WinteR tRiP jOurNaL

alhamdulillah.. slps 2 minggu meninggalkan rumah, akhirnye kami balik juge ke 12 Carbry..
berjalan2 selama 2 minggu mmg aktiviti yg memenatkan, especially bile bagasi masing2 dipenuhi oleh baju2 yg berhelai2... (yela.. kate nak gune 2 minggu..) yep, girls will always be girls.. heh.. :P

route kami: :Loughborough-London-Manchester-Liverpool-Glasgow-FortWilliam-12 Carbry :)

1st destination: Loughborough
-Kami ber-winter retreat di sini.. tempat yg sgt cantik dan menarik.. it's designated for campers, so, p-e-r-f-e-c-t is the word.. pengisian tahun ni mmg menarik: Control + Shift + Enter [Control yer Whims, Shift yer Paradigm & Enter a New Beginning]
and of course, the thing that caught me the most is the beauty of ukhuwah shown by UK n Ire sisters.. jzkk and congrats to org2 kuat PMS tahun ni~ cheers~

2nd destination: London
one thing about London- it made me feel sooooo thankful to Allah to be 
placed in Galway. huhu.. 
dont get me wrong, Londoners.. nuthing is wrong with London. it's just that, i think my heart is more well-fitted in a small, quiet, slow-moving (with fast-paced ppl) town like Galway.. huhu... 
a friend of mine once said; "bersyukur kite duduk kat kampung2 neh.. bile kite masuk bandar, dpt la appreciate n enjoy bandar.. " Mmg btul laa pon.. tu yang masing2 bile masuk London menunjukkan kejakunan seketika.. hahahaha...
Things that London has, that Galway doesnt: a variety of super duper cheap halal foods, rows of designer shopping centers, underground tubes [mind the gap! *lol* ] , Red telephone box..haha.. and of course, one-is-never-enuff-teh tarik by abang kantin @ Malaysia Hall.. hoho.. mmg best la teh tarik kat sini.. terubat seketika rindu di kampung halaman.. ngeh2..
Tapi, ade satu bnde yg mengecewakan- One important thing that Galway has, that London is lacking of- friendliness of the people.. be it locals, or 
even Malaysians..
mungkin kat Galway ni populasi Msian tak le berapa banyak sgt compared to London, so everyone knows each other, n mmg sume org tegur sume org kat sini, tak tegur pon, at least senyum or saling bertukar salam..(i mean, verbally)
ade sekali tu, we passed by a group of Malaysians who were waiting at a bus stop.. at first i wanted to smile to one of them, but that person quickly turned her back to us..
tapi takpe.. she must has her own reasons.. :)
Of all the places that we went to, London la yg plg banyak menghabiskan duit kitorg.. wpun duduk 2 hari 2 malam je.. haishhoo00oo~~~

3rd destination: Manchester
yeah...di sini kami hanya ade satu aktiviti utama: makan dan makan dan makan.. hahahahaha...
last year dh jalan2 sket kat manchester, so.. tak kesah sgt psl jalan2.. ,mmg target nak makan la kat sini.. sbb kami duduk kat Rusholme, rumah Zinn.. sepanjang2 jalan tu mmg deretan kedai mknn halal.. ape nak buat kan.. duduk Galway la katekan.. jadi kami menggunakan lah peluang yg ade.. nyahahaha..
one thing i like about manchester.. kat sini kite blh jumpe ramai org Islam drpd pelbagai kaum dan bangsa.. we may not know each other, but the exchange of smiles and salam instantly bridges the differences n proves the power of "ikatan" that link us all- Islam. MasyaAllah, ramai nye saudara kite kat serata dunia. :)

4th destination: Liverpool
Oh..kami ke LIverpool from Manchester.. balik hari, bak kate org Melayu.. pg LIverpool pon sbb nak ke Cheshire Oaks factory outlet. Rmai nye la org kat sini kan.. a day after Boxing Day laa katekan.. pening2.. disebabkan duit dh banyak habis mase boxing day @ Manchester, jadinye mmg agak menahan godaan jugak la kat Cheshire Oaks nih...hahaha... got a souvenir for my brother, and that's it.. yeah.. syabbas beta syabbass... ngahaha..

5th destination: Fort William
Dari Manchester, kami naik train ke Glasgow.. this 4-hour-journey was a great one.. especially when i can avoid motion-sickness-causing-bus-rides.. huh.. i never liked bus rides.. huh.. sepanjang perjalanan mmg sgt menarik.. Scotland's geographical features and sceneries are similar to Ireland's.. farms..sheeps..mountains.. tapi mmg sgt lawa la.. :)
Dari Glasgow pulak, we took a bus to FortWilliam. Seriously, it was the longest 3 hours of my life.. disebabkan Fort William ni kat tanah tinggi, so u can imagine la how was the jalan kan.. the term i always use is: "jalan ular".. and the driver is not much of a help either.. laju gile bawak bas.. ade la bbrp kali langgar divider jalan.. and it was raining.. and pitch-black dark.. and not to forget, motion sickness.. adehh...

we stayed at the MacBackpackers hostel.. so much for the "backpacker".. haha.. kalau dh sume org bawak beg tarik yg besar tuh.. penuh laktuh dgn baju2.. takde gaya cam backpacker langsung.. haha..

the next morning kami naik keretapi ke Mallaig.. 10++ pounds pergi balik, semata2 nak lalu dkat bridge yg dlm crte Harry Potter..[ ala.. yg steam train pegi Hogwarts tu.. ]
it was just a few brief seconds.. but the perjalanan itself was splendid.. landscape berubah2, dari gunung ke tasik, lalu sungai2, and bile dh nak smpai Mallaig tu nmpak laut pule.. Subhanallah.. cantik sgt..
Nothing much to do at Mallaig..it's a small fishing village..with deep accent..haha.. so, since we still hv 2 hours until the next train, and there was seriously NOTHING to do.. jadinye.. semue org bersepakat utk switch on "camera sensor" masing2..  ngeh2..  bergambar je la nmpaknye.. 
background same je.. muka n gaya je yg bertukar2.. tu yg siap ade gmbr "pringles terbang tuh".. *lol*

the second day at FortWilliam was spent on the highest mountain in Scotland: the Nevis Range. Misi utama: Mencari salji.. yeahhh... kanak2 Galway yg tak pernah
 jumpe salji.. camni la jadinye..
dari kaki gunung, ingtkan cable car tu nak bwak kitorg smpai salji.. (ade la sket2 putih2 dkat2 dgn puncak tuh).. rupenye tak smpai pon.. *keciwa seketika*..
Disebabkan kekecewaan nih lah, kitorg bertekad utk bermain salji yg ade skit2 kat atas tanah tuh.. kuang kuang kuang.. kanak2 sungguh.. :P
Tapi takpe.. disebabkan tanak membazirkan tiket cable car tuh, kitorg pun panjat la bukit tuh.. agak mencabar jugak la.. sbb jalan die landai je, tapi disebabkan ais n salji yg dah dipijak2, jalan tu jadi licin.. kasut pun agak kurang sesuai.. ade la bbrp kali hampir tergelincir.. smpai half way ingtkan nak give up, sbb jalan dh makin curam 
n licin.. skali tgk org lain rilek je.. pkai loafer je.. 
ade yg pakai boots siap.. cis.. takleh jadi neh.. kne gak naik smpai atas...
Dan ternyata, it was worth it.. it was breathtakingly beautiful~!! even the camera-captured shot cant actually describe what lies before these pair of eyes.. Maha Suci Allah~

6th destination: Glasgow
We were almost at the end of the journey.. New year's eve at Glasgow...humm.. as expected, all the shops were closed early. At first, we thought of waiting for the fireworks.. but all we could see was groups of drunk or almost- drunk people... so, safety first-we just stayed at the hostel.. tak smpat tunggu pon, masing2 dh collapsed.. tdo lagi best kot.. :P

the next morning~ time to fly back home~!!!
uh-oh.. it was 1st of January, which means no bus, no train.. but thankfully, ade shuttle bus to Glasgow Airport.. jadi, kami dgn senang hatinye tibe di Glasgow Airport, just to find out that we actually got to the WRONG airport... and our flight was only 2 hours away...
Desperate, cuak, and takut terlepas flight..so we just agreed to take the cab.. It was new year, a public holiday, with no other means of transportation, and we obviously looked desperate.. so guess how much did the taxi guy charge us???
N-I-N-E-T-Y pounds!!!! atau dlm bahasa melayu nye, SEMBILAN PULUH POUNDS!! cis.. tak elok btul amik kesempatan drpd budak2 cm kitorg nih.. ingtkan dh borak2 dlm taxi tuh, nak la kasi murah sket.. cess..
tapi time tuh mmg ingat nak balik galway je la.. jadinye, bayar je la.. bahagi 4 org, takle rase sakit sgt.. T_T

___
and we're safely back in Galway.. safe n sound (^_^)v

The trip may be long and tiring.. and costly (of course).. but every second that passes was meaningful.. we got to see new things.. experienced new environment.. 
and sumtimes made us think and reflect.
Sumtimes we could not avoid from asking stuffs like:
"Kenapa takde bnde ni kat tmpat kite?"
"Knape org2 kat sini tak mcm kat tmpt kite?"
and a lot more "kenape"(s) and "mengapa"(s) ..[wpun maksudnye same je..]

But the point is, we just tend to compare.. wherever we go to, we cant help it but to compare and judge.. but that's the beauty of it.. we learn to appreciate what we have.. and we learn to dig out what are we lacking of, and how can it be improved..
We meet new people, (and weird accents :P ) and observe a whole new culture and "air".. 
Walaupun Ireland, England & Scotland pada dasarnye nmpak same je.. kulit pun same putih, ckp bahasa yg same, tapi kalau ditelitikan.. mmg berbeza.. Iras muka pun boleh nmpak bezanye..

Itulah kekuasaan Allah..

And the trip itself is a training to ourselves.. It's all about disciplining oneself (kalau lmbat, mmg kne tinggal transport), polishing our critical thinking, judging the outcomes of each action, weighing the good n bad, and of course, mengajar kite untuk sentiase bersabar.. There were times when we almost lose it.. but sentiase akan ade org yg akan tenangkan semue org...
And hopefully the trip will strengthen the bond that link us all :)

Ok..banyak sgt cakap..
Last but not least, THANX a lot kpd semua yg menjayakan trip ini..

-Emy,Teah,Haz,diri saye sendiri ^_^, (n Izyan, Faan & Bibik yg jumpe di tgh2 trip)

Special thanx to Org2 NottS (Ira, Ann, Neo & Ika) Org2 Manchester (Kak Am, K.Shiela n Zinn) JerrY of FortWilliam Backpackers..dan Org kantin Msia Hall krn mengubati kerinduan kami kpd teh tarik.. ^_^

wasalam~

-Special msg to Emy, Teah, Haz & Izyan: mintak ampun for any wrong that i did thru out the journey.. yep, i know i just cant avoid from giving u guys my 
"rancangan 2 minit" :P 

[anie]