Admittedly these destinations were never really on my radar... but since they're all there, what the heck, I might as well. And boy am I glad that I did :)
At first, no one was interested to join me. So the harapan pun terkubur je lah. Then one day Dzeelfa emailed to ask "Uji, you jadi datang kan masa Easter? Kita jalan2 pergi visit Marni". Apa lagi... my hopes were resurrected. Checked my work schedule... alamak, cannot go during Easter. Someone was due to give birth and the earliest I could go on leave was in early June. Darn!
So we planned the trip for June... both Dzeelfa and Marni were not on holidays at the time but being PhD and specialist students, their schedules are quite flexible. And so we planned... emailed to and fro. Planned the dates, places to visit, they had to figure out how to "ponteng" (or rather reschedule, hehe..) some classes etc. Everything was proceeding smoothly.
Then the bombshell came... "Uji, am so sorry. Afraid that I can't join you. I'm coming back to Malaysia instead. We jumpa kat tanahair" was the email from Dzeelfa (or lebih kurang macam tu lah). Oh no!!!
I still wanted to go on the trip, even if Dzeelfa can't make it. Pergi sorang pun sorang lah. Matta Fair was on... so I beli my return ticket KUL-AMS on Malaysia Airlines. Itupun beli on the last day... sambil tengah shopping kain dengan Mama kat Petaling Street, nampak ada travel agent at the corner of the street. Once I've bought the ticket, there's no turning back. Europe... here I come.
I don't mind travelling by myself. Have done it several times. Each time I go on work related trips... always try to squeeze in a day or two to see the place. The most recent were to London, Sydney, Seoul and Melbourne. And a few years back I did the most adventurous thing... taking a train down from Switzerland to Milan to meet a friend whom I've only interacted via email (looking back that was quite a risky thing... but alhamdulillah all went well).
But travelling alone ain't as much fun compared to when you have travel partners. Sometimes there are just things that you wish you could share with someone... an amazing piece of art, breathtaking view, funny stuff... senyum sorang je lah bila travel alone. Plus, kat those other places, it was more of *di samping itu* kind of jalan-jalan and the trips are usually quite short... sehari dua je. But for this trip it was going to be more than 2 weeks. Can I survive for that long on my own? OK lah... not entirely on my own coz when in Scotland I'll be spending a few days with Marni.
Then out of the blue, I got an sms from Skinner, "Uji, this year jalan pergi mana? I'm itching for a holiday". Bagaikan pucuk dicita ulam mendatang :) Told her about my plans... the dates, the trip, the schedule. Skinner has been by travel buddy for a few years now. We've made numerous trips... to Bali, Istanbul, Rome, Paris. And we had great fun each time... and lots of stories to reminisce upon :)
So to cut the story short... Skinner *begged* her boss for a long cuti and bought her (more expensive) KUL-AMS air ticket. I made arrangements for everything else... the intercity flights, accommodations, car rental. *Buat muka tak malu* asking Faz if we could stay over at her place during our Holland jaunt. Planned the trip itinerary with the help of several guidebooks and tips from Fodors.
Our departure date was Thursday, 31 May 2007. The flight was at midnight. Both of us kerja siang tu. I made plans with Skinner to jumpa kat KLIA terus since I was not sure what time I would get off work. Takut terlambat if nak check-in kat KL Sentral. For the same reason, I decided to check-in during lunch time. So the night before I had packed my bag and bawa pergi office the next day.
Kebetulan Faz pun was flying back to Holland after bercuti kat KL. She's travelling with her son Amir. So kita memang plan nak travel sama-sama. Around 9.30pm she called me "Uji, where are you? I tengah nak check-in ni". Told her that I was still at home and she got a shock. Then I told her that I had already checked in and will meet her at the departure lounge. Skinner called me while I was on KLIA Express... her nephews and nieces sent her to the airport.
I sampai airport ngam-ngam time nak boarding. Tapi still sempat singgah kat Body Shop to get some supplies since they were on sale ;) KLIA had just introduced the *no liquids on board* rule, lama lah sikit nak pack the cleanser tu. Met Skinner and we rushed to the gate... tinggal segelintir je passengers yang belum board the plan, termasuk lah the two of us. Belum apa-apa dah berpeluh-peluh, hehe...
Faz must have been wondering *mana lah perempuan2 ni* coz she loudly cried out our names when she saw us in the plane. Nampak relieved muka dia, hehe."Hi Faz" I said, "This is Skinner. Where's your son?"
"Tu hah..." Amir was playing kat bawah seats, hehe...
"OK... see you later. We're right at the back" I informed her.
It was an uneventful flight... I watched Wild Hogs and slept most of the time. Woke up in time to watch the sun rise... cantik betul!
And 13 hours later, we arrived in the land famous for its tulips...
