different kind of new year

 please do ignore the picture. i know it's hideous. and yes, if I have to go to Mekah i have to cover my head. 

aside from that, i am super thrilled to finally go to the house of Allah, to be praying so close to Ka'bah. my family and I actually went there in the end of 2014. we arrived in Soeta airport on December 30th and had to wait for several hours until we actually get on the plane. thankfully the travel gave us a good waiting room with food on it (yes, food is always a good idea ;p) around 12 am December 31st we get on the plane to Dubai for about 7 long hours. arrived in Dubai, we continue a two hour flight to Jeddah.

rather than the sound of a booming fireworks, all i can hear is the sound of adzan from Masjid Al-Haram. rather than people shouting happy new year and blowing their trumpets, all i see are Muslims from around the world shouting their prayers to Allah while surrounding the Ka'Bah. it felt so content to know that many of the earth population were there to celebrate their religion and their love for Allah.

I hope someday i got another chance to go again. AMIINNN...

 after four days in Mekah, we went to Madinah. my favorite part of the trip was seeing the Masjid Al-Nabawi architecture especially the famous big umbrellas that can close and open so majestically. always a photo op whenever i'm there.