Euro trip: Bergen (Norway) - London again - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Düsseldorf (Germany)

I didn't owned that proper personal time with the Internet, but now i can do it slowly but had to recall my lovely time in Europe. My trip had became interesting as more towns that I had step in. From Norway to England by flight and my farther Euro trip was by train.Day 13

As it stated on the last post that I was departing to Bergen town which was about 40 minutes away by train from Dale. There was a Bruce Springsteen concert going on in Bergen as Bruce had been very well-known amongst Moiselle & her working mates. There were about 20 of them which had plans to crash the concert, so me & Doya fancied to tagged along but only to go to Bergen as the tickets for the concert would acquire a huge sum of our money. Our day started late, as we had to wait until Moiselle was done with her job. Nills took us and pick Moiselle & Meline at Dale and head of to Arna train station which was about 20 minutes away. Once we reached Bergen, Moiselle and her working mates all gather up at the Jacobs & all to have a dinner before the big concert.

At 8 PM we walked 20 minutes to the concert arena and Doya & I parted with them and intended to meet them again around midnight. So we had been walking mostly around Bergen gazing the eye-filling town. Bergen was not that big as you can cover one side to another for about 45 minutes. Norway's second largest city might be its most beautiful. Set on a peninsula surrounded by mountains and the sea, the compact center offers a tangle of crooked streets, picturesque wooden neighbourhoods and hilltop views. Late night the city were full with people as most of them just came back from the concert and we were there to enjoy the rest of the night or should i say morning.

Day 14
Again, today we did our resting and eating again. Moiselle cooked us meatballs for lunch as it was one of their common cuisine in Norway. Following that day, Moiselle had to sent her car for some compulsory servicing or she will get fined. Helped out Nills to move around some tables and foods as Aunt. Nor continued preparing for Dale Dagna which was like a yearly mini festival.

Day 15
Our day started early as we were heading to Voss with Aunt. Nora and Aunt. Fazilah which we met a couple of days earlier. Voss, about 60 KM away from Dale was the town where they had winter Olympics yearly. They even conducted skydiving ( how i wish i can do that one day). Aunt. Nora presented us around the pretty sight of the town as she did her shopping. We left Voss about 2.30pm after having lunch. Voss was also known for their smoked sheep's head which they present half of the sheep's head on a big plate but we didn't have that hence it wasn't the season. Helped out Nills again for the preparation of Dale Dagna. Since our last night in Norway, Doya and I had spent our night with the family

Day 16
Waking up today was blue as we knew that we were going to leave town after embracing a magnificent time with the Tosse family. At 10.30pm we went to Dale Dagna and hung out at Aunt. Nora's section. She did her selling of Malaysian food every time this event was up. She had done a lot of Satey, Karipap, Popia and Mee Goreng. She was the pioneer of these Malaysian food in the town of Dale and had a splendid respond from the residents through out the years. the foods were fantastic except it was not spicy as it must be suitable wit the Norweigian tongues to get good bazaars.

After our goodbye, Moiselle had sent us to Arna train station as we went on our day travelling back to London. Arna to Bergen by train 20 minutes. Bergen to Haugesand by bus 3 hours and 15 minutes. Haugesand to the airport by another bus 15 minutes. Haugesand to Stansted London about a hour plus. We reached London at around 10 PM. We missed the first bus to central London, so we had to go on the next one. From there I had to pick my Uni-mate Azfar which would join me for the second half of my explorations. rested at Paddington at Jeff's place.

Day 17
Didn't had much sleep as our day started early to Oxford road early in the morning with Azfar. I didn't plan to do much shopping through out the trip but to my overwhelm everything was cheap as it was the summer sale. So I did bought some shirts and new shoes, as the old one was warned out. I had to pick up two begs at Mel's place (my cousin) but along the way I had lost my direction and we missed our train to Brussels because of lack of direction and tube difficulty due to it was under construction in preparation for the Olympics 2011. Luckily we went to the train station and told them our dilemmas and they asked us to come back once we are prepared. Doya went her own route back to Bristol. Again Azfar & I missed the next train after getting our traveling bag from Paddington. Had lunch nearby King cross station and we embarked for Brussels at 5 PM. We charted to head Barcelona after reaching Brussels but because of the trains we missed, there wasn't any train possible that night. So our alternate plan was to crash Amsterdam and we got there just after midnight. It was Saturday night, and Amsterdam was completely in a different perspective that i had ever seen. Everyone was alive and kicking. We checked in a room with 10 people. Had our walked around the night life of Amsterdam before we head for our beds.

Day 18
Again I did not had much sleep as we shared the place with 8 others, so the room was always active till the next morning. As we checked out at 10 AM, we went to the train station to book our next destination. We had our night train to Munich but we have to be in Koln(Germany) by 12 PM. We left Amsterdam at 2.30pm to Düsseldorf as it was nearby Koln but we had to transit three trains. Amsterdam - Eidhohoven (Netherlands) - Munchenglabach (Germany) and finally in Düsseldorf for about 3 hours journey. We had about 5 hours plus to explore the D town. Düsseldorf is Germany's fashion capital. This elegant and wealthy town could feel stiflingly bourgeois if it weren't for its lively old town pubs, it's position on the Rhine and the postmodern architecture of its Mediahafen. After having something to eat we went to the Rhine where the people hung out and we left for Koln at about 10 pm for our train to Munich. While waiting at the night the train, to our disappointment the train had problems so we had to take an alternate route which was to Zurich. Yes!!! next stop Switzerland!!!!

Euro Trip: Warwick - London(England) - Stamnes (Norway)

The rest of my days in England were more relaxing... but my trip to Norway was a whole different perspective of witnessing the enchanting nature in the Scandinavia earth.
Day 5
I had lunch with Rob, Jayne and Caroline at Pizza Hut where Lewis had been the manager. Lewis was one of my high school mates and had known him for about a year but that was 13 years previous. These Pizzas were a bit contrary contrast to Malaysia's Pizza Hut as Malaysia's Pizza had been modified according to the Malaysians taste but the dessert that Lewis had recommended was luscious and certainly we do not have it in Malaysia. After my goodbye's with Caroline and Jayne, me and Rob head of to University of Warwick where my cousin Haikal was doing his masters in civil engineering . We met Haikal at around 5pm and Rob went back to Leicester as he had to sent Arnie to the vet again. My time in Warwick were mostly loitering around the University with Haikal. He introduced me to some of his brainy buddies. Most of them just love being a student as they were not pressure on working compare to us in Malaysia. adorning all that, me and Haikal did some catching up while playing the Pro evolution Soccer 2009 on the PS3 all night long.
Day 6

Haikal did a mini tour at his University before we left for London at 2.30pm. It was a two and half hour journey with the Megabus as the sun spreads the summer through my seat window. We met Haikal's eldest sister, Melissa and her husband Jason at around 6pm and had settled down at her house. She brought us to a Muslim Pakistani restaurant and we had the tandoori's of London. Haikal brought me to 'Hartamas of London' later that night which was known as the Covent Garden where we had our ice cream and supper at Burger King.

Day 7
I played football with the London lads that Jeff had introduced me. I undergo the verve i had here was a bit unalike because the air was unspoiled for football. In Malaysia, you would get knackered to easily because of the 40C average temperature which made you sweat like a pig, but not here.... you can keep on going to the next level as sweating or dehydration weren't much of a problem. Haikal, Jeff, Raudah (Jeff's girlfriend) and I had a dinner at the MHL Malaysian Hall London. Haikal was happy as he never been here before for the past six years his time in England. The food certainly brought out the flavor of Malaysian dishes. Later that night, I had to pick my younger sister, Doya as we planned to go to Norway together. Met her at Victoria station and brought her to Mel's, we packed our bags and we fled off to bed....

Day 8
Our day begun early in the morning as we had a day journey to reach Stamnes, Norway. We left Mel's at 630 in the morning with Haikal guiding us to DLR station. A change to Circle Line at the tube and we managed to catch the 7.15am Bus to Stansted airport from Victoria station. After breakfast, my sister thought we were late for the flight, hence we dashed our way through with our aggravating hand luggage and just manage to reach on time at the 1055am closing gate. The flight was about a hour and a half and the time difference were a hour ahead. 130pm Norweigian time we reached Haugensaund which was located at the south west of Norway. We took the bus which transported us to the town itself. Norway is comprehended for its seven fjord. Fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. The sea was blue as you can get. It was a bright sunny day but the wind was strong which gave me the chills. Our bus to Bergen was at 4pm. The scenery was indescribable, as we look through the windows of the bus. The best part of the bus journey was the ferry. Everything was a new experience for me and my sister. We reached Bergen about 7.15pm and again we rushed our way for the 730pm train to Dale. 40 minutes later we reached to our destination that is Dale where we met Moiselle. She brought us to their homes in Stamnes where we met the rest of the family, Aunt Nora, Nills, Midora and Maurit. Aunt Nora was my second cousin but was close to my pakcu and makcu. She married Nills, a Norwegian local and she had the three daughters, Moiselle, Midora and Maurit. Moiselle, Doya and I later that evening went to Moiselle uncles place where it would be our sleeping accommodation for the next eight nights as her uncle had a month labor at the ship
Day 9
We woke up late as Nills wanted to send aunt Nora to work at 2pm. We had the aunt Nora's curry for lunch and went on for sight seeing at Kattehol. Neil showed us where the river and lakes where they usually hung out during the summers as the kids like to swim and during the winter where they can skate. Stamnes is a village area within the mountains. The community ranges about 200 -300 people and everybody knows everybody. Moiselle's and Nills driving gave me the creeps as they were masterfully with the small roads edging the mountain sides. Later that evening after Moiselle was done with her kindergarten work, she brought us around Dale, a nearby mini town next to Stamnes. We also visited Nills parents grave. Day 10
I experienced my 1st Christian wedding in Norway. We went for Sigrunn & Kenneths wedding in Bergsdalen. The bride was attractive, the ceremony was fabulous. Kenneth's sister was Moiselles friend which was the strongest lady in Norway. Moiselle also showed us the hydrodam that the citizens of Dale and Stamnes used for electricity. Later that evening we had a BBQ at our cabin and Moissele brought us to the Pub to get a pizza at 12 midnight. The night ranged from 1130pm - 230am which was only three hours and it was not comprehensively dark. Day 11
Neil had brought us for a trip at the peak of the mountains where we had seen one of the greatest sightseeing in Modalen. Nills showed us the longest hand made tunnel which was done about 80 years ago. We visited a close friend of Nills at retirement house for a while before we set off to the mountains. According to Nills, the people around there are millionaires as they produced the electricity from hydrodams and the sands that they have import to Bergen. All in all it was beautiful. I can only express it through my pictures.....Day 12

Today were mostly sleeping and eating. Thank you Aunt Nora for the lovely asam pedas. Thank you Moiselle for the BBQ, the home made cinnamon bun, breakfast, snacks and everything that had kept us warm througout our stay. The food really made us feel homely because of the Malaysian touch that kept us hot especially the sambal belacan.. Thank you again.... Tomorrow Bergen town!!!!!

Euro Trip: London - Leicester, England

Finally, I have my own personal time with the computer. A lot had been done and I'm having a great time so far. Had a few difficulties with sleeping on the 1st few days, but now I'm fine after feeling homely in Leicester.

Day 1
after transiting in Dubai, I arrived at Heathrow airport around 1230pm London time on the 28th June. I went pass the immigration with flying colours (well that’s what I thought), as my dad told me to prepare on what to answer for my trip. The weather was great (still is) and the timing was perfect for me to be here. It's been a while since I had this excitement of travelling. My first mission was to meet my friend at Paddington London. I walked all around in the airport trying to find my way plus the eccentric of wanting to see everything with my 16kg back pack on my back and took the London Connect train which cost me about £7 for my next destination. I met Jeff around 315pm. Jeff was a good old friend of mine in TTDI and he was studying at Imperial College London for the past 4 years. I settled down at his house and soon after, Jeff brought me to the Hyde Park which was a wonderful calming park and he showed me Royal Albert Hall

where Siti Nurhaliza had performed numerous of times. Later that night Jeff introduced me to some of his friends and we had dinner together. We ate at Sukaramai which was a Malay restaurant but to my surprise the cost was expensive (well to me it was since I was in Malaysia a day before). Nasi Ayam £5.70 times 5.6 = about rm30+. I had grilled beef and ice lemon tea which cost me about £8. After dinner I met more of Jeff's friend and we hung out till midnight. I was really knackered since I roughly had about 3hours of sleep for the past 54hours. Went back to Jeff's and had my beauty sleep.

Day 2

I had my lunch at Malaysian Hall, as there were a lot of Malaysians since it’s the cheapest Malay food around. We did our Friday prayers there, as it was one of the only places to do that around here. Jeff had some work to do at his college, so he dropped me off at The National Museum. This place was fantastic, way better than what we have in Malaysia. I was amazed with the Dinosaurs exhibition, with massive gigantic dinosaur bones which were structured to the original size. Imperial College was nearby, so I met Jeff after he had completed his work and he showed me around his intelligent college as I was surrounded with geniuses. Imperial College was ranked no.5 in the World after Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and MIT.
Jeff brought me to a few interesting places around London by using the underground tube which was £5.6 daily. We stopped at Victoria Station (not the one we have in Malaysia, this was the real station) to go to Buckingham Palace which was a few blocks nearby. Then we went back to Victoria Station to meet up with Jeff's girlfriend which he was very proud off. haha.... she was going to Birmingham to meet her family. Later that evening we took a bus heading to Fulham Broadway and I went to Stamford Bridge just to show my butt at the Chelsea stadium.To my astonishment, as we were heading back to Jeff's place for dinner, I saw two of my TTDI schoolmates Fazly and Muhsin, opposite from where we were standing at the Paddington underground station. So we met up and had Duck rice for dinner at Basewater (It was the only halal one in town). We went to see Big Ben and the London Eye as it was simply beautiful during the night time. Muhsin had invited me to spend a night at his house in Hatfield, Hertfordshire next to London and about 40minutes away by train. We could not sleep early that night as we did a lot of catching up and laughing our head off till the next morning.

Day 3

I only had about an hour or two of sleeping since I still had my jet lag sleeping problem as my body had not yet immune to the night time of England. Initially I was supposed to meet Rob early in the morning but my friends here kept asking me to stay as they wanted to have lunch and watch the FA Cup final together. About 7pm plus we left Hatfield heading back to Jeff's place to pick up my stuff so I can head off to my next destination. We had some problems at the train station as we were trying our cheap way out of everything. I separated from the others at Kings Cross Station as I was in a rush to meet up with Rob because he was picking me up to bring me to Leicester. After running here and there, lost a couple of times, went to Paddington for my stuff and went back to the tube underground and head of to Stanmore station. I was knackered as I didn’t have much sleep. At 10pm I met Robert Mitchell after 13 years.

Day 4
I had the best sleep in England so far as it was homely like in South Wigston, Leicester. I was a temporary resident for 4 years as my mom did her PhD 13 years back. Rob was one of my first friends in Leicester, and since that our family were close, as they had visit Malaysia too. My younger sister in Bristol, Doya kept coming down to Leicester as it was a second home to her.
I woke up, met Jayne (mom), Caroline (sister) and Arnie (Dog) and had my breakfast while chatted with them. Rob drove me around Leicester to show my Parkland Primary school (had about 2 years there), South Wigston (a year there) and University of Leicester (where my mom took her PhD). Then we head down to town to see the changes since I left. There was a new shopping complex connecting to the high cross shopping complex in Leicester town. Besides the new complex, not much has changed except everything was a lot bigger (most probably because I was small back then). We walked around the town, searched for a Leicester city jersey and had sushi. Later that day we went for a BBQ for Mitch (dad) as he entered a bicycle riding from Leicester to Skegness within 12 hours about 100miles all together. It was done for Leukaemia charity. It was a lovely Sunday evening. Jayne had bought me halal meat so I can enjoy the BBQ as well. Met a lot of new people which some of them had met Eidura (my sister). Met Rachel (Rob's girlfriend) and we went to their house nearby and it was still under construction. They estimated of 3 weeks after they can move in. Rob is currently a police in Leicester and he is doing undercover. Rachel works at the Tigers stadium (rugby). They met while working together there 5 years ago. They are lovely together and it kind of sets me off to look for a job, a girlfriend and a house. =>

I’m heading of to Warwick later this evening to meet up with my close cousin, Haikal. I'll try to keep an update whenever I can. Cheers.... =>

Sneak peak of Europe....

Finally it has come to that day.... where i can sneak peak of my mission n vision... Yes, am going for euro tripping for a month... my flight is to London and will transit in Dubai... Im leaving tomorrow morning at 2am from KLIA.... Id planed my trip to the most budgeted traveling with a total estimation of rm9k for a month from 28/5 - 29/6. You guys would probably think that it may be impossible but hopefully with good networking i can cover it all.
Most of the cost went for transportation but im gonna use that to travel to 7 or more countries. Bought my flight ticket during the Matta Fair event in Malaysia about two months back. Emirates Airlines rm2641 return ticket. Eurail rm1600 and other busses n trains around rm500.
My accomodations are mostly my networking consuming of my friends and family around Europe. I will be staying in England, Norway, Switzerland and Netherlands. From that i will be travelling to nearby countries which most probably be France, Belgium, Luxemborg, Germany, Austria, Liechienstien, Italy and maybe Spain. About 80% of my accomodotions are either at friends or family (my sister and my cousins) place. I'll meet up my parents in Netherlands as my dad have some work at the Hague during 22nd-27th June.
Therefore im gambling my way for a month of Euro trip with rm4k pocket money. Im scared but at the same time im confident that it will be enough for the whole month. I will update my travel log through out the journey if i get my chance on a computer....
Sorry to those that i didnt say goodbye too as i was busy settling my things before this journey.
Wish me all the best... cheers.... =>

Football in Malaysia

I've always been a massive fan of football. Fantasy football, championship manager, winning eleven, futsals, football team, mamak Saturday night football, etc. etc, yes I'm attached to it. What can I say, the English league evolved around me during my primary days. Even my eldest brother; as he was studying in Manchester, would from time to time visited us and we would never miss on playing International Superstar Soccer on the Super Nintendo console. He would also mention on and on about upcoming youth players in the English Premier League.

Basically what I’m trying to bring up here is that there's a lot of us adore the game. Most of us are big fans of the four big teams in the EPL. I love the atmosphere when it comes to watching big matches. And of course the debates, the disagreements, the loyalties on each others team; I just love all that. What bums me out is that how I wish we were routing for our own local clubs instead. Don't you just envy those in the stadiums rather than watching at Mamaks? Well I can’t blame you guys. We are currently ranked 161st. Malaysia’s national team performances for the past 15 years have fallen like a house of cards.

Malaysia's biggest achievement in football was becoming the bronze medalist in 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta after defeating South Vietnam 4-1. Malaysia qualified for 1972 Olympics in Munich, conquering Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Philippines en route. Two years later, Malaysia won their second bronze medal in 1974 Asian Games after defeating North Korea 2-1. The team continued its glory after qualifying twice in a row for the AFC Asian Cup in 1976 and 1980.This era saw the rise of a generation of now legendary players, led from the front by the thunderous striker Mokhtar Dahari, centreback pairing of Santokh Singh and Soh Chin Aun which were deemed one of the best centreback pairs in Asia in the 70s and R. Arumugam, affectionately known as "Spiderman" for his agility, in goal.

In 1994 Malaysian football was embroiled in one of the biggest bribery scandals in the country. Many star players like Matlan Marjan were involved the corruption scandal that destroyed the credibility of Malaysian football. High-profile players who survived, such as Azman Adnan and Khairul Azman Mohamed continued to inspire cult followings, but the game had been badly hit. The 2000s saw the arrival of Muhamad Khalid Jamlus, a trialist with Eintracht Frankfurt), Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, once signed to RC Strasbourg and Indra Putra Mahayuddin, among others, but for all their European connections, still failed to generate a mainstream interest in national football. The decline of the Malaysian national team comes in tandem with the decline of its domestic leagues. With the dearth of mainstream interest and starvation of funds, Malaysian football today is miles away from its glorious days of the 1970s and 1980s.

My suggestion is we should change our mind sets to Latin football instead of adapting English football. Maybe we should send players to Latin countries and have more broadcast on the Spanish or Brazilian league. There are many talented players in Malaysia but still our game plays are mostly base on long balls, crosses and tactical. It is beautiful to watch, I can't deny that but it is possible to play against bigger opponents physically. Maradonna, Pele, David Villa, Robinho, Messi and more others are all more or less our size. And to say that we don't have the stamina or we consume inappropriate diets; I doubt that. I'm certain that Nicole David and Rashid Sidek had lots of Nasi Lemak and Ayam masak merah.

One of my goals in life is to watch the World Cup in the stadium. One of my dreams is to watch Malaysia play for the World Cup; then again that’s too much to ask… haha... or at least in the AFC or the Olympics. I’ll assure you that I'll be one of the 1st to purchase the tickets if the impossible happens. Hopefully it will in my lifetime. Cheers =>

Music is a form of Art....

I would describe my mp3 player as the soundtrack of my life. I would say that I wanted to be a rock star. If there was big shot rock star or electro DJ in town, i wouldn't hesitate to participate. I love to hear the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds. In a way it helped to relax, to release anger, to express feelings - basically singing my lungs out. My music interest verifies from traditional to modern. I'm a hardcore on rock, followed by acoustic and electro. I'm mostly on the vocals as it brings more compassionate from the heart. For others they would prefer to let their instrument do the talking. Whatever it is, it puts a person into another level of creativity in producing a form of art in life. I regretted not taking piano lessons at early age but then again it's not never too late.
My music vocabulary started since way back in primary when I was involved with school performances. My Rock star wannabe period was after completing hig school.. FairCyde was our band which consists of Erin the cute drummer, Nik the Japo Freak (then), Khad the Composer wannabe, Shaz the "no comment" and me. Besides performing for weddings and birthdays, the furthest we went was on stage at the Cherating Cottage which we didn't get the attention we wanted. All in all, it was a fun experience. FairCyde deceased when two of the band members studied abroad. Then, I went to another phase of music, the rave madness. The Zouk Fest in Genting caught my first attention. I was influenced by my peers, as they robotically shuffle their way through the beats and bass of electro tunes.
Nowadays, I still have random jamming sessions with random friends but mostly I would just strum on my guitar and sing. If there's karaoke invitations from my peers, I would most probably not miss that. Oh yeah, I still have a problem though; I still can't feel the RnB vibe. can anyone teach me to horny dance? => haha...

What a Night...

What a night.... last night i encountered a mixture of feelings after being investigated by morally degenerated hypocritical flaw enforcement. I was caught with a different agenda but they manipulated to a different scenario. How pathetic. Whats disappointing is that they are the majority race and were born under the name of Islam. My brother went through the same s*** a few months back. What i didn't understand was why did they said that they wanna help you out but at the same time i can see it in their evil eyes that their intentions were way beyond saving your butt. Why??? is it because their wages are low? how can they live that way for the rest of their life and not thinking of their after life? I thought it would be different at my hometown, but no... they are all the same, well most of them. How can we change that? can we? i want too or at least to arrest those who are miss using the power. After bailing out, it all end up with no case. wtf???
another thing that sunk in my head, was a REALITY CHECK for my life. After completing my studies, i had plans of my own to pursue my dreams, but the peer pressure around me slowly eating me inside out. this was because...

1. my plans were way different from my course
2. my uni mates which were mostly working kept pressuring me to work.. (basically i think they envied my free time as most of them didnt enjoy the working life yet)
3. my dreams became impossible after meeting those that knew better
4. MONEY!!!!!

my reasons of why im not rushing to look for a job..
1. Ive been studying for 17 years.. i just wanna rest my head for a while
2. recession year.... why do i need to pressure myself a.s.a.p to look for a job?
3. well almost 50% of my peers didn't get the job that was related to their course (mostly the ones without excellent CGPAs). wtf? as might as well i start my own thing right?
4. i see the difference in my friends with working reality, its either they didn't like what they were doing internally or it is just another hard phase that everyone have to go through.. but all in all by the end of the month there always that smile after their hard work... that's what kept them going......

therefore, what I'm trying to say is that I'm in focus again after yesterdays event. I'm sticking to my plan. I'm gonna do something that I'm interested in or at least try for about a year or two and if it a success, its gonna be my life.. and if it doesn't, well then ill become an engineer... =>
n that's why I'm writing again.. so i can keep updating my mission and vision. cheers....