China Day 7 - Muslim Quarter, Xi'an

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous post here.

18 Jan 2016
Xi'an, China

Setelah sesat yang bermanfaat (ah gitu kan justifikasi), we eventually got back on the right path. Alhamdulillah.

"Xi’an was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road 1,000 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-9 AD). A number of merchants and overseas students from the Arabic countries and Persia went to Xi’an for business and studying since the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-9 AD); they settled down on the present Muslim Street, and they were called the Hui people by the locals. One generation after another, the descendants of the Hui ethnic people multiplied and lived on the street, and the number has now reached over 60,000" 
-chinahighlights-

Muslim Quarter / Street ni actually dalam vicinity Bell Tower & Drum Tower. Tapi dia paling dekat sama Bell Tower lah. Haritu kitorang jumpa jalan yang betul (setelah sesat) sebab ikut signage for Drum Bell. Insha Allah ndak kan terlepas Drum Bell ni sebab dia tu duk tengah-tengah roundabout. Tersergam nan indah gitu. To get to Muslim Quarter, perlu ikut underground passage. 

# Drum Tower (you wouldn't miss this huge monument, right?)

# View from one side of the roundabout

# Buatlah faham signage yang ni. First time jumpa yang langsung tiada Ingerish

# Pretty unique Starbucks cafe in Xi'an. Sampai ke sudah aku nyesal ndak singgah ngopi dalam ni. 

# Walking down the street to Muslim Quarter (far ahead is the Bell Tower)

# Bell Tower

# Entrance to Bell Tower but we didn't enter 

# Those are wood sticks used for the skewer

Entering the main food street area; known as Muslim Street or Huimin Street. And immediately operasi rambang mata began. Every gerai looks so tempting. Memang rasa mau beli semua. 

# Fiesta mata indeed; walhal baru jus delima

# Also considered as snack street by locals; it actually an ideal place for locals to kill time during a hot summer

# One for the memories

Since both of us memang dalam level lapar gila, teruslah cari the best kedai for brunch. Tapi macam biasa, aku yang perut Piranha ni mencekik street food dulu (appetizer kataku). This time Jea said she will skip rice; just today. Tu penangan fascinated tengok orang duk buat mee tarik at almost every shops. 

# Benda PALING FIRST aku mau try even before sampai Xi'an sebab si Merengmate cakap that snack doesn't suit her tastebud

# As expected, sedap di tekak aku. Paling sedap bila dip dalam ala gula melaka Eonni tu bagi

# Jea isn't as adventurous as Yours Truly. To quote her;
"Perut aku sejenis cerewet ngan makanan asing"

# So, haruslah aku yang semangat try test this 'carrot cake'. Sedap gila juga!

# Abang Kopiah putih making candy; in real time. 

# Menguji perut betul

Jalan punya jalan, we decided to have our brunch at this one stall located in the alley. Tersorok sikit dari main street tu. Malas mau bersesak dalam kedai katanye. Macam biasa, tunjuk gambar jak untuk order. 

# Our brunch (don't ask what this is called)

Sebenarnya sedap. But tengah makan tu, suddenly rasa macam sakit tekak (itchy to be exact). And Jea indicated the soup has this distinct soapy taste. Not long after, both started coughing. Jea lagi teruk, siaplah mau muntah. We predicted something wrong with the noodles. Kot ler dia buat the night before kan. Or cross contamination perhaps. 

Alhamdulillah neither of us experienced diarrhea. Kerja pula mau mencari toilet sepanjang masa. 

# Si Bibie macam biasa, dalam itchy throat tu sempatlah cari menu lain

# One of my ter-favourite; barbequed lamb. Too bad I forgot to take picture of me indulging the kaki kambing

# Wanted to try this but Jea said no to another bowl of noodles. Trauma ha budak tu

# Quail egg on skewer

# Makan lagi 

# Stalls selling dried fruits & nuts

# Walaupun ni Muslim Street, ada juga few shops selling non-halal food

# Abang-abang Kopiah Putih

# This one also so sedap. Dalam tu ada glass noodles

# Demiii

Macam biasa, nampak orang queue...si Err pun sibuklah joined queue juga. But this time bukan membuta-tuli join. This stall memang aku sudah locked-eye since sampai mula-mula tadi. Tapi saja pergi lambat sebab tadi mau cari brunch. Katakau!

# Adik Handsome jual kebab. While tunggu turn, sempat cuci mata tengok dia

# Haruslah sedap! Line for this stall seems to never subside. Locals pun queue juga, tu yang aku tau ni mesti sesuatu. Gitu kan tekaan

# Cute colorful bao (pau)

# Curut, cigarettes

# Kerlas abang delivery hias motor

# Bila si Err korek poket & started taking out her money...haruslah ada yang menarik perut dia

# Lamb skewer. Had 3 of this that day 

# Dua wanita jelita ukur Muslim Street since noon to dusk

# Sculptures at the end of the street

Pastu patah balik to Bell Tower. I had another round of feeding-the-craving-tummy session. Kau memang 24-jam craving for something kan.

# I think this was the last snack I bought that day

Time to get back to the hotel. Kaki pun almost gave up on us. Ingatkan gumbira makan sampai lupa penyeksaan kaki kan. Kali ni, ikut laluan sampai Drum Bell. 

Pastu ikut signage to Main Train Station. Adalah dalam 30 minutes baru sampai hotel. Sesat no more. Clapclap.

# Night view of Drum Bell; so very beautiful

# Bell Tower at night

# That pedestrian roundabout near our hotel. 

Xi'an is a big city; there's no way we could cover the whole city in a day. Or two. But we're satisfied with our journey that day. We got to see loads of things despite wandering without map & proper planning. 

In between the street food journey, we managed to go to the Great Mosque of Xi'an. Alhamdulillah, sempat solat jama' in the 1,200 years old mosque (as of 2016). That I will put up in a different post. Saja gatal mau asing post bagai.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

China Day 1 - Halal Food | 161 Wangfujing Hotel, Beijing

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous entry here.

12 January 2016
Beijing, China

Berjalan keluar dari area Forbidden City, tujuan utama mau cari subway station. Perlu sampai hotel as soon as possible katanye, sebab dua ketul ni sudah lapar tahap ndak boleh dibawa berbincang. 

Jalan punya jalan, subway station nan hado kelihatan. Both of us memang tiada data internet so berjalanlah ikut naluri hati (chewah sangat perangai). After nearly half an hour berwalkertapaki, suddenly nampak signboard Dongsi Street. Eh sudah dekat area hotel? Gagah juga lah berjalan di kala sejuk, di kala perut lapar.

But honestly, memang ndak terasa penat sangat pun sebenarnya. Sebab tujuan mau mencari subway station, and memang tiada plan untuk menapak balik hotel. Alih-alih, eh sudah di Dongsi. Berkat sesat awal pagi tu, bolehlah cam area hotel dengan jayanya. 

Sebab memang sedia lapar so teruslah kami terjah restoran halal sebelah hotel. Thanking DJ for this information she shared prior my trip. Memang restoran ni betul-betul only a few steps away from the hotel we stayed. Syukur ada tempat makan halal.

# Siapa boleh baca Pingyin, bolehlah translate nama restaurant tu for us

# To those yang in doubt, boleh refer this frame they hung at the restaurant. Halal certified gitu

# And yes, konsep order makanan di China...tunjuk gambar jak. Unless reti berbahasa diorang, bolehlah try berbasa-basi

# Alkisah perut lapar, nafsu tamak berhaloba bagai jadinya ambil side dishes tanpa toleh kiri kanan. Ingatkan free (macam di kampong), rupa-rupanyaaaaaaa...masuk bil juga. Tabahlah hati

# One thing I learned about my travel partner this time; nasi wajib ada in every meal. Arasso

Lepas mencemar tekak, perut sudah puas hati...marilah kembali ke lubuk hotel. Masa ni katil sudah memanggil. Baru perasan, penat oii! The night after arriving from Malaysia, memang tidur-tidur ayam. Lepas check in earlier this morning, terus berjalan non stop. Sudah makan semua, barulah body bagi signal untuk rest. Gitu alasan kau kan Bie, walhal memang tradisi kau lepas makan jadi ular sawa. Sistur ngensot.

Beijing 161 Wangfujing Hotel

Totally forgot how much we paid for this. Hopefully jumpa notes untuk trip China ni, nanti apa-apa hal aku update entry ni balik. Btw, hotel ni best. Lengkap segala-gala. Ni untuk aku, yang ndak berapa banyak cengkadak ni janji toilet & bilik bersih. Wow self-proclaimed nampak *flip tudung*

Some of the staff speaks little English but they are super helpful. Tanya itu ini, dijawab dengan jayanya. Kau faham, aku faham. Ndak pasti bombastic grammar bagai kan. Janji soalan terjawab & u got what u want.

Room Type : Economy Twin Room

Date : 12 January - 13 January 2016 (1 night)

Price : CNY 210.60 (~RM 62.00 per pax)

Booked via : booking.com

Nearest Subway Station : Dongsi Station Line 5 Exit C

# Our twin beds room hotel

# Toilet bersih, puas hati

# Gigihlah panjat kerusi just to get this angle. Left bed was mine

# Ceiling decoration at the reception counter (lupa ambil gambar counter, sekian)

# Hallway. That staircase leads to the restaurant, and hotel rooms. And other rooms (i.e meeting room, banquet room etc)

# View of the hotel facade at night. Taken after we came back from the Nest Stadium (later cerita yang tu)

# The less than 2 minutes walking distance from our hotel to the halal restaurant

Sampai bilik, tutup langsir. Masa untuk membuta. Kena tidur untuk regain energy & kewarasan fikiran. Pulun jalan cover semua tempat pun tiada guna kalau body jadi restless. Tu lagi parah, membuli badan. Sudahlah trip kali ni panjang, ndak lah mau jatuh sakit di awal-awal trip kan. 

So sebelum menjadi zombie, rehat lah dulu. Bukan dapat hadiah pun kalau jalan non-stop on 1st day. Tiber!

Nanti aku continue update pasal activity kami lepas bangun tidur petang tu. Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim