USA Day 1-2: JFK and New York.

Suddenly in the mood of travelling - the last time we went away was to Italy in October last year and it wasn't particularly great - what with me being unwell and all.

But USA was amaaaazing. No, like really, A-MAH-ZING. Tetiba USA hahaha.

We started off the journey from Birmingham International Airport.

[KLM]

Birmingham → Amsterdam Schiphol → John F. Kennedy Airport, New York

return

[Air France]

John F. Kennedy Airport, New York → Paris Charles de Goule → Birmingham

Our tickets costed about £550pp return. We could've saved more if we flew from London but Adam was working the day before the trip, so we decided not to get too stressed out on planning and just pay extra for the convenience. And I always prefer flying out from Birmingham as it's a smaller airport (despite being international) and it's easier to get to (about 1 hour plus by train from Leicester).

And I only learnt on our trip that KLM and Air France sort of like partner together. You can manage your KLM booking on Air France website and vice versa, although I personally find KLM website more user friendly.

A little note as well, I know most overseas students are aware of this, but I'm surprised that some of my friends in Malaysia don't. Go to skyscanner.net to find and compare cheap flights. It works most of the time, and Alhamdulillah so far I had no issues with the agents/companies listed. However it's quite tricky with domestic Malaysian flights. MAS, for example, doesn't display the total amount including tax on Skyscanner (not even on their website, I believe?). So while they appear cheap on Skyscanner, the total amount changes after you're directed to MAS website. I feel this is quite deceiving, especially having become used to the UK/EU system where they're obligated to include tax in their display price - what you see is what you pay. But it's nothing too major, just something to keep in mind.

Another tip - I'm one of those who religiously key in my MH Enrich number (MAS loyalty point) in whatever airline that I fly with, especially with the long-haul ones. I don't really check if the airline that I'm flying with actually partners with MAS, but since I have the number in hand anyway, I just put it in. This proves to be a smart move as I always have some magic Enrich points appearing on my account - which means, free flights, woohoo! Not really free since you do have to pay some fee and whatnot, but it's definitely cheaper and you're more flexible to book at the last minute with Enrich points, since the points required stay the same. 

Anyways, we haven't gotten into the USA part yet, whaaatt?!??

Right, back to business.

While on this map the journey doesn't look particularly impressive, this one certainly does.

Talk about flying trans-Atlantic, woha! 

The journey itself wasn't too long, probably around 7 hours. But bearing in mind that we had to transit in Amsterdam/Paris, total travelling time one way was around 16 hours, almost the same as going back to Malaysia including transit. If you manage to bag a direct flight UK/Ireland to USA, it would be around 7 hours max.

We spent around 10 days including travelling times around The States. We only went to New York City, Niagara (Buffalo), and Washington DC before heading back to New York JFK. Considering how maaaaasssive the country is, you can imagine how much time we spent on the road driving from one place to another.

On to New York.

Day 1: JFK Arrival

We arrived at JFK quite late at night. Having foreseen this, I decided to book a room via AirBnB nearby the airport. The host also offered pick-up for a little extra cost so that was a bonus. Unfortunately I didn't take any picture as we were super tired and the place wasn't very exciting either. It did the job for both of us - a double bed with shared bathroom. The pick-up was straightforward, I can highly recommend this place for a short night or quick transfer to/from JFK.

Link to AirBnB: Room with wifi near JFK

Day 2: New Yoooorrkkkk

Took the train into NYC rather early in the morning and started the day with this.

HAHAHA true New Yorker I tell you.

Not sure what got into Adam's mind when he ordered a dozen donuts.

Since we were staying at New Jersey (NJ), ie not in Manhattan, we had to carry our rucksacks around us. We found a place to leave our luggages, I think it cost around $10 per bag for the whole day. Google, and you shall find.

So onto NYC.

New Yoooorrrrrrk, country jungle wet dreams tomaaahhtoooo. There's nothing you can't doooooo.

I. Could. Not. Get. That. Song. Out. Off. My. Head. (I made up the first part)

But really, there we were, in the middle of the busy Times Square, and mind you, it's The New York Times Square, NOT Berjaya Times Square *scoffs HAHAHA. I can still feel the excitement in my bones right now, honestly.

Being the city girl that I am, the experience was thrilling. Exhilarating. Growing up with American movies and dramas, everything felt so surreal. People (by that I mean, the Brits) used to comment on my American accent when I first came to England - THIS WAS IT, people. I grew up watching/listening to THIS. 

Btw I sound more British now. *scoff some more

That day was basically spent walking around with our heads tilted up all day. 

Like this, the Empire State Building. Now now, how could I get Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind our of my head, you tell me. New Yoooooorrkkkkk ---

Okay I should probably stop now.

But this building truly reminded me of Sleepless in Seattle movie, hopeless romantic I know.

A picture in front of Sephora because I promised Nadd I would take one, just because. And no, I did not get a single thing there.

Grand Central Terminal.

Inside Grand Central Terminal. 

I grew up listening to it being called The Grand Central Station (blame the movies!). So imagine my disappointment (and rather, embarrassment of my own ignorance) when I found out that it is now called Grand Central Terminal. Again, there are few movies that were filmed here, but one that I remember most is from Step Up 3D. 

Ahh my life in movies.

The Rockefeller Center. Notice Malaysian flag waving up there?!

Each place in NYC has its own story to tell, but you can do that from your own reading I guess. But anyways, this Rockefeller Center has a viewing deck where you can see New York from up above, including the Empire State Building. It doesn't come cheap though, although I couldn't really remember how much you'd have to pay to go in.

And here's the best part of New York City..

The Halal Guys!

I read about them A LOT before travelling to The States. And A LOT of the comments involved  QUEUES. And they weren't joking about it either. The queue extended to the corner of the block, so imagine how we felt when we first saw them. But fret not, once you're in the queue, it was only for 10 minutes top. They only take cash, so have your 10 bucks notes ready. Meals are around $7 each, and the portions are huge. It's a simple menu, I think with 5-6 options depending whether you want rice or kebab with either lamb or chicken, or both. But man, the food was heavenly.

We had our food at the side walk like a true New Yorker (haha I doubt!), partly because we were starving and the smell was too tempting.

The you-think-I'm-gonna-share? look.

We walked around for a bit more before heading bag to the luggage storage as they closed at around 6pm.

Times Square in panoramic view.

Since we were staying in New Jersey, we had to take the bus from Port Authority Bus Station. Round trip was $3 pp if I remember correctly, but you could also purchase 10-tickets for better price. The journey itself took around 15-20 minutes one way from Port Authority to NJ.

And this was what greeted us once we got off the bus at NJ.

New York skyline!

To be completely honest, part of the reasons why I chose this AirBnb (click for link) was honestly for the view. It wasn't the cheapest option if I wanted to be truly calculative, but I thought it was worth the journey and view. And the whole stay was amazing! We stayed for 4d3n and honestly, I couldn't fault the host at all. We had pastries and freshly brewed coffee every morning - and THE Hazelnut Coffeemate - I blame them for introducing that to me!

I initially considered staying somewhere in Manhattan to save on transport cost, and some of them worked out pretty much the same as staying in NJ. You pay more for the accommodation, but less on transport. Problem is, these accommodations are usually the dingy ones - shared bathrooms, no breakfast etc. Nowhere near what we got with the AirBnB. Highly recommended.

Arrived here to the magic padlock with a secret code, ha!

And somehow I became Anabel during that stay. 

They had 2 cats, which Adam wasn't particularly excited about. But me? CATS! Okay I can be quite scared of them but still, CATS!

So that sums up our first day around NYC. Hoping that I could keep up with this USA series as God knows how many pictures I have to scroll through, and the brain exercise to remember the details is just, bleghhh. But hey, it's NEW YORK!

Okay excitement over. Later.

When in Rome. (and Pisa and Venice)

Typing this away very quickly as I have a gazillion other pending chores at home from being away and unwell for quite some time.

Italy's been amazing. The weather, that is. In summary it's a lot if this.

Rome

Pisa

Venice

Obligatory tourist photos! (Still not sure if we got the right spot in Venice though).

Of all the three I probably love Venice most. And a bit of Pisa. Rome is very.. Historical. And we are not very historical people. I guess it explains why we (by that I mean, I?) love love loveee Amsterdam and New York, and don't mind going there again, despite having been to Amsterdam twice. Pretty much how I prefer Barcelona over Madrid. Oooh the paella!

I love the hustle and bustle of a city - the life, the food, the street view, the different people you meet and see. I love living, animated objects (read: human and animals), and the nice smelling/tasting ones too (read: food).  And you definitely get more of this from Venice than Rome. 

Rome just feels very deep, if that even makes sense. It gave me the pressure of having to learn the history of this place, and that building, and oohh, that chapel too! There's just too much to see, and you cannot just see without actually knowing what's going on!

Venice on the other hand, is a lot of cobblestone paved street and alleys. And water too. Sometimes you just blindly walk on the narrow streets finding yourself a dead end - into the canal. It's pretty cool, albeit sometimes annoying. But the food is amazing. Very expensive too, that we had to withdraw another bunch of cash there, but I believe it's more because our holiday and spending habits have massively changed from the student days. We like to indulge a tiny little bit more, after all we've both been working like mad! And surprisingly, unlike many other very touristy places, Venice is surprisingly very very, clean. The small streets in between buildings smell nothing of piss - Paris should definitely have a lesson or two.

And Pisa, oh well, a small quiet town with a slanting stick (read: Leaning Tower) where everyone gathers around it. Not much to say. Although it did feel like a nice transition in between Rome and Venice.

I might/might not write further on Italy honestly, as I just didn't get the vibe of holiday that I was hoping for. For the most part of it, I was rather unwell with vague things that I couldn't put down to. So to be perfectly honest, on Friday we were just glad to be heading home. 

But I do feel Italy should be on the list if you're going around Europe, it's not your typical European country - UK, northern France, Belgium etc. I guess a lot of it is due to the weather. They're further down south so it's a bit milder/nicer, although Venice can be freezing at night.

And to be perfectly honest, for this long annual leave that we had, I was actually aiming for Morocco. But my UK permit arrived about 2 weeks or so before the break, just not enough time for Moroccan visa application, so we had to go to somewhere that didn't require any visa.

That's it folks, sorry that Italy hasn't been much to write. It was amazing, just not my kind of place. Pretty sure it will be someone else's!

Crossing multiple time zones, from USA to UK to MY.

On the way back from KLIA yesterday..

Ayah: Awak panas ke? Okay kita bukak pintu bagi sejuk sikit.

*bukak pintu kereta atas dashboard*

Pure moment of #dadjokes I tell you! Well to be fair Ayah can be very good at that. He even laughs at his own jokes so you kinda feel rude no to.

Anyways, #ayahjokes means I'm home, Alhamdulillah! I mean, that sort of home, not the kind of home you refer to just because you've been living in the UK for far too long that even a week in The States made you feel glad to be back. (I referred UK as "home" to the UK immigration officer in which she replied in genuine adoration, awh, it's nice that you think UK as home). Made me think twice, I must say. 

Also, USA has been nothing short of awesome! Move aside Amsterdam, New York is taking over. My favourite city has always been Amsterdam, been there twice, don't mind going there again. But now I must say I really fell in love with New York! To be fair it's a little not too clever to compare between the two given the size and geographical location.. I know, I know. But girl don't care. (girl don't care, another new frequently said phrase I picked somewhere). Have to blog about it at some point, but in general, it's a lot of this,

Selfies!

Getting a 6s before actually going there was probably one of the best decisions I have made this year.

Since USA deserves a whole series of its own, I'll leave it at that. Just another great news to share then - I've got my job rotations already! Aaanddd... Yes.... I did pick the same one as A.. Which means.. Yes... We are so gonna be colleagues weehoo!! *throws confetti everywhere*

*nervous laugh follows*

It's only going to be for four months, but it's the first four months in Northampton, my very first job ever! I'm very determined not to call him every time I need to put cannulas on, hmmphh!

A lot of good things have been happening Alhamdulillah, can't praise enough to Him for making this happen. Meanwhile let's keep praying for more good things inshaAllah.

(By now I'm sure you guys noticed that I'm a firm believer of prayers. I really am, they're sharp-shooting bullets that never miss!)

So keep making du'as people!!

København, Denmark Day 2 + Departure Day.

Still on Day 2 in Copenhagen, later in the evening. We went to Tivoli, the second oldest amusement park in the world. Well actually, the oldest amusement park is also in Denmark.

The Danes sure sound like fun people.

Entry fee is about 99DKK equivalent to roughly £10pp. The decoration theme changes according to the season and celebration that's going on. We went there during Halloween time, thus it's only natural to have loads and loads and loads of pumpkins. Real pumpkins! I bet if you make pengat labu out of them you can feed a whole village during Ramadhan.

Motif masak pengat labu di bulan puasa?

Anyways, the rides costs on average 30DKK to 100DKK. The more thrilling the ride is, the higher the price goes. Needless to say it's not really for the thrill-seekers, more like for the ambience and spirit of whatever season you're in at that time.

Oooh I bet their Christmas theme would be pretty!

Anyways, pictures!

One extra large pumpkin hanging around (literally) at the entrance gate

They do something like a light and sound show everynight at 1045pm. That. Is. So. Very. Late. I know. To hang around in the freezing cold weather just for the show sounds a bit daft, but we did it anyway. And it was amazing.

Too cool. We went back at about 11pm and was quite surprised that the streets were still buzzing with people. Unlike in UK where the cities go to sleep at about 8pm.

Day 3, aka home day, yay!

We went to an artificial beach just to kill some time before going to the airport. Again, it wasn't really the best weather for a stroll on the beach. Took some pictures as it was really quiet and I couldn't say no to a beach remote selfie. 

This, lasted for about 10 seconds.

While this, is what happened behind scene most of the times. You hopeless romantic, you.

We then went to the National Aquarium (again, to kill time) and saw loads of fish! The very big fan of fish in me got excited but the wobbly legs were on strike together with the tummy, altogether making Bella a slightly grumpy woman.

But hey, fish!

At about 6pm we left the aquarium walked (again!) to the airport. Never in my entire life have I actually walked to the airport. It was actually not too bad, about 20 minutes walk but since the whole trip has been about walking, even the idea of stepping your foot one after another became less appealing. And I ended up walking barefoot along the road going to the airport.

For all we know I could be arrested for some mental instability or something.

Anyways, our flight was later at 10pm something and we arrived Leicester at 1am something and totally conked out the next day. 

Should do this again, man.

København, Denmark Day 2.

Right. Day 2 of Denmark before I forget.

(I've probably forgotton half of it by now anyway.)

Day 2. Friday.

Due to the absurdly long rest that we had the night before, I managed to do some googling of things to do in Copenhagen (CPH). Admittedly there's a lot of museums (cough) like any other European cities (albeit Denmark is actually Scandinavian, or Schengen? you read and tell me) so personally to us, there's probably not much to do. But one thing that we did manage to find out is the free walking tour they have daily. So armed with thousands of excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, we headed up and early to the City Hall Square where the meeting point is.

I said up and early because our previous Euro trips have shown that 11am to be the time when we're both still scrambling over tiny hotel room deciding who should have a shower first.

And guys, the tour was, fan-tas-tic.

For something as free as the air you breathe in, I'll say it again, it was, fan-tas-tic.

They work on a tip basis, so do give them some tip, whatever you think the tour is worth for.

The City Hall Square

Our tour guide, Rikke, born and bred in Denmark, a true Dane. She's hillarious and funny but not in a weird way. You know sometimes when people try to be funny and make jokes but everyone else are not getting it and in the end there's only awkward silence and polite nods? That is definitely not her.

If you look closely at the corner of the building there's actually a thermometer showing current temperature. It's not as obvious in the daylight but as you scroll/read this post further, we'll see it a bit better in a different picture. (in a tour guide voice)

And here's the biggest fact that we learnt during the trip - Carlsberg is actually originally from Denmark. We kept getting it confused with Guinness, which is obviously Irish, hence the surprise. But anyways, above is the place where Carlsberg founder, JC Jacobsen was born. He named the company, Carlsberg, after his son, Carl Jacobsen. Well not that we drink anyway, but it's nice to know the history around something you see so commonly that even Carlsberg and Guinness become mixed up.

Here's another fact around CPH. They had two big fires in the 1700s destroying most of the city. After the second fire in 1795, the new buildings were built such that the corners were cut out, ie no sharp corners. This was to allow the fire trucks to get to the streets around the city centre, since fires were a big thing during that time. And guess what, the City Hall that we saw earlier is actually the fourth city hall of CPH, after the first two burned down in fire. The third one is now used as a court, and the fourth one is what you see today.

Hotel D'Angleterre, a 5-star hotel where the Nazi camped during their stay in Copenhagen. It is Adam's dream that one day we'll get to stay there, although I highly doubt that I ever want to come to Copenhagen, again. But one fine day, that is.

A march from the palace to I'm not sure where, and I've also forgotten what was the occasion.

Nyhavn (pronouned new-haan), the bit of Copenhagen that you see on postcards. It's a lovely place to hang around, but slightly more expensive than everywhere else in the city. Reminded me a bit of the Nine Streets of Amsterdam, but to be fair Amsterdam is a whole lot of canals, so it's kinda pointless to compare the two, really.

My favourite thing about Denmark - their monarchy! This is actually a palace, there's another two buildings of almost similar architecture for different royal families who live there. And while we thought Queen Elizabeth of United Kingdom has been around since, you know, forever, the monarchy of Denmark is actually the oldest in the Europe. It has been said that when Queen Elizabeth came to visit the royal family in Denmark, she had to bow to them because their monarchy is much older than UK's. To what extent is this true, I have no idea.

Another fascinating fact (good pun?) about the Danish monarchy is that they are of very humble people. In the above picture you see the Princess Mary, the Crown Princess of Denmark cycling with her two kids. Remember how I said the Danes cycle everywhere? Even the royals cycle you see! She met the Prince of Denmark, Prince Frederik in Sydney during Olympics, where she had no idea who he was. If you google up their love story, it seems like some kind of a perfect modern-day fairytale, where a prince met a commoner and have loads of beautiful children (four, to be exact).

But anyways, back to being humble, their children all went to public schools, and refused to be treated as the royalty. And as you can see even their palace is not of a high-gated well-secluded area away from sights of the commoner (like us). We even caught her on camera, chilling cycling like nobody's business with her two kids. Ahh happy life.

Copenhagen Opera House, one of the most expensive opera houses ever built.

** Tour ended somewhere around here. **

But seriously guys, if you ever go to any European cities that offer free walking tour and you have no specific plans, might as well give it a go. We wondered why hadn't we done that before in other cities. It was so worth it that the cheapskate in us didn't mind tipping Rikke for the tour.

Three hours of sakit kaki, no regrets.

Here we can see one of the most disappointing landmarks, The Little Mermaid. Although admittedly it is some kind of a must-see in Copenhagen. Don't be deceived by this picture, it's absolutely tiny, and sits absolutely still (haha). We only went to see her because we were in the area, if not, I'll definitely give it a pass. And people, honestly, forget it. Unless you're a big fan of HC Andersen, the original author of he fairytale Little Mermaid, in which case you'd probably get one of the biggest satisfaction in life by seeing this very patient lady waiting for the love of her life, until today (or ever).

Adam was so amused by the cycling route here in Copenhagen that I had to take this picture. 

(Only to came back to UK and realise that the UK also have something like this, albeit not as sophisticated).

And that sums up the day. We went back to the hotel for a bit then left again in the evening to the second oldest theme park in the world - Tivoli, which will hopefully be in a different post because it's just a whole load of pictures.

All in all we walked for a total of nine hours, me in the bloody boots and whatnot. Survived, phew.

And as promised, here is the giant thermometer at the city that we saw earlier. At night.

See that thing on the right most? Just under the Thai sign (not very Danish I suppose). It was 10°C that night. 

Itu je.