City Break @ Birmingham *Cadbury exploration*

Post exam break #2


This is the 2nd city shortbreak we had together, right after our January exam. We chose Birmingham mainly because of Cadbury World at Bournville village. It was hard to decide the destination at first as the budget we reserved for  a trip was quite small, but luckily we managed to snap an affordable train ticket, so then we went with excitement. At least to the extent that I actually forgot about what had happened during the examination period.

Train ticket from Newcastle to Birmingham. 

Day 1

As we booked the earliest entrance ticket, we headed up to Bournville village at quarter past 9 in the morning. The temperature of Birmingham was extra cold by that time, and even colder than Newcastle I thought. Sharp at 10am, we entered the chocolate factory with bright smile *showing excitement in exploring the cocoa world* 

The girls, in front of the main entrance of Cadbury World

Showing excited faces on getting free chocolate bars i.e Crunchie and  Curlywurly

We started the exploration with a story telling by John Cadbury, the founder of Cadbury. His face was projected on the screen, together with his sons who are actually the successors of the company. 

Determination is a key to succeed in what you are doing. No matter how hard and how complicated it is, if you determined and positive to achieve the goal, you would surely get what you want.

We were then being showed by a short animation on how the cocoa beans were processed to get  the chocolate essence. The chocolate liquor is repeatedly squashed to get the chocolate butter which is then being added in dairy milk chocolate production. We also had the opportunity to see the packaging room, the quality control stage and etc. The most fun of it was getting more  chocolate bars and liquid along the way of exploration. 

Cadbury Dairy Milk bars selection

Decorating chocolate assortment

 Advert wise, we got to watch all advertisement media which had been publicized since back in 18th century, including the eyebrow and gorila TV adverts which I love the most. There are a few fun activities in the exhibition part of Cadbury World, where we can take photos, play Wii, animated football and growing cocoa plant animation.

Old advertisement

TV advertisement - moving eyebrows

Finished exploring in the chocolate factory, we went out to see Bournville village. Cadbury and sons kindly took care of the workers' welfare by creating a sort of village full equipped with basic necessities it should have such as school, hospital, shops and churches. While creating a sense of familyhood among workforce within the factory and the village, indirectly it built up Birmingham as a 2nd biggest town in UK after London.

Bournville Green sign board

Sally Manor house; the oldest house in Bournville village

Bournville school

What a girl needs during examination period... #3

A box of chocolates 'CELEBRATIONS'

Okay, see the picture below. I bought it before winter break and started eating them while doing my revision, which started on 1st January. At the end of 2nd last paper revision...

Ha, see how much I ate while revising! Every 20-30 minutes of revision, one of the mini sparkling selections would go into my mouth. Now, I'm afraid to know my weight on a weighing scale. LOL.

Oh oh, still, I want to at least promote what have I eaten from this box.

1. Moist, tender coconut, delicious milk chocolate BOUNTY
2. Everybody's fovourite, MALTEASERS
3. Another way to make your day MARS
4. GALAXY CHOCOLATE and CARAMEL, a marriage made in heaven
5. GALAXY
6. Packed with peanuts, bursting with flavours SNICKERS
7. For the child within... young and old! MILKY WAY
8. Biscuit, caramel and chocolate for a proper pause TWIX

What a girl needs during examination... #2

A pot of roses

I got a pot of roses from my housemates for my 21st birthday. And now I'm actively taking care of it. It now has 12 dark red roses, blossoming well. I just love the presence of roses in this room as it gives me the senses of tranquility and calmness.

Click here to know more about how to take care of roses

I used to water the plant once every two days. Over a week, I saw few dead leaves and started panicking. LOL. So, I asked for my housemates advice regarding the care. Now, I sprinkle water on the leaves everyday, and continuously do the previous routine. I hope it will blossom well, at least till the spring comes. I WISH I WISH!

What a girl needs during examination time... #1

Family photo

It is true that when we see faces of our parents, we get 'pahala'. So, as my beloved parents aren't here, I put the a framed family photo on my study desk, right in the middle of it. When we feel discouraged, by seeing the photo, the spirit will slowly come. There was one time when I was lazying around, while listening to a youtube video, I cried once thinking of what had my parents done for me.

It reminded me of the time when Ayah, Ibu and Along sent me off for a scholarship interview at Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Tronoh. We started the journey at midnight,so to expect an arrival around Fajr. Throughout the journey, I was laying at the very back of the van, trying to shut my eyes and calming myself for next two big days of my life, at least by that time. I remembered how they had to stay up to drive at midnight to ensure that I arrived on time. Just imagine, if, without their efforts sending me off, driving from Sepang to Tronoh, I would not be here. And all these dreams would not come true. I appreciated the du'a they asked from Him for me.

It was just a bless, A BIG BLESS which I should not neglect or take for granted. Who could predict the fortune, except Allah who arranges the pathway for a person to go through. I had never imagined to be sent to overseas at the young age of 17. And here I am, being just 21, studying in UK, millions kilometers from home, and starting to lazying around. Oh no, please, do not be like this.

Appreciate the opportunity given to you, think of your parents, and think of your dream to help the family. Oh Allah, please bless my family and me, and guide me to achieve my goals. Please give me a first class degree which I really hope of getting for. And help me to survive and succeed in my undertakings. NO FAIL AND 2ND CLASS LOWER, PLEASE??? AMIN...

Of Topkapi Palace

Sedikit history pasal Istana Topkapi boleh la dibaca di http://www.topkapisarayi.gov.tr/

Receptionist area

Back in old days, this was used to be a reception area for visitors before meeting the sultan.

Main entrance of Topkapi Palace

Pintu gerbang yang sangat gah dipandang. Memang the entrance gate pon buat orang rasa there must be something special inside. If not, buat pe ada tembok sebegini tinggi, kan? If to be compared with local architectural design, hanya bangunan yang ada barang important to preserve kat dalam je ada pagar yang canggih or maybe tinggi macam ni. Nampak wow kan? 

Entrance ticket 20TL, including refreshment tissue. Berbaloi atau tidak? Bergantung kepada how you appreciate the history inside. There are a lot to be read. It is advisable for you to dig in advance some histories back in Othmaniyyah era, so that you can relate your knowledge with the displayed items.

Ini adalah kami bertiga yang agak kemaruk dengan pokok-pokok yang tumbuh di sekitar kawasan istana. Okay, to be exact, it was only me yang extra excited dengan pokok-pokok tuh. Yang lain, normal je. Haha.

Those trees, semua besar-besar belaka. Ada yang boleh masuk dalam trunk lagi, macam yang dalam gambar ni. I think these trees dah berusia beratus tahun kot, sebab from history pon ada cakap this istana was initially constructed between 1460 to 1478. So tolak tambah bahagi waktu pembinaan landskap selepas the main building, still long time ago kan? So, logik lah pokok-pokok tu terlebih zat dan BESARRR...

Meeting hall

ni tempat dorang melakukan persidangan. boleh kata macam multi purpose hall la jugak. one of the sultan's daughters pernah dikahwinkan di sini. hall ni nampak kecil, maybe only vvip je kot yg ada tym wedding tu.

Some parts of the palace used for exhibition of royal jewelleries

In front of The Prophets section

Ada pedang2 nabi dan sahabat, janggut, gigi, tangan, tapak kaki, serban, cap mohor nabi2. ada juga display kunci pintu, tirai, selak kaabah, tanah madinah dan mekah. baju fatimah az-zahra dan baju ali abi talib pon ada. inside the hall, there is quran recitation. so when you see by yourself all those display items, the feeling is just indescribable.

From left : Mira, Tabib, Dayang, Hafiz, Mirol, nicitoyou

"MAKANAN KEGEMARAN RASULULAH S.A.W"

1. Barli – Bagus untuk demam jika dibuat sup.

2. Kurma – Nabi berkata rumah yang tidak mempunyai kurma adalah sepert
rumah yang tidak ada makanan.

3. Buah Tin – Buah dari syurga. Boleh mengubati buasir.

4. Anggur – Nabi suka buah anggur. Ia membersihkan darah, menguatkan
buah pinggang, membersihkan perut

5. Madu – Ia adalah makanan segala makanan, minuman segala minuman,
ubat segala ubat. Mengubati cirit birit jika dibancuh dengan air
panas, membuka selera, menguatkan perut, membuang kahak.
Elok diminun waktu pagi dengan air suam.

6. Tembikai (Segala Jenis) – Nabi berkata wanita mengandung tidak akan gagal
melahirkan anak yang baik dari segi karater dan wajahnya.

7. Susu – Nabi berkata susu baik untuk membuang panas badan seperti
tangan membuang peluh dari dahi. Menguatkan belakang,
memperbaiki otak memperbaharui pandangan mata, membuang
kelupaan.

8. Cendawan – Baik untuk mata, perancang keluarga.

9. Minyak Zaitun – Rawatan kulit dan rambut. Melambatkan penuaan, merawat
radang perut.

10. Delima – Membersihkan tubuh dari syaitan & bisikan syaitan selama 40 hari.

11. Cuka – Nabi selalu meminum dengan minyak zaitun (Trend yang popular
di restoran Itali)

12. Air – Minuman terbaik. Jika dahaga hendaklah disedut perlahan-lahan.
Jangan diteguk. Mudah mendapat sakit pada hati. ♥ ^___________^

SUMBER: Kami Peminat Ustaz Mohd Kazim Elias

Sesi fotografi gedik at Medusa's home

Group photos

The girls, without laces,

Invidual photo:

Hafiz a.k.a pendengar setia Sinar FM

Tabib as The Joker

Mirol a.k.a Maharaja China yang sesat

Mira a.k.a lady with sexy eyes

Dayang a.k.a Running Man loyal spectator

nicitoyou

Alkisahnya di sini, first question minah wardrobe

"How old are you?"

"20"

"20?"

"yeah, 20"

while putting on costume, sambil pandang kepada one of the guy friends,

"husband?"

"no, we are just friends."

just before photography session,

"boyfriend?"

"no"

Cost: 12TL per person = 5 euro
Items : 56 photos in a CD and 2 printed photos

Sharing note : Maksud bacaan dalam solat

sila klik sini

Why do we read Quran, if we can’t understand a single Arabic word? This is a beautiful story:

An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quran. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the Quran just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Qur’an do?”

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Grandpa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Qur’an. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our lives.”

~quoted from Anonymous

Jejak pertama di Istanbul. ~MINIATURK~

Entrance ticket to Miniaturk; 10TL

Top view of Miniaturk

Galata Tower

Pamukkale

Yedi Gule a.k.a Seven Happiness Castle

Hari pertama memulakan perjalanan. Oh x sampai Turki lagi ni, ni kisah di Heathrow Airport...

Travel bags for three 'Doras the explorers'

Lihatlah 3 travel bags yang dah bersusun dekat depan rumah. One for each traveler. Semua macam excited nak travel, hati pon dup dap, gementar nak memulakan perjalanan yang jauh. We called a taxi, to be exact, from Blueline taxi company. After 15 minutes, loceng rumah pon ditekan, menandakan taxi pon sampai. and yeah, EXCITED! teksi warna biru depan rumah.

"tapi... asal x de lambang blueline ek?"
"hm... x pe la. biru dah kereta ni, cukup la ke'blue'an dia kan..?"

Masuklah kami dalam teksi. Kitorang borak2 la in malay, mengomel kenapa pak ciik driver ni bawa kitorang lalu jalan jauh. setahu kitorang, jalan nak g train station, straight down a street je. ni dah berpusing2 pulak. rupa2nya, pak cik tu boleh agak conversation kitorang even though in our mother tongue. Dia pon tiba2 menyampuk,

"Oh, aku bawa korang lalu jalan jauh sebab nak elak traffic jam".

and we were like... tergamam, camne orang tua ni boleh paham lak yang kitorang cakap pasal jalan kan? nevermind. lagi seminit nak sampai train station, we got a call. as soon as we arrived, my friend pon step a side untuk jawab that call in private. dah bayar taxi fare semua, she said,

"hey, blueline called me and asked where were we as the taxi had awaited outside the house."

and we were like, what??? and who sent us just now? so, nampak nya blueline's radio wave had been hijacked and the hijacker was stealing the customers. Kesian blueline... fortunately la the hijacker taxi sent us safely to our destination, kan? if not, memang nightmare la masing2.

After overnight kat heathrow airport semalaman, dengan semangat yang berkobar, bangun pagi, basuh muka semua. CHECK IN!

Tiket ke Istanbul by AirFrance

Kaki2 yang bakal melangkah ke Turki!

dan kitorang pon masuk la our flight. all cabin crews greeted us sambil menunjukkan muka yang manis.

"bonjour"

Ku sangka panas sampai ke petang, rupanya hujan di tengahari

Tapi, as soon as kitorang dapat tempat duduk, semasing tidur tak kenal dunia dah. Tetiba time tidur tu, terdengar la announcement kata nozzle engine rosak. we were like, owh okay, flight delay, and sambung tidur balik. after a while, ada lagi following announcement.

"this flight has been cancelled. you can evacuate the flight and someone will be waiting for you outside for flight rebooking. we're sorry for this inconvenience. thank you"

dengan mata merah, mamai2, kitorang pon bangun la keluar dr cabin and walked to nowhere. all pitiful passengers macam tak tau nak pergi mana untuk rebook the flight. then, one of the officers said

"you've to go through the immigration, get your luggage and meet the skyline front desk for rebooking"

Apa lagi, mengamuk la semua orang. dah la dengan immigration yang panjang nak kena beratur, bag pulak sampai lambat. angin je muka masing2.

Skyline counter

After 2 hours of waiting in a queue to rebook our flight., we managed to get a direct flight to Istanbul by Turkish Airline. Pak cik officer kat kaunter tu senyum je bila kitorang giggling dapat direct flight. with smile, he said,

"It's not that bad yet"
"Do we get meal voucher too?"
"yeah yeah, don't worry"

Dalam kepala dah x fikir apa dah, janji nak sampai Turkey by hari tu juga.

Rescheduled itinerary

Our flight itinerary! Yeay! ALHAMDULILLAH. setiap perkara yang berlaku, pasti ada hikmah nya kan? instead of transit kat CDG, kitorang dapat direct flight. syukur sangat!

Muka happy + penat dapat teruskan perjalanan

Muka penat + lega after jaga bag for 2 hours

After finished eating, we got ready to be transferred to Terminal 3. So we had to take a connecting train from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3. Berbondong-bondong la kitorang melangkah sambil tarik trolley bag. Sambil2 tu, kitorang pon mencari chapel a.k.a prayer room. Sampai sesat2 kitorang nak cari. Jauh gila merantau sampai ke luar terminal, padahal ada je chapel dalam terminal. hm... tak pe lah. semoga Allah memanjangkan lagi pahala kami dengan langkah kami yang jauh untuk jamak takdim zohor pada hari tersebut. amin...

WELCOME TO TERMINAL 3. oh yeah!!!

Two hand luggage tags from both airlines we were in during the adventurous day

dan AKHIRNYA... ISTANBUL, HERE WE COME!!!!

CIKIS