trip to turkiye

turki.
turkey.
turkiye.

anyways, i was very fortunate to be able to visit this beautiful country back in November last year.
went with a couple of girlfriends.
hubby didnt come with.
he's still not fond of flying.
plus, by going with my girlfriends, it's easier to save on money, because we could divide everything equaly between us including our accommodation.

we took emirates to fly to istanbul via dubai.
spent overnight in dubai so we can see the city. arrived at dubai airport around 9pm and took a cab for a drive around the city. our cab driver was a filipino woman who could speak english well, (most of the people there can speak english fairly well) and she took us around the city, and then to the architectural wonders like the burj khalifa and burj al-arab, drove past the famous palm jumeirah resort, and then dropped us off at jumeirah beach. this beach was described to be THE place to hangout and stay for tourists, because it is lined with many hotels and restaurants. so we did. stay at the beach. literally. like, on the beach. we slept on the beach that night. after a long stroll looking at other people hanging out at the cafes and restaurants, we had falafel at a place called operation:falafel and around 3 am were just too tired to do anything else and so we parked ourselves on the beach and slept.
the next morning we had a simple breakfast at one of the many cafes, walked along the dubai canal (i think that's what it's called) and wandered some more (and got lost for awhile) before taking the train back to the airport.

and then we reached istanbul.
we stayed at a small family-owned hotel near the sultanahmet square called the piport hotel. stayed for 4 nights there. visited the blue mosque, the hagia sofia, the topkapi museum and a couple other museums by the square. visited the grand bazar as well. went on the bosphorus cruise.
tasted and experienced the turkish ice-cream, you know, there the ice-cream vendors not only sell the ice-cream but they also tease and joke with you when they are handing you the ice-cream. the ice-cream themselves are yummy too, kinda "chewy". my only regret was not having more of them.
the highlight of the istanbul, for my friends at least, was the istanbul marathon. they ran the 10k, and although i didnt run, i was extremely proud of them. it was their 1st run outside of malaysia too.


after istanbul we travelled to cappadocia by bus. it was a 12-hour ride at night, which helped save money on accomodation. the bus was comfortable too..they give you light snacks with coffee/tea soon after you get on and later as the day breaks and you approach your destination.
cappadocia has amazing one-of-a-kind landscapes. we took guided tours there, went hiking and up a hot air balloon at sunrise. we also went for a turkish bath or hamam, just to see what it was like. it was fun, you sit in a sauna and then have someone lather you up with soap and scrub your whole body. sounds like something you'd find in a nice spa here right? well, not really. 'cause all this are done in groups and you sit in a circle, while other people sit on the side waiting for their turn. we then opted for a massage afterwards. i think the hamams in cappadocia cost cheaper than those in istanbul, but there are not that many to choose from especially if you want one that separates the men from the women.

we stayed for only 1 night in cappadocia, but the hotel was the best one out of the 3 that we stayed in in turkey. that's because it was a cave hotel, which is one of the attractions in cappadocia too.
next we travelled to kusadasi and pamukkale. again, we travelled by bus, and again it was a 12-hour ride at night. we stayed for 2 nights in kusadasi at a hotel called akman hotel, and took guided tours around kusadasi and pamukkale. main attractions include the ancient greek city ephesus and roman ruins hierapolis where you can also bathe in the ancient pool and walk at the beautiful and scenic travertines. we also went to a carpet factory, and totally fell in love with the silky hand woven carpets, and i was almost taken aback as to how very expensive these carpets can be!

finally on the last day, we went to izmir airport, which was about 1-hour away from kusadasi, to fly back to istanbul. we flew on turkish airways, and just like on emirates, we totally liked the food they served us. speaking of food, before going for the trip i read on many people's blogs that seem to say that many people got bored with their "dry" kebabs and missed malaysian foods instead. well i'm glad we managed to try so many different types of food there, and have to disagree on that. i totally love turkish dishes, and i'm sure my friends did too, because every time we eat we would google the dish up to find the recipe and see if we can recreate it when we are back home. hahaha. who am i kidding? i know i'd better google up where i can find good turkish restaurants in kl/jb if i ever want to taste turkish foods again. that or travel back to turkey. ooo, that sounds awesome!

it was in turkey too that i got to taste fresh figs for the first time, and after telling hubby about it and how much i love it much more than the dried ones, he actually planted a few fig samplings behind my mom-in-law's house in muar, so soon i can have as much fresh figs as i want. yay!

so all in all it was a great trip. there are still a lot more places we didnt get to see. we also didnt get to see the whirling dervish dance which we planned to. it's unfortunate that right after we left there were news about the bombings in istanbul and ankara. ugh..why do people want to bomb other people? why cant we just respect each other and live peacefully ever after?? i want world peeaaceee! *read in whining tone*.  my thoughts and prayers to the people in turkey and everywhere else in the world. may we get world peace. and more travels.

bali break part 2

i went to bali with 2 of my girlfriends in 2007. (actually i didnt even remember the year exactly until i rechecked my previous blog post about the trip).
i remember during one of the taxi rides we took during the trip, the driver, upon finding out that the 3 of us were single (and although we were already working, a lot of them thought we were students)said that we must come again to bali, and that the next trip be a honeymoon trip with our husbands.
it was a great trip, the 3 of us enjoyed it very much, and i vowed to definitely visit bali again.

8 years later (wow) .. i did.
and i did go with a husband! well, my husband. it's our 3rd year of marriage this year, and i consider any trip i take with him where it's just the 2 of us as our honeymoon (awww..!haha).

so we went there a couple of months ago. it was my second time there and it was hubby's first. interestingly though, aside bali, the only other place i've been to in indonesia is batam, while hubby has been to jakarta, bandung, the riau islands, and even lombok. but he said for some reason he was never intrigued about going to bali. i managed to persuade him finally and off we went.
we took malaysia airlines from jb to kl and then to denpasar.
the flight from kl to bali was quite bumpy as there was a lot of turbulence. i'm usually okay with turbulences other that the motion sickness, but in lieu of the terribly unfortunate plane tragedies that shook all of us last year, we were quite worried.. i think many people were too.

anyway, we arrived safely, ahamdulillah, and were in bali for 5 days and 4 nights. we stayed at the grand inna kuta hotel, right by the kuta beach.
we spent 2 days taking day tour trips to kintamani, celuk (got another silver ring to add to my collection), taman ayun, ubud, bedugul, and tanahlot. we tried out the organic bali coffees at 2 places, wedang sari and tegal sari. we tasted the famous luwak coffee, it tasted okay but not all that great. the one who was really excited was actually my husband and not because of the coffee. luwak or civet coffee is special in that it is made from coffee beans that have been eaten by a "musang" or civet, i think it's a type of wild-cat but i may be wrong. the beans go through the animal's digestive tract but they dont get digested, and so when the civet poops, the beans come out together in its droppings. these beans are then cleaned and roasted and grinded, and you get the luwak coffee.
anyway, so hubby wasnt all that excited about the coffee, but he actually fell in love with the luwak or musang itself.why?
because, for some reason, his nickname back in school was apparently musang! some of his school buddies still call him by that name to this day! but this is the first time he actually came real close face-to-face with the animal, and even got to pet the fella, and he was immediately smitten.
and now he's on a quest to finding one to keep as a pet.
oh dear.

back to the trip. this time around i got to see the barong dance. (i saw kecak dance on the last trip)
makan-wise we didnt have much problem. the fast food places are all halal in indonesia. there are a lot more halal warung and restaurants in kuta now i think, compared to the last time i was there. i actually remembered warung nikmat, the halal restaurant i went to on the last trip and went there again. they have actually expanded now and there is now a budget hotel just behind it. the food is still good.

other than that we were mostly out and about town, doing a lot of walking (20k steps per day accordig to the app on my smartphone!) that by the time we get back to the hotel we were too pooped (again with the word-haha) to do anything else. we planned to but didnt even get to swim in the 2 swimming pools that were at the hotel !
we bought a few souvenirs, t-shirts, fridge magnets, but also since we are both nuts about nuts (we love snacking on them) we bought a few different types of bali nuts (their names escape me now) that were really yummy.

the last 2 days of our trip though, hubby had a toothache. it was an old problem, he had seen a dentist and was advised to have the tooth extracted but he kept on postponing it. i have been bugging him to go and take care of it, but of course, he didnt because the pain wasnt always there. so of course, the pain came back while we were on holiday! in bali! no point nagging anymore. but because of the pain we decided to ditch the plan to try the seafood dinner in Jimbaran as some people had suggested to us, because he couldnt chew very well by then and would not be able to enjoy it anyway.

all in all it was a good trip. the flight back was thankfully smooth, and hubby was actually talking about possibly going there again, yay!
note: he went to the dentist a day after we got home and got the tooth taken care of too. hee.. ;)

trip to temasek

a.k.a singapore.
for those who didnt know that the country used to be called that in the old days.

i didnt travel out of malaysia at all last year. i like to use the bloody exams as my excuse, and though i still have to sit for it again this year *yawn* i decided to up and leave anyway. even if it means just across the tebrau straits to nearby singapore.

last i set foot on the country was 14-15? years ago i think. a school trip. on a bus. slept at a mosque. that's all i remember (gosh).

anyway, this time i took the bus again, but from jb, into singapore. it was really convenient i tell ya. we went on a sunday, the 3 of us (east, lote, moi), after leaving my car at my aunt's place (whom i havent seen for more than a year already too!)... and there was a massive jam at the toll, but only for the cars. the buses go in a separate lane, no jams at all, and then we had to get down twice for customs check, but since we travelled light, it wasnt really a hassle.
the minute we got off the bus in singapore, we just started walking everywhere. we couldnt get a cab, so we looked at the map and decided that maybe the hotel is at a walkable distance.
and it was! and since then, we just spent our days (and nights!) in singapore walking.
the hotel we stayed at-broadway hotel-in little india, was cheap, at sgd280 for 3 nights, had a clean bathroom, and is close to almost everything. halal indian food, mrt, 24-hr shopping place (mustafa center), etc.
we'd take the mrt, which was also really convenient, and then just mostly walked and walked and walked everywhere... little india, kampung glam, arab street, marina bay, orchard street.

it reminded me of the days in canada. why am i not walking as much here in melaka/kl/malaysia?
hmm..

there was a lot of shopping malls there, i mean, for a small country like singapore, the shopping malls i thought were just, well, relatively huge!
i didnt have a lot of cash on me (or in the bank for that matter) so actual shopping was down to a minimum. one interesting find was that some of the crocs shoes cost cheaper than here in malaysia, even after conversion. brought a pair of alices for mawar (as requested).

went to sentosa for half a day. biasa je i thought. but i loved the luge ride-real fun- and we enjoyed the show "songs of the sea".
plus there was the "fun" experience of actually having to run back and forth, thanks to my forgetful friend (ehem-lote!) who kept leaving her things behind.

last, but definitely not least, was the interesting experience of meeting lote's old friend-a friendly singaporean chap who navigates ships into singapore for a living, with a "colorful" past he doesnt mind sharing, loyal follower of malaysian politics (and malay tv dramas-ehem), and extremely proud father of his 3 kids.
i also realize that it's been awhile since i last made a NEW friend, especially someone outside the "medical society", that i felt like i just got out of my tempurung ;)

ahh..all in all it was a real good fun HEALTHY trip ;)...
here's to more travels this year, and to great friends, old and new.

jalan-jalan januari - genting & bukit tinggi

bali break

my housemates mawa, east and i went to bali 2 weeks ago.

it was a much needed break. tho it was really too short a time (only 4 days), we enjoyed ourselves very much.

we spent 2 days in kuta and 2 in ubud.

in kuta it was mainly walking around town and shopping. went to the beach but didnt swim or anything since we didnt have much time. we also went to tanahlot to see the famous temple in the sea, which is only accessible during low tide.

then we went to ubud, which is a lot quieter. stayed at this hotel - artini 3- smack in the middle of a padi field, it was really quiet and nice, we really liked it there. the price is really reasonable too.

in ubud, we spent half a day cycling, then off to a real relaxing time at a nice spa (bali ratu). for about rm170, i got a head/shoulder/back massage for an hour and a pedicure after. we also tried out one of the cheaper salons earlier the 1st day we were in ubud, and altho they did a real crappy job on my nails, we enjoyed chatting with the salon ladies, who are mostly from java. east especially enjoyed her time there very much coz they actually commented that she looked like agnes monica (well known pop artist in indonesia). we had to endure with her "grandiosity" for a few days after that.. well actually, she still brings it up till now.

all 3 of us jugak extra seronok cuz people evrywhere thought we were still in school .."mbak masih kuliahan ya?". i get that all the time in malaysia anyway, but i guess now i can say it's an "international" fact that i still look like a kid. muahahaha.

we only managed to see one traditional dance when we were in ubud-the kecak dance-and it was nice. hopefully i'll catch other dances/shows the next time i go there.

on the way back to the airport on the last day, we managed to drop by sukawati to get a few more souvenirs, then back into kuta for more last minute shopping. one of the most interesting finding while shopping there is that pirated cds are being sold openly in the malls in these really proper looking shops with uniform wearing salespersons, we initially didnt even realize they were selling pirated cds/dvds! and at about rm3.20/dvd.. it's a steal!! literally.. rompak maut punye! but another interesting point is that you wont find a pirated indonesian cd anywhere in the shop, be it music/movie, if it's local (indon) then it's gotta be original. and um.. we didnt find any malaysian movie or music cd there at all-not even a pirated one, original lagi la takde. sad.

and altho quite a number of locals seem to know (and like) siti nurhaliza, the only time we saw her face on a shelf is on those oil of olay beauty products.

going back to shopping there.. my other personal favourite thing to browse is the silver jewellery, esp in ubud, altho i was told that the best are in celuk. such a wide variety of choices, and by bargaining, you can get them at really reasonable prices (which to me translates into affordable-guilt-free prices..cuz i do already own quite a number of silver rings).

food was not really a problem in kuta. we arrived in bali at nite, and were too hungry to look around too much so we just got us some fast food-which is halal in indonesia. the next day we got lucky cuz we met a few muslim locals who told us about this halal eating place just off jalan singgahsari, aboout 5-7mins walk from the beach, called warung nikmat, which had quite a variety of tasty local dishes, at a good price. there's also a musholla (surau) just behind the warung, which was very convenient.

oh..and the toilets in bali are quite clean compared to malaysia.. this warung nikmat with the surau for example..actually has the "jamban curah" kind, you know,not the pull-to-flush kind.. and what amazed me was that they were still very clean!

actually, that was the other thing about bali.. it was really quite clean there..the streets, the beach, the air, the toilets, all clean. tak paham betul..jamban2 diorang pakai air jugak macam kita, takde kena bayar pun, macamana bole jugak dijaga bersih? satu yang malaysia patut belajar and contohi la i thought. if only.

takpe, i still love malaysia for other reasons, but as for bali... no doubt it's a real nice place to visit. with airasia, it cost us about rm400 each for a return ticket, inclusive of taxes. really hoping to go there again insyaAllah, obviously a lot more places to see and things to do there that we didnt get to in the 4 days.

chillin' in cameron

of course it's not chilly at all in cameron highlands. we're in malaysia! but it was definitely cooler up there. especially the time when we went last weekend. i was up there fr a 3 day-2 nite stay with 3 other friends and it rained evry evening, causing the temperature to drop nicely below 25 degrees! i was the designated driver for the trip, volunteered for the task actually, of course, and boy..was it really challenging. it's mostly all uphill and winding roads, with sharp turns..and the rain made it wet and slippery..ahh..this driver's heaven. hehe.
before going up cameron, we actually went up to ipoh and spent a night at my ol opah's house. the next day we left for taiping, for a friend's wedding. the wedding was actually the main agenda. because of this guy's wedding, we decided to make it into a slightly bigger trip and go somewhere for a short break from work and all. and we didnt really feel like going too far off so somehow or rather we chose cameron. it is just off the tapah exit, right on our way down from taiping to melaka.
so anyway, we had quite a relaxing time there altho there's not much up there actually. we went to the boh plantations (luv the drive up there!! tiny narrow road with sharper turns), cameron valley plantations, robinson waterfalls (the falls are nice but we were really disappointed with all the rubbish lying around there, really disguisting!), the MARDI gardens (took great pictures of the flowers there, really happy!), and the rest of the time was spent eating, drinking tea, tea and more tea (yes, many became constipated..hehe), running thru heavy rain, and of course shopping (women can shop anywhere i tell ya). the fresh flowers and vegetables were really tempting. 2 dozens of fresh roses cost only rm5!! and this on a mother's day weekend! now they even have these 'preserved' fresh flowers that they claim can last up to 5 years as long as we keep them dry. it's done by some preserving chemical thingy that they put into the plant that keeps them looking fresh for a long time. a really huge bouquet made up of different types of flowers (except roses..they cant do it on roses for some reason) costs rm10. so yeah, guess what the car was filled up with by the end of our stay there. flowers, strawberries (mostly dried, the fresh ones are still too sour to devour) and tea!
the nights, because of the rain and our car which for some reason refused to de-fog, making it impossible to drive at nite even by moi...were spent lounging in our sweaters in our hotel room. we actually went there expecting our reservations was made at a great acclaimed 4-star resort hotel but alas-we were quite disappointed. the 4-star claim was probably self-made. personally it seemed more 3-star if not less. oh well.
we left on monday, and by the way, most places there, including the boh plantation and MARDI, are closed on monday. on the way back, we stopped at the newly 'renovated' tapah PLUS r&r (well new to me.. i usually dont make stops when i drive up and down ipoh), then stopped again at seremban 2. we arrived in melaka at exactly midnite.
so all in all, i thought we had quite a relaxing time there. the best thing i would say was the company i had. we were a fun bunch, always laughing at/about sth every 5 mins..and for me..that's the best way to de-stress.

lang tengah getaway

it was truly a great mini holiday. me n my crazy gal-frens, jo and lo (once these guys gimme consent, i'll put in their real names-hehe). a long awaited getaway for me. i was so damn depressed from failing my exams yet again. being stuck at work made it more difficult cuz i was still surrounded by people who have passed it, and others who were planning to sit for it soon. i tell people i'm okay but dammit! i have sat for it 3 f***-n times and still failed! of course i'm not okay! how much more stupid u think it makes me feel?

anyway, i'm better now. there's more to life than these exams.
so we went to lang tengah, ..for those of u not familiar with terengganu, or didnt ace malaysian geography in school.. it's a small island just off terengganu, between the more famous redang and perhentian islands. well actually, people living IN terengganu AND scored A's in geography themselves thought lang tengah is an island off langkawi! way off on the other side. so,ok.

what did we do? snorkeling of course. our swimsuits never get to dry the whole 3 days we were on the island. we let ourselves loose in the great ocean. um-well, my friend jo actually let loose all her stomach contents into the ocean too (upwards i mean, as in puke la), which drew more fish to us! cant blame jo, it was just past the monsoon season, so most times the waters a bit choppy, a great challenge for those of us with unstable vestibular systems. we actually swam with the sharks too..no great whites, just black-tip ones, but was still kinda scary.there are supposed to be turtles around too, but we didnt get to see any.
i also get to take photos of the beautiful sunset, while my friends spent time "scrubbing" their skin with the white soft sands! it's a free facial/spa evryone!
nite-time was spent chatting over (many)cups of black coffee..with topics ranging from work n family,to gossips about other friends, the love-n-hate realationship(s) we have with the male species, school nostalgia, sex, movies, music, futsal, and back to the male species.
then it's off to the "tiki-bar" where we karaoke-d the rest of the nite away. i think the fact that the 3 of us were able to sing out evry friggin' song on the 80's-rock-kapak-karaoke cd gaveout our real age to people! hehe.
last, but definitely not the least, there were the "beach boys". tanned-lean-muscular. just like we like!hehe.

and before we know it, it was already time to go. back to mainland. back to reality. sigh.
but hey, we're going back of course. to swim with the sharks again. to make sure we see the turtles this time. and definitely .. the beach boys.