Geneva, Switzerland

Hohoh! This time, we arrived in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva is not really a big city, but I love the way it is, except for the expensive collectibles including Swiss watches and Swiss knifes. A man who was siting on a flight next to my father said, items in Geneva are 3 times more expensive compared to Paris. Nonsense! In Geneva, we stayed in Geneva Youth hostel. Although it is a youth hostel, it was very comforable. Complete with a kitchen, tv room, games room and co-ed toilets. Hahaha. We had our first lunch in Geneva at Ali Haydar Kebab restaurant. Not that expensive I thought.

Ali Haydar Kebab

Trams in Geneva

We went to a park near Lake Geneva and shot some pictures there. In my opinion, Geneva is a calm city compared to London. Everything seemed classy here.

Papa and Mama in Geneva, Switzerland.

Me in Geneva.

Again, we met few Malaysians here. The boy was from France, studying petroleum engineering.
On our way to Genevans mountain to ride cable car, rain pours heavily. This was the heaviest I'd ever experienced in Europe. We had to canceled our ride to the top due to strong wind.
We then took a bus to the UN building, just to see what they had there, because there are only two UN building in this world. The first one is in New York and the second one is here, in Geneva.

In front of UN office in Geneva.

Mama's activities was the same all the time; shopping, shopping and shopping....

Wargh! Again I think I am 2 months behind time, but I'm still going to finish the story about our summer vacation slowly. Hahaha.
Journey by train from Brussels to Paris Gare du Nord took approximately an hour. This time by Thalys train, not Eurostar. Since Papa booked a hotel near Gare de Lyon, we had to take Metro from Gare du Nord. It was easier if we stay near Gare de Lyon because we were going to board an early train to Geneva the next morning.
Our hotel was about 200 meters from the train station. A good spot to experience hectic environment in Paris. Since we had ample time at night, we decided to visit Eiffel Tower, for me the most popular tourist attraction in Paris.

Having instant noodle is the best way to save money on vacation.

Eiffel Tower during daytime.

I was about to climb the tower at first, but there were too many people queuing for the tickets, so I canceled my intention and hoping to get it next time.

Eiffel Tower at night.

We went back to our hotel late at night and we found some difficulties in purchasing Metro tickets when the ticket office was closed. The machine either accept coins or credit cards only. Haish!

Arriving at a Metro station near Gare de Lyon, my bag was opened by a bloody pickpocket. He pretended as he was buying tickets from machine when I look at him. There were too many people at that time. I nearly lost my DSLR camera, but thank God, it didn't happen.
On our way to the hotel, I saw a drunk man peeing on a bridge. Really drunk man. Hahaha.

London - Brussels

I'll continue with the unfinished story about my vacation with my parents during summer break. Quite busy nowaday since I'm undergoing my internship at Perodua Manufacturing in Rawang and looking for sponsors to run Nasheed Extravaganza in Sheffield next year.

From the city of London, we took Eurostar from St. Pancras International headed towards Brussels before reaching Paris, our destination. I was advised by my senior to see Brussels, the capital of Belgium. I thought Brussels is a lively city like Florence but it turned out to be the other way. Brussels was very quiet. We walked from train station to the Brussels main attractions, Grand Place and Manneken Pis.

Grand Place, Brussels

Since everything in Europe is expensive, mama came out with her plan to bring or own food from che su's house in London. Great saver. We had our lunch in Grand Place, Brussels before walking back to the train station again. We stopped near the Manneken Pis, a statue of a boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Bloody little rude boy.

Rude boy

On our journey to the train station, we meet a Malaysian with her husband from Netherlands. They are also on vacation in Brussels.

Malaysians in Brussels

We end our journey in Brussels with some hot chocolate at a coffee shop at the train station before boarded our train to Paris.

Thalys train to Paris

Sheffield-London

Mama and Papa stayed in Sheffield for just two days, in my 'spacious' room. We booked train tickets from Sheffield to London as travelling by train is fast and convenient. I took the easiest way to reach the train station; by taxi.

Mama and Papa in front of Sheffield train station.

This was my first arrival in London via King's Cross station. Before this, I only boarded East Midlands train and the arrival was in St. Pancras international train station. I realised that King's Cross and St. Pancras are two different station, eventhough they are situated just next to each other.

We chose to take London Underground to Che Su's house in Bayswater. On the way to Bayswater, Papa guided us to the previous Malaysian Hall, situated near Marble Arch and we took a picture there.

The old time Malaysian Hall.

Mama went to Argos, a very popular store in her mind I thought, to buy some food containers to be used in our new kitchen. Upon reaching Che Su's house, Papa again showed his natural behaviour by posing himself in front of Queensway station sign.

One finger point to to the Queensway sign and another one point to the 'queen'.

England's Countryside

It was very hard for me to upload even a single photo to blogspot due to bad internet connection.
This time, it's going to be about my parents visit to my place in Sheffield. Just 2 days in Sheffield yet I gained great experience with them because before this, I didn't know that Sheffield were surrounded by many beautiful places such as Chatsworth house.
Papa and mama arrived in Sheffield a day before I finish my last examination paper, which make it hard for me to entertain them properly. Hopefully there will be some barakah there. As soon as I finished my paper, we went straight to Chesterfield, papa's old town. Nowadays, his previous house was converted to be a hotel. Abbeydale Hotel in Chesterfield, England.

Papa preferred to go to the countryside part of England rather than spending his time in big cities like Manchester and Birmingham.
We then went to the Chatsworth house, home of Duke and Duchess of Devonshire surrounded by gardens and farms. Tourists all around the world could be seen during our visit. What did we do there? Just a simple picnic and photo shoot session.

Seating on the grass like 'omputeh'.

Chatsworth house

We finished our tour around peak district at around 7 pm. We then headed to Manchester for our planned dinner in Jazeera restaurant; half-chicken and rice.

Finished

The examination period for mechanical engineering was over. Sheffield was a little bit late compared to the other universities in United Kingdom. Most of Malaysian students have gone back to Malaysia now. I'm still counting for my time.
Hopefully, for this semester there will be no more exam for me and my friends. Let's have a fresh start of 3rd year.

Katil yang menjadi mangsa dikala musim peperiksaan.

Free Free Palestine

Honestly speaking, back in Malaysia, I wasn't really aware with this issue. When Israel attacked Palestine two years ago, me and my friends just avoided ourselves from buying any fast food from McDonalds restaurants. After few months, McDonalds...here I come again.
In UK, this issue is taken seriously not only among Muslims but also locals who really understand what humanity is all about.
Once again, Israel had shown their power by attacking the humanitarian convoy to Gaza in international waters. This is obviously an international war crime.
Demonstration were held all around the world to protest this insane action by Israeli armed forces. Pictures below shows the demonstration held in Sheffield, United Kingdom.

Supporters

Kak Azian and Anak Buah Beri

Mr Paul Blomfield, Sheffield Central MP.

My fellow friends who really love their picture being taken.

Italy (Roma)

Roma, perhaps the best city in Italy for some people but not for me. I love Venice more.
From Pisa to Firenze, I had already wasted lots of time. I had no choice unless to arrive in Roma in luxurious syle, by Frecciarossa Trenitalia, currently the fastest train in Italy. That was the most expensive train ticket I had ever bought. 47 Euro for a single journey from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Roma Termini. Once again I decided to declare a war towards my stomach. Sorry...

Frecciargento (left) and Frecciarossa.

My accomodation in Roma was Happy Days hostel. Just like its name, everybody in that hostel seemed to be very happy everyday. Sounded like crazy but it was true. When everybody was happy, I was happy too. The workers there were really friendly until it was hard for me to differentiate between the workers and the guests. Haish!
Every night was a 'Friday night'. Luckily God gave me tiredness, so I slept rather than joining them and clubbing until 4 in the morning. Here, I met two Malaysian Chinese, Jia Wei and Xu Shen. Jia Wei is currently studying in Sweden and Xu Shen is in Poland. Both of them are from National University of Singapore, one of the world's best universities. I did get some tips from them on the best way to travel in Roma.
I also met a girl from Uruguay. She and her 8 friends were my roommates in the hostel. I wasn't sure why I was meant to be in that room. Maybe God wanted to test my Iman. All of them are girls and they also treated me as if we already know each other before. One night, something unexpected happened.
A girl was walking from the toilet into the room where I was staying, wearing just a towel. She took her clothes from a bag.

Me: Are you going to change?
Girl: Yes, why?
Me: I'm going outside so you'll feel more comfortable.
Girl: No, no. Don't trouble yourself. Just stay here. I don't mind.
Me: (Gulp...)

Guess what I did....I left the room and missed the precious opportunity. Hahaha. Don't know why I transformed to be a very good boy at that time.
The next morning, I walked to Vatican City. It was 10 minutes walking from my hostel. I was there at 6 am since Xu Shen reminded me to be early if I really want to visit Vatican City, or else I'm going to finish my time queueing.
Since I have no interest towards museum, I just entered St. Peter's Basilica. It was a very huge one. Few Swiss Guards could be seen around the Vatican City area. There was no fee to enter this basilica but you're bag need to be checked for security reasons. There was also Pope's body stored in a glass. For me, it looked spooky.

St. Peter's Basilica from St. Peter's Square.

I spent just an hour in Vatican City. From there, I walked down towards the Colosseum, the most famous structure in Roma. A not to be missed one. During my journey, I stopped a while at Pantheon.

Pantheon

I reached Colosseum after an hour walking. This one was the main attraction, so I had to queue and waited for my turn to purchase a ticket. It was 12 Euro for a ticket and it can be used to enter Colosseum, Mostra, Palatino and Foro (what the heck was this?). If I'm not mistaken, Palatino is Palatine Hill, where legend tells that Romulus traced the first outline of the city. Foro Romano is where you can see ruins of Romans empire. Too many facts in Roma. Sometimes it made me sick.

Foro Romano

In the Colosseum.

Me outside the Colloseum.


What they have in Palatine Hill.


A view from Palatine Hill.

After finish visiting the 3 places, I went to a stall outside Palatine Hill to buy a RedBull energy drink. I thought it was sold at normal price but it wasn't. It was 4 Euros per can. What the heck?
Never mind. I need to drink or else something worst will happen.
Just like before, I walked because that was the best way to experience Roma and saved my money. My next destination was the one I was waiting for since I first watched Lizzy McGuire the movie. That was 2003, when I was in form 3.
The Fontana de Trevi or Trevi Fountain. Wah....why was it really beautiful in my eyes...until today, I still don't get the answer.
I spent few hours sitting in near the fountain area. I had an ice cream, a slice of margherita pizza and a bottle of drink for my lunch. I watched what people did there. Tossing coins, taking pictures, chatting, doing business and so on. For me, everything around Fontana de Trevi was very cool.

Fontana de Trevi

Tourists and locals around Fontana de Trevi.


Coin tossing.

Then, I visited another interesting spot in Roma. The Spanish steps. It was really near to the Fontana de Trevi but I took such a very long time to be there. For the legend of this Spanish steps, you may search it in the internet if you really wants to know. I noticed lots of Americans having their school trips during my visit to Roma. What an awesome school trip! To Roma. Wargh... I cannot imagine that.

The Spanish Steps.

Since I liked Fontana de Trevi very much, I spent another two hours there and I was lucky to snap this beautiful moment. It was a photo shoot session for a newly wed couple. "You may kiss the bride".

Miauww....Grrr

I guess that's the end of my Italy report. For those who are planning to visit Italy next holiday, feel free to contact me at fariesfarhan@yahoo.com. I'll help whenever I can.
Bubye.

Italy (Pisa)

I arrived quite late in Pisa, about 6.45pm and it was already dark. I thought the hostel I booked just within the walking distance from the train station, surprisingly its not even in the map. The bus driver said, "Your accommodation is just outside the map" then he laughed. Haish! Not good for me. I followed him since he's the bus driver whom led me there.Villa Leaning Tower, that was the name of the place where I slept. Quite far from the station but really near to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Hahaha...

My room in Villa Leaning Tower

Here, I met Brian and his friend from United States. They were studying in Rome and I got some good tips from them on how to make full use of my limited time in Rome. I chatted with Brian's friend. I didn't even know his name. He love snowboarding very much, and during summer they play freeboarding. A new term for me and he did show me some videos of people doing freeboarding. Cool and awesome!The next morning, I began my day by walking to the leaning tower. I went there early since I need to get back to Firenze before 2pm.Leaning Tower of Pisa looked just like a normal structure for me, except for the leaning part. It was really crazy.

Make sure you go to Leaning Tower of Pisa through this gate.

I decided to climb the tower, as advised by Pam and it cost me 13 Euro. I didn't mind about that since this may be the last time I visit Pisa. I waited for an hour before my turn to climb the tower. This was due to safety reason. Maximum number of people allowed on the tower at one time was only 32, if I'm not mistaken.

This is what most people do in Pisa. Sadly, I didn't have any companion to do that.

On top of leaning tower. What happened to my eyes?

At the same time, a parade took place around the area of the tower. I grabbed this rare opportunity by taking some pictures. After a while, I noticed that I was already late to Firenze. I grabbed a pizza and a can of drink and walk all the way from leaning tower site to the train station.

Cool!

Italy (Firenze)

It was 1.30pm and I left Venezia Santa Lucia train station for Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station in Firenze (Florence). Train ticket was very expensive, but after considering the limited time I had in Italy and how precious it was, I took the fastest way to Firenze, the Eurostar Trenitalia. No more Chinese girl this time. I boarded the train and reached Firenze in approximately 2 hours.

Firenze is a very beautiful city. Lots of boutiques can be seen along the streets. My targets in Firenze were the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, another famous cathedral in Italy and Ponte Vecchio, a famous bridge in Firenze. I wasn’t really into museums and historical places, and sometimes I thought Italy wasn’t the appropriate place for me to spend my holidays. Never mind, I just wanted to see how Italy is.

In Italy, I couldn’t escape from being hungry even for one day. I need to save my money for the transportations and accommodations. In Firenze, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I went to McDonalds in front of the train station and grabbed some meals.

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore with its famous dome.

For me as a budget traveler, walking was the best way to experience the city. So I strolled to Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore which was about 10 minutes walking from the train station. Of course it was full of tourists and also locals. I love Italy because lots of people prefer to use bicycle, very easy and seems very harmony to me. I don’t know how to describe the best feeling of it since my English level is still mediocre.

Woman on a bicycle.

To appreciate the architecture of a basilica, of course you must go inside. So I went into the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and snapped some photos using my camera. It was like other basilica, full of beautiful paintings on the wall.

In the basilica.

Typical Asian guy with typical Asian pose style.

Without wasting my time, I continued my journey, heading towards Ponte Vecchio. Pam said I shouldn’t miss this spot. Thanks Pam for the tips. Before I reached my destination, I step into a place named Piazza Della Signoria, where you will find Palazzo Vecchio, Galleria Degli Uffizi and an outdoor museum of sculptures. Again, I snapped here and there before proceeding myself to Ponte Vecchio.

Naked sculptures here and there in Palazzo Vecchio.

The Fiume Arno (Arno River) was very nice. Locals use this river to do kayaking and I called this moment ‘The Real Italy’. The river was very clean compared to Gombak River and Klang River. I wasn’t there for a very long time. Ponte Vecchio, again similar to Ponte di Rialto I had seen in Venice. Shops are located on the bridge itself.

Kayaking in Fiume Arno.

Motorcycle dominated the area.

Policeman or firemen?

Ponte Vecchio

Shops on Ponte Vecchio.

I rushed back to the train station because I need to take another train to Pisa. Since Pisa was not a familiar place for me, it was safe for me to be there before dark.

Next time, it’s going to be Pisa. Bubye.

Where is this? I have no idea. I encountered this on my way back to the train station.