Kembara Diri : Merentas Awan, Menjejaki Benua Asing : Pt 2 - Koln-Brussels

Kembara Diri : Merentas Awan, Menjejaki Benua Asing

Part 2 – Cologne, Germany & Brussels, Belgium.

The weather was perfect today. Bright & sunny tapi udara luar tetap sejuk. Tak mungkin boleh berlegar-legar di luar tanpa jaket membaluti tubuh.

Our tour guide, Mr. Stan will always share the useful informations about the local systems, culture and norms and even some fun facts that he knew throughout his career being a tour guide. I don’t know if he’s quite a hilarious one but I remembered that people laughed way harder and more frequent when he spoke in Chinese.

The journey to Cologne, Germany took about 4 and half hours from the hotel we stayed. We were asked if it is okay for us, the Muslims, to enter a cathedral. I answered on behalf of the rest : Of course, no problem. We’re here for sightseeing and maybe, to learn the different culture, different religions so that indirectly we also recalled and learn that He, The Creator creates us to be different so that we could learn and try to understand each other & at the same time, recognize Him, be closer to Him. Stan claimed that there were a group of Muslims (from Malaysia) he lead before refused to enter the cathedral, but Stan did not state the reason clearly. I think I could understand if I look into Malaysia nowadays. 

Jurang yang terlalu ekstrim daripada pelbagai segi, bukan sahaja keagamaan, status ekonomi & kepercayaan politik, malah tahap & gaya berfikir serta kebolehan menaksir sesuatu perkara yang ada pada masyarakat kita hari ini, malangnya, tidak ubah seperti masih di zaman pra-kemerdekaan dahulu.

Rasanya tak perlulah aku buat kupasan ilmiah pulak kat sini, cuma daripada segenap sudut, mungkin terlalu banyak khilaf yang wujud tapi tak pernah kita berusaha untuk memperbetulkan dengan mendalami dan menghalusi.

So, back to the issue masuk gereja. Aku dan seorang lagi Melayu muslim masuk saja tanpa banyak soal dan pikir. Bukan maksud main redah aje, tapi sebab aku tahu, iman dan syahadah bukan terletak di bahu mahupun pada tudung yg kamu lilit di kepala. Tepuk dada, tanya di mana iman masing-masing.

When we arrived, there are other Muslims sighted as visitors of the largest cathedral in Germany, the Cologne Cathedral. We entered in and it looked pretty amazing on the inside as it is on the outside. I mean the architectural arts it has. The cathedral took 600 years to be built and it still under construction at some areas. There are maybe thousands of people at the outside now and maybe the same number’s inside as well. We took some pictures but you can’t expect to stay still at one spot since there are way too many people waiting to take turn taking pictures at the spot. It’s free to enter and you’re allowed to go as far as you wanted. Well, maybe you don’t favor to go underground and visit the so-called ‘makam’ for their late ‘pak imam’. But just so you know, we went down just to ensure what’s there. Yang sorang dah dok mengucap sambil dok baca bismillah bagai dah bila turun ke bawah. Well.

The stained glasses, ukiran patung-patung, lampu-lampu semua cantik dan sungguh artistik, tapi bila dah terlalu ramai pengunjung (walaupun hari ni hari bekerja), tentulah cepat rasa rimas dan prefer open air kan? So we went out and decided to strike some more poses in front of the cathedral. Bangunan2 kat luar pun cantik jugak seni bina dan reka bentuk masing-masing. So, tak sampai sejam kami di sini dah kena rush naik bas sebab lepas ni kami perlu ambil masa 3 jam setengah untuk sampai ke destinasi seterusnya, Brussels, Belgium.

Seriously, honestly, frankly, dalam hati aku terfikir: Susah-susah, jauh-jauh dari Amsterdam nak sampai ke Cologne tapi kami hanya ‘singgah’ sekejap untuk Cologne Cathedral aje? Banyak lagi kot tempat-tempat menarik untuk dilawati dalam Cologne ni. Well, apa boleh buat. Nama pun tour, dah tentu ada route yg dah ditetapkan dan tak boleh sewenang-wenangnya nak ditukar pulak.

Sejujurnya aku rasa lagi letih bila kena duduk berjam-jam dalam bas untuk gerak dari satu tempat ke satu tempat. Total hours we’re on the move today was about 8 hours yet we could only spend few hours at the destination.

It feels warm when we’re at Germany just now and here, with the sun lowered down and the weather turned to be a bit cloudy with the breeze, it doesn’t feel like summer at all. Just nice to walk around the city and enjoy the historic feels. Senang cerita, bila sampai Brussels ni rasa macam pergi Melaka. Banyak bangunan-bangunan yang boleh dikatakan bersejarah dan lama. Of coz, janganlah samakan dengan yang ada kat Melaka.

So, selain bangunan-bangunan lama dengan reka bentuk & seni bina yang menarik, Belgium memang terkenal dengan coklat. Memang banyak sangat kedai choc – dari yang ternama dan terkenal sampailah ke kedai souvenir biasa-biasa aje. Kebanyakan kedai memang bagi their customers rasa produk yang dijual dan ‘tak kedekut’. Aku tak berpeluanglah nak rasa sebab aku puasa dan aku pun tak membeli apa-apa dari Brussels.

Waktu orang lain sibuk keluar masuk dari satu kedai ke satu kedai, aku pulak sibuk cari kedai jual kebab. Aku tanya Stan, mana tahu kalau-kalau dia tahu. Of coz la dia tahu, aku rasa dia dah hafal & dah jemu pun lalu semua kawasan kat situ sebab dah selalu sangat sampai tempat-tempat ni. Tak begitu susah nak cari kedai kebab. Aku beli kebab dengan roti pita yang mirip kebab kat M’sia tapi saiz keseluruhannya hampir 4-5 kali ganda dengan harga 4.5euro. Murah sangat kan, kalau nak dibanding dengan yang aku beli semalam?

So, after about an hour here, we all went for dinner. And guess what? It’s another Chinese restaurant! At this rate, most of the trip members started to wear long faces everytime they saw the restaurant’s name on the signboard. Well yeah, you can’t say no and you don’t really wanna say yes… it’s, complicated! I just sat at the table, watching others having their meals. I’m used to it already.

So basically, we don’t have schedules at night. I bet we can if we want to but it’d be on our own expenses. Besides, we’re already exhausted during the day, so most of us normally would prefer to stay at the hotel. As for me, this never came across my mind when I was in the middle of the trip since you know, I’m breaking my fast at 10pm and I’ll be taking my suhoor at 2am. Basically, I never had enough sleep & rest for the whole trip. And maybe not enough food but thanks to Allah, He grant me the healthy body & mind to stay active during days.

There are some of us, who went out on that night. Basically for some beers and snacks at the nearby bars/pubs. I don’t drink nor not interested in going out, so I stayed at the hotel and tuned in to the tv watching the shows that I don’t understand a thing. Tonight, I was too lazy to go for shower before breaking fast, so I just sit on the bed, while waiting for iftar time. We’re lucky this hotel has kettle in their rooms. They even provided us the coffees and teas with sugars and creamers. Later, I had 2 cups of Nescafe with my kebab. Too much caffeine you’d say but you know what, I dozed off as soon as I lie on the bed. Caffeine has no effect nor power to make me stay awake, and if it does, it’s just an excuse. Haha.

I actually set my alarm at 11pm but I’m too tired to wake up and go for shower so I pushed my alarm to 2am. Guess what happened? I overslept until 2.58! Astaghfirullah. I rushed to the toilet, thought it’s just me, mamai tengok jam. But it wasn’t. It really was 3.08am at that time. I have about 5 minutes before it’s Fajr. Aku teguk air mineral yang berbaki dalam cawan sejak waktu berbuka tadi sebelum bergegas untuk ambil wuduk untuk Subuh. Astaghfirullah. Lesson learned : NEVER lie on the bed after meal. No matter what is your excuse, just, don’t lie. Well it’s too late to sit and repent now. After Fajr prayer, I went to bed to sleep a bit more but I hardly can shut my eyes. So aku ambik keputusan untuk gi mandi & kemudian baru sambung tidur…

…to be continued in Part 3…