 | Welcome, family and friends! | Feb 11, 2007 |
Check out my news and photos. I am rather private and reserved, so this "blog" serves only as a means to update you on my activities. Don't expect to see long entries on my thoughts and feelings on things (not that I don't have thoughts and feelings on things ; )). Perhaps I also don't want to spend too much time blogging. We all know how addictive that could be! Blogging from home is out: The kids are constantly clamoring for my attention. Besides, the home connection is rather slow, and Faez is territorial when it comes to the PC. Blogging from work is also out: too much work to do. But my number 1 reason for not blogging: too unmotivated to update the blog. Malas :P  |  | Hakeem turned two on August 1. How time flies! We went for a double celebration: Faez turned 9 on August 12. |
 | | It was another annual clan trip. Five big families and Azmi's parents went to Pangkor Island. We had SO much fun! |
 | | The view from the boat was definitely worth the 11 Euros! I enjoyed myself tremendously and wished that I could stay longer in Amsterdam! |
 | | On the way home from Berlin, Intan and I had a stop-over in Amsterdam for about 6 hours. What a trip! Amsterdam is definitely my top 5 destinations! (How could I have skipped Amsterdam in my European tour in 1997!!!) And no, no, it wasn't because of the readily available marijuana or s** stuff! Anyway, I read somewhere that the weather is a little erratic. How true. The first 2 hrs or so, it was sunny and clear blue skies. Suddenly, it became cloudy and down came the rain! |
 | | The U-Bahn and the S-Bahn are super-efficient transport systems, tried and tested. They could be a little confusing at first, but I got the hang of it after several rides. I was very impressed with the "honesty system." One could ride the trains for free since there is no one and no machine to check, but people still buy the tickets...Try implementing such a system in Malaysia! I would bet there are enough free riders to cause the company to go bust! |
 | | Ku'damm, as the locals call it, is THE shopping district in Berlin. Many interesting stores. According to my guidebook, it is still THE place to be seen. |
 | | It's a small, charming town about 20 minutes from Berlin by car. I came here specifically for the Sanssouci Palace! |
 | | What magnificent palace and gardens! |
 | | After listening to psych talks for about 8 hours, it was time for a break and some sightseeing. We went to Potsdam, but on the way stopped by Wannsee, a lake of several miles big, just outside of Berlin. |
 | | I went to this car gallery in Unter Den Linden district. It houses many dealerships. Very fascinating even though I'm not a car enthusiast like a lot of men I know. |
 | | Thank God Thursday the 24th was warm and sunny. Felt like in Malaysia minus the humidity. That explains my darker complexion now! |
 | | The first 4 days in Berlin were chilly, as low as 13 degrees Celcius. Sometimes, it rained, too. Sejuk!!! |
 | | The Berlin Wall was 100 miles long and 4 meters high, but today you can see only some short strips of it. Much of the wall was torn down after 1989. |
 | | Thank you Michael and girlfriend Kerstin for making my trip to Berlin wonderful. Kerstin's home was the first German home I ever visited. Very charming and homey. |
 | | It was the best psych conference that I've ever attended. There were more than 10,000 participants, 4000 oral presentations and 4000 poster sessions. Got to listen to some prominent and inspiring psychologists the world over. Didn't know there were many handsome psychologists, too ;) |
 | | Azmi flew home in the morning. So, it was my solo trip before flying home the following day. |
 | | After seeing so much of Germany and taking scores of pictures everywhere we went, we became so sick of picture taking! Hence only two pictures in Jena (where I had my conference) worth posting here. Besides, Jena is never known for tourism; it doesn't have many interesting places. |
 | | We strolled around Munich after coming back from the Alps. It was one fabulous, bustling city! |
 | | We took the train from Munich to the Alps in the south. The view was breath-taking! Too bad we spent too much time window shopping to bother going up the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. |
 | | We went on the Romatic Road trip, from Wuerzburg to Munich. The bus left Wuerzburg at 10 AM and arrived in Munich around 9:30 PM. Along the way we passed through some 20 towns and stopped at at least 10 towns. It was very exhausting but the scenery and the fabulous medieval towns were worth it! |
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