**Warning: SUPER-long entry ahead **
I am back in the States! My supervisor is still on vacation, so I decided to take few days off this week managing everything on my own- dari kemas rumah, buat laundry, running groceries and stocking up halal meats since Jai had to start work the very next day after our vacation.
Our Europe trip was fun! Although I was extremely exhausted from staying up til the wee hours almost everyday prior to our vacation, I enjoyed every bit of the time we spent.
So, I decided to post details of my trip now rather than later. Nanti jadi macam East Coast trip, sampai sekarang tak buat dan memang dah malas nak buat dah pun.
First of all, my initial plan was to visit London, Paris, Netherlands and Switzerland. It was back in January when I told Liz my plan to visit Europe and if she knows any conferences that I could attend while visiting. She quickly suggested IFRRS conference which she attended regularly. Technically my research is not on Feline retrovirus but conferences that related exclusively to my research for all I know is non-existing and in IFRRS conference, there is one session which involves non-retroviral feline research. So, I took the chance to send my abstract to IFRRS as well as to another conference, EVIW in Edinburgh, Scotland.
I received a scholarship from IFRRS organizing committee that covered my registration fee and they sent out an acceptance letter way ahead of EVIW so I decided to withdraw from EVIW. I wish I could go to EVIW as well but I do not know my source of funding yet as of that time.
Back to my trip...
The first country we visited was Germany. I decided to purchase a ticket from Los Angeles to Berlin since it was a direct 11-hour flight and it was not ideal for us (with a young toddler) to do 3 connecting flights if we were to fly directly to Leipzig, host city of IFRRS conference. Oh boy, it was not a pleasant journey since Faliela is now in the 'terrible twos' stage. Tantrum je memanjang. Dah tak tau nak letak muka kat mana dah, asyik lah nak tekan butang call for assistance and kacau orang seat sebelah. I did
a trick introduced by my dear sister, Kak Mon but knowing Faliela, she easily gets bored with toys, 5 minit je main terus buang.
Well, anyway we reached Berlin around 11am local time. We took a bus to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the main central station in Berlin which is just next to our hotel. Mula2 nak amik taxi but it costs around Eur40, last2 amik bus Eur2.40 je. Tapau food from this Asia Gourmet store and walked to our first hotel, Motel One. Most of the hotels dekat seantero dunia nih only allow check-in after 3pm, nasib baik hotel nih kasik masuk awal. Sangat comfy hotelnya, clean, and nice deco.
The style of European hotel-- separate comforters. Best, tak yah berebut dengan Jai.
Sampai hotel makan, mandi dan tidur. We woke up around 4pm, get dressed and went out to explore Berlin. Tapi perut lapar, so pergi carik restaurant halal and found one Indonesian Restaurant about 1.5km walk from our hotel. The food was okay but the price was cheap. Two main dishes and drinks costed around Eur12. Kalau kat Cali, memang around $40.
I was occupied with my presentation and data analysis prior to our trip so I did not do extensive research on places we should be visiting, but luckily I bought Germany and Prague's travel guide which helped us in a way.
Reichstag
Bradenburg Gate
Berlin Hauptbahnhof. The train at the back was a regional train-means a lot of stoppings. We took an ICE train-the fastest train, sort of a bullet train to Leipzig.
Seats can be reserved with an additional charge of Eur8/reservation. Very canggih, siap tulis final destination kat each seats.
We took a stroll around the city since we could not check-in to the hotel yet. Leipzig city was dead because it was Sunday, most of the shops were closed. Well, Leipzig used to be home of Johann Sebastian Bach (the musician) and other famous musicians so the city was full of tourists when we were there.
Faliela was happy gaining a bit of freedom, not being strapped onto the stroller.
Found a halal Mediterranean restaurant just 5 min walk from our hotel. Hari2 memang Jai tapau kebab from this restaurant. Anyway, we stayed at Arcona Living Bach Apartment hotel. I did not stay at the conference hotel since I would like a kitchen, senang nak panaskan makanan Faliela. Sempatlah masak nasi goreng and sup ayam.
Their Institute of Virology was the one hosting the conference this year
The conference program starts from 9am-5pm everyday and in the evening, we have social functions. One of it was visiting Leipzig Zoo. I decided to bring Faliela as well, glad that she enjoyed it.
Gondwana Land is a part of the Leipzig zoo where they built tropical rainforest from different continent, Africa, Asia and South America in one giant enclosed area. It costs about 1.5 million euro to build them.
Inside Gondwana Land. Macam rumah Melayu dulu-dulu kan.
Later, we had dinner at Patakan Restaurant, owned by Leipzig Zoo. In the picture, Jai with Faruqu, a graduate student from UPM working with Dr. Suri. He attended the conference with his own pocket money because he was ineligible to apply for local funding since he is not a Malaysian. I think this policy has to be changed. Attending conferences are important in developing your career and skills in research and it is hard to find good conferences in Malaysia that gather researchers from different countries. UC Davis pun allow international students to apply, tak baik tau menyekat good opportunities.
The last day and the very last presenter. Presentation went well, Liz was saying I did an excellent job but still, I am a bit disappointed with myself answering some of the questions.
Right after the concluding speech, I rushed out from the conference room and met Jai halfway since we had to catch a train to Prague in less than 30 minutes. Memang dah macam Amazing Race, dengan bag segala bagai. The journey via train took us 4 hours altogether and we had to switch train in Dresden. Sangat selesa parents-child compartment dia, boleh bagi Faliela main sesuka hati.
The scenery along the way from Leipzig to Prague was breathtaking.
Arrived at Prague central train station around 5pm. My first impression of Prague was not a nice one. I saw homeless people, urine-smelled sidewalk on our way to our hotel and the town itself was a bit dirty. They only managed the tourist attraction places but not other places.
Miss Sophie's- an apartment hotel which was really nice. Too bad we had to check-out early because of Jai's spontaneous plan.
The kitchenette in our apartment. This time I did not cook at all since we spent all day sightseeing to fit our 1.5 day trip in Prague. Kalau tau, baik sewa hotel biasa je kan.
Entrance to New Town- nearby Wenceslas Square. Wenceslas Square is the most happening place in Prague. Semua tempat2 shopping di situ.
Enjoying ice-cream in Prague. I don't know how many times I indulge on ice-cream when I was in Germany and Prague. Dorang banyak kedai ice-cream tepi jalan :D
Old Town
We took a trip up the Tower and it was a magical sight of Prague at night . Unfortunately, I did not capture a lot of pictures because we were distracted with an incident involving gunshot dekat bawah. Adegan kejar-mengejar dengan police segala. It is a bit dangerous to walk alone in Prague especially at Wenceslas Square sebab banyak prostitutes. In fact police will stop woman walking alone to check for their identification.
The next day, we went to visit Prague famous castle. One of my friends who stayed in Europe for few years was saying, you have to go to Europe yourself to compare the difference with the States. Indeed, the buildings architecture in Europe (which involves churches most of the time) was amazing and magnificent, considering that they built them during those ancient years.
St. Cathedral Church in Prague Castle
Prague is indeed a beautiful city, agreeing to a friend's recommendation.
Later, we took a tram to Charles Bridge, one of the famous landmarks in Prague. The entrance from Lesser Quarter
Sempat beli roti spiral-shaped manis at the river bank. Lupa dah nama dia ape.
Charles Bridge-overlooking Vltava. Ramai orang mencari rezeki atas jambatan nih- painters, selling accessories etc.
Ada lagi satu side that we all tak pergi in Prague which is Jewish quarters, Jai cakap tak nak pergi so we decided to go to Petrin Towers- the mini Eiffel tower in Prague.
On top of the tower. You can climb the stairs or take an elevator to the top. Confirmlah kitorang naik lift. Seriaulah aku tangkap gambar nih. Faliela excited terlebih kena angin, buat nye terlonjak jatuh kan. 10x aku remind Jai kuat sikit pegang anak tuh,
We sealed the day in Prague with dinner at McDonalds. Haha, hujan tetiba and malas nak mencarik kedai halal dah. We need to turn in early as well since we had to catch an early flight to.... London!
Initially, Jai and Faliela were not part of this conference trip but I had to force Jai to tag along because of Faliela. So, Jai did not want to take part of any planning of this trip until the very day we departed to Berlin, he asked me what are we doing after Prague? I only finalized our trip up until Prague since I was leaning towards visiting another city- Vienna, Austria from Prague or went back to Berlin. Since Jai did not want to take part on planning, it was difficult for me to make a decision so I leave the options open.
During our flight to Berlin, he uttered a suggestion to go to either London or Switzerland. Jai has a friend back during college days who is now working in Geneva and offered us to stay in his vacant apartment. Finally, Jai decided that he could not go to another non-English speaking country so London it is. Well, I was happy that he finally got excited with this trip (sebelum tuh dah nampak rupa excited pun tapi cover kan). We booked flight tickets when we were in Leipzig, nasib baik ticket tak mahal sangat but rugi satu malam hotel di Prague sebab no refund.
Our flight was at 6 am, reached London Luton Airport at 7 am local time. Terus check-in at Ibis hotel near airport sebab tak larat nak mengangkut beg berat. Plan nya mau menumpang rumah Ayu tapi tak jadi memikirkan kena turun naik train with our bags. Checked-in, had breakfast (happy dapat makan baked beans no bacon :D), mandi and terus naik train to London city.
Obviously, I did not do any research on London so Jai took me to all the attraction places based on what he remembers 10 years back.
Overlooking Big Ben's. I could not stop singing 'London Bridge is falling down' when we were here ;p
Trafalgar Square on my birthday. Oh, it was the paralympic games during our visit.
Buckingham Palace- ada tour tapi sebab tak plan, memang la tak sempat nak masuk. Tengoklah Faliela terlentok, she slept for 4 hours straight. Kesian, tak cukup rest.
London Victoria Station. We were looking for a wifi to find a Malaysian restaurant. Memula ingat nak gi Malaysian Hall, we called and no one picked up so we thought they were closed due to Merdeka. Rupa-rupanya bukak aje Ayu cakap. Last2 makan kat Rasa Sayang, Chee Cheong Fun dia sedap :DDDD Happiness gituh!
London Chinatown-where Rasa Sayang restaurant is
Shopped at Harrod's. Jangan terpedaya dengan beg plastik hijau itu.
Sangat trademark London. London Bus
Faliela excited tengok bus.
The next day, we rented a car to visit Oxford and Jai's former college in Cirencester. Got ourself an Audi- sangat jatuh cinta dengan kereta itu.
Found halal Nando's in Oxford. Overall, cravings satisfied!
Oxford town
At first, we wanted to singgah Bicester Village tapi takut tak sempat sebab nak kena pergi Cirencester and we had a dinner plan with Ayu. Takpelah, next time ye sayangku Jai. Jangan lupa bawak wife pergi shopping naaaa lenkali. Amboi, macam duit banyak je nak gi London lagi sekali kan.
Faliela and daddy at daddy's former college, Royal Agricultural College.
The main administration building. Comel jer college nya.
Jai's former hostel. Ada lagi gambar Jai and his friend berBBQ time summer kat sini.
Faliela was enjoying the greenery landscape of RAC
Jai was so happy to revisit and rekindle some of the memories at his former's college after 10 years. Banyak kenangan bersusah-payah di situ katanya.
Then, we drove to Ayu's place. Ayu is my colleague in UPM doing her Ph.D in Royal Veterinary College. Tergeliat jari nak menaip royal multiple times, hehe.
Faliela baca doa. Sedap aunty Ayu masak kan?
Anson Road with Aunty Ayu
After Aunty Ayu's place, we went to HRC London -seperti biasa, I collected HRC shirts. Then we went back to the hotel, packed our stuffs for another early flight back to Berlin, this time at 7am. Letih cheq.
We stayed at another hotel in Berlin, this time near Kudamm, the shopping street in Berlin. We could not do early check-in so decided to take a bus tour around Berlin. By this time, we were all very exhausted so kitorang most of time tidur atas bas while enjoying Berlin air. Hahaha. Dah tak larat nak melancong dah, nak balik tido je.
Sempatla menyinggah Charlie's Checkpoint- historic place during WWII
Berlin Wall
Nih bangunan ape pun mak tak ingat dah. Main tangkap je gambar.
Sangatla little vacation kan, nih semua Jai punya 'spontaneous' idea. Haha. We had a blast of time and my dreams came true- to visit parts of Europe. Hopefully jika dipanjangkan umur dan dimurahkan rezeki, I would like to cover other parts of Europe. Overall, the Germans are least helpful and friendly compared to Londoners and Americans. The language-barrier made it a bit difficult to travel in Germany since most of them who knows how to speak English will only speak English if you asked them to speak English. I guess they are better than the French who avoid speaking English at all times. The Czechs were tolerable, I think because there are a lot of foreigners in Prague. Nevertheless, German topped it all in terms of cost of living :D
Our next plans are to visit Mekah al -Muqarammah and my brother who is doing his Ph.D in Australia. Insya-Allah. But most importantly, for now we need to save up some money to ship our car and stuffs back to Malaysia next year. March or June- still to be decided...
