Travelogue: Korea – Pre-travel (checklists)

1^st August 2016

Since I’ll be going to Korea in Autumn, the weather will be a little bit cold, but not as cold as winter and a little bit hot, but not as hot as summer. It’s a mild weather, and the best season to visit Korea. Let’s us check out things to pack for a convenient one week trip. The one I stated here are on my personal checklists.

Apparels (untuk musim luruh):

1. Jacket – Perlu kerana suhu pada musim ini adalah sejuk!
2. Sweater – Jika dibawa bersama lebih bagus.
3. T-Shirt & Kemeja Casual – Secukupnya.
4. Seluar – Seluar panjang lebih sesuai.
5. Sarung Tangan – Yang tidak terlalu tebal memadai.
6. Kasut – Bertutup lebih sesuai dan lebih selesa.
7. Stoking – Perlu kerana cuaca pada waktu ini dingin.

Others:

1. Passport / e-tickets / hardcopy of booking confirmation (flight tickets, hostel, train)
2. Cash money (credit/debit cards as a back-up)
3. Kompas dan sejadah
4. Travel adapter (sangat penting!)
5.  Power bank
6.  Ubat-ubatan (paracetamol, vicks, chit ke te un, plaster, minyak cap kapak)
7. Toiletries (letakkan dalam bekas-bekas kecil yang lutsinar, terutamanya yang dalam bentuk cecair. Please make sure the things in liquid foam didn’t exceed 100ml or it will be confiscated)
8. Wet tissues
9. Padlock or travel lock
10. Sunglasses
11. Earphone
12. Tripod (perlu jika pergi solo)
13. Botol air
14. Stok makanan (chocolate is one of a must have food as it provide instant energy booster, lain-lain seperti serunding dan small packs of biscuits)

Since I didn’t book a luggage for KUL – PUS flight, I have to be smart while packing my things and have to make sure there is enough space to stuff all my things in a bag pack.

Going to places outside Malaysia is not as simple as going to other states in Malaysia. You’ll need a proper few stages while preparing things and schedule your own itinerary, lebih lebih lagi bagi mereka yang pergi solo so that you will have a convenient and comfortable trip. And again, here are my checklists while preparing my first solo trip.

1. Booking return airplane tickets KUL – PUS –KUL
2. Booking return airplane tickets KCH – KUL –KCH
3. Booking return Mugunghwa train ticket PUS – SEOUL – PUS (Mugunghwa train selalunya mengambil masa 5 – 6 jam untuk perjalanan dari Busan –     Seoul atau sebaliknya. I choose Mugunghwa to save a bit of my money since KTX tickets is more expensive. Tapi, satu kelebihan KTX ialah hanya mengambil masa 3 jam untuk perjalanan dari Busan – Seoul and vice versa)
4. Booking hostel at Busan (I have already booked a dorm type room at Mr Egg Original Hostel Nampo)
5. Booking hostel at Seoul (I have already booked a single room with shared bathroom at Itaewon Inn. I choose a single room since I’ll be staying for a straight 4 nights at the hostel and I want to have some privacy during my stay)
6. Claim free booklet and voucher from KTO (Check out my next post to know more about this)
7. Complete and finalize full itinerary for the trip
8. Convert MYR money to KRW money in Malaysia (Most travelers advise to change your money in Malaysia. This is because of our low rate currency these days, so most of money changing counter didn’t accept our currency, except for few but of course with a very high exchange rate. Or you can change MYR to USD, because USD currency is acceptable in Korea)
9. Activate bank card for oversea use
10. Initial packing
11. Final packing
12. Study Busan and Seoul Subway map (Seoul especially, since it is more complicated compared to Busan. It’s better to have some understanding on the subway map for both Busan and Seoul)

Remember! Having a thorough and detail checklist is really important for a pleasant trip.

Loving you: The Final Chapter

“Loving you: The Final Chapter “

I have been an emotionally unstable stalker

Who’s getting a mood swing over a pictures

And friendly conversations between you and her

Realizing that you already fall for her

Leaving me with a one sided love

It hurts me badly but still

I swallowed my jealousy and keep on stalking

Unconsciously my heart feels numb

Actually I have already been wondering for quite long

I think once, I think twice and more and more

It is not easy for me to make one final decision

However seeing you have found your own happiness

With her but me in the picture

I came to a final, very final decision

Having you or not in my friend list doesn’t make any difference

We will still be friend who will never have a conversation

Put aside the friendly conversation

My heart is already dying as it is

I don’t want it to die helplessly

Called me selfish I wouldn’t care

All I need now is to cure my-almost-broken-wounded-heart

21^st December 2016; 1.11pm

Travelogue: Korea – Pre travel (return flight tickets)

26^th July 2016

Travelling to Korea (Busan and Seoul)

As a Kpop and Kdrama fan, I’ve always dreaming on going to Korea. Through the drama(s) that I’ve watched so far, Korea have so much interesting and beautiful places that attracts attention from visitors all over the world, including Malaysia.

My dream almost come through when AirAsia offered free seat promotion last year on September and I managed to grab return ticket to Korea. Actually, it’s not really a free seat, but more to a low fare ticket where my tickets cost only RM539 (return tickets including travel insurance, in-flight meal and 20kg luggage for PUS-KL flight) *sanggup weh berjaga tengah malam sebab nak rebut tiket murah ni sob sob sob*

My trip to Korea is schedule to be on this October, during Autumn. I can already imagine the beautiful scenery I will be seeing, in another 10 weeks.

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Tips:

You can save a lot for tickets, and spend more for your vacation.

1. Save enough money (that is a must!), and if you intend to buy airline tickets through online banking, make sure your online banking account has enough money in it. So, start saving some of you monthly money aside!

2. Alert on any promotion by any airlines. Always check your mail in case there are any future promotions. In case of AirAsia, they will send an email a week or two in advance about their promotion. Or you can search through Skyscanner and set an alert to inform you whenever the ticket price for your intended place(s) are going down.

That’s all the tips I can share on buying airplane tickets. I waited for more than a year to travel and I am one of those lucky people who manage to grab low fare tickets for Autumn even though it is not a peak Autumn during my travel period.

Travelogue: Terengganu – Pre-travel

Booked the return tickets a month earlier from the scheduled flight to Kuala Lumpur, booked homestay and rental car in prior for our use during the stay, all checked, and we are all prepared for our vacation to Terengganu. Yay!

Why Terengganu? Actually, we have initially agreed to go to Pahang and visit most of attractions there such as Cameron Highland, Bukit Gambang Waterpark and Safari Park, Teluk cempedak and Bukit Tinggi. Two weeks before the vacation, we had a sudden changed in plan. My dad told us that he wanted to visit his friends at Terengganu. At the same time, we can experience how it feels to celebrate Eid Adha at East Coast Malaysia as we often heard that the celebration of Eid Adha are very meriah compared to other states in Malaysia. Having a long discussion between the three adults and planners (mom, dad and I), we finally have agreed to cancel our trip to Pahang and go to Terengganu instead.

So, with another two weeks before the trip, I tried to find another return flights for the six of us to and fro Kuala Lumpur and Terengganu. However, last minute tickets are always more expensive than usual plus it’s during Raya celebration. So, we changed our mode of transportation. We plan to take a bus to Kuala Terengganu (luckily we find seats enough for everyone) and return to Kuala Lumpur by flight.

Transportation: Checked!

Homestay: Checked!

Rental car: Checked!

Then off we go! :)

Travelogue: Langkawi – Day 6 (Final)

18 March 2016

Our last day here. So sad to leave Langkawi because I had so much fun during the past few days. I got to experience a lot of things, I got to spend exclusive time with my family and I got to buy more and more chocs. Eh? Hahahaha.

Our flight is at 3.45pm, so we have some more times to go around, and we decided to go shopping at HIG shopping mall after eating breakfast. Nah, not really shopping btw just buying last minutes orders from relatives and parent’s friends.

We finished shopping and packing a little bit past 12, so we straightly heading to the airport afterwards to return the car and to check-in.

Our luggage on the first day here in Langkawi

Our luggage on our last day here in Langkawi :')

The journey from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur takes one hour, so we arrived KLIA around 4.50pm. Our connecting flight was schedule to depart at 6.15pm. We hurriedly took our luggage before heading to the check-in counter (again) for our next flight back to Kuching. Arrived my homeland at 8pm, and that marks the end of our family vacation this time.

Travelogue: Langkawi - Day 5

17 March 2016

MARDI Langkawi

Our second last day here in Langkawi. So we started our day after eating breakfast and went straight to MARDI Langkawi. We went on a tour to explore places inside MARDI by using a mini tram. As far as I remember, we stopped by at three places. First, at a café where we can enjoy all kind of fruits served on that day. Second, at a grape farm. However, the grape is still green in color and haven’t ripe yet. And the third place was a tree where we can take photo(s) with jackfruit decorated with eyes, nose and mouth. It’s one of the famous photo zone at MARDI Langkawi.

Where am I?

Ayer Hangat Hotspring

Next, we went to Ayer Hangat Hotspring to relax ourselves from a hectic schedule. The water inside the pool is not hot, but still a bit warm. This makes me miss the Poring Hotspring even more. Sob sob sob. There are not many people around, and next to our pool is a massage booth. So, my sister and I takes turn to get our legs massaged. Each session take about 30 minutes. Before we go to the next destination, we had an ice-cream first to cool off ourselves, since the weather is quite hot.

We ate lunch near the beach, where there are few food stalls selling laksa, char kuey tiaw, fruits and drinks. We headed to one of the stall ‘Laksa Kaw Ikan Sekoq’ as recommended by mom’s friend. Having both laksa and char kuey tiaw for each and every one of us, the foods and its tastes didn’t disappoint at all. We are very satisfied and our tummies are all happy. Hihihi.

Kayaking at Pantai Chenang

Supposedly, our next and final destination of the day should be HIG shopping mall. Since we are going back the next day, we plan to do some shopping today so we can packed our stuffs at night. However, I didn’t want to miss the chance to go kayaking. Furthermore, I’m not sure when will I came back to Langkawi. So, I decided to go kayaking.  Going back to Chenang Beach, I rented a double seat kayak boat so that my sister and I can both fit into one boat. It’s RM70/double seat kayak boat. I supposed can get cheaper price than that, but considering we don’t have much time since it’s already 5.00pm, I kept my unsatisfied feeling inside and just pay for the price.

We didn’t go far with the boat, just somewhere near the beach. It’s been so long since I last kayaking, so I didn’t feel confident enough to go kayaking far from the beach plus the sea is quite wavy. I know that we are wearing life jacket at that time, but still I’m afraid because I don’t know how to swim. Poor me. Don’t mind that, we are still having fun kayaking.

Wearing a jeans while kayaking was definitely not a good move. I came out from the boat with my jeans fully soaked with water. The jeans itself is heavy, now the water added the weight. It’s double the heavy. I asked my dad to return home so that my sister and I can change the pants, but he totally ignored me. It’s already night and he is afraid we couldn’t finished our shopping today.

HIG Mall

Half forced, both my sister and I entered the mall with our wet jeans. The air-conditioner inside the building is not helping at all. We were both struggling with coldness inside. It’s cold, but still didn’t stopped us from putting lots and lots of stuffs in the trolley. Hehehe. We managed to finish shopping before the mall close. Going to the food court outside the mall, our pants is almost dry so we can eat dinner comfortably now.

Chocs.! Chocs.!!

:')

We came back home with lots of stuff and after refreshing ourselves, we started to pack our things inside the bags and boxes. 

Travelogue: Langkawi - Day 4

16 March 2016

Underwater World Langkawi

So today we are going to the Underwater World. Since we haven’t book the tickets yet, we departed early in the morning so that we can stop by somewhere to have breakfast before exploring the Underwater World.

Upon entering the Underwater World, we started to go to every corner and places inside it to have a close look on the animals there. We stopped by at the penguin place for quite long while waiting for time the staff to feed them. Looking at those cute penguin reminds me of the popular cartoon in Korea, Pororo. Spending around 4 hours there really worth it.

Penguin feeding time ;)

Next, we went to chocolate shop next to the Underwater World to look around and survey the price. I bought two packs of Kisses chocolate there as the price is quite cheaper compare to other places. Feeling hungry after having strolling around Underwater World and chocolate shop, we went to Pizza Hut to satisfy our hunger.

Dataran Lang

So, the last place we went to day was Dataran Lang, where the famous Eagle Statue is located. Dataran Lang was quite crowded when we arrived there. So many people squeezing while trying to take good picture with the Eagle Statue as the background, and among them are my family. Kihkih. Oh yea, we are having a bit trouble after parked our car as we didn’t have the parking coupon. We waited for other car to park, and initially wanted to buy one sheet of parking coupon from them. However, after almost 15 minutes of waiting, there are still no car park around us. So, my dad decided to go around finding a counter/shop selling the coupon. Luckily, he found it after walking for quite far just so we didn’t get saman parking. We stayed at Dataran Lang until sunset, and another beautiful successfully captured!

Once again, we stopped by a restaurant nearby our homestay for dinner before heading home. 

Travelogue: Langkawi - Day 3

15 March 2016

Island Hopping

Actually we booked the island hopping tour and mangrove tour on our first day here in Langkawi. Luckily there are still boat available for us and what makes us extra happy it is a private boat is (means only our family is in the boat) and the price for both tour is only RM450. Three islands we went to; Tasik Dayang Bunting (Lake of Pregnant Maiden), Pulau Singa Besar (Big Lion Island), and Pulau Beras Basah.

I am so happy and excited during the tour. The sea are dazzling blue, the scenery are awesome and we are all feeling great. Luckily none of us having a sea sickness.

Pulau Dayang Bunting

We first went to Pulau Dayang Bunting. On the way there, we stopped in the middle of the sea for about 5 minutes and the tour guide showed us the image of pregnant lady and told the story behind it. But I was so mesmerized with everything around me, so I didn’t really heard him. Hahaha.

This one I told ya. The image of a pregnant lady :)

Had free time for a bit over an hour, we went to the lake located inside the island. You need to walk for a bit and since the road is quite hilly, you will be out of breath as early as 5 minutes journey. Well, it’s true for my case hahaha! Arrived at the lake, we saw many people swimming and riding a paddle boat. Since we didn’t wore proper suits and brought any swimming suits, we opt for riding the paddle boat.

It was so nice paddling the boat while enjoying the scenery. At the same time, we felt a bit jealousy watching people enjoying their time in the water. Sob sob sob. After 30 minutes of boat paddling, we go back to the terminal and waited for the boat to pick us for the next destination.

Pulau Singa Besar

We didn’t get off the boat here, since we were watching the eagles feeding from the boat. It’s quite an experience for me. For us, actually. The guide throw up the foods onto the water, and one by one the eagles landed on the water surface to eat the foods. They were like giving us a nice performance while eating their foods.

Can you spot eagles there?

Pulau Beras Basah

This is the last destination in our island hopping course. Once again, we could only walking and strolling around, while watching people having fun in the water. We didn’t spend much time there, since we had nothing to do except for strolling around the beach and playing around hammock. The hot weather is not helping at all.

So we decided to going back after 30 minutes being there, and grab our lunch before continue with mangrove tour scheduled at 2.00 pm.

We were in rush to get everything done before started our mangrove tour; grab a lunch and performed Zohor prayer. We started our tour few minutes before 2.30 pm.

Mangrove Tour

I love the route of the tour, because it’s taking us back to nature. Its green everywhere! At one point, we went to Gua Buaya (Crocodile Cave). The entrance to Gua Buaya at that time is big, but it can be smaller and narrower as the water is rising. So do the way out. We are quite nervous thinking that there might still be a crocodile inside the cave, but the guide ensure us there are none crocodile live in the cave anymore. We told him to quickly get out of the cave. Huhu.

On our way to Gua Buaya 

Next, he took us to Floating Restaurant in the middle of the sea. Since we have filled our tummy with heavy foods before, we decided to eat something light. There are lots of menu made of seafood there, and if you are a seafood lover especially fresh seafood, it’s one of the place you should never missed.

Floating restaurant

The last pit-stop for the mangrove tour was Gua Kelawar (Bat Cave). Here, we got a chance to explore the dark cave. I walked close to my parents since I can’t see clearly what’s in front though we have rented a torchlight. Luckily, the journey in the cave was quite short. Going outside the cave was a place kind like a forest. We didn’t go there, just taken few photos of us.

Going back to the terminal where we departed earlier through a deep blue sea, it’s one of a kind experience I would never ever forget. If we were given another opportunity to do island hopping and mangrove tour in the future, I would definitely glad to accept such opportunity.

Today’s activities was super fun and went smoothly well. Heartiest thanks to my parents for the lovely and wonderful tour! I’ve never imagined about these tours before because my mind was full with chocolates. Hahahahahhahaha!

The Broken Ties

“The broken ties”

I wanted to say hello

I wanted to smile whenever I see you

I wanted to do the usual thing one do to their friend

I wanted us to be comfortable

Talking about this and that

Smiling and laughing about silly things

But the situation changed

You changed, so do I

With a simple hi, you misunderstood me as flirting

With a word take care, you misunderstood me as playing your girlfriend

With a single smile, you misunderstood me for everything

I remember this one time

We sat at a round table

You and I, we sat across to each other

I sat in between of my two best friends

You talked to both of them, and everyone else at the table

Leaving me alone in your conversation

I feels unwanted, so I forced smile while being awkward

I can’t remember how I kills time so that I feel less upset

Feeling a bit sad and hurt,

I avoid to do anything related to you, when you are around

I avoided your eyes, straining myself from looking at you

I talked to everyone but you

I keep a smile to myself

But I know well that I cannot completely ignoring you

When my eyes secretly looking for you

My ears secretly heard everything you said

And my heart secretly beat faster than usual

As time passed by, I realize something

We can never go back to our old selves

Where we can funnily joking around

Making fun of one another

Talking to each other comfortably

Because everything changed now

I’m watching silently how comfortable you talk to our friends

How easily you joke around with them

While we are more and more becoming a stranger

Stranger who is connected through someone called friends

And something called memories

8^th November 2016; 3.05pm

The Truth

“The truth”

Truth is I miss you

Truth is I want to see you

Truth is I feels like flying over to your place

Just to see that face of yours

Hug you tight and never let go

If only I’m a bit brave

If only I wasn’t that one person who hide things inside

I would have tell you long ago

That I like you so much I cannot move on

I’ll shout to the world how much I love you

I keep wondering about your impression of me

Did you like me like I like you?

Did you miss me like I miss you?

Or is it my name is not even in your book of life?

Is it I’m just like wind that disappear in seconds?

Tell me the truth

Tell me if you love me

Tell me if you hate me

Tell me even if you has nothing to offer me

Let me learn the truth and chew it well

Be it sweet or bitter truth

Tell me the truth

2^nd November 2016; 3.56pm