From ‘Summer’ of Kuala Lumpur to Winter of Brussels

The privileged to travel across the European continent was a wonderful experienced when we got to see and be mesmerized by the differences from the perspective of the people, places, climate, and many more circumstances that is full of awesomeness. With God’s grace, I,had the privileged to not only catch a glimpsed of Brussels of Belgium but also other parts of Europe as well  and we were very fortunate to be able to stayed with a relative whose working with the Malaysian embassyin Brussels for one whole month.

Unlike Europe, Malaysia doesn’t have the four seasons, Malaysia is a country with high temperatures and high humidity throughout the year and the hot weather of Kuala Lumpuris familiar to all Malaysians as it has always been around since forever. Metaphorically, people would say the summer is for all yearsround in Malaysia, thus I feel the eagerness to experience how the winter would feels like when people kept telling us the cold weather of Genting Highland is no match than the real winter weather when some people literally died because of the cold weather, hence the feeling to be more cautious increased yet at the same excited and thrilled.

The duration of the flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Brussels Airport varied and depends on the airways, but in general it will take from 13 to 15hours depending on the flight while for some airways the length of times are extended due to the transit processes and because of the time differences, the journey is very tiring and can causes massive jet lag for a few days before settling ourselves with the new ambience but the journey is enjoyable with breathtaking views from up above the sky.

As soon as our arrival in Brussels National Airport everybody was ready and wore their thick winter jacket before leaving the airport because the temperaturewas approximately – 9 °C,while at that time we thought we could settled with only a mere sweater and leather jacket which is obviously not enough as the winter weather is really not something that can be underestimated, thus later when we went for sight seeing all of us wore at least three layers of jacket and two layers of trousers or jeans which make us look huge than usual and also the use of snow cap becomes relevant and vital.

Brussels International Airport is incomparable to KLIA where our national airport is much bigger and busier.The Immigration in the airportcan annoy with their overly cautious observation especially towards foreigners like us, maybe it is because of the thought of foreigners coming to the countryand becoming illegal immigrants but one strange thing occurred before us when a middle aged man with complete Jewish black wool suit with a small kippah (platter-shaped cap) on his head queuing infront of us at the passport verification counter finds no problem and haves easy access while others including us have to be inspected closely by the security.

One might find difficulties when dealing with theImmigration when the officer can easily be suspicious towards Asian and they wouldn’t think twice about detaining us in the detainees room for no reason although we showed where we were going to stay and when we will head back to Kuala Lumpur but the officer insisted to detained us, hence we could not objection but kept our composure and steadiness while dealing with the circumstances. We waited for quite a long time as there were many others travelers from foreign countries in the room with us.These cases are regular and normal when tourist from Asian and Arab countries come to Europe especially the Muslims, thus as a Muslim, the best solution is by conducting the most appropriate manners.

Just so happened in the room, a black man from the United States was stopped from taking his flight because he was suspected of bringing drugs though later the customs did not finds a single evidence of their allegation thus he accused them for being mentally discriminating and racist just because he is black thus he is dangerous. That man had to suffered and wait till the next day to take his flight home as the flight he was supposed to be inhad already taken off. All of us in the room were shocked and frightened especially for us as we have never faced such an incident before, though we knew not all westerners behave as such, but suddenly we learned the feeling of being a minority and become subjected to beingunderestimated by some proud westerners.

Nevertheless, those incidentsdid not hold us back from enjoying our times in Brussels as most airports in the world would have discrimination problems like that including within Asian country. Later we came to realize the people in Brussels are very polite and kind and we didn’t hear any racial issues, in fact the human rights movement is very active in Brussels to the extendthat they recognized gay marriage and the rights to working within the red light district. Hopefully, our country will forever be free from these kind of infectious culture of westerners.

Like the variety of languages in our country, this variety is also present in Belgium with French as their official language while Dutch is the second language before English. But language is no barrier for most of the time as most of the people know English, while some of them (mostly merchants) impressed us with the basic greeting in Malay as soon as they recognized we are from Malaysia and they quickly assumed we are from Kuala Lumpur, which made us feel flattered and bought souvenirs from their shop.

Unfamiliarity with the consumer goods and daily requirements between life in Kuala Lumpur and Brussels are more vivid during winter times when everybody wore layers of jackets or coats, and hand gloves, and where heaters are vital in the car and in the house, left sided car, specific snow tires to avoid slippery road, not many motorcyclists, the complicated road system and others. Sometimes it feels terrible when there’re so many things to wear at once and when the temperature dropped thick clothes must be worn even within the house, unlike Malaysia where a simple thin clothes is sufficient anytime and anywhere.

If Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) or Kuala Lumpur Toweris considered as the landmark of our capital city, Brussels too has its own special and significance landmark, the atom shaped building called the Atomium. Though it is not as tall as the Twin Tower of Petronas, Atomium is the leading tourist attraction that consists of its own special and unique elements representing the atomic shapedthat can give an aesthetic winter view from the higher ground inside the building, especially the view of Mini Europe, a miniature park located beside Atomium, it has the reproductions of the most attractive monuments in the European continent  such as the Eiffel Tower of Paris, Big Ben of London, the leaning tower of Pisa and many other famous monuments with the scenery of the landscape during winter season from higher groundis beautifully fascinating.

Another landmark of Brussels is the the infamous statue which serves as an symbol of the spirit and humor of Brussels, the Manneken Pis, a small statue depicting a small boy urinating into a fountain’s basin that is very popular even in todays’ pop culture, the sculpture has its own weekly theme.And the famous animated series, Tin Tin was originated from Brussels, thus it seems as a compulsory to visit the museum of Tin Tin or the way the locals pronounce it as “ton ton”.

Unlike Paris or London, Brussels is way much colder during winter time, where the entire lake would freeze for weeks and people here would wear thicker winter jackets than people in Paris or London. But surprisingly, we managed to adapt ourselves with the weather almost instantly though used to the hot summer of Kuala Lumpur. One of the benefit of winter is the air is fresher and most of the viruses and epidemics are terminated.

For people who enjoyed the scenery of classic architectures, The Antwerp and The Grand Place is a must visit with its baroque and gothic decorated designwhich originated mainly from the 17^th century, The Grand Place has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. And the scenery of both places during winter is like that as seen in movies and it is for those who know how to appreciate the beauty and elegance of classic castle designation. It has been a tourist spot of attraction with its wide space and outstanding artistic styles, perfect to snap photos for remembrance.

The politeness and the hospitality of the people in Brussels gives a very warm thoughtin the winter seasonthat even the Indonesians suddenly seemed very friendly to us. We wouldn’t find problem as long as we didn’t ask for trouble. One of the things that really shocked me personally was how the people of Brussels dealt with the pedestrians. The driver would always prioritize the pedestrians no matter if the driver is young or old, they would certainly stop their car and let us crossed the road safely though it is not a zebra crossing before they proceed. This is what someKuala Lumpur’s drivers could learned from.

The food was fantastic and amazing especially the Belgian waffles whereif one thought the waffle in Kuala Lumpur sufficient wait till they see and taste waffles like those in Brussels. The cold winter is the best time to be served with hot and creamy waffles of Brussels where it only costs one to three euros. In terms of Halal food Kuala Lumpur is far superior as Halal food isn’t everywhere in Brussels but there are many kebab stores handled by those middle east men and the kebab is very tasty and delicious and if we cannot find something halal just eat the bread or fish burger. 

One of Europe’s advantages is that tourists can have easy access to most of the Europeancountries and it is convenient for tourists to visit Paris, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Munich and other places using the same Euro currency. There are so many great and exciting eventsthat can occur when travelling to these European countries. Many importance things need to be observed though, such as the safety precautions, aproper planning in order not to waste times, passports are integral whenever and wherever we went, all of this are basic and fundamental in foreign countries, because when we are busy enjoyingourselves, we do not know what might happen.

It is important to know our boundaries and limitation when we visit the European continents as the European people uphold some cultures that is opposed to our values when everything is liberated to an extent the most filthiest occupation and behavioralare regarded as modest and acceptable to them. The chances to experienced and observed people from every walks of life is a privileged that should teach us to be humble  as a person and be alert with the new era of globalization that haves caused massive changes towards  human civilization. We should not take solely everything they feed us with, just like Aristotle once said “It is a mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”. Critical thinking should be developed but it must go along with steadfastness of our religion in order to preserve ourselves from being poisoned or corrupted.