KHATAM AL-QUR'AN CEREMONY IN SCHOOL

Friday, 28th July, 2013 ~ The annual event of "Khatam Al-Qur'an" was held in school. It was to mark the success of the school community to finish reading the holy book of Koran. Much earlier, starting from the first week of Ramadhan, Muslim students and teachers had divided and read through pages of Koran together("tadarrus").

THE "TADARRUS" SESSION

THE "KHATAM" CEREMONY

During the ceremony, we first recited the last few "surah" (chapters) of the Qur'an, followed by the prayer recitation. Then, souvenirs were given away to students who had taken part in the "tadarrus" session and lastly, donation was given to unfortunate students for the Eid celebration.

This should be the last school activity for the month of Ramadhan before we all go for our long break to celebrate Eid. How time flies. We are now already one week away from the first day of Eid. So many things yet to be done and so little time. *sigh*

SPOT THE ERROR - SHANGHAI 5

Another one found on a t-shirt displayed at one of the shops...

THE FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI

Some of the multicoloured flowers seen during the 5-day stay in Shanghai.

SHANGHAI DAY 5 - PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW

It was finally time to go home after five fun days of exploring and sight-seeing in Shanghai and Suzhou. I wish holidays could always be longer.

all the luggage bags had expanded

waiting for the driver at the hotel

getting into Pudong Internatiomal Airport

the long queue at the check-in counter

finally...

at the gate

I must say I had so much fun during the five days in Shanghai - especially with the company of five old friends from college. It was like turning back the clock - I could smell the teen spirit. 

So I would like to say THANK YOU to all my friends Hazlina Aziz, Maslinda Mohd. Dahalan, Marina Tamrin, Aunillah Hilmi and Christina Chan for the good time we shared together and I believe this would be something that we would cherish in many more years to come. Hopefully, we could organize another LASBELA (translate: study tour) in the future for our TESL UPM CLASS OF 1993 group.

I miss Shanghai. When will I see you again?

[MY SHANGHAI TRIP MAIN PAGE]

SHANGHAI - HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS

This was the hotel we were staying throughout the five days in Shanghai. The place was good except that it was a bit far from the metro station. Other than that, the counter staff could speak English so you could try ask for any necessary information from the receptionists.

The place is located in a place called Wujiaochiang. You need not worry as there are small shops and shopping mall nearby and we even a saw a hypermarket across the road but had no time to see what was there to offer. Other than that, there was also a factory outlet, but could not remember which designer labels they are selling. We bought fruits from a shop by the roadside and we even purchased a few ceramic items from a small shop to bring back home.

view from the window, at night

business centre with free internet access, but no FB

our ration

BREAKFAST MOMENTS

Usually, an accommodation nearer to the tourists' attractions always cost more. So, if you don't mind walking a bit, this was a good place to stay at a reasonable price in Shanghai.

[MY SHANGHAI TRIP MAIN PAGE]

SPOT THE ERROR 51

Another entry in conjunctions with the month of Ramadhan. 

The correct version should be:

"When fasting, we should restrain from HUNGER and THIRST. And restrain from ANGER."

Happy fasting on the 16th day of Ramadhan everybody.

VIDEO - MUSICAL TAICHI PERFORMANCE IN SHANGHAI

This video is one example of how the elderly people of Shanghai spend their leisure time in a healthy way. That should be good not only physically, but that should also benefit them socially and emotionally. This group must be very serious as you can see they were wearing their costumes while carrying out the musical routine. I wonder if they were preparing for some kind of competition. But then, we could see others groups wearing colourful costumes on the street while practising.

I should start looking for an activity similar to this that I could do once I have retired (and that will be like about 14 more years).

 

SHANGHAI DAY 5 - NANJING ROAD IN THE MORNING

The last place we went to before heading back to the hotel after the Bund was Nanjing Road. It was still early but the whole stretch of pedestrian boulevard was already buzzing with activities. Many people in Shanghai were practicing a healthy lifestyle. The elderly mostly were busy in their own ways - dancing or "taichi-ing". This would be a scene that we could not see in Malaysia. Just imagine the reaction of the Malaysian public seeing a 60-year old woman doing a ballroom dance on the street.

 

So that wrapped up the 5-day visit to Shanghai. With a few more entries, the Shanghai stories would come to an end. Then I don't have anything else to post here. *sigh*

[MY SHANGHAI TRIP MAIN PAGE]