Friday, June 10, 2011

Glorious Jeju Island

I dun think I'll be posting any pix for this post...I'm sure you guys can find many pix of Jeju island anywhere on the web. So, we decided to go to Jeju on May 2, 2011. We took off reallllly early..like really early...Since our flight is at 8am, we need to be at the airport 2 hours before departure. From our place to gimpo airport by arex is about half an hour. and walking from guesthouse to the train station also needed some time...so we decided to wake up at 4am in the morning!! So off we go to Jeju..

Gimpo airport is very modern...well, in terms of the toilet...huhu...the toilets are ever so comfy..u just gotta try it to know it...huhu...thinking of gimpo made me remember the many dramas shot here...but gimpo is not that big..not that things can be seen either here. We took jeju air, one of many flights to jeju..there are asiana, korean air, etc...we booked online before going to seoul. but one of us took aseana and paid about the same price as us..we thot jeju air is cheaper but it turned out that the price to jeju is standard and can be bought even during the time you want to fly with it since there are sooo many airlines to jeju...it cost about RM400 return...

In Jeju, we stayed at Yeha guesthouse. We have read very gud reviews and I'm really happy with our stay. The staffs are very helpful and they understand the muslim quite well. they have a different section of muslim utensils and fridge. impressive!! many malaysians have also stayed here, by looking at the many ringgit notes being displayed on the "money from your homeland" board. We booked for a six people bedroom. Every room is equipped with its own bathroom and toilet. This is really not like any other hostels around. They even have family room, so basically, not only young people stays here. i really recommend this place to everyone visiting jeju...you just have to go there to believe me...

our first day here, we walked leisurely around jeju island..in our quest to find halal food...there were none actually, so we have to resort to seafood...buat after reading in the net, the seafood is quite expensive here in jeju...but we have no choice...i wudn't want to go hungry here....after asking the staff in yeha, lena, she told us about a great seafood place which is within walking distance to yeha. when we get there, we early, before 12 pm...they didn't open for business yet, so we took a bus to the nearest market, dongmun market. here, they sold fish, kimchi (yeah, almost everywhere you can find this), and also jeju fruits. the fruits here dfntly look different from wat we normally see. and some are not even available in malaysia. the strawberries are darn cheap and juicy!!! we bought like a LOT!! and we thot we had enuff to eat. but somehow, we decided to try the seafood restaurant. Before ordering, we had strictly told the cook that we cud not take liquor and any meat here. at first he was quite surprise. maybe coz he wud put it in the dish, but somehow he complied (i hope so!).. there are 7 of us, 6 of us ordered (since 1 of us didn't want to eat). each of us ordered a meal. we thot that what we ordered is wat we get..WRONG!! we ordered like noodles, sushi, etc...but somehow when he served us with soooo many unknown food, we were quite dumbfounded. Erk, is sumthing wrong with the menu? coz we only ordered 3 noodles and 3 sushi but why there are about 10 dishes on the table?? it turned out that watever we ordered comes with side dishes...wowwww....and you know wat...we almost finish all....i luv you uncle! (forgot the name...huhu...but ask lena to guide you...)

that's not the end of our day here...we went to a "secret place" also...err...maybe i won't mention it here coz we promised to keep it to ourselves....huhu...at first, many objected but we sumhow agreed to just go and enjoy ourselves....it's quite entertaining actually...huhu...

the next day, we decided to take a tour around jeju with van since we didn't think it is wise to go from places to places by bus or taxi. since there are 7 of us, taking a minivan with driver is quite cheap. for 8 hour journey, we only need to pay less than krw 30,000 each (about rm 81 each)..this is considered cheap since taking a trolley bus cost around krw75,000!!...our driver doesn't speak english but he can communicate with sumone from his phone if he didn't understand us. for an english speaking driver, he will cost us another krw10,000. well, still, sooo cheap!! we went to 4 places, manjangul tube lava, inchulbong san, seopji koji and jeju folkd museum...my main aim to jeju is to take pictures with yellow royal azalea. this is bcoz i've seen so many of my friends taking pix with this flowers..they are soo many and gorgeous!!...this flower can be found along the road from inchulbung san and seopjikoji...people actually grow this flower! if you see a sea of royal azalea, just ask the driver to stop and take pictures. this is because, when i asked the staff, lena on location of yellow azalea, she told me at seopjikoji...it turned out that this location during this time (it was early may, spring almost over), the flowers almost gone from seopjikoji...luckily, i asked the driver to stop along the way. if not, there goes my dream in the drain!...i was ecstatic to take pictures here....they are just sooo pretty!! other than the royal azalea, the other highlight is the beautiful jeju...inchulbung san has pretty view. and so is seopji koji...many dramas are filmed here...for kdramas fan, this is like living a dream!..i luv jeju!!

the day ends after jeju folks museum...we exceed our 8 hour duration by half an hour. by rules, every hour late we have to pay additional krw 10,000...we wanted to pay the driver but he didn't want to take the money...so kind of you uncle!

we were hungry since we didnt stop anywhere for lunch. we prepared bread and eggs for breakfast and lunch...this is bcoz, it's almost impossible to tell the driver about the halal food...once we reached yeha, to the seafood uncle we go!! he was surely delighted to us again since he served us more food this time!! everything finishes!! hoho...thank you uncle....

the last day of jeju was spent within the city of jeju...walking around with no proper direction. initially, we wanted to search for a masjid or muslim center...but that place is no longer there (we cudn't find it)...so we went to shilla duty free and around jeju city...it's almost time to go back to seoul...and we missed jeju already....

So long Jeju, may we meet again....

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Hi Seoul!!- Part I

Dear bloggers...
It's been few weeks after my SKorea Trip and up until now, I still miss the days I spent there with my other 6 friends...Really wanting to post pictures here but unfortunately, all my pix are in my other hard disk. But I've been uploading the pix in my fb! I took the liberty of uploading the pix everyday during my time there since the wi-fi is almost everywhere and super fast too! I'm really impressed!!
The trip which started with only 3 people, grows into a 7 people trip!! Imagine my worry! I've been organizing the trip to Bali for 10 people so this is almost like nothing. But seriously, in Bali, all ground arrangement has been done prior to the trip. Accomodaation, transportation (since there are 10 of us, it is darn cheap to travel everywhere by van!)...but here, in Seoul, I've only confirmed the accomodation, and for transportation, in Seoul, we fully utilised the subway and in Jeju, before going there, I almost has no information...huhu...we planned to let course take its way during Jeju trip, and I was a bit worried. Because people say, everything in Jeju is expensive, so of course I feared it wud do some serious damage to our budget. And I tell you, we didn't bring much money....

1-Seoul:
People say, everything in SKorea centered around Seoul. Well, maybe that's true coz we didn't plan any trip outside of Seoul. Maybe the farthest wud be Nami Island and Everland. Some of the tourist we met suggested we go to Buhsan or Mount Seorak, but since it's not really in our itenerary, we passed it. But other people might not want to pass the chance like we did. It depends on ur interest, tho. When we reached Seoul that Friday nite, we took Arex straight to our guesthouse in Hongik. At first we just booked the guesthouse because it's an all girls dorm. Litle that we know that our guesthouse is located at Hongik Station, Subway Line 2 which is directly connected to Arex, which made our journey to the airports, Incheon Airport (our flight from Malaysia) and Gimpo Airport (our flight to Jeju) so much easier. I really recommend you guys to stay somewhere in Hongik for you to have that advantage. Hongik is also where the universities are located, with Hongdae as the most popular university. So, the night life here is quite happening. Well, it's no use to us, but for some, this is wat you are looking for!
The owner of the guesthouse (Carpe Diem Guesthouse) is Seri, and she's living with the guests. We stayed there for 7 nights. 3 nights before going to jeju and another 4 nights after jeju trip. With this arrangement, we manage to persuade her to store our spare luggage during Jeju trip in her house. Thanks Seri!
The second day in Seoul, it was raining heavily. Our plan to walk to the palaces had to be replaced with going to indoor places like Itaewon (to eat!) and Star World Avenue. It is quite surprising to note that most of the places there still do not open at 11am! So unlike KL. We had to walk around to wait for the shops to open. Luckily we had our umbrellas with us. Before going there, I had checked for the weather forecast regularly. As forecasted, it's going to rain during the second day we were there, but for other days, there are some inconsistencies in the weather forecast. So we were hoping we could see some sunshines there since rain wud dfntly put a halt to all the activities planned. Luckily, it only rained on the second day. We were blessed! After Itaewon, we went to Lotte Star World. This is a must go place for kpop lovers. Here, they kind of have the walk of fame (or rather the wall of fame) for famous stars like Jang Geun Suk (mine! mine!), Big Bang, Rain, etc. I was beyond ecstatic! Yeah, I forgot to mention that, if anyone plans to travel within Seoul, what you need to know is which subway you need to take (there are about NINE subways here!), where to stop AND which exit you need to take. It's not like here in Malaysia where when you stop at a station, you can immediately see the place you wanna go. Here, they have about 10 exits per station! So, better do your research properly. By taking subway, it might be troublesome since chances are, you might need to ask people for direction, and some of these people doesn;t know english that much and there are some who just refused to communicate with you, but still, subway is the cheapest way (well, maybe bus is cheapest, if you know where to stop, but we just avoid using us becouse of language barrier). And the subway is easy to use once you get the hang of it. Plus, it's the way of life here.

Then, there's a one day trip to Nami Island....what can I say...one of the most enjoyable place we had been. The journey itself is really one thing to enjoy. Since we opt for subway, there are like 3 or 4 lines of subway plus ground train we need to take. Since there had been some changes on the train route, the old direction couldn't be followed. So, here we are, 7 of us, not knowing where to stop and where to go from our Hongik Station. Luckily we didn't get lost thanks to some people at the station who helped us along the way. There is also an interesting story about an Ahjussi (uncle) who was willing to help us to the point of going with us to the Nami Island. He was friendly at first, and later, we found him quite annoying...huhu...sorry Ahjussi. Because of some misunderstanding, we had to leave him before embarking on our boat to Nami Island. We really regret it, hopefully u don't hate us Ahjussi!
Nami Island is all about taking pictures. Everywhere we go, are ideal places to camwhore. Imagine SEVEN girls giggling all the way while taking pictures. We had lotsa fun. I wish I can upload some pix!!Arghh..When it's time to go back, 2 of us decided to try bungee jumping there. Well, it was not in my itenerary and I'm not in the mood, so I decided not to do it. So unlike me, right?...well, maybe next time...

Then there's Jeju trip for 3 days....I just love Jeju...beautiful island....but, that, has to wait for another post....see ya!!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

.........

Hi all...am feeling a bit down...think i'm going to get fever..that surely explains the constant headache....and I'm done reporting to fb....all I wanna do is not hving anything on my mind to think bout. Life is indeed tough.....sigh......but I just hv to keep on moving......

Friday, March 18, 2011

When people is not what you think of them....

Lately, I'm pretty bummed with a bunch of people who seems "nice" but actually, they are not what they are. Your first impression, wow, she's cool, I can get along well with her.....but somehow later, you see her flaws...one by one....I surely hope I'm not that kind of people. But I dunno. Wat do u think? (Well, this shud be answered by people who really knew me, of course!)

Does it have to be a "she"? Well, it cud be she or a he. I hv experienced both. And when I found out about that, I just want to stay away from them. I just dun understand it. But they are not that bad all the time. It depends on situation and people they be. I have this impression that she/he is being nice to the extreme to some people, but to the other group of people, they show their true colours. Come on! I know your circle of friends! When I told my other friends about this, they are really taken by surprise. I just hate this kind of people. But being me, I just hate controversies and trying my best to neutralize the situation. I just forget about whatever she/he did to me and moves on from there. When I was with these people, I act as if nothing happened, but actually all I wanna do is scream and shouted about the mess...eeeiiii....so gerammm....

I just dun get it. How do you sleep at nite, huh people? (I am referring to 'these' kind of people)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Secret Garden....

Well, my topic nowadays is more about korean dramas....so bear with me la ye...huhu...with 2 more months to seoul trip....i'm getting myself equipped with the latest korean dramas....haha...but seriously, i found their dramas sooo addictive....just can't stop watching stop watching them....last friday, i met my korean drama distributor at one of the famous mamak stalls in town. just to copy the 20 episodes of Secret Garden, in total about 16 gb. Just cud'n't imagine how am i going to copy file that big few years before, but now, everything is possible. my thumbdrive is 16 gb in capacity!! i do love technology....

Pix courtesy of koreandrama.org

I was drawn to the dramas since been reading very gud feedback of the series in the web. Everywhere is bout hyun bin and secret garden. I just hv to watch it! Thanks to Mat, for downloading!! So, since I need to wake up early on Saturday, I refrain myself from watching any of the episodes. So, off i went to Sunway lagoon on Saturday for a company family day (shud i post a new topic on the trip? it was fun but nothing major happened there, so, i'll pass ok?...huhu)...so, saturday nite, i thot i didn't want to watch any SG (make it shorter la)..and i decided to watch other muvies supplied by Mat. well, he gave quite a few muvies, other than SG. then at 11pm, feeling boring, i promise myself to watch only 1 episode of SG and go to sleep. I WILL continue watching it the next morning...well, so much of self-restraining!! I was hooked the moment i watch the intro!! heck!! I watched one episode after another and suddenly from episode 1 to episode 4 and the clock has already struck 330am...OMG....i gotta sleep! the problem with this series is, when it got to the ending, that's where the climax is.....arghhh....so you just hv to watch what will happen next and before you knew it, another episode....so i told myself to sleep and watch the next episode the next morning, AFTER claiming my 7 hours sleep. Well, since i have to wake up for subuh prayer, after subuh prayer i thot i wanna get the other 4 hours sleep but then, why not watch just another 1 or 2 episode? hurmmm.....i was glued to my pc till 1230 am for the drama. Well, of course i have to stop for prayers, and drink and toilet....lunch at 12pm with only milk and oats and dinner with a lil rojak at 6pm. How can i survive the day without full meal? i have no idea!! the thing is, i dun feel that hungry....that is how powerful the drama is..

I never did that to other dramas.....

Is it that good? Yes! For the first part of the drama, it was full of comedy, then towards the end, full with emotions. So many mixed emotions. Laughing and crying.....Just remind me of winter sonata and dun ask me why....I've been watching korean dramas since winter sonata and i lurved it....well, maybe it's just too sad a drama to keep watching it over and over again but that's the start of korean wave. then, autumn in my heart, etc, etc....well, all the crying dramas. then when full house came, that's the start of rom-com in korean drama industry. More romantic comedy like Boys over flowers, you are beautiful, etc....they are fun loving dramas and make u laugh so much. I have not watched the teary dramas anymore. well, i guess they are still there but doesn't the capture our attention. SG, i just lurve the storyline, the act. U just kept guessing wat's gonna happen next. And I just lurve Hyun Bin! He is brilliant! Well, if you wanna know about this series, go google it!

I wonder wat's the next brilliant series I'm gonna watch. SG dfntly set a hi standard!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Dang, dang....gang, gang....

During last CNY while relaxing at my parents home, I heard Nyanya..the love of our family life..the 1 year old teddy bear singing sumthing like this...dang, dang..gang, gang...I was like "what the heck is that?"....turns out she was following a song "Kalau Berpacaran" by Sohaimi Mior Hassan. I was not really into malay songs (huhu..i know, i know)...but this song is really catchy and guess wat? they were featured last week as one of contenders of Muzik Muzik. The song is already on top of the list in almost all radio stations here in Malaysia. Not bad for a 50+ year old singer....well, let's sing it now....

enjoy this song...courtesy of lizarazak.com



Kalau berpacaran
Memang banyak pantang larang
Menjaga susila
Ibu bapa adik abang
Apabila berdua
Carilah tempat yang terang
Agar tidak pula
Mencuba aksi terlarang
Korus
Boleh pandang-pandang
Jangan pegang-pegang
Duduk renggang-renggang
Bertambah sayang
Biar malu-malu
Biar segan-segan
Kerna malu itu
Perisai orang beriman
Ana Raffali

Kalau berpacaran
Jangan tunggu lama-lama
Kalau dah berkenan
Jumpalah ayah dan mama
Hantarkan rombongan
Meminang dengan segera
Kalau terlambat kasihmu disambar buaya
Ulang korus
Altimet

Yeah
Kita sambung cerita
Kalau kamu berdua
Aku yang ketiga
Aku penambah perasa
Akulah pendarab nafsu serakah
Hai teruna bikin perangai selamba
Hati si dara kata tak apa
Berani buat terima padah
Kalau tak sedia
Ucap syahadah

Friday, January 28, 2011

Happy CNY!!

Hi fellow bloggers!!

HAPPY RABBIT YEAR!!!

CNY is just around the corner guys! as malaysians, we celebrate all kind of celebrations. The CNY this year falls on Thursday and Friday. For KL-ians, we also celebrate Federal Day on Tuesday. Some of us applied for 2 days leave next week and you got urself one full week free from ur job! Yours truly not like that ye...almost termakan pujuk rayu bos to cancel leave on wednesday. AND that is only one day leave...planning to work on monday with tonnes and tonnes of works in da office. pening..pening...

And next tuesday, will be off to kerteh and kemaman to meet old friends...well, it's been nearly 3 years...time flies sooo fast....am really looking forward my time there....and will be driving to my hometown melaka on thursday...

I have just completed my "Gumiho" marathon. been hooked to my pc since last monday watching gumiho 2 episodes per nite...really addictive....and now i'm waiting for secret garden....also, accomodations for korea is now complete. all has been booked and now it's time to start planning and saving the moneyyyy...my hard earned money will be spent there...i'm relieved...huhu....yeah, yeah...korea is all in my mind now....and let's NOT start talking bout where to go next year....too soon...but there are already plans for that...just watch out for this space...maybe after korea will tell...huhu...

so long...babaiii