Back To Routine

I arrived at LCCT airport last Saturday at 4.20am. Luckily Hakeem and Nabila were very ‘good’ and they woke up easily. I was worried at first especially Hakeem.. but Alhamdullilah.. everything was fine. We waited at the airport till 6.15am. I just want to make sure that out there was bright enough and I could see around then only took the taxi back home.

My dad was around for the last one week to accompany my elder daughter Deea and my maid at home. Thanks Ayah.. Anyway.. I am so glad to be back at home. I couldn’t sleep at all in the plane and was very tired.

In the afternoon I cooked lunch.. Gosh.. lama betul tak makan masakan melayu ni.. Nabila and Hakeem ate a lot. They pulun habis the chicken as they missed eating chicken.. hehehehehehe.. SO for the rest of the day I just stay at home and relax..

Yesterday morning, my dad went back to Kedah. I took my children out for lunch and did some groceries. Actually when I woke up in the morning I had a terrible head ache. I felt like there was a big stone on my head. By the time in the noon, I already shivering and having body aching. I hate having this feeling. Alone without hubby and sick! After taking pain killer I felt better in the evening. Alhamdullilah..

Today is the first day of school for Nabila and Hakeem after a week break. I had a very difficult time to wake them up. They cried, whined and all I hear was “I don’t wanttt tooo gooo tooo school” Aduh… it took me 10minutes to get them up to the toilet. Hakeem was still crying even while having breakfast.

But by the time they reached school and met their friends.. ok ah pulak gelak2 and berlari.. Huh.. along the journey both of them were so quiet which was so unusual. So there goes back my routine..

Lama lagi ni nak tunggu deorang holiday....

Sayonara India

Seven days I am in India, all I could say it is a tremendous experience I had. The people here are so nice and welcome. The foods.. hmmm… needless to say.. it’s always finger licking good to me!

Seven days also I and my children spent time with hubby 24/7. This evening all of us will leave India. Hubby will be going to Oman and me back to Malaysia.

I am sure besides hubby, the children would also miss the time we had here. The morning breakfast we had at the hotel, the morning greets that we had from the people in the hotel and also the ‘auto’ or trishaw that they love to ride.

Every morning when I woke up and pulled the curtain, from the hotel view I could see the setinggan house down there. I also could see many many people carrying a bottle of mineral water finding spots for their ‘busines’. There is a large compound at the opposite of the hotel. I could see all of them squads at different spots in the bush. Nampak kepala and kaler baju je ok… :P

Along my journey at any time, seeing people standing and pee by the roadside is a norm thing here. At first menjerit2 nengok.. After that tak heran dah.. I even tertengok a guy was squatting nak berak tepi jalan.. cit.. immediately I asked the children to turn and not to look at it!

My shoes were always dusty. Walking on the street here was sometimes adventurous too. Takut terpijak hasil2 mereka waktu pagi tu… Along the streets either in the town itself – New Delhi or small regions that we passed by going to Agra, we could see many setinggan house. This setinggan houses are build using any unwanted plastics or banner. They cook, eat and sleep there.

The whole India is dirty as the roads here always full with rubbish and dusty. I wonder where is the place or area that I watched in any of hindi movies. I feel pity and sorry looking at the people here. There are of course rich people here but the poor people here are just so poor. The country is so big with high populations of people. This is where you should have a good leader to lead the people.

Nevertheless… the beauty and modern of India could also be found here. The shopping malls here who of course for the rich and famous sell many international brands in market. I still could find clean toilets, good hotels and restaurants in here. This is of course for the people who have money.

Anyway, being in India is truly an experience. I have a mixture of feelings now – HAPPY spending time here with hubby and just can’t wait to be home but at the same time SAD as hubby is not following us back to Malaysia.

May I arrive home safely and hubby reaches Muscat safely too. Sayonara Delhi. Sayonara India.

No matter what, I’m still a big fan of bollywood movies!!

The Incredible Taj Mahal

It took us about four hours journey from Gugraon to Agra which located one of the seven wonders in the world – Taj Mahal. Once reached at the gate, we were greeted by the tourist guide and he brought us to the main gate/entrance. At that point I still couldn’t see the Taj Mahal and just couldn’t wait and was really thrilled about it.

There was a very long queue at the West gate and we had to walk about 5 minutes to take another gate which was the South gate. This is actually the entrance for the workers but the guide belasah je bawa masuk.. After passed the security check we were already in the area but still I couldn’t see the Taj Mahal. After brief explanations from the guide, we walked to the arch and where I stood there I saw the Taj Mahal.

Once my eyes set upon this beautiful palace, all I could feel and say was it is such a spectacular and breathtaking view. How lucky Mumtaz Mahal to have a loving husband that build him this beautiful castle. Sadly she was not alive to see this beautiful monument of loves.

I guess everybody knows the story of Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal was build by Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife. It took 22 years and the labor of 22,000 workers to construct the monument, which is also said to be the last wish of Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal architecture is a kind of fusion of Persian, Central Asian and Islamic architecture.

When I walked closer to the palace, I was amazed again. Amaze of how people thousands years ago could build such a huge and beautiful things like this. The whole Taj Mahal was made from marble. It has beautiful calligraphic work which mainly consists of the verses and passages from Quran.

The view inside the Taj Mahal is as magnificent as its exterior. Sadly photos were not allowed to take inside here. It says that Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal original grave were actually down at the central of the Taj Mahal. Publics can get to visit the original’s grave only during the day death anniversary of Shah Jahan. As for the normal days we could see the replicas tomb at the same position at the central of the palace.

After about two hours spent there, all I could say.. Taj Mahal is so beautiful. People say it is even more beautiful during night time. As what Shah Jahan's own composition in praise of the Taj Mahal is found in Badshah Nama:

"The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs and makes sun and moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made to display thereby the Creator's glory."

I told hubby.. if you were to build this beautiful castle for me – do it why I am still alive! Hahahahahaha.. Anyway.. the trip was such a worth trip to all of us. I am here with hubby and children to witness this incredible of Taj Mahal. One thing is for sure that if you visit Taj Mahal once, its memories will remain etched in your memory forever.

Foods in India

If I were to stay here another week, I will come back to Malaysia with a new shape of body.. perut boroi and kembang sana sini!! Hahahahahaha.. Foods over here are just so super duper yummy. I just couldn’t stop myself not to taste or eat.

Since the day I arrived, my breakfasts were Indian’s breakfast. It would be poori, idli, naan bread or whatever that you called Indian’s food. I just love to try it all one by one. Hubby said I won’t be suffering for hunger if we were to stay in India. Hahahahahaha.. indeed it’s true coz I just love Indian foods.

As for my lunch it would be briyani and briyani.. Since we were here we had turned to vegetarian. We doubted that meats or chickens here are halal. Vegeterian pun makan sampai tak ingat dunia. Be it either briyani vege or naan/poratha vege it’s just tastes so yummy and you don’t even notice that it is actually vege.

Hakeem is more adventurous in foods compare to Nabila. Nabila already complained about the foods here and wanted to eat chicken or food back in Malaysia. She hardly ate or reluctant to try. Yesterday I forced her to try out the briyani. After having it, she said.. “If I know it taste this good, I had eaten it from the day one!” Then she also tried Hakeem’s poratha and liked it immediately. Huh.. hari ke-3 baru nak rasa sedap…

So last night we walked to the nearby vegetarian restaurant to have our dinner. The place are always crowded as it’s one of the famous place in town. We had a set of Thali which consists of naan/paratha, paneer subzi, pulao, dal, papadom, salad, pickle and sweets. They really enjoyed the food.

Today hubby brought to the famous restaurant nearby to taste the briyani. Ni mmg 5 star restaurant kut.. We were greeted by 5 or 6 people at the door. They were wearing smart uniforms and the customers inside the restaurant too muka India2 kaya….

We ordered Vege Briyani and yes!.. finally ikan tenggiri goreng. Nabila loved it most as she missed so much to eat fish. The briyani was superb.. seriously I ate like a horse which later on sampai nak termuntah!! We had two sets of briyani, paneer curry and fried king fish. We even packed another king fish to eat for our dinner tonight.

At the end of our meal, they gave each of us a bowl of water with lime in it. I told the kids… jangan minum k.. these are not deserts but water for you to wash your hands! Cool kan… ye lah.. makan restaurant mahal… but still after converted to our money it was not that expensive.

So I have another two days to pulun makan briyani… Balik Malaysia kena kerja keras diet balik!!