The 2nd installation of Off to Germany...

I don't know what it is
that makes me feel like this
I don't know who you are
but you must be some kind of superstar
coz you got all eyes on you no matter where you are

- Jamelia's "Superstar"-

The next morning, we were supposed to wake up early to catch the 8 a.m. train..unfortunately, our alarm clocks were on London time, which is one hour later..and there we were, terjaga pukul 7.15 a.m. the three of scrambling to get ready…dengan nak gosok baju kurungnye, baju melayunye, tudungnye…comel laa Muhaza and Kak iza pakai baju nikah diorang hehehhe..the Raya gathering was held in Heilbronn, about 45 minutes’ train ride away…we got to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof early, so we loitered around…and I bought one of their famous butter pretzel..yum! sebelum nak beli pastries, kena panggil translator dulu…certify the ingredients within…

We arrived at Heilbronn train station, and met up with a few other Malay students..along with them are JPA representatives, Cik Saraya and Cik Siti..so, on the bus to the hall where the gathering is held, borak with both of them..they asked us how we found Germany, and I replied that it is such a peaceful place..it is! Of the few places that we visited, we could see that it lacks the hustle and bustle that we are accustomed with..maybe its due to the low density of population kot…its peaceful, it allows you to breath, and it makes u marvel at immaterial things..

The gathering was held at Fachhochschule Heilbronn, University of Applied Science, and was organized by the younger students…apparently, they wanted to elect a new committee as well…so, there were speeches by a few committee members, a short film about Malaysia (the Cuti-cuti Malaysia gazette), and followed by the makan-makan session..the food was great! Serious, not biased this time..there were nasi himpit and kuah kacang, lontong, one of the most aromatic and spicy soto I’ve ever had, assam laksa, a variety of cakes and cookies, among others..yum! they miscalculated the amount of people coming, so there were loads of leftovers…kitorang apa lagi..menapau laa…

While they conducted the election ceremony, me, Ainor and Kak Iza lepaked at the female praying area..met Kak Aishah , a PTD who’s doing her Masters jugak and staying in Stuttgart, and her bouncy daughters..the eldest one is so petah..she kept saying this line in German, and we were like wow, pandai cakap German..then her mom went, lerr, tu die dengar on the train..what it meant was actually, something like, the train is stopping here, please change for whatever…hehhehehe..klakar sgt, macam kalau kat KL, budak German repeat: stesen berikutnya, Masjid Jamek, Masjid Jamek, ..baik and friendly sangat Kak Aishah nie..when she heard that we are actually staying with Kak Iza and Muhaza, she offered us a place to sleep for the night kat her house..we didn’t want to impose, and thanked her..promised to call her whenever we are in Stuttgart…Met a few new people, amongst them Iwa from Mannheim, Gaya, Su Gin, and a few others yang we chatted with, but can’t remember the names..whoops, sorry!

Petang tu, after much deliberating and thinking, we decided to leave Stuttgart for Mannheim..tiba-tiba terasa nak lepak ngan Cik Timah Dhira and Put, and tengok the castle kat Heidelberg…nampaknye, terpaksalaa forgo the trip to another castle (btw, did I mention that there are loadsa castles in Germany? Hehee..), and the famous Mercedes Museum..terkilan jugak si Ainor, F1 fan tu..tapi, nak buat camne, had to choose cuz we only had two days left in Germany …so, dalam train on the way back to Stuttgart, told Muhaza, Kak Iza and Mukhriz of our plans..and they offered us their tickets which provided us free journey till 5.30 a.m. the next morning…sedih gak, sebab tak leh nak lepak lama2, but insya-Allah, there’s always next time..*wink*…tengok-tengok..kena rush dah pulak nak naik train tu…we arrived at Stuttgart at about 7.00 p.m…sampai Esslingen at about 7.15 p.m..and the train that leaves Esslingen to Stuttgart (where we have to take the train to Mannheim) is leaving at about 8.15 p.m…..macam lipas kudung kemas barang! Ehhehe..then dragged our stuff to the bus stop to catch the train..sweet laa pulak si Mukhriz datang nak hantar kitorang..he saw us leaving, and decided to follow..cheh! bukannye nak catch up to tolong angkut beg ke..heheh…The best part is that our train had to change twice! From Stuttgart to Karlsuhe, and from Karlsruhe to Mannheim..expected journey duration, 3 jam! Hari tu, kerja naik train je..and makan…

We made it all in good time..nasib baik dah print out a journey planner , so everything was listed out..and it really helped that the trains arrive on time..kira tak payah nak tanye orang laa, tengok number train, time, and destination…terkilan sikit, sebab the day before ade nampak this puppet marionette kat train station tu and nak beli, tapi hari tu je, tengok dah takde..takpelaa, takde rezeki…boarded the “Kashmir Train”…traveled for about an hour to Karlsruhe..(part sedih, tercicir lipstick and tak leh jumpe..dang! )..sampai Karlsuhe at about 10 something, where we had to wait for approximately 22 minutes for the next train to Mannheim…mase nak turun kat KArlsuhe tu, terconfuse kejap…we were supposed to turun at Karlsuhe Hbf, but we saw Karlsruhe-somethingelse, and when we tried to open the door bile train tu stop, it wouldn't open, and the train moved away from the platform..Shit! Dah terlepas station ke…cube try to look macho, although masa tu panic laa jugak, cuz it was quite late..then tanye this Chinese girl standing there..hehehhe..salah tengok la beb..next stop! Ehhehe.nasib baik, alhamdulillah..

Karlsruhe train platforms at night looks like something out of a war movie..seriously! it’s as if u can hear prisoners or soldiers arriving on trains, and authorities shouting German instructions…I guess its my imagination again :p but the platform is dark,lit only with faraway dim lights, huge and sunyi..sempat laa jugak ambik gambar si Ainor tu..
Alhamdulillah sampai Mannheim near midnight..and kami dengan penuh macho and expertnye, telah board the tram to Rheinau which stopped in front of Dhira’s place…hehehehe…senang je..the best part is, my ticket that I used a few days ago, can be used over and over again! Eheheh, tak boleh actuallynye..you actually have to punch your ticket when you board the tram, and get a new one for your next journey..tapi, err, tak tertangkap lagilaa…:p sampai je rumah diorang, washed up, and tido..flat….

The next day, Dhira and Put took us to Heidelberg which is about 20 minutes away from Mannheim..naik train..lagi…to see the famous Heidelberg castle…well, the journey was worth it! It was a wonderful castle, set atop a hill…woah,penat gile climb the hill..dahlaa they took a short movie of yours truly here panting while climbing the hill they expertly climbed earlier..arrgghh!!! malunye!!! Hahahah..but funny laa gak tengok…ugghh..tingkatkan stamina anda Dalie!

The road to the Heidelberg Castle is paved with cobblestones, and lined with all kinds of interesting stores..there was even a Hard Rock Café and a Starsbuck Café…at the bottom of the hill, ade Xmas market jugak…
The castle is something out of a fairy tale…ade courtyard, ada fountains, ade suits of armours and ancient letters in the exhibition hall..they even have a taman larangan! By then my overactive imagination has visions of prince and princesses running to meet in the garden, lovers strolling in spring, festivals held within the castle ground (ala-ala Ever After gitu)..heheheh…jauh fikir tu..but Put mentioned that there are times when they hold festivals within the castle ground, and everyone turned up in costumes..bestnye!!! i wanna see…some parts of the castles are in ruins and the castle is also in the danger (although, not immediate) of crumbling...after a tour of the castles and more picture taking, turun and jalan-jalan kat Christmas Market, where souvenirs were purchased..i was smitten with this miniature cowbell..why? cuz it reminded me of the hindi movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayinge, when Kajol bought a cowbell in Switzerland and was late for her train..hehehe…after that, lepak at Starsbuck Heidelberg, where we took our feet off the ground with a variety of caffeine-induced beverages..yours truly had this toffee nut latte, forgetting that she can’t really digest these kind of drinks, and was rewarded with a mild headache later on..groan….after dinner at home, we sat down to watch..get this…Cinta Kolesterol!!!! Ehheheeh..verdict: hmm, comel pulak tengok si Erra nie gemuk like that..can she stay like that for a little longer?? And yusry, pheww…emo nye..hahaaha..

The next day was our last day in Germany, and I had to go and get some stuff for my mom…so we went to the shops, got the stuff we wanted…ate more pastries, and finally had a lunch of , errm…bird…burung…we didn’t want to know what type of bird we’re eating, so I can’t tell you what it is…can u imagine if u know what type of bird it is, and if it was scrumptiously delicious, you would be smacking your lips whenever you see the bird flying over head??

Btw, nak citer…Germany is BIG on recycling..the dustbin comes with at least 3 different compartments for 3 diferent types of rubbish: paper, glass and waste..oh and plastics.so, it’s a pretty unique looking dustbin…kat sini, when you pay for your groceries, you are also paying for the container..and when its empty, u return the container back for a refund…cool kan? So, these people have the incentive to recycle..everyone recycles here, and everyone carries their own bag for groceries..kalau nak bag, kena bayar..quite interesting laa jugak, sebab dah terbiasa dapat plastic..kat Germany, semuanye masuk bag sendiri…rubbish are segregated to their own kind..and if you want to throw away your old furniture, you just leave it outside your house on certain days, when certain authorities will take them away for you…amazing..i read somewhere that Germany is the only country that didn’t use this certain kind of chemicals in the detergent that acts as a whitener, because it causes pollution…oh, and diorang nie takde second-hand shops (not like London yang ade banyak charity shops) .eheheh..orang German nie kaya2 belaka..

Balik pun rush jugak, cuz we had to catch the second last train to Baden-Baden where the airport is…train leaves at 5.14 p.m., 4.15 baru sampai rumah Dhira, kemas beg (main sumbat je everything in to the bag) pray, makan burung and rush off to the train station to get the tickets…said goodbye to Dhira, ajak die dtg London, so we can bawak diorang jalan2 pulak…

Alhamdulillah, sampai Baden-Baden Airpark dengan selamatnya…sheesh..the airport is really tiny!! Sat on the floor to read while waiting for our 10.00 p.m. flight.masa tunggu kat departure lounge tu, pandang luar..and then nampak tiny white things flying..omigod, its snowing!!! Tapi tak heavily laa..so, sempat jugak dapat rasa snow di German..felt it falling on my face and hair..*sigh* ..dapat jugak rasa on the hair...heheheh...best…mula-mula, keciwa jugak bile sampai Germany and it didn’t snow..weather elok je..siap sunny and rain lagi..the day after we left Stuttgart, Stuttgart pulak snow…cheh…lepas balik London, snow pulak kat Mannheim (ye Dhira?)..Selamat sampai home sweet home at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning….

More on the things I noticed kat Germany nie..their windows! Unlike London, dengan window-window yang berlapis, they only have one lapisan insulated window and there’s this canvas rope at the side, which u use to pull the external blinds…cool! All the houses come with their external blinds..Dhira explained that in summer, it helps when the sun comes up too early, and people still want to sleep in..pastu kan, first time tengok toilet yang lubang die on the opposite side..ooh, and in the public toilet kat Heilbron, the soap dispenser dispenses powdered soap…first time! Oh, and a yummy first time : Landliebe’s Walnut Yoghurt…yum! Too bad masa balik nak beli dah takde..dang!

One thing I’m gonna miss is when these people, if they understood what you’re saying will reply with “Ah soo…”hehehehe..mula2 ingatkan Japanese word..pastu fikir, kuat jugak pengaruh citer-citer Jepun kat sini, cuz everyone says it..rupa2nye memang German phrase..heheheh..malu saje…nie Ainor kat rumah pun dok Ah so, Ah so…

It was a great tiny holiday..thank you soo much to all pihak yang terlibat yang telah menjayakan the trip..Dhira, Put, Muhaza,Kak Iza and Mukhriz..thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Jasa mu tetap dikenang…especially to Dhira and Put, for taking on 2 complete strangers, and providing them with food, shelter, entertainment and really good tours…kalo tak sebab blog nie, tak kite jumpe kan Dhira? And thanks for taking us back after the Stuttgart trip..really appreciate that :) oh yeah, Dhira, kalo salah info here, let me know k? kekadang terlupe :p

Lepas nie ade ura2 nak pergi Prague pulak…sape nak ikut?