London Calling and Europe’s Sin City Follows

I have not made any entry on our Lon Ams trip. How could I.

I dare say that it was one of the most important trip for our household for many reasons. Slowly gets to the top of the list of our little family core family. Or so I hope.

It’s been 3 years since the trip, much has been forgotten. But to document it, with whatever little memory I have of it is a must. Before it gets completely wiped off.

Our 1st major family trip was definitely to Busan and Seoul in 2015. We’ve been travelling alright as a family. When I was pregnant with Qaid, we went to Bangkok. When Qaid was small we went to Bandung. Then when we had Qays, we went to Bali. They hardly remember this. Then when they were 4 and 2 we went to Krabi. Had a quick trip to Singapore. Then our passport expired. Then we thought, ok, that’s it for now. Until the next big needs to travel again. All these happened between 2007 to late 2011. Not sure how we entertained ourselves between 2012 to 2015, but no overseas travel. Those that we had during our early family years, were the close vicinity ones. We had Kota Kinabalu definitely in early 2015. Then, when Mus left for Busan, it opened up a reason to renew our passports. All 4 of us. And the rest was history. Seoul in 2015, Beijing in 2016, Bangkok in 2017 (recovered our pockets a bit), Perth 2018, Tokyo 2019. With an extra for me and hubs in 2018 for Berlin. We brought my parents for all trips except for Perth. And it was only because Ayah had other responsibilities then. Then, as everyone knows it, Covid happened in 2020. And we got back to no overseas travel again. But this time, it was definitely harder. After years of major trips, how can we leave without one. Hubs had win London Marathon ballot for the race in 2020. Due to Covid 19, it was deferred, along with our tickets which we had purchased as well. The deferment could only last so long. 2023 was the max deferment year. Going that far and costing that much was not something that we were willing to spend money on initially. I don’t have the heart to leave the kids behind. So I decided that we had to bring everyone along. No matter how bad our pockets will get, it’s either all or nothing. So, although not exactly planned, we have revolutionised our family travel again. Long haul flights to a much further world, with around 30k travel spend. 

Travel restrictions and preliminaries started to ease only sometime in mid 2022. It was a hassle earlier on, with constant needs for covid tests and longer time for health screening at the gates. Hubs did some work travels during those time and he had to be on quarantine in his room before given final clearance to roam about. China's was more restricted compared to other places. I didn’t even want to consider travelling earlier on due to the hassle. But as 2022 near the end, more and more people started to travel. So we deferred the travel as much as we could. By the time we were renewing our passports, almost everyone else was starting to travel again. Immigration was the busiest ever. We had to come as early as 530 am to secure our lane, when the counter only opened at 8 am. We brought chairs and waited along with everyone else.

While we had our passports renewed, we made our trip to South Thai, Hatyai. As usual, hubs has always been wanting to go. And most likely due to his mom as well. So that was the first place we went under the new passport. 

Good things never last. The moment we got back from that, we got a devastating news that my father had passed. This is a story by itself. But I remember having that mixed feeling for the trip since it was just around less than 2 months after my father's passing. 

The trip was to London and back through Amsterdam. And I thought that was enough, 4 days in each city. But when me and Laila was doing our girls' trip to Jakarta around November 2022, that was around the time that I decided to add 1 more city. Well, must attribute it to her as well. But it was the best decision ever. Layla kept emphasizing that our trip was too long. Hence, I decided that to look for other feasible options. Long story short, Brussels was a doable day trip.

Logistics wise, we have hubs as the master logistics planner. Itinerary wise, let mama do the planning. Berlin and London was purely hubs, left it totally to him. I had few wish list for London, Stonehenge is a must in the list and I want it driven. Nothing specific to other places, other than the normal research of the must dos and must visits. And all these was pre-chatgpt time.

Kids were getting bigger. Our last winter vacation was in 2019, when the oldest was 12 years old. Not much teen fuss at that time. in 2023, Lope and Angah were 16 and 14 years old each. It was much harder this time since I had 2 hungry teenagers to satisfy. Both from outfit and food. Aita and Naela was the easiest to manage outfit wise, but of course I need to make Naela fashionably decent as well. Luckily Layla could lend her daughter's winter coat, hence I just need to buy 1 more. Aita could use the handdowns. We had Muhd's winter jacket as well a our consumption. I bought 1 new set and all 3 of us managed to co-share my coats as well. There you go, just 1 new purchase for me and Naela, and we were all set. 

Weather wise, I've been monitoring the weather as always prior to the trip. Hence it wasn't supposed to be harsh. The most harsh we had was Beijing. So I was a bit relax, thought just jackets are sufficient, without the needs for some scarves or gloves. We could travel minimally, or so I thought.

And the travel day finally arrived. 

Day 1 - Big Ben area, Westminster

The weather hit us as soon as we hit London. Wasn't too bad still, lucky us. After a long flight, with lots of luggages, we had to push till we got to our hotel. Having been to London and Berlin 4 years earlier, we knew better to get to the nearest train stop as possible. After settling down in our little room (and it’s a literal little), we headed straight out. First up was dinner. And it was the most expensive London dinner. 

We then started off with London's must first, the Big Ben and the surrounding. Helped a friend to buy some shoe. Too early for shopping, but better to settle it as early as you could. Despite the jet lag, everyone was considered fine. Naela dozing off on Lope’s legs was one of my favorite picture. She was just 8 years old then.

Day 2 - Buckingham Palace, British Museum, Oxford Street, Harrods

We were greeted by London rain the next morning. First thing’s first; a run. Temperature was around 2 degrees with the rain. I had my white Adidas running jacket, a tshirt inside, and a pair of mitten glove. I had my first winter run in Beijing. Not sure why I didn’t run in Seoul. I knew better then that I don’t need that many layers for a winter run. As long as it doesn’t go below zero. Despite the drizzle, it was still an enjoyable run. Our place wasn’t too far from Hyde Park, so there I went, passed by the landmark parts of Hyde Park, and made it back to our hotel. We headed straight out after in the wet weather.

Our first visit was the Buckingham Palace, for the change of guard. We got a good spot and able to roam around to catch few other glimpse of what’s in store with the ceremony. Spent quite few hours there and mission accomplished. Once done, we were dying to get someplace warm, with British Museum next in line. We walked there of course, and enjoyed whatever we stumbled upon along the way.

We went back to our hotel before night came. Headed back out to Oxford Street and Piccadily. Too bad there was no street artist this time, unlike the time when we came in 2018. The memory was so significant that it remains a core memory until now. But it was complemented with our picture with the stranger. Who almost look like belong to us, which I still like to joke about until now.

Day 3 - Salisbury for Stonehenge, Bath

I brought Lope to run this time. We covered slightly beyond Hyde Park into a bit of Kensington Garden. Glad that we managed to secure a run despite our road trip day, which we managed to finish by 7:15. So roadtrip was totally not affected. Then we went on to fetch our car. It took us sometime still to settle our car. We managed to get into the car only by 10:30 despite the car being right in the city and very nearby. London’s city traffic wasn’t helping. Speed limit was unforgiving in the city. Not only that traffic was crawling,  the speed limit wouldn’t allow us to even if we want. We were supposed to reach Stonehenge around 11 or so, ended up around slightly after 1 pm. Spent about 1 hour there and headed to Bath after, which took us another 1 hour. Temperature has dropped further by then. We performed our solat at Bath’s Islamic Society which I had surveyed before to be available. It was a very nice, small spot. Decent enough for small Muslim community to congregate and we were so grateful that our journey had been eased. Throughout in UK and later on in Amsterdam and Brussels, there will always be nearby prayer or Islamic center. So grateful for this little blessings. We were supposed to go to Oxford University as well. But it was too late so it was skipped. The itinerary was even more ambitious. Slotted Bicester since we were in the so called surrounding and since we had transport. But everyone knows that we should reserve a day just for that. Missing Oxford wasn't a good idea at all. It didn't occur to me the importance of getting to immerse yourself into world's top university, and the benefit it may bring. But all in all, Salisbury/Bath trip was one of the most memorable ones, for me at least. Bath is a beautiful town with its historical buildings. A different view definitely compared to London. The field and the sunset was definitely a view to die for, which we forgot to really appreciate, what with the cold and the rush before the sun sets. I drove a bit of the way back but with very sleep eyes. Hubs continued on until London while the rest went flat out. 

Day 4 - Big Ben area, Westminster, London Bridge City, Greenwich, Arsenal Stadium 

Final day in London and was rather relax day. It was rainy almost all morning so it was rather cold. We covered all the main areas in the city, not yet covered in the first day. The normal touristy things of walking about all the way from Big Ben towards Trafalgar Square. Then it was nearing Friday prayer and we took the bus to Muslim World League London Office (MWLLO), often referred to as the Goodge Street Mosque. It was multi storey complex and I was amazed with the setup. What was meant to be just Zohor's prayer for me became my first experience being in the Friday prayer together. Usually, I would stay outside. It was packed and it was such a pretty sight, to be witnessing all the Muslims, mostly young and good looking ones even to be that observing to your faith, despite being in a major London City. But I've come to learn that this is always the case when you are abroad. The little communities that you have are strong enough to pull you to your deen, even more compared to if you're back home. We had pizza afterwards and it was heavenly. There was some chaos as usual, what with the long queue, everyone hungry, very limited place to sit that I forgot to take more pictures of the place.

Made our way to Greenwich afterwards and the weather started to get warmer and better. Introduced the kids to the park, which is always my favourite, went up to the observation area and finally headed to Arsenal Stadium. Arsenal Stadium is still the best museum visit that we had to date. And am proud of the iconic photo that I had of Aita. 

Day 5 - Train Ride to Amsterdam, Amsterdam Square

We had to bid goodbye to London on our first day and had to make it early to St. Pancras. I was especially surprised with the crowd. It was jam packed, long queue and civilised hassle and chaos. Mostly were professionals who might be commuting cross cities between London-Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam. Due to the long queue, we had very limited time to get to the train and ended up running with our luggage. All was good though, we safely made it to our seats in time. We passed by Brussels on the way to Amsterdam. Reached about past 4 pm, weather was a bit more chillier than we had expected, despite being sunny. Amsterdam Centraal is right smack in the middle of Amsterdam City and spending your time would have been enough to cover the main part of Amsterdam. Made our way to the hotel first to send our luggage and settle down and went back out to check out the city again. 

Amsterdam vibe was definitely different. London vibe was the normal city vibe, with its own history and culture, a melting pot even of different cultures around the world. Amsterdam was, predominantly them. I remember being reminded how tall everyone was and how small you were compared to others. The good thing Amsterdam main attraction was highly centralised. The square, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and the Red Light district was in the same area itself. The bad thing was, pot's stench was everywhere. It was my first pot's smell experience. And it has ruined me since then. We were out late and we leaving for hotel rather late as well. It was Saturday night as well, hence party mood was definitely everywhere. I remember feeling a bit concerned should the situation went a bit chaotic. Luckily it wasn't but it was definitely not a circumstances that you would like to be in, being Asian with small kids. 

Day 6 - Canals and Bridges

I started the next day with a run of course. With total quiet. Sunday morning was obviously in play. Our hotel was a bit further from Amsterdam Central. Which I didn't exactly mind, since I could immerse ourselves with Amsterdam daily life, instead of the touristy area. I remember having bumped into a pile of ice, swept to the site. Clearly we missed the snow just a bit. The rest of the day was filled with Anne Frank's (just the outside), Rapha Amsterdam (bought the sweater with discounts, which I really treasure till now), Canal Cruise, Bloemenmarkt (flower market) which we can find things with a slight bargain and more of the Dam Square. All within walking distance. Truly captivated with Amsterdam's biking scenery. Went to "Snack It" fast food, which we would be frequenting quite often while in Ams. And countless photos around the canals and the bridges. 

Day 7 - Volendam Windmill and Zaans Schanse

Our next day was truly dedicated to Volendam Windmill and Zaans Schanse. Need a bit of travel for this. But nothing too tiring, just a longer duration in the train.

Day 8 - Brussels

We dedicated the next day for Brussel. Just a day trip, which was decided upon at the very last minute, but wasn't a too bad decision I would say. Inspired by Layla, and contemplated of the various commute option. Ended with the most cost economical option of bus towards and train back.

Brussels was:

Dirty bus station. But cleaner towards the city centre

Seems to have quite high amount of homeless people

Europian Union City

Strong history with their various power struggles among the fighting nations nearby, strongly felt with their vast languages.

Traditional Europe feel, which I definitely like.

I had quite a long list in the itinerary. Covered majority of it, and they were all within the vicinity of one another. The further was the Grand Mosque but it was near the Parc de Bruxelles. The weather got so bad towards night time, around 2 degrees. Almost freezing cold. I enjoyed the park definitely, and we even enjoyed watching the kids having their afternoon football games.

Brussels

Porte de Halle (Halle Gate)

Palaise d'Egmont

Mont des Arts

City Centre

Grand Palace

Manneken Pis

Royal palace of Brussels

Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert

Brussels Stock Exchange

Royal Museum of Fine Art

Parc du Cinquantinaire

St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral

Grand Mosque of Brussels

Parc de Bruxelles

Day 9 - Rijksmuseum, Schaatsbaan Museumplein, Vondelpark, Mosques 

Just one day before our trip ended. Started my day with none other than a run of course. Which i took a much further route, which had brought me to an even less touristy area. For our final visit around Amsterdam, I contemplated between Van Gogh or Rijksmusuem, and I've decided for Rijksmuseum in the end. Which I was fully satisfied with the choice. Not cheap, but one that we must try. In fact, nothing is cheap in Amsterdam. We've complained about things being expensive, but Amsterdam was another level. You have to pay for every single thing. Even toilet at the fast food. Even for chilli sauce and mayonaisse. True capitalist city. Spent quite sometime there, until about 4 pm. Then everyone stated to get hungry and we had a good lunch at an Indonesian Restaurant. Finally, rather comfort food. We got back to Rijksmuseum since the next attraction was from there onwards. Just outside of Rijksmuseum is Schaatsbaan Museumplein, which effectively a square or open park. It would normally be used as open ice skating area, but should there's no ice, like during our visit, people mostly lounge, walk and picnic. We fooled around ourselves as well, until it's time to make a move, since we really had to catchup with prayer time. Along the way, we passed by Vondelpark, which is another very interesting place that we had to involuntarily cut short. The park links us to Islamic faith foundation, which is a very big mosque in which I was amazed with as well. One of the biggest in our visit, other than the one in Brussels. Managed to reach the are right before dusk set, hence our prayer was sorted. Once we were done, dusk had already fully set. And we managed to enjoy our final night view in Amsterdam

.

Day 10 - Dam Square and a wrap

There were few final things though. We passed by the Nemo Science Museum, which we didn't enter, but good enough venue to marvel at from the outside. There's a big fancy straircase leading towards it, connecting bridge, view of the multiple canals. Had our final Turkish doner. This was the day that Qays wanted to test whether he would be able to stand the cold without any jackets on. Also for a wasteful mission of fishing new Nike Panda from me (which he has since didn't favour as much as well). We had 1 final Dam Square picture before headed back to our hotel, to fetch our luggage. It gotten very cold already by then. Qaid especially was almost close to freezing with this picture of him with my wooly scarf (RM 70 bought from convenience store around). 

Despite being 3 years in the past, I can remember quite vividly how mellow the departure situation like. Rode the bus around dusk time. Reached the airport with sufficient time to spare. Rather amazed with their airport. Performed our prayer inside the multifaith prayer space, that I feel so grateful of. Did some final petty shopping. Totally skipped my mind that these are the kinds of place that I should be doing my designer shopping. Wasted the could have been cheaper Hermes Oran's from the airport. I even had to ask Laila to buy the Dior 30 Montaigne for me. Luckily she came back a bit later than me. The weather was quite challenging towards the end, that I kind of had freeze burns on my hands. Lucky it wasn't on the face. 

It was a great holiday nonetheless and glad that we pushed through despite the odds. Looking back, time flew so very fast. The kids were all so grown up now and so glad that we made it count with this trip. All thanks to me and hub's deferred London Marathon's Covid ticket, kinda pushed us to bring the kids to Europe. Wouldn't have had if it wasn't for that. A significant trip, which paved the way for future trips and one that we cannot easily reverse. But something that we won't regret definitely. May we always grow close with one another and we'll be able to hold similar trips with the same strength and aggression in the future. 

Tot ziens