CutiCuti: Shenzhen - Window of the World (WOW)

Assalamualaikum. 你好

Previous post (here).

As said earlier, tujuan utama turun Shenzhen was none other to visit this theme park. Although ada 3 other theme parks nearby, tetaplah ini yang mau dituju sebab it's the most known. 

Demi misi untuk keliling dunia in a day; aku kuatkan azam untuk jejak sampai Shenzhen Walau belum habis aku tawaf must-see places di Hong Kong. Dalam park ni ada lebih kurang 130 replicas of famous sights in the world. Ndak dapat berdiri before the real landmarks, replika pun jadilah kan.  

Ok lets masuk.

Entrance fee for adult is 140 RMB.

Bunda purposely bought that Ahjumma hat at the shop near the ticket counter. Trip tourist sungguh ok! Tapi aku pun haruslah ambil kesempatan bergaya dengan topi itu. We posed before climbing the stairs. Aigoo ingatkan di Seoul jak aku mendaki tangga.

The Statue of a Mother & Her Child, Africa welcomes every guest at the entrance. 

Ada Beer Festival minggu tu, hence tong² drum tu semua. Represent tempat storage drum dulu kala maybe.

Siap lentik jari jemari...hovers!

Totem Poles of Stanley Park, Canada.

Mount Corcovado, Brazil. Statue of Christ ni memang famous di Brazil kan. Any films yang buat di sana, mesti tunjuk statue ni at least once.

Statue of Liberty. That's Libertas; the Roman Goddess of Freedom. Landmark of New York, USA yang terpaling famous. Terkenal seantero dunia gitu therefore siapa ndak kenal ndak ku tau mau cakap apa. 

Manhattan, New York. Belum lagi aku ada feeling untuk jejak the States so far. Yet idea untuk mencemar tapaki di California tercetus lepas aku tengok The Heirs. Semata Kdrama!

Jefferson Memorial Hall

The Capitol

Yours Truly before the Lincoln Memorial Hall. Walau belum pasang niat untuk terbang ke USA, begitulah banyak gambar monuments di sana dalam memory card aku.

Grand Canyon.

Pyramid Fantasy Hall. Dalam ni ada lah 2 biji mummy; King & Queen. And a bit of cerita fantasy diorang. 

The Pyramids of Giza...and aku lupa snap si Sphinx. Egypt pun dalam list of my dream-places. Banyak betul tempat mau pegi kan Bie...

Kami pusing ronda rundi...langsung ndak ikut map sudah. Suddenly dari Egypt, patah balik to USA. Niagara Falls. 

Acropolis, Athens. Ini memang memang memang dalam list teratas. Before bersantai verangan di Santorinni, I would like to singgah Athens for few days to stroll around the city. I am that kinda person who loves ruins of buildings. Banyak cerita boleh kita tahu walau dari runtuhan jak. 

Saint Peter Cathedral, The Vatican. Ada orang tu beratus kali remind me to include this in our Mega Trip itinerary. Poyo atur jadual itu ini, perginya ntah bila. Tahun sudah set tapi selagi tiket belum beli, sila sealed mulut seketatnya. 

Notre Dame De Paris. I've stood before the real building last year. 

Saint Michel Abbey, France. 

The Windmills in Holland. Someone feeling like being in Europe. Layankan. Nanti babak ungkit "Ada orang tu pigi Europe ndak membawa." akan berulang for the umpteenth times.

Venice, Italy. Setakat ni the closest of 'Venice' I have been was at The Venetian, Macau. Bolehlah ambil feel before dapat jejak the real place kan.

The Piazza Della Signoria, Italy.

Russia - St. Basil Cathedral; Wooden Church & Dwelling Houses; Winter Palace. Impian untuk visit these places adalah untuk disekali-harungkan dengan plan ke Harbin, China. Allah knows when.

The Mazes, UK. Masa pi UK haritu memang ndak pi sini. Garden di Versailles yang depan mata pun aku skip. Ini kan pula yang aku ndak tau kedudukan.

Guell Park, Spain. Cantik gila susunan mosaic di sini. I wonder macamana kalau real. Soon after she sat on the bench, Bunda went "Take my picture...include semuuuuuuua tu mosaic". Ok, perintah diturut. 

Court of Lions in Al Hambra Palace, Spain. Among the places yang sangat sangat sangat mau dijejak. Apart from Pompeii, Italy. Ini dalam list teratas². It is of high priority gitu. 

Royal Mosque of Isfahan, Iran

Modhere Sacred Well, India

Taj Mahal, India. Ni tempat impian si Bunda. Dari start masuk, non stop tanya mana tu Istana si Mumtaz. Hamboi.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Some of the many places in IndoChina that I'm dying to set foot upon. Borobudur (Indonesia), Laos & Vietnam...bila agaknya kita bisa ketemu. Untuk sampai tempat macam ni, paling best kalau Bunda jadi escort. 

Itsukushima Shrine, Japan. Excited nampak Torii Gate...*clearing throat* months to go! Insha Allah. Before tu kena usaha extra keras lagi sebab kos untuk jejak sana lagi tinggi dari second hometown. 

Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok. Insha Allah we will meet soon-ish.

Normally, dari main entrance orang akan ambil left route. Lalu bawah gerbang ni; China Gate. Tapi aku kunun mau melawan arus hence kami ikut the right route. Bijak pandai sangat. Kalau ikut the suggested route, boleh sewa kereta kenit tu. Ndak lah separuh nafas aku tawaf keliling theme park ni. 

The last thing to do before exiting the park. Aku beli 'passport' & syok sendiri cop² each pages. Kununlah 'I've been here...I've been there'.

Tapi aku menipu sebab few places aku ndak sempat jejak, pun aku bantai cop juga. I didn't get to 'visit' Opera House in Sydney, Australia. Hmm adakah hint yang aku perlu pergi the real place? Eh?

Terlampau banyak replika dalam taman ni. Kami yang sampai awal pun ndak larat semua. I could say we only managed to cover 90% of the whole area. Ada few places terlepas.

Towards the few last places, aku buat drama. Handphone tertinggal atas bench masa kami take 5 minutes rest. Sibuk² ambil gambar Borobudur; seluk poket...handphone ndak da. Panik ok! 

Luckily aku ingat our last stop...siap berlari pecut 100m kalah Usain Bolt. Dengan penat, dengan panas...sikit ampus. Alhamdulillah jumpa balik. Comel jak dia baring di tepi² bench. Dia ndak tau tuan dia ni sikit pengsan bila sedar dia hilang. Phew! Kalau ndak jumpa juga, harus monyok muka sampai KK. Gambar dalam memory card satu hal...$$ mau beli new handphone lagi? 

eryantierdabdulkarim

Prosperous Dec: Officially a Mrs. Alhamdulillah

Assalamualaikum. 

Misi untuk buat kejutan beruk to my beloved friend went well. Masa dia bagitau tarikh nikah kat dalam group watsapp kitorang, aku dah awal² sound yang memang aku tak kan dapat hadir. First, notis dia tu tersangatlah last minute. Second, uni belum start cuti sem lagi so chances nak tinggalkan cafe ni zero.

As always, dia memang faham kalau aku tak dapat datang. Faktor; jarak! Macam biasalah kan. Tapi dia dah warning siap², aku kena datang reception bulan Jan nanti. Timbang tolak darab bahagi, aku memang confirm tak dapat datang reception tu sebab aku still kat 'kampung'. 

Therefore aku buat decision paling drastic, in less than a day...bersuhabat dengan si Pijah untuk turun nikah si Salbear. Tak kisahlah aku dapat notis tu 3 days before the solemnization or uni takde cuti or apa jelah alasan sekalipun, aku nekad untuk datang. 

Demi persuhabatan 16 tahun; ada apa dengan alasan² cliche macam tu kan. 

Sampai Kolumpor late in the evening. Masuk je kota besar, teruslah jumpa kereta berderet² kan. Memanglah immediately aku bersyukur kat KK walau jammed macam mana teruk sekalipun, takdelah bagi jiwa menggelodak macam kat Kolumpor ni. 

Sahabat dunia & akhirat; insha Allah. Memang kejutan yang aku buat menjadi. Adalah dekat seminit juga dia scan muka aku...pastu melopong jap, then bibir ketaq² nak sebut nama aku tapi still was² sebab takut salah orang. 

"Bieeeee, aku tak sangka ko datang wei" 

"Bieee, aku still tak caye kot"

Dah babak nak sedih, si Pijah potong stim. 

"Yelah Bibie lah ni, penat tau aku tolong sorok dia." 

Boleh? 

Yours Truly with the radiant bride. Masa ni belum acara nikah lagi, so title still Cik Salbear. 

Hantaran bercampur-baur snapped by Pijah. Aku as usual bila orang dah ramai², memang agak segan sikit nak angkat bontot & snap sana sini. Since when? So aku pun bulilah kawan sorang tu. Dia pun rela je menurut perintah. 

"Guna phone aku jelah. Tak reti² boleh bluetooth je nanti?"
Tapi, kejam!

As usual, peranten nervous depan tok imam...kami sibuk bergambar di belakang. Kitorang assumed aktiviti macam ni dapat tolong kurangkan gemuruh peranten. Eh?

Babak mengundang airmata. Minta halal makan & minum; sebelum melangkah 'keluar' dari rumah mak & melangkah 'masuk' rumah in-law. Pasni, syurga di bawah redha suami dah. 

Sudah sah suami isteri. Semoga bercinta hingga ke akhirat. Insha Allah, amin.

Last minute, ramai pula tak dapat datang. Takpelah, yang tu korang cerita ngan peranten je nanti. Asalkan janji aku 14 tahun lepas untuk attend wedding minah ni aku dah tunaikan. 

Before we left the new bride with her husband. 

Thanks for everything you have done to me up to this moment, dear Bear. I hope our friendship will last until the end of time.

Bear & I; we go a long way back. I still remember vividly back in high school. There was this one time when most of the people around me turned their back on me; and that included my so-called best friends & close friends. Yet, this woman & her cousin stayed by my side. Never once did she left me alone although the rest of our friends didn't even bother about my existence at that time. She stood by me. Most importantly; she didn't judged. 

Jadinya, bila orang tanya kenapa aku sanggup datang dari jauh...rasanya tak perlu nak jawab panjang lebar. Sebab tiap baris alasan yang aku bakal bagi tak kan dapat justify what she did to me back then. 

Ah!! Bittersweet memories. Won't trade them with anything in this world for they are the things that shaped who I am today. Alhamdulillah.

eryantierdabdulkarim

CutiCuti: Shenzhen - Visa on Arrival for Malaysian

Assalamualaikum. 你好

Previous post (here). 

Yeah weekend yang super free! Traffic congestion is extremely annoying these days. Asal school holidays jak mesti jalan raya super sesak during weekend. Jadi idea untuk duduk diam² di rumah adalah brilliant. Sambil masak for lunch, kill time update cerita cuti² haritu. 

Ms G warns me many times to not drag the update...nanti bertindih sama cerita balik kampung hujung bulan ni. Which in the end mesti aku ndak kan continue update cerita pasal last trip. Because she knows I will be more than delighted to update about my balik kampung trip chances for me to not continue updating about the recent HongKong-Macau-Shenzhen trip will probably drops to zero as well.

Therefore for her sake, I decided to start scribbling about my Shenzhen trip today. Tempat yang dia paling curious mau tau & baca. Ada plan ler tu kan. 

Kami bertolak awal pagi. But still caught dalam peak hours. Pic taken at Prince Edward MTR station. Transit twice dari Tsim Sha Tsui station before we finally reach Lo Wu; the station that lies between the Hong Kong - Shenzhen border.

Tsim Sha Tsui (Tseun Wan Line) --> Prince Edward (Kwun Tong Line) --> Kowloon Tong (East Rail Line) --> Lo Wu

It's our second last day in Hong Kong. Jadual kali ni memang packed gila. Sampai jak on the first day, terus start enjin pusing² Hong Kong Island. Pastu the next day ronda Macau. Then, Shenzhen pula. Sampai Malaysia, drained out habis. Ala bukan selalu.

At Kowloon Tong station. Kami sengaja pilih untuk naik Quiet Car because the journey will take approximately an hour to Lo Wu. Harus ambil peluang untuk membuta, kan. The night before tidur lewat, pastu ndak lena sebab takut terlajak bangun lambat. Padanlah muka!

Not an underground train anymore...kali ni boleh cuci mata tengok view along the journey. Tapi kan si Err membuta, jadi selamat tinggal view!

Bebas dari suara manusia bercakap² dengan volume paling maksimum or was it more to shouting & yelling; ndak peduli ketenteraman & keselesaan penumpang lain. Aman. Eh?

An hour later, sampailah di Lo Wu station. Perlu berjalan lebih kurang 10-15 minit untuk ke sempadan Shenzhen. But it will take more time untuk orang macam aku yang terkedek sibuk snap sana sini. 

Tujuan utama before going through the border formalities to enter Shenzhen was to search for the Visa Office. 

Visa is required for Malaysian who wished to enter Shenzhen. To those who didn't apply prior coming, u don't have to worry as u can apply for Visa On Arrival at the Visa Office at Lo Wu. The office is situated at the first floor; u may have to take the elevator on your left side before the immigration counters. Refer picture above (square red box).

I purposely didn't apply for the visa although I put Shenzhen in our itinerary. Kenapa? Sebab aku mau try test apply di tempat kejadian itself. I searched for information in the internet prior coming but to no avail. Most of the replies I read; suruh refer sama pejabat imigresen negara masing². Or check the list negara yang boleh apply visa on arrival ni. I checked & Malaysia belum ada dalam list tapi based on jawapan ada sorang mamat ni bagi di yahoo.answer, aku beranikan diri.

"I just got back from Shenzhen few days ago...I applied for the visa on arrival & was given the 5 days visa. Just bring your passport & of course $$"

Kalau ndak boleh apply, plan B adalah untuk return to Hong Kong & enjoyed myself at Disneyland instead. Ndak salah main api masa ni because I know I've got nothing to lose anyway.

First fill in the form. Yang ni boleh dapat di kaunter outside the office. 

Next, take your number at the machine near the entrance. Wait for ur number to be called. And lastly pay RMB168. 

And tadaaaa...the visa is ready in less than 5 minutes! Bolehlah cepat sebab kami di sana during weekdays. Pastu awal pagi lagi. Haruslah orang pun belum ramai. Masa bercuti²an, aku adalah early bird. 

Please bear in mind though that this visa is valid for 5 days only. And it can't be used to enter any region in China. It is only valid for Shenzhen. So if u're planning to go to other places in China, please apply for the appropriate visa. 

Settled with immigration & stuffs; we went out of the building. Naik escalator nun di kiri tu.

The commercial centre. Sebelah kanan tu memang banyak shopping lot. Ramai datang sana untuk menyumbang $$ but we had different tujuan that morning. Petang kalau sempat, baru singgah menyumbang di situ. 

Kami turun via the escalator. Bawah tu adalah stesen metro Shenzhen & taxi. 

Aku memang jenis suka tempah bala. Kunun mau challenge diri sendiri. Just like what I did masa beli tiket to Gapyeong haritu. Lucky this machine ada instruction in Eng. Else, jadi itik lah sana. The other day lulus baca Hangul, tapi Hanzi memang totally terjun laut ok!

Walau ada Eng instruction, tetaplah aku bingai salah beli token. It was supposed to be a return journey token. Ndak apalah cari extra kerja, bukan jadi masalah pun untuk beli another token nanti. Ala demi misi "I round the world in a day" kan. 

Memang tujuan datang Shenzhen sebab theme park ni lah. Sampai sana matahari memang panas menggila. Menggigit! Demi misi menawan bangunan² penting di dunia; aku relakan kulit dibakar mentari. Gitu!

Lo Wu Station (Metro Line 1) --> Shijiezhichuang (Window of the World) Station (Metro Line 1)

Next entry baru cerita pasal Window of the World (WOW) ni. Pening sudah menaip di hari Ahad. Fuh!

eryantierdabdulkarim