Life After Haj

Is there life after Haj?  Definitely a big big Yes!  But not during jet lag I'm afraid. Mentally and spiritually fortified but physically just recovering.  For the elderly, less healthy and for those living far away from the Masjid, it is a great physical and mental exercise daily. How I admire the 70 year olds who head for the Masjid daily step by step, some with walking sticks and some in wheelchairs.  Subhanallaah!

What time to go to the Masjid?

 When to get up, what time to get to the Masjid, what time is fajr, dzuhr, asar... All the times are different and we need to get familiar with the changes.  Felt strange initially to have to try to sleep around 9 or 10pm.  sometimes we stay up until midnight.   There is so much to do and see but if we do not rest well., we will be too tired to meet all the prayer times etc. We did not want to miss anything while we were there.

Still feeling slow and lagging behind at times.  Some mornings I wake up full of energy and other days , after reading just a little after solat my eyes feel so tired that I have to take a nap in the morning.  Not in the swing of things at the moment.

Work is never done

And whether I like it or not, there is much work to attend to.  And spring cleaning and tidying up the house, changing the sheets, washing the linens, sorting out the clothes and stuff from the suitcases.

Missing Malaysian food

All mundane but necessary.  And also trying to have more home cooked meals after eating away from home for 6 weeks.  No complaints about the food, we were hungry all the time and ate well.  Sometimes we ate at the mall, yearning for some authentic Arab food.  And murtabak and good hot teh tarik.

Murtabak never tasted so good!

Murtabak was SR10 each but there is meat and some egg so its a substantial meal.  The Arab rice and lamb or chicken is around SR20 to SR25 each but sufficient for 2 small eaters.  A hungry man would finish off the whole packet by himself.  Rice with fried fish is sometimes SR30 and dhal is another SR7.  Fish was fresh and food was alright.  Its not restaurant food, just mall fast food so do not expect the same quality, but the rice was long , fragrant  and delicious.

Hunting for Seats during mealtimes at the food court

I would prefer to have a meal at Hydramaut in Ampang  if I want more side dishes and a proper table to enjoy it.  At meal times there may be 300 people but only 200 seats. They serve great coffee from proper coffee machines and that is around SR7 a cup.  Milk tea is SR 2 to 3, depending on location.  Fruit juices are SR10 but though tasty, they are very sweet, I suspect condensed milk is added.

Malaysian Food is Best

Anyway, I managed  to prepare some simple pleasant meals at home but could not resist a few Chinese Muslim restaurant meals on my return. This morning we had lontong and nasi lemak from Restoran Ria in Melawati.

 Pumpkin soup  and maybe garlic bread , sambal terung and potato cutlet (bergedil from Restoran Ria ) for dinner tonight.  Cooking some beef in the slow cooker for tomorrow.   Alhamdulillah.