As planned early morning of 2nd.of June 2009 after Subuh prayers we left home and straight away head for the KLIA. Azman and his wife sent us to the airport . Immediately we checked in our luggage consisting of 3 medium sized bags . I informed the airport MAS staff that we were on transit to Dublin and requested them to transfer our checked in luggage to our Aer Lingus plane at Terminal 1 at Heathrow Airport .Another bag, I took it with me into the plane . After bidding farewell we head for the immigration counter before boarding a train which took us to the departure wing . It all went through nicely and we boarded the MAS plane flight No: MH 04.At exactly 1000 hrs. the plane left KLIA and began our 12 hours non stop journey to London Heathrow .While on the plane we were served two meals and light refreshments .
Transit stop over at Heathrown airport.
The plane touched down at terminal 3 Heathrow airport, London at about 1530 hrs 2nd.June UK time about 20 minutes ahead of schedule . The weather was slightly cold .Since our flight to Dublin by Aer Lingus took off from Termina 1 , we had to walk some distance and then into a train which took us to Terminal 1 . At the Terminal Custom checkpoint we encountered a rude Immigration Officer who tried to be funny with us. He was an Indian borned officer and asked us some irrelevent questions . I reckoned he could have been influenced by the Hindraf movement which has a base in London .Any way we were finally allowed to pass through .
The Flight to Dublin.
We boarded an Aer Lingus flight No: El 179 at about 2010 hrs. The flight was just about 1 hour 5 minutes and we reached Dublin airport at about 2120 hrs. The weather here was slightly colder than in London .After claiming our luggage , I contacted our daughter Eileen who was already on her way to the airport .We were grateful to Cik Ann ( Eileen's housemate ) , a Kelantan young lady who has been staying and working in Dublin for a number of years for she drove us in her own car from the airport right to our hotel , the Rethmines Travelslodge Hotel which was situated not far away from our daughters residence . It was almost right in the city centre and was within walking distance to the shops .Our daughter Farin stayed with her sister Eileen while I and wife stayed at the hotel .The hotel was earlier booked by Eileen at a very cheap price . As we were tired we slept soundly for the night .
Strolling down the city of Dublin.
3rd.June was a free day for us and we spent our time by going window shopping at Dublin City .There wasn't much to see in Dublin actually .Any way the whole day was spent in the city.
Convocation Day at the University College Dublin,National University of Ireland.
The convocation day of our daughter Eileen was on the 4th.of June. At about 0930 hrs. we hired a taxi which took us right to the vicinity of the hall of the University College of Medicine where the convocation was to take place . Outside the hall I met my former comrade in-arms in the Royal Malaysia Police when I served in Klang and Shah Alam districts , Sjn.Major Jamar . He was with his wife and flew over to Dublin to witness the convocation of their daughter who was my daughter's coursemate . There was supposed to be another member of the rank and file of the Police in Shah Alam whose daughter was also to graduate. But it was from the Trinity College of Medicine , a nearbouring College which was also under the National University of Ireland . I am proud of these two men for being just a member of the rank and file they nanaged to produce intelligent children and to be doctors . The convocation was a short one , unlike our local universitites which normally have lenghty programmes .By noon it was all over . I managed to catch some pictures by my video camera for my family to view .We then left the convocation hall by bus . We had lunch at an Arab restaurant in the city . On the way home we went to Eileen's apartment . Late in the evening we came back to our hotel .
A harrowing experience at the Dublin international airport.
On 5th June morning we left our hotel for the airport . Cik Ann was again willingly sent us to the airport . We were scheduled to fly to Zurich to begin our Europe tour . Then began the first snag. We were refused our boarding passes although the tickets had been paid for . The reason given was that they needed to see our tickets showing when we would leave Zurich .The airport airline staff refused to hear our explaination that we would be leaving Zurich by train and the tickets would be purchased once we reached Zurich as we could not purchase them online . Even if we were to buy the ticket that day it would take about a week for them to send the tickets to our place . As such we had to cancel the trip to Zurich and forgo the tickets that our daughter already paid for . Till this day I still cannot accept the rationale why the Dublin airport airline staff should imposed such a condition because it is not her country that we were going to . It was another country , Switzerland . After all I and my wife were senior citizens while two children were students . We were genuine tourists and we would not want to overstay there . I intend to write a complain letter to the Switzerland government of the situatiuon we were in . Because of that we had to reschedule our trip . We would instead go to London and from there take a Eurostar train to Paris . This means we would skip going to Switzerland. The airline tickets to London would only available on 8th of June . Not to waste any time we would then go to Belfast ,North Ireland .
An unplanned holiday in Belfast.
From the Dublin airport, we boarded a bus and head for Belfast . It was a 4 hour journey . Reaching Belfast we checked into a Travelslodge Hotel in the city centre - two rooms for the four of us .That day we spent the time by going shopping and visiting the City Square and taking some pictures . Belfast was quite a big city with many historical places to see .Things were slightly cheaper here .My wife bought a few handbags from Mark & Spencer shop. Northern Ireland which is under the UK's administration , uses the pound sterling as their currency , while Southern Ireland ( Dublin ) which uses the Euros .
A tour of the countryside of Northern Ireland.
On 6th.June we went on the countryside tour for the whole day by chartered bus .Other tourists in the bus included an Arab family , an Indian family and a few tourists from mainland England. We visited some remnants of the old castles , walled city of Derry ( Londonderry ) the famous Giants Causeway and many more .All along the way the driver explained about the places that we visited . The trip took us the whole day and we reached our hotels in the evening feeling exhausted .
Anyway the Belfast trip was quite an interesting one and fate had brought us there because we never planned it to be there . Any way I am grateful to Allah for due to His will we were able to be in Belfast .On 7th.June morning my wife continued her shopping spree before we boarded a bus back to Dublin. That night we slept in Eileen's place .
The day when we really left Dublin.
On 8th.June evening we left for the airport again . Cik Ann , again volunteered to send us to the airport . The plane , Ryan Air would take us to London Stanstead airport . We reached London Stanstead airport at around midnight . There was no point for us to check into a hotel because our Eurostar train to Paris would start at 0530 hrs and we have to be there at least 1 hour earlier . The Train station was at the St.Pancras International . From Stanstead airport we hopped into a bus which took us to Baker Street ,London . From there we hired a taxi which took us to the St.Pancras Station. We reached the station at about 12.30 hrs. We had coffee and then found ourselves a place to sit to wait for the 0530 hrs Eurostar train to Paris . It was a harrowing long wait plus the cold weather . We were almost frozen in the cold early morning during the 4-5 hours wait . Luckily there other passengers in the same boat , like us too . But we were then almost looked like refugees from somewhere .
The Eurostar train ride London - Paris.
At about 0430 hrs. ( 9th.June )we checked in , just like the air flight would be . We were surprised suddenly there was a big crowd of people lining up to check in . There were also some Malaysians who were either going to Paris or Brussels .The train started to move at about 0530 hrs. The ride was a comfortable one . Throughout the journey we could see wheat and corn farms and animals grazing in the fileds . Amazingly we could not see the ocean ( the English Channel ) although we passed below it . The journey to Paris took us about 2 hours . We reached Paris Central Station which was situated at Gare du Nord . From there we then went to the tube station .After a few minutes journey we disembark at the Wagram Station . Eileen called the proprietor of the apartment that she had booked . She was told that we could only checked in at 1400 hrs. It was a bit of a problem for us because we could not be dragging our bags around the city to spend the time . I then told her to call her again so that at least we could keep our bags in the room .It was a bit of a problem because she could not converse in English well. After some haggling finally she agreed to come and allowed us into our apartment . The apartment was situated within a short distance from the Wagram station .It was a nice apartment with two bedrooms , a kitchen and all the utensils required of a house . After a short rest we came out to the city .We then bought one-day open bus tickets which allowed us to hop into the bus anywhere we liked for the whole day .It cost 22 Euros each which included the boat ride along the Paris River . We visited almost all of Paris city which included the Eifel Tower , the Notre Dam and many more . In the evening Eileen and Farin continued with their city tour while I and my wife had to be contented by resting in our rented apartment . The next morning (10th.June ) at about 0900 hrs after having packed our luggage we chartered a taxi to go the Central Station at Gare du Nord . The taxi meter showed it was Eu 14.00 but the taxi driver in Paris normally would take an extra Eu 3-4.00 more .Unlike in London the taxi driver would only take the amount that was stated in the meter . The train tickets to Amstedam were already bought online by Eileen .The train began to move at 1000 hrs and the journey was about 6 hours . On the way we could see farms and animals on the fireld .It was quite a scenic view .
Two ' unforgettable ' nights stay in Amsterdam
We reached Amsterdam after a long journey . After a short distance walk from the Central station we finally found our hostel .Although the condition of the room was unsatisfactory we had no choice but to accept it . We had to pay Eu 180.00 for two nights . Considering the condition of the room , it was a bit expensive . The staircase to our room was so small and it could only admit one person at a time .It was a bit of a difficulty to carry our bags up the staircase .However the proprietor helped us to carry up the bags . After a short rest, we came down and atrolled down the streets near our hostel . There were many shops selling all kinds of goods . Comparatively , I found that things in Amsterdam were much cheaper than in any other cities in Europe . Things like leather goods such as bags , leather jackets and belts were very cheap .In between I could also see sex shops . Of course I did not tell my wife about them .
Amsterdam Boat Ride .
On 11th.June morning we bought tickets for the Amsterdam city River Cruise . The tickets cost Eu 12.50 per person . It was a 2 hour ride along the river with explainations from the Pilot all along the way . We could see boat houses and old buildings which were built by the the famous East India Company. During our history lessons in schools we read about he East India Company in the spice trade in the East Indies . It was the East India Company that colonised Malacca and the Indonesian archipelago . After that we continued with out shoppings . We met some Malaysians during our stroll of the streets of Amsterdam . We had lunch at an Arab Restaurant . After that we came back to our room to rest . While having discussions about the next day's plan I found out that the train to Brussels would only start at 1400 hrs. and that would meant that we would reached London late in the evening . It would be very inconvenient to check into a decent hotel in London at that hour . After much pondering I finally decided to forgo the already bought train tickets , Amsterdam-Brussels . Instead we would fly from Amsterdam to London . This meant I had to stump in about RM.2000/- for the flight .
The flight, Amsterdam - London Stanstead Airport.
On 12th.June at about 0630 hrs we left our room for the Central Station .We had to slowly tow down our bags through the narrow staircase .We walked slowly to the Central Station . From the Central Station we took a train which took us to the Schnidol Airport . The flight was at about 0930 hrs. and it would take about 2 hours .It was an Easy Jet .Com. - a budget air carrier . On reaching Stansted airport we boarded a bus which would take us to Marbel's Arch. Some how about a few kilometers on the highway our bus lost one of it's tyre pressure and we had to be transfered to another bus . That was perhaps a bad omen . After waiting for about 30 mins. the replacement bus finally came . From Marbel's Arch we took a taxi which brought us to Holiday Villa Hotel ,a Malysian owned hotel at Bayswater,London .The room had been earlier booked by our daughter Eileen via online .
Another harrowing experience .
On reaching the hotel we confidently came to the counter to ask for our room keys. We were shocked to be informed by the Turkish borned receptionist that there was no reservation made for us . According to her the hotel never received our reservation . We showed her our computer print out reply that the booking was confirmed . She insisted that the hotel never received it .She then offered us an executive suite which would cost us L 210 (pounds) per night . It was not that I did not have the money but I could not stand with the way they were treating us . .I almost lost my temper with her. To make matters worst we saw mat sallehs ( white men and women ) being given their room keys . They were treating us like we were outcaste or parias .I felt insulted . I demanded to see the Manager . After sometime the Manager came . He was a nice man ,Encik Jeffrey Abdullah , a Chinese Muslim convert . He managed to cool me down and gave us our room - Alpha Suite with the same price as stated in the computer booking confirmation print out . It was a L 160.00 (pounds) per night room . After having a short rest we walked to the Bayswater tube station and went to the Oxford Street for some shopping .
British people are ' buayas ' too.
On 13th June morning after breakfast I approached a male Albanian borned front office staff of the hotel to inquire about the hop in bus tickets . He told us that he had some tickets for sale for L 25.00 ( pounds ) each. I knew that the price was only between L 19.00 - 22.00 ( pounds ) , so I did not take the offer .I then further inqure from him about the taxi to the airport . He offered to arrange for the taxi at L 65.00 ( pounds ) while I knew that it was actually between L 35.00 - 45.00 ( pounds ) only .I even showed him the computer print out of the hotel which stated it would be at L 40 ( pounds ) only . He was then giving all sorts of excuses . From this , I know that the British people are also ' buayas ' ready to pound on to any unsuspecting victims .
London City Tour by Hop in Bus.
We then walked to the Bayswater area and bought the Hop in Bus tickets from the ' Red Bus Company '.As we were senior citizens while my children were students we were charged L 22 (pounds each ). This included the River Thames Boat ride . There were two bus companies competing in the same business. The other company was the ' Original Bus Company '. We visited almost the whole of London city . We came down wherever we liked and hopped into the bus whenever we wanted .From my observations there were'nt much changes in London after about 10 years since my last visit .One noticeable development that I noticed was there are now many halal food outlets . This is perhaps because there are many Muslims tourist that are coming to London now a days .
A humiliating experience at the Harrods.
We came down from the bus at Harrods just to give my daughter Farin who came to London for the first time , the experience to be at Harrods , the so called famous shopping mall . While we were at the food outlet I noticed a middle aged, fair skinned pregnant Muslim lady with a ( tudung ) headscarf smiling at us . She must have been from either Turkey/Afghanistan or any East European countries which now comes under the European Union .I did not pay much attention on her after that . While I was picking up some chocolates I was pickpocketted by her . I did not realized the incident until an English lady , I believe to be a house detective who called me and asked me whether I had lost anything . After checking my sling bag , I found out that an envelope containing about Eu 2300.00 were missing . Then I saw the said envelope on the floor not far from the the Muslim lady who had earlier smiled at us .I counted my money and found it to be still intact. I was told by the house detective that she saw the Muslim lady put her hand inside my bag and took out something . She threw the envelope on to the floor when she was caught by the house detective .The house detective also told me that the lady was one of 4 ladies known to be pick pocketers in the area . I asked the detective whether I should make a report but she told me not necessary since I did not loose anything . I then thanked her . That was a humiliating experience that happened to me . Being an ex senior Police officer I felt so humiliated and angry towards the said Muslim lady. Being a Muslim , if she was really a Muslim, her conduct was a disgrace to the religion . However after that incident I realized that I should not be so over confident of my security in the future although I may be an ex senior Police Officer. After having thought of the incident , I prayed to God to forgive her and prayed that she would repent and stop her criminal activities for her own sake and for the sake of her unborn child .We then came out of Harrods after buying some chocolates and quickly hopped into the bus . Due to that incident I may not go to Harrods again .My wife and I decided to go back to our hotel while our daughter Eileen and Farin continued to make use of their one day hop in bus tickets . On the way back to the hotel I stopped by a taxi service shop and made arrangement for the taxi to the airport for the next day . The agreed fee was for L 45.00 ( pounds ) .
Checked out from Hotel.
On 14th.June at about 11.00 am we checked from our hotel . We kept our bags in the hotel's store and then went to Bayswater to do some last minute shopping to kill the time till 5.00 pm. , the time we were scheduled to go to the airport . We bought a one day train ticket and came to Marble' Arch . We had the opportunity to visit the Art's muzium . We were thrilled by the pieces of arts .
Witness the Indian community's protest procession.
While we were at Marbel's Arch suddenly we heard the sound of Indian drums and protest shouts against the British government for equal rights. There were a few thousands of them consisting of Sikhs and Hindus and might be Muslims too . I did not know what more' equal rights ' they wanted because I saw quite a sizeable number of Indians were employed in the Police , Immigration Departments and the airports and I believed in the private sectors too . Some of them were also successful businessmen .Typical people , always not satisfied with whatever they have .Isn't that is happening to this people in our country too ? This bunch of ungrateful people should realized that they are much better than their counterparts in their original home country .
We left the place at about 1400 hrs. and came back to Bayswater . We had lunch at a Turkish restaurant .
Eileen bid farewell to go back to Dublin.
At about 4.00 pm. our daughter bid farewell to us to go back to Dublin .She had to go to Stanstead airport to fly back to Dublin . She would remain there untill 25th June when she would come back to Malaysia for good . We then came back to the hotel . At about 1700 hrs. we left the hotel to go to the Heathrow airport to come back to Malaysia . The Afghan borned taxi driver told us that life in London was a bit difficult than before because of the economic downturn . He told me that he would prefer to come back to Afghanistan if the situation allows .
The flight home.
Our flight MH 01 was at about 2200 hrs. Any way we checked in our luggage at about 1900 hrs. We then waited outside the airport and later at the waiting lounge . My wife and daughter Farin bought some chocolates at the Free tax shops . We then boarded the plane at about 2130 hrs . The flight home began about 30 minutes later . We were served dinner and later breakfast while on the flight . We reached KLIA at about 1730 hrs. Our son Azman picked us up from the KLIA .We stopped in Shah Alam to have our dinner . We reached home at about 2030 hours .
Home sweet home.
After having been away for about 2 weeks , to me Malaysia is still the best place for me . The weather is nice where we can perform our obligation to God without hindrance . Our cities are beautiful and modern and the people are nice . The food are tastier and our country is peaceful .I am grateful to Allah for He has given me and my family a beautiful place to stay .
Walking back to our hotel after some shopping.
