Euro Trip 2012: Day 8 ~ London

Plan hari ni adalah tuk berjumpa ngan Niza... kawan yang aku kenal dari zaman fotopages hinggalah ke facebook.  Appointment ngan Niza hari ni adalah tuk jumpa kat Malaysia Hall Cafe kol 10.30pagi. 

Pagi ni I woke up at 8am... got ready and naik breakfast kat bilik Wannie.  We had bread and tuna mayonaisse for breakfast.  Dah kenyang, around 9am tu kitorang gerak tuk ke Malaysia Hall di Queenborough Terrace tuk jumpa Niza... Nervous.. almaklumlah.. first time jumpa.. aku ni kalo first time jumpa memang membisu banyak.. hahahaha...

Dari Mara House, Sussex Garden, Paddington ke Queensborough Terrace tu tak jauh.  Kat Mara House tu ada T junction (Mara House is a corner lot), cross the road and take right.  Walk along the street and turn left.  You will see a Lancaster Hotel on your right hand side.  Go straight until you see a T-junction, turn right and walk straight down the street until you see a "Queensborough Terrace" sign on you right.  Malaysia Hall is at #30-34.

Sampai je Malaysia Hall cafe, while waiting for Niza to arrive, kitorang makan dulu.  We had bihun goreng and nasi lemak.  Niza sampai around 10.45am.   Kitorang dok sembang-sembang then later she showed us around Bayswater.  We went to Whiteley's beli perfumes and to a souvenir shop kat Bayswater tu yang offer special discounts for tourists from Malaysia.

yohan yang shommellll...

Beauty Base @ Whiteleys, Bayswater.. i'm lovin' it...

Setelah selesai membeli-belah, Niza brought us to Bayswater underground station to purchase oyster card.  Dengan menggunakan oyster card ni, fare untuk underground and bus is much cheaper than kalau kita beli on the spot.  This card is just like our touch n go la.. boleh reload and it is also redeemable before kita balik to our home country.  We then took bus no. 94 heading towards Oxford Street.  Niza ajak all of us gi Primark to shop.  According to Niza, Primark Oxford St. is the biggest Primark outlet in London and the stuff that they sell are cheap.  I could get a toddler's top at GBP1 per piece.. cheap huh?  Niza wasn't long with us sebab it was about 1.45pm and she had to go home to fetch her daughter sofia from school.  Though it was such a short meeting, we still had fun... kita cakap non-stop.. macam dah jumpa so many times... I really had a great time and hope to see you again, Niza...  Ok.. sambung citer... we shopped at Primark like nobody's business... main hambek je.. cam ko banyak det.. hahhahaha... tapi aku xdelah shopping sangat.. beli baju anak-anak jer... Punyalah sakan membeli, sampai tak perasan that it was getting dark...time tu dah kol 6pm kot.  So, kitorang cepat-cepat bayar.. and surprisingly our total bill tuk barang yang banyak tu just GBP95.  Murah kan?? Uols janganlah convert....  We then took a bus back to our hostel.. then only we realise yang Primark tu bukannya jauh pon.. leh jalan kaki jer... ala-ala dari Alamanda ke Masjid Putra jek...

Dah sampai hostel, unpack sume barang, baru realise yang beg kitorang x muat to sumbat all the goods that we just bought.  Ting!!!! Lampu idea menyala.... Laki aku ajak g Primark balik, gi cari beg katanya... so off we go... that was already 7pm.. and Primark closes at 9pm kalo tak silap.  From our hostel kitorang naik bus to Primark Oxford St.  Dapatlah beli beg and shoes for my PIL the we walked bag to our hostel untuk rest.

Euro Trip 2012: Day 7 ~ Amsterdam - Brussels - London

Pagi ni we started our day early... at 7am kitorang dah ready to check-out.  Around 7.10am we were already at Amsterdam Central.  Had our morning coffee kat one of the cafe kat Amsterdam Central.  Train kitorang pagi tu around 9.00am rasanya.  Dari Amsterdam ke Brussels, sekali lagi kitorang naik Thalys train.  Alhamdulillah.. this time merasalah naik 1st Class.  Beza 1st Class and 2nd Class adalah seat dia.. kalo 2nd Class, the seats are 2seats in each row.. tapi 1st Class, seating dia different sket.. it's 2seats in one row and 1 seat on the other row and 1st class passengers are served with food and beverages which is free.. eh ye ke?? ke dah included dalam fare..hehehehe.. sorry aku tak sure....  Whereas 2nd class kena ke in-train cafe to purchase their meal.

wannie's

mine

We reached Brussels about 2 hours later that is around 11am.  The train stopped at Brussels Midi.  Our initial plan was to go round to some interested places in Brussels within the vicinity of the train station.  Brussels Midi ni kelam kabut la station dia... even the people pon tak helpful :(  With some help from the tourist centre, we managed to get to the underground train station with the station is in the same building.  Fare for the underground train tak hengat lak aku brapa Euro.  Kitorang stop kat Grand Palace station sebab nak ke Grand Palace.  Grand Palace ni tempat dia cantik.. kalo time musim bunga, dorang akan atur bunga tu jadi cam carpet kat depat Grand Palace tu.. time aku pi dah hujung winter kan.. so kosong jek la.. takde pape...

inilah rupanya flowers carpet kat Grand Palace ni.. *googled*

Since we were out of euros plus aku bengang ngan orang-orang kat Brussels yang tidak helpful plus bawak beg berat, so lepas ke Grand Palace ni kitorang tak ke mana.. just lunch kat Sultan Kebab je... sekali lagi.. makan doner kebab.  It was nice of the people in Sultan Kebab warning and reminding us to take good care of our goods.. walaupun bagpack besar dan berat, orang jahat can simply snatch it from our table.. apa lagi kalo camera or phones kan... banyak orang jahat rupanya kat Brussels nih.. even dalam underground train tu pun laki aku dah terasa-rasa wallet dia bergerak-gerak dah... alhamdulillah selamat... snatcher tu tak dapat grab his wallet...... Dah setel makan, terus la ktorang balik ke Brussels Midi.. duduklah melengung kat situ sementara nak tunggu train ke London depart.  Aku time dah balik dari Grand Palace tu memang dah takde napsu nak snap gambo dah... ntah la.. tetiba mood lari... mungkin sebab beg berat and tempat pon kureng best kot???

Around 2.56pm kitorang depart for London on Eurostar.  We arrived at St. Pancras International dalam pukul 4.30pm camtu la.. then from there we took circle line tube kalo tak silap untuk ke Mara House di Paddington.  Fare tuk tube adalah GBP4.30.  We reached Mara House about 10 minutes later.. alhamdulillah.. the Mara House is quite near to Paddington underground station.  Kat Mara House ni we've got separate room.  Of course la aku sebilik with my husband and wannie is in another room.  Waaaaa... dapatlah we all honeymoon... hahahahahaha... gedix.... Malam tu we had our dinner in Wannie's room and planning for our programme for the next day.

Euro Trip 2012: Day 6 ~ Amsterdam

Hari ni pulak kitorang plan nak ke Volendam.  Volendam ni adalah sebuah town yang ada perkampung nelayan terletak di northern Amsterdam.  Kami plan tuk naik bus biasa je ke sana.  Untuk ke Volendam, kena ambil bus no. 8 rasanya di bus terminal at Amsterdam Central .. tapi don't worry.. kat stesen bus tu ada board yang tulis which bus goes to Volendam.  Fare aku tak ingat la pulak.. sorry... but the journey from Amsterdam Central to Volendam is about 1hour.  Sepanjang perjalan ke Volendam ni, kita boleh nampak beautiful scenery.. houses facing canal.. cantik uols...

rumah ini real ok.. bukan miniature.. sorry kualiti gambar kurang menarik sebab captured dari atas moving bus..

Sampai je kat Volendam, kitorang beli roti kat bakery tuk makan ngan our sambal ikan bilis...ini kira food tuk morning tea la... Lepas beli roti, we headed to the seashore.  Waktu kami pegi tu persisiran laut tu ada yang still freezing lagi.. and kat sini sejuk and windy.. seronok.  View pon cantek gila.. subhanallah.... Kalo korang nak tau, Volendam ni terkenal ngan smoked harring fish.  Tapi kitorang tak makan lak during our visit tu walaupun we've been to the shop yang jual smoked fish tu.. sebab terlewat dapat info.. by the time i checked my phone, we're already back to Amsterdam T___T.. next time la insyaAllah kalau ada rejeki tuk datang lagi.

Balik dari Volendam, kitorang naik tram ke Dapperstrat tuk ke Dapper market.  Dapper market ni kira cam flea market kat Dapper Street tu la.. kat kawasan ni banyak muslims.  Barang-barang murah, tapi kurang berkenan di hati.. however, ada jugak terjumpa barang yang pelik like kobis dia bentuk triangle... bawang dia lonjong (oval)... We had our lunch kat situ jugak.. from a stall yang jual kebab... memula nak makan kat stall tu je.. tapi rupanya their shop is just behind the stall... so, kitorang pon apa lagi.. order doner kebab and makan kat dalam kedai tu... hangat sket.. hihihihihhi...

Selesai makan, tak tau nak pi mana dah... so kitorang pon naik tram.. this time tuk ke museumplein.  Untuk apa kitorang datang sini??? Yeah... tujuan datang sini adalah tak lengkap la kalo pi Amsterdam tak hamek gambo kat I amsterdam tuh... hehehehee... Dulu kat depan I amsterdam tu padang.. green je.. now dah ada ice skating rink la pulak...

Dah selesai bergambar kat situ, kitorang pon terus balik hostel.. rehat and pack barang... coz esok pepagi dah nak amik train ke Brussels.  Malam ni tak lapar so kitorang tak turun makan kat kedai kebab that we used to go.

Euro Trip 2012: Day 5 ~ Amsterdam

Hari ni kitorang bangun as early as 7am, siap-siap tuk keluar.  Almaklumlah... shower ngan toilet kat hostel ni sharing.. tak macam kat Paris tu.... so, kenalah kitorang siap-siap dulu before the rest bangun kan... Hostel ni just provide free coffee je for breakfast.  Kitorang pon apa lagi.. keluarkan lah bekalan roti and sambal ikan bilis for breakfast.  Lepas breakfast, terus kitorang keluar.

This is where our hostel is..

Plan hari ni adalah untuk naik hop-on hop-off bus to go around tourist spots kat amsterdam.  Tiket yang kitorang amik tu priced at 26Euro + free canal cruise.  Tiket tuk amik tour bus ni boleh beli kat outlet dia.. don't worry... ada banyak outlets... kat Dam Square ada 1 pastu kat Damrak pon ada 1.  Tapi lepas tu kitorang nyesal plak... sebab agak rugi sebenarnya amik tour bus ni kalo stakat  nak round amsterdam jek.. lain la kalo nak gi volendam ke, koukenkoff ke.. berbaloi la jugak... apsal aku cakap naik tour bus round amsterdam city ni kureng berbaloi?? sebabnya the stops are:  Gassan Diamond Factory... orang tak berduit cam aku ni mana layan diamond-diamond nih.. mahal dowh... pastu next stop, Jewish Museum... aku muslim da.... next stop pulak Heineken Experience.... aku muslim daaaa... mana bley minum... HARAM tu.... kalau ok sket pon stop kat Ledsplein.. kat sini ada Hard Rock Cafe.. oklah jugak... Tapi area yang paling happening adalah Damrak stop.  Sebab kat ni ada banyak tourist attaction cam Madam Tassauds Wax Museum, Dam Square, Red Light District, canal cruise, etc.

kat Dam Square

Gassan Diamond

So, dah bosan naik tour bus round amsterdam city, kitorang naik canal cruise.  Oklah.. interesting jugak.. especially bila bypass floating homes i.e. boats yang dorang convert jadi rumah tu... there's limit of 280 floating houses je yang the city council permits.

Lepas naik cruise, kitorang jalan kaki ke Dam Square tuk pergi ke Red Light District.  Kat sini lah aku experience hujan ice.. ala-ala snow gittew... tapi bila ketulan ice tu jatuh kat muka, terasa jugaklah sakitnya... T____T.

tahan sakit muka kena hujan ice.. T____T

frozen canal

Kat area Dam Square ni banyak kedai jual souvenirs.  Ada yang murah, ada yang mahal and ada yang flat price.  Kitorang jumpa this shop yang jual souvenirs at flat price of 5Euro. 

From there kitorang ke Ledsplein pulak... kali ni nak ke Hard Rock Cafe.  Kat Ledsplein ni pon happening jugak.  Malam lagi la happening sebab banyak pubs kan... Dah puas membeli-belah kat Ledsplein, kitorang balik ke Damrak tuk balik ke hostel.  Before balik hostel, kitorang dinner kat kedai kebab yang nearby to our hostel.  Budak yang jaga kedai tu baik.. siap bagi kitorang discount 20% lagik.. Kitorang ni bukan apa.. saja je balik hostel tu lambat-lambat.... sebab kalo balik awal, nanti ganggu dorang tidur.. sebab dorang ni mostly tidur awal pastu bangun dalam kol 10pm or 11pm siap-siap tuk ke Red Light District or ke Koffee shop.  Owh, Koffee shop in amsterdam means weet (ganja).  Therefore, koffee shop is the shop yang jual ganja...

inilah kedai yang selalu kitorang dinner tu...