Going Home - Back To Reality ;-))

All too soon, a month had passed by. Immediately after the London trip, Ikram prepared to go home to Malaysia. Since his flight was in the afternoon, they took him for a heavy English breakfast. It was sufficient for Ikram until he had his next meal during the flight. They gave him a grand send-off. Everybody was there to see him off at Manchester airport. I guessed even Ikram felt a tad sad and a mixture of feelings.

What Ikram brought with him was a hand luggage. As we usually travel light, as minimal as we could, that bag was a check-in bag. The ladies were so dissatisfied with it that they gave him one of their bags and filled it with as much goodies as they could to comply with the 23kg free luggage allocation. They certainly surprised me!!!!

The brown bag was Ikram's luggage and the green one was theirs ..

What they had bought to fill in the bag ...

What was meant to happen, would happen. Everything happened for a reason. The solo trip helped to prepare Ikram for what had happened. He missed his flight to Kuala Lumpur. There was a delay in Manchester which caused him to arrive late at Heathrow Airport, London. Since the gap between his Manchester flight and KL flight was only one hour, he missed his flight. He kept his cool and went to enquire at the British Airways counter. They realised it was their mistake and made it by giving him a refund ticket to KL with MAS. It was a two hour delay. When he called to tell us about his delayed and changed flight, I was amazed at his cool and calm demeanor. He took it all in stride and I was very proud that the experience there had taught him how to handle his situation calmly.

He finally arrived. We were waiting for him at KLIA to welcome him from his adventure through the generosity of the two ladies who sponsored his stay there. As Sherry said when she saw his photo .. Ikram looked liked a seasoned traveller... ;-))

I was pleasantly shocked and surprised when we opened the extra luggage that Hanee asked Ikram to take along with him. I was touched that they went all out to get the little gifts which meant a lot to us. Especially the chocolates because Ikram said he did not know what to buy. How much to buy with his limited budget. Their generosity made everybody managed to get a taste of Manchester ... ;-))

A whole bagful of surprises !!!!

Dividing what could be divided so that everybody got a taste of Ikram's visit

The simple goodie bags from Manchester ... courtesy of Hanee and Sherry 

Besides the chocolates, shortbread and biscuits, there were some very special momentoes too ... I was just so touched and least expecting it. It was enough to host Ikram for a really amazing and unbelievable holiday but to receive what they had given was a bit overwhelming. How can I ever repay their heart warming welcome of a young man whom they hardly know ... making him so much as one of their own ... SubhanAllah. Alhamdulillah.

Sherry gave Ikram a pair of formal Clarks shoes for his future interviews ...

I had been looking for the paperback version of this final book  - I cried towards the end because both Emma and Harry died ..

I am a tea drinker and these are so much welcomed ... 

I was speechless ... 

Ikram talked about his trip and the many new friends he had made there. Being an easy going person, he got along with them irregardless of age and gender. He had made his own impact on them by being who he is. They hardly know each other. They met as strangers and parted as friends. More than friends. They were like sisters to him. They accepted him and he accepted them. Ikram thought I was crazy to let him go to a stranger's place in a faraway land on his own. I trusted them. I would not want people thought I was taking advantage of them. They offered and invited him. I was glad he decided to go and ventured into the unknown because he became a much informed, knowledgable and better person because of them. He grew up and matured faster because of his experience. He doubted if there would be another visit but for now, he was grateful and thankful for being given the chance of a lifetime. Thank you Hanee and Sherry ... for being you. All I could do was saying thank you the old school way - by sending a card - manually. ;-))

Thank you and yes, one day ... I will accept your invitation and be there.