It's Snow-time

It snowed in London. Started last week on Wednesday and then followed by a heavy fall on Thursday night leaving our backyard white and a perfect place for snowfight.

Perception and Reality

Some say perception is reality.
Some say perception is more important than reality.
Some say perception is more important than truth.

Nobody is an island, the saying goes.
We all live in our own networks of families, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and communities.
Therefore we are highly affected and impacted by those around us.
and in our own ways we are also affecting those around us.  yes, we are affecting the world around us.

I've met people who are so engrossed with managing perception that the truth no longer matter to them.
It's how people perceive them and their action (or inaction) that dictates their lives.  Or at least how they perceive people will perceive them and their action (or inaction).  Usually, the lives of such people are characterised by highly charismatic and effective facades that over time tend to disintegrate into total opposite models which lack integrity, consistently inconsistent and deviously troublesome.

Unfortunately, to these people, truth and principles means nothing.  While truth allows for simpler and more consistent living, it's never seen as important at all.  In fact, truth and concept of being truthful are often seen as inconvenient burden and hindrance to achieving ones aims in life.

Doesn't truth matter?  Doesn't it matter most?

Speak the truth even if it's painful.  Not matter what.
Honesty is the best policy.
If you tell the truth, then you don't have to remember anything....
Among others....these are reminder of the value of upholding the truth vs managing perception.

Our favourite weekend breakfast

We have been going to the same place on either Saturday or Sunday for breakfast or brunch for the past 5-6 weeks. Yup, without fail.

The kids started to get interested in it when their friends at school told them about a Halal Subway outlet in Edgware Road. Edgware Road is a major road in central London close to Marble Arch that is full of of Arabs. It's been like that since 12 years ago and have only gotten more popular among the middle-easterns since then.

Anyhow, since they found out about it, they've been asking us to take them there. While Edgware Road is less than 30 mins drive away, but the thought of finding a parking there just was just unappealing.

It was during one of those 'traffic jam' at Cricklewood that we noticed a halal sign on the Subway Outlet there. Interesting indeed as it's a lot shorter drive and finding a parking space would not be like trying to balance a pail full of water on your head while walking on a tight-rope, wearing a greasy pairs of oversized slippers (a.k.a. impossible). We decided to go there on one of the weekends and the rest as they say, is history. We were there this morning as well.

What we like about the place is the interior is very bright and family friend, service is done with a smile and the food is good. The cost for a meal for 5 is also not bad at around 25 pounds. Subway has been opening fully halal outlets since 2007 and I think it's a great idea and it makes economic sense in a diversed metropolitan like London. We have also seen another Halal Subway in Bayswater.

I guess, this weekly visit will stop one day but we will continue to go there on and off AND if you were to visit us here, insya-Allah you'll get to enjoy a halal sub in London as well. Promise!

Reading & I

I love books.

I can't recall the last time I was not reading a book (as in finishing a book, but not holding and reading it 24/7).  It seems that at any point in time, I will have at least one, usually 2 and sometimes 3 books that I am reading.  Most of the time I will have 2 reading materials that I am in the process of finishing.  These are on top of daily newspaper, internet etc.

I just love to read.  I find it wasteful, mixed with a sense of emptiness and bored otherwise.  Of course, this is on top of another favourite past-time activity of mine which is thinking.  My sweetheart always says that I think too much...too much to my own detriment, but it's something that I can't really help.  I digressed.

Reading....I love reading all kinds of books.  Usually I have a mix of fiction and non-fiction therefore the 2 materials always. For fiction I tend to read by author.  If I find an author's work to be good, I tend to look up his/her other works and most of the times ended up reading all of them.

From a small kid, my mum used to tell me that it's very difficult to find me not having something to read, from comics in newspapers to story-books. Authors that I still remember are Othman Puteh, Enid Blyton and Tamar Jalis (specific Genre in the mid-eighties).
Apart from these, my favourite of all was Gila-Gila. I do remember reading Gila-Gila when I was 5 years old and I still remember buying them every fortnight into my teens.  Basically from Dan, Din, Don and From Taiping With Love to International Blues Club and Aku Budak Minang.

Apart from Gila-Gila, I started to read English books and especially the Reader's Digest with the honourable intention of improving my English.  Very quickly, I started to read English novels and with them I got acquainted with authors like James Clavell, Frederick Forsyth, Sidney Sheldon, Isaac Asimov, Jeffrey Archer, Stephen King, Robert Ludlum, Mario Puzo, Tolkien, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and many more (it was before John Grisham's time then I guess though he was not that far behind too).  I still enjoy fiction until now and since then a lot more have been added to the list.

Non-fiction also started to enter my life in the late teen years and amongst these, self-development books are my favourite.  I read both popular authors and also islamic books.  Foremost amongst these are 'Apa Ertinya Saya Menganut Islam' by Fathi Yakan and 'Petunjuk Sepanjang Jalan' by Syed Qutb.  They opened up my eyes and mind to something I had always taken for granted previously and I have to say that they shaped my perception of live quite significantly since.  I absorbed Covey's '7 Habits' in early 90's (my 1st copy was in 1991 to be exact) at about the same time I was reading 'Seed of Greatness' and 'Win Win' by Denis Waitley.  Thinking back, these are probably the first 3 self-development books that I had read.

From there I started to get interested in business books and business thinkings.  From Iacoca to Jack Welch.  From One Minute Manager to the 500+ pages Managers Handbook.  One of my favourite leadership books is 'The Leadership Engine' by Noel Tichy.

I slowly moved to include biographies and auto-biographies.  Read Bill Gates and Richard Branson where after reading them, my perception of the two men changed completely in the opposite (I used to admire one and hate the other; after reading their biographies the subject of my admiration and 'hatred' changed).

The 'hardest' book for me to read is actually 'My Experiment with Truth' by Mahatma Gandhi.  It's Gandhi's authobiography and I have to admit that his honesty in the book is so painful that it simply took me months to read it and to date, I have not finished it.  I may pick it up again one day.

Lately, I have been picking up the latest must reads and while I enjoyed Tipping Point and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell I am still not convinced and so far haven't felt any strong inclination to pick up Blink.  Yup, I read the later books first. 

Whenever I am asked to choose my favourite book, I always struggle because most that I've read are great but if I have to choose then 'Taipan' by James Clavell and 'Ar-Raheeq al-Makthum' are my favourites.  Books that I've read and re-read many times.

Currently, I am reading the Black Swan and re-reading Apa Ertinya Saya Menganut Islam.  This is on top of my daily 2 pages of the translation of the Quran.  I remember asking myself - 'When was the last time I've read the Quran cover to cover (a lot) in a language that I understand (never)' a few years ago.......thus the reason for the daily read.

L.I.G.

LEARN, IMPROVE, GO.

A tip given to me by a respected colleague.  It was during a chat about work and career progression.
I am the type of person who gets quickly bored with my job (as you could tell from earlier postings) and L.I.G. is a strategy he said I can employ.

It's an interesting concept but also very important is to avoid being a rolling stone that gather no moss.  So, balance is key here as in everything else.

But I like it.  For someone who is most comfortable with changes, it's a good acronym (and more concept of course) to remember.

Right & Wrong

When do you know that you are right?
How do you know that you are right?
How do you make sure that when you think you are right, you are not wrong?
How do you make sure that when you are wrong, you will know that you are wrong therefore you can correct yourself?
Does it matter whether you are right or wrong?
Does it matter whether others think you are right or wrong?
Do you want to be right?

What am I thinking about?
To me being right is about having the certainty that you are 'right'.
But that brings me to the definition of 'right'.

Typing "define:right" in the Earth Database gives a list of items of which the relevant ones are;

• correct: free from error; especially conforming to fact or truth; 
• in conformance with justice or law or morality; 

With the above (which are acceptable to me) in mind, knowledge of right and wrong is therefore critical.  This knowledge must however be of facts that have been verified; i.e. 'Truth'.

Assuming therefore that you have knowledge of the truth and you are doing what's right then you are not doing that bad.  You can start thinking that you are right.

Great 1st step....

Good Night

Subhanallah
Alhamdulillah
Lailahaillallah
Allahuakbar

Foremost on my mind today

I guess it's the same thing...about life.

Since January-09, while I won't say that the war has ended (despite what others have declared), at least the obscene bombardment have ceased.  May the innocent civillians have peaceful sleep for a while (mark my words).

Over here in the UK, I've been observing a lot of things I had missed over the last dozen of years or so since I had been here.  Interestingly though, I also observed things that I thought I would miss but they turned out to be different that what my memory used to tell me.  Did they change or was my memory faulty or have I changed?  Or the combination of all 3?  Or is this the manifestation of the 'good old days syndrome'?

One thing for sure though, I quite enjoy being back in London.  The city seems to have managed to stay the same while at the same time changed quite a bit (there must be a term for that - will let you know if I figure that out).  Met some old friends.  Set some targets to achieve.  Places to go.  Things to do...... quite a lot to do.

How things have changed

to the blogger.com site....

Since my first posting here more than 6 years ago, blogger.com have changed a lot. 

I remember the days when we couldn't put an image on our blog...and later found out that I can link an image though (just do the basic HTML editing).  Now it's a few simple clicks. (and a lot of those linked images are gone).

I remember the days when there's not such things as gadgets for blog....if you want it, you create it.  This blog still has one of those I created (well, combination of b-b-s & programming) then (the Today box on the right).

I remember the days when there's no WYSIWG editor....now it's like using MS Word.

I remember the days when there's no "Title" to the postings....now I am thinking of revisiting old postings and put some titles to them (when I have the time).

I remember the days when there's no "Label" to the postings...now...ehmmm ditto above (and ditto above too)

I remember the days when I was 6 years younger....now, well, what do you expect...

Hello World (part z)

I just can't seem to stay away from here for long.  Well, it depends on how you define 'long' I guess.

I just noticed that I suddenly wrote about my son's wikipedia comment after being away for nearly 10 months.  10 not so long months I think.  Anyhow, here I am and this time with the intention to stay (for a while at least), insya-Allah.

A few basic updates since January.
Moved house,
moved jobs (both of us),
moved schools for kids,
moved country.

Same me,
same sweetheart :),
same kids,
same family,
same home,
same citizenship,
same ummah,
same aspirations,
same ambitions,
same hopes,
same ideals,
same ......................
...............................

Since a few months back, we've moved (sort of transplanted) from Kuala Lumpur to London.  So, will start talking about our new home as well but I guess I will end up musing about what goes on inside my head more than those outside...as usual.

Wikipedia

Was driving our kids to school a few days ago.

My 5 year old suddenly said, "Abah, do you play basketball?"

I said, "Yes, I used to. Why do you ask?"

He said, "I want to play basketball. When I grow up I want to play in NBA. Then I will be the best player in the world. Then, my name will be in Wikipedia as the best basketball player in the world."

I wonder whether the motivation is to be the best player in the world, or to be in Wikipedia. I couldn't get him to explain that so far....

But what's clear is, move aside Guinness World Record, now it's Wikipedia for my children.

Short days

Days are getting shorter and shorter here.
Trees are shedding leaves and those are are still covered with leaves are generally in the hues of brown, orange, yellow and reddish.
Autumn leaves are scattered along the roads and pavements.
From the crisp, just-fallen leaves that add bounces to your steps they are now slowly turning into piles of dirt-like mounts.
and WET....they are wet....it rains nearly every day now and combined with the single digit temperature, being outdoor is simply a nerve-wrecking tasks.

But at time, the freshness of the cold that reach your bones is simply amazing.
Best place in the house is next to the central-heating radiators. Best position is resting your back on it and let the warmth chases the cold out of your body.....unbelievably satisfying.

This morning, the temperature reached 2 Degree C at 6.00 am before rising with the sun but finally peaking at abt 5 Deg C. It is cold....very cold but over the next few weeks and months, it will only get colder.

Adab Timur

Sebagai rakyat Malaysia, memang kita selalu diingatkan dengan adab sopan dan tata-susila ketimuran. Malah kita sangat berbangga dengan adat sehinggakan tercipta kata "biar mati anak, jangan mati adat". Namun hakikatnya di mana letaknya peradaban dan kesopanan kita. Adakah kita yang 'syok sendiri sahaja'?

Bus Stop

These were taken at a bus stop (yup bus stop not bus station). The electronic board displays the minute by minute countdown of the buses stopping at the station. Our experience shows that they are generally accurate and you can expect the bus to arrive as indicated.

It is pretty impressive considering that unlike trains, buses travel on public roads and are not free of usual challenges like traffic jams, accidents etc.








Somehow, they have done it. In fact I remember seeing the trials being done for the electronic boards more than 10 years ago. Seeing this always reminds me of my 2+ hours wait for a bus in front of Kotaraya in KL.

25 jam sehari...

Hari ini, 25 October 2009 pelik sedikit kerana ada 25 jam dalam hari ini. Sebenarnya, waktu di London (UK) ditukar dari GMT ke GMT+1 pada sekitar bulan Mac untuk 'daylight saving' dan pada hari ini waktu ditukar semula kepada GMT. Apa yang berlaku adalah pada jam 1.00 am tadi, waktu di seluruh UK di tukar kembali kepada 12.00 am. Itu sahaja (sebelum aku mendapat soalan cepumas, untuk pengetahuan semua, jam-jam di rumah kenalah ditukar sendiri).

Jadi pagi ini, kami sekeluarga bangun lebih awal dari biasa kerana waktu solat subuh tetap sama. Malah semua waktu-waktu solat yang mengikut peredaran matahari kini awal satu jam. Kalau semalam subuh jam 5.51 pagi, hari ini 4.51 pagi; begitu juga waktu matahari terbit kini 6.41 pagi bukan lagi 7.41 pagi. Kesannya lebih terasa pada waktu-waktu solat yang lain dengan zuhr kini sebelum jam 12 tengahari dan maghrib pula sebelum jam 5 petang.

Satu lagi kesan yang terasa ada perbezaan waktu di antara UK dan Malaysia kini tidak lagi 7 jam, sebaliknya 8 jam.

Selain dari itu, tidak ada perbezaan lain. Waktu persekolahan dan waktu pejabat tetap mengikut waktu jam. Begitu juga jadual perjalanan perkhidmatan awam seperti bas, keretapi dan kapalterbang. Secara teorinya, cuma 'betulkan' jam anda dan perkara-perkara lain tidak berubah.

Colours of our lives

'Musim Luruh' biasa dikaitkan dengan jalan-jalan yang dipenuhi daun-daun kering yang berguguran and pokok-pokok yang hanya tinggal ranting. Sebenarnya, itu hanyalah kesan terakhir perubahan cuaca dari musim panas kepada musim luruh. Memang daun-daun yang berguguran ini satu lambang unik musim luruh, tetapi sebenarnya pengalaman mengharung daun-daun kering ini tidaklah begitu unik bagi aku. Semasa kecil, pengalaman bermain di celah-celah pokok getah di kampung tak banyak bezanya :)

Berbalik kepada musim luruh, lebih menarik dan indah adalah perubahan warna daun-daun sebelum jatuh berguguran. Bergantung kepada jenis pokok, kebanyakan daun-daun hijau akan berubah menjadi kuning, merah, jingga dan sebagainya sebelum akhirnya kering keperangan sedia untuk luruh. Cantik....Subhanallah.....

Halaman belakang rumah kami juga tidak terkecuali dengan perubahan warna ini. Selain dari daun-daun yang berselerakan di atas rumput, kesemua pokok juga mula berubah warna. Dari warna hijau yang pelbagai, pokok-pokok di belakang rumah sudah berwarna kuning, ungu kemerahan...malah ada yang hampir habis kesemua daun-daunnya berguguran.

It's getting colder here.....

Last week, when I got into the car heading for Fajr, the temperature indicator was showing a single digit for the 1st time since we've been here. It was 7 degrees Celcius and it was very cold.

However, a couple of hours later when we left together for the school and work, it was already around 12 degrees C. Bearable.....but not comfortable.

Our home central heating has also started to function since last week (it automatically starts when the temperature inside the house gets lower than 18 degree C). However, lately we've been force-starting it when it falls below 20 degrees to get a more conducive temperature inside.

BTW, one of the best feeling in the world is leaning back on the heating radiator when you starts to feel numb of cold....and the second best feeling in the world is wrapping your cold body with a towel picked up from one of the radiator heater - the best towel dryer during winter.

Daylight is starting to get shorter and shorter...and very fast as well. Today sunrise is at 0721 hrs and sunset is at 1812 hrs. Less than 12 hours and both are moving closer to one another by tens of minutes per day. It won't be long before Maghrib will be before 1700 hrs and I will soon be leaving home when it's dark and arriving home after dark as well. THAT can be depressing.........

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

EID MUBARAK..........

'Taqaballahu minna wa mimkum' (may Allah accept from us and you)

With Saturday 19th September being the 29th of Ramadhan, Eid (Eid being Hari Raya - as in Aidil Fitri - "Aid" = Eid) this year would have been either on Sunday or Monday. Planning wise, we've informed the boys' school that they will not be attending on Monday and the preparation for Eid had been well underway since the weekend before with some shoppings and planning.

By the afternoon of Saturday, we found out that it has been confirmed that Hari Raya Aidil Fitri in Malaysia will fall on Sunday and while the date for London was yet unknown, we've 'started our celebration' by calling home and interrupting our families back home in their busy 'malam raya' activities.

While the National TV will not be announcing it like the announcement by "Pemegang Mohor Besar Raja-Raja" back home, there are a number of avenues to find out. The question was, which would be the fastest way to find out. We had planned to check the Islam Channel and Peace TV after Maghrib and at the same time, the ICCUK website mentioned that they will announce it on the site after 6pm.

So, with the rendang, lemang, nasi impit, sate's ingredients were prepared, we had the kids checking the website and finally, there it was;


Eid this year is on Sunday, 20th September. Preparation suddenly took higher urgency and alhamdulillah, by 2am, both of us finally went to bed with almost everything ready for the big day. All the above (and more) were all homemade and we purposely made a big do of it as we don't want the kids to miss the experience eventhough we are in an environment where Eid (and other Islamic events) are goes generally unnoticed by the wider population.

As always, one of the key thing on Eid is the prayer in the morning and that was central in our planning for the day. Note the Eid Prayers' times above. As has been the case of the last so many year, to accommodate the huge number of muslims in London, the Regents Park mosque and many others as well have a few Eid Prayer sessions. At the Regents Park mosque, it's 5 times. At the mosque near our place, it's 3 times for example.

We ended up going to the Regents Park mosque and joined the 3rd session at 10am. Alhamdulillah, the day was very beautiful and it was such a blessing to be able to go there with the whole family joining thousands of other muslim brothers and sisters from all over the world. The spirit of brotherhood centred around the common belief in Allah and His Messenger felt so strong and beautiful as people from various backgrounds gathered together. As I was making my way amongst the crowd, the comment made by Malcolm X in his biography about his experience during Haj came to mine; something around the whitest or white and the bluest of blue eyes sharing their spaces and meals with him. Subhanallah.....

We left the mosque at just before 11am as the next group was coming for the 11am session. The earlier plan to go to the Malaysia High Commission was abandoned as we headed home for our Hari Raya meal. Throughout the days, we had a few friends came over....that's how our Raya went this year. Alone in this foreign land far from home.....but together where home always is, wherever we are....Alhamdulillah.

Eid Mubarak everyone....Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir Batin.

Tarawih

We've started going to the mosque for Tarawih. The first time our youngest was at Regents Park Mosque for Tarawih, right after Isya' prayer, he asked "Abah, kita dah habis ke? Rasa lamaaaaa sangat". Despite all the challenges, alhamdulillah we made it to the end of Tarawih.

But with the imam reciting 1 whole juz' in the 8 rakaah, it was quite long indeed.

Iftar

Of course one of the most exciting times during Ramadhan is Iftar. That is the breaking of the fast at the end of the day; well at Maghrib that is. With our youngest boy starting to fast for the 1st time this year, it means the whole family is fasting together this year. We always encourage the kids' excitements during Ramadhan and Iftar is of course one of the main agenda of the day....with the selection of the Iftar menu being a family affair.

Over the past 10 days we've had various dishes for Iftar with menu ranging from traditional malay dishes with sambal petai udang and ayam masak merah to chicken biryani with tandoori chicken, pizza and even lamb roast with mash-potatoes.

We also make a point of having desserts with Iftar and the kids (oh well....also abah and ummi) always look forward to it. We've had pies, creme caramel, ice-creams (including with goreng pisang) and even kueh seri muka.

Television in the UK

Interestingly, we found that there are more interesting contents in the TV here (SKY - paid TV like Astro). Our favourite channel that unfortunately is not available in Malaysia is Peace TV. It's a channel of Islamic Education especially featuring Dr. Zakir Naik. Listening to this person talking is simply amazing....subhanallah. Apart from Dr. Zakir Naik, there are also a number of other well-known scholars and orators featured in there such as Ahmad Deedat, Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, Abdur Rahim Green and many more. From Malaysia, Hussain Yee a regular presenter.

It is quite unfortunate that this channel is not available in Malaysia as it is full of beneficial shows and are both educating and entertaining. In fact, it is quite ironic that in a muslim majority country like Malaysia, this Islamic TV channel is not available whereas is it available by default with a subscription to the Sky Network here in the UK.

However, alhamdulillah we found out that it is actually available on live streaming as well.

Another channel that we find interesting as well is the Islam Channel that again is available here. This is a UK-based channel fulfilling the need of the muslim community here. Again, full of very good contents are is not simply entertainment-focused like most shows back home.

To digress a bit; heard a comment from a brother that unfortunately our muslim community in Malaysia now is too entertainment centred to the extend that we are forgetting our basic responsibilities.

Taraweeh Prayer

With the Isya' being late and Fajr being very early; after 10 pm and by 3.45am respectively, we had to plan the taraweeh prayer properly. Especially with the kids being sleep by 930pm, we found it difficult initially.

We finally got into the routine of going to bed after Maghrib and waking up at 2.30 am for Isya' followed by Taraweeh and Witr. This was then followed by Sahur and then solat Fajr before going back to bed by about 4.30am.

That seems to work best for now. Insya-Allah as the solat timings change over the coming days and weeks, we will be able to bring the kids to the mosque.

Ramadhan - Regents Park Mosque

1st night of Ramadhan; Solat Taraweeh at Regents Park Mosque. I couldn't believe it that I am back that this mosque on this blessed month. It seems like ages ago when I was here for both Iftar and Taraweeh years ago. Always great experience.

A few things have changed; there's no longer recitation of al-Ikhlaas in between 2 rakaat and the prayer is only 8 + 3 instead of 20 + 3. But of course, it's still 1 juz for the 8 rakaah. We started at 10.40 pm and only finishing at 11.35 pm and by the time I got home it was past midnight. The kids are asleep - insya-Allah they will perform Taraweeh later before Sahur. Need to work it out.

Things to do this month

Ramadhan Mubarak

The best time of the year is back.
The blessed month of Ramadhan is upon us.
We definitely are looking forward to it.
Even though it is going to be long summer fasting this year for us.
The one thing we don't miss about Malaysia is actually...
the Ramadhan Buffet....
Where they used to be the exceptions,
they are now a 'must have' item for Ramadhan.
Despite their total contradiction to the spirit of the blessed month.
Miss it we don't.
Ramadhan Mubarak to all.
May we get out of this month as better persons than we are now.

- Salam Ramadhan Dari London, United Kingdom

Road Tour - Europe - Summary

Driving Trip Around Western Europe

(UK – France – Italy – Switzerland – Liechtenstein - Austria – Germany – Netherland – Belgium - UK)

London – Folkestone – Calais – Paris – Geneva – Chamonix – Courmayeur – Interlaken – Lauterbrunnen – Lucerne – Liechtenstein - Innsbruck – Fussen – Munich – Frankfurt – Amsterdam – Den Haag - Volendam – Brugge – Calais – Folkestone – London

Date of travel: 6 August 2009 – 15 August 2009

Total distance: 3764 km (2339 Miles)

Total driving time: 61 hours and 26 minutes

Total travelling days: 10 days, 9 nights

Total fuel consumption: 256.6 litres (67.8 gallons)

No of hotels: 6

Dimulakan dengan Bismillah, diakhiri dengan Alhamdulillah.......

Road Tour - Europe (Day 10, 15 Aug 09 - Amsterdam to London)

Amsterdam - Brugge - Calais - Folkestone - London









Day 10 and our final day on the road. We left Amsterdam and headed to Brugge, a city in Belgium where we plan to visit a Chocolate Museum. The drive was relatively smooth and before long, we found ourselves in Belgium, near Antwerp. From Antwerp we made our way to Brugge and all the while trying to find a musolla as we expected to only be arriving home after Maghrib. As it turned out, not that easy and Brugge itself is one of the very few cities where we couldn't find any muslim. Brugge is famous for its old city and we have to agree with that. The roads are all cobblestones and the horse-carriages that are popular amongst tourists there looked more at home than any modern car, including ours.









We had our Mee Goreng Indomie lunch in Brugge, by the canal, and then we headed to the chocolate museum. It's actually a small 3 storey shop-house in one of the squares in the old city with exhibits of chocolates and its related paraphernalias. There was a short film showing the journey of the cacao beans from the tropical jungles to the fancy shelves of supermarkets. There was also a chocolate making demonstration, complete with tasting session right after it - yup, of the famous Belgian chocolate. For the kids, they were kept busy with a 'hunt' for clues throughout the exhibits and upon completion was later rewarded with a chocolate lollipop at the exit.








From Brugge, we made our way into France and started to seriously look for the Aire (stop area) for solat. We finally found a nice spot at Aire d Marais which is a short distance away from Calais itself. Alhamdulillah, our 2nd outdoor solat went smoothly and we were soon back on the road to Calais. We were 2 hours early for our train and upon checking in, we wandered around in the EuroTunnel Complex in Calais. Finishing off our Euro cash, we had some pastries with hot chocolates and pastries and before long, it was time to head for the train.













The journey back from Calais to Folkestone was as smooth as the Folkestone - Calais trip 10 days earlier. It has been 10 days...quite unbelievable. Yup, 10 wonderful day. We arrived in Folkestone at 830pm and was soon on the motorway back home. Before we forget, Think Left, Think Left....Think Left; it did take a while.


We finally arrived home at about 1030pm. ALHAMDULILLAH.

Road Tour - Europe (Day 9, 14 Aug 09 - Amsterdam)

Day 9 is relatively slow-paced and quiet. After a late breakfast, we left the hotel for The Hague, a city about 40 km from Amsterdam. We had a simple agenda and straight-away made our way to Madurodam - a 'theme-park' of Miniature Netherland. A lot of buildings built on a scale than faithfully replicate the real things. The kids enjoyed it a lot and we have to say that the size of the park is misleading. While it looked quite small, it was well-planned and laid out and easily took at least 2 hours to cover.

























From The Hague (or Den Haag) as the locals call it, we decided to visit the traditional 'village' of Volendam where Windmills, Cheese making factories and Wooden Clogs are famous for. As Volendam was on the other side of the hotel, we decided to stop for solat and then a quick stop at Toko Java too for another home-like lunch. It was nasi with satay, rendang, mee goreng, meehoon goreng and nasi goreng today. We also bought some tempe (it would have been THE best tempe we've bought - 'fresh', clean and well-packed; pity we didn't buy more), mee goreng Indomie for our journey home tomorrow (always have something in case you cannot find food) and there was even the Kopiko sweets sold there. After a quick lunch, we made our way to Volendam.










Before long the sceneries along the road changed and we felt more like driving in the rural area of Malaysia - more like Kuala Selangor area than KL. We passed by a few Cheese and Clog factories and decided to stop at one of them. We were quite lucky to be able to get a private 'demonstration' of clog-making and understanding the difference in clog designs that indicate the wearer professions. Different designs for fishermen, farmers etc. From memories, clogs are made from soft poplar woods and must be finished before it dries up (after which it will harden). Finish clogs are painted with various designs and we also stumbled upon a Nike Clog. There were also intricately crafted clogs for special occasions like weddings.










We saw a few windmills along the road and on a hunch decided to take a drive along the small roads with speed limit of 40 kmph. The road was along a dyke and before long we found a place to park and we quickly headed up the dyke. Finally, one of our aim - to see the land lower than sea. We had been telling the kids that quite a big chunk of the Netherland is below sealevel and they have been wondering how is that possible. We therefore get to show them and it was a fascinating sight.










Driving around Volendam and stopping whenever we feel like it was extremely relaxing. We must have spent at least 3 hours there before heading back to the city. And for our final night on the road, we decided to rest for an early start tomorrow. Again, the Van der Valk Hotel was just the right hotel for that.