Pilgrimage Journal 2013: MAKKAH (Part 1)

Assalamu'alaikum. Good day olls.

Alhamdulillah it's already the 4th day of Ramadhan and gosh, it's such a beautiful rainy Saturday here again in KL.. me voilà! I know that I had promised in one of my earlier posts titled, June 12 to update an entry on my recent Umrah trip in May. Well I guess you could tell from my title above how excited I am to share that wonderful 12days-journey-of-a-lifetime experience with all of you now. Hope you'll enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing and looking forward to reread it in the future! Heheh...

[Note: I prefer to spell Makkah instead of Mecca and Madinah instead of Medina]

Day 1 (May 19, 2013): Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) - King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Our flight to Jeddah was scheduled at 3PM and we were asked by our agent to be at the airport by 12noon. Anyway, we headed off to KLIA as early as 8:30AM as we were vewy punctual plus over excited! :p

My mmuaah mmuaah baby sister, Princess Nia
Hello? She wasn't crying 'coz I was leaving, ok! She was actually sleepy -,-

Breakfast with our loved ones

Since we entered Makkah first instead of Madinah, hence, the guys would need to get ready with their ihram garments (two-piece garment of white cotton cloths). They could wear them either at the airport or in flight. As for my hubby, he wore his ihram garment at the airport since it is more convenient to do so. We came in a large group this time and the group was later being divided into 3 subgroups. There were about 40 people in each group. And my family (me, hubby, his mom & his sister) was put under group #2 with the young and talented Ustaz Muhibbudin as our mutawwif (tour guide). *Wink*

My tag

I had actually performed my first Umrah back in 1996 but that was when I was still in primary school! Hence, the feeling was completely different compared to this time.. I mean visiting there as an adult. Honestly I was very nervous and so excited that I wasn't able to sleep all the way! Huhuhu.

Reading the step-by-step Umrah guide again and again...
Unlike my usual trip, I couldn't believe that I didn't sleep at all!

An in-flight announcement was made about 30 minutes BEFORE we passed the miqat makani point (a stated place for assuming ihram). Our miqat point was Qarn-ul-Manazil since we entered from Malaysia.

Finally arrived in Jeddah at about 6PM (local time)

It was such a very long queue when we arrived at the airport. We only managed to settle everything at about 7:30PM and we were later taken to the Holy City of Makkah by bus. Well the journey from Jeddah to Makkah took us nearly about 1.5 hours (if I'm not mistaken). Our hotel called the "Hera Hotel" was located about 600 meters from Masjidil Haram (believe me that it wasn't actually that far! :p). Once we arrived at the hotel, hubby and mom followed the rest to Masjidil Haram to complete their Umrah and only came back after performing their Subuh (dawn) prayers there... hmm whereas my sister-in-law and I had to stay at the hotel (in ihram!) due to the women so-called monthly cycle thingy excuse! T_T

Day 2 (May 20, 2013): Leisure activities

So everyone was FLAT! Therefore, we were advised to have enough rest before the next Umrah. Alhamdulillah, I managed to complete my Umrah on the second day (accompanied by my beloved hubby). So the two of us went to Masjidil Haram at night (well Mr. Hubby acting as my mutawwif! HEHE). Anyway, I was speechless upon seeing Ka'abah for REAL.. in front of my eyes again after 17 years!! ALLAH KABEER!

The Grand Mosque. Captured this view after performing our Subuh prayers. SubhanAllah!

After the 1st Umrah. Just love being there!
Celebrating the fact that a woman's life is indeed easier without make-up,
fancy dress or even parfum. And the best part is having realized that
neither you nor anyone actually cares about it! Hehehee...

Aite fellas, until now. In Shaa Allah will continue with the rest of the journey in my upcoming posts. And that will be very soon. So do come back for more interesting stories and adventures, ok! Happy weekend. Ma'assalamah.


Nikita xo

Ahlan wa Sahlan ya Ramadhan!

Assalamu'alaikum my dear Muslim brothers & sisters!

Ramadhan is loading!!! Hence, I would like to wish all of you HAVE A BLESSED MONTH OF RAMADHAN 2013M/1434H. *So we'll officially start our fasting month tomorrow!* :)))

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “When the month of Ramadhan begins, the gates of the Heaven are opened and the gates of Hellfire are closed, and the devils are chained”. (Source: Sahih Bukhari 1800)

Marhaban ya Ramadhan Kareem
Credit to hdwallpapercorner.com

Credit to ISLAMICPOSTERS.ORG | CO.UK

One of the two essential elements of fasting: INTENTION!!!

Credit to doaayatdanzikir.wordpress.com

The Ramadhan 2013M/1434H Schedule...
P.s. Only for Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya & Selangor

Imsak & Iftar 2013M/1434H
Kuala Lumpur & Putrajaya, Malaysia

Imsak & Iftar 2013M/1434H
Selangor, Malaysia (Page 1)

Imsak & Iftar 2013M/1434H
Selangor, Malaysia (Page 2)

Good Vibes Festival

Hey hey hey peeps!!

It's going to be a 'not so long entry?' this eve. Well I just would like to update on my upcoming activities... walaah! Hmm I guess some of you already know about this but perhaps some may not? And to those who just got to know about it and wish to grab the early bird tickets... I'm so SORRY for the late post! Huhuuuu.

Good news to all music lovers out there (especially those who were big fans of alternative rock and Britpop somewhere in early 90s), Future Sound Asia is organizing a festival called the "Good Vibes Festival" this coming August 17 at the Sepang International Kart Circuit and guess what?! THE SMASHING PUMPKINS & ASH will be there... LIVE IN MALAYSIA, guys!!! Besides that, international bands like Modest Mouse (love this band too!) and Japandroids also will be there together with our local bands; PESAWAT, Monoloque, Kyoto Protocol, Pitahati, etc and other bands from the Southeast Asia (as far as I'm concerned). And it is said that the festival also features ART, FOOD and FASHION attractions to create the complete festival experience. I mean how cool is that..?!? Woaaa seriously can't wait for it, baby! B)

The famous American alternative rock band,
Smashing Pumpkins
Source: fridaetv.com

The Britpop band from the Northern Ireland, ASH
Source: townfulloflosers.com

The awesome Malaysian band, PESAWAT
Source: the-wknd.com

[Just a little highlight about the local band, PESAWAT here... I really like these guys! They were kind enough to make it on our wedding and that was 4 years back!! They played 2 songs last time, "Mirage" and unfortunately I couldn't recall what was the other song... hehehee. And I would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the ex-members of a local band once called THE ROCKETTS for also attending our reception (two of them are actually my Mr.'s friends) and wutta surprise that they actually composed a new song especially for our big day! SO SWEET. *Wish they'll read this someday..* They were all awesome and we were so unfortunate for not being able to take photos together with the lads last time! *Honestly it wasn't that easy to be at the bride & groom position... :p* Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this official music video by PESAWAT performing "Mirage". Love it!]

Aite, back to the topic! They've started selling out tickets for the early birds at MYR128 (starting from June 17 - 23), pre-sale tickets at MYR158 (June 24 - August 16), door sale tickets at MYR188 (on the day itself!) and VIP tickets at MYR258 (June 24 - August 16). Well I got to know about this info from my Mr. earlier (who is really into Smashing Pumpkins and Ash..!). Just imagine how annoyingly he was... texting and SKYPEing me all the way just to make sure that his pathetic wife managed to get those early bird tickets! *Duh..* Anyway, you can buy the tickets either online via myticket.my or at any authorized outlets as mentioned in their website. Simply visit www.goodvibesfest.com for more event information and highlights, ok? I hope this info helps! So see you there, maybe? Toodles ^3^

Nikita's catch-of-the-week:
2 early bird tickets to attend the Good Vibes Festival with her annoying Mr.!

June 12

Assalamu'aleykum wbt. Peace to everybody~!

It's been a while... I know! It has been exactly a month since my last article.. HEHE. Well I was actually taking my own sweet time for another 2 weeks++ after we came back from our Umrah end of last month :) So how's everyone? I miss you guys!! Hopefully things are going well with your life right now. Stop worrying too much and please be happy as always, ok? *Wink* Me?? Alhamdulillah, never feel better than this! ;))

Well I guess most of you probably think that I'm going to write about my recent pilgrimage, right? Honestly I'm really excited to blog about it but unfortunately not for this entry. But In Shaa Allah that'll be very soon, I promise! Will keep you guys updated so worry not! Anyway, I've quite a number of big events happening this June (even for the first 2 weeks!) and feel like sharing ALL of them here... hehehe.

JUNE 12 - My wedding anniversary. Our SOLEMNIZATION (the Muslims called it "Nikah") was held during this date and it was after Isha'. Alhamdulillah for this year is the 4th year of us living together as hubby and wifey.. tehee! Such wonderful years for the two of us. I've actually planned (a crazy one!) for our anniversary this year but unfortunately since the past 2 years, we never had a chance to celebrate our anniversary together (gosh, blame it to my hubby's company!!). Hmm I'd seriously think his company has this kind of conspiracy. They're just being jealous and it was so obvious that they purposely booked his flight ticket (for the recent trip) just a day before our anniversary! So what do you say about this? Hence, looks like I was indirectly 'forced' to postpone my so-called plan to next year huh... what the @%#$?!? MuaHAHAHAHAhahaha..... huuuuuuu *!psycho and heartbroken!* T_T

Whatever it is, I feel really blessed and grateful for Allah SWT has chosen him as my other half. And I said this truly right from the heart. Anyway, here are just some of the pictures taken on JUNE 13, 2009 (during the reception on my family side @ the Grand BlueWave Hotel, Shah Alam) just a day after our solemnization. Well we had 3 ceremonies altogether; the solemnization, reception on my family side (a fusion English wedding concept) and reception on my hubby's side (a traditional Malay wedding concept). My apology for not uploading my pictures in full as I was still not wearing hijab at that time.. huhhu. ENJOY VIEWING!! Ma'assalamah.

Feels like yesterday...
The lovely wedding logo designed by our friend, Idan

SYAHRIR NURDIN - His label has becoming very famous
among the Malaysian celebrities nowadays. *Am so proud!!!*

❤ My customized wedding dress designed by SYAHRIR NURDIN ❤
Thank God, it still fits me well even until today! 

The "Bunga Telur" (designed by my Mom)

Equipment for the "Merenjis" session

The "Pelamin" designed by my Mom's friend, Brother Sham

Yummylicious menu for the guests..!

Among the doorgifts c/w lucky charms

More doorgifts please...

Thanks so much to those who managed to make it on our big day, 4 years back XD

The stage where we performed ;)

My 12-year old baby brother (at that time!) & my cousin's daughter..
Well June 13 also happened to be his birthday so we have double celebrations on that day :)
I sincerely would like to thank my beloved parents and siblings, all my family members, my in-laws and our friends for all their hard work in order to make our wedding a success T_T
WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!

My good looking, awesome yet very humble fashion designers...
SYAHRIR NURDIN (left) & FIRDAUS

"O Allah, bless this marriage til Jannah"