A solo traveler.

I almost forgot about my experience travelling alone in Amsterdam, Budapest and Edinburgh until one of my cousins brought up the story. All my uncles and aunties asked me all sorts of questions. For them, I'm always a fragile girl and can't do anything on my own. -.-' I told them some of my friends had traveled around Europe and South Africa alone. What I did was just a pinch of  it and one day I want to travel to North America alone. Then, one of my cousins said, "Dah laki kau nanti kau nak tinggal mana ?"  and that question was left hanging in the air. I can hear glass cracking sound effect in my head. heh.



Day 2 in Netherlands. ( a continuation from this post Day 1)

A day before I went to Amsterdam I googled 'things to do in Amsterdam'. I found one website showing 20 unconventional things to do and one of them was jogging along the canals in Amsterdam. I thought it's a good and healthy idea. So, I brought my trainers with me. After subuh, around 7.00 a.m I went out to run ( as expected, I ended up walking). It was so nice and apparently not so unconventional things to do  because many other travelers decided to run too. The road was so clear you can do gangnam style dance without getting hit by a car or tram.

See! No cars or bicycles and it was 7:30 a.m.

There are still 200 houseboats in Amsterdam. The waterlines here are filled with houseboats forcing the city council to adopt policy limiting the number of houseboats. There are many nice houseboats hotels around Amsterdam if you are up for it. 

This is the last canal before I ran back to my hotel because I was so hungry. If you look up, most of the buildings here have gables and hooks and they are not there just for decoration. Since the stairs are very steep in every building, people here use hooks to enable them bring in furniture or large items into the buildings. The church in the picture above is the oldest church in Amsterdam. I ran with a Dutch. He told me this stuff. I won't look up to see gables and hooks if he didn't ask me to. Seriously, who wants to look up while running with a good looking Dutch man? Heh.

Next, breakfast time. 

I went out again for a half-day tour to Zaanse-Schans, Marken and Volendam. I booked the tour online. It is easier and safer to book online because sometimes the tour bus could be fully booked and it is safer because you don't have to bring a lot of cash with you. Plus, you can plan your itinerary earlier. I can be a very hardcore planner. So, I booked all the tours online including hop-on and hop-off bus and cruise ticket. You know the places you want to go and things you want to do beforehand. For a solo traveler it is actually so much easier and safer to book everything online.

Anyway, Zaanse-Schans is a countryside and it is only 20 minutes away from Amsterdam. It is a small village along Zaan river and famous with its tidy green houses and working windmills. It is just 20 minutes away from Amsterdam but the landscape is totally different. I can smell Milo in the air because of the chocolate factories there. Swans and ducks in the river and pretty windmills along the river gave me the picture of what it must have been like. I'm not a big city person, so I fell in love with Zaanse-Schans instantly. Plus, the weather, Mashaallah, was so nice and sunny that day.

It used to be a working windmill and now it is a house! 

A family is actually living in this windmill. 

 Every house owns a boat. 

I had to tebalkan muka and asked a random people to take my photo.

Our tourist guide. She comes from Columbia and now married to a Dutch man. I'm a huge fan of Modern Family series. She reminded me of Gloria (Sofia Vergara) because of her accents.

The first supermarket in Amsterdam.

Just like those houses I used to draw when I was a kid in kindergarten.

Some of the houses here were literally moved from another places just to preserve Dutch architectural heritage. 

 All of the windmills here are industrial windmills which means they are not used to pump water or generate energy.

 It was so awkward because more than 10 people were watching me. Well, they were actually waiting to take my spot to take photo of themselves too. -.-'

Then, we headed to another village to see how wooden clogs are made. The Dutch have been wearing the wooden clogs or they call it klompen long time ago to protect their feet and keep them dry. 

Free clog making demonstration by this pakcik. 

Nothing much to see here other than the clogs. We spent less than one hour here before heading to Volendam where you could find all the Ducth cliches like wooden shoes (again), traditional costumes and my favorite, the cheese factory called Cheese Factory Volendam. One of the locals told me, if you come to Holland but you don't visit Volendam, your life is not complete. He just wanted to say that Volendam is a must visit place. over tau pakcik tu sampai hidup tak sempurna gitu. haha. 

 Volendam is a fisherman village which is best explored by walking. You can walk between the houses here that compete for a trophy for the best window decoration. I was told that they have that competition every year here. So cute! How I wish we could have windows like this in Malaysia. Thanks to ugly window grilles we have in Malaysia!

My favorite place of all. I can live in this cheese factory. I tried all kinds of cheese until I burped and it smelled like cheese. They have free demonstration on how they make cheese here. They said, making cheese is not just a process, but it is an art. Well, when you think again, it is an art. It starts as milk then, after a few processes it becomes a tasty slice on your bread.See,it is an art. Get it? No? Me too. 

I bought a few slices of cheese here and ate them while watching movies in my hotel room later that night. Some women prefer chocolate, I prefer cheese. 

A house here worth 1.5 millions euro. You know, in case, you want to buy a house here.

After that, I went back to Amsterdam and.... I'm too lazy to continue writing about it. Till then. Chow! 

P.s : While writing this, I'm eating buah durian belanda. I totally forgot what we call it in English, so I asked my dad and he said Dutch durian. Fair enough.  -.-' It's soursop!

Coffee withdrawal

I used to take coffee every morning as much as I admit I'm a morning person. I love having coffee at any nice cafes with my friends and a slice of victoria sandwich with it would be perfect but believe it or not I never like its taste on my toungue.I love cafes more than coffee. heh.I just need the caffeine and a good catch up with friends at any coffee shops and of course it works as the eyes opener. So, if I'm not going to hospital, no friends to hang out and nothing to study ( which is impossible in Dublin), I would rather not take coffee at all. My hate-love relationship with coffee is so complicated. Since I started my summer holiday, I only took coffee less than 4 times. Man, the withdrawal effects are crayyyyyzy. My sister asked me to drink fresh fruit juice instead of caffeine everytime the 'coffee satan' try to possess me. It's good for our health and skin too. The withdrawal effects are still there but it's getting better  until yesterday. I was so stressed with my wedding preparation and I cheated by drinking one cup of ice blended mocha ( I blended it using my juice maker. What a felony!). You see, I have to plan it now since I'm not going to be in Malaysia for the next 10 months and only come back a few weeks before the wedding. Being a good procrastinator, I just started to contact wedding planner last week and oh boy, wedding is a serious business! Now, the workload is piling up and just like that I took coffee again yesterday. When I woke up this morning, I felt awful and hello,withdrawal effects! Damn. Do you know caffeine withdrawal now is considered as a mental illness? Yesh, a mental illness. Whatever.

I should be packing now. I have a flight to catch in a few hours. I'm going to KL to settle a few wedding things. I used to be excited but all I'm feeling now>>> nauseous!

Can't wait for my little getaway to Penang  on Merdeka Day, though. 

Wedding. It's starting to take its toll on me. 

My spa day

The last time I went to spa was a few weeks before I got engaged last year. That was after my mom's long lecture on how a woman should take a good care of their beauty. I love spa but I hate when people massage my body while I half naked. I kid you not, I almost kicked one of the stuff at the spa center for trying to massage my legs last year. This time I had volunteered myself to go there again without the long beauty lecture from my mom since now I can choose not to go to full body massage but mandi lulur instead. You see, the spa is a zen bali-ish spa, hence mandi lulur instead of 'bath scrub'. heh. At the spa I was brought to a room for a foot massage. There was this one aunty around my mom's age inside the room. When I was about to close my eyes and hold my legs from accidentally kicking the masseuse, she tried to have a small talk with me. She told me she just got back from Jakarta and she was so impressed how Indonesians take care of their beauty. Spas in Jakarta are always fully booked and all the women there love to groom from head to toe . Teenagers as young as 15 year-old drink jamu to keep them gorgeous and slim.  I just nodded while trying to close my eyes and enjoyed the soothing music.
She added, their everyday make up is our bridal make up and she thinks Malaysians should be like that too. -.-' . I just kept smiling because I, myself hate make up . Heck, I don't even own a lipstick. I do admit taking care of our beauty is very important but not to some extent I have to change my face into a canvas and put so many colors on it every single day. Plus, it is not really solat-friendly as I need to wipe them off everytime I want to pray. Emm.. now I know why I always look so dull. ahah. I do adore those people who put extra effort and always look good with make up at the same time still manage to jaga their solat.
Well, for me, true beauty is not only aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, but also good personality and intelligence.  Bad personality can accentuate the first glance beauty, no?



Anyway, going to spa and facial once a while won't hurt, I guess. ( I love it now and just booked another appointment before going back to Dublin.heeee)

Muka tahan geli.

p.s : dear future husband, please include spa and facial as your nafkah to me. Thank you..

Vaccination and no b*tch on earth like a mother that frightened for her kids.

I'm not a mother. I'm not even married yet, but I'm an aunt to three beautiful  babies ( my 8 year-old- niece is not considered as a baby anymore, I guess) and another two are coming soon. My sister who just gave birth to my nephew 6 months ago (is it 6 or 8 months ago? hee), is easily influenced by what she reads on internet especially those misguided 'information' about vaccination and how it links to autism. It's a hot issue nowadays. I don't blame her like Stephen King said, 'there's no bi*ch on earth like a mother that frightened for her kids'. All mothers, I believe, would do anything for their kids. Hello, they carry the child for 9 months with all the stretch marks on their bodies and have to endure excruciating labor pain that no men can imagine, of course, they would be very worry if a single jab on their babies' bum will lead to something nasty.

I heard about immunization and autism when I was  in my 2nd year learning my bum off about immunity . Man, the paper was so hard. Anyway, one of my lecturers showed us 'The Lancet' study. In case you don't know, it was a study in 1998 showing there is a link between administration of MMR vaccine and development of autism and bowel disease which to be more specific, colitis. It is somehow considered as fraudulent research publication in which the theory ( the link between MMR vaccine to autism and colitis) is discredited. So, mothers, the research is not reliable at all.

Some parents,however, are still reluctant to vaccinate their babies and opt for alternative medicine.  Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people who practise or believe in perubatan tradisional or alternative medicine.  Yes, some may work but you have no idea how many alternative medicine treated kids are eventually end up in hospital. I definitely respect all those parents who actually read and dig in all those research paper related to their child's health (as a medical student I still find reading research papers is emm... well, deadly boring and most of the times they are my 'sleeping pills'). It is great to know that Malaysians read research papers because it shows that our people will not just accept things blindly. However, it is better to refer to someone who knows this area inside out and in this case, the paeds or doctors. Even in Islam we are taught to 'bertanya padanya yang alim', right?Don't treat any doctors as your enemy and Mr.Google is your new GP. Not all research papers that you can easily find on google are valid . My sister showed me what some people claimed as a 'medical research paper' before and it is really shocking how some people use words 'medical' and 'research' for such a writing. I would be glad if all research papers are that simple and only have a few references (which also come from the same author.-.-') because it would make our research projects so much easier to do and everyone can easily become a professor. No, medical research is not that simple.

Well, I think this is the time for the doctors to be 'nearer' and 'reachable' by people to clear all the misconceptions just like what doktorbudak.com for. It is a great website by a group of peadiatricians who provide an online medium for parents to ask any questions regarding child healthcare.

emm..I guess something pedagogical on my blog,finally. hahaha




p.s: There you go Dr. F. I hope I convey the right message just like what you want. :)

Pee Mak

I always think twice to watch any movies in cinema when I'm in Dublin. 7 euro per ticket, boy, it's almost 28 ringgit for a single movie ticket. I know it's kinda stupid to convert euro to myr but hey, in Malaysia you can watch the same movie with MYR 10. Fine. It is stupid to think that way but I can't help it. Plus, you can get a nice top from Primark with 7 euro. It is just another way of saying 'I'm too busy with my study life and don't have time to watch movie' in a non-nerdy way, I guess. -.-'

 I recently watched a rom-com, horror, Thai movie called Pee Mak. My fiance tried to convince me to watch War World Z with Brad Pitt in it who managed to look handsome even after fighting zombies like crazy which I find it pretty annoying. Just like Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai who always looks so pretty. I'm just not into pretty boys who pretend to be macho in action movies. Don't get me wrong I love Brad Pitt. Plus,why should I watch zombies when I, myself look like one of those zombies in The Walking Dead after 13 hours flight from Dublin? Woman always win so yeah we watched Pee Mak. My fiance said this to me once we got the ticket.

"If I don't laugh later, you have to pay me back."

"Deal!"

Anyway, it's quite impressive how they mesh the horror and romantic comedy  genres in a movie. They use the story of NangNak ( a Thai tale of horror)  as the base of the horror part while the buffoonery of Nak's four best friends are the core of comedy. Every scene in the movie is so damn funny. Everyfrigginbody were laughing and guess who laughed like nofriggingbody business from the very first scene? The guy who sat next to me whom I sometimes call him my fiance. Puiii.

Just look at their hairstyle! There's a story behind their hairstyle and it is so hilarious.

Pretty ghost. Why does pontianak always pretty?

Some of the jokes somehow quite slapstick and  scatological . Overall it was a good movie and the most important thing, I didn't have to pay for the movie ticket. 

 A deal is a deal!

Promise

"Well, I'll try to confirm it tomorrow."

'Tomorrow'.

The word hangs in the air for a moment.

Both a promise and a threat.

Then it floats away like a boat.

Or like a kite without a string.

Promise,people. Never trust one.

Home is people not a place.

Oh hello, blog! 

I'm finally home. Home, the nicest word there is.

I wake up to delicious breakfast prepared by my mom and what-do-you-want-to-eat-today question is the question I have to answer every morning with a big smile.

 Oh, not to mention I can spend my dad's money on food, electric,internet, Astro, online shopping and hotel's food (just recently. Sorry abah if you got a lot of iced mocha and  in your hotel's bill. heeee). 

 Ahhh so good to be home after so many things in Dublin and man, my journey home this time was  not easy. My experience at Frankfurt airport was such a pain in the butt. Argh but luckily I touched down at KLIA to  my man with this in his hands :

I'm not a big fan of flight's food. So, 13 hours journey without food can create a monster. I gave a hint to en.wonderwall,

"Well, honey, it was 13 hours journey and  I can't eat these roses, you know."

"I know. They are so pretty,right."

"They are pretty but I can't eat them."

"Of course you can't. We can't eat flowers."

"I'm hungry, for God's sake."

-.-'

The first food for the 'monster' after 13 hours was nasi lemak. We have our own favorite place to eat nasi lemak. People in Shah Alam should know this place, Nasi Lemak Cinta Sayang. So, we drove ...I mean he drove all the way to Shah Alam to get that monster nasi lemak. Well, nasi lemak and paru goreng finally made a monster a human again.

Now, I can smell my mom's bubur jagung. Ah, the smell of home. Night, good people!