Ananda; The Gold Digger

We were waiting for our 'nasi ayam' at that time for our lunch. when he suddenly said to me, with a serious note, that theres something he wanted to talk about.

"Its something to do with your phone bill. Could you please reduce the calls you ve been making"

"Uh..??"

"Your bill alone has reached RM1,500-00 ....!!"

Gosh....! Dang...! I was thinking like ouchhhh...... how could I have made all those calls up to a whopping RM1,000-00 ... no.. no... RM1,500-00...

"Errr... could I have a look at the bill later.....?"

I was so embarrassed ..... Am taking advantage of him paying the bill ? Have I gone overboard ? My mind was so occupied with the figure wondering how could I have spent that much ..... untill he gave me the bill ....

It was so shocking to see that the thousand of ringgits came from the calls made to me when I was in Cambodia. I was aware that the incoming international call from Malaysia would cost me a bit ... but I didnt realize it could reach a crazy RM1,2xx-00 !!!

Yes most of the calls were made by him, and when I looked at his bill the same days and times he called me cost him only as local calls. One call which cost me RM125-00 cost him only RM2.40.

And the total cost of all the calls I made to him when I was there was RM84-00 and most of the calls didnt even reach a minute. For a few seconds call, they charged me RM9.10 per one call.

Every SMS cost RM1.10 which I think is quite reasonable, but RM9-10 per minute ... to Cambodia ??

"Get your own prepaid card from the place you go next time ........like when you go to KL get your own prepaid card..."

"KL...??????????"

Why I Love To Iron These Days

I was still up and wide awake at about 12 pm that night.Its all because of this new playmate of mine ....

Spanker, this is what I was talking about ......

Phnom Penh

My Next Toy

Call me crazy, but this baby is at the top of my list right now.


Me:
"I'm dying ! Its on sale ! 25% discount !
Its a good buy !!!!!
The 60ltr looks nice !"

cK:
"...and so your wardrobe would only be left with a few of your undies,
since the rest would be shoved into the sack.....?"

Me:
"Ok I'll go for the 55ltr !"
(in the photo)
"But I'll have to find money for the ticket first"

cK:
"Oh I see... so the trip is not tomorrow....???"

" If you buy now, are you going to backpack to Nora's house in Jitra
and then stop by at different mosques every other nights? "

When You Make A Stand

"And do thou be patient, For thy patience is but From Allah; nor grieve over them; And distress not thyself Because of their plots.
For Allah is with those Who restrain themselves
and those who do good""


"Bersabarlah ! Sesugguhnya kami tidak akan mampu bersabar melainkan dengan pertolongan Allah; dan janganlah kamu bersedih kerana mereka dan janganlah dadamu menjadi sempit dengan apa yang mereka tipu dayakan
Sesungguhnya Allah bersama-sama orang yang bertaqwa
dan yang membuat kebaikan"

An Nahl: 127

How soothing the words of Allah are when you really need them .....

It is very hard when you suddenly realize that you ve been pushed to the limit. You re pushed to the wall and there is no other way except for you to retaliate.

People always tend to take us for granted, especially when we were the ones who led them to. We gave them the oppening for them to do to us as they wish. You were the the one who gave them permission to hurt you. And sometimes because you see things from a rose tinted glass, you brushed away any initial intuitions about what they were doing to you, you pushed aside the 'bad thoughts' (as you yourself put) and tried to justify whatever is happening around you. You dig all sorts of excuses to defend them...... but how far can one dig...?

You re hurt and you cried silently as you looked back; you wished they were not true, you wished you could refuse to believe but in tears you slowly admit that you have to swallow the bitter truth.

And when you feel that its time to make a stand, you have to really look into yourself to find all the strenghts that you need during this crucial moment of your life, because its something that you re not used to doing. It takes up all your energy and it exhausts you, but you know you have to hold on to it....

....because if you make any wrong move, you re dead ! They will eat you up .... again .. and again..

Things I Learnt From My Trip

I think I want to finish off with what I had started in the earlier entries about my trip to Cambodia. Instead of telling every small details of the itinerary of the trip I'd rather conclude with what I had learned all through out the journey.


Cambodia Is Like Malaysia 20, 30 years ago

The surroundings, the infrastructure, the people. What amazed us most was the part that the Cambodians have a lot of free times. They would be walking in the parks, sitting near the Mekong River bank. They seem so relaxed which I think is good that they are not so much in a rush like in Kuala Lumpur for example. Malaysians do not go to the park anymore during weekend, they go to the malls.

The poverty level too is very high. Along the road on our way to Siem Reap we could see that many of the areas are without basic facilities like electricity and water. Houses were built next to the river (or canal) and they still use the river as their water source. I saw kids and women having their bath in the river too.


Currency-USD Is Widely Used

It broke my heart to see that a plate of fried rice cost us USD4.50. Arggghhhhhhhhhhh..............! Their currency is in Riel. USD1 is equivalent to 4200Riel and RM1 was about 1,200Riel (at that time-Oct2006). Being a developing country they need the help from the tourist to bring as much USD to the country as possible. Thats why the tourists (except Malaysians) have to pay the airposrt visa when they want to go in (at about USD20) and again when going out (including Malaysians) another USD20. It even stated somewhere at the airport that they need the money to expand their international airport.


Indonesianz Speak Better Intonation of English (Well at least Ijul does)

Its not because I'm so obesessed with Indonesian that I can even say that their intonation is better, well at least better than mine. Ijul speaks with perfect pronounciation of every English words that come out of her mouth. With the right stresses at the right time and its not even a put up accent, its just the way she speaks. I thought its only because of the English language but actually even when she speaks her own language, she would speak with such confident and and with a great deal of strong pronounciation, I mean like the time when I was referring to Ijul about the Indonesian word "timpuk", she didnt get what was I telling her and I kept on saying to her " You know "timpuk", banter ..." and she was like " Ohhhh... TIMPUK ... " with the stress at the "K" sound there. When I pronounced "timpuk" its as if I put a stop at the "k" sounds but Indonesian would even stress at the "K" sound; 'Timpukkkkk" Get it ? And I also discovered that the English people understand Ijul better when she speaks. Hmmm..... I vowed to do something with my English.

I tried to speak like Ijul with cK and he mocked me saying that I sound like a robot !

Ijul Is Tough !

Hahaha.. really, I always consider myself as someone whos quite determined and not afraid of hard work, not the 'manja' type, and independant, I mean like if I want to do something, I would put my mind and body into it and would just shoot off right from the start and nothing rarely stop me. But being with Ijul for about 6 days, I could say that I came around being second (thats because they were only the two of us). "Orang Malaysia tuh tak pernah susah ....". Maybe shes right. We have been blessed with so much wealth and stability, economically and politically that we have become to comfortable and complacent and to certtain extend we have taken some things for granted.

Alhamdulillah is all I could say, but Ijul is afraid what might happen to the Muslims of Malaysia, say in the next 20 years. From what she could see if we dont do anything about our economic and political conditions, we would be swept aside soon ......

Conclusion

Well..... I really want to improve my 'speaking', I think I might join the "Toast Club".

and I want to travel to many other countries..... and I dont mind backpacking ..... to get to see the real people of the country ... not just the tourist places .....

ps: Ijul kalau aku pingin ke negara jauh aku perlu ngumpul uang dari sekarang deh... gimana jadinya plan kita backpack jkt-bali ... Arghhhhhhh...... money money money !!!!!!

Mari Ketawa Dan Menangis Bersama KKDN

Inilah antara senarai buku-buku yang telah diharamkan oleh Kementerian Keselamatan Dalam Negeri bagi tahun 2000-2006.

Ref : KKAWALAN PENERBITAN DAN TEKS AL-QURAN

Antara Senarai Buku-Buku Yang Boleh Kita Ketawa

• Hot!Girl (热辣少女)
• Wanita Seksi (美艳美媚)
• Godaan Seks (春色无边)
• Cinta Haram (禁恋)
• Kak Long (大姐姐)
• Wanita Yang Merayau Sepanjang Malam (夜游女郎)
• Lelaki Yang Bertanggungjawab (大丈夫)
• Si Comel (小亲亲)
• Cinta Liar (豪情)
• Mimpi Pisang (香蕉梦)
• Guru Dara (处女教师)
• Isteri Muda Yang Berlaku Curang (风流少妇)
• Kisah Doktor Yang Tak Siuman (变态医生)
• Dunia Ceria (美妙世界)
• Kisah Tengah Malam (夜倾情)
• Kudumbal Seks Kathaigal (Kisah-Kisah Seks Keluarga)
• Oru Kanniyin Karnapal (Mimpi Seorang Gadis)
• Cinta 100 Ela (Raja Azmi)

Antara Senarai Buku-Buku Yang Boleh Kita Menangis

• Sebahagian Daripada Rawatan Pesakit Menurut Al Quran dan Sunnah (Prof Dr Harun Din dan Dr Amran Kasimin)
• Mengapa Kita Mencintai Keluarga Nabi SAW (Muhammad Kadzim Muhammad Jawad)
• Tokoh-Tokoh Terkemuka Ahlul Bait Nabi Rasulullah SAW Jilid 1-14 (Ali Muhammad Ali)
• Siapa, Mengapa Ahllul-Bayt (Hassan Abdul Qadir)
  

• 40 Hari Khalwat Catatan Harian Seorang Psikologi Dalam Pengasingan Diri Sufistik (Michaela Ozelsel)
• A HISTORY OF GOD (Karen Armstrong)
• Muhammad A Biography Of The Prophet (Karen Armstrong)
• The Battle For God Fundamentalism In Judaism, Christianity And Islam (Karen Armstrong)
• Kundalini For Beginners (Ravindra Kumar)
• Kontroversi Hukum Hudud (Kassim Ahmad)
• Hukum Mengenai Rokok & Mencukur Janggut (Rasul Dahri)
• Tafsir Al Mizan (Mengupas Ayat-Ayat Ruh dan Alam Barzah) (Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Hussien Thabathaba'i)
• Pengakuan Paderai Melayu Kristiankan Beribu-Ribu Orang Melayu (Azizan Ahmad)
• Seri Dasar-Dasar Filsafat Islam Prinsip-Prinsip Islam (Dalam AlQuran) (Dr Bahesty dan Dr Bahonar)
• Amalan Bid'ah Pada Bulan Muharram, Rejab, Syaaban dan Ramadhan (Dr Abdul Ghani Azmi Bin Hj Idris)

Bagaimanakah akan berkembangnya pemikiran rakyat Malaysia
apabila buku-buku bertanda merah seperti di atas diharamkan ?

Maka akan tertutuplah minda,
tidak akan terbuka perdebatan,
semakin sempit pemikiran,
tidak akan ada persetujuan untuk tidak bersetuju (agree to disagree)
makin lemah daya intelek
tiada ada hujah-hujah bertebaran
yang akan memaksa pengkajian dan pemahaman ....

...... dan katak-katak akan terus bertempurung dalam kelompoknya .......

How Could You Do This To Us ?

ps: cK:

"What do you expect from people who banned "Lelaki Komunis Terakhir"? And these people banned the movie when they had not even watched it. It's all because of the word "Komunis Terakhir". Which means if Amir put it "Lelaki Kepala Hotak Hang" they would surely have no problem with it."

Cerita Orang Marah

Kita berhenti sekejap pasal cerita Kemboja. Penat ahhh nak tulis cerita tu.

Baru2 ini saya di Langkawi. Pada masa hendak pulang ketika di Jetty Kuah itu, memang terdapat ramai umat manusia yang mahu balik ke tanah besar setelah bershopping sakan di Langkawi. Alkisahnya suasana sangat panas dan orang begitu ramai dan adalah satu mamat dan keluarga ini yang sedang beratur bersama orang ramai dekat pintu nak keluar ke bot, macam 'departure hall' begitu adanya.

Tiket bot saya menunjukkan bot saya akan berlepas jam 12.30 tgh hari. Waktu saya dan orang ramai di pintu itu, jam di tangan sudah menunjukkan hampir pukul 12.30. Saya cuba-cuba lihat tiket bot orang lain dan saya dapati tiket mereka menunjukkan bot yang berbeza dari tiket saya. Saya mula jadi bimbang dan cuba mencari ruang ke depan orang ramai untuk bertanya makcik guard yang jaga pintu tu, untuk mengetahui adakah saya ini termasuk orang-orang yang dah terlepas bot.

Dalam kekalutan saya itu (sememangnya saya ini jenis gubra juga orangnya) saya telah terlanggar sesuatu. Bila saya toleh ke belakang saya dapati saya telah menjatuhkan secara tidak sengaja beg seorang mamat dan keluarga tadi. Mamat ini adalah seorang bapa, punya dua tiga orang anak separa remaja dan isteri yang kelihatan sangat lembut. Seharusnya saya patut merujuk beliau sebagai 'pakcik' , tapi oleh kerana kecetekan akal padanya yang saya rasakan sangat ketara eloklah beliau diturunkan darjat ke pangkat 'mamat' saja.

Sambil mengangkat beg tersebut saya meminta maaf kepada si empunya beg, tetapi Mamat ini setelah melihat saya menjatuhkan begnya terus menengking ke arah saya dengan menuduh saya sebagai seorang yang tidak punya penglihatan. Dijeritnya kepada saya mempersoalkan penglihatan saya sebagai seorang yang seperti Stevie Wonder. "Buta kah ???!!!!" Saya agak terkejut dengan pertanyaan yang garang seperti itu. Kalau wanita biasa yang lain, mungkin mereka akan merasa malu dan akan tersipu-sipu menyusup keluar dari orang ramai dengan deraian air mata.

Si mamat ini tidak tahu saya wanita garang yang membawa kereta dengan ganas ! Terasa suasana pada waktu itu kilat sambar menyambar ribu taufan seolah melanda Jetty Kuah; saya mengangkat pandangan dan melihat kepadanya dan bertanya tanpa meniggikan suara :

"Kenapa harus marah ...?"

Mamat yang seperti kehilangan dialog terus membuat tuduhan lagi "Buta !!!"

"Eh.. relax lah... !! Saya dah minta maaf ! "

Mamat tercari-cari ayat yang lebih baik lagi "Buta !!"

"Kenapa harus marah dan jerit-jerit. Tak bolehkah bercakap elok-elok? Saya bukan sengaja nak jatuhkan beg tu ""

Mamat menggapai-gapai mencari kata yang tak terjumpa "Buta !!!"

"Ehh... relax lah !!!!"

Tahulah saya tatkala itu bahawa beliau telah kehilangan skrip dan beliau juga tidak tahu dialog apa lagi yang mampu dihasilkannya. Dan saya terus berlalu pergi. Orang ramai pastinya menjadi saksi bahawa yang buta sebenarnya di situ ialah Mamat itu, yang telah berjaya menjatuhkan dirinya di hadapan anak-anak dan isteri dan juga orang ramai.

Moral Cerita

Menengking orang yang telah memohon maaf atas sesuatu perkara yang tidak sekali-kali menjejaskan anda membuatkan seseorang kelihatan lebih kecil dari dirinya yang sebenar.



*** Oh ya ! Mamat itu dan keluarganya mendapat tempat duduk di belakang kerusi saya di atas bot.

Cambodia - Day Two

Morning of Phnom Penh

We woke up early to catch a bus to Siem Reap, the town of Angkor Watt, which is about 6 hours drive from Phnom Penh. The journey should have been less than 6 hours, if only there is a highway. Unfortunately Cambodia is very much under construction.

The bus cost us 7USD, with air cond but no wash room. We had no choice. The seats were a bit uncomfortable as we are both 5"6 and we found it difficult to strech our legs. We got to see a bit of the life of the Cambodians along the road, of which poverty is very much prominent.

Grilled banana.

Cute lady selling fruits.

We stopped by at a restaurant, supposedly for lunch, but of course Ijul and I had to hold back our hunger as they were no available halal food around. We should have bought some bread. And oh ya.. Alhmadulillah Ijul's Sis insisted her to give me the famous Indonesian 'kek lapis' (layered cake)as a take away. That saved us until lunch !

Cambodian Boys After School Hour

Siem Reap

Siem Reap is the happening town in Cambodia. Almost all tourists will flock the town as its the nearest to Angkor Watt. When we stepped down from the bus, we were flunk by the Tuk-Tuk drivers. One recognize me immediately as Malaysian (from my tudung) and spoke to me in Bahasa Malaysia. Sukry apparently had once worked in Malaysia. We didnt want the trouble talking in sign language so we chose Sukry as our official Tuk Tuk driver.

Sukry. Our Superman For the Day

He brought us to an Indian Restaurant as it was the first thing I requested. Our stomachs were making noises already and I knew I had to eat immediately before mine get worse. The street was heavily polluted by dust. Almost everything was under construction new roads, new buildings and all. Thats why a bandanna would come in handy at this time, but I didnt bother to.

The Halal Indian Restaurant is only next to Old Market. Its a bit pricey as, again, all the dishes are in USD. Sukry got his share too, courtesey of the owner (obviously for bringing people to the restaurant) and we were lucky because as Sukry only ate only half of his nasi goreng, we tucked half of his share for our dinner that night. We met one Malaysian family from Johor in the restaurant.

Some of the Tuk-Tuks with their customer at the Ticket Booth

To get into Angkor Watt we had to buy the passes. One day pass costs 20USD and for a three day pass it d cost 40USD. We decided to get a one day pass only as we didnt plan to stay that long in Siem Reap. Sukry suggested that we buy the pass that day itself because the one day pass bought in the evening of that day can be used for that day itself and the next day. He thought we might like to get into Angkor Watt that same evening to see the sunset at the top of one of the temples (there are apparently many temples in that 400km sf area and Angkor Watt is actually one of the famous temple they have inside that huge area).

A bit from the map

We had to do some climbing before we reached the peak of the temple to get the sunset view. We had to first climb the hill and later the stairs. The stairs were steep and narrow.

First the hill. Look at the people

Then the temple steps. Look at the people again

Look at the crowd and Ijul

It must be the weather ; because in our opinion the sunset was not really spectacular that day. Or maybe it's my inability to get a good composition. My bad then !

Our hotel in Siem Reap. 20USD

Look at the bed. You can guess which one is mine.

Cambodia - Day One

I reached KLIA and met Ijul at LCCT, Sepang. That was the first time I met Ijul, face to face. I was a bit anxious as it would be our first time meeting and staying together for 5 nights. We actually had the same thoughts, wondering and hoping that both of us can get along well for the whole of the trip. I was actually worried that she might get to know me 'better' and discover I'm not that 'nice'.LOL

Our flight was scheduled at 3.15pm but the plane coluld only take off at almost 4.20 pm because of the bad weather, it was raining heavily at the airport. The flight took about 2 hours from KL to Phnom Penh.


We were greeted by Hari, Ijul's friend whos working at the Indonesia Embassy in Phnom Penh. He was kind enough to provide us the first night accomodation at Paragon Hotel. The room which comes with Air Cond and warm water costs 35USD.



Our hotel faced the Mekong River. We found out that there were many Cambodians who like to sit along the river bank until the wee hours of the night. We spent the first night walking along the Mekong River and took some photos which included some fried bugs !

I turned into ghost that night

Ijul was tempted to taste the fried bugs but I pulled her back. LOL *kidding*

No, we didnt have the bugs for dinner, instead we went to 'Bali Cafe' an Indonesian Restaurant for some halal food . Its not that far from our hotel. But please bear in mind that USD is widely used in Cambodia, and so our dinner which Ijul insisted was on her, cost about 12USD. Go figure your calculation in RM.

And later that night, we went to a hotel where Hari was waiting for us with his gang. We took Tuk-Tuk from Bali Cafe which was 2USD trip.

(Hari : third from right)

I was so sleepy during the time there and was almost sleeping. The first time Ijul discovered how easy I can fall asleep !

We went back quite late and were grateful to be sent back by Hari's friend, Dana (Shes fourth from left).

The BackPack Packing

Ok. This entry has nothing much to do with my Cambodia trip. These are the things I learned after only a few trips some where and things I get from the internet during my homework. Just thought I'd share them with you.

Do your homework

If you really want to go backpack, you have to start doing your homework early on. Plan your trip at least 6-12 months ahead. It helps especially if you want to get a good cheap flight from Airasia. You can get a very good bargain for the flight you intend to take. Study the place you want to visit thoroughly and compile them in one file.

These are a few things you have to know:-

• Political situation of the country. You may not want to end up with the street demonstrators (or if u re like me who WANTS to be part of it, thats another story, go talk to your parents first)
• The Visas and all the taxes you may need to pay, you may get shocked like me who didnt know that we had to pay an airport tax of 25USD when I wanted to get out of Cambodia. Apparently Malaysians need not pay any tax when going into Cambodia but still have to pay the 25USD when going out.
• The price of the taxis, tuk-tuk. The trick and trade of the taxi drivers and tuk-tuk. Like you have to know the places yourself instead of accepting and agreeing to everything that the Tuk-Tuk drivers suggest.
• Get the map of the town you're visiting. Get the idea of the place in your head.
• Check the tips from other travellers.
• Check the cheap hotels you intend to stay. Make some notes and try looking for any comments or reviews from other travellers who have stayed there.
• Get to know where the Mosque and the muslims community are.
• Find the Halal restaurants from the internet, so you wont be starved to death while crawling in town looking for one.
• If you re planning to travel from one place to another, its good to know the ticket price of the bus, taxi, train etc beforehand so that you can make a proper and estimated budget.
  

Check these sites : VirtualTourist, LonelyPlanet (and its forum), Halal Guide, Journeywoman (for us women travellers) to get tips and brief ideas of the place you're visiting.

You can also buy all the travelling books, like LonelyPlanet Guide Book, but they can cost half of your flight ticket.

Anyways, below are the essentials for your packing :-

Top Of The List

• Passport
• Tickets (flight, train etc)
• Booking documents (when you book online - eg hotels)
  
• Identification Card
• Some cash (in USD)
• Driving license (just in case)
• Photos (ur ID photos - some places might require photos)

Kindly make photocopies of all the important documents and put the original documents safely in your bag. You can put the copies in your day bag.


The Bag

If youre going for not more than 2 weeks, a 30 ltr bag is actually enough. Well if you have to bring lots of your stuffs, then you might get yourself a 40 ltr or maybe 40 + 10 or even 50 to 60 ltr bag which to me is very very big, the 50 ltr and above bag is actually meant for the round the world trip or 3 months journey through Europe or the whole of South East Asia. ( Well I made a mistake the first time I went to South Thailand with my 60 ltr bag ). The bigger your bag is the more tendency for you to bring the content of your room ! No matter how commercialise Deuter sounds to you, its actually the best one around. Karrimor is good too, less expensive than Deuter or you can find The North Face to your liking but which may not suit your budget.

You should also get yourself a small pouch or something like the blue pouch I have. I love this small bag, its not bulging as any other pouch , quite thin and can carry my passport, cards, bills and other small stuffs which can be easily reached.

Me and my 30 ltr bag and the small sling pouch

You still need to be careful with the sling pouch as it can sometimes not only reachable for you but also be easly reached by the snatch thief as well.

The List

Appparels.

Ok. You don't have to bring one shirt for everyday of your trip, if you only have a 30 ltr bag. You can bring 6 shirts according to the days of your trip only if you have a bigger luggage. Lets just keep your list of apparel to:-

• One thin cotton shirt, one t-shirt, one long sleeved shirt, one thin jacket (which I didnt bring but felt that I actually needed one) one pair of jeans and one cotton pants (or khaki pants). Jeans are heavy actually but if you still want to look cool during the trip, just shove it into the bag. You dont have to bring a t shirt, just buy one at the place u re visiting as the first souvenir for yourself ! Get a dri fit shirt which u can wear for more that a few days, it doesnt smell !
  
• Underwear: panties - get the light ones, 4-5 pieces. Bras- 3 at least
• Telekung and sarong with socks - for solat
• Socks if youre taking your Nike sport shoes
• Sandals
  
• Cap/hairband/cotton bandana
  
• Swimming suit (no, I didnt go to the beach in Cambodia)
  

Shoes

If youre going to do lots of walking, get a good walking shoe. I was thinking of wearing my Converse cotton, but its not really comfortable actually. Better still you can get a Teva sandal, but I must warn you, Teva sandal can be smelly after some times, wash it off with soap if your travelling companion starts complaining of the foul smell (or if the locals squeeze their noses when you come in). Nike sandals are ok but my they are not really durable. I heard that Chaco sandals are highly recommended, try to find one in KL but it may be tad expensive.

Personal Hygiene

Toothbrush.toothpaste.liquidsoap (as you may not like the small soap they give at the cheap motels). Razor blade (should you need to (!)). Shampoo. Baby oil (I have no idea what its for but its always with me when I travel). Deodorant (a must). Cotton Bud. Facial wash.Facial cream.compact powder.lipstick (if your femininity calls) Hairbrush (small one u silly !) Sanitary pad (in case). Perfume (backpackers need to smell nice too).

First Aid

Panadol.Charcoal pills (when the foreign food is not to your stomach liking) Miyak Cap Kapak (ointment) when you cant stand the foreign smell in the local bus or their musics. Bring some Vitamin C as well or maybe some other vitamins to boost your energy all through out the trip.

Miscellaneous

All sorts of charger for your phone, camera, videoacamera, mp3. Mp3 is highly recommended (again to help you with the sound of musics not to your taste). Safety pins, bring one packet if you must, they help you when u cant close the hotel windows with their cheap curtains. Small day bag, for you to take during the day trip around town (so you dont have to bring that big backpack to the restaurant)

And dont forget to bring one small bottle of liquid wash soap for washing. You may not like your shirt to smell like bath soap !

Your Travelling Companion

Be ready to accept everything that comes with the package. Be open minded. Dont be too sensitive. Be considerate. Compromise. Understanding. If you cant get along with your travel buddy, your trip wont be that fun anymore. Dont fret over small petty things. No body's perfect. The main thing is that both of you should at least agree on certain main issues, like both should agree on what type of accommodation (simple, cheap, expensive, comfortable etc) and both agree to spend as little as possible (like cutting down the expensive comfortable bus and use the local bus instead)

Notebook

Something for you to jot down everything from your plan, itinerary, expenses etc......

Pray

Never forget to pray for your trip to be safe and sound

Cambodia-The Plan

No, I didnt actually plan to go anywhere initially, I was thinking more of Langkawi or perhaps one of the Terengganu islands to recharge myself (yes I need that ocassionally to get my sanity intact).

I went to Cambodia with my good friend whom I met virtually through her blog. Ijul, yeap thats the girl. We ve been visiting each other's blogs for more than 2 years. She was in KL last year but we didnt get the chance to meet. So this year as shes visiting her sister again (whose husband is a manager of one of an IT international company here), we vowed not to miss this opportunity to meet. She told me that shes going to Cambodia first before she could come to Kedah. I was intrigued.... wondering whether its possible that I could follow her. Shes leaving on the third of raya and will only be back 5 days later. As usual, on impulse, I just blurtered out whethere she'd mind if I go with her. She was overjoyed.

So its on !

I told here I was quite tight on budget. I had only 350USD to spend after deducting the flight ticket. I was glad we agreed to spend as little as possible for the 6 days trip.

I was excited.

I Am 21 again !

Happy Birthday To Me !


happy birthday dear me
life as you ve learnt is never easy
but you've made it quite fairly !

Masa Yang Berlalu

Saat itu resah terjadi
Aku tiba-tiba seakan ingin memanggil namamu
Tatkala itu aku merasa himbauan sesuatu yang dalam
Senda apakah yang ingin kau beri
Duka apakah yang paling abadi
Melainkan sepi berabadku ini

-Pyan Habib-

Can I Hold The Memory

What was I looking for when I started the journey.
Not knowing the uncertainties that lies ahead.
Believing what has been written somewhere is my fate
And yet I planned the plan thats been meant for me to create.

Along the way I found myself
together with the other side of me that I always tend to forget
Tis' a couple of lessons I learned
From a far away friend who is never hesitate
to point out her thoughts thats forthright straight !



ps:
I will unfold my 6 days story in a short time
after the sorting out of the hundreds of the photos comes to an end ...