Showing posts with label backpackers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label backpackers. Show all posts

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Not Satisfied Enough (?)



Samui Escapade
Day 1: Travelling to Koh Samui


Our last day in Koh Samui. Supposedly, our flight was at 2-something PM and would probably be arrived in KLIA2 at 1530. Too bad our flight has been delayed til late evening. There goes my flight to SBW. Burn flight and terpaksa amek the first flight in next morning

So, when I bought our bus and ferry ticket, I did asked for a later time. Instead, they gave us the early morning ferry. We waited for the van to pick us up at the hotel at 8AM and went straight to the pier. But before that, I did asked Faris to go to the 7E and packed us some foods. Kompom lapar babe. I ate mine in the ferry. Should've bought two for me. 

Seatran Ferry

The journey was just like Day 1, but the inverse one. 

Van - Ferry - Bus - Flight

Oh yeah,  I almost forgot to mention that, we stayed at Chaweng Beach, I can say that the night life at the moment I went there is too quite. Lain kata, night life dia taklah life sangat

And here, is the video. 


Why I said I was not satisfied enough with this trip?
Well, I should've another few nights. I still wanted to explore Koh Samui. For anyone wanted to go to Koh Samui, please go and stay there for at least 3 nights. :)


Damaged for Day 3:
Food - THB 35 
Total - THB 35 (~MYR 4.26)


Z : I went to Koh Samui on 17 - 19 January 2016. Sangat tak puas hati. Patut tambah satu malam lagi. Tak puas explore lagi. 

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Island Hopping in Koh Samui



Samui Escapade


Fishermen boats near the Nathon Pier

We woke up early and had our quick breakfast. Luckily, they provided continental breakfast at the place that we stayed. We waited for the van to pick us up at the hotel and made a little chit chat with the other Malaysians who were having the same package with us too.

Tempat yang kami naik tu, macam kampung nelayan. A fisherman village. Be prepared for the fishy smell at the dock. We had another round of breakfast in the boat. A hot tea with buttered croissant. Enough energy for a day, I guess.

The journey for this trip is quite long. For us to get to the first island, it took us almost 2 hours. We made friend to some people on the boat and became closed to the Malaysian ladies, Iqa, Peanut and Biha. Haris came later as he joined us at the sun deck.

At the sun deck. Had some peace of my mind looking at the view.


At our first pit-stop, we went for an adventure. Or as I can say, a hike-kinda adventure. We hiked for half an hour to get to see this view...

Wua Ta Lab Island
Hiked for about half an hour just to see this view from 650m above sea level

After we hiked, we had our lunch at the boat. We didn't bring any food. We were in the middle of nowhere. We're hungry. Tutup mata, makan je lah.

Then we went to another island for snorkeling. I was quite disappointed with the snorkeling area because I thought we were doing an open water snorkeling, just like in Krabi. But noooo... They left us at the island and do whatever we wanted. We can hiked (again) or just swam at the seashore. We were curious because we were not being given any snorkeling gear. So, we swam at the designated area.
But when we were just about to go for kayaking, we saw a few people get their snorkeling gear at the side of the big rock. It was too late for us. I was pissed off because we were not getting any notice about where to get the gear. Ahh well, I was hopeful that kayak should be better than swimming by the seashore.

After 40 minutes of splashing some waters at the seashore, we get into our kayak and started kayaking. Finally, I had some fun at the sea. We kayak for about almost half an hour and I, appreciate the view that I saw. Even though I was frustrated with the acah-acah snorkeling part, I was happy that the kayak was not so frustrated. I got to see the beautiful view of the surrounding islands.

After kayaking, we all went to the boat and went back to Koh Samui. It was almost sunset. We walked around to find any available Halal restaurant nearby our hotel. Luckily we found one. Then we asked what time the restaurant will closed and went back to the hotel to freshen up.

Sunset.

After Maghrib, we went to the restaurant along with the other ladies that we met earlier in the boat. We met at the lobby of the hotel and walked together towards the restaurant. Makan besar sia! We ate a lot for dinner that night. The total cost for our dinner was THB 1030. So, that's mean around THB 171.6 each. The dinner was over our budget. But to come to think of that we had a cheap dinner for Day 1, so, it was okay to have a good food for our last night in Koh Samui.

Layan je la tokey kedai tu cite pasal gym diaaaa

After we ate, we went to the night market and had a look what they sold there. It's a small night market with nothing much to see. I bought a fridge magnet to give it to my parents and that's it. Takdak yang menarik minat.

I asked the other ladies whether they wanted to do a massage. And they liked my idea. The next thing I knew, we went for a spa hunting. It turns out, the spa in front of our hotel offered the best price and it open til midnight. Woohooo...



I chose oil massage with a lavender scented oil. Damn, I smelt like lavender that night. Then, I saw that I have an hour left before the shop closed. I chose my second treatment, which was the facial, It's so refreshing to have the facial after you get your skin burnt from the Sun. At least, I didn't go back with a sunburn skin. Anyhoo, I still got the tanned, k?

Around midnight, my sister and I wandered around the town. Ngelayor bak padah urang tua tek.


Damaged for Day 2:
Remainder for the island hopping package - THB 1300
Drinks - THB 5.67 (THB 17)
Dinner - THB 171.6 (THB 1030)
Souvenirs - THB 100
Massage & Facial - THB 600
Total - THB 2177.27 (~MYR 265.19)



Z: Rugi lah pi Thailand tak pi massage.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Travelling to Koh Samui

OMG, it's been a long time since I wrote a post here. I'd been busy and there are two trips that I missed. I have another trip in two weeks time. So, I stole some of my time to write this. Here I go...

*

I chose Koh Samui because going to Koh Lipe is quite expensive.

I took a flight to Samui from KLIA2 at noon and arrived in Surat Thani around 1200. The flight took us around 1 hour and 30 minutes. And of course, 12 is Thailand time zone. After we had our immigration checked, we wandered around at the lobby of the airport to find a transportation to Koh Samui. We went from booth to booth and compared the price of the bus. So, we agreed to go for Phantip Co. Ltd. as it was the cheapest among all. The return bus and ferry price was THB 1100.

When we boarded the bus, there was a lady promoted us the island hopping packages. I listened to the lady dengan cara nak tak nak je. Why? Because, I was afraid that it will be a scam. So I asked her to talked to my friend. Faris listen to her attentively and interested in the adventure package. My sister was rooted for that package too. While, I wanted the relaxing package. Ahhhh well, 2 against 1. Mana nak lawan -.-

The price for the adventure package was THB 1400 and the other one is THB 1600. Just a few hundreds different. We agreed to choose the adventure packages and paid THB 100 each for deposit.

The bus ride took us around 1 hour and 30 minutes until we reached Seatran Pier. We arrived at the pier around 1430 and waited for half an hour to board the ferry. And the ferry ride took us around 1 hour and 35 minutes until we reached Nathon Pier. Let me just say this,

ENJOY THE RIDE.

The view that I captured on my ferry ride.
Maybe, some inhabitant islands.
When we arrived at Nathon Pier, there are a few vans that has been waiting for us. We went to our hotel van. My ohh my. I almost forgot how they drove in Thailand. The last time I was in this kinda ride when I went for a trip in Phuket-Krabi.

We arrived at our hotel when the Sun was almost setting down. It felt like a small little town compared to Phuket or Krabi and it did not have a lot of noises. We checked in and had some rest before we went to get some dinner.

I did not do my research well. The shops there closed early. I have searched some Halal restaurant in Koh Samui, but too bad they closed at 9PM. We were damn hungry and couldn't just simply ate anything that we found. So, Faris has this idea to bought some food in 7E, pre-heat it, and brought it back to the hotel. The price for frozen shrimp fried rice in the 7E was THB 35. (Asalnya budget makanan THB 150 each day. Saved sia makan ni je. hihihi)



Samui Escapade

Damaged for Day 1:
Return bus ticket - THB 1100
Deposit for island hopping package - THB 100
Food - THB 35
Total - THB 1235 (~MYR 150.42)




Monday, November 2, 2015

Kinderdijk to Bruxelles



Euro Trip
Destination 1: Mereput di Dubai
Destination 2: Bonjour, Paris!
Destination 3: The Amazing Alps
Destination 4 : Chamonix
Destination 5: Pisa yang Senget
Destination 6: Bongiorno, Roma
Destination 7: Lost in Venice
Destination 8: Wilkommen to Munchen
Destination 9: What Happened in Amsterdam, Stays There (or Here)!




It's our last day going here and there. Today, We were gonna crossed three countries again, Nederland-Belgium-France. But before we went to Brussels, we stopped by at Kinderdijk to see some windmills. We departed from our homestay at 1020 and arrived at Kinderdijk at 1200. 

Kinderdijk, The Netherlands is one of the UNESCO World Heritage. It's worth to go there. The entrance fee is €7.5. There's a parking port available to park your car inside the compound. So don't worry about your car getting lost. 

When I stepped outside the car, I felt the cold breeze on my skin. Ingatkan semalam je sejuk, tapi rasanya memang sejuk kat Netherland ni. There are some stories behind Kinderdijk. Most of the Netherlands are below sea level. So, to prevent flood, they built the windmills and lived in there. 


Kinderdijk map

This place is beautiful and huge. You can either use a bike, walk or  water-cruise to get to the museums in there. And of course, you need to pay extra if you used the cruise. We walked and snapped a lotsa photos. We were fortunate when we visited Kinderdijk because we got a chance to see how they're changed the direction of the 'big fan'.

Kat Netherlands ni lah femes dengan terompah
kayu ni. Tapi tak dan la iols nak beli.
The ticket itself dah boleh jadi memento.
Windmill, windmill for the land...
At the other side, there's an interactive museum where you can go there to get to know about the histories of Kinderdijk. Don't worry, it's in English. 
Nak tahu kat mana museum tuh, kat belakang lambang National Graphic bawah ni hah...

Acah-acah National Geographic gittew.

We departed from Kinderdijk at 1500 and arrived at Bruxelles (Brussels) at 1815. Our itinerary for that day was quite packed. 
In Brussels, you can't park anywhere you want. Most of the carparks by the roadside are just for the Belgians. So, we need to find a carpark near the Manekin Pis. 

Kesian kami dah happy dapat parking. Sekali orang yang jaga parking tu suruh alih kereta and cakap parking tu hanya untuk orang Belgium je. Tengok plat kereta la kan. Kan kat plat kereta yang kami sewa tu ada logo biru lepas tu bintang disusun dalam bentuk bulat dan ada initial France yang korang pakai acah-acah kat sini lepas tu letak kat tepi plat kereta korang tuh. Pandai pulak lepas tu letak singkatan nama negeri masing-masing. Kreatif sangat. lels.

And yes, the lift here have the negative number.
There's no such thing as B, B1, B2 bagai.
We wandered around in Belgium while watching the sunset among the building. And of course, I was amazed with the building architecture here. Our first pit-stop in Brussels was the famous Manekin Pis itself. Coklet yang depa jual dalam tu tak payah cite lah. Tulis je €6. Murah la tu. Jangan convert ke duit Malaysia plis. But we can taste the chocolates that they sell, which is nice. 

Tak senonoh punya budak. Kencing merata je keja.
Yummehh. Amek je.
The famous Belgium chocolates.
And of course, besides the BELGIUM CHOCOLATES, they are also famous with their waffles. Memang kau pernah makan waffle kat Malaysia ni, tapi pengalaman makan the waffle from their originated place is worth to try. Walhal, sama je rasa dia. Tapikan, kat Malaysia ada tak yang camnih (tengok gambaq bawah)?

Just add another €0.5 for each topping. 
Some of the shop here sells this. It looks delish but I was out of Euros.

Guest what, I ordered a banana nutella waffles. Tu pun dah rega €3. Tapi dah lapar. Makan je lah

Anyway, here are some of the views that I managed to capture when I was in Brussels. Tak puas kot. I wanna go here again. 

Almost sunset. The view of the sunset, I
captured it with my mind. I'm not going to
share it. :P 
Happiness is ...
Sempat la melayan concert sekejap sambil cari jalan ke Hard Rock Cafe.

We departed from Brussels at 2030 and arrived in Paris at 0012. Bangun-bangun je dari tidoq, Azim bukak pintu and kejutkan cakap dah sampai depan Hard Rock Cafe Paris. Dengan mamainya gua jalan ke HRC Shop and pilih barang pesanan orang

I faced some difficulties when paying my stuffs there. Suddenly, my debit card cannot be used. It's twice already when I was in my Euro Trip. Once was in Amsterdam and then, in Paris. I was out of Euros to pay the stuffs. The weird thing is, I can used my debit in HRC Brussels. Luckily Azim's card can be used. My Euros dah habis untuk bayar cash kat HRC Amsterdam. Nasiblah. Then, I decided that I need this annoying thing called credit card. *sigh*

We stayed at Kitty Hostel. Boleh dikatakan, indah khabar dari rupa. The room is not that well tend. That's all I can say. Dah lah berapa kali sesat. The others didn't sleep and packed their stuffs while I slept like a baby. Lucky for me that I already packed during our stayed in Amsterdam.

*

We departed from the hostel before dawn and go to the CDG Airport. Faris and I was assigned to take care of all the things while the others went to sent the rental car. Oh ya, the mak ciks were already on their way to London.

After our counter opened, we (Faris, Syam and I) were the first one to check in. The weird thing is, if they said our luggage is too large, they will asked us to bring our luggages to the side of Emirates counter. Then, at that particular place, there are someone who will bring your luggage into the fleet. Dah macam self-service angkat luggage sendiri kat orang tepi tu. Sama je macam kat KLIA/2. Tapikan, bagpack je kot. My bagpack is 40L je. Kecik cenonet jer.

Yeaaay, dapat duduk depan tepi tingkap lagi tuh.
Tengok TV jers.

We supposedly departed at 1120 but something came up.
Kau bayangkan, pintu flight dah tutup dan kau dengan senang hatinya dah duduk dalam flight layan movie bagai. Then, tetiba nampak ketua anak kapal bukak pintu and engineer masuk terus naik deck atas. Tu OK lagi. Sejam lepas tuh, kau nampak pulak pilot keluar dari cockpit. 

You must be wondering, what the hell happened, dude? All the passengers were restless and hungry. No explanation, nothing. Our flight was delayed. The passengers asked whether they can embarked the plane. To think about that, if the passengers embarked the plane and suddenly the fleet is OK, it will cost the time. Some of them wanted to get to the next flight. Anyway, none embarked the plane as the cabin crews agreed to give us some refreshments.

Janji boleh alas perut bertemankan Shaun the Sheep.

    S: Lapar lagi lah. Agak-agak nak tambah lagi boleh tak?
    Z: Boleh kot. Panggillah flight attendance yang Malaysian tuh.
    S: Bang. Bang, nak lagi boleh?
    FA: Boleh. Nak berapa? Tiga eh? Jap ye.

After three hours in the flight, then there's an announcement saying that there's a problem with the panel at the loading deck. So, they need to wait for the panel and the engineer from Russia. The installations took about an hour. 

At 1619, we departed from Paris. 5 hours delay. Pheeww...


Ni baby Lorenzo. Orang Perancis.
Comel kan. Barely 2 tapi beratnya, ya ampun.
The panel that they wanted
to change.

We arrived in Dubai at 0058 (UAE Time Zone) and I didn't sleep the whole journey. I watched 5 or 6 movies. Arrived at the airport, there are several cabin crews waiting outside with our new flight itinerary. We went to the counter and get our tickets with the complimentary meal voucher. Punyalah banyak restaurant, we decided to eat at Burger King. Taknak jalan jauh punya pasal. Penat kot.

Catching the sunrise from DXB to KUL.
A: Kau kat mana.
B: Sialkot.
A: Aku tanya baik-baik ni. Berank kau sialkan aku.
B: *rujuk gambar*

We departed from DXB at 0350 (UAE Time Zone and arrived in KUL at 1430 (Malaysia Time Zone). Yang ni memang gua pengsan sepanjang flight. I woke up just to catch the sunrise and had my early breakfast. Then, I continued my sleep.

Ni adalah jetlag yang teramat. Masa penerbangan lebih kurang 10 jam instead of 6 masa pergi dulu. Tired sia. 




Damaged in Kinderdijk, The Netherland - Bruxelles, Belgium
Food & Beverages: €11.3
Souvenirs: €5
Ferry: €1.5
Kinderdijk: €7.5  
Total : €26.3 (~MYR153.34 )


Z: Nak pergi lagi, boleh tak? 

Travel duration: 11th - 26th September 2015

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Deep Depression



Memandangkan dah terbiasa bangun awal pagi, so, hari ni pun bangun awal. Walhal, nak jenjalan tunggu check out nanti teruih. 




We planned to check out today and left our luggage behind the counter. Packed our luggage and had a small talk with Tracy and Nina. They're from Scotland and France respectively. That's the best thing when you traveled. You get to know the other traveler. Their story and stuffs.

We walked upfront the hostel and made a deal with a tuk-tuk driver. If you wanted to wander around Phnom Penh hot sightseeing places, it will cost about $25. However, as we only planned to visit 3 places, we got $18 per journey. So, off we went to the Killing Field. Just a little warning for you guys, the trip to Killing Field is quite dusty. Please cover your face.

At the Killing Field.
A brief history via the audio phone 

Upon arriving at the Killing Field, you need to buy the entrance ticket which cost $6 per person. And that was the first time I heard about Killing Field and Khmer Rogue. We were given an audio phone each to hear the history about the Khmer Rogue. And it comes in many languages too. There's a big stupa built for the victims.

When I heard about the story, I can imagine how they killed the victims. It's a heartless story. If you went to the Killing Field, the next pit-stop is S21. This is an old school turn into a torture cells. The entrance is $3. If you're a student, you get to go in for free. I'm a student, so I showed my campus ID. This is also a depression place. How the regime torture the kids and after being tortured, they were sent to the Killing Field. How sad.


The map of S21.



In each cells, you'll see a lot of the victims photo. They're so young to face all of that. Besides the photos, the torture instruments are also being displayed at S21.

A friend of mine told me, if you go to a depressing place, the next pit-stop should be a happy place. So, off we went to the palace. The entrance fee for the palace is $6.5. For me, it's not worth it to go there. We snapped a lot of photos and done. Not much you can do there except taking a few photos. Frustrated, yeah. Anyway, it's a beautiful and big palace. And almost forgot to mention, there are a few of silver pagodas on your way to exit the palace. If you wanted to know more about all the places that we visited, you can simply hire a tour guide to assist you. Rawiey and I didn't hired one as we already Googled and read the history before off to the sightseeing places.




Angkor Wat display in front of the Silver Pagoda



An hour in the palace and we were hungry. At 1600, we off to the Gulai restaurant. We asked the yuk-tuk driver to drop us at the restaurant. After we took our food, we walked back to the hostel. Another last stroll in Cambodia.


Lunner.
You're at the right place when you see
this signboard.
Managed to catch a Sunset while wandering
around the street.
*

We went to the airport at 2000 by using the same driver. The 30 minutes journey to the airport cost us $7 per trip. There were a lot of people at the airport. So, we decided to hang out in the musolah. It's the most quitest place at the airport. At least we had our peace of mind for a while. We got thirsty anc went to the nearby coffee shop that still opened during that time. There are 2 Halal restaurants at the Phnom Penh International airport. Halal foods are easy to get there. We slept at the airport and taken surprised by the sound of fogging at 3 in the morning. Gosshh...

We took off in the morning and saying hello to my home sweet home. Goodbye Cambodia. It has been a pleasant journey.

Bye Cambodia.


Z: Cambodia Trip was on 29 January - 2 February 2015. Another journey awaits...

Friday, February 6, 2015

Journey to Phnom Penh


Sousdai Cambodia



Woke up very early in the morning. We checked out and embarked our journey to Phnom Penh. The 8 hours journey was killing me. We took the cheapest bus which cost us $8 each. I advice you to take the van which only took 5 hours with additional $2.
There are also a sleeper bus which cost around $13. If you're thinking to take a midnight bus, please take the sleeper bus. 

Anyway, we arrived in Phnom Penh at 1330 and both of us agreed to walk rather than took a tuk-tuk to our hostel. We got lost but we still walked for about an hour to One Stop Hostel. This hostel is near to the local attractions and it was quite lively during night time. 

We had our rest and went out at 1800. We walked our way to the waterfront which is just in front of our guesthouse. People did a lot of activities at the waterfront such as jogging, zumba, dog-walking and more. I'll show it through my video (if I am not that lazy busy la).


The night market is very near to the hostel that we stayed in.

We walked all our way to the Independent Monument. It took us about an hour journey as we got lost on our way to the monument. Anyway, the journey was worth it.

In front of the palace.


Crossing the road was crazy, dude. We're hungry and tired.

Local man: *looking at us and talking in Khmer*
Z: Sorry, we're not Cambodian.
Local man: Ohh, I thought you are local. You wanted to cross the road?
Z & R: Yes!
Local man: So where are you guys from?
R: Malaysia.
Local man: You (pointing at me) look like Khmer and she (pointing at R) look like Champa. With the headscarf. Been to Siem Reap?
Z: Yes. We just arrived Phnom Penh today.
R: And we'd been to Muslim village in Siem Reap a day before. 


Whoever you are, the local man that helped us crossed the road, I wanna say THANK YOU! If it's not for you, we might had been stuck there for quite a while. :D

*

Before we went out that evening, we had been Googling for Halal food in Phnom Penh and found out there's a Malaysia restaurant there. We walked from the monument to the restaurant for about half an hour. With the helped of Google Maps, we arrived at Gulai Restaurant. We had never been so happy to see Malaysia food here. :)

Le menu. 

I ordered Nasi Lemak Kampung. 
Gossshh... 
Rindu gilaa! Pedas pun pedas la janji dapat makan.
It has a standard price which is $3.5 per plate depending which dish you ordered. The owner of the restaurant is quite friendly and it felt like home. 


Kampung Fried Rice.

At 2200, we walked our way home with a full tummy and enjoy the scenery along the way.



Z: Paling awesome time dapat minum favourite drink, Teh O'Ice.