Monday, May 25, 2009

The Trip To Europe Begins Tonight

The trip to Europe will begin tonight when we take the Air Asia flight at 8.40 PM from Kota Bharu Airport to LCCT KL. We will put up the night at our son's place in Enstek Labu which is just 20 minutes drive away from KLIA. We will be departing by Gulf Air the next day at 10.30 AM for Bahrain before the onward journey to Frankfurt Germany.
Despite the problem of the influenza A H1N1, we have made up our mind to go on with this trip as any cancellation would be too costly for us having paid the full amount for the trip with Poto Travel Kuala Lumpur. We bought the package during the March 2009 MATTA fair and we like the unhurried pace of the itinerary where we will be putting up in a hotel for two nights before moving on to another hotel in another city. As an elderly person of above 55 yrs, this company gave us a small discount. From what they told us there will be 32 of us in the group. Quite a large group.
For the trip we have made ample preparations in terms of clothing since the weather in Europe seems to hover around a cool 12 degrees Celcius in Amsterdam and 21 degrees Celcius in Paris. Of course it will be very cold in the snowy Titlis Mountain of Switzerland where we will be taking a trip up at an additional cost of 50 Euros each. Hey I need to see whether I can manage to balance myself on a sky since when young I used to roller skates around. I know they are not the same but somehow I feel confident that I can do it at least long enough for my wife to take a video of me. Then I can show the grand children what grandpa is still capable of doing.

These are the bags we will be bringing along. Enough clothing for the 13 days duration from KLIA on 26th May and back on 7th June. Since we will be cooking our own food for the whole trip, we brought along a mini rice cooker and an electric kettle complete with the food rations. Of course we will be sampling some European cusines if we can find the Halal kind.

Two bags each. The yellow travelling bags are courtesy of Poto Travel.

We brought along some kain batik lepas to be given away as present to those people in Europe that may turn out to be friendly to us. One of them is of course a Mr. Nick Habgood whom I did blog about before in my blog The World Is Full Of Surprises. Nick is the partner of Azini Capital of London. Nick has agreed to meet us in London on the evening of the 5th of June 2009. Ain't that nice? Meeting someone whom you have only known by chance on the internet is really something I will not want to miss. Another couple that I would like to meet very much is Abe Awe Goneng and his wife Kak Teh. Can you spare abit of your time for us?

Nick Habgood (right) with his partner Michael.




Many will be curious as to why do I bring kain batik lepas as present. For those who don't know, this piece of cloth with simple patterns has multiple uses among rural Kelantan folks of which I am part of. It is often used as a semutar to wrap around the head just like a turban. As a semutar it can act as a protector of the head of any unexpected knock. It can be removed from the head and used as a baby's support when you have to carry a heavy one like my grand daughter Balkis when she was six months old. Ahh.. the uses are too many to mention here, I will have to blog about it after my return from Europe to tell you all about it's uses.

The kain batik lepas can be used to support a heavy baby on your hip. This was how I carried Balkis around when she was with me for six months since she was six months old.

A makcik using the kain batik lepas as shawl.

Technically this is not exactly our first trip to Europe. We had been there before. This picture of the other half taken in front of Mark and Spencer is proof of it. Anyway this outlet is in a town at the tip of Europe. It is in Istanbul Turkey to be exact. Turkey is making the most of the fact that part of Turkey lies in Europe and is selling it to tourists whenever they visit Istanbul. Yeah we went there while we were in Turkey just to be in Europe. We had to cross the bridge from the Asian side to go over the European side.


Yesterday I was surprised to see this orchid species blooming. I have been keeping it for almost 5 years and this is the first time it blooms. It is the Rhyncostylis sp. It used to found in the wild but now it is not so common. Look how beautiful it is as if it knows that I am leaving and thus blooms in time before I leave for Europe.



To Ee Lynn aka Cover_Operations'78 of the blog Combat Loaded & Mission Ready!, I will be blogging from the hotels on a daily basis should there be internet connections. Thanks for the good wishes.

36 comments:

faraulah said...

Pak Zawi,

Selamat Pergi dan Selamat Kembali..

Pi Bani said...

Have a good trip! Don't forget to take lots and lots of pics.

Mia's Mom said...

Have a Safe & Wonderful Journey! Can't wait for stories from the faraway lands... (:-D)

Anonymous said...

hi zawi...

bon voyage to you and family... have a good time and let us know when you will be back...

~vt.chiabh

Unknown said...

Yes of course I wish you a safe & wonderful trip:)
Jangan gambar nya nanti?.
Take care.

K. Dill said...

Salam Uncle,

Safe journey. May you enjoy the time you spent there.

Wan Nordin Wan Hussin said...

Salam Zawi

Hope you both have a safe and pleasant trip. Kami iringi dengan doa Selamat Melancung ke Eropah.

louis said...

Bon Voyage.

Looking forward to your accounts of your tour.

Fadhil said...

Salam Pak Zawi,

Have a safe journey. Try not to injure yourself while skiing, ok :-)

yeappie said...

Pak Zawi,
Bon voyage. Have a safe and happy trip.

Ariff Sabri said...

abe wi,

from mamasita and i, have a nice and safe journey.bon voyage

Unknown said...

Wah, you walk walk eat air you never tell me one. Have a happy and safe trip and do blog with plenty of pictures. Try the internet speed there and let us know how their speed is compared to ours. I am getting fed-up with our speed here,

Here's wishing you as safe trip.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Woo hoo! Abang Zawi used to be a Skater Boy too! You rawk!

Don't worry about H1N1 and other health scares. More people die of malaria, cholera, dysentry and the common cold each year. Abang Zawi has the right attitude. No point letting fear run your life. See, even your rare orchid has decided to bloom. Good omen.

The picture of you carrying Balqis on the batik sling is so cute! Ha ha! In that photo baru nampak betul-betul macam pakcik. Dalam gambar lain semua nampak muda.

Mount Titlis -- everyone says you must have Movenpick ice cream there to get your body to acclimatise to the cold! Worth a try!

Have a safe and memorable journey!

Best wishes from CO78 and all the furry ones.

AuntieYan said...

Salam Pak Zawi,

Selamat mengembara. Jangan lupa blog about it.

Semoga selamat pergi dan selamat kembali.

mamasita said...

Pak Zawi and Fatthiyah! Have a great and romantic honeymoon ok? The orchid pun sampai keluar and bloom..macam nak garland you all ke Europe!
Selamat jalan and be young again!!

Pak Zawi said...

To all well wishers,
Sorry for not responding to to every individual comment. The both of us would like to thank all of you. I will try to make the blog as interesting as possible so that you all can share the joy of my trip as much as I will enjoy doing it.
Thank you all.

LITTLE DEWA said...

salam
uncle
hav a great time :)
nk ikut................ huhuhu........

Unknown said...

can fit me in the luggage? Heheheheh~~~~
Have a safe journey. And of course, loads of pics, please :)

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Pok Zawi! Selamat jalan.. selamat balik.. take lots of pics... and dont be notty..LOL

mamadou said...

Ayoh Awi

Selamat Berangkat dan kemabli dengan posting yang menarik, pasti!

Pokku said...

Have a safe trip and enjoy yourself!

Pat said...

Have a wonderful holiday, Zawi! I look forward to reading all about it ;)

Gurindam Jiwa said...

Waah, have a safe and wonderful trip.

For the skiing, make sure you still have a good set of knees, he he...

And don't forget to bounce that flash whenever possible. It isn't everyday you get to go to Europe. I've seen some pros bouncing the flash even when there is only sky above.

And finally, please come back when you're done.

Semoga pemergian tuan diiringai kesejahteraan, dan tuan pulang dengan kesejahteraan.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

bon Voyage pak Z.

while in Amsterdam dont forget to check out the (in)famous museum that everyone talks about...but only if missus agrees to it.

hehehe...

Pak Zawi said...

Dear all,
I was in Manama Bahrain last night. I thought I could go online but didn't manage to get a good connection. After that I was on the flight to Frankfurt. Now they put us in a nice hotel in Stutgard with free wifi at the coffeehouse. Though not obliged to buy anything, I did buy a cup of coffer which costs Euro 2.9. Multiply that by 4.8 so u know how much cheaper coffee is back home.
Thanks for all the comments. Sorry I cant respond to each one of you individually as I need to use thei precious time with internet connection to post the next blog.
Warmest regard to all of you.
Pak Zawi

Gurindam Jiwa said...

Thanks Pok Zawi for the update. That coffee must taste uummmph good.

Unknown said...

Selamat berangkat dan selamat pulang abe Zawi. Ambil gambar biar banyak. Tapi, eh eh..kamu bawa banyak barang le.. periuk, pc, camera. Wow !

Kak Teh said...

Zawi, Cant wait to see you and your wife. I have just come back from Paris - it was really hot. London was a bit cooler when I came back. I hope the weather will be nice. Do let us know where you will be staying.

Pak Zawi said...

Mazle,
The coffee tasted nice because the waitress who served the coffee was very friendly and offered to help should I have problem with the internet connection. Unfortunately I had no problem with the connection which was automatically done.
I learn't something from the coffee house when I saw the males were watching sex program on TV provided by the hotel.

Pak Zawi said...

Kbguy,
Terima kasih atas ucapan.
Ya memang saya travel very heavy this time. Makanan, camera dan noteboook. Malangnya Acer 1 anak aku kat KL rosak dan aku tak dapat tukar pakai ngan dia.

Pak Zawi said...

Kak Teh,
I am in Paris now. Just reached here from Lucerne Switzerland.
We will be staying at Holiday Villa Hotel London. Since POTO Travel will be hiring a local guide living quite close to you, why not you join him on the 4th to come and take us around London? Since there will only be 5 Pakciks in the 32 members entourage, the makciks will be happier with you around. The local guide can just take care of the 5 Pakciks. Just don't upstage the local guide lest he will be out of job the next time around when POTO Travel brings along more makciks for a tour of London.

Unknown said...

Wow, syoknya relaks kat negara mat Salleh, sambil minum kopi with lap top. Sejuk tak ?
It nice to stay free from all problems and worries especially when you are far away.
I like those kain that you bought. Kat mana u beli ? Maybe I can wear it to China, to cover head from hot summer heat,wipe my sweat as towel, use as mask for H1N1 protection etc.
Hope you are enjoying yourself now !

mekyam said...

terlambat ambo nih, pok wi. mitok maaf. [didn't realize it's that time already until i read yr comment at kak teh's.]

tapi selamat bercuti, pak zawi suami isteri!

i think gifting kain batik lepas is brilliant. it's sooo exqisitely kelate.

can't wait to read abt yr european vackay. :)

Pak Zawi said...

KBguy,
We are doing a group tour so there is not much chance to laze around doing what you envision. We are always on the move and not at every hotel has free wifi. So far only my present hotel in Paris has free wifi in the room while in Stuttgard Germany and Lucerne in Switzerland has free wifi only in the coffeehouse or the bar and you have to buy a drink there which can cost as much as 3 Euros.
Kain batik lepas tu ada dalam mana mana pasar termasuk pasar Wakaf Baru. Just ask for them.
Thanks for the wishes.

Pak Zawi said...

mekyam,
I am a trueblue Kelantanese and as such I would like to project that image. If I can have my way I will be walking out of every airport wearing a semutar.
Don't worry you are never too late. Always feel it an honour to have you visit my site.

nadya.s said...

have a great, awesome, menorable trip pak zawi. :) send us postcards from europe :P

cheers