I am off to Africa - again

In Jan 2008 I did the African 4x4 trip from Cape Town to Mombassa. We covered seven countries -- South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya -- five game parks, two deserts, several rivers the famous of which is the Zambezi with its Victoria Falls at Livingstone on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was a most interesting experience. Read all about it in my Travel Blog website as noted on the right panel.

Now, I am going again to Africa; this time to do the northern half from Dar-es-Salaam to Cairo. We'll do five countries -- Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt -- two game parks, lots of desert in Sudan and lots of ancient history in Eqypt. There is a river boat trip also from Wadi Halfa (Sudan) to Aswan (Eqypt) over Lake Nasr. I am looking forward very much to this trip since it means that I'd have covered Africa from bottom to top; by road...

Akak Teh passed away

Akak Teh Madon, my cousin Zakaria Gadoh's first wife died at 4:00 pm on Tuesday 8 Mar 2011 at Sultanah Aminah hospital Johor Bahru. She was suffering from pancreatic cancer. She was 80. Funeral was on 9 Mar, attended by all her 8 children and their children, relatives and friends. She was buried at the Mahmoodiah Muslim Cemetery Johor Bahru at 11:30 am.
Ham and I drove to JB the night of 8 Mar and stayed at Kintan's apartment at Danga Bay, quite close to Akak Teh's house in Bandar Baru UDA. We left for KL after lunch and snooze just before 3:00 pm arriving home at 7:30 pm on Wed 9 Mar, 2011.

Omran going to Mekah

My nephew, Omran Zakaria and his wife Faridah Hanim Saibon are going to Mekah for this session 0f the Hajj from 1-30 Nov 2010. There will be a Doa Selamat at his house in Bandar Seri Damansara this Sunday 24 Oct from 11:00 hrs followed by lunch. Fatimah (Adik) and husband Halim will also be going. Selamat pergi dan selamat balik; semoga dilorongkan Allah untuk mendapat Haji Mabrur.

Ein Passed Away

My brother-in-Law, Rahim Hamid 70, Ham's brother passed away at 11:30 pm on Tuesday 14 Sep, 2010. He is survived by his wife Nor and 7 children. Ein had a stroke on 12 Sep while on a Raya visit to his sister-in-law's house at Teluk Intan. He fell into a coma on the chair he was sitting on while enjoying hidangan raya. He was taken to Teluk Intan Hospital and was treated at Intensive Care for 2 days but did not come out of the coma. So on 14 Sep evening the doctor advised that there was not much hope and he could be taken back to his home at Tanjung Rambutan. He was buried at the Muslim cemetery at Tambun near his father's grave. Alfatihah.

Open House

It rained quite heavily the night before but stopped around 7:00 am in the morning. The weather was thus quite balmy and cool. After Eid prayers it was better and was just fine throughout the day. So it was a wonderful Raya and our annual "Open House" went off very well. The usual relatives and friends turned up including some long lost ones. Pity half of my brood were not around. Sabrina, Zaki's wife was not there either; she was in Montreal attending the World Energy Exhibition 2010. However, my Rotary friends turned up in good numbers and an old family friend from Singapore also turned up driving all way up and back. The books that I wrote about my overland travels were of great interest to everybody and I was ever so pleased. It became a talking point; but to me it was a truly satisfying effort for a retired guy who needed to keep his brain working.

Best Part of Raya

For me, the best part of Raya is the family breakfast after the Eidil Fitri prayers. Every year since I retired, I made it point to have both my wives and our children over to my Taman Perwira house for the breakfast of lemang, rendang, ketupat, laksa and other raya goodies. It's nice to see the children kissing our hands minta ampun dan maaf to the three of us in anticipation of the duit raya. We reciprocated them with tender kisses on the cheeks and the duit raya of course. Now they are grown up and some have gone to study or work and live overseas. But we never forget them; rather we missed them more than ever. It is sad that of late we have not been able to really have a family reunion at Hari Raya. In fact I wonder when it'll be just us...

Selamat Hari Raya

It's raya tomorrow. I miss my children who are not with us: Ida in London, Nani in Dubai and Faritz in Melbourne. Anyway, that's something every senior citizen has to accept, I suppose. The girls have left the nest and are on their own. But Faritz will come back soon after he graduates this year, I think.
Anyway to my relatives and friends who happened to view this blog, Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin to you all.