My Hajj Journal Day 5, 2August2017.

Shah Village Hotel, PJ.
01:10 we are still here. no flight information received.
07:00 fourth day at the hotel. no news of flight status. going for breakfast.
12:30 lunch. received information that TH and Andalusia to work their best to solve all flight arrangements by tomorrow. A briefing will be held later tonight.
13:05 Aziz Hamdan came for a visit. 

Old friend, Aziz Hamdan, came to visit me at the hotel.

 
18:30 dinner at hotel. prayers. rest.
23:22 two members picked up by TH for departure- firdaus and wife.
the rest of us remained on standby. the supposed briefing did not take place.
00:45 Firdaus and wife were sent back to hotel. mixed up by TH of flight seats.
TH claimed Andalusia has not compiled all passports. what is really happening? 

My Hajj Journal Day 4, 1August2017

Shah Village Hotel, PJ.
06:00 morning prayers. third day at the hotel.

07:00 breakfast. 2 more couples had left this morning. one was Zamrah and wife from Penang.  we rested and waited for our flight information.
12:00 lunch. Nina came to join us since she was at her PJ office. 

 

Nina joined us for lunch.

A bunch of us shared our thoughts and opinions of our predicament. after lunch, zohor prayers and rest.
18:30 after asar prayers, we went to Amcorp mall.
19:00 dinner. followed by maghrib prayers.
21:00  isya prayers and rest. still no update of flight status.
Sleep.

My Hajj Journal Day 3, 31July2017

Shah Village Hotel, Petaling Jaya.
07:30 Breakfast. could see several new faces. also, a few of Andalusia staff at the hotel also. Pn Aisyah said she was asked by her company to be with us. She will coordinate matters with TH officials. Regarding Saudi visas, there seem to be a backlog between TH and Saudi embassy.
10.00 AM- Asmah and many others received information that their visas and passports are ready. Next, there is the matter with flight seats availability. We should know more by tonight. Went to Amcorp mall nearby. Had coffee at Gloria Jeans.
1.00 PM lunch. knew names of others- Zam and wife, Awang and wife.
6.30 PM- no new update.
7.00 PM Dinner.
8.00 PM prayers. rest.
22.00 no info updates.
22:17 - 7 couples got called up for flight.
For the rest of us, another night at the hotel.

My Hajj Journal Day 2, 30July2017

At Shah Village Hotel, Petaling Jaya.
08:00 - Breakfast at the hotel. all meals were provided to us. There were 38 of us lodged at the hotel. We started making acquaintances. Firdaus and wife. Kumeraad and wife. Ramdan and wife. Several others we exchanged greetings. We spent the day resting and wait. We also informed our children and close friends of our situation.

Lunch and dinner past without any update of my wife's visa.

After 10.00 PM, a TH officer came. 4 couples were called up to proceed with their flight. so, another night at shah village hotel. 

My Hajj Journal Day 1, 29July2017

Arrived at Kelana Jaya by 5.00 PM. send off party by Aziz, Zharif, Nina, Fazree and little Zafeer. The place was very crowded with people. 

 Ezlin and Fizam arrived with their little daughter. Elaini and family arrived later.

My son Zharif, nieces Elaini and Elaini and my grand-nieces.

 

With Fizam, Ezlin's husband.Grandson Zafeer in my arm.

 

Hasbullah, Elaini's husband and son, Alias.

 

From left, Aziz, Asmah, Nina, little Zafeer and Wati (Asmah's cousin)

 
6.00 PM - After collecting our name tags and bracelet, we waited for our turn to enter the hall. 
9.00 PM -When we entered the hall to collect our passport and saudi visa. I received mine but Asmah did not. We were directed to another hall. we were briefed by TH officer that there was some delay from Saudi Embassy in issuance of the visa. We were lodged by TH at Shah Village hotel Petaling Jaya. We arrived at the hotel by 3.30 AM.

Kenduri Doa Selamat 15 July 2017

My wife and I will be going for our Hajj journey on 29 July 2017. We held special prayers, a "doa selamat" at our home at Wangsa Melawati. Those invited were our community, neighbours, family and friends.

After the "doa selamat" we entertained all the guests with a lunch. The special star of the menu was roast lamb.

Glad to see our family and friends who came to visit us. They enjoyed the food very much.

My thanks to all family, friends and neighbours who came.

ETS Train Ride to Ipoh and Butterworth June 2017

My first ever ETS train ride was to Ipoh to visit my wife’s eldest brother. I had to purchase the return tickets 4 weeks in advance, the period being Hari Raya Aidil Fitri holidays. It has been many years since I took a train ride to the North. My last trip by train to Taiping or Butterworth was with the Express Rakyat or Express SInaran in 1998. I wondered how the country side scenery have changed since then. Those years, the Express trains were run using diesel-electric locomotives. The tracks were single line all the way.

The KL Sentral to Padang Besar line is now fully electrified and double-tracked. I had two trips planned this June 2017. One was to visit my wife’s brother, Hashim, at Ipoh. Another was to Butterworth to attend a wedding dinner.

The journey between KL Sentral and Ipoh station took about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The trip by train brought back a lot of old memories of the journey during my younger days. Several landscapes have changed due to housing or industries. However, much country side along the tracks remain unchanged. I noticed that much of the marsh lands near Batu Gajah has been developed into housing estates. Regretfully, I did not get a glimpse of the old power station near Malim Nawar which is now a training center for TNB.

The old large railyard at Tapah Road has gone. Where there were many track sidings, engine shed and a turn-table, are now empty land with overgrown plants. I could see the new railyard for building and maintenance of the new ETS trains near Batu Gajah.

The journey from KL Sentral to Butterwrth took 4 hours 15 minutes. I waited excitedly for the train to pass through the Victoria Bridge across Perak River, the new tunnel at Bukit Berapit, my hometown of Taiping, the Bukit Merah lakes and the swing bridge near Butterworth.

I enjoyed the ETS train ride. It was smooth and fast. A great improvement over the previous Sinaran Express or Express Rakyat services.

I still enjoy the scenic view of the country side by rail.