Melepas rindu ...... Muar

Sejak bulan Syaaban lagi, hati ini sentiasa berkata-kata dan fikiran tidak putus bertanya.... bilakah masanya? Soalan yang sebenarnya senang untuk dijawab tetapi yang menyusahkan ialah masa.....

Masa, kalau kita fikirkan kembali, Allah beri kita masa selama 24 jam sehari semalam. Selalu kita kata tak cukup masa, tak ada masa tetapi sebenarnya kita banyak buang masa . Kita tak bijak mengendalikan masa. Bayangkan masa yang banyak Allah berikan tetapi kita yang sia-siakan. Malu aku!

Hari ini, pagi tadi seawal jam 8.30 pagi aku bertolak ke Muar bersama anak sulungku Hana dan kedua cucuku A'mmar dan 'Aafi. Sepatutnya aku pergi bersama Kak Chah tapi dia demam selsema pulak. Semoga kakakku segera sembuh dan sabar dengan dugaan ini. Nasib baik ada anak dan cucu yang sanggup menjadi mangsa. Hahahahhahaha.

Muhammad A'mmar mononton Boboboy!

Muhammad 'Aafi yang comot dengan coklat..

Siti Nurhana

Kami bernasib baik kerana tiada kesesakan lalu lintas. Lebih kurang jam 11pagi kami selamat sampai di Tanah Perkuburan Batu 6,  Bakri,  Muar. Di situlah bersemadinya kedua orang tuaku. Rindu yang tak tertahan ni, terubat sedikit setelah melihat pusara mereka. Adikku Han dan kakak sulung kami Abang Ani, sudah pun menunggu aku di situ. Kami sama-sama menghadiahkan kedua orang tua kami dengan bacaan Yasiin dan doa buat mereka.

Kubur Mak yang terletak di bahagian yang rendah dari kubur abah menyebabkan ia ditenggelami air banjir. Maka, banyaklah kubur yang terjerlus tanahnya. Kami bertiga bersepakat dan berkongsi mengupah si Penjaga Kubur mengambuskan balik tanah kubur Mak dan menambah batu kecil atas kubur Abah. Alhamdulillah kedua pusara dikemaskini dengan baik.

Tanah pusara Mak terjerlus dilanda banjir...sedang dibaiki

Setelah semuanya beres, kami bertiga mengambil peluang untuk bersembang kosong. Banyak yang kami berkongsi cerita tentang diri dan keluarga masing-masing. Begitulah nampak gayanya kesibukan kami hinggakan nak berjumpa adik beradik pun cuma sekadar beberapa minit sahaja dibawah sebatang pokok kuini berdekatan pusara Mak dan Abah. Namun, kami bersyukur kerana dapat juga kami bertemu dan melepaskan rindu. Terima kasih aku ucapkan kepada Abang Ani yang membawa telur asin dari Pontian dan terima kasih kepada Han kerana membawa sebekas Asam Pedas Ikan Parang dan  belikan ikan segar dari Pasar Besar Muar. Terima kasih juga pada adik bongsu kami Intan yang berkirimkan sos Mee Bandung jualannya. Itulah kelebihannya punya adik-beradik yang ramai dan bersatu hati. Alhamdulillah.
                   

Abang Ani, Han dan aku.

Sebelum berpisah, kami mengambil peluang untuk bermaaf-maafan serta mengucapkan Selamat Beribadah dalam baki bulan Ramadhan dan selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. Aku dan waris-warisku meneruskan perjalanan kami untuk pulang tetapi kami mengambil masa menyusuri jalan-jalan lama yang pernah aku lalui dahulu. Nostalgia sikit.Sempat juga kami melepaskan rindu pada rumah tua di Jalan Duku. Teringat aku macamana arwah Mak dan Abah akan sibuk bila anak cucu mereka pulang. Seolah-olah ternampak-nampak mereka duduk atas tembok depan rumah melambai-lambai kami. Itulah sebenarnya saat paling bahagia untuk mereka kerana itulah aku rasakan kini bila anak cucuku pulang ke rumahku.

Satu hari nanti, kita akan ke sini juga.
 Menziarahi pusara akan mengingatkan kita.....

Al Fatihah buat arwah Mak dan Abah serta arwah-arwah  yang sudah mendahului kita.

Doaku semoga Allah ampunilah dosa-dosa kedua orang tuaku. Murahkanlah rezeki mereka di alam barzakh berkat pahala dari segala kebaikan yang aku dan adik beradikku kerjakan selagi ada umur kami. Lapangkanlah dan terangilah kubur mereka Ya Allah dengan pahala sedekah dan amal jariah kami. Kesihanilah mereka sebagaimana mereka mengasihi kami semasa kami kecil dahulu... Semoga dapat kita semua berjumpa dan bersama di Syurga nanti...InsyaAllah.

Kami pun meneruskan perjalanan pulang ke Shah Alam. Puas hati dapat menziarahi pusara kedua orang tuaku dan lebih lagi ialah bersyukur dapat bertemu dua dari adik beradikku yang seramai 11 orang......  sebenarnya sedozen tetapi seorang meninggal kecil. Perjalanan pulang tanpa kesesakan lalu lintas berjalan lancar. Sempat beli kupang dan buah-buahan di tepi jalan. Sempat masakkan untuk berbuka  dan dengan izin Allah, masih ada kudrat untuk berterrawih penuh! Syukur kepada Illahi....... Alhamdulillah.....

Sempat juga beli kasut Raya.

When in Rome, do what the Romans do......

People say, 'We learn through history' and we always say 'History repeats'.  Well, it is not difficult to understand and I totally agree with those two phrases because history is about human behavior.  What people did those days are the same as now.  The only difference is that we are living in a modern world with full of human creations and inventions!  That makes our life easier but the behavior in needs and wants in human in the ancient and now are still the same.

  

@ Port of Rome, Civittavecchia

When we disembarked the ship at Port of  Rome, Civittavecchia, Italy (we had hard times to pronounce) but hey.... we are in Rome and that is the name of it's port.  Civittavecchia means Old City.  It is not as busy as Port of Livorno but many cruise ships docked here.  And not forgetting, it is a fishing port too where fishermen will tie their boats and set the fish for sale.  So because of that we have to take a short ride on Free Shuttle Bus from the ship to the pickup point.

 I remembered my history teacher told us that the Romans army are very strong and were experts with weapons.  No fear in them.  They will put on their heavy armored and helmets with  swords, bows and arrows, daggers and spears and they walk to war!  They walked with pride.  We listened to our teacher in awe!  Trying to imagine everything with the help of some photographs in our text book. Well, that was the best source besides going to the library when everybody wanted to grab the same reference at the same time!  My history teacher was a great story teller.  Now that I am here, his story came to life.  What I feel is to be a teacher in History, one must read a lot from as many sources and must be able to relay the history of one nation to another.  History is basically telling stories with facts. My History teacher Mr. Yip (wonder where he is now - thank you Sir) did just that. He told us stories ....... and children love listening!  We have to create the sense of interest in them.

I have been here before. Not once, not twice but more than that. I love this city very much.  I realized that, for every visit, I was unable to see all .  The whole city is history.  Everywhere you go has it's story.  May it be the story of the dictator Emperor Julius Caeser,  Emperor Octavius who love arts, the Mad Nero, the handsome Mark Anthony, the beautiful Cleopatra of Egypt, the gladiators and the lions fighting for their lives, the great Coloseom and so on. And now, I am standing here again, in the middle of Italy with all the big names and old historical buildings and ruins with loads of stories and trying to figure out what life must have been back then..... totally unimaginable!

Statue of Romulus and Remus suckling on the she wolf

Romans are well known throughout the world.  They were already civilized in the Cleopatra era, during Christianity and then in the era of Islam.  How can we just forget about the Romans, when even in our Al Quran there is a Surah called Surah Al Room.  The history of Rome spans 2,500 years from 510 BC started with the abandoned of the twins Romulus and Remus who were suckled by a she-wolf, that was what the legend says.  They grew up and decided to build a city by the River Tiber.  In an argument, Romulus killed his brother Remus and he became the first ruler and named the city Rome, after himself.  Rome grew from a small Italian village into the center of civilization that dominated the Mediterranean region for centuries. Rome is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the western civilization. 

The River Tiber

A civilization that almost concurred the whole of Europe as near as Egypt in the south.  Spain to the West, England to the North and Turkey to the East.  They really mean business!  Rome became the super power for thousands of years.  Many aspects of today's society have been affected by ancient Rome.  Creation of Civil law, the democracy system, the spread of Latin language, the used of Roman names like Cleopatra, Julius Ceaser, Mark Anthony and Brutus in writings by Shakespeare, in art, in infrastructure of Roman roads which uplift the center of the road to allow the rain water to drain off and in city planning are all areas where the influences of Roman ideas can be seen today.  Not forgetting the buildings .......

@year: 117 AD {from Google map}

On our way to the Colosseum, we saw other ruins of this city like the Roman Bath, the racing track for the chariots and the famous Roman aqueduct.  Deep inside me, I was telling myself that they must be rich enough to maintained and preserved their history for thousands of years!  What if the population multiplies in future?  Will Rome have enough land and space for their residents?  Well, just asking.... just wondering.

The ruins of Roman Bath.

The racing track for the chariots.

Upon reaching the majestic Colosseum, the guide told us that this is an entertainment arena for the rich to enjoy watching the gladiators fighting for their survival either among themselves or with lions!  The dead will be forgotten and the winner will have chances to see another day.  It sounded cruel to us but that is sports to them.  The poor would rather be a gladiator then to be a slave throughout their life.  Just imagine the cuts, the bloodshed and death.  But it is an entertainment to them just like us watching MuaiThai Boxing, The Kick Boxing, The Wrestling, The Rugby game, The American Football ..... they are practically sports just like the gladiators!  The difference is the gladiators fight for pride and freedom but the sportsmen (as a free men) now fight for fame and wealth. Hahahahhaha

@Gladiator and lion in the Roman Arena

From where I was standing on the lower part of the amphitheater, it was where the Emperor, his Senates and the nobles were seated and as the floors go up, the ordinary people were seated and the poor will be on the top most.  Just imagine the roaring, screaming, tears and noises when the fighting for survival was on.  The rich will be betting of whom they choose to win and the poor will be hoping their family will survive.  Two different hopes and wishes!

The Colosseum

The many beautiful highly decorated  fountains in Rome provides clean drinking water for everybody either residents or visitors and it really fascinates me.  I was thinking about the few fountains we have back home. What confused me why people throw coins in the fountains and making wishes. 

Having gelato at Trevi Fountain

In order to see Rome, it is better to walk because the streets are so narrow and all the historical places are nearby to one another.  We went to the Pantheon.  It was a church.  The building is circular with large granite columns.  There was an opening in the center of the dome.  You can see the sunlight enters the church.  If it rains, the water will be drain off through the holes on the floor.  Amazingly, it was the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world and still standing for almost two thousand years after it was built! 

Pantheon

Dome

We passed by a number of obelisks. (Obelisk is a tall, four sided monument which ends with a pyramid-like shape at the top).  I remembered two but it was more. There were 13 in the city Rome. Eight were originally from Egypt and were taken back to Rome after the Roman conquest. The other five were copies from the original Egyptian obelisks. The one I remembered the most was built and erected in the center of a fountain in Piazza Nouvona and the other one was in Piazza della Rotondo. 

Obelisk of Domitian in Piazza Nuovona

Most ancient obelisks were often monolithic meaning they are are made of one piece of marble or granite.  Just imagine how many people (may be slaves) needed to make it stand because each were hundreds of tonnes heavy!  The heaviest is about 230 tonnes and stands 42 meters!  That's what power can do .... you can own anything you want, when ever you want! 

Once I visited  Vigelandesparken in Oslo, Norway.  A 14 meters tall monolith stands and carved of 121 human figures on it from a single stone. It shows the human cycle of life. It was sculptured in 1926.

@Vigelandesparken in Oslo, Norway

Rome is said to be the oldest city in the world and their civilization dominated the European for thousands of years. Rome started with the era of ancient Rome from the founding of the city to the Roman Republic  when they started to have enemies to the expandable of their power throughout Europe in the era of Roman Empire. They were the greatest power for many decades but somehow rather lost their grips. 

In one Malay saying, 'Ikan  akan busuk di kepalanya dulu' (A fish will go rotten from the head down) meaning when an organization or state falls, it is the leadership that is the root cause.  What is the difference between Caeser and the gladiators?  They are human beings with the same in needs and wants. Only power seperated them.  I let you think and scroll through the net to find out why and what made the great Roman Empire fall.

Cold Drinks and cold towel  awaits us.....phew.

The walking, thinking, the imagination and the hot summer,  really exausted me.  It was a visit full of fun and very educational indeed.  No doubt I was here before but for every visit is never the same.  I am so looking forward for the cold towel and a good dinner on board!

A giant statue of a sailor saying...
arrivederci  e spero di rivederti
(goodbye and see you again)

 Tomorrow's excursion .... another history of another ancient civilization and even mentioned in the Quran ....  

See you in my next journey!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
note *** 'When in Rome, do what the Romans do......'
in Malay: 'di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung'
'masuk kandang kambing mengembek, masuk kandang harimau mengaum......'

Syahdu.... Ramadhan 1434H/ 2013

Semalam, banyak yang berlaku... tapi yang baik-baik belaka.  Aku bersyukur sangat setelah tiga tahun bersama Ustazah Nurulain, akhirnya aku dan teman-teman  bekhatam Al Quran hari ini. Syukur Alhamdulillah. 

Kami semua ni bukan tak boleh mengaji, tetapi dek umur yang dah banyak, lidah pun dah mula keras, nafas pun pendek...jadi bacaan panjang-pendek, sebutan mahraj nya selalulah tak tepat. Nasib baik ada yang sanggup mengajar kami.  Yang pentingnya ialah ada kemahuan untuk belajar. Ketepikan rasa malu dan rendah diri. Ilmu ini WAJIB kita pelajari. Itulah pembakar semangat kami sebenarnya.

Walau apapun, selesai Khatam ni, kami akan teruskan lagi perjuangan kami dengan mengulangi bacaan dari Surah Al Baqarah. Semoga kami semua diberi kekuatan untuk terus belajar selamanya. InsyaAlah!

@ Sheikh Saad Naomani

Seperti malam-malam biasa di bulan Ramadhan, aku, suami dan anak cucu akan ke Masjid Negeri Selangor untuk solat Terawwih. Bacaan ayat-ayat suci oleh Imam-imam Masjid Negeri sangat mengasyikkan. Masing-masing dengan gaya bacaan yang berlainan. Kesemuanya mempunyai kelunakan suara yang berbeza. Imam Mustaffa , Imam Firdaus, Imam Sheikh Karim dan imam-imam muda seperti Imam Abu Zar, Imam Syukri dan Imam Tarmizi punya gaya tersendiri. Tidak lupa kepada Imam Muhammad Farhan yang kini memegang status imam jemputan kerana sudah bertugas sepenuhnya di Masjid yang baru. Dua malam beliau mengimamkan solat Terrawih di Masjid Negeri.

   Imam Mustaffa

Imam Sheikh Karim

Setiap hari sepanjang bulan Ramadhan ini disediakan jadual Imam yang bertugas. Tetapi malam semalam, kami semua dikejutkan dengan kehadiran seorang Imam jemputan. Bila mula sahaja solat Isyak, sayu hati ini mendengar suaranya yang lemak merdu , mendayu-dayu  seolah-olah kami sedang berada di Tanah Suci. Subhanallah. Suaranya seperti Imam Masjidil Haram! 

Selesai solat Isyak , beliau terus dengan SolatTerrawih. Selalunya selesai 10 rakaat, akan berlaku penggantian imam tetapi semlam beliau seorang sahaja yang  mengimamkan sepanjang 23 rakaat. Doa Qunutnya panjang dan air mata bercucuran seolah-olah kami memahaminya. 

Selesai Solat Witir, mataku terpandang ke kelilingku dan ramai kaum Hawa  yang menangis kerana tidak tahan rasa sebak mendengar alunan suara tu. Sungguh syahdu. Terus timbul rasa rindu dendam pada Tanah Suci. Bilalah akan ke sana lagi......  Imam tersebut adalah seorang qari  yang terkenal di dunia. Beliau berbangsa Pakistan dan boleh meniru gaya bacaan imam-imam hebat seperti Imam Sudaisyh, Imam Surim dan qari-qari terkenal di seluruh dunia. Nama beliau ialah Sheikh Saad Naomani. 

Sebelum pulang, aku bertemu dengan teman sepengajianku Iqin dan berbisik dengannya bahawa kehadiran Imam jemputan dengan alunan suara dan bacaan seperti Imam di Masjidil Haram, adalah hadiah dari Allah Subhanahu Wataala untuk kita yang akan berkhatam Al Quran. Syukur Alhamdulillah! Kini kami mengejar khatam seterusnya...bila? Pasti lebih cepat dari yang pertama... InsyaAllah.

                             Hamidah                                                        Fida

                                                             Ustazah Nurulain

                                Haida                                            Iqin 

                                  Zanariah                                                                    Errah

     Lailee

Benvenuto a Livorno!

@ Port of Livorno, Italy

"Ciao e buongiorno a tutti.  Benvenuto a Livorno!" *

Hello and good morning everybody. Welcome to Livorno!

Livorno is one of the main cruise ship ports.  Situated in the region of Tuscany.  Not a major tourists destination but it is where the tourists from the cruise ships or the ferries visiting Tuscany pass through to other major tourist destinations like Florence and Pisa.  It makes Livorno one of Italy's great seaports.  There were many ships,  ferries and boats at the port.

Upon arriving our tour buses are already waiting.  We were greeted by Elena the tour guide and Paulo the driver.  The first half an hour of introduction, Elena mostly talked about herself of why she took the job and so on.  Lesson learnt.... People do not like to hear us talking about ourselves!  So, because of that, I did not get much information about Livorno through her.  What a waste! 

Rows of buses waiting for us.

We were driven straight to Pisa which is 45 minutes away from Livorno.  Since my group and I (known as The Yunos ) were seated behind, most of us especially the men had a good nap.

A short nap.

Pisa is the capital city of the Province of Pisa.  It was founded in the 13th century.  It is situated by the bank of River Arno and 10 kilometers away from the Ligurians Sea and 80 kilometers west of Florence.  Those days Pisa was actually by the sea and was a port but because of the silt deposited by the river and accumulated, Pisa is now away from the shoreline.  So that is when Livorno came into the picture. 

The atmosphere in Pisa is very different.  It reminds us of the Arabic and the Byzantine style.  It was inhabited by the Lingurians and the controlled by the Romans as naval base in 180BC.

Pisa is most famous with the leaning tower (the bell tower for the city's cathedral).  Built in 1173.  The tilt happened during construction because the ground was unstable composed only of clay,  fine sand and shells.  The constructions stopped when the it began to tilt after completion of the second floor.  It was left for 100 years because of war.  Then the construction continued to the seventh floor and realized the tower tilt again.  They stopped the construction again.  They only completed building in 1370 but the tower still sinking on one side.

Since the completion, many engineers and architects all over the world monitored and tried to correct it.  After so many attempts of different ways and at last in 2008 they announced that the tower had been stabilized enough that it had stopped moving since the construction began.  It is said that the Leaning Tower of Pisa will be stable for the next 200 years!   Come to think of it, Pisa is only the  bell tower for the church and yet it is more famous than the church. Who is the boss?  Hahahahahhahhaha.

We have to walk quite a distance to the leaning tower from the parking.  The road is so narrow with so many tourists. The weather is so hot and dry.  So, the minute we got off the bus, surprisingly many Banglas and Africans came running to us to sell umbrellas.  But being Malaysians, we are so used to the kind of weather so we just walk .... in the hot sun ... sweating like nobody's business and deep inside cursing myself for not buying the umbrella.  Hahahahhahha.  Actually I should have bought it as a souvenir.  As we walked, we passed by many houses and buildings.  One that attracted me most was a house with Jasmine plants.  The plants acted as the fence to the house.  I love the smell of Jasmine very much.

Smell of beautiful Jasmine.

Before reaching the tower, you will pass through rows of stalls selling gifts and guess who is selling?  The Malay speaking Banglas .... hahhahahha.  It seems like they are all over!.  They are now the world travelers! 

Coconuts, which we use to extract the milk for cooking are sold as titbits.  I remembered my Arwah Mak scolded us when we grabbed a bite of the leftovers little portions of coconut.  She said we will have worms in our tummy.  I grew with full of imaginations. When I was a little girl, I love imagining things and sometimes it was scary.  Once I ate water melon and swallowed the seeds.  That night I was unable to sleep because I imagined that the plant will grow in me and out through my ear!  So, worms in my tummy! No way!  So because of that, no coconut for me.  But actually it looked very inviting and tempting to see how it was displayed here but Mak's words kept me away!  But Italian Gelato is a must for me ..... all sorts of flavour.... banana, nuts, mint, mango, coffee and many more!  I'm in heaven!!!!!

Coconuts anybody?  

Gelato of different flavours.

After visiting Pisa, we were driven to Florence. The famous statue David by Michelangelo is here in the museum. We skipped the visit because, there was a very long line to enter and we have too little time.  But some did ... not The Yunos. Elena took us on another long walk to the Piazza del Duomo or the Cathedral Square which is situated in the center of the historic Florence.  It  took 140 years to complete the Cathedral  with many architects who took turns after the death of the earlier ones. Humungous!

 There were so many tourists around and we were all very tired. The heat already took it's toll.  Tired, hungry and thirsty!  We found a nearby cafe with access to the internet. Again a Bangla served us.... We had Magarita Pizza and lots of drinks and enjoyed the free wi-fi. 

   

   

Resting while enjoying his pipe.

We ended our tour of the day in Florence by walking to the bus through the train station, Stazione Santa Maria Novella. It is a national and international train station in Florence, Italy.  It is one of the busiest station in Italy. 

The train station.

I kept thinking about Pisa and the Cathedral of how a long lasting building need to be completed not in a year or two but hundreds of years and many architects and engineers involved.  They are not only building structures but history as well.  We call it built to last.  

Another human structure which was built to last is Masjidil Haram in Makkah which started with the building of Kaabah by Prophet Ibrahim a.s  and his son Prophet Ismail a.s.  As he was building, Prophet Ibrahim made dua so Makkah will grow and prosper.  His dua was granted by Allah SWT.  Renovations are still going on until today.  MasyaAllah!  

@ Kaabah in Makatul Mukarramah

After visiting Pisa, it reminded me of our very  own leaning tower in Teluk Intan, Perak.  It stands 25.5meter tall and was built in 1885.  It tilt after four years of construction due to an underwater stream.  Originally it was used as a water tower supplying the area of the town. It is also as a beacon to guide ships into Teluk Intan Port.  It has a clock on top which rings every 15 minutes. 

@ The leaning tower of Teluk Intan, Malaysia

It was a very tiring day for us.  The basking under the warm Mediterranean summer can easily change a person's mood! After the long walking, suddenly you tend to lose your smile.  But things changed as we headed back to the ship.  From afar, we can see that the crew were waiting for us with ice cold drink and a refreshing cold towel and not forgetting the big smile on their faces.  It was a  very warm welcome indeed.  Phew..... 

Refreshing cold towel.

As we entered the ship, all our bags were scanned and x rayed.  No food,  fruits or alcohol from outside are allowed even if the fruit that you had in the bag was taken from your breakfast table. Very strict indeed!  I felt safe.  Now, we all are looking forward for the sun set and dinner!

Security

"Addio Livorno e arrivederci a presto Chivittavachia!"*

Goodbye Livorno and see you in Chivittavachia soon

*.....pssssst I used the translator from my iPhone5.  Everything is made easy for us now.... hehhehehheh