the start of a new everything.

hey :)

I just got back from the Nice/Monaco trip this afternoon. As fantastic as the trip was, I couldn't help feeling glad to be back in Cork. The Irish will always, always, be the most accomodating and friendly race towards foreigners/Muslims. I feel so welcomed and at home here.

Well the trip started with thick snow in London, in which everyone's flights were delayed.



My Warsaw-Zurich one was delayed as well, causing the gap between the flight and the connecting one (Zurich-Nice) to shrink; we literally ran off the Warsaw-Zurich flight, sprinted across the airport to another gate and ran onto the Zurich-Nice flight. This explains why our checked-in baggages were left in Zurich - it didn't have enough time to transfer to the next flight. So we arrived in a rainy Nice, shivering cold...without dry clothes to change into and without sleeping bags. Despite efforts against it, Atiqah cried herself to sleep that night. Manja gila malas nak layan (boleh ke malas nak layan diri sendiri?).

Anyway the Swiss Air staff delivered our baggages to us and we got them the next day, so all's good from then on alhamdulillah.

here are some picthas of French things for you to see;



flowers sold at the market, pig-shaped manisan yang taktau apebenda, pastry shop...



rental bikes everywhere, and of course, the large variety of French cheese(s?) sold in the size of cakes;



we also went to Monaco. Monaco is basically a syurga dunia of sorts. haha boleh ke describe macam tu? the scenery was absolutely breathtaking, the ocean was a few different shades of blue, the architecture has a classic/modern clash to it, huge casinos are everywhere, and it seemed like everybody who live there drives cars-you-can-never-afford. seriously, like. i have never been to a country where every two cars you see, one belongs to the cars-you-can-never-afford category. there may be a slight exaggeration there, but you know what i mean. oh, we went exploring in a beautiful gua batu kapur as well while we were there.






we also went to Le Lagon De Noel Musee Oceanographic De Monaco - you can guess what it is from the name, right?

I absolutely loved that place and was really pumped to go exploring, because I loved KLCC's Aquaria quite a lot. It was everything I wanted it to be, and more;



these Nemos (I refuse to call them clown fish)...I fell in love with them. I kept going back to their tank and taking pictures and staring - they had me in a trance. I want an aquarium of Nemos one day. I really, really, do.

and then we went up to the musee's rooftop, and subhanallah...the view. the view is nothing short of spectacular. it's one of those rooftops that would fit in a bit too well for scenes of a well-made cheesy romance film. there was the view of the ocean on one side, and the view of Monaco on the other - I can't describe it, you have to see it for yourselves. My camera, however, decided to die right before that (due to my overenthusiasm in taking fish pictures) hence I do not have any photographic aid to this experience. My friends would have them, but I haven't gotten the pictures from them just yet.

we then went to a Christmas market, where we ate the mouthwatering Churros and waffles with chocolate and lots of cream. they have HUGE bottles of Nutella, like REALLY huge ones, lined up at the waffle booths. mmmm.



I also saw this modern day Santa there, chillin' by the multicoloured choo-choo train, texting his friends. The elves, perhaps. He was also black.

As we walked on through the Christmas market, we realized that there was an ice hockey game going on at the ice skating rink, so we sat down and watched that for a bit. I wanted to stay longer, but it was getting late. It felt nostalgic, watching that game. I only just realized that night how much I liked playing hockey and how much I miss it.



Well that's it I guess? the closure of my 2009. I don't have that many things going on in my life to make a list from January to December. I might have if I really think about it...but I'm just not in the right state of mind right now. I'll leave you with these two pictures;



one of me holding two French gelatos smiling in a scary/hungry kinda way, wearing my (hand-me-down) FCUK coat,



and one of Galaxy chocolates renamed into a what is clearly a better name for them. ROFL.

Azam tahun baru saya terlalu private untuk dishare di blog (yang private). Haha. Pura-pura misteri.

2009 closed with a text from Mama saying Pak Teh passed away and me staring at my phone in disbelief because not long before that I was sympathizing for the death of a girl's grandfather.

2010 opened with me having the security in Warsaw airport semi-yelling at me to take off my headscarf, and me struglling to keep my cool. I managed to talk her (in English) into letting me take it off in the private booth (that is blatantly located there for cases like mine tapi dia saja nak gertak budak kecik nama Atiqah) and she, semi-yelling gibberish (by gibberish I mean Polish) to me, grumpily motioned for her female co-workers to scan me in the private room.

Here's to hoping things will get better for this year from this day onwards.

<3

Happy New Year korang.


xoxo
Atiqah