23 August 2019

Life l Evening Outing at Ttukseom Resort

Assalamualaikum. 안녕

Kita simpan tepi dulu cerita throwback trip-trip lalu. Bagi rehat kotak memori kejap. Banyak sangat mau diimbas, takut short circuit sistem aku nanti. Gitu hujah si Err.

22 Aug 2019
Ttukseom Resort, Seoul

So, semalam akhirnya Allah bagi peluang merasa 'makan di depan Han River' di Ttukseom. Finally, after the umpteenth times merancang. Alhamdulillah.

We plan, Allah plans. And indeed, He is the best planner

Aku & Niza gerak dari guesthouse after solat Asar. Actually terlajak 30 minit sebab gedebak gedebuk bersiap, then masa tu lah baru sibuk cari tikar, cari sudu garfu pinggan pelestik. Janji jumpa jam 530pm, around 6pm barulah tersembul muka kami. Nasiblah Suna & Zue pun baru sampai, cuma awal few minutes from us. 

Angin petang semalam adalah bersepoi-sepoi bahasa. Pancaran matahari pun Kurang bahang sudah sekarang ni. Signs of autumn is approaching soon. Can't wait!

Mula tu kami plan mau berpicnic di Yeouido; still ber-view-kan Han River. Tapi fikir-fikir balik, tempat tu macam sudah biasa. Lagipun sure ramai orang. So I suggested Ttukseom Resort ni. Dulu aku pernah pi sini, layan melankoli hati. Walhal kau menjejak sana sebab tu shooting location drama Iris 2 yang si Top berlakon. Koh!

Anyway, untuk ke Ttukseom Resort ni...boleh naik subway sampai Ttukseom Resort Station (뚝섬유원지역) Line 7 - Exit 2 or 3.

#1 Maples leaves on that pillars would be super beautiful when they turn yellow+red+orange
#2 Boleh sewa basikal; single seat & tandem available. Sewa ikut jam; kalau ndak silap 1 hour (3,000\) & 2 hours (5,000\)

Kali ni belum bernafsu untuk mengayuh jadinya pandang sepi jaklah basikal-basikal tu. Insha Allah nanti bila datang jiwa feeling Kdrama, aku sewa kau. Ok Sikal?

#3 Terkesima dengan keindahan alam. Siapa cakap tumbuhan melarat tu parasit jahat? Parasites aren't all bad though (tetiber kelas Sains, eh?)
#4 Definitely a sight to behold. Awan kepul-kepul why you so pretty?
#5 Silkworm-inspired kinda building?
#6 The J-Bug Culture Complex; an observatory & culture zone. This is the symbolic structure that promote Ttukseom Hangang Park
#7 Our view from where we sat. Boleh view skyscrapers di seberang sungai...also manusia-manusia yang beriadah

We purposely chose the area where we can gaze out over the river. Mula mau cari area berumput but it was too far from the river. Ndak boleh nampak river; auto cancel port hijau. Berkonsep sungai sungguh piknik ni kali ah. 

#8 Our menu santapan; nasi goreng cili kering campak-campak si Err & ayam goreng + tteokbokki pedas YangPang Ahjumma

Sebab perut masing-masing sudah berkonsert pelbagai genre music; jadi teruslah cari port lepak, bentang tikar hasil pinjaman dari stor guesthouse & soru! Ingatkan semua mampu bertahan dari berlapar, sebab masing-masing sibuk ber-WOW tengok maple leaves...tengok J-Bug...tengok oppa. 

#9 Aku & mereka-mereka. We-ca sebelum acara 'silent treatment' sebab perut lagi penting

Habis makan, galak semua bercerita. Sesi curhat murhat bagai, ndak sedar mentari sudah start sorok diri. Nasiblah awan kepul-kepul telan matahari; so ndaklah regret sangat ndak dapat tengok sunset cun. 

#10 Sunset separa jadi katanye

Lepas makan, sesi gambar area sekitar then kemas-kemas tikar...masa sudah time untuk explore J-Bug. Last time aku pegi, 'Seoul Thinking Floor' tu belum wujud. Kali ni mau tengok apa yang ada dalam 'ulat bulu' ni. 

Ada mini library juga. So boleh spend me-time di sini. Thinking floor katanye kan. Insha Allah next time aku try test spend masa membaca sini. 

#12 Siapa boleh baca Hangul, bolehlah pinjam buku di sini. Kalau aku, harus bawa buku sendiri
#13 Translated as; berehat sebentar itu tidak apa-apa kok
#14 From one of the big round windows
#16 Usha reading/ santai area at the 2nd Level

Kitorang singgah solat di Nursing Room located at 1st Level. Alhamdulillah Allah mudahkan. Siap solat semua, sorang Ahjumma ni masuk & bagitau kitorang bilik tu untuk nursing room jak. Tapi kami angguk (buat-buat faham) jaklah. Sempat membawang Ahjumma juga

"Eleh, habis tu kau bawa periuk mau basuh di sink dalam nursing room tu boleh pula? Adakah periuk baby?"

Gitu. Kitorang soal-jawab sesama sendiri jaklah. Tetap bagi senyuman manis sama Ahjumma. Biarlah, dia ndak tau kan. Maybe dia ingat kami lepak-lepak tidur dalam tu. 

#17 View from the observation deck 1st Floor. 

Di deck ni siap ada beans bag, siapa-siapa plan mau layan sunset & view bangunan warna warni ala-romantika boleh lah lepak sini. Tapi janganlah di musim winter, silap-silap jadi sculpture di situ.


Ronda seround-dua J-Bug ni lepas solat...pastu kami gerak pi area water fountain. Bukan rezeki kami, ndak sempat usha area swimming pool. Rupanya tutup jam 5pm. Ndak apalah bukan mau mandi manda pun kan. 

Sampai area water fountain, gelap gulita. Not long after, dengar lah muzik. And air pun start menari. Oh sampai on time rupanya kami. Too bad ada pagar yang keliling fountain tu. Bolehlah, tengok air menari di sebalik pagar.

#19 Benda simple, bukan ndak pernah tengok tapi aku tetap happy. Senang jak buat si Bibie ni gumbira (yo'oh statement)
#20 Gigih tunggu warna favourite muncul. 

Kitorang bentang tikar lagi sekali. Kali ni di area berumput. Sambil layan ngopi lagi. Rugi ndak bawa keropok buat kudap-kudap. Dekat sejam juga kami lepak sini before Suna spotted the 7E sign at the ship-shaped building anchored offshore.

Maka berjalanlah empat wanita jelita pi kapal tu. Rupanya sanalah tempat untuk sewa swan boat (I called it love boat). Ada cafe & restaurant juga. Tapi kami cuma singgah untuk beli kopi because according to Suna, kopi 7E sedap. 

#21 Si extra cahaya, pentipu betul camera phone aku ni. Sorok segala bekas jerawat. Choi sungguh
#22 Ship-shaped building known as Arirang House (automatic 3 Army humming Arirang; BTS version)
#23 Nun di seberang; Lotte Tower (Jamsil area)

Sudah settled hal kopi di Arirang House, kami pun jalan balik pi subway station. Lepas tu sakit jantung tengok tangga nan tinggi di Exit 2 & 3 tu. Suddenly gatal lah cakap mau ngopi & kudap kek (nafsu!). So kami pi seberang jalan, jalan ikut tunnel.

Pagi sebelum berpiknik, aku search cafe-cafe best dekat Ttukseom Resort ni. Tu yang tiba-tiba TERmengidam kek bagai. Sekalinya Pancake Pantry tutup. Tapi kecewa ndak lama sebab depan sikit ada Coffee the Sol. Masuklah kami berempat. 

Planning asal memang mau lepak. Tapi bila waiter tu bagitau each of us need to order a drink for a table in the cafe, terus kami cancel plan ngopi. Ginilah konsep cafe sini. Diorang ndak mau rugi 'ruang'. And diorang memang strict, no means no. Kita as customer pun kenalah respect. Since yang craving cake (memang all the time ngidam) adalah aku, therefore aku jaklah yang beli. Take out. 

#24 I bought Marble Cheesecake & it was marvelous! Baru makan suku, balance ada dalam fridge. Makan sikit-sikit, takut kalau habis nanti termengidam lagi...eh?

Kami berpecah di Kon-dae Station. Sudah lewat malam, bawa-bawalah balik ke bilik. Maka tamatlah cerita picnic kami di Ttukseom. Kalau sempat merasa winter, bolehlah nanti sledding di sana. Insha Allah, moga ada peluang.

Punya panjang entri picnic si Bibie. Walhal pi sana ndak sampai half day. Sobs.

Till next entry, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

22 August 2019

Victoria Day 7 - Last Day in Melbourne

Assalamualaikum. G'Day Mate!

Ok sambungan dari previous entry 

1 Aug 2015
Melbourne City

Dari enjin tut tut, kami balik pi city. Mau kena return kereta sewa di Apex office. Kalau after-hour drop-offs; kenalah kami naik teksi pi city centre. Sebab free shuttle bus to city centre / airport available masa office hour jak.

And ditakdirkan Allah, on the way drop kereta tu...kami accident. Masalah problem betul si Err sama traffic light di Melbourne. Akibat 'salah faham' konsep red light works for this & that lane...aku stopped at this one junction BECAUSE I saw the light turned red. Suddenly, bang!! Kuat gila hoii bunyi! Ms G who was behind me, terhantuk seat driver. Ms H co-pilot, terdorong pi depan. Whilst me as the driver? Terdorong pi depan juga; tapi mujur Allah jaga *alhamdulillah* & my head didn't hit the stereng. 

Few seconds after being hit, semua macam blur lagi. Tengok cermin & tanya keadaan Ms G at the back. After making sure, all us three ok aku pun keluar. Told them to not worries (walhal sendiri masih shivering) as our rental agreement covered collision damage waiver. Apa-apa damage sama kereta, kami ndak payah ganti. Lurus juga pemikiran aku masa ni. Luckily ikut suggestion si John untuk include damage waiver.

Keluar jak kereta, terus nampak driver kereta yang langgar kami dari belakang tu. A lady driver, and she drove a jeep. Yang siap ada bumper besi penyondol di depan. God! Dalam hati aku, memang sudah imagine keranapan bumper belakang si Accent ni. Upon seeing me, first thing she uttered or was it more to yelling siap both tangan 'berlingkaran' as to emphasized her big WHY

"Why did you stop? You're not supposed to stop here. That red light is not for us"

Bertambah blur. Aku, Ms H & Ms G looked at each other. Kelip-kelip mata. Suddenly kawan lady driver tu keluar dari kereta. Terus dia tanya kami ok ka tidak (ini baru betul wei). He looked at his friend & said

"Obviously they aren't familiar about the laws here."

After making sure no one is injure (most important), and no damage to the car, laju dia suruh kawan dia masuk kereta & off they went. He probably knows better. Kalau bawa pi balai; memang diorang salah sebab yang langgar tu diorang. And jarak kereta sure jadi pertikaian juga. How close were they to our car in front sampai boleh berlanggar bagai. Gitulah hipotesis si Err. 

Yang buat kami semua 'wow' (in fact, sampai sekarang masih bersyukur+kagum), kereta sewa kami tiada damage! NOT even a single scratch! Plat pun utuh melekat. Kalau ikut bunyi & affect hentakan (sakit leher oii masing-masing lepas tu) memang kuat juga. Allahu akbar, betul-betul Dia jaga. Sobs. 

Any info about Apex Rental, boleh refer blog si John (nampak kan berkampung lama di blog beliau + korek info). Moga Allah balas yang baik-baik kat kau.

Ndak lama kami di jalan, takut ganggu traffic pula kan. Drama perlu berhenti bersesuaian masa. Tetiber! So kami gerak pi tempat drop-offs. Sebelum tu singgah refuel lagi sebab full-to-full tank agreement. Masa returned kereta, staff Apex inspect kereta. Final check. Masa tu memang kami ndak risau apa sebab tiada sign pun si Accent tu baru kena hentam. Kalau ada luka sikit haruslah jujur kami inform tapi ni memang tiada calar-dan-balar langsung. Alhamdulillah staff tu sign form return, and we're good to go. Shuttle bus pun menanti sudah di luar, laju kami melompat masuk sebelum any bonus inquiry ke udara. Ngeh~~

The driver dropped us somewhere in the city centre (I totally forgot where it was). And we took the tram to Spring Street; famous as the traditional street of the Government of Victoria. 
#1 Easy sebenarnya mau navigate guna tram ni as each station ada map 
#2 The Old Treasury building; one of the notable Victorian architecture on this street
#3 Old school tram still run here in Melbourne
#4 Muka penat don't care...dari seawal Subuh sudah start mengukur jalan
We didn't get to explore more that evening as everyone was already too tired to walk around. Banyak lagi notable buildings along Spring Street ni tapi tulah, cuma mampu kami nampak few. Temperature dropped wasn't helping as well. Gigil masing-masing, belum campur perut berkonsert lagi. Ada lah berjalan few kilometres juga before we called it a quit. Marilah kembali ke South Cross station (Lord of Fries sudah memanggil; rupanya!).
#5 Tiga dara jelita (belum mandi seharian tabahlah). Our first tram ride in Melbourne
Sampai South Cross station, laju lah masing-masing menapak pi area Etihad Stadium where the Lord of Fries food truck is located. Kebulur katanye.

Tapi sebab sudah alang-alang sampai, wandered around jugalah sebelum kami rest untuk makan. Besar area SC ni, rasanya sejam kami di sana pun belum sampai half dapat kami covered. 
#6 Long distance train platform
#7 Terus cakap sama Ms H, best juga ni kalau kita buat rail trip pi Sydney or Adelaide. Gitulah berangan tiada sempadan, free jak kan
#8 It was Etihad Stadium (named by rights sponsorship) until 2018. Now it is known as Marvel Stadium; obviously Walt Disney sponsored lah kan siap ada Marvel retail store dalam ni sekarang
#9 Pencukup syarat posing depan stadium
#10 Ada game masa kami sampai ni. Ntah lah football or rugby tapi orang al-ramai area entrance (picture above taken from the not so busy side of the stadium)
#11 Walked to the Harbour Esplanade where we could see one of the many bridges in Melbourne. This is Bolte Bridge. Anganlah boleh nampak Webb Bridge from here, but it was too far. Next time, perhaps? (amin, amin)
#12 La Trobe street from where we stood
#13 Sebab ada games hence banyaklah merchandise truck along the way from South Cross to the stadium area
#14 Yang menjadi sebutan every Malaysian friends who have been to Australia. Konsep asal cuba, so kami order 1 large portion of the classic fries
#15 Our customary lepak-place bila pi bercoti; jadi ado-ado katanye
#16 Kecilnya bumi Melbourne terjumpa ex-unimate di sana
#17 Our verdict; bolehlah. Fries tu still crispy, ndak lemau sebab diorang praktis konsep 'cooked to order'
Lepak lebih kurang, then it's time to depart for the airport. Flight tengah malam, memang boleh lenggang kangkung tapi risau lah kalau ada emergency ka apa. At least sampai airport awal, lega sudah sikit. 
#18 Time to take out anak-anak gajah
#19 We took the SkyBus to reach the airport. Ticket sudah beli masa 1st day sampai haritu
Sampai airport, terus cari port untuk melepak. Tunaikan tanggungjawab, masa sudah time untuk makan (lagi). Dinner lah kan, sebab tadi tu di Southern Cross cumalah menu minum petang terlewatkan. Menu dinner memang meriah. Nasi goreng se-Tupperware penuh + complimentary susu kotak yang Ms H kutip at each accommodations we stayed. Alhamdulillah kenyang melantun. 

Ndak lama lepas makan, kami joined queue untuk drop luggage. Sekali check-in lah kiranya. Si Err beli pillow neck di boarding hall, tapi lepas sampai Malaysia ntah di mana keberadaan pillow tu. Sampai sekarang memang tiada trace; ndak dapat recall langsung mana aku misplaced. 4 tahun sudah berlalu Bie, redha sila. 
#21 Tukar tudung si Err terus, senang bersilat dalam flight. Tudung lilit ni nanti takut terbelit...gitu gigih explain
Alhamdulillah, touch down KLIA2 the next morning. Pastu minta jasa baik husband Ms H hantar kami pi rumah Ms C (another Jemah who didn't get to joined us for this trip). Masa ni masih Syawal so tumpang 'bersiram + beradu' di rumah Ms C sambil berhari raya. 

Maka dengan berakhirnya entry ni, tamatlah sudah cerita Birthday Trip to Down Under si Err! Hooray!!! Finally, completed. Ambil masa 4 tahun juga, sudah 4x birthday berlalu. Sobs gila. Lepas ni insha Allah update pasal accommodation pula. 

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

18 August 2019

Victoria Day 7 - Puffing Billy, Belgrave

Assalamualaiku. G'Day Mate!

Previous post (here).

Bangun seawal pagi untuk kejar masa bayar parking berkupon. Saman di Australia ni bukan alang-alang 'murah' ya tuan puan. Jadinya kalau boleh elak, sila lah elak. Untuk avoid nama dari blacklist pun ya juga. Tapi kalau agak-agak mau merasa feeling bayar saman di luar negara, bolehlah try. Koh!

After breakfast, campak semua bag dalam kereta. Check out terus sebab hostel tu tiada tempat untuk simpan luggage. Nasib baik kereta seluas alam, lagipun memang since Day 2 hidup nomad. Ngeh.

Plan harini, pi Belgrave mau naik enjin tut tut. Then pi Southern Cross Station untuk simpan bag dalam lockers, later drop kereta sewa di office Apex before explore Melbourne City with the remaining time we have. Untunglah flight malam, boleh juga jalan-jalan cuci mata kejap. Trip ni memang ndak sempat explore sangat the city hence plan untuk repeat Melbourne. Insha Allah one day (amin, amin), bawa Bunda pula next.  

1 Aug 2015
Belgrave, Melbourne

It only took us less than an hour to reach Belgrave from the hostel. Don't ask me about the route because we only followed where the GPS took us. Disuruh ke kiri, maka ke kiri lah kami. If ndak silap, ada masuk highway & housing area juga. 

Sampai Puffing Billy carpark, cari parking. Then dari carpark, kena menapak naik sikit pi ticket counter. Sebelum beli tiket, kami discussed dulu which route to take. It is best to study the train timetable prior coming as to avoid wasting your time should you arrived when the train just departed. Sejam dua juga mau menunggu tau. 

As for us, schedule memang sudah ada cuma belum sure which route to take. After menimbang menara, we decided to take the Belgrave - Emerald - Lakeside route. The nearest (and cheapest) route will be from Belgrave to Emerald. But we have to wait at Emerald station merely an hour for the return train from Lakeside. So alang-alang tunggu, better pi Lakeside station terus. By the way, please note train fare both route berbeza. The route to Lakeside mahal sikit; tapi ni harga 4 tahun lepas lah. In which aku memang totally lupa how much we paid. 

Latest ticket price & timetable please refer ---> here 

And sebab malas menceceh pasal Puffing Billy ni, bolehlah baca summary si John. Senang kerja aku, bagi link jak kan. Ain't taking any credit for myself though hence the link instead of copy-paste. Thank you John for sharing the info.
#1 Ticket counter
#2 Chance for Melbourne indeed; especially for the young generations
#3 Luckily hujan sudah berhenti masa kami tengah tunggu train
#4 Ms H repeatedly told us she had experienced classic-er train than Puffing Billy. She was referring to the train back in her hometown; Tenom (in Malaysia). 
#5 The track
#7 Busy lah si Err posing sendiri, tiba-tiba tersembul seketul Ms H di jendela sebelah
#8 Gigih lah tunggu train moving on curved track
#9 First leg of the classic train journey; we stopped by at Emerald station where few passengers disembarked here
#11 Hello Ahjussi!
#12 Continued our journey to Lakeside station
#13 Tickets not-so close up shot
#14 Udah sampai. 
Sampai Lakeside, passengers boleh turun & enjoyed the scenery for 15 minutes. So ambil lah peluang ambil gambar sana sini. 

Btw, the engine driver used to work in Penang so he was pretty excited when he found out I'm a Malaysian. Chit chat berkenalan, terus imbau kenangan gitu. Tu lah si Err pun ambil kesempatan masuk engine car bagai. 
#15 Pensebok abadi
#16 One for the memory
#17 Oppa comel
#18 This train didn't stop at Lakeside so we assumed it will go straight to Gembrook (the final station)
#19 Train orang ado-ado. This includes lunch on board. Kami marhaein cuma, so naik lah keretapi kelas biasa
#20 Time to go back to Belgrave. Goodbye Train Guard, see u when I see u
#21 Masih gagah posing gini. Dengan harapan, Edward muncul di sebalik pokok. Harapan!
#22 We purposely chose to sit at the other side of the train. Untuk dapat different view
#23 Gerabak sekali dengan lambakan information board. Memang sempat baca habis
#24 Busier than ever; carrying happy passengers like us. We're delighted to be able to be one of the contributor to keep it puffing tut tut!
#26 Kanak-kanak lebih umur riang gumbira
#27 Mission accomplished!
#28 Few tracks were built on hills side hence landslide is something unavoidable 
#29 Another curved track; combination both modern & classic
#30 Approaching Belgrave Station
#31 I don't remember how long the return journey was but this picture tells me that we might arrive before 230pm. 
#Changing the schedule / information; the manual way. 
For your information, all the workers at Puffing Billy (including the booking clerks, shop assistant) are volunteers here. It means; they don't get paid. They are doing this for the sake of Puffing Billy; to restore & keep it operating as Australia's premiere heritage steam railway.

By travelling aboard Puffing Billy; we actually are contributing to train, tracks & land maintenance, marketing, administration as well as covering for the coal cost. Yes; coal. Kan enjin tut tut, berasap bagai mestilah guna coal. Siapa yang ndak mau naik train, boleh masuk dalam platform ni untuk bergambar. Just inform pekerja yang jaga tiket tu. Si DJ pi sana (boleh baca sini) untuk bergambar jak sebab minah tu sibuk menerjah Tesselaar Tulip Festival. We didn't get to witness the infamous tulip festival because it wasn't the tulip season when we were there. Bukan rezeki, ndak pa nextime siapa tau akan menjejak (amin, amin). 

Lepas berposing lebih kurang, we quickly made our move out of Belgrave. Semua kena on time harini. Time is extra precious on the last day of the trip.
#Pulang marilah pulang, marilah pulang sebelum jammed
We reached Southern Cross Station without so much hassle. Terima kasih Cik GPS jasa anda dikenang ketat-ketat. Sebab ndak mau bazir duit bayar parking bagai, Ms H & Ms G turun untuk simpan our anak gajah in the locker. Masa sampai haritu, before naik shuttle bus pi hotel...memang aku ada recce location locker ni. Sebab masa DJ datang Melbourne (2013), locker ni wujud. Since aku datang 2 tahun kemudian (2015), tu yang kena make sure locker tu still ada atau tiada. Alhamdulillah, locker tu wujud lagi. The storage is located near the Skybus Hotel Transfer counter. Kalau naik Skybus dari airport, memang akan turun sini. 

Oleh sebab bag kami bertiga boleh muat locker besar so minah berdua tu pilih lah locker besar (bijak!). Cost us AUD 14 for 24 hours. Minimum hour is 3 hours; memandangkan masing-masing ndak yakin sama ketepatan masa sendiri...betterlah ambil 24 jam terus. 

Settled misi simpan bag, marilah bergerak pi Apex office. Ikut contract masa pick up haritu, we will have to return the car by 4pm. Kalau lambat, ada extra charge. Lagipun last shuttle bus (free) from the office to the airport is at 5pm. Harus ndak mau lepas yang tu, else kena tahan teksi balik airport. Poket sudah menipis, teksi was a big NO-NO. 

Ada cerita juga masa on the way return kereta sewa tu. Memang kenangan abadi mengusik jiwa sampai sekarang. Nanti aku continue cerita yang tu. Over-berjela sudah entry kali ni.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim