The University of Oxford holds graduation ceremonies all the time that one basically needs only to decide when to have hers. Afi only booked her graduation date after she had completed her corrections early this year, but thankfully managed to secure a nice summer graduation date after Ramadan but before the semester starts at IIUM.
We only booked our Malaysia Airlines flight tickets in May, however, as Afi wanted to wait for a sale. Despite everything that has happened, I would like to state on record that I never feel any less safe travelling with the national carrier than any other airline. All four of us went, of course, plus Afi’s Mak. Afi would have loved for her Abah to come too, but unfortunately he was too frail to travel. We finally secured our accommodation in June; a weekly rental two-bedroom apartment so close to where we used to live in Summertown that we would use the same bus stops! Rounding up our travel preparations, the week before the trip we also bought travel insurance, booked a minibus to take us from Heathrow to Oxford, and a rental car for the graduation weekend.
We left for the UK on the third day of Raya. After last time when we were delayed to the airport by a huge traffic jam, we opted to travel to KLIA by KLIA Ekspres. Omar was really looking forward to fly, and was just as excited to be riding a train. He kept calling at us to have a look at all the things he saw along the way. Having checked in our luggage at the KL City Air Terminal at KL Sentral, we leisurely had our breakfast at the airport before proceeding to the departure gate.
The flight from KLIA to Heathrow was uneventful, making it a great one. When he was not sleeping, Omar kept himself occupied watching cartoons on the in-flight entertainment. Though he was restless, Imran behaved much better than we feared. We were greeted at Heathrow by Afi’s best friend, who came to see us at the airport because she was leaving for the US the next day and would not make it to the graduation. Though he was visibly tired from the long flight, Omar was still excited by the minibus ride to Oxford, recounting to us that we had travelled by train, Aerotrain, aeroplane, and now minibus. It was already 9 p.m. when we finally arrived at our apartment but being in summer there was still plenty of daylight.
The apartment on Hernes Road was lovely. It was warm, comfortable, and fully furnished to a high standard including an oven, a dishwasher and a washer-dryer in the kitchen. In fact, Omar’s first reaction when we entered the apartment was to comment that it was beautiful—“Wah, cantiknya rumah ni, Ayah!” We only used the dishwasher once or twice, though, but really made full use of the washer-dryer. Having a fully equipped kitchen also allowed Mak to cook as she wanted.
Apart from Afi’s graduation, we really didn’t do much of anything other than what we used to do when we were there before. Other than buying souvenirs for people back home, we didn’t do any touristy stuff at all. I still haven’t visited many of the famous Oxford landmarks and colleges I have always wanted to. There’s always next time, we keep saying. Rather, we spent the time meeting old friends and refreshing old memories. For the most part, we were just happy to enjoy the fresh clean air and the peace and quiet. Six days were just too short, but then again, there’s always next time.
“Omar rindu Oxford, Ayah!”
