Annoying Monday

Another boring Monday. I woke up around 8 am and felt very sleepy to get a bathe. Push up myself and took a shower sluggishly, I asked my wife to prepare a hot black coffee for me. After get ready and done with the light breakfast, I went out to the office. Arrived at the office, I see my unit lead was already there. I meet and salute with him, then proceed to my work station. Today is not my day. Of course it is because I was unable to use my computer as it is claimed that there is a problem with the server in Malaysia. When I asked my friend from IT support in Malaysia, he said there has no problem on the server or domain concerned. He was able to access my account without any problem. It means there must be something wrong with the local network. I mean the network here in Paris! Almost 2 hours of waiting for the IT team here to fix this problem, my patience and endurance reach the limit. I give a first call but not at my satisfaction. Then, I give a second call an hour later and patiently asked them to work out this problem and they asked me back some questions about the problem I had. After few minutes of explanation (again!), they told me to re-start the computer and if the problem yet happened, they suggest me to re-try at the different computers. Frankly speaking, this is bullshit. How could they asked me and suggest me to do such things? That is clearly a non-technical IT answer! What did I want to know is why this problem just happened to me? Why it is not happened to my other Malaysian colleagues that were using the same server like mine? This is absolutely not a global network problem! There is nothing for me to do. I was unable to reach my project directory and I spent 8 hours today just waiting for their phone call. What an irritating day.

....

I am feeling great today. This morning while having a scramble egg for the breakfast, I said to my wife that we will have lunch at the Malaysian Restaurant. My wife replied me without moving a muscle. I believe she agrees with me. Actually, I still have not quite got over the fact that my wife will going back this upcoming Saturday. Time passes very fast. I still remember at one time that we were happily and exhaustedly laid down on the bed on the first day we reached here. So far, everything seems absolutely fine as far as I can tell. Our wish list for this short honeymoon most likely accomplished. As I look up to my wife at the kitchen right now and smile at her, suddenly I am thinking about my next two months here without her. I am so sure that I will miss her damn much. All I can say is, everything is just a matter of time. Well, I am not putting this situation that will affect our relationship but I don’t care about the distance whatsoever because deep in my heart, I am so sure that she will always be there for me anywhere and anytime.

OK. I am still blogging while my wife is too busy in the kitchen. She said there is nothing much for me to help her. We reached the room almost 9 pm after spending almost 6 hours shopping! After having lunch at Malaysian Restaurant, we spent an hour around the area to buy some foodstuffs – spices, instant foods, soy sauce, etc. Just for sharing some information to those people out there who love hot and spicy food and feel limited to buy such food in Paris, please be informed that you will no longer feel that bad. You might be able to grab all these foods in La Chapelle. The easiest way to get there is by taking Metro on line 2. In fact, La Chapelle station is connected to the Gare du Nord and the Gare du Nord Metro Station on lines 4 and 5. Basically, most of the shops there owned by Indian and Sri Lankan which offer variety of products and services ranges from foods, clothes, home accessories and definitely it would be no problem to shop there.

Opps. My wife calls me up for the dinner. Catch up later.

OK. I am done with the dinner. Big thanks for my wife for superlicious menu tonight! Helped her to clean up the desk and bring all the dishes to the sink, I went online back and pour myself a glass of orange juice and flip the TV over to National Geographic Channel. OK, back to the story. After having a full lunch, we straight away going to the avenue des Champs-Élysées - The most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris. Actually, I just want to reward my wife to shop as much as my pocket would allow her. Hehe. But then, she just bought a ZARA grey colored shirt and ESCADA perfumes and unexpectedly I myself also bought a ZARA collar t-shirt and a loose fit ZARA Jeans. Hehe. Actually, I have been influenced by her but anyway the outfit looked good and felt comfort as I give a try. The only trouble is, there is a massive queue. I am quite tired actually, after all this walking.

As we heading down to the Louis Vutton shop, it was raining and we could see many people stood in front of the shop for shelter and waited patiently for clear sky to turn over. As we enter the LV shop, I cannot help myself to remain static. This place is so huge. All around are luxury uncountable and unique products arranged attractively inside the glass. I cannot believe such luxury specialty shop environment was filled with too many people excitedly buying and moving around with their big carrier bags. Huhu. Walked around for few minutes inside the shop, finally we decided to go back.

I don’t want to remember the details but the thing is I and my wife were very happy with our new stuffs and as we reached La Defense, we head off to the shopping market to buy halal's chicken and finally we reached the room.

OK. I stop here. Hitting the bed now.

Good night.

Red Mill

For the past week days, I spent most of the time in the room with my wife. We don’t have any interest to go out but yet we did some shopping for our food stuffs and yesterday we went out to the Moulin Rouge. Anyway, we just remain outside and have a pleasant view of Moulin Rouge with the weather was just perfect for us to explore the Paris red-light district of Pigalle. Moulin Rouge is a well known cabaret and offers musical dance entertainment for adult visitors from around the world and it can be easily recognized by the facsimile of a red windmill on its roof. One of the hotspots for tourist destination in Paris. After snapping some pictures, we walked down to the Montmartre and did some shopping for final round as my wife will going back on this upcoming Saturday. Huhu. Everything was fine. Mission accomplished, I must say. That’s the reason for my lack updates within this week. I did online but with the limited time left, I am just too tired to write lengthy stories daily about us and I hope the remaining one week will be filled with romance and of course we will enjoy the private time together to the fullest =)

Leisure Sunday

Alhamdulillah.

I am getting better today.

I have been feeling limited and "sick" yesterday. I can't be blaming anyone or anything else for this frustrating situation. The only person truly affecting the vacation yesterday is me. I believe my wife do really understand about the situation but I still feel guilty to her. Sorry sayang.

This morning I called my mom and spent 15 minutes talked with her and my sister.

They were fine. Likewise to my dad. Alhamdulillah.

There was no special news from them except some gossip about my sister. Hehe.

Today, I and my wife were happily enjoyed the leisure time in the room.

I woke up a bit late this morning. Around 10 am. Huhu. To get a motivating burst of self-esteem, I call up my wife and talk to her that I am going to do something that will help me to get that winning feeling once again by helping her preparing the scramble egg for our breakfast.

Then, I washed up and went online for few minutes, I went down to the hotel laundry to wash and dry our clothes and later helped her to cook for our lunch.

As we have bought some spices from Little India quite some time ago, I took the opportunity to show my best in cooking. Hehe. I cooked Tandoori chicken and frankly speaking it was really good. Hehe. I really make my day.

Now, my wife is too busy to iron my clothes for next week.

OK. I will stop here. I want to disturb her for a while.

Two weeks to go. Huhu.

Palace of Versailles

I am not feeling very well today. It really ruins our vacation today. I am so sorry sayang. I believe it was due to the unstable climate, lack of sleep and my bad habit to drink less water. With a hot and dry ambience, I should and must drink a lot of water to counter the dehydration process and to keep a proper balance of water in my body. Luckily, we bring along 2 bottles of mineral water and a pack of medicines.

Headache and dizziness won’t stop me to share a great feeling with my wife at the Palace of Versailles or simply called Versailles. One of the most visited monuments in France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles and it is a royal château in Versailles, France. The Chateau proposes two itineraries; either a guided tour or not. We chose free and easy. Apart from the state apartments of the king and queen and the Galerie des Glaces (the Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War 1), which you can visit on your own, most of the palace can only be viewed in guided groups, and whose times are much more restricted. Long queues are common.

We reached there around 12 pm and as expected there were many people. We could see dozens of buses parked at the outside of the main entrance with the visitors excitedly rush in to get line up to buy the tickets. Unfortunately, only a small part of the palace can be visited - the State Apartments of the King and Queen, and the Hall of Mirrors. The worst time to visit the Chateau is on Sunday when the entrance fee is reduced and the queues are interminable.

The park is extremely large. If I am not mistaken, there were more than 40 big fountains in the park with different size and unique decorations. There are a small train shuttles and also bicycles for rent for ease of exploring the park. There are also boats to be rented on the canal. We just slowly walked around the park and take a break for a few minutes and sit in the shade or someplace cool and drink a lot of water. The hot weather forbid me from continuously exposed myself under the sun and limits our visit for the day. Huhu.

We spent almost 4 hours for this visit. Actually, it is not possible to explore all the palaces and stop at the variety of gardens in the park for only 1 day. It is time to go back. While heading to the train station, it was raining. Luckily we brought the umbrella. Later, reached La Defense, we straight away go to the Malaysian Restaurant for the late lunch. I ate chicken curry with rice while my wife prefers briyani rice with squid. Reached the room around 8.30 pm. Washed up and lay down on the bed, I uploaded all the pictures in my laptop and get online to check any updates from my family.

11.20 pm already. I need to sleep. Palace of Versailles in memory.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will be getting better.

Good night.

Spring Holidays

Sorry for the late updates. I was back from my spring vacation last three days and I was too busy with my job. Today, I spent some time to recall back those memories with my lovely wife during our spring vacation to Belgium and Germany. Seriously, it was really enjoyable, full of fun and it should be one of the sweetest moments we had spent together. Three days seem too short but the trip was well organized and packed with many stopovers. Nice and friendly people that I got to know during the trip and most importantly, we shared a common feeling – love growth.

The day began early in the morning when we were waiting for my friend and his girlfriend at the hotel’s lobby. We sat down at the sofa and waited for them and 5 minutes later they approached us. It was 6.45 am. Met up and introduced my wife to them, we slowly walked down to the Metro Station. 15 minutes walking filled with stillness as the environment was too calm with everyone trying to save the internal energy by keeping silence down the way and the climate at the time was around 19 degC as stated at the electronic board upon reaching the station. Reached the station around 7.00 am. Checked out the tickets in my pocket and they were sufficient at the moment.

From La Defense, it took about 45 minutes to reach Place D’Italie – Meeting point for the tour group. Reached there, we decided to have a breakfast at the McD nearby. It was 7.45 am. I could see few people stood around the area and they looked waiting for the tour group with their big luggage. Get inside the McD, there was no people around. Placed my bags and leaved it to my wife, I went up to the counter and ordered the breakfast. I ordered two chocolate muffins with two hot black coffees. I have no choices. Finally at 8.20 am the bus came and we loaded our luggage at the bottom compartment and went inside the bus. We sat at the 2 rows from the back and seriously my expectation was wrong as the bus was so comfortable and spacious. I would be able to relax and stretch out my long leg with ease. The bus was partially seated and I would say all of them aged between 40 – 60 years old. While adjusting the seat for my comfort, the tour guide makes a final count before the journey began. Around 8.45 am, the bus departs.

The journey took about 2 hours with 1 stop at the petrol station before we reached Reims. It is 145 km east - northeast of Paris and Reims is often considered as the capital of Champagne, an old province of France, world-famous for its sparkling wine (Champagne) because it is by far the largest city in the region. Upon reaching Reims, the announcement called for getting ready and leaves all the unnecessary in the bus. Our first stop was at the Notre Dame de Reims which is the cathedral of Reims, where the kings of France were once crowned. Slowly walked around the town and snapped some pictures, we decided to have our lunch at the McD nearby. It was 12 pm and there were many people queuing to place their orders. While looking for the seat, I heard someone said “Hello kawan” with Chinese dialect. Turn my head around, I saw a group of Chinese was having their meals. They were offering us two seats next to their big family and they were Malaysian. I replied the offered with smile and thankful since all the seats were fully seated during the peak hours. Start a small chat and introduced a bit about myself, it was a big surprise as they were also joined the tour group and of course we have the lunch with long chat with them. Finished with the lunch, separated from them and we walked around the town again. There was still 45 minutes before we gathered at the bus. At 1 pm, we get in the bus and the journey continues.

Our next visit is Luxembourg, Belgium - a small country located in the Low Countries, part of North-West Europe. Winding roads along lush dense forests, we were so amazed on the yellowish landscape with the windmills scattered on the land. The terrain is mostly gently rolling uplands with broad, shallow valleys; highlands slightly mountainous in the north.

We had been chatting for a while after we stopped at the petrol station, where I and my wife went to the toilet and spent some time in the shop. We really had to stop and walk for awhile. I had snickers and my wife bought a 1L mineral water. 15 minutes later, the journey resumes. The roads are windy, curvy, lined with lush green pastures filled with cows and bordered with giant old trees. It was so beautiful. The capitol city is 5 km from the French border. Suddenly, an announcement called for our attention as we were passing a defunct border control building and follow the freeway into Luxembourg City, under in a sharply declining tunnel and up to the old Bock, a castle built in the 900s with catacombs underneath that now serve as a nice bomb shelter.

Around 4.30 pm, we reached the destination. Luxembourg City straddles several valleys and outcrops, making the city's layout more complicated. Our first visit was The Monument of Remembrance and usually known by the nickname of the Gëlle Fra. It is dedicated to the thousands of Luxembourgers that volunteered for service in the armed forces in the Allied Powers in the First World War.

After brief explanation from the tour guide, we have been informed that we have only 2 hours to spend in the Luxembourg City and we supposed to have the dinner here as the hotel is a bit far from the town and there would be no shops opened during night time. Later, we were freely separated from the tour group and leisurely explore the vicinity area. We took the remaining 90 minutes to visit the Adolphe Bridge (Pont Adolphe) which is an arch bridge in Luxembourg City. The bridge has become an unofficial national symbol of sorts, representing Luxembourg's independence, and has become one of Luxembourg City's main tourist attractions and was built in 1900. Snapped some pictures, finally we decided to have pre-dinner at McD nearby.

It was 5.15 pm and there were many people hanging around with family and friends. One of the attractions along the way to the McD was the flea market which really alive and it offered many kind of old goods and varieties of paintings. As far as I could remember, there were also a group of youngsters having a great time at the open air café while the environment was filled with an orchestra music played by small kids. It was really happening. Done with the dinner, we took sometime exploring the souvenir shops around the area. Bought some souvenirs, we decided to visit another hotspot in the city. Along the way, we stopped at the façade of the Grand Ducal Palace. It is the official residence of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Took some pictures, finally at 7.15 pm we get in the bus and heading to the hotel which is close to the Luxembourg Airport. Day 1 trip was over.

Day 2. 6.30 am. I woke up and get prepared for the trip. 7.00 am, I and my wife went down to the hotel cafeteria and have our breakfast. I took 2 breads, a milky cereal, and mixed fruits. Done with breakfast, we went back to the room upstairs and packed all of our stuffs before check out. While waiting for others to check out, we wait at the bus and looked around the hotel area. Suddenly, I have been approached by the co-tour guide cum bus driver, he greets me “Assalamualaikum” and spontaneously I replied back to him “Wa’alaikummussalam” and shake hand with him. Then, we have a nice conversation and he looked very happy to meet me and my wife when he knows that I am a Muslim and came from Malaysia. He said Malaysia is a good country and actually he got a lot of friends and relatives working in Malaysia. Few minutes chat with him, nearly 8.00 am we depart from the hotel heading to Germany. Our first visit for the day was at the Karl Marx’s House at Trier, Germany. I am so sure you all know about him. He was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. Often called the father of communism. Then, we paid a visit to The Black Gate. It is a large Roman city gate in Trier, Germany and also known as Porta Nigra. It is the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps and has been designated a World Heritage Site. The name Porta Nigra originated in the Middle Ages due to the darkened color of its stone; the original Roman name has not been preserved. Locals commonly refer to the Porta Nigra simply as Porta.

After spending almost 1.5 hours in Trier, we then take a move to Koblenz which took us about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Trier. Koblenz is a city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) and its monument (Emperor William I on horseback) are situated. I would say Koblenz is one of the best place to be visited in Germany and it is a nice place to share sweet memories and lovely feeling with your spouse and witnessed by a clear Rhine River flowing downstream and strong forts crowning the hills encircling the town on the west, and the citadel of Ehrenbreitstein on the opposite bank of the River. We took the opportunity for 1 hour boat ride along the Rhine River which is one of the most important waterways in Germany and is linked by canals to other major rivers in Western Europe. There are a lot of beautiful castles along the Rhine River. Most of them are rather small, and a lot of them are in ruins, but there is a great variation of them. They are usually placed on a hill or small mountain along the river because their owners usually lived off the taxes they collected from merchants wanting to travel through their area. Some of the castles have recently been restored and are now accessible again. You can get a great view of them by taking a train that travels along the side of the river, and definitely by the boat ride! It was pretty amazing!

After the boat ride, we went up to a hill along the Rhine valley whereby there was a war memorial monument has been placed there. Snapped some pictures and walked around, finally we get in the bus and around 4.30 pm the bus departs. Our last stop for the day was at Frankfurt. It is one of the two largest financial centers in continental Europe and it is the place of residence of the European Central Bank. The main sight in the city is Römer, the city hall which means “Roman”. The Römer was partially destroyed in World War II and later rebuilt. We then walked around the city hall and stopped at some souvenir shops. Finally, around 6 pm we gathered at the bus and 40 minutes later we reached the hotel. Day 2 trip was over.

Day 3. I woke up around 6.30 am. After having a breakfast at the cafeteria and check out, we depart to Bonn, a birthplace of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. I couldn’t remember so much the details about the places we have been visited in Bonn. After took some pictures at the Beethoven’s house, we walked around the town and visited Historic Town Hall of Bonn and Hofgarten (Court Garden) with Kurfürstliches Schloss (Electoral Prince's Castle), which serves as the main building of the University of Bonn. The vacation was towards to the end. Our last stop was at Köln (Cologne). It is one of the oldest cities in Germany and the most famous landmark is The Cologne Cathedral which is a World Heritage Site, being one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany and one of the world's largest churches, being the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. Nearly 3 pm, we waited for the train at platform 8 and the journey took 4 hours back to Paris. Around 8 pm, we reached the room.

Looking back, 3 days seem too short but it was filled with full of excitement, valuable memories, endless enjoyment and new experience through our love diaries. OK. 11 pm already. There will be a new vacation tomorrow. Keep updated.

Short Friday

Today, I was alone in the office. All of my unit members still on their holidays. Since there was nothing much to do in the office, I went off early.

Ding Dong. I rang the door bell. I am back. My wife then opened the door and took my bag and later served me a cold drink. Took a break for a while and then I went online to see any updates from my family.

Few minutes later, I and my wife went out to the Les Quatre Temp. Reached there, we directly proceed to the shop, Decathlon Marathon. I bought a white long sleeve t-shirt, an orange colored 10 Liter hiking bag come with 2000 mL water container inside and a small multi-purpose bag. Done with shopping, leisurely walked around inside the mall and finally we decided to go back.

Along the way back, we stopped at the Turkish Restaurant which was my preference place to have my dinner for the last three months. As a regular customer, the owner and the other three staffs shake hand with me and when they looked at my wife, they seem knowing that I just came back from the long holidays. Ordered the same snack, we have a relaxed dinner at the outside.

Finished the kebab, we went back and packed our stuffs for the trip tomorrow. Yes, we will be on the spring trip to Belgium and Germany for three days. It will be a short trip indeed but it is too meaningful for us to keep in our love diaries =)