Manchester

We woke up late today, not that late but considering to catch bus at 10.30 am to Manchester, waking up at 8.30 am is considered late. Me, Pejal, Ihsan and Raihan went to Paddington Station to meet lynn and CK. CK was "emo" and i did not asked her whysince she is known for her act (remember Japan?). We kinda rushing since we need to travel from Paddington Station to Victoria Station, and we finally arrive there at 9.50 am. we managed to board the bus at 10.28 am.

The bus is double decker, we decided to sit at the upper deck. I sat alone at first, but after awhile Ihsan sat next to me because the person who sat behind him does not allow Ihsan to lean his seat.

One thing i noticed about the Londoner was that they are not as nice as Minnesotan. Rude, cut queue and rather snobbish can be seen throughout the city. There are various ethnicity and white people seem the minority here. Guess i kinda miss Minnesota...

Halfway i sat next to Pejal so he can tell me about Manchester United's players. He explained in details about the team and its players. i can see how he really love the team from the way he talks.

The scenery throughout the bus journey was as i expected. Villages "Sommerset" - green fields with old style English houses.

We arrived around 4.00 pm and Manchester Bus Terminal. There Farah and Hazwan waited for us. Farah is Lynn's cousin while Hazwan is Rashdan's friend, who is Pejal's friend. Hazwan bring us to Rashdan's place. Rashdan was at a meeting so the house was empty. A decent house with 3 bedrooms shared by 5 people. from the house condition, i deduced that Rashdan is "usrah" people. I remember Hadi told us that there ar 3 kind of people in UK, the Usrah, UMNO and "yang biasa2".

London

Finally, London!!! Touchdown at around 7.30 am in Heathrow. It was a very cold morning actually, i never thought London can be that cold. Everyone including Saiful was there. Heathrow terminal was rather small, not as big as i imagine it should be. The scene in Love Actually should have been edited i guess, or used other terminal.

We took the oyster card that can be used in tube and bus in London. Saiful told us about it. London was cold the wind chill gave me a tingling sensation. I did not expect it to be this cold, though Minne is much colder.

We took the tube and went to Paddington Station where Hadi lives. It's been a long time since i saw Hadi at KMB. I was not that close to him but he is so nice to let us stay at his place.We lepak at Hadi's place because Naeim's friend and Lyn's cousin were not available that afternoon. We put our luggage at Hadi's place and went out to halal restaurant. Since i want to save money, i end up ordering cheeseburger, one o the cheapest meal there. i hope i can discipline enough not to overspend.

The Last Day in Minne

Waktu-waktu terakhir di Minne: clueless.
Tidak tahu sebenarnya apa yang perlu dibuat untuk menghargai saat saat terakhir di sini. Selepas selesai mengemas barang, aku lepak di bilik Pejal, for the last time. Sewaktu subuh masuk, aku mahu solat subuh berjemaah kali terakhir di Minne, jadi aku ajak Pejal solat bersamaku.

Flight kami dijadual pada 5.15 petang. Kode dan Aruk tolong hantar ke airport. Sewaktu berkemas dan meletakkan beg dalam kereta, Munzir tiba tiba muncul dengan basikal meredah sejuk.
It was rather a fun ending for my life in Minne, with laughter and joy. Aruk gave a big hug and told me how thankful he was for all my helps.

It was weird though, because I did not feel the sadness to leave Minne. Maybe due to the fact that i will travel to Europe that makes me feel excited and delightful.

In the flight, i was sitting next to and old man. Didn't feel the urge to talk to the man so i just kept silence throughout the journey. I noticed that next to Pejal seat was empty but not sure whether there is people or not seating there.

Bungkam

Bungkam,
dalam riuh angin yang berbisik,
sedang silau mentari membutakan pandangan.

my 23rd

Winter to Spring

acapkali dihalang hadirnya,
oleh musim dingin yang seperti enggan mengakui,
bahawa putaran musim itu sunatullah,
bahawa salji akhirnya akan cair,
bahawa manusia lama-lama jelak, dengan suramnya musim dingin.

seringkali ia mengintai datang,
tapi musim dingin cepat-cepat menghalang,
menutup segala ruang,
dengan harapan kedinginan akan terus kekal,
dengan impian tiada siapa dapat mengganti,
dengan cita-cita untuk menolak hukum alam.

tapi hari ini,
tiada lagi penantian, tiada lagi keraguan,
musim bunga datang juga,
membawa kembang harum bunga,
membawa saujana keindahan taman,
membawa hangat yang diidam-idamkan.

semoga musim bunga juga tidak lupa,
dirinya juga sebahagian dari hukum alam,
moga apabila musim panas tiba nanti,
peralihan berlaku tanpa tamak dan penuh paksa.

"cuaca di minnesota, mungkin juga ditempat lain, yang acapkali sukar diramal,
kadang kelmarin sejuk beku, semalamnya panas, hari ini salji menggila"

dari luar tingkap bilik