Flåm, Norway

Instead of travel around Europe, last week, I decided to spend some time at Norway before I go back Malaysia. Norway is famous for the fjord. So, to be able to claim that I came to Norway, I have to visit one of the fjord before I leave Norway. Ok, don't ask me what is fjord, I do not how to explain it since I am not too sure as well (I only know it is form because of glacial and during ice age). If you wanna know click on the link and read it from the wikipedia. Flåm is the place that we are heading to which located at Aurland. Nærøyfjord is one of the famous fjord which located at Flåm. It is listed under UNESCO world heritage site.

The view on the fjord. Breath taking...

I went there with another 2 more colleagues who are Zaitul and Anas. Zaitul and I take turn to drive from Sandefjord to Flåm. We drove for 9 hours to reach there! Isn't that sounds crazy? Anas, our suppose-to-be-navigator, was not too sure about the road direction at a few junctions. Ends up, we got lost for few times before we reach there. We stop at every petrol station to ask for direction and get some coffee. There is one petrol station that we stopped, even the worker do not know where are we going because Flåm is just too far from there! hahaha...so he try to ask one of the customer who coincidentally came in at that time. And, even the customer also don't know where are we going. See! Can you imagine how far we are driving? Finally, the customer gave us his book. It is a map with all the road around Norway! Cool ya~! Sometime, traditional map is anytime more reliable and useful than the crappy Google Map or Michelin. Don't ever 100% trust what you got from the net.

Our summer trip? with ice along the way

On the way there, we passed by a lot of nice waterfall and water power plant. We drove pass all the ski resort, went through the mountain and uncountable tunnel. Finally, after 9 hours drive, we reach our destination! FLÅM! It is really worth for us to drive that long simply because the view is magnificent. Sorry for my poor english vocabulary, I really do not know how to describe how gorgeous it is.

Kjosfossen - the waterfall

One of the must do activity at Flåm is the Flåm train. The train trip is really worth every single cent that we paid. The journey takes about 20 km but along the way I do not have the opportunity to sit down since there are too many nice sceneries along the way! I have to swift to the left and right all the time so that I don't miss up any nice view.

The railway track. Cool ya?

Besides that, we took fjord safari... ate goat cheese...went to say hi to the goat and cow...

mek...mek...smile for the camera!

Although it is a tiring trip, still I have no regret and really enjoy it. Thanks for the mate of the trip. I really had a good time. Finally, thank you Anas who took the pictures too. (more pictures available on his link)

Anas : "bluek...you're welcome"

=P

home sweet home

i'm home! the title gives that away i believe... =)

i've managed to survive 10 weeks of ots stim in abu dhabi and i'm finally home.

at the end of it all, i have to admit it's been a pretty interesting 10 weeks. met people of all characters in the class. some "different" and some great. i've had plenty of good times as well as bad.

good times - bon jovi concert, dubai, brunch at the burj-al-arab, great nights with great friends.

bad times - exam, exam, exam...

well, no matter what, i've managed to get through it unscathed and that is all that matters. now, i hope things will turn out to be just fine and that i will have a smooth journey from here forth.

and now that i'm home, i just want to enjoy kl as it is...

ps: below are some pictures taken during the last day of our school at mlc and also during the brunch that i had with aminulla and julio at the burj-al-arab...

this is the class as it graduated with all three instructors - a diverse group to say the least

my final project group - could not have asked for a better group

burj-al-arab up, close and personal

view of the burj-al-arab from the lobby

i wish my garage would look like that - i would have to own a garage first... =)

here in my home

the first time i saw this video was from kam's blog. it touched me, as i assumed it would to anyone who calls him/herself a malaysian. but then, i got to thinking. this is too cliche even for us. how many of us truly believe that we are indeed living in harmony and not in tolerance with each other?

"Years of fears and years of tribulation
The heart keeps searching for that endless devotion
Hand in hand we’ll march like blood brothers
I speak for my people, hope we’ll find peace forever
May the road ahead quench my thirst for success
May the road behind echo a song of the blessed
Yes I feel it in my bones, so I will let it be known
No matter where I roam, this is home sweet home"

the first two lines were sung by a malay, lines three and four by a chinese and lines five and six by an indian... i think there's much more to this part of the song and if you just read between the lines, tell me what you think...

but the line that strikes the right chord with me is the final line there - no matter where i roam, this is home sweet home. it is still with pride that i call myself a malaysian. i truly hope this was an honest project to unite the people.

sadly, there are people in power that is destroying that sense of belonging to many of us younger generations. especially those who've been out of the country and who can actually see wat's going on despite all the bs they show to you on the national mass media. i dun usually talk politics on my blog but at times, you just get so frustrated.

PS : I Love You

Initally, I want to start a blog which talk about book reviews. Book reviews from my personal points of views.

Yes, you may said that it must be very subjective! I will not deny that I am someone who justify things very subjectively. The reason I never start a blog which only focus on book reviews because I read English book as slow as turtle crawling. The blog eventually will die off if I only post English books review. On the other hand, to post about Chinese book reviews...er...too many books, I don't know where to start.

At London airport, I saw this book - PS I Love You. I read a lot of good comment on the book. I got think of buying it at KL but Nic and I bought too many books during the MPH member's day till now I also haven't finish all of them. So, I never have the oppurtunity to buy it from KL. When I came to Norway, I only brought along 2 books which is ' The World Is Flat' and 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. Somehow I really have no mood to read that 2 non-fiction books. So, I bought the book 'PS I Love You'.

From the synopsis of the book, I already knew that her husband will die. Still, from the first page of the book, the writer keep on telling about how sweet they were! It is so difficult for me to continue reading it because I know no matter how lovely this couple is, eventually the husband will leave her forever.

But, don't because of the synopsis and assume that the book must have a sad ending. Initially, I thought that as well. Somehow, it turns out to be ok. Of course, I am not going to tell the ending over here. Just go read it.

I love the story line of the book. For you guys who don't know it, the book is talking about the husband post a letter to his wife every months for a year after he passed away. Which means after he died, she will receive a letter each month. The letter is ended with 'PS I Love You'. Personally, I feel very touch when she received the last letter.

For the reader of this blog, I guess none of you will be interested to read such a love story novel. haha...So...for you guys, really you GUYS...you watch the movie. It is much easier. =)

Barcelona - Spain

I went to Barcelona, Spain on few weeks ago. It was a good trip. I would recommend my friend to go there instead of London. However, language is a problem. It is because most of them do not speak English at all although it is a famous tourism spot unless you speak Spanish. Still I love that city. I love the idea of having a coffee after meal, I love the atmosphere of the restaurant, the waiter, the chocolate drink, the food, the Gothic design souvenir, so many things that I enjoy myself there.

colorful souvenir

Their restaurant atmosphere is very different with the France fine dining or US style restaurant like Chillis or TGI. They are something in between for me. Not as noisy as US restaurants at the same time, not as quiet as France restaurant. I love the 'in between'. A restaurant that full of the chitchat of customers, the sound of the plate 'cling' on the table when it is served, the noise of coffee machines, the waiter is talking with his own volume...

The chocolate drink is one of the best I have ever drink before. I drank cappuccino chocolate; basically you do not taste coffee at all but chocolate. The little taste of coffee with super rich taste of chocolate, it melts me…Seriously, from the first sip, the scent of the drink, the just-nice sweetness of the drink…The other night, I drank chocolate extra rich. Wow…the drink texture is so thick until the drink is like mix with tapioca flour. Surprisingly, it is not sweet at all. Although it is very very thick and rich but it is not sweet nor bitter.

Cappuccino which looks like chocolate drink.

Talk about drink, of course I will not forget Sangria. Still remember I drank Sangria at Bangsar, when Bong (my secondary school’s friend) ordered it for me. Over here, Sangria is everywhere. It is like ice lemon tea at Malaysia. And, most of it taste not bad. =) Of course, there are places where make better Sangria, some are not. Generally, I just love Sangria. I drank every time I got a chance there. Frankly speaking, I am new with wine, not really know how to appreciate it. So, Sangria is the best for me.

The tasty sangria...

Paella…I had 2 meals with Paella on my 4 days trip there, isn’t that good enough to explain how much I like it? I don’t know why I enjoyed it so much. It is not as nice as Bukit Mertajam’s Yam Rice. But when you are away from home, rice will have some special chemical when it goes in your mouth. I like the rice with the rich taste of the seafood soup.

seafood paella with prawn, clam, squid

Before this, I am someone who like colourful tiles design. I have cup, earring, mirror, ring with the similar design pattern but I don't know that actually this design are came from Gaudi. Too bad all their souvenir are really too expensive for me. I couldn't afford to have too much of it. Besides, I also do not have my own house to put all this decoration. If not, I will really carry all of it back to KL.

The ceiling design at Park Guell

ps: I can tell long story about my trip, however, I keep it short for the ease of reading it.