Land of Ong Bak Day 2 - Santorini Park, Cha Am

Assalamualaikum. สวัสดี!

Sambungan dari sini. Wah semangat aku update trip Thailand ni kan. Sebab pergi cuma 4 hari tulah aku relax goyang kaki. Slowly update pun ndak da hal. Mereka² yang bising suruh update cepat kunun mau buat reference nanti; lambat lagi mau berangkat. Hatta tiket pun belum beli. Ngek.

As said in my previous post, our attempt to get a cheap tuk tuk to Cha Am didn't go well. The tuk tuk driver was so degil he refused to give us discount. 1,200 Baht (~RM 120.00) for a one-way journey to Santorini Park, Cha Am from Hua Hin is totally unacceptable. Crazy lah! Sudahlah ada 2 tempat mau terjah.

How are we suppose to go to Swiss Sheep Farm from Santorini Park then? Jalan kaki? Kalau jalan raya tu jenis 2-lane; with less cars ndak apa juga. Ni sudahlah kena cross 3-lane roadway, terpaksa lagi bertarung nyawa sama segala lori saiz gajah yang berlimpasan. Fuh! Sorry lah ah Tuk Tuk Ahjussi Hirup-darah.

Kecewa sama kejadian yang hampir menjerut leher, we decided to look elsewhere. Crossed the road in front of our hotel...jalan ke depan. Pastu nampak this one SUV (lupa ambil gambar sebab excited) parked opposite the Hua Hin police station. A handsome middle-aged man approached us.

"Cha Am, how much?"
"900 Baht, return journey. Where u want to go?"
"Santorini Park & Swiss Sheep Farm. Return. No discount?"
"900 Baht. Both place. Ok."
"700 Baht. We take. We don't have much money. Please!"

Pastu aku buat muka ala Puss in Boots WALAU aku tau jauh panggang dari api. Pasrah jaklah Ahjussi tu kan. Muka ndak semengah ada hati mau ber-aegyo bagai.

"Hmmm...ok ok. 700 Baht. You go in now."

Wooohooooo! 700 Baht. Return journey Hua Hin - Cha Am. Siap covered 2 places lagi. Totally a bargain lah. Semengah ka ndak muka aku, janji sesi memujuk untuk dapat diskaun berjalan lancar. Yang penting Ahjussi tu adalah handsome. Sekian.

It took more or less than 1 hour to reached Santorini Park, Cha Am from Hua Hin town.

30 June 2014 - Hua Hin

Bangunan bumbung merah depan tu is Hua Hin Police Station. And we got our ride in front of Hua Hin Collonade Mall. Just opposite the Police Station.

30 June 2014 - Cha Am

The entrance to the park.

Admission fee is 50 Baht.

The entrance gate to the white-washed building. 

Pink is my color. Gitu. 

The background says it all. Badan aku sekarang memang macam dipam². Sobs.

I've never been to the real Santorini, but from the pictures I saw in the internet...the buildings look like this. At least; if not exactly. Ambil feel dulu.

Couldn't help but to relate this with lavender. Erm bila impian mau jalan menyusuri ladang lavender jadi kenyataan, eh? Too many dreams lah Bie oii...ntah mana yang duluan mau dikasi jadi realiti. 

Instantly fall in love with the murals. So creative.

Reminded me of the scary sculptures at Gamcheon Village, Busan. Only this time, diorang guna sang Monyets. Makhluk di Busan tu aku ndak dapat tafsir apa.

Artsy patsy. I like! Would have been extra nice kalau diorang guna fresh flowers.

Us ladies just wanna have fun! Wishlist ticked, alhamdulillah. 

Ok, next destination would be Santorini, Greece perhaps? Insha Allah, amin amin.

We spent nearly 2 hours in here. Lepas tu, sangap tunggu Ahjussi handsome depan pintu masuk. Ahjussi ingatkan kami lama lagi dalam tu. Dia ndak tau kami ni punctual. Ngek! Kalau janji 1.5 hour, 10 minutes before tu kami sudah terpacak tunggu tau. 

Destinasi seterusnya...Swiss Sheep Farm! Yeah jumpa sheeps! As the bestie said, my favorite word it is. Only yang rapat jak tau my definition of sheep that I often used. 

eryantierdabdulkarim

Drama Queen - Enough is enough

Assalamualaikum.

Orang bilang sabar itu separuh daripada iman. Ntahlah aku ni berjaya menahan sabar or berjaya tikam hati sendiri. Bertabah selagi mampu. Insha Allah hati akan kembali tenang. Easier said than done, is it? 

Yang pasti, cukuplah sekali ini. Once is more than enough. Lesson learned well. There will be no more next time. Definitely.

What I gained lebih dari cukup untuk jadikan iktibar & pengalaman. 

Sekian, terima kasih. 

25 Aug 2014. Tangkuban Perahu, Indonesia. *sekadar gambar hiasan*

eryantierdabdulkarim

Land of Ong Bak Day 2 - From Bangkok to Hua Hin by Minivan

Assalamualaikum. สวัสดี!

Ok sambung cerita 2^nd day di bumi Ong Bak. The day before (story here); landed Don Mueang Airport pun sudah malam so memang ndak buat apa lepas sampai hotel except isi perut yang sudah menyanyi hiphop+dangdut.

Tilam super empuk, aku tidur lena sampai terlajak sahur. Bangun pun sudah jam 5am. Ntah apa kejadian boleh ndak terbangun. Alarm aku ndak berbunyi or aku yang tidur mati.

Sebab stayed dalam dorm with 3 other ladies, pagi tu aku Subuh dalam keadaan extra careful. The only space was near the couch, dekat katil 2 minah salleh. Kot lah diorang terbangun kalau aku sokseksoksek, ndak terkejut badak diorang nampak lembaga putih berdiri depan katil? Silap² pengsan kering. Anyway lepas Subuh, aku belayar ke dreamland balik.

And woke up again around 9am. Mandi manda, bersiap itu ini. Check-out. Perjalanan hari tu adalah sejauh alam. Yang memang confirm akan cramped-kan bontot. Pasrah & tabah jaklah. Siapa suruh plan itinerary gitu. Kunun alang² sampai Bangkok, baguslah explore area outskirt sekali. Walhal trip cumalah 4 hari. Selagi mampu kan.

30 June 2014

Silom

Decho Road, Silom where our hostel is situated. 

The first BTS station I set foot upon. 

Chong Nonsi (Silom Line) ---> Siam Station (Sukhumvit Line) ---> Victory Monument (Exit 3)

Victory Monument. Alhamdulillah masa sampai ni, keadaan macam biasa. Semua orang busy sama urusan masing². Ndak da kelibat orang berdemonstrasi bagai. Bangkok Shutdown sudah berlalu. 

The minivans a.k.a minibuses stop is just under the Victoria Monument BTS Station. Coming from Exit 3, it would be on ur right side. Pandang ke bawah, akan nampaklah mereka² ini. 

Macam biasa, before sampai tempat ambil minivan ni...kami sesat kejap. We wandered atas jambatan Victoria Station not knowing which stairs to take. I remembered vividly the direction Lily wrote in her blog. Tapi part tangga kecil tu aku confuse. I seriously thought she took an escalator to descended from the station. Turned out, it was actually a narrow stairs located inside a building.

Part paling best bila aku decide untuk tanya this one guard. He was standing in front of the very entrance that will lead us to the narrow stairs. Ms G asked him where to take the bus. He pointed us to the bus stops opposite the road. But my gut told me the guard might had understood it wrongly. So I played the trick, sengaukan sikit cara menyebut Hua Hin. Mimicking the locals. Terus faham kau! Ndak sia² usaha menyengaukan suara. Masa turun tangga tu masih in doubt.

"Eh, this doesn't look like the stairs Lily posted in her blog."

Hentamlah labu as long as we saw few minivans upon exiting the building; kira betul lah tu. Bila nampak minivans ada sticker Cha Am / Hua Hin...terus confident. Yes! We made it to the minivan stop! 

The van that took us to Hua Hin. Comfy habis! We paid THB 180 for a one-way trip to Hua Hin. The van leaves every 15 minutes or depending how fast it fills in. 

Bila nampak van tu berparking, sila jangan buat blur. Like we did. Siap snap few pictures. Siap posing depan van. Ingatkan kosong, tunggu passenger naik. Sebab banyak barang di luar. Rupanya driver cuma tunggu kami naik to start the journey. Because there were only 2 seats left. Cisss! Kejadian memalukan di pagi hari. Siapa suruh tinted van sehitam itu. Kalau di Malaysia sudah kena saman tau. Tau?! 

Sepanjang jalan, layan view kiri kanan. Layan TV juga. Konsert apa ntah yang driver tu pasang. Kami dengar jaklah. Cuci telinga.

The journey from Bangkok took more than 3 hours. Aku mula macam cacing kepanasan sebab lambat betul mau sampai. Ingatkan lah salah naik van. Driver tu stop 3 kali. Ada sesi regangkan urat pinggang. Isi minyak. Pastu ada sekali dia ikut jalan kampung sebab lari dari polis trafik. 

And ada take 5 untuk berasap juga. Kagum aku. Sebab? Dorang ndak merokok sambil drive. Van adalah berhawa dingin. Kalau di KK ni, no comment jak lah. Hmm lagi statement lupa diri dari si Err. Trimas.

30 June 2014

Hua Hin

Pekan Hua Hin. We alighted from the minivan in front of that cream building.

Sampai Hua Hin pun aku blur lagi. Punyalah alert sepanjang jalan, siap aku refused dari tidur. Tunggulah mana Hua Hin stop ni yang macam dalam entry si Lily. Obvious enough huh! Aku memang ikut bulat² her direction. Actually aku ndak tau pun kami sudah sampai Hua Hin. 

So when the driver stopped for the 4^th time, when we're the only passengers from Bangkok left in the van...I asked the lady who just got in the van. I showed her the hotel's name & its address. Sumpah! Muka that lady sangat sombong & garang, but once I tapped her shoulder...senyuman dia paling peramah dalam dunia. She was unsure of the exact location of the hotel so she asked her friends. Yang muka sama sombong macam dia juga. Pastu; kecoh kejap. Then, semua guna jari telunjuk arah ke bawah as if they were saying "This is Hua Hin". No English. In Thai it was. Next thing I know, diorang suruh kami turun dari van. Tunjuk arah ke belakang. I understood that as "Kamu sudah terlajak ke depan, hotel tu di belakang sana". 

They told the driver to take us to this one lady that could speak English. Not much but enough to make us understand. Rupanya memang betul kami sudah terlajak. And this is the moment I fell in love with the helpful, warmhearted & friendly Thai people. Sangat terharu.

I figured it out later that we actually had taken a bus that its final destination is not Hua Hin hence I missed the stop that Lily mentioned. From where we got off, we crossed the busy traffic road & took a taxi in front of Hua Hin Market Village to our hotel which is hanyalah sekangkang kera. Rezeki taxi driver tu melayang THB 100 kami. Sobs.

Tips: If u're going to Hua Hin, hop on a minivan with the sticker Victory Monument - Cha Am - Hua Hin. The final stop will be at Hua Hin. It's in front of a temple & there's a Tourism Centre next to the stop. Unless u're familiar with Hua Hin i.e know where to stop to get to ur hotel; I suggest u to NOT take the minivan like the one we hopped on. 

Sudah sampai depan pintu hotel; both Ms G & I macam ternganga sikit. Where is the reception area?Rupanya kena berjalan ke seberang jalan. Urusan check in at the main hotel building. The hotel that we booked apparently is under Citin Loft management hence the procedure. 

Settle semua, we went to our room. Refreshed. Then keluar balik. It's time to try our luck in haggling a tuk tuk. Before tu sempat lagi update twitter & asked Lily about the tuk tuk rate to the place we wanted to go. Alhamdulillah, memang rezeki kami petang tu. After percubaan mau naik tuk tuk murah gagal, we got a better deal. Waaaaaaaaaaay better I must say! Berkat percaya sama kata hati sendiri. Tetttt. Memang berbaloi berganda².

Our next destination. Haven't been given the opportunity to visit the real Santorini yet. Harap terubatlah sikit sakit berangan² tu. Dapat pijak ala-Santorini pun jadilah.

Special thanks to Miss Lily Riani for her tips & guides. Thanks for being so sabar in answering my questions. Although most of the times they may sounded a bit bingai! 

My journey to Hua Hin could have been a mess without her guide. Gigih aku baca entries about her journeys to Bangkok, Hua Hin & Cha Am. Berjaya sedut semua info berharga. Thanks again pretty lass! I owe u loads! 

eryantierdabdulkarim

Throwback: Weekend getaway to Kundasang

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Hari malas sedunia! Home alone since last Tues. Bunda is currently in Bandung with her siblings. Aku ditinggal sendiri sama budak ² meow ni semua. Sob.

Pastu pagi tadi dapat message from her. Suruh cari accommodation di Kundasang, next week. Memang The Ismail's PA sign mati lah namanya si Err ni. Sigh. Ntah apa kejadian lah dorang ni kan suka buat plan last minute. Timing pun sangatlah cantik! Macam ndak kan ada date paling cantik lagi dari yang diorang pilih ni. Cuti Merdeka; long weekend.

When I told Bungsu semua guesthouses, chalets & hotels are fully booked boleh² dia replied "Impossible." Like, perlukah aku tikam jantung? Dugaan apakah? Hengat aku ni ada share sama properties di sana?

Gigih ni dari tadi aku call sana, call sini. Messange sana, message sini. Unfortunately for me, there are not many information about accommodations in Kundasang that I can get from the internet. Boohoo!

Pusing kepala aku fikir mana lah kami mau melepet di Kundasang ni nanti. Hmmm...kami? Confident kan kau dihangkut sekali Bie! Dalam aku cari info di laptop ni, I came across the Kundasang folder. Aku kan ada penyakit 'obses' sama street signboards. So memang banyak signboard accommodation yang aku snapped. Sudah buka folder tu, haruslah kegiatan lain yang aku buat.

Apalagi! Harus sesi throwback...cum sambungan cerita terbengkalai dari sini. Sedihnya perangai kau ni Bie! 

Buka tingkap dekat katil aku, tersaji view ini. Last time datang, kiri kanan pathway tu penuh bunga warna warni. Macam fantasyland gitu. Tapi haritu, bunga banyak yang kering. Bukan musim, maybe.

Kiram's Village memang menang besar bab scenery. Clear gila view Gunung Kinabalu di waktu pagi.

Aku bangun lambat pagi tu, so ini jaklah yang mampu aku snapped. Liat betul aku mau bangun walau Aunty sudah 'menyanyi' awal pagi. Siap dia berkenalan sama family sebelah bilik kami.

Bilik kami yang sebelah kanan tu.

Double-storey chalet. Boleh masak & ber-bbq di sini. 

Parking space. Memang ndak bertar so sila bertabah jalan atas gravel, park atas tanah berbatu batan.

A new accommodation opposite Kiram's. Masih belum complete sepenuhnya but it is already open for booking. Few chalets sudah siap.

Sesi buli Bunda. I counted 123 few times...just to annoyed her. The outcome? Of course lah anakonda berjaya! Aunty juga yang maintain. Walau facing the sunlight. 

Habis sesi bergambar, check out & off we went to Kundasang town. Sebelum tu try test bawa Fuchy naik bukit nan tinggi untuk pi Heritage Resort. Saja mau tunjuk dua beradik tu, Hotel Perkasa ain't alone anymore up there. Sudah ada chalets comel peneman diorang. 

Chalet at Mount Kinabalu Heritage Resort. More info about this; here. 

Dulu pernah stay sini with my girlfriends. But I haven't had the time to update about this place as yet. Gitu kan alasan. Seumur hidup aku akan blame sang masa. 

A bridge connects the chalet to the reception area (the main hotel building). 

Last few months, my family stayed at its hotel. We used to stay there when I was just a kid; every time we went up to Kundasang. It's been eons since we last went there. But nothing awed me anymore. Except for its new name. Part tu nanti aku buat another entry. Review gitu. 

Coincidentally. We wore the same hue.

Sanggup drive tinggi semata untuk masuk area trail ni. Located right behind the Mt Kinabalu Heritage Hotel. 

Another guesthouse along Kundasang road. 

More info & pictures of this lodge here. 

Macam biasa...kalau naik Kundasang, kerja Bunda & Aunty adalah borong bunga. Pastu sampai KK, belum sempat berkasih sayang sama bunga tu semua...diorang pun layu & mati. Sudah cakap, pokok bunga di tempat sejuk won't survive at place such as KK. Panas baq hang. Tapi tetaplah mau beli. Alasan...cantik. Nanti taruk baja, insha Allah bunga tu akan hidup.

So far, memang hasil baja sekadar anganan di tasik madu jaklah. Usually after two or three weeks...pasu akan tinggal tanah without bunga sudah. Gah!

Spoil with fresh vege & varieties of snacks. 

Yang ni part aku suka. Harus aku yang riang ria membeli. Sebab confirm lah di KK sayur adalah extra mahal. Kurang fresh lagi. Selalu kalau balik dari Kundasang, berhari² lah aku akan masak sayur bukit + lada putih. 

Ok sudah jauh terlajak membebel. Task yang di-assigned pun belum terbuat. If all else fail, aku akan suggest untuk kami stay di khemah jaklah. Banyak port tepi jalan ngam jadi tapak khemah di sana. Memang cadangan minta duku kepala. 

Anyway, I came across this unique type of accommodation in Kundasang (here). Would love to try it someday. Boleh feeling tidur di Mongolia. Belum mampu menjejak tempat tu, jadinya tripping jak dulu. As for the date proposed by Bungsu, the place is already fully booked. Duh! What do I expect lah kan. Nama pun long weekend.

eryantierdabdulkarim