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

Land of Ong Bak - Arriving Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok from KLIA2, Sepang

Assalamualaikum. สวัสดี!

After a pretty long hiatus (?!?), suddenly I missed scribbling. Banyak cerita mau share tapi sekarang ni semangat mau update pasal my recent 'beli-tiket-ndak-fikir-panjang' trip to Thailand. My 'awesome-tangan-dibahu-mata-juling' trip to Brunei, aku simpan jadi pekasam dalam draft folder dulu.

The day before I departed to Bangkok, I did published an entry here. Saja, gatal; tripping mau kestau orang aku berjalanan. Ada orang cakap aku kecoh, baru pi Thailand pun mau update di blog. Pastu ada juga orang sentap, questioned why I didn't say much about this trip like I always did i.e trip balik 'kampung' yang memang selalu aku kasi liputan meluas.

Usually aku memang no comment when it comes to soalan cepumas tahap bingai tertinggi. Senyum jaklah. Aku bising salah, diam salah. Baik berdiri depan cermin, donned my KDress...pastu posing syok sendiri. Perlu praktis senyum sebab mau attend a good friend's Raya open house tomorrow. Surely akan ada super banyak sesi bergambar. Practice makes perfect; so they say.

Erk, motif sebut KDress? Hanyalah semata untuk tambah luap api jeles Mrs Smile. *lambai ratu*

Right, intro sudah ke laut keluar tajuk.

As I said before, tiket terbeli dalam keadaan separa waras. Promo. Murah. Cuti panjang. These three words synced quite well at that time. Lupa tengok kalendar apa kejadian on the dates that I chose to travel. Turned out, Ramadhan.

Mula² aku planned untuk terjah solo. Pastu Ms G yang kunun plan untuk travel with her cousin terpaksa travel solo juga sebab the cousin decided not to go. Cantik jak kena susun because suddenly Air Asia rescheduled most of their flights to Bangkok. They cancelled few flights & passengers were advised to either change the time or claim refund. Ms G's flight was affected. And so the rest is history. Ended up, aku punya teman bergerak di Thailand. Ada tukang gambar juga. Wooohooo!

Months before the trip, we were shocked by the news of Bangkok Shutdown. The condition there was a bit chaotic due to a number of life-threatening events happening in major cities; as the media reported. Bom sana sini katanya. Our government siap keluarkan surat pekeliling. People were advised to cancelled their trip. And my two friends JM & DJ; antara rela ndak rela, terpaksa cancelled their trips.

Aku yang hati batu ni pun mula² ada rasa risau; tons of things occupied my mind. But I followed what my heart says; macam biasa kepala-batu-hati-kunun-tegar. Ndak da kejadian ndak sedap hati or fikir dua kali whether to go or not to go. Ajal maut ketentuan Allah. Insha Allah, aku selamat. Gitu peringatan sama diri sendiri. I decided to just go. Macam kejadian aku pi Seoul, June last year. Time tu punyalah tegang keadaan di sana, siap ada ura² kunun North Korea mau lancar perang. Aku tawakal jak pigi. Alhamdulillah! Selamat pergi, selamat kembali.

Now back to my cuti² Thailand, we departed to Kolumpor a day before our flight to Bangkok. Stayed overnight at Angah's. Sahur pertama di sana. Our flight to Bangkok was late in the evening, makanya aku bersungkai dalam kapal. We safely arrived at Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok around 8pm.

29 June 2014

KLIA 2, Sepang

My first time departing from KLIA2...terus terbang ke Bangkok gitu. I fall in love with the new airport immediately after arriving from Kota Kinabalu. Lots of pastry shops! Bisa gila!

Dapat window seat. Bertabah jaklah. Tapi beruntung sebab view adalah superb. Senja di Bangkok. This was taken 20 minutes before landing. Gigih aku snapped sebab ada anak bulan Ramadhan. Walaupun kecil jak.

29 June 2014

Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok

We opted to just take the taxi to our hostel in Silom. Murah, cepat & selamat. Worry not, all taxi use meter. Because we asked the driver to take the highway route to avoid the traffic congestion, we had to pay for the tolls. But murah, still. 

Despite the long queue, we got to hop on our taxi in less than 10 minutes. Super awesomely fast service. 

Before datang Bangkok, punyalah berangan tinggi mak-enon to ride that pink taxi. Unfortunately, the green one stopped in front of our line. Paksarela hati untuk naik. Gitu!

Lub'd Silom

Ms G checking in at Lub'd Silom. Very cozy & affordable hostel. 

Map on the cement wall. Pretty smart. Nearest BTS Skytrain station is Chong Nonsi (Silom Line).

Read: Current situation. Ntahlah tegang macam mana keadaan before trip tu, but Alhamdulillah throughout our holiday there we didn't see any trace of demonstration. Be it in the city or in the rural areas. 

Penat belum habis, kena mendaki tangga to get to our dorm. Female dorms are located on the top floor. 

Didn't expect the dorm looks like this! Super like! I am a happy guest. High ceiling. Spacious dorm. Ignore yang berjuntai/bersangkutan di katil or on the couch. Itu harta milik guests lain. 

Mine was under her. Very comfy bed. Malam tu tidur terlajak. Sampai ndak ter-sahur! Lena sangat?!?!

Anyhow, Bangkok adalah super panas! Dry & hot to be precise. Petang tu masa beratur luar airport tunggu teksi, aku boleh rasa bahang masuk dalam kulit. In less than 2 minutes, I sweat like an oink. Ndak pernah kejadian si Err berpeluh sakan. Manik² peluh menghiasi muka. Manik ok, manik! Sebab ndak bertitisan jatuh. Lepas berehat di dorm, we went out hunting for food. Kedai makan di area Silom tutup awal. And that include the two Halal restaurants I intended to go. Lucky we found an Indian Vegetarian restaurant, maka di sanalah kami melantak malam tu. 

Aku cuma sungkai pastries dalam kapal, haruslah kelaparan saat tu. Perut sudah siap buat kolaborasi konsert dangdut & hip hop! Sikit masa jak lagi akan datang si Gastrik buat lawatan. Lepas makan, balik dorm. Mandi manda. Update itu ini (perlu!). Then tidur! Hooray! 

Perjalanan adalah a bit jauh the next day. And tiring for sure. Telan tenaga. Insha Allah, akan digagahi walau berpuasa. Rugilah kalau aktiviti ala kadar jak, bukan selalu datang Thailand. 

eryantierdabdulkarim

Wonderful Aug: Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Assalamualaikum.

Selamat Hari Raya semua! 

Kosongkosong.
Maaf andai ada ayat or cara aku bercakap/luahkan rasa, menyakitkan hati sesiapa.

Or rasa tersindir, terambil hati.

Maaf kalau terkasar serta terhalus bahasa.

Aku susun sepuluh jari, mohon maaf atas segalanya.

Sama ada sengaja or ndak sengaja. 

Sedar or ndak sedar.

Raya tahun ni rasa a bit hollow dalam family.

Uncle baru jak tinggalkan kami few days before Ramadhan haritu.

Memang terasa sebab selalu first day Raya kami semua akan kumpul.

Adik beradik Bunda memang rapat.

So as the first cousins.

Ndak da istilah berebut balik raya kampung siapa.

Sebab semua pun kahwin orang sekitar jak.

Tahun ni juga aku menjadi sedikit bijak.

Compare to previous years.

Selalu aku memang ndak ambil port part baju raya ni.

Aku jenis lagi seminggu mau raya, baru sibuk cari baju.

Pastu memang jenis rembat selagi sedap di mata, juga di poket.

But based on what happened for the past years, this year I decided to 'ambil peduli'.

Thus, aku beli baju raya months before. 

Last year aku terpacak di post office for few days sebab parcel lambat sampai.

Posmen kunun cakap ndak jumpa address aku. 

Pffft!

This year, semua sampai on time.

Aku siap sempat alter length. 

Almaklumlah kerendangan ndak dapat disangkal.

Cuma satu dress yang telah menjadi pujaan jiwa raga sekian lama.

Sampai few days before raya.

Tu pun aku ndak sangka akan dapat beli.

Considering baju tu laku macam pisang goreng panas.

Luckily my ever beloved bestie went to the shop.

Siap ada sale.

Alhamdulillah.

Termakbul lah impian.

Bestie main peranan besar to make it comes true.

Alhamdulillah.

Masih diberi peluang oleh Allah SWT untuk sambut Aidilfitri.

With families, with friends.

Syukur Ramadhan aku mampu lalui dengan 'sabar'.

Hopefully segala amalan di bulan mulia itu diterima, diredhai Allah SWT.

Mampu jadi kifarah dosa lalu.

Insha Allah, amin. 

Eid Day 1. Memang susah mau make sure everyone ready for the camera. Mau kena train lagi Aunty ni.

The Abdul Karim's.

The cousins. Plus 2 nephews.

Eid Day 3 with the girls in the family. Alhamdulillah...double celebration! A year wiser for Yours Truly.

Selamat Hari Raya once again! Maaf zahir & batin.

Drive safe especially to those yang bakal berjalan jauh. Biar lambat, asal selamat sampai ke destinasi.

eryantierdabdulkarim