Travelog: Me and our journey

Middle week August 2007, while visiting Wan (Muzalmah's mom) at Grand Saconnex before her journey home to Malaysia, our friends invited us for a trip to Colmar. It was a hasty decision on our end with Abahnya just came back from Malaysia and then, our Citroen C4 has not been serviced yet. However, it was a very satisfying journey. Colmar is so beautiful. No wonder who-is-the-millionaire-in-malaysia decided to create a twin city of Colmar at Bukit Tinggi.  Initially, we decided to go to both Strasbourg and Colmar but we did not manage to cover both. So we decided to go to Colmar only. In total, we had a convoy of 6 cars going to Colmar. So far it was the largest group of people from Geneva travelling together.  A bit info on Colmar:  Colmar is a town and commune in the Haut-Rhin département of Alsace, France. In 1999 Colmar had a population of 65,136. Colmar was founded in the 9th century. This was the location where Charles the Fat held a diet in 884. Colmar ...

On January 2007, upon arriving at the Aeroport de Geneve, we were awaited by Aida Shafinaz, one of the MITI officer currently resided in Geneve.  She took us to the parking lot dedicated for diplomats having the CD-plate no.  My first impression was "Oh my God! how small is the parking place! For a few weeks, we have to rely on public transportation since we were required to have proper ID to qualify us to buy a car.  In the meantime, we went from one garage to another to look for a used car for us to use. We were planning to have two cars so that I could independently use as my "supir" function. The proceeds of our disposal of our car and motorbike in Malaysia was then used to buy the used car in cash and we would resort to take loans for another car.  Our budget was somewhat around CHF4,000 to CHF5,000.  No more and no less than that and it must be an automatic car! We used online business search such as  http://www.autoscout24.ch/fr/voiture ...

During our first year in Geneva, the snow still shy away from us. After the last snow fall, there was no more snow, Ashraf asked again n again for snow but it refused to snow again! So, what now!! We need to chase the snow for him rasanya... One day, as if answering our bequest, our friend asked us to join them for a ski trip and this wouldbe our second trip out of Geneva. Since, we are car-less yet, we car pooled with kak Normah while Izan & Hairil in their Citroen.  This time we headed for a small, ski town of Chamonix which is famous for its majestic Mont Blanc (the White Mountain!!). Chamonix is just located 1 hour drive south of Geneva through the French highway A40 or known as the Blanche highway. I was so fascinated with the trip here because most of the time, we have to go over so many bridges or known as viaducts along the highway. In fact, the bridges are very, very tall along the mountainside.  Among the viaducts that we have passed are Viaduct des Egra...

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 ...