The arrival of Mak Yang "Wiz" aka Ija, Mak Da "Wid" aka Ida and family memang sudah lama dinantikan and when they finally confirmed their "Amazing Race Tour" spanning across 4 countries, we were ecstatic indeed. Kesudian Fasha, our cyber friend and her son, Noah yang tersangat comel itu travelling all the way up from Stuttgart to Hannover added to the joyous atmosphere. Siapa sangka perkenalan yang bermula dengan kiriman daun kesum dari Fasha and the occasional hi over the blog grew into a solid friendship, InsyaAllah especially since Fasha is also a friend of Ija. Kalau dulu cuma cyber friend, bila jumpa in person memang seronok especially since we immediately bonded very well.
The few days that they were in Hannover were days full of laughter and yang paling seronok was when we watched "Mamma Mia"...drooling over the guys dalam cerita tu with feet tapping and singing along the evergreen tunes. Dah tengok a few times pun masih lagi excited. Apart from that of course la we stayed up doing the gossips and giggles round. The weather was awful, asyik hujan ajer so they didn't manage to go sighseeing sangat except for a short walking tour of the town of Hannover, Schloss Marienburg (castle) and Pied Piper's town of Hameln.
On our way down to Swiss we stopped by Fasha's house in Stuttgart for breakfast. We had lovely, lovely mee goreng....seriously sedap such that Iman had 5 helpings of the mee. The sambal ikan bilis was also a winner, Syirah couldn't stop eating that sampai Mama buat muka tak malu minta tapau lagi. And the pièce de résistance is of course Fasha's dalcha/ kari ayam, made on the spot. Sungguh sedap and boleh makan tanpa guilt sebab this dish tak pakai santan. Colek dengan roti Arab...yummmm...Mama cannot stop eating this and tambah berkali-kali on the pretext of nak suap Hakeem...hee...hee.... Bila Fasha bekalkan some to take along with us on our Swiss trip, sengih from ear-to-ear.
The Swiss trip was out of this world. We were looking for a "Heidi" experience and what we got was more than what we bargained for. I remember when I first searched for accomodation and discussed it with Ija, she said.."Kak Yong...the older the hut the better". So when we arrived and discovered there was no indoor plumbing - no sink to wash dishes, no modern toilet (we had "jamban" ala2x the one yang dalam cerita Slumdog Millionaire tu....euwwwww....), terkedu jugak la sekejap. Dalam berkira2x macam mana nak tahan wee-wee and poo-poo for the next 2 days, we discovered we can use the shower and toilet dekat rumah the owner, some 200 meters away up the hill....phewwww....Alhamdulillah, at least boleh juga "buat bisnes" in peace without worrying whether our b*nt*t will be bitten by bugs crawling from the hole in the ground although nak sprint up the hill to get to the modern toilet ada risk akan dikokak dek anjing owner tu.
On our way down to Swiss we stopped by Fasha's house in Stuttgart for breakfast. We had lovely, lovely mee goreng....seriously sedap such that Iman had 5 helpings of the mee. The sambal ikan bilis was also a winner, Syirah couldn't stop eating that sampai Mama buat muka tak malu minta tapau lagi. And the pièce de résistance is of course Fasha's dalcha/ kari ayam, made on the spot. Sungguh sedap and boleh makan tanpa guilt sebab this dish tak pakai santan. Colek dengan roti Arab...yummmm...Mama cannot stop eating this and tambah berkali-kali on the pretext of nak suap Hakeem...hee...hee.... Bila Fasha bekalkan some to take along with us on our Swiss trip, sengih from ear-to-ear.
The Swiss trip was out of this world. We were looking for a "Heidi" experience and what we got was more than what we bargained for. I remember when I first searched for accomodation and discussed it with Ija, she said.."Kak Yong...the older the hut the better". So when we arrived and discovered there was no indoor plumbing - no sink to wash dishes, no modern toilet (we had "jamban" ala2x the one yang dalam cerita Slumdog Millionaire tu....euwwwww....), terkedu jugak la sekejap. Dalam berkira2x macam mana nak tahan wee-wee and poo-poo for the next 2 days, we discovered we can use the shower and toilet dekat rumah the owner, some 200 meters away up the hill....phewwww....Alhamdulillah, at least boleh juga "buat bisnes" in peace without worrying whether our b*nt*t will be bitten by bugs crawling from the hole in the ground although nak sprint up the hill to get to the modern toilet ada risk akan dikokak dek anjing owner tu.
To sum up the Swiss outing, it was one of the best trip ever for us walaupun back to basics kind of atmosphere. Memasak guna kayu api but with Master Chef Wiz around nothing is impossible. She whipped up cheese-topped scones and caramelised banana pizza drizzled with melted Daim chocolate bars for our breakfast...sangat sedap. The scones tasted better than the normal modern oven-baked ones! The first night we had Fasha's dalca and sambal ikan bilis cicah with roti plus garlic bread with fresh mushroom soup. The next night pulak we had roast chicken with jacket potatoes. Semuanya sedap...what more can I say? Good food, great company...rasa tak nak balik. Ija's laling, Azam was so smitten by the life there that he actually offered to work as a farm hand for a year there much to the chagrin of Ija who said that garden yang sekangkang kera kat rumah kat Malaysia tu pun tak terjaga ni kan pulak nak jaga lembu, ayam bagai! Azam kata "Ni Swiss farm mahhhh... fresh air, great scenery, no hal punya!"
Time sure flies when you're having fun! The day that they left us for Birmingham was much dreaded. Entah bila pulak la nak these cousins of the Bedah clan can sleep-over and have a great time macam the Assam Kumbang days when we were young without any worries. Now dah ada treler kat belakang and most of the time at get-togethers you can hear our anxious shouts (Bedah ladies ni ada common trait....paranoid!) to the kids amidst the giggles that we still indulge in. Must, must organise Family Day soon bila balik Malaysia nanti!
Time sure flies when you're having fun! The day that they left us for Birmingham was much dreaded. Entah bila pulak la nak these cousins of the Bedah clan can sleep-over and have a great time macam the Assam Kumbang days when we were young without any worries. Now dah ada treler kat belakang and most of the time at get-togethers you can hear our anxious shouts (Bedah ladies ni ada common trait....paranoid!) to the kids amidst the giggles that we still indulge in. Must, must organise Family Day soon bila balik Malaysia nanti!
Fasha and cute little Noah yang dah lepas bed time tapi still lawan mata tak nak tidur sebab the other kids masih lagi melompat sana sini. 
Welcome dinner. We had nasi tomato, daging hitam, kari udang, jelatah and Fasha's sambal tempe.
Apple pie, custard sauce and vanilla ice-cream for dessert. 
The stuff that Ija and Ida brought for us dari Malaysia. Sungguh guilty sebab they had to drag the very heavy bag for more than 1 km due to the strike in London, tengok la acu kueh cara pun ada and oatmeal??? They asked me...."Kak Yong, kat Germany tak der oats ke?". Adaaa..tapi sini punya tak sedap.
Wiz and Fasha depan the Schloss Marienburg, some 30 km from Hannover. The castle is closed for winter, so bergambar kat luar jer.
Noah and Adnin seronok main Wii. Paling seronok tengok Noah main boxing. Siap kaki pun naik.
Dah boring main Wii, main kereta Hot Wheels masuk dalam vuvuzela pulak.
In front of Fasha's apartment in Stuttgart. Botnang is a really nice area to live in, so peaceful and cantik. 
Tucking into our breakfast. Licin semua, thanks to the wonderful host. 
Yummy cake filled with cream cheese and berries made by Ija. Low fat too so boleh makan without guilt. Nanti kita mintak resipi kat Ija and post it here yer, isnyaAllah.
Fasha's dalca. This is really scrumptious. Fasha expert, dia main campak2x jer ingredients and garam tak bersukat pun but the result...superb! Makan dengan roti Arab, roti canai, nasi minyak semua boleh. Very healthy too packed with protein and vege sans santan.
Noah and his elder brother Danial. 
The ladies' farewell photo session.
Bergambar di belakang apartment Fasha dengan labu yang comei2x.
The 3 cousins. Mama's cousins perempuan are really like sisters to her. We had the time of our life. 
As Ija said it...ballerina wannabes of yesteryears. 
Tak der sink nak basuh pinggan kat dalam rumah so kenalah basuh kat piped up natural spring water kat luar. Beku tangan sebab the water sangat, sangat icy cold. Kena boil water dulu to get rid of all oily residue, kalau tidak minyak2x tu semua beku bila come into contact with the cold water. Mama tolong lap pinggan while plonking herself on the road. Since dekat Swiss, lap pinggan pun kena ada gaya. 
Abah has this craze for loceng lembu. 
The sleeping area dekat attic. So cosy and warm walaupun heating is via kayu api only.
Surprisingly ada lagi buah raspberries walaupun dah well into autumn. 
Kandang lembu dia very well organised and walaupun busuk it was bearable sebab sejuk kut so wap tu tak naik. Lembu2x dia semua besar bagak with bells around their neck. Comeiiiii......Malam2x dengar kling-klong, kling-klong bells tu bunyi. We bought fresh milk from the farmer and it was so fresh, sweet and milky. We made hot chocolate with it, just hot milk and cocoa powder...yummm...
Nak cari kayu...nak cari kayu....our very own tukang kayu. 
Tukang kayu malas nak cari kayu jauh2x dan telah mengelat mengambil kayu yang tak cukup kering lagi sampai susut stok kayu tu. Esoknya kena reprimand dengan the owner. 
This is how we cooked, pakai kayu api and the black-bottomed pan masuk dalam lubang tu.
This was supposed to be ayam for nasi ayam but since balik dari Luzern dah penat and ingatkan nak try buat barbeque kat luar (tapi fail sebab we couldn't get the fire to start...tukang kayu fail la...), ayam itu selamat di panggang di dalam rumah. Makan dengan baked potatoes yang dicampak dalam api beserta nachos and cheese/salsa , sungguhlah sedap. Masa bakar tu asap berkepul2x keluar melalui tingkap and pintu rumah sampai owner tu turun dari rumah dia and tanya we all "Problem???". Kelat jer muka dia bila tengok we all berbarbeque di dalam rumah.
Scones in the making
Cheese-topped scones, sauteed mushrooms, sausages.
Scrambled eggs, scones and caramelised banana pizza drizzeled with melted Daim chocolate bar. 
Good food, great company, perfect weather, breath-taking scenery, superb combination for an unforgettable holiday.
This is the hut that we stayed in. The scenery was awesome and the weather was perfect with lots on sunshine. 
The cute chicken coop is sandwiched between out hut and the much bigger kandang lembu. 
We wanted to take the old-fashioned cog-wheel train up Mount Pilatus to let the kids play with some snow but upon learning that tak ada snow kat atas tu, tak jadi naik. Ticket pun mahal at 64 Swiss Francs per person.
At the foot of Mount Titlis in front of the cable car station which was supposed to take us up. Unfortunately it was closed for maintenance. If not, it would have been perfect as the clear skies would ensure spectacular view and the kids could have played with snow at the snow park 10,000 metres up.
Selepas frust tak dapat naik Mount Titlis we made our way to Luzern to get some souvenirs.
Sungguh cantik the sceneries...picture perfect!
Dekat tepi lake near our house in Hannover 
So sedey....jumpa lagi...till we meet again....Auf Wiedersehen...... Au revoir....