London is calling

Cue the Clash's classic punk rock tune, 'London Calling'.

I will be making a Eurotrip right after my exams are over. My mom always wanted me to travel a lot because i think, she has always imagined guys to be a bunch of adventurous beings. She pushed me to travel a lot of time, like last summer, she was asking me to travel to Jakarta and kept telling me about the AirAsia offers in the newspapers. So i called her few days ago and she asked me why am i not going to Paris.

'Everyone says Paris is slightly better than Alor Setar, mama. So why need to go there? We have our very own romantic Menara Telekom Alor Setar.'

'Who cares what others say. It's you. I want you to travel so that you can say you've been there done that and for you to see it yourself how boring Paris is compared to Alor Setar.'

Well, it didn't go exactly like that, but yeah, she wanted me to travel more.

I am only going to Germany, England and Ireland with a few friends of mine. I was hoping to travel to Spain and Turkey, too. I read a book on Mosques around the world and i came across the Mezquita while i was shopping for books at the Times (one of the best bookshops in KL) at Pavillion and it was pretty interesting to find out they incorporated Roman and Visogothic architecture in their capitals, as the building itself was a former Christian Visigothic church bought by the found of the Cordoba Caliphate, Abd Rahman I, before incorporating an 'Emirate style', purely Islamic architecture later on. I took shots of the book with my iPhone because i loved the explanation.

After the Reconquista, the Christians built a cathedral right in the middle of the mosque and at one point decided to bring the mosque down in all its entirety, only to be intervened by Emperor Charles V. Legend has it that he uttered the following words, "Had i known what was here i would never have dared touch the old structure. You have destroyed something that was unique in the world and added something one can see anywhere!". The author of the book mentioned afterwards, "One must remember, however, that the mosque might have survived precisely because a cathedral was built inside it. Any building frequented for whorship would be maintained, whereas one left empty is exposed to decay..".

Anyways, i have nowhere much to go to, except the following places.

1. Anfield stadium, Liverpool.

For your information, i am not going to watch a game there as a ticket costs around RM400. I would rather buy a few jerseys than watching this 'once in a lifetime experience'. Actually, i don't really mind not going there. Some people tell me, 'Rugilah kalau tak pergi kalau dah kat Europe.' I don't really think so, i could save the money for something else. As much as i love Liverpool, i love my money more than anything else. But i've decided to go to England, so yeah, why not go there. Maybe i will bring some luck to the lifeless Liverpool team nowadays.

2. The Beatles museum, Liverpool

This is a part of English history worth more than any architecture piece in England. Enough said.

3. Ramones museum, Berlin

The Ramones were the founders of punk rock before the Sex Pistols and the Clash became famous. Some New Yorker who collects Ramones' memorabilia moved to Berlin and decided to open a museum there. I was a big fan and it would be a nice experience to go there.

4. Shopping

I still don't have a nice grey blazer to accompany my nice grey pants, so hopefully i could find a cheap one at topshop and i want to buy some shirts and pants (hopefully i will be able to maintain my waistline) for work. After stalking facebook for pictures of people graduating, i think i am going to consider buying a nice pair of cheap (yes, i am that stingy) leather shoes. But i just don't like the color black that much and hopefully i will find a nice pair of brownish leather shoes.

I think that's about it. Maybe i'll google for some more places to visit there.

So, hopefully i will enjoy my time there. Hey ho let's go!