Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sun and Sand...

aku dah lama nak try scuba diving... bila dah ada fesbuk, banyak aku tgk gambar kawan2 aku g scuba diving... jeles plak.. dan aku rasa mmg aku seronok nak diving ni, sbb aku selalu excited utk buat snorkelling...

so since aku dah dapat approval utk cuti 3 minggu dan aku plan nak cancel my mumbai trip... am planning to go for diving courses... nak dpt lesen diving :-) ada sesapa tahu sapa instructor yg bagus....

btw... blh ke belajar or dpt lesen diving kalau tak tahu berenang??? hehehe....

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Burn out???

aku plan nak balik raya tahun ni... 11 sept nanti... cuti 2 -3 minggu... plan asal nya... aku nak balik 2 minggu sampai 28 september. lepas tu balik doha and catch a flight to mumbai from 28hb tu sampai 3 oct... ada wedding budak office to attend...

the first thought... this is the chance utk tgk culture india... yg aku bayang kan mcm kuch kuch hota hai... dah lah kawin kat mumbai... blh lah aku g ambik gambar org kawin... full of colors sambil2 jalan2 kat mumbai...

so aku pun buat lah plan.. dr dok mumbai 5 hari.. aku cut short and aku plan dok sana 3 hari and lepas wedding g tempat lain... few places in mind.... udaipur, jaipur, goa, mysore, bangalore etc... aku plan nak g naik train... tp setelah cek... nak g to one place tu blh makan 17 - 24 hours naik train... so tukar plan naik flight plak... ok lah tak mahal mana... tp yg tak best nya, semua flight tu kena patah balik ke mumbai utk balik ke doha... kind of wasting time gak lah... tp my main place is either udaipur or mysore... both takde airport.. still kena naik train... which kalau ikut all the timing, aku blh spend maybe max 1 day yg memenatkan kat bandar lain tu.

at the same time... aku kena travel sorang again... which mcm penat je.. mcm business travel... although my fren tu ada kat situ, and tolong2 plan... and dia pun dah cakap... accomodation kat mumbai dia provide... tp aku plak tak tahu mana nak g pas mumbai tu... and places like hill station n beach are definitely no no sbb aku g sorang2...

lepas plan2 dah semua ni... aku rasa penat lah plak.... rasa mcm malas nak travel... aku rasa baik aku balik malaysia n rehat2 je.. hehehe.... kenkadang aku rasa mcm burn out plak tetiba... burnout like aku malas nak travel... hairan plak mcm mana org macam aku malas nak travel... hmm...

Monday, July 27, 2009

doha panas!!!

dah lama blog ni tak citer pasal doha... hehehe...

sekarang ni doha panas giler... actually for me tak lah panas mana, dah experience the heat before... tp kalau aku nak describe kat org malaysia yg tak pernah sampai doha, now mmg panas giler... kenkadang tu, rasa mcm dok kat depan oven yg panas bila angin tiup masa tengah hari... terasa merekah2 kulit muka...

selalunya masa summer ni.. kulit merekah2... bibir cepat kering... and kepala panas... and mmg perlu minum air banyak.... aku rasa lately aku kurang minum air, terasa mcm sakit kepala... bila pegang kulit kepala mcm terasa takde kulit.. mencengkam rasanya kat keliling mata... i'm not a person yg selalu komplen pasal pening, so aku rasa sakit ni surely affected sbb panas.

Alhamdulillah, ari ni aku minum air sebanyak mungkin, and will do also for tomorrow... dah beransur hilang sakit kepala... in less than a month dah nak posa... masa tu lagi lah kurang minum air. harap2 still sihat sejahtera... :-)

Saturday, July 25, 2009

PEK : Shopping and night time...

Kalau sapa ikut pakej trip dr Malaysia, mmg most of the itinerary jalan tu g shopping... since aku ni travel sorang2 aku tak sure sangat kat mana tempat shopping best yg org2 tu pergi... and since aku travel sorang2 aku takde lah g kedai ubat, kedai teh and kedai2 apa ntah... plus aku tak tgk pun akrobatik...

but aku ada la gi tgk2 tempat shopping... one of the famous street i think the Wang Fu Jing... yg selalu nya penuh ngan org....

Sekitar central Beijing ni mmg byk mall... semua brand ada... and keluar dr circle 1 and 2 ni.. kat business central area pun banyak mall.... tengok directory lah kalau nak tgk pasal mall ni... tp mengikut kata kawan aku, brg2 kat beijing ni tak murah, kalau original branded goods, better beli kat shanghai or hong kong, kat sana lagi murah
anyway, kalau nak beli no original branded goods, ada satu kedai ni, they call it silk street also known as silk market. paling banyak kat kedai2 ni brand Polo RL, Paul Smith... even Ed Hardy pun ada.. aku tak membeli sgt, tp ada lah beli t-shirt for souvenir. the first few floors kat kedai ni mmg jual shirts je... harga collared t-shirt paling murah aku dpt RM40 - RMB50... although ada shirt yg dia start ngan RMB650... giler tak??? tp yg best masa aku g sini, sbb muka aku mcm cina ada masa nya aku jalan2 without org hassle aku suruh beli, sbb kalau muka org putih tu, sibuk lah penjual ni jerit2 buat sales... :-)this place is so famous sampai aku terserempak ngan shaq o neil yg jalan2 kat situ.. penuh lah semua org nak ambil gambar... disebabkan aku trap sekejap, since dia lalu sebelah aku, terpaksa lah aku pun ambik gambar blur dia ni...
malam kat beijing ni hidup... aku tak sure sbb mmg happening or mmg sbb org nya terlampau ramai so depa mmg keluar... kat Wang Fu Jing street (gambar bawah tu) tu penuh ngan org... apart from that, blh g jugak area Ho Hai.. its a lake yg tepi2 dia penuh bar and club... aku g jalan2 sana without camera.... kat ho hai ni byk peraih2 menjaja 'peking duck'.... cakap je brapa harga, blh je bawak balik bilik... tp masa aku jalan kat sini, aku tak g sorang, aku g ngan member malaysia aku yg keje sini, dia paham bahasa, senang skit aku jalan2.
malam, blh gak g jalan2 tgk stadium olimpik - kolam renang tu n the bird nest... pun ramai org gak... jalan2... duduk... lepak2... mmg ramai sungguh org kat beijing ni...and setelah berjalan seharian... blh lah berehat kat tempat2 urut... aku suka g urut kaki je... hehehe... :-)
aku pun ada 2 hari je jalan2 kat beijing ni... if lama lagi n mmg tujuan nya utk berjalan, perhaps aku blh explore lebih lagi dr ni... :-)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

PEK : Istana Terlarang...

Secara kasarnya bandaraya metropolis beijing ni berpusatkan forbidden palace/city (istana terlarang ikut bahasa aku). maksud aku... orientation bandar ni, dgn forbidden palace ni kat tgh2... dan ring 2, 3, 4 - 6 adalah expressway mengelilingi palace ni... the first 2 ring mmg central lah... and office selalunya between ring 3 - 5.
So setelah aku menjejak great wall, hari ahad tu, aku g pulang the 2nd best thing kat beijing... the forbidden palace ni.. huge magnificent palace... katanya forbidden sbb masa dulu hanya raja2 je boleh masuk... pekerja2 istana dan org2 berkaitan ngan istana je blh... rakyat2 tak blh (perhaps boleh kalau ada occassion kot... tak ingat)you can read the whole history about this palace kat wikipedia... so i shall not elaborate more abt this palace... for me it is a huge palace yg mengagungkan raja... dan kebanggaan utamanya n yg disebut ramai tentang banyak nya gundik nya... :-) tp yg lebih mengagumkan aku, betapa ramai nya pelancong, who were mostly local tourist or at least look so chinese... tak ramai sgt pelancong asing...tempat ni buka jam 8.30am and tutup around 4.30... aku cadangnya nak test camera je dtg sini... tp since dah sampai, kena gak lah tahu the history. so aku sewa the audio guide (setelah aku tgk citer slumdog millionaire, aku agak suspicious ngan guide2 persendirian yg blh diambil kat depan pintu masuk). for me the guide tu bagus, full of information. tp kenkadang agak laju, sampai kita tak sempat follow, bila ramai org, kita jalan slow skit... so tak dpt catch up. n kenkadang sbb censor detect awal, kita tak naik tangga lagi, dia dah citer pasal dlm hall... tp for a brief citer ok lah... :-)


walaupun ramai... there is still some space that u can find no one... ooh didn't i said i came here just to try out my camera... these are some pics that i took... trying very hard to be creative and full use of the camera (up to the knowledge aku ada lah) very amateurish...
it's a huge complex... kalau rajin tgk each n every room and small palace meant for the concubines... mau ambik masa 4 jam at least... aku yg jump here and there and getting tired... pun abis 4 jam... and tak g semua tempat pun.. but snap loads of pictures lah... nasib baik aku g sorang, kalau dengan member... sure bosan dia...

for this trip, aku cuma g palace ni je, ada 2 lagi tempat/historical building yg interesting, the summer palace and temple of heaven... save for later dates, insyaAllah... for those yg g trip package tour akan dpt g tempat2 lain lagi....
this palace is seriously a must visit definitely!!!

btw.... at the south gate tempat ni terletaknya tiannamen square yg famous tu. aku tak rajin nak bgn pagi tgk depa naikkan bendera... or perhaps ada taichi... hehehe

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

PEK : The greatness of Tembok Besar China...

Alhamdulillah... aku berpeluang utk rehat2 on the weekends while my business trip kali ni... dpt rezeki utk extend... and aku ambil time ni nak tgk salah satu daripada 7 keajaiban dunia... Tembok Besar China... yg mmg mengagumkan...
aku lambat buat decision utk ke tembok ni, jam 11pm mlm sebelumnya br aku decide. kat beijing ni ada beberapa tempat yg sesuai tgk tembok ni... among others:

1. Badaling - ni bahagian tembok yg paling dekat ngan beijing. approx. 70km dr utara beijing. selalunya tour agent/travel package akan g tempat ni. oleh sbb tu, mmg ramai tourist kat sini... dan mmg bahagian tembok ni well preserved. and cantik pun. n kat sini lah yg nak dpt sijil etc.

2. Mutianyu - a bit further compared to badaling. still ada gak ramai tourist (kata org lah)... stil ada keunikan tersendiri...

3. Simatai (pic above, the hiking towards near simatai) - the furthest... 3 jam dr beijing... tak ramai sangat tourist. some say, kat sini view tembok ni paling cantik among all... jarang big travel tours dtg sini. kalau ada pun mostly local tour.

therefore, aku pilih simatai... so bila dah set mlm tu. katanya dia akan pick me up from hotel at 6,45am and charge RMB280 (termasuk pengangkutan, entrance fee and lunch + english speaking guide.. thats a must)
guide arrived around the agreed time... and sbb nak ambik org2 lain (14 org semuanya) we tour around beijing dulu... and around 10.30am sampai kat Jinshangling. rupanya most of group member tu start hiking dr Jinshangling 9km hike utk sampai ke Simatai.. aku pun terasa lah nak hike... tp tourist guide tu convince aku, view kat Simatai lagi cantik sbb kena panjat bukit.. better than hiking... so aku tak jadi hike (aku pun tak prepare sgt nak hike.. sure pancit!!!)
so setelah letak org kat Jinshangling... van menuju ke Simatai... we were given 3 jam setengah utk menjelajah Simatai... boleh nak hike panjat bukit... or blh gak nak naik cable car n furnicular... and aku decided menggunakan semua kemudahan... aku fikir, lebih baik aku sampai atas cepat, so aku blh enjoy the view and the tembok to the max... hiking2 panjat ni penat je (read: malas.. n takut pancit!!!)
tp weather hari tu tak lah bagus sgt... bila aku tiba kat atas tembok (setelah pancit gak memanjat tangga) aku tak dpt tgk jauh... putih... jerebu or fog aku pun tak tahu... tp yg best... mmg tak ramai org... setelah berehat... aku menuju ke post paling hujung yg boleh... :-) kalau ikut map atas tu, setelah naik cable car tu, akan sampai ke stesen kuning ke 5 dr kanan... so aku menapak sampai ke stesen terakhir tu lah...
some of the view on the way up...
tp bila sampai 2nd last tower... hari makin mendung n macam nak hujan... n masa tu... memang aku sorang je kat area tu.. aku takut plak trap dlm hujan... so aku decided utk descend balik ke bawah n habiskan sampai ujung tak ikut cable car...
tapi yg aku bersyukur, Alhamdulillah... hujan tu tak jadi... tp angin kuat je... angin kuat tu dah bawak all the fog and jerebu and awan away.. so aku boleh lah dpt ambik gambar yg lebih cantik (rasanya lah) dan dpt tgk langit biru.. magnificent!!!

and perjalanan ke bawah mmg best.. byk view2 cantik although it is the same tembok lah... but still mengagumkan... if you read and dpt relate ngan sejarah pembinaan tembok ni.... br dapat rasakan kenapa ia layak utk join 7 wonders of the world...
sampai ujung.. aku decided utk berfirefox turun ke bawah... dan naik boat utk sampai ke restoran for lunch... a simple lunch, aku makan veggie je.. :-) and later back to Beijing... jam 6.30pm aku sampai semula hotel...
although tiring... but it was really worth it... luckily i decided utk naik cable car ke atas and turun ke bawah... aku blh buat trip ni dgn lebih mudah.. kalau aku panjat... mmg patah pinggang... and aku dpt enjoy tembok ni by my own... mmg at times, mmg aku sorang je kat tembok tu... totally no one else!!!
p/s - additional charges - cable car 1 way RMB30 (return RMB50), furnicular (RMB20 kot one way), firefox+boat RMB40.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

PEK : Makan...

Aku tak sure kenapa lah kita ni suka sangat nak tahu pasal bab makan... i can say more than 70% org yg tanya pengalaman aku kat beijing will start with these 2 questions:

1. Amacam beijing best? i would say..... bla bla bla...

2. Senang tak makan kat sana?.... hmmm....

ok. utk makan kat sana... ada beberapa style makanan yg blh makan... and its pretty easy...

1. Vegetarian... mcm kat ipoh, vegetarian chinese mmg sedap. we've tried once kat kedai nama dia pure lotus. (later that week aku dpt tahu it's the Beijing's best vegetarian restaurant 2009) we ordered based on suggestion dr waiter... really sedap!!! for 3 person RMB580 (RM100 per pax lebih kurang)... and obviously presentation mmg superb... and nama makanan lagi lah kelakar... tak ingat lah exactly apa nama food dia... but the name kelakar n romantik...
2. Xin Jiang... ni kes yg org riot kat xin jiang tu.. ramai muslim kat area tu. so kalau ada xin jiang restaurant mostly halal.... i've tried one restaurant called red roses, around workers stadium. sedap food situ, and named the 2009 best xin jiang restaurant from the same magazine chose pure lotus. tp walaupun namanya islamik.. tp suasana dlm restoran tak langsung.... (tak de pic lah) xin jiang food ni byk daging2 esp. kambing/mutton/lamb...

3. arabic food... we've tried 1001 restaurant... ok lah.. not too bad... but again it's lebanese food... yg senang2 dapat kat doha... nothing to shout out.... (cuma kat sini ada best belly dancer... hehehee.. berselera makan hahhaa)

4. Mat3am islami... merata2 dlm town centre blh jumpa mat3am islami ni... even kat tianammen square pun ada... kat wang fu jing, a big restaurant dkt ngna McD yg near oriental plaza... although namanya restoran islam (famous for steamboat kedai ni) kedai ni penuh ngan org... bukan semua muslim pun, rasanya lah...
therefore, pada aku makan tak lah susah... but jgn lah cari makanan melayu... apa halal bedal je lah :-) lucky me i love chinese food and i can eat loads of meat.... :-)

Monday, July 20, 2009

PEK : Getting around...

banyak mode of transportation kat sini... yg paling mudah naik teksi... tp ada gak beca utk jalan2 dlm town and ada gak subway. Teksi merata-rata... mmg senang dapat dan semua bermeter RMB10 first 3km, RMB2 for the next 1 km... kiranya selamat lah, takkan jadi terlebih mahallah... dan selalunya teksi ni jujur and blh dipercayai, plus kat receipt teksi tu siap ada nombor teksi tu, kalau ada apa2 tertinggal atau x elok, call saja n report. mmg dea takut kalau dpt report, terus kena gantung lesen. and kalau sesetengah hotel, org hotel tu akan jot down nombor teksi for future reference.

tp yg tak best nya teksi ni, none of them blh paham english. so agak susah nak communicate. and although depa akan hantar ke mana je kita nak, i.e. kena lah sediakan map/address in chinese character, tak semua tahu segenap pelosok beijing. so... depa akan bertanya2 lah ngan org mana tpt tu... tp, yg geram nya depa ni blh show tantrum n merungut2 dlm kereta tu... mcm kita ni minta tolong dia hantar n tak bayar... serius... at time aku rasa mcm aku beggar plak, minta belas kasihan... but otherwise, ok je teksi sana... :-) another good thing, depa tak accept tips.. hahaha...
apart from teksi, kalau kat central, around tempat2 tourist ni, banyak beca... kalau nak try blh je... tp since aku rasa aku ni gemuk, tak sesuai lah nak naik beca... hahaha... i think the cost mmg murah... aku tak try.

in beijing ada jugak system subway. and surprisingly bagus and bersih... especially yg menghala ke stadium olimpik. sungguh tersusun dan semua line linked between each other... the best part... g mana je cuma RMB2... so selagi tak keluar dr train station RMB2 je... thats Ringgit Malaysia 1... sungguh murah!!! ni lah baru dikatakan usaha mengurangkan kereta kat atas jalanraya...

bila aku tgk sistem subway kat sini... dan aku dah g few other places like NY, DC, London, S'pore, Rome, Paris, bangkok... aku rasa, sistem subway kat malaysia lah the worst among all... hmm... main reason... tak connected between several lines... kesian betul...




p/s - bas pun banyak... i think lg murah dr subway... tak try pun

Saturday, July 18, 2009

PEK : skyline...

Antara benda yg aku amat tension kat beijing adalah weather dia... very humid (actually sama je mcm malaysia.. hahaha) tp yg paling tak best kat sana adalah langit dia yg sentiasa putih.. mcm ada fog or jerebu yg gile2 tebal... selama 10 hari kat sana... cuma 8 hari je ada langit color biru n dpt tgk matahari... ntah mcm mana... aku rasa down bila tgk langit penuh jerebu ni... total white!!!
on good days... mcm ni lah skyline beijing... (both pics/view taken dr office aku)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

DOH - PEK, drama bodoh...

Ni bukan kali pertama aku travel out of Doha... tp entah mcm mana aku blh terlupa satu benda penting... yg hanya wujud kat Doha... EXIT PERMIT...

for those yang duduk Qatar or Mid East mmg tahu apa benda ni. for those yg tak dok kat luar, exit permit ni adalah permit yg diberikan oleh sponsor (bg kes aku, company aku) utk keluar dr negara ni. Sbb kan kat Doha ni mengamalkan sistem sponsorship (aku rasa dah citer pasal benda ni dulu), semua org bawah sponsorship kena minta permission dr sponsor utk buat macam2 benda dr exit dr doha (ke luar negara), buka akaun, ambik loan, beli kereta etc2... kiranya sponsor ni mcm guarantor...

mlm nak g ke Beijing ("afterwards PEK") Adam jemput kitaorg makan kat umah dia. aku dah siap2 beg n mmg plan g ke airport dr umah dia. at around 10pm (flight at 0130), tetiba kawan aku tanya, semua dah ready ke? beg? tiket? passport?exit permit??? then masa tu lah br aku ingat pasal exit permit... hahaha... aku pun kenalah call semua org yg aku rasa blh tolong aku.. risau tak dapat, panic gak... sbb kalau x dpt mau kena book different tiket... malas nya aku nak go thru all the mess... nasib baik lah ada sorang pak arab qatari office aku yg rajin g ke office and buatkan exit permit aku... and at 11.30pm aku cek n permit aku ready... lega... hahaha.. mmg panic yg bodoh ya amat...

the flight was full and aku dok seat paling last... it's 8++ hours flight... nothing much sbb semua org tido the whole journey... aku pun tido... cuma abt 2 jam sebelum sampai PEK ada turbulance yg agak kuat... sampai crew tgh serve breakfast pun semua kena g duduk. ada lah dlm 5 - 10 minit turbulence tu... tp alhamdulillah semua ok. arrived kat PEK, tp tak leh keluar dr kapal terbang until ada org dtg and check temperature... sbb H1N1. masuk kat dlm airport pun agak busy sbb another check up... but actually no real check up cuma ada laluan yg blh detect temperature and ada form kena isi and submit, tu je... then off we went... ke hotel...

hotel cantik... sesampai je situ relax kejap and nak g office... but dpt tahu, ada riot kat Xin Jiang... semua org dah keluar n g towards the place... so takde org kat office... kind of happy dah masa tu... because i foresee kena extend lah trip ni. since awal nya aku kena balik after 5 days, now maybe lah stay for weekends :-)