Last week we followed abah to a conference at queen's univ, in belfast. Took an early flight from liv john lennon's airport and arrived at ibis hotel around 9 am. yup, very early indeed. check in was not until 12 noon, so agak boring jugakla menunggu..huhu. while abah went to register himself at the conf, me and the girls just melepak2, makan2 bekal (luckily i had the initiative to bring some bekal -roti with choc spread je punn, nk bawak lebih2 takut kene rampas kt airport) and then sesi menangkap gambar la, what else.hehe. rasanya bebudak ni dah semakin pandai berposing, just point the camera and they gave many different poses, especially si kakak.
Then we went to the nearby garden, the botanic garden, next to the Queen's univ, just a few minutes walk from the hotel to lepak2 while waiting for check in. this botanical garden for me, is beautiful. it's peaceful, cool and full of fresh green scenery. if i studied at the univ, I'd definitely be a four-flat student because of such a wonderful and peaceful place to study: the garden! (boleh caya ke?). Qystina was so delighted to see all the green and colourful flower, she kept laughing and picking up the flowers (aiyoyo...nasib baik tak kene marah.hehe). Qaisara? what can i say, the place was so nice, she fell asleep peacefully :)
The next day, we explored by foot to the city centre. Guided by a map and tourist guide book, we strolled around the town and managed to find some interesting places. The city was rather small for a nation's capital. But for a country which had survived years of entcnic/political conflicts, i think it was OK. We jalan2 to the City Hall, up until the River Lagan banks. Then we go further to see the Albert Tower Memorial Clock and patah balik through the Victoria Square. The city, like many in UK is filled with architectural landmarks. Statues, monuments, beautiful buildings, those sorts of things. Puasla bergambar sini sana.
City Hall
Lepak2 di city Hall
Tepi River Lagan
Albert Memorial Clock tower
On the way back from, misi mencari kedai halal. There are several Turkish Kebab restaurant along the way, but none has a Halal sign on the window. Try masuk salah satu kedai, we were greeted with Salam. Alhamdulillah, sah, kedai Halal :) 3 hari 2 malam dok Belfast, makan megi n kebab jela keje.hehe. Megi bawak dari sini, sampai 6 pek bawak, abis semua, cepat dimasak dan sedap dingap! Nasik, susah nak cari...tp masa they had BBQ at the confrence, adala dihidangkan nasi minyak. so thanks to our friends, who kindly packed the nasi for us (kitorang tak gi BBQ tu, sebok bejalan ke bandar) merasa gakle makan nasik :)
The last day, lepas bermalas-malasan di hotel, sampai waktu checkout, kitorang teruskan exploring the city. Lepas checkout, simpan luggage kat tourist centre, we took the tour bus ride, the double-decker type, with open top. Menarikla jugak, it took about 2 hours to finish the tour non-stop. It was actually a hop-on-hop-off type of tour, tp malasla nak turun2 ni, leceh..mule2 eksyen, dok kat atas, skali angin die kuat sangat daa...adik tak tahan, dah start nangis2, terpaksa turun bawah, dok la kat bawah tu dgn Mr driver, Mr tourist guide and Mr tukang main gitar n nyanyi2. Yup, the bus trip has a tour guide, who explained in detail every interesting places that we pass by, and an entertainer, who sings along the way. sedap gak a sore die :) Qystina n abah stayed on top level, tp qystina boleh tido la plak..sedap kene angin agaknye..
On board the bus
On the tour, among the places we saw was the place where the Titanic was made. iye, kapal titanc tu..yg tenggelam tu..Ada muzium rasanya kat situ, n ada walking tour, tapi kitorang tak turun, tengok dari atas bas jelah. Then we saw the Stormont House, where the NI parliament is located, and we went to see the Belfast Peace Line:
a series of separation barriers ranging in length from a few hundred yards to over three miles (5 km), separating Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods in Belfast (definisi pinjam dari Wiki). Mula2 ingatkan walls ni hanya tinggalan sejarah ke, dah tak dipakai ke, rupa2nya, masih berfungsi sampai sekarang! dasyat2..mmg dieorang ni bergaduh..satu puak pro ireland, satu lg pro uk. haih..kat negara maju pun ade gak ye menda2 mcm ni...ni kesan2 penjajahan british la kut? sampai berpecah belah negara.huhuhu. -no further comment-
Where Titanic was made
Stormont House
Peace Line, penuh dgn murals
Petang around 5 kitorang pun get ready to go home. Flight pukul 8++ mlm, so melepaks la di city airport. Alhamdulillah, akhirnya selamat sampai ke rumah. Sampai2, trus masak nasi + sardin + telur dadar. haiyoo, rindu nasi punya pasal..Qystina pon berselera makan, bertambah2.
at the airport
It was a fun trip. Thanks a lot to Abah for bringing us there. We luv u so much. Pasni bawak kitorang jalan2 lagi yerr..hehe
