Doing the laundry in a hotel bathroom has never been my thing; I very much dislike seeing bits and pieces of damp clothing hanging this way and that over the washbasin, the shower curtain railing, the towel rack...
Then again, one just couldn’t be petty over such a trivial thing during the Hajj. It was, in a way, a necessary evil; either you do it or you drain your pocket unnecessarily by using the hotel’s laundry facility, and for such a prolonged period too.
In Madinah, however, I drew a line at washing the two-piece ihram garment in the washbasin, simply because there was no place to hang them to dry. At least in Makkah’s Qutubah Barakah Hotel, we were at liberty to use the rooftop as our drying area.
Thus it came to be that Pak Abu and I set out one cold, blustery morning in Madinah Al-Munawwarah, looking for a ‘kedai dobi’. We had seen a few along the side streets in our daily morning trek to this part of Madinah to seek breakfast.
There I was walking alongside Pak Abu, looking like the proverbial hobo with a bundle of soiled clothing in my arms.
Pak Abu (scanning one alley after another): Isyy, where’s the laundry when we need them? Didn’t we see quite a few the last time we walked this way?
Me (trudging along, bundle in hand): Alah, just walk along lah. We’ll find one soon enough.
Suddenly...
Pak Abu: WAAH!
Me (wow, this is a new one, getting excited over finding a kedai dobi!): Mana?
Pak Abu (excitedly pointing): See over there! Tu!
Me (looking in the said direction): Where? Takdak nampak laundry pun?
Pak Abu: Oooo waaah, tak sangka Madinah pun ada karaoke lounge!!
Me (looking doubly hard): Maaana?? (all the time thinking, “biar betul Pak Aji ni; I hope he’s not seeing things!”)
Pak Abu: There! The signboard above that shoplot. Read la! Doesn’t it say 'karaoke'?
Me (adjusting my brand-new, made-in-Makkah glasses): Isssyyy Pa...! It says Karedee lah!
Pak Abu (suddenly deflated, smiling sheepishly): Ooooh.. hehehe... betui-betui nampak macam spelling k-a-r-a-o-k-e! Terkejut jugak la sat, takkan in Madinah ada karaoke lounge kot!
Oh dearie me.... Either he needs a new pair of specs or he must be seriously 'gian', missing our regular karaoke sessions!
Then again, one just couldn’t be petty over such a trivial thing during the Hajj. It was, in a way, a necessary evil; either you do it or you drain your pocket unnecessarily by using the hotel’s laundry facility, and for such a prolonged period too.
In Madinah, however, I drew a line at washing the two-piece ihram garment in the washbasin, simply because there was no place to hang them to dry. At least in Makkah’s Qutubah Barakah Hotel, we were at liberty to use the rooftop as our drying area.
Thus it came to be that Pak Abu and I set out one cold, blustery morning in Madinah Al-Munawwarah, looking for a ‘kedai dobi’. We had seen a few along the side streets in our daily morning trek to this part of Madinah to seek breakfast.
There I was walking alongside Pak Abu, looking like the proverbial hobo with a bundle of soiled clothing in my arms.
Pak Abu (scanning one alley after another): Isyy, where’s the laundry when we need them? Didn’t we see quite a few the last time we walked this way?
Me (trudging along, bundle in hand): Alah, just walk along lah. We’ll find one soon enough.
Suddenly...
Pak Abu: WAAH!
Me (wow, this is a new one, getting excited over finding a kedai dobi!): Mana?
Pak Abu (excitedly pointing): See over there! Tu!
Me (looking in the said direction): Where? Takdak nampak laundry pun?
Pak Abu: Oooo waaah, tak sangka Madinah pun ada karaoke lounge!!
Me (looking doubly hard): Maaana?? (all the time thinking, “biar betul Pak Aji ni; I hope he’s not seeing things!”)
Pak Abu: There! The signboard above that shoplot. Read la! Doesn’t it say 'karaoke'?
Me (adjusting my brand-new, made-in-Makkah glasses): Isssyyy Pa...! It says Karedee lah!
Pak Abu (suddenly deflated, smiling sheepishly): Ooooh.. hehehe... betui-betui nampak macam spelling k-a-r-a-o-k-e! Terkejut jugak la sat, takkan in Madinah ada karaoke lounge kot!
Oh dearie me.... Either he needs a new pair of specs or he must be seriously 'gian', missing our regular karaoke sessions!
14 comments:
HAHAHA!! Adoii... gi cari kedai laundry, jumpa karaoke lounge! Kalau betul la ada karaoke lounge, imagine lah Pak Aji Abu dok nyanyi kat situ and Mak Aji Labu pulak dok gelek...
Ya habibi Ali Baba... ya habibi aaaaaaali!
Gelek mak aji, gelek!
Hehehe... itu ujian tu Kak Aji :-)
Kalau betul-betul ada tempat karaoke kat Madinah, agak-agak Pak Abu pegi try tak?
hahahaha
Love your 'proverbial hobo' description..Pak Abu kena jugak the mirage thing kat padang pasir Makkah? hehehe
Pak Abu and Mak Labu ni memang kelakar sangat2 lah!
Ini Mak Labu bawak soiled clothes and berjalan terhegeh2 cari launderette..reminds me of cerita Melayu lama laah! boohooo!
Hahaha, so, who wa sit who lost the glasses? But puteri, did you see women drying long pieces of cloths in the sun? Looking out of my hotel room I was intrigued how two women, each holding one end and twisted and turned the long piece of cloth until it dried under the scorching sun. And it took just a few minutes!
Pi & Oldstock - Hehehe, kalau betul ada karaoke lounge, I can bet my bottom saudi riyal that we both akan pi check out the place..:)
Mamasita - Apa nak buat, Labuu.. dah tuah badan!! Do you know that I jinjing 'bundut' kain pelikat tauu.. kampung abih..
Kak Teh - memang Kak Teh, the sun was so hot it took just a few minutes to dry any kain. Over there I developed the habit of doing my laundry before subuh and hanging them on the rooftop to dry lepas breakfast.
(giggle! giggle!)
Macam terbayang di depan mata, Kak Puteri dengan Pak Abu merenung sign board tu :D
Hajjah,
I ni lain pulak, if travelling, mesti mau cuci baju n sidai kat heater or near the air cond, tak suka bawak balik kain kotor.(betul2 style Melayu).
Karadee tu kedai apa?
Naz - Imagine, a couple of pakcik and makcik, the latter carrying sebunjut kain (nasib baik tak junjung), standing there baca signboard..LOL
Ida - me too, don't like to bawak balik soiled clothing; that was why usaha jugak pi cari dhoby. The karedee shop, whatever it was, was still closed at that time.
Kak Puteri,
Ni mesti dah rasa lega selesai buat haji ni :)
Woo..tak boleh nak imagine you "gendong" the dirty laundry. Ada rupa orang nak lari tak?? Heh..heh...:)
I suppose you did finally find the kedai dhobi? Masyaallah, kalaulah betul ada karaoke lounge at Madinah ...... takut tak sempurna ibadat haji pulak!
Salam Kama,
Pak Abu tentu dah lepas gian dgn sekarang kot?
Kay - hehehe, indeed macam orang lari dari rumah, dengan gendog pakaian sekali..:)
Qoth - We found a few kedai dobi after that, tapi all still closed except one and the one opened didnt hv anyone in it. It appeared they all disappeared for bfast. In the end, bawak balik hotel bunjut tu and I ended up washing all the items sikit2, by hand.
Zabs - tq for dropping by. Ha'ah, dah lepas gian karaoke dah.. pi singing kat KLGCC and kat Lake Club..budak2 waiters and waitresses gelak... makji & pakgi karaoke takleh tinggal... :)
KeryauK lagu lagu nasyid ka?:)
Jangan lupa lagu "Selimut Putih".:)
Hehehe lap, the selimut putih song would scare all my Cina/Indian singing buddies away..LOL
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