Roll On : My Short Trip To Philipines (2)

Aug 28, 2014


Here comes our second day. we wake at 3 for sahur. for instant noodles of course. since there are no halal food around, we settle for the instant noodle and instant soup we bring from Malaysia. Dr also say we could eat the fries at the fast food chain since fries have their on frying thingy (i swear i know what is this thing named but i couldn't recall it) and those long loaf Gardenia bread. For the first 3 day if i am not mistaken, that is our food. No NASIK (rice). 

Enough about our gourmet adventure.

For today, we have nothing planned for us from the UST part. it was suppose to be the day we explore Manila. I thought we could do lots of stuff but i was wrong. Dr arranged for us to go to Intramuros.

[ Intramuros (Latin, "within the walls") is the oldest district and historic core of the City of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Also called the Walled City, the original city of Manila was the seat of government when the Philippines were a component realm of the Spanish Empire. Districts beyond the walls were referred as the extramuros of Manila, meaning "outside the walls" ] source:Wikipedia

Intramuros was amazing. I'm in love with the architecture. do i mention i am overwhelms with those colonial times architecture. spanish sure have a very beautiful insight of what is beauty. especially their cathedral. it was gorgeous. 

but to get there was a challenge. we walk to Bambang station and then i was totally lost. haha. i simply follow the flow. but i do think below is the description of my loooooooooooooooooooooooong walk. 

source : http://www.justjeric.com/2013/12/23/commuting-or-getting-to-intramuros-by-lrt/
  1. Regardless of which LRT station you boarded or come from, alight at the Central Terminal Station. It is the station near the Manila City Hall and the Metropolitan Theater.
  2. From the Central Terminal Station, walk towards the Park N Ride bus terminal.
  3. Walk along Dr. R. Basa Street, which is found between Park N Ride and the back side of the Metropolitan Theater.
  4. As you reach the end of Dr. R. Basa Street, you will see a set of stairs that will lead you to an underpass. The entrance to the underpass is just near the 7-11 convenience store.
  5. Use the underpass and then exit to Padre Burgos Avenue.
  6. From the underpass, walk straight ahead to reach the corner of Padre Burgos Avenue and Anda Street.
  7. Turn left and walk along Anda Street until you reach the gate of Intramuros.
  8. Upon entering the gate of Intramuros, the first thing that you will see is the Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

i remember the underpass and the 7-11 store. as you can see, it is rather dangerous to go alone. not like in Malaysia where all the local attraction have some means of public transportation directly to it. but it was a good thing also. i can see more Philipines by the walk i've done. there are shops at the underpass. the shop kind of reminds me of Malacca some how. 

anyway. it was so damn hot!!!! and i forgot my umbrella. i even forgot to bring a cap. it was too crazy. i didn't recover yet from my sunburn till now and my skin was dark. it is not good at all.

ok. let us continue to explore the magical Walled City. all that conflicts was so worth it when i get to explore Intramuros. We also get into Jose Rizal Memorial Park and Fort where they have a little museum dedicated for remembrance of his fight and also the most famous Fort Santiago. it was lovely. i love it. i am fangirling over it.

when we finish our trip we wouldn't want to go to all the trouble as we get getting there so we get a taxi. the guard there call the taxi for us. i get into the same taxi as Dr, and he pay the taxi fare. it didn't cost much actually but still rather expensize as compared to jeepney.

anyway, we couldn't get a chance to went to local market to buy souvenirs. instead we went for a high end souvenirs shop in a very the edgy shopping mall. it wasn't that expensive but i have read that here in Intramuros they have this local market where you can buy souvenirs as cheap as 10 peso. it's so sad that we couldn't go such places to buy souvenirs.

we break our fast with instant soup and bread. and fries.  

i am deeply sorry that i couldn't share with you the expenses i have used since i forget the price. i should have write it. silly me. i forget actually.  but we have change RM500 to peso as according to Dr suggestion. some change some more. we were fasting so we have extra money to buy more souvenirs. for my chinese friends on the other hand they didn't have much to buy souvenirs but still around rm500 to rm600 would be enough for the week of jollying on food like them. they didn't accept RM here if you want to change money, well as far as i can see. so do think of other option if you might run out of money.

 let pictures do the rest.


waiting the other half of the gang. we split up since the train won't fit everyone.


so packed!

how we carry our bagpack everywhere.

under the HEAT

the street beside us as we walk to the underpass.


the long walk. approaching the underpass.

intramuros gate



just after the gate. more houses here.

just look at the cabels!



there is people living in here. it is simply city with wall.






Casa Manila

Casa Manila. they have a nice restaurant here. it was so beautiful.







if i'm not mistaken these can be use for tourist to go around Intramuros

a peek of Manila Cathedral

Manila Cathedral


we couldn't get inside since there is a mass going

should have take a step back and capture the whole structure of this cathedral


even the door was beautifully made

i've been to Jose Rizal and Fort Santiago place but i couldn't get good pictures + i am just too lazy to wait for the pictures to be uploaded. so till here for now. byebye!

Roll On : Chow Kit Road

Aug 27, 2014

I want to continue my writing about my Philipines trip but the pictures took forever to upload. So i thought i would share with you about Chow Kit Road.

UKM KL was just a step away from Chow Kit Road. Just at the end of the road there in this UO Supermarket where we would go to buy daily stuff. It is so cheap considering you didn't need to go far. I've once go to Mydin near Petaling Street. The stuff there where quite cheap and the have lots more stuff. There is also this one market which i forget the name near Jalan TAR. Also rather cheap than UO Supermarket plus they sell a lot of foreign chocolates!

Back to Chow Kit Road, you must know the song that late Sudirman used to sing. it seem quite a nice place to hang out from the song. well, back then it is. nowaday it is full of foreign peoples and frankly speaking i don't really like to be there except when i really have to. most of peoples selling stuff there were foreigners. they don't have lots of clothing stuff but if you're looking for clothing it is far better if you got to Jalan TAR. jalan TAR have more choices with crazily cheaper price.

beside UO Supermarket, there is a wet market there. they got chickens sold only as a whole chicken, lots of spices and keropok and many more things your kitchen may need. if you are looking for things to cook for your family, i would really suggest you to go to this market than into UO Supermarket. they also sell food. but i really didn't feel comfortable with the atmosphere there although i always like to go to market and stuff.

but, we , the students,  love to go to Chow Kit road to get fruits. the fruits here is so cheap. i can buy like 20 apples, the small red ones, for only rm5 to rm10.  don't worry, the food things are sold by Malaysian mostly. Only the clothing were monopolised by foreigners.

i don't know how it really is like in the night. i once went there but everything was closed. 



http://mile.mmu.edu.my/orion/samuelfong/hasfeezar-hassan-1101110490/


Here come another giveaway. i didn't really get the passion peopl get joining giveaway or calling radio and become number whatever caller so that you can win prizes. the chances are almost none and still there person who still love to play this game of luck. 

not until i get a friend that actually is one of the fellow. and she win. and then i realize. we get nothing to lose even if we try and might end up with thousand ringgit. it didn't sound that bad when i actually see such person alive in front of me.

so why not. i never win anything like this. i think i should continue trying and who knows, Allah have write down our rezeki right. 

i would love to become a better blogger. with that i need to have a good blog. and here i am writing in english when most of my traffic come from Malaysia. bad move but i like writing in english. in kind of feel more like me.

for the GA organizer. i am deeply sorry if i trouble you with my messed up english.

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http://iolacaviarofficial.blogspot.com/2014/08/segmen-blogwalking-pink-ladies-2-48.html


pink ladies. i don't really dig in this pink idea. don't call me a conpiracist but i really think the idea to say pink is sinonym to women is western side of idea. i mean just look how we come about. our history back then. it's quite ridiculous to say how pink symblolize women back then right? i don't even understand how pink is women. the main impression of people liking pink is that they are to be soft and gullible. childish and ooverly pampered.

i don't despise a person liking pink. i am just not that kind of person. not like that kind of person who didn't like pink, i just don't like the idea of having to do what everyone do because everyone is doing it. seems quite a lot of these now.

how i see people like pink today is confidence. it's their favourite and peoples stigma about people that like pink seems to belittle them. but they choose to stand out. it build confidence. 

i'm sorry if i give a monotone kind of vibe. i having this headache all day long and it affect my mood. i'm quite cranky today.

dear Mind Meld, i like your motto.the three keys. it is something. it is more than something. 

btw, there is something wrong with the "heart link"  

sorry for the short essay. i am quite taken away.


 

Roll On : Dilly Dally. I L Y (?)

Aug 25, 2014

My blog is my canvas. i get to write what ever i feel like to.

A good cry really is a good thing. 


A love is like those complicated maze game. it seems like it have lots of way you can use to go to the finish line. you never think much and simply run your pencil around it. you hit a dead end and you might go back to a point and start over. but sometimes, you might need to go all the way back to the starting point. it's not about the hardship you went through to get to the finish line, it's the super strength you gain to endure it. the confidence. the amount of trust given. you can use lots of way to try to get to the finish line but there can only be one right way. your attempts wouldn't be a waste. it teaches you. when to stop and where to start back. 



but what if you attempts much but you still couldn't find the right way. just how many chances you need to give. is it wrong to never give up. deep down, does your heart refuse to give up? but a heart ain't living. it affect but it ain't live. physically we will worn out. and then what? tak a break from loving. if so for long. wait. is it the right thing to do?

and then what if you got to the finish line but you're not using the right path? the printed maze got a glitch and somehow create new holes which enable you to work out to the finish line. the right path remain untouched. just how long in your comfort on believing you are doing it right to actually realize that you done it wrong. just how many people actually traces back the path they have choosen when the have won it?
 
ultimately, what if you won it right but the requirement to win needed a path that doesn't exist. just how is that.

i hate maze game. i always choose to ignore.

Roll On : Dhiya's First Giveaway.

Oh my god. i've list the giveaway i was planning to join and completely too occupied to actually join it. when i check it today, two of them have officially ended. arghh. oh well~

thank god there were still some that i can join. alhamdulillah~~~

introducing "Dari Diri Dhiya" !

i get a really good vibe from her way of promoting her giveaway. you should really read the post on her promoting the giveaway. simply click on the banner below.

http://dhiyadahlia.blogspot.com/2014/08/dhiyas-first-giveaway.html


she have write a lot. quite envy of her. i on the other hand was a lazy sleaze ball. aiyakkkkk.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Assalamualaikum wbt

Rakan-rakan blogger yang dikasihi, 

Saya sedang menjalankan satu kempen giveaway pertama dalam blog Dari Diri Dhiya ini. Sebelum ini saya tak pernah anjurkannya sebab saya takut tidak mendapat sokongan (oh pesimis nya sayaaa!)

Tetapi sekarang saya sedar. Kempen sebegini, walau giveaway nya mungkin tidak seberapa, saya sebenarnya sedang cuba menjalinkan persahabatan dengan anda.

Oleh itu, atas nama persahabatan, sudilah kiranya anda mengambil bahagian dalam giveaway saya yang pertama ini. Hadiah tak mewah, tapi terdiri daripada koleksi cenderamata dari tempat-tempat yang saya pernah pergi. Untuk Giveaway ni, tiada cendermata dari Korea. Tapi Insya Allah jika berjaya ada sambutan, saya akan cuba menganjurkannya dengan hadiah yang lebih menarik. Mungkin saya boleh pertimbangkan koleksi buah tangan Korea saya tu. (P/S: Cenderahati dari Korea saya masih banyak, tau! Memang dibawa pulang untuk DDD)

Syaratnya sangat mudah, kerana saya memang berniat untuk memberi sambil bersahabat. Wallahi :)

1) Tempoh kempen: 18 Ogos 2014- 31 Ogos 2014 ( jam 12 tengah malam)
2) Follow blog Dari Diri Dhiya dan nyatakan anda follower yang ke berapa
3) Post kan entri ini (copy and paste) sahaja di blog anda
4) Ajak rakan-rakan pembaca blog anda untuk menyertainya
5) Tinggalkan link entri tersebut di ruangan komen entri ini
6) Pemenang akan dipilih secara rawak menggunakan random.org
7) Ada 7 pemenang bertuah akan dipilih! 7 tau!

Klik dan jemput ke blog Dari Diri Dhiya
Klik dan jemput ke blog Dari Diri Dhiya
Pengumuman pemenang akan dibuat pada minggu pertama September 2014 bersempena dengan edisi istimewa entri terbaik bulan tersebut.

Pengeposan hadiah adalah secepat mungkin, sebaik mendapat maklumat dari pemenang :)

SEMAK PENYERTAAN ANDA DI SINI

*Saya perlukan 15 penyertaan (atau lebih) Jika tiada sambutan, GA ini secara automatik akan terbatal.

Saya mengharapkan sokongan dan penyertaan anda :)
Salam sayang,
Dhiya 


___________________________________________________________________________

Do join this! I love a good giveaway and this is certainly a good one. her writing were fun too. 

oh my. would you look at the time!

Roll On : My Short Trip To Philipines (1)

Assalammualaikum, this would be a series of post sharing my experience to Philipines. It is not much but i would still be needing to write it in series. Do enjoy!

UKM Faculty of Pharmacy is having this exchange student program with University Of Santo Tomas which is located in Manila, Philipine. It is actually the very first attempt to build this sort of international relationship with them. Luckily, a very big gratitude to Allah swt, i was given the chance by Him to join this trip. This is actually the first official abroad trip of mine. I called it official as i have went to Thailand before but it is only a short trip beyond the border. But still it was a great accidental trip.

Ok. Since it is sort of a test of some stuff, we only went there for a week. There were not much time for us to explore Philipines. We only went for a few places around Manila. Most of our time were spend to understand how pharmacy profesional works there. I would have to write some on the insight that i get on the pharmacy student there. For this first post i would be sharing the very first day of the trip. Oh ya, we went there on the first day of Ramadhan. Challenging huh~

Our Airasia flight was scheduled at 10.40 a.m. and we depart from KLIA 2. We went there by UKM bus but for those planning a personal trip do know that there are public buses and train going there. I share with a friend of mine a 20kg checked baggage. Actually, it wouldn't be necessary since 1 cabin bag with 1 backpack should be enough but i packed too much. Sigh~ Not to mention i need to bring iron and also we need to bring some food since it wasn't a muslim country so it would be hard to find halal food. I think i would need to do a short post about baggage. Just sharing some tips that i learn from my friends and lecturer. If i do write one i would list it in the Life-ly page.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 

If you're planning to go abroad do survey the ticket prices wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy earlier like months before. The prices change drastically crazy and my frind tell me that if a flight have a certain price of ticket it may would rise when the seats left become less. We might can save more on tickets but due to some problem we couldn't book the ticket earlier and we actually book the ticket about a month before. 

KLIA 2 was amazingggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg. LCCT was nothing compared to this. They got shopping malls with lots of top brand shop plus lots of fancy dining place. Thank god we were fasting. It was so huge that it feel like forever to got to the take off place. The surau was comfy and the service was nice. Even after the departure gate they still got some shop inside. Must be for those waiting for a delayed flight.

You would be scanned twice. The first one was nothing much but the second scan were the thorough one. Do make sure you didn't bring anything illegal like too much liquid. They were strict and you wouldn't want to "donate" you Pantene shampoo.


arriving Manila. We took a bus from the plane to the arriving hall. it was a very short trip as seen in the picture. maybe for safety purpose.

one of use get injured days before the trip. what a luck.

really small as compared to KLIA 2. not to mention the airport was under renovation so they crammed the people arriving here.

the man behind is the lecturer in charge.

waiting for the bus to pick us.



first muslim presence detected!




 The flight arrived right as planned which is around 3p.m. something. The time were still like those in Malaysia but they get dark faster like in Sabah. It would start to become dark around 6 so we kind of sahur and break our fast like those living in Sabah. We were welcomed by the most friendly Clinical Pharmacy Society representatives. We were taken by their bus to to UST campus where we will be stayed in their very own dorm for international program called Dormus Mariae. They also have their own hotel! We get ourselves a nice room with 2 double decker bed complete with bathroom. They also have pantry with microwave and refrigerator for our use. We were told that they are no college prepared for the students here and they would have to rent rooms nearby. 

WE'RE HERE! the only muslim + me

One iconic thing about Philipines is their main means of transportation which is the jeepney. I've done some reading saying that use of jeeynep originated from the time of war. This jeepney were use by the soldiers and now are some sort of public transport. Jeepney use system like bus where you got a certain routes they would go. But the problem is, although they have their route , the jeepney may still go like everywhere which is according to the passenger and it would not be good to be lost here. Not when you main choices to go back is the jeepney again. To top that  most of the driver weren't able to speak fluent English. You can get a taxi with a more reliable driver but it is quite tricky since i don't see much on the road. Jeepney were like a lot but taxi were not. The one time we use taxi we have to get the person worked there to get one for us. And it will cost more than the jeepney.





We have nothing arranged for us on the day we arrived. Our lecturer decided to find a halal food for dinner. I'm not sure what is the name of the place. We took lrt from Bambang to Carriedo. The lrt were so jammed. It was even worst than during  peak hour in KL. Ours were lots more comfortable and have longer routes. I couldn't take any picture because they say that the pickpocket there were a lot and i feel scared even to bring my phone out to see the time. We need to have our bagpack in front of us. Not only the tourist, everyone were holding their back like that. They were not much lights although for me it is quite like city where here in Malaysia would be full of lights everywhere. They didn't have many street lamps so it is quite scary. Not to mention how concern the students here when they learn that we decided to go here without them. They can't accompany us at that time. But then it wasn't that scary. Still better safe than sorry. 


at Dr's hotel. we solat here first before going to Bambang station.

I got to say the person selling in the street look quite poor. Not like in Malaysia, in the night market, you can still see the person selling look rather was having a nice live. Even better living also. By the way, we Malaysian looks much like them so please drop the sunglasses and fancy shoes tourist looks. It may help when you can actually blend in. Got people actually talking tagalog to us. It was hillariousss.

We walk a lot. From UST to Bambang Station was like 1 km or something. I'm not sure how much we've been walking arriving Carriedo since we were searching halal restaurant which makes us walking round and round that place. We were dead tired since we couldn't get much rest upon arriving to Manila.

Here is the twist. There are no halal restaurant and we ended up eating instant noodles. Since it ramadhan most of the restaurant were closed. The students there wasn't expecting that halal food is this tricky. I couldn't blame them since most of them were Christians. We were on the other hand was born and raised in a Muslim country. They try to find us halal food but the restaurant was quite far and it would bring more troubles for us. 

With that begin our days of not having nice food to eat.



Roll On : Giveaway Marathon (updated)

Aug 21, 2014

i have made a self goal on a certain number of pageviews to be reached by the end of the week and i thought joining some giveaway might help. i'm not much of a giveaway person but during my little research i am quite captivated by the prizes they have offered. hope i can win some!

so since have go all the trouble to find much giveaway to join, i am thinking to list it out first. i'll officially joined it later when i have the time. it's kind of nice to randomly reads others blog. i kind of have a habit of searching something that interest me in a new blog i suddenly found.

1. 9 Awesome blogs of The Months
2. Giveaway Merdeka Lestari
3. Giveaway : Happy 6th Year Anniversary ; Thank You YOBO!
4. Dhiya's First Giveaway
5. 1st Giveaway By Melangkau Garisan with Love
6. Tiga iPhone untuk dimiliki 
7. Giveaway - Menangi Mi Power Bank 10400 mAh & 5200 mAh
8. Segmen Blogwalking Pinkladies #2 : 48 Hour Marathon (ladies only)
9. Giveaway : Jubah Dress cantik dari Ariescape Shoppe
10. Kawaii August Giveaway




yoshh. it's playtime! :D


a very fine Mr Hiddleston. So fine.
















Roll On : Tasik Beris and Tasik Pedu

Aug 20, 2014

Last raya, taking advantage of having everyone at home, my decided to went for a trip. He want to see Tasik Pedu. It is a very large tasik meant as a dam. But we couldn't go into the place where the dam was located so we can only view the lake. Not like the Empangan Chenderoh one's that was hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and is open to be seen. From outside the gate of course.

You see, my dad like to see this sort of stuff and we kind of run out of ideas where to went when he ask us where would like to go afterwards. I was thinking somewhere into Perlis but since there is no specific and fun place that cross our mind or our search using Google, we headed back home the next day. 


quite "dried"

we simply park at the side of the road



the area was quite deserted
 

We spend the night at a homestay just behind Ladang Anggur Tasik Beris. Dad insisted a homestay so that we could cook for ourselves. Apparently, since this area was not so popular, everything were closed during the raya week so we have to cook anyway or else we will starve. That is how we ended up at Tasik Beris. 

The place was nice but it is not really a homestay. It is something like a resort where the have area where you can cook complete with everything you would need to use to cook. Though it state homestay and resort. I forgot the name. argh.

The room was quite spacious. 2 single bed and 1 queen bed complete with an air cond. But it cost about RM200 if i'm not mistaken. Rather expensive for somewhere that deserted.







Outside the room there is this sort of dining place with a roof on top. There is a tv with Astro there. 



But the view was breath-taking. i didn't notice it cause i was busying chasing the time to take a bath and cook and blablabla. It is so ashamed that i couldn't get a picture. Some sort of glitched happen to my phone and only when i restarted it, it start to work like normal. But by that time we have left the place. 

We were located beautifully by the lake and can even see the bridge from there. The owner also took effort to grow small yellow flowered grass that look so refreshing in the morning. There is a small garden also. It would be such a lovely spot to enjoy our breakfast but we decided to eat out since we are going out of the area and would then finally find a decent restaurant to eat.

To top that off, after i restarted the phone then it shows that my phone is low in battery.  We went to Ladang Anggur Tasik Beris after that. The place was rather fancy with all the decorations and stuff. But is was all the way at the other end of kedah. did it get much visitors? 

anyway, i love the place. the decoration make it such a lovely spot to hang out and relax. it even have a cafe with cakes! but we went quite early even the fountain aren't switch on yet.









Sorry for lacking much in information. Overall the trip was pleasant and the views were great.