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my day 1 : Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts

Bismillah.

So I am supposed to introduce myself and add a recent picture and also write 15 interesting facts. Well lets start off with introducing myself.

Hi. My name is aroD (read backwards). The reason I kept this blog on the down low because I have encountered some freaky people on the web while I was writing my previous blog and I found out that people have been googling my name and my husband's name. I find that rather uncomfortable. Hence, I try my best not to let this blog being found on google. So abit about myself, I just turned 30 last Friday and it was the best 30th birthday ever (you only celebrate 30 once). I am currently residing in Mannheim, a not so small, not so big town in South West of Germany. I've been married for almost 2 years (next month anniversary) to the love of my life and also my bestfriend.

Ok, it says here, recent picture, I'm not sure if I should put a recent picture of myself or just a recent picture I took. So here it goes,

Haha! That is a recent picture of me a day after my birthday. I won Lisa Simpson in one of those fun fair machines at Mannheim Neuer Meßplatz after 'investing' for 7€.

15 Interesting Facts (I'm not sure if these are interesting facts but here goes. Some I have probably blogged about.)

1. I am lefthanded
2. I make my bed before I go to bed instead of after waking up in the morning
3. It's hard for me to tell a lie
4. My glasses power is 300 (left) and 275 (right)
5. I am the youngest in my family
6. I skype with my parents almost everyday
7. I can speak German
8. I cry at sad romantic movies
9. I love to buy books and read them slowly
10. I never liked Harry Potter
11. I fell asleep while watching Lord of The Rings
12. I believe in fate
13. I played piano at age 8 and guitar at 15
14. I'm a sucker for board games
15. Once I take a break from watching a movie, I will never continue watching it.

There it is guys. A solid 20 minutes of my first post.

Coming up tomorrow : Meaning behind your blog name

For more info on 30 day blog challenge : click here
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my 30-Day Blog Challenge

I just finished reading my friend's blog. She just completed her 30day blog challenge and I was inspired to do the same. Since I am at my 199th post (so fast right??), I will start on the next post. My blog entries will however not be the same as my friend's topics.

I googled around and found some interesting  topics here These are the topics you will be reading in the next (hopefully) 30 days.. Wish me luck! (Ck, teruja lps baca urblog and decided to do it straight away cause if I delay then it will probably never happen :p)

*Note : I changed Day 15 to Quran verse :) 

Here I go people!  

30-Day Blog Challenge
Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts
Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3-Your first love
Day 4-Your parents
Day 5-Your siblings
Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7-Favorite movies
Day 8-A place you've traveled to
Day 9-A picture of your friends
Day 10-Something you're afraid of
Day 11-Favorite TV shows
Day 12-What you believe
Day 13-Goals
Day 14-A picture you love
Day 15- Quran verse
Day 16-Dream house
Day 17-Something you're looking forward to
Day 18-Something you regret
Day 19-Something you miss
Day 20-Nicknames
Day 21-Picture of yourself
Day 22-Favorite city
Day 23-Favorite vacation
Day 24-Something you've learned
Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26-Picture of your family
Day 27-Pets
Day 28-Something that stresses you out
Day 29-3 Wishes
Day 30-a picture  

my not so green hands

Taking care of Orchids is not easy. I remember my mom used to spend hours in the garden bercucuk tanam. And I would play badminton or just listen to my walkman sambil duduk atas boot kereta and goyang kaki. That was how uninterested I was.

However, now is a different scenario altogether. We don't have a garden but our house is slowly dipenuhi with pokok². It started this Winter before the big 2011 celebration that my husband decided we should have some 'greenery' in our house. So we bought a pair of Zebra Grass and a pair of pokok that we have no idea apa nama dia. Followed by a very pricey Orchid that turned out dead after 2 months. (Sedihnya).

Now the history of pokok² is building up. And right now, we have 2 lovely blooming Orchids (placed next to our night table. On another note, we FINALLY ada katil. Before this we were sleeping on a tilam (mcm orang bujang). But Carie decided to give up her sofa bed and akhirnya kami tido atas katil. woohoo!).

Along our corridor ada pokok Yucca (2.99€), which needs very little water (easy care) and a lovely Vriesea. The two Zebra Grass' are still alive and now dia dah panjang². I put one in our bathroom and another dia mcm mobile (currently in our living room). I also have some dead Gerberas but the leafs are still nice and lovely. I pulled out the dead Gerberas and left the leafs for perhiasan. It is now located dalam bathroom jugak. For my birthday, I received a bouquet Roses sorted with pinkpurple Chrysanthemum. Cantik sangat. And also, last week, I bought a bundle of white Chrysanthemum.

So here are some pictures of my flowes and indoor pokok². I apologize kalau pics are not so nice since I have backache skarang nih and susah nak tunduk² .. Plus, I am not in the mood for intense photography, due to my backache. I should really go to the doctor :(

Orchid

Spring 2011

Orchid - close up

Spring 2011

*actually I bought another one white in color, tapi masa ambil gambar ni,
I tengah sidaikan dia cause I just watered it.

Birthday present from Emma (Houseowner's mom)

Spring 2011

Rosa n Chrysanthemum

Spring 2011

Yucca

Spring 2011

Vrisea yang dipercakap - cakapkan orang. 4.99€

Spring 2011

One of my Zebra Green

Winter 2010

Pokok yang tak dikenalpasti nama. 

Winter 2010.

*What's weird is that dedua beli same time, dijaga dengan same care but satu dah mati and satu lagi masih hidup and masih green.

my Lisa

this is my second production.. check it out.. hope you enjoy it... :D

my wish

wish i was at home with mama to celebrate Mother's day with her.. :(

Happy Mother's Day Mama. Thanks for raising me and all the sacrifices you've made for me..I Love you so much!

my years : looking back

Tomorrow I turn 30. The big three 0. People make it a big deal because you will enter the 3-series (like the BMW series) and make jokes about getting one once you're 30. Perhaps one day inshaAllah :)

So this may bore you but here are the highlights of my birthdays for the past 2 decades...

2010 age 29 : First time celebrated with my husband since we were a couple. We were in a long distance relationship for 3 and a half years and long distance marriage for 7 months. So this time is was special. However, he was still recovering from his broken leg injury. We did a small gathering of friends.. but he couldn't walk.. But it was still special.. :)

2009 age 28 : My last birthday as a single person. My family did a surprise birthday party for me. Everyone came except for my sister and her family. The wedding was a belated birthday present too :p

2008 age 27 : Me and my family celebrated at a Thai restaurant. I got cupcakes, and pen parker engraved with my name from my family :) My husband (boyfriend at that time) and myself bought a DSLR camera as a birthday present. It was awesome!

2007 age 26 : Went for dinner with my parents. A very laid back birthday. My husband (boyfriend at that time), shipped to me Motorola V3 and I love it! :)

2006 age 25 : During this time, I guess I was busy with my masters. My family belanja makan besar for a 7 course Chinese dinner at KGNS. My husband (boyfriend at that time) gave me an MP3 player. Supercool! I loved it! I also went to GREASE LIGHTNING the musical with my sister in law for my birthday treat.. I also bought a pair of pink heels for myself :)

2005 age 24 : Oh this was the worst birthday ever kot. I kinda erased all memories during this year until somewhere in August 2005. But I do remember my colleagues surprising me with a Chocolate Banana Secret Recipe birthday cake. Other than family and work, I was going through rough times during this year.

2004 age 23 : First birthday after getting a job. I didn't wait till 12am to celebrate, dah tertido dah pun cause I was too tired (this was the only year I didn't wait till midnight). But I could remember my cousin SMSing me at 7am in the morning (we share the same birthday) while I was in a bus going to work. My colleagues surprised me for a birthday lunch treat and gave me a nice present. Baik sangat diorang. All of them were chinese and they were really good friends.

2003 age 22 : I was still in college. I couldn't quite remember jugak what happened. But I remember nice wishes from family and close friends :)

2002 age 21 : Pun sudah lupa

2001 age 20 : I did a birthday party and celebrated with family and friends.

2000 age 19 : Seriously forgot. Like zero memory. Oh but I remember my mom gave me a really nice pair of subang :) still have it till today

1999 age 18 : The year of the teens. I celebrated my birthday with a bunch of hippies at KLCC. It was post SPM period and suddenly everyone was socializing after two years of being in Maktab Rendah Sains MARA Taiping. Haha! Anyway, it was a nice birthday. My parents gave me a rantai and pendent. I did a late birthday party somewhere in mid June. And get this, my husband was also there!! But we were just as friends at that time (IRC friends). How freaky is that! Who would've thought that we'd be married :p It was probably one of those birthdays that I will remember kot.. :)

1998 age 17 : I remember I was sick during my birthday. However, our homeroom celebrated with a cake.

1997 age 16 : First birthday berjauhan from family. Called home at 7am in the morning before going for morning assembly. Sweet 16. Got letters and birthday cards from Sri Amanians. It was really cool :)

1996 age 15 : Can't remember sangat lah.. But I celebrated with family

1995 age 14 : My deskmate, Lilia Ramona, the most popular girl in school (haha) gave me an Adidas T-Shirt. It was the most expensive birthday present from a friend (at that time). Dia anak orang kaya.

1994 age 13 : Went to the states and got a whole bunch of birthday presents from my sister and brothers. It was awesome!!

1993 age 12 : It's my party and I cry if I want to. I cried on my birthday party. Ada sorang buat hal on my birthday party and sedih sgt.

1992 age 11 : Got a musical box as a birthday present. Still keep it till today

1991 age 10 : Some really cool presents from my parents. A big book of world and a teddy bear :)


This is as far as I could go for my birthday. Yang lain tu tak igt sgt. But every year was celebrated with love together with my family... Gonna miss them on my birthday.. and wish that they were here to celebrate with me and my husband.... :)

Travel Series : Easter Holiday 2011 - London Day 3

Day 3 - 24th April 2011

After day 1 and day 2, I was left with day 3 (last day). Time tu la rasa macam, ala, banyak nye lagi tempat nak pergi tapi tak sempat. Ana suggested if we go for teater mlm tu since we all takde plans (memang disengajakan takde plan spy boleh allocate benda² yang tak sempat). And boleh check out tix kat lastminute.com. As much as I LOVE teater, but it's not something that I want to do at last minute. Teater nak kena pergi n select yg best², especially bila kat London since they have banyak teaters and plays. I really wanted to watch The Phantom of the Opera, (minat gila, bought the OST of the movie, hafal lirik lagu and slalu practice in the shower) tapi takpe la, maybe I can go there again (coughs) and watch :p So disebabkan perasaan ala, banyak nye lagi tempat nak pergi tapi tak sempat, I told them macam, okay kita kena gerak pantas okay. Breakfast early and shoot out to our first tempat nak visit. Tower of London. which is located about 15 mins walking distance from our hotel. Kena melalui London Tower Bridge. (See photo. Mana tak sakit pinggang/belakang, the whole day berjalan macam penyangkut beg). We then reached Tower of London about 930am. It opens at 10am. Tapi beraturnya sudah panjang berjela-jela (normal la tu). So about 1015am dapatlah kita masuk dalam. At first I macam nak taknak pergi tempat ni cause people say it's kinda 'keras' dan somehow I have a natural detector for these kinda things. Tapi I bacalah segala ayat al-Quran yang penah hafal. Alhamdulillah, tak rasa kekerasannya. I don't know why. Padahal kat Tower of London tu tempat orang kena pancung, orang mati, orang kena bunuh dan sebagainya. and it's about more than 100 years old punya tower. Perhaps it was still morning, benda² keras tak bangun lagi, perhaps detector I tak function dia luar kawasan, perhaps takde apa pun, wallahualam. Snapped a few pictures and masuk kat tempat The Royal Crown Jewel punya place. Di sini mereka simpan and exhibit all the Crown Jewels worn by all the Royals since the starting of the British monarchy (maka tercetus lah minat untuk mempelajari sedikit sebanyak pasal sejarah. Zaman² SPM dulu tak minat).

 Adina n Me at London Tower Bridge

 Credits to Putri. I find this picture very creative

After noon, we jalan abit at the St. Katherine docks (di mana Ana tunjuk rumah lamanya) and then headed to Madam Tussaud. Kelaparan, we singgah at a restaurant and had lunch before masuk Madam T. I had soup and bread and a coke. Lepas tu beratur n masuk dalam. Tak de la lama sangat beratur, about 15 mins kot. But inside was packed! Sampai² je terus ke A-List party. Kat sini all the wax for A-List artists like Brad n Angelina, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Miley Cyrus (?), the guy acted as Harry Potter and banyak la lagi. susah nak amek gambar tapi managed to jugak la.. and then banyak la lagi, tak terkira la berapa banyak artists. it was supercool! but personally, I rasa yang madam T kat Parisnya lagi banyak patung dia, or maybe sbb kat Paris x ramai orang so sempat amek gmbar bnyk.. yang ni ramai sgt org kot.. After like hundreds of pictures, we finally habis khatamkan semua patung² tu about almost 5pm. Di penghujungnya ada kedai souvenir and mereka semua borong macam² souvenir. I only bought one thing kat counter dia. The thing that I wanted the most, biarpun dapat yang cikai punya (only at 4 pounds. Kalau replica betul² dia costed about 37 pounds)

Cincin tunang William bagi kat Kate.

Its too big, I had to wear it on my index finger, plus I already have a ring on my ring finger.

We exited Madam T, and went for souvenir shopping kat tepi² tu. I bought 3 small paintings, 1 Google London T shirt for my husband (which he loves by the way), and purses and keychains for myself and anak² sedara (mereka pesan). We found a gerai waffle nearby and sorang satu beli waffle cause it smelled so good. We then walked to Regent Park to Ley-Park (get it? hehehe) kat sana I fed the birds and itik roti yang I brought from hotel (I love doing this). So burung² pun berterbangan dekat saya sampai rasa takut bercampur seronok! Sambil tu, kawan² cuba fikir apakah agenda seterusnya. We then decided to go to Malaysian Hall for dinner.

 Waffle 3 pound

Ley Park at Regent Park

We took the Tube to Queensway and jalan sedikit about 2 blocks and then reached Malaysian Hall. Disebabkan kelaparan dan lauk pauk yang banyak kat sana, saya terus terlupa nak ambil gambar makanan and keadaan dalam Malaysian Hall (edited - chup! ada actually, see below). In here, memang ramai orang Malaysia lah (d'uh...), what's interesting is that semua orang buat dek je. Okla tak kisah lah tapi we all ni macam excited la nampak orang Mesia and senyum² tapi mereka pandang saya macam saya ni orang gila. Maybe cause I was wearing Kate's engagement ring kot (haha). But I rasa orang Malaysia dalam Malaysia pun taklah sesombong orang Malaysia in London. Sedihnya rasa. But not all la.. Ada yang senyum balik. Cuma where's the love man? Sigh. It's okaylah. Kalau depa datang Mannheim, I akan friendly la inshaAllah :)

 Tanah tumpahnya darahku

After dinner, shopping sedikit lagi souvenir and then headed back to hotel sbb esoknya nak bertolak pagi and malam tu kena pack. Memang rasa sedih la sedikit sbb cuti dah nak habis.. Smpai hotel, semua orang packing dengan tekun and tido awal.

The next day, bangun pagi, said our goodbyes (nangis) and the three girls headed to Kings Cross Station (teringat kat monopoly game) and I headed to Heathrow Airport all by myself..

Kat airport adalah incident yang kurang menyenangkan kat one of the bookstores tapi malas la nak citer.. Maybe one day la I citer.. anyway, untuk menghabiskan pound yang tinggal sket², I bought myself Victoria Secret - Secret Charm EDT at 7 pounds. BEST GILA bau dia. Husband I pun suka.. Rasa nanti nak borong and buat business kalau takde jual kat Mesia. Ada tak? Rasa sedih sangat nak meninggalkan London but hopefully dapat chance nak pergi sana lagi.. I LOVE LONDON.. and the British accent is so cool.. 

 Leaving on a jet plane

Crossing over at the English channel - between UK and Europe

Flight was alhamdulillah okay, seat paling belakang, tepi tingkap and duduk sorang. and was in my husbands arms again at 1630pm (local time). Muka dia bersinar² bila jmpa saya. Best :)

So finally, I finished my London trip. Phew, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you guys. Sorry grammar english n BM tunggang langgang, I just wanted to write it as fast as possible.. Till the next post.. Take care all! :)

Travel Series : Easter Holiday 2011 - London Day 2

Day 2 - 23rd April 2011

Day 2 was more relaxed and nature-like, I would say. We started quite late sbb semua orang bangun lambat akibat kepenatan hari pertama. As usual, breakfast was in bed. Luckily masih ada roti and cereal to isi perut. Plus I brought some 30 energy bars so that we would be energetic like the energizer bunny (how coincidental is that, energizer bunny, easter bunny.. heh). We went to Houses of Parliament and took the guided tour. It costed 15 pounds. Best. The only thing is that, during the tour we weren't allowed to sit down as our arses are not worthy enough hehehe.. but truly, memang kena berdiri and dengar the tour (60 mins). Kaki I dah terketar² and dah sakit belikat cause I sangkut my SLR tapi takleh amek gmbar. Damn. We can only sit at the Commoner's room (cause we have no Royal blood. Except for Putri, tapi mungkin Royal yang dimaksudkan mereka adalah macam set-set Prince William). But the cool part is that we got to learn about the Parliaments, get to see the rooms where the action takes place. Masuk bilik yang the Queen tukar baju and pakai her crown (and its a damn big room to tukar baju and pakai crown). Cuma, tak boleh ambil gambar :( But the tour guide, Joana was really funny. sempat dia masukkan unsur² lawak masa tengah semua orang muka serious dengar citer.

We headed for lunch dekat Nero Cafe opposite Big Ben. (semua ni dekat² je, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliaments and Eye of London.. (eh lupa nak add! on the first day pun we all naik Eye of London.. ok will edit the previous post) ). After that, Putri pergi lepak dengan kawan dia. So it was just me, Adina and Ana. We headed to Hard Rock Cafe! Memang itu must-go for me. Funny thing is, we got lost agak jauh jugak la nak ke destinasi. Turns out, it was only a few steps away from the Tube station. Mental note : When uncertain, ask for directions. (Gambar sesat and tensyen) As we reached HRC, ada dua tempat rupanya. Satu the cafe itself (for makan) and the other one is the souvenir shop. And get this, we had to QUE to get in to buy souvenirs. Rasa macam nak beratur masuk club je (not that I have ever done that. But it just felt like it). I thought macam nak beli benda² kecik je, but since kena beratur lama, campur the sesatness, my friend said, 'ko baik beli something dalam HRC nih..' . True enough. I bought a SpiceGirls HRC Tshirt, a rantai, a drumstick (for husband) and a shotglas. Tip : if you guys plan to claim VAT, ambil borang kat counter and suruh orang tu isikan as you pay. Ana only told us later (setelah dah sampai Hyde Park and macam malas nak jalan balik ke HRC) that we had to get the forms kat HRC itself, maka burnlah VAT claim saya. *FRUST!* Although it was like ala takat 8 pound je (as she said), it's still money (ye la, bagi orang yang tak bekerja macam saya, 1 pound pun saya kutip). With that money, I could buy another Victoria Secret EDT kat airport. Damn! (yup, memang murah kat airport. Will blog about this later). Oh well, takde rezeki namanya :(

 

                         Ketika sesat, terambil gambar nih                            Sebelum sesat

                          Richie Sambora babeh                                              Sampai juga

After berbeg - beg shopping di HRC (me only satu beg, kawan² lain berbeg - beg). We headed to Hyde Park. Cantik la. Kat sini, objective saya adalah nak tengok Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain. Memandangkan we all bawak banyak beg (they) and to the fountain is about 10 mins away from the entrance (katanya), we rented 3 bicycles and cycled through Hyde Park. Waaa bestnya! rasa macam citer The Sound of Music, with the wind blowing through my face, and I slowly sang, 'The hills are alive... with the sound of music.. aaaaAAaaaa' , didn't feel like I was 29 at all! After about 15 mins cycling, we finally reached the Memorial Fountain (tipu! katanya 10 mins je jalan). Best la tengok fountain dia. very unique. snapped some pics and menikmati keindahan kejap, then suddenly, dah start mendung and hujan. We headed back to the Tube station. Mula² undecided. But later we decided to balik hotel, sbb hujan. sayangnya. Sedih gak. Tp in a way, bagus gak, boleh letak barang² and lepak² jap. Malam sambung lagi. This time, it was already 530pm.

Maka pulanglah kami ke hotel and lepak. Me and Adina sembang sambil makan Maggi kari in a cup (just like the good ol days in Taiping) dengan rambut bergulung dgn tuala sbb baru lepas mandi, duduk bersila atas kerusi. Rasa macam kat Maktab cuma kalini perbualan bukan pasal Prep, Fizik, Addmaths atau Reymee from Innuendo. But about LIFE. Wow have we grown :) Rasa best la cause it's been a loong time that I didnt have those kinda talks. Slalu sembang dengan suami.. and dengan classmates kat sini. Bila borak dgn classmates sini, rase penat aa nak kena cakap German. It's not berborak. It's hard work! nak kena pikir grammar, translate bagai.. This was really relaxing to me.. Walaupun beribu² batu dari tanahair, felt just like in Mesia :)

After solat jama', we headed out nak makan dinner. Plannya, nak pekena Sup Tomato from Nero Caffee kat bawah hotel, which is SO SEDAP and murah. Tapi tengok² dah tutup (baru kol 8pm). Time² ni la rindu kat kedai mamak. So takpela, we ronda² kat hotel area and took pictures. Best la amek gmbar at night. Sbb jambatan² sume berlampu and it looks gorgeous. AFter that, singgah Marks and Spencer lagi skali, beli susu and Cheese for breakfast keesokan harinya. And then balik hotel.. That was it for day two.. Very relaxed. :)

Travel Series : Easter Holiday 2011 - London Day 1

Tiba² ada Bus stop and I berjalan towards the bus stop. He followed me from behind. My heart was racing. Even though ramai orang berjalan² but I felt panic but tried so hard to keep my cool. I pun buat² mcm tgk jam, and suddenly ada bus. I pun selit² blkg orang and bila bus tu nak jalan, I jumped inside the bus (not knowing where the bus would take me). Phew lega. Now I had another problem. I didn't know where the bus was taking me. I took out my map (I really looked like an Asean tourist) and tengok luar, tengok map. tengok luar, tengok map. Sampai ada orang tua ni asked me, 'Are you lost?' Oh gosh, was I that obvious? So jawab lah dengan accent London sket. 'No not really. I'm just touring around' pause, 'actually where are we right now?' lepas tu dia jawab something that I couldn't understand cause the accent was soo thick. I only understood this.. 'if you wanna take the tube, you have to stop here cause the next station is very far and a bit on the outskirt and not many tourists around' Ok, confirm I looked like a tourist. Husband warned me about not making that excited-touristy-look. I got off the bus and took the nearest Tube, Borough to London Tower Bridge. Okla, lega. Luckily it was still not dark. I decided to ronda² nearby the hotel je, snap a few pics and head back. I entered Hays and the view was great. Again, I took pictures of London Tower Bridge and guess who I saw................. the Paki guy... AGAIN! Damn it. Ape nih.. kebetulan? I think not! So I kept my cool.. and then I entered Mark and Spencer. Lama la lepak situ. Beli roti, cereal, susu and terus masuk hotel. Phew. Balik duduk diam² and terus tertido.. tepat² midnight, my friends reached the hotel ... waaaah bestnya.. reunited.. nak sembang lama tapi semua orang tak larat. Diorang jetlagged. I pun kepenatan. Esok pagi bangun baru la catch up..

22nd April 2011 - Day1 sebenarnya

Woke up relatively late compared to my usual routine. I share bilik dgn my friend, Adina (my schoolmate zmn Taiping yg sgt² rapat) and her two friends Ana and Putri dalam bilik sebelah. Breakfast in bed and siap² and terus headed to Westminster and jalan ke Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of Guards. Mak aii.. Ramai gile orang. Sempat la bergambar sket. I find that the guards sangat comel. Rasa macam tengok carton bila tengok diorang berkawat and playing the bands.. Cute sgt! (yg lengan biru tu tangan saya)

After changing of guards, we headed to Westminster Abbey, tempat yang Kate and William nikah semalam :p and also Big Ben. Masa ni panas gile and we singgah kat Tesco Express to buy sandwiches. Takde tempat duduk so we makan berdiri dekat depan Thames River (European style) sebelum naik Thames River Cruise. Sib baik Putri bawak minyak cap kapak kalau tak rasa nak muntah juga. We took the Thames River Cruise to Greenwich (journey sejam). It was AMAZING! Sangat² lah direcommend. 13 Pound pergi balik. Very worth it. We panjat la the bukit sampai ke atas The Royal Observatory in Greenwich and took picture kat the Meridien Line. Tapi yang atas skali punya kena beratur panjang. Since we ada time line to catch, we amek kat yg bawah tu je. But it was totally worth it. Best sangat :D

Lepas tu, berlari kita utk kejar the last boat back to Westminster. Sesampai Westminster, sume orang dah penat. Edited part : So terus beratur ke London Eye. Memang disengajakan amek London Eye lambat supaya dapat tengok sunset. Turns out, sunset lagi lambat (around 8 plus). We were on it kol 7 lebih macam tu. Nevertheless, the view was breathtaking. Really worth the 40 mins of queueing (tak sure spelling).

    Atas : View London Eye from Below

Bawah : View of below from London Eye                

After London eye, nak cari tempat makan for dinner. I recommended makan kat Banana Tree (restaurant orang Malaysia) berhampiran Queensway untuk makan nasi. Semua orang kelaparan, kepenatan and kejet-lagg-an. Balik pula, kitorang naik bus and sampai hotel at almost 11pm. Balik² je semua orang kong. But it was a superb first day :)

Travel Series : Easter Holiday 2011 - London Day 0

We were hanging out, husband was on the PC (as usual) and I was reading my book. We had this conversation.. 

Husband : Next week Jumaat I cuti tau..
Me : Oh, ye ke? Nape?
Husband : I nak pergi Physio pagi..
Me : Kenapa appointment pagi?
Husband : saje je..... lagipun Jumaat depan kan birthday you..
Me : Haaaa???

Can you imagine? I forgot that my birthday is next week. I don't know if that's a good or bad sign.I didn't minta anything for my birthday cause my husband already paid for my London trip, which I will be blogging about it right now... hehehehe.. (kalau tangguh, sampai bila² pun takterblog.. like that Krabi trip.. the Paris trip.. and the Ireland trip.. and the Munich trip.. and that KL trip... PD and melaka trip.. (sigh banyaknya tertangguh)..

Ok ok.. My trip was from 21st April to 25th April.. Since 21 and 25 tu travelling day.. so that would mean, I had 3 full days to ronda London..

21st April 2011

Bertolak from home (Mannheim) pagi around 640am cause we took the Regional train. The journey to Frankfurt Airport was 1 hour and 15 mins (plus tukar seround). Usually we would take the ICE to Frankfurt Airport yang mengambil masa hanya 20 mins but twice the price. I checked in before 9am. Kebetulan depan I ada serombongan orang Korea maka kecohlah British Airways punya lane tu.. Since it was the Easter Holidays, orang kat Check in counter suruh pergi kat Gate awal cause takut security check lane lama sbb ramai orang. Pendek cerita, my flight was 1120am and I reached Heathrow London 1155am (local time). So sampai lah ke London sorang² for the first time. Buat muka confident la sbb travel sorang² kan. Ikut je mane ramai² pergi. Kat imigresen orang tu tanya mcm² la sbb Visa saya dari Frankfurt, alhamdulillah okay sume. Terus ke Luggage Claim. Kejap je dapat beg, maka geraklah ke Underground Tube. I didnt know that kat Underground takde line, maka panic lah tak dapat nak call husband ckp I dah naik train. And I was supposed to meet my friend at 2pm. And I thought I was running late. My jam dah 1345. I forgot about the time difference. Rupanya masih awal.
From Heathrow Terminal 5, I changed at Hammersmith. Masa ni ada sorang Pak Itam mcm follow I. I dunno if I was being paranoid ke apa. Tapi buat la muka confident naik turun tangga with my luggage. Finally I took the tube and sampai la ke Queensway. Keluar² je station, wah! London life! And tiba² ramai sangat orang Melayu. Excitednya! So I pun senyum lah sipu². Igt nak buat kawan, boleh sembang². Tapi dia pandang mcm saya ni orang gila and terus jalan je.. Sedihnya :( I tried several attempts nak menegur orang Melayu, macam tu la reaksi diorang. Tapi ada la brader² who saw me and I think they knew that I am a tourist (dengan camera sangkut kat badan), dia pun bagi la salam. 'Salamelekom kak'. I pun jawab lah salam, but takde la sembang dengan diorang. Then I met my friend, Mimah and her cousin, Ruzie. So we headed for makan at Tinseltown. It's an American steakhouse tapi ada cop Halal. Best la. And portion dia besar. So bungkus 2 ketul ayam, bawak balik hotel for dinner.

Then berpisahlah dengan Mimah and her cousin guided me to Hilton Tower Bridge. The hotel that we were staying. I was supposed to meet with Thierry, my friend's friend's brother in law (pjg ye) cause check in under nama dia (dapat discount). Rasa mcm apa je tunggu mat salleh stranger kat hotel. So settle check in and Thierry pun gave me the keys and I pun masuklah ke bilik. Wow bestnya. The rooms were very comfortable. At this time, it was almost 6pm. My friends from KL hanya akan touchdown kol 2140 at Stansted and reach the hotel at probably midnight. So I had the freedom and the room all to myself. Maka saya pun mandi lah bath tub, solat jama' and headed to town sorang². I dah reload my Oyster card. I had no idea where to go. Just jalan² mengikut mana kaki bawa. I pun ronda² lah nearby our hotel. Hotel kitorang dekat dengan London Tower Bridge (See Image above. This one orang slalu silapkan dengan London Bridge. This is London Tower Bridge. London Bridge sebenarnya very old and biasa je.) The view was magnificent. So I jalan² and amik gambar. Skali sedar² macam ada orang Paki sedang mengikuti saya. Dia jalan depan I tapi pandang² blkg towards me. Bila I berenti, dia pun berenti (konon² amek gmbar). I ke kiri, dia pun ke kiri. I ke kanan, dia pun ke kanan. Shit. Takut la ni. Dah la I sorang. What do I do?

To be continued................................

Ada apa dengan designers?

I have this habit of buying books and then simpan sampai one time I will read semua sekaligus. Or when the time is right, I will khatamkan one by one. As I mentioned before, I just came back from my London trip. Ye, takut nak kecoh² sebelum pergi. There are reasons why I did that. Takut orang pesan. Takut evil eyes, etc. Anyway, alhamdulillah dah selamat sampai Mannheim balik now. It was a 5 day trip. I found a really good book at Heathrow Airport. It's called, 'The Rules of Life' by Richard Templar. Usually I would choose not to read British writer's books but this one is a bit different. I like the ideas and messages conveyed and the 'rules' are very realistic and motivating. I would recommend you guys to read it. Ataupun kalau nak pinjam nanti pun boleh :)

Since I was on a break, I was also on internet-break. Hence social networking break. A FB-free time. I disabled my wall cause I wanted to minimize my notifications supaya tak serabut bila balik nanti and have to read everything. So, now menghadap FB la sikit². I read a friend's status saying something about overseas people wearing designers from top to bottom and how Malaysians are far behind because tak pakai barang² branded. I do feel like I want to comment but tak apa lah. I will just write here instead.

Firstly, in Malaysia, if you walk anywhere in the city, I would say 6 out of 10 people pakai handbag branded. Lately Longchamp is the in-thing. Previously, LV and Coach.  I would say Malaysians are quite lavish in spending by buying designers. I have nothing against them. In fact, I feel that memang best la kalau I ada sebijik handbag designer. Tapi I don't own one. Ada satu je Braun Büffel yg tak glamour sangat, tu pun hantaran masa kawin. Sekarang ni hantaran kawin LC, LV, coach. Tapi Malaysians are very brand concious. To be honest, kadang² rasa peer pressure juga kalau all your friends pakai designers. But luckily my close circle of friends yg jenis sempoi² :)

Secondly, since staying here in Mannheim, I notice that the Germans tak pakai sangat barang branded even though they can afford it. Money is channeled to other things. Frankly, I dunno where. Probably electronical gadgets or cars. Kalau pergi bandar, sehari, nampak la sorang dua je pakai handbag Coach or LV. Tu pun yang memang kaya gila ataupun tourists. The Mannheimers pakai handbag biasa je gi kerja. So, I would say that Malaysians lagi pakai barang branded. But perhaps I could be wrong.

Me personally, I dont own any. Pakai handbag H & M (dia macam ala-ala Metrojaya) and paling hebat pun Esprit. Jam pun masih lagi pakai jam AVON. hehehehe..


Just to share with you, Rule No. 1 : Keep it under your hat. -RT

back in Mannheim

back from London. and it was simply awesome :D

strike 2

rejected. again.

keep on moving.. just keep on moving..

Her story : Life so far

Decided to compile some of the selected pictures and turn it into a video clip.. Enjoy :D

So that you wont be bored waching all 100+ pictures.. sbb diiringi dengan lagu hehehe

right on the spot!

I couldnt agree more.. this word has always been with me since I learned its meaning..

Your Happy Word is "Hope"

You refuse to give up on anyone, including yourself. You see the best in others. You think happiness should be shared. You spread your message of optimism as much as possible. You will keep believing when everyone else has stopped. You think good will always prevail in the end. You believe if we trusted each other more, the world would be a better place. All we need is a little hope.

What's Your Happy Word?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

Ada apa dengan French

Love French and its accent :D

The Power of Words

This is beautiful...

Gonna watch this :)