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!

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.

Travel stories update :)

Hi guys!

Lama dah tak cerita pasal travel kan?

I came back from Sarawak recently. This is actually my second time went there. The 1st one was 8 years ago when I was still 16teen but that trip was not considered as really a vacation because all we did was more to visiting my dad's friend whom he didn't met for almost 40 years. Abah was the 1st batch teacher who came to Sarawak to teach Bahasa Melayu from semenanjung at that time. And while he was still a young lad, he met a kind hearted lady who used to cook for him lunch and dinner. Eventually that makcik and pakcik Palah became his foster family. So we went up to Julau and even Dalat (We learned the story of Dalat during our form 1 literature components if you guys can still remember), visiting his 1st posting school as a teacher, we even went to his rumah sewa back then. I know abah was happy, but we didn't get the chance to feel as happy as him, LOL. So yeah, we went again and this time we visited quite numbers of places. And of course, most importantly the taste of Sarawak food. Comparing the two state lying on the land of Borneo: I must say food in Sarawak fits my taste buds more than the food I had in Sabah. But the spectacular beaches views and sunset in Sabah wins over trees and forest I've seen in Sarawak.

This is actually my 2nd family trip after Bandung in January. Bandung was so much fun too since my bestfriend from high school tagged along as well. But as soon as I came back from Bandung, I received numerous works I need to settle. And because we had my niece Aqiqah held not long after that trip, I lost spark of writing about it. I was too exhausted I think lol. Travelling back and forth, cleaning and doing chores at house, finishing my lab works and writing at the same time.

The last few months were quite intense coz datelines are all on ques.
Sigh.

Anyway, I will write up my Bandung story after this maybe if I have the time. The place is amazing, foods were wonderful and people are just so soft and polite. The only cons was it rained heavily on the second last day so we missed out the most important scenic moment and pictures in Bandung which was to visit Kawah Putih and the nearby Danau. It was kind of cold up there and the rain did not even allowed us to get even a glimpse of the Danau huhuhu. All we could see was fog. But then Abah said, kalau ada anak-anak abah nak kawin, kita pergi Bandung lagi sebab nak beli kain hahaha. I think 4 days and 3 nights were so short to discover the hidden gem in Bandung. Overall both were great journey.

My travel diaries officially started when I studied abroad. Oh maybeee, a year before that coz my family started to bring me flying to see the world. Since I got like much free time before pursuing my studies at that time. 9 months were not a short period that I ended up going to 3 countries. Going around Asian countries after several years spending times travelling around southern zone of the world, I am more and more proud to be Asian hihi. Because I think Asian are unique creatures which hold much more tradition and cultures which I love experiencing them.

I'll be back to Kuala Kangsar tomorrow after dropping by Pesta Buku at PWTC and that is, obviously for voting and PRU purpose. I take the chance to have a week off from Kuantan. Going back relaxing at my hometown, trying many many recipes I saved on facebook and making my sister and dad eating all them up soon. No worries people. I'll chip in my entries in between.

See you soon.
Bye! :D

Part 3: Yangshuo, China

Hi guys!

Here it comes, part 3...

I guess Guilin is the most highlighted part of my China Adventure. I like it so much and it's really an absolute place to visit if you ever think of coming here. 

While I still can't move on with the scenery I witnessed in Longsheng the day before, this time was beyond my thoughts too. Yangshuo is a very small and peaceful village. And it took around 1 hour and 16 minutes to reach here. It's either you can board a bus or board a cruise like what we did. 

Boarding a bus is a much more cheaper option la. Time saving pun sebab naik cruise dalam 2 jam la nak sampai.

We chose to board a cruise to gain new experience. Sebab tak pernah naik lah main reason dia! aherher. Kalau nak naik cruise pergi krabi, phuket tu kena tunggu gaji 50k agaknya. 

Yangshuo by cruise along Li River - CNY380 included Lunch. 

Aku try tanya kot-kot ada vegeterian meal, tapi unluckily takde. Dalam tu ada dorang jual kudap-kudapan seperti udang size kecil yang di goreng serta ikan bilis. 

Anyway, we began to check out early in the morning at 8am. Thought that yesterday was the end of our meet up with sugar. Nevertheless, Sugar made her grand appearance again. She went all busy managing the tour group and fighting in the crowds for us to get the cruise tickets. Bersemangat waja betul Sugar tu. Memang jaga pelancong-pelancong bawah dia dengan baik. Bagus. Aku suka.

Sebelum beli tiket, Sugar ada tanya kteorang nak upgrade seat tak sebab boleh nampak much better and clear view konon-kononya la. Dan kteorang decide untuk tak amik dan sejujurnya aku gembira dan berpuas hati dengan keputusan kteorang tu sebab takde beza pun sis. Yang beza ketinggian ajer. Dan korang boleh naik atas kat ruang terbuka dia untuk amik gambar. Like what I did below hehehe;

Sepanjang Li River ni, kiri kanan korang akan nampak bukit yang macam ni

Lebih kurang gini la keadaan dalam cruise ni. 

Ada meja dan kerusi sambil menikmati pemandangan luar. 

Tengah syok-syok menikmati pemandangan dalam cruise ni sambil ditemani teh cina, tetiba tak semena-mena Sugar datang mengkhabarkan dekat luar sekarang ialah scenery belakang duit 20 Yuan sebelum tour guide dalam cruise ni bagitahu. Kami pun bergegas sepantas kilat naik ke atas nak tengok dan bandingkan, betul ke tidak. Takut Sugar gebang ahahaha

Kebenaran terbukti! Sugar tak gebang pun. 

Tadaaaa. Sama kan? Sama kan? :3

Tak lama lepastu aku dah exhausted sebab panas dia buka main, so lepak dekat bawah je. Sampai-sampai Yangshuo, sepanjang jeti nak keluar tu, banyak sangat baju handcraft yang cantik cantik. Yang ni aku menyesal tak beli sebab aku ada berkenan kat satu baju ni. Dalam mindset kteorang masa tu, kalau nak shopping pegi Guangzhao. Ternyata assumption tu salah. Barang kat guilin dan yangshuo tak sama macam barang kat Guangzhao. So gaiss don't repeat this. Sekarang pun aku masih boleh membayangkan baju yang aku berkenan tu; cardigan kuning cair dan ada bunga besar dalam dia. Aiguuuu T.T

One thing about Yangshuo, agak susah nak dapat taxi sebab lebih kampung kot tempat ni. Jadi sila mantapkan skill tawar menawar korang. Kteorang masa tu naik travel agent agency mana tah kutip tepi tepi jalan. Mahal weh dia charge tapi sebab dah tak tahan sangat dehyrated gila kteorang redha je. Malas dah nak put effort bercakap seperti ayam & itik. And the worst was, sekangkang kera je wehhh hotel tuuuu -..-

Kat yangshuo ni korang memang boleh dapat hotel murah-murah bak 1st class gitewww. Aku suka sangat hotel yang kteorang duduk ni. Sebab lawa. Tapi aku takleh nak recall balik nama hotel ni. Wuwuwuw T.T sebab bukan aku yang book. 

Tapi takpe, aku share je. Kalau aku dah jumpa nama dia aku edit balik entry ni. 

Price: CNY271.6 untuk 2 bilik, satu malam.

Super comfy bed! Nikmat betul dapat tidur kat sini

Tempat lepak makan meggi

View dari dalam bilik. Tenangnyaaa

So lepas lalalala mandi dan berehat, kteorang decide untuk ke west street dengan menaiki basikal sewa percuma selepas pukul 5pm. Jadi kami tunggu pkul 5pm baru kteorang keluar. Bijak tak? Hahaha. Sebelum tu lepak-lepak kat luar, amik gambar duluuuu

Anddd this place is such a beautyyy!

Kami teruskan perjalanan dengan menaiki basikal sekitar Yangshuo. Kiri kanan jalan nampak orang banyak jual sayur-mayur. Geram je rasa nak beli dan masak sup sayur kat dapur hotel ni. Tapi due to time constraint tak buat punn. Bercakap pasal makanan halal, dekat west street ada 2 kedai makanan halal-indian food. Kedai dorang sebelah2 je. Kteorang tapaw nasi beriyani dan butter chicken. 

Ini lah kedai dia. Sedap. Large portion jugak

Beli 2 bungkus, kongsi 4 orang.

Macam biasa, akulah navigator jalan terbaik.

ehehhehe

Suasana west street

Berbekalkan mindset shopping nanti kat Ghuangzhao, aku tak beli sangat pun barang kat sini. Kak yang beli monopod je untuk memudahkan proses selfie huahua. Okay, aku masih teringat baju kat T.T

Malam tu kami ke pertunjukan Impression Li. Ini antara pertunjukan bagi aku besar la gimik dia. Suasana di mantop. Memang aku impress! Dan lagi impress dengan orang cina yang serius banyak gilaaa. Ada rasa macam pergi perarakan sikit. Risau je kalau terhilang dalam lautan manusia masa tu. Bila pikir balik power gak kteorang duduk kat tempat yang benar lagi lurus walaupun zero mandarin kehkeh. 

Admission fees: CNY 198. 

Yang ni pun aku secure awal dekat receptionist hotel kat Guilin, sebab takut tiket habis. 

Tiket ada either pukul 8pm/9pm la macam tu tak ingat.

Anyway, benda paling epic setakat aku kat China berlaku malam tu! Al-kisahnya kteorang mencari transport untuk ke sana. So aku dengan kak dila deal la pengangkutan dekat receptionist. Receptionist tersebut cadangkan untuk kteorang naik motorbike taxi in which boleh occupy 2 orang satu taxi. Murah lak tu so aku okay la. Semangat aku on time turun sebab receptionist tu kata kena pergi awal pkul 8pm dan kena punctual la. Dalam aku menjenguk kat luar hotel aku nampak 2 orang jejaka cina atas motor yang seakan-akan menanti seseorang. Aku lex je la lagi. Tapi dah beberapa minit tunggu dah kenapa jejaka tersebut masih berada disitu. Dorang pulak dok tengok2 aku. Terus aku terfikir inikah motorbike taxi yang dimaksudkan itu? Like literally a motorbike!? hahahahahah tak sudah aku gelak masa tu sebab terkejut sangat. Dalam fikiran aku masa memula tu, ala-ala tut tut yang kat india tu sebab kteorang dah nampak la tut tut tu ada sekitar jeti masa memula sampai. Yang lagi kelakar dorang siap tambah extension kat belakang motor tu lagi supaya 2 orang boleh membonceng. 

Jadi korang jangan terpedaya dengan motorbike taxi dorang seperti apa yang berlaku kat aku kahkahkah. Aku okay lagi la sebab naik dengan abah. So abah duduk depan, aku kat belakang. Kak yang dengan kak dila la macam awkward2 sikit. So kak yang letak beg dia in between dia dan jejaka cina tersebut. Nevertheless, aku cadangkan korang memang kena naik motor kot kalau nak gerak satu jam before ke Impression Li show ni. Jalan jem ya ampunnnn. Bukan jem dengan kereta je, orang pun penuh -..- So ada hikmah rupanya naik motor malam tu. hahaha

Aku lah tu. 

Yang duduk atas extension motor tu. Haha

Since kteorang beli tiket masa kat hostel di guilin, receptionist dah pesan siap-siap nanti cari orang pegang bendera no 4. Sampai kat tempat tu, lautan manusia mula memenuhi setiap penjuru tempat tu. Dah macam mana nak cari woih. Eventually hasil pandangan masing-masing yang cekap, jumpa la orang yang pegang bendera tu, Senang je tunjuk tiket settle dah. Macam main jutaria iols tengok, sebab tiket tu selamba badak dia tulis no 4 dengan pen huhu

Walaun Impression Li Show tu full dalam bahasa cina, tak faham pun takpe weh. Korang akan amazed dengan pertunjukan yang dorang buat atas air, betul-betul dekat Li River. Melalui pemerhatian aku, impression li show ni banyak menggambarkan kehidupan masyarakat yang tinggal kat yangshuo serta beberapa kepercayaan dorang. Sebab macam ada ala-ala adegan alam barzakh sikit. Maksud aku kehidupan selepas mati mengikut kepercayaan mereka. This show is a success and worth to watch iAllah. But, if you want to skip it..I won't say it is a major loss. Untuk aku yang gemarkan pertunjukan macam ni aku happy dan berpuas hati =]

I regret that we spent only a day in Yangshuo when in fact there are much more to discover here. Seriously, I recommend you to spend much longer time here. 3 days and 2 nights will do. Tunggu la dah kerja. It is a place I wanna come again.

That night aku dah mula berkemas untuk start bergerak ke Guangzhao naik bullet train!

Would update the next post soon.
See yaaa

Part 2: Longsheng Rice Terrace, Guilin

Okay now this is the second part of my adventure.

Pretty much we had a good sleep that night before departing to Longsheng. Main reason was the night before depart to China, we didn't get much sleep. Flight bertolak pagi lepas subuh, malam tu terpaksa nap kat surau dan tidur atas kerusi. huhu

Actually, sampai je dekat hostel tu kteorang terus beli segala admission tickets of the places we wanted to go through our receptionist. Lepas buat kira-kira aku rasa ikut trip hostel tu menjanjikan perjalanan yang akan lebih teratur serta ada English spoken tour guide. Aku tak kisah pun nak plan sendiri untuk naik ke bukit Longsheng ni. Tapi sebab takut rugi masa & taknak penat badan aku rasa join trip hostel lebih banyak pro daripada cons.

Longsheng Rice Terrace ni kalau korang direct translate basically nama di padi teres la. So basically dia padi huma=padi bukit. Kalau dari bandar Guilin tu, amik masa 1 jam 30 minit untuk sampai. Disebabkan panorama dia berbeza setiap musim, dan padi teres tu macam sebesar2 alam aku jadi teringin sangat-sangat nak pergi.

Ni hasil ihsan google

Disebabkan aku pergi musim panas, pemandangan yang aku nampak ialah warna hijau. Memang mashaAllah cantik betul. Musim panas kat sini tapi alhamdulillah naik atas bukit tu rasa lega sikit sebab cuaca masa tu agak sejuk. 

Kalau korang nak pergi sendiri tanpa bantuan tour guide, korang boleh pergi dengan menaiki bus. Tapi bus tu hanya ada kat Guilin Railway Station. Amik bus yang akan bawak korang direct ke Dhazai Parking Area. Tapi yang susah sebab korang kena tahu baca bahasa cina la, dia takde tulisan rumi pun kat situ. Tambang bas melalui pembacaan aku ialah CNY50-CNY65. Bas hanya ada 4 masa: 8.00am, 9.30am, 12pm dan 3pm. Dan masa sampai kat parking area tu, korang kena bayar admission fees. 

Admission Fees: CNY 90 + CNY 60 (Huangluo Yao Village)---> additional kalau nak masuk yao village. 

Dekat Longsheng ni korang boleh melawat perkampungan orang-orang berbangsa Yao. Kalau korang tengok ada bangsa yang perempuan dia suka pakai merah dan simpan rambut panjang2 tu inilah mereka. Dari Dhazai parking area kena tukar bus lain pulak rasanya tak silap aku. 

So lepas aku kira tambang bas return sekali dengan admission fees bagai, lebih kurang CNY310 la total loss. 

Jadi sebab aku taknak pening-pening, aku mengambil langkah yang bijak untuk hire English Tour Guide yang akan fetch kteorang dari hostel dan hantar balik, everything included + traditional lunch kat atas tu (no halal food) CNY350. Pakej ni termasuk dengan melawat yao village & tengok performance dia sekali in which aku tak sure berapa hengget kena bayar kalau beli tiket sendiri. 

Aku seram gak tengok driver ni bawak kereta kat sana. Nak naik atas tu ada masa jalan dia sempit & kecik. So aku nasihatkan korang takyah la drive kat sana huhuhu.

Welcome to the Yao Village everybodehhh!

Nampak tak bersih dan cantik kan kampung ni?

Aku suka bukan main dengan sungai dia :)

Tu tengah tunjuk kecantikan rambut lettew

Menurut tour guide aku, Ms Sugar. Rambut dorang ni bersinar dan sihat sebab dorang akan basuh rambut dengan air beras. So kalau korang nak rambut cantik dan guna jari pun boleh, lepas basuh beras tu simpan air dia tau hehe. 

Pertunjukan dorang ni 100% in chinese dan takde translation. So kteorang pun buat buat paham la. Masa dorang buat choir ke nyanyi ke hape, dah macam marhaban dah aku tengok. Dengan suara nyaringnya mashaAllah sistur. hahaha. So at the same time ada juga informasi macam mana perkahwinan dorang. Masa ni dorang akan panggil beberapa orang lelaki untuk jadi pasangan dorang la. Nak tunjuk cara-cara kawin adat bangsa yao. Aku tahu ni pun sebab Sugar dah terang siap siap sebelum masuk. Kalau tak ternganga jugak la apa yang dorang sedang lakukan ni seyhh..

So lepastu, it's lunch time. Bamboo rice & pork is a traditional dish here. So depan kteorang macam macam daging hado. Lol. In the end kteorang bukak kurma ayam jenama Yeos & sardin Ayam Brand. Nasi dia sedapppp. I like it so much! 

Oh ya, kteorang amik rasa steamed pumpkin dia. Sebab yakin dengan status halal dia.

Fuhh manis & sedap diaa. Memang terbaikk

Yasss. This is my lunch. Sambal hitam pahang la jadi peneman

Kenyang :')

Lepas dah kenyang makan, kteorang bergerak ke tempat yang dinanti-nanti. 

Culture shock aku datang China ni. Buat pertama kalinya aku nampak orang cina yang banyak gila. Ramai gila manusia! Sebab tu la dorang ialah tamadun yang kuat I reckon. Selalu kalau kat Malaysia kalau tak cuti umum bukan ada orang Malaysia pergi tourist spot sangat kan. Tapi kat China ni lain macam aku tengok. Sikit la nak jumpa tourist. Ramai pelancong dari negara dorang sendiri. Negara besar sangat aku rasa, sampai melancong dalam negara pun rasanya tak habis. 

Nak naik bukit ni kena naik dengan cable car. Masa ni beratur dia fuhh panjang gila. Nasib baik semuanya sistematik so takde la lama sangat menunggu. Aku pelik ingatkan boleh escape crowd sebab bukan cuti sekolah ke hape ke kan. So aku belajar yang dekat China ni memang always crowded. Manusia banyak sangat, so apa-apa pun standby early especially kalau nak beli tiket train ke etc. Patutlah dulu ada law yang menghadkan kelahiran anak huhu. 

Anyway, there's another option untuk korang hiking naik ke atas. Tapi masa ni panas gilaaa. Memang idak le nak mendaki pulak. So decide for a cable car with additional fees CNY50 kot or less im not sure per person.

My dad and I. We're climbing up

Fresh green paddy field! SubhanaAllah :')

We were up on the hill. Those two were new friends from Switzerland. 

Met my new scientist friends!

Ni la pakaian traditional dorang. 

Ala-ala orang monggol kan?

Lawaa sangatt

Look at how unique it is!

Masa ni sempat la membeli roasted sweet potatoes dengan jagung bakar kat sini. Non-stop mengunyah. 

Disebabkan musim panas dan rasa macam kena steam setiap kali keluar aku banyak menghabiskan duit aku untuk air mineral. Standard harga CNY3-4

Walaupun kteorang tak hiking, tapi penat dia terasa la juga. Mungkin sebab cuaca panas. So kteorang bertolak balik dan sempat la jamak ta'khir masa tu. Rehat rehat & mandi. Malam tu kteorang kluar balik dan makan wonton mee CNY5 dekat dengan masjid tu.

Aaaa sedaapp. Sampai sekarang teringat kat wonton mee dia yang sedap tu. 

Generous portion!

 This is so good!

Pardon of  the not so good photo taking. 

This is the shop if you are looking for cheap and good wonton mee!

Enjoying mineee =]

Since Abah tak favour sangat dengan wonton mee, we made our way to the next restaurant which is called Eidian. Yang ni memang famous kalau google sure jumpa kedai ni. This restaurant is far much expensive than the meal we had next door. Much proper restaurant and serve good food too :)

Abah needed rice, so we ordered Arabic fried rice along with omelette. 

Rasa dia okay okay la. Diff people, diff taste kan?

Howevaaa this is so damn good!

We didn't order this but they gave us since they are making them as we entered the shop

Steamed bun stuffed with carrots, shallots and beef.

These are all the wishes and greetings from tourists who had visited their restaurant. 

I am pointing to where I found my heart is. 

Malaysia!

Then, we made our way to see pagodas in which symbolizes China the most. Need a lil bit of walking but on our way there, we bought dozens of fruits sold along the streets. Murah sangat buah buah dia dan muraaahh. CNY6 for 3 large dragonfruits yang manis nak meninggal. My dad was surely the happy one because he is a fruit fan.

This pagodas marks our end point of exploring guilin city because we had to move

to Yangshuo the next day. 

Actually banyak lagi tempat yang korang boleh pergi kalau nak cover guilin city. However, mind you in China admission fees dia banyak sungguh. Semua benda ada admission fees, lain la dengan Jepun yang park dia selalunya free. I tend to compare them because instead of flew to China, we had the intention of going to Osaka but then we told ourselves Osaka can wait as we've been to Tokyo last year. 

Here's the list of Guilin City attraction if you want to have more of the city:

Red Flute cave: CNY120  

Seven stars park & zoo: CNY99 

Elephant trunk hill: CNY75 

 Fubo Hill: X (I am not sure)

Free admission:

Two rivers and four lakes

 Shang Han and Rang hu central lakes

 Nanxi park: bus 11

 Guilin Back alleys

Daxu Ancient town: need 45 mins to get there by bus

Hopefully this post will help you a little bit on completing your adventure to Guilin. I still think I have to stay a bit longer in Guilin because Ghuangzhao is not that appealing after I went there. Lol. 

Stay tuned for my China part 3 entry =)

Toodles!