China Day 3 - Zhongyang Street, Harbin

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous post (here).

14 January 2016
Harbin, China

Taxi driver dropped us at the opposite road to the hotel I booked. Easy peasy to spot the hotel for I have searched for the direction & had it saved in my phone prior the trip. Senang kerja; and this could also prevent us from being scam by taxi driver.

My 2cents: Print or save hotel addresses/ places you plan to go; in Pinyin as it will make things easier. Especially for the taxi driver or any locals you happened to ask direction from. Almost all local I met & asked were so very helpful. Therefore to make them want to help you more, do a favor for them. Make it easy for them by preparing everything in words they can read & understand. Unless kau jenis yang gamble & ada banyak masa mau mencari arah; by all mean bolehlah abaikan this thing.

Anyway, back to my Harbin story.

Property: Harbin Tianyan Holiday Hotel Zhongyang Street

Date: 14 Jan - 16 Jan 2016 (2 nights)

Room Type: Double Room

Price: CNY 516 (RM 302.00)

Booked via booking.com

#1 The hotel lobby

I didn't noticed this at first, but almost all pictures of this hotel that I took are blur. Tangan gigil lapar or kesejukan melampau? Balik Malaysia tengok gambar baru menyesal! Sudah terlambat cik Bedah oii. 

Anyway, memang suka gila sama lobby hotel ni. Luas & looks welcoming. Staffs are accommodating as well. Some speaks fluent English (way better than me for sure). This hotel is equipped with elevator so ndaklah risau bawa anak gajah walau dapat bilik upper floor.

#2 The reception area

#3 Ensuite bathroom; but frosted glass wall & door?

Masuk bilik, Jea tengok aku...and aku tengok dia. Why? Mainly because of the bathroom. We're totally okay with the room; spacious & clean. But frosted bathroom walls & door? Style apakah? Teruslah both of us agreed not to switch on the bathroom light at any time. And Jea siap berkarya; tampal certain side of the walls with maps she collected while in Beijing. Adoilah sempat belajar jalan di Beijing while doing business. 

#4 Can I say the bed is perfectly (??) located right next to the bathroom wall (note where the toilet is facing). Pengsan!

We didn't stay long in the room. After putting our backpacks, and toilet visits...off we went to explore the street. Main mission was to search for a halal eatery. Lapar oii! Last mencekik dalam train, ramyeon jak pula tu.

According to my research, there is one halal restaurant only walking distance away from our hotel. Alhamdulillah, He made it super easy for us both. 

#5 Street sign & me; berpisah tiada

Before sampai restoran ni, kami terlajak jalan. Instead of turning to Xiaman Street, we walked straight up to Da'an Street. Mulalah kejadian malfunction bearing bagai kan. Time lapar, sanalah mau bersesat bagai. 

#6 Halal restaurant located at the same building as Haolin Business Hotel; only walking distance from our hotel

#7 Green signboard for halal eatery

#8 Fortunately they display their menu like this. Memang cara order paling berkesan. Main tunjuk-tunjuk jak. 

#9 Our dinner. Makan panas-panas time sejuk bedi memang nikmat yang tidak perlu didustakan. Alhamdulillah, Dia jadikan sedap di tekak

Lepas makan, time to have a look at Zhongyang Street at night. Ambil feel lah before touring the next day. I was being super brilliant, didn't wear my jacket with hoodie. Tabahlah whenever angin menampar muka. Luckily ada bawa muffler.

#11 Colorful Zhongyang Street

#12 Huge statues made from ice block were aplenty along the street

#13 Rejected the idea to try on this one, takut seluar basah kaedahnya therefore posing jaklah

#15 Energy booster they say

We wandered randomly without specific place to go. I knew about Saint Sophia Cathedral located somewhere in the city but wasn't bother to look for it. We just followed where the legs took us. 

#16 Crossing the pedestrian bridge from Zhongyang Street 

And suddenly came across this building (picture below). Baru perasan it is Saint Sophia. Kalau sudah rezeki kan, sampai juga. Didn't even plan to go here on our first night in Harbin. Tapi tulah, sudah Dia tentukan kaki melangkah ke sini. 

#17 Hence posinglah berkali-kali depan cathedral ni kan.

"Saint Sophia Cathderal is a Neo-Byzantine Russian Orthodox church dating to 1907, now housing a local history museum"

#18 From a slightly different angle

This cathedral is so beautiful can't help but to keep taking picture of it. But too bad, most of the outcomes were blurred I had to delete them.

#19 Trying out the night mode

#20 Another view of Saint Sophia Cathedral from the square, this time a bit far away

Lepak sini around half an hour juga. Decided to call the night off because it was getting colder. Rasa sampai menusuk tulang. On the way balik sempat singgah street stalls selling all kind of winter wear. Memang berbaloi beli di Harbin (as suggested by Nily). Murah melantun. I bought a maroon muffler & gloves. Still using them untill now (it's been 4 years but they haven't gotten worn off).

#21 My most worthwhile purchase I made that evening. Body warmers & also foot warmers

Sampai hotel, terus bersiram. Ikut turn. Sempat aku melaundry juga, pastu sidai near the heater. Kering in less than 20 minutes. We slept so lena that night. Bayar hutang tidur walhal sudah membongkang sikit punya lama dalam train.

Sejuk-sejuk memang mood melankoli sepanjang masa. Ngantuk jak rasa. Ntahlah kenapa boleh suka winter. Persoalan betul!

Anyway, cerita Day 2 di Harbin insha Allah aku continue next entry. 

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

China Day 3 - Beijing to Harbin by Train

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous post (here).

14 January 2016
Beijing, China

Terjaga around 5am, teruslah ndak sambung tidur. Our train to Harbin will depart at 6am. So dalam sejam tu we take turned pi bersihkan diri. Settled semua, breakfast. Senang bila ada hot water, semua boleh jadi. Nasiblah memang ada bawa makanan dari Malaysia. Sedap-sedap makan, suddenly....

Haaaaaaktuuuuuui!

Tu diaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Terus mati selera serta merta. Ahjumma pun! Agak-agak lah kan mau mengkahak. Comel sudah dia duduk nun di depan aku, pegang cermin ala Cinderella sambil sikat rambut Rapunzel dia tu. Boleh pula acara selingan ha! 

Buang maggi, sambil bagi jelingan tajam sama Ahjumma. Nan hado dia berperasaan bersalah. Sekian jaklah niat mau tunjuk annoyance kau Bie. Diorang memang sejenis ndak kisah pun.

#1 Breakfast on the go. Alhamdulillah sempat juga makan bersuap-suap sebelum semua terpaksa masuk tongsam. Redha.

Kemas-kemas bag, terus kami pi waiting hall. Ok, manusia adalah ramai. Nasib ada vacant seats for us. Duduklah melepak tunggu bersama jemaah lainnya. Semua harus buat hal sendiri. Pastu nampaklah pelbagai gaya manusia yang bakal se-train dengan kami. Siap ada yang bawa guni; wondered pi manalah Ahjussi tu gigih mengangkut tu semua. Masa tu nampaklah kegigihan & kerajinan orang diorang ni bekerja. Hatta sudah tua membongkok, masih lagi mengerah keringat. 

Anyway, remember I mentioned that our departure time to Harbin is at 6am? Ok, masa duduk melepak tu kami relaks lagi sebab baru 530am. Panik aku muncul bila aku tengok jam & lagi 10 minit before departure. Kiri kanan semua al-relaks lagi. Aku & Jea jaklah yang macam cacing kepanasan. Bukan murah oiii train fare boleh sesukati beli baru. Everything went through my mind at that time. What if jangan cakaplah. Beribu lemon.

What if we already missed the train
What if we waited at the wrong waiting hall
What if we're actually the only two yang belum board the train
What if the platform is very far we didn't managed to get in the train on time
What if, what if

Tengok information board, memang matched every details printed on our ticket. Gate depan pun masih ada penghalang merah. Ticket inspector pun still leisurely lepak at his station. Permainan jiwa apakah ini?? And not long after, ada announcement & semua pun automatically bangun serentak. All going to one direction; to the gate. Gila kentang level kondifen sistem di China. We later found out, gate will ONLY open 5-10 minutes prior departure.

Tapi memang patut pun diorang kondifen gila. Although gate buka lambat (according to my standard), ALL passengers managed to embark the train enabling an on time departure. Gila wei. Passengers bukan sikit, and carriage bukan 4-5 biji jak. Salute betul sama semua staffs. Committed, efficient. *clapclapclap*

#2 Hello train!

#3 Ok bersih, puas hati. That was my first impression upon getting on the carriage

#4 My berth was on the right; middle one

We bought our ticket from CTrip. Chose the hard sleeper because the ticket fare for soft sleeper exceeded our budget & seat wasn't a choice. We know we're not going to have a good sleep at the railway station hence we need a sleeper seat. Perlu tidur; at least for a few hours during those 11 hours journey. Else memang jadi harimau lapar lah masing-masing.

Hard Sleeper : ~CNY 300 (RM 176.00)
Destination : Beijing - Harbin
Duration : 10 hours
Bought from Ctrip

Beli train ticket di China memang main gamble. You cannot choose your berth nor seat. Ikut nasib mana diorang letak kau. The upper berth, the middle or the bottom. And chances for you to be separated with your travel partner is also there. Like what happened to Jea & I. Terpisah 2 gerabak. Pasrah jaklah. Bukan juga tidur sekatil ngan strangers kan. Paling haru pun, bakalan dapat 'roommates' yang 'over wangi' level ndak boleh bincang *jeling Jea*. Kesian minah tu, terpaksa tahan seksaan hidung.

#5 Bersyukur kaki ndak-berapa-panjang, boleh lah aku letak bag di hujung katil. Ndak lah menyemak di atas kepala

#6 Selamba katak tinggal makanan gitu, yakin meja+kerusi depan 'bilik' adalah hak eksklusif kau sorang kan Bie

Few minutes after departing, aku turun dari katil & tawaf gerabak. Mau buat laporan dalam ig & blog, kan. Walau lepas 4 tahun baru nampak laporan tu. Pfft. Toilet adalah jenis squatting, I didn't take picture of it sebab malas but they are super clean. Each carriage ada 2 toilets.

#7 Sinks area

#8 Train was pretty fast I failed to take any picture of the scenery outside. All I could remember was; the farther we left Beijing...the whiter the view became (snow ler maksudnye)

#9 One of the many thing I like about China. Unlimited supply of drinking water (cold + hot). This dispenser memang ada at each carriage

#10 The outside temperature after about half an hour leaving Beijing

Upon completion of my 'inspection', I went straight up to my katil. Kena bayar tidur sebelum bertukar ganas. Walaupun hard sleeper tapi aku tidur terrrrsangat lena. Memang ndak sedar apa kejadian 'roommates' yang lain. Ntahlah aku ada berkonsert ka ndak pagi tu. Janji aku berjaya tidur!

#11 After maybe 4-5 hours on the train.

Terjaga dari tidur sebab Jea kejut. Minah tu lapar, and she could stand the smell in her room no more. As to quote her;

"Gila ah sefamily semerbak macam seribu tahun tak mandi wei. Dari tadi aku lepak kat kerusi je. Nak muntah bila naik katil. Sekali ngan mak dia semerbak."

I didn't know how to react to her story. Mau ketawa or mau simpati. Aku sudah selamat ke alam mimpi for 5 hours. Yang dia, terpaksa layan sakit hidung pula. Ingatkan sudah berlayar sama.

#12 Our lunch. Tetaplah ramyeon jadi menu utama

After mencekik, Jea went back to her carriage. Mau try tidur katanye. Maybe adalah tu idea bernas baru keluar dari kepala lepas makan. Aku pun sambung tidur lepas lunch tu. What else to do, right. View di luar pun memang Narnia jak. Nothing much to see & do but sleep. So, tidurlah kan.

We reached Harbin at 5pm. Keluar dari train, I just followed where the crowd went. Rasa macam eh jauh juga arrival terminal ni. Sekali rupanya terus jak keluar station. Berangan lah mau ber-arrival terminal bagai. Masa ni aku sudah risau. Macamana mau cari si Jea ni. Sudahlah ndak tau dia carriage mana. Pastu memang tiada berjanji mana mau jumpa bila sampai. Bijak bestari kan kami.

So I applied the most logic method when you want to be spotted in the crowd. Aku berdiri tempat yang tinggi sikit. Masalah problem bila kau rendang. Memang tiada perubahan lah berdiri mana sekalipun. Tetap maintain rendah juga. Tapi aku tetaplah maintain kondifen. Berdiri sambil bertinting. Alhamdulillah, Allah made it easy. Jea berjaya nampak aku. Forgot what she told me on how she managed to spot me. 

#13 From where I stood. Cuba cerita macamana cara aku dapat spot si Jea. Huwaaaa

Then cepat-cepat kami berlari pi taxi stand. Yang teksi sapu memang banyak di tepi jalan but I read from the internet they tend to charge 10x higher than the registered taxi. Pasal tu diorang akan target tourist jak. Nasiblah kali ni si Err ingat note dia tulis. Else, confirm melabur duit sama driver teksi sapu. I tried asking one of them...showed them the hotel address. Terus kena quote CNY 100 (RM 59.00). Agak-agak lah kan. Our hotel is less than 10 minutes walking from the station. Sabit sejuk & malas cari jalan jak, tu kami gigih queue for taxi walau direction aku sudah save siap-siap dalam phone.

#14 Seramai-ramai makhluk Allah. Semua ni queue for registered taxi. 

Queue ada dalam 15 minutes, pantas tuntas driver taxi di Harbin ni. I showed the hotel address to the driver when it was our turn. Upon agreeing, immediately Jea & I hopped on the taxi. And zasss! In 5 minutes, sampai. Driver turunkan kami di seberang jalan hotel. And we only paid CNY 9 (RM5.30). As per shown on the metre reader. Bersyukur sangat ndak jadi mangsa ketuk. Gila jauh beza CNY 100 & CNY 9!

#15 Thank you for choosing to be honest. Aku bagi CNY 10 without taking the balance

After half day of journey, akhirnya sampai Harbin! 

It has been in my to-go list for years. Alhamdulillah Allah jadikan kenyataan. 

This is all for now. Insha Allah the rest sambung dalam next entry.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

Europe | Belum Apa-Apa Sudah Berdrama

Assalamualaikum.

Decided to share this story as benda ni still fresh lagi dalam kepala. Aku rest kejap dari cerita China Ni Hao yang tergendala genap 4 tahun tu. Pigi Jan 2016, sekarang sudah Jan 2020. Adoilah, nasib belum ada kereta terbang. Eh, tiber!

Anyway, last month today...

22 Dec 2019

South Korea

Lepas settled urusan check out from the guesthouse, aku pun laju gerak pi airport. Flight jam 625pm by China Eastern Airlines bound for Frankfurt tapi transit Shanghai for 4 hours. Masa keluar guesthouse tu baru 2pm. Memang sengaja pi awal sebab aku sejenis cepat panic attack when it comes to flight & stuffs. Kalau orang ulang-ulang tanya aku jam berapa flight, pun aku boleh gelabah seribu macam. Lagi kalau sampai lambat di airport. Pengalaman lalu diulang jangan. Serik oi!

And so aku sampai Incheon Airport T1 around 330pm. Terus aku pi kaunter check in walau belum buka. Was among the earliest to queue. Nasiblah information dalam website Incheon Airport ni accurate & updated. Else, satu kerja lah aku meneka which counter mau kena pegi kan. 

Around 430pm, counters opened. Sampai turn aku, dengan tiada rasa apa-apa pi lah kaunter. Then kena sign luggage tag. Then, orang kaunter tu (Ms A) told me to put my luggage atas belt. Lepas tu tiba masa dia key in all my details. Duk lah geleng (style Korean bingung), pastu 'sigh'. Adalah few times. 

Ndak lama, dia suruh turunkan bag. Explained to me the system cannot detect my name. Therefore ndak dapat print boarding pass. Ok, first aku cool lagi sebab benda ni memang selalu jadi sama aku. BUT usually diorang akan suruh tunggu & helped me fix my name. Biasalah tertunggang terbalik first name last name binti bin segala tu. This time, dia suruh aku call China Eastern sendiri. So, pergilah aku ke kaunter paling hujung where their team leader sat. Call the airlines, and bagitau nama aku salah. Masa tu wakil airlines pelik, apa yang salah sebab semua pun macam yang aku key in when I bought the ticket. Siap lah dia eja each alphabets; E for Elephant R for Roman. Sudahlah nama aku panjang oii!!

Wakil airlines double confirmed; betulkah mau tukar nama because I can only change my name one time. Ntah apa yang mau ditukar since she told me my name memang exactly macam yang aku booked. Kalau system still cannot detect, aku kena beli tiket baru. Gitu kau! Terus tiket baru. Boleh bayang macamana gelombang dalam hati aku masa tu? Tangan memang sejuk beku sudah walau Incheon Airport tu al-warm. Rasanya muka aku confirm pucat habis. 

So I went back to the counter. Put my luggage on the conveyor belt once more. Ketak ketuk ketik, Ms A geleng lagi. Masa tu nafas aku turun naik sudah. Ms A told me nama aku dalam system ada banyak slash. Jadi gini katanye nama aku

eryantierdah//bintiabdulkarim//mys (kau mampu banyak slashes??)

Seriously masa tu dada aku sudah berombak. Tinggal mau tsunami jak. Aku ulang between counter team leader & counter check in tu ada lah dalam 7 kali. And so did my luggage. 7x naik turun belt. Tetap Ms A cakap ndak boleh buat apa. Lepas tu dia tunjuk her wrist, telling me I won't make it to my flight sebab 'kes nama salah' belum settle. 

#1 Yang 7x turun naik belt. Sejarah betul.
Kali ni bawa luggage AF mau tukar angin. Tapi menyesal so bakal berbackpack juga lepas ni. 

#2 My cabin bag. Macam bag Doraemon sudah ni, semua benda ada dalam. Paling banyak, haruslah kudapan. 

It was already 545pm! Eh masa tu aku memang halfway jadi dragon. Kau persoal sangat nama aku dengan mys tu, then binti lagi. I see nothing wrong with my name in the system; ejaan semua perfect jak sebiji dalam passport. Not long after, datanglah wakil dari China Eastern yang office diorang cumalah di tingkat bawah! Team leader tu yang tolong panggil, katanye. Annoying gila aku tengok Team Leader tu, siaplah cakap pun meleret gaya malas. Hello, I can understand what you're saying. Aku ndak pandai reply in your language jak tau. Gitu getus dalam hati sebab risau juga kalau diorang automatically ban aku dari boarding. Damn!

Wakil airlines explained, I have 2 choices. 

First, they will issue me the boarding pass. BUT, I will have to buy a new return ticket sebab tiket tu automatically hangus. 

Or

Second, I cancel my flight that evening. Buy a new ticket to Frankfurt, the return ticket will not be cancelled. 

Apa kau gila suruh aku beli new flight ticket to Frankfurt last minute gitu kau tau kah berapa harga?!!? Aku belum 'ada masa' lagi mau tanam pokok duit oii. 

Cumalah mampu muntahkan semua ayat tu dalam hati. Yang mampu aku luahkan 

"I will take the first choice. I need to board the plane because I have to reach Frankfurt the next day or I will miss my next flight to Stockholm. Do not worry about the return ticket, I have enough money to buy from there"

Gitu kau enough money ntah mana lah kau mau kutip duit beli tiket baru Bie oiiii! Orang perasan have-have gitulah. Tapi masa tu aku memang fikir satu jak. Give me my bloody boarding pass already! Dari aku miss another flight, burn paid accommodation di Stockholm...better aku 'fly' pi Frankfurt jak dulu. Once there baru fikir pasal return ticket bagai.

And finally, I got my boarding pass at 6pm! Sekali dengan priority ticket. Ndak sempat aku mau pilih aisle seat ka window seat tau (sempat!)

Bolehlah imagine kan macamana aku jadi Watson Nyambek dalam airport petang tu. Sudahlah kena naik aerotrain. Masa queue untuk security check, lutut aku almost gave up. 

Benda normal, bila kau tengah gelabah ayam...masa tulah juga semua manusia mau jadi siput. Lembab selembab lembabnya. Aku ikut fast lane immigration, lagi cepat guna mesin tu. Then, jadi Nyambek lagi sekali. Turun escalator laju gila, berdesup masuk aerotrain luckily I didn't have to wait for its arrival. Sampai bawah jak memang train tengah tunggu passengers. 

Keluar train, pecut lari naik escalator lagi. Fuh! Tapi ndak juga selim betis aku. Huh. Sampai depan Coffee Work cafe, aku sudah dengar suara orang memekik 

"Passenger China Eastern Airlines to Shanghai, last call"

Selama ni selalu aku jak nampak orang berlari pi gate. Selalu jak dengar those ladies menjerit bagi reminder, siap angkat signboard airlines. This time, merasalah kau Bie. Nasib nafas ndak putus tiba-tiba kena berlari macam tu. Paling penting, panic attack aku langsung ndak munculkan diri. Cuma aku risau sebab jantung aku kuat gila berdegup. Takut jatuh pengsan. 

Hmm aku sempat singgah Coffee Work sebenarnya, beli air mineral. Sebab aku tau once seated in the flight, aku memang akan haus gila. Once nafas redha, confirm tekak aku akan menangis minta air. 

Sampai depan gate, teruslah diorang stop memekak. Oh yeah, I was the last passenger to board albeit being among the earliest to queue for check in. Nasiblah masa masuk tu, passengers lain belum settle down lagi. Ada yang masih belum sampai seat, ada yang masih sibuk ambil keluar masuk barang dari dalam beg. Contemplating mau letak bag di overhead or under the seat. Adoilah. Aku jak kah yang sedang calming down ni?

Dapat middle seat. Bersyukur lah Bie dari kau kena beli tiket baru, gitu bagitau diri sendiri. Tu pun sebelum jumpa seat, aku terlajak 4 rows ke depan. Pastu kelibut patah balik; dengan passengers lain yang kiri kanan sibuk urus beg. Fuh! Whatever lah korang, janji aku dapat boarding pass. And aku sudah on board. Apa korang mau buat, lantok.

Duduk-duduk jak, ndak lama cabin crew datang tanya 

"You bought our special meal?" 

Seriously, senyuman dia sweet gila immediately hilang penat aku. Magic! Thank you so much Cik CC.

Ya tuan puan, memang ticket fare tu includes meals & 2 luggages (30 kg each) but for special meal (Muslim, Vegetarian, etc) kenalah top up sikit. Ndak silap, aku beli ni few days before departure. I paid 6,000 Won (RM 24.00). Diorang served sandwich masa pi Shanghai, and another 2 meals + 1 sandwich to Frankfurt. Alhamdulillah, memang kenyang melantun. And I like all meals served.

Pastu, sampailah Shanghai after 3 hours on board. Phew what a day!

For that, I will continue in my next entry or maybe after habis cerita China. Or maybe juga laaaater. Let's see sampai bila angin R bertahan dalam sistem.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

China Day 2 - Pengalaman Overnight di Beijing Railway Station

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous post (here).

The subway trip from Niujie to Beijing Railway Station took less than half an hour. Ntah apa mau dikejar kan, awal gila balik sana. Malam masih muda namun kaki kami sudah longlai. Gitu alasan. Been walking since early in the morning, them legs deserved a rest.

Once arrived at Beijing Station (metro subway), we exited the station & walked to Beijing Railway Station building.

Info: These 2 stations aren't connected underground so you need to exit the subway station in order to get to the railway station building.

Unlike this morning, kali ni masuk station with highest confidence level. Jangan sibuk ikut queue di booth KALAU kau sudah ada tiket. Terus masuk jak ikut pintu yang ada scanner. Oh yes, barang diingat semua ah. Every railway stations in Beijing required you to pass a security check prior entering the station. Jadi sila jangan merungut or buat blur. Ni macam di airport lah, kastam buat thorough checking on you & your belongings. 

#1 Rupa Beijing Railway Station from the outside. This station is huge

#2 Once inside, nampaklah ada information counter. Also information board. Ok great, ada Starbucks (terus berkilau mata si Err)

First thing first, kami pi ambil anak gajah we stored in the locker earlier this morning. Sebab ahjumma jaga locker balik jam 10pm. Train kami pi Harbin esok pagi adalah seawal Subuh. Lambat kalu, ada menangis kena pakai baju sama 3 hari di Harbin.

Settled ambil bag, masa untuk tawaf station. Mau tengok apa yang ada dalam station. And paling penting, survey tempat beradu malam nanti. Considering which platform to board the train isn't on the board yet, we chose to sleep on the upper floor. Sebab atas lagi banyak waiting hall a.k.a banyak kerusi

#3 Orang diorang memang ramai. Hence the huge station I reckoned. Adalah sekali sekala kami terserempak tourist lain

#4 Ronda Beijing Railway Station

#5 Okay mari naik atas

#6 Sekali mendongak, eh KLCC lah. Wah bangga we'olls

#7 Manusia sana sini

Okay, masa ni aku sudah start rimas dengan orang. Mana suara orang bercakap macam bergaduh, mana suara budak kecil nangis pastu the Mother memujuk pun suara ala halilintar. Not being racist here tapi Chinese kan memang jenis cakap bertempik. High notes all the way. Ala-ala macam Spaniards & Venezuelan people. Gitu negara jauh kau bagi contoh kan Bie. 

So, cancelled segala impian ngopi di Starbucks. Lagipun cafe tu penuh orang melepak main phone (even non-customer pun ada; apa aku peduli katanye). Sobs.

#8 Waiting halls mostly penuh, hampa to the gas

Lepas timbang tara we decided to lepak at the 1st Floor first. Maybe it's still early, we said to calm ourselves. All the night trains are yet to depart hence the ocean of people swamping the waiting hall. Jadi yang still ndak tau di mana waiting hall diorang, sila lah berkampung di celah-celah column or belakang escalator. *sedar diri*

#9 'Turun takhta' jap lepak belakang escalator. Sambil menjamu taro pie. Always chewing something this lady; macam ndak pandai kenyang

#10 Aku ada spray bottle Bie kalau kau nak gi toilet; gitu lah lebih kurang ayat si Jea masa tunjuk bottle tu

Lama jugalah kami jadi temporary resident belakang escalator tu. Buat gitu di sana memang ndak payah malu because we ain't the only ones 'loitering'. Ramai lagi umat lain. Around 11 pm, less bising sudah.

Meaning upper floor sudah less crowded. So we moved upstairs. And started cari port baik untuk beradu. Alas all seats are armed. Memang jadi gymnas kejap malam tu. Auto flexible terus bah body masing-masing.

#11 The Chinese invented ramyeon hence it is no surprise aplenty of hot water dispenser found in the stations / trains / airport

For me this is totally a bonus. Well, hantu ngopi + makan = ME. Ada lah few times ulang alik buat hot drink. Lepas tu risau bila fikir satu kerja kena ulang alik toilet kalau overdose ngopi. Walaupun memang sebelum pesta ngopi aku sudah keluar masuk toilet. 

Alhamdulillah juga sepanjang malam berkampung dalam station, toilet ndak pernah kotor. Surprisingly tiap kali masuk, mesti up to my standard. No overflowing tissues in the bin, no wet floor nor sink. The cleaner lady memang bersihkan toilet tu every 10 minutes rasanya. Bila aku masuk jak, mesti dia pun keluar bawa mop & tongs + plastik sampah. Ok kentara kau kerap buat toilet visit kan Bie. 

#12 Be flexible like the locals. And Jea. 

Info: Beijing Railway doesn't provide heater during the winter. Hence explain why everyone is still in their padding / jacket. I slept with 2 heat packs stick on my inner sweater; back & front. Also hand warmers inside both my jacket's pockets. Be prepare if you plan to stay overnight here (and every railway stations in China to be exact). 

#13 Pemandangan biasa but worry not; this won't last long as a cleaner will come with her big long broom & sweep this in one go

Malam tu tidur half-lena bukan sebab bising (semua pun memang membuta) but mainly sebab sejuk gigil sampai tulang belikat. Makan sumpahan jaklah station tu that night. 

Honestly, sampai saat ni memang masih ndak dapat lupa tahap sejuk dalam station. Berapa kali ntah tahan diri dari bergerak too much, tapi tulah terpaksa buat lawatan toilet pula. Rasa mau tidur jak tepi hot water dispenser tu tapi apa cer tidur berdiri kan. Memang menghitung setiap masa bila lah boleh naik train. Sadis sungguh perangai.

Tapi tulah, ni semua pengalaman berharga for both of us. And never would I trade with anything in this world. Maybe orang akan pertikai 

Kenapa seksa diri, 

Kenapa kedekut sangat untuk keselesaan diri

Kenapa itu

Kenapa ini

Kalau aku, ndak sanggup

Kalau aku, biarlah labur duit sewa bilik

Jawapan aku senang jak

Keperluan orang berbeza

Level mampu orang berbeza

Level kedekut berbeza

You do you

I do me

As long as

Apa aku buat ndak menyusahkan siapa-siapa

and kami happy

Paling penting

Neither you nor us

"Berdarah"

Sekian explanation. Gitu.

Tapi so far part sejuk tu memang 'isi utama' aku bila cerita pasal Beijing Railway Station.

Till next entry, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim