Kembara Diri : Merentas Awan, Menjejaki Benua Asing : Pt 1 - Pen-Kul-Ams

Kembara Diri : Merentas Awan, Menjejaki Benua Asing

Pt 1 – Penang-KL-Amsterdam

This is the travel log of my Europe Trip I went from July 5^th to July 11^th, last 2 weeks. I’ll wrote in dual language, hope you don’t mind the rojak language then ^^) I’ll skip the pre-domestic flight details, just make a light summary on it. So here we go.

The Black Sheep

I, who’s accompanied by Ms. D, who especially wore shawl on that day, until I entered the Departure Hall at Penang Airport (later short-formed to PIA), can’t help to feel like a black sheep when surrounded by the other members of the trip. Tell you guys, there are 24 people in our trip, 6 from Kamunting factory – 3 Malays, all girls including me + 3 Chinese; and the rest are from Penang HQ. Basically I never really spoke or meet in person with those from HQ. At work we communicated through emails & phones but somehow, I felt really strange when we all finally bersemuka that evening. Even those who I already knew feels like strangers… yeah, maybe it’s just me.

FYI, I’m the only one with no baggage, just a huge backpack that looked like it’s going to explode anytime on my back with one sling-type handbag. I appreciate people’s concern on how that backpack’s gonna be a burden to me to carry it on my back all the time, but seriously, I don’t deny it’s heavy but it’s not a burden. I’m used to it. And, it’s kinda annoying to relate the heavy backpack with how I’m gonna stay fasting… bawak beg berat lagi, nak jalan lagi, sure tak larat punya. Thanks,… for the, unnecessary comments.

Domestic Flight : Penang to KL

So, in the Departure Hall, I continued to feel like a black sheep. There’s like an hour & a half before boarding but we just sit and minding our own business there.

We’re supposed to be boarding at 1902 but we managed to break our fast, sipping to mineral water before we’re going in. The abang yang kutip tiket sempat tanya, Dah berbuka? Haha, seriously, it’s 7.40pm at that time!

Mister N

So, before boarding, the other two Malay girls were like, nak duduk sekali on the flight bagai, which I don’t mind at all with who I’m gonna sit. Tapi bila naik, it turned that we all 3 are in the same row. I took the seat at the edge, means paling senang keluar, coz, it’s like the rule… I’m gonna be the translator during the likeliest events. So, when others already seated, I’m still standing with my backpack. Berdiri lama2 dgn backpack tu kt belakang pun halang org lain nak lalu, tapi nak turunkan beg tu then angkat pulak nak letak ke overhead compartment tu pun satu hal jugak. So when I saw a steward yang masa tu membelakangkan I, tapi tengah usher penumpang je, cepat2 aku panggil.

“Urm… sorry. Can you please help me… with this?” buat suara dan muka kesian siap.

Haha. Aku bajet steward ni Chinese, sebab aura dia dari belakang mmg mcm Chinese. Not that fair-skinned, tanned ala-ala orang rajin bersukan, jam tangan pun digital watch, tapi rambut ada ala-ala Kpop style gitu (undyed, pure black, though). Tu yang beriya pi mintak tolong in English. Sekali bila dia toleh, mak aih! … (Terpaku, terkedu, tergamam sekejap) Hensem nak mati! I’m bersyukur sebab dia tinggi (181-183cm maybe), so that even I toleh tepat kat dia time dia betul2 ada kat sebelah pun, I can’t see his face, nmpk lengan baju je!

So, he replied as soon as he turned to me,

“Sure. I WILL help you,” saja dia tekankan sikit perkataan ‘WILL’ tu. So yep, soal berat beg rasanya tak ada masalah. Yg jd masalah utk aku adalah ketinggian. Haha. So, thanks to this freakingly handsome steward whose also freakingly tall, angkat & letak backpack aku mcm angkat beg isi kapas je. 

“Sorry…” balas aku lagi, dual meaning. Ekcelli kata ‘sorry’ sb terasa gedik & satu lg sb tersalah teka dia Chinese awal2 td. Of coz, dia taktau pun semua ni, just, you know yourself the best kan?

So, the steward named Nashrin ni pun balas, dengan suara half whispering,

“Takpe, dah biase dah.”

Oh! Dia ingat aku mintak maaf sb mintak tlg dia angkat beg berat aku td. Adeh, seriously time ni rasa mcm nk pintal2 hujung tudung mcm Saidatina Khadijah buat time dia jumpa Rasulullah!

Ingatkan aku je pikir mamat pramugara sorang ni hensem, rupanya tak. The other two thought the same too. We acted like fools; everytime he goes back & forth serving the passengers with light snacks & juices, our eyes will follow him, WITHOUT blinks. Can you guys imagine? The other girl even said, “It’s a relief that I’m actually married.” Haha yeah, that’s just an expression.

KLIA after 5 years

So yeah, I smelled the longiness as soon as we landed in KLIA. I was here, in & out at least once a year time duduk Jepun dulu. Now, I can’t help to feel how I missed KLIA. We’re trying to grab our dinner, more like, a proper food untuk berbuka sebab atas flight Penang-KL td we only had snacks. But unfortunately, area berdekatan ni takde banyak kedai makan yang offer rice. Like it or not, kami masuk Grandmama’s. Order Chicken Rice kot, then waitress kata dah habis. How disappointing! Then kami order Hakka Fried Rice. Well, standard KLIA la, nasik goreng kampung tepi jalan lagi sedap tapi harga tepi jalan kalau paling mahal pun baru 4 ringgit, tapi kat sini kena darab 6 lah. Tambah air tambah tax, the bill for 3 was RM100++. Haha, that’s kinda expected, aku tak pelik pun!

International Flight: KUL-AMS

Our flight was delayed from 2320 to 2350. And yep, it’s another waiting. I think it’s about 90% of the passengers to be board are non-Malaysian. Maybe Germans, maybe Dutch… I don’t know. Unless they spoke, maybe I could try give it a guess. You know what, they, the non-Malaysians were quiet. After all it’s soon midnite. But I noticed the bangsa tanah besar in our group were talking & laughing quite loud and endlessly that they were the ‘attraction’ for the all eyes to land on. I don’t know if I should feel proud or feel the opposite. I heard it before; mana-mana pergi, orang tanah besar ni memang bising & seluruh dunia kenal sifat diorang yang satu ni. Well, now I can’t really deny it can I?

The Unused Scenarious

Well, we’re finally boarding. Us, the 3 malay still sitting together in one row. I got the seat paling keluar. So apa-apa I akan stop the steward/stewardess, I akan tanyakan, I akan confirmkan… and so on, that’s my job. Well, in all honest, I’m glad to be a help. After the supper, I asked the stewardess who served us if she could serve the breakfast a little earlier for us than others. She quickly recognized it’s for suhoor, though she’s a Punjab. A very friendly strewardess she was, and a very kind one indeed. She offered herself to confirm the imsak time and letting us know and asked us, what time would we like to have our suhoor. MashaAllah, can you imagine that? Sorry if I’m being overly touched but this is my first time flying that far (12K miles), using MAS, during Ramadhan. And I never received that kind of kindness from any other airlines before.

“I was pretold that, during on-board I had to take care of the prayer times, iftar & suhoor by myself as the cabin crew won’t do it for you. But it turned out to be quite different from that. So, the lesson learned : If you want people to take care of you, you gotta let them know what kind of care you need from them, but with politeness & decency, in a proper way. If you don’t try, you won’t know. When I tried, alhamdulillah, He’d ease our case this much.”

Pramugari yang baik hati ni bukan saje bagi kami MAS blanket untuk dibawak balik as souvenir, tapi siap bagi ucapan selamat hari raya lagi before we got off the flight.

“The 13 hours of flying was indeed long & exhausting. Too long I should say. I’m extremely tired of that I didn’t deny it a bit but I must say, I enjoyed being on the plane. I enjoyed flying. I enjoyed being up high on the skies. This is the kind of travel I’m seeking & longing for, for a very very long time.”

AMSTERDAM Schiphol Airport : ‘Natsukashii Kuuki’(懐かしい空気)

As soon as I’m leaving the aircraft (still in the connector) , I can smell the cold air and as I inhaled it, I know that this is the air that I’ve been missing to breathe in all these years. The coldness that greets you as soon as you’re exposed to the bare air, that feeling is so fresh and I can hardly put it into the right expression or words, but I just let myself sink in that feeling for a few brief moments with my eyes shut. It’s like the surroundings have gone mute and all I hear was silent breeze or the random particles against the wind (terlebih sastera dah nih!)… before I’m back to reality and forced to absorb the tight schedule awaited us for the whole day.

We’re a bit sloppy and blanked at first. The whole thing from passport inspection until the final luggage inspection with customs held us for hours. That was really not something you could see in KLIA. There’ like 3 vessels arrived at one time thus the total number of passengers waiting to be disembarked from the there were like, thousands. I never saw that kind of number lining up for passport inspections in my entire life (sorry to be jakun!). Soon, we’re told to rush for our bus that is already waiting to start our journey to our very first destination, Zaanse Schans – suburb village with beautiful sceneries.

Budaya ‘tunggu kawan’

I know this’ good, coz it means you didn’t leave your friends behind but when it turned to delay things, seriously a BIG NO! I started to have the feeling that I will be all alone later on. And it was.

I can’t exactly remember how long it took us to reach Zaanse Schans from the airport. One hour? 45 minutes? Yeah well, maybe I’m still having the difficulties in converting M’sia time to the local time though my watch set to Paris/Berlin, but I need to manually set it to meet the DST : +1 hour.

As soon as we’re getting off the bus, I walked alone. I took pictures alone. Until I’m kinda lost where to head next. I can’t see anybody from our tour anymore. Blame me for being too busy in my own world! Then I accidentally met a Chinese auntie (from Kamunting factory), she’s too kinda lost, wandering alone all by herself. Soon, we paired up and walked together, randomly heading to anywhere we like, anywhere our feet feels like going to. We took each other pictures tanpa disuruh. Yeah, maybe I have this disease. I’m more fond or fit to strangers or the one who aren’t from my own skin better, since, forever. Thus made me the black sheep. But seriously who cares, I’m happy with this auntie, the now my walking around buddy.

Later, we bumped into a small group of Chinese members in our tour and I ended up being the only Malay in that group in the cheese factory. A bit unfortunate I can’t taste the cheese since I’m still fasting but I do get myself a pack of, kinda sweets made of cheese there for 1.95euros.

“The windmills, the wooden small houses, the grass fields, the breeze, the water, the land, the skies in radiant blue – they were in perfect harmony. They’re everywhere, in their very own positions but they are one – suppporting & cheering each other. I feel so, they taught me so. Unlike us, humans.”

Me and the auntie and later joined by the other auntie by age, sister by looks/status (I mean being single), went around together and ends our exploration at the souvenir shop located just at the entrance of this tourist spot. I actually interested in T-shirts & caps sold here. They really in nice shapes & designs and most importantly, very affordable price (11.90euros/pc, 30euros for 3) but since we don’t know how much is really the affordable price and also the quality of the goods, so aku simpan je dulu niat nak beli T-shirt ‘I Amsterdam’ dari kedai ni… which later I regretted that I didn’t buy it here (cries a river!).

Puasa or bukak puasa?

So, basically, here in Zaanse Schans we have the whole place to feast our eyes, with those windmills and wooden houses that looked like toys, you know, colorful boxes berderet di gigi sungai tu. Then, we also have cheese factory & also the wooden clog factory – tempat buat kasut kayu la senang cerita. Design kasut Crocs yg trending skg tu amik design ni ha, tapi tak lah buat guna kayu lagi. So, the whole place is like the combination of artistic, sceneric, historic in one village. So lovely & mind-soothing. Tambah pulak angin sepoi2 bahasa dok bertiup pagi tu. Take me to the different world!

But we didn’t have much time. It’s soon 12 noon and we’re now heading to restaurant, for lunch. Aku terpikir nak tanya the others, if they’re insisting on fasting – unfortunately they’re not. So, tinggal aku saja yang puasa. Many others yang terkejut jugak with my decision. Ramai jugak yg dok suggest aku bukak je puasa then ganti je time dah balik M’sia nnt. Ramai sgt yg buat conclusion nnt tak larat & memudaratkan sedangkan ni hari first kami di Amsterdam. Yang mmg mengaku tak larat & nak berbuka tu lain cerita. The prob is, I don’t. No fatigue, no thirst, no hunger. Guess my body can take it from my rigorous daily routine. You think it’s easy to cycle 8km everyday if you aren’t used to it? Aku tak kata senang, tapi alah bisa tegal biasa. I’m the proof of it & also I want to prove that, with the will of Allah so far nothing is impossible for me. Only your mindset controls you, the rest leave it to Allah.

So, when everyone stops for lunch at the restaurant – Chinese food restaurant, I took the chance to go to the bathroom, clean myself a little bit more (dah cuci muka, gosok gigi bagai sebelum turun flight) then ambil wudhuk cepat2 kat sinki time takde orang masuk. Then, aku bawak diri gi duduk kt bangku2 kayu kt perkarangan luar/open space for public.

“Good thing about Amsterdam is that, their people never bothered to stare at strangers nor foreigners.”

Waktu ni matahari tegak kt atas kepala, sampai nak bukak mata pun separuh aje boleh, tapi udaranya sejuk ya amat. Yelah, dah lama tak rasa udara sejuk, sekali kena terasa sgtla sejuknya tu. Time ni baru aku on balik handset sejak kat PIA, handphone aku dok off. Tgk jam kat handset dah otometik tukar ke local time. Aku duduk2 aje tunggu masuk waktu zuhur. Sambil2 tu buang pandangan ke sekitar.

“I recalled the words I overheard on the bus just now. Somebody said, she won’t ever join any of trips like this anymore. Because she felt so sad when she recalled her children at home. Well, I have a 70-yr-old mother left alone at home, I thought to myself. It’s not like I’m here to selfishly enjoy myself and leave her all week accompanied by loneliness. Well, maybe aku cepat melatah. I didn’t know her real intentions saying that. And maybe, I didn’t underderstand the feelings of someone who never used to part from their loved ones. Aku dah terbiasa ditinggalkan & meninggalkan. Aku tak sedih, cuma kalau ada pun, risau. Tapi risau tu tak melindungi yg ditinggalkan & tak memudahkan yg meninggalkan. So, doa & serah pada Yg Maha Melindungi ajelah.”

When I’m sure it’s time, I performed the solat while sitting on the bench. Totally forgot the shawl I brought to be used as sejadah. But it’s okay. I actually tried to ask one Muslim sister who happened to pass by in front of me earlier, the location of musolla. But unfortunately, she can’t speak English only Arabic, so she can’t tell me the direction to the nearest mosque. And I’m afraid I’d be lost if I’m still insist on going wander alone.

Canal Cruise

So, what’s next? We hopped in the boat and ready to cruise along the river where we can view the whole city. It’s actually beautiful and it could be more comfortable for taking pictures if you’re sitting by the window. In the sunny bright noon, you’d still feel the burn on the skin against the cold winds. And most of the time you can’t really take pictures when someone by the window’s blocking your view. So yep, we’re asked to fill in the seats – 4pax/table. Only the two by the window will enjoy the whole cruising, while the other two could just, well, see what’s there.

Red-light district

When we’re done with the canal cruise, we’re on our foot to the so called, ‘red-light district’. Do you have the slightest idea why it’s named ‘red-light’? Sebab banyak lampu merah ke? Haha. Definitely not. The district is filled with all the extended sex toys & sex shops.

Yeah well, nothing too extreme for the local it seemed and nothing too unusual for their culture & nature. But it’s totally not Asian thing, I acknowledged & fully aware of that. We aren’t allowed to take any photos in this area, which is really, really, a big relief. How could I take pictures of things that I would cover my face from seeing it?

Well, Imam Syafie didn’t prohibit but he suggested us not to look at our own private parts even, except during in needs & emergencies. Do you know why? Search the answer yourself. There’s like 10-pages explanation if you’re keen to know the reason & I agree with that. So yeah, I was like, just walked by, quickly. I can’t wait to reach the end of the district. Strangely I felt like people in the streets are staring at the naked me, instead of those figures when I’m here. Alhamdulillah, I’m grateful that He grants me the feeling to be embarrased to see such things.

“Malu itu banyak menghindarkan(menyelamatkan) manusia daripada melakukan dosa.”

Dinner & walk around

Seriously, at this time I can’t think of anything else but to go for a good, warm, long shower and to lie down on my back for few dozen minutes. Not that I’m hungry or tired, just, you know the feeling of tak mandi untuk belasan jam? Not dying just parched… gitu! Lembik dah rasa, mujurlah sejak naik flight tak berpeluh setitik pun, but still, I need water to flow on my skin!

So, time semua orang menghadap dinner, which happened to be at, Chinese restaurant, again, aku duduk aje kat meja makan, sambil menghadap makanan tapi tak makan. Later, I excused myself to the toilet and lengah2kan masa kat toilet tu. Aku pun paham, yg lain pn rasa tak best bila aku tak makan tp duk mengadap yg makan. Especially yg Chinese tp ada level of common sense yg agak tinggi ni. Dah macam senpai2 Jepun kt lab dulu dah jadinya, siap mintak maaf kt aku lg sebab depa makan dpn aku yg puasa. Adoiyai, seriously that touches my heart to the deepest.

After the dinner, we went for a little walk, again around the city. Some still managed to grab a souvenir or the claimed to be the best french fries in town, some bought the branded cheese, some others went to change some more money. Yeah, I feel the heat. But I didn’t have the urge to buy anything yet but food! I need to buy food for berbuka with my own pocket money. What to do, our tour guide expected me to not fasting and just eat when others eat! So I went to buy kebab at one Halal Kebab Shop that was a bit off of the main street. It was like in the jalan kecik kat belakang. No customers dining in at that time, that means I don’t have a worry of needed to wait. My order was done right away. The meal I ordered consists of 3 slices of kebab meat (I chose beef) with bunch of french fries and loads of salads. When I said loads, it really means ‘loads’. Aku yang kuat makan pun tak boleh habis makan sekali, ulang 2 kali makan pn memang kenyang tahap gaban. Alhamdulillah, it was my rizq.

“Many keeps saying that my kebab was way too expensive. They claimed that it wasn’t the normal price – around 5 euros and mine was 17.5 euros (with rice plus 1.5L mineral water added). But for me, I am totally satisfied with that. Not just the food but also the hospitality and the quality of service presented to me by the owner of the shop. May Allah bless you brother. Thanks for the meal. I didn’t regret a cent labored on your deeds & efforts.”

First hotel in Europe

We arrived at our hotel at around 8pm local time. I took the honor of taking my shower first. FYI, my roomate is a Chinese girl from Penang HQ. We talked on the phone quite frequent, because she handles account and I handle purchasing. So you see the relation between us do you? She’s quite friendly, probably grown up in the Malay environment so she didn’t show the slightest awkwardness when around Malay. In fact, the way she initiate conversations, she’s like a friend of your since kindergarten!

After taking the shower, I can’t help from taking a nap. It’s around 9 something, about an hour before I can berbuka. So it’s actually late Asar if in M’sia. Well, I need some rest. My roomate was on the phone with her younger sister, then her mother I supposed. But soon, her voices turned into muttering, muted and eventually faded into silence as I wandered far & lost in the Dreamland. I was awaken when sayup-sayup je dengar ada orang panggil nama. Dalam mamai2 tu, I thought it’s just a dream – apparently not! The other Malay girl appeared before me - now sitting on the bed, handed me a tupperware full of dates and asked me to bukak puasa with it. Alhamdulillah. I take it as a complement to my bukak puasa meal set. I had drinks & main meal, just lack of fruits eh? Kurma tu kira buah la kan… boleh la tu.

So, since masa tu dah lagi 15 minit lebih kurang sebelum waktu berbuka, aku pun ambil keputusan bangun je la then pi siap-siap apa yang patut sebelum berbuka. Hidang siap-siap makanan, tuang siap2 air minum. Kebetulan roomate pulak beli Coca-Cola. Aku tumpang la sikit barang secawan. Takut jugak walaupun bergula, tapi bergas + berasid kan? Against my 19-hours emptied stomach, kang sakit perut ke apa susah plak. Dah la esok nak pi Germany dah!

Alhamdulillah, tak lama lepas tu waktu berbuka. Aku makan sambil berborak dengan roomate. We talked about each others, families & works. Not too detailed but just like a general intro about each. An hour later, we hopped on to each others bed (this room equipped with 2 single beds) and gone to sleep after good long chats. She took a little too much beer and drunk a bit, so as the dose went higher the stories gone deeper. You know it gone ‘deeper’ when all the grievances hidden are all out. Usually I met this type of drunk, so I ain’t afraid at all. Just, I played my part. I’m a good listener after all.

I had a quality sleep for like 3 hours before waking up for suhoor. My suhoor is the same exact thing I had for breaking fast – the kebab, the mineral water & the dates. Alhamdulillah, I’m full. I waited until it’s time for Fajr prayer then I went back to bed for another hour before waking up again to get ready for the second day trip destination – Cologne, Germany.