My feelings?
Indescribable. Mixed.
I just finished a Europe road trip with my beloved parents few days ago, now I am back in Hradec Kralove. To be specific I am currently at my favorite spot in my favorite cafe, maybe for the last time. I can't imagine how life will be without my normal routine in Czech. I am sure it is going to be hard at the beginning but time will heal most of the feelings. :) Hopefully.
Aha, we drove from Prague, Czech to Copenhagen, Denmark with a total journey of nearly 2100km plus about 65km ferry ride crossing the sea connecting Denmark and Germany. I tried to make daily journal but hmmm it seemed quite hard to navigate the trip while writing everything down. But surely I will remember most of journey, insyAllah. It was significant as I was with my parents! :D
Ayah and Mak | Odense, Denmark |
There were so many incidents happened, call them wonderful, shameful, amazing, nerve-wrecking, disappointed. But, I believe when we face difficulties and challenges with our beloved ones, we will definitely get through them. No matter how hard they are.
Why? Because of love and responsibilities towards each other.
This is a mixed post, I will have lots of time to write separate posts while waiting for my posting in Malaysia. Haha.
Most of my international friends already left the country after our graduation day on 13th of July. So, some of them, I was not able to say goodbye properly but I hope we will remember each other in our prayers.
Right now, I just want to draft things I would love to share here in my blog. I will make it lively again after staying away from my blog for quite a long time.
1. Experiences in Istanbul, Turkey.
- I flew back to Prague with my parents and two friends (Adilah and Faizal). You know, when you always on a plane alone and this time you have at least someone to talk to - comfortably, it definitely feels great.
- We had good time in Istanbul, thanks to Tour Istanbul organised by Turkish Airlines. It was my parents' first time in Turkey (countless for me). The tour was okay, just a bit hard for elder people as I guess my parents were rushing to follow their paces.
- More story soon, hopefully, about our trip in Istanbul!
2. Countless Uber rides in Prague, Czech.
- I can say I am addicted to ride Uber. I tried Grab in Malaysia just few days before my flights, but Uber here was as easy as Grab to use.
- Other than the reason of no need to walk a lot, I found that we were anticipating the type of car we would ride. There were so many cars used by the Uber drivers - our own experiences we rode at least two BMW 5 series, a VW, few Skoda cars and few other brands.
Ayah and I | Hamburg, Germany |
3. Trips in Czech.
- Since this was my parents' second time in Czech, we did not really focus on Prague but there were few attraction sites they missed from the first trip. So I tried to plan for them.
- I took my parents to Cesky Krumlov, this place is very lovely if you want to have a day trip from Prague.
- Homemade lemonade in Petrin Hill - since I was travelling with my parents, I was more particular about the ingredient of all food and drinks. It is not that I eat food randomly before but my parents have another view about eating outside, so let's just appreciate each others' differences. :)
- How my mum reacted on Charles Bridge - this was so cute to think about. HAHA
- Dancing building - how my parents differentiate between the male & female parts of the building.
- Prague Castle - experiences at the church.
- Letenske Sady - it felt great to share my favorite view of the country with my parents.
4. Trips across Germany.
- I was enjoying myself with the no-speed-limits of the autobahn but not my dad. Haha. I thought he would enjoyed it but so far, the highest limit he could reach was 140km/h.
- There were so many constructions on the autobahn that make our driving a bit delayed.
- Experiences staying a double-storey hotel room.
- The moment I realized I had no roaming rate for my Vodafone's number! Even for the data! This was totally amazinggggg!
- Parents' reactions towards our Airbnb's house in Hamburg. Hehehe.
- How triathlon affected our trip in Hamburg?
- The fact that most shops close by 6pm and nothing was open on Sunday - headache.
- Crossing the border of Germany-Denmark
5. Different islands across Denmark.
- In my future posts, they will be more about Funen and Zealand where Odense and Copenhagen are located respectively.
- Pricey-but-worth-it day trip to Egeskov Castle.
- Our reactions the scenery along the roads in Denmark.
- Halal food (we found a street with lots of halal restaurants and Muslims) in Copenhagen.
- How to park in Denmark? Haha interesting facts and experiences.
- Opening hours of shops in Denmark - especially souvenirs shops.
- The famous Hans Andersen Christian.
6. Day Trip to Sweden.
- I was reluctant to continue with this plan as the price to cross Øresund Bridge, connecting Denmark and Sweden was quite expensive. But it would be our once in a lifetime experience, so why not? :)
- The coolness of the bridge! A part of it is a tunnel, another part is on an artificial island, and the rest is over Øresund strait.
- I will share my mistakes of buying the tickets and I will recommend cheaper way to cross the bridge.
- Our experiences of mosques-hopping and the day we met a Muslim community in Malmo.
Mak and I | Flensburg, Germany |
7. Ferry-ride crossing Baltic Sea from Gedser, Denmark to Rostock, Germany.
- My mum and I almost unintentionally left my dad at the border while boarding the ferry for Germany! THAT INTERNATIONAL BORDER. Told you this ferry is connecting two countries.
- Our car was stopped by the police at Germany's border.
- Treasure hunt to find the keys for our Airbnb apartment.
- Pickpockets in Berlin.
- Tips for souvenirs in Berlin. You can trust me on this, we had enough of frustration hahaha.
8. Passing Dresden for Prague.
- It was almost time to return the rental car and check in to a hostel for my parents's final night in Prague, Czech.
- I found that polices in Prague are nice if we approach them nicely in their local language.
- Checking in our luggage in Prague Airport
- My feeling to send off my parents - it felt so lonely to finally accept the fact they were leaving. Even though I am going to meet them again in just few days later, ouch my heart broke to wave and say good bye. Now I think I understand how my parents felt every time they sent me off at KLIA, especially after my abang long passed away.
Ayah Mak | Petrin Hill, Czech |
Wow, so many things to share, huh?
I will write my experiences slowly, maybe the posts will be helpful for the readers but I aim for my own satisfactions and memories with my parents, to be exact. Throughout the journey, I realized they are really getting older and again, the fact that I have been away from home.
Please remind me to keep on loving them, to keep on praying for their happiness and health, to keep on saying good words to them, to keep on controlling myself not to hurt them emotionally.
Love you Ayah, Mak.
I hope I have been a great daughter to you.
I hope I have make you proud.
I hope both of you will keep on praying for my happiness, health, success just like you continuously do.
I hope both of you will redha and support my future journey as a doctor.
We will enjoy your retirement phase together, insyAllah - before I sacrifice myself, my time, my energy and my money for the people.
Be with me till the end of our lives as nobody can replace both of you. Ever.
Hradec Kralove, Czech
170728