Dear Myself...

Assalamualaikum.

Pagi tadi, aku bangun dengan rasa semacam kosong di jiwa.
Ntahlah apa punca tapi aku rasa lost.

A text came in while I was having breakfast at the cafe.
Simple jak text tu tapi penuh rasa tersirat.
Perihal seorang teman bertanya khabar.

Last kami in touch was like last year. 
Masa itu dia ditimpa musibah; ujian besar dari Allah SWT.

Suddenly...

"Ntah kenapa tiba² pagi ni macam mau bercerita 
dengan kau, Bie."

Ya Allah!
Rasa macam kena smash direct di kepala. 
Aku yang lately ni selalu merungut itu ini tanpa sebab jelas.

Allah peringatkan aku dengan cara begini.
Allah detikkan hati teman itu untuk berkongsi cerita dengan aku.

Teman itu sekali lagi diuji tahun ini. 
Tempias terkena sekali pada yang dekat dengan dia.

Namun, dia masih tabah.
Insha Allah, akan lagi tabah.
Betapa tenang dia hadapi ujian dari Nya.

Benarlah, Allah uji hamba Nya sesuai tahap iman mereka.

Malunya aku. 
Yang aku risaukan, yang aku rungutkan this whole time.
Langsung tidak setaraf dengan apa yang dia sedang hadapi.

Sebesar kuman pun tidak layak untuk dibandingkan.

Belum layak benarnya kau complain serba serbi pasal life, Bie.
Sebab belum Allah uji kau the way she is tested. 

I just can't imagine kalau aku di tempat dia.
Obviously enough, masih jauh lagi journey aku.
Untuk diuji sebegitu rupa. 

Kerana tangga iman aku & teman itu.
Sangat jauh bezanya.

Dia sudah mendaki tinggi.
Sedang aku masih di takuk lama.

Macam makin jatuh.
Macam tiada perubahan.

Bila teman yang dilanda musibah, made effort untuk bertanya khabar.
Memang patut aku rasa macam mau tanam diri sendiri.

Terima kasih Allah.
Sedarkan aku sehalus ini.

Terima kasih teman.
Kerana sudi berkongsi dengan aku.

eryantierdabdulkarim

South Korea Day 6: Gyeongbok Palace / Chilgabsan Restaurant, Insadong

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

It's our last day in Seoul. Sepatutnya balik on the 2^nd Jan tapi sebab niat untuk visit Gyeongbuk Palace belum tertunai so aku tambah lagi sehari di Seoul. Unfortunately, kami ndak dapat sambung stay di Dongdaemun House sebab fully booked. Padanlah muka Bie, last minute decision lagi. 

Terpaksalah check-out awal pagi & check-in at a hostel somewhere in Hongdae. Yang hostel nanti aku buat entry asing. Bapa punya jauh kena menapak dalam station Hongik untuk sampai exit. Tu belum campur aktiviti walkertapaki from the exit to the hostel. Nasiblah beg ndak berbeban berat sangat. Kira balance berat backpacks depan & belakang yang aku hangkut. As we arrived early, kami just ambil kunci & bayar. Pastu first destination adalah Seoul Station. I have to exchanged our KTX e-ticket bound for Singyeongju to an actual ticket. Yang ni kalau lupa, confirm menggelupur awal pagi esoknya ndak dapat naik train. 

Ramai juga yang queued tapi macam biasa urusan cepat & berjalan lancar. Suka aku tengok cara diorang ni layan pelanggan. Senyum & suara semua lebih kurang. Macam aku bercakap sama skrin komputer, semua sudah set.

Settled with exchanging the e-ticket, we took the subway train to Gwanghwamun Station Line 5, Exit 2. 

In front of the King Sejong famous statue at Gwanghwamun Square. Considering I've been here & puluhan gambar sudah aku snapped during my last trip so aku kasi chance the cousin to be in the picture pula. 

Gwanghwamun Gate; the main entrance to Gyeongbokgung. First time mau masuk; dream unfulfilled due to lack of time. Second time; aku bijak bestari planned pigi on Tues; the day when this palace is close to public. Alhamdulillah I managed to enter the palace on the third attempt.  

Also accesibble via Gyeongbokgung Palace Station Line 3, Exit 5. One will enter the palace through Heungnyemun Gate; the Second Inner Gate to the left of Gwanghwamun Gate. 

Reenactment of Korean Royal Guard in front of the main gate. Hujan ka panas ka, tetap berdiri teguh sang guard. This one ada sense of humor sikit; siap pandang camera & kecilkan mata. Budget seksi ler tu.

View of Gwanghwamun Gate from inside the palace.

We paid 4,500₩ for the admission fee. And another 2,000₩ for the palace guide book. More info here. 

"Located in Northern Seoul, this palace is first constructed in 1395. It was later burned & left abandoned for three centuries before it was reconstructed in 1867. Gyeongbokgung is the grand palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by Joseon Dynasty. In the early 20^th century, much of the palace was destroyed by Imperial Japan." (source wiki)

Geunjeongmun Gate & Yeongjegyo Bridge. And Seosu; an imaginary creature.

Us before the Geunjeongjeon (Throne Hall). Sudah hari keenam baru perasan the fish-eye lens that I borrowed from my cousin. Main clip² di handphone jak, senang. Macamana boleh lupa existence lens tu dalam bag ntah!

View inside the Throne Hall. Background gunung & 2 bulan tu tetap ada. Di mana raja berada, background tu tetap akan ada. Even dalam not kertas yang ada lukisan raja wujud background tu. 

To the right is the Sajeongjeon; used by the king as the main executive office. And to the left is Cheonchujeon. 

According to the guide book, there was a bridge connecting this two buildings but it was destroyed during the Japanese Invasion. Sigh. I lost count of how many were the historicals & precious treasures that the Japanese had destroyed back then. 

Hyangwonjeong Pavilion. One of the most photographed site in Korea. 

Artificial lake Hyangwonji was completely frozen at this time. Regardless the sunlight. The bridge that connects the pavilion to the palace ground is named Chwihyanggyo. Dulu kala before the Korean War, this bridge was the longest bridge constructed entirely of woods by the Joseon Dynasty. 

Shout out to my dearie bestie; Ms ErnieKhairina! I made it to the pavilion, babe! 

Pas posing buing² depan tasik ni, teruslah masuk IG & tagged her. A mission she indirectly gave me prior this trip. Yeah! Tercapai impian untuk tengok tasik tu beku juga. Only ndak da snow that covered the rooftop. Else it would've been perfect. Ok Bie, be grateful already!

This spot reminded me of some of the scenes in Queen In Hyun's Man as well. Hence paksa cousin aku posing sekali. Muntah kang kalau asyiklah muka aku depan pavilion ni.

We entered the Folk Museum after posing sakan in front of Hyangwonjeong. Entrance is free. Items in the picture adalah winter apparel. The Korean invented boots from leather in the early 18's while from straws since early 16's. 

Masuk dalam ni aku ndak ambil gambar banyak sebab aku bila masuk muzium memang akan menghayati isi dalam. Poyo! I only snapped few photos & most of the time aku spent baca 'cerita' displayed dalam tu. I could spent a whole day in a museum. Explained kenapa aku suka baca & menghafal. 

Various types of kimchi! It's Korean sort-of staple food. 

Aku memang suka makan kimchi ni. And when I found out about its benefit, teruslah jadi makanan harus ada everytime turun Korea. Pernah beli yang jual di market dekat rumah, tapi rasa adalah jauh ke laut. Everyday while I was in Korea, memang aku beli kimchi from the convenient store. Menu tetap setiap hari. I really wish one day dapat makan homemade kimchi. My Korean friend told me the taste is soooo much different than the ones sold at the mart. Sob. Matilah telan liur berkali².

Mak Temah, Mak Jemah & Mak Joyah sibuk gosip whilst making kimchi. Kau tengok ah sikap suka buruk sangka kau Bie! Ntah² diorang tengah busy discuss pasal siapakah the hottest idol in town at this time. Sila bersangka baik please.

Outside the museum. One of the many smart ways the Korea government does to educate the young people to recycle! Sangat kreatif! 

We spent almost a good one hour plus in there. Ada few tempat mau dijelajahi lagi petang tu so ndak boleh spend masa lama sangat dalam tu.

Pameran few types of rumah zaman dulu kala near the museum vicinity. Kami round lebih kurang as the cousin started complaining about her grumpy tummy. Lapar gila sebab pagi tadi cuma sempat breakfast maggi. 

On our way out, we managed to watched the changing of guard ceremony. Lucky us! We missed the morning session but we made it on time for the evening session. Tapi yang ni memang ndak plan untuk tengok pun as I didn't know the exact time for the changing ceremony in the evening.

Annyeonghigyeseyo Gyeongbok. Sampai ketemu lagi. Kalau datang sendiri memang aku ndak masuk dalam ni lagi but who knows nanti kena membawa ahli jemaah dari KK ni kan. 

Made our way to Ssamziegil. We wanted to go up & have a look but seriously lapar gila sudah time tu. So aku pusing area ground tu jak. And baru dapat tau juga, ada Trick Eye Museum di sini. Newly opened.

Ingat mau cancel jak untuk pigi Trick Eye di Hongdae tu. I was queueing to purchase the ticket when I suddenly remembered the discount voucher I've printed. Voucher tu cuma valid for the branch in Hongdae. Berjimat adalah perlu so we decided to just go to the one in Hongdae. Lagipun dekat sama hostel, lewat macam mana pun ndak payah risau tinggal train. Superwalkertapaki harus!

Some of the artworks at Ssamziegil. Tempat ni memang best. Macam² hasil kreativiti displayed here. See picture above. Itu entrance untuk washroom! See how they transformed the wall into something yang boleh kasi jadi picture background. Vandalism of art at its best.

Update as of 20 Feb 2015: I went to Chilgabsan during my trip last month (Jan, 2015). Just to share this information, in the menu they serves pork now. 

Lunch at Chilgabsan Restaurant. It is situated just opposite the street from the vegan restaurant we went last summer (here). Ndak susah cari restoran ni as aku sudah tau jalan & arah area tu.

Green tea & plain water is free of charge at any restaurant in Seoul. Coffee shops yang fancy excluded lah tapi. Self service jadi sila buat macam rumah sendiri.

As usual, banchans akan sampai dulu. Belum sampai main dishes, aku sudah start mencekik. Perut sudah berdangdut buat konsert ntah apa, nampak ni jak haruslah aku terus membaham. 

Seaweed has become one of my favourite as of now! Gila wei sebab selama ni aku langsung ndak reti makan seaweed. Fyi, banchan tu kami tambah sampai 3x. Free kan, jadi mari tambah selagi mampu.

Ntahlah perut jenis apa kami haritu. Banchan sudah bertambah tapi bila sampai order; kami terus lapar balik. Membaham makanan as if kami belum sentuh anything since pagi! Mentekedarah ndak hengat!

Saeongseon gu-i (mackerel bakar) + sundubu jjigae (Korean tofu, mushroom & seafood stew) cost us only 13,000₩ pi! Totally worth it! Sedap sangat sangat!

Kami makan dengan penuh selera. Licin semua pinggan! Ohmy, diet ke laut sungguh! Time sejuk makan benda panas² gitu, tipulah kalau ndak tambah nasi bermangkuk². 

After lunch, kami tour Insadong kejap. Before making our way to a cafe that recently became famous because of someone named Kim Tan. 

But till here for now, annyeong. Nanti aku update lagi.

eryantierdabdulkarim

South Korea Day 5: Pyeongchang Trout Festival, Jinbu

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Yeah, ada progress with the update. Less busy at the cafe so mari kita curi tulang update blog. Another 5 days to go. Hwaiting Bie!

We celebrated the first day of 2014 somewhere 2 hours from Seoul. Oh yeah! Terbabas sikit dari plan asal. Kunun mau bangun awal to catch the shuttle bus provided by Korea Tourism at 7am near Gwanghwamun Square. We've made a reservation prior coming. Naik shuttle bus ni dapat jimat banyak. We only have to pay 10,000₩/person for return journey to & fro Seoul-Jinbu. 

Tapi sebab tidur pun dekat 2am maka lambatlah kami bangun pagi tu. 

Alang² sudah terbabas, marilah breakfast di hostel jak. Ingatkan mau tapau nasi ni & menjamu selera dalam bas. Ndak pa, bukan rushing pun. And dapat makan nasi goreng kampung panas² di kala pagi yang sejuk membunuh adalah heaven. Breakfast pagi tu tajaan Pak Brahim's. Reheat jak.

Dong Seoul Bus Terminal. Located opposite Gangbyeon Station (Subway Line 2; Exit 4). 

We departed from the hostel around 930am. Reached Gangbyeon Station 15 mins later. Crossed the road & terpacaklah depan kaunter terminal. 

Beli tiket adalah sangat kacang pis. Itu sebab Jinbu ndak susah mau pronounce kan. Dapat aku kena beli tiket to Hoenggye?? Harus pengsan! 

Melayang 6,200₩ gara² lambat bangun. Ndak palah, bukan selalu pigi Jinbu. Apadehal RM 24.00. Sob. 

Dong Seoul Bus Terminal. 

Macam dejavu bila aku berdiri di area parking bay ni. I was here in 2012 en route to Hoenggye Intercity Bus Terminal. Masa tu destinasi was to Yongpyeong Ski Resort. This time, we headed to Jinbu Bus Terminal for the Pyeongchang Trout Festival.

On board the bus. Han River (Hangang) view. 

Lepas jak snap gambar di atas, aku pun simpan phone. And bermulalah aktiviti memproses taikmata. Tidur ndak hengat. Ahjussi driver pula bawa bas sungguh berhemah. 

I woke up after one hour. On the way to Jinbu, we passed by few villages kiri kanan highway. Pastu ada lintas tunnel twice if I'm not mistaken sebab masih mamai kan masa tu. 

White winter holiday for us. Syukur! Dream came true.

Seleji lagi!

After snowfalls yang sekejap di Chuncheon, aku ndak lah berharap sangat akan jumpa snowfall lagi. Sudah tertunai impian haritu, jadinya bersyukur harus. Yet when it snow again that day, memang aku rasa macam mau melompat dalam bas. Lebat pula tu. Semangkit gila I woke my cousin from her deep sleep. Pastu dengan paksa rela dia melayan aku. 

Apartment LH tu landmark yang Ahjumma di Jinbu Terminal bagi aku. Bangunan apartment ni berdepan sama terminal bas jak. And venue for the festival is just opposite the road of this apartment. Memang jalan kaki less than 5 mins pun from the terminal.

Gloomy weather. Terus aku buat assumption, mesti ada lagi ni snowfall. See? Mula tu bersyukurlah, ndak berharap sangatlah. Sekali nampak yang lebat on the way tadi, teruslah tamak kan. 

Open for public from 20 Dec to 2 Feb. The entrance is free. So sila masuk jangan segan². More info about the festival here.

First, tinjau kawasan. Sebab masih blur apa boleh dibuat apart from memancing trout. 

Ok boleh main snowbuster. Since aku ndak sempat main di Everland, mari lepas kempunan di sini.

Ada khemah tempat berehat. And panaskan badan. Pastu ada gerai jual macam² jenis snacks. Hot drinks too. 

Rasa² berapa bah suhu di Jinbu for this to happened? Tinggi ais ni jak dekat 5-6 meters. Frozen lagi. How long will it take to melt, eh?

Ukir ais jadi living area pula. Pastu aku pun poyo mau posing duduk atas kerusi tu. Ampun! Sejuk & beku bontot terus.

Sudah meronda & kenal pasti apa boleh dibuat...masuk building ni untuk beli tiket. 

Pastu bingung & blur. I can read Hangul; yes! But I don't understand them. Yang ada translation hanyalah nama games tu. How the system works memang ke laut aku faham.

Suddenly, ada Ahjumma ni approached us. With little English she explained to me things I need to know. Punyalah helpful walau ada masa tu dia gagap sikit sebab mau cari ayat yang aku boleh faham. 

Admission ticket.

We paid 18,000₩ per person for six games. That's the cheapest package available. Kalau mau beli tiket for each game pun boleh tapi rugilah because one game already cost 6,000₩. We skip the fishing part because it's quite expensive. Few benda i.e net, bait; need to buy separately. Ndak dapat ikan memang rugilah. So marilah kita hiburkan diri main games jak. 

Ada Ahjussi tolong pasangkan cangkuk tu. Tiket ni kena visible to the staffs. 

Jadual bas untuk balik Seoul. Informative sungguh, sana sini jadual ni ada dalam area festival tu. Column untuk Dong Seoul is the one on the far left; pink colour gitu.

Facilities! Hatta merokok pun ada cabin sendiri. Health-conscious kan. And I like it.

Heading to the trout fishing area. Semangkit tunjuk tiket walhal bukan boleh masuk dalam area memancing tu pun. Sob.

Comel kan all the tents; sangat organized. This area is accessible only to those with tickets. Ndak da istilah, anak temankan bapa memancing yadda yadda. Mau teman, sila beli tiket. 

Mampu? Sampai berbaring kau memancing punya pasal. 

Sudah puas cuci mata tengok orang memancing pelbagai gaya, pastu kagum lagi sama orang yang keluar bawa berekor² trout...kami pun jalan heading to the games area. And suddenly, ribut salji. Punyalah lebat, angin yang menampar muka jangan tanya level sejuk dia. 

Blizzard.

Gaban punya sejuk. Aku yang pakai tudung ni pun boleh terasa telinga berdesing. Mata pedih gila sebab masuk habuk salji tu. Terpaksa jalan membelakang.

Snow storm lasted less than three minutes tapi pedih di muka aku ndak payah cakap. We queued at the first game we wanted to try. The snow rafting. Yang ni cuma boleh main sekali so staff yang jaga ticked our ticket to mark yang kami sudah main game ni. Kalau pun boleh main banyak kali, memang taubat aku ndak mau. Once is enough. 

Paling extreme.

Main game ni memang paling mematahkan pinggang. Tunggang terbalik, sikit jak aku terpelanting keluar should I didn't grab tightly to the rope attached at the tube. Since both my cousin & I ikut tube yang sama, we have no picture of us riding it. Jadinya curi lah gambar dari website festival tu. Ngeks.

Snow-sledding. Memang superb ah. Rugi aku ndak bawa phone naik atas as the view from the departure area lagi lawa. Kan tempat tu tinggi. Yang ni boleh ulang alik main sampai muntah.

4-wheels ATV ni pun boleh ulang sampai pengsan. Punyalah susah aku mau control benda alah ni. Berat ok, berat.

We spent the longest time at this area. Alhamdulillah finally dapat main their traditional folk game; sledding. Selama ni teringin gila bila tengok Running Man & other K-variety shows. Sledding is one of the most popular folk winter games among Korean.

Lenguh gila kaki main benda alah ni, tapi gagahkan juga main. Bukan selalu dapat main atas sungai beku!

Selang seli main ice bicycle pula. Kaki yang sejuk gigil, memang berzaman lah ambil masa to cycle. Demiii pengalaman manis kan. Gagahkan juga mengayuh.

Lemak berlaci² di perut made it triple times harder for me to cycle. Sob sob! Nasib juga ndak cramp kaki aku time ni.

We wanted to try skating but there weren't any ice skate available. There is no limit of time to play the games here. So I waited manatau ada yang mau let go like the ice bicycle yang kami jumpa tengah² rink tu. After almost an hour of waiting; tapi sambil main sledding lah near the ice skate booth...we gave up. Lagipun kami plan to take the 5pm bus back to Seoul. 

Besar gila heater. Try taruk muka, memang hangus total terus. 

I spent my first day of 2014 with the little cousin of mine; who I used to babysit when she was a kid. 

Jinbu Bus Terminal view from the apartment. Masa ni matahari pun tiba² memunculkan diri. But only for few good minutes. 

Bus arrived early but departed from Jinbu on the dot. Journey back to Seoul took nearly four hours as there were massive road congestion along our way back. Ahjussi sempat take a break at one of the RnR at the highway. Should I know the cousin is going to vomit on the bus, I will definitely go search something for her to eat. Perut kosong & dalam bas pula panas sebab heater kuat sangat, then she only had nasi goreng for breakfast & roasted chestnut at the festival thus she vomited twice while on the bus. Masa di Jinbu aku tanya lapar or ndak, she told me she's quite full with the chestnut & soya drink that we bought at the festival. 

Lucky us Ahjumma sebelah hulur beg pelestik & tisu. Penat aku bow ucap Kamsahapnida sama Ahjumma tu. Sungguh ndak ternilai bantuan pelestik tu. Else memang kena sumpah seranah lah sama passenger lain if my cousin vomited on the floor. 

I forced her to take my magical gula² Hacks. This candy memang benda paling sentiasa ada dalam beg aku. Sampai Seoul, memang lembik habis sudah budak kecil tu. So we headed straight to our hostel. Selamat tinggal plan untuk dinner di Sindang Tteokbokki padahal yang mau sangat makan sana was her. Malam tu aku jadi masterchef ndak bertauliah lagi sekali. Buat mushroom soup, telur dadar & makan sama nasi panas. Memang superb kenyang! 

I'll leave u with the videos I took at the festival. Ntah apa jak lah kualiti video ni. But ni lah sumber memori terbaik for us both. Apart from the hundreds of pictures we took that day. 

Syukran Allah for the opportunity. Moment at Pyeongchang I will cherished my whole life. First time merasa ribut salji kan. Albeit only the mild storm. 

eryantierdabdulkarim