So, I woke up excited about going to Melbourne that night. The only thing is: I felt my throat being itchy & sore, and my nose blocked! But alhamdulillah (thank God) though, Allah has given me this chance to visit Melbourne and just be with my hubby & little boy (a chance that I VERY RARELY get to have in Sydney). We've said our farewells to our families that day & my brother took us to the airport. Our flight was delayed by 1/2 an hour, so we left Sydney @ approx. 8.06pm. My hubby flies and stays in Melbourne for free 'cuz his company paid for him; and what about me & abdurrahman? Of course, Robbie's paid for us :) At first, our seats on the plane were separate because the seats were booked at different times. But alhamdulillah (thank God) they re-arranged us to sit together. Flight was pretty good. Couldn't enjoy the meal much 'cuz they had braise beef and peas with mashed potatoes. So Robbie & I just had the peas & mashed potatoes.
This is my first time travelling out of Sydney with a child, and I wasn't sure how abdurrahman would cope. Surprisingly, he was a such a good boy! He hugged me during take-off and slept through dinner & landing (,").
Alhamdulillah (praise God), we arrived approx. @ 10pm in Melbourne. I waited by our bags whlie Robbie went to pick up the car he hired for our stay. It was a pretty cool car: Holden Barina, 2004 model, Red, European made AND manual, which I LOVE! The odd thing about the joystick with Euro-made cars is the 'reverse' shift. You have to lift the lower part of the stick and move it up to gear 1. Nevertheless, I knew I was going to LOVE my stay in Melb. 'cuz I got to drive! Ever since my son's birth my hubby wouldn't let me drive - for some reason. For him to let me drive around in Melb. was a big & generous thing. So I accepted with a 'hell yeah!'.
Monday 25th September, 2006
I intended to visit a different mosque each day. There's nothing more satisfying than going to pray @ a mosque and seeing Muslims of all races uniting under the one roof. I arrived @ the City Mosque on Jeffcott St. and parked the car.
When I saw the parking ticket machine, I thought 'Oh dear Lord!' But you know what? It's only 60 cents per 1/2 hour, cheap! Then it doomed on me, 'cuz I had no left-over change! Then this lady was coming my way & knew I was after some change of money. We talked abit and told me she was Muslim and fasting. She looked in her bag for a change of $5 but then handed me a $2 coin- she told me I could have it. Thank God for that!
That was my Monday afternoon for you. We had Iftar at this Turkish restaurant called 'Alasya' up @ Brunswick- Adana Kebabs RULE!
Tuesday 26th September, 2006
Tuesday morning comes and I haven't fasted since Monday. After the flight my throat worsened and it felt like I was swallowing the sharpest knife everytime. After having Sahur (breakfast before fasting before dawn comes) I stayed up catching up on my Qur'an-reading and most of all excited about the day's adventure. I decided to check out Chadstone Shopping Mall @ Chadstone, 10kms drive from the city. I browsed through these high-class shops and thought: "no way am I spending my money here. $1000 would be gone in 1/2 an hour!" But I ended up buying 2 cds ($9.99 each) @ HMV & 3 Dream Theater cds from JB HIFI. The mall covered a pretty large surface area but I still think Parramtta Westfield is bigger- as in the number of levels.
Satisfied with my purchases, I headed out to pray Zuhr @ Dandenong mosque, on Dalgety st. I finally arrived there only to find the footpaths FULL of cars & the mosque's carpark were full of people gaathered around as if waiting for someone famous to appear. Then my eyes fell on this car which carries the dead muslim bodies to their final destination- the grave. Not only the men gathered around, women & young girls were also gathered around and apparently blocking the entrance to the women's prayer section. I realised I wasn't going to find a way to the entrance. So I decided to pray Zuhr back at the hotel. That evening we went to this halal Indian restaurant called 'Shiva'. I had the Hot Lamb Curry and Robbie had the Butter Chicken with Nan bread.
Wednesday 27th September, 2006
Wednesday morning. It was time to say goodbye to the apartment because we were moving, just down the hall, to a studio. Personally, I prefer the apartment 'cuz I felt I had my own house, my own space. The apartment had a living room, to the side of it was a kitchen, down the hall was the bathroom & bedroom opposite of each other.
The studio, on the other hand, had everything in the one room - of course, a separate room for the bathroom.
After everything was settled in the studio, Abdurrahman & I ventured out into the city of Melbourne! Finally I arrived at what I thought was a factory outlet, but I was wrong. It was more like the cheaper side of Melb. But all was good because I finally got some anti-inflammatory 'Strepfen' & Betadine Sore Throat Gargle for my dying throat. With no more interest in the place I decided to get some Thai take-away for Iftar. The Thai restaurant was in this small alley called 'Little Bourke Street'. Cutest little Chinatown i've ever seen. I don't think I visited a mosque that day.Thursday 28th September, 2006
At last I attempted to fast today because I honestly thought that I could do it without my throat worsening the very next day, regardless I came through. Number 1 thing to do on my list that day was to find this mosque in Fitzroy on Brunswick St. Unfortunately, the map in the car we hired was a little out of date. The mosque ended up being on Palmer St. off Brunswick St. Which had a no right turn (damn it!). I had to go around the block. While I was trying to find the mosque, my son, sitting @ the back, was crying his little lungs out! And so I had no choice but to stop wherever I could to calm him down. Poor baby, I thought. No wonder he was stressed - he was telling me to change his nappy, ahhaah. After all that drama, I finally found the place. I was expecting a big mosque but it was only a standard one.
I prayed Zuhr there and headed for the City mosque to pray 'Asr. While I was praying 'Asr, I noticed @ the corner of my eye, a lady was playfully pinching my son's cheeks. After I finished praying I saw coming toward us and she wanted to hold him. She wanted to show him to the other sisters and asked me if it was alright, of course, I replied. Five seconds later I hear a distinct: "Mashallah! He's so gorgeous!" I praise Allah everytime someone comments on my son's beauty, because it is only from Allah.
Robbie & I wanted to have Italian for Iftar. They didn't do take-away and the place was FULL of alcohol - which is strange for a 'halal' restaurant. There was NO WAY we would Iftar in a place full of wine during this special month of Ramadhan. So I txt'd Robbie in which he replied that Mexican was the next choice. According to the list of halal restaurants from an internet site, "Mexicasa" was in the Queen Victoria (QV) Centre. Guess what. After 1/2 an hour of walking around trying to find this 'Mexicasa', I finally asked a security guard and he told me that "they used to be here some time ago, but not anymore." That's when I flipped out of my mind! So I called Robbie & we decided to have Iftar @ this halal Indonesian restaurant called "Es Teler 77", on Swanston St. Hektik place! Great food! But I would prefer my mum's cooking over theirs, hahaha. We were busy after getting back from the restaurant because we were to leave Melbourne on Friday night. That meant we had to start packing before going to bed.
Friday 29th September, 2006
I didn't think that I would stress out on Friday morning- but bloody hell, I did. I had to get everything packed and ready to check out of the hotel by 12 noon. I thought thatI would be able to check-out BEFORE 12pm, but I was dead wrong! Everything's ready & the time was 11.30am. I was freaking out 'cuz I had 2 heavy bags and 2 plastic bags filled with food & drinks to put in the car...........plus an 8.5kgs baby in my arms during the whole transaction. The hotel we stayed @ was called 'Oaks Griffin'. They have this card-swiping security thing happening when you want to go up to your rooms or get out of the carpark. That's pretty neat, I thought, until I wanted to go back up to get some more stuff after putting in the first 2 bags in the car. I couldn't leave little Abs in the room, all in his lonesome, while I was doing all that. I had no choice but to bring along- too bad he couldn't walk yet. So from the carpark lift, wanting to go up to level 2. Swiped the card for about 5 times and still wasn't getting the green light; "bloody hell!" I thought. I went up to the ground floor (via the stairs) for the reception, to sort things out, and they did. So i've gotten the rest of the bags, went down to the car, buckled my son in, ready to head out, but the it happened again! Swiped my card a thousand frikking times only getting the red light- the flamin' gate won't open!
With the carpark; you swipe your card in until you see a green light and the gate opens. Well, you can imagine, i'm sitting there facing the gate. I had to park the car and unload my son (by this time my arms were numb fron carrying him back & forth). I asked the guy @ the reception to fix it up for me. And to that he replied: "Didn't I do this for you before?" I replied "Yes, this time it's for the carpark." He answered with a mere "Oh." Then the girl next to him added "It's because the card expred @ 10am." That's bullcrap! I thought to myself. Then I said "My husband asked for an extension to 12noon the other day!" And she said "Oh...yeh." AAaargh!! And so I thrusted my hotel cards @ them and got the hell outta there. Until I had to come back to collect my son's shoes, which I have forgotten to pack earlier.
I thought I was gonna have fun for the remaining hours- if it wasn't for the stupid AFL grand final! Half the main road was blocked due to some public event. I spent my 1/2-1 hour in trying to find a way around it but ended up in the Botanical Gardens, haha!
Amazingly enough I found it interesting and took photos of it and decided to visit this mosque in Brunswick on Sydney Rd.
I found the place, prayed Zuhr there & headed back to pick up Robbie. Earlier in the week, his cousin had asked him, via sms, to get some candy from a shop called "Suga"- in Federation Square, 'cuz they don't sell it in Sydney. I tried my hardest but the time was 5.45pm on the Friday, my son was crying @ the back seat & to top it all up, our flight was @ 7pm. There was no time. But all was good. We made it to the airport just in time to check-in and board the plane. We had this large Sucuklu Pide for Iftar, ddaammmnnn that stuff is good! The flight back to Sydney was good, only took 55 minutes.
Overall...
I love Melbourne! InshaAllah Robbie will work from there again....someday. Only this time I hope it'll be a little longer. If I had the choice, i'd stay there! Driving in the heart of Melbourne is so much enjoyable than driving in Sydney city. Even though it's much busier with the trams and all, everybody is pretty much well-behaved with their driving. Nobody speeds! It's like everyone's cruising along with no problems. But there is this one thing though. In some city streets, if you want to turn right; you have to take the far left lane and then do a hook-right turn. At first, I got confused, but I got the hang of it. I began to feel familiar driving in those streets- i just loved it!
I was somewhat sad coming back to Sydney. I had my own living space in Melbourne and I had the freedom to drive. Whereas, in Sydney, I don't have my own living space and I don't get to drive- which to some extent, is driving me insane. But I ask Allah for patience and to give me something better later on in life.
Overall, Melbourne was DA BOMB y'all! Whenever you have the time & money to spend, go visit Melbourne! At least longer than 5 days.
~Peace!
Some more photos:
The Arts Centre
Sunset @ the bridge, near Federation Square
7 News in Melbourne
Remember these??
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