On our way back from Ipoh, heading towards Taiping, we stopped a cyclist.

Reason:  The road was going uphill.  We wanted to offer a lift – he could put his bike inside the hiace and we’d take him to his destination.  (Aduh..mesti penat nak naik bukit.  Kesian dia..jom ajak tumpang) – this was the script in my head, from the perspective of a couch potato.

However, he refused because he was on a mission to cycle from Singapore to Penang.  We could just say, “Ok fine.  Good luck!” but we were determined to have him as our guest.  A golden learning experience for our kids!  Homeschooling, right?

After much persuasion, we gave him our address and promised to wait for him in Taiping.  He was planning to spend a night in Taiping, by the way, so it worked out nicely.

His name is Yoji from Hiroshima, Japan.

Yoji-san accepted our offer to stay for a night.  Ohhh!!! Seronoknya!!!

The kids call him Abang Yoji.  I wished I had recorded all the questions Muhammad and Musa asked Abang Yoji.  Yoji-san entertained them well and the kids were being excellent host, I thought.

I was amazed when the boys told Abang Yoji about surah-surah in the Quran.  They also performed solat in front of him.  My boys…proud to be a Muslim!  Sarah and Maryam also sang their favourite nasyid (Nazrey Raihan’s songs) for Abang Yoji.

For dinner, we took Yoji-san to a restaurant in Kamunting.  Lapar sungguh abang Yoji kita.  The dinner time was loaded with more questions from the boys and stories on Yoji’s side.

Imagine the boys’ excitement when they got Abang Yoji’s email…