1st post of 2024

 Hello blog!

Ohmaii rindunya zaman berblogging dulu. Zaman belum ada Instagram and TikTok. Like, almost everyone has a blog. Semua orang nak menulis dan setiap hari ada je blogger baru tumbuh bak cendawan.
Zaman tu ramai influencers datang dari blog. Sesiapa yang pandai marketing and socialising, they use blog as a platform to sell and make money with advertisements. Time tu semua bloggers tau Nuffnang. Kat situ la dorang join events dan memperluaskan network. Dan aku, tak pernah sekalipon join. Sebab aku punya weakness, tak pandai marketing, tak pandai bergaul and no interest to meet new people.

Aku blogging sebab aku suka menulis. Dan suka baca blog orang lain. Time tu suka betul baca inibelogsaya, zackzuhairi, mariaelena. Sape je tak kenal dorang ni kan? Geng celebrities pon ramai. Ada Afdlin Shauki, Aqasha dan Zahiril Adzim. Tula antara blog yang aku selalu baca.

Baru-baru ni ada kontroversi kes cerai sorang blogger. Katanya femes dari era berblogging dulu tapi tula aku tak penah kenal. Hehe.

Papepon dia telah mengingatkan aku pada space yang dah bersawang ni.

Memang dah takde vibe eh nak tulis blog skang? 

Well, see you when I see you again, blog!

My Cornea Journey

This year, I have decided to get over with contact lenses and spectacle. I’m getting tired and fed-up, so I badly need a break-up. 

So I started to look into places and check the offers for eye surgery. Not really a ‘surgery’ but something like lasik. Then I found out about TRANSPRK - google it (this got nothing to do with trans ⚧️)

Here’s my cornea journey:

7/1 - I went to 2 places to do eye screening. And finally chose Advance Vision in Damansara. The reason - cheaper price, of course. Also, my power only 200 so I don’t need to spend more money to do other procedure. Besides, the doctor - Dr. Yeoh is so kind, comforting and explained the procedure very clearly. 

There were several tests done during this eye screening. But it took only a few mins, kerana teknologi terkini sudah terlalu canggih. Hanya guna mesin untuk check rabun dekat, jauh, silau, ketebalan kornea, suitability etc. Lepas guna mesin, baru jumpa Dr. Yeoh. Doktor buat lagi some tests and check mata in more details. Masa process buat test ni, kena letak a few eye drops. Lepas settle semua, da bole balik, da bole pilih date nak buat surgery tu. Tapi yang tak berapa best, ubat ni buatkan mata jadi blur, tak selesa, nak buka mata pon tak bole sebab nampak silau sangat. Terpaksa tunggu dalam sejam baru bole drive home. Tapi itu pon mata tak bole nak bukak sangat sebenarnya. Sampai rumah, terus tido jela. 

16/2 - Paid deposit RM400 online and booked surgery date on 3/3

1/3 - Went for another eye checkup before surgery. Buat test yang sama guna machines tu.  Test sekejap je tapi biasa la, menunggu lagi lama. If you choose to do at Advance Vision, you have to prepare to be patience about the waiting time. 

3/3 - Surgery day. No makeup, no perfume allowed. Went with bare face. 

Appointment at 3pm. Tunggu punya tunggu, pkol 415pm baru betul2 duduk kat surgery room tu. Laser took around 30 seconds for each eyes. Tak sakit, tapi ghisauuu, suspense, nervous. Mata kena grip, bola mata kena cuci dengan air sejuk. Tanjat sekejap. Masa laser tu pulak, boleh bau benda terbakar. Da settle, bole terus balik, makan ubat then tido. 

Lepas hilang bius dalam 2-3 jam, baru la rasa sakit. Not gonna lie, it’s really painful. Dalam mata rasa macam ada pisau. Dorang kata, pedih macam lepas potong bawang. Betul la jugak. Tapi bayangkan, rasa pedih tu non-stop sepanjang 48 jam. Ko rasa? 

12/3 - Check up after surgery. Sekejap je. Doktor said, all good. Itu je. Dapat MC seminggu. Balik la rehat, tido dan tido lagi dan jangan lupa letak ubat. At this point, vision is still blurry. About 50% 

After a few days, vision got better. Probably reach 85% at some point. And no more pain after 2 days. 

On the 2nd week, vision still inconsistent and dropped to 60% - as expected. I read review and was told in advance. So I was a bit relax about it. 

3rd week, vision got better again. About 90% I can say. But it got blurry a bit especially after putting the eye drop. 

Now it’s already 5th week, I’m quite satisfied. I can read signboards while driving, see clearly when watching movie, also no problem to read books. Some say it will get better after some time. So I’ll wait patiently. I’m grateful enough for now. Alhamdulillahh 😊

Salam Ramadhan 1444AH

Bulan penuh rahmah

Bulan penuh keberkatan

Juga bulan penuh hiba

Penuh syahdu dalam jiwa

Sendu di mata

Ini tahun ke-4

Masa berlalu begitu cepat

Namun beban masih digalas

Tidak pernah lepas

Beban menanggung rindu

Beban menyongsong waktu

Beban memori mengucup

Beban untuk terus hidup

Beban yang tak mungkin lupus

Tak mungkin terhapus

Aku harus jadi cahaya

Setia terbit setiap hari

Memancar motivasi

Untuk teguh berdiri

Biarpun sendiri

#stayhome

Wherever in the world you are, I know you’re aware about what’s happening now and most probably you are also in a lockdown like us here in Malaysia. Eventho it’s called Movement Control Order, but it feels like a lockdown already because we’re no longer want to go out. It’s like a scary world we’re living in, the virus are flying everywhere. However, thank Allah that situation is still in control and everyone is calm at home.

Bila duduk rumah dan selalu tengok news pasal Covid, korang ada rasa senang nak nangis tak? I don’t know but I do. Ada masa rindu dan teringat masa-masa dulu dengan famili. Pastu senang je nak mengalir air mata bila tengok orang share gambar-gambar frontliners yang kepenatan, gambar-gambar mereka yang terpaksa bekerja dengan pakai PPE yang panas dan bila baca luahan hati mereka yang positif Covid, dan yang paling teruk bila baca cerita mereka yang kehilangan ahli keluarga. Ya Allah je tahu perasaan sedih tu.

Dan situasi skarang, buat ramai orang tertekan sampaikan macam-macam perangai buruk yang terkeluar. Contoh yang meludah kat button escalator tu. Pfft! I thot orang kat China je yang ada prangai tu, rupanya kat Malaysia ni pon ada. Pastu yang degil namapuih tanak duduk umah, maki hamun polis lagi. Pastu golongan T20 yang dengki bila B40 dapat bantuan. Rupanya kita bukan je kena sama-sama fight Covid tapi jugak stupidity ni.

Tapi kan, sbenanya kita masih boleh tengok ramai lagi orang yang baik kat Malaysia ni. There are many act of kindness, even a small one buat aku nak nangis jugak. Macam aritu tengok news, ada peniaga sayur yang sanggup drive lebih 3 jam untuk derma ke penduduk di pedalaman. Pastu ada tukang kasut offer repair free to all frontliners. Banduan di penjara dan some tailors jahit PPE untuk dibagi free. Big companies also take part to contribute to society. For example, Telcos give free 1GB everyday. Astro free all channels until 14th April. This may look a little but it’s a very much appreciated.

Dan tak sangka government kita banyak duit rupanya. Dengan bantuan prihatin stimulus pakej kepada golongan B40, M40 dan juga untuk SME, itu agak mengagumkan. Gelandangan juga dijaga baik, di beri tempat dan diberi makan secukupnya. Students IPT yang terkandas kat asrama juga diberi makan free. Tempat-tempat kuarantin pon bukan calang-calang. If we want to compare with a few other countries, actually we’re far better.

Tu belum cerita pasal our frontliners and healthcare. Baru sekarang ramai yang bukak mata dan tau betapa bagusnya sistem kesihatan kita. Dan betapa dedikasinya setiap doktor, nurse dan semua yang sama-sama jaga pesakit kat hospital tu. To add more, if you don’t know, Malaysia ranks number 1 in Healthcare last year. 

I’m a proud Malaysian.

Tapi apa yang kita kat uma yang rasa macam takde apa-apa contribution ni bole offer to society? Well, if we have extra money, we can donate to some organization or fund to our frontliners. There are many NGOs that need our help. Bole google untuk tengok charity mana yang berkaitan dan pastikan bukan yang menipu ye.

Lagi satu, bila kita tau ada jiran atau orang terdekat yang cari makan dengan jual food online, sekali-skala tu order la dari dorang. Dan kalau keluar dan nampak orang meniaga tepi jalan jual goreng pisang ke, singgah la beli. You don’t how much it makes a difference to them.

And most importantly, the best contribution we can give back to society is JUST STAY AT HOME. We all can work together to break the chain of this pandemic. We all can be a hero.

So please stay safe and stay home, everyone!

Be Happy

One of the things I do occasionally is – reminiscing.

Looking at old photos in album – offline and online, reading old posts in my blog. Just to admire myself. Haha memang perasan. But on the serious note, it’s actually letting me to see how far I’ve grown. Tengok balik camane rupa masa dulu, apa fashion aku pakai, camane style aku menulis. Bila baca balik post lama, rasanya aku dulu lagi kelakar la. Mungkinkah faktor umur menyebabkan aku hilang sense of humor? Sigh~

This year resolution? Masih tiada BIG target dan masih sama macam tahun-tahun yang lepas which is - I just want to be HAPPY. Happiness that I don’t search but will create. Walaupon aku hanya duduk rumah takde buat apa time weekend, aku tetap rasa gembira dan bahagia. That’s what I want. I want to feel happy for whatever happens in my life. Tak susah pon kan?

I don’t worry about future. I don’t care about what other people think of me. I don’t need to get anyone’s approval to do what I like. I’ll do me.

And I’ll do whatever that makes me happy too, like reminiscing.

Happy more happy days for me!

How to spice up your life

I lost interest to write.
Well in fact, I lost interest in many things – to draw, read books, make jewelry. My life is dull.

Oh my! What have I done to myself?

*quickly googling

*get results

 
Well, interesting.

• Create a dream journal. – I actually bought a planner (for the 1^st time in my life). But as of today 20^th Jan, it’s still empty. 
• Do at least one extraordinary thing every day. – Ermm like what? Jump off the roof? 
• A difficult conversation should take place. – But some things are better left unsaid.
• Write a list of gratitude. – Did this before. Ok, I’ll make a new list for 2020
• Ask people you know to name your best qualities. – Naah~
• Make new friends. – A big NO. My existing bestfriends are already good enough. Also, I have trust issue.
• Mind your body. – I dance/zumba regularly, so this is fine.

Over the last few months, I’ve been trying to adapt to a new routine. I left the place that I love, moved back to hometown, started a new job – half-heartedly. And still trying to accept, to love this place, this job and this new routine.

And the hardest is - to ignore the feeling of losing.

From google, I came across this website - https://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/9-awesome-tips-to-spice-up-your-life/ which in a way, I feel better to know there are many people out there having/had been in the situation where we feel missing out on life.

So these things to do might help us (read: ME) to rise up:

1) Make a Bucket List
He said - write down all the things you want to do before you die! So, gamble in Las Vegas maybe?

2) Travel
Since 2 years ago, I set a goal to go holiday in every 2 months. Did it successfully (almost) for these 2 years. My next holiday will be in March. Yeah can’t wait!

3) Express/Create
 I should start painting again and express my feelings in poems.

4) Connect

I connect with strangers in Twitter and sometimes scrolling on Facebook. I am still single at this age, should I start with Tinder? HAHAHA!

5) Learn/Read
Bought 3 new books in October and still haven’t start reading it. Pfft!

6) Break the Pattern
I had changed my pattern (routine) about 3 months now and still adapting it.

7) Balance
My current job doesn’t consume my after office-hour time. Thank God I can go home on the dot and spend time with my kitties.

8) Simplify
Don’t think too much. Stop making world more complicated. If there’s nothing much you can do to make things better, just let it flow and learn from it.

9) Live in the Present
No regret about the past and don’t worry about the future. There are reasons why I am at this place and at this time. Fate has brought me here and I should have faith in it. I will appreciate every little thing that’s happening.

More than 3 months has gone, I didn’t notice (well I do sometimes but just ignored) that my life is getting faded along with myself and has taken its toll on me. I am feeling up and down all the time and I guess, I will give me some more time to get use of this new start and give a try on the tips.

At least now, I am writing again. Yeaheyy, I did it!

It’s 25k!

THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT. THIS IS A LITTLE PIECE OF ADVICE BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE. 

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After waking up from an afternoon nap on last Saturday, the pain at my back-left had worsened. It started to feel more pain on the day before but I just ignore, hoping it will go away soon. But as it became unbearable, I rushed to the nearest private hospital (because I can’t find any government hospital nearby). 

The M.O started to examine, did blood test, urine test and X-ray then found out I had a UTI (which is normal for women). Dr. Oncall had been notified, he came and did further check-up and then, I got myself warded. And of course, it was after getting a GL from my company insurance. I know I wouldn’t have enough money to pay the bills by my own pocket. Pfft!

The next day, I did a CT scan and later the Doc detected I had an inflamed appendix. OMG I never expected that! And surgery needed to be done ASAP. *crying inside* 

At 10pm, I was wheeled to the OT. I remember that I was shivering because I felt very nervous and the AC was too cold. The anesthetist gave injections (sakit gila namati) before I totally unconscious. The moment I awake, it was after 12am. Alhamdulillah the surgery went well. But I can’t sleep the whole night because it was damn painful 😣 

To cut the story short, I was hospitalised for 4 nights. On the discharge day, after a nurse told my bill was ready, I happily went down to collect it and excited to go home soon. Yeay! 

At the counter, the guy showed the documents and I was shocked to see the total bill is 25k!!! OMG medical expenses are getting more and more expensive. And the more shocking was, the company insurance only cover 6k!!! OMG can you imagine??!! How to find another 19k?? 

Ya Allah, rasa gelabah masa tu! I called the insurance company and asked why this why that and all he said was, there are some sub claim t&c and this is written in the policy. OMG help me!! 😩

When I realised that nothing can be done, I took out my Prudential card and asked them to re-apply. It was already 3pm at that time, I headed back to my bed and waited patiently. Not really patience because I can’t remain calm. There’s still a possibility that Prudential can reject and refuse to pay. My heart was beating fast. I tried to sleep but I can’t clear my mind. I tried to be optimistic but there’s doubt inside. I can’t eat because I was too anxious. Until 8pm, there’s still no news. 

OMG. I could die waiting. 

Finally at 9pm, a nurse asked me to go to the counter to get my bill. I walked down nervously and counted a prayer on every steps I took. When I reached the counter, they were quite busy so I had to wait a while. Once a guy took a seat, I quickly asked “is everything covered”? He glanced over the documents and said, “YES.” Prudential covered ALL! Ya Allah!!  I was so relieved, syukur Alhamdulillah. 

At last, I can go back home and have a nice sleep again. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I'm sharing this story to let you know that company insurance is always shitty and unreliable. There are many chances that we were given no choice but end-up in a private hospital. So, we must be ready at anytime. 

My advice is - go get yourself a personal medical card! 

Redha...?

Definisi: /réda/ dgn ikhlas; rela. meredai menerima sesuatu dgn reda; merelai

Redha bukan bermakna tiada tangisan, tetapi adalah penerimaan TANPA sebarang persoalan atas ketentuan Tuhan.

Kalau itulah maksudnya redha, semestinya aku belum sampai ke tahap itu.

Dugaan kali ni tak sama macam apa yang aku pernah rasa. Diduga dalam perhubungan, masalah duit, pasal kerja, semua tu aku cepat redha dan paling lama pon mungkin seminggu untuk aku rasa serabut. Tapi kehilangan orang yang paling aku sayang dalam dunia ni, sangat sangat berat.

Dah sebulan Mak pergi. Dan masih lagi setiap kali bangun tidur, aku terdetik “betul ke Mak dah takde?” “kenapa Mak pergi?” Masih lagi aku tanya kenapa. Kenapa? Banyak lagi benda yang aku belum buat untuk Mak. Aku nak balik tinggal dengan Mak, nak bawak Mak pegi holiday, at least sekali dalam hidup ni nak pegi Mekah dengan Mak. Tapi semua tu dah takde peluang untuk aku lagi. Mak is really gone, forever.

Kalau dulu bila tengok ada orang post kat FB pasal rindu kat arwah mak dorang, aku pernah terfikir – “How does it feel?” “Macamana kalau mak da takde dalam hidup aku?” Takutnya nak imagine perasaan tu. Dan sekarang, aku masih tak percaya it’s happening. This is what I feel now. The feeling is indescribable. It’s terrible.

Bukan nak mempersoal Qada’ dan Qadar. Bukan nak marah kat Allah. Bukan nak meratap sepanjang hari. Cuma aku akui, ye aku belum terima sepenuh hati. Sebab tu aku masih ada persoalan ‘kenapa’. Sebab aku harap aku masih ada banyak masa dengan Mak. Aku tak bersedia untuk kehilangan ini. Aku tau, memang sampai bila-bila pon aku takkan pernah bersedia. Tapi mak pergi terlalu mengejut. Dalam keadaan aku benar-benar tak sedia, betul-betul tak sangka.

Lagi 3 hari birthday Mak yang ke 73 tahun. Ni gambar taun lepas masa aku belanja Mak makan kek kat Secret Recipe. Mak tak suka makan manis-manis, so beli 1 slice je kongsi 2 orang. Slalunya kalo birthday, memang takde celebrate besar-besar, kitorang just pegi makan-makan camni. Simple. This simple thing that I realize is a big thing now.

Happy Birthday Mak!

Camana ye nak sampai tahap redha tu? Aku tak kata aku tak redha langsung, cuma aku tak bole tipu yang aku tak 100% merelai pemergian Mak. Tapi aku ikhlas untuk Allah ambik Mak kembali.

Ikhlas tapi belum redha? Entahlah.
I think I just need more time to accept. I’m trying. Slowly, one day.

InsyaAllah.

Al-Fatehah

In my last post, I told a story about my Mak. A little bit of her life. I said, she’s gonna be 73 years old and Alhamdulillah she’s still in a good health. But apparently, Allah has a better plan. HE took her back 2 days after that post. 

It was so sudden. She just had a short of breath and immediately stopped breathing after about an hour. Earlier that evening, I called her and we talked as usual, she said she has eaten and was chit chatting with my aunt who had just arrived from Sabah. But after Isya’ she started to feel pain and it’s getting worse, I quickly drove back home. When I arrived at 1230am, there were already many people, reciting Yaasin for Mak. I saw her laying in the middle of the house, body fully covered. I didn’t get to see her before she closed her eyes. Till this moment, I still couldn’t believe that she’s really gone. 

How to live without Mak? 😞

How to accept that someone who always be there to love me, to scold me, is no longer in this world?

I know it takes time to fully redha, while I’m in the process to accept, adapt and adjust my life. 

Accept that nobody will wait for me at home. 

Accept that I can’t call her anymore. 

Accept that I no longer can eat her cooking. 

Accept that she had left me. 

This would be the  last time I called this number

And in my prayer after solat, I usually said;

“Ya Allah, ampunkanlah dosa ibuku, Rokiah binti Othman, panjangkanlah umurnya dan berikanlah dia kesihatan yang baik”

That’s what I’ve been saying for more than 20 years. But now, I need to adapt to;

“Ya Allah, cucurilah rahmatMu ke-atas roh Mak...”

Dan kadang-kadang, aku masih tersasul. 😞

Next week, I’ll be back to work. Although I don’t want to but I have to. I still unsure how to do it. 

And my mind still thinking, what’s next? Where should I be? I don’t know. 

Ya Allah, please guide me and I ask You to show me what’s best through Your knowledge. Hanya padaMu aku bermohon dan hanya padaMu aku meminta pertolongan. Amin~

Al-Fatehah to my beloved Mak, Rokiah binti Othman. You will always be remembered in my heart ❤️

Everyday is Mother's Day

I had one week off and went back hometown 3 days before Hari Raya celebration. I was cleaning out the house and this is what I found: 

My late father had a few diaries. I read some before but I don’t remember this one. This notes were written by mak. It’s the day I was born and the day ayah passed away.

Mak lost her husband at the age of 36, with 5 children and the last one was just 3 days old. She was a full-time housewife, living in KL, far from her parents. She’s not well educated but she had to find a job, worked and struggled to raise her kids, alone in KL. Mak said, there were people offered her to adopt me, but she refused to give in. Also, some guys came to propose her for a marriage but she rejected too. All she thought about was her children, to ensure they had enough money, enough food to live together.

After a couple of years, mak returned for good to her kampung as requested by her parents. Mak worked at many places, from canteen helper to dish washer. With low pay and underestimate job, I think it had drained her energy and changed her to be a bad-tempered person. Because I remember that I always get scolded. Eheh. But I kinda understand now, it’s difficult for her to juggle financially and emotionally for her children needs. I know she did her best to provide a living for us. Thankfully, although we were not in wealth, we’re not in poverty either.

Mak had worked for more than 20 years, until I finished my college. The last job was a dish washer at factory’s canteen. I hate to admit, there were times I felt embarrass about mak’s job. Please forgive me, I was still young and stupid. But now, I’m no other than proud of her.

In Mak’s life, she has lost many people she loved. A husband at her young age, her mother and father left when I was 12 years old, both less than a year and then her 25 years old daughter. She had 8 siblings, but only 4 left now. All I pray to Allah is to give her a good health and I don’t die before her. Aminn~

This year, Mak is turning 73 years old. Thank God, she’s still able to walk, eat, cook and do many things by herself. She doesn’t have any critical illnesses, only high-blood pressure and gout sometimes. But what worrying me is I noticed that she starts to forget things. It breaks my heart and made me realized that she’s getting old, very old, even though she looks healthy. I live far from her at the moment but I’m planning to go back by this year to live with her. I want to spend more time with her and take a good care of her.

Yes, hopefully.

My beautiful Mak.

Scammer alert!

Recently, I tried to sell my Action Cam – Sony AS300. I’ve used it for more than 2 years, so I thought of getting a new one.

So as you know, there are many platforms that we can use to sell things. Using those social media and now we have Shopee, Carousell and Mudah.my which are very easy and fast.

I think we all used to like Mudah, because it’s really mudah and before the existence of Lazada and any other platform, we only use Mudah to find something, from a car to buy and a room to rent, and now it offers many other services.

But all of these, Mudah.my had given me quite a ‘bad’ experience. It’s basically not their fault, but some of the people who misuse it for scamming. I’m not sure what is their modus operandi, but here what I got after posting my ads;

I knew they’re scammers, I had no time to play along and do the ‘scam the scammer’ thing, so I just blocked them immediately. But sometimes, it takes time to realize they're a scammer. Like this -

I knew it right away after he said he's from oversea.

From what I googled, from the people who experienced the same thing, this is what the scammer did:

• They ask for your email address and bank account details. 
• They usually live oversea and said they will bank in the money straight away
• They banked in the money and then the bank sent an email to you saying there was some problem during transaction, they had overpaid to you and the payment will be pending until you return the extra payment

Well, here’s the thing;

• Why do you want to believe the buyer will buy your 2^nd hand product without checking the condition first?
• The buyer doesn’t negotiate and willing to pay your requested price, sometimes they even want to pay more, isn’t that too good to be true?
• What bank use gmail to inform you about their system problem?
• Why the bank emailed to you to fix the issue, not to the sender?
• And why do you need to refund the money when you don’t receive any from the buyer?

I’m not sure why there are some people fall into this trap, apparently there are because these scammers still exist and still out there to try their luck.

Be smarter, people!

Oh one more thing, if you don’t want to receive any spam messages and text from those scammers, please hide your Whatsapp number when posting Ads in mudah.my. Let them contact you via email or the app.

Itinerary JOGJA 4d3n

There are many beautiful places in Jogja. Actually, 3 nights stay is not enough.

We did our best to go to as many as we can, but still there are a few places we missed such as – Taman Sari, The Palace, Prambanan Temple, Indrayanti Beach, Wediombo beach and many more.

So here’s my itinerary for your reference, hopefully it will help you in some ways.

Day 1

- Lunch @Pondok Bakaran

- Rumah Hobbit

- Pinus Forest

- Puncak Becici

- Pinus Pengger

- Dinner @Sate Klatak

Day 2

- Jurang Tembelan

- Pindul Cave Tubing

- Timang Beach

- Lunch Lobster @Pak Sis

- Bukit Bintang Sunset view

Day 3

- Merapi Jeep Tour 

- Borobudur Temple

- Wisata Kalibiru

- Kopi Joss @Malioboro Street

Day 4

- Bakpia shopping

- Drop to Airport ✈️

Also to share ‘partly’ of the money I spent over there. The other part is untraceable. Hehe (malas nak cari sebenanya :P)

Anyway, most of the entrance fee can be found online, but it might vary from time to time.

BUDGET
- Jasa Foto @Jurang Tembelan 25,000

- Lobster @Pak Sis 220,000

- Cave Tubing 160,000

- Gondola @Timang Beach 200,000 *option Gondola 200k or Hanging Bridge 100k

- Body Massage 80,000

- Wisata Kalibiru *photoshoot 10k-35k per spot

We flew with AirAsia, when we purchased our tix, the price was about RM450. Tapi kalau nasib baik beli time promo, bole dapat 300++. Basically, exclude shopping and extra makan-makan, you can set your budget below 1500, includes return flight ticket.

Well Jojga, thank you for the wonderful experience. You’ve been amazing!

I will be going back there to go to other places. J

#wonderfulindonesia Jogja: Day 3

Woke up early again and 430am already on the road. You know, I will only be super energetic and become a morning person when I’m on holiday 😄 (kalau bangun pegi keje macam nak kena pukul rasanya).

It was still dark and cold when an uncovered jeep took us to ride up to the mountain base and ‘picnic’ at the rocky lava field to watch the sunrise. I will never forget the fun of the bumpy ride, OMG it was awesome and crazy!

Merapi is the most active volcano in Indonesia. The tragedy happened in October 2010 had claimed 353 lives. The last eruption was in 11 May 2018. 

My thought and prayer to all the victims. 

Taken at 7:12am. We were lucky to have a good weather, clear skies which made us able to view the summit of Mount Merapi. Absolutely wondrous view. 

Tips: I would suggest you to wear a proper shoe, best with boots if you wanna come here because as you can see, the field is full with volcanic stones. And also, bring a wind breaker. You’ll need it the most when riding on the jeep. 

After the fun-ride and a visit to Merapi Museum, we went to Borobudur Temple.

It was damn scorching hot day!

This is the largest Buddhist temple in the world (while Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple in the world cum the largest religious monument in the world). 

The temple designs inspired by Javanese Buddhist architecture and Gupta art. It has undertaken (and still preserve) several restorations by Indonesian government and UNESCO, as one of the World Heritage Site. 

To be honest, I wasn’t interested to go to these kind of places. I don’t like cities and buildings. But then I found myself fascinated when listening to the stories, the history, the meaning of those sculptures and drawings, also the basic of Buddha teachings (although it was scorching hot at that time). I guess our tour guide knows how to make it exciting, with addition of some jokes. 😄

So in my opinion, if you want to visit especially historical places, it’s better to hire a tour guide or at least read about the history before going there. Or else, you gonna miss a lot of significant points. 

Next, with our sweaty shirt, we continued to our next location à Kalibiru.

First, the driving up there requires some impressive skills. And our young driver totally nailed it. It was a bit scary to ride on the winding road and up to 45 degrees’ hill, but it was really fun. Scary but fun! 😄

Not only our car must be ‘fit’, but we need to pump up our stamina too when we required to walk up about 100m. Pheww it’s tiring to be frank. 

Overlooking the artificial lake Sermo Reservoir, The Kalibiru National Park offers many photo spots, with a price. Starts from 10k, you can choose a different platform, with the same view basically. We chose the big stage to fit 5 of us. Then I chose this High Rope Adventure which has 6 activities, the 2 meter Rock climbing + Spider web + Single line rope + Hanging bridge + 30 meters Flying Fox. For the sake of good pics. Hehe.

We went there almost at the closing time and the sky was dark, so we missed the blue-ish view of the lake. I would recommend to go during sunrise or before the late noon because it has a perfect brightness for your photo. Tak la jadi macam gambar di atas yang di edit terlampau oleh jurugambar berbayar, sampai nampak macam tampal guna Photoshop je 😄

We were so exhausted after a looong day and went back to hotel. Oh before that, we stopped at the food street stall to buy ‘Murtabak Manis’. It’s actually an ‘apam balik’ with many toppings such as cheese, chocolate rice, nuts, almonds and yeah, its SOOOO MANISSS! Seriusly bole kena kencing manis. But sooo sedap!

Reached hotel, bathed and rest for awhile, then out to Malioboro street again to enjoy coffee. The famous coffee here is Kopi Joss, the charcoal coffee. Pahit namati. Eark!

But I enjoyed the Indonesia cappuccino, sambil ditemani alunan lagu dendangan seniman jalanan yang asik bermain gitar.

A good way to end a day J

Esok da balik KL. Sobb~