4 more days...

tak sabar aku nak tunggu cuti Eid Adha ni... :-)

1. cuti dah dapat
2. exit permit dah approve
3. hotel dah booked
4. kereta dah dapat permit

but...

visa takde lagi... harap2 dapat mlm ni....

:-) another jalan2... hehehe

update: seperti diharapkan... aku dah dapat transit.... am good to go!!! Alhamdulillah...

hehehehe.... so happy... one of my target this year hampir tercapai :-)

No Entry Visa...

There'll be UN Convention held in Doha next week... and Qatar govt buat satu ruling kelakar. (i don't know the true fact of this rule, but my admin ppl kat my office told us).

there wont be any tourist visa issued utk sesapa yg nak visit doha between 28 november - 3 December... i do not know betul ke tak... but if betul, mcm bengong... for those yg dah beli tiket nak dtg doha masa ni, tak ke rugi... without knowing the rule, kena turndown exit masuk doha, n tunggu flight balik je.

plus, semua hotel fully book during this period. kalau takde org nak stay pun, govt akan hold the rooms for security reason. thats according to hotel reservation.

hmmm... takut ada serangan ke??? plus dgn apa yg terjadi kat mumbai... lagi lah org takut2...

Lembab...

I received this email today....

----------------------------------------------------------------
Etihad Airways
The National Airline of the United Arab Emirates

Dear ,
Your application reference number is: EY/07/08/00432
Applied date: 01/08/2007

Please be advised your application has been reviewed but has not been short listed on 26/11/2008.

Thank you for your interest in Etihad Airways, and please feel free to apply for other opportunities that are a suitable match with your skills and experience.
The details of the job you have applied are:

Job Code: 7310
Job Title: Senior Finance Officer Holidays & Credit Control
Department: FinanceLocation: Abu Dhabi.
Opening Date: 24/07/2007
Expiry Date: 15/09/2007
Job Type: Permanent

Regards,Recruitment TeamEtihad Airwayshttp://careers.etihadairways.com
Note: Do not reply to this mail as it comes from a non-working email address within Etihad Airways' online application system.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

wow... aku dah lupa dah pasal application ni... dah lebih setahun br aku dpt reply... but bagus gak lah depa reply...

so those out there yg minta keje kat middle east... jangan berputus harap kalau depa tak reply lepas sebulan 2... sbb depa maybe call u up later............................ (setelah setahun?)

Y-o-G-A

Semua org ada pendapat dia sendiri berkenaan pengharaman yoga. Aku sebenarnya kurang faham kenapa perlu diheboh-hebohkan fatwa ni. dan aku pun hairan kenapa perlu bersidang dan mengeluarkan fatwa yg yoga tu haram. Sbb bagi aku ada banyak jugak benda-benda penting yg perlu difatwakan berbanding pengamalan yoga. Mungkin kah ada statistik yg menyatakan ramai org islam Malaysia jd murtad atau hampir murtad sbb selalu mengamalkan yoga... hmmm... biar lah yg bijak pandai yg membincangkan perkara. dn aku terima je lah fatwa tu as fatwa.

sebenarnya aku macam tak kisah pasal fatwa ni sbb walaupun aku seorang muslim, aku bukan pengamal yoga ataupun ada business yoga... jadi fatwa ni mcm takde kaitan ngan aku. tp yg hairan nya, kenapa agama lain pulak turut sama nak kecoh. fatwa ni haramkan penganut agama lain dr mengamalkan yoga ke? biar lah org islam yg dijatuhkan hukum ni pilih nak meneruskan yoga atau tak... sepertimana haram melakukan zina dan minum arak... bukan nya takde umat islam berzina dan minum arak... so, org muslim tu sendiri yg pilih... kalau dah mmg teruk tu, teruk jugak... bg lah mcm mana fatwa pun.

dan disebabkan berita ni telah disensasikan, sampai ke sini lah org bertanyakan aku apa sebab keluar fatwa ni, dan pendapat aku tentang fatwa ni. dan mostly org kata its a funny decision. aku pun tak tahu samada aku bersetuju ataupun tidak dengan fatwa ni, tp tak lah sesekali aku nak memperkecilkan keputusan tu. pada aku, it is all depending on one's faith. kalau setakat nak bersenam, aku rasa go ahead lah... aku pernah lah join kelas yoga dulu, satu dua kelas.... takde plak aku teringat aku kena baca mantra apa2... so aku pun jadi confuse macam mana aku nak explain kat org...

but anyway, after so much argument... utk mengelakkan perbalahan... aku selalu akhirkan perbualan dgn lawak bodoh... aku cakap kat depa... bila mana satu dunia memikirkan mcm mana nak menempuhi situasi kemelesatan ekonomi, bilamana sesetengah negara masih perang, bilamana ada negara mengalami politik bergolak, ada negara yg ada rusuhan kaum, ada negara mengalami bencana alam... dan semua ini menjadi masalah besar... tp kat Malaysia... our biggest problem is on yoga... isn't it cool... it shows mcm mana aman nya Malaysia, when kita takde isu besar, sampai kisah berkenaan yoga jadi liputan meluas and taruh kat front page lagi... :-)

(or perhaps, this news sekadar nak distract people from thinking of our political n financial stability issues... hmmm... or sekadar nak membangkitkan masalah perkauman... so that Malaysian Malaysia would never happen)

Thanks peeps!!!

Khamis malam Jumaat (semlm) kak ruby n naguib jemput member2 n aku datang umah dia... ada bbq plus nak sambut birthday seperti biasa... since makan2 session almost like a routine... aku pun tak de lah nak bawak camera dah... and again its a birthday party utk bebudak... bawak hadiah (or in this case x bw pun, sbb kirim dilla je g beli n bawak, thanks dilla). so again, its makan2... so same old thing.

bila dah kebanyakan bbq siap masak, we gathered around and sing the birthday song... masa tu aku plak kepochi nak suruh semua org pakai that funny party hat, sesaja buat kecoh.... ntah mcm mana, the song which supposed to be sing as "happy birthday Adif!!!!, happy birthday to you..." bertukar jadi "Happy birthday Zal.... happy birthday to you..." aku sebenarnya tak sempat nak register apa tetiba lain plak ni... plus bebudak plak mcm tercengang2... adif lagi lah terkejut tetiba ada org2 tua steal the limelight....rupanya there was a surprise (belated) birthday party for me... thanks peeps... ingat jugak korang kat birthday aku, walaupun dah lewat 22 hari :-) aku mmg terkejut... and tak prepare.... depa siap bawak hadiah lagi... and mmg betul curi limelight dr adif :-) and plus mengotor kan umah org.. :-)

here some photos!!! (thanks dilla for the photos, ni pun curi dr fb dia.... hahaha)

QAR vs JAP

Last wednesday aku ponteng kelas bahasa arab aku sbb ikut che le yg dapat tiket free tgk bola Qatar vs Japan.... world cup qualifier...

kitaorg sampai lambat 15 minit... and tak dibenarkan masuk sbb katanya stadium dah penuh! siap sound aku lagi.. kata dah 15 min lewat, and game dah start jam 7.30pm. uiks... bila masa plak ada rule yg tgk bola kena dtg awal macam tgk theatre/broadway show... hampeh!!!

i've discovered bukan kitaorg je yg ada tiket dan tak dapat masuk... ada lah 100-200 org lagi yg dtg relax2 cuma nak enjoy the show.

aku juga percaya ramai Qatari yg kat dlm stadium tu mmg takde tiket tu lah stadium dah penuh.

this is not the first time aku hadapi situasi mcm ni. dulu masa tgk game tennis pun mcm ni gak, ada tiket tapi tak leh masuk. kenapa lah bengong sangat sistem ticketing diaorang ni yg blh produce more tickets than seat kat dalam stadium.

oh bukan tu je.... kat sini pun byk kali yg ticket sold out... tp stadium tak de ramai org (macam kosong!) but dia tak bg plak org masuk. this happened masa tennis internationa WTA dulu (aku tak ingat specific championship) dan masa asian games.

mmg annoying bila tak dpt masuk when u have QR75 tiket. nasib baik tiket free...

later, we went to near buy cafe for supper :-) thanks sharm-10 for pics and supper :-)

NY : 48?

Disclaimer : The following itinerary is totally based on my opinion and pengalaman aku selama dua hari kat NY. So pada sesapa yg mmg lahir kat situ, pernah g situ, selalu pergi situ, or mmg tinggal kat situ, kalau u have a better idea, please feel free to shoutout… :-) - ni entry berangan kalau2 tulis utk lonely planet... hahahahaha... -

A top (or 2) day(s) in NY

1st day… pagi… start your day with good breakfast, buat lah seheavy mungkin sbb nak berjalan banyak ni :-) (aku takde nak recommend kat mana tempat makan, sbb aku makan je kat mana2 aku Nampak kedai halal…. No preference and selalunya kedai india…)

morning – aku cadangkan naik salah satu dr 2 rooftop kat NY ni yg blh dilawat. Yg famous is the Empire State Building, another one is Top of the Rock, Rockefellar Centre. Aku chosed the latter. My reason, kalau dah empire state tu lg glamer, might as well I have it in gambar instead of aku kat atas dia, tak leh nak ambil gambar bgnn tu. (like in Paris, kalau aku dpt g lagi, aku nak naik montparsse –camne nak eja- so aku blh ambil gambar Eiffel from there). Aku mmg suka naik bgnn tinggi masa g bandar2 ni, so dpt tgk the whole city from top.
from there… ambil subway terus ke tempat ferry menuju ke staten island. Subway kat NY agak complicated. If u failed nak baca map utk tube kat London or even MRT kat S’pore, mmg lah kena guide nak guna subway NY. Agak complicated n kurang information around. Ferry ke staten island (south of Manhattan) ni free… yg bagus nya… on the way ke Staten island, ferry ni akan pass by The Statue of Liberty… aku tak fancy nak tgk statue dr dekat, so aku ambil gambar je dr atas ferry… :-) it’s a 20 minutes ride sampai ke pulau staten… nothing much there.. tp kalau rasa nak jalan2 blh je… ferry ada setiap 30 minit. Tp aku tak singgah pun pulau tu, aku terus ambil ferry patah balik ke manhattan. And the view of manhattan dr boat lagi lah cantik!!! :-) (btw, ada org bg comment cakap this ride is even better kalau buat malam... so u can try buat for sunset)
Noon - from there... continue ambil train ride and go to Brooklyn Bridge. Setiap subway ride will cost u $2 so, kalau plan nak ambil lebih dr 4 train ride, might as well beli je daily pass $7.50/day. Nothing much kat Brooklyn bridge ni… sekadar ambil gambar n tgk sungai/laut... oops aku tak sure sungai ke laut yg pisah kan manhattan ngan Brooklyn… hehehe…

by now surely dah penat, grab something to eat… beli lah roti ke apa… or beli je McD… take a train ride g ke central park and have lunch there… sambil relax2 rehat kan kaki… :-) kalau nak tido.. balik hotel.. hahaha… sbb aku g masa autumn, tgh hari jam 1pm tu pun cooling… so blh lepak2… beware, better not to step on the grass, jalan atas jalan batu… kat lawn dia.. banyak tahi anjing, aku pun terpijak tahi anjing… susah je nak samak… central park tu besar… kalau rajin jalan je lah sampai hujung.. or else… lepak2 je…

Central park tu sejajar ngan 5th avenue so keluar kat sebelah east central park.. terus masuk 5th avenue… so apa lagi… shopping lah… and u can also continue shopping kat maddison avenue kat sebelah 5th avenue. Kalau tak cukup duit… beli belah tingkap je lah… :-) and di hujung 5th avenue akan jumpa ngan Bryan Park ( belakang National Library) so lepas penat berjalan, petang tu lepak2 kat situ kejap… before deciding nak tgk Broadway ke tak malam tu. If you decided to watch a broadway, g ke times square…and kat tgh2 tu ada TKTS yg jual discounted price utk show hari tu... u can watch musical... or theatre...

Evening - have a good dinner, then prepare for 8pm show kat broadway... or if u decided tak nak g broadway, lepak2 lah kat central park lama2 sikit... n shop byk2 kat 5th avenue... and sambung plak ke Macy's. Dlm jalan2 tu cari lah tempat dinner... and kalau nak tgk view from the top... on the way ke Macy's tu, ada empire state building. tgk New York skyview from their 86th floor... sure cantik. (or perhaps, take the boat ride ke staten island and see NY masa sunset... must be lovely, i wish i knew this sebelum pergi hari tu)

Night - go to Times Square masa ni... pusing2... org masih ramai... masuk lah kedai2.... go have supper kat HRC or Planet Hollywood or mana2 yg berkenan.... blh pusing2 ambil gambar... one did ask me whether how safe is NY. i think it is safe... especially kalau jalan area times square tu... sbb mcm cerah terang benderang... tp i do not know about other part of the city. ntah2 teruk... anyway, still masa kat times square tu aku nampak ada kes mcm kat sebelah ni. ada org kena tangkap. but anyway, police mmg ramai area tu. so aku rasa selamat lah kot.

-------

Morning - have breakfast... and kalau minat arts, wajib masuk one of their museums. ada Moma (museum of Modern Art) and MET (metropolitan art museum). its really recommendable. aku g MET (itu pun sbb masa tu hujan). pepagi, kedai2 tutup lagi.. so spend time kat museum lah.

Noon - go to one of the neighbourhood... Chinatown? Greenwich Village? Soho? Little Italy tgk neighbourhood area... keluar dr the central/downtoen area... i chosed Greenwich village (keluar kat Union Square)... saja je jalan2 tgk2 bangunan, lepak kat park... and kebetulan kat union square ada mcm flea market, tp org jual souvenir je lah.... btw, org kata chinatown dia makes u feel like u are in beijing, but i didn't go...

Later, boleh singgah kejap kat Main Station dia... pada waktu puncak mmg busy station ni... deco dalam dia cantik... and besar giler... or kalau rajin... menapak skit ke Public Library, dekat je ngan train station. sekadar nak admire building dia.... reading hall dia besar giler!!!

Evening... hmm... aku pun tak tahu apa nak buat dah... hahahaahaha.... so sapa yg dah biasa g sana tu... share ur thoughts :-) since aku pun mmg balik petang second day... basically benda2 ni la yg aku buat kat sana... but not in order lah. sbb first day hujan... so aku byk cramp kan benda2 ni on the second day... fast track je sumer... :-)

kalau ada rezeki, harap2 ada berkesempatan g lagi...

p/s - i got pics of the Main station and brooklyn bridge... tp tak d/load lagi... hehehe.. will put in later hehehe...

NY : 2nd & 3rd day...

I was informed yg hari sabtu masa aku kat NY akan mendung n hujan. I felt quite dull that day. Although aku dah bangun jam 6 and siap2 terus g breakfast jam 7, tp suasana agak suram. Langit mendung, cuaca sejuk… jalan sana sini pun kedai masih tutup. Nak naik rooftop pun tak nampak apa... and aku pun jadi tak bersemangat sangat.
Since cuaca tak elok, aku spend masa kat tempat2 berbumbung (museum)... n bila hujan lebat… aku bekejar balik ke hotel. Ada byk museum, tp aku g satu je. Since aku tak prepare for bad weather, aku pun tak tahu mana nak pergi. Mcm geram je tak dapat utilise the day. but ada masa nya aku redah je... alhamdulillah tak de pun demam selsema...

Another thing, aku mcm buat janji ngan minah anak kawan mak aku tu, dia kata dia nak bawa aku around. But ada few places yg aku suggest dia tak nak g, so aku plan lah pergi during the time yg dia kat office. Mula2 janji jam 11 – 1 akan blh settle. So aku pun buat lah my plan to accommodate. Then bila dah jam 1 lebih cakap jam 3… still ok lagi, plus hujan… so aku pergi lah tempat lain. Dah jam 3, takde gak contact aku pun balik hotel. Bila sampai hotel br lah nak cakap… in 30 mins suruh aku g central terminal. Aku pun siap2 pergi situ, but she only came like an hour after that. Aku mmg tak kisah kalau dia tak nak bawak around pun, aku blh jalan2 sendiri and aku blh pergi mana tempat aku nak g at my own pace… tp dah ada org yg lebih tahu. Aku ikut je.

End up we had dinner, then mlm tu pun dia ada hal office. No hal… but aku rasa since I have very limited time to see around, sepatutnya dia cakap lah timing dia… and whats her plan… tak lah aku ternanti2… nasib baik hujan… so tak lah ralat sangat, sbb aku mmg tak leh ke mana pun. Anyway, I went for a broadway malam tu :-) My first time tgk broadway, interesting although aku tak tgk yg famous2 musical like Mama Mia, Wicked or Disney theme show.
Hari ahad plak… aku terbangun lewat, jam 8 br sedar. Bila tgk luar matahari dah cerah.. best!!! Siap2 ala kadar, check out... g breakfast kat hotel, n terus jalan2... I can say… I completed all the things yg aku plan nak tgk… best!!! Since aku jalan sorang, aku rasa itinerary hari tu, aku je blh buat… hahaha… sbb aku rasa byk betul aku berjalan… dr naik ke rooftop rockefellar centre, g tgk statue of liberty sampai lah shopping (window n beli2 sikit) kat 5th avenue. It was so good… and was so excited… took loads of pics… petang tu patut nya jumpa sha yg fly to NY, tp flight dia delay so tak sempat… aku berjalan for 8 hours str8.. non stop… jam 6 petang… aku naik bas… and by 10 aku dah sampai DC... and dlm bas dia pasang citer Michael Clayton… bosan… I end up habiskan baca buku (mmg sampai habis pun baca buku (one more day) yg aku start masa naik bas DC ke NY).
Btw… ni gambar bilik aku kat Hotel Grace. Aku booked guna hotwire.com. harga asal aku rasa dalam 250 – 400 dollar… tp sbb last min booking aku dapat dlm $190 je… bilik kecik but cosy. Katil best. Simple but complete. And main important dekat ngan times square. Kalau ada limited time mcm aku, better dekat ngan tempat yg nak dituju, kalau tak abis masa on transportation, or kena balik awal. and the hotel design pun cantik jugak.... with a small pool kat depan bar, mlm2 penuh pool ni ngan orang :-)

More pics to come in the next entry.... where zal berangan jadi contributor utk planet keseorangan (lonely planet) travel guide... :-)

Job Options..

Life is more fun bila kita kena buat pilihan... hehehe... disebalik buat pilihan tu ada thrill tersendiri...

ok.. if you have to choose a job between:

1. a job that promised you a better career track... kiranya naik pangkat and more responsibility... it will later developed your career, improved your technical skill.... which will cantikkan resume...





or...






2. a job which definitely gives you a memorable life experience... perhaps same grade as now, or perhaps lower level... but it open up your eyes and mind... give u more knowledge on other culture, other lifestyle etc...


Moneywise, both offer the same... or perhaps no 2 might be better in package, but u suffer skit sbb mcm duduk deserted place...

which one would u choose???

(aku mcm minat no 2... hmmm.... nak kena minta bantuan Allah jugak ni.... but anyway, what say u?)

NY: Excited - First Night...

New York! New York! New York!

Aku mmg tak pernah terbayang dapat jejak kaki kat NY ni. Few months back, aku ada tgk kat blog itik2 ni yg depa g ke NY. And aku rasa mcm dlm movie je gambar2 depa ambil masa kat NY. Tp aku pun tak terasa nak pergi pun ke New York, it could probably the last place to go... hahaha… for those who know me, aku lagi excited g ke Algeria, Iran, Tanzania, Morrocco daripada tgk bandar-bandar besar macam NY, London, HK etc… but still… aku jejak jugak NY.

Ok, hari jumaat sudah aku keluar awal skit (mmg semua org keluar awal pun hari jumaat) and terus ke perhentian bas. Mmg tempat tunggu bas tu dekat je ngan office. And bas pun mmg datang on time. Perjalanan dr DC ke NY lebih kurang 4-5 jam bergantung pada traffic. Bas tu dilengkap ngan wifi free, so sesapa pakai laptop blh je online, tp aku tak bawak, buat berat je... and half way driver start movie, 21. yg menarik nya, sebelum bertolak, driver tu tanya semua org nak tgk citer apa, they vote by raising hand :-).

Lebih kurang jam 10.30 aku sampai NY. Bus stop kat NY plak dekat ngan Macys yg besar tu. Kebetulan anak kawan mak aku ada keje kat NY, dalam 10 minit dia datang with her driver (org keje kedutaan). Lepas dia bawak check in we went for dinner kat kedai india. Driver tu org india, pasang lagu Hindustan kat dalam kereta, then pastu plak g makan kedai india… end up aku rasa mcm sampai kat delhi plak instead of NY.

Anyway, since hotel aku 20 tapak dari Times Square ( same block ngan Planet Hollywood) lepas dinner, before aku tido, aku jejak dulu Times Square… n enjoy the view… at last… (these pics taken at around 2am).

DC : Going back home...

Pelik betul... i've been counting the days bila lah nak balik Doha... i'm supposed to feel malas nak balik sbb kena duduk kat tgh panas tu.... and dah takde kedai2 jual brg murah2... hahahaha....

but maybe because am tired of makan veggie... n kedai india/paki...

but maybe sbb takde kawan kat sini... n i miss my frens in doha

perhaps sbb rasa bersalah kat sini, hahaha.... aku tak de keje nak buat dah... semua dah settle

or sbb aku tak sabar nak jalan next December... n rasa bersalah sebab tak contribute...

anyway, am going home tomorrow nite jam 10pm dr DC and sampai Doha jam 6pm. huh another 13 hours flight... and i really hate the imigration/custom matters... (terasa mcm org bersalah je kalau lalu tpt cek passport)

p/s - i - was surprised after i found out, checked bagage allowance for flight ke/dr US, QR bg 2 pieces of 23kg bags per passenger... thats 46kg in total... hehehe... macam lah byk sangat brg pun, but am always fobia bila nak timbang beg ni (another my phobia), so kalau byk allowance terasa senang hati.

p/s - ii - bila balik doha baru aku update citer pasal NY... now malas skit sbb excited nak balik....

bye bye White House... bye bye DC :-)

Kaput :-(

My laptop went kaput a couple of days ago... now kadang2 ok.. kadang2 on guna safe mode... kadang2 senyap terus... I've tried to ask the engineering here to get it fixed, but they cant do anything sbb kena bawak balik office doha br blh buat... :-( too bad...

I may not be able to put any entry (mcm lah blog ni ada org follow) or be online on YM/Gtalk/Skype etc over the weekend... tapi..... aku tak online bukan nya sbb masalah computer!!!!....

it is because.... I am going to NY!!!! :-)

dah book tiket bas and hotel... hahaahahahaa... cant wait (dah malas nak keje dah ni... ) (sorry, i ni org kampung... teruja bila dpt jalan2 ni... hahaha)

DC : Anti Climax...

Nope... not the US result... but me... aku mcm terlebih excited nak tunggu result US election (ok not as excited masa tunggu result PRU 12 ari tu... but almost there). kat office pun, semua org excited, ye lah... dah bekerja keras for the programme... so now nak tgk lah apa jadi... and camne programme yg plan tu... whether menjadi seperti dirancang ke tak...

office mmg dah in the celebration mood pun... so on the day itself, they have ordered breakfast and dinner since org akan keje sampai lewat malam in fact sampai 5 am esok nya...

aku plak... join the celebration and stay kat office sampai almost 11pm nak tgk result and our show yg lebih menunjukkan international scope and effect of the election. compared to other channel yg mmg US based yg lebih detail n within US scope which the local prefers (i think).

(aku ambil gambar masa awal2 sebelum org datang, since dia buat kat tempat conference room yg aku duduk, aku blh masuk awal, segan lah nak ambil gambar masa ramai org... hehehe)

anyway, as i said, aku balik almost jam 11pm sbb dah lewat... but masa balik tu lah, obama dpt pass his 270 electoral college vote yg diperlukan... gosh... i miss it... and masa balik tu... org dah mula kecoh2 n happy n honk honk... lor.. sure kalau aku kat office blh join org office.. :-) then masa tu plak... aku str8 balik hotel, sbb dah ngantuk... when ramai org turun ke white house which is 5 blocks away from my hotel... ntah kenapa... aku malas nak turun n didn't join the celebration... instead, aku dengar obama's speech kat cnn kat bilik je... such an anti climax kan... hehehe...

but anyway, i enjoyed the night... although tak g ke area dekat2 ngan white house... i felt the excitement, the satisfaction, the atmosphere, masa aku jalan balik ke hotel... itu pun dah cukup meriah... like each places yg ada tv mcm hotel's lobby n cafes.. semua org menjerit gembira... kereta start honk honk... i can see people on the phone calling sana sini, shared the joy and shout happily... we won!!! we won!!!.... the people are eagerly waiting for the change... they got it and they deserved it...

but for me... so long as the new elected president tak bawak apa2 perubahan pada keadaan mid east... it makes no difference...

(bila plak malaysia akan dpt perubahan??? hmmm.... )

p/s - hari ahad sudah, masa aku pusing2 aku jumpa kedai souvenir ni... although election n result only tahu hari selasa, on that sunday, baju2 mccain n palin dah discounted... 50%++... baju obama still at normal price... so those out there nak baju mccain/palin, let me know... i can buy for you... ntah2 hari ni beli satu free 5 :-)

DC : Museums n n Landmarks

since aku tak g mana2 on weekends... i mean tak keluar dr DC and tak de keje nak buat... i've been wandering around... visiting museums n monuments n buildings n landmarks... apart from g shopping mall lah... as per my earlier entry... :-)

tp last weekend mmg i intended to do as many museums as possible (setelah rasa bersalah menghabis kan masa kat outlet mall yg tak menghabis kan duit on saturday...) (btw, i have determined that no more shopping from now onwards... habiskan duit lah shopping ni) it's autumn/fall here in DC, good weather to walk around... 2 miles pun tak kisah... berpeluh jugak... tp relax (peluh pun sbb pakai baju berlapis2 takut terlebih sejuk) at this weather, aku mmg tak nak kena selsema... susah...
the main part kalau dtg utk tour/visit is the national mall yg sepanjang 2.2 mile... iaitu the park between george washington memorial and capitol hill with washington monument and the white house kat tengah. its a huge park... and still ada tupai2 berlari sana sini... i walk around waktu siang n malam... and according to ppl, its one of the safest place in the US. mana tak nya.. ada white house kat situ... berduyun polis ada situ.. hehehe....talking abt museum, the first museum i went was the national museum of natural history. oh, most of the museum kat sini dikelola (hmm... very baku punya perkataan) oleh smitsonian instute (gambar kat atas tu). i dont remember, tp i think at least 10 museums mmg bawah smithsonian institute.... termasuk lah natural museum ni. and most of their museums located in between washington monument ngan capitol hill so its within walkable distance.apa ada kat museum ni... its understandable from the name... its on natural history... so ada lah dinosaur, asal manusia... asal bumi... etc... but in my opinion, the natural history museum kat London is way much better than this museum, in terms of collection and interactive... aku rasa lebih terpegun museum kat london tu lagi... anyway, it is still a great museum lah.. and they have better collection on marine life lah...
satu je museum aku tgk the first weekend, so the last weekend when i declared a museum day for myself.... i spend a good 6 hours touring 3 big interesting museums.... first of all i went to international spy museum

yup mmg citer pasal kehidupan spy... apa yg spy perlu buat... gadgets and techniques... and kisah2 spy2 yg popular... yg kena tangkap n yg kena bunuh n pengalaman yg dah pencen jadi spy... no pics taken as photography was not allowed kat dalam museum. ooh ada tiket, price at 18USD, n actually aku masuk ke main exhibition, kalau ada lebih masa, blh join their operational spy so that u can try jadi spy.
the good thing about this museum, masa awal2 dia buat briefing n suruh kita ambil character as a spy, so kita jadi teruja masa mula2 masuk... tp for me lama2 rasa tu hilang. first sbb bila dah masuk bab history, byk kes2 spy yg berjaya masa cold war between US n Russia... n kehebatan US... tak larat nak baca dah... second aku jadi bosan (not towards the end lah) sbb semua citer tentang spy zaman cold war, WWII, WWI, perang dulu2 kat UK-France, berlin wall... so citer zaman before 70s.... i wanna know pasal spy in current years gak... equipment sekarang... n new story about spy sekarang... like those KGB lah... CIA lah... Mossad lah... kalau ada, lagi lah best...

after museum tu, aku g ke another museum, (under smithsonian inst) National Air and Space Museum. a very good museum for those minat airspace, aviation industry, jets, planets, NASA and sewaktu dengannya.. although i stroll around je... tak banyak baca sgt lagi pun free je... so pusing2 lah.. still i cant help but admire ngan the collections... especially the original (original ke? tak sure) wright brothers nya first air craft.and yg lain2 tu aku pusing2 je, tak try pun simulator bawak kapal terbang or riding the jets etc. n didnt go to the IMAX pun (sbb semua tu kena bayar extra) but still habis gak dekat 2 jam pusing2. another part that i like pasal race to the moon between US n Russia... (again propaganda, kata US dah menang). and also one part what's beyond this... should we find another planet to live in? so byk citer pasal marikh... n life kat airspace... (best gak dpt keje kat air space sana)
after that, i only left exactly 2 hours, contemplating between 2 museum, a newsuem yg citer pasal news and also sejarah2 baru dlm dunia. lots on journalism. or another museum call holocaust museum. tp at the same time, information guy kat museum tu cadang indian-american museum yg aku tak berminat nak tgk. but anyway, holocaust museum sounded more interesting, so aku gi sana.

So there you go, aku gi ke US Holocaust Memorial Museum. At first thought, aku akan dpt tgk holocaust yg teruk2 selama ni, i.e. nazi, serbs, pol pot, israels etc... all yg pernah wujud dr dulu... all the genocides, ethnic cleansing... but too bad, museum tu cuma citer pasal kes jews kena bunuh beramai2 ngan nazi/hitler. its all about that, hmm... halfway br i realise that... kalau i knew earlier i dah keluar n go to another museum dah. even indian american museum lagi best kot. it's totally jewish propaganda... its totally sponsored by jews... nasib baik free... n i've decided not to buy any souvenir dr museum tu... but not all bad... i think i like hitler... i wish dia bunuh org2 tu sampai licin dr muka bumi dr dulu lagi...

so thats all museum yg aku pergi... 4 great museums (ok, holocaust tu good in terms of collection n history, cuma purpose citer je aku tak minat, plus tak sampai my expectation hehehe). so museum2 ni dekat2 area national mall tu... where the other main monuments located... except museum berbayar (spy museum), yg tu located near chinatown. but still blh lah jalan.. dekat2 je...


oh.. yeah... national mall tu apa... as i said.. its the place between george washington monument ngan capitol hill... so in between tu, banyak memorial perang (which i didn't go any except ada lah lalu kat vietnam war memorial, sbb tu US kalah). then... monuments... its a big park.. and of course lah ada white house (atas tu pintu belakang white house waktu malam).

white houseada marine marathon masa aku g situ, meriah... oh, thats washington monument.so the white house and the washington monument tu, adalah di antara george washington memorial kat atas ni.... dancapitol hill ni...

so, in short, if museums and monuments are totally no-no in your touring list and visiting places... dont ever dtg washington DC, mmg takde benda lain selain tempat2 ni... tempat yg aku tak g... aku rasa more museums and more memorial... ;-) but for me... macam baca buku sains and sejarah at one go... hehehe.... and too bad, aku jenjalan sorang2... so ada satu dua je gambar sendiri... hehehe.. tak pe lah, not a poser anyway.... hahaha