Winter 2016 trip! part 1

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

Disclaimer: It's gonna be a long one. =P
 
My cousin, her aunt/uncle and friend came to visit before Christmas. This cousin of mine is more like a big sister than a cousin, since we have been so close ever since I was born. Her mum, my aunt, used to breastfed me because her son is only a year older than me. 

They came on the 22nd and stayed until boxing day (you need to spend boxing day in London, of course), and planned to go to Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic on the 27th. They had been planning for months. My bestie and I just tagged along. We didn't plan anything from transportation to accommodation to places of interests. We just bought our plane tickets and laid back. This would be the first trip that I had no involvement whatsoever in planning it. 

On the 27th, we took a very early flight to Nuremberg, Germany. We didn't even get a good night sleep since we needed to go to the airport by 4am. 

 

K. Yong and her many..many nganga (mouth open) poses. LOL 

We landed in Nuremberg around 9am and immediately go to the car rental company. 

 

What did I tell you...ahaks!

My cousin had made a booking earlier, but to our luck, they messed up and had no cars for us. My cousin said that she could not except her reason and just saying sorry, since it would do us any good and asked the girl to find us a car, even if she had to ask from other companies, which she did.

 

Before the bad news of no car available. Still very happy and upbeat.

We finally managed to get a car by Sixt, which turned out to be a lot better than the one we booked, with better price! There's always a reason when something happened, innit?

 

As you might know, Europe drives on the right hand side, with the driver being on the left hand side of the car. I've driven before in Amsterdam and Brussels, but this time our driver is K. Yong. 

We head directly to Lucerne, Switzerland. It takes about 4 hours of driving. Pffft! With all the mumbo jumbo of the rental cars took us back a couple of hours. To drive in Switzerland, you have to buy the billette (kind of like road tax) before the border. It costs us €38! It was quite expensive if you ask me. The billette can be used for 17 days. 

We've already stopped somewhere in Germany to buy groceries since everything in Switzerland are expensive. We arrived in Lucerne as it was already dark, so we just wanted to check into our bnb and have a rest. Funnily enough, as we arrived, there was another bump, a misunderstanding in the booking. The guy that was waiting for us was surprised to see so many of us and said the room that we booked is only for 2 people. We were shocked and thought, where else are we going to sleep? If at the hotel, surely it will drill a hole in our wallets. The guy called his boss, told her what happened and we showed our booking confirmation (which is why it is important to bring them with you). Luckily, they have another apartment that can fit 5 people. There were six of us, but it doesn't matter since we can just squeeze in. 

It turned out, that apartment is somewhat like a penthouse. As you went up the elevator, it'll take you directly to the apartment. Just watch this video so I don't have to post a lot of pictures of it.

 

It was huge!!! There's one bedroom with one king size bed and a single bed on the side. The living room has a sofa bed. Huge flat screen tv (not that we're going to have time to watch anything). The bathroom was very nice with a skylight. Huge storage space.The kitchen even has a steamer. I mean..who put a steamer at a bnb?? I would live here if it was mine.They even have a porch, which I only went out to the next morning. 

I don't want to talk much about the place since I didn't have any info about it, but if you like, I could ask my cousin about it. Just email me.

Moving on..we went around the city that night before going to bed. We stopped at the Chapel Bridge and took some night sceneries pics.

 

Playing 'rebut tiang' in the cold. Ignore the jammies trousers. Didn't bother to change before going out. 

After wearing ourselves out, we went to bed and head out early the next morning after breakfast (my first trip with complete meals, every time too!). I need to stop here since it has been too long of a post already. Here's a sneak peak of the next one...

 

tada.....until next time..

Around UK in 7 Days: Swansea

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

So after Liverpool, we continued our journey along the west-coast of UK, towards Wales. As you might remember, my parents studied their undergrad in Liverpool. However, my mum did her A-level at Swansea. 

My mum came from a modest family, and she's the youngest girl, with loads of sickness like me. So it was naturally difficult for my late grandparents to let her go. But being a rebel as she is now, she managed to go with their blessings.

Swansea is located at South Wales, around an hour or so from Cardiff. I've never been to Wales before, so I was definitely looking forward for it. Especially after listening to my mum's stories of how it used to be back then.

My mum had booked a house near Ammanford, which is about 20 minutes from Swansea. We used Google maps to search for the address, but then it lead us somewhere else. As we arrived to the wrong place, there were no connection. I was driving, so I decided to just drove to the Ammanford town to get a better signal and re-search for the house. Finally when we arrive, the owner was already there which was lucky because we didn't have to call for him.

 

The house was two storeys, three bedroom, two bathroom and a huge beautiful backyard.  

 

The bedrooms are very comfy as well.

 

 

Even though it's located quite far from the city centre, it's quite a nice place for a night stay.

 

The house is very big. I felt as if a bit wasted since we only stayed a night and didn't really get to enjoy the house fully.

 

That evening, we drove around and search for some food. 

 

We didn't find any suitable places to eat until it was getting dark out. We found a Persian restaurant at the seafront, which was nice.

 

While waiting for our food to arrive, I stepped outside to get a glimpse of the sunset. It was gorgeous! I didn't stay long since it was getting cold and breezy. 

 

While we were driving, my mum saw this ruins and told us it used to be a bridge. It was only about 30 years ago, now the bridge is no longer there. When we drove by, it was already dark, so I only managed to take pictures from Google maps. It's a good thing I have a good memory to remember when it was. 

We did drive to where my mum used to live at, but she didn't seem to be excited to take pictures with it. haha...so we just did a drive by instead.

 

The next day, we head back towards London. My mum found a nearby outlet on the way, so we stopped for a look (initially).

 

In the end, we bought a lot of stuff until it couldn't fit in the car anymore. There were massive sales at Clarks, Fossils and many more. We almost bought the whole store. =P

 

After all the excitements, we finally head home. We managed to go around UK (east, north, west, south) in 7 days. wooohooo!! So much fun! Ah...home sweet home..

Until next time...

Around UK in 7 days: Liverpool

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

After St. Andrews, we head back down towards Liverpool. We went to Liverpool before with my grandparents, my parents, my bestie, my sis and her family. This time, we went to the places that we didn't get to go before.

 

Liverpool is the birthplace of the Beatles...where they first played their gig.

 

This is Mathew Street.

 

John Lennon's bar. One of the many famous people who visited the street and bar.

 

This is where it all began. The Cavern Club. This is where they first played.

 

The club is still in operation, with a lot more addition to it.

 

 

A lot of memorabilia surrounding the street.  

 

This wall is one of the most important piece in the street. Let's get closer..  

 

It has a lot of engraved names and bands on it.

 

The Cavern Wall of Fame. There's a lot of names of bands that made it, where they begin from the Cavern, just like the Beatles.

 

We walked to the Queen Square.

 

When we get hungry, we walked to the Bond Street. You can find a lot of restaurants along this street. We ate at the KO Grill, which is a very comfy place to eat. Great and affordable food too!

 

Is anyone reading this a Downton Abbey fan? If so, do you remember Lady Mary when she had an affair with Lord Gillingham in season 5, episode 5. This is the place they went to, The Adelphi Hotel! The hotel is also said to be haunted, since it has been there for more than a 100 years!!! uuuuuuu...

 

Trying to get a good selfie. =P

 

We parked the car earlier near the New Street Station. I did show these place before, but we didn't really take any pictures with it. As what my mum said, if you're not in the picture, there's no meaning because anybody can take the same picture from Google. She has a point though, unless the person photoshopped themselves into the picture. hahahaha..

 

The arrow shows one of the most important icon in Liverpool which is the radio tower. It has been there for decades. Trivia: in which city is the oldest radio station? I knew this from Who Wants to be a Millionaire while I was staying here. Anyone knows? Don't Google it! That's cheating.

 

Moving on...this is the Lime Street Station. My parents first arrived here. My mum told us, she arrived there, alone, not knowing anybody. Kind of a scary thought if you ask me. I've felt it when I first came to London, also alone and not knowing anybody. Plus the incident. 

 

My parents' first date, at the Empire Theatre. 

 

At the back is the Liverpool Old Cathedral. My mum told us this is where her school had the graduation, though she didn't attend the event. When we were there, there was a graduation ceremony.  

 

Last but not least, of course, we went to the Anfield Stadium. Since last time we went here, the stadium were closed, so we didn't get to go to the souvenir shop. This time, we had the chance to. My dad was so excited, he grabbed a handfull of jerseys, keychains and what-nots. I don't even know to whom he would gave them to. 

Well...as long as they were happy, it's fine by me. Plus they used their own money..haha..

Last trivia, what is the official bird of Liverpool? Come on...this is an easy one. Hint: It's not a real bird. 

Until next time...    

Around UK in 7 days: St. Andrews

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

After our trip to the Alnwick Castle, we head further north to Scotland, specifically to St. Andrews. St. Andrews is located on the east coast of Scotland, further than Edinburgh, but lower than Dundee (if you can't imagine where it is, just Google it!)

Anyway...the sole purpose to come here is this...

My dad is a huge golf geek. He loves..and I mean L.O.V.E.S his golf. St. Andrews is the home of golf, it's where golf originates, so to speak. The first ever golf tournament was held here, specifically at the Old Course. 

 

This was our accommodation for the weekend. Again, my mum found it from Airbnb. I'll write a review of it in another post. The purpose of this pic is the flowers in the red circle. Look at it carefully because you'll see them changed later on. 

 

The courses at St. Andrews or better known as St. Andrews links are open to the public, but you have to book the slots earlier on (either online or just walk-in to the clubhouse). There are 6 courses if I'm not mistaken. The Old Course is the most famous, where the legends play, most expensive, where people travel thousands of miles just to play at, and the oldest course, hence the name. This course is fully booked, months, almost a year in advance.

 

See how happy my dad is..huhu

Since he didn't get to play at the course, we just took pictures instead. The course is closed on Sundays, which was lucky enough the day we came to visit. So we get to stroll around freely and not disturb anyone playing.

 

See the green, how perfectly trimmed they are. My dad told me the grass are naturally like that (like carpet grass), that the workers only need to trim them now and again to keep them short. Unlike all other golf courses, where those greens are planted. That is why you can't wear other types of shoes, other than golf shoes on the grass in order to maintain them that way. But here, anyone can just walk around freely, as the course itself are very open. 

Even when there's a game, it'll still be open to the public. Only certain places you can't just simply walk, as people are playing. It's even very near the road, where my dad told me sometimes the balls will hit oncoming vehicles. Cars that are parked on the side of the course will be given notice, where they are parked at their own risk of stray balls.  

 

My dad told me this bridge is famous and legendary among golfers. This is the bridge where all golf legends walk on.

 

Of course, we didn't know that. There are quite a few people took pictures here. They must be big golf buffs too. =P

 

The weather wasn't really good when we were in Scotland, well..it's normal there I guess. This is some of the other courses here.

 

This is the clubhouse that I mentioned, besides the Jubilee course. You can book your slot here. They have a souvenir shop and a restaurant as well. 

 

There's one place called the Himalayas where the public (a noob like us, other than my dad) can have a whack at golfing. People can try out putting, £4 for 18 holes which are considerably cheap!! You can check the opening times on the board.

Of course we tried! Since it hasn't really stopped raining, we only paid for 9 holes which cost £1 per person only!! 

How awesome am I? hahaha...I could be a golfing protege. LOL

My dad was super proud when I made the put!

We were the only people left since it began raining heavily. We didn't stop since we were having too much fun. As the rain began to slow down a bit, a couple of older guys joined in. They offered to take our pictures as we were leaving. Very friendly old folks.

 

After all the golfing excitement, we went to visit the St. Andrews castle, since everything else started to close already. 

 

The cost to enter the castle is just £5 per person. If you want to combine the tickets to the cathedral as well, you can pay for only £8 for both. We weren't really keen on seeing the cathedral, so we just bought the tix for the castle.

 

This castle used to be a fort for Scotland before it was ruined in the war. There's very little of what's left of the castle. One interesting part of it is the tunnel that was dug up by the enemies that tried to penetrate the castle from outside. The protector of the castle, however, dug a counter-tunnel to fight them and prevent them from entering. 

 

The tunnels are still there, well intact. You can crawl in if you are adventurous enough.

 

I'm quite short, so you can imagine how low the ceiling actually is. Because it's a tunnel, the temperature is like a cave, quite chilly. If it's raining outside, you can see some streams got through inside. 

 

This is the tunnel end from inside the castle. There's no through the passage, so after you went down the tunnel, you have to walk/climb back up the same way. 

 

This is not a tunnel. Believe it or not, it used to be a dungeon. There are three levels of dungeon here that are kept for different classes of people. The higher levels are of course for the important people. For those who aren't so important, they throw those people in a flask shaped dungeon, where it has a tall narrow neck (as you can see from the picture) and a round bottom. The round and narrow neck are where they throw (I mean literally throw) the prisoners from, and build as it is so they won't be able to climb up. How sick is that? Talk about inhumane.

 

From the side of the ruins. There hardly any walls left. 

 

The front of the castle is the most part of the castle still standing.

Remember in Newcastle I told you about the bagpipe player? These are the genuine Scottish bagpipers. 

 

We were lucky they were there when we arrived.

 

Remember the flowers earlier?  This is what they look like in the morning...

 

and half bloom. SubhanAllah. I've never really seen such an amazing thing. 

Some more information for Muslims that wants to travel to Scotland. Just so you know, around the east coast of Scotland, or even England for that matter, uses beef drippings to fry their fish and chips or any other seafood. So please ask the restaurants that you want to visit if they can entertain to cook your food in vegetable or sunflower oil (sometimes they can) and not simply just go and eat even though they are seafood and chips. 

They do fry any other meat using the same oil (pork, chicken, beef). I know this because someone suggested Cromars Fish and Chips in St. Andrews, which is known as the best fish and chips in Scotland, or maybe even in the UK. But when we checked, they fry their food in beef drippings and don't cook any of them in vegetable oil, plus they also sell pork which they cook in the same oil. So during our trip, we didn't get to eat any fish and chips nor seafood because all of the places that we find only cook in beef drippings. So please be more aware of this.

Until next time....