Kembara Musim Panas - Part 1

Salam.

At Gyeonghui Palace (Running Man Ep71)

We, i.e Nadia and I had a trip to Korea this summer. We stayed there for 6 days; spending our time shopping, walking, and people watching and being watched as they find it weird seeing us covering ourselves up especially in the hot summer.  The weather was hot just like in Malaysia, though at night it was very windy and quite cool. I personally had a good time enjoying the night walks above ground. Yes, I have to emphasize the ABOVE GROUND part as Korea has a veeeeery extensive underground area; subway stations, underground shopping centers, and pedestrian crossings.

In the 6-days time, we went around to the tourist attractions in Seoul city by using the subways and our own two legs...

Day 1

Our flight was at 0100hrs. We arrived at Incheon International Airport (Running Man Ep 33) at around 8 o'clock local time, took an airport limousine bus towards Seoul and arrived at our lodging at 10.30 am. We were lucky that we got to check in earlier than the appointed time. After cleaning up ourselves and  a quick nap, we set out for the summer adventure.

Namsangol Folk Village (Running Man Ep 19)

Iced Lemonade on a very hot day sure is refreshing

Aiming for the N Seoul Tower (the background picture) by foot

Met with Taekwon V(Running man ep 25) on our way up the mountain

Namsan Park at the feet of the mountain 

Ada burung...

The original plan was to take the cable car up and walk down by foot. But we accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up climbing these stairs and more stairs T_T to reach the mountain peak.To sum it up, we actually went for a mountain hike within 8 hours of our arrival. Terer giler, dah la malam tadi tidur kejap je kat dalam plane. Lebih kurang sejam la jugak panjat gunung ni...huh, berpeluh-peluh!

Bird's-eye view of Namsan Park

Akhirnya...sampai pun (Running Man Ep 6)

The long awaited scenery after the long hike

Love Locks at N Seoul Tower. Banyak ooo...

And we got down with a cable car...When we reached down, there were a very long line of people waiting for their turn to go up. Erm, mostly couples I would say.

Day 2

Day 2 were basically the day where we went for a shopping spree. In the morning, we went to Namdaemun market. Most of the goods sold were handmade by the store owners. Cool, huh? There were soo many things on sale. I bought hair clips which were made on-demand, so I had to wait 10 minutes for her to finish up making them.  Rambang mata seyh, jalan kat kedai yang jual accesories.

That evening, we went to another famous shopping area; Dongdaemun. This place is especially famous as a wholesale shopping center. It's a place where you could find the latest fashion in Korea. Name it, handbags, accesories, shoes, clothings, you can have it all! And the best thing is, the retail malls closes only at 0400hrs!!! 

In front of the Dongdaemun (the Great East Gate). Unfortunately, we didn't see the Namdaemun (the Great South Gate

Cheonggyecheon Stream

Dongdaemun at night. There are flocks of people; tourists and locals.

...to be continued

The eventful trip to Kelantan

Salam.

It had been long since I last wrote anything here. There's nothing much to write, really. But it's kinda boring seeing the old stories each time I visited my own blog. So, I'm actually forcing this story to be written down. Just bear with me in case it's not so interesting and I think my writing skills has become rusty too.

So, the trip to Kelantan begins on Sunday, 22 January and ends on Tuesday, January 24th. During our stay, we tried to be helpful to our hosts but it doesn't seem like we did much. Well, maybe Faein and Nadia did more than I do. On the other hand, I feel like the only thing I do is snapping pictures here and there. But yeah,  as an amateur, and a total beginner on top of that, my experimental shots didn't turn out good. Plus, my pictures of the big day are from the side view as I was trying not to be a hindrance to the hired photographer who is trying to do his work and the relatives who wanted to keep the proof of the happy day. Here goes a series of the not-so-good pictures:

 If I had moved a bit to the left, I would have gotten the full view inside the mirror. Well, I was too afraid to do that in case I accidentally become a photo-bomber in the hired photographer's shot.

Oh, this came out quite good. Haha, but then, so many people in the background.

Yeah, I lack originality. I'm not sure though why people take this kind of shots, but i did it anyway out of curiosity and self-satisfaction (of being able to do what other people could). What an idiot.

Another side-view picture. I managed to capture the right moment and the right emotion. But unfortunately, the wrong camera mode. Tsk, tsk what a shame. 

err..I'm not really sure what I'm trying to achieve here. and the cake is crooked.

 The traffic jam on the way to Pantai Cahaya Bulan. So we decided to give up on the beach and went shopping at the nearby shops.

The effect is different when I focused only on the sky. It looked as if it is almost dusk. Cool huh?

aww...so cute. But a bit blurry here. A second shot is somewhat impossible. This kid keeps on going here and there

Another failed attempt

We barely know each other. From left: Hani's maternal cousin, Hani's paternal cousin, Hani's university friend, Razan's friend, Hani's school friend. It's kinda sad thinking that I might not see them again in the future. 

And somehow these two kids got comfortable with me and started goofing off with me. Ahh...I miss my cousins

Oh, and yes, I lost my identification card. It was last seen was before boarding the flight to Kota Bharu. Alhamdulillah, I managed to settle the matter within the week and is currently waiting for the new card. It's a good thing that I'm still a student. If it isn't because of that, I would've had to pay RM110 instead of RM60. But I lost the picture of the innocent-looking 17-years-old-me eheh.

Currently I'm eager and excited to attend two more weddings. The nearest is this coming weekend and another one is in March. I hope there won't be any class on that Saturday.  

I pray that we would do well in the coming exam.

Jalan-jalan Raya

Salam.

Setelah bermaaf-maafan sesama ahli keluarga, marilah kita menziarahi saudara-mara khususnya yang tua. Yang tak kenal boleh dikenal-kenalkan, yang dah kenal boleh dirapatkan.

1st destination: Rumah Nek Mami, Klang

Nek Mami ni Atok punya mak cik. So she's my moyang.

Nek Mami yang selalu buatkan rempeyek untuk atok

Bergambar kenang-kenangan

Tuan rumah tak payah susah-susah nak layan. Pandai je masing-masing layan diri

Rombongan Mak Ngah pun sampai

Pindah ke depan pulak...habis kuih kena makan

Sempat tengok Momok the Movie. Ramai betul director tambahan nak bagi sedap cerita

Semoga Allah lanjutkan usia moyang

2nd Destination: Rumah Pak Ngah, Ampang

Konon-konon nak tangkap gambar sunset, jumpa kucing comel pulak...waa fluffy (fuwa fuwa kata orang jepun)

Sambung tengok Momok the Movie...haha poyo betul

Sambal udang special Mak Ngah...Rugi sape tak makan

Ada yang siap request mi goreng Mak Ngah. Nyum2

Makan 3rd round kat dapur bersama-sama ahli rukun tetangga
Eh, tengok kat belakang tu ada apa

Zoom sikit ke belakang...

Jeng jeng jeng!

Joran Pak Ngah si kaki pancing...banyak nye...maklumlah, nak dekat tiap2 minggu pegi memancing

Pak Ngah yang belikan sekotak besar Pop Pop untuk budak2 ni main

The Next day: Rumah Mak Ngah Robiah, taman sebelah, Gombak

Mak Ngah Robiah ni anak sedara arwah Nenek yang paling rapat, kot... Kuih yang dia buat memang ikut resipi nenek sebijik. Sebab tu kitorang semua ni mesti serang kuih raya dulu. Yang paling famous ialah kuih bangkit kelapa dan coklat chip. Semua resipi nenek Mak Ngah simpan. Mak Ngah ni cakap pun sebijik dah macam nenek. Pendek kata, memang the true disciple of nenek la. 

Sebab dah buat appointment awal-awal, dapat la makan mi goreng

Tak sah datang rumah Mak Ngah Robiah kalau tak makan kuih coklat chip. Sedap woo

Siap bawak balang kuih pegi depan

Atok dengan Pak ngah Man

Eeeh, dah tinggal sikit je coklat chip ni?!!

These are the culprits!! haha

Siap mintak anak pokok lagi

Next destination: Rumah Tok Su, Sg Besi

Tok Su baru pindah rumah kat Sg Besi. Rumah lama dulu yang dekat Sg. Kerayong dah kena tinggal. Sayang betul sebab rumah tu banyak ukiran kayu. These two brothers, atok & Tok su are very good with their hands.

Atok & Tok Su

Pagi-pagi makan kerang, apalagi serang le!
(Padahal baru je makan kat rumah mak ngah Robiah. Pun licin dua mangkuk kueh tiau goreng)

Bergambar depan kedai Tok Su setelah membeli-belah

Malamnya, kami tunggu Nek Ngah dari Ulu Yam datang

Macam-macam cerita keluar bila diorang ni berjumpa

Nek Ngah (tudung kuning) pun adik Atok jugak. Nek Ngah ni famous sebab terer bab masak-memasak ni. Kuih Coklat Chip Nek Ngah memang sedap! Masak asam pedas pun power, makan sekali memang tak cukup, mesti nak tambah punya. Tapi, nampak gayanya tahun ni pun tak sempat nak beraya rumah Nek Ngah...huhu

Deretan pendengar-pendengar setia

Babah & Tok Ngah

Kenapa dua beradik ni bercekak pinggang? kui3

Bukan main lagi Nek Ngah bercerita

Then, on Friday we took it easy and rest. Plus, Mak Teh had to go working. So we didn't go anywhere. On Friday, my family went back to Tangkak & singgah rumah Pak Ndak kat Seremban. And I couldn't go with them because they left me in Ampang since my class starts on Monday and so that I don't get trapped in the traffic jam on Sunday.

Tahun lepas sempat pegi rumah Tok Adam kat Kajang, Tok Lang kat Paya Jaras, dan Nek Ngah kat Ulu Yam. Oh, Rumah Mak Long pun tak pegi sebab diorang ada kat Paris lagi sekarang ni.

Ini baru kampung kat Gombak. Kampung kat Parit Kasan, Johor tak pegi lagi...Nak beraya kat Tangkak pun tak dapat...bagi lah cuti raya dua minggu weyh. Seminggu mana cukup! Tak dapat nak jenguk Embah Som, Embah Long, semua lah yang kat kampung tu. Maklum le, orang kampung ni biasanya semuanya sedara. Sebab kahwin dengan orang2 kampung tu jugak. Memang la bukan semua embah2 dengan sedara-sedara tu ingat kat aku, diorang kenal mak bapak aku je, but at least I try to get to know my relatives. Tak de la nanti sedara sendiri pun tak kenal...hampeh betul! So, I don't think visiting relatives is only for the adults i.e. parents. Same goes with parents' friends. 

Kesimpulannya, kalau kat Tangkak, ada 3 jenis orang yang kitorang akan pegi beraya rumahnya. First, of course relatives. Second, our babysitters ada dalam 3 orang yang masuk kategori wajib pergi. And third would be my parents' close friends. Dan semua rumah ni aku tak dapat nak pegi gara-gara cuti yang pendek...ceis!

p/s: kalau dah keje & dah kahwin lagi la tak dan nak ziarah semua orang. adeyh...

Selamba dek je ambik family picture kat rumah Nek Mami. haha