Ni Hau Ma, Beijing..

I've been to Beijing, China from 10-17 April 2015. Its been almost six month after my trip, so i pon tak ingat sangat about the city. Maybe because i don't fall in love with Beijing. Wa pu ai ni Beijing. Hahaha. But, let me write what i remember okay..

I think its hard to communicate here as the Chinese people here can't understand English. I had a very hard time since my arrival until the last day there. Being cheated by a taxi drivers for 3 times, left by the roadside, super cold rain during my walk, sand storm after a decade is happening a lot of bad experience.

I stay at Beijing Prime Hotel in Wangfujing district. This hotel is a very big hotel here and quite safe. If you are woman, and travelling alone or with woman as well, you may consider to stay here. The price is CNY 3,700 for 7D 6N. The hotel is so clean. This is my first time in China. They do sell stuff in the room. From the food, to the toilettries. And also Chinese medicine. Hehehe...

So as the hotel is in Wangfujin area, i sempat la jalan-jalan kat situ. This place known as the best shopping area in Beijing. Ala-ala Oxford Street kat London.

I went to the Ming Tombs as part of a day tour to the Great Wall and it was well worth a visit. We found it useful to go with a guide who could explain the history and significance as I don't know how much you would understand otherwise. So we take a tour from our hotel. It cost us CNY 200 per person.

The place is very peaceful to walk around and you can feel the history that surrounds the sights, Going down into the tombs underground was very exciting and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Would recommend this attraction as part of a day tour. Our tour guide name is Angel. She is soooo funneh. Hehehe. And she speak broken English all the time. Dalam group from my hotel ada lebih kurang 9 pax. So naik coach untuk tour. Helok-helok matsaleh dalam couch tu. Bergetar tulang rusuk i. Hahahaha.. There is one ritual before u left The Ming Tomb. Sebelum keluar gate kena hentak kaki, sapu-sapu baju and badan and sebut " Wo Hu Lai Le". Tour guide kata supaya roh-roh jahat tak ikut kita balek. So berdekak-dekak i ngan abam mat saleh hentak-hentak kaki sambil cakap Cina.

You are not a man until you climb the Great Wall of China..

This is a very popular Chinese proverb in Chinese culture. I didn’t hear about it until I had visited the Great Wall, but it seems that climbing the Great Wall is something of a rite of passage. After I put the pictures up on Facebook, all my Chinese friends would mention my pictures and that I must be a man now that I have climbed the Great Wall. But man? Hahaha.. Im a woman. Janganlah jadi pengkid pulak nanti.

The wall itself was spectacular. The sheer magnitude of the wall is amazing. I going up by sliding car and go down by the sliding car also. I would like to take the cable car but the weather is quite bad and they stop the cable car operation. Nak panjat pakai kaki, uhhh tak mampu i. So, I only climbed a small portion of the wall, but it made me realize just how large such a project would have been. Especially such a long time ago, the wall could only have been finished with a huge amount of labor by the Chinese people. Also, you never realize how much you appreciate steps that are all the same size and even until you encounter some steps that are not. The steps up the Great Wall of China were as huge as the itself and often took (for someone short and rendang tak berbuah like me) a full extension of the leg in order to reach some of the steps.

If you ramble along Wangfujing Street in the evening during your Beijing Travel, it is advisable to visit its neighbouring Wangfujing Night Food Street. Tempat ni dekat je ngan my hotel. So jalan kaki je dalam 5 minutes. Ade sekali tu hujan plak masa nak balek. Dah la sejuk, hujan plak buat muka i kebas lari-lari anak balek hotel. Actually Wangfujing Night Food Street is formally called “Donghuamen Night Food Street, which is located on Donganmen Street linked to the west of the crossroad at the northern tip of Wangfujing Pedestrian Street.

Wangfujing Night Snack Street is often called by tourists while Donghuamen Night Snack Street by the local residents in Beijing. They both refer to the same night food market in Wangfujing area.This 100-meter long snack street is open from 6:00pm to 9:00pm every day. The night market is home to about 100 stalls selling over 100 snacks from all over China.

For adventurous dinners, it is a food paradise with such unique snacks as centipedes, lizards, deep fried crickets , starfish and a lot more available to eat on a stick. I am a muslim so that i cant take the exotic snacks and go for octopus only. Hahaha. But guys, its something that you can look forward when you're in Beijing. Im so sad to see the starfish, lizards on a stick to be eat.. Hurmm..

Also masa kat sana, berlakunya sand storm. Ribut pasir selepas berdekad tak jadi di Beijing. Memang scary. Sayangnya i dah delete pulak gambar-gambar tu. Memang kuning and tak nampak pape. So i duk rest je dalam bilik 2 hari. Rugi-rugi. Takde plak number telephone Shila Amzah, kalo tak boleh jugak lepak makan starfish dengan dia. Bosan kot.. Hahahaha..

Tapi sempat jugaklah pegi shopping-shopping kat Silk Market. Bapak besar tempat dia. Nasib baik Nudinmi ada. Dapatlah rega murah uols.. I just cakap Si Sie Ni je masa last urusniaga. Hahaha! So its time to go back home. I'm coming home.. Coming home.. tell the world that i coming home!

But i do enjoy the trips. China, wo hui lai le!

Boracay Sangat Okay..

Okay gais.. First post i nak cerita pasal trip i to Boracay. I've travelled to Boracay on 8-11 October yang lepas. With a new travel buddy. And it end up like a nightmare. Trauma dah pasni nak travel ngan org lain selain my beloved buddies. But it's okay, skang bukan nak story pasal dia, but pasal the beautiful Boracay Island.

Okay, this is my first time flying with Air Asia. Selama ni travel with Malaysia Airlines je. But to Kalibo, hanya Air Asia je yang ada. So i redha. They only have one flight fly daily to Kalibo. I choose hot seat which is the emergency exit which i thought will give me extra space for leg room, but it's not. The same experience when i travel with Jet Airways and Indian Air before. I pasrah. Almost 4 hours in flight. I ni memang jenis tak boleh tido kalau dalam flight. That's why i suka Malaysia Airlines sebab boleh tengok movie. So during my flight to Kalibo, i makan and makan and makan. Hahahaha...

Kalibo Airport tu kecik lahaii. Jalan sejengkal terus keluar. Beratur lama jugak kat kaunter imegresen sebab ramai tourist that time. Then keluar je dari Airport, adalah banyak van, bus, taxi yang offer service to Caticlan Jetty. Kalau naik van, rega dia dalam PHP 250 per pax. Tapi i kan princess, mana nak berlama-lama dalam van. So we take a cab to Caticlan Jetty. It cost us PHP1,200 for 1.5 hours journey to Caticlan termasuk tiket bot dan environmental fees. Mabuhayyy!

Sampai je terus ambik trishaw to our hotel. We stay at Boracay Eden Villa. We stay for 4D 3N for PHP 800 including breakfast. Booking made through Booking,Com.Tapi jauhnya terpencil villa ni. Located at Station 3. But the owner of this villa and his wife Mhe Ann, are so kind and generous. They help me a lot. Banyak kali jugak berbalas-balas email with them tanya pasal Boracay ni. And they help me. So i datang with some souvenir for them. I bawak T-Shirt tulis I Love Kuala Lumpur, mug and cap Malaysia for them. Orang berbudi kita berbahasa la kan.. Room sangat besar dan comfy. Our room facing the pool and we have breakfast on bed everyday. Mhe Ann akan bagi menu. Order la nak breakfast apa, so they will cook and send to your room. And ada halal food tau.

So everyday and night i ulang alik naik trishaw pegi Station 2, its the centre of Boracay. Trishaw will cost you around PHP 50- 80 per way. If u need some privacy, go and stay in Station 2. I regret to stay in Station 3. Its takes 10 minute ride to the Station 2. At night i spend my time having a good dinner by the beach, and listening to music. There's a lot of pub along the beach. Choose where to spend your time with. The food is quite expensive here. We spend around PHP1,000-1,200 for each meal.

Boracay is such a beautiful place. You may find a lot of activities here. Don't forgot to get a braids done. Hahaha i tukar fashion 2 kali. The price is PHP300. Boleh lagi nego-nego. Since i kat Boracay ni ramai betul cakap Tagalog dengan i. When i told them them im not Filipino, they said i look like one. Some of them laughing and said its funny to know that im not one. Yeahh Malays and Filipino look alike lah. Salamat po! Haaha..

Then i have tried the Helmet Diving for PHP650. This is a very awesome stuff i've ever done. Seriously, i felt so happy. Rasa tanak naik sampai orang tu tarik tiub oxygen i suruh naik atas. Hahaha. Btw, u will get a copy of CD. They shoot your video and taking ur picture underwater. Cool huh?

And one more things that makes me happy is when i spend my night time talking, playing and learning with 3 Filipino kids. Alex, Don and Ben. This kids looking for money at the beach. Cari tourist, offer tulis nama dorg kat pasir pantai and pay them seikhlas hati. Gitew. I pon mintak lah dorang buat nama i. Bukan sebab nak sangat tapi kesian kat dorg. Umur dorang around 8-10 tahun.So i pay them PHP60. Boleh la dorg share sorang 20 kan. Sambil dorang buat bende alah tu, i pun sembang-sembang la dengan dorang. Best giler. End up kami berempat main lari-lari and kejar-kejar kat tepi pantai. Disebabkan Don yang paling kecik and muda, dia jadi mangsa untuk kami baling ke laut. Ohh mana travel buddy i eh? Duduk mereput kat table minum. And i have so much fun with this 3 kids. Menghilangkan luka i sepanjang di Boracay. Then, dorg ajar i buat nama i sendiri. And tadaaaa... i buat sendiri nama i. Bolehla lepas ni i offer this service kat Malaysia. Maybe kat PD ke, Langkawi ke.. Hahahahaha! I happy sangat main sampai taknak balek. I miss them already. Alex, Don and Ben, i will come back.

Banyak lagi aktiviti yang i tak sempat nak buat since travel buddy i jatuh sakit on the 3rd day. So we go to clinic and doctor advise to avoid all water activities. Berapi sungguh hati i. I nak sangat naik Paraw Sailing Boat, Parasailing, and naik ATV pegi Mount Luho. Nak jugak pegi swim at Puka Beach and Crystal Cove. Tapi ape nak buat. ( hati berdarah sangat ).

Banyak lagi benda best kat Boracay ni. Banyak lagi gambar sebenarnya nak tunjuk. But, kang you gais muak pulak. Hehehe. I wanna go to Boracay again! Yes, i will.. Boracay, tunggu aku datang. Aalis nak ako!