Hari ke-2 bertinju

Today, I have no mood for shopping. Sebab? Stress tengok ada bag lawa and diri ini tiba-tiba rasa bersalah sebab spend too much for yesterday's shopping. If I could bear a little bit longer, for sure, I could decide better based on various choices from different stores, right? But, what to do, nasi sudah menjadi bubur... Instead, aku teman Aamirul cari messenger bag Ted Baker dia. Dari semalam looking and thinking, maybe he got something out of his dream, he decided to buy one today, i.e from Ted Baker. We went again to the same shop that we entered yesterday, but the bag was faulty, so the cashier said,

You might want to have a look at Covent Garden Ted Baker boutique. Apparently they still have two of this design. You take the underground to Covent Garden, turned right from the main exit, then you may reach the boutique.

So, sebabkan dia kata tinggal dua sahaja, beria-ia lah kitorang berkejar dalam hujan di tengahari. Sesampainya kami di situ, there was one guy holding the very last bag. And, Thanked Allah, he put it back. So Aamirul just grabbed it and paid. Ohhh, how could this little bag thingy caught our breath in suspense... Alhamdulillah dapat jugak a bag from Covent Garden. And I just realized that there are quite a few of boutique that are worth to go in. But, as I was no longer within the budget, we left for lunch.

Habis je shopping tu, tros menghala ke tinseltown and makan. We ordered and waited. I sat there quietly and let them spoke. They noticed my quietness, but I was not in the mood to talk too. So, yeah.. I enjoyed my beef burger with halal bacon. Okayyy don't look me wrong, the bacon here is just beef rashes. Nothing complicated than that. And the steak house is serving halal too. So, keep your weird look now. Haha. Also, I ordered Maltesers milkshake. Sedap...  The waiter pulled my leg by jokingly said that they have no milkshake for me. You know how I love overreacting cutely, right? That's why... Tapi, macam biasa lah, kalau namanya Nabilah yang order dairy product, memang x kan habis lah.

*__________________________________________________________________________*

Phewwww effect boxing day. Penat gila! Layu aku. First time la aku rasa the real boxing. Before ni, x de la menggila shopping macam skarang ni. Haish2. I would like to thank Azhar and Aamirul for treating me nicely in London. Azhar, penat bergaya mengangkat barang2 shopping kitorang, which sangat banyak, sampai kena bawa extra 30kg luggage bag from Newcastle to fill in the goodies and Aamirul yang redha jadi teman shopping aku. Oh tak lupa kepada Fathi yang bagi tumpang letak barang kat rumah, and lepak-lepak. I owe you guys big. Haaa sayang korang lah kawan-kawan baikku. Now dah boarding on train nak balik KB i.e. Newcastle. Terbayang-bayang papers piling up on my desk, files merata2 here and there on my bed. Tomorrow kena start study dah. Kena kembali kepada mood belajar. Cannot dah main-main, leisure-leisure bersuka ria. Lagi 2 minggu nak exam... So kena la belajar.

Okay, kak sureen buli aku ni ha. Cis, jadi mangsa buli aku winter ni. Haha.

So, nak letak xoxo lah. Heeee

Xoxo

26th december boxing day

Boxing day bukan hari bertinju ye. Ni box-ing day. Dulu hadiah diberikan kepada orang yang kurang berkemampuan sehari selepas krismas. But now, the tradition changes, so all stores reduce prices of sale items, and people take the chance to shop a lot. Like A BIG LOT.

And aku? Aku excited ntok masuk Selfridges a.k.a kedai beg kuning to see sale items. Malangnya terlampau ramai orang and aku terlampau rendah to grab a perfume I want a.k.a Chloe', so nothing la dari kedai mahal tu. But nak masuk Mulberry tu, kitorang datang dua kali pon x gak dapat masuk. The guards asyik cakap,

Keep moving. Come back after 10 to 15 minutes.

Semangat bershopping diteruskan di kedai lain iaitu Harrods. Nak masuk Harrods tu, kena que and dapat tiket. Nasib baik la kitorang melayu and ada 4 orang uncles from malaysia tegur 'melayu melayu', so aku dengan muka x malunya teros 'boleh x kitorang masuk situ sekali' uncle jawab 'mai la belakang kami' aku dengan happynye, 'yeay, terima kasih pak cik' pastu borak2 dengar orang tu cakap 'datuk, ni ha student dari France' aku macam... Errrr. Tros tukar, 'uncle dari mana?' hahahhaha

Kat dalam perfumery hall tu, sempat la aku sembur kat uncle untuk tanya wangi ke x perfume lelaki. Pastu ada uncle lain g sembur perfume kat coat kitorang la. Kelakar la. Datuk a.k.a uncle tu cool je. Haha.
Kat Harrods, aku cekau 7 perfumes. 4 untuk zaki, 1 untuk aku, 1 untuk hantaran kahwin abang aku, 1 untuk amira, and 1 untuk dalila. Gila kan... Total 191 pounds. Aku redha...

Sebab berat and we had not yet prayed Zohor and Asar, kitorang tumpang barang kat rumah Fathi. Dah makan KFC and solat, aku sambung shopping di Reagent Street. Satu persatu kedai aku masuk and akhirnya di Guess.

Aku spent sejam setengah di guess bersama dengan aamirul memilih bag. Memang rambang mata. Menggedik la aku depan cermin besar pilih bag untuk ibu, kakak ipar, and diri sendiri. Semua orang pandang, baik lelaki baik perempuan. Siap tanya mak arab lagi mana satu lawa. Haha.

Dah kat kaunter nak bayar, rambang mata lagi sebab tengok display rack. Menggila... Akhirnya I decided, okay I took these and be firm. Aku bagi satu bag, orang tu tanya 'ni je ke' aku tunjuk lagi 3. Dia amek satu. Die kira. Dia tanya 'dah, 2 ni je kan?' aku ckp ' no, ni lagi 2'. Minah tu macam pelik ' are these all yours?' aku jawab la 'yeah'. Dia macam x caya. Ingat muka aku macam budak x leh belanja banyak la. Cis. Haha.

Aku habis almost 600 for boxing day this year. GILAAAAA. Semua orang kata aku taiko, dahsyat berbelanja. Tapi x pe la. InsyaAllah semua tu pilihan yang terbaik. Kak sureen and kak nas pon kata lawa. So, ok kot.

I'm done. That's it. No more shopping.

London on 25th december

Since semua mode of public transport tutup, we were left with one and only option i.e bicycle.  We had to cycle all the way from Euston Travelodge to Bayswater. Tak tahu lah apa masalah the first machine I used, the ticket wasn't printed out. I was like, what??? I'm not gonna wait for another 15 minutes for the current code to expire? So, I used another mean of payment to proceed. That means I now have two cycling ticket for 24 hours. Hurm.... Sebab nak pujuk hati supaya tak rasa membazir, I gave one ticket for my other friend to use.

Second problem, tak tahu direction. So, with Iman's iPhone, kitorang cycle la lintang pukang. On pedestrian walk, by the road, celah lorong mana ntah, made a few stops, and lastly, sampai jugak. Alhamdulillah... Masa cycling tu, suppose kena dock the bicycle for every half an hour for free ride. Tapi sebab ramainya orang cycling on that day, semua tempat yang kitorang nak dock, dah ada orang lain queuing up for docking as well. So, we decided to dock later and continued cycling.

Penat gilaaaaaaa cycling sejam. Orang tak biasa berbasikal and bersenam kan... Memang parah sikit la. Nasib baik sihat je and x lenguh2. And that was my first time too, cycling on the main road. Dengan gelabah-gelabah nak handle, Alhamdulillah we arrived safely at the destination.

Sampai di Malaysian's Kitchen a.k.a MSD, ramainya orang sampai kena bukak hall yang selalu digunakan untuk event rasmi. And there were no free seats available. Luckily I saw Aqeela and we joined her table. Disebabkan nak ambil untung sedikit sempena hari orang tak bukak kedai neh, all meals were charged extra one pounds, and side meals 50p. Selesai makan, we went shopping for souvenirs. Iman wanted to buy souvenirs to be brought for her Malaysian and Japanese friends. We got a good bargain for buying fridge magnets and t-shirts. Though the owner of the shop hesitated to give more discounted price for us at first, we managed to pujuk-pujuk sambil buat muka seposen comel. Yeay!!

In the evening, we cycled back to Euston via Oxford Street. Sempat la jugak usha-usha kedai apa yang nak aim for boxing day. Memang semangat waja nak bershopping betul. Then, sesat-sesat lagi nak g Sizzling Bombay sampai called Fathi to direct us to the restaurant. I was so at the wrong way at first. Memang lapar tahap bila food sampai, semua senyap, fokus kat makanan. Bila semua dah tenang dan rasa berisi, kitorang buat strategi untuk bershopping tomorrow. Plan macam hape je, macam nak g perang. 

Madrid 8th day

Oh my god, last day!!!! Bangun pagi, check out, and we have to pull our bag all the way to anywhere we want to go. Sebab? Hostel tutup, chrismas eve kan... srott srett srott srett lah dok tarik bag. Kalau atas jalan licin, senyap lah sket. Kalau atas jalan yang tak rata. Bising gila!

We filled in the morning stomach with something sweet from a bakery shop. Nak dijadikan cerita, maybe bakery shop ni tersangatlah popular (kot la...) so memang tak boleh nak masuk pon kalau peak hours. Alhamdulillah rezeki kitorang kot, orang-orang Madrid bangun lambat today, so kitorang dapat jugaklah berurus niaga. Iman got herself a very heavy meringue, while Kak Sureen and me got sweet pastries.

Dari mula-mula sampai Madrid, asyik sebut pasal nak pergi palace waktu malam, tapi tak jugak sempat pergi. So, we head straight to the palace once we bought the sweet breakfast. The Palacio Real de Madrid (The Royal Palace of Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family at the city of Madrid, but is only used for state ceremonies. Tak de orang lain pon masa kitorang sampai situ. So, dengan gembiranya lah melompat-lompat ambil gambar dekat courtyard tu. Siap ada pak cik main lagu christmas lagi. Happy nya suasana... Then, sempat jugak lah aku dan Iman pergi ke Plaza de Espana yang has nothing tu.

Selesai 'shooting', time untuk isi perut lah kan? We went to entah apa nama kedai (lupa) konon-konon nak guna free wifi. But, we ended up order makanan jugak, sampai dua kuali seafood paella okay? Hahaha. Melantak macam hape je... Tak cukup dengan paella, we ordered ice cream too. Tapi dia hantar frozen yogurt. We were like "Errr, lantak lah. Makan je la". Even pak cik kat sebelah meja kitorang pon tau yang waiter tu hantar order salah.

Dah habis melantak, sambung jalan pergi bus station. Sambil-sambil tu, sempat jugaklah snap a few photos. Okay, I lied. There were hundreds of photos taken for that morning only. So you could just imagine how crazy I would be when having a camera handy. Haha. Konon-konon bajet professional la kan... Padahal hampeh je.. Haha.

Airport madrid memang bagus sebab ada mezquita aka masjid. Jarang kan ada masjid kat Europe ni. So, with this masjid in the airport, it is like a blessing given. So aku solat di situ sebelum take off.

Sesampai di london, ya Allah happynyer... Pastu sesat nak check in travelodge sampai ke Kentish Town. Entah celah mana kitorang redah. It should be Grafton Place, bukan Grafton Crescent. I asked a local who was about to send Christmas presents for his family. He said while showing his map on iPhone,

You're no where near Travelodge. You see this. You 're here and the hotel is there

But, it stated that it's near Grafton Place?

Yes, but this is Grafton Crescent. Not Grafton Place. You've to take the tube back to Euston.

Oh? Thank you!!! 

Ceh, harapkan iPhone, iPhone makan kaki. Merepek betul. Sama je la ngan map phone aku pon. Dengan perut masuk angin lapar nya... Haaa dah check in, terus makan Taza kebab yang sempat kitorang pau dekat Bayswater tadi. Bila dapat katil bouncy, yeay tidur dengan lena beserta an hour jet lag. LOL

Madrid 6th day

Madrid sejuk wooo. Sesampainya kitorang di Madrid airport, terus je jalan ke 'Cinta 13'. Ha jangan korang tak tahu, 'Cinta' ni adalah spanish vocabulary for belt tempat passing barang passengers kat airport. Excited kot mula-mula tengok sign board dia. Cinta 1, Cinta 2 and so on. Banyak nya orang kat sini ber'cinta' kan...

City Hall and the blue bus

After being assisted by the tour guide at the tourist information booth, we boarded a yellow Aerobus, bayar 5 euro sampai Plaza de Cibeles. There was nothing to indicate if we had arrived to respective destination or not, so we just followed the crowd. Entah dekat roundabout mana la the bus driver left us. Map McDonald ada kat tangan, redah je la kan... Tadi, tourist officer tu cakap jalan straight je kat Calle de Alcala', jangan belok-belok dah.

The cartoon characters and tugu siapa ntah kat belakang tu... @ Puerta del Sol

So, we walked straight until we reached Puerta del Sol. Suasana meriah semacam kot kat situ. Ada banyak karakter kartun such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Dora The Explorer, Simpson, Smurf and Smurfette, Pooh and etc. Tapi, for sure la, if you wanna take picture with them, you have to pay an amount which I don't know how much la kan... We continued walking sampai rasa sesat.

"Ehhh, kat mana kita ni? Asal macam jauh sangat ni?" 

We went into Plaza Mayor and asked help at the tourist information centre. Plaza Mayor pon happening jugak. Tapi sebab tengah tarik luggage kan, excitement ntok ber'photo shoot' tergendala kejap. Kena fokus cari hostel kat Plaza de San Miguel.

Menggedik depan Metropoles

Selepas membersihkan diri, solat semua, we went out to cover attractions at one end. Mula-mula jumpa beruang cium pokok. Apparently, mengikut kata kawan aku, Yassin nama nya, beruang tu addicted to buah pokok tu, so dia selalu la cium pokok tu. And here is what I got from the web

The Puerta del Sol is also the location of the most famous symbol of Madrid: a 20 ton statue of a bear eating fruits from a tree. The official name of the statue is 'El Oso y El Madroño'. The Madroño is a tree related to the strawberry tree. The female bear symbolizes the fertile soil of Madrid and the tree symbolizes the aristocracy.

Bear-bear la Madrid

Dah selesai taking photos dekat bearbear tu, we walked back to the point kitorang turun bas tadi, i.e Plaza de Cibeles. The Cibeles itself ada history nya sendiri. Mengikut pembacaan di internet

The Cibeles fountain, the symbol of Madrid, stands in the middle of the square. It depicts the goddess in a chariot pulled by two lions. Goddess of nature and protector of the town, this sculpture was designed by Ventura Rodríguez in 1777. An interesting fact is that the Real Madrid football fans gather around this monument to celebrate their club's major victories.

Disekeliling fountain tu ada City Hall, Palacio de Linares a.k.a rumah orang kaya mana ntah (he's a banker by the way) and Bank of Espana a.k.a Bank Negara kat Spain ni la. Dekat City Hall tu, amek gambar macam tak ingat dunia. Banyak gila. At this point, macam tak kesah pon the fountain tu sebab this building memang lawa, well-architectural and nampak macam cathedral.

Puerta de Alcala

Kitorang teruskan lagi perjalanan to Arc de Triomphe dalam bahasa perancis, in spanish, aku tak tahu. Apparently, on the map, ada empat similar arches, all act as a signage towards the central point. They mark the radius of the city centre. Dah puas posing-posing comel depan arch tu, we crossed road and got into Parque del Retiro. Tak payah pening-pening nak translate, senang cerita ni macam a royal park. Lebih kurang Hyde Park kat London la. We bumped into Yassin, Ammar and Leicester peeps kat satu fountain ni. They invited us to walk together, so sempat la took group photos. Beria-ia la amek gambar kat depan tasik buatan manusia, lompat-lompat bagai.

Alfonso ke berapa punya monument in Parque de Retiro

Prado Museum was the next place we visited. Ohhh jangan ingat we really went inside to the exhibition. Memang bukan aku la kalau nak masuk muzium sampai kena bayar 30 euro kan... We stopped for a break sambil makan a kind of dessert yang diorang beli. Close to Prado Museum ada Neptuno fountain. Neptuno plak adalah orang laut, yang again, history boleh di google di sini

They brought us ke tempat beli souvenirs murah tapi tak la cantik mana. Nak yang lawa, kena pandai cari la. If not, memang kena beli kat kedai standard yang slightly mahal than this la. I managed to grab a bunch of fridge magnets yang total cost dia within my budget yang sememangnya sudah menciput (almaklum lah dah last days kan...). We separated after this point sebab my girlfriends rasa tak selesa as in segan as we did not really know each other.

Along the way balik hostel, sempat la menyinggah kedai-kedai souvenirs. Ada yang murah and aku jadi rambang mata. Akhirnya aku beli satu cawan Real Madrid FC yang lawa dan unik. Weeeee. I know this hobby would require an extra budget. Tapi, datang Spain bukan selalu kan? Tutup mata, ambil dan bayar je lah.

Sebab dah plan dari awal nak masuk pasar depan hostel, kitorang pon masuk la pasar san miguel tu. Sebab besarnya adalah tertarik dengan warna buah yang radiant dari dinding kaca pasar. Pasar ni memang berkaca semata-mata, tak de pon dinding batu. Sebelah kedai tu, ada kedai seafood tapas yang mahal lagi menarik. Obviously we did not buy anything from the market as the prices were quite expensive which did not suit our pocket.

We finally grabbed some food from Carrefour. Dah beli macam2 bekalan makanan, sampai bilik, kira duit and duitku dah habis. Huwaaaaaaaaaa. So kena berjimat cermat untuk Toledo tomorrow. Mata dah penat, x nak baca buku, so..

Xoxo
N

Toledo 7th day

Aaaaa it nearly ends. I can't wait going back to London tomorrow. Dah muak of speaking 'ayam-itik' dengan spanish people neh. I wonder if these Europeans feel the same way or not when they visit Malaysia. Entah la... I think kat Malaysia, if someone tak boleh nak cakap English pon, he or she must have understood a little bit bila foreigners tanya direction, and still can help. Banyak sangat incident kelakar happened bila visit negara-negara yang menggunakan bahasa selain dari bahasa inggeris neh.

The highest peak

Pagi tadi, we went to Toledo. Even dari sebelum start this spain trip pon, I was too excited going to Toledo sebab tengok dalam internet macam 'Lawanya... We must go!' And true, this city is too beautiful, at least for me la. To go to Toledo, it takes about an hour and half from Madrid by bus, or only 15 mins by renfe. But sebab nak save budget, we opted for bus which costed us 15GBP (return) instead of 12.50GBP (single) by the fast train, renfe.

Pintu gerband ke Old Town

Subhanallah cantiknya bandar toledo yang dahulunya merupakan sebuah bandar Islam. Banyak sejarah nya yang aku tak tahu. Nak dikatakan banyaknya sejarah bandar ni, sampai it is categorized as one of  UNESCO heritage city yang terletak di atas bukit yang dikelilingi sungai.

We took the tour bus sebab nak tengok the full view of Toledo city from a hill. The scenery is so breathtaking. I am so amazed with this beautiful creation of Allah.

Allahu Akbar, Allah is The Greatest. Sesungguhnya Allah itu cantik, begitu juga dengan ciptaan-Nya. 

Orang kata effect sungai and cahaya petang memang buat semua benda nampak lawa. Sebelum dapat tengok view lawa tu, kitorang kena tunggu bas yang jadual dia pelik gila, nak cari stop pon satu hal, tanya pakcik yg sampai bergaduh ngan mak cik lain sebab dia kata dia betul. Pening lalat aku. Kelakar gila dia, dah la kitorang x paham sepatah haram pon bila dia cakap. Lama-lama pakcik tu went his own way and dari riak geri dia, dia macam cakap,

Lantak kau lah. Aku cakap tak nak caye.

As soon as he disappeared from our eyes, the bus came. Apa lagi, melompat girang lah aku. The women who tried to help us just now smiled.

When we finished touring, we headed back to Madrid and went to Real Madrid Stadium. Kononnya nak pergi Real Madrid Palace to see its night scenery, boleh pulak sesat... Dengan tak reti faham map nya, we just walked wherever we thought was the right direction. We even went to the shopping high street and met my junior, Azim in Zara fashion store. Also, sebab dah terlampau kempunan frozen yogurt, I decided to stop at llao llao and ate frozen yogurt for the first time. Excited gila kot sebab dapat topping banyak and the price was not that bad too. I realised the only cash money left in my pocket was for the aerobus tomorrow, but sebab nak jugak makan, I swiped my credit card. Tak boleh blah kan sanggup swipe semata-mata frozen yogurt. Kelakar betul.

Malaga

As soon as we checked in the apartment, we drove to Costa del Sol. At first, kitorang salah tempat. GPS agak demam di situ ye. Sebabkan tangki minyak pon tinggal ciput, kena la isi minyak. There, we asked orang yang tolong isikan minyak kereta tu.

Excuse me. Where is Costa del Sol?

Here. You drive for 1 km, and make a turn. 

Cis! Dah sampai rupanya. It took us about half an hour driving from Malaga city. Masing-masing pada mulanya dah rasa tak berbaloi jalan jauh-jauh buang minyak sebab tak jumpa Costa del sol. Alhamdulillah we were at the right track. Yang laut biru sepanjang jalan kitorang tengok tu la Costa del Sol.

Feringula is the name of the beach along the coast. Subhanallah lawanya Costa del Sol... Air yang biru, jernih sampai nampak bayang-bayang corals kat dalam air tu... Dengan effect cahaya petang dan senja, kitorang bergambar dengan gembiranya with our shades on.

Struggle gila nak self-ca

So, x sempat la nak cover malaga sebenarnya. Accommodation kali ni x la best sangat, so we don't want to shower on the next day. Just nak tunggu sampai Madrid, baru nak have a good shower. On the way to the airport, aku memang tak berhenti-henti doa supaya tak kena penalised for extra size luggage.

Sunset at Feringula beach

Tak sangka la pulak flight helitt tu flight company baru. Kitorg boleh check in our bags, yeayyy selamat la bag aku yg besar gedabak ni. Excited jugak naik flight kecik yang guna kipas ni. Pramugari cantik belaka, dapat sweets and landing experience was okay though the carrier is small. Overall, good experience la for new company kan...

Flight kenit yang berjaya!

Nabilah learns about bullfighting world in Sevilla

Tiana statue

Since there was no free internet in our apartment back in Sevilla, the story is not freshly told from 'the oven'. But, we did book quite a luxurious apartment. The interior is greenish and there is an extra cosy sofa bed to lay on. An X-factor of the apartment, there is english speaking television program to be watched. It was so pathetic and clueless to watch Spanish program at every hotel we stayed. When we arrived in Sevilla Pierre and Vacances, finally our ears can listen to proper at least American English news. Enough elaboration on our accommodation, now lets talk about the city itself.

The Alcazar Palace

Sevilla is quite a big city compared to Cordoba. We stayed in the new town and had to walk across Tiana Bridge to get into the old town where the cathedral of bull fighting is located. Sevilla is very famous with bull fighting. Though the fighting is usually held during spring season, we still had the opportunity to visit Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza of Seville. The bullring and its museum entrance fee is just 4EURO and we learn a lot from the tour guide explanation.

Patio de las Doncellas, The Garden of Alcazar Palace

The fighting is between a bull and a team of human, consists of 4 people. One match happens within 30 minutes. There are 3 weapons used to kill the bull or also known as Toro in Spanish. The bull fighter needs to stab a weapon in every 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, the last weapon needs to be stabbed on the bull's neck. The president who is also the judge of the match will throw a white flag to mark the winner. If the bull is brave and still strong even after the match, an orange flag will be thrown. The injured bull will be slaughtered and its meat is sold for 60EURO per kilogram. Long time ago, the meat is given to the poor people for free. However, over the time, the meat is sold in the market and the profit will go to the bull's owner. To show how holy Sevilla is in bull fighting history, if the bull fighter has fought in Sevilla's bull ring, he must be a good experienced fighter.

Plaza de Espana

After the museum tour ended, we went to see the other major attractions at the city. The city was so colourful with Christmas lighting decoration. There is The Holy Cathedral; the largest Gothic temple in the world and third largest cathedral of the Christian world in Sevilla city. Legend tells that when it was ordered to be built, the Chapter exclaimed,

Let us construct such a big building that those who see it finished may believe we are mad.

In between 1184 and 1198, there was a mosque built on the site where the cathedral is located. When Christian authority invaded Sevilla, Prince Don Alfonso destroyed the mosque and the only part left is 76 metre high minaret, a.k.a tower. The Giralda was such an admired building that when the Muslims surrendered the city, the prince even warned the people that he would kill anybody who tried to destroy the minaret. He said,

If only one brick were removed from the tower they would all be stabbed to death.

When the mosque was built by Ahmed Ben Baso, the muezzin used to recite athan from the top of this minaret. An interesting fact about this impressive minaret, there are no steps to climb but 35 ramps, so that the muezzin in charge calling the people to prayer could climb to the top on his horse. It is also used to monitor the city, and can be seen as far as 40 km away. So, it is good to alert people if there are enemies coming back in old era.

The muslim minarette, la Giralda

We managed to bargain the fare for horse carriage. The horse rider brought us to Plaza de Espana and other few places such as Maria Luisa's garden, Torre del Oro (The Golden watchtower), Alcazar Palace and Sevilla University which used to be a tobacco factory. The feeling was good as it was my first time experiencing horse riding.

La Catedral

The suspense part was when checking out the apartment. We accidentally left the apartment key at the inside door knob. Only Allah knew how scared I was during that time. We did not want to be penalised an extra charge because of this stupid mistake. Alhamdulillah, the technician managed to unlock the door without having to abruptly bang it. He only took about half an hour unlocking it with a piece of hard plastic file. We left Sevilla with relief. Phew....

Torre del Oro (Golden Tower) is a defensive tower built almost at the end of the Muslim period.  It is called  the Golden Tower as the upper part was covered with golden tiles which reflected the sun, and could be seen kilometres away.

Cordoba 4th day

Pagi-pagi buta lepas breakfast, we head straight to Alhambra. Happy sgt pergi alhambra sbb sgt cantik. Mcm tak terkata. We paid 12 EURO each for Alhambra General which covers full access to all visitable areas of the Alhambra and Generalife site. The first section we went into was Nasrid Palaces. There are three Nasrid palaces, from different periods.

1. Mexuar Palace (Ismail I and Muhammad V; 1362 -1391) 
2. Comares Palace (Yusuf I; 1333 - 1352 and Muhammad V;1362 - 1391) 
3. Palace of Lions (Muhammad V; 1362 - 1391) 

Palace of the Lions

Next was Generalife. The Generalife area includes the lower gardens, the Generalife Palace and the upper gardens. It was constructed as the leisure area of the Granadan monarchs, where they escaped from the official routine.

The lower garden of Generalife

Next to the Generalife, I was once again amazed by the architectural idea of La Escalera del Aqua. It is a stairway with channels made from inverted roof tiles at hand height at either side, constantly carrying water from the Royal Water Channel.

The Generalife Palace

Before leaving the Alhambra, we visited the final section of our tour i.e. Partal. The Partal area includes the portico of the Partal Palace, the gardens, the Rauda, the Palace of Yusuf III and the Paseo de las Torres along several towers.

The Partal

Gembira lah aku berposing dan mengambil gambar.

Sesampainya di cordoba, kitorg pon check in at hostal el triunfo located btol2 belakang mezquita. Kitorg mcm blur2 nak jalan sebab x de nama jalan. Tp, ttba jumpa sorg pakcik ni, so die la jd tour guide kitorg. Tkebil2 la nak faham die ckp pe, but alhamdulillah boleh gak faham. So we now know a little bit about the history.

Minaret yang dahulunya digunakan oleh muazin untuk melaungkan azan. The original minaret has been covered with outer bricks by Christian architect after the Muslims surrendered the city

Apparently, mezquita yg ada skang ni mmg lain gila dr yg asal, much smaller and more christianity. Suppose ade minarette ntok azan, tp menara asal tu dicover oleh lg satu lapisan n dorg letak bell. Ada 3 architect ntok that famous mezquita. Mezquita yg dahulunya besar, sekarang kecil when christians took over the place. Quarter of the roman pillars yg the muslims built dulu, kena buang and the locals took it for their home and shops. Banyak la nampak roman pillars kat mana2 tadi.

The roman pillar

Pak cik tu ada gak sebut pasal jewish quarter and muslim quarter. So ade la a few tugu of both scholars. Kitorg siap masuk university kat cordoba kot td so pak cik tu kata mula2 building tu sekolah, then hospital masa war, bila ade new government, jadilah universiti...

Inside the Mezquita

Ada byk history pasal cordoba ni rupanya. Ingat pakcik tu org gila sbb most of the shop owners seem to know him and even bg discount 10percent kat kitorg. Best la pak cik tu and rasa terhutang budi ngan pak cik tu. The real tourist guide from cordoba.

Mezquita from far

Granada 3rd day

Pagi tadi semua orang kena bangun awal sebab nak kejar aero bus pukul 6 lebih. Terpisat-pisatlah mata aku nak buka... We walked towards Plaza Catalunya to get on the bus, hence the airport. Sesampainya di airport, we searched for the check in counter and yeay we obtained the bording passes through self check in machine. And I put my bag to check the size, and double yeay, it passed the specification. Alhamdulillah... Allah granted my wish. I was praying hard so that I would not be fined.

The flight journey was quite bad as a lot of us experienced greater pressure in our ears. Alkisah lah di airport malaga, kitorang berebut minivan which took us to malagacar showroom. I think we were the first one kot yang sampai kat van tu, tapi ada sorang minah ni beriyer cakap dia nye van and she even asked us out. Hello????? Sepak kang! Rude gila okay? Dah tua tu act like one la. Jangan la tunjuk tauladan x baik. Dah kau punya kawan x sampai lagi, nak reserve2 pehal. Just wait la.. Bukannya orang malagacar tu x nak amek langsung. Apa daa...

The journey to Granada biasa je la. Sesat-sesat sket sebab mak cik garmin pening jap, gelabah-gelabah sket sebab x biasa left hand side stereng. Sampai granada town, blur x tau nak parking mana. So we decided to go to Alhambra, konon-konon nak beli ticket for tomorrow visit la. Rupa-rupanya hanya boleh beli for today's visit je. So we headed back to the town to check into the Presidente Hotel.

After settled down, we went out sightseeing around the town. Lalu depan cathedral, arab street, byazine and lastly st nicholas hill. There, we stopped to view the scenery of Alhambra. Subhanallah... The sunset view was awesome and i'm grateful that i'm given the opportunity to see the great scenery.

Perut pon dah lapar gila, souvenirs pon dah cekau i.e. Postcards 5 keping, 2 fridge magnets, 1 shot glass, kitorang pon singgah sebentar di Barakah restaurant. Tunggu punya tunggu dengan sabar, dapatlah perutku menghadam shawarma de pollo. Cara sebut shawarma di poyo. Poyo okay? Haha. Poyo to cheese la.
Sempat jugak lah menyinggah di candy shop yang sangat comel. Menggila la aku ngan kak sureen amek gambar sampai kena warning ngan pekedai. Haha. Pastu, masuk kedai perfume, konon nak cari facial wash, sebab facial wash dah hampir habis. Dah promoter tu dok beriyer promote clinique kat aku, mahal la... So, she finally showed her little magic box i.e traveller kits... And I got one facial wash miniature for a euro. Good bargain, isn't it?

Next shop, fashion shop. Awwwww all the dresses memang sangat lawa and they are on my style. Malangnya semua mahal. Kalau 30 euro, dah lama aku cekau. Kak sureen and iman bought scarfes, and memang cantik la. Aku je x beli sebab x pakai scarf sangat...

Sampai hotel, mandi, and now writing this entry. Mata dah lalok, rasa nak tidur. Tomorrow has to wake up early for breakfast and full visit of alhambra.

Adios

Xoxo

N

Barcelona 2nd day

Barcelona FC. Heard of that football club? Yes, we had been there. Though we still have the young green power (totally sounded like Jae Suk oppa's power), we decided to go on touristic bus to prevent any hassle going to the attraction sites. The ticket is 24EURO per day. Feel a bit expensive? Yes, it is. But it's wiser as it cuts the time of being lost and I don't mind spending on that.

Gothic quarter

Since I've been to excited to go to Sagrada Familia, we went to that unique structured church which has not yet completely built due to short of funds. After 10 minutes of taking pictures, suddenly Iman realised that she left her iphone on the bus. So, we had to head to the bus stop and boarded on the next arriving bus. At first, the conductor did not seem to care of our problem. But, we were wrong, she did call her colleague on different bus, asking about the mobile phone. Alhamdulillah, the phone was still destined together to Iman, so it would be kept safely at Plaza Catalunya tourist office and we decided to get it at the end of our the end of out tour.

Sagrada Familia

We stopped at a few random places and took photos. Gambar kat camera aku x lawa pon sbb kamera murah je pon and since aku exchange camera, so collection sket je la kat cni. Aku dok pegang kamera org len, so gambar2 yg aku amek akan ada dlm memori card yg lain. X pe la. Mana yg ada la. Lenkali kalo ade rezeki, dtg barcelona lg.

The Palace

Macam2 org la kitorg jumpa kat barcelona ni. Chinese yg kelakar, pak cik spanish yg mabuk, pak cik kaunter information yg friendly, dll. Conclusion nya, serba serbi lah perangai org today. Aku pon aku rs berperangai je today sbb terasa diri sndri. Haha. Ngeng.

The port

We had dinner at Kak Aini's house, half an hour by train from Plaza Catalunya underground station. She follows her husband who is currently doing his phd with one of the local universities in Barcelona. Guess what, it was the best dinner ever throughout our trip. We got to eat fresh big prawns cooked with chillies, chicken soup and fried vegetable served with hot cooked rice. I was overwhelmed especially with the prawns. There is a boy named Akmal who got too excited when laughing. The only son of that Malaysian couple even asked me to play with him, building the railway track for The Thomas.

Barcelona - first day

Aaaaa penat bila jalan sambil hidung soksek soksek. You know what does it mean by sokseksoksek? Hahaha. I'm just having running nose. Nothing more severe pon. Saje je exaggerating.

We arrived in Barcelona at 5 in the evening. Towards the custom checkpoint, it was simple and hassle free as we did not have to walk too far. The plane parked right at the entrance of the terminal where custom checkpoint is located. The airport is located nearby a sea, so mcm lawa la effect langit sunset time tu.

Alkisah la nak cari transport ke city pon satu hal. We went directly to the information centre to ask about how to get to the city, and mamat tu kata probably by taki would be the best way. We all pon pergi la kat taxi stand. Taxi driver tu kata estimated cost 40 euro. Mcm huh??? Okay, not worth it because he would not be sending us right at the front door of our apartment. When we ask the locals, they say the taxi from the airport  put an extra 20 EURO charge for the airport tax. But a taxi going to the airport does not. So we decided to go on by bus and stopped at the very last stop i.e. Catalunya.

The central place de Catalunya links the old town with the new extension laid out in the 19th century following the demolition of the medieval city walls. It marks the beginning of the famous Rambla, which slopes gently down to the sea. The boulevard showcases a unique and colourful universe: the Boqueria Market, the flower stalls, the opera house, the Teatre del Liceu, and endless unexpected attractions such as a museum devoted to erotica. 

On the way tu banyak la jumpa macam2 kedai lip lap lip lap. Meriah tu... Haha. Selepas sesat hampir ke pantai, we arrived in front of our apartment and checked in. Eeee x puas hati sgt sebab they didnt really display the exact price we have to pay, so total up we have to pay more including the tax and cleaning service. X pe la... Dah book pon and dah sampai pon. Alhamdulillah bersyukur je.

After that, we went out and bumped into my friend, Shariff. We head up to cantalunya to see the nightlife of barcelona. Sempat la jugak singgah kat hard rock cafe amek gambar dengan t-shirt die. Haha. Macam x de keje kan...

The city is alive, very bright and radiant. Tapi sebabkan my camera wasn't that good in capturing the low light moment, I kept the scene in my memory je la.

Anywhere we go, mesti orang sebut malasie malazia. Macam....??? Errrr perlu ke?

Balik rumah dah penat, tido je la nampaknya....

Gaza : Apa Cerita? [Perkongsian Nasrul,Zain,Afdlin,Ustazah Maznah]

Subhanallah.... kerdilnya aku kerna kurang perasaan sebegitu.

Pokok

Newcastle dah snow!! Happy nyer..... Yes, can go golek2 on the snowy field lepas habis hantar assignment Jumaat ni lah. *Pray hard that it would finish by tomorrow, yet I'm still writing an entry. LOL*

So, alkisahnya today, those trees yang nampak gersang tak berdaun tu, nampak indah sangat diliputi salji putih. Siapa sangka ranting kosong mampu menjadi hiasan terindah di kala musim sejuk ni kan? They are the same trees yang keluarkan bunga ketika musim bunga, daun ketika musim panas, dan semua daun tu menjadi bunga kembali ketika musim luruh, dan akhirnya semua daun itu luruh apabila tiba musim sejuk. Setiap musim  itu mempunyai tarikan keindahan yang tersendiri. Blog entri saya sebelum ini ada juga pasal autumn sebab saya suka sangat drama korea 'autumn in my heart'. Plus, as I mentioned just now, daun-daun kering tu juga lah yang nampak cantik, macam bunga brownish-orange je colour dia. And today, though there was nothing on the branches, the trees still looked good. 

And, today juga ada usrah kat rumah kitorang. After tafsir some of the 'ayah's from surah Yusuf *a story about Yusuf's handsomeness* and the 19th of 40 hadiths *belief and seek guidance or help from Allah*, Aqiedah pon buat la perkongsian ilmu she got while attending a program in Manchester last week. She already told Musfirah and me about the tree analogy, so I just re-listened to her again.

Indahnya pohon itu tidak hanya terletak pada ranting dan daunnya sahaja, malah pada akarnya. Walau tidak nampak pada zahirnya, tetapi akar itulah menjadi penyumbang besar kecantikan hakiki itu. Ibarat aqidah sebagai akar, batang dan ranting sebagai ibadah dan amalan, buah dan daun sebagai akhlak. Ranumnya buah, mekarnya bunga bergantung pada kekuatan akar dan batang. Baiknya akhlak seseorang bergantung pada aqidah dan ibadahnya. Kuat pegangan dan banyak amalannya, semakin mulia lah akhlaknya. 

Surah Ibrahim:

Have you not considered how Allah sets forth a parable of a good word (being) like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven (24)

Yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord? And Allah sets forth parables for men that they may be mindful (25)

Persoalan:

Apa itu 'aqidah'? 

Ya, saya tahu, itu nama best friend saya di Newcastle, merangkap housemate saya yang menjadi bahan usikan tegar saya. Jahat kan? Haha. 

No la... we are talking about real aqidah, not Aqiedah. 

Jawapan:

Baiklah, mari tanya pak cik Google yang mampu memberi sumber sahih. Even that, we have to make sure that the source is real and comes from a trusted page. You may even ask your mates who have this kind of knowledge to get a true meaning of 'aqidah'.

Aqidah or I'tiqad according to the scholars of Islam is: The firm creed that one's heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or suspicion.

In Arabic, one states, "Aqada the rope" when the rope is tied firmly. Kawan baik saya tu pon berceritalah  tentang sebuah analogi lagi. And it's about a goat which is tied with a rope to a tree trunk. Andaikan manusia itu adalah kambing, dan tali itu sebagai aqidah. Tali itu haruslah kuat ikatannya pada batang pokok or any supporter, so that kambing itu tertambat rapi. Kita percaya dan pegang dengan iman kita kepada Allah. If the rope is tied loosely, sure the goat could run somewhere else, right? Same applies to the human mankind. If you entrust a belief in Allah and put a lot of efforts to get yourself devoted to Him, insyaAllah our aqidah would be tightened, and we would never lose hopes and helps from Allah.

Kita percaya kepada 5 rukun islam yakni mengucap 2 kalimah syahadah, solat 5 waktu, puasa fardu ramadhan, zakat, dan menunaikan haji jika berkemampuan. Syahadah mengiakan kepercayan dan kebergantungan kita kepada Allah, yang mendidik jiwa dan aqidah dalam diri kita tentang kewujudan Allah yang Maha Esa dan Nabi Muhammad sebagai rasul-Nya. Next, bagaimana nak tunjuk our obedience? Sudah tentulah melalui ibadat, bukan? Ibadat dan amalan seperti yang kita ketahui merupakan perkara yang kita lakukan dalam hari-hari kita tak kisahlah berapa kerap amalan itu dilakukan. Jika kita ikhlas dalam ibadat itu semata-mata untuk mencari keredaan Allah, nescaya Allah akan mengurniakan kita nikmat dan ganjaran seperti yang telah dijanjikan dalam kitab AlQuran al-karim. 

Manusia sering alpa apabila diuji dengan nikmat dunia. Since ibadah is a mirror to aqidah, by how much you do the good deeds shows the strength of your aqidah. Qiamullail or even solat 5 waktu di awal waktu is a good example. Imagine yourself having a deadline real soon, yet you haven't nearly finished the assignment. So, you take time and solat at the end of the respective period. It shows that you have second graded the importance of Allah. And that shows iman you hold. Same goes with watching a drama during Maghrib prayer time. Even I finish the drama first before reciting prayer, teruk kan? Yet, I'm wishing too much dreams to be true. The victory shall be endorsed only by Allah. If you put less effort towards achieving the victory, how can you wish to be granted a best reward, right? Ya Allah, guide me towards being a better khalifah. Bantulah aku untuk mengingati dan beribadat kepada-Mu. Kepada-Mu aku berserah dan kepada-Mu aku meminta pertolongan.

And finally, ahklak or manners as a mirror of our ibadah. Kalau sempurna solat kita, insyaAllah tak jadi jahat lah. Hasil ibadah itu sendiri mampu memupuk ahklak kita supaya jadi baik dan berkeperibadian mulia. Tapi, jangan pula salah sangka dengan cerita pemabuk tegar yang jahat disiang hari tapi mati tersenyum apabila ajal menjemput. Lelaki itu sentiasa bertaubat di malam hari serta menyesali perbuatan atau perilaku buruknya kepada Allah. Sesungguhnya taubatnya itu diterima Allah. 

So, silalah tingkatkan amalan baik untuk jadi person yang ada good manner. Jangan jadi kutu berahak pula. Kutu berakhlak tak pe. Hihi. Okay la, nak kena sambung buat assignment. *Konon-konon nak jadi D dalam 'Istanbul Aku Datang la, ada XOXO bagai*

Manchester oh manchester

Why are we in Manchester? The first reason is attending charity dinner and Islamic concert by a few popular singers such as Mesut Kurtis and Maher Zain. I did not even know the rest and was half asleep during the concert. I'm so not a concert person, my bedtime could not tolerate the music, so my eyes automatically had nearly shut around 11pm, where Maher Zain was just about to start singing. I know it's strategic to hold the main singer to get the attention from the spectators till the end, but, I think this could not fit in this situation where a lot of small children were at present. Most of parents decided to go back home after Maher Zain's first song. Even if I have a child, I would not let my child to stay up that late.Anyway, the charity dinner was held for syria's medical purposes. And the overall donations obtained was around 300 thousands pounds. Alhamdulillah... May Allah bless everyone of that night.

The artists

And sightseeing becomes the second reason. I haven't been to Manchester purposely for sightseeing. I went once for attending career fair and that was it. So, I found this side opportunity to lay back from my assignments for a while. And.... let's read what I'd done in Manchester.

Manchester? I don't fancy the city that much just because the city is too crowded. Besides, I don't really find anything interesting and extraordinary. Nothing is special except for the live marche de noel or also known as Christmas market. Manchester does not seem to be an old town. I think it has been refurbished into new look to suit the modernization. The buildings I visited mostly are of new architecture.  We could see the bricks confounded are ones that not typically seen in old structures or buildings. Apart from that, the mayor of Manchester has done a great job on providing free shuttle around the city. This ensures good mobility of Machester people to reach their respective destination. But, the routes are limited to the city centre area, so people who live outside the central have to get the bus pass for cheaper transportation option. From what I experienced, a single ticket fare is quite expensive. So, I think it's better to have either monthly or annual pass for easiness. Please ensure that you have the right bus pass because there are a lot of bus operators in Greater Manchester such as Stagecoach, First Great Western, Magic Bus, Finglands and etc. 

University of Manchester

We walked from Rusholme towards the city and stopped by at every scenic place for photography. Along the pedestrian journey, we met a few women which showed interests to talking to tourists like us. There was one which willingly took our picture. She said her team had just erected a green flag to indicate that Withworth Park is safe and has enough facilities to cater the users.  Also, I met an artist who sold her triangle based art collection at the Christmas market in the art gallery. She's french and she likes living in the city. Such preference is because of it's much easier to get everything needed when all are concentrated in an area. True, though it's reachable, I can't breath comfortably in a crowded city. We are just totally opposite in character. But she was nice and friendly. This was even my first time being approached to talk about art appreciation.

The art gallery

On our way to John Ryland library, we had to go through all must see places in the city such as the Lion King Palace Theater, Manchester Town Hall and Albert Square. Apparently, the Christmas market that I mentioned above is located at Albert Square and also in the town hall. There, people got into the Christmas spirit which is considered to be amongst the best in UK by browsing the twinkling market stalls and soaking up the unique yet bustling atmosphere. To those who has small children, you're advised to carry them up at your back as they could suffocate walking on the ground. The pathways were so busy that everyone walked like a train carriage. The pace was as slow as snails and you have to be sneaky to get into a speedup way.

The clock tower at Town Hall

Finally, after all hassles and being lost, we arrived at John Ryland library at almost 3pm. Honestly, I hate going to the old library just for sight seeing. I know the architecture should be appreciated, but I was not attracted and felt like going in when I first saw the building. It was not as awesome as I thought. After that, we head back to Rusholme for dinner. My tummy growled noisily as we got lost to find the right bus stand. We walked towards nowhere direction and finally arrived in The Gay Village. At first, we decided not to go to this place as we did not know the exact location. Yet, we were destined to get there and quite lucky enough to arrive earlier than the peak clubbing time, so we did not see what we supposed to see in such place, if you know what I meant.

Inside John Ryland library

On the next day, we went to Old Trafford. One of the housemates who occupied the house we stayed advised us to get to the city first before going to Old Trafford using Stagecoach bus, but we went in our own way, got into direct First Great Western bus and stopped in the middle of nowhere *actually at Salford Quay*. Haha so we missed the right stop. But never mind, at least we thought we knew our way back *which we were not actually*. Old Trafford stadium is the official host of the famous Manchester United football team, which is now leading the league table. Though it has passed the glorious era, the brand is still known and being talked among football fans. We spent an hour much in the store before going to White City Retail Park.

In front of MU stadium

I can't believe that I actually survey on kitchen machines. I'm so in my adulthood era now. What am I thinking? Haha. I decided to buy airfryer and multi-function kitchen machine for use in my future house which I don't know will exist or not. On our way to go to Lowry Outlet Mall, we spent an hour at Imperial war Museum North. The design structure of the museum is beautiful and the exhibition inside is attractive. My eyes were caught at the souvenirs displayed on the shelf. They were unique, some of them are war time cookery book, ration book, postcards, mend-and-do-it sewing book, and etc. I wished to spend a lot on the souvenirs but I did not.