Yokohama trip 2017

 Sarah had wanted to go to Japan with Neville and baby Arissa. So in March 2017, Repin, Neville, Shasha and I together with Arissa Rose went to Yokohama to fulfil her mummy’s wish. 

We chose March because we wanted to see the cherry blossoms and also to experience early spring in Japan. It was really beautiful just as the time that we went to Osaka in 2015 with Sarah and Neville and Shasha. But this time we had baby Arissa instead of her mummy. Arissa was a really good traveler- in the plane she slept the whole way in the crib that the airline provided for infants below 1 year old . At this time Arissa was 1 year and 2 months old , still small enough to use the crib. 

When we arrived in Osaka it was morning and she woke with a smile , cheery and happy. We got through customs easily enough and had breakfast at the airport while we waited for the train to Osaka. 

Family trip to Tioman Island

I had wanted to go to Tioman for a long time - ever since I was teaching in Jasin in the early 70s when a group of our teachers went. I could not go at that time because I was pregnant with Rizal and Repin would not let me go. Tioman is an island off the coast of Pahang but is easier to go from Mersing, in Johor. 

The Repin family decided to go there in early September 2015, during the school holidays so that Rizal and his family could join us. Wan and Emma drove on their own from KL, Shasha came with us and Sarah and Neville went from Batu Pahat. We all converged in the town of Mersing and arrived there just before 12 pm. We had to wait for at least 2 hours for the ferry to Tioman. The journey was uneventful and took us about an hour. We arrived at the jetty by 4 pm and were taken to the Tioman Resort by a van. The resort itself was okay and our chalets were comfortable. Repin and me had a chalet a bit further from the others. The closest to us was Sarah and Neville; Wan and Emma was next to Shasha and Yati and Rizal's was in front of us. 

We were in Tioman for 4 days and 3 nights and on the second day we took a cruise round the island as well as snorkeling. Well the kids went anyway - I was too scared to try. Sophie was fearless - snorkeling with all the adults. Even Shasha and Sarah went . I was a bit worried about Sarah because she was already 6 months pregnant at this time. But she wanted to try and did it for a while. 

 Going snorkeling 

Wan and a fish underwater 

Above : waiting to go for the snorkeling trip 

Above picture : Rizal and Rania in the pool 

Little Arissa my darling grand daughter

It's more than a year now that Sarah has left us. The pain has not subsided, if it ever will. But life has to go on, especially now that we have her child to look after.  Looking after a tiny infant is not easy at our age, especially when the child is an orphan and has no mother to take over. After everything was over and Rizal as well as Wan and Emma had gone back to heir respective homes, Repin and myself were left with the baby so to say. Luckily for us Arissa is a fairly easy baby. In those early days she slept the whole time- nothing would wake her up. She didn't even cry for her milk - we had to wake her sometimes to get her to drink. Time flew and before we knew it she was already one month old, then she was 2 months and Repin and I had to go for our umrah. 

Fortunately for us my sisters Sabariah and Jasmine came over to look after the baby while we were on our umrah. Neville was around too - he would come back during the weekend and so it was all well taken care of. 

 Arissa at two weeks old

 Arissa at one month 

 Neville and Arissa ( 2 months) 

Our umrah was 12 days and while we were there we heard the sad news that my sister Laila, who had been in hospital since December 6 2015, had passed away. She had a brain tumor which was inoperable and finally after almost 2 months she too left us. Hardly 3 days after she died, another member of the Tahir clan, Imran, my nephew, had a bike accident. He too passed away that same day at the hospital. 

It did seem as if the Tahir clan was being severely  tested by the Almighty Allah SWT.  Life as we knew it had changed so much.