Tirana Trip

Dah berminggu balik baru hari ni teringat nak write something about Tirana. hehe. Satgi tak tulis kang, takut tak ingat plaks kenangan.

ANyway, the Tirana Trip was my first trip with Aaron alone to a foreign country. Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive. Yela. tak leh imagine how the country is like and etc.

SO, earlier on, when I booked the hotel, I booked the airport shuttle as well. SO, sesampai je, memang ada orang tunggu kat arrivals with my name on a piece of paper. Neway, I tulis point form je lah ek.

- Tirana is clean!
- The place reminded me of Kota Bharu. Its small and the main attractions are within walking distance.
- Aaron was hot stuff kat sana! Kejap2 kena gomol dan kiss by strangers.
- I heard azan berkumandang in Tirana because its major population are muslim. Ironically however, Halal stuff are not that easy to find.
- Tirana tak ada KFC atau McDonalds. Shopping complex pon macam tak de! Brands that we usually see in EU like H&M, C&A pon non ado! Its still not really opened to the outside world. And, it was soooo difficult nak cari souviner kat Tirana. Ada...tapi memang limited choices. I punya habit when travelling is to post postcard to my boys...Usually I would have a hard time to choose the postcards cos banyak cantik2. Ni, hard time to choose sebab banyak yang tak best. ihiks.
- Bas kat Tirana masig guna kondukter yang kutip tambang tu!
- I see people walking everywhere in Tirana. Orang dia banyak berjalan.
- Iskandar Zulkarnain or Alexander the Great is know as Skanderbeg in Tirana. He is a national hero!
- Tengok orang solat Jumaat sampai bentang2 tikar kat luar masjid. Rasa sayu masa tu sebab tak sangka boleh tengok keadaan macam tu di negara asing.
- Sebab tak banyak pengaruh luar, even the museum is not that tourist friendly. Most of the exhibits lack english explanations.
- Kat sana banyak kedai Italian food!! I had one of the best salmon pasta there. :)
- I saw a kid tidur kat pavement on a box. :( Kat Tirana banyak Gypsies and they are the ones yang beg for money. Kinda scary jugak cos if you are not lucky, they will tug on your shirt sleeves! I kena sekali but I buat dek ajer!
- In Albania, remember to angguk when saying no and geleng when saying yes. Ada orang tanya if I was from India and I geleng...terus dia excited and cakap..yes...you are from India. sigh
- banyak barang made in china kat its market! Banyak counterfeit products as well...ala-ala petaling street gittew!
- i bought sarung bantal trimmed with lace for about rm10 satu. Murah ok!
- Food is cheap! I bought a slice of pizza for less than 80cents (euros) and a scoop of ice cream is only about 30cents. Kat Vienna, se slice pizza is paling murah pon 2.50 and se scoop ice cream is 1 euro!


I wished I had more time dan kudrat to explore the countryside dan naik gunung. Masa kapal terbang land tu, I could see that Tirana was surrounded by mountains. Cantik. Cuaca pon best because I didnt even wear my jacket kat situ. hihi.

If not for the conference, I wouldn't have dreamt of going to Tirana. Tapi, Alhamdullillah, ada peluang and I am so grateful! It is nice to visit a country yang lain. It is soooo different from KL and jauh berbeza dari Vienna. Its probably, like I said, macam KB but tu pon, KB lagi modern sikit kot. Maybe its like KL in the 80s kot.

Would I go again if given a chance? yes, I think so. Cos like I said, I would love to explore the countryside...the castles and etc. Also, I would love to go on the Skanderbeg trail. Mesti best kan.

oh..btw, the conference presentation went well. Aaron was looked after by a Malaysian (I baru kenal masa kat conference) and one of the conferencce organisers. Alhamdullilah, he behaved himself. :)