Jejak al-Misr 4: : Food.

Baked fish fillet
tokasid Nokia
( on board cruise ship)

Before I continue about Luxor, am gonna sidestep a bit today. But,not to worry.Its still about Egypt but not about the sightseeing part.Not about the tombs or ancient temples or about the Pharoah's loo.

Its about food. The kind of food that we had while in Egypt. I can't remember when or where I've eaten so much and so frequent except in Egypt. Every few hours interval there's meal for us.
By the time we came back, I can feel my waist getting bigger and my face became, as my friend said: Kembang!

Egyptian food: some,like me and Hafiz we love it so much that we didn't complaint. Some became fed-up after a few days and it goes like this: " Ayoo...every meal we have bread,bread and bread!".
Or like my mem: " I don't want to see anymore chickpea.Ever!"(and I would say to her: Chickpea soup la paling sedap sayang!")

Pitta and bread
tokasid Nokia
(Luxor)

We had rice over there. But the main staple is bread. Any kind of bread as long as they are bread.And pitta bread.
When it comes to rice, its a bit sticky like the beras siam.

Then they served you with lots of vege in the form of salads. There's cucumber( so sedap and no bitterness like some of our cucumbers). Any red juicy tomatoes that you would want to stop picking up and chew it slowly to savour the sweetish sour taste. And they have smoked brinjal which is acceptable to me(otherwise I'll only take brinjal pajeri).

They steamed carrots and potatoes and broccolis.
And the chickpea soups. So ever delicious that I'm drooling while writing this.

Dessert in the desert
tokasid Nokia
(Luxor)

On several occasions we had meatrolls that they barbecued . And somewhere in Giza we had barbequed pigeons! Thats really the best menu for me. The pigeon was tender and juicy.It was sweet.

The desserts were mostly sweet , so I rarely touch them except for the ice-cream cake and the fruits.

Fishes were smoked( on the ship and in Alexandria).

I know some of you are drooling at the moment. You would want a piece of tissue paper or your bath towel to wipe off your saliva.

Overall, the food on board the cruise ship was fantastic. It was tasty and the service was fast.The waiters were very helpful and friendly.

One negative remark though: We were told when we first arrived,by Muhammad, that for every meal we will be given 1 bottle of mineral water for 4 pax. 2 pax per small bottle. if you need more drinking water, then you'll have to pay extra. And the big bottle will coast you 4 EP.


Enjoy the food okay! Hmmm....I mean the photos of the food.

Kerp, your request dah fulfilled kan?

Papa,mama and 3 children
tokasid Nokia
(Luxor)

Jelly cream...sooo sweet
tokasid Nokia
(Luxor)

Steamed vege
tokasid Nokia
(Luxor)

...and a squeeze of lemon here!
tokasid Nokia
(on board cruise ship)

Help yourself
tokasid Nokia
(on board Nile cruise)

Healthy salads
Hafiz N73
(Kabab restaurant Luxor)

Simply delicious
hafiz N73
(on board Nile cruise)

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Jejak al-Misr 3: Valley of the Kings and Colossi of Memnon

King Tut( not King of kentut okay!) foto from internet

Luxor( al-Aqsa)
foto Hafiz Nokia N73

Luxor. Its actual name during the Ancient Egypt is Thebes(Greek word). When the Muslims came to Egypt, it was called al-Aqsar in Arabic. By native Egyptian lingo the al- is not pronounces as al- like we Malaysian do but with a silent alif(a), so its was pronounced as 'l-Aqsar. When the Europeans(Brits and French) colonised Egypt and started to explore the land al-Aqsar became Luxor,as per-European spelling.

Luxor is in Upper Egypt(southern) and one of the most famous open museum in the world,with its ancient monuments,temples,tombs and relics. If you have the time and patience just check it out here and here too.

Written in the stone
foto tokasid Nokia 3110c

As Muhamad had told us, our bus headed to the west bank of Nile in Luxor.From Luxor City(East bank of Nile) we went to Qena to take the bridge to get across the Nile to West bank. Our destinations is Valley of the Kings(VOK), the Alabaster factory and Colossi of Memnon.
The ride was a pleasant one. Plots of farming lands and villages dotted the west bank. We see farmers with their children working on these farms. Vegetables,sugar canes and bananas were everywhere.Everything is green from the river bank upto 500m- 1000m. Then its just desert and rocky hills beyond that. And there are long canals parallel to the Nile to irrigate the land.

After about 30 minutes we arrived at the Theban Hills with several villages at its foot. Villages which have alabaster(marble) as its cottage industry. As it is already in desert area it was dusty. You can see sand dust on the walls and roof of these houses.

After another 2km our bus took a road which took us towards the Theban Hills. Towards the Valley of the Kings ,the necropolis(City of the dead) here.

Valley of the Kings
foto tokasid BQ

VOK is a site where the tombs of Pharoah are. It is a huge burial site where the Pharoahs of the 18th Dynasty -20th Dynasty were buried( mummified) for their eternal life. Historically ,the first pharoah to be buried in VOK was Thutmose I. The VOK was choosen and built by Ineni, Thutmose I's advisor.

The VOK is different from the pyramids. During the Old Kingdom, most of the pharoah tombs are built as pyramids and mastaba. During the old kingdom the kings had their goverment in Lower Egypt(north) with Heliopolis and Memphis(Minf) as capital( thats Cairo now). Thats the reason we see pyramids are abundant in Lower Egypt.

With the New Kingdom the power centre shifted t upper Egypt(Thebes) after Upper and lower Egypt were unified. On the west bank of the Nile in Thebes, the Theban Hills had a peak which resembles the pyramid peak( al-Qurn or ta dehent in ancient Egypt lingo). Ineni opted for Theban Hills for that.And the site was secluded and far which will avoid grave robbers (the royals and rakyats were mainly on the east bank in those days and yes they do have grave robbers in those days too)). With that, VOK became the site of pharoahs final resting place. There are a total of 63 tombs in VOK and the most famous was that of King Tut Akhn Amun or as the world call him King Tut. ( Now do not think he was called that as in King of kenTut)

al-Qurn(ta dehent), the peak of Theben Hills
foto tokasid BQ

Now back to the trip, our bus climbed for about 1 km before we arrived at the VOK information centre. The sun was very bright and glaring but the the weather cold. We followed Muhammad into the VOK infocentre. He kept on yelling " PARLO! PARLO!"( Thats our tourgroup's name) ,asking us to gather around a model of the VOK.

VOK information centre
foto Hafiz Nokia N73

The VOK model is at the centre of the main hall. It depicits the VOK above and below ground. The above ground is shaped like the valley and with roads and colored pins were pinned to numbers corresponding the the kings' tombs. The lower part of the model shows the tombs, which way they were dug and how deep and long they are.

Model of VOK( VOK Info centre)
foto Hafiz Nokia N73

(model taken at split level. The lower part which appered jutting downwards depicits the tombs depth,lenght and direction into the Theban Hills)

There were lots of posters on the infocentre's walls with pics of the tombs in VOK .
Another PARLO!PARLO! from Muhammad we went out where buggy train were ready to take us to the entrance of VOK proper. 10 minutes and we were in front of the entrance(and ticket booth). Muhammad bought the tickets for us, at 70 Eygptian pounds each where you can enter the VOK and 3 tombs of your choice( if one wants to enter King Tut's tomb, one need to buy another ticket worth 80 EP)

Buggy ride into VOK
foto tokasid BQ

Ticket for VOK( enter 3 tombs)
foto tokasid BQ

With only 2 hours allocated for the VOK, and the fact that most of King Tut's treasures are in the Cairo Museum none of us bought the Tut's ticket.

A long walk into VOK with al-Qurn above
foto tokasid BQ

We walked into the VOK,lead by Muhammad.Angel will always be the last to make sure none of us are left behind or got lost in the tombs. In a big shed Muhammad explained to us about the history of VOK and who are the few famous pharoahs that are buried here. And he recommended to us the tombs (3) for us to go into and he highly recommended the tomb of Ramses IV for it is among the big tomb and the most beautiful with lots of carved murals and Herioglyphic writings. Another was Thutmose III where we would have to climb(stairs) for about 15m before descending underground for another 10m(2 level tomb) for about 50m in distance.Thutmose III's tomb is steep with the steps at 70 degree slant.It was very hot like a furnace.But it was worth all the trouble.No regrets going in there.

The third one which we(my family) took was that of Ramses III. It was the nearest to the shed and a small one,but with lots of colored carving murals and paintings. I did snapped a few photos with my Nokia( no kind of photography is allowed in the tombs or pyramids. If caught your camera will be confiscated and the authority can charge you).

At each tomb's entrance there will be a man maning the tomb and checking for your tickets(to make sure you do not enter more than 3 tombs of your choice). And maybe there will be another person inside who somethimes volunteer to become a guide and when you wanted to go out he'll ask for tips! And sometimes he will offer to snap your family photo using your camera at the entrance. You say thank you to him and he will put his palm open and say: Tip!Tip!.
So, nothing is free. We don't usually give because we have paid everything including tipping.

Climbing to Thutmoses III
foto tokasid BQ
(our biggest challenge is not climbing this 15m stairway but coming down from it later. It was so 'gayat')


Thutmose II..going down entrance
foto tokasid BQ

(after climbing 15m, we need to go down 10m for about 30m which is very steep at 70 degree slope. It was so warm inside more like a furnace, but it was worth the trouble)

King Tut's tomb
foto tokasid BQ

(didn't go in for lack of time)

At almost 3 pm, Muhammad gathered us and made head counts( you don't wanna leave anyone to sleep with Ramseses or Thutmoseses or Setis).The buggytrain took us back to VOK Infocentre. To get to our bus, we have to pass by the mini bazaar. This is where problem of hassling started. Muhammad had warned us to be careful and if possible play dumb with the stallowners or workers. If we need to buy anything bargain well and make sure you are familiar with the currency.

As we passed through it, we were tugged and pulled and coaxed into stalls by traders to buy their merchandies. We now know what to expect in future bazaars or souks in Luxor,Aswan and Cairo.

We then stopped by an alabaster cottage industry( later entry for this) before heading to the
Colossi of Memnon , here.


Colossi of Memnon was built by King Amenhotep III( of the 18th dynasty).Built as a mortuary temple in Thebes that was guarded by two gigantic statues on the outer gates. All that remains now are the 23 meter (75 ft) high, one thousand ton statues of Amenhotep III. Though damaged by nature and ancient tourists, the statues are still impressive.

Colossi of Memnon( with Hafiz)
foto tokasid BQ

Statue Amenhotep III
foto tokasid BQ

There were few buses loaded with tourist at the site. It was a magnificient sight. After a stick of Gudang, we headed back to Luxor City to check in into the hotel. Most of us needed the rest. And Muhammad promised to take us for an Egyptian dinner. Hopefully by then we will be able to break the ice among ourselves.

There are other site on west bank which we didn't go for time constraint like the Valley of the Queen,Tombs of the Nobles,Temple of Hatshepsut and Malkata.

I was tired but wasn't sleepy at all. There were so many things to see,to experience, to smell ,to taste. I know I'm gonna love Egypt and what it has to offer.

Next: Alabaster and food and food....


Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa

Jejak Misr 2 : Doha-Luxor. Ya habibi..here I come

Its not a fog....
foto by tokasid
BQ

It was very foggy.The sharp smell of abundant multiple types of tabocco just kicked forcing itself into your nostril. Initially it felt like you just ran into a burning house and your chest felt slightly congested After hours of smoke free environment, the Smoking Room had that effect on you. But you carry on, loking around for a seat. There were about 10 chimneys there. men and women.They were Caucasians, Rabs, Indonesians and Filipinos. Enter a Malaysian chimney.Me.
I sat at the end corner and took out my Gudang garam. I joined the others to increase polluting the Smoking Room.

Despite the foggy and stuffiness, I had my fix. Went to the washroom meant for wheelers( the non-wheeler's washroom was full) and washed my face,brushed my teeth and wet my hair.Its time to go check-in at Gate 6 of Doha International Airport.

We checked-in and went down stairs to the waiting aerobus,to take us to our plane.Doha-Luxor.
It was a smaller plane compared to the A330 from KLIA. And no, it doesn't have the entertaiment console like the A330. Its okay. I have my MP4 and the faithful Nokia 3110c for the music.And I could do with some sleep.

Apart from tourist to Luxor, there were few Egyptians to. Must be going home for a holiday or after finishing their bussinesses in Doha. Most have several luggages with them.Big luggages which I don't think qualifies as hand-luggage.

At 0810 am(Doha time. Its 5 hours difference btwn Doha and KL. Doha and Luxor is 1 hour)) the plane took off and after a while I was sleep only to be waken by Mrs TA when the crew served our breakfast( and I thought we had one on the A330,earlier). But,you do get hungry fast when flying intercontinent right? The food was an indicator of our diet for the next 1 week. There were steamed(?) carrots,potatoes,smoked tomato. Arabic meatball and smoked chicken. And pita bread too.Croissant with butter and jam and orange juice. After 5 minutes,finitto! Is that starving or what. Or maybe pelahap!

I took out Dean Koontz's Watcher and read a few pages before falling asleep.The plane continued its flight across the Arabian desert north of Makkah and Madinah. When I woke up, I could see desert mountain ranges below. Ah!That must be the Eastern desert of Egypt.Everything is sand and rock. But it was a beautiful sight. Sometimes you can see a highway at the fot of the mountain range and see vehicles running on it like a lost ant.

When the plane stared to descend, we know we are maybe 200-300 km from Luxor,our destination. As the plane descende you see the mountain range getting bigger and bigger but no Pyramid was on sight. Then you start to see vegetations.Plots of farms. Green. With the greens you see scattered villages and houses.

Finally the plane landed.No applause or cheers.Everyone in our tour group was excited and eager to step on Egyptian soil. The land of Pharoah*. With our hands clutching our lugages we entered the arrival hall of Luxor International Airport. Our group re-group and Angel(our tour leader)briefed us. "Get your passports ready. There are money changers on your left if you want to change your US dollars into Egyptian Pound. The washroom is over there...I'll give you all 20 minutes before we go through the immigration booths.Is that okay with you??"

Angel..she such an angel
foto by Hafiz
Nokia N73

I went to the money changer booths. There are 5 and 4 are opened.The rate is 5.51 Egyptian pound to the greenback(in Malaysia I got RM3.41 for a dollar). There was ofcourse confusion at these booths. Some wanted to change US50.00, some a hundred. And everyone was confused with the rate( well not really confused I guessed,more of misunderstanding) and I heard someone saying to the other that we have been ripped-off. Well, I did my homework before coming to Egypt and I had calculated how much pound you get for how many dollars.

The Luxor IA is small, about 3/4 of Langkawi Airport.But the arrival hall is clean and well maintained There were no smoking signs but I can see few guys in uniform and the janitor smoking happily. After re-re-grouping, we headed for the immigratiom counter and passed through without much problem. We took all our lugages and headed through the Customs officer without bothering us visitors of Egypt. But the locals who boarded with us in Luxor were searched . Their big boxes of TV sets,DVD players were opened. Some bags were opened and clothes spread around. And we see Egyptians arguing with the Customs officers. I wonder how long will that take after we left the airport. I wonder if pounds will exchange hands!

Outside the airport, porters were waiting to collect our luggages and cart it to the buses about 50 meters away. We were told earlier that all the tips were included in our payment,so we don't need to tip anymore if didn't wish to."Its up to you!"- that will be the favourite phrase of our Egyptian guide. After putting my luggages in the bus, the porter ask for a tip.5 pounds in his palm,he thanked me a lot( and its about 65 sen to an Egyptian pound).

The weather was fine. Very sunny and bright but temperature was about 19 C. But you get the chills when the wind blew.

Muhammad al_Gharbawi our Egyptian guide
foto by Hafiz
Nokia N73

We were introduced to our Egyptian guide on the bus. A handsome young man. Muhammad al-Gharbawi. He spoke to us in English. And we understood him.That is good point,I told myself.We wouldn't be chicken speaking to ducks after all( but thats gonna happen while shopping). As Muhammad was briefing us, the bus started to the road. I was interested by the views rather than Muhammad's explaination.Never mind, MrsTA can brief me later.

Despite being colonised by the British and later for a short period by the French, the Egyptians drove on the wrong side of the road! They followed the French and the Americans and the Chinese.And the Egyptians they like to drive fast.And they honk a lot. They'll honk when they want to overtake you.They honk again after taking over. They honk when another care wanted to take over them and they honk when the other car had taken over. So its a honky place if not a honky-tonky one. And then the motorised vehicles have to compete with the horse carriages which goes ktok!ktak!ktok ! ktak! on the road. Occasionally the road become stalled when an ass cart is infront.The honking will get very loud all at the same time. Being an ass, the ass just showed its ass to the drives! Maybe,just maybe thats how the term asshole was coined!LOL.

Our bus passes by the Karnak Temple from far but we saw Luxor Temple at close range.What a sight! It was on our left and the great Nile on our right with ships(cruise ships) and motorised boats and Felukas.I know this trip is gonna be great.

Then ,Muhammad told us: " There is going to be a slight of change in our plan today! We will skip the Karnak and Luxor Temple today...", my heart sank...."...but we are going to see the Valley of the Kings.Its on the west bank of the river Nile".

Ahh...that would be nice too. VOK(Valley of Kings) here I come.

Valley of Kings
foto tokasid
BQ

Pharoah*: in the Ancient Egyptian it is Per 'a , closer to the Arabic word : Fir'aun.
Pharoah is the Greek word for Per 'a


Next: The Valley of Kings.





Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa

Qurban

Salam to all,

Its the time of Qurban again.
A once in a year ibadah.
To those who performed the Qurban this year,Alhamdulillah.
For those who didn't,InsyaALLAH next year.

(Last year's Qurban photos can be seen here.)



Persediaan qurban
video:tokasid
BQ









Sembelihan
Video: tokasid
BQ






Melapah qurban
video: tokasid
BQ

I AM TAGGED!

I AM TAGGED!

The tagging is still on. This time our dear Fauziah Ismail did it on me. I know many had done their part, and I think I'm late with this one(but I told Fauziah I'll be late)

So here goes....

1. Name one person who made you laughed last night.

Me, myself,aku sendiri. Why you might wonder. Well, the night before I was very sleepy while waiting for House. I opened the kacang goreng container and started eating it. Guess what? I fell asleep while munching those poor kacang. In a dreamlike state I could hear Mrs TA calling Hafiz: Hafiz!! Mai tengok ayah Hafiz dok lena sambil makan kacang. Amek video Fiz!
This morning our Bibik said: Sedap ke makan kacang sambil tidur?

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Berus gigi, mandi, bersiap nak gi keja da...

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Can't remember! Am I getting senile?

4. What happened to you in 2006?
What year is it now? Heck!,I can't remember what I did 30 minutes ago and you expect me to remember 2006?

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
Woi! Mangkok hayun!!!

6. How many beverages did you have today?
Nes-O-Tar kurma(thats kurang manis and not kurma as for tamar) for breakfast, limau ais for noon. maybe another Nes-O-Tar kurma at 6pm today and several mugs of cold sky juice at night.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
No hairbrush, if I need Mrs TA had 2. I had an orange pocket comb. Yes,its orange. Why orange? Well its not the colour that I go for, its just becoz this particular comb had smooth 'teeth' .

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Gudang Garam.

9. Where were you last night?
Home ,as always.

10. What color is your front door?
Dark brown

11. Where do you keep your change?
All over the place. On the table ,on the dressing set, in empty milk can, on shelves,in ashtrays(car) ,pockets,drawers,trays.

12. What’s the weather like today?
I'll go out and see later ,okay!

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Vanilla and jagung and durian and red-bean( ice-cream potong)

14. What excites you?
Shhhhhh......cannot tell one,meh!

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Just did last week

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Can't seem to read this question.Its very blur.Next question please!

17. Do you talk a lot?
No,I don't talk a lot. I just bergebang and bergebang and bergebang.So thats not talkative. You can call it gebangtive.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
OC? I do watch Oral Contraceptive pills everyday. What! NOT that kind of OC?
So,what do you mean by OC? Otak Centre? Orang Cerdik?

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
1-Stephen Mohd Yusuf, my bro-in-law living in California. had 2 pretty girls Jaida and Sabrina.
2-(Late)Steven my house contractor.

20. Do you make up your own words?
Well, gebangtive was one.You want more? How about zingzangtingtonglinglong?
And there's nes-o-tar kurma and nasgorcilpa or meeband.Or telor mereng?
Need I say more?

21. Are you a jealous person?
Sometimes, I do become a green-eyed monster.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Arab.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kokdiang, though his Mykad name will be different.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
When? Today was Hj Zainal.

25. What does the last text message you received say?
Selamat Hari raya AidilAdha dari "KAMI". From saudara Hasrul Halid of Surat Dalam Botol.

26. Do you chew on your straw?
Yennadei!! Where got use stray one to drink Nes-O-Tar laa...

27. Do you have curly hair?
Curly, no. Wavy yes. But its all white now. Can name it Gelombang Putih tak??

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Toilet.Small water not big water.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Rude? Can't think of one,but irritable ppl: lots of them out there.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Nasi putih with friend chicken and telor dadar.

31. Will you get married in the future?
How future is future?

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Bourne Ultimatum( and The Contract) on board Qatar Airways.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Lots of 'em.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Does a drinking mug considered as dishes? Last night.

35. Are you currently depressed?
Nope,nope,nope.

36. Did you cry today?
Are you joking? Give me 10 reasons why I should cry today?

37. Why did you answer and post this?
I wanna be a sport.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this.
A) Ramses II
B)Tut Akhan Men
C)Cheops
D) Kefren
E) Amon-Ra


Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa

Jejak Misri: The journey begins

Abu Simbel Temple
foto tokasid
Nokia 3110c

3rd December 2007
Monday
6.00pm

10 hours before ETD: I was still in the clinic. My replacement was supposed to be here by 6pm. But my girls have told her to try make it by 5.30pm.

Its Monday. And on Monday I can't just go out from the room before my replacement is here, for Mondays are usually busy days for the clinic.

If I don't get outta here within 15 minutes, more patients might request to see me and not my replacement. Where is she?

At 6.15pm , my replacement came in, apologising profusely. I told her its okay, don't worry( I'll still pay you as usual) and I gotta be out immediately. In the waiting rooms several regulars smiled at me, but I told them I have to get going and they have to see the lady doctor instead. All said okay doc! but one guy seemed upset. I knew him and why he came that evening to see me!Kaki MC la tu!

I droped by at Don's place for solat before heading home.

Packed,unpacked and re-packed: The past few days, my wife had been busy.Packing her things and mine. The trip is gonna be for 12 days. And we decide just one baggage for both of us. Another one for Hafiz.

So out come the 'beg Haji', a canvas bag which had zipper at its bottom which when you unzipped it will make the 'beg Haji' taller!Most of our clothings are in there. And for our hand luggage we put 2 books.For me it was Watchers by Dean Koontz and for Mrs TA ,GUIT by Awang Goneng. And some junk food like kacang goreng, asam and Haw Flakes.And not forgetting the faithful fellow traveller, the Maggi Mee Curry flavour!

Few days before that we went shopping for winter clothings( advised by our tour guide), we got a very thick but comfortable jacket for Hafiz and a pair of gloves for me. I borrowed a jacket( looks like army jacket to me) from Pak Karim and Mrs TA got her old wool jacket bought in Brastagi years ago. And Hafiz had a new pair of shoes( which is not shoes for the school)


Our flight will be at 0410am and we must be in KLIA by 0200am.
Angel, out tour guide from PARLO Tours told us to meet her either at counter J or K.

Bye Melaka.....: I had arranged for Pak Karim and my PM(pak mentua/FIL) to send us to KLIA. Initially I planned to start off at 9.00pm, so it won't be very late for PK and PM to drive back. However, we found out that Dr Asri the Mufti of Perlis will be giving a maghrib kuliah that night in Brisu. I know I'll not be able to attend so I asked PK and another friend Hj Usop to go.And I told PK to be at my house at 2300 hrs.

All the bags are ready.Passports :ready. US dollar: ready.Credit cards(not mine):ready.
Handphones: fully charged. MP4: fully charged and songs downloaded. Traveller's charger adaptor: ready.

By 2230 hrs, PK arrived and we had some coffee while the baggages were put into the trunk.
MM(mak mentua) was already crying before letting her grandson go with us. I know she would want to follow us, but I too know she is in no condition for the trip. Not with the cold winter and lots of walking and climbing to do in Egypt.

4th December.
Tuesday.
0000 hr.

KLIA( its not Kambing Lembu Ikan Ayam okay!!): I drove to KLIA just before 2300 hrs and by 0030 am we were at counter K's seats. There were lots of travellers around mainly of Middle Eastern countries. We didn't see anyone we recognised and its still to early to call Angel. I'll call her at 0200 am I told my wife.

PK and PM stayed for a while and I told them they don't have to wait if they don't want to. There's nothing they can do here. We salam and PK and PM left.( They missed the Banting-Salak Tinggi junction and had gone via the KLIA-PLUS route which is further. PK and PM arrived in Melaka at 0230 hrs and went straight to Subaidah Nasi Kandar for a hot teh and capati/tosey or Nan).

At 0200 am I called Angel. She was already at counter J, dealing with the tickets and luggages.We went there and saw our tour group had assembled, all looking very sleepy. After 45minutes, everything was settled and we were given our tickets.We headed down the escalator right to the immigration check points. Everything went smooth there and we made ourway to the airport train point. None was there so we had to wait for 5 minutes before the 'bullet train' came and took us to gate C12.

Before checking in, I told Hafiz to take his wudhu and wear the quff( a pair of leather socks), so it'll be easier for me and hm to perform the solat subuh on the plane.
( If one had done his wudhu' and wears the quff, whenever he re-do his wudhu, he doesn't have to wash his feet like always,he only had to wipe the top of his quff with his wet hands. For a traveller/musafir, it will be valid for 3 days and 3 nights. For a non-traveller it is valid for 24 hours. There are few hadith shaheh on this quff thingy).

Checking-in and the plane!the plane! The plane! ( no Tatoo or Ricardo Montalban here I assure you.LOL!) :
There were shoutings after the body scanner and luggage scanner. A female Airport security personnel was in the heat of arguement with a middle-aged lady. I couldn't make out what these two were shouting for both were shouting at the same time. It reminded me of our Dewan Parlimen.

Another security guy told us to leave our mineral water bottles( the big ones) at their counter but allowed us to takethe smaller ones. The shouts have stopped abruptly when I heard the middle -aged lady said to the security woman: " You don't have to shout to me.I can hear you well"
Security Woman(SW): " Tadi saya sudah cakap baik-baik sama you...kita minta you buka hand-luggage nak check saja, tapi you degil tak kasi apa pasal?"
MAL: " I know,but why must you open my bag? Orang lain you didn't check one!"
SW:" Orang lain punya sebab di luggage scanner nothing suspicious,madam. You punya kita kena check.Kami cuma ikut procedure keselamatan. Kalau everything okay,kita tak ambil apa-apa dari you.Tadi saya sudah explain tadi you marah saya nak check beg you."
MAL: " Okay lah okay lah...check my bag lah...I have nothing to hide"

After a brief checking, the lady's bag was cleared and she allowed into the depature lounge. As she entered ,many were glancing at her. She was alone and appeared lost.Looking left and right.Looking for someone. Angel, out guide came to the Lady and asked her to take a sit. Aha! The lady is with our tour group. That sounds trouble.( and something did happened to her, poor thing. That will be later okay guys!)

I haven't finished listening to Nakal(GIGI) when we were asked to board the plane. It was Qatar Airways.Boeing A330.
We were to land in Doha for a transit before taking another another plane to Luxor. Our transit will be for about 1 hour in Doha.

Now, I rarely travel overseas. So I can't compare this A330 of Qatar to others. Well I've flown with MAS to Sabah ,Beijing,Bali and Medan. I've taken AirAsia to KT and Kucing before. I've taken Garuda to Jogjakarta.

Interior of A330 looks small but the arrangement of seats into 2-4-2 formation made us comfortable though the leg space is less than desirable. But a plus to this Qatar flight( which I didn't had before) is the entertainment console and nice meals.

For entertainment, each seat is allocated with a 7 inches LCD TV console with your own remote control.There's the various movies for you( almost near Doha only I knew you can select the movies and songs!!Goblok) from Bourne series,the Contract,Stardust,Harry Potter, Rottatule, Hairspray,Transformer etc. And the songs! What do you want? English,Hindi,Arabic,Chinese,French,Italian,Spanish,Malay and Indonesia. And yes,Japs and Koreans too. There's U2,Led Zep, Doors,Pink Floyd,John Lee Hooker,Muddy Waters,BB King. And there's Pat Methany.Of course there Michael Jackson!!And there's the videogames too.Unfortunately, we can't blog!! Kalau tak......

Most of the passengers are asleep(those from Denpasar,Bali) or are falling asleep(from KLIA). I can't sleep. I have to look constantly at the windows. I need to know when Subuh is. Somewhere above Aceh, not Subuh yet. Somewhere above India not subuh yet. I think it was somewhere above the Indian ocean that I can see a thin white line expanding at the horizon that I knew its time for subuh. After re-taking my wudhu'( and wiping my quff), I manage to perform solat subuh sitting. Alhamdulillah.

Qatari Airway meal
foto tokasid
BQ

The foods on Qatar Airways was great(for me at least) or maybe coz I was really hungry. I finished everything they served.In fact some of Mrs TA's food 'jumped' into my small tray.
The cabin crew were of different nations and friendly. And none wore skirts like our AirAsia girls.

As night turned into bright beautiful morning it was an amazing sight to feast on.From total darkness the color spectrum becomes lighter and lighter with various degrees of yellow,orange and red thrown in followed by grey and blue.

Morning has broken
foto tokasid
BQ

Almost 0700 am(Qatar time) the captain announced that we will be landing very soon and he took the plane downwards ever so gently. Finally he landed smoothly.Very clinical landing. You don't feel the bounce or the tyres rumbling hard on the surface.

Everyone was eager to get out of the plane. Almost 8 hours of sitting will sure make your ass sore. I'm sure we have hundreds of sore asses that morning, ever willing to jump of the plane to have a small walk to relax their limbs and make blood flow again.

Doha International is small if you compare to KLIA. They don't have the 'bullet train' but they have this broad buses that reminded me of golf buggy. 3 buses were there to take us to the terminal.The terminal is small,maybe a quater of our KLIA in size, but its very nice and cozy. They have a shopping arcade just behind the immigration counters and the above level is where most gates are with a big Musollah, eatery, several toilets and a smoking room( so hazy that I thought the KL jerebu had made its away across the Indian Ocean).

Kom Ombo: sunset
foto tokasid
BQ

Next: Doha to Luxor.

Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa

Jejak Misri....the marvelous Egypt: a preview.

Sphinx with Pyramid
foto by tokasid
Nokia

Salam to all.

I know.I know. And I am sorry.
Some friends had been waiting for the Jejak Misri with photos( the belly dance kan?).

Since coming back, I was a bit busy(and lazy but not crazy).With masuk jawi/berkhatan and all those usual stuff.

I haven't had the chance to really sit down and write. So this entry is sort of like a teaser. Or a gazzette.Or during my kampong days, a cheap matinee.

I do hope you guys will like these photos that I took with my cheapo Nokia( really its really cheap and I can't remember its model. 3310 or 3110? Ntah le!)

The pics from my cheapo camera will be review tonight and InsyaALLAh will be in the REAL entry.

Food.......
foto tokasid Nokia

Nile sunset( near Esna)
foto tokasid with Nokia

Who got the better nose?
Hafiz with al-Sphinx
foto tokasid n Nokia

Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa

Jejak Misr

Assalamu'alaikum to all fellow bloggers.

Alhamdulillah, I'm fine in Upper Egypt.
This is not an entry to tell about the trip.
This is to lepas gian only. Now its confirmes I'm an addict.
Bloggerdict. Or is it blodict. (Kerp!! bukan blowdick okay.LOL!)

Anyway, just arrived back to Luxor from Aswan via the Nile cruise.
Sure have a lot to write about this trip and lots of pictures too( MS: kalau aku beli D40 dulu tentu lagi best hang kata....too bad the old BenQ is my companion.Sigh!)
(And my 2G SD card dah penuh,now using the 1G SD pulak)

Tomorrow theres the visit to Karnak and Luxor temples before taking the night train to Cairo.
Thanks for the wishes you guys gave before my trip. Thanks to Shah Cakapaje and Kerp for the smses while I'm in Misr.

Lucky to find an internet cafe while strolling by the Nile river ,dapat gak lepas gian hari ni.
Till then, hangpa kena tunggu lah apa cerita aku nak bagi nanti.
(Hints: tadi tengok Belly Dancing, babe!!)

Wassalam.

Tokasid al-Luxori.



Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa

Matsalo: Jangan NAKAL bila aku TERBANG.

GIGI.

Among the best Indonesian rock that I've ever heard.
Energetic on stage.

This is for my bro Matsalo dengan ucapan : jangan NAKAL bila aku TERBANG.
Untuk Kerp ,Shah dan Che'gu : majulah sukan untuk EPL
Buat rakan-rakan lain: Sedang buat apa tu?? Bincang nak buat rombongan Cik Kiah ke?



Nakal by GIGI




Terbang by GIGI

Note: I'm off to do a nosejob for the Sphinx and Madam Cleopatra from 4th( 4.10am)till 12 th Dec 2007. Hope to 'meet' you guys again on 13th Dec.

Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa