Dec 20, 2012

Menunggu keretapi

A novel by Norhayati Brahim

But my story is mengejar keretapi di Switzerland ;)

Last June we were traveling from Geneva to Wengen to Zurich by train. It was truly an experience. Macam dalam amazing race pulak masa naik train ke Wengen from Montreux. There was no direct train to W from M. We had to change train 4 times. Montreux - Visp - Spiez - Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen - Wengen. The journey took about 3 hours 11 minutes. 12.40 - 15.51. Yang seronoknya kena kejar train. Kami memang terpaksa berlari-lari kalau tak ketinggalan lah sebab jarak masa sampai dan bertolak cuma lebih kurang 5 minit je. Masa perjalanan memang tepat. Sebelum sampai satu-satu stesen tu memang dah cek sampai platform mana dan nak kena rush ke platform mana. Beg memang dah siap atur kat tepi pintu. Imagine lah between the two of us, kami ada 4 luggage, 1 backpack and 1 sling bag. Nasib baik untuk ke setiap platform tu ada ramp. Kalau tak, tak tau lah macam mana nak angkat beg2 yang banyak dan berat itu. Tak tau lah bawa apa sebenarnya sampai 4 luggage.
Walau macam mana pun, perjalanan tu tak memenatkan sekalipun berlari-lari dan berkejar-kejar. Sebab keretapi mmg tepat dan tak tertunda. Keretapi selesa. Pemandangan menarik. Cuaca nyaman.
Yang penting bekalan makanan pun Alhamdulillah cukup.
Kami sampai di Wengen seperti yang dijadualkan. Memang berbaloi dengan adventure yang kami lalui. Wengen ni Subhanallah, sungguh indah. Waktu kami sampai hujan lebat. Jadi suhu sejuk dan berangin. Nasib baik ada jaket.

Dec 12, 2012

Istanbul Aku Datang

Mmmm...Istanbul ni sememangnya sebuah tempat yang menarik. Terletak di persimpangan dua benua, Asia dan Eropah serta menjadi tempat pertembungan budaya. Kota yg penuh dengan kesan sejarah yang menarik untuk diteroka dan dihayati.
Not to be missed at this vibrant and lively city are:
1- Blue Mosque and other mosques,

2- Topkapi Palace,
3- Hagia Sophia,
4- Bosphorus cruise,

5- Grand Bazaar,

6- spice market,

7- fish market and other places.
Kalau waktu petang boleh lah ber'sidai' kat tepi laut Marmara. Aktiviti utama: memancing. It was like a bonding session for some families whereby fathers teach their sons how to catch fish. I found it interesting. The lucky ones would get a lot of fish. They would then deposit their catch into a big mineral water bottle.
Apa yang menariknya, kail mereka bukan setakat ada satu umpan, tapi banyak. Mungkin lebih dari sepuluh. Sekali angkat penuh dengan ikan, yang bersaiz kecil aje lah. Suasana semacam pesta...sementelah musim panas, waktu siangnya panjang. Hawkers pun berjualan, makanan ringan dan minuman terutamanya teh.
Talking about tea, you can find all sorts of tea in Istanbul. Black tea, fruit based tea, herbal tea...you name it...they have it all...so to speak. We were spoiled for choice. Tapi the most common was apple tea. Pure apple tea...made of dried apple granules...mmm...lovely.
Halal food was not a problem in this city. Halal restaurants were everywhere; from simple dining to fine dining, from western cuisine to Turkish cuisine and Ottoman cuisine. Take your pick! However, I found that Ottoman dish was a little bit sweet. Other than that, I've no complaint. I was one happy diner.

p/s: mcm mana nak pusing gambar2 ni bagi betul?