Spiritual Journey to Baitullah

Alhamdulillah. I finally had a chance to visit Mecca in December 2014. Thank you Allah for everything. The feeling of happiness and anxious at the same time which can't be described in words. I know it's a bit late to write this post, but I have to. This is a memory I won't forget.

I thank you all the Ustadz & Ustadzah from Maghfirah travel too, for the lessons, tausiyah, and the guidance. It helped me so much. I learned to appreciate lil things more. I was reminded again how Nabi Muhammad SAW fought for Islam in the past, so we must not waste the struggle. The schedule made by Maghfirah travel was good, even though sometimes there was a sudden change that slightly annoying. I registered for Umrah special parenting, well it was my aunty who registered to this program. So yeah, I had to join some parenting classes during the Umrah trip apart from the regular schedule. The other program was city tour, recitation, knowledge sharing (tausiyah), and some religious time together.

Let's begin the journey. We visited three big cities in Saudi Arabia; Madinah/Medina, Makkah/Mecca, and Jeddah. Here's our schedule in 9 days Umrah special parenting which was starting on Des 24,2014 until Jan 1,2015.

Day 1 (12/24): Jakarta - Medina

We had 9 hours flight from Jakarta to Medina on Dec 24,2014 at 6 in the morning. So we basically need to be at the airport by 3 AM. There was a huge turbulence along the flight. But Alhamdulillah, we arrived safe and sound in Medina around 11 AM Saudi Arabia time / 3 PM WIB. It's 4 hours differences between Jakarta and Saudi Arabia. 

The check-in hotel regulation in Saudi Arabia is at 6 PM. While waiting, we visited some places such as Quba mosque (it is sunnah to pray there), dates garden (to shop and lunch), and Mount Uhud. Mount Uhud is a historical place in Islamic religion. 

Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport

Quba Mosque

Dates/kurma garden

Road to Mount Uhud

Did you notice something? The housing in Medina is unique, unlike in Indonesia the houses are only covered with flat rooftop and the village is surrounded by the rock hills.

View from the top of Mount Uhud

Beautiful sunset in Mount Uhud

At 7 PM, we could finally check in to our room at Jewar Elsaqefa Hotel. Well, we supposed to get a room at Movenpick hotel, but Maghfirah couldn't get it for us. I wasn't sure why was the reason. Anyway. I was still grateful to have been given the opportunity to come at this far. After get everything settled, I went to Nabawi mosque for Isha. That was the first time I set my foot in Nabawi. Subhanallah, It's beautiful and I felt so peaceful when in there. It's a place that can't be forgotten.

Day 2 & 3 (12/25-12/26): Medina

The other two days in Medina, we spent our days n nights mostly at the mosque; to pray and have a tour around it sometime. The tomb of Nabi Muhammad SAW is located under the green dome in the mosque area. Assalamualaika ya Nabi. The tomb was originally located outside the mosque. This change occurs because of the expansion of the mosque area. We also went to Asmaul Husna "The Beautiful Names of Allah" exhibition which located next to the mosque.

Maghfirah travel also facilitate us to go to raudhah together at night (Raudah is taman surga which located between the house of Nabi Muhammad and his podium. It is an area in the mosque which is marked with green carpets. For female pilgrims could enter the area through gate 25.). We had to wait for 2-3 hours since a lot of people want it so badly to pray there. While queuing, the Ustadzah tells us a bit story about raudah and Nabawi mosque. Currently, the gate to raudhah (for women) is restricted only at certain times; after dawn/subuh until 10 am, after dzuhur until 3 pm, and after isha until 12 am. On Friday, the morning schedule is only until 8 am. CMIIW. In Raudah, we can perform the sunnah prayers (istikharah / hajat / sunnah mutlak 2 rakaat) and pray. It is suggested to gather few thoughts of what you gonna ask/ of whom you want your pray to address to before hands, so that you can pray it fervently when you are at the raudhah.

Note: you are not allowed to bring food, luggage, and camera into Nabawi Mosque (inside the mosque). Smartphone with a camera is allowed, so you can still take some memories of it.

The glorious Nabawi Mosque

Where thousand of people gathered in one fine Jumma Mubarak

Nabawi at night

Day 4 (12/27): Medina - Mecca

After three days in the city of Medina, our group proceed the journey to Mecca. This is actually the core of this nine-days-journey. Umrah! We took a bus from Medina to Mecca for about 5 hours long. But before that, we stopped at Bir Ally for miqat / a stated place. Miqat can only be done at specific places. Bir Ally happen to be the nearest one from Medina.  It only took few minutes from our hotel in Medina to Bir Ally. When the stated has been done, all restrictions of Ihram were applied and we were encouraged to read talbiyah and dzikir during our way to Mecca. Well to be honest, I was a bit nervous too at that time. I was worried that I couldn't done mabrur umrah.

The rites of Umrah is basically consist of 5 activities; stating an intention/niat, dressed in ihram, tawaf, sa'i, and ends with tahallul. So we have stated an intention just before at Bir Ally and dressed in ihram. Then we began tawaf at 10.30 PM. Tawaf was done by circumambulating the Kaaba for 7 times, in a counterclockwise direction. Then proceed with sa'i that went back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwa 7 times. And ends with tahalul by cutting a few strands of hair. Alhmadulillah. I was overly happy that I was able to finish my first Umrah smoothly. We went back to the hotel at 3 AM. 

Masjidil Haram at 3 AM

 After done the Umrah, Alhamdulillah!

The saolin soccer boys :D aren't they so cute!

Day 5 (12/28): Mecca

We didn't have much schedule in the day time. So after get enough rest, I went to hunt for food after dzuhur at zam zam tower. I will write post about my food journey in Saudi Arabia in the next article. Then after asr at Masjidil Haram, we had afternoon tausyiah with Ust. Hatta while waiting for Maghrib. At night, our scheduled was for tawaf sunnah and pray in the Hijr Ismail. Pray in Hijr Ismail is sunnah but it as important as praying in Raudhah at Nabawi mosque, just like in the Raudhah people were queuing and jostling to pray in Hijr Ismail.

Day 6 (12/29): Mecca

Today we had some time for city tour around Makkah. We visited Gua Hira, Gua Tsur, Padang Arafah, and Mina. Here, Ust. Hatta told us a story when Nabi Muhammad was trapped in Gua Tsur chased by the Quraisy. Lessons learnt from the story: Try our best before asking for a help. Help of Allah appears when strictly necessary. InshaAllah, a miracle will come to who was in trouble at the right time. In the afernoon, we had Umrah bada after asr and finished it at 10 PM.

The spot when Adam and Eve met (with auntie, lil cousin, and elder brother)

Ends of Arafah line

Thousand tents at Mina

Day 7 (12/30): Mecca - Jeddah

This is our last day in Mecca :'( We gathered at 3 AM to perform jamaah tahajud. Then proceed with thawaf wada (thawaf perpisahan) after subuh. I prayed deep in my heart to get another chance to visit Baitullah again one day for either hajj or umrah. Amin yra! Goodbye Mecca, til we meet again inshaAllah.

Next schedule, before departed to Jeddah, there was a closing ceremony with Abah Ihsan. Lesson learnt: our true best friends are our parents/children, not a friend nor a neighbor nor a boss/subordinate. Parents who always remember us in their prayers, who always devoted in our joy and sorrow. Thank you Abah Ihsan for this reminder. 

At 2 PM we continued the journey to Jeddah. We only transited in Jeddah for couple hours before our flight to Jakarta. On the way to Jeddah we visited the red sea and floating mosque/mesjid terapung, and had little shopping at balad shopping center. We finally checked in to our hotel in Jeddah at 8 PM.

The farewell (with my elder brother)

Between Red Sea and the Floating Mosque (with my lil cousin)

Day 8 & 9 (12/31-1/1): Jeddah - Jakarta

We checked out from hotel at 9 in the morning. The boarding time of our flight was at 1 PM. It was 9 hours long flight + 4 hours time difference. We arrived in Jakarta on the ninth day, January 1st 2015, at 2 AM. This is the end of the journey. That was all the schedule we had in 9 days Umrah.

As you can see, we had activities days and nights. I felt restless but Allah gave me the strengths during my Umrah journey. Alhamdulillah for 2014. I ended it with some good deeds. Let's begin the year of 2015 with new spirit. Bismillah :)

Jeddah International Airport

Return tickets to Saudi Arabia

Travel essential for Umrah:

- Comfortable shoes without laces since u will need to take it on and off when you get into the mosque.

- Shoes bag to bring the shoes inside mosque since there is not enough shoes locker inside the mosque

- Couple of socks

- Mini Al-Quran

- A guide book of sunnah prayers & dzikir

- Tissue

- Mask. The air is so dry, so it sometime hurts our nose when we breath.

- Small prayer mat/sajadah & praying clothes/mukena

- Abaya or gamis is a must bring. It's really convenient to go around with abaya when in Arab, and it is common to pray with abaya.

- Shoulder bag

- Long scarves

- When you tavel in winter, you will need to bring a coat and some thermal underwear to wear in the morning and night when the temperature is around 18-20°C. At day time, the temperature goes to normal and it is as hot as in Jakarta. Medina is colder than Mecca and Jeddah, so you don't need those coat/thermal underwear anymore in Mecca and Jeddah.

Things provided by Maghfirah travel:

- 1 Luggage
- 1 Passport cover
- 1 Shoulder bag
- 1 Prayer book
- Name tag
- 1 Hat
- 1 Gamis + 2 instant hijab/bergo (for woman)
- 1 Praying top/atasan mukena (for woman)
- 1 Muslim clothes/baju koko + 1 peci (for man)
- Ihram dress top and bottom + 1 belt (for man)

- APS (Alat Pendengar Suara/ hearing device) with a deposit of 1m per person. This is what I like the most from Maghfirah travel. Technology really makes life easier. It helps you when you perform tawaf, sa'i, jamaah prayers, and city tour.

Memorable Trip to Japan

A short trip yet memorable to Japan, specifically to Osaka, Kyoto, & Japan. We traveled for 5 days with extremely dense schedule (1/18/14 - 1/24/14). I traveled with a friend of mine. I departed from Taiwan, while my friend was from Jakarta. I will have another post to list down required documents to get Japan visa in Taiwan. It is actually pretty easy, especially if you are student. Also, you can visit my other post on Japan delicacy here.

Before we get started on the trip. There's something you might want to know for travel preparation. These are must-bring-items when you travel abroad in winter season: 

Winter coat, comfy boots/sneakers, hat & scarfs, toiletries & cosmetics (handcream, moisturizer, etc), Lonely Planet/other travel guide book, water bottle/tumbler, camera, smart phone, power bank, passport & ticket, small diary & pen. 

Tips:

1. Download useful app such as *Hyperdia (android only), Tokyo Metro Subway / Trains.jp (iOS only), and Google Maps / MapsWithMe (iOS & android). Some apps need an active internet connection. Hyperdia offers the route and the timetable of the railway within Japan. Unfortunately, this app is not available on iPhone for free. All iPhone user need to do is opening Hyperdia website in Safari.
2. Rent Mifi (Mobile Wifi router provide you a high speed Internet access in Japan). You can order it in advanced from Japan-wireless.com or right at the airport.
3. Bring water bottle/ tumbler to save cost on drinks.
4. Leave some space to your luggage when you leave, as you will end up buying some cutesy things when you get back. 
5. One coat or two is enough. Bring more scarfs and hats, so you can mix n match it with your coat for your daily looks. 
6. Bring more inner thermal wear since it is so cold out there.
7. If you already know where you going in Tokyo, you can purchase discount ticket of Metro Line with your boarding pass. Make sure you know which metro line you are going to take. Read more information here.

Day 0 (1/18): Arrival in Kansai Airport

I was arrived at a small airport in Osaka. After waiting for a while, I realized it was not Kansai International Airport. It was apparently Peach International Arrival area. FYI, Peach is a low-cost airline based in Japan. Peach offers flight service only to Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. Peach airport is part of Kansai International Airport and there's shuttle bus every an hour that can take you to Kansai airport.

I met my friend once I arrived at Kansai int airport. The plan was to reach my cousin place to stay there for couple days. In fact, we were stuck in the airport since it was too late to take train to Suita City where my cousin lived. So we spent the night at the airport.

By the way, I was so amazed with every single tech they have, including toilet. It was winter, but the toilet seat was warm and has a remote control on it. There are several buttons but this one impress me much, the music button, to disguise the sound when you pee or poo. Anyway, that was for my first night in Japan, sorry for me being too tacky about toilet. I just thought that was one of my fabulous finds. LOL

Day 1 (1/19): Osaka

Woke up at 5. We had our first breakfast in japan at McD, and took off to my cousin place right after. It's quite a long way to reach Suita City from Kansai airport. We finally arrived around 10pm. Since we don't have too much time, we decided to go shopping straight away. And there we were in Osaka City, around Namba, Dotombori, and Shinsaibashi shopping area. I tell you that it was huge. No wonder people around the world come and shop there. From the top brands like Uniqlo, H&M, Zara, Forever 21, and Disney store, to street stores including second hand store, to infamous Fugu fish restaurants, to street snacks, everything was there! And there's a giant billboard of running man, a logo of Glico, where you should take picture in front of it.

Day 2 (1/20): Shiga Biwako Valley ski resort.

The main purpose of winter trip was to see snow. We were so excited when we first saw the snow, especially when it was snowfall. Shiga Biwako Valley is famous for skiing. When we arrived at Shiga station there's a bus that took us to a higher place. From that point we need to ride cable car to reach a top of a mountain where the skiing area is actually took place. The price of skiing/snowboarding set is ¥9,800 or about IDR 1m. The package includes ski/snowboard, skiing clothes, goggles, shoes, a meal, and one return cable car trip. Too bad we didn't take enough pictures because it was way too cold to take off our gloves and took snapshots. Neither skiing nor snowboarding was easy, my body felt like cracking after fell off too many times.

Tips:
Join a group training for additional  ¥1,000. That will be so much help for newbie.

Day 3 (1/21): Kyoto

We departed from Suita City to Kyoto as early as we can. We scheduled for only a day in Kyoto. My friend had planned it very well. As we all know, Kyoto is a well known city for its history. There are tons of temples and traditional houses there. We went to several spots as we planned, Arashiyama bamboo groove, Kinkaku-ji gold temple, Ginkaku-ji temple, and Gion. Unfortunately, Ginkaku-ji temple was closed at 4.30 PM and we arrived there at 4.45 PM. Even after we ran to get there, we still couldn't make it. Anyway, we're still happy because we found the green tea puff store in front of the temple. Then, we finally at Gion area strolled around the city before we departed to Tokyo.

Arashiyama Bamboo Groove

Kinkaku-ji Gold Temple

Day 4 (1/22): Tokyo

Arrived in Tokyo at 7 AM in the morning. We reserved backpacker hotel at Sakura Jimbocho. The hotel was quite clean and cheap, price at ¥7,850 /person for 2 nights. It's suitable for backpackers. We got a private room for two persons, a bunk bed with air conditioner, TV, WiFi, and a shared bathroom. Since it was for backpacker, you can do your own laundry at the basement level. After putting our bag in our room, we decided to go right away. We bought 1-day ticket for Tokyo Metro & Toei Subway price at ¥1,500. We went to Asakusa for little shopping and had our lucky wishes there, to Tokyo skytree to find Tokyo banana store, watched sumo tournament at Ryogoku (¥4,900), and finally headed back to hotel. Well, it was quite random trip I've ever had. We didn't intend to watch sumo but the tournament was held right when we were there, we're just curious to see. 

At Asakusa temple

In front of Tokyo Skytree

Sumo Tournament at Ryogoku

Day 5 (1/23): Tokyo

We bought 1-day ticket of Tokyo Metro & JR Line price at ¥1,580. We went to Tsukiji fish market in the early morning. Tsukiji is one of the largest fish market in the world which located in central Tokyo. I saw many kind of sea creatures, I even saw extremely big tuna fish that is probably bigger than me:)) We continued our trip to Harajuku, it is best to go on Sunday if you want to see Japanese cosplay. Then to Shibuya to see the overly crowded Shibuya Cross. Starbucks in Shibuya is the best place to capture that moment, but remember to take pictures or video secretly, because we are not allowed to do so. We also visited Hachiko statue near Shibuya station, and lastly we went to Ikebukuro to look for Kit Kat store. Sadly, all Kit Kat unique flavors were sold out:(

Tsukiji Fish Market

Harajuku station

Day 6 (1/24): Departure to Taiwan

Finally that was the end of our trip. It was a time for me to go back to reality, back to a student life in Taiwan. I was early at the airport, I wanted to buy something for friends and family back home, and I got plenty of Kit Kat unique flavors and Tokyo banana. Happy ending trip:)

Visit my other post on Japan delicacy here.

Transportation system in Taiwan

Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) is one of the several things that impressed me greatly. It has stops in all major cities in Taiwan. This service lets you visit places around Taiwan super-conveniently. Fast and safe! Plus, there are plenty vast network buses with comfortable air-conditioned to get you from train station to your destination.

To buy a ticket, you can go to the counter or use the ticket vending machines. Note: if u use this kind of ticket, don’t forget to keep your ticket til you pass the exit gate at the next station, or you’ll have to pay a fine. But, If you’re going to spend any length of time here, it’s much better to get yourself an Easy Card* the best part of using this as a student is, you can get a discount on railway n bus fares.

*Easycard is a ‘touch-and-go’ card for payment, to pay bus and other public transport services. And u can also use it to buy things in convenience stores (7-11, family mart, etc) or supermarkets. You can get this card at the Taipei main station counter.

Before you go, you can check the updated timetable and fare information at this website. They also provide online booking service. Any buses or train will always be on time upon the schedules (well it is delayed sometimes, but in my experience I never wait for more than 10 mins, unless something wrong happen), so u dont have to worry of wasting your time waiting for them.

• Taipei MRT

The Taipei MRT really makes your life easier. Taipei is the capital of Taiwan which means there are many places to visit here (Taipei 101 city icon, attraction places, shopping mall, etc...) and Taipei MRT is the best way to fulfill your travel desire. You can get maps and booklet for information about places-to-go (which is in English) at Taipei main station. It will guide you where to stop and go. The fares are based on the distance you take. You can check the fare and amount of money you have left every time you beep your card to a reader device.

Taipei MRT map

• TR pass (Taiwan Rail pass)

This is another cool package. With this ticket, you will have unlimited access to TRA services (local and express train). TR pass let you travel around Taiwan for several days, depends on your ticket type. When you have this, you only need to show the ticket to the staff when you go-in and –out the station. I think this is really convenient for foreigners, who don’t own private car, to visit several places at once.

Ticket type/price

5-days pass / NT$ 599

7-days pass / NT$ 799

10-days pass / NT$ 1098

This program is actually to encourage youth citizens and foreigner students to travel around by train.  More information available here 

My TR pass, when i went to Hualien for Tzu-chi camp

• THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail)

And..this is another awesome thing in Taiwan. They always have answer for every complaint. When you need to get to the other side of Taiwan in a hurry, THSR is the answer (台灣高鐵; táiwān gāotiě; www.thsrc.com.tw/en/). It is operated from capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaoshiung. A bit expensive, but I think it’s worth it. You can cut your travel time by two third. Let say, Taoyuan-Kaoshiung with TRA à 5 hours long. Taoyuan-Kaoshiung with THSR à 1.30 hours long.

I definitely would love to have something like this in my country, or at least in Jakarta first. In 2004, the former governor came up with the idea of bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Jakarta. Unfortunately is not really solving the traffic jam in Jakarta. Now, the new governor forced to start the MRT project in October 2013. It is estimated to finish in 2017 for several routes.  I really hope this would work. Let’s hope for the better future. My sweet hometown. 

100 years before the birth of Doraemon Exhibition in Taipei

Doraemon!! Who doesn't love this Japanese cartoon character, I guess he is every child's best friend. FYI he's having his birthday this year, 100 years early. In order to celebrate it, there's traveling exhibition around the countries, and it drops by in Taipei starting on Dec 29,2012. So I went there on Dec 31, right before the New Year's Eve. It wasn't a good idea actually, so crowded at that time =.= yet we still enjoy taking pictures like a child :P

For those who want to visit, here is the information...
It will open from Dec 29,2012 to April 7,2014
Venue: Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei
Visiting hours: 9am - 6pm
Fee entrance: NT$ 220, student NT$ 200
How to get there by MRT:
Take the MRT blue line to Taipei City Hall Station, exit 1 or 2 and walk for about 400m or to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station, exit 5 and walk for about 500m. 

three child-wannabe

Check out the map below for clear direction:

View Larger Map

Taipei 101 & NYE

Taipei 101, it is known as a skyscraper building in Taiwan which comprises 101 floors and has served as an icon of modern Taiwan. Since I am now in Taiwan, I went to Taipei 101 many times.. without reaching the top floor of the building until one day my brother came and forced me to go up with him.

The fee entrance: NT$ 400. A little bit expensive, but my brother paid for me, so it's ok:D

anyway, the elevator speed is so fast, we can reach the top only in seconds! cool! and there is  a big damper steel ball in the top-central of the building. This steel ball keeps Taipei 101 safe from the earthquake and typhoon. yeah, Taipei's earthquake and typhoon are pretty shocking me, it happens a lot and quite strong.. but the amazing fact is they prepared for that!

Take a look at this Damper Baby comics!

  

 

 Damper babies~

 The view from the top

Brother & sister in action

How to get there - From Taipei Main Station (TMS):

By MRT: take blue line to Taipei City Hall station, exit 1 or 2 and take 15 mins walk.

Fee entrance to 101 floor: NT$ 400

New year's eve, every year fireworks launched from Taipei 101. I watched the fireworks twice there, in 2012 and 2013. I was quite impressed how these people manage a bunch of visitors who came to see the fireworks in Taipei 101, safe and secure. If I were in my country, I will just give up and prefer to stay at home, watching movies or do something else.

 New year's eve 2012

 New year's eve 2013

stay exist in a crowded night xD