Osaka Day 2 - Umeda, Dotonbori

On 2nd day we went to Umeda, Osaka central transport station with connections to all over Japan. The underground train station had similar system just like the ones in London and Paris. The difficult part is that the signboard were in Japanese with litle English. So i have to ask around to buy tickets from the dispensing machine.


The walk from the hotel for Umeda took us to the Dotonbori area.  The place is a popular  area where tourist and locals hang around. The street stretches for almost a kilometer long. We stopped over at the local brand Evisu jeans outlet to take photos. A jeans itself cost Rm800, so tengok aje ler.

Osaka Day 1 - Arrival

Air ticket reservation made in Dec 2011 during Airasia sale promotion

High above the clouds

Tickets were purchased during a promotion sale early Dec at RM800 per person. The kids were not going since the timing is not right. One will be sitting for exam and the other has classes to attend.

Langkawi Island - Mountainbike Challenge

Participate in Langkawi Mountainbike Challenge  LIMBC from 16 Oct until 23 Oct. Had attracted international participation from New Zealand, Australia, USA, South Africa, Germany and many more. Drove from Kuala Lumpur and had the car parked at Kuala Perlis jetty terminal. Used the passenger ferry to take the bike across to Langkawi Island. Four of us from the office rented a motel for the 5 days event. However most of us only complete the first day challenge and skipped the rest due to fatigue.

Ferry plying Kuala Perlis & Langkawi Island

Packing - Stansted Airport -> KLIA

It was quite tiring with 11 days on the road covering 3750 km, spending 320 GBP on diesel, 500 GBP on car rental and 500 GBP on accommodations.

Next was packing to go home. We stuffed the fragile ceramic plates loosely in between clothes in 3 suit cases. The rest 4 bags were stuffed with souvenoirs, chocolates, shoes and clothing.

All in 7 bags

London, Oxford, Carboot, Bicester Village - Day 11,12 of May 28,29

We left the hotel to London by 10am. Parked the car at Dollis Hill train station and bought a one day ticket for London Underground which includes services for the train & bus services. The ticket for the 4 of us cost 30 pound.

London transport services

Liskeard, Bristol, Oxford, Basingstoke - Day 10 of May 27

Hotel Trethew Manor is a countryside hotel with English old house and concept. Right after breakfast, we packed up and ready for the next trip to Oxford via Bristol. We had planned to meet an ustaz and his family. The wife from UIA is currently doing her sabbatical at Oxford University.

We arrived in Bristol at 12 pm and had jacket potatoes for lunch. Hazim bought a cap at one of the shop.

Bread and egg again for breakfast - were expecting a roti canai

Stoke onTrent, Liskeard, Cornwall, South England - Day 9 of May 26

After spending 2 nights at  Abbeyfield Hotel Bangor Wales, we packed up and drove to Liskeard, South England. We start early since the journey is expected to take 7 hours for 520 km trip.

We passed the town of Liverpool and Manchester.

Bangor Wales to Stoke on Trent

Bangor, Porthmadog, Snowdonia Mountains, Betws y Coed Day 7,8 of 24, 25 MayWales

In Wales, we had reservation at Abbeyfield Hotel in the town of Bangor north east of Wales.

Abbeyfield Hotel in Bangor Wales

Glenshee, Inverness, Fort William, Loch Lomond, Cheshire Oak Liverpool, Bangor - Day 6 of May 23

Spittal Glenshee room package does not come with breakfast, so we had breakfast with sandwich, sadin cap ayam, Milo tarik and susu Junjung that we had brought along. Next morning, we wandered around the hotel taking photos. Not able to stay outdoor for too long since the winds are cold and strong. The temperature hovers around 8 degree. It has been raining since the day we arrived yesterday. 

We packed up and drive northeast towards Inverness. The drive meandearing the mountain slope took us 3 hours although the distance is 150 km away. We took photos as we drove along but the cold wind of the mountain keep us taking photos mostly from inside the car.

Lochness of Scotland

Newcastle, Edinburgh, Perth, Glenshee - Day 5 of May 22

Next morning at 9 am we drove the fisherman wharf at North Shields which is 15 minutes away to have hot cooked fish & chips. It is a fisherman jetty and also ship port serving north UK and Europe with passenger ferry plying Newcastle and Rotterdam port.

Newcastle Harbour - having fish & chips in the car cos the weather too cold outside

Lake District, Penines Mountain, Newcastle upon Tyne - Day 3,4 of May 20,21

Woke up early and prepared to continue towards Newcastle. The drive to Newcastle is 150km. We tour the Lake District area. There are many beautiful lakes around this place. Lake Windemere is the most popular tourist destination with lots of lakes activities such as boat ride & kayaking.

We stop over at Lake Windermere to take some photo shots of the place.

From Lake Windemere, we took the Kirkstone Pass to get to Lake Ullswater.

Kirkstone Pass, lake District

Cambridge, Doncaster, Bradford, Yorkshire Dales, Burton, Lancaster - Day 1,2 of May 18,19

Flight booking using Air Asia was made 6 months before the trip. Managed to get RM2000 (400 GBP) for the 2 way fare.

The plane is 90% full, mostly with passengers from Australia  en route to London. We took off at 3pm. The flight took 13 hours. I spent most of my time reading and dozing off. They served 2 dishes, nasi beriyani for dinner and nasi lemak for breakfast

Me & the rented Vauxhall car

Holiday in UK 18 May - 30 May 2011

Itinerary - Lodging Sites

Kota Bharu

A close relative to my wife got married over the weekend on Sunday.
We rented a homestay bungalow close to Kubang Kerian called Suria Homestay. It was a brand new house owned by En Zukie. I found the house published for rent in the internet. Cost RM250 for one night and 200 for subsequent days. It has 4 rooms.

Jakarta & Bandung

We were on a family holiday middle of December. Since the elder children had started working, only the two younger ones joined us for the Jakarta Bandung trip. We were planning to visit our eldest child who works in Jakarta. However, in the last minute, he had to undergo office training in Xian China for 2 weeks. We left KL on KLM Dutch airlines.
The first 3 days we put up with Fakhrol (Zilla the wife), a relative of mine working Jakarta. The family stayed in Lebak Bulus close to Pondok Indah. The trip took us hour and half even though it was only 20km away. Fakhrol had been working in Jakarta for the last 7 years. Their 4 children goes to the local private school.

Treasure Hunt Cameron Highlands

On 11 Dec 2010, Share Guide Malaysia organized a Treasure Hunt to Cameroon Highlands. Aziela, Malar & Maira from our office had confirmed  to participate. However at the last minute Maira had to decline and I decided to take along my son who had just finished his SPM to replace her.

KL Bird Park Flagoff

Sungai Siput - Sarmila Wedding

Over the week end, we organized a trip to Sungai Siput to attend a wedding of one of the office colleague. We had nasik lemak at home for breakfast.

Having breakfast at our house