Summer Trip Travelog: Getting to Amsterdam

Our tour with Kelana Convoy started at Park Lane, London.

All participants were required to gather at this place by 7:30 a.m because the coach would depart at 8 a.m. sharp. We weren’t the earliest to arrive. In fact, we were probably one of the latest (not late though!). The bus was almost full when we went up to the upper deck to take our seats.

Our first destination was Amsterdam and to get there, we had to pass through France and Belgium. Based on the itinerary provided, the options to get to France was either by taking a ferry or traveling under the sea via Channel Tunnel (I know, sounds interesting, right?!).

The first pit stop was at Folkestone which meant we were going to use the Eurotunnel!

We had plenty of time before our ‘boarding time’ and thus, we were allowed to roam around the tax and duty-free mall. The crews also allocated some time to show the campers on how to set up a tent. This was crucial information for first timers like me and my friends, so, we took videos...

 

 

The journey to France through the Eurotunnel was only 35 minutes. You didn’t even notice the difference once you’re inside. The most interesting part for me was probably getting the vehicles in and out of the shuttle. #mudahterhibur

 

Europe has strict rules on drivers to ensure safe driving. A driver can only work 9 hours per day and a break of at least 45 minutes after no more than 4 hours and 30 minutes of driving is required. Therefore, to adhere to these rules, we had another pit stop: the chocolate factory outlet. (I personally think these rules are cool - it helps to reduce the risk of accidents and cares for the drivers' rights.)

 

At the chocolate factory, everyone went crazy with the free samples. The word free and Malaysians are a lethal combination. Given that this was the first pit stop, I didn’t go too crazy on chocolate shopping – budget and space-constraints. But I did buy four boxes of chocolates…and had a lot of free samples. :P

Later that evening, we arrived at our campsite: Het Amsterdamse Bos. We picked a spot by the small stream and set up our tent for the night there. Such a cool first camping experience, no? 

 

Photo credits: Uncle Mustaffa

A disgrace

Hello virtual world. It has been a while, eh?

My effort to keep the blog alive through posting snippets of my life has been proven to be unsuccessful. Let’s be honest, it was a halfhearted thing from the start anyway…

So, I reverted all of them back to draft to save myself from some form of disgrace.

I wish I’d write more. Really, I do. But I have so many excuses not to write or to finish writing. I have gazillion drafts everywhere: in my phone, in Word, in the draft box. The blogger (CHEH) in me, had ideas popping out here and there, whenever the urge to write came up. I just never found the time to sit and type a proper post because I AM PLAIN LAZY.

When lah all of my travel posts would be published? I ask myself the same thing.

Cottage Getaway

Over my last fall break, my friends and I rented a cottage in Gatineau, Quebec through AirBnB for fun.

We spent two days and two nights there. We made and had fancy meals, and played all sorts of puzzles and games till early morning...while also managing to study in between. #nerds

It never occurred to me that having a house in the middle of nowhere would be somewhat useful. Then, came this house and I fell in love with the idea. Just look at it, it's beautiful!

A beach house was the dream before but now, I want a house on top of some hill, overlooking the view from up high. Of course, the idea was wonderful for countries like Canada and the States because the forest is pretty (to me) and there’s no spooky and mystic stories (which Malaysia is rich with) and all that thingamajig.

We even saw a wild deer at one point. Excuse my low quality picture. Trust me, it's a real deer, not a painting...

Oh, just how lovely would it be to own a place like this, which is just a drive away, for a short getaway?

 *dreams away*

What I've Been Reading 006

1. Infinite Sky, C.J. Flood

When you want things to change, you have to do something different.

Some people can’t fit the mould that’s made for them…They get squashed in. And it’s hard for them to leave, but it’s harder for them to stay. They have to find other ways to be.

I can definitely say that the book was not exactly my cup of tea. I am not much of a deep-thinker when it comes to reading books. I usually take things at their face value (I really should work on this). Therefore, the book was a tad too heavy for me because it discussed discrimination and prejudice. How do I move on from light reads?!

2. Love Letters to the Dead, Ava Dellaira

I loved the feeling of being alone together in the car, like we could go anywhere we wanted. Just us.

I think a lot of people want to be someone, but we are scared that if we try, we won’t be as good as everyone imagines we could be.

It might have been more meaningful and interesting if I knew half of the people she was writing to (I don’t exactly know celebrities and their significant life stories well okay). I also might not have been able to comprehend the reason for May’s actions…

3. Lullabies, Lang Leav

If a boy ever says, you remind me of someone -- don't fall in love with him. You will never be anything more than second best. - Forewarned

I read poetry books like this because of the hype it has on the internet. I think I like Love & Misadventure more. The collections of poems in this book are very…plain? Disclaimer: the quote above was not something I really believed in.

4. All the Bright Places, Jennifer Niven

“Just be careful” implies that there’s an end to it all, maybe in an hour, maybe in three years, but an end just the same.

I love Finch for so many reasons and thus I was disappointed with the book. He’s definitely weird but he seemed like a fun person to hang out with. When I finished reading this book, I noticed the repeating theme of my recent book reads: secrets and suicides. So dark, I know.

5. I’ll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson

Your eyes are so ethereal, your whole face is. I stared at pictures of you for hours last night. You give me chills. And you give me global warming!

And some thoughts once thought are very hard to unthink.

This was one of my favourite reads. It was a tad odd at first because I have never read a book from the perspective of a homosexual person before. So, that was new. Other than that, I just loved the mini quirky things from the grandma’s bible (I’m pretty sure it’s not the real biblical excerpts, just a guide books of sorts). I wished the graphics were real though and not just mere descriptions.

Summer Trip Travelog: Tour Package

The most crucial part of traveling is the planning.

There are so many things to take into account: accommodation, transportation, attractions to visit, food, peoples’ preferences and budget. The amount of time you have to invest for research alone is endless when you have no clue where to start.

I was busy with school when the idea came up and therefore, I did not have much time to spend on searching for the best deals available on the net. Because my roommate was very excited about it, she did most of the hard work. She ended up choosing a tour package with Kelana Convoy that covered a lot of places in such a short amount of time AND most importantly, within our budget.

The best thing? We did not have to worry about finding our own accommodation, transportation and meals. All the bare minimum of those were included in the package. I mentioned bare minimum because the basics were: tent accommodations, transportation from each country to another (which was the tour bus) and most breakfast and dinners.

Extra money would be needed to cover cabin accommodations, sleeping bags, attractions’ entrance fees, local public transportation, meals that weren’t provided (lunch mostly), hot shower (yes, you have to pay for hot water at some places), flight arrangements and also pocket money. Other than those, you’re paying £485 which was around RM 2637 ONLY per person to cover 5 European countries within 9 days. Pretty much a steal, eh?

The next few summer trip posts will cover most of the places I visited with Kelana Convoy and also, my overall experiences. Check ‘em out if you’re interested in budget traveling (but I am not going to be reviewing the tour package per se because that’s not my focus).

Photo credit: Sylwia