Hallo Germany!

Finally I'm able to update. I've been writing on our daily experience ever since arriving in Germany but because there was no Internet, I was not able to post them. So I'm warning you, this entry is a long long one, ok.

8/9/08

We had safely arrived in Frankfurt yesterday at 1 pm. Alhamdullilah, we didn’t have any problem throughout the journey. But no doubt, it was very tiring. We were on three different planes; Kota Bharu-KL, KL-Dubai then Dubai-Frankfurt. We had two farewell: one in KB Airport and one in KLIA.

With family in KB

With my brother and my parents

With my sisters

Departing from KLIA was very challenging. Our flight was at 2 am and the twins were already tired (they played at the airport playground for hours before that) and were very sleepy. And to reach our boarding gate was such a long walk especially when you carry several hand luggage and two sleepy toddlers. I felt like it takes hours the each ourgate. By the time we reached the gate, each of us carried one twin, and two hand luggage. And with the new security airport system where they checked thoroughly at the gate, we had to queue such a long line and then when it was our turn, we struggled to place the hand luggage and all personal belongings into the scanner belt while carrying the twins. And for me, I wore my new shoes and it was killing me, so having to walk such a distance, was very torturing. I was regret that I didn’t put on sport shoes. Nak nampak cantik le konon.


But luckily the twins slept so soundly throughout the KL-Dubai flight. I however was barely sleeping. Good enough Emirates flight offers such a huge selection of entertainment. So within that 6 hours flight, I managed to watch two movies, 27 Dresses and Narnia: The Prince Caspian and 1 episode of Heroes. We arrived in Dubai airport at 4.30 am,but we only arrived at the airport terminal nearly 5.30 am. Dubai airport such a huge airport. When we landed, we were transported to the terminal by bus and I felt like it was such a long distance to reach the terminal. And then there were so many people, so it was another long queue to pass the security gate. I was thinking to have sahur at the airport, but with all the things, we just didn’t have the time. Luckily we had meals on the plane, an hour before landing.

Dubai airport provides stroller facility and that was something that I really appreciated. Unlike KLIA. So less trouble to carry or drag the twins and the hand luggage too. The 4-hours transit which I thought would be a long waiting was actually very short. Looking for prayer room already took half an hour, then cik HB and I took turn to do prayer. By then, it was nearly 7 am. Then we had to change some money to dirham currency because we need to buy some food and books for the twins, books to occupy them for the next 6 hours flight. And I was thinking to buy myself a pair of sandal because of the torture of the new shoes. We only managed to get milk box and books for the twins but no sandal for me because we were running out of time as our next flight was at 8.25 am. And again we had to walk such a distance to reach our boarding gate and then rode a crowded bus to board the plane.

This Emirates flight to Frankfurt was a nice one. We were given seats very near to the toilet. It was just a step away….And then it was such a child-friendly flight (I don’t know about other airlines as this was the first time the twins on the flight journey). From goodies of sling bags packed with books, pencil colors and craft material which needs to be assembled to form dolls or something, hand moppets, then they took polaroid photo of the children for free. The entertainment TV had Disney movies, cartoon shows and really made the twins occupied and made our life a lot easier too! I got to watch more movies and Heroes series in peace….hehehe.

Another thing was bugging me before our arrival to Germany, was whether all the foods that I brought along would pass the custom check. My sister-in-law had mentioned that all we need to do is just to go to the ‘Nothing to Declare’ lane rather than the ‘Goods to Declare’ lane. If we were lucky enough, they won’t question anything. But somehow we ended up at the ‘Goods to Declare’ lane. But luckily the officer only asked for one small luggage to be opened. That was the bag full of foods actually. I was praying very hard he would not find serunding which packed under the bottom layer. But when we opened the bag, it was messy with twins’ milk formula all over. I suspected the pack was torn off. So the officer just lifted up a little bit of the formula pack and peep inside a bit then he said ok! Fuh…selamat serundingku. Then he only looked into my handbag and a paper bag and then let us go.

When we came out into the arrival hall, one Malay guy greeted us. He was the one whom cik HB’s friend had arranged to meet us at the airport. His name is Razif, along with his wife, Liza and they are very very friendly. Then they took us to their house in Rüsselheim by train, a district in Frankfurt. We were so blessed that they were there, because without them, it would be quite difficult for us to be on our own. Especially when we knew nothing about this new place and some more managing all the heavy luggage and the twins.

Liza and the twins at the airport

At their house, we were introduced to another friend, kak Ina whom has been in Germany for 16 years but still a truly Malay. Liza told me Kak Ina is an expert in cooking Malay dishes and it proved her right. Yester day for berbuka, we had very delicious karipap, made by Kak Ina and Liza had made kuih lapis, with Kak Ina’s recipe. They also served nasi tomato, gulai ayam and so on but after eating all the kuihs and still tired from journey, I was very full.

Today we’ll be going to Darmstadt. Since Razif is working, Kak Ina and Liza will accompany us to show the way. We’ll be staying in Hotel Aron, Darmstadt until Wednesday to get things settled. We would probably come back to Frankfurt if we could not find any house there.

It is still a lot of things to do and a lot of things to learn……….

9/9/08

Darmstadt – First Impression

We are in Darmstadt now. Yesterday, Razif, Liza and Kak Ina came along with us to get to Darmstadt. Razif, who was supposed to work yesterday, was not feeling well so he went to see doctor and got MC. Though not well, he insisted that he wanted to come with us. From their house in Russelsheim, we took train up to Frankfurt-Main then changed train to get to Darmstadt. Darmstadt is not very far from Frankfurt, I think it took us only 20 minutes to arrive in Darmstadt from Frankfurt-Main. Since Kak Ina has been to Darmstadt before and she reads and speaks fluent Deutsch (Razif too!), our journey went smooth.

First, we went to search for Hotel Aron, the hotel that we had booked online. From Darmstadt city, we took a bus to get there. The hotel located about 5km from the city. Though it is a budget hotel (the rate is € 29 per head for double room, still expensive if you convert to RM, huh?) the room is actually not bad. It’s quite spacious, clean and comfy. And they only charged additional €10 for extra bed for our twins.

After we had checked-in, we left our things in the room and came back to Darmstadt city with Razif, Liza and Kak Ina. Centre of Darmstadt city called Luisenplatz is a bustling place full of shopping complexes, shops, historical monuments and university. Cik HB’s university, TU Darmstadt is located only by 5-minutes walking distance from Luisenplatz. The first thing we bought was the food and drinks for the twins. Razif took us to this one cheap bakery shop called Back Factory. It has various selection of breads but of course we need to be careful whether it is halal or not. Liza mentioned that some buns are not halal like those extremely soft cause the ingredient is suspected to source from pork based.

And then we went looking for hand phone prepaid number. It’s very important for cik HB to get local number as soon as possible because he needs to communicate a lot with people here. We were so excited when we saw there was this good promotion of prepaid simcard (O₂) with free Samsung cell phone at €15! (of course the hand phone is just a cikai one, but it doesn’t really matter, it is still cheap!). But then buying simcard is not as easy as we thought it could be. Apparently in Germany, if you want to buy a simcard, you must provide your residence address. Though Razif has given his address, it was still not acceptable unless Razif could show any letter or documents that printed his name and the address. And Razif didn’t have one. Luckily Kak Ina always brings along her utility bills, so they used her name. So complicated, huh?

Cik HB also met his mentor for the first time yesterday. His name is Junaid Shaikh from India and such a nice person. Razif, Liza and Kak Ina had left by then to Frankfurt. It was already 7 pm, we wanted to break fast in Luisenplatz and since this Junaid is a Muslim, we asked him whether there’s any Turkey’s Doner Kebab around. But too bad, he didn’t know. So we decided to go back to the hotel since we already very tired and we have some express food at the hotel.

View in Darmstadt

Fresh fruits

When we reached hotel it was already time to break the fast. We have dates and chocolates brought from home. And then I cooked maggi in rice cooker and later rice. We have serunding, sambal ikan bilis and crunchy fried ikan bilis with nuts. So it is good enough to fill our stomach.

Tomorrow, cik HB will be going to TU Darmstadt to get things settled. The twins and I will be staying in the hotel. It’s a pity that the twins don’t get enough rest and been dragged all over the place since we travelled to Germany 2 days ago. So let them get enough rest first before we explore more of this place.

11/9/08

House Searching

It’s our fifth day here in Germany. And it’s hard. All because of the language barrier. Everything is in Deutsch. We have yet to get a house. And finding a house/apartment is indeed challenging in Darmstadt. Since there 4 centre of higher learning education around Darmstadt, the competition to get an accommodation is very fierce. And expensive too! So our choice is limited especially to suit our budget and regulation ( the house must be at least 48m2 in space for four of us)

About the house searching, we get help from Indonesian students here. So far we have met two Indonesia who are very friendly, Mas Aldy and Sultan. They speak fluent Deutsch, so they are the one who make the phone call to query about house advertisement. Today cik HB and Sultan are going to see an apartment in Weiterstadt. So if everything is agreeable by both parties (cik HB and landlord), we will take the apartment.