Check Point

The time moves faster day by day. Now, it’s been a month I’m here, in Dundee, UK. It’s been a month I left RU Jalan Pekeliling, I left USM, I left Penang, and left Malaysia. A month isn’t a short period of time. Lots of things happen as the clock turns from second to seconds, minute to minutes, hour to hours, completing a day. Let me write that happen since last month. But I prefer to begin with the part where I was in Malaysia, prepared to make my first international flight.

Penang International Airport

I felt overwhelmed when there were lots of people, gathered together and wishing me the best of luck. Apart of my own family and Upi’s family, my Kelana USM fellows, members of RU Jalan Pekeliling, Abang Zubir and Pak Wahyu, and some other fellas also join the team. It’s the only moment since I will never meet them anymore because some of them will no longer stay in Penang especially the USM students, after their graduation. Thanks a lot to those people who hold their effort to come. The flight departure 10 minutes late and arrived KLIA about an hour later.

KLIA

It’s a huge airport. I moved my steps faster; I don’t want to be late although it’s still early. In the mean time, I had received a phone call from Cikgu Asuar and still manage to reply some final SMS. I met Kak Na (RLKA USM), together with her baby and hubby, as we’re going to take off on the same plane. I felt blank, couple of minutes, the last time I’m in Malaysia; 11.45p.m, 10th September 2007.

Heathrow, London.

The plane arrived at 7a.m. (local time), 11th September2007. Here, it’s huger and even complicated, plus the security check that required the passenger to take off their shoes, shows the x-ray report and bla bla bla... I’ve made it and then took of another plane, left London to another place; Edinburgh.

Edinburgh.

I reached Edinburgh about 11a.m. With the big luggage, I took a bus that then bring me to Edinburgh Waverley, a train station. This will be the first time I make my journey using a train, since I never had any experience even when I was in Malaysia. But exception gives to the LRT. The train took more than an hour to reach Dundee.

Dundee Train Station

The journey almost completed when I reached the station. I felt relief a bit because Abang Zaidi (who I’d never met before) will fetch me. As I saw a man, holding a baby girl approaching the station, I waved my hand through the air and he replied the same. Well, it’s not that difficult to recognise a Malaysian outside of Malaysia. I reached the university’s residential college about 2p.m., left all the stuff then went to Ustaz Amin house to have some food and rest.

End of part 1...