To land my feet on Masjidil Haram was an emotional experience for me. Tears of humility and gratitude flowed down my cheeks as I walked the marbled floors and finally caught sight of the kaabah, with Aqil wrapped in my arms in the wee hours of 21 December. I was overwhelmed, it was a dream came true.
After completing the umrah rukun at 3 am, the children were flat out. Afzal slept while Aqil, though exhausted couldn't and was quietly watching tv. It was less than 2 hours before fajr prayer and after a good shower, hubby was wide awake and decided to return to Masjidil Haram for his fajr which I gladly loved for him to do that, while I stayed at the hotel for our children and performed my fajr in the hotel room. After fajr at about 6 am, we went for breakfast with Aqil who somehow could not sleep yet while we let Afzal continued sleeping as he could not open his eyelids. After breakfast, we then caught some sleep. I put my alarm at 1130 am so as to have another shower and prepare for dzuhur. The kids were still tired and Aqil was cranky as can be seen in the top left picture.
He wanted to be with me instead of his dad and brother, so I gladly brought him to the women solat area - my bag filled with a book and colour pencils for his doodling. So he sat beside me and doodled while I prayed.
After dzuhur, we had lunch as provided in the package, and after which we treated the kids to Saudi ice-cream since everyone back in Singapore had suggested for them to have it.
After Asar, the kids were still jet lagged that they wanted to rest in the hotel room so Afzal volunteered to stay with Aqil in the room while both hubby and I made our way to Masjidil Haram for Maghrib.
Hubby suggested for us to just stay on till Ishaq before we return to the hotel, and will meet me back at our usual meeting point - in front of KFC at Makkah Hilton's entrance to return together.
After Maghrib, I literally wandered around the square - soaking in the atmosphere, reflecting on my life's deeds and misdeeds, seeking his Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness for myself and my loved ones.
It was a purely me and Him time.
After Ishaq, I waited for hubby in front of KFC, but he was unusually late. The other pilgrims from the same travel group had already made their way to the hotel and yet no sight of hubby. It was only much later when I took out my handphone and saw his sms message. He had returned to the hotel immediately after Maghrib because Afzal had messaged both of us that Aqil was crying loudly and was asking for us. Astaghfirullah, I didn't realise both Afzal's and hubby's sms messages on my handphone until then. I quickly walked back to the hotel room.
When I reached the hotel room, Aqil was asleep. Hubby had also dozed off while Afzal was watching tv. Hubby apologized for dozing off while I apologized for not realizing the sms messages. He had returned to the hotel after Maghrib for the children so he performed Ishaq in the hotel room instead. I felt a little bad though.
The itinerary after Ishaq was for the pilgrims to take a coach ride to Muzdalifah for an Arabian dinner. With Aqil already asleep and all of us physically exhausted, everyone was agreeable to give Muzdalifah a miss. I told hubby that Afzal and I will inform our tour officer that we will not be joining them and will get simple dinner from the local shop. Another family with young children also gave Muzdalifah a miss. We also needed to reserve our energy for Day 3. That night, we had broast - their specialty fried chicken for dinner and slept soon after.
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