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)

Temerloh & Kuantan

2016 secara umumnya bermula dengan suram jika bersandarkan keadaan ekonomi semasa semata-mata. Maka kenalah creative sikit. Rancang perjalanan domestik! 

So over the weekend, we decided to go to east coast, Pahang Darul Bauksit. I am so pissed to observe the aftermath, mind you it just a friction of it. Anyway 3 main objectives are to visit a family, attend a wedding and meet friends. So much to-do-tick-person I am, glad all are covered. Sort of mission accomplished. Clap. Clap. Clap.

Good catch up with old friends even though it was a short session. Perhaps for the next visit kena puasa seminggu and spend more that 1N so barulah boleh enjoy Kuantan food fest.

Chop, chop! ManUtd menang 1-0 kat Anfield :) [fake smile]

Being Famous (for FREE)

Another life changing experience. Saja nak repost; mainly because it reappears in FB 'on this day'. For the whole journey experience you can just read from previous post (in 2011). Ok, article ni memang best, menggambarkan seluruh pengalaman hampir tepat. Bila isteri kau review nothing can go wrong kan. We actually wrote bit longer but yeah the editor did his job lah, cut something a bit, add important message and all that. 

Famous sangat ke? Mula-mula melayang jugak, lama-lama lebih kepada commercial vehicle for them je sebenarnya -which is fair to them. Masuk newspaper, blog, tv (cerita je, bukan aku), magazine and so on (padahal itu aje). Dia dah bagi kau free flight ticket, hotel free (nasib Tune hotel tak commissioned lagi time tu), VIP seating, before/ half time/ after meal- not bad lah. 

The rest korang zoom in la article ni #janganmalas. Sadly QPR relegated, promoted and relegated again since then (dan tiada penampakan nak naik liga 😓).

Day 8: El Ateneo

Uh, Oh! Forgot about this. Let me finish the Argentina trip with this entry. 

So on the last day, I still have time to spend at BA since my flight will be at night but need to check out room at 12 noon- managed to nego defer to about 1 o'clock. Jadi nak buat apa? 

Though my reading I happened to know there is unique bookstore in BA; previously it was an old theatre. The interior still remain very much as theatre setup. Question is, where and how to get to the place? Google for everything nowadays kan. So it helps.. Few subway stations away from my place and a bit of walking, taraaa!

Shared block with other stores, pay attention to the entrance. Or just watch where fellow tourist heading to, this is kinda must visit place for bookworms. 

Main stage. Now become a cafe or place to chill while reading like a boss. So quiete tak dengar bunyi cawan bergesel pun #Manner

The view. Had to put your face here la else kena accuse "setakat gambar internet tak payah nak poyo". Staff sini pun friendly or to put it in other words- they don't mind tengok tourist datang ambil gambar instead of buying the books #TouristSpot

Look at the top. Bukan ex gereja ye. Memang nice setup Kedai ni. Bawah sekali section for music lagu-lagu, ground main area (cafe), second and third floor for books with various sections (sama cam kino, MPH, boarders).

VIP/ bangsawan seating jadi browsing area. The book is something something about cholesterol. In Spanish! How do I know kan, yang penting posing

From other angle. Through my googling to find how to get here, this bookstore is actually ranked no.2 in the world tau in terms of coolness, content, interior yada yada.. No.1 if not mistaken dekat Lisbon. I am not worried much, bookstore kita lagi hipster. Books are sealed, nak baca, kena beli. That's the price for knowledge.

After checked out, I just round round nearby area try to spend the remaining pesos. Before 5 the driver datang pick up  then straight to the airport. I was forced to listen to his selection of music the entire trip. Nice guy though.

Ok folks, that's all for Argentina. Bye bye 

The Not so Secret Life of Nor Fairolzukry

I have to admit this is one of most the drastic decision in my life. Takde la random decision sangat, been thinking about it almost like 8 months camtu. Circumstances changed. And we have to adapt.

Ok to cut the chase, I am going to explore Argentina. Alone. KUL-DXB-EZE. Total travelling time could be closed to 30 hours. Alone. There is concern, of course. Before I answer why Argentina it is fair to justify first, why I am going alone. My other half- wait for it- is pregnant (Alhamdulillah). This is such a HUGE news to us, to the family. Beyond the decision to go to Argentina. Initially mestilah dah plan pergi berdua and I am not that evil (London hari tu was exceptional la kan). Part of me berat la nak go just like that but after series of discussion I believe this is the right decision. I am definitely going to share the experience and probably come again for the adventure. InsyaAllah. 

So.. Why Argentina? Jawapan senang, tak pernah pergi. Sebelum ni was fortunate to experience Europe, United States, Australia, bit of Middle East etc ok lah I am partially guilty tak banyak pergi ASEAN countries. Bila orang cerita Ho Chin Minh, Bali, Bangkok, Cambodia noob gila. Hopefully that can wait. Another thing, ter inspire tengok movie Walter Mitty; sangat adventurous dan penuh dengan element self-enrichment.

And also "Beautiful things don't seek attention".

Alright times up. Need to prepare and board to the plane. Kinda feel macam wakil tunggal negara nak main sport or something. Doakan my trip dipermudahkan, Selamat pergi and pulang. Miss my little family already. Bismillah.

Travel: Maldives

Time flies. Memang tak percaya kembali menulis. Since I believe it is important to write somewhere for future reference and/ or whenever you don't have better things to do you will need something to (scroll) walk down the memory lane kinda stuff. 

Where were we last time? Ah, Maldives. I did ask to read my other half blog kan. Well, apparently she has better thing to do, so tahan je la read this blog. For now. 

Am so malas to details up the trip but it was a fantastic getaway. We went to normal pulau (Malé & Hulumale) and private one (Bandos)- so yeah we got to experience both world. Pulau sampah je tak pergi for obvious reason. We did island hoping on private excursion. 

Treasure the moment but to be honest memang la mahal kat sana tu, GST alone je dah 12% #kauhado. Kata kuncinya ialah kena pandai plan. Jangan nak kedekut sangat dan tak payah la perasan macam duit jatuh dari langit. First time experience bawa rice cooker and masak; I am about to repeat the same trick! 

Mana gambar? My phone iCrashed so hilang la segala gambar laut hijau-biru, jerung (a real one!) dan segala picturesque pictures! Namun jangan berduka, head to my Instagram account and enjoy #Maldives. Nampak tak pancing. Okthxbyexoxo

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*

Another Trip

I run no more after Borneo Marathon; expected. That doesn't mean I will give up on running. I just need some times for navigating (re: I Won't Give Up). I was toying with ideas and possibilities. It is amazing when you fear nothing, you just deal with life.

Yes, another travel is on the card (the biggest). We are super excited! Insyaallah we will be going to Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. Wife will look forward shopping and stuff. Me as usual..err football related? But in between we are going to enjoy this trip; the fact that we are together describe it all. Praying that everything goes well.

Strange part is where we both
think we could get expelled from work because of the trip! The truth is we deserved a getaway. So go away negative thought!!

Till me meet again!
MH2609