately 500 meters from Masjidil Haram. I took the first Umrah at 2 in the morning. Still remember the first time I saw Ka'bah. It was an indescribable feeling. I cried at that time, couldn't believe I could see Ka'bah directly. It was such a wonderful blessing I've ever had. Subhanallah.

When I did Tawaf wif granny. The golden glass enclosure behind is known as Maqam Ibrahim. This is the standing place of Prophet lbrahim (peace be on him) when he used to stand here while building the Ka'bah with his son Prophet Isma'il (peace be on him).

After shalat Ashar around Masjidil Haram

Around Masjidil Haram there are many hotels with tens -even hundreds of floors, the most famous ones are Hilton Tower and Zamzam Grand Suites. When I was in Mecca, a giant clock was built on a skyscraper so called Makkah Clock Royal Tower. It's already finished now and replaced the GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) in London as the world's biggest clock.

The project of Giant Clock is behind me

In Mecca, I went to camel farm located in a desert a short drive away from the downtown of Mecca. You can buy fresh camel milk here.

One day before getting umrah, I toured to a museum placed in Hudaibiyah, outskirt of Mecca. The museum keeps some important things from Masjidil Haram like weaving curtains of Ka'bah, a teak staircase of the Holy Ka'bah and mouth piece of Well of Zam-zam.

After 4-days-travel in Mecca, I tripped to Jeddah to visit Siti Hawa's cemetery. Unfortunately, it was just allowed to see the tomb from bus.

Siti Hawa tomb is behind the wall.

During my time in second largest city in KSA after Riyadh, Jeddah, I went to the Floating Mosque. It is located just next to Red Sea which gives the impression the mosque is floating in the water.

Before catching flight, I went shopping to Al-Hijaz Shopping Center. It's an international modern market and sells many products like sajadah, clothes, foods and souvenirs. There was a surprised and wonderful thing happened here. When I did shopping wif dad and Adzan Dzuhur calling people to do shalat, sellers directly closed their shops and everyone stopped their activities to do Shalat together in the mall. It's hard to find in Indonesia literally.

At 7 o'clock I flew back to Indonesia from King Abdul Aziz International Airport. Such an unforgettable moment and Insya Allah I'll go back to this holy land next time. Amen.

The Sacred Journey Part I: Medina

Happy Eid Mubarak, blog-walkers!

In this special moment, I’d like to post about my travel journal to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Although it was so last year, but just wanna share some Islamic historic sites in Medina, Mecca and Jeddah where I’ve been. I went to KSA to get Umrah alongside with dad and granny.

I touched down the King Abdul Aziz Airport Jeddah at late afternoon. Then headed to Medina - the city of the Prophet Muhammad - to check in at a hotel called Al-Haram where I stayed for 3 days. It took two hours to get there by bus.

Medina really wowed me by its beautiful buildings and of course the Nabawi Mosque where Muhammad was buried. From the hotel which very near to Nabawi Mosque, I could see a modest mosque named Imam Bukhari Mosque. This mosque looked quiet because people choose to pray at Nabawi Mosque.

Imam Bukhari Mosque amid the lofty buildings in Medina

Nabawi Mosque is behind me :D

Besides Nabawi the prophet's mosque, there are two more oldest mosques located in Medina. One of them is Quba Mosque. It is the oldest mosque in the world. Its first stones were positioned by the Muhammad on his emigration from Mecca to Medina and the mosque was completed by his companions.

In front of Quba Mosque (the first mosque in Islam's history)

After having a sight-seeing to Quba Mosque, I wandered up to Baqi' Cemetery located to the southeast to Nabawi Mosque. Many of Muhammad's relatives and companions were buried in this graveyard. One of them is Uthman ibn Affan.

Pilgrimage to Baqi' Cemetery

Another amazing place I visited was Jabal Magnet (Magnetic Hill). It's situated around 30 km from Medina. This mysterious hill is believed having a magnetic power. To prove the phenomenon, the bus that I was in could run without engine power against the slope! cool huh?! One more strange phenomenon found is there is a writing of Allah on the slope formed by black stones. Subhanallah.

The slope with Allah on it! Subhanallah.

In the last day in Medina, I went to Medina Dates Market. Here you can find many kinds of dates such as Ajwa - the prophet's favourite date, chocolate dates. Apricots are also sold in this place. The market is surrounded by date palm trees.

Next place to visit was King Fahd Quran Printing Complex. This place was built by King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz in 1985. The company produces about 10 million copies a year. It has published 55 different translations of the Quran in 39 languages. Only men could enter the company, so I and the other women in the tour stayed outside while having a look of some Quran displayed in a waiting room. My dad got one Quran as a souvenir.

Inside the printing complex, taken by dad.

 That's all my 3-days-travel recap in Medina. By the way, Medina was getting so hot at the time with 46 degrees of Celcius. So, if you are willing to go Umrah, it's better to visit around January-May which is not as hot as June-December.

You're Not Getting Older, You Are Getting Better

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party

I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Dance

I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Dance

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too, yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Beatles’ Birthday is travelling through the air of my crib. Hell yeah, I am officially an agent 23 right now.

In my head, I am knitting an imagination in which I am the stardom. The four-piece line-up of Lennon, Harrison, Mc Cartney, and Starr are singing their Birthday song to me and we dance hysterically together. Haha wish those were true and I would never ever forget that wondrous time.

Anyway, I am dreadfully grateful to Allah the Most Merciful for the breath He gives until this second. Really thankful for every single small blessing He brought to my life. Thank you thank you thank you Allah. Alhamdulillah.

Honestly, I do have loads of hopes and generally I’m expecting something big will happen to my life, wishing God’s light will keep leading me to my dream, my goal, my destiny. Specifically, I crave travelling around Indonesia and the world, discovering new epic places with my loved one – heaven yea just the two of us. Then, I wanna build my own business whether it’s a shop or share (Yes, I wanna be like Warren Buffet). Last but not least, wish I can survive in my post-graduate study and grab the master title in just two years. Amen.

From now on, I wanna be someone new, someone who can make this life matter, someone who grows much much stronger facing the true life ahead.

By the way, birthday is an ephemeral moment which comes once in a year, but thankfulness should remain whole year, rite?

Well..apart from that, with tons of love I’d like to say ‘merci’ to all friends for their sweet greetings and hopes. You are the sweetest, pals :D

Best Friend's Graduation

Heylo heyday!
At last, three of my friends in Friendsix: Nda, Uwi, and Boyu had a graduation day on Monday August 15, 2011. So, the only friend remained in UPI is Bung Es (Keep up your spirit bung! :D). I should have taught in 3 different classes that day, but I left them. I did it all for you gals :D
Okay, let the pictures tell cause pictures can say what the words can't.

with bung es in front of Al-Furqon Mosque waiting for the late one: Icih!

flowers for Dik C mate

Me, Icih, Nda, Bung Es (Left to Right). Taken in the middle of the crowd by Nda's daddy.

Met Boyu at English Department. Poorly minus Uwi.

One of the campus spots which suddenly turned to a market every graduation day. You can find many things here in cheap price.

Actually, that was a plain graduation day ever. Just met two friends instead of 9 classmates we should've seen! And the worst was I couldn't find Uwi. Uwi left the campus before I arrived. So sad :'(

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Done!

Happy 66th Independence Day, my country Indonesia! :D
Anyways, finally I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II. Yeaaay!

I watched with daddy while mom and sister watched Kungfu Panda. The movie is totally awesome and phenomenal. Must see once again in 3D!
Here is the synopsis:

Image's from Google

Director: David Yates
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, is the final adventure in the Harry Potter film series. Harry, Ron, and Hermione search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes in their effort to destroy the Dark Lord. In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here.
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1201607/ , http://www.harrypotter.warnerbros.com

Fast Track:
Bandung Trade Center (BTC) XXI
Lt. P2/3, Jl. Dr. Djundjunan (Pasteur) No. 143-149
Phone (022) 612 6521

Ticket Price:
Saturday/Sunday/Holiday: IDR 20,000
Monday-Friday: IDR 15,000

A Target to Gain Body Weight

Hello, blog-walkers..
If most girls want to lose their weight, I've been trying hard to gain weight. Eating noodles in the middle of the night, munching crackers every day, over eating more than 3 times in a day..but that didn't work for me. I gave up, maybe I am written to be a skinny people. But I think I am just too skinny, I wanna have an ideal weight - 55 kilograms - Mine is 10 kilograms less than that, while my height is 165. Could you imagine me? Well, too skinny right?

And this time, I decide to drink high protein milk. Yes, Appeton Weight Gain. Interested in the ads' tagline: Untuk bikin badanmu isi..isi..dan berisi, I think I should try one.

This is a milk formula manufactured for skinny people. It contains all the essential amino acids required to gain weight. I prefer to choose the chocolate flavor. When I took the first glass, the taste is a bit salty. Yaiks! But I have to drink it. Perhaps it's caused by the amino acids.

Let's take a look at the ingredients. It contains skimmed milk, milk proteins, vegetable oils, sugar, chocolate flavor (vanilla flavor is available), fibre, vanilla flavor, minerals, vitamins and soya lecithin.

According to the information attached on the cap, recommended consumption is 3 times a day, 1-2 hours after meal. The process to gain weight by drinking this milk is 2-3 months. So, let's see 2 or 3 months later, will I look more fat than today?

Product Info:
Appeton Weight Gain 450 g = IDR 170,300
Appeton Weight Gain 700 g = IDR 240,000
Appeton Weight Gain 900 g = IDR 370,000

Museum Geologi, Here We Come!

Today, I and best friend of mine had a visit to Geology Museum. Yoo-hoo akhirnya saya menginjakkan kaki juga di tempat ini setelah sekian lama. Terakhir saya berkunjung kemari ketika saya masih duduk di bangku sekolah dasar. Been so looong!

Untuk melihat-lihat koleksi di museum ini, saya tidak perlu mengeluarkan uang sepeser pun! Cukup dengan mengisi buku tamu dan saya bebas berkeliling. Bahkan parkir pun free of charge :D

with Tyrannosaurus Rex Osborn

Eka with fosil kerbau pra sejarah

Evolusi Manusia Purba

Pithecantropus Erectus

Stalagmit

 

Okay people, last words: better to visit this place instead of hanging out at a mall! :D

Fast Track:
Jalan Diponegoro No. 57 Bandung 40122