Ireland and beyond

Ireland. Memang magical. Aku tak tau kenapa. But it was very much different from all other places that i have been to. The people, the food, the (challenging) weather and yes, the landscape. Sangat mengagumkan. Dublin sbg ibukota juga cantik manakala countryside dia... Fuhhh, breathtaking. 

Ni kt Howth Market, Dublin. Julie (kawan yg buat PhD kt situ, tmpat kitorg crash) p shopping for seafood. Good thing here, Irish (as most westerners) only eat fish meat. So all the kepala ikans they give away for free. Asians ramai shop sini for seafood and take the free kepala ikan. Sedap tuu buat kari kepala ikan salmon b other strange european fishes. Walaupun aku x makan ikan heheh, julie ckp mmg sedap! So just trust her. Hehek. 

Yang ni your typical Irish Pub. Byk gila kat Dublin. Rugi kalo sapa p Ireland kalo x g Irish pub. After all, korang tau tak Guinness Stout tu originate dari Ireland. It becomes such an institution that, Guinness kat sini tu mcm kopi jeh utk kita. And, punya la kaya, Guinness subsidize air utk seluruh Ireland. Powe kan. And yes, try la jugak Irish Coffee. Tp kalo yg originalnya, diorg letak liquor. So becareful when order one. Aku dh habaq ye. Huahua. 

Ni kat athloné, about 2 hrs drive (correct me if im wrong) from Dublin, it's on the west of Ireland kalo x salah, nnti aku confirmkan blk. Yup, blkg tu adalah umah julie. Not many malaysian ada kt sini. Around 5-6 keluarga camtu. The feeling's there mcm korg tgk citer Harry Potter la. Umah pak sedara harry tu, Pivet Drive. Very close community and quiet. Very near ada Athloné Institute of Technology where most foreigners that reside there to study. One thing i noticed, rumah2 kt europe byk pintu sbb they need it to trap heat. Sini kan sejuk, so pintu digunakan utk perangkap haba. Mmg byk pintu pun.

 

Ok, the above pics were taken whilst we were otw to Kylemore (sebut roughly: kill-more) Abbey. A very very beautiful castle down at the countryside. And btw, abbey is similé for castle ye untuk makluman. Ehek. Nak citer lebih, aku pun tatau sbb aku bkn irish (kan!), so bwh ni excerp ttg Istana Kylemore (thanks en wiki):

Kylemore Castle was built as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London whose family was involved in textile manufacturing in Manchester, England. He moved to Ireland when he and his wife Margaret purchased the land around the Abbey. He became a politician, becoming an MP for County Galway from 1871 to 1885. The castle was designed by James Franklin Fuller, aided by Ussher Roberts. Construction first began in 1867, and took one hundred men four years to complete. The castle covered approximately 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) and had over seventy rooms with a principal wall that was two to three feet thick. The facade measures 142 feet (43 m) in width and is made of granite brought from Dalkey by sea to Letterfrack and from limestone brought fromBallinasloe. There were 33 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 4 sitting rooms, a ballroom, billiard room, library, study, school room, smoking room, gun room and various offices and domestic staff residences for the butler, cook, housekeeper and other servants. Other buildings include a Gothic cathedral and family mausoleum containing the bodies of Margaret Henry, Mitchell Henry and a great grand-nephew.

Ada Apa Dengan Mauritius

Mauritius. 

Aku dah berkesempatan pergi sana sebanyak 3 kali. Kali pertama tu kena paksa (rela); between trip to Dubai or this. Of course la, being a young padawan I have to accept the leftover. Truth be told, I have never realised or evenheard bout Mauritius. Well, not until 2006 when the assignment came in. I knew bout Madagascar, but not Mauritius - and these two islands are actually located next to each other. 

Peta Mauritius. Kecik je. Tak Besar Mana Pun

"The tiny Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is heavenly"

- Mark Twain 

Sebanyak 3 kali berada di sana, sebanyak itu jugalah saya sempat berjalan-jalan ke sana ke mari dan one good thing was, each trip i did not repeat or venture into the same activities and places. Kembara (ceh) pertama dan kedua saya duduk selama 7 hari (rasanyalah) dan yang ketiga dalam 5 hari sebab sebelum tu pegi Sri Lanka selama 7 hari. Masak woi travel back to back. Tu tak masuk pengalaman cherry berry kt Colombo sebab makanan pedas gila babas. But then, that would be another story. ehek.

Surprisingly (yes, I am that noob), aku pun tatau yang Mauritius ni one of the beautiful island in the world next to Maldives,Sipadan, Mabul, Perhentian, Redang (if not side by side). Tempat-tempat menarik dia pun best. Well kalau dok seminggu of course la blh ronda semua within that time frame. Hat kali pertama tu, kene keje selama 4 hari, so remain 3 hari tu lah aku pulun p sana sini. God's grace, I made friend with the local, terus dapat free transportation. Just belanja dia makan jeh. Saeed Dusmuhamod nama dia (albeit the spelling lah). Kali kedua pun sama. Keja for about 4 days then I extend my stay (after sending off all work-related stuffs) and continued what I left behind on the first trip. Same goes on my 3rd trip, picked up where I left behind. For the purpose of this blog, aku tulis one shot je lah. Gila apa nk tulis satu-satu. Gambar kat bawah ni masa second trip. Kitorg naik Catamaran tengok sunset. Cantik gilaaaaa. Worth the trip. Best woi. Korang kena cuba.

All aboard ehehe

That's Azila and Kim Posible. Traveling buddies. 4-5 trips with 'em

We left Port Louis at about 5 or 6 pm

"Beautiful sunset 

over the Indian Ocean"

Jeti kat Port Louis

Ok, stay ke Le Suffren, Port Louis. I must say this is quite a posh hotel. First 3 days aku tinggal sini sblm melipat kain baju dan melangkah ke Rose Hill; salah satu town, slight further dari scenic Port Louis ni. The good thing adalah Rose Hill offer a lot of affordable hotel. Aku stay kt hotel apa ek... Lupa nama. Nanti dh ingat, aku buh kt sini. Hehek. Time ni gambar2 yg amik byk ilang sbb tukar keja n lupa bk backup. Sume dlm folder pc office. X sempat copy, dh kene delete. *i is sad. 

Anyway, back to accommodation. Kt Mauritius ni byk je hotel/motel yg murah2. As any other places, lagi dkt dgn pantai, lagi mahal la kos dia. Le Suffren dekat dgn town dan antara yg paling posh (that time la) kt Mauritius. Stay situ sbb nama pun kene keja. So, cari tmpat yg dkt dgn office lah. 

Sneak Peek

Tada. Ni ha benda yg akan d blog jap lg (hopefully later in the day): Mauritius.

Tengah kumpul pix. Paham2 je la. It's been quite a number of years since i last traveled there. and the pixs too are all over the places. Managed to regroup and park it under one folder. Weehoo. 

i feel less than awesome today

xberapa nak best keja arini. so, jom share gambar lawa. here's to bringing back my mojo!

1st trip lps grad: yangon, MYANMAR

Untuk trip ni, gua pegi berdua. Dgn amoi cina, Karen nama dia. The trip mmg best sbb ini kali pertama beb dlm 4 tahun dpt travel abroad 😂 agak jakun jugak la. So were there for good 5 days. Cuma tak sempat pegi the famous Mandalay utk tgk sunrise at pagoda yg lama tu.

Yangon back then was quite backward. Kitorg mula2 plan nak naik public transport tapi kansel sbb tgk condition dia sgt DODGY pls. Rangka je yg ada. Xde cermin or pintu. And it's pack with locals. Bayangkan, korg berdiri tanpa perlu pegang apa2 pun gerenti x gerak. Yes, that's how crowded it was. So kitorg kansel; safety wise. Eksiden knfirm mati katak, probability kena pickpocket juga sgt tinggi pls! 😑

nothin fancy, just good ol' broga

lps penat turun naik bukit, this; our reward! BUKIT SAGA

some like it here, pasar philliphines, SABAR. well, i donch

island hopping is a must in LANGKAWI!

i stood tall at LANGKAWI

stairs to alexandria falls, MAURITIUS

kubah tu gold plated. INDONESIA

UNESCO Heritage sit: Fort Jesus, Mombassa, KENYA

2nd trip to Maldives: Paradise Island

It was not safe time nih. amik pix pun curi2 sbb on high alert. Colombo, SRI LANKA

1st trip to maldives: Bandos Island

Omdurman, SUDAN

pengkalan kubur, KELANTAN

Asia House: jakarta, INDONESIA

visit to UI, jakarta, INDONESIA

jenjalan lokal. pangkor, PERAK

Here we go (again)

ok hat ni masa kt brunei airport. transit nak p europe bak hang. dok melangut 5 jam. dah tu, nak flight murah kannnn. merasa la.

finally, dalam flight semula. in total, kitorg stop 2 kali. kat brunei 5 hours, dubai another 3 hours + tukaq flight  (lagi). but it was all worth it. time travel mmg azab la. but come to think of it, kinda happening weh. tgk gelagat org. there's this ah so scolded the dubai airport security for asking her to remove her belt. and ada sorg lagi ah so dengan muka stoned selamba cut queue. all the mat and minah sallehs rolleyes. *i is malu to be asian at that time*

this uncle on the other hand, diligently read that book for solid 2 hours without interruption whatsoever. aku mmg tabik spring the european and their reading culture (no more habit cos it has become part of the nation's identity). wonder bila la orang kita nk jdk camni. eheheh.

mak ai. i is lupa i have got a blog rupanya

it's been 2 years since i last wrote in this blog. i've been to quite a lot of places these past couple of years. will try to make it up by posting.

hampa tolong sabaq na.