Mekah & Medinah

Masjidil Haram, Mekah.  AYSA's  visit to the holy land in September 2002 was an experience that's simply out of this world.  Seeing the kaabah up close was very humbling and made them feel so close to God.  They had a very good mutawif assigned to them to show the sites and guide them through performing the umrah.  The tour package included visits to the sites in Mekah and Madinah as a recce trip for when we come for Haj.  The 10-day visit was spiritually fulfilling and it also brought the family closer together.  What made the visit special was the last 2 days in Makkah was the start of Ramadhan and they experienced fasting, buka puasa and tarawikh prayers in Masjidil Haram.  For AYYSA, this is by far the best holiday destination as in addition to the spiritual fulfillment, there's excellent food and shopping ;-) 

 ~ click here to read about AYYSA's Hajj Experience

Australia

Sydney, Gold Coast & Melbourne Australia.   SA's sister, hubby and 2 kids (when they were 2+ and 1) joined AYYSA on a 'back-packing' tour of the east coast of Australia, visiting Sydney, Gold Coast and Melbourne over 8 days!  Her very capable and street-wise sister planned their trip from home, booking Jetstar flights and hotels on the Net.  The hotels were clean and comfortable and the bus transfers were adventurous for the kids. 

In Sydney they visited Darling Harbour, the Sydney Aquarium, the Opera House and cruised on Sydney Harbour; In Gold Coast, they walked along Surfer's Paradise and petted kangaroos and wombats at the Currumbin Wildlife Park; and in Melbourne we took the bus tour around the city - favourite stops include the Satay House and the baklava shop on Lonsdale Street.  They decided to leave the visit to Penguin Island for their next trip.  The kids were adorable despite the chilling weather, and didn't even complain when they were bundled up out of bed at 6.30 in the morning to take them to Victoria Market for last minute shopping before the flight home.

Perth, WA.  The whole family travelled together to Perth in June 2005.  The kids loved the adventure with the kangaroos and koalas at the Caversham Wildlife Park, while the men had a field day golfing at The Vines.  The apartment they stayed in was cosy and comfortable with cooking facilities which made mom contented with filling everyone's tummy with spaghetti, steak and hearty breakfast in the mornings.  The visit was made extra special as they had a family friend to show the sites including preparing a scrumptious nasi lemak picnic by the Mindarie beach, driving them to Fremantle for the famous fish & chips and shop at the market, and hosting breakfast upon their arrival in their lovely home in Jandakut.

Europe

Oxford & London.  In April 2006, AY visited one of the world's oldest university for a conference with his colleagues. In Oxford he dined in the hall where the movie 'Harry Potter' was filmed and made several interesting finds including a restaurant serving the best scones and a cosy cigar shop. In London, the pigeons of Trafalgar Square were exceptionally kind to AY, not leaving a single drop of offering to take home ;-) SA misses London very much!

Munich or Munchen, Germany.  AYYSA's visit to Munich and Passau was during the second week of Ramadhan in 2006.  AY traveled earlier to Berlin and SA joined him later in Munich.  They were lucky to have their good friend who works with BMW in Munich to drive them around town in his Mini Cooper, which surprisingly was able to comfortably fit 3 passengers plus luggages.  BMW assigns cars of various models to him to test drive for 3-6 months and AY hopes he'll be assigned the new BMW 4WD Coupe when they visit next ;-).  He took AYYSA to Starnberg lake (Ludwig II is said to have drowned here), the market square and warehouse outlets outside Munich.  As AY had to be in Passau the next day for the conference, they took their friend's advice on tips for low fare travel and took the 45 minute scenic train ride to Passau. 

Passau, Germany.  The walk to the point where 3 rivers meet at 7 a.m. on the cold, cold morning of 2 degrees celcius was well worth it!  SA was amazed at the sight of the different shades of blue in the water where the River Inn and River LIz meet the Danube (Donau), aptly naming Passau the '3 River city'.  They walked along the river embankment on the west side from the Holiday Inn and walked back along the east embankment via University Passau.  An asian food restaurant became their 'kitchen' as AY quickly made friends with the cook who obligingly prepared custom-ordered fried rice and sweet sour fish for iftar.  McDonalds became their favourite stop after dinner for a nite-cap where they particularly enjoyed the delicious hot chocolate, which kept them warm and full till dinner the next day.

 Eastern Europe

Sofia, Bulgaria & Bydgoszc, Poland. The opportunity to visit this developing country came for SA in January 2007 when she was on the tender evaluation committee to purchase an equipment and was required to visit the technologies available.  With her 3 colleagues, they visited Sofia, Bulgaria and the small town of Bydgoszc in Poland.  These two countries are emerging from their cocoon with the industrialisation of Eastern Europe and investments coming from the rest of the world, bringing the likes of McDonalds and Marks & Spencer to their malls.  The weather was unusually "warm" (by local standards) around -5 degrees but it was still freezing for us Asian blooded visitors.  These cities usually enjoy a large influx of winter sports enthusiasts at this time of the year but not much snow was formed on the peaks due to the obvious effects of global warming.  (Pic: SA outside Holiday Inn Sofia, with the snow covered mountains in the background)

Vienna, Austria.  During this trip, SA also had the opportunity to stay in Vienna for a day on transit to Sofia.  She and her colleagues visited the Vienna General Hospital and the town incinerator which features a glass-windowed control room tower, which makes it a beautiful city landmark.  Amongst the souvenirs brought home include a cute "No Kangaroos in Austria" t-shirt.

Warsaw, Poland.  The stop over in Warsaw was unplanned. After completing their mission in Bydgoszc, the group decided to take the first flight out at 6.30 in the morning and it was a good thing they did.  The flight was very bumpy and they were thankful to God for a safe flight. Upon arriving Warsaw, the airport announced that all inbound and outbound flights had been cancelled due to strong winds and storm around Europe.  The group discovered later of the storm's catastrophic effects in the news, destroying homes in England and Germany.  After about 7 hours loitering aimlessly at the airport, they decided to stay overnight until the storm passed, giving them a few hours to explore Warsaw.  (Pic: View of the Cultural Plaza from the Marriot hotel room)

United States 

New York! New York!  AYYSA's first trip together to the Big Apple was in February 2000 and they visited again in 2002 after the 9/11 2001 disaster.  On their second visit, the security checks at the airport was a fuss but they had to endure it through gritted teeth tolerating requests to take off their belts and shoes and the annoying frisk!  AY "locked" SA in the apartment while he was at work and during their evening outings SA donned on a hat in replace of her head scarf to avoid the uncomfortable stares from pedestrians on the street.  They found a northern indian restaurant, Curry-in-a-Hurry near East and 42nd street and it became their favourite eating place.

Syracuse, New York.  On the weekend they rented a car and drove to Syracuse and AY showed off his university town.  It was impressive how AY was able to quickly adapt to driving on the "wrong side", and in the cold weather which provided limited road visibility.  SA played the role of the dutiful wife and reliable navigator ;-)  They met with Malaysian students and AY's professors including Prof Emeritus Martha Dosa from the School of Information Studies.  AY bought SA her first golf set here, and to his frustration, she has yet to use them on the green ;-)

Other Places with stories yet to be told

Petra & Amman, Jordan

Abu Dhabi & Dubai

Cambodia, Bangkok, Hong Kong

Lausanne & Lucerne, Switzerland

Luxembourg, Brussels, Paris, London, Bonn