Cold Summer

Its totally different from what i have imagined. I imagined that it was going to be the hottest summer, but it rained almost every day. so there is no need to keep all the sweaters or jackets away cause i'll be needing it. On the bright side, its better to have the rain rather than hot weather yang terik and you'll come all sweaty.

Aju is planning to tour Europe. But she havent make the real plan yet. You better hurry cik mek! Its not getting cheaper by the day tau. Italy and Spain sound nice, since sana panas. German sejuk! Datang sini masak utk saya ye. Hehe.

Nothing else is new. Exam will be on th 12th July. My very last important paper. The others are electives. Hope i'll make it in time to do all the revision by next week. I started out a bit late than i supposed to. Pening kepala nk ingat semua benda balik.

Okay. Headache.

Sleeping! Tata people!

Testing..

Okay, when i do have the lust to cook, i'll try to cook something new. Mengikut resipi yg dicilok dr internet, ni nama dia Cordon Bleu. Kira ok la ni. Boleh try lg next time. Note to myself : dont blender the potato!

selepas dibakar

ready to be eaten!

God Must Be Crazy

I think dad used to rent that video. Dad rented lots of videos when we were kids and we often watched it together. Pity i couldnt remember much on the videos that we watched.

Back to the film. I didnt remember liking the tribe before but i do now, although their way of life is just fictional. The Bushmen of Kalahari. They led a very simple life, where children created their own games, men and women lived peacefully. They didnt know what jealousy is and believed that every thing that God had sent to them are good things.

When Xi found an empty coke bottle thrown off an airplane, he thought God had sent them another good thing. They found many use for the bottle as it has a smooth surface, as clear as the water and as hard as a rock. They could even make sounds with the bottle. One single bottle of coke, which had suddenly became everyone's need. That's when it's all started. They didnt like sharing the bottle and they began to fight over it. When the other party was hurt, they quickly realised that the feeling that they had was wrong.

They gathered by the fire at night. Every one was very sad and blamed what had happened on the bottle. They called the bottle "the evil thing". I like how they regretted and felt ashamed when they fought over the bottle. They dont like the feelings like envy, hatred and violance ruined their peaceful life.They wondered why God had sent them this "evil thing". And so they decided to throw the bottle at the end of the world, although they dont even know where the end of the world is and how long to get there.

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It is the same with us really. God has given us both good and bad things. We have the opportunity to choose between both, even we did make the wrong decision/choice, we still can make it right again making the right one. The Bushmen had the courage to throw away the bad thing that came into their life, even it is at the end at world, no one knows its whereabout or what awaits them along the journey there. I hope i have the same courage. Courage to change, courage to face what awaits me in the future and courage to accept my mistakes and admit they are wrong.

PS: I write this blog mainly to improve my English and i am not good at expressing myself with words. Any corrections, please do not segan2 to betulkan. Am willing to learn. :) Thank you!

Spain Part 3 - Cordoba

This is the Mezquita, Spanish for Mosque. It was at one time the second largest mosque in the world in Cordoba and is now a Roman Catholic cathedral. When i first read about Mezquita from the net, i thought only some part has been turned into the Church and the rest was remained as it is. But i was wrong. It was completely turned into a church.

Some of the remaining walls from the former mosque. To me, it is a beauty.

Beauty.

Our next place to visit is the Medina Al-Zahara. Popular legend holds that the Caliph,Abd al-Rahman III, named al-Zahra, or Azahara, after his favorite concubine, and that a statue of a woman stood over the entrance (if it was at the entrance, it is no longer there now because only 10% of its extension, is visible). Others, imagining his demanding lover, say that he built this new city just to please her. The truth, however, has more to do with politics than love. Abd al-Rahman III ordered the construction of this city at a time when he had just finished consolidating his political power in the Iberian Peninsula and was entering into conflict with the Fatimid (Shi'ah) dynasty for the control of North Africa. source - wikipedia.com

See how small the clouds were. That day was hot! Nasib baik tak itam!

Fatma tried taking a picture of me in this particular building. She managed to capture only my sunglasses (Head with no nose nor mouth, only the sunglasses).LOL!

These walls are falling apart. But my guess is they are going to restore this place later.


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Cordoba is the last city that we visited in Spain. One thing i learned that the Spanish people wont bother talking to you in English even you are a tourist. They'll speak in Spanish and expect we to understand. What an experience! One sentence that contains Spanish, German, English and Malay is " Cico hat a kereta!" (Cico is guy is Spanish, hat = has).

And since it was a long way back to Strasbourg (a city in France 40 mins away from Offenburg), we stayed one night at Marseille, France and continued the next day. Unfortunately in Marseille, it rained. Sight seeing at Marseille was cancelled and we ended up eating lunch and buying dinner instead. Then, the long drive back to Strasbourg. We couldnt make it on time to catch the last train back to Offenburg (at 12 midnight), so we kept stopping at R&R for refreshments and of course - toilet! Kematu duduk dlm kereta lama2. Siap bukak cerita hantu. Najib had the most collection of ghost stories, the real ones i tell you. The one that his aunt experienced. I still remember the one that he told us about a makcik at R&R Ayer Keroh's prayer room. Spooky! Will remind myself not to stop at that R&R.

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On the other hand, i am trying to find a topic and place for my final year thesis. Been sending out resumes and hopefully someone will think my resume is interesting enough and hire me. Doa-doakan that i'll find a place soon ya! Exam is coming up in a month. And will hopefully go cherry picking again this Saturday! Yeay!

To Mr Apad, thank you for coming to BP eventhough i'm here. :) Love you.

Spart Part 2 - Granada

After Barcelona, we headed down to Granada, one of the important city in Andalusia. Here is where Al- Hambra lies. It was a long ride to Granada from Barcelona but i must say, it was all worth it.

The entrance to Al- Hambra

The Alcazar or in arabic Al-Kasbah (meaning walled fortification in a city)

View of Granada from on top of the Alcazar.

The Nasrid Palace. I must say beautiful.. and no matter how hot the day was, inside of the building was cool, mcm ada air-cond.

And not forgetting, the famous Spanish Paella. It tastes like nasi goreng. I bet the Spanish will be crying when they eat our nasi goreng at the stalls :p.

Spain Part 1 - Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia. The construction of this church started in 1882 and is still now under construction. It was Antoni Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece and is one of Barcelona's most popular tourist attractions. Construction on this church will continue at least until 2041, but it has already become Barcelona's most important landmark.

Souvenirs stalls in front of Sagrada Familia. Meriah!

Parc Guell- The Guëll park is one of the most intriguing parks in the world. The pavilions and main staircase designed by Antoni Gaudí look like they belong in some fairy tale. This popular park started out as a development project by Eusebi Guëll. He wanted to turn the area into a residential garden village based on English models. 60 Housing units as well as several public buildings were planned.

In 1900 Guëll commissioned his friend and protégé Antoni Gaudí with the development of the project. With the support from other architects including Josep M. Jujol and his disciple Francesc Berenguer, Gaudí worked on the garden village until 1914 when it was clear the project was a commercial failure: Guëll failed to sell a single house. In 1918 the city acquired the property and in 1922 it was opened to the public as a park. - Source- tak ingat mana. :p

Serpentine Bench - A connecting flight of stairs leads to another famous feature of the park: the Gran Placa Circular. Originally intended as a market place for the residents, this plaza is bordered by what is known as the largest bench in the world. The colorful ceramic serpentine bench, designed by Jujol, twists snakelike around the plaza. The view from the plaza is spectacular, you can see as far as the Mediterranean Sea. The whole platform is supported by 86 huge columns, creating a hall beneath the plaza, known as the Sala Hipòstila.

Views form Parc Guell

The dragon like lizard is a very well known symbol of Parc Guell.



Las Ramblas -the most famous street in Barcelona.


Street performer doing some break dance.


There's an old believe that who ever drinks this water will surely come to Barcelona again.




The Magic Fountian of Montjuic.


The National Palace.

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Will update later for Granada and Cordoba.

Cuti!

Just got back from roadtrip to Spain. Pengsan satu hari. Will update later, with pictures of course. :)