Salam Eidil-Adha...

"May your days be filled with joy, your heart with faith, and your home with love... Eid Mubarak..."

(Eid Mubarak)

(Amir, Hana and Alia)

(The grandkids at TRX)

My Laparoscopy Hysterectomy Procedure...

“Maybe life isn’t about avoiding the bruises. Maybe it’s about collecting the scars to prove that we showed up for it...” - Hannah Brencher

(Sedated after a 4-hour surgery)

I have been grappling with this decision to have my ovarian cyst removed.

This surgery brought a lot of mixed emotions. I know it is perfectly natural to feel anxious but it is necessary for a peace of mind. Finally, I opted for a total Laparoscopic hysterectomy as the procedure is minimally invasive unlike abdominal hysterectomy. I had the cyst and the reproductive organs removed through the vagina. It is supposedly to have less pain, less bleeding, less risk of infection and quicker recovery period. During the surgery, I was under general anesthesia and was attended by my Gynae and my heart specialist.

I was warded for almost a week. Physiotherapy sessions appointments were fixed after I was discharged. And I lost 3 kg in two months.

(Iwan and Ella came visiting)

(A cute bouquet from the grandkids)

Trans-Siberian Railway Adventure

"We learn something from everyone who passes through our lives. Some lessons are painful. Some are painless. But all are priceless..." - Unknown

We have been lucky to see many parts of the world denied to others.

Although we have been to Mongolia in 2019 and Russia in 2014, we decided to endeavor traveling on the famed Trans-Siberian Railway. We expected the railway journey to be rough and bumpy as the train chugged along the vast terrain but we were mistaken. The locomotives were electric powered and modern with the average speed of about 120 km/hr. The journey was smooth and the cabins and beds were quite comfortable.

The highlights of the trip were the train stops in the cities of Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg,  Kazan and several other small cities and ended our train journey in Moscow. We explored the charming streets, visited the many historìcal attractions and experienced the diversity of the cities, its local cuisines and its lovely people.

This trip brought us to places we have not set foot before. It was truly a unique and unforgettable experience.

(Complimentary chocolate bars on the Trans-Siberian train)

The full Trans-Siberian railway line span a length of over 9,289 km and eight time-zone journey. It is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from Vladivostok in the east to Moscow in the west. To shorten our trip, we started from Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia to Moscow in Russia spanning over 6,266 km journey.

The Trans-Siberian Railway Trip itinerary:

02 - 17 May 2024

Day 01: KL - Incheon, Korea✈️

Day 02: Incheon, Korea - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia✈️
Day 03: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Day 04: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Irkutsk, Russia🚂
Day 05: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Irkutsk, Russia🚂
Day 06: Irkutsk, Russia - Lake Baikal, Russia
Day 07: Irkutsk, Russia - Yekaterinburg, Russia🚂
Day 08: Irkutsk, Russia - Yekaterinburg, Russia🚂
Day 09: Irkutsk, Russia - Yekaterinburg, Russia🚂

Day 10: Yekaterinburg, Russia - Kazan, Russia🚂
Day 11: Yekaterinburg, Russia - Kazan, Russia🚂

Day 12: Kazan, Russia - Bolgar, Russia
Day 13: Kazan, Russia - Moscow, Russia🚂
Day 14: Moscow, Russia
Day 15: Moscow Russia - Doha, Qatar ✈️
Day 16: Doha, Qatar - KL✈️

Our journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway is not just about train rides. It's about a trip that will be remembered for a lifetime.

Next Trip: 2024 - 16th Umrah

My Travel Blog: munmus.blogspot.com

The company of old friends...

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends...” - Martin Luther King, Jr

(Mus, Nas, Mazlan, Hafiz and Salleh)

The other day when we were in KGNS, some of us planned to visit our bedridden friend, Ridwan in Jenjarum. It has been quite a while since we met him.

Physically he is quite weak but still his cheerful self. We updated him on mutual friends, shared nostalgic stories, and informed him about things happening outside that he might miss.

We kept our visit short as we know that he needs his rest.

A memory no one can steal...

"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost..." - Charles Caleb Colton

(ITM Applied Science gang at KGNS)

Our circle of friends may naturally shrink as we get older.

Life becomes more of a patchwork quilt, each piece stitched together by memory, layered with love, loss, laughter, and longing. We look around, and maybe there are fewer people at our table than there once were. Our friendships feel like treasures gathered over time, some friends have traveled the whole journey with us, others only for a while. 

The memories are all there, stitched in that quilt, and we pull it close on quiet nights, letting it warm us with reminders of all the lives we’ve touched and been touched.