I had performed my Hajj pilgrimage in 2010, but two of my brothers had not been to Mecca. So I invited them as well as my other brother and sister to go for the Umrah, including their spouses. So initially, twelve of us was agreeing to go, but due to clashes in exam schedules, two of the kids couldn't make it. Then, we were supposed to leave on 21 December 2013, but due to some logistic problems confronted by our travel agent, our flight was postponed to 26 Dec. This meant that my brother's wife and children couldn't make it, so the group was down to only eight people - four men and four women. This was convenient, as we shared two rooms comfortably. Our Umrah then proceeded nicely, taking off on AirAsia via LCCT (rather than the originally planned Saudi Airlines via KLIA) where we landed in Jeddah then took a bus ride to Madinah, and stayed there for a few days, after which we travelled by bus to Mecca. Unfortunately, due to the postponement, it had affected our hotel bookings - we were promised rooms in the majestic Zam Zam Towers, which is only 50m from the Masjidil-Haram, but ended up almost 500m away in a less prominent but decent hotel. Again, the plan was to return to Malaysia on 5 Jan 2014, but this was delayed until the 10 Jan. The bonus was the extra days we had in Mecca, fully paid for by the travel agent, and that we flew back by Etihad, Emirates premier airlines, rather than AirAsia.
Those were some of the testing challenges we faced, but otherwise, our Umrah itself went smoothly, and most of us managed to do it three times. The weather was colder than I expected, with Madinah dipping below 20deg Celsius. We toured the usual historic spots like Jabal Uhud and Masjid Quba, acquainted ourselves with a date farm and camel ranch, savoured the local Arabic cuisine, and browsed the shopping centres. Overall, it was a successful trip, and made more enjoyable by the company of my siblings!
Explore our adventure in Part1 and Part2...
I was invited to be the official photographer for my cousin's wedding. This was indeed a special occasion, as it was held at Carcosa Seri Negara, my first time attending a wedding at this prestigious luxury hotel, and my first time being a photographer there. Nataskia, or Saskia as she is affectionally called, chose to marry Ivan, a Frenchman, over in Malaysia as most of her relatives are here. Most of Ivan's family members came from Paris and Spain, and a few of Saskia's friends flew in from Australia and Scotland. Together with Saskia's Malaysian relatives, about fifty guests joined to celebrate her wedding. What can I say, it was a most lovely celebration, classic and beautiful. Both sides of the family seemed to be made for each other, and they certainly knew how to enjoy and party right through the night! It was a privilege for me to be a part of this experience, and I'm most grateful that they were happy with the wedding album that I produced for them. May they have an everlasting marriage!
Embrace and be enchanted by more pictures of their wedding!
This month, there were so many weddings to attend to! So far, I've gone to three, and as usual, they are such colourful events. Below are a few snippets from those ceremonies with all pictures taken using my Fuji X100:-
More pictures of the above wedding here.
More pictures of the above wedding here.
More pictures of the above wedding here.
Needless to say, as we approach the year end, there'll be many more happy marriages...I'll share those moments as it comes...