Monday 28 December 2009

hari bertinju ke berkotak?

w'pun my boxing day diz yr sehari lmbt, tp tetap mantops..kuar frm sunrise smpai ke sunset!best jgk derby, relax je unlike london yg packed mcm sardine..mayb coz it's 27 pn..so less crowded..bole bernafas n shopping in our own sweet time..

nk tercabut kpale lutut rase..since arini sunday, kdai sume commence bisnes lmbt i.e 10/11am n tutop awl i.e 430pm...malas2 la org uk ni bekerja..

tp bagos juge, kalo x ntah bape ria lg melayang..hehe

Saturday 26 December 2009

andalucia parte II - Malaga

We arrived at Malaga airport at around 7pm local hr..then went to pick up our car frm Auriga crown car rental company. They gav us a black volks wagen Polo edition. Initially ours ws something else (cudn't remember wut's the maker) but lps kitorg pujuk2 sket pakcik tuh die cair n bersempena dgn Krismas die pwn kasi r kete lawa tuh..hehehe Then we headed straight to hostel..tambah sesat2 dlm bandar 4 few hrs, Alhamdulillah we finally reached the desired destination. Sebernarnye plan nk tgk Flamenco dance tht night tp sesat lg dlm city so blk mkn maggi je laa^^

The only places we visited in Malaga were the Moorish Alcazaba, its beach, Malagueta and Picasso Museum. Picasso ni katenya was originally frm Spain tp stayed there until he ws 14 yrs old je kot pastu went abroad n never came back. Tp well, ada la jgk darah spain so they're still very proud of him. Under the Moors, Malaga ws considered to be one of the most important port. However King Fernando thoroughly ruined everything after his conquest, and after the full expulsion of the Moors, only very little of its ancient distinctions like gates remained. The terrace gardens we saw today ws frm the restoration done by the gov. Near the Alcazaba ade jgk the half-ruined Roman theatre tp tahla nmpk sign tp x nmpk pintu masok.

the fortress

garden in Alcazaba
a very fine view of Malaga city frm the top of Alcazaba

Picasso museum..utk org yg buta seni like me, agk bosan r
the man-made beach

When the Moors habitated Malaga, apart frm expanding territories, they also concentrated on expanding town on the existing Roman n Visigoth structures. Masa ni la Malaga improved their cultural, constructions n commercial activities. Tp in 11th century, adala rivalry between Moorish nobles families kat Andalusia ni...mcm2 kan? Then Malaga jatoh kpd one of the kingdom Taifas. Taifa ni means kawasan2 kecil coz masa tu Andalusia ni ws no longer under pemerintahan khalifah yg berpusat di Cordoba (ni citer nntilah) so they r divided into smaller taifas with local ruling.

Lps tu berlaku lg mcm2 kisah la which i'll elaborate more on later. The last taifa remained was Granada so Malaga stayed under different Moorish Caliphs in Malaga. Masa ni diorg bina 2 important monuments in Malaga iaitu Alcazaba n the palace, Gibralfaro.(tp kitorg x pegi pwn castle tu).

After Christians defeated the Moors, the Muslim town changed drastically into a Christian town. Mana2 Muslim families who participated on the defense were killed, exposed or sold as slaves.

Sedih kan.....=(

andalucia parte I

Modern Andalucia

jst got bck frm my winter holiday..adela jgk sket drama yg berlaku tp pape pwn tetap besttt!!we stayed in Andalusia for 8 days..2 nights in each stops i.e malaga, seville, cordoba and granada. A brief history of Andalusia;

The Andalusia name is referring to the Arabic Al-Andalus-center power of medieval Muslim-dominated peninsular Iberia. Muslims in Andalusia are referred as the Moors. Prior to this, which ws around the 4th century, Spain was under the Roman kingdom and had became a Christian country. There's quite a few architectural ruins with Roman influence tht we cn still see today like the famous Roman columns which ws also being re-used by the Moors later during their reign. After the collapse of the empire, Spain ws eventually fell under the Visigoth (Germanic). Well, there wasn't much progress in terms of civilization during the Visigothic yrs. They were said to be illiterate, selfish and bloody-minded.

Then aorund 711, Muslim troops under Tariq ibn Ziyad came to Spain through Gibraltar and with the assistance of Visigoths opposed to King Roderick, defeated the Visigoth kingdom in which King Roderic (the Visigothic ruler during tht time) ws killed. And it is said that the name of Gibraltar yg berbukit-bukau tu was given after his name i.e Jabbal al-Tariq. Certain sources also said tht Tariq who ws a Berber ws probably originally a Visigoth. The famous Tariq's address to his fellow armies which i quite like;

"Wahai saudara-saudaraku, lautan ada di belakang kalian, musuh ada di depan kalian, ke manakah kalian akan lari? Demi Allah, yang kalian miliki hanyalah kejujuran dan kesabaran. Ketahuilah bahawa di pulau ini kalian lebih terlantar dari pada anak yatim yang ada di lingkungan orang-orang hina. Musuh kalian telah menyambut dengan pasukan dan senjata mereka. Kekuatan mereka sangat besar, sementara kalian tanpa perlindungan selain pedang-pedang kalian, tanpa kekuatan selain dari barang-barang yang kalian rampas dari tangan musuh kalian. Seandainya pada hari-hari ini kalian masih tetap sengsara seperti ini, tanpa adanya perubahan yang berkesan, nescaya nama baik kalian akan hilang, rasa gentar yang ada pada hati musuh akan berganti menjadi berani kepada kalian. Oleh kerana itu, pertahankanlah jiwa kalian.”

The success of Tariq ibn Ziyad's troop in defeating the Visigoths marked the reign of Umayyad in Andalus. Umayyad dynasty based in Damascus sent in Governor to rule Andalus; the first one ws Musa ibn Nusayr (or 2nd after Tariq as said by some source) and the last one, Yusuf ibn Abd Rahman al-Fihri. Throughout, Muslim conquest had expanded to Cordova, Toledo etc. After Tariq was called back to Damascus by the Umayyad Caliph, Al-Walid b. Malik, he never had return bck to Europe n spent the rest of his life there in Damascus.

During the ruling under Umayyad Gavernor, so many interferences frm both internal n external factors had happened. Gangguan dalaman 4 example in between pembesar2 elite, the frictions were due to differences in opinion, ethnic n cultural background. Externally frm the remaining Muslims' enemy in Spain tht had never wnted to acknowledge Islamic ruling. Nonetheless, pemerintahan Islam terus utuh n berkembang in the entire Europe.

At around 750, Umayyad ws taken over by the Abbasids tht took control of the great Arab empire. Leaving Damascus, the capital of Abbasid empire was in Baghdad. Able to escape frm the Abbasid, Abd Rahman Ad-Dakhil travelled to Andalus and was self-proclaimed as the emir of Andalus continuing the reign of Umayyad independent of Abbasid influence in Bagdad. Abd Rahman I kingdom yg berpusat di Cordoba continued the caliphate system in governing Andalus.

......to be continued ^^