(Untitled)

Everyday can be a learning lesson; if you choose to look at life from one point of view.
Sometimes the lesson is more significant than others;
Other day you'd be wondering if what you are doing is right.
And there lies the importance of daily self-reflection.

To be honest I haven't done that for quite some time.

Today a case made me pause and think,
"Why?" "Have we done enough?" "Did we miss anything?" "Have we done justice?"
Learning lesson for us in this field however,
may be a despair for someone else,
or elation or frustration or resignation...

Lustrous New Zealand, North Island - Part 4

Auckland City

You can always google up on what are the tourist attractions in Auckland, but we mainly concentrate on walking up Mount Eden, shopping (for souvenirs) on Queen St (Lush is situated here by the way), went up the Sky Tower and just spend the day walking around the city.
( http://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/auckland-attractions/ )

If you still have fund, you can also choose the Skywalk or Skyjump at the Sky Tower! (http://skywalk.co.nz/) Unfortunately, we sort of ran out of fund by this time and opted out of the jump. Entrance for Sky Tower itself is NZD 28.

Skytower. If you can see the fine lines of cable, that's where the skyjump takes place!

Exquisite New Zealand - Part 3

First of all, wishing you all Eid Mubarak! "Taqabbal Allahu minna wa minkum" May Allah accept (the good deeds) from me and you.

(con't)
We reached Wellington at night; already called Capital View Motel Inn (NZD 145/night) that we were being slightly late- they open until 9 p.m. and if we reached after 9, they’d left the key for us. Had Maggie for dinner and slept the night off.

Wellington

Our hotel was just walking distance from Cuba Street, where the Bucket Fountain is located at. Still early in the morning hence many shops weren’t opened yet, we made our way down to Wellington waterfront and the Queens Wharf, ending up at the Cable Car station.

The plan was to take the Cable Car up the hill through the colourfully led tunnels and walk down the downhill path of the Botanic Garden back to the city. ( http://www.wellingtoncablecar.co.nz/English/What-To-Do.html#AttractionsMap )

But then it started to rain, light drizzle initially and then heavy rain as we were walking back to the city. 'GoogleMapped' a place to eat and we ended up having kebab at Abrakebabra, before heading back to our hotel to dry up. It was raining the rest of the day so we ended up sleeping. If the weather was sunny, we would have walk around and went for museum visits.

"We are going to do a lot of walking today! Rawr!"

Magnificent New Zealand - Part 2

(Warning! This post is LONG. And full of pictures. Don't say I don't warn you okay?)

Rotorua

From Matamata, we then headed to Rotorua, which took us another hour. We stayed for 2 nights in Rotorua at Greenview Hotel (formerly Rotorua Motor Lodge), near the Te Puia where the Pohutu Geyser is located at. It’s around NZD 100 per night. And since the place is near the geyser, there's quite a strong smell of sulphur around, if you don’t mind it.

Back from buying food~

The salted caramel Tim Tam was sooooooooo good!

Dinner at Ali Baba

The initial plan was to explore Rotorua the next day but we decided to go for Bungy / Skydive in Taupo (an hour away from Rotorua) instead... I’m not sure if that’s a miscalculation from our side or not because we ended up only able to do Bungy only- due to the weather (it was raining and the wind was strong) we can’t proceed with the skydiving on the same day.

So in the interest of time, we only managed to visit the The Puia after we came back from Bungy jumping and visited the Museum the next morning before departed for Taupo and then Wellington.

In Te Puia, you will have the chance to experience the Maori culture and visit the Pohutu Geyser on the guided tour. They have different packages, you can check it out here: tepuia.com Our ticket cost about NZD 64

   

Alluring New Zealand, North Island - Part 1

It's been a while since I last visited here it seems... Lots of things happened, been up and down in my real life, changed this blog's layout for easier navigating and I've decided to post regarding our trip to North Island, New Zealand first - simply because it's still fresh in my mind and I'd like to upload the pictures here - before the short Singapore and Penang trip last year. And maybe if I have some time I'll post about Egypt trip as well

This post is more for my documentation and future references, not for those planning on budget trip in NZ. This post will be divided into 3-4 entries for the next few weeks, as to not to clog everything into one post. And I'll be posting not according to dates like I did for Japan, but rather on places we visited. Enjoy!

------

New Zealand was a rerouted holiday for the 3 of us, under certain circumstances. Yup, this time around it was only the 3 of us apparently. I decided on the destination but really the mastermind behind the journey was Zeti. We took off on May 15^th, the night flight (celebrated Mom’s birthday in the morning) and surprise surprise! We met an ex-college mate who was also taking the same flight with us! We flew with Air Asia, which had a 75-min transit in Gold Coast; bought in-flight meal and baggage so our total ticket price per person was roughly RM 2100. 

The flight from KL to Gold Coast Australia took about 8 hours and another 3 hours from Gold Coast to Auckland. Time-wise Gold Coast is 2 hours ahead of KL and Auckland is 4 hours ahead of KL.

[ Digitalian : Kimi no Yume wo Miteita ]

めぐり逢うすべて　ひとつに重なる 
ありふれた日々　それだけで奇跡　一度きりだから愛しくて 
Everything you come across　Put it into one pile 
Those ordinary days　Even they were miracles　Because they only happen once, they are precious 

Day 11, April 18th: Last Round in Tokyo

Our check out time was at 11 a.m., so we took a walk around in Harajuku and Omotesando while Izzat went to explore Meiji Jingu Shrine- Ija, Zirah and I went there years ago and Nik just had enough of shrine visit already. Since we were out so early, the shops were of course still closed... waited a bit in Takeshita Dori for Calbee and Daiso to open, before Ija, Izzat and I rushed to Johnny’s Shop. I’d have to say, perhaps it’s a good thing we couldn’t spend too much time in there because... err... I’m pretty sure I’d buy more... =P Izzat’s flight was earlier so we parted in Harajuku after checking out.

Police station

The still empty street on the way to Omotesando

  

Takeshita Dori, early in the morning

Takeshita Dori, waiting for the shops to open

Yummy potato chips with different topping!

Made our way to Hamamatsucho to keep our luggage in the coin lockers, and then we headed to Shinjuku, to meet Annys and Mel for lunch. Visited Tower Records for a bit while waiting for our turn at The Dancing Crab. We were just thankful that Annys and Mel were there to help us order, but boy, 2 sets from their crab menus, and I was full like anything! I don’t think they have branch in KL, but something akin to this would probably be Shell Out in Kota Damansara and Crab Factory in PJ. 

Anyway, after the awesome seafood feast, we thought of going to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in which their observation deck is free for entry. Dah last day kan, sape la nak jalan bebanyak lagi... but Annys was like "1.2 km je, that’s near!" We looked at each other and went, IS SHE FOR REAL?! Hahahahaha! Anyway, we did walk to the building from Shinjuku; didn’t feel that far since we were busy chatting away.

Jalan pun jalan laaaaaaa~

The view from the observation deck

Walking back to the train station

Still had some time to kill before heading to Haneda Airport, we went to Shibuya, for the killer ice/hot chocolate from Lindt. It was awesome!~ But since the cafe was full, we had to take-away. We walked back to Shibuya station into the Tokyu Food Show where Ija bought dorayaki. Finally, we parted with Mel and Annys here, half of me can’t wait to go home and just rest, another half already missing these remarkable places we visited during the last 10 days...

Lindt's ice chocolate! ♥

The famous Shibuya crossing during the day

Senyum terpaksa, on the way to the airport... dalam hati : Takmo baliiiiiikkk T_T

We arrived at Haneda and had more than enough time to pray, rest, freshen up, re-pack and check in. Oh, not forgetting to buy some last minute souvenirs at the airport itself. Tiredness showed on our faces as we waited to board the plane. Zira and I were separated from Ija and Nik in the plane due to our seatings but as soon as I settled everything and buckled by seat belt, I peacefully dozed off...

See the plane outside behind us? Already arrived and we're ready to board~

Getting ready to sleep in the plane!

... until they announced that we were landing on our homeland: “To all Malaysia, welcome home =) ” Don’t you just LOVE that welcoming note? :D

We prayed Subuh after we collected our luggage. Nik was the first to say goodbye since her parents were already there. We bid goodbye to Ija soon after, and she took the train back to Bandar Tasik Selatan, while my sister and I bought coffee at Gloria Jeans while waiting for our parents.

On the first day of work 2 days later, I was already literally sick and losing my voice- I called it ‘home’sick... for missing Japan and the wonderful companies while I was there. You know the little wish-list I have at the side of my blog? Yeah, one of it is visiting Tokyo again... I'm leaving it still there, it's still in my list of places to visit. Again. I left out a few spots during this visit- namely Tokyo Tower, Kamakura, Tokyo Character Street, Keikarou... Kyoto is a place definitely worth visiting again, we didn’t go around Osaka much and I’d love love love to go and visit USJ again! So yup, Japan is definitely still in the list.

---

Phew! That took some months to finish up!

Next two posts will be our (me and Ija) short trip to Singapore (with little tips and tricks in USS) and ChocoMon's travel in Penang our trip to New Zealand in May 2016. I'll post the short trip to Singapore and Penang later on.

[ Digitalian : Bittersweet ]

知りたい　消えない想い出なら　あの日のまま包み込んで 
I want to remember　So these memories won't fade, I'll wrap up those very days carefully

Day 10, April 17th: Back to Tokyo

Sham and Zeze decided to stay back in Osaka and wondered around before heading to Haneda to board their flight back. The rest of us took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo that morning and checked into our apartment in Harajuku. We skipped the plan to Kamakura, in favour of going to the places that we couldn’t spend enough time at previously: Kit Kat Chocolatory Shop in Ikebukuro then dropped by Sultan near Otemachi station to eat lunch before heading to Ameyokocho street and Asakusa to buy souvenirs. Izzat however went on a separate route to visit places she hasn't gone to.

The Apartment :)

Takeshita Dori- the view from Harajuku Station

Kit Kat Chocolatory at Ikebukuro Station

The best naan ever! 

Ameyokocho Street

The fresh goods

Asakusa!

Asakusa; notice the sky was getting darker

We met her later in the evening at Odaiba, to take picture with the big-ass (life sized) Gundam. You can get to Odaiba via JR Saikyo Line / Rinkai Line, or Yurikamome from Shimbashi. Yurikamome will have a more scenic view on the way though.
It was already raining when we got there, so we discarded the idea of going onto the Ferris Wheel and decided to find dinner at Ippin restaurant- a distant walk from Ebisu station. I had already felt sick at this point- having some chills and worsening of arthralgia and myalgia, my throat started to burn and I was feeling worse every second. To be honest, I could only picture one thing – bed with lots and lots of blanket. Somehow that reminded me of our F4 trip to Kuching, where I was so sick upon reaching Suntubong that I spent the whole afternoon in bed...

On the way to Odaiba, in Yurikamome

The evening street, the view from the train heading to Odaiba

The walk to Diver City Tokyo from the train station

I don't need to explain this, do I?

You can see the beautifully-lit Tokyo Tower from here too

Fuji Terebi building

 

Odaiba Illumination

Little Statue of Liberty?

It was drizzling, yes, but the view was still spectacular

Luck wasn’t on our side- Ippin Restaurant was closed due to a reservation... so we decided to just buy some Kebab in Harajuku on the way home. By the time we reached the train station, I just couldn’t walk in the cold anymore so my sister accompanied me to head back to the apartment while Ija and Nik went and bought dinner. I collapsed soon after reaching the apartment, just managed to have 2 bites of kebab when the girls came back and resumed sleeping afterwards- until 2 a.m. when I started to sweat due to the thick blanket and heater. It would be nice to take a shower and go back to sleep. Unfortunately I couldn’t figure how to switch on the water heater (and it was bloody cold, the water) so I packed the luggage and went back to sleep after praying... ^.^;

Next: Last Round in Tokyo