special update untuk mu...

I haven't been updating... yes, guilty as charged.

Kebetulan, at this wee hours of the day, I decided to check my blog and saw chepa's comment. So... this is for you :)

Why no updates? Several reasons... but mainly because I've been obsessing on the internet over my upcoming Europe trip with Amt. WOOHOO!! And I was in HK last week for work. And before that I was occupied with our 50th anniversary celebrations.

Balik je from umrah, it was full gear for the anniv thingy. The only things on my head were: Who's arriving today, what are the items I need to prepare for them, bila nak hantar kat hotel room... all that for about 10 days.

Habis je tu, kebetulan, MAS buat travel fair. I've been thinking about a Europe trip with Amt sempena his graduation since late last year. Masa tu baru angan2. Sekarang sudah signed, sealed cuma belum delivered (signed and sealed since I've bought the tickets, booked the hotels... and most of them are non-refundable, haha... nak cheap2, like that lah).

You know me... I take my travels seriously ;) First it was obsessing about places to visit, then the routes, then the mode of transportation (sambil tu cari yg paling murah lah of course), then cari accommodation (also the budget no-frills version... I kerja tempat chop duit, tapi duit tu bukan I punya!), and now places to visit and the finer details about opening hours, what to visit when, the ground transportation, discounts, free entries etc etc. I think I can be a personal travel arranger as an alternative career lah.

So where am I heading you might ask?

We'll leave KUL for LHR on 29/4 malam. Spend 3 days there (more for Amt actually... I've been to London 3 times in the past 2 years). Then we'll fly to Salzburg for 2 nights, followed by train to Vienna for 4 nights, diikuti train to Prague for 4 nights, fly to Paris for 4 nights before heading home, to land in KLIA early 18/5 morning.

So in my head (when I'm not working of course) I'm thinking about the alps, sound of music, hapsburg dynasty, castles, historical buildings, museums and all the photo opportunities. I just found out about the saltmines and ice caves and cable car in Salzburg. Ooooohhhh... opportunities not to be missed! Of course all that cost ka-ching... lots of it, even with the deteriorating Euro. And as I do my budgeting, my head gets dizzy.

Last week I had to replace my boss for a meeting on accounting in HK. Truthfully, I dreaded it so much because accounting ain't exactly a joyous and interesting area/topic. But kerana tugas, ku gagahkan jua. Left on Tues... spent the entire day and evening (well, almost the entire evening... I succumbed to American Idol around 9pm) reading documents which are so dry bagaikan Sahara desert. But surprisingly I managed to cover quite a lot during the flight... without dozing off! Ha!!

Meeting was held on Wed and Thurs, ended before 5pm on the final day, affording me the opportunity to go merendek in the evening. Went to Ladies market in search of barang2 yg digemari wanita and for the delicious Hui Lau Shan mango dessert. Amazingly I didn't shop much. Just some cushion covers for mama and a tipu Le Sport Sac sling bag for my Europe trip. That's it! Memang tak ada "nafsu" nak ber shopping masa tu. Maybe because I was in HK as recent as Nov last year and masa tu dah puas layan nafsu, hehe. And since I've covered all the places I wanted to visit during the previous visit, tak de lah nak jalan2 sangat.

The next day I contemplated taking the Ngong Ping 360 cable car ride on Lantau Island, but the gloomy weather meant that the views wouldn't be much. So lepas solat subuh, I boom balik on the super comfy bed at Conrad until 10:30. Best betul the bed... I think it was easily 16 inches thick! So I just lazed around, taking my time to pack before leaving the hotel after Zohor to catch the flight home.

I know I still owe stories from Tanah Suci (sorry Mario). There's so much to tell... but the desire and creative juices to write seem to have evaporated. For now at least. I will... I will... insyaallah.

Oh yes! I do have another update. A big one too...

Wedding bells are ringing in the family. Siapakah itu? Jeng... jeng... jeng...

something to think about...

A stranger was seated next to a little black girl on the airplane when the stranger turned to her and said,"Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."
The little girl, who had just opened her coloring book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger,"What would you like to talk about?"
"Oh, I don't know," said the stranger."Since you are a Negro, do you think that So-called President Elect Barack Obama is qualified for the job?" and he smiles.
"OK", she said. "That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse,a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?"
The stranger, visibly surprised bythe little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."
To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified todiscuss President Barack Obama... when you don't know shit?"

^_^