:)

Happy 2022 everyone!

I own this blog for such a long time. Aigoo. It has been 15 years already and I can't believe how much things fly. 

Most recently I discovered that some people are still reading my blog and I wish I could write my experience more soon. I realise that my blog looses it content gradually as I keep on ageing lol. You know commitment keep on increasing just like your age. So much things happened that I couldn't sit back and reflect by writing. 

These days, I always talk to my husband whenever I feel like there's thing I need to reflect right away. So we always have a great chat in the car or while we are travelling appreciating things around us. Perhaps that is the reason why this blog has been abandoned numerous times.

We've been talking a lot about being grateful and how life takes us so far. My husband said ever since he is married, his life changes. He meant the rizq and how much he could provide and pamper me with lots of  good food. We believe that Allah made it easy for us since Allah said, whoever wants to get married, they would find the way. All you need to do is to believe/yaqeen that Allah would made it easy for you. I got married with only a few Ks in my bank account before I managed to have more Ks in my account like now lol.

Despite the rising cases of covid, I pray that Allah SWT would ease your way in whatever things you're facing.

Brb :)

Another Life Update

Assalamualaikum & hi guys. 

MashaAllah,it is november already! Dah nak habis tahun dah wei hahaha. And I have broke so many rules of my blog now. Lol. It is just that when I open my laptop, there are so much things to do that I can't even think of visiting my page. 

So guys, alhamdulillah. I am now in my second semester of my PhD studies! Please make everything good for me ya Allah. To my readers, pleae pray for me :) I am in need of the prayers right now. Actually I am now in a hotel room following my husband for work. So sebab tu la boleh update blog since I have nothing to do and I just don't want to study hahahaha. You know mco really gets everyone exhausted without reason and I guess it is my time to take a break despite of the piling of readings I need to do. sheeesssh. *Suddenly I feel like there is so much unticked boxes of my to-do-list lol.

Anyway guys, since these 2 years where we can't go oversea, I am starting to long the adventure of traveling so much especially to other countries. I can't recall on how numerous times I tell my travel stories to my husband. I hope he did not feel annoyed of it since he did not experience it due to his economical factors at that time. We do hope that we can travel while we are not in much commitments (I am talking about children here). Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't decline any of my overseas offer a few years back :( But Allah is always the greatest of planners! I always feel that watching the nature and jaulah is the most impactful to feel the presence of Allah and how magnificent He could be. Hopefully, when I finish my studies, my husband and I can experience 'a live in a broad' series for a few years :)

How I Met Your Father

Hi guys,

Baca balik my 1st 2021 post aku dah break a rule. Aku nak tulis 1 month 1 entry kan haaa. Tapi takde pun mengkomee. Padahal masa tu mco dan aku hanya duduk rumah sebab tak boleh masuk lab usm lagi. Banyak je masa sebenarnya -..-

Tapi tulah, blog ni hampir dilupakan dek kerana kesibukan aku sebagai seorang suri rumah echewaahhh hahaha. Sekarang aku suka betul menghasilkan dan mencuba pelbagai masakan. Dah masak, aku tangkap gambar buh dalam whatsapp status. So far aku tak pernah lagi la upload my so called food pictures in any platforms except for whatsapp status because I feel like my food is not that powerful enough to go so public and become celebrities just yet ahahaha. So my simple equation is that only my close friends would have the chance to see mine since I have your number and you have mine. So yeah, hope that my everyday food does not annoy anyone in my contact. If you get irritated by it, mute my story please.

Since I cook everyday and I feed my husband with so many good foods, my husband now gain a few kg. Sekarang dah tak kurus, dia dah hensem banyak tau =P 

Okay let's go back to this post: How I Met Your Father. 

I talked about this post for such a long time already. Selalu sangat main-main dengan Kak Mas pasal ni. Like 4-6 years ago we came across a news on a Malaysian married a Korean man. Lepastu berangan lah kami berdua kenkonon nak buat post yang sama hahahaha. But then, last year on 2020 I was married to a guy far from a so called oppa aha! But alhamdulillah, I call him as the guy in my prayer :) 

When I had no one, I keep on praying that Allah SWT would grant me someone who would compliment me. I let Him know in my dua all the traits and characters that I seek for. My goal in marriage is of course Jannah and I really want someone who would lead me especially in this deen. At the same time I was striving to prep myself to be a better muslimah so that when  I met the right one, I was all ready to shout let's embrace marriage and hunt for more rewards from Allah SWT.

Maha suci Allah yang mengetahui segalanya. He sent me the right guy at the right time and place. I was invited to be one of the panelist in a forum in my former school. The forum was pretty much on secularism and liberalism but we tried to convey all the points in a language that the kids would probably understand. So that was the starting point where he lead the alumni and be the forum moderator. Practically we were schoolmates but apparently we have no memories together. We've known each other for 10 years that time but we never talked to each other except for that time. So can you guys imagine how our batch-mates freaked out when we broke our marriage news? It was so funny that I didn't dare to reply anything in our batch whatsapp group. So we both stayed silent till things toned down a little.

So at that program, as we talked (of course on work), I realized he was quite a man of a kind. Terdetik pulak di hatiku masa tu "eh untung siapa dapat jadi isteri dia ni" literally out of nowhereee haha. Tapi tula nak kata, betapa Allah yang pegang hati kita. When the right guys come at the right time, begitulah hati kita dijentik. At that time, I was just finished with my master's viva. So that was the time when I submitted my thesis, back for good and reached my home. Several months after we met, he finally approached me.

When he told  his intention, we started to go in depth on our vision and mission in marriage. No sweet and love words, he went direct and we tried to get each other opinion and thoughts on marriage. Our goal in life especially. We just wanted to know whether our thought intercepted so that this marriage would go toward its success especially in the eyes of Allah SWT. 

Things went so fast though, that after a few months he finally met my dad & family. 6 months after the approach, we got engaged, and 7 months after that we got married. It's been 8 months of marriage now but it still feels like yesterday. I always look forward for our next dating spots and dates! Since we didn't date before marriage (we wanted to keep everything halal :D), it is always reviving to do everything together! Basically it's our 8 months of dating period hence it feels so hati berbunga haha. And I want to keep feeling this for the next thousand years IAllah. 

So if one day our son/daughter asked us how we met each other, I would tell them we were school mates but your dad didn't make a move on me at the time. We both relied on Allah SWT so much and tried to keep everything in a way which is permissible in Islam. So that when the time was perfect (after 10 years), Allah SWT destined us to meet in the most beautiful way :)

 

 

 Our Vietnamese dinner date a few days ago. 

You are now my fav sight :)

A Fresh Start

Sebenarnya, it takes quite a while untuk menulis dalam blog ni balik. 

I've tried many times, lepastu jadi draft jee. -..-

Mungkin sebab aku rasa agak cemuih selalu sangat depan laptop sebab aku kena submit report yang tertangguh. Akhirnya semalam aku dah berjaya submit ke semua documents dan report. Rasa puas hati sebab akhirnya aku dah takde hutang apa2 dah dengan boss aku sebelum ni. Hopefully aku boleh fokus dengan projek phd aku lepas ni. Doakan ye teman teman. 

After a 13 days of flipped pages this year, mco strikes again! Haih gemuk aku cani dok rumah manjang hahaha. Tapi on the other side,banyak benda jugak boleh buat. Especially, finishing all the books that I once bought hahaha. Eksited je beli banyak2 buku, dan banyak lagi buku yang tak habis dibaca. Peminat buku mmg macam ni kan hmm. Ada lagi tak yang macam saya? hehe

Anyway untuk 2021 ni, aku nak develop new habits dalam diri aku. Actually dari azam-azam sebelum ni lagi aku nak develop banyak lagi positive habits. Ada yang berjaya dan ada yang tak. So aku rasa aku kekurangan satu nilai (aku memang struggle benda ni, tapi aku tak pernah jadikan dia sebagai sesuatu yang aku perlu improve): DISIPLIN. 

Aku akan list-listkan apa yang aku nak capai dan aku rasa benda paling penting untuk bantu aku capai azam aku pada tahun 2021 ni ialah disiplin. 

2021 resolution:

1. 365 days saving money challenge

2.To write and reflect more; Filling up my journal and write at least 1 entry in this blog every month 

3. To exercise more; do my morning walk and jogging at least thrice a week

4. Drink 2L of water everyday 

5. Get up 30 mins before subuh everyday 

6. Track down my financial status every month

7. Find out any dishes that I enjoy the most and start a small business

8. Run a youtube channel and instagram to portray my passion in food and reading 

9. Taking care of my health more. Eat less sugar and salt food 

10. Grow my house with favorable craft and handmade products

Lately I've been obsess with fragrance and essential oil. Simply because I enjoy being in a super nice smell and relaxing environment. So I've bought so much of the fragrance oil and try to utilize all the oil in the most perfect ways. InshaAllah I would share them in the future. 

Let's pray that 2021 is a better year for everyone. 

Love, 

Syafiqa

2020 Yang Terbang Dengan Laju

Assalamualaikum peeps. 

Allahu bersawang dah blog ni. Untuk tahun ni ada berapa ketul je rupanya post aku. 

Yes, covid-19 hits the world hard! Sedar-sedar, dah penghujung 2020 dah teman teman. 

Jadi apa yang sebenarnya berlaku dalam hidup aku ni? hahahahha

So sebelum ni aku selalu buat post just to look back at my achievement for over a year la kenkonon. Tapi tahun ni serius aku pun tak tau nak look back on apa because things go really fast. I heard many people were kicked out from their works because of the economical changes and so on. I just hope that things go better for everyone out there. I am rooting for you, so please don't give up. 

Since this year feels just like yesterday, I wanna tell you guys what has happened in my life throughout the year. 

 1.Awal Jan- April 2020

Selepas tolak tawaran phd di Chonbuk uni, Korea, aku dapat tawaran sebagai RA di Insititute for Molecular Medicine (INFORMM). Prof tawarkan aku selama 3 bulan sebelum aku register sebagai phd student dia. Aku suka duduk kat insitute tu. Best sebab cantik dan nampak cam mewah. Kena pulak ada kedai kopi sebelah lab yang aku boleh access dengan mudah. Tapi nak dijadikan cerita, boss aku toxic. Hari-hari aku pergi kerja pkul 7am-11pm. Penat dia jangan cerita la. Boss nak result cepat. So far aku masih boleh bagi result pada masa yang dia nak. Tapi bila start pkp, boss aku dah jadi unreasonable dan mula memarahi aku yang blur-blur ini. Sudahnya abah aku suruh stop sebab dia kata orang macam ni takkan bagi aku grad phd dengan baik. Dia mesti peram aku lelama dan eksploitasi tenaga aku. Dalam masa yang sama aku interview untuk satu projek phd di Turki. Sangat menarik projeknya tapi bagi aku tak mudah huhuhu. Eventually disebabkan keadaan di turki yang covid sedang menggila, supervisor aku kata mungkin susah nak teruskan projek tersebut buat masa terdekat jadi aku pun redha.

2. April-Jun 2020

Bermulalah episod aku membanting tulang empat kerat sebagai suri rumah tangga. Hari-hari aku masak untuk family aku. Buatkan bekal utk kakak aku yang bertugas sebagai frontliner. Hari-hari jugaklah mengemas rumah. Since adik aku pun ada kt rumah sebab dia online kelas, selalu banyak gak la spend masa dengan dia. Dan masa ni jugaklah aku prepare segala benda untuk sesuatu yang lebih besar dan merubah hidup aku 360 darjah bulan berikutnya. Pada masa ni jugak aku dapat tawaran mara untuk program biasiswa luar negara dan aku dapat tawaran kerja dari supervisor aku di satu syarikat biotech di Gebeng, Pahang. Sejujurnya, aku dalam dilemma. Tawaran kerja sangat tempting sebab gaji yang berpatutan dan sesuai dengan kelayakan aku yang ada sarjana/master ketika itu. Tapi bila aku tengok skop kerja, someone told me, "you can go far and better than this". Aku tolak tawaran kerja dan aku bagitahu supervisor aku "Saya nak sambung study, doakan saya jadi hebat macam dr." Dia reply "saya doakan kamu jadi lebih hebat dari saya". Lepastu aku mula msg potential supervisor di Manchester Uni, malangnya UK masih pkp dan mereka tak dapat nak arrange iv serta keluarkan surat tawaran pada aku buat masa yang terdekat. Jadi aku fikir, masih bukan rezeki aku pada ketika itu.

3. Julai 2020

Alhamdulillah, aku diijab kabulkan pada 17/7/2020 dengan seorang 'lelaki dalam doa'. Selepas aku bawa diri dan hati pada 2014, aku tak putus berdoa untuk Allah temukan aku dengan lelaki soleh yang baik, boleh jadi bestfriend abah, pandai manage duit dan sebagainya (boleh baca post:Future tsukasa sebab semua ciri-ciri tu ada pada dia). Maka Allah tunaikan segala hajat dan doa aku, Allah kurniakan aku seorang suami yang aku kenal 11 tahun lepas, tapi kami tak pernah berbual. Aku hanya tahu nama dan kewujudannya sahaja. Sehinggalah dia approach dan minta izin untuk jumpa family aku masa tu. So done with kawin haha, suami aku bawa pindah kepala batas, di tempat kami mula-mula bertemu. 

4. Selepas kawin-hujung September

Aku hidup sebagai suri rumah, tunggu suami balik dan hidangkan dia dengan pelbagi masakan air tanga aku. Seronok tengok suami makan punya pasal, aku sukalah try resepi macam-macam. Dia pun naik berat badan 5kg lepastu hahaha. Tapi dia masih kurus la dan mencapai bmi normal akhirnya lol.

 

5. Oktober-Disember

Aku dapat kerja sebagai RA di Institute Perubatan dan Pergigian Termaju (IPPT). Aku kena kerja dan jaga arnab pulak kali ni. Aku okay sebab kena bawak dia ke xray, ct scan dan  attend surgery. Akhirnya selepas aku build network dan connection, pencarian aku untuk dapat topik phd yang kena dengan jiwa serta sv yang baik akhirnya berakhir. Finally hujung nov, aku register sebagai phd student di ippt dengan harapan MARA support financial assistance aku sebab aku dah email mara tentang penukaran program overseas ke dalam negara dan meraka kata boleh. Doakan supaya urusan aku dipermudahkan! Tahun depan bakal bermula battle aku dengan phd, aku tak sabar tapi takut jugak dalam masa yang sama. Semoga projek ini baik dan memberi manfaat untuk ummah!

The only achievement I have this year.

okay la kannn hehehehheh

ya teman-teman saya dah nak masuk 5 bulan bergelar isteri.

Semoga kami dilimpahi sakinah, mawaddah wa rahmah :)  

Doakan kami

4th March 2020

These few days I talk about you a lot. 

I don’t want to reveal anything about you just to anyone since I wanted to reserve our stories to myself. But I guess since it’s your special day, I decided to write about you in more times to come, iAllah.

Without realizing, you existed 10 years ago when I thought I was actually ‘looking for someone else’. We neither talked nor there were memories about us. Amazingly, Allah sent you at the best time and place. It was the time when I can only see you the most out of the other guys out there. Indeed Allah is the best of planners.

I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. There are so much things about you that I look up to. You are just amazing since I knew you. Keep on being the amazing you and keep on shining. Islam memerlukan pemuda sepertimu :) 

I am grateful that Allah designed us to meet this way. Since it would be the beginning of a new episode and more stories to cherish after this. 

I pray that Allah would always keep us on track. Happy 27th birthday my house-mate to be! 

2020 wishes :)

Every time new year comes, it always feels as fresh as usual.

Good vibe and beautiful spirit :)

As a tradition in my blog I would write what I've been through the whole previous year.

But last year I abandoned my blog quite a lot because I stopped using my laptop frequently coz I am totally done with my master degree. Yeayy alhamdulillah. I wanted to write my graduation story, viva story, my bfg story. I wanted to compile them all in my blog. Times aren't always there for me actually. I don't even know why. Haha. After all, I need to write my grad story shortly. But I would hold it for now. Maybe in a few days or time, I would. 

I called my 2019 as a 50/50 year. It's the year of creating new dreams. Not only my study milestone. 

Half of the year, I spend most of my time in Kuantan, and the other half is in my hometown. I live my life as a home full timer for now before I pursue my PhD. I think my rizq is there, instead of working. I've been thinking about it hard, and I hope things go well iAllah.

I found the other side of me last year when I lived in Kuala Kangsar for sure. The artistic part of me which I don't usually utilized hahaha. I also developed some dreams that I think might sounds relevant for me. It started because I wanted to find a decent muslim cafe for a reading and good coffee while waiting for  my dad's appointment. Unfortunately, I don't find one. The idea just popped up and I hope I can turn it into reality one day. 

I love good coffee, sables, breads, cakes and books. So I wanted to make one with good ambience, comfortable so that everyone who love their own time could come and find serenity and peace. I am obsess with cute and beautiful food. I am not a sweet eater actually hahaha but I just love the way how it looks. I know I am a big fan of food but the idea of creating cafe is a good thing coz I am someone who love to chill alone with my laptop, books and coffee.

I also develop my interest in skincare nowadays. I even thought of pursuing my PhD in skincare line so that I can develop my own skincare line, creating my own brand and packaging. Thinking about festival/seasons where people could celebrate their time with their loved one with my brand line for gifts at affordable prices. I wanted to create something as good as the korean skincare I am using. Lol, this is the confession of a acne prone skin girl who just got her skin healed after using wrong products. 

Since I am working a lot with bacteria and microbes, I am thinking to create a probiotic drink from my own strain. Cool tak? hahaha. This popped up sebab yakult selalu ada dalam fridge rumah which I enjoy drinking it so much loll.

After so much years of hectic lab and thesis writing, I finally have my own space to think about something cool. I can dream again finally hehehhe. This time, it is not the dreams that I have in highschool; to be a lecturer or having PhD etc, but it is something I love badly and wanted to share it with other people. I wanted to make people fall in love with things I have in mind :)

Pray for me.

Burn baby Burn

After 2 months. 

I am back. hahaha

Rasa macam susah sangat nak update blog lately, coz I am home, lol. 

But trust me, this blog knows me inside and out. My only place where I can spill a lot of things with confidence. I am not sure where to begin but lately, I receive a lot of application rejection. I am not sure if this is the curse after I rejected Chonbuk Uni Phd offer, lol but things going pretty wild lately. 

I live with my elder sister and dad now which I am very grateful of. They pay for my expenses, dad  gives me allowance every month and my sister often pays for good food and treat me too. I am always happy with everything I had till I've got rejection emails of the application I sent. I am always a positive one but sometimes I got swayed too. 

I always think of serving my dad coz I didnt quite got to do so last time. But when I do now, I think it gets too much till sometimes I feel useless for being at home. Okay please RIP this feeling ohmygod. 

I am trying to remind myself not to compare your life with others because everyone's track is different. But today I just got dumped again from a doctorate program since I am not a under/postgrad student from particular universities. I'm swaying back guys. T.T

I should have received Chonbuk Uni offer. Yes? No?

Okay dahh jangan nak menyesal sangat huhuhu

I need good ears to tell my stories and my worries. 

Anyone? Please? T.T

My Keyboard is Back!

Finally I got my keyboard back!

Ya Allah I've been abandoning my blog for a few months and I miss writing very very much.

Lepas submit hard-bound thesis terus dengan lappy-lappy aku abandon bhahaha.

So many things happened and I've been fermenting stories now haha. Dah boleh jadi ikan kering agaknya. My sole thought was actually to update my viva stories, how I think people around me supported me so much when I lost myself. I wanted to update the warm wishes people around me gave, how I've been collecting memories and photos before I left Kuantan for good.

However, things got pretty busy over here. I submitted my hard-bound thesis on the 1st week of Ramadhan and began to focus my ibadah and deeds during the month. Then, Shawal came. Shawal was pretty harsh and brutal. So many houses to visit and so many people I need to catch up but it was really reviving and I think Shawal really connects people alhamdulillah.

The past two months was quite a 'phewww' too. Two of my cousins were engaged and another marriage in my big family! So I went back and forth (honestly I didn't help much on the preparation like what I did to my sister). All I did was more to driving, accompanied my sister attending her interview while I had nothing on my list right now. For your info, I was offered a phd program in Korea but yeah I declined due to several circumstances. Now dah rasa kenapaa la aku pegi decline sebab dah bosan hari hari masak je kat rumah hahaha. Anyway, I believe that there's always beautiful hikmah and reasons why Allah want me to rest and serve my dad for now.

For the interval that I was not writing and updating stories, my laptop was on 'idle' mode since my keyboard was not working at all. Turn off sangat nak update resume and other things haha. So I keep on procrastinating, then lepas baik laptop, the girl in store told me that I need to back up all my document before my hard disk go off. She said my hard disk is turning bad. Pastu mood aku pun macam tak best sebab aku paling tak suka barang penting rosak, rasa macam serabut tau T.T. But I told myself numerous time my laptop just needs services since it's getting old now. Kalau boleh rasa macam nak settle phd with this laptop since my mom hadiahkan for my studies in Adelaide and now I've completed my master degree with the help of my laptop. Thank you so much mak, I hope every letter that I used to write using the lappy you gave me, it's equivalent to the reward that you receive. Semoga pahala mak berpanjangan.

I have nothing else to update. But this is something that I am so proud of.

It's not about me, but it's about the team.

Tahniah adik adik ku! I am so happy to see you guys finally growing.

Alhamdulillah tsumma, alhamdulillah.

A Reviving Meet Up

Hi korang.

Remember long time ago I wrote a post attributing to my housemates in Adelaide? Today I am about to write the same thing. But this time, it is with my so called friends when I was in boarding school.

So baru-baru ni aku attend majlis konvokesyen kawan baik aku masa kat SAKBA dulu. It was seriously a reviving session. Aku rasa best sangat walaupun aku terpaksa bawak kerja aku dan stay up malam tu untuk siapkan part of correction aku lol.

The convocation day was on sunday, dan sabtu tu aku dah ada siap-siap kat subang sebab teman abah pergi kenduri kawin kat One city. Malam tu dok tunggu acah sampai putra height dan lepastu kteorang stay up sesama buat kerja dah dedua sekarang sambung master hehehe. Lama aku rasa tak stay up belajar dengan kawan mcm ni. And the memory about us struggling for SPM just vividly came. Aku siap pesan suruh acah beli jajan sebab acah kalau study kena ada makanan kahkahkah. Tu zaman sekolah dulu lah, kat bawah meja mesti ada honey star ke, keropok ke hahaha. Aku percaya acah masih tak berubah kehkehkeh

The convocation day arrived then lepastu bermulalah kegigihan aku dengan acah menapak nak pergi konvo safy haha sebab kereta tak boleh masuk dalam. Abah n kak yang terpaksa drop kteorang kat gate dan beg baju memang mintak ihsan pakcik guard uitm shah alam masa tu mintak tumpangkan lol.. Gigih sangat plan hadiah untuk safy, bawak bunga dan belon berjalan tengah terik bhahahaha. Nasib ada bus offer naik masa tu. KALAU TAK BOLEH GARING AKU DENGAN HAFSAH MASA TU. Caplocks siap sebab serius haritu panas ya ampunnnn

Congratulation Safirah Hanum!

You've made it til the end. I am so proud of you <3 i="">

Despite hari panas gila  masa niiii, 

nasib baik maintain gambar lawa muka happy heeee

Aku tak tahu la rupa aku dalam gambar kat studio mcm mana. Aku harap tudung aku tak kembang dan aku kekal cantik. Anyway, lepas check in hotel masa tu, aku dengan acah dah terbongkang dah masa ni. Plan nak swimming bagai tapi tak dah mampuuu. But the day continued in a perfectly comforting way alhamdulillah. 

10pm - Bingsu at Mykori

11pm - Oden at Family Mart

12am - Fried chicken

Sambil ber-fried chicken sambil membawang. Thank god ada ayam goreng kalau nak pillow talk aku rasa tak sampai seminit aku dah pengsan malam tu. It was such a good night coz you know there was happy occassion and talking to your bestfriend is like a good therapy :) disamping menginap di hotel yang best dan breakfast yang menarikk hahaha

7.45am - Breakfast at Concorde 

#Bae

Lepas aku kecewa dengan Ayman Rashdan Wong baru-baru ni, 

aku dah ada Bae baru. Cukuplah roasted duck sebagai penyeri hidup.

Tsk tsk tsk

Pretty much aku rasa retreat mcm ni was such a refreshing one. Acah kata once in while kita memang kena ada masa macam ni which is aku agree hehehe. Tunggu la next convo aku kita stay marriot pulak kayh kahkahkah. Boleh start menabung dari sekarang heee. 

Aku rasa aku bertuah sangat sebab sebagai seorang sanguine dan extrovert aku memang perlukan orang di keliling aku. Aku lemau kalau tak jumpa orang. But in every places that I go, Allah grant warm and  lovely people around me. Masa kat asrama dulu, we pratically lived together sebab dok asrama kan. So perangai buruk memasing semua dah tahu hahaha, ketelusan aku dengan dorang ni pun dah level 99 dah. We shared everything. And I dare to say they see me growing. Dari zaman tak matang sampai la kteorang share thoughts on life and things through whatsapp group. Nak shopping beli baju pun msg kat group kekekke. 

Berbeza dengan geng diva aku kat all girls school dulu in which geng aku masa tu 10 orang (this is normal in girls school), my world revolves mostly with my 2 bestfriends in boarding school. Acah n safy kawan sekelas aku, dan kteorang bertiga dulu duduk sebaris. Though kteorang tiga berbeza sungguh perangai pretty much we compliment each other. Safy of coz la pelajar paling cemerlang antara kteorang 3. So 3 bulan sblm spm, safy pindah dapat kelas pertama, aku dengan acah stranded masuk kelas ke-3 out 7 class masa tu. hahahahaha Habis je form 5. Kteorang dah tak study sama dah. Aku n acah masuk matriks tapi acah kat kepala batas, aku kat changlun nun. Safy sambung dip pharmacy masa ni. 

But you know, true friends would always be there when things aren't on our way kan? Masa aku second year kat Adelaide, my mom was ill and passed away. Tambah pulak aku kena reject masa nii. Bagai ditimpa tangga bertubi tubi gituu haaa. Masa ni memang aku rasa hilang separuh kekuatan aku. But being good friends, dorang ni lah teman aku for a couple of days masa ni. Turun kuala kangsar teman aku. Huuuu. 

Few years later, acah experienced a massive broken heart. Dan bermula la sesi membawang dan mencaci lelaki tersebut dalam group whatsapp hahahaha. Korang jangan memain bab2 ni dengan perempuan haha. So gigih la aku dengan safy teman acah bercuti kat cameron highland sebab nak bagi acah hilang rasa sedih dia sambil malam tu pillow talk. Okay aku lega aku tak tdur awal masa tu hahahaha.

This time we gather around in a happy occasion. We didn't grief which makes it more special. 

Decision aku untuk pergi boarding school aku rasa a blessing in disguise kot walau result SPM aku in return takla segempak kawan-kawan aku kat sekolah lama. Kat situ aku kenal al-mathurat, belajar puasa isnin dan khamis, dan kat situ jugak ada kawan-kawan yang sampai sekarang masih menjadi penyokong setia aku, in whatever I do =) 

Thank you girls. You both are the best!

Aku tutup dengan gambar 10-9 tahun dulu. 

Aku tahu. 

Kteorang dari dulu sampai sekarang maintain comel kan?

Adios!

Where are you at?

Hi guys. 

I am currently trying to finish off my thesis correction for quite sometimes. I don't know what happen to me recently but it seems like I lost my motivation. 

I feel so burden and heavy trying to finish this. It's been nearly 20 days since my ptem but I just couldn't grasp myself back. I feel like talking and going for a sip of coffee. 

Well, I did but this burden does not go away. It stays and I don't know what to do. 

Maybe I need someone else who I can blurt everything out in the most comfortable way? I don't know. 

Mujahadah sangat ni dah kenapa? T.T

Anyway, I have a confession to make.

Okay dah boleh pasang lagu thousand years - Christina Perri hahahaha

Wait. yeah. I am serious. Turn that on now. 

Dah pasang? 

Well, here it is...

I chatted with someone who listened to me so well once upon a time. The last time that we keep in touch was on January 20th 2017. Ever since, I never heard about that particular person anymore. I was left hanging knowing nothing about his uni, face and his details. The only thing I knew was he is from Segamat, Johor and studied physics education in a local university. I am always curious about his where about because his timing is always different. I woke at 5am having my sahur on my Monday and Thursday puasa routine but I would always found him actively online. One big fact that I would always remember was him telling me couples of times that he did not want to fall for anyone. But to tell you the truth, I did several times. Although we were sort of like just talking about life, virtually. But I am glad that it didn't became a big thing though since somehow he could be so comforting at times. I remember him picking a maroon abaya over the purple one coz he said I might look better in maroon. I did not manage to buy it because it was out of stock, but then I picked a maroon blouse when I attended a conference in Johor last time. I uploaded myself wearing the maroon blouse, for certain reason I wanted him to notice me in maroon but too bad he had deactivated his fb waayy before that. In the chat that I scrolled back, we told each other that we would miss chatting like this, I don't know about him but I always do. When I wrote about wanting someone to listen to me, it would always remind me of him. He told me that I could have known him more when the time is right. I am actually kind of waiting and still curious though years might have passed.

I would always remember you this way.

Or is it perhaps, the time would never be right?

*I wish I could reveal his actual name here. But I choose him to remain anonymous and let this stays between me and him, only.

My kind of lullaby these days

I have so much things to tell here.

Loads of them. But I have to hold them for a while.

For now, let's listen to my go to song recently :)

Enjoy the song!

Goodnight :)

Youtube is life

I practically live with my laptop these few years and I don't watch TV. 

I started to ditch the tv programmes when I live abroad sebab tv aussie tak best, setiap state channel lain lain (punya besar aussie sampai begitu sekali) dan rumah memang takde tv pon masa tu ehek. So there are so much things ongoing on the tv which I do not bother lol. And I carry away that habit until now. I even do not know how to switch on the tv at my home anymore haha. 

When I live with my gadgets and laptop, my entertainment is solely YOUTUBE! I love youtube so much since I can practically choose what I want to watch by type in! haaa mudah, hujan pun line clear boleh stream video lagi heee

So here are some of my all time fav youtubers and channels if you want to kill your times and grab some entertainment online :)

First, I would say Joan Kim! 

Below is her recent video on her main channel.

I started watching her when I had a terrible breakout and as I was searching for important ingredients and products to get rid of my acne at first. I really enjoy her editing and how she talks about her skincare routine and stuffs. She's a beauty blogger and what I enjoy the most is to see her vlog on her daily life. The cafe she choose and the food look so appetizing! She's good at hosting it and she always think of something new for her channel. Recently, she launched a night and day cream collaborated with Neogen which is Neogen X Joanday. Seeing that and listening how she get far at  this point  makes me so proud of her :') I was excited for the cream and I would loooveee to try her night and day cream! Since I have so much things to try now, I would probably wait for it and till I get extra money, would definitely purchase one. She had a 365 days of  Joanday before and she basically vlog everyday! That was last 2 years and last year she had 100 days of series and I am still waiting for her next vlog project in 2019. Her second channel was packed with lots places in Korea, and her friends too, so indirectly I've got to know her friends too, lol. 

One of Joanday episode! 

My second pick would be, Mark Wiens!

Here is one of his best 2018 food review.

Oh my god, he really knows how to eat! I am a foodie. I love eating so much and yeahhh his food review really keeps me drooling. I love his shirt written I travel for food very much coz that was basically what I did too hahahaha. Mark eats so much I think so I don't get it why he stills so skinny T.T If it's me, I might gain lot of kgs, and had trouble to loose my weight back. Some people have diff tastebuds, but I guess he has the asian tongue when he enjoys eating spicy food etc, so what he usually eat in the video makes me want to try them too :)

Thirdly, I would say Maangchi!

Here's one of her video on making gimbap/kimbap

Well, I started to watch her cooking when I was in Adelaide. My housemate used to love korean food so much and there were tons of Korean markets when I was in Adelaide. So I tried to find recipes in youtube and finally discovered her channel. Later I watched lots of her videos although I do not have the intention to make them because I love watching her cooking videos since the editing was super nice and the food looks so tempting! I have tried 4 recipes from her channel, which are gimbap, dakjim, hotteok and japchae. Honestly, they all turned out pretty well! Glad that my friends love them. 

Fourtly, it would be Blimey!

Blimey is my fav fav fav channel after Joan :)

Blimey has a fandom now, and it is called Blimers. I am proud to say that yes. I am A BLIMERS! hahahaha. Omg, these girls are so fun to watch! I mean they are just like nice korean girls who keep on making videos on Malaysia and Korea. Other than food, I appreciate culture very much. So when they started to make videos and compare it with both culture, it is very informative and fun to watch. If I have to choose to hang out between joan and blimey girls, I would probably say blimey because joan is like another level of standard haha. Much probably because she grew up in USA before. But these girls are just warm to watch and they seem like my go to friends haha. So fun and humble to begin with heheh. 

The last one is still another food vlog. Honeykki :D

One of her what I eat in a day episode. 

Whenever I feel like eating or cooking something I would start to look for its own recipe. So I think I discovered this channel when I was looking for a korean fried chicken recipe. Her video is quite a satisfaction actually. It's a different style with maangchi in terms of the editing and video style. But her what I eat in a day episode is so good to watch. I love looking at what she cooks coz the sound of cutting and frying really gets me into the video. If I have my own kitchen now, I would probably cook a lot or starting my own food blog aha! 

These are my top 5 youtube channels that I love watching. I normally get so excited when Joan and Blimey videos are up nowadays. But before I got so into them, I usually spend my time watching the food videos so much. So if you guys are bored and wanting to watch something light and relaxing, go and explore youtube! There are tons of youtubers would make your days better other than solely dramas and movies. Since I lose sparks of watching dramas and movies, I usually go for youtube and explore more if I have the time. So yeah, check out my fave youtubers then!

Happy watching!

2018 self-claim achievements

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm sorry I break my promise as I did not finish my Korea travel story on December. I went home last week which I did not intend to, so my schedule on writing blog just went all over the place. I've saved half of my writing but did not manage to publish them yet.  

While we are still at the heat of celebrating new year, I may want to take this chance to look back at the unlocked achievements and some of the things I learnt throughout 2018. I think this is like the tradition in my blog now, to look back at the previous years and to reflect back is a huge and important thing to do, at least for me. So skipping my travel story is not a big deal for now ehehe. I don't write much on my facebook, but I do blabbering a lot in my blog. I guess people who are still learning about me through blog posts are some cool creatures and extraordinary! You are really one of the kind. Thank you for reading and witnessing the important things happened in my life :)

Anyway, let's look closer to the year of 2018. Lemme summarize the past few years ever since I think I am back to blog with another phase of life. 2016 was the buffering year for me, coz lot's of thing changed as I experienced a huge transition from Australia to Malaysia, from bachelor degree to Master degree programme and came to unexpected place etc, 2017 was indeed the year of me to understand and grasping life better. I learnt the meaning of persistence & motivation to pursue your study, I started to realize the real meaning behind commitments, and wealth does not mean you owning a huge amount of money, but being happy is the ultimate goal in life. 

I would say 2018 was not that plain, but I achieved quite lots of things last year. 

1) I successfully completed my thesis writing on October!

This is the most highlighted part of 2018. A lot of people are complaining about writing thesis. Well, I was not excepted from this but the determination I had was totally insane. 3 months of writing it felt like a throwing up journey, but once I set my mind I just did not know to stop. Alhamdulillah tsumma alhamdulillah. I've done the most crucial part in research, I am still waiting for my thesis evaluation, so please pray for it :)

2) I have actively participated in 2 virtual runs & a netball tournament AND I LOVE IT!

I love experiencing things especially when it has to do with your physical interactions. Well, I don't realize this at first but I was an athlete when I was young, I learnt quickly on dance movements but my potential on sports haven't been polished for quite some times. Pretty much that explained why I love virtual run. I am now been using Nike Run Club to track my daily exercise routine. Please add me up if you guys are using the same apps: Syafiqa Tsukushi is my id. Anddd the netball tournament was actually grilled and roasted for my team hahaha, but I didn't expect I did quite better than anyone else and played center position kayhhh. haaaa. 

3) I received quite a number of invited speakers, panelists and MC invitation

I am quite well known for an outspoken person for certain reasons, lol. But I think I didn't quite reveal my true color ever since I left school or even Adelaide. But last year, I received tons of invitation especially in IIUM to voice out the postgraduate opinions in a forum, being MC for symposiums and several general grand meetings held in Kulliyyah of Science. One of the biggest achievement I had so far was presenting a pretty heavy topic: pedophile to the primary school students. It needed patience and creativity to handle them and I think I did pretty well though I lost a bit of my voice after the session lol. Good job Wan Syafiqa. *Patting my own back* 

4) I successfully edited the whole postgraduate magazine VIRTOUSI!

Omg, this is quite an achievement for me, alhamdulillah :) I always feel that I do have the talent to design a little bit, but I always felt incompetent enough whenever it comes to designing. Since I usually tell people my honest opinions for some designs etc, and yes some of them do not meet my expectation so much. Though that was the case, I don't talk about it a lot because I want to appreciate their effort the most so I usually keep quite. It was different when I was in Australia, my team mates made great designs and they always beyond my imagination to be honest. But it is different here, so I told myself why don't I tried to make one and we'll see how it goes. I do feel satisfaction because it really fit my tastes lol, obviously coz I created it but I received numerous compliments from the people who read the magazine and it made me feel so happy. So at least, I proved myself that self-insecurity is not needed here :)

5) I learnt to take care of my skin in a real deal!

You guys may be knowing that I struggled a lot with my breakout on the end of 2017 I guess. So early this year I made a lot of notes on the ingredients that I need to concentrate to get rid of my acne and after 5 months I did reduce them 80% and I am so glad after a real hard work searching for the right skin care. So I shared a few of my empties on this blog and I plan to write another empties sessions soon coz my skin improved a lot way better than before. I appreciate my skin better now and I often pay much attention whenever it comes to skin care routine. So stay tune for the next post on my skin care products!

6) Travel updates: 3 vacations last year.

Woot woot, I love travelling and I know everyone knows I do. So I went to Bandung, Indonesia early of the 2018. Seoul and Jeju Island in Korea and the end of 2018, and also Kuching, Sarawak in the middle of 2018. I enjoyed them so much that I feel like I wanna spend my whole life tracing the world! hahaha. Anyway, this year, I'll be starting off with Tawau, Sabah on mid January soon. I'm gonna fly to Semporna to meet my ex-housemate whom I miss so much! It'll be a reunion of Shipsters with Hajar and Kak Mas. Too bad that Ain can't join us along. But I'm looking forward to meet her and her baby Medina once they touch down Malaysia soon!

Last year, I talked a lot about how 2017 changed my views on certain issues. But this year, I think there's a lot of things that I manage to achieve and share with you guys. I will consider 2019 is another challenging year coz I think there would be another transition of life I need to experience. I am now in a job hunting and scholarship hunting for my phd. I hope for better days ahead and everything would fall in the perfect place and time. Be it my phd, getting a job, well yea even getting my future Tsukasa ;)

Adios! 

Pre-story of my next travel diary

I am sorry for so many delays. I lost a lil bit of my focus and I become nervous without reasons haha. Entah la kenapa, but well yeah sebelum Disember melabuhkan tirai, I will try to finish my travel story. I just wanna write this though I am not sure who would still read my story lol

Anyway, this is the best part out of all including so many dramatic scenes when we were in Jeju. Our flight took off in the evening actually and we almost miss the flight because apparently my sister salah tengok jam and she thought we still have an hour to go dan still nak makan kat myeondong lels. Jadi berlari la kami dalam departure hall tu dan duduk2 je flight pun take off dengan gembiranya hahaha.

I purposely arranged our itinerary of our shopping time on the last day in Seoul so that we can really budget our expenses. In Korea, there are tons of shopping street and shopping places espc in Seoul. The best thing was they were all so cheap! Baju high quality semua boleh dapat RM30 je. That was crazy but being a typical me, I didn't buy any but I definitely would kalau tengah banyak duit ahaha coz semua barang-barang dia cantik cantikk, plus they are really up to date! To be honest, I still think I need more time to enjoy Seoul because window shopping could be one of your top itinerary if you come to Seoul. I am so into Korean design nowadays so I wish I could stay longer to explore more of their blouses and dresses. Tengok je pun dah cukup hokay hahaha. Well, we made it to Namdaemun market to look for gifts for our friends and family and then headed to Myeondong to shop for skincare!

Myeondong was insane. There were cheap skincare items and make up materials as to compare if you bought things online or if they sold it in overseas. I obviously can't shop like my sisters so sis tahan nafsu tengok skincare best best, shielding myself from the promoters persuasion and promotions, I was really strong to avoid the temptation I tell youuuu. I have made lists of skincare that I really wanna try and alhamdulillah, went to myeondong and I bought things I really wanna have. I successfully bought my snail essence which was a totally hot item of Cosrx and it was still sold out when I checked the item in hermo before I went to Korea. I also got my other Cosrx products and bought tons of sheet masks. And guess what, being a lip tint addict, I purchased my lip tint from Nature Republic for just RM18. Aha, before that I also get to taste hotteok in Namdaemun! I love watching travel vlogs and each time I watched vlogs in Korea, hotteok catches my attention so much so I made it myself out of curiosity hahaha. I can say that mine tasted pretty good so when I saw hotteok sold along the market I got so excited just to verify the taste of my hotteok hehehhee. 

I am too lazy to find all my pictures back in the street. It was the street that was packed with people and goods. But, I was totally happy in Seoul and being happy over buying things was another level of happiness actually although duit mengalir bagaikan air haha. 

So here's some video I edit to sum up my days in Korea. Before I proceed with another post on Jeju, please enjoy the video below :)

Toodles!

BTOB - Missing you

Hi.

I literally fall in love with a song at the first heard.

In which when I read the lyrics, it literally tells you the untold story of mine.

I never knew this boy group at the first place anyway but the song and lyrics are on point.

Presenting, the heartfelt of missing you.

Dear Wan Syafiqa,

Let's stay focus and cool.

Ps: I'll talk about my Jeju trip soon.

Day 3: Take 2 on Seoul

Hi guys.

I should have written this way back then. But I was quite busy trying to finish up my manuscript for scientific journal I need to complete. So I lose a little bit of writing my online diary. 

Anyway there's another reason of not updating this post coz I've been quite lazy to retrieve the pictures last time since they were all saved in my icloud. So yeah, I postponed on updating my second part. 

Well, the next destination we went was of course the famous Nami Island. It took around 2 hours to get there so we make sure that we went out as early as possible as we wanted to visit Itaewon at night. We took the train to go to nami island and I would highly recommend you to use 'Korea Subway' apps to look for the route. But you have to know which station you need to get off. You can't simply type in the destination like how we use google maps. Hence, you need to do a little bit of research and jot down a few notes so you won't get lost. I even have my notebook and highlighted important station and stops so we wont get lost easily haha. Good thing is it also showed you the fees per ride. Pretty much you can do the budget well and have at least rough ideas how much you should topup. I only used around 20 000 won for our 4 days around Seoul, and it is actually quite cheap. I usually use google maps pretty much on everything coz I love it so much ever since I live in Australia. You just need to type in your destination and it tells you everything and also the possible public transport you can take from your location. If it's involved in subway line etc, it even tells you the line and the route. It works really well in Australia and Japan but it was hopeless in Korea hahaha. I don't even know why. 

From the station to the ticket counter we took a taxi to reach Nami Island. Well actually at this area, you can visit other places too like Petite France etc, but I told myself, no you don't have to go and it's okay. Let's made it to France someday lol. As soon as I reached at the last point, I saw so many people there. It was packed with tourists OH MY GOD. And the lines to buy the tickets were insane. But we don't have to wait that long though, they did quite good job. I applauded them for that. It took only 3 000 won per entry. And also you can choose either you want to enter it by ferry or zipline. Since we were on tight budget, ferry was our choice. Memang pack la satu ferry tu penuh dengan tourists, kalau karam mati katak agaknya haha. It was a very short one, 10-15 minutes pun dah sampai. 

The first hour was cycling all over Nami Island, and we searched for the instagrammable spots to take pictures of course (although I don't have ig). I think it was around 10 000 to 12 000 won for 1 hour I guess. 

Last stop dia Gapyeong station rupanya. hehehe

Nasib baik bergambar

Sekarang kita dah sampai kat tempat beli tiket ya tuan tuan dan puan puan 

lepas berbasikal singgah tangkap gambar jap

After that we stopped by a muslim friendly restaurant and ordered black bean noodles or jajangmyeon. Sedap wei lain beno rasanya dengan dubuyo ke myeondong toppoki ke so different hokayy. But I can't remember the name. It is actually quite easy to find it. Korang pegi je amik pamplet nami island kat tourist center, it includes the halal sections. Then baru lah kteorang menapak cari tempat winter sonata. My dad was exhausted already coz he's been here twice and my dad jenis yang cepat bosan so dia dah nak balik haha. But being the typical Wan Syafiqa, I won't give up until I reached the signature statue and so called trees hahahaha. 

And yes bebeh, we found it.

 So this is the place peopleeee

The famous winter sonata statue. Sebab takde snow so kurang la skit feeling dia 

ehehhehe

Engkorang tengok la ramai dia macam manaaa

Stress aku nak bergambar orang photobomb sesaje 

Once mission accomplished, we made it back and sebab aku beriya nak makan dakgalbi gigih la kteorang cari. There were lotss of dakgalbi restaurant but there's only one halal place which is chuncheon dakgalbi. Quick tips, if you get off from you ferry, you need to head way down to the right and look for this restaurant. It was not too far from the jetty and it is surrounded with other restaurants as well. So you need to have good eyes for this hehe. 

I have to admit I enjoy eating this so much despite I was quite full 

coz I had a big bowl of jajangmyeon earlier.  Banyak kauuu

Semput jugak nak habiskan. 

Then, get back to the train station and headed back to Seoul. Another 2 hours and 30 minutes journey. We departed around 4pm, so it was already dark when we reached Seoul. It was quite a long day as we made it to Itaewon at night mainly because we want to experience the national mosque there :)

SubhanaAllah, Allahuakbar. 

It always feel good to be around your fellow muslims <3 i="">

The sense of belonging just got me here mashaAllah. 

As you guys know, Itaewon is full of Kebabs, loads of halal variety food. I was so tempted to try the halal guys hahaha since I've seen so many good reviews of the restaurant. We didn't anyway coz I let my dad chose his restaurant and we went to the same restaurant he went before. Since I heard that it was pretty tough to get a loaf of halal bread, we visited Salam bakery and bought a few stacks of bread to prepare for our next journey in jeju. 

We had so much walking in Korea and I truly enjoyed it. Mungkin sebab nak kurus jugak ahahaha.

Anyway, I have so much un-ticked lists in my wish lists. If I ever visit to Seoul again,  I have to: 

• Drink coffee at their coffee shops
• Try their Bingsu with their various flavor
• Try halal korean fried chicken. The smells of the fried chickens was so damn good!
• Wear their school uniform and walk around Lotte world 
• Try their halal korean bbq in Gangnam which I missed on the 1st night
• Go to their university and look for the school of Microbiology ahahaha
• Shop again at Myeondong and visit my fave korean skincare line
• Try their street food with the guidance of trusted muslims
• Attend free make up tutorials in Gangnam 
• Attend their korean cooking class since I heard they provide halal materials as well. Cool kan?

Hah, banyak nauu. Conclusion?

Kena pergi lagi sekali please. 

*I postponed this post for sooo long since so many things encountered while I was writing this post. Stay tune for the next post on my next stop, Jeju island!

Day 1 & 2 : Seoul Took My Soul Away

Guys.

I haven't move on with South Korea just yet that I have been boasting around telling people how good the trip was and how badly I wanted to come again to fulfill all the things we did not do. I need more time for that purpose obviously! I watched Joan Kim/Joanday Vlog a lot. The excitement sparked and yes people, second vacation is totally a must.

I have a weird habit of keeping things close to me if I feel like I need to achieve something from it. Just like how this trip goes, I have been telling a lot of people and I even wrote a post on how I really want to experience South Korea myself. Well, Korean wave blows hard. Even my dad won't hesitate to come there for the second time. Many people around me have been to South Korea and came back with souvenir in hands since I was at my teens. I used to gather them around and brought them to whenever I go or keep them in the visible area so that I can keep on telling myself, I would be there someday and I just did. It was refreshing and amazing indeed :)

I consider this as my post-thesis submission celebration because I flew right away after submitted them hehehehheh

Anyway, I feel like I should be there for two weeks or more so that I can really satisfied with my trip. But yeah, it is never easy to gain money people... marilah ukur baju di badan sendiri haha

So it took around 6 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul, Incheon International Airport. I feel like my half day was wasted just for being on the flight. *Sigh* Flight from KL would be departing for 3x times a day I guess, so I highly recommend you to take the night flight. Hence, you'll be reaching Seoul in the morning and right away explore the city. Since we took the morning flight, we reached our hotel late evening. Incheon-Dongdaemun took around 1 hour and 30 mins which did not include our buffer time of purchasing T-money card for the subway and our portable wifi.

I choose to stay around Dongdaemun since it is only a few stops away from Myeondong and Namdaemun market considering that we need to catch our flight to Jeju after 3 days in Seoul. The first night we reached Seoul, it was pouring the whole night and the next morning too. My original plan was to take a subway to Gangnam to have dinner but it was quite late, plus we had troubles to find our hostel coz we chose the wrong exit out of ! The Korean subway line was totally big and every station they have tons of exits, and if you chose the wrong one, you'll definitely end up at a different place.

First lesson learnt: Read how to go a particular place carefully and choose the right exit!

If you are interested to stay at our place, it was Sunrise Dongdaemun Inn. This place is one of the cheapest place in Seoul as far as I searched through booking.com and I think the rate for an average price for dormitory (1) person is similar or I could say slightly cheaper if you compared to the (1) person rate of living in the three-bed room in this place for 1 night . Since we lived in a private room, so I think that's the added point of this place. I was pretty excited because our room was located at the attic. If you watched Korean dramas, you'll see so much scene on how people living at the attics. And they also provide space for you to chill outside. Perhaps it is where people often drinks and eat fried chickens. Pretty much, it really gives you the similar vibe hahaha. Not to mention it also has mini kitchen for you to keep your food in refrigerator or heat your food in the microwave. Fret not, they also provided you with all sort of utensils you can use to cook.

The attic where we can access from our room!

Cool kannn

Anyway, that night my dad dozed off early because we had so much walking from the airport to our rented place. I was long for the Korean Barbecue in Gangnam since it was the only halal barbecue place you can find in Seoul but yeah we didn't make it T.T I need more time pleaseee. Kak yang and I didn't want to waste our time so we went to walk around Dongdaemun. Well, I read that Dongdaemun market should be visited in night time because the night market would be so alive during midnight time but unfortunately, we didn't even catch a glimpse of it. I walked for about 3 KM that night but yeah still nothing. I am not sure is it because of the rain or is it us that did not find the right market. So we went to shop for umbrellas and stocked up our rice to be eaten the next morning. Thought of buying some veges but they were really really expensive. The price was so much different from the veges we had in Japan. We still can have veges soup in the morning in Tokyo, but we couldn't do it in Seoul haha.

The next day, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace and we also visited Bukchon Hanok Village. Actually, in this area you can also visit Insadong because they are located close to each other. But we didn't make it to Insadong though, the palace tour was massive enough. The palace was big and we weren't able to walk freely since it still rained that morning. But it was still okay. We had a free tour offered by a school student named Da Hun and I applauded her for doing such a great job in giving us the explanation. I think it was a very good alternative to develop someone's soft skill and Malaysia needs to do that too! It rained all the morning so we missed the show in the palace. But we took some pictures of the people. My sister began to doubt whether were they real people or not as they keep on maintained straight face even though we took pictures together. That was quite hilarious to be honest hahaha

Da Hun and us!

Prior to take this picture, there were bunch of good looking men around. 

So I've seen another beauty of Seoul ehehhehe

Besar dan tinggi sangat mamat ni! 

Power boleh maintain muka straight 24 jam agaknya

Simply love this photo because it was well captured! :)

After we finished our tour with Da Hun, there is a free museum admission just next to the palace: National Folk Museum Tour. I think the appropriate time to finish the tour around the palace would be around half day I reckon? I still think there were more things I haven't discovered though because there were too much things to see huhu. As soon as we set off our feet from the museum, the sun begun to rise. If you're looking for a place to eat halal authentic Korean food in this area, please find Halal Kitchen that is run by a Korean Muslim man named Mr. Hassan. From the palace you need to walk a little but it was a walking distance and possible for you to reach by walking. The restaurant is situated a little bit of uphill so you need to look at up right and use the stairs to go to the restaurant. Actually, by the time we got there, the restaurant was still under construction but then Mr. Hassan was kind enough to offer us Bulgogi set and cooked for us. There was also prayer space so while I waited for my sister and my dad to finish their zohor prayer, I was given Banana uyu for free. How nice! I was thankful enough that he allowed us to dine at his place, but then he gave me the milk so I could feel that Muslims are connected through some kind of special ways hehe. 

You'll see the sign board. 

Mr. Hassan Lee who was kind enough to cook us this hearty bulgogi hotpot.

The delicious banana uyu gaiss! 

It became tastier because it is for free hehehhe

Then, we made our way to the area of Bukchon Hanok Village which is not far from the restaurant. You'll see some volunteers who wore red vest holding the map of the area. They are very helpful and friendly! So please do not hesitate to ask them. I've got so clear information from them because most of them can speak English and eventually found Hanboknam Hanbok rental place! There are two type of hanbok you can rent. The premium one where you can choose characters with more diligent design and the ordinary hanbok which is more cheaper than the premium hanbok. We chose the normal design and it costs us around 20000 won per person for 1.5 hours. You can choose to wear the hanbok for all day and wandering the area. I forgot to tell you that you can get free admission to Gyeongbokgung palace if you dressed up in Hanbok. What a catch kan? hehe

I was actually laughing so hard seeing my dad with this attire!

He was so determined to wear the hat everyoneeee lol

Family potrait

If we were born in the Joseon dynasty

The village itself has so many intsagram-able spot.

So many spots to make you feel like you live in that area and the ancient time

If you were to visit this village, you need to try the tea shops in the area so that you can feel the vibe of going through the time machine, enjoying your Joseon era at its finest!

Welcome to Tsukushi-Lee clan house!

We ordered berry tea, sikhye and rice cake. 

I always wanted to try sikhye after watching Minguk in TROS spilled the sikhye by accident

in the sauna. The scene was too funnyyy hahaha

For the rice cake, I don't really favour that kind of sauce. 

Sweet sauce which fits sweet tooth people. 

We ended our tour at 6 pm I guess, and began to make our way back to Dongdaemun. We thought of tracing back the market but unfortunately we didn't make it again. I actually did not know what went wrong because I was usually a quick witted person with directions and places. I adapt to new place really easy but this Dongdaemun market, I failed to find it huhu. Nevertheless, that was one of the craziest walking we experienced after the one we had in Tokyo. But we were very happy with wearing hanbok since it has been in my wish list for a long time! I can't remember what we had for dinner but I guess it was the rice we heated in the microwave and rendang tok abah brought from Malaysia. We were too tired to look for halal food and I pitied Abah who can't walk anymoree hahaha. What an experience!

I guess, I'll stop for now and would update another entry for my 3rd and 4th day in Seoul. 

For a travelling like this, it always makes me feel refresh and alive again.

I always look into Korea through the screen but now, I have set my foot on it.

I thanked Allah for always listening to my prayers.