New Zealand 2016. North Island

Aaaa North je? Ok I get that a lot and that's it. Is not that we are not considering at all, in fact to choose going to New Zealand already went through number of challenge sessions. Need to convince the other half why NZ. Point is, NEW adventure, something we never did before. And now with Amni. It has to be all about her in a way la kan. 

We decided not to join group of convoy (jimat di situ), airlines apa nak naik, whether we want to fly straight or transit and mode of transportation at NZ. I don't have much time, lets cut it short.

Day 1 (KUL-MEL-AKL)
Flying to Auckland via Melbourne. By the time we were at Tullamarine Airport it's already like 2 in the morning. Just resting, solat and get ready to board. Amni took little longer to sleep, lucky we got to use airport stroller and she's ok with it. 

Day 2 (Auckland)
Arrived at Auckland. Checked in Gateway Airport Hotel. Stroll the area a bit but end up dinner at hotel's cafe (sedap). Oh internet is so important, don't forget to purchase simcard at the airport (recommended: Vodafone). Anyway most campervan park did offer limited free data (e.g. 100MB per device per day).

Day 3 (Matamata, Rotorua)
Picked up motor-home or caravan! It took longer than expected (briefing, technical glitch and what not). First thing, groceries shopping! 
Then terus drive to Matamata; The Shire Rest- Hobbiton! A long the way.. fuh! memang hijau mata memandang. Ladang-lembu-kambing-blue sky-repeat. 

Next Rotorua, checked in. Tak reti nak plug in power! Tak reti is too much, technically dah plugged in, connection tak berapa betul. Siap tukar tapak. Huhu..Mujur ada jiran Australian tolong (don't shy-shy to ask). Anyway got to enjoy mineral pool there, macam melekit dalam suam-suam panas- I supposed that to help you recover or rejuvenate or something. 

Day 4 (Rotorua, Taupo)
Nothing specific set on this day, what I had in mind was that geothermal thingy which makes the city famous for. Also the Maori culture village lah (didn't go, time don't permit).. So we visited Hell's Gate (hell kedekut, dia pagar the whole area so you have to pay la to see; we are smarter than that), beautiful lookout point Blue & Green Lake; passed through Buried Village aaand Redwoods at Whakarewarewa Forest! Semua unique in their own ways. Haha tak do justice langsung tulis gitu

Day 5 (Taupo)
We got to enjoy the beautiful scenery of lake, mountain and water falls (Huka)!

Then 5 hours drive to Wellington. No RnR like here but the journey was something I like. Lalu gunung-ganang (so impressed to see Mt Ruapehu/ Mordor! for the first time), desert (tanah tandus; kang kena bahan budak wechat)- people asked sure boring kan lalu sini? Weh, not really. Area ni jadi tempat army punya training ground (no trespassing!) and the billboard ad there quite funny. 

In and out small town pun best. We stopped at Bulls bought some kebab and stuff, eat somewhere-somewhere later. Ada satu town tu got airport dowh, padahal kecik je and tepi jalan, we didn't see the runway. 

Nak menyampai ke Holiday Park, Wellington sekali kena lalu bukit-bukau- sebijk macam fellowship of the ring. Dah la gelap time tu. Memang nampak cantik la town from up there but we didn't prepare for that. Serious ah Tomtom. 

Tengok, cerita drive pun boleh panjang lebar, nak elaborate details lelain.. ok focus.

Day 6-7 (Wellington)
Obviously a big city (really?). Being capital city of New Zealand just imagine Putrajaya. Bit challenging to drive there. But the weather! Fuhh.. Berbaloi beli baju tebal Amni. Hehe. I think its more due to the wind and drizzle. Highlights here a cable car, masjid visit and Weta Cave! We went there twice because it just worth the visit. 

Oh highlight yang penting is TAK JUMPA kedai makan halal yg letak flyers kat Holiday Park-sekali dah tutup/ tukar owner! Sejuk oi.

Day 8 (Ruapehu)
Driving bit relax from Wellington, stopped at Otaki. Lunch best, coffee best, yogurt ice cream pun best!

We stayed at Mt Ruapehu, jungle feeling. Fun fact: Evacuation reminder due to eruption; earthquake and flooding. Fuh. Got yellow and green area for assembly point.

Up there, the best coffee ever! Probably with the weather. Acah-acah main salji sikit, naik chair lift. Lumia battery kong! Urgh. And forgot to fully utilize gopro; ok bukan forgot just tak berapa nak manage. 


Day 9 (Waitomo)
Glowworm cave. Could have done better if we know earlier the arrangement. Amni cannot go in, so mommy kena sacrifice. Wuuu T_T

Lunch at cafe Huhu. Apalah kan maksudnya tu. Huhu.. Sedap jugak. 

Ada pernah cakap tak sedap ke sepanjang trip? Makan bukan kerisauan langsunglah NZ ni. Nak bayar banyak mana je. Seafood dia beli raw masak sendiri pun yummy. By the way, harga barangan kat sini insyaallah consistent mahal- tak kira la town ke, tasik ke, bukit ke, pump station ke, hulu banat mana pun coffee dia standard je harga. Way better dari kau beli coca-cola weh!

Day 10 (Balik)
Huhu...

From time to time will update kalau rajin. Teruskan sokongan! (self-monologue semua ni)

Hello 2015. Thanks 2014

Hi. It's nice to be back after more than a year. Life has changed so much from the last post. Where to begin.. The reason I'm writing again? Well at least you get to read something exclusive about me that I don't talk much in real life. Nah. This is for my record and future reference; eg. go back to previous post and feel ashamed on grammar error and repeat it again and again #mudahterhibur

Let's do the annual review (dah la 1 post ni je kot). 

It's the end of 2014. As a Malaysian most of us see 2014 as a not so good year, I couldn't agree more. But. Personally contradict to what happened to the nation as a whole, I feel so blessed this year. Sorry not to offend sesiapa. Particularly-finally both of us got to be transferred to KL, living together, pergi kerja sekali and what not. #initahunlah accomplished! Syukur. So many family events, ups and downs. And let's go to what I have picked up while living in Borneo- run a marathon; yet to go for a full mode. 

Been running like never before this year. If I'm not mistaken I've clocked more than 100km on event (not so impressive for so called runner). It just that the preparation prior to the day slightly different. Still glad I did it anyway.

The collection. Ni je. Humble brag.

Move on.. Less flying this year. That didn't stop us from going exploring another part of this world. Got to experience Krabi. Alhamdulillah for umrah trip, definitely to be going there again (amin!). And then the Goldcoast adventure; well we utilize travel agent package from Matta fair. You need to read my other half blog for more details. She writes better than me anyway.

Illustration purpose only. Tak makan pun. Nasi 'Kerabu' Krabi lagi unique weh

She seems ok with the dogol part

G'day mate! Sedap kan bau kari

All in all I am looking forward to 2015! Nope it's not about RON95 which is now  RM1.91/L (record low for the past 15 years?).  Alhamdulillah for 2014 where I considered it as one of 'my year'. Thank you Allah. Thanks to nice people around me. Thanks to you for reading this. 

Technically I'm still in 2014 due to time different in Maldives. Yeap we are here for 5D4N :) 

Happy new year! *fireworks*

Borneo International Marathon 2012

Hello there!Life must be good eh? Just another running event that I participated this year (probably going to be the ONLY!)Due to unforeseen circumstances Larian Sultan Azlan Shah was cancelled. Did enjoy my time with family though at Lost World Tambun.

Anyway.. I ran (awesomely) 10km at Kota Kinabalu, non-stop! Nothing much on the running I want to share actually. Haha! Awesome pretty much conclude everything right? There was Miss Malaysia running as well. Ok whatever..Cannot share picture somehow right now.

Wife supports me all the way of course. Bit drama when we are about to go back. Luckily we manage to get into the ferry just in time. We had two swimming sessions a day before, ridiculous delicious pasta (or something like it) tomyam at Dome and little shopping.

get to know LABUAN

x pernah dtg labuan?? akan dtg labuan?? watch this show to get some idea..heh

PART I



PART II



PART III

my stay in miri

walla! from my visit to miri, already get a glimpse of borneo. hehe. ya i went there to visit hartini aka a very good miri tourist guider. no kidding :)

ya mari kita mulakan...

menikmati hotdog 1901 (book online n save 10%). the taste is ok-ok je, just because it has DIY element, i like. mayonis yg melimpah ruah.

then around 6.15pm, my arrival early ~20mins. cam biasa, ala² tourist snap lg (courtesy of nokia5300 je). sekadar mengikut formaliti di airport, tunggu beg lalala, pastu baru teringat yg aku ni dahaga x minum lg..apa lagi, cari la air. lantas, ade sejenis air minuman ini menarik perhatianku...



as far as i can remembered, gardenia is a brand of "sungguh enak dimakan begitu saja" food product. then i just bought it la to taste it. warnanya masih seperti soda, baunya masih seperti soda, malah rasanya seperti soda...apakah dia?

in front of tropical inn, suasana nyaman di awal hari

dipendekkan citer, mmg best la dok sana (for 3 days). esp the foods. MEMANG TERBAIK. i cant forget nasik lelapan (bau belacan melekat smpai KL), mee jawa etc. lg best..masyarakat kat sana menggemari chicken wing!! aku pun suka! sarapan dgn chicken wing relax jek..hehe

the expensive steak i ever ate (so far), lepas mkn ade rasa kelakar (note: nothing to do with the taste)

the best thing i brought back from miri, credit to miss hartini again :) (p/s: jgn lupa beli raket squash)

pastu ade 1 lg..time shopping² for souvenir, ade 1 lg perkara menarik. biasa²nya sekadar beli "barang wajib" je. kemudian aku jumpa neh;


autobot, transform! kuk kek kuk kek...

ha...kagum x? kagum x?

bnyk la nak citer, tp kesuntukan masa (u can go to harteeny.blogspot.com for other version), overall mmg berbaloi pemergian ke miri. the place obviously not like KL. but heck, y u need KL if u have piasau, baram, krokop etc? ;p also got sugar bun n DPS what!

kalo, rajin cont lg, anyway thanx a lot hartini. i will come again to miri without any hesitation!