Travelog: Me and our journey

Spring now :: flowers blossom everywhere. But I want to recap our first winter experience here in Geneva. We arrived Geneva during the midst of winter around 6th January 2007. Most of the days were gloomy but there was no sign of snowing. Snow was not a new phenomenon for me.  In the States, the first year I've been there, I've experienced a major blizzard in Lehigh and Boston. As for the boys, this is quite a new experience for them. Ashraf used to experience winter in New Zealand and Istanbul but it did not snow there. Only deep coldness! Back at home in Malaysia, Ashraf always made imaginary snow with my talc powder, my facial tissue and even my flour! All because of Thomas the Tank Engine and its series. I remember one series in which Thomas entered into a tunnel and exited into huge snowbank... and Terence, the Caterpillar had to tow Thomas away... After that, tamat riwayat bedak.. I think the huge Anakku talc powder, 2 bottles... We had that bottles sin...

Cuti Easter :: Musim bunga :: Prague. Dua minggu sebelum itu, merancang dengan rakan sepejabat untuk mengambil cuti Easter. Easter adalah cuti umum di Switzerland selama seminggu. Destinasi yang dirancang adalah ke Republik Czech, sebuah negara di Eropah Tengah yang bersempadan dengan Poland di sebelah utara, German di sebelah barat, Austria di sebelah selatan, dan Slovakia di sebelah timur. MAZDA 14 tahun Itu destinasi yang akan dituju. Merancang untuk bermalam di rumah rakan diplomat di Prague, ibu negara Republik Czech. Di Vienna akan bertemu dengan seorang rakan lagi sebagai "pemandu pelancong" tidak rasmi. Rakan kepada rakan saya ini. Perjalanan sejauh  2,000km bermula dari Geneva ke arah Prague kemudian turun ke Vienna, Austria sebelum pulang semula ke Geneva. Tempoh yang memakan masa hampir seminggu. Oh ya, dengan memandu sebuah Mazda 323F yang dibeli dengan harga CHF6,500 yang berusia 14 tahun. Gila? Tidak sampai tahap gila, cuma penuh yakin dan bertawakkal......

“The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.” Buddha quotes (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.) --> “Patah kaki” literally described us when we started our life in Versoix. The mode of transport was a 10-minute walk to the nearest bus stop called Les Fayards. From there, we have to take a TPG (Transport Public Genevois) bus which operates almost every hour to Geneva. The journey on the V-bus would take us around 50 minutes along the countryside, down the lane and up the hill, passing by monuments, the Red Crescent HQ, the UN place and homes. --> It was winter and a 10-minute walk could feel like forever with the cold frigid wind blow against you. I could not imagine hubby going out early in the morning, walking towards the bus stop and waiting for the bus in the winter season. Sometimes, he had to brace the thick snow or the slippery black ice along the road. From his office, another 10 minutes walk to the nearest bus st...

The longest journey begins with a single step, not with a turn of the ignition key (Edward Abbey) Our first trip out of Geneva is to Lyon, France although we were still searching for a car. Since still “patah kaki,” we pooled with a fellow MITIan, kak Normah and convoyed with Hairil and Izan to Lyon. Lyon, third largest city in France, was located almost one-hour drive south of Geneva and in the east central France. The Hairil's family, Kak Normah and me “Takkan Melayu hilang di Dunia”. That’s the thing about Malays in perantauan. Rice is always the main dish. That’s what happened to us. As soon as we arrived at Lyon, we replenished ourselves with “bekalan.” I made some “tauhu sumbat” while Izan and kak Normah brought along, some rice, roasted chicken and sandwiches. In UK, people do carboot sale but here we did a carpicnic time right in a parking lot some more. Then, it was time for sightseeing around Lyon. Car-Picnic The main attraction in Lyon is the rue ...

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Robert Frost quotes (American poet, 1874-1963) Geneva or Genève in French or Genf in German or Ginevra in Italian will be our home for the next three years. It’s winter here and the cold blast was quite a shock to the kids. The best part was that they hibernated and become less active. Alhamdulillah! For the first week, we stayed at Royal Manotel , Rue de Lausanne in the heart of Geneva. Food was difficult but then since the room was equipped with kitchenette facility, we managed to cook some basic dish which mainly involved sardine and eggs! Initially, I was quite paranoid with the new place and only spent our time i n t he room while hubby went to work. It seemed quite daunting to walk in the col d winter weather with two hyperactive kids! We only managed to go out sightseeing whenever he’s back but by 5 pm, it...

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” Don Williams, Jr. quotes (American Novelist and Poet, b.1968) The year 2006 marked significant changes in our lives. I was pregnant for the second time. It was a joyous celebration for us but also it was also a nightmare for me. My company was undergoing business transformation as such most of my time was spent at the office. My tummy grew synonymously with the workloads, the never-ending projects and the business trips. But, the best news was that hubby got an offer to be posted overseas. Fuhhh, what a relief! Gotta a break from all these madness. The preparation to move there was quite a learning experience for us. Sorting out things at home was chaotic to say! What to bring, what to sell, what to maintain … so many checklists to implement! So, guys let me share the most important tips if you are moving out to overseas. Start...

27th January 2002, the year when we tied and solemnized our love in a simple akad nikah followed by the wedding banquet on the first day of Chinese New Year that year. Just a week after our wedding, hubby had to go to Mexico for two weeks for APEC meeting. It seems this trend continues on in our marriage... To be left home while hubby on working trips! Mungkin rezeki pengantin baru rasanya, I won a free ground handling voucher for a 4D3N free n easy trip to Perth courtesy of MAS Golden Holiday! So while hubby is enjoying Mexico, I made the necessary arrangement to utilize the MAS travel entitlement and free gift for our honeymoon trip to Perth, Australia. In Perth, we stayed at Ambassador Hotel which is just a walking distance to Perth downtown. So, we spent most of city walking trips exploring Perth. On second day, we took the city trip (part of the complementary package) around Perth. We fall in love with Freemantle city and the King's Park especially the hill ove...