EuroSpring 2011 - Amsterdam

 Assalaaamu'alaikum..

Picking up from where I left off in my previous post, I blogged a little about London and the amazing cruise experience sailing across the North Sea in the awesome StenaLine ferry, kan? So jom kite sambung cerita pasal the Europe trip lagi.

At around 5++ am, kitorang dah bangun for subuh prayers, mandi and siap2 balik. Nak turun breakfast, tak tau ape yg ade. Lagipon kitorang takde beli the additional breakfast. Nasib baik my mom dah bekalkan sambal goreng ikan bilis for the journey. The Tesco white bread that we bought in London, kitorang makan cicah dgn sambal tu. Ahhhh, bile dah jauh di perantauan ni, memang heaven sekali bile dapat Malaysian food, especially my mom's famous sambal goreng. (Walaupon rasa perut pedih2 sbb pagi2 buta dah makan pedas2.)

View from the cabin window as we were approaching Holland

Sambal goreng ikan bilis Mama for breakfast. Hebat!!!

Around 7.45 am, terdengar announcement suruh sume orang ready untuk disembark sebab ferry dah nak sampai ke destinasi, the Hoek van Holland port. Actually, kitorang masih rasa tak puas dok atas kapal tu sbb kejap sgt, lagipon that was our first time naek kapal camtu and overnight lagi. Tapi takpe lah. Maybe next time. The adventure must continue. So kitorang pon turun la.

Dah nampak windmills ni, maknanye dah kat Holland la. (Actually UK  pon ade je pakai bende ni gak as alternative energy source. Hehehe)

Learnt a few Dutch words that meant "Thanks.. See you again!"

Turun je, tengok2 ramai gile orang ye!! Sume beratur utk Customs clearance nk masuk Holland. Weird!! Last night takde pon ramai manusia camni mase boarding. And the best part was, yang buat ramai2 tu were this huge group of Indians. Ramai kak temah oiiiii!!!! I thought ni mesti ade shooting filem Hindustan kat mane2 ni. Tu yang auntie2 uncle2 pon ade tu. Extras utk watak orang kampong kot. (Kelas tak kelas la kan, orang kampung cite Hindustan dok kat Amsterdam!! Bole lawan??).. Hahaha tatau la dorang buat ape kat situ ramai2. Same cam kitorang la agaknye kan, jenjalan. 

Ada story masa nk clear Customs tu. We were waiting for our turns behind the Customs Officer's desk. Kat depan kitorang, yg tgh clearing Customs tu were 2 mat salehs (from the US kot, or OZ, tak hengat dah). They were chatting about the latest news, Osama's death the night before. Obviously they were happy for his demise, based on the laughter. Then came our turn to clear Customs, the very same officer looked at us, sternly. His happy tones just disappeared in a whiff. He asked the usual questions: why did we come to Holland? For how long did we intend to stay? He asked to see our confirmed return flight itinerary back to KL. Well, I understand the rationale of asking those questions. But his partial attitude just reminded me of the 2 kodoks putih (I mentioned in my last post) and the Islamophobia in Europe. It could probably be just my own feelings, perhaps I was too sensitive. But I did feel the different treatments. Hurrrrmmmmm.... 

Anyways, we cleared him fine and I tried to rid the deep thought and feeling about his attitude. Lantak la dia. Janji aku tak bawak bom! Untuk menenangkan hati yang terluka (eceh!!), mari kita amek gambau bebanyak..

Dapat gambar penuh kapal ni. Kalau real life, konfem tak muat kamera

Tunggu train di sini

Train dah sampai. To Rotterdam

Yours truly & Cik Shawn

Front page news that day - Osama was dead! And they were rejoicing..

Sampai Rotterdam, we went to the Ticketing Office to get our Eurail passes activated. Eurail pass tu kene activate dulu, baru boleh guna. Once dah activated, dah boleh pakai la, and dah kira 1st day la pass tu being used. Basically, bila kita activate pass tu, the Ticketing Officer tu akan cross-check passport dgn nama kat Eurail pass tu. Die sendiri akan tuliskan nama kita kat Eurail pass tu kalau kite tak tulis lagi. Hehehe...

Senang je nak guna pass tu. Just naik train/bus yang berkenaan untuk ke destinasi. Bila the train officer/bus conductor datang check, just show the Eurail pass and passport. Make sure nama dah tulis kat pass tu. One thing I learned, just act casual and confident. Don't have to be too cautious and nervous. Also, tak payah la dok tersengih je. Bottom line is, don't act fishy....

From Rotterdam, we took the InterCity (IC) train to Amsterdam. Naik first class tau (haha.. jakun... walaopon takde beza sgt 1st & 2nd class die)..It's just a couple of train stops je before we reached Amsterdam Centraal. Bila sampai Amsterdam Centraal, sejuknye laaaaa, ya Allah... Angin kuat gile ye...Tapi, nak tak nak, kene la jugak keluar nk pegi carik hostel.

Pencarian Hostel

Sambil menyeret beg masing2 menyusuri bandar Amsterdam ke Jordaan area untuk check-in hostel, kitorang agak teruja melihat keunikan bandar itu. Famous for the many canals, memang banyak la canals sampai kitorang jadi confused (dan agak stressed, at first). Kat sini, banyak juga boats yang diubah menjadi boathouses. The boathouses tu mostly disewakan sebahgai accommodation for tourists, dan secara tak langsung juga menjadi tarikan pelancong di Amsterdam. Below pictures for some scenes around the city centre.

The famous Amsterdam canal houses

The river in spring

Jalan sampai tersesat2, finally, jumpa jugak Shelter Jordan yang dicari di Bloemstraat. Actually Shelter Jordan ni sebenarnya a Christian hostel. Kalau dalam map, it is 4 main canals away to the west from the Amsterdam Centraal. Since it's a Christian hostel, memang ada kelas Bible on Saturday night, and diorang ada invite, tp takde la nak pegi kan. The hostel was chosen disebabkan ianya murah, and kitorang pon singgah Amsterdam sehari je, so tak kisah la. Tumpang tido je pon. See pics of the hostel kat bawah..

Penerokaan Amsterdam

Dah check in, keluar jenjalan plak lepas tu. Takde jalan jauh2 pon. Some of the tourist spots in Amsterdam...

Pencarian Rezeki

Pastu lapar, carik makan pulak. Kebetulan tgh berada kt tengah2 town kat area Nieuwendijk (this is a street full of souvenir shops, for both straight and crooked minds), and ternampak satu kedai yang ada tanda Halal. Nama kedai tu Me & Me (hrrmmmm... sounds selfish kan? hihi..). Jenguk kat dalam, tengok uncle kat kaunter makanan tu looked like an Arabian. So kitorang pon masuk dengan memberi salam. "Assalamu'alaikum.". "Wa'alaikumussalam warahmatullah", dia jawab dengan senyuman yang manis kat kitorang. Hehe.. So, yakin kedai ni boleh makan. Walaupon takde jual nasi (sbb dah start lapau nasi), kitorang order je la doner kebab. Takpe lah, janji hilang lapar, dan yang paling penting, halaalan tayyiban..

Ni la doner kebab shawarma (or something like that) yang diorder. Turkish cuisine katanye. Boleh je makan, cam lebih kurang kebab kite jugak, but kurang berkuah sos la. (Kalau kat sini, beli kebab kat pasar malam tu, pemurah sangat sosnya. Sekali gigit je kebab tu, berjejes2 sos jatuh kan?) In fact, after makan, bila check balik, memang kedai ni ada dalam list zabihah.com kat sini.

Pencarian Masjid

Dah abis makan, tokleh nak balik lagi sbb belum solat. So tanye kat uncle Turkish tu kat mane ade nearest mosque (uncle tu sebut "mos-ki". Hurmm, whatever la). Then die bagi direction ke Rosengracht, katenye ada mosque kat situ.

Selepas membayar makanan dan bid farewell to uncle Turkish, kitorang pon jalan la carik mosque yg dikatakan tu. Jalan2 straight from Nieuwendijk sampai la ke Rosengracht. Kat area Rosengracht tu, tgk buildings die ada banyak kesan vandalism, contengan2 yang tak difahami di dinding2 dan pintu2 bangunan. Agak menyeramkan, cam downtown area. Tetap jalan gak mencari masjid. Tapi masih tak nampak2 kelibat masjid tu. Pening2. Ada la dlm 2-3 kali pegi balik kat street tu tp tak jumpe jugak. Last2, kitorang masuk satu kedai bakery Turkish ni (Muslim punye la sbb yg jual tu was a Turkish lady) nak bertanyakan masjid. Rupa2nya, masjid tu sebelah kedai tu je. Nama masjid tu Fatih Canil Mosque, juga ada dalam zabihah.com.

Agak menyedihkan sebenarnye. Entrance to the mosque hanyalah sebuah pintu buruk yang bila2 masa je orang boleh tersilap mengingatkan itu adalah pintu bangunan yang ditinggalkan. Keadaan luar bangunan tu pon nampak macam bangunan tinggal, dengan tak ada tanda2 seperti sebuah masjid langsung. That Turkish lady tolong bukakan pintu untuk masuk dan seorang lelaki Turki lain kat dalam tu tolong tunjukkan tempat ke arah women's praying area kat belah belakang.

Memandangkan Cik Shawn & Cik Yda both pakai tudung, memang takde masalah la utk diorang. But for me, the guy politely asked me to wait outside. Hurmm, I was wearing my black legging under a denim skirt, with a leather jacket. I understand that, in Amsterdam where Muslim community is just a minority (what more with a mosque that looked almost non-existent), a free-haired lady dressed like me would always be categorised as non-Muslims. I didn't blame him, for I was ignorant too to go to a mosque dressed like that (in Msia, most girls would easily get away with it, as many scarved girls wear tight-fitting dresses too). Nasib baek both my friends told him that I'm a Muslim too. Mula2 dia macam tak percaya tapi my friends yg helped to convince him. Alhamdulillah dapat juga masuk solat.

A valuable lesson learnt that evening : In other parts of the world where Muslims strive to live as Muslims (where Islam is not widely accepted with open hands, without raising eyebrows), wearing and acting like non-Muslims are not appreciated. When people say, "Just be yourself"; I believe they mean, "Just be a Muslim".

Lepas solat, sempat jugak amek gambar interior masjid tu sikit. Walaupun kat luar nampak macam an abandoned building, tapi kat dalam masjid tu memang cantik sekali. Very high arched ceiling, chandeliers, with Turkish designs and deco.... Masya-Allah....

Some interesting things about Amsterdam..

Bikes are everywhere. They are more popular than motorbikes and cars. The people here ride their bikes to work everyday. The sight was just so amazing. Ladies in killer high heels, guys in coats and blazers, moms with their babies in baskets; all ride the bikes. 

The EuroPEEans/Amsterdammers are a PEEing lot. There are quite a number of the open public urinals, such as the picture below, around Amsterdam. And I swear they're f**king stinky. Just remember not to stick your nose out near this blue thing. As always, curiosity kills the urinals sniffer.

Adult stores are abundant here in Amsterdam. They legalise the 'meat' industry here, making anything relevant to it, legal, too. Sex stores, sex theatres, pot smoking shops/cafe, the Red Light District, the Sex Museum, sume legal and open to anybody. Seriously anybody. These are the only 2 photos of the many adult shops that I could capture. Rasa segan nak amek gambar banyak2. Terasa macam pervert.

Yang last sekali ni, memang interesting kan? He's the receptionist at the Shelter when we checked-in, Johann. Very fluent English, quite polite and always smiling. Bagus budak ni....

P/S : Kalau nak beli the usual kind of souvenirs (magnets, keychains, t-shirts, ceramic clogs, or anything Dutch), boleh pegi cari kat area Nieuwendijk tu, dekat je dengan Amsterdam Centraal. The very lively street, adorned with cheap hostels, adult stores, weed stores, with some restaurants tucked in between. Happy searching, happy shopping...

EuroSpring 2011 - London Part 1 (A Day & the White Kodoks)

Hello...

It has been a while since my last post. Busy pulak lately ni. Dengan kenduri-kendara sempena my parents nak pergi buat ibadah haji, their departure last Friday, ditambah dengan kerja-kerja di ofis yang lagi bikin stress. Balik rumah dah exhausted, dan terus tido. Inikah namanya kehidupan? Hihi..

OK lah. Harini nak sambung balik cite trip to Europe last spring. Before I start, let me just do some short backtrack sikit. Ni cerita pasal our very first day in the UK. EXCITED, the excitement yang just couldn't get any bigger than these CAPS.

The three of us (Shawn, Yda & I) arrived in London on the morning of 1st May 2011. Kalau tak silap, sampai Heathrow dalam 6.30 am kot. Tapi kat sana matahari dah naik, dah macam pukul 8-9 am Malaysian time. The plan was to spend the whole day around London before taking the cruise ship to Amsterdam. So, from Heathrow, amek bas masuk town untuk ke Paddington Station. Bila dah sampai kat Paddington tu, sementara nak menghilangkan lelah and trying to get our bearings, ape lagi, snap snap snap la...

It's THE tube

The guy behind the Info Counter was a bit unfriendly. Lapau agaknye.. Kesian kan?

Duduk kejap la... Sejuk tau kerusi2 tuh...

Tidak rela mengheret luggages dan menggalas backpacks, we decided to leave the luggages kat Left Luggage di Charing Cross Station. So turun underground and naek Tube from Paddington to Charing Cross station. Sorang simpan satu bag, kene charged GBP 8.50 per luggage for the first 24 hours. Quite convenient and safe. The company yang operate the service, Excess Baggage Company, ada operate kat a few other stations and also airports in Britain, so mmg agak menyenangkan la utk travellers mcm kitorang ni. Other locations and their rates boleh tengok kat sini.

Charing Cross Station facade.. The Black Cabs in line waiting for passengers..

Icons of London - The Black Cab & The Double Decker Bus

So pagi2 tu, basically kitorang pegi pusing jenjalan to kill time. Really overwhelmed getting to roam around London on our own, banyak la pictures yang di'snapped'. Jom kita tengok London dari lensa kamera Nikon & iPhone.

Location : Trafalgar Square, Around & About a Roundabout

The scenes around Trafalgar on May 1st morning

The warm morning sun felt really comforting on our cold skins. There were not so many people around as it was still early. After about 15 mins, the National Gallery started to open. Free entrance to most of the (free) galleries, of course. We did go in, but sorry, no pictures though. Well, there were paintings from the Renaissance era, plus the paintings on Christianity. And also some others which I just didn't know of. I for one, have never been a painting connoisseur. The street performers in front of the National Gallery were more exciting to me. Hehehehe... There was one guy who got a tennis racket through his body. Quite a crowd puller with his antics and singing. At one corner, there was a group of teenagers dressed like gypsies (or were they really gypsies?). There were some others which I have forgotten now. Quite interesting to see, as we don't have that many places & buskers in KL, except in front of Maybank in Bukit Bintang/Sg Wang big junction.

Buskers in Gold, Silver and Bronze in front of the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square

Jalan depan sikit, along the Whitehall. Nampak orang ramai kat Privy Council Office. Ada apa? Tak nampak ape except for people taking pictures with the horseguards. OK, let's stop here for a while, we decided. Hopefully ada show or some sort sbb sume org kat situ adalah tourists. 

The Privy Council Office on the Whitehall, and the Horse Guard

Yeay!!!! Memang ada show. Show the horseguards ramai2 kuar marching, with the horses meliuk-lentok ala2 supermodels.

The horseguards putting up a show...

Oh ye. Time kitorang sampai di London tu (1st May 2011), London cuti. Primarily because of Bank Holiday, and also, sbb Prince William and Kate Middleton baru je kawin on 29th April 2011. So, along the way, ade la jugak street vendors ambil kesempatan menjual memoribilia muka2 dorang. My hunch, the Londoners suka this royal couple. We found this...

Congratulations William & Catherine!!!

I didn't buy any of those, though. :D

Location : Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace & the Green Park

Jalan lagi ke depan, mengikut langkah pelancong2 lain. Only tourists je kot yang rajin kuar jenjalan pagi2. The locals of course la lepak kat umah kan, dah cuti kot. Mari kita tengok....

Churchill Museum & War Cabinet Rooms

At the Buckingham Palace.. Ramai orang uollssss....

 And NO we didn't get to meet the Queen!!! Hehehe..

Since tak dapat jumpe Queen E, kitorang pon lepak la kejap. Lepak the Londoners' way...

Chilling at the Green Park

Location : White Chapel, East London

Hari dah makin petang. Alamak, belum solat lagi!!! So bergegas cari masjid. Pusing keliling tak nampak tanda2 ada masjid kat areas tu. So check map yang Yda ada bawak, and katanye the nearest mosque was kat area White Chapel (alaaa, macam yang dalam game Monopoly tu). So gigih la plan the shortest route nk ke White Chapel sbb takut terlepas waktu solat and terlepas kapal ke Amsterdam. Cepat2 pegi carik the East London Mosque kat area White Chapel tu. Jumpa!!! Terasa sangat selesa sebab berada di kalangan saudara seagama di bumi asing, ceewaaaahhh!!!

The East London Mosque

Kat tempat kitorang solat tu, kat level atas, ade 3-4 org girls tgh study. Africans rasanye sbb cara pakaian dan hijab lain sket. Tgh buat study group sbb nak exam, macam biology ke hape ntah subjeknya. Tapi speaking British English cam best aje dengar. Of course la kan, dah kat Britain, mesti la sume org speaking British English cam air kan?

Lepas solat, carik makan pulak. Sempat singgah di satu kedai halal, City Fried Chicken & Grill. Senang je pon carik kedai tu. Kalau dari masjid nak menghala balik ke White Chapel station, the shop will be on your left. Kat area White Chapel tu ada a few Halal eateries, so OK aje nk makan mane2 kat situ. InsyaAllah......

Rezeki hari ini.. Nasi briyani tu sedap gak.....

Habis makan, sambung balik perjalanan. Nak amek bas ke train station mane ntah (tak ingat dah) to get to Harwich, the last train stop at the port where the cruise ship, the StenaLine docked.

Tengah tunggu bas kat area White Chapel, pastu ada la 3 orang mamat saleh, baya2 muda-mudi cam kitorang gak. Diorang pandang kitorang atas bawah macam pelik (pelik tak pernah tgk Asians kat area tu agaknye). Then one of them yg sedang merokok, dengan selamba kodoknye hembus asap die kat muka Yda, who happened to sit nearest to them. Just imagine betapa kodoknye mamat tu (dan kawan2 die). Yda dah tak selesa, tangan pon dah kibas2 udara tercemar kat hidung die (skit lagi boleh buat iklan 'Tak Nak' merokok). Shawn pon tak comfortable so she got up and moved to the other side. After almost 3-5 minutes suffering the polluted air and minds of those kodoks, dorang boarded a bus and blah. Alhamdulillah... Dalam hati kitorang, mmg cilakak la kodok putih ni. I believe that's one of the effects of Islamophobia yg still ada dlm kodok2 putih cam diorang tu. And kalau difikir balik, patut la White Chapel ni harganye murah je dalam game Monopoly. Yang paling murah tau. Sebab that area cam area terpinggir sikit and gloomy je tempatnye. Orang2 kat area tu pon looked a bit dodgy to me. Dalam hati kerdil ni, ada gak terlintas takut kene tembak ke kan?? Choiiiiiii sgt aku kan!!!! Tapi alhamdulillah, selamat je sume...

Lepas sampai kat train station tu, tengok2 dorang buat maintenance la pulak kan, so all the scheduled trains to the affected areas dorang replaced dgn bas. So kitorang pon naek la bas. Penat jalan satu hari, tertido la kitorang bertiga dalam bas. Tapi bile dah sampai kat Harwich tu, ngam2 je sume bangun. Huhuhu...

Turun bas nak amek bags, angin mmg sejuk gile la kan. Tak pernah kan rasa angin sejuk North Sea. Hamek kau!! Cepat2 lari bawak bag masuk building nak board the ship. Sampai kat main hall kat atas, check tickets dulu and then cop passports pastu baru la masuk kapal.

I'm leaving on a ferry..

Our cabin, 10-342

All these on Deck 9

Ada cinema...

Inilah sedikit sebanyak photos yang sempat dicapture dlm StenaLine malam tu. Memang menarik. And the experience, convenience and comfort sure beat flying, provided you're not rushing for time. Actually there are a few other cruise ship operators I believe, but we went for this one sbb die punye route mmg specifically UK to Holland. Senang gitu. For further info on the routes & destinations, deals & offers ke, boleh check kat website die http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/.

Sempat check out open deck, belah blakang kapal tp masya-Allah angin North Sea sangat kuat dan sejuk. Tu baru spring time, belom betul2 tgh season high sea swell lagi tuh.. Gile ah.. Berderau jugak darah ni bile terfikir kot2 terjatuh dalam laut ke. Choiiii lagi aku ni!!!! Sorry takde gambar kat luar sbb gelap, and also takut camera terlepas dr tangan sbb angin kuat sangat. Boley gitu?

OK then. I'll continue on with the stories after we reached Hoek van Holland and masuk ke Amsterdam pulak. Yeah Amstee, here we come!!!!