CutiCuti: Macau Part 4

Assalamualaikum. 你好

Previous post (here). 

Sebelum cerita Macau bertambah² basi, moh leh kita continue where I last stopped. Dari Cotai Island we took the shuttle bus back to the ferry terminal. Pastu naik another shuttle bus heading to MGM Macau building.

In one of Astro-AirAsia programme; Destinasi Cinta...Sazzy Falak & her husband was sponsored to Macau. And they went to MGM where the lobby is full with butterflies. At first, main purpose we went there was to watch for ourselves the many colourful butterflies. Aku kan suka rama² ni. 

Sekali sampai, harapan rama² terus ke laut. Turned out the management decorated the lobby with different theme for every season. But aku ndak kecewa lama sebab theme kali ni pun memang lawa gila. Macam berada dalam lautan dalam gitu.

In real life...jangan harap aku akan jejak dasar laut! Hatta masuk sungai air baru paras dada pun aku sudah semput & panik. Lagi sedalam² laut kan. Hentikan jak untuk bawa aku snorkelling, let alone diving. Berenang yang paling basic pun aku ndak kan mau. Gaya bebas? Naaahhh! Confirm akan jadi saksi agung aku terkapar minta nyawa. 

Nemo's friends. Comel jak semua ikan² ni. Besar pula tu. 

Siap ada coral reefs...schools of fishes...rumpai laut lagi. Ada bubbles. Memang feeling dasar lautan sangat.

Sungguh kreatif. 

After MGM, we took the bus back to the ferry terminal. And hopped on a shuttle bus heading for The Sands Hotel. Tujuan utama untuk visit The Fisherman's Wharf; located just opposite the hotel. 

The Coliseum, first spot upon entering. Running Man ada buat sini dulu. Lee Dong Wook was one of the guest. Yang ni aku snap dari luar jak, cannot enter the area unless ada show or event. 

One of my favourite at the wharf. Colourful buildings always cheered me up.

Walau sekejap berhujan sekejap berpanas, kulit aku yang sensitif laju jak menggelap. And oily somemore. Apalah nasib.

Angin sudah start mengganas, hence we ditched the idea to walk farther & stroll around the wharf. Di huuuuujung sana lagi banyak kedai & restoran. Filming locations for Running Man! Each area ada theme sendiri (based on architectures/landmarks of few countries). Nampak buildings ala Amsterdam style rindu terus menggamit hati. Gitu kan poyo.

Banyak games dalam kawasan ni, tapi nampak macam dull. Most of it pun macam ndak beroperasi jak. Perhaps it's true, orang datang Macau either for the UNESCO Sites or the casinos only. Hence explained keadaan theme park yang macam bukan park ni. Ka sebab kami datang silap hari? 

Replicate building of those temples in Beijing I reckoned. This located just next to the ferry terminal. 

Shopping mall that resembles the famous Water Cube (National Aquatic Center) in Beijing. 

At last boleh nampak Macau Bridge. Angin makin kuat, pastu start drizzling juga. Jadi marilah kita bergerak ke terminal. We have like an hour before departure.  Plan untuk spend more time at the wharf terbantut sebab risau terkandas kalau tiba² hujan lebat. 

Process check-in & departure berjalan lancar. Tapi subhanallah super ramai umat dalam terminal ni. Ada yang baru mau beli tiket, ada yang tiket cancel yadda yadda. Aku ikut pening. Masa ni perut start menyanyi but Bunda said its better not to get the stomach full prior getting on board. She's right! Always is. Nasib aku mendengar kata kan. Kalau ndak...berhambur²lah kejadian.

We opted for first class seats. Tu pun sebab economy class sold out. Erk! Again, sangat bersyukur aku menurut perintah Bunda, biar mahal asal ndak berhuyung hayang tengah lautan. Duduk first class ndak rasa sangat dilambung gelombang. I chose to sit near the window. 

Nightmare began merely ten minutes after we departed from Macau. Ferry started to swagged & bounced. Thing got worst when the lady behind me started making the 'bluek' sound. Endlessly. Pastu followed by unpleasant smell. Ah sudah. Aku pantang dengar bunyi & terhidu bau²an ni. Bunda can't sleep either because she had to take care of her ferry-ride-phobia daughter. Apa pun kejadian, aku tetap minta dilayan macam princess kan. Sadis betul keadaan. Sapu minyak kapak berulang kali di hidung to get rid of the nauseous. Failed! Sebab aku pun ikut menyumbang bau²an. I barfed more than three times. Enough said. 

Yang buat aku impressed, albeit having to deal with the rough sea we managed to arrived Hong Kong on time. Exactly one hour ride! Indeed it's a challenging one hour; at least for me. Mencabar kepeningan & kemualan ok! Salute sama captain & the crews. They handled the turbulence pretty well; sangat pro gitu. Also tabah melayan Bunda who repeatedly requested for more plastic bags. Ngek! Sampai Hong Kong tengok jalan raya basah. Sah lah hujan lebat juga di sana, just like in Macau. No wonder the super huyung hayang. 

Truly one helluva ferry experience for moi! And now aku berfikir baaaaanyak kali untuk merasa another ferry ride. Short cruise would be fine...but ferry ride yang berjam²? Fuh, perlu masa to weigh the pros & cons. Sekian.

eryantierdabdulkarim

CutiCuti: Kundasang - Kiram's Village

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Trip last few weeks tapi baru sekarang ada mood mau update. Yang ni memang cadangan tanpa diduga made by Yours Truly. Macam biasalah, kemaruk mau berjalan tapi cuti semester belum start therefore kenalah bertabah untuk terjah tempat yang berdekatan jak. 

Bunda has no upcoming plan on Diwali so aku pun book beliau dengan pantas. Berjaya hasut beliau supaya jangan jaga kedai; tapi dengan syarat aku kena cari extra pekerja to replace her. Itu paling kacang, since cafe tutup for the public holiday so aku pinjamkanlah sorang pekerja. Problem solved!

Was supposed to leave Kota Kinabalu early in the morning but we have to attend a kenduri kahwin that very afternoon. We departed super late & ended up being caught in a heavy rain on our way up to Kundasang. Selamat tinggal angan² untuk melihat view of Mount Kinabalu in the evening.

Arrived Kinabalu National Park after two hours of driving. Kabus tebal on the way up tapi sampai jak entrance park tu, hujan berhenti. Yet again, selamat tinggal Mount Kinabalu.

We stopped at the cafe (Panataran Cafeteria) right in front of the national park. Bunda & Aunty sudah bagi hint even before we reached the park. 

And I thought we just came back from kenduri kahwin; I asked. Both looked at me & said "Macamana kalau kami lapar?" 

Fine, lets makan. Lucky Angah didn't joined us else memang aku tekanan gaban berjalan sama tiga beradik. Each with their own super unique characters! Baru dua orang pun boleh seteghes ok.

On our way to the Kiram's Village. Its the same route to Kundasang War Memorial. Just that the memorial can be seen from the main road...but the Kiram is located farther inside. 

There will be lots of signboards along the way therefore chances to get lost is near to zero.

Jalan masuk

Ala Alice In Wonderland feeling. As per Ms H; macam di alam fantasi ouh Err. Datang time fog tengah turun ke kaki gunung, memang superb lah view.

A bit disappointed with the management though. That's their reception office but look at the windows. Macam terbiar, ndak kena maintain. The village is strategically located as the Mount Kinabalu can be clearly seen on a bright sunny day especially early in the morning...yet keadaan sekeliling macam langsung ndak dijaga.

Even when the Open sign was up at the cafe, there was no one to layan or take ur order. Spiders decorated the ceilings with their webs. Meja kerusi semua ndak terjaga. We were there on the weekend & all the chalets are fully booked. Patut peluang macam ni lah untuk diorang ambil hati guests & show great hospitality. Supaya orang akan datang balik...and recommend sama orang lain.

This used to be their laundry house located not far from the reception office. Now it's a cabin, available for rental. I like the design. Comel jak. Rumah kecil, tingkap seribu. Eh?

The reception area. It's ok untuk buat konsep sempoi but too sempoi & lack of well-kept somehow gave a not-so-positive vibe to the guests. Anyway, wifi is free here. And the connection wasn't bad too; considering my Celcom internet signal died the moment I went up to the village. 

Santai area near the office. 

Kiram's Village totally menang bab landscape! Kawasan sejuk memang cantik kalau tanam bunga banyak² & warna warni. Subur jak. The view here never failed to captivate my heart. Gitu!

These chalets are new. They weren't here when I last came in 2010. 

Our Onion Room (RM 110.00/night).  Consists of a queen bed & single bed. The single bed is placed near the door. 2 steps up to the queen bed area...and the toilet. Again, poor maintenance. The toilet is so smelly I nearly puked each time I entered our room.

For more info about the rooms/cabins here, please check their website. 

Another new chalets built a bit further up from Kiram's. I asked the reception guy during my check-in & he told me it belongs to Mr Kiram's brother-in-law. There are already few cabins available for guests & few more are still under construction. 

Semua cabin/bilik di Kiram's Village membelakangi Gunung Kinabalu but these cabins are facing the mountain. 

Masa kami di sana, all the cabins were already occupied. I only came to know about this place when we were there. Else, boleh aku book chalet ni. Cuba angin baru sebab sudah pernah stay di Kiram's juga dulu. Next time perhaps.

I hope by the existence of this new cabins, it will motivate the management of Kiram's Village to improve their business. Saingan yang sihat, kan. 

Ms H stayed here during her visit last week. Since Kiram's Village is fully booked, I recommended this to her. And she is uber happy with what she got. Beautiful view of the majestic gunung from her balcony; seawal Subuh diorang bergambar. Bangun awal untuk dapat view magic! 

Haraplah management Kinabalu View Chalet ni maintain the good service. Jangan awal jak bilik wangi & cantik, sudah lama operate...semua ke laut.

p/s All things written here are mainly from my personal point of view. 

eryantierdabdulkarim

Prosperous Nov: Officially taken; as of tomorrow!

Assalamualaikum.

A message came into the ex-highschool/hostelmate group in whatsapp last Tues. One B of the B-clans is getting hitched on Friday. That is tomorrow! Such sudden news of course akan mengejutkan all of us; especially yang selalu jauh di mata dekat di hati. And that refers to Yours Truly. Jauh beribu batu; naik tongkang haruslah berminggu baru sampai. Drama!

All this while duk tanya minah ni bila mau kahwin since in the group; dia jak yang sedang berchenta sakan. The rest are either married & single. Kiranya dia seorang jaklah yang single but unavailable. Borang untuk calon is no longer available gitu. Yet when she dropped the bomb, semua macam terkedu. Or was it aku jak yang terkedu sebab terus terbayang di kepala...since it was super short notice; probability untuk aku hadir & sama² jadi saksi adalah more to zero percent!

Semester break hasn't started...adalah sangat kecut perut untuk minta cuti. Fuh. Kenapa perlu short notice I asked. She then replied it's ok if I can't make it because it will only be her solemnization & simple majlis makan after that. Reception will be held in January; yang tu aku kena datang regardless what. Aigoo sangat haru sebab masa reception tu aku masih bercutian di 'kampung halaman'. Dilemma!

Ndak palah, buang tepi dulu kes kecewa ndak dapat attend her big day. Lets walk down memory lane...*selak rambut* It's always a bittersweet thingy when it comes to the people u grow up with. Mau lagi bila it involved marriage...sangat mengundang airmata! We go way back to 1997 when she first came to our school. That's when the friendship began to blossom.

1999. One of the many night outings we had back in high school. Those were the rebellious days! 

2007. Filiz-Man wedding reception. My last year of uni years. Ouh betapa aku rindu zaman kekepingan aku! Sekarang serupa bangunan berbata² sudah aku ni. 

2008. Ayu-Usof wedding reception. I flew all the from Kota Kinabalu to attend this wedding. Janji kepada peranten that I will be there on their big day; perlu ditunaikan. Masa ni baru few months start kerja di tanah tumpah darahku. One of the many weddings yang perlu aku berkorban RM in order to attend. For the sake of friendship, apa ada dengan RM kan? 

2010. Lisa-Mel wedding reception. I was reminded months before the wedding. Perlu sebab aku jak yang paling jauh antara semua. Kena naik flight ok untuk attend. I need to be informed way before the actual majlis sebab aku belum mampu ada private jet sendiri. Bila² boleh fly ke Kolumpor to attend close friends' wedding. Last minute kalu, selamat tinggal air fare murah. Selamat tinggal juga impian untuk aku menghadirkan diri. 

2011. Dinner treat sempena kedatangan si Bibie ke Tanah Melayu. Gitu. This was one of the many dinner dates we had everytime I went down to Kolumpor. Walau aku singgah cuma sehari dua, bertemu kami adalah perlu. 

2012. Pijah's birthday dinner. Yang ni pun ambil kesempatan berjumpa. Aku transit few days di Kolumpor before my departure to London. It was working night yet still semua made effort for a small get together. 

Apparently, I am the last B from the B-clan to get married. Yang tu tolak tepi sebab masing² ada priority in life. Yes? Anyway, selamat menempuh alam rumahtangga wahai sahabat! Semoga kekal hingga ke jannah!

p/s Kalau ikutkan banyak giler gambar kira berdua, kan Bear. Tapi kalau aku nak scan & tampal kat sini memang sangatlah jenuh. And gambar dulu kala, kain aku banyak kureng that's why lah pun. I pray for our friendship will last till then end of time! Insha Allah, amin. Even kau dah kawin, sila jangan taknak jumpa aku everytime aku turun Kolumpor tau!

eryantierdabdulkarim