So.. How Have You Been? On Geneva, London, Bali, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Dubai

Assalam...

I promised that I would start re-updating this space, right? Truthfully speaking, I have not found a full inclination toward doing so. But I try. Alasan saya? I haven't found my lost blogging mojo! Yes, superficial reason, but a valid nonetheless.

So many things I'd like to update actually, to cover the the year-or-so that I have left this space stalled. Main reason being, I was too busy with work especially, to find enough time to sit down and think of what I want to ramble about at that moment of time.

In the time that I stopped chronicling my journey in the UK, slightly over a month after that in late October 2011, I went to Europe again for a work trip. This time it was off to Geneva and London, again. Had a great time, felt very privileged to be able to go, and shopped till I drop!

Here are some snapshots from that trip in Switzerland and London:

Had the honour of dining and meeting the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when we had dinner at the Malaysian Consulate. It was the middle of autumn, it was cold at times but Geneva's beautiful.

After we were done in Geneva, flew to London for another assignment. Had great fun with colleagues and my boss, and reconnected with the city I left a few weeks before that and I consider homely.

 That was in October till early November.

After that, was caught up again with work, and I started to handle so many things at work. Loved it though cause I felt challenged and I know I was honing on my talents.

Come the new year 2012, work was still something that kept me busy. But early February, I managed to go for a long weekend trip to Bali with my friend Shahida. It was supposed to be a GF trip, but Shireen and Shakie had to cancel going at the last minute. But we still had fun though!

 Throughout the year, I was involved in various tasks at the office. Life was pretty hectic. I was in a relationship. I don't want to write much on that, nor can I recall what else was I involved in at work and outside of it. Alhamdulillah, life was good. Don't get me wrong, it still is. It's just that things have changed considerably since then.

The big trip for 2012 for me, in addition to Bali, was Australia in November. Went to Sydney for a few days, then I flew to Adelaide to visit an old friend, flew to Melbourne and then back to Sydney. I was traveling alone for the first Sydney and Adelaide leg of the trip, then with someone in Melbourne and back in Sydney.

Here are just some snapshots of the trip:

 All of the above: in Sydney.

 With Carol and her hubby Jeff in Harndoff on Adelaide Hills.

 Adelaide

 Melbourne

 Back in Sydney. Hard Rock Cafe, tempat wajib pegi no matter where I go. No, not everything in those bags was for us. We received many requests from friends asking us to buy this and that over there.

 Aiya... gambar senget! How to straighten it?

 One of my lifelong dreams come true: being with koala and feeding the kangaru

 Cute penguins!

 Blue Mountains in Sydney. But it was extremely foggy so we couldn't see the Three Sisters at all!

Anyways, that was in November.

Alhamdulillah, come December pulak, I was assigned to be with the Malaysian delegation to Dubai pulak for another international ITU event.

 Alhamdulillahh... Ada rezeki naik Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world. But if you're gayat, jangan la naik ok? :)

 Like seriously, how to rotate the photos? See? I haven't been blogging for too long, now that they're sort of using the new format, I have no clue how to deal with this small matter!

  That's about it what I've been up to, travel-wise, during the 1-year odd that I haven't updated this space.

Will fill it up some more Insya-Allah..

See ya!

And.. I keep Apologising Over and Over Again

As-Salam... Seriously, I should take this blogging business seriously. But in my defence, I've been extremely busy before this that sometimes taking a breather was difficult. So many things have happened, changes in self, work, relationship, and basically, life happens. But now I've got more time in my hand, and I hope to be able to fill up this page again, Insya-Allah. Till then, let me get my creative juice flowing, and be back soon!

I Truly Am Sorry

To say the least. Sorry for not updating this space for a long, long time. But if you've popped by once in a while and read my tweet updates, you would've known that I'm very much alive and kicking. Alas, it's been very hectic, this few months. Not just work-wise, but also emotion-wise, spirit-wise. I didn't even have the time to drop by and blog-hop. Hopefully I will get the blogging groove back, soon. See ya!

Taking Another Break...To the Island of Gods

Here's what I'm looking forward to this weekend:





Adios Malaysia! See you again Tuesday:)

Edinburgh

Salam to all,

Yepps, this travelogue is taking way more time to finish than I originally anticipated. Thousand apologies for that. Bukan apa, makin lama delay story, makin banyak detail kita tak ingat.

So what I'm thinking this that like previous posts, there will be more photos than yapping ok?

Anyways, we departed from Newcastle late in the evening, and along the way, we popped by at Bambaugh Castle and spent quite a while there enjoying the view and click-clicking away on our cameras.

Soon enough, we were at the England-scotland border:





We drove along the north-east coastline, and were accorded nice view before it got too dark. We arrived in Edinburgh around 2 hours later and immediately checked into the Edinburgh Musselburgh Travelodge. We had dinner, and immediately rested for the night.

The next morning, we checked out early and headed to the Edunburgh city centre. It was a very nice day, and of course, we went as near as we could get to The Royal Mile. It was a Sunday, and we heard it could be difficult to get parking. But thank god, we managed to find one near the Edinburgh Museum.

Here are some photos:



keluar keta terus mau posing! Chaittt!!
Walked a short distance, right into The Royal Mile, heading towards the main attraction, Edinburgh Castle.



It's on top of a hill, you can practically see it from any location in the city. A very well-preserved site, and beautiful to boot.



View of the city from the castle compound.

OK sudah-sudah ler..:))...Time to get back down and explore the city. So many tourists and we were lucky as it was such a nice day. Eh chupp!! Two last photos of the Castle!:))




Anyway we then made our way between the cobbledstone streets and old buildings right into the University of Edinburgh's campus! Walked around with no proper destinantion, we just basked in the view of this old city.


Grand Mosque of Edinburgh. We actually singgah and had lunch at the nearby Pakistani restaurant after that.




Ambik this group pf photos tah dari mana eh?? Ya ampun dah tak ingat dah! But I know it's quite central because the Edinburgh HOHO buses start their tours there. And sorry, mak malas nak mengugel namanya hari ni:)

Dah tu pegi area ni pulak la: The Scott Monument




After that, I dashed off to search for that must place go:

Hehehhe... Well, the guy who served me at the counter is the loveliest person! So friendly! After making my must-buy items, went off back to the Scott Monument area where the rest were waiting.

Here's more nice view of Edinburgh:




Then we went back to Royal Mile for another round of basking-in-the-city feel, only to find that some parts were sealed off for a procession later that afternoon. Procession apa? Nobody knows. But cuci mata best! Contohnya:

:))

Then before getting to the car, we got into the Museum to rest and get warm for a while, and had tea. This is what I ordered:

Cheese scone with butter and chutney, and downed that with Earl Grey tea. Very very nice!

Ok, one last photo before leaving Edin!



We then said goodbye to Edinburgh. truthfully, rasa tak puas. I just love the city! The people are good looking, friendly, and I know a lot more places should've gotten into our itinerary. Next: Glasgow!