Andalus 2020 - part 5

Assalamulaikum and hi readers!!!

How are you? I hope you are in the best of health and may the odds be ever in your favour.

So, I've decided to finally write the last part of my journey of Andalus 2020. The trip was in January but it took me 5 months to actually complete the storytelling huhu. Forgive me, dear me :)

Egypt wasn't part of the trip at first because Andalus 2020 was aimed to include these 3 countries only; Spain, Portugal and Morocco. While discussing about the trip, we realised that to stay within our budget, we had to buy a return flight ticket with ~12 hours transit time, thus on the way back to India, we had a short trip/visit to Egypt!!

E.G.Y.P.T. This country could have been my first vacation destination with my parents back in 2014. But we plan and He plans, and He is always the Best Planner. That trip was supposed to include Abah, Mama, Ati and me, but because of the country's crisis and my parents were quite worried about my SPM (Because we could've been stucked in the country or whatnot, but nothing bad happened to my family, alhamdulillah). I guess, the vacation was not part of my 'rizq' anyways. My biggest anticipation was to visit my sister's university; Cairo University, where she spent the whole 6 years studying Medicine. She was one of our biggest inspirations after all hehe. And though to this date, I am still not sure of His reasons, but I believe He knows what's best for us in any given time :)))

Since we have a very short amount of time to move from one place to another in Egypt, we've hired ourselves a tourguide. It was a good decision, though I'd not recommend the same tourguide for myself hehe. The visit was in fact a tough period for me as tons of unsettled matters were in my head; the lack of sleep, the unstoppable crave for rice and home-cooked meals, the unbearable unhealthy skin, the supreme heat of Egypt, the caution we have to take towards any possible pickpockets, the terrible mood and the list goes on.

P/s: I hope the next time I'm in Egypt, it's going to be a memorable one, amiin, insyaAllah

My #7 tip: A 12 hour transit isn't that long actually, taking into consideration the hours we need to spare for immigration process into/out of the airport. And considering the huge number of people in the airport, it was quite a bad idea being here hehe. But if you happen to have more than 15 hours transit time, you may/may not explore the transit destination, if it's worth it. That depends on you okay? But in my opinion, like any other trips, I'd feel more exhausted mentally, physically &emotionally towards the end of the trip and eventually the anticipated excitement wasn't really there huhu. Instead of enjoying the trip, all I did was staring into the space aimlessly lol. My bad :))

Places we visit: Great Pyramid of Giza, Al-Azhar University, Nile River, bazar Khan-el Khalili

kakak ni kan kalau tgok muka dia dari pertama kali kenal sampai sekarang

sma je, tak berubah pun, mmg awet muda ke sis?

unta

makanan kat sini padu, tapi takde mood nak makan haha,

makan satay pastu kenyang,

lebih2 tu kita pass kat orang lain lah,

makasih temen2

suasana majlis ilmu dalam masjid al azhar ni umpama bayangan

yang jadi realiti, subhanallah

kalau sesat satu hal pula haha

perempuan shopping pun strees, tak shopping pun stress haha,

yang pakai baju hitam nampak effort sikit la nak faham shopping style perempuan,

yang jacket merah dari awal sampai sudah pening haha

husna picit apa tu

nak senyum pun rupa macam takmau haha

gambar ni mcm gambar abah masa 2014 in cairo hehe

And that sums up pretty much everything I'm able and would like to share with you, readers, I hope it can benefit you in any possible ways. Looking forward to my next Allah-knows-when-trip if the condition, time and budget allocation permits hehe, insyaAllah. Till then :)

Andalus 2020 - part 4

Assalamualaikum people!!!

So, here's the second last part of Andalus 2020 and I hope I am not too late for this. (Read: I hope I can still remember the details huhu)

3/2/2020 (Marrakech)

At this point in time, the amount of eagerness to go back to our second home aka Belgaum was really huge. We were up for Subh alhamdulillah and went back to sleep right after the prayer. It was definitely because of the incident the night before. Everyone was preoccupied with the laundry, drying, cooking, etc. We did all of that at around 2-3 am and especially for me, I did not have a second thought when reaching for my pillow and blanket right after Subh (forgive me for doing so Allah huhu). Strolling around in Marrakech was quite challenging because of the heat, so my best advice would be, do bring along your heat-protective equipments like the sunshades, your big hats or even umbrellas, just to make you feel less hot, though it won't do much honestly :)

 My #7 tip : Respect each other's decision. Even when they're illogical and tiring, always try to fulfil those deepest wishes, cause we never knew which kindness/sacrifices made will be accepted by Him. But, believe me, it's not that easy :) Nevertheless, I've seen this one girl's act ever since we befriended, and she made me realised that being kind to everyone all the time is not impossible. Thank you, amazing girl!

Places we visit : Medina of Marrakech (the town while we're in search for currency exchange shops), Koutoubia Mosque

cantik kan?

jauh jalan nak pi masjid ni, dah sampai , taknak masuk pula haha

berapa banyak kali dah kena camni, sakit jiwa haha, 

muka je boleh tampal senyuman, hati ini siapa yang tahu?

mood: sad

affect: happy

niat nak solat kat masjid ni, tapi takde rezeki, so duduk la kejap dalam masjid, 

tiba2 ada sorang pakcik panggil, dahlah pakcik cakap dlm bahasa dia , nganga semua, 

tapi gesture pakcik macam ajak ikut dia, so we followed our guts and ikut pakcik, 

ternyata beliau seorang bilal, dan subhanallah, 

tak sangka dapat rezeki tengok bilal azan depan mata dalam menara azan sendiri

live beauty 

ni pun ada kisah, nak cerita ke tak eh?

yang penting, kami happy sebab dapat makan dajajatun

 (satu2nya perkataan arab yg sy dapat kat morocco ahah)

tak sangka KFC boleh sesedap ni, hargailah makanan anda

dalam train ke destinasi terakhir, nak amik gambar pemandangan, 

tapi pakcik masuk sekali

pakcik terjaga sebab bunyi kamera ke? maafkan saya huhu

4/2/2020 (Casablanca)

Casablanca isn't as popular as others, but we were here because of the flight. Anyhow, we were captivated by the beauty of Hassan Thani Mosque and the sea by the mosque. And believe me, behind this smooth-sailing storyline, many things are left untold. It was part of the joy and sorrow (not that sorrow lah hehe, no worries) of travelling just like any other vacation stories.

My #8 tip : I believe this is the most beneficial tip of all haha. If you love being photographed and capturing moments, do be picky of your travelmates. Ensure that at least one of them could be your loyal photographer, who's capable to give you beautiful shots despite your many flaws hehe. I mean who doesn't have flaws? I do and I'm proud of it. Us; the twin, even studied through YouTube on how to pose, what would be the best angle and all those minute (unimportant) points hehe.

Places we visit : Hassan II Mosque

Emmmm, till then?

'The' Journey

Assalamualaikum and hi peeps! Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah for all of His mercy and blessings upon us. For those who don't know, I am currently in quarantine centre in Malaysia after our successful repatriation mission on 11th of May 2020. As always, I am that forgetful girl, who would have difficulty recalling her own past experiences, but I don't want to forget such a big and wonderful experience. And I couldn't agree more when people labelled it as a once in a lifetime experience :)

For your information, I am currently in my 4th year in a university in India. This pandemic of Covid-19 has made it all worrisome even until this very moment, because there are some of us who are still staying in the hostel. I believe everyone of you are significantly affected too, but just for my future reference, I'd like to commemorate mine in a writing. Many would ask about the reasons for deciding to come back, but trust me, either staying back at the hostel or coming back home are both risky. Our minds were full of queries and uncertainties, yet to Him we plead. And alhamdulillah, we are now here, safe and healthy. So, here's to 'the' journey from USM-KLE hostel to Goa International Airport and then to KLIA :))

Initially I wanted to go back with the help of #misipulangparents of whom, until now, I am very very grateful of. Needless to say, they've struggled a lot and their continuous efforts and prayers have finally been granted. And in a very surprising way too!

One day (sounds like a fairytale), a very joyous news came, there will be one flight departing from Malaysia to Jordan, and would be transiting in Goa before going back to Malaysia. This was like a blessing He hid, just to observe how we'd react in such situation. But as always, His plans are the best, and never with a wrong timing. Thus, we were told that we'd be able to board on the plane sponsored by the government and CG Mumbai would help us in terms of transportation from the hostel to airport. Alhamdulillah.

We were then divided into groups of 20, and our names are most probably listed according to PBL so, yeah, a small reunion had taken place in the bus huhu. I was listed in group named 'Kuih Lapis', the last group of all. The perks of being the last is you'd have to be the last person for every steps, but it's okay, I mean, I just had to wait and that requires very little effort, and since patience is a virtue, we get to spend our 14 days of quarantine in Sama-sama Hotel, alhamdulillah. This is indeed once in a lifetime experience. And mind me, I'm not trying to boast or anything, it's just that you guys have to know how meticulous, perfect and caring Malaysia is, was and always will.

Since telling yguys would require multiple paragraphs and that would appear unattractive for you readers, so I've decided to write it as follows :)

11/5/2020 (Monday)

1030 We were queueing for food and loading luggage into the bus. We're the last group, so we need not wait for others, but this was just the beginning.

peti ais kebanggaan kita, and in my fav colour too!

sian adik2 panas nak edar makanan, tak sanggup nak kata takmahu

The bus was surprisingly not equipped with air-conditioner, unlike the first 2 buses (and no we were not jealous initially la) and wallahi, we were as calm as a summer sea. We started the journey with du'a and goodbyes to the ones staying. Being me, I was quite late in occupying the front seats, thus I ended up at the last 3 seats from the back; with Ezzwan in front of me, Acap behind me and Husna beside me. Bickering sessions were unavoidable guys, haha. Then, there were a few stops made even before crossing the state borders, and I guess they were police temporary ports (?) to ensure that everyone is following India's government order. But just as I've mentioned before, being the last bus of the convoy, you kinda lose track of what's actually happening, especially when the internet was not available.

We got 2 seats each, as we were practicing social distancing, and like any other trips in India which requires chartered bus, the big luggages will always be more than the lugagge-storage for the bus. This came as no surprise, at all. Thank you to the guys, who helped us loading the luggage. 

Sharp at 1350, we were then stopped after a couple of hours going through Goa's crooked road, and alhamdulillah I was not affected with the motion. However, what we did not foresee was this time around, the stop is going to be longggg and sweatyyyy.

We could say that, the amount of sweat produced to overcome the heat was more or less the same as when we ran for a marathon, but the difference was that, the remaining journey was still too far, which means we were drenched in sweat at first that eventually dries up as the journey took forever huhu. We were drenched in hot summer bus, without wind, or air-conditioner or even a fan. I'd say that we did act like 'cacing kepanasan'. Many of my beloved friends asked about my skin esp my face, when I always had eczema attack in such weather. But, I did not have any options but to get through this, right? And so we did. :))

1730 After a 7 hour journey, we finally arrived at Goa International Airport. We were then asked to queue before entering gate D1, and filled up an exit form. Normally, only 4 hours is needed for a trip from Belgaum to Goa. We performed 'solat hormat waktu' just in case the process was going to be long and as Maghrib was nearing.

we were so relieved at the sight of this, all praise to Allah

2100 After changing into a fresh outfit, eat and perform solat, we were then asked to proceed to the gate. The only gate that is being opened. The airport seems deserted, with only us inside the building, and of course a few other airport staffs. We were greeted with smiles behind the face masks of AirAsia repatriation flight.

We were served with good meals and our hearts were at ease, alhamdulillah. The funny part of the flight announcements was they reminded us to take off the face mask before putting on the oxygen masks, and I guess that was undeniably important hahah

2200 We finally departed from Goa International Airport to Malaysia Tanah Airku.

12/5/2020 (Tuesday)

0430 Alhamdulillah, we landed safely in KLIA, which was as vacant as any other airports. Being the last batch, we were on hold for quite some time, and finally allowed to enter the waiting hall 30 minutes before Subh prayer.

0500 - 0720 The first batch went through screening as early as 0500, which proved that Malaysia's whole plan against this pandemic, is sooo efficient. However, ours were done at around 0720, and we were even entertained with 'Hari Raya' songs, before the sampling session. While waiting in line for our turn, we could see every frontliners doing their best in that uncomfortable PPE, may God bless yguys!! We were first asked to fill in the forms guided by a few RELAs and soldiers, before handing it in to the nurses on duty. Then, just like in any clinics, we will have to wait for our names to be called for the swabs.

I was quite nervous but I tried my best to distract myself form the nervousness, as all I had to do was showing my nose and throat. A few minutes later, my name was called, and my swabs were taken, by a pair of nurses, I guess? I couldn't really hear the instructions given by the one who was supposed to take my swab, but I just did what I knew. Haha. But it was quite shocking to see that my swab was red (bleeding sikit la huhu). Their kind hearts were obvious despite having their face and body covered with the PPE, when they asked, "Sakit ke, dik?" And my answer was,  Tak, tak, teruskan, ok je" haha. (padahal mata berlinang kiki)

And alhamdulillah, the swab results came out yesterday, and it was negative :)

ni tempat isi borang, sebelum amik sample

0725 Immigration
0730 Waiting hall
0800 Luggage claim

0815 Luggage sanitation was done as efficiently as we could ever imagine. I can tell you, that so much is being invested by the government to fight against this pandemic. So, why don't we just follow the rules? Of course, it's hard, but to break the chain, and to live with the new norm is globally implemented. Or you'd rather die with this infectious disease hah? Just do our part okay? And make sure to keep praying, because nothing is impossible in the hands of Allah.

ni bas penjara utk batch2 awai

terima kasih abg+kakak frontliner

ni bas kami, ingatkan hotel kami jauh, so plan nk tdoq dah,
alhamdulillah 5 minit ja from airport

0830 Board the bus
0915 Arrived at the quarantine centre, alhamdulillah

ni gambar bilik org lain, I hotel sama tapi katil queen

And the rest is history. There's so many things happened in the blink of an eye, and so many times we didn't realize that He has control over everything. Knowing that, we should always pray for the best, and nothing but the best for all.

To the ones staying in the hostel, stay strong, stay sane and stay healthy okay? I'd like to mention your names just because, hehe. This message is sent with love and care for Auni, Najwa, Hairun, Hani, Wani, Yazid, Harith and others. If you ever need anything, anything that I could help you with, just ws me okay?

And to the strong seniors, whom I loved and cared most too, stay strong, safe and healthy. There's just a few more months before all of this is coming to an end, insyaAllah. And I am just one WhatsApp away, okay <3. This message is for Kak Nas, Kak Wini, Kak Biah, Kak Mairak, Kak Min, Kak Asyik and all of you, Xanthrons. May the best becomes yours :)


Misc

someone managed to ss this before the news was deleted,

idk why but nvm,

this shows how sleeping is my best pose for the camera haha

'The' Journey ends here. I know that I owe myself and you, a continuation of Andalus 2020, but just let me finish ENT posting as of now. It's too hectic and energy-consuming haha. And till then, take care!

Assalamualaikum :)

Andalus 2020 - part 3

Salam everything. We are currently in the blessed month of Ramadhan, alhamdulillah. It is definitely different this time round, but there's so many things are yet to be explored. So, here's to a wonderful and istiqamah journey throughout Ramadhan, insyaAllah.

1/2/2020 (Spain-Morocco)

This was my first time on a  ferry with a large garage for cargo and a large area for foot passengers. It is also used to transport vehicles, and of course I was pleasantly astonished. What more when we definitely looked like we're lost most of the time, but the ferry crew were very helpful despite having to deal with so many things. Most importantly, from what I've observed, the ferry crew ensured that our safety is their utmost priority.
For your information, this ferry was equipped with prayer area, cafeteria and a few shops. And as a person who is always sceptical of my surroundings, I ensured that I am awake whenever we are on any mode of transport, be it the train, bus, ferry or car. I would always keep my eyes open, even when my mind is probably asleep, huhu. Thus, the whole time I was on the ferry, was filled with strolling around the deck for foot passengers. Upon reaching Morocco ferry port, to my surprise, the announcements of arrival were relayed in 4 different languages; Spanish, Arabic, French and English. Luckily for me, I can only understand English haha.

Little did we know, our arrival in Morocco was actually the beginning of a series of novel challenges :( We were welcomed by an insincere cab driver, who asked for an unbelievable amount of fare to get us to the bus station. We were surprised by such manner and were not sure of what to do next since by any means, we have to go to the bus station to get to the train station. Alhamdulillah for the fact that there is still a few respectable Moroccan, even when I was definitely judging each and everyone I met after the incident. I don't actually believe what people wrote about Moroccans, but throughout my stay in Morocco, I couldn't agree more. We can never actually enjoy the beauty of Morocco without the help of tour guide huhu, so, my advice is to travel in Morocco with someone who's familiar with the people, the culture and the language, okay?

tempat duduk passenger kat tingkat 4 kalau tak salah

ni seats kat dlm ferry tu, menarik, tapi tak open la space ni, tempat ni sejuk, perjalanan pun tgh mlm

bortingkek-tingkek

tu crew2 yg baik hati, tenang hati saya lihat huhu

ni keto2 yg dlm ferry

langit indah bumi morocco mungkin untuk memujuk hatiku yang panas dibakar sikap manusia dan syaitan huhu

tunggu bas pun satu hal, morocco tak se-efisien spain, dan maklumatnya kurang lengkap

train station

ni je mode of transport in morocco, sbb daerah2 dia besar

mcm bahagia kan anak2 ni haha

muka penat layan masyarakat tempatan

sampai dah kat Fes, kota dalm kubu

the blue gate, dan kita tidur je haritu, jauh kan perjalanan

2/2/2020 (Fes)

My #6 tip : Always be aware of your surrounding, especially when you are travelling solo or in a women-only group. Better safe than sorry, so do put your backpacks in front of you, there's definitely a lot of people spying to pickpocket you anytime and anywhere in the city. If you're not careful enough, things could go wrong huhu. And never allow anyone to be too close to you, okay?

Places we visit : Fes el Bali (the tanneries with main entrance of Bab Boujloud; the blue gate)

nasib tak beli puzzle ni

pokcik baik

masjid yg xde rzeki nak masuk

the tannery, seronok tgok je lah, tapi byk working hazards ni

bandar fes dari atas

order air mineral, rupanya tak reti bahasa dia, dapat air gas uhuk

first time makan makanan Morocco, last time lah jadinya ahah

hi fwen

tandas pun nak amik gambor

bargaining

ya Ahmad, si pengukir ayat suci al-Quran, ramai pengukir kat sini cantikkk

kucari semula donatnya yg lembut, ternyata hanya dibuka pagi huwaaa

Gare de Fes

tetiba alin hilang bakat amik gambar lol

tapi sue amik cantik, tq sue,,,

tu daun mint, dia bagi sebelum masuk tannery, sbb bau dia masyaAllah

I can't believe that it has to be separated into so many different parts; the Andalus 2020 story. But thanks to you, readers, I am now able to write as freely as I am talking to those I cherish and trust. Till our next post, adios!