Travelogue: J+1 Benuaku di atas kaki.. benuamu di depan mata!!

I was supposed to meet Can at 8.30 am in front of the metro station at Taksim, the center of Istanbul it is just like Paris is the center of France.. everything is centralized towards Paris.. the train, the road, the administration.. etc.. It's kind of the same here. All the buses, metros and trams started from Taksim. macam KL central in KL or Chatelet in Paris.. but without the orang hitam..

So that morning, I woke up at 7.45 am, and prepared myself for the day.. normally it would take me less than 30 minutes to get ready but that day it took me longer than usual.. I had the problems of choosing my attire that day (macam pompuan ). I brought my three set of formula 1 driver t-shirts with me (Sauber petronas, Renault and Sauber BMW) and of course I wouldn't wear that tompok-tompok t shirt on my first day of stage.. and it left me with two collared t-shirt... one of them is the poker t-shirt that I wore the day before.. Kang apa kata Can kang aku pakai baju sama 2 hari berturut!! (Qu'est-ce Can va penser si je mettre le meme t-shirt 2 jours de suite) So it left me with my last t-shirt, my rugby 2007 world cup t-shirt.. and here is the problem with that t-shirt.. Normally,this t-shirt dipakai ketat untuk menunjukkan segala muscle2 di badan.. and baju tu agak ketat le jugak... so I have to kuatkan diri.. pakai baju ketat itu.. on my first day of work..!! I was arguing with myself during 10 minutes weather I should or I shouldn't wear the t-shirt.. I even considered wearing a hard -rock t shirt to my first day of work.. but finally.. I go with the rugby t-shirt!!

That morning after meeting Can, he suggested me to buy a sort of transport pass which is called akbil... well, they don't have monthly pass here in Istanbul so you buy this thing and you can reload it as much as you want.. well, as long as Can helped me to buy this thing I won't have a problem with it.. kalo beli sendri konfem kene tipu.. It costs 7 lira but in the end, I could reclaim my 7 lira by returning this Akbil back.. By using this, it will cost me 5 cents lesser than buying a normal ticket.. (oklah tuu..) On the way to buy this Akbil, something caught my eye!! CILAKAK punye CDG.. the exchange rate in CDG was 1.66 TLR per 1 euro.. whereas here, it was 1.95.. ok.. you might think that I was stupid enough to change my money in the airport, but you can't change your money into Turkish Lira anywhere else in France.. the only place that you can change euro into TLR is in the airport, itupun dekat boarding area.. Takkanlah nak datang Turki dengan tangan kosong kan?? mestilah ada duit emergency..Luckily I've only changed 50 euros.. To all those people out there who wanted to visit here.. never ever change all your money in Paris.. Change the appropriate amount first for your first few days survival.. Then, go to Taksim and change your money there..

Later, we took the bus no 42T to go to Tarabya, where the secondary school for this international school is located. It was a very very long journey and I passed 4-5 quartier (bandar) before arriving to my destination.. It was quite interesting for a first timer as I passed several interesting monuments in Istanbul (like having a mini tour). Firstly, just few minutes after taking the bus, we passed the Beşiktaş stadium.. To all the die hard football fan out there, Beşiktaş should be one of the turkish team that you are familiar with (other than Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray). Then, we descended a hill ( yup, this stadium is situated di pinggiran lereng bukit.. gambar nı pun cam senget) and for all the rest of the journey, we had a journey with the view of the ocean. Then we passed one of the castle in istanbul, Dolmahbaçe Castle (I haven't visited this place yet, so I have nothing to explain), Can's university, Galatasaray university, Ortakoy and finally, Bosphore.

Bosphore, is the strait which separated Europe and Asia. The last time when I was here with Gowe, we had a chance spending some time at Ortakoy to take a nice picture of Bosphore from there.. Well, I guess no need to return there.. Buat sedey je jalan sorang2! Dulu ade adık Emre!!

Finally after precisely 55 minutes of ride, we reached the high school, and it is totally situated next to Bosphore.. How can I describe this place.. wellm it's like "Benuaku di atas kaki.. benua tiket di depan mata" I can really see Asia from the bus stop just ın front of my workplace.. (nampaklah Amın adnan tengah bermundur2an di Asia)

Later, I was introduced to most of the staff there. My other supervisor, Gonen (the network engineer of the school) wasn't there that day. Apparently, Can and Gonen work in a part time shedule. Sometimes Can will be in charge of the IT system there and when he needed to go to the university, Gonen would take over his job..

Mosque in Ortakoy, where I passed on the way to Lycee.

Can explained me later to the network system of the high school. By half and hour of explanation, I familiarized myself with all the DHCP, DNS, fileserver, Active directory stuffs... He told me that i would applied everything that he had just explained to me, and be in charge of the IT system in the primary school. Duh?!

My first real job there is to help Can to install a computer in their art class.. Ala.. stakat pasang2 komputer je.. than our day was over.. (yup.. that's the only work that we do for the day... itu je!!) Oh before forgetting, we also deleted some of the unused icons in the desktop of the computers in the lab.. and we have to uninstalled all the unnecessary application in the Lab PC (YM, MSN Messenger, games) I've suddenly become those people the computer lab that you hated because he convıcted you for playing computer games ın tha IT lab or because you have drinks with you in the lab!! Then around 12.30 p.m, we attacked the canteen. I then learned that they will covered my lunch cost as well. This is nice, tidur free, flight free, makan free, masa pon free!! For that lunch, we had a kofte with spagetthi + ketchup sauce + yagourt+ salad (Well, it's school canteen, what could you expect) The canteen here is just like the dining hall back in high school. Everything is prepared and you don't have any choice then eating what was prepared. But of course the food was luxurious, far far much better than the food in MCKK.

After all the hard work, from 11 a.m to 1.30 p.m our day was over.. (tak tipu) We took a bus back to Taksim and on the journey back, we finally had a healthy conversation.. we shared what we learned in university.. he actually studied the image processing and told me the project on which he is working. I told him about how my school system work, what is exactly my competence and what do I expect from the internship..

In blue my journey from where I live to the lycee.

The journey back took a longer time than the morning journey, it was 2 p.m and the traffic was very bad. It's like driving in Pudu@ champs elysees at peak hours. I thought that everyone is so lazy and they'd already finished working but I was surprised later to learn that the Turk work 6 days a week from 8 to 6 p.m. Shame on you les francais!! Actually, The bumper to bumper traffic was due to the rehearsal parade which took place on the road. I saw a poster of Gwen Steffani concert in Istanbul on the 20th May but that mustn't be the reason.. Can told me that the 19th May would be the national day of turk and it was called the day of memorial to Atatürk.. Well that explained why Gwen Steffani is coming to Turkey on the 20th..

As we arrived in Taksim after 1 hour 25 minutes of bus ride, we took a separated route as Can lived far from where I live, near the airport (which was about 30 minutes ride by taxi) He handed me a tape cassette and my next task is to transfer the contains of the cassette into a CD.. I might call my day off and do it the next day I guess...

Almost 90 minutes of ride on a Turkish bus really make my head feel weird.. People always giving alasan gedik.. "Taknaklah naik komuter.. pening kepale lahh" Now, if that kind of people had the chance to take the Turkish bus, baru dia tahu langit tu tinggi ke rendah.. I straight away went to bed as I arrived home and only woke up later to fulfill the stomach (and also by the called of the muazzın)

This is the most confusing part of the day.. The choice is there in front of you and you don't know what to have.. Finally, I entered a grill retaurant, showing a ayam bakar, having it with nasi and it costs me 13 TRL (7 euro) Binawe punye orang Turki!!

As I reached home, I set my target to learn some of turkish essential words so that at least I know what I'm asking for and how much it costs me.. After having a 30 minutes revision on CISCO network.. I called it a day.. This time, i swtched off my room light.. well, papepon.. i'm not alone kan.. jesus menemani aku.. buatpe nak takut!!

Travelogue: J 0 The Day!!

J 0

I woke up at 5 o-clocks in the morning to watch survivor season finale. An hour later my heart was broken as Cirie Fields had been eliminated from the show, making her the second runner up of the survivor fan vs fav.. at 7, Parvati was crowned as the winner of this season survivor, and i was no where ready to leave for the airport..

I've already had my bag packed.. I took a shower before sleeping, knowing that I won't have another one that morning... I hesitated to go at 7 or to wait the survivor reunion show finished, but it is kind of a risk to do any stupid thing as I might have some problem later with the train to the airport. It is Monday the 12th May, and it is a public holiday in France. We called it lundi pentecote.. I barely remembered the history behind that day. All i know is this day is a remembrance for those people who died during the canicule a.k.a. overheat a.k.a musim panas terlampau in 2003. 15 000 of peoples died in France during that time. And workers are allowed to choose either they wanted to go to work or not... and for those who go to work, they won't have the salary for that day, as the money will go directly to the association that will help old citizens to prepare themselves for the coming summer... (Buy drinks, buy medicine etc)

It's already started getting hot in France. For the last few days the temperature barely reached 30 degrees. The worst thing in France is , when the weather said it was 30 degree is not like in Malaysia that you could expect the angin will bertiupan sempoi-sempoi bahasa or you could find yourself an hour later drinking a mega jumbo red slurpee in a fully air conditioned mamak stall in section 15 bangi..

When it is 30 degrees, that means, you could feel the heat in your skin as if your skin would come out at any moment. You could feel the itchiness in all over your body. When you switch on the fan in your room, there's nothing else than angin panas which is directly terbang into your face.. the only thing that you would had in mind is going into shower but just as you stepped out of the shower, cahaya matahari kembali menerik di atas kulitmu.... But I will always remember what cikgu Jamaluddin told us in school:

"Kamu ni panaslah.. rimas lah ngan baju melayu tu.. kang masuk neraka kang baru tau mane lagi panas.."

So I've decided to simply wear a t-shirt and a pair of jeans to the airport considering that as Istanbul is far further near the khaltulistiwa (equateur) In a perfect world it would be much hotter than in France. Luckily that I had to meet my tuteur de stage first, if not I would consider pagoda (showing my six pack abs) three quarter and my best buddy, qrocs!!

After 45 minutes of clear traffic RER ride, I arrived in terminal two RER station.. It was 8.30 am and I started having regret do not watching the survivor reunion show.. My terminal was Terminal 2E and it was just next to the RER station.. the thing about terminal 2E is, as it handles the Air France flight ( lupa pulak.. my flite... air France tau.. jangan jeles) I couldn't find my check-in counter number in the board.. It was written number 56 and i looked around for a counter number 56 and I couldn't find anything. Sooner i realized that it was gate no 56 that was written on the board, not the counter number 56.

I randomly go to counter 9 and asked the girl to check me in and she told me that I have to check in at counter no 4.. How should I know you freaky air France people.. There I am, making another tawaf in that stupid terminal 2.. When I arrived there in the counter, they asked me if I've already checked in.. What a stupid question.. Is just like when you've already finished making sex with another girl, and later you ask her are you a virgin.. 'No, no, this is only to drop off your luggage'

dude! don't tell me that i had to check in at another counter...

she explained that since everything now is beıng computerggghhhized... in her French accent... you have to check in at the computer therre and give me your luggage!! Luckily the computer is just in front of the counter.. Well, it is typical of a French people I guess wanting to do as little work as possible..!! That explains well all the trente cinq heures stuff..

I got a 25-c seat... it's at the aisle side and I loved it.. I prefer seating on the aisle seat rather than the window seat.. You will not bother waking up the guy next to you when you need to go to the loo or in my case, when I need to go to the cabin staff cabinet to ask for some cookies and hot milk. This time, my airplane ride was kind of freaking me out.. I could feel the pressure in my head.. Twice, i almost lost my breathing (failing to telan my air liur when the pressure increased)

As for the airplane, it is far worse from my expectation... It is a little bit bigger that the low-cost cheap airline (Ryanaır, easy jet, air Asia) .. it has no tv..(Damn you Air France) The funny thing is that for the first class seat, it is exactly the same as the economy-class seating, except that they turn the middle seat into a table by putting a removable table on it.. That’s all.. No TV, no 360 degree seat like the one you could see in the advertisement on TV.... rıen.. rıen de special!! Well worth spending your money all those first class people and those people who using your charm and your kejambuan to upgrade to the first class seat!

As I seat for an hour in the flight, I could smell something special from the back of the flight.. Then a chubby but not so cute stewardess tip-toed next to our seat and she called out my name.. I nodded and she looked curiously at me.. She asked me 'Have I ordered a..' then she lowered her voice "muslim food".. it's kind of funny that she had to lower her voice as if she tried not to make anyone in the flight worried that there is a Muslim in the flight and it is possible that he has a 'bahan letupan' under his beard..!

The best thing when you made a special request food is, you would get your food earlier than everyone else in the flight.. You didn't have to worry if during your time, they might out-of stock of coke or everyone else chose the chicken menu leaving you with friend fish and vegetable... I felt sorry for the guy next to me who slept all the way in the flight but abruptly woke up when the attendant mentioned the word meal time in the speaker.. He jealously looked at me enjoying my salmon lasagna, with a hard as rock bread and a tiny little fruit cake.. While he had to wait the crew attendant serving from the seat 1 to 24..

And just when I wanted to give 2-3 star to the air France service (yelah.. dahlah rotıi keras, takde TV.. Pramugari buruk!!) , the flight attendant impressed me by offering me another can of coke without me asking for... sorry gurlz, you still can't beat royal Brunei servıces which offered a 50 cl can of Pepsi... not 10 cl!!

After 3 hours of flight, and 2 times of nearly losing my breath, the captain performed a mediocre landing (it's kind of creepy when he couldn't find the balance during landing.. to Ihsan.. just remember this next time when you fly the plane) I hurriedly marched to the luggage zone worrying that the people who's waiting for me might left if he didn't have my news.. Just when I need to be hurry, then suddenly the world is totally against me.. It’s like every flight in Istanbul arrived at the same time as my flight.. I have to spend another 30 minutes waiting for the immigration passport checking queue.. After a totally silence encounterment with a Turkish muscular policewomen, she let me free and I ran for my luggage..

My fantasy was somebody out there would be waiting for me with my name written on a piece of paper.. Mr Wan Muzaffar.. (cool kan!!) well, my dream almost came true but instead of writing my name, they put it as "Lycee Francais pierre loti intern" Well, it is far better than having to carry my 14 kilo back pack in the metro .

I met Cad, he's my first out of two supervisor in Turkey. He told me how long he had waited for me and he was ready to leave if I did not turn up in another few minutes. Karma was finally on my side..! We took a taxi ride from the airport to my accommodation.. And guess what.. Screw you France.. It is freezing cold here in Turkey.. I almost forgot how did it feel when it's cold and suddenly the turkey 20 degrees temperature + the high velocity wind coming from every side of the sea mencucuk you in the heart..

The journey in the taxi was kind of weird.. He might be expecting a smart cool French people arriving from France as a intern in their place, and soon surprised to see a bald people from ntah, dari mana ntah came approach him (that I could read from the disappointment on his face). He explained to me about my working environment, it is actually an international school with two quarters, one which is just a stone throw from where I live and another one is in 45 minutes of ride in the bus.. I would be fully in charge with the IT problems involving the school near to my apartment.

And when we arrived at the school, we met the pengetua of the school. She was a little bit busy meeting parents who wanted to register their student in the school. Sooner I realized that it was the primary school of the international school where all of the students spend their time playing hide and seek in the field in front of the director's office. Can later showed me to my apartment and he needed to leave early as he had an assignment to send to his professors, promising to take me to see the real French chick in the high school tomorrow.

Before leaving, he advised me to suck up the pak guard of my apartment. Just as I was about to give a smile to the guard, the guard did not buy it.. Instead.. He firmly told me that if I wanted to go out, I had to return before 12 p.m... Oh no.. Now I’m feeling like staying in bangi where my parents would call me if I return later than 9 !!

As Can left me, I spent the next few hours trying to settle down.. It is a spacious house.. With a living room, a kitchen with a dining area, two toilets, one of them with a shower, a store, an office and a large bedroom with a king size bed. It is too big for me to leave alone in the house. It's kind of frightening as well.. macam rumah kat cerita Main-main hantu.. with hamid gurkha and his mak ngah mati dalam grobok dialogue!

I hastily switched on my lap top and miraculously captured a unsecured Wi-fi signal with a pierrelotiasus name on it.. Not bad for a primary school.. Having it owns wi fi.. I wondered who would use it.. takkanlah budak-budak kecık ni bawak lap topo gi sekolah A message appeared saying that somebody could read what I’m going to access which I completely ignored. And that also means no porn for me as somebody could notice the entire site that I’ve accessed!

I waited all the survivor reunion video to load.. That was the time that i realized that this is not just a house, this is a house full of cross and jesus's patung.. i was kind of worry having to stay here .. As I checked on the table, there's a file with the name of a church on it.. The spacious living room was filled with I don't know how many jilid of bible.. Sooner I YMed my housemate and told him that I’m staying in a pope's house..

”father le bodoh.. bukan pope”.. kata beliau.

He suggested me to sorok all the patung and the crosses in the house.. Well I tried to but it didn't work as it's already being paku 'ed to the wall.. So i just took a napkin and covered the cross in my bedroom, as it is the place where I sleep and where I pray.. tak kan lah i have to pray in the store? And for the other room, trying to respect other's religion; I left it as it is....




After having another cry of cirie's losing the survivor, I headed out of my apartment. Then I realized that I’m staying in the most happening street in Istanbul.. the beyoglu area.. It’s like 5th avenue in new York, champs elysees in paris and bukit bintang in kl.. just as I stepped out of the house, there is burger king in front of my house. Turn left, there is a adidas boutique next to a nike boutique and the list go on and on.. as i walked from my house to the nearest metro station (where I have to meet Can the next day) I walked pass two pizza huts (offering unlimited buffet for 4 euros) uncounted number of kedai kebab, all the boutiques that you could list on, from benetton, adidas, quicksilver, nike... 3 panggung wayang... etc...

And as I walked pass the roads 3 times I was being tegur by a turkish trying to act friendly asking me where are you from.. india?? bangladesh?? ( at least have some respect on me ok..!!)
The thing that I've learnt from my trip in Egypt two years ago is.. Everyone is a liar.. So don't trust anyone.. And that's what i stand for here!! I completely ignored them.. Entah2 diorang nı nak pukau aku..

After having a quick tour of my living area, here is the hardest part , to choose where should I eat... my gut told me just to follow my heart and it took me finally to mc Donald.. Once, kimmy told me that mc donald is not something international.. it depends on a country.. that's why we have mc rendang and sambal kombo in malaysia.. well, kimmy a raison.!! Here we have something like mc doner.. mc kebab ... well my choice always stay with double cheese burger.. That cost me around 4 euro (7 lira) sooner than I realized how small the double cheese burger is and it wasn't enough to keep me until midnight.. ( i had my mc d at 4)

After watching another episode of Malcolm, I once again headed out of my room.. This time, i went to a kebab shop.. Not knowing what to have.. And just showing to the manager.. A thing on the picture.. It turned out to be a stuffed potato.. It’s quite large potato, being rebus.. And mashed with cheese.. Then, you could choose the ingredients that you could put in the potato... I don't know how could i ask "berapa banyak saya boleh letak" in turc, so i just put some saussages, vegetables, chili sauce (which i thought was a bolognaise sauce) and mushrooms . It was 1 lira cheaper that the Mc D and well worth the pay..

There goes my first day in Turkey..I headed to my appartment, wondering what could arrive the next day.. and hoping for a well sleep.. that night i sleep with all the lights switched on in the house....!!! risau sleeping alone.. but as ajib said.. walaupun kau sorang.. Jesus menemani kau!!!

Travelogue: J-1

J-1

Ok .. some of you might know it already and I have to keep it a secret from some of you.. There's no point of hiding.. I guess there's nothing else that could be done.. nasi dah jadi bubur..

The thing is with JPA (my sponsor who sent me studying in France) is that they prohibited their students to do their internship in other country than France or Malaysia. Meanwhile, Telecom Lille 1's (my university) policy obliged each and every student in the school to undergo a period of internship outside of France. Well, I took an easy route by doing my internship back in Malaysia, the last summer.. and at the same time I could spend my eid mubarak fete in Malaysia witn my family.. but as I returned in France.. İ was extremely flabbergasted that my internship had not fulfilled the requirement of the international's internship.. I felt a little bit insulted. I assumed that they thought the technology in Malaysia is so so left behind that they couldn't accept it as a country where you were allowed to undergo your internship..!!

But appearently, I was wrong. Later than I found out that students who performed their internship in their pays d'origine (negara asal) , is not considered as doing their internship in oversea..what a jerk..!! they should have told me earlier!! (as in if they told me , i would do my internship in france and missed my hari raya celebration in gerik.. ) come onlah.. it's not like everyday you can celebrate hari raya in gerik! So.. desperately, I had to do another oversea's internship.. at the same time, I applied also for some of the offers in France.. but I hardly received any response..

So one day, my school offered to all students an internship's opportunity in Istanbul, Germany and Hungary.. I was intrigued with the Istanbul's and hungary's.. and I applied for both.. and since I had a good track record in my study.. (now here goes all my effort for not escaping my class) I was the only candidate that was chosen to go to Istanbul.. and the good thing about this, the flight ticket and the accomodation is sponsored by the company...

I was a total idiot if I rejected those offer.. So i took a risk.. in case if any of pegawai jpa or Jpa barua read this blog.. sorry dude.. i've left paris.. well, think about it.. it's not like i wanted to come here.. it's a school obligation.. actually i didn't even care to do my internship outside of france.. it's all because the school's obligation.. and since you guys don't give allowance for those who are doing internship outside of france, i might as well apply in the country where i didn't have to spend lots of money (transport and accomodation foc).. so.. i made some good points here.. in addition, i was perplexed with your explanation.. i remembered one time I asked a representative in Malaysia and another time I asked SFERE about this matter, the answer that they gave me is " itu lain ceritalah.. or 'ca, c'est un cas special.." well.. now i am in this cerita lain, and i didn't understand your stand in this matter.. lain cerita tu camne.. boleh ke idak? ada apa2 batasan tak? Sorry if ou ever have to read this!!

So for the next couple post, as long as I am not bored.. I wıll write every detail of my short but surely memorable trip ın Istanbul.. And kalau I'ver already bored updating my blog, sorrylah that I would have to leave my blog berabuk once agaın.. Excelsıor...!!

Paris Je t'aime

Memang pelik, ada tips dari pelbagai tempat but not for Paris.. so.. memandangkan ada special request, aku pon ceritalah sedikit sebanyak tentang tips2 berjalan di Paris..

Asal2 tiba dari airport je, ada pelbagai cara untuk hubungkan paris ngan airport (yang terletak dalam stengah jam dari paris) sama ada bas ataupun RER. Memandangkan aku tak pernah naik bas, aku sentiasa suggestkan RER untuk sesape saja yang datang ke Paris ni. Terdapat dua pilihan

1) Tiket Paris Visite yang berharga 17.05 euro
Tiket ini membolehkan anda berjalan tanpa batasan selama satu hari menaiki semua public transport Paris. Tiket Paris Visite ni agak mahal sebab dekat Paris ni ada banyak tiket yang membolehkan kita naik unlimited access to public transport (akan dihuraikan di bawah) tapi cume tiket paris visite ni je yang boleh gunakan untuk ke airport

2) Beli tiket Airport- Paris 8.20
ini memang tiket pakai sekali je lah . untuk ke mane2 tempat dalam paris. lepas tu nak bergerak dalam paris kene beli tiket seunit yang berharga 1.50 ataupun boleh beli ten for 11.10 euro. tapi bear in mind yang tiket ni hanya untuk dalam paris sahaja (zon 1) untuk check zon2 tempat2 kat paris ni boleh tgk map metro ni.

Bile beli tiket metro sila minta peta, peta kecik supaya senang buat reference. Tak payah susah2 nak print website nye peta

Aku juga ada cakap yang terdapat tiket2 metro lain yang dijual.. di sini aku berikan nama tiket metro tu dan kenape korang x patut beli as korang sampai dari airport.

Ticket jeune
Untuk bawah 25 tahun. harganya 3.20 untuk zon 1-3 dan 6.40 untuk zon 1-6. Hanya boleh dipakai weekend dan hari cuti umum. Takleh pakai sampai airport. Unlimited access untuk the whole day.
Ticket Mobilis.
Harga dari 5.60 euro- 12++ (ikut zon). Boleh dibeli hari-hari biasa. tapi x boleh digunakan sampai ke airport. Unlimited access of transport untuk the whole day.

Boleh check website RATP untuk maklumat lanjut.

Untuk hotel, my favourite will be Accor group punye hotel. Hotel Formula 1 dan hotel etap sangat murah (bezenya... formula 1 toilet share tapi etap toilet dalam bilik). Tapi kebanyakan hotel-hotel ni terletak dekat pinggir paris and susah sket nak access ke paris (sebab tu murah). Always check with mappy lokasi hotel2 ni banding ngan stesen metro and check stesen metro tu gak supaye tak terlampau jauh dari pusat bandar.

My favourite hotel is formule 1 St Denis Stade. terletak dekat dengan stadium France (stadium world cup 98 dulu) and sangat dekat dengan stesen RER. Senang untuk ke paris. Harga pon xdele mahal sangat .

Bear in mind yang harga untuk hotel2 formule 1 and etap adalah untuk 3 orang sebilik..

Ok.. abis cakap pasal teknikalnye tempat, skarang ni jalan2 kat Paris pulak.. apa yang menarik untuk dilihat.

Eiffel tower (Zone 1- metro champ de mars line 6)

Ala mende ni cam wajib le pulak nak pergi, kalau x tulis sure macam pelik je. Kalau nak pegi, pegilah awal2 pagi sket untuk mengelakkan beratur panjang untuk beli tiket.. dalam 11 euro camtu dapat naik sampai ke tingkat atas sekali. Dekat bawah-bawah mende ni ade orang-orang bangla menjual keychains.. sangat digalakkan untuk beli kat cni.. tapi make sure negotiate betol2.. harga standard se euro satu.

Waktu malam pon best untuk pergi, sebab dia pasang lampu. Lepas tu sejam sekali, lampu tu akan berkelip2.. sangat lawa untuk diambil gambar kalau ada camcorder..

Champs Elysee (Zone 1 Charles De Gaulle - Etoile - line 1, RER A)

Etoile ni ialah round about paling berbahaya kat dunia ni. Syarikat insurans taknak membayar balik apa-apa kemalangan yang berlaku kat dalam round about ni. Kalau nak keluar dari Metro, ikut sign Arc de Triomphe, adalah sebuah mercu tanda yang sangat popular di Paris. Memperingati kemenangan perang dengan England di Austerlitz. (Lebih kurang cam tugu negara le) Lepas tengok tugu ni, bolehlah lalu Champs Elysees, jalan tercantik di dunia, dan sewa kedua termahal di dunia (Selepas Fifth Avenue). Kat sini ada macam-macam kedai-kedai dan butik-butik yang menarik, make sure lawat butik RENAULT, Louis Vuitton (di sebelah kanan jalan kalau anda membelakangi arc de triomphe) dan juga butik Disney (kiri jalan) . Kat sini nanti adalah orang yang akan tanya can you speak english.. and maybe orang tu mintak pelancong2 asia belikan beg louis vuitton.. just abaikan orang2 tersebut sebab mereka ni adalah sindiket-sindiket beg cetak rompak dari China.

Perjalanan ke LOUVRE

Nasib baik ada Da vinci code, kalau dak takde orang tau Louvre tu apa. Terdapat dua cara untuk pergi ke Louvre. Pertama, dari Champs Elysees tadi, terus je jalan sepanjang jalan tu (sambil tengok butik-butik kiri dan kanan) dalam 1 km, anda akan sampai di place de concorde (Concorde square, square terbesar diFrance) Dekat tengah-tengah square ni ada satu obelisk yang dihadiahi Mehmet Ali (Egypt) dan obeliks ni berasal dari Luxor (Egypt). Dekat obeliks ni jugakle pernah terletaknye guillotine untuk memotong kepala raja-raja dulu waktu revolution.

Lepas tu, akan ada taman, jardin de tuilleries. taman ni pon dipopularkan oleh Da Vinci Code. Biasa je, it is just a taman, tapi taman ni popular sebab Da Vinci Code je le.. Lepas tu bolehlah enter ke Louvre.

Tapi jarak Arc de Triomphe ke Louvre ni dalam 1.5 km gak. Kalau dah letih sangat, boleh teruske Louvre naik metro

Louvre (Zone 1 - metro Pyramides)

Piramid kaca ni used to be my favourite monument in the world (skarang dah depan mata dah x fevret dah) Popular sebab Da vinci Code (again), juga kat dalam ni ada lukisan mona lisa (jangan terkejut melihat keBESARan mona lisa dalam ni. Entry adalah free bagi mereka di bawah 18 tahun (kepada junior-junior yang baru sampai, masukle mende ni cepat2 , kang nyesal cam aku) Tapi bear in mind that you need at least half days untuk melawat museum ni (walaupun sekadar meng'usha'usha je. nampak je pyramid kaca, tapi jangan terperanjat melihat kebesaran museum ni.

Notre Dame (Zone 1- RER B atau RER C Notre Dame)

Notre Dame ni pulak popular sebab cerita hunchback of notre Dame tu. Ia hanyalah merupak sebuah katedral. Nak masuk dalam, boleh aje, sekadar untuk melihat2 apa yang ada di dalam. (eh, mase mencari gambar ade maklumat yang katekan gereja ni pernah ada kat cerita Van Helsing) Jangan terperanjat tengok betapa besarnye katedral ni. Bukan macam gereja-geraja kat Malaysia tau. And apa yang menarik lagi kat sini ialah adanya sungai Seine, ada permandangan yang sangat lawa sepanjang sungai Seine tu. kalau nak naik bot pusing2 paris, boleh bermula dari sini . Frankly, mende-mende ni sume aku x nah try.

Kat sini juga (dekat sepanjang sungai tu sume) ada kedai-kedai souvenirs and gift shop. Kat sini merupakan tempat yang murah juga untuk beli2 souvenirs. And kalau berani masuk celah2 lorong kedai2 tu semua (just follow the crowd) akan ada syurga makanan, banyak kedai-kedai makan yang enak2 n kedai2 kebab pon banyak juga. Tapi nak tahu tempat makan paling best kat paris ni.. tunggu sampai bawah entry ni...

Sacre Couer - Quartier Montmatre (Metro Anvers, zone , line 2)

This is my fav monument kat Paris ni. bukan sebab lawa pon, actually die punye suasana sangat menarik. Untuk pergi ke bangunan , kalau keluar metro tu kena naik bukit yang sangat tinggi. Kalau ada kabel car, ok, tapi kalau rosak, naikle tangga yang beratus-ratus tingkat tu. Tapi bila sampai atas, suasananye sangat calm (make sure pegi mase matahari nak tenggelam) Orang akan lepak-lepak tepi tangga, akan dapat the best view of Paris in the evening (kalah eiffel tower) akan ada orang main gitar sambil nyanyi2... memang dapatlah rasa kehidupan orang paris.. n kat area2 atas ni gak ada kedai souvenir yang murah2 jugak, n tempat untuk lukis gambar buat souvenir. Sangat best untuk dilawati (berkali2 datang x pernah jua aku masuk sacre coeur tu) Kalau pernah tengok cerita Amelie Poulain, kat sinilah most of the pengambaran tu dibuat.

Kalau nak turun dari Sacre couer, awas dengan tangan anda. akan terdapat sekumpulan orang2 afrika yang akan memakaikan gelang di tangan anda.. lepas dia dah pakaikan gelang tu, baru die mintak charge yang sangat mahal.. time tu nak bukak dah tak boleh dah.. so elakkan berhubungan ngan orang yang tak dikenali ye

Pigaille ( Zone 1, metro Pigaille, line 2)

Ada apa di sini? takleh cerita lebih2. cume untuk orang yang curious bolehle turun.. hehehe.. dekat je ngan sacre couer tu.. kalau curious singgahle..

Hard Rock Cafe (Zone 1 , metro Grandes Boulevards , no 9)

memangkan hampir keseluruhan baju saya ditaja oleh hard rock, maka perjalanan ke Paris takkan lengkap tanpa membeli souvenir di Hard Rock Cafe. Just nak indicate location dia sahaja, apa yang ada kat dalam macam biase le kan.. bila kluar metro ikut signe musee Grevin

Musee Grevin ni sebenarnye museum patung lilin. Terpulangle kalau nak pergi .. (tapi takdele sebest madame tussaud) ianya terletak sebelah Hard Rock Cafe.

Mosquee de Paris (Zone 1, Place Monge, line 7)

Masjid utama di Paris tu. Frankly speaking aku pon pernah gi sekali je , itupun subuh tak nampak sangat le apa yang ada (bukanlah saya tidak ke masjid, tetapi biasanya saya musafir) Tapi menurut kawan2 yang pernah ke sana, tempantnya sangat besar dan lawa.. Cuba bayangkan aku gi subuh2 tak nampak apa.

Stade De France (RER B , Zone 2, La Plaine Stade De France)

Stadium world cup 1998, juga tempat terletaknye hotel fevret aku tu. Kat sini bolehle korang dapatkan marchandise2 official untuk france punye team. And memandangkan world cup rugby pun dibuat kat cni, maka akan adalah official marchandise utk tagbi jugak.

La Defence (Zone 3, RER A atau metro line 1, metro La Defence)

Once korang jalan2 kat paris ni korang akan sedar yang most of the buildings adalah bangunan2 yang lama2. itu yang membuatkan architecture kat Paris ni unik. Antara tempat yag korang leh nampak kemodenan Paris ni adalah di kawasan la defence ni. Barulah kat sini korang leh jumpa mall, bangunan tinggi2, senang cerita macam KL le. In case kalau korang dah pening kepala dengan bangunan yang uzur2 , why not singgah sini. At least boleh lepak2 sambil minum starbucks (Bukan senang nak jumpa starbucks kat france)

Disneyland Paris (Zone 5, RER A, Marne La Valle Disneyland Paris)

macam tak perlu describe je ape yang ada kat sini, faham2 jele.. disneyland apa lagi yang ada kat sini. Just reminder yang biasanya orang akan habiskan at least satu ari kat disneyland ni. Pandai2 bajet makan sume, and try check disneyland paris punye website, sometimes ade tiket murah yang perlu dibeli beberapa hari sebelum ke disneyland.

Chateau de Versailles (Zone 4, RER C, Versailles rive gauche)

Kedatangan ke france takkan lengkap tanpa melawat istana-istana di france ini. Itulah antara tarikan utama di France ni. And istana tercantik yang paling berhampiran dengan Paris ialah Chateau De Versailles ni. Dibina pada kurun ke 15, oleh Louis 14. Perjalanannya dari paris agak jauh tetapi bila sampai, bolehlah menghabiskan satu hari di sini. Melawat istana mewah, lepas tu ngan taman2 dia sume, kalau malam, kadang2 ada performance. kalau dah tak tahu nak buat apa di paris tu, bolehle melawat chateau de versailles ni.

Strasbourg St Denis (Zone 1)

Tempat aku wajib datang kalau ke Paris.. sebabnye.. makan.. sini memang syurga untuk makan le.. kuar2 metro korang akan nampak KFC.. sure terliur n teringin nak makan .. nak2 orang yang jarang balik Malaysia.. Guess what.. sume KFC kat France ni halal.. so korang bolehle serbu KFC tu dan makanle puas2.. nak bawak balik ke suke ati korang le.. once korang dah muak makan kfc tu, try cari satu pintu gerbang, ala2 arc de triomphe. Bila korang masuk pintu gerbang tu, voila, kiri makan, kanan makan, akan ada satu jalan yang sangat panjang yang ada pelbagai kedai makan india or pakistan dan juga arab. Nak makan beriyani ke, nasi dengan kari ke, tandori ke.. sila2 n harganya juga tak mahal. Dalam 5 euro untuk beriyani (sama harga ngan kebab) .

begitulah sedikit sebanyak tempat2 yang boleh dilawati semasa di Paris ni. Banyak lagi sebenarnya tempat2 yang korang boleh lawat, tapi ni apa yang aku biasa pegi kalau bawak kawan2 datang. In case ada nak tanya apa2 bolehle e-mail terus ataupun tulis je komen bawah ni.. Selamat melancong.. Bon voyage! n yang penting skali, slamat makan KFC halal.. hahaha

London calling

ish.. jalan je aku ni.. mane duit x abis..

currently in London utk menonton Ocean 13... harap2 berbaloi le ngan duit yang kuar..

update later...

wish me luck jumpe keira knightley

Berjalan2 di 5 bandar

Memberi penghargaan kepada kimal dan adik kimal yang datang dari jauh, aku menguruskan satu trip untuk diorang ke 5 bandar (7 le kalo masuk lille n paris).. sgt berbaloi percutian kimal bersame Jep travel agent.. sekarang ni bolehle bace pakej percutian kimal.. kalo ade yg berminat marilah.. yg pergi dalam 7 orang kimal dan rakan2 sekelas aku, n cost sorang bayar lebih kurang 90-100 euro termasuk transport n penginapan.( gambar seblah ni gambar kat Dan Haague nye bangunan pentadbiran)

Anvers (Antwerpen)

Bandar pertama persinggahan kami ialah Anvers, atau Antwerp dalam bahasa Englishnye.. perjalanan dari Lille ke Antwerp mengambil masa lebih kurang sejam stgah dalam kereta (lebih kurang sama perjlanan Lille-Brussels). Antwertp merupakan sebuah bandar yang sangat terkenal dengan berlian. Memang berlian bersepah2 di tepi jalan untuk dijual. Tapi macam kami sampai agak lambat, dalam pukul 830, jadi kedai-kedai berlian semua tutup. Memang bandar ni sangat terkenal le dengan berlian, jadi kalau mahu ke mari, bersiap2 le dengan duit yang banyak n berlian cni hargenye xde le murah.. lebih kurang je mane2. Selain itu, ada satu square yang lebih kurang macam grand place kat Brussels.. tapi mase kitorang pi, ade cam konvoi kereta antik.. so bergambar sakan le kitorang ngan kereta antik..

Bose Amsterdam

Kami seterusnya bertolak ke Amsterdam selepas konon2nye lepak stgah jam kat Antwerpen (habis aku kene makan dalam ngan kimal sbb kitorang shopping kat sejam stgah) Kami terus bertolak ke Amsterdam malam tu.. bertolak dalam pukul 10 lebih, tapi perjalanan malam tu sangat mencabar.. aku bukan main pecutle nak sampai hotel dalam kol 12.. tp ade satu jalan jam yang sangat teruk.. tersangkut kat 2-3 jam jugak .. lepas jam tu.. nak cari hotel satu hal

Hotel ni name die Bostel Amsterdamse Bose, so aku letak le kat GPS aku tu Amsterdamse Bose... rupa2nye Amsterdamse Bose tu maksudnyer cam hutan simpanan amsterdam.. 2 -3 kali gak kitorang meredah hutan simpanan tu (dengan opel zafira kitorang) mmg gaye2 cam cite jangan pandang belakang n cermin btol me) kat sejam 2 mencari.. last2 tak jumpe.. ingat nak decide tido dalam hutan tu je (ni memang hutan betol tau.. cam kat FRIM KL) nasib baik le lepas tu ade polis tahan.. kasik jalan.. rupe2nye hotel tu di sebelah entrance hutan.. sampai2 hotel kol 2 30 pagi ade orang2 yang tengah happy n high lpas hisap weed.. nasib baik hotel ni (camping site ye) dah sediakan tmpt tido utk kitorang.. masuk tido.. n dah x ingat dunia dah..

Zaansche Sans

Paginya kami bertolak dari Amstelveen (by the way hotel kami kat Amstelveen, 20 minit from Amsterdam) merentasi Amsterdam, untuk menyinggah di Zaansche Sans.. Kali ni kami tukar driver memandangkan si driver utama ni kepenantan kat 7 jam memandu smalam.. Zaansche Sans ialah must visit place bile ke amsterdam.. tapi die tak terletak di bandar amsterdam . Walaubagaimanapun, ada bas yang menghubungi centraal ngan tempat ni n tiketnye haraga 2.50 euro. tapi kami naik kete kene bayar parking 6.50.. tempat ni ade windmill le kalo nak disimpulkan.. tapi die nye pemandangan sangat menarik... ada windmill yg banyak2 n kandang kambing n yang paling penting ade tempat buat keju..
Jangan lupa rasa keju smoked cheese.. rasanya sangat lain berbanding dengan keju2 yang pernah aku makan di France ni.. N, sangat bertuah bagi aku, hari yang aku datang tu ada cam open day salah satu windmill di sini, so kami boleh naik dengan percuma, ada makan2 n minum2 dan juga ada explanation dari engineer2 windmill ni, slack aku tak paham jele..


Amsterdam

Selepas 2 jam berjalan2 di sana, kami bertolak ke Amstedam yang betol2 Amsterdam, n aku decide untuk parking di Amsterdam Arena.. memang aku nak singgah Arena pon sebenarnye sbb nak beli cawan ganti cawan telo aku pecahkan .. Mula2 sampai memang sangat terkejut tgk tempat ni.. sangat moden n meriah (ada shopping complex sume) Sangat berbeza dengan semua stadium2 yang pernah aku lawati (beberapa stadium uk, france, Itali n Turkey) Walaupun team x sehebat mane , tapi sangat kaya n canggih..

Aktiviti seterusnya adalah aktiviti bebas di bandar Amsterdam di mana kami berpecah kepada 3 kumpulan, aku dan miss potter.. kimal dan adiknya dan satu group lagi member2 french aku.. Kami boleh buat apa saja di Amsterdam n berkumpul semula di Amsterdam Arena jam 6. Dengan berbekalkan tiket metro 6.50 daily tiket n sebuah guide metro yang boleh didapati di information counter amsterdam (benda ni sangat essential untuk jalan) aku pon meneruskan perjalanan aku di sini..

Seperti biasa destinasi utama aku adalah hard rock cafe n sangat mencabar untuk mencari hard rock cafe kali ini.. tp lokasinye boleh di detect di buka panduan public transport yang diedarkan oleh pihak bandaraya Amsterdam.. Kemudian aku meneruskan perjalanan berpusing2 n berjalan2 ke jalan utama diorang yang ada banyak kedai2 yang menjual barang (barang je tau bukan orang) n sempat juga aku melalui beberapa kawasan pelancongan. Untuk makan, kat sini sangat mudah.. Ada KFC yang halal dan juga kedai kedai kebab yang boleh didapati di merata-rata Amsterdam. Tapi awas, harganya mungkin agak mahala sedikit berbanding dengan harga di France.

Lepas makan, aku cam nak menghayati detik2 terakhir di sini.. Mengambil bus tour merupakan satu aktiviti yang menarik tapi kat sini tak banyak bus2 tour sebagaimana di bandar lain (UK especially) tp ada penggantinya.. tour boat.. Aku pon bayar 11 euro untuk naik tour boat selama sejam mengelilingi canal2 di amsterdam..

terdapat pelbagai syarikat yang menawarkan khidmat bot pada harga yang berbeza n jangka masa yang berbeza.. jadi buat survey betol2.. Tapi for me, benda ni tak berbaloi sangat.. Takdelah seinformatif bus ride yang aku naik di belfast dulu. Harus diingatkan yang tour ni berjalan dalam 3 bahasa, english, dutch n german.. jadi informasi yang diberi adalah sepadat mungkin.. so.. maybe lepas ni korang boleh pikir dua kali sebelum decide nak naik boat.

Banyak tempat yang boleh dilawati di Amsterdam tapi dalam jangka masa yang singkat aku takleh buat sume benda. Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, Sex Museum (oopss), Madam Tussaud, taman2 di Amsterdam, tapi tak sempat buat.. Walau bagaimanapun, aku percaya, dengan jarak 3-4 jam je dari Lille, ini bukan kali terakhir aku ke sana.. n setiap kali aku ke sana aku boleh buat satu benda yang berbeza..

N untuk mereka yang tak tahu, Amsterdam merupakan tempat orang sangat happy.. Drugs boleh didapati di merata2 dan juga hiburan.. Kitorang siap jumpe gula2 perisa marijuana, biskut marijuana sume.. n gambar ni menunjukkan camne kat tgh2 bandar tu kite leh peluk2 pompuan secara percuma.. Bagi mereka yang live life cool.. hahah datangle ke mari

Rotterdam

Bandar seterusnya destinasi kami ialah Rotterdam, sebuah pelabuhan yang terbesar di Europe. terletak lebih kurang sejam stengah dari Amsterdam, Rotterdam ni ibarat KL (dengan bangunan yang modern dan maju) yang terletak di tepi sungai yang cantik dan lawa. Kami menginap di sebuah Youth Hostel (Hostel Room Rotterdam) Lokasinya agak strategik di tepi jambatan yang korang boleh tgk dekat gambar ni.. Malangnya kitorang tak habiskan banyak sangat masa di Rotterdam, memandangkan waktu sampai banyak kedai2 dah tutup (sampai kol 10 malam kedai mana nak bukak lagi) n keesokan harinya, kami ada masalah dengan GPS yang bawak kitorang keluar dari Rotterdam pdahal kitorang nak pergi kat menara dia, dia bawak balik Lille..

Tapi dalam masa yang singkat ni, banyak benda yang kitorang dapat hayati. Kemajuan banggunan2 di sini menyebabkan korang sangat rindu dengan Malaysia.. Kitorang buat tour malam tu menaiki kereta sekeliling bandar ni.. driver malam tu (driver US) bawak kitorang pusing2 dekat sejam turun naik jambatan n kluar masuk terowong bawah laut.. sampai ada orang blakang tertanya2 "kenapa pergi makan cepat, balik jauh" dengan suara innocent tak paham2 yang kitorang dah sesat..

N di sini gak berlakunye sedikit konflik antara aku dan kimal yang dah hidup 5 tahun di MCKK dulu. Disebabkan seorang gadis jepun yang duduk sebilik ngan kitorang, berlakulah sedikit peristiwa seperti menikam blakang member, mengambil hati gadis jepun , ambik tiket metro kawan untuk dioffer kepada gadis jepun, nak hantar ration kat gadis jepun dan sebagainya.. last2nye niat kami untuk menackle gadis jepon itu punah apabila seawal pagi, dia dah meninggalkan bilik untuk ke Amsterdam tanpa mengucapkan goodbye kepada salah seorang daripada kami...

Sebelum keluar dari Rotterdam hari terakhir perjalanan kami, sempat singgah melawat rumah kiub. RUmah ni betol2 terletak di tepi jalan , berbentuk kiub n dibuka untuk dilawati.. dengan bayaran 2 euro korang bolehle discover pemende yang diorang buat kat dalam tu n apeleh yang bestnye dapat duduk kat rumah cam gitu.. N mungkin seni n rekacipta rumah ini boleh dibawa balik ke Malaysia satu ari nanti

Dan Haague

Macam macam nama bandar ni, Dan Haague dalam dutch, La Haye dalam french, The hague dalam English n Haguehaven mengikut GPS kami. Bandar ketiga terbesar di Holland n merupakan pusat pentadbiran Holland. Tapi sangat berbeza dengan Putrajaya, n surprisingly, bandar ni sangat menarik dan lively walaupun kitorang datang di pagi Ahad. Ada satu jalan yang banyak shopping complex, library yang sangat besar n cantik, architecture bandar ni jugak macam sedikit tradisional dan dicampur dengan sedikit kemodenan, sangat berbeza ngan Rotterdam yang sangat maju (mcam typical french building versi holland gak le)

Aktiviti kami di sini, berjalan2 sedikit untuk melihat alam n shopping souvenirs n makan sebelom kami menuju ke destinasi terakhir Scheveningen (macam lagu Greenday lak)



Sebelum terlupa, bandar ni terletak lebih kurang 45 minit je dari Rotterdam, sejam lebih dari Amsterdam and 2 jam stengah dari Lille.. (dia ni atas sikit dari Rotterdam) N diingatkan ianya sangat berbaloi untuk dibuat daily trip..


Sampai budak2 ni kene marah2 ngan ketua kontijen sebab diorang tak abis2 nak shopping souvenirs ketua kontijen dah mengamuk dah nak panggil sume masuk kereta.. kereta kan nak kene pulang sebelum pukul 6 petang.. so kasik diorang lawat sekejap jelah kat sini.. N by the way , kat holland , culture indonesien boleh dikatakan termasuk dalam culture diorang skali. Orang indonesia bersepah (tapi mereka senyum ye bile terserempak denga orang lain.. hmm) begitu juga dengan restoran indonesia.. tapi berhati2 dengan kehalalannye.. ade restoran indonesia yang obviously x halal dengan menjual babi masak lemak cili api n sate babi dan ade juga restoran yang walau zahirnya tak jual babi, tapi bila ditanya, "kalo mahu halal, pergi ke kedai lagi satu ya.. yang ini.. enggak tahu" .. so jangan segan silu nak bertanya dalam bahasa jati kita kalau restorang tu halal ke tak..


Scheveningen

Benda ni ibarat port dickson untuk seremban, begitulah scheveningen untuk dan haague. Pantai yang terletak kira2 7-8 minit dari dan haague ni bukan sekadar pantai biasa, dia ni pantai yang telah dicommercializekan. Kami singgah disini berbekalkan bekal masing2 untuk picnic sebelom perjalanan pulang ke Lille. Tap ramainya orang di sini, nak parking sampai kene tunggu berjam2.. sampai ada satu lagi minah kat blakang tu siap tanye agi "what are u waiting for" ngan muke blur n innocent tak prasan yang orang tengah tertekan tunggu parking.. tapi skali dpt parking.. it's worth it.. konsep pantai ni camni.. cube bayangkan, kalau genting highland tu, dia tak buat di atas bukit, tp di tepi pantai port dickson..
haa.. camtu le dengan pantai ni.. ada kasino, ade bungee jumping, hotel stok2 palace of golden horses.. n orang sgt ramai.. dan kepada mereka2 yang dari US misalannye, boleh tgk camne rupenye pantai europe (tak habis2 nak tgk orang mandi pakai baju ke tidak) huhu takdelah.. kimal kan baik

Lille

Kami pun akhirnya pulang ke lille selepas abis makan.. perjalanan 2jam stgh n terlewat stengah jam pulangkan kereta.. harap2 takde denda...


Harap semua orang terhibur dengan trip yang tak seberapa ni.. terutamanye kimal n amir yang datang dari jauh.. maaflah atas segala kekurangan.. kene tido campor sume.. tunggu lame.. or maybe tak sediakan plan yang menarik.. Terima kasih sebab datang.. sangat seronok korang datang.. and sorri kalo x dpt layan sebaik2nya.. Enjoy the rest of your trip n jangan lupa datang lagi.. kepada yang lain.. harap dapat informasi yang secukupnya mengenai trip aku...

Selamat pulang ke Malaysia bagi mereka yang bakal pulang...

The one with the cuffs

Memandangkan summer makin dekat n ramai orang yang decide nak berjalan2 sewaktu summer ke negara lain, di sini, aku nak kasi sedikit nasihat yang sangat penting sewaktu berjalan-jalan. Nasihat ni bertujuan untuk mengelakkan segala masalah yang bakal timbul dengan polis2 di negara yang dilawati.. Ingat, bukan sumer polis melayan pelancong sebaik2nya (contoh polis dublin yang sanggup mengambil gambar untuk pelancong or polis itali yang sanggup bergambar dengan pelancong)

Malah, wujud juga polis2 jahat seperti polis sakorzy yang kalo nampak kamu berjambang berjanggut bertudung sket, mulalah id kamu dicheck..

jangan jadi seperti mamat2 ini yang ditahan polis dan hampir masuk lokap.. nasib baikle ade seorang travel agent yang sangat hebat berdebat dengan polis itu dan mempertahankan maruah pelawat2 itu..



Oleh yang demikian, inilah nasihat2 yang ingin diberikan sebelum masuk negara orang

1) Pastikan yang korang perlu visa atau tidak untuk melawat sesebuah negara tu. Passport Malaysia memang macam kebal n boleh masuk kebanyakan negara tp bear in mind yang ada separuh negara terutamanya negara ex komunis yang perlukan visa sebelom korang masuk negara tersebut. Untuk maklumat lanjut, sila ke laman web ini.

2) Ada separuh negara yang perlukan visa untuk stay lebih sekian hari n kalo anda merancang untuk stay lebih hari kat negara tersebut, cuba buat visa di negara itu sendiri. Biasanya lebih murah

3) Kalau anda memang sure negara yang anda lawati x kena visa, sila jangan bayar apa2 bayaran yang dikatakan anda perlu bayar. Cuma cakap it's bullshit kalau orang2 negara tu suruh buat visa. Ingat, bukan sume polis kat dunia ni x makan rasuah.

4) Pastikan yang passport anda dicop masuk sebelum masuk sempadan. Untuk setengah2 sempadan yang x cop paspot, sila dapatkan informasi sebaik sahaja anda sampai ke orang yang jaga sempadan (biasanya dover-calais, terminal 3 france sgt jarang cop paspot) Kalauleh paspot anda memang x dicop atas kemalasan orang france , pastikan anda sentiasa bersama tiket masuk n tiket balik bersama anda ( ni yang berlaku kepada mamat2 di atas)

5) Senang2 cita, kalau anda ada masalah visa ke, passport ke, takyah jelah jalan.. daripade bazir duit burn, baik takyah jalan....

bagi mereka yang bercuti, selamat bercuti.. bagi yang melancong, bonne voyage n mereka yang kene menelaah pelajaran.. hahahah.. padan muke!.. huhuh

The One with the Cop

Bulan mac yang lalu (dah dua bulan dah mende ni jadi tp baru ade blog kan.. sure boleh lah share experience) Awan ngan kawan2 datang dari Manchester.. Lille ni, takdelah kecik sangat (awan pon akui) tp, memandangkan takde benda yang nak dibuat kat Lille ni, so macam biasalah, aku pun bawak awan dan kawan-kawan dia ke Brussels. Tujuan entry ini dibuat adalah untuk menyatakan kepada orang-orang yang akan melawat Lille nanti, inilah tempat-tempat yang aku akan bawak korang kalau korang datang..

Awan sangat bertuah, memang awan bawak tuah.. (untuk orang yang tak kenal.. Awan ialah nama kawan aku) Macam biasa, kalau ada orang yang lebih daripada 3 orang datang, aku amat suggest untuk sewa kereta.. bukan sahaja aku leh praktis skil bawak keta aku, malah, memudahkan perjalanan dan menjimatkan kos..

for example: tiket pegi balik dari brussels ke lille ialah 32 euro sorang..

tapi dengan menyewa kereta.. awan dan rakannya bayar dalam 150 euro untuk lille=brussels=gant dan aku hantar die ke paris.. bear in mind ye yang tiket gi paris je dah 27 euro sorang n harga2 yang aku amik ni yang termurah tau..

N ape yang bestnye, aku biasenye sentiasa order C3 untuk bawak tetamu jalan.. tp hari tu aku tertekan C4 mase order kereta.. n in the end, macam ade promotion kat tempat sewa keta tu, dapat C5.. malah ada GPS lagi dalam tu

(bagi mereka yang blur.. C3= kancil, C4= kelisa C5= perdana)

Perjalanan Lille ke Brussels mengambil masa lebih kurang 1 jam 15 minit menaik kereta yang aku pecut. Normally, memang biasanya kalo sampai, aku akan parking kereta kat Gare Midi n lepas tu kita akan naik tram untuk berjalan-jalan sekitar Brussels. Destinasi pertama ialah Grand Place Brussels. Benda ni ala-ala Trafalgar square kat London.. n dekat sini adalah square yang besar.. kadang2 ada macam orang susun-susun bunga kat atas square ni.. and kat sini sgt sesuai untuk tangkap gambar.. Ada Hotel de Ville dia ... untuk orang2 yang bercakap bahse omputeh.. Hotel de Ville ni kirenye macam umah tok penghulu je sebenarnye.. tempat wakil rakyat duduk..

Lepas melawat Grand Place, biasanya aku akan bawak pelawat-pelawat aku berjalan-jalan di jalan2 yang banyak kedai2 kat sini and windows shopping.. lepas tu, kita akan berjalan-jalan melihat keindahan bandar Brussels ni sampailah ke destinasi seterusnya, Mannekan Piss, patung budak kecik yang kencing dan berpakaian mengikut musim..

Mengikut sumber-sumber ilham yang boleh dipercayai, Mannekan Piss ni macam simbol keamanan orang2 Belgium ni.. patung ni dulu ade kene mengena waktu perperangan..
Benda ni macam Uncle Sam le kot kalo kat US... (Cehh.. bangge lak aku kenal Uncle Sam) N sambil-sambil menonton Mannekan Piss dan menangkap2 gambar, aku pun mengambil kesempatan untuk melantak... apa lagi yang enak dimakan dan hanya enak dan sdap di Brussels sahaja kalau bukan Gaufre..

Nak tau Gaufre tu ape.. tgkle gambar budak2 tgh melantak gaufre kat atas tu.. ada macam-macam perisa dan harga, kalu kat tempat2 biasa, gaufre biasenye ada perisa jam, nutella, gula, tapi kat sini ada perisa coklat yang betul2 pure belgium coklat, baik coklat putih mahupun black coklat.. pastu ada yang ada hias-hias ngan strawberry semua, siap ada whipped krim sume.. macam-macam perisa ada.. harga ranging dari 2 euro ke 4 euro.. perlunye makan waffle kat Brussels ni ibarat perlunya makanan donut kat ireland le.. or perlunye makan muffin kat Harrords.. Lepas makan waffles, kitorang makan lagi.. kali ni makan untuk lunch.. lepas tu, shopping, apa lagi kalau kat belgium ni yang boleh dishopping selain belgian chocolate.. sangat murah dan sedap.. kalau bawak orang shopping.. orang2 yg x membeli ni boleh dapat free taste coklat tau.. n harga cam dalam 20 euro dpt 8-9 kotak..

Normally, jalan-jalan kat bandar bruxelles akan mengambil masa lebih kurang 3 jam.. and lepas tu.. memandangkan kitorang ada banyak masa, kitorang pon bergerak ke atonium ataupon mini europe.. benda ni sangat seswai untuk orang2 yang nak seb bajet travel europe tapi nak koya kat sume orang deme ni duduk eropah..

Kat dalam ni ada replika2 semua bandar kat europe.. dibuat sempena Brussels ni merupakan capital europe..

Maaflah, takde gambar untuk bende ni.. harap Awan dapat poskan gambar-gambar yang ada kat dalam mini europe boleh buat show off dalam blog..

N, orang biasenye habiskan mase stengah jam dalam mini europe unless orang tu cam tak pernah kluar dari dunia dia lah kan.. nampak tu sikit.. tangkap gambar.. nampar big ben yang ade kat depan mate.. nak tangkap gambar.. kat westminster abbey,, nak gak.. itu mahu 2-3 jam le abis.. (ade orang terasa ke? kalau ade provocation, baru orang tinggal comment.)

N lepas jalan-jalan kat mini europe ni.. bolehle kalau nak tgk atonium, science center yang dibuat dalam bentuk2 atom.. by the way, tiket masuk ke mini europe adalah 11 euro lebih camtu.. perjalanan brussels ke mini europe, stengah jam kalo ade gps n 2 jam stengah kalo xde gps.. jalan balik, 10 minit kalo ade gps (untuk kuar ke highway) and 3 jam kalo xde gps.. so.. ucapkanlah trime kasih kepade engineer n bakal2 engineer telekom yng berperah otak buat gps pakai c++.. lupe letak { satu je.. satu program x jadi..

begitu sahajalah untuk kali ini.. nak buat evaluation sblom blah..

tempat melawat 2/5 (takdele banyak sangat yg boleh dilawat.. kalo 1st time dtg okle.. cam aku dah 3 kali n sgt muak)
tempat makan 3/5 (apa yang ada kat france, ada kat brussels .. kebab sume.. kecuali kfc)
shopping 2/5 (sgt sesuai utk shoppong coklet)
communication 3/5 (sgt havoc n best sebab gi ngan awan.. dengar bebelan die dalam kete.. + ungkit mengungkit n gosip..)
easy access 2/5 (kalo nak drive.. kalo xde gps.. mintak maaflah ye.. lupekanjelah.. jadi hint kepada orang2 yg nak aku bawak jalan, sila sewa C5)
Perbelanjaan 5/5 (Memandangkan awan support, so aku kasik full mark kat ni)

A+ untuk citer aku seterusnya..
Tajuk blog ini adalah sempena awan dan kawan-kawannya ini ditahan polis kat france sebab masuk secara haram di France.. kalo nak tau cite slanjutnye.. tulis kat komen ( cara-cara desperate mintak orang komen)

The one with Matno's sister

Sebaik sahaje aku pulang dari ireland, keesokan harinye, aku decide untuk pegi ke london, ikut matno. In fact, kakak matno datang dari Malaysia and buat tour around europe, n aku cam rase sangat teringin utk pergi membeli kicap dan cili soso kat london, jadi aku pon meng offer matno untuk temankan die meneman kakak die di london.

Kami bertolak dari Gare Lille Europe jam 1 ptg, menaiki bas Eurolines.. harganya hanya 60 euro pergi balik. Mengikut tiket, perjalanan akan mengambil mase lebih kurang 7 jam.. nampak macam lame tp sebenarnye die mengambil mase 1 jam stengah lille-calais, 1 jam stengah naik feri calais- dover n bakinye dover ke london. Jadi, takdele sakit bontot sangat sbnarnye duduk dlm bas.

Kitorang naik bas yang on the way dr amsterdam ke london. Jadi ramaile orang yang bercakap bahasa dutch dlm bus. event drebar bas pon x reti ckp bahase french.. mase kat kastam die yo yo je cakap panjang gile dlm bahasa dutch, pastu dlm english sume.. ladies n gentleman, we are arriving at calais sume... tp dlm bahase french, madame monsieur, passport...

skarang ni adalah amat berbahaya kalo orang2 nak masuk uk melalui calais... kastam-kastam dekat calais sgt berjaga2 dgn orang malaysia terutamanya yg masuk uk melalui london sbb diorang saspek org2 malaysia nak keje sana masuk dr calais. mase rombongan kakak matno masuk london dulu, ade 17 org kene tahan kat sempadan sbb diorang saspek keje kat london.

Kitorang pon kene amik mase yg lame utk lepas sempadan.. kat 5-6 minit gakle kene soal siasat.. kitorang org terakhir dlm bas kitorang yg masuk bas.. lepas tu dah kire slamat le... masuk ferry.. p n o.. ferry yg kitorang naik bukan cam feri pulau pinang tau.. dalam ferry ade game, restoran sume.. kat dalam tu cam biasele.... kitorang makan fish n chip dan dessert.. dekat 15 euro.. skali ngan air n my fav cake of all time, cheese cake ngan blueberry..

Sampai2 london dlm pukul 7 ptg local time... sampai2 cam biasele.. tukar pound kat victoria station.. lepas tu naik tube, ambil yang daily tube nye tiket 5 pound 10, n berangkat ke edgware road, utk ke restoran mawar, n makan makanan malaysia.. lepas tu.. sampai2, mawar tutup.. hampanye.. dahlah tgk kelaparan.. kitorang decide utk ke malaysian hall kat queensbay.. cet.. cafe malaysian hall pon tutup.. malangnye nasib kitorang hari tu.. time tu nak carik nando's sume x jumpe.. time kite lapar tu sume takde.. last2, makan jelah ape yang ade kat bayswater tu, kat kedai india..

Lepas makan, aku ngan matno ke hard rock cafe, satu stesen tube lepas knightsbridge (picadilly line) dekat2 ngan hyde park (tmpt mahathir suke joging mengikut kate kakak matno) dan hard rock cafe tu sebelah limkokwing... tgkle baju hard rock yg aku beli tu..dari hard rock, kitorang jalan sepanjang knightsbridge tu.. hingga ke harrord melihat suasana harrords waktu malam dengan sinar lampu bergemerlapan di malam hari.. Lepas jalan2 kat hard rock tu, kitorang decide utk balik ke umah member aku, biskut n azman kat manor house yg terletak dekat ngan stadium emirates arsenal.

Esoknye, kami bangun pukul 3 pagi untuk menonton amazing race di mana menyaksikan penyingkiran oswald n danny, lepas tu kitorang tido sampai pukul 9 pagi local time n bertolak ke pekan london.. satu lagi tip ialah untuk sentiasa bertolak selepas kul 9 utk pastikan yg anda dpt tiket daily waktu non peak hour.. sebab harganya berbeza 1 pound dgn waktu biase.. kitorang amik kakak matno n kawannye kat ibis earl's count.

dari situ kitorang ke malaysian hall, n hantar barang2 kakak matno.. penginapan kat malaysian hall london adalah lebih kurang 11 pound utk malaysian non student n 9 pound utk student.. time kitorang gi tu tak ramai orang dtg sebab time tu exam week.. so destinantion pertame... cari tiket mereka utk ke gatwick airport esok.. lepas melawat hampir semua train station kat situ, waterloo, rupe2nye nak gi gatwick adalah melalui victoria station, ade express gatwick ala2 klia express..

kitorang kemudiaanye gi trafalgar square, tempat banyak cite2 bollywood dirakamkan.. n also tempat peringatan battle of trafalgar.. kitorang pon amik tube dari waterloo ke charing cross.. n ramainye orang ke trafalgar square.. dari situ.. amik2 gambar semua dan berjalanlah kitorang ke tempat tumpuan semua tempat2 menarik kat london, westminster abbey, parliament house, big ben n tower bridge..


lepas tu mcm baru sedar selalu berada salah anggap antara london bridge n tower bridge.. orang slalu ingat tower bridge ialah london bridge.. so.. tgk 2-2 gambar ni n decide mane satu tower bridge n london bridge yang kat dalam lagu london bridge is falling down tu..













Lepas tu, kami sekali lagi membuat tour cam smalam, dari green park- hyde park, hard rock cafe n ke harrords.. cume kali ni, kitorang masuk mende2 ni sume.. n kat harrords.. susah payah aku carik muffin yng zeff war-warkan sebagai the best muffin in london..

Kitorang lepas tu meneruskan misi mencari makanan malaysia cam smalam.. kali ni lagi melampau.. dari mawar yg tutup.. kitorang ke restoran mara yang ade 2 tahun lepas tp dah xde dah skarang kat edgware road.. pastu ke malaysian hall yg tutup (sampai sini kakak matno n kawannye kitorang tinggalkan.. sian die jalan sparuh hari) lepas tu.. ke restoran nahar kat padington yg tutup lepas pukul 3 sampai 6.. in the end.. macam biase, kitorang makan kat kedai india je.. n kali ni.. kitorang habiskan lebih kurang 50 euro untuk 3 course meal..

lepas tu.. kami hantar makanan utk kakak matno.. sblom berpisah n memulakan sesi bershoping kitorang kat oxford street.. kitorang memulakan perjalanan kitorang dari edgware road ke hujung oxford street melalui belbagai2 jenis butik2 termasuk niketown, mark n spenser, zara yang bersepah2 hinggalah ke kedai paki kecik2 yang jual baju2 cantik2 n murah2..

lepastu, kami ke leicester square utk misi sebenar aku.. mencari kicap n cili sos.. malangnye kedai tutup kul 7 n kitorang sampai lebeh kurang pukul 7 suku camtu.. so, kitorang usha2 kedai2 yang ada n decide utk kembali keesokan harinya..

Malam tu, akhirnya misi untuk memakan makanan malaysia menjadi kenyataan apabila kitorang sampai kat padington, restorang nahar kat bangunan mara.. bagi mereka2 yg nak kene nahar.. senang saje.. dari stesen tube padington, sila menghadap hilton, pusing kiri, n take the first left until penghujung jalan, nahar ade kat underground bangunan mara..

kitorang balik malam tu n besoknye.. bertolak lambat sikit lepas peak hour untuk meneruskan shopping makanan asia, aku borong maggi, kicap, sos, dodol, kaya, perencah nasi goreng sume, root beer, milo.. huhuh habis duit aku kat 20 pound. untuk mereka2 yg nak beli milo, make sure milo anda bukan buatan kenya..

lepas tu kitorang lunch balik kat nahar n ke victoria station utk pulang semula ke france. unlike waktu kitorang gi, mase balik kitorang naik eurotunnel.. sangat excitedle mule2 ingat dpt lalu dalam terowong sume cam terowong karak tu.. rupe2nye eurotunnel ni hanya merupakan sebuah tren, di dalam tu berisi semua kereta2 n tren tu yang bawak kitorang merentas selat inggeris.. hancur harapan seketika..

so, itu sahaja untuk trip kali ni.. sebenarnye mende ni ditulis waktu tgh stadi telecommunication nye nota so cam in kind of rush tapi cam nak tulis mende.. so kalo ade pape yang rase tak cukup ke ape.. tinggalkanle comment..

terima kasih kat biskut n azman yang menyambut aku ngan aman dan damai walaupun aku cume sound satu ari sebelom nak ke sane.. trime kasih kepada awan yg menjawab panggilan telefon memberi direction ke tempat2 kat ctu.. n terime kasih kepade matno yg menyebabkan aku x berjalan ngan imaginary friend aku..

evaluation trip:

tempat melawat 3/5 (aku cam melawat tempat2 basic kat sini.. tp memandangkan ianya 3 days trip so banyak tmpt yang aku dah lawat or aku x lawat)
tempat makan 5/5 (makanan halal bersepah, nandos ade yg halal, makanan malaysia, perfect!)
shopping 4/5 (ar u kidding.. this is shopping paradise)
communication 3/5 (Pegi sane jumpe member, pegi ngan member sume.. best)
easy access 4/5 (Ade tube sume.. kalo nak travel, sama ade naik tube or bus)
Perbelanjaan 1/5 (Mahal sangat, kalo nak ke sane make sure plan kewangan btol2)