On the 19th of December, i took a train down to Nottingham after being persuaded and convinced by Najah of a fun road trip to Nayland in Essex. We rented a car on Maryam's name, and at 8.30ish that evening we started our journey to the south.
We had to stop at Cambridge for a while to collect Najah's mother's pots which she ordered thru the internet. Then we continued driving.. it was Najah's turn to drive. We got lost a few times, and i had to go ask some people for direction, embarrassingly in the middle of the night.
The highways in the UK are different with the ones we have in Malaysia. Well, maybe it's the weather that makes the environment unfamiliarly scary. It was so foggy that night that we had to turn on beam lights. When we turned on the normal lights, it was pitch black! So turbo lights all the way which eventually was making the cars in other directions mad when they instructed signals by beaming their lights twice. Yes, using the turbo lights made them unable to see clearly as it glared their sights.
So, we decided to stop and call the highway man to come and check the car. It was 12.30am and five of us (Maryam, Najah, Yati, Hajar & I) were sitting hopelessly in the car. Suddenly i heard a knock on my window's side, and thankfully it was the highway man that we called. He said we had to wait for a tow truck that would take us all to a safe place for a check.
What was getting even funnier was that Hajar took a photo of the tow truck driver. The rests of us were a little embarrassed but i understand Hajar is a an innocent girl who just came to England last September. I just got to know her that afternoon in Nottingham, but we already got along well. I even joined Najah and Maryam to bully her. Well, more like teasing as jokes.
After our towed car was being released safely to the ground near a petrol station, everybody was a little relief. And again, everyone was blushing to knowing the fact that the normal lights were working accordingly. It was our carelessness not being aware of the switch by the steering sides. All this while, we had been using only the side lights which obviously only work as dim lights. Well a big ha-ha to everyone.(esp to the drivers..hehe)
Then, we got back on the road, driving and driving.. till we reached Nayland. What's actually in Nayland? Well, as planned, we were to stay at Maryam's mother's place in Nayland. It's a small small village in a countryside. A typical English village with farms, a church and a pub. Well, that's what i was told.
WE got lost a few times again. Oh yes, i forgot to mention about the PDA(GPS) we used for directions. This IS technology!! The PDA would tell us directions to our destination..yes it would enunciate.."TURN LEFT" or "TURN RIGHT". The PDA is connected to the car and it starts functions with satellite which will tell us where we are and which direction we should take. BUT we also brought maps for backups. I once in a while would check the map just to ensure that we were on the right direction. But Yati did a good job for being aware most of the time.
We arrived at Maryam's mother's at 3.30ish in the morning. Phew, we safely reached there. WE all met her mom whom we call MakSu Dah. She's pure english and surprisingly she's a firewoman! Maryam has a 5 year-old step brother called Aron. We took lots of photos with him, and there are a couple of pictures which i hugged him. The weather in Nayland is like living in a fridge. So sejuksss... I couldn't even feel my feet during our walk to the lake. MakSuDah cooked us dinner. It was nice to have an English course with mince pie with custard as dessert.
On Wednesday, we had to return to Nottingham, and it was MY turn to drive. Unfortunately, we encountered traffic jams. It was my FIRST TIME driving a manual car through traffic jams. (And it happened in ENGLAND!) After two hours driving, i asked for a switch. So we stopped at.. something like R&R in Malaysia for refreshment. Then Najah sat on the driver seat to drive.
We realised that we couldn't make for Asar if we continued driving so we stopped by the roadside and performed our jamak takkhir in the car. Then, back to Maryam to drive till we reached Nottingham. Alhamdulillah, we arrived safely. And the next day, i took a train back to Sheffield. It was tiring, but it was worth an experience. It was funny when i think about it cuz there were things that happened we thought they could never happen..
We had to stop at Cambridge for a while to collect Najah's mother's pots which she ordered thru the internet. Then we continued driving.. it was Najah's turn to drive. We got lost a few times, and i had to go ask some people for direction, embarrassingly in the middle of the night.
The highways in the UK are different with the ones we have in Malaysia. Well, maybe it's the weather that makes the environment unfamiliarly scary. It was so foggy that night that we had to turn on beam lights. When we turned on the normal lights, it was pitch black! So turbo lights all the way which eventually was making the cars in other directions mad when they instructed signals by beaming their lights twice. Yes, using the turbo lights made them unable to see clearly as it glared their sights.
So, we decided to stop and call the highway man to come and check the car. It was 12.30am and five of us (Maryam, Najah, Yati, Hajar & I) were sitting hopelessly in the car. Suddenly i heard a knock on my window's side, and thankfully it was the highway man that we called. He said we had to wait for a tow truck that would take us all to a safe place for a check.
What was getting even funnier was that Hajar took a photo of the tow truck driver. The rests of us were a little embarrassed but i understand Hajar is a an innocent girl who just came to England last September. I just got to know her that afternoon in Nottingham, but we already got along well. I even joined Najah and Maryam to bully her. Well, more like teasing as jokes.
After our towed car was being released safely to the ground near a petrol station, everybody was a little relief. And again, everyone was blushing to knowing the fact that the normal lights were working accordingly. It was our carelessness not being aware of the switch by the steering sides. All this while, we had been using only the side lights which obviously only work as dim lights. Well a big ha-ha to everyone.(esp to the drivers..hehe)
Then, we got back on the road, driving and driving.. till we reached Nayland. What's actually in Nayland? Well, as planned, we were to stay at Maryam's mother's place in Nayland. It's a small small village in a countryside. A typical English village with farms, a church and a pub. Well, that's what i was told.
WE got lost a few times again. Oh yes, i forgot to mention about the PDA(GPS) we used for directions. This IS technology!! The PDA would tell us directions to our destination..yes it would enunciate.."TURN LEFT" or "TURN RIGHT". The PDA is connected to the car and it starts functions with satellite which will tell us where we are and which direction we should take. BUT we also brought maps for backups. I once in a while would check the map just to ensure that we were on the right direction. But Yati did a good job for being aware most of the time.
We arrived at Maryam's mother's at 3.30ish in the morning. Phew, we safely reached there. WE all met her mom whom we call MakSu Dah. She's pure english and surprisingly she's a firewoman! Maryam has a 5 year-old step brother called Aron. We took lots of photos with him, and there are a couple of pictures which i hugged him. The weather in Nayland is like living in a fridge. So sejuksss... I couldn't even feel my feet during our walk to the lake. MakSuDah cooked us dinner. It was nice to have an English course with mince pie with custard as dessert.
On Wednesday, we had to return to Nottingham, and it was MY turn to drive. Unfortunately, we encountered traffic jams. It was my FIRST TIME driving a manual car through traffic jams. (And it happened in ENGLAND!) After two hours driving, i asked for a switch. So we stopped at.. something like R&R in Malaysia for refreshment. Then Najah sat on the driver seat to drive.
We realised that we couldn't make for Asar if we continued driving so we stopped by the roadside and performed our jamak takkhir in the car. Then, back to Maryam to drive till we reached Nottingham. Alhamdulillah, we arrived safely. And the next day, i took a train back to Sheffield. It was tiring, but it was worth an experience. It was funny when i think about it cuz there were things that happened we thought they could never happen..
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