Travel Report: Rio the beaches...

hari ketiga, hari ahad, br aku mula nak tgk2 rio waktu siang... pepagi lagi aku dah keluar. plan asal nak naik ke atas bumbung hotel aku utk ambik gambar. seriously hotel aku mmg paling murah around the area. mulanya aku nak dok hostel, tp takde hostel yg ada individual room available sbb kalau dorm susah nak solat. so aku ambik lah hotel ni. tp, yg teruk nya roof top only open at 8am... and sunrise at 6am... hampeh... if aku dpt sunrise, this would be the view... tp ni gambar dah siang dah...so sbb tak leh naik roof top aku terus ke ipanema beach... around the corner je. ada lah 5 minit jalan kaki. hotel aku area aproador beach. its actually the tanjung between copacabana beach dan ipanema beach... yup copacabana very famous, tp tu dulu2... sekarang mostly org muda go to ipanema, copacabana mmg nampak org tua2 je...

what's for today... aku plan pepagi lepas bfast aku masuk favela, will talk abt this place in an entry later. trip ke favela akan siap by 1pm... so lps tu nak dok beach... yup... aku g lepak kat beach whole day... doing nothing jalan2... mandi laut... n tgk org... hehehe. the last activity yg paling best... hahahaha...

from far... that's ipanema beach.. penuh ngan manusia... ni otw nak balik lepas g favela..

yeah... rio is all about beach... senang kalau blh tgk map... kalau dtg sini stay around ipanema, tp copacabana pun ok gak sbb senang cari makan and ada night activity. ipanema lebih upmarket and lebih bersih and kurang org murahan... tp instead of the two beaches, dok tgh2 mcm aku, aproador beach. pantai dia lebih utk org main surf... tp walkable to both ipanema yg best gi siang.. and copacabana gi malam... here are some of the pics yg aku ambik guna hp je. org hotel kata bahaya ambik pakai real camera since aku g jalan sorang2... n aku rasa pun susah... kalau nak masuk laut ke... or nak main volleyball (oops tak main pun, tgk je)....

ni ipanema beach on a weekend....
aku g gak copacabana on other day... weekday... kat copacabana ada sandcastle...

masa kejap sgt lah kat rio.. if i have another weekend, sure aku blh cakap ngan diaorg ni aku nak join skali.. too bad, tgk dr tepi je.... btw, apart from volleyball depa ada gak main soccervolley (betul ke?) rule mcm volleyball tp pakai kaki n kepala n badan except tangan... mcm takraw lah tp pakai bola volley n net rendah skit dr volleyball.
this is a wonderful song yg buat ipanema ni famous... 1960's Girl from Ipanema..

Travel Report: Sao Paulo to Rio

(that the hostel wall pepagi, ujung tu tempat breakfast)

Pepagi lagi aku dah jaga. ye lah the day before aku tido pukul 9am. tp since aku nak full rest, although terjaga aku sambung tido balik... dan since ada room mate aku tak lah blh je buka lampu. tp jam 6am tu aku dah tak larat tido, then aku siap2 nak blah... mandi sat n br tahu yg hostel tu bg breakfast. jam 8.30am bila reception dah buka, aku pun bg tau nak blah n nak tanya mcm mana nak g ke bus station utk ke Rio. since aku tak beli tiket lagi, so aku tak lah terkejar2. and according to mamat jaga reception, ada faire (pasar) pagi jual antique items dekat ngan hostel so aku decided utk g jenguk2 apa ada kat situ sebelum bergerak ke station bas.

(aku ambik train/metro ke station bas)

jam 9.30am aku ke station bas. mudah jugak nak cari kaunter, tp sbb aku malas nak sesat2... aku nampak kaunter pertanyaan aku tanya lagi... actually bila keluar dr hotel or touristic area, depa ni tak tahu english sgt, so nasib lah. kalau ada yg tahu senang, kalau tak... cakap je mana tempat, depa tunjuk lah... n pepandai lah agak2 apa dia cakap and pepandai lah agak mcm mana cara nak bg depa paham. depa semua cakap portugese brazil... kenkadang aku campur2 english n french... ambik... hehehe...(aku nya bas kat platform 10)

bas awal masa tu 10.15am rasanya. tiket harga 82BR dlm RM150 lebih kurang. perjalanan ambik masa 6 jam lebih... depends on traffic. seat best, leg room besar, seat luas - perhand siap bg bantal n selimut. ada dpt biskut n air botol. sebelum naik bas aku makan lagi, try a cheese bread yg ada aku nampak budak makan the day before... its yummy :-) seriously yummy.... hehehe(cheese bread.. sekotak ni rasanya 6BR dlm RM10... dpt lah 10 ketul)

the journey was uneventful... ada masa aku agak ralat gak buat journey 6 jam lebih ni. wasted my day and masa tu plak game argentina vs german yg aku miss... tp ye lah, if i didn't do this trip (naik bas ni) aku takkan tahu apa rupa negara brasil out of the city. at least aku blh guna time ni utk rehat lah. anyway, seriously if i can do this trip again, i will fly :-)(some view of brazil... awal2 nampak tempat industri... then residential...t then ladang.. and more resindential n more ladang... not really rich people, mcm malaysia je style nya and hiway pun bukan besar mana... max2 pun 4 lane, but most of the time 2 lane je.)

sesampai je kat rio... check in hotel... then had a rest. sampai pun masa tu dah pkl dekat 6 petang, dah sunset dah... aku tak lapar sangat, so org hotel suggest aku jalan je arah copacabana beach... ada kedai2 kat tepi jalan and ada some people around. although dia suruh aku g area lapa i.e. downtown, aku tak prepare sgt nak g town. dia kata situ byk club n pub.. good utk g drink... am not drinker and aku tak g club. so aku decided utk jalan ke copacabana.... hehehe... masa jalan-jalan tu, mmg terfikir... sungguh tak sangka aku dpt jejak bumi amerika selatan. Alhamdulillah...(night view from my hotel rooftop... that's ipanema beach tu, although tak berapa nampak)

Travel Report: Fly to Brasil

Qatar airways bg promotion g their new destination kat South America, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. At first aku nak g ke Buenos Aires, suddenly a friend of mine cakap ba

ik g ke Rio... which is very near to Sao Paulo.... yup, brilliant idea... and Rio, here i come...

Kali ni aku mmg travel light, aku tak check in pun luggage, the beg 10kg bawak atas je. Flight ke Sao Paulo memakan masa 14 jam, fly dr doha jam 8am sampai sana jam 4pm, ada 6 hours saving. Airport Sao Paulo, GRU, tak besar. n ntah macam mana aku terlaju plak jalan, aku org pertama dr flight yg sampai kat queue... hehehe... no visa needed and not many question asked... in fact dia cuma wish me to enjoy my holiday je :-) (perhaps sbb takde mood kot dia ari tu)

right after keluar imigresen, sementara tunggu beg, aku tukar duit dulu. takut kalau2 kat luar nanti dah kelam kabut etc, tak sempat nak tukar duit. dapat je beg terus keluar. seriously i do not know where should i go from there. nak naik bas, tapi tak tahu ke mana. then nasib baik nampak information counter and dia terangkan mana nak tunggu bas etc... and dpt lah idea skit. dia pun cakap itu ini pasal bas nak g ke Rio... and promo itu ini lah. then before aku blah aku tanya dia, so Brazil menang ke kalah lawan Belanda? dia buat muka sedih, kalah 2-0 katanya... so terus aku zip mulut, no question about world cup... hehehe... btw, byk lagi money changer kat luar arrival hall... tp aku tak cek plak mana rate lagi bagus, luar or dalam.

although world cup dah abis buat brazilian, tp banner and poster and bendera masih ada. nampak betul kemeriahan world cup kat sini. so 2014 mmg lagi meriah lah negara ni. tp sure mahal nak dtg masa tu.

ni station tatuape

aku punya hostel, yup aku dok hostel for the first night sbb aku nak stay 1 mlm je sebelum ke Rio. Lokasi dia kat vila madalena, katanya tempat best for artist and good night life. not that am artist or mmg suka nightlife, tp ni je tempat yg murah n good rating available. aku naik bas dr airport ke tatuape station then tukar ke metro, mula line biru ke line merah then ke line hijau br sampai station yg aku nak g. based on direction dr hostel keluar je terus lah jalan ke hostel, 15 minutes je. tp aku salah turn, sampai aku jumpa metro station lagi satu, so i ended up naik cab je.

mlm tu ingat nak keluar, tp rasa badan penat plak, n i think let have some rest sbb esok nak ke rio. and since masa aku jalan ke hostel tu, aku rasa area dia kawasan perumahan yg aku tak sure mana nak tuju. sorang2 plak tu... baik aku tido and ready for tomorrow...`

Back from Brasil...

sekejap sungguh trip ni.. seminggu je.... naik flight pun 14 jam one way.... will write more abt the trip soon... here some highlights :-)

depress... re-think... conclude

Finally i've decided to proceed with my Rio trip...

asalnya aku plan g ngan member sorang ni... dia kata 90% agreed to go... cuma cuti je tak confirm tp for sure dapat... so aku berharap gile lah masa tu... and aku dah cari hotel n prepare the itinerary semua... alih2 hari selasa minggu lepas dia cancel... tak jadi gi...

i was depressed and feeling down... low... aku tak blame dia sgt sebab dia pun bkn nya confirm confirmed pergi... i was more frustrated with my own feelings, i.e. terlampau berharap kat org... i should have ignored his decision n terus je pergi.. but could not fight that... hehehe

anyway, i have re-thinked... then sembang sana sini... fikir berpuluh kali.. and tetiba plak my boss plak bg keje/project baru yg ada potensi utk aku travel to 3 countries :-) wa weee....

but then i have outlined 3 main reasons i should go:
1. This could probably my only chance to experience all alone trip... and perhaps will get to know loads of people...
2. It's a promotional time... it's cheap...
3. It's south america... period!!!

but the main issue that made me to think twice...
1. I hate travelling alone... sapa nak ambik gambar aku...
2. safety issue... and alone... :-(

then.... i called my parents (ish dah tua nak kawin consult parents lagi... heheeh) n my mom always worried lah, but my dad was very supportive... dia kata jgn risau lah.. should be ok...

10 mins after that call, i purchased the ticket.... hooray!!! such a relief.. hehehehe... in 6 days time.. Brazil... here i come ;-)

(p/s - pas ni harap2 dah berteman bila travel...)
(p/s - 4 continents this year - Europe (UK), N.America (US), Asia (Oman) and now S.America (Brazil) hip hip hoooray!!!