Amazing Race : Paris

Remember the nite when me and my friends had to join the homeless beggars outside the Rome train station? The pain was not worth at all! We reached the airport at around 5am, and guess what, our flight to Paris was cancelled. All thanks to the volcano.

My head was spinning like shit I swear to God, and the bad news made it worse! We knew about the volcano in Iceland had taken place but anyway, my life has never been affected by a volcano so I thought it was just another volcano that doesn't have anything to do with me. Not this time, not lucky enough though. In fact, most of the flights around Europe were cancelled, and the airport had become some sort of refuge centre where people were bergelimpangan tidur on the floor. Seriously. Nasib baik dapat refund duit.

Hampa. We took the bus back to Rome train station in search of the train tix to Paris from Rome. Yeah, no choice. No flights were operating at the moment and train was the only option left so we bought the train ticket(s) which was 4 times more expensive than the flight ticket. -_-" And we declared ourselves - MISKIN HINA DI ROME, SUMPAH TAK TIPU.

Train tix kitorang first class okay! Nak jugak cakap! Biar! Coz itu je yang tinggal and we had no choice, otherwise we can't get out of Rome. Went to ATM to draw some money and all I could afford was 100 euros and that's it. I wanted to draw 200 euros tapi hampa because the ATM card terus keluar balik sebab tak cukup duit. Time ni dah start sedih, mana aku nak cari duit nihhhh, we still have Paris and London tour pending and duit makin menipis.

Done buying the train tix, we went searching for a cheap, CHEAP hostel. When I say cheap, I mean it. Hotel Roxena yang serious buruk gila, lift sempit nak mampus tapi layannnn, kau takde duit sila buat cara takde duit. Korang tak payah nak google Hotel Roxena kat Rome, aku tak rasa ada. Agenda for that day, tidur sampai lebam - tak puas hati kena tidur outside the train station pdhal esoknya flight cancel. Bongok betol.

The next day, off to Paris dengan menaiki Euro Star first class, FIRST CLASS ok. LOL, sila stop brag. Padahal kalau ada train yang macam KTM pegi Paris pun aku sanggup naik. That day, beli 3 bijik butter croissant. 1 for breakfast, 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner. Sumpah tak tipu, takde duit punya pasal. Padahal naik train first class kan (eh eh tercakap lagi) tapi makan roti 3 bijik je sepanjang hari. INI SUMPAH HARI KEBULUR AKU DEKAT EUROPE. tapi kuatkan semangat sebab serious takde duit. Kena save duit untuk pergi Disneyland Paris and expenses kat London lagi. Haish.

padahal xdelah best sangat pun 1st class

Malangnya the day yang kitorang baru nak merasa naik train first class, orang yang takde tix pun bantai duduk dkt situ. PENUH! Coz tix habis, and semua orang nak keluar dari Rome, so diorang redah je la. Sungguh tak special. Tapi semua kena saman la. Tapi mereka kaya, kena saman 400euros pun takde hal. Kalau aku kena saman 400euros, maka aku akan jadi beggar dekat Rome selama sebulan.

Memula kitorang macam nak overnight je dekat train station Paris, alasan yang sama ; takde duit lagipun sampai Paris dah late night so mcm tak worth it check in hostel. Walaupun dalam hati dah macam, ya rabbi merempat train station lagi keeeee, tapi macam, baeklah. But then when we reach Paris, orang yang asal2nya nak tidur train station tetiba beriya cari hostel. Dalam hatiii, YESSSS! So kitorang checked-in hostel yang tak berapa nak mahal and tak berapa nak murah, bole la. Tapi buruk je. Siap kena apply skill pengakap untuk masak air, sebab plug dia tinggi gila. Tah hape2 betul.

our hostel

Sampai je hostel, cepat2 masak air buat maggi. Perut aku dah dibanjiri gastric juice, tak tahan lapar gila dah. Berjaya jugak aku minimizekan belanja untuk makan. Yeay! Tapi azab perut lapar sepanjang journey from Rome to Paris, aku je tau. Lepas tu semua orang terbongkang tidur. Disneyland tomorrow babehhh!

We spent the whole day in Disneyland the next day! Yeay! But 1 day is definitely not enough to cover Disneyland!

Impian kanak-kanak

We covered the Studio Park first coz it closes earlier than the other park. Cinemagique is a must! Loving the effects and the story line! And we spent more than 1 hour queue-ing for a crazy ride in the park (forgot the name lah, Coaster and apa tah) Serious best! Tapi sangat tak best untuk orang yang menghidap penyakit motion sickness melampau like me. Siot betol! Baru 1 ride kepala aku dah ting tong rasa nak pengsan. Damn!! Sumpah membenci motion sickness melampau tahi ni.

Poisoned Apple!

In the other park, the rest of my friends pergi naik roller coaster, I went off wandering around coz I can't let my head spins a little more kalau tak serious boleh takde mood sebab ting tong sangat. Hm. Sedih! :( Time tu sangat membenci kepala sendiri macam, eh kau jangan pening over2 boleh tak?!! Tapi tak membantu. I can't take the risk to ride another roller coaster and things like that if not boleh muntah dekat situ jugak. :(

But I enjoyed the paradeeee!!!! OMG sangat rasa seperti kembali ke zaman kegemilangan kanak2 okayyy?? Semua adaaaa, Mermaid, Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Marry Poppins, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Aladdin and Jasmine, Lilo and semua-semua lahhh! Loving ittt! Like seriously mata tak berkelip (okay exaggerate) tengok parade lepas tu hati macam berbunga-bunga sebab macam omg bestnya rasa macam di alam fantasi. OKAY DIAM LA IRA KAU GILA EXAGGERATE tapi serious tak tipu, that was the feeling!!

My personal all-time favourite is the Little Mermaid!! Kenapa eh? Sebab dia cantik and sexy. Hahahahaha. Tapi Peter Pan masa parade tu cute seyh, ada dimple! Serious suka parade diaaa! We all grow up with all these Disney characters kot kan, so macam, bahagia. Except for Joe. He doesn't even know the characters! BOOOORRRRIINGGGGG! Too much of Power Rangers and Ultraman Taro eh Joe?

Peter Pan!!

My fav Disney character - Ariel the Mermaid
but she was on the other side haih.

And the camwhoring session! These Disney characters tak layan all other kids but layan kitorang nak tangkap gambar dengan diorang okay? Serious tak tipuuu! Sukaaa! Tapi I'm not a big fan of this newer generation of Disney cartoons, macam Lilo and Stitch or Toy Story and blablabla so macam takde lah excited like crazy sgt kot. Tapi best jugak!



And like I said, you need more than 1 day to cover everything. Nak beratur pun dah sejam, so naik a few more rides and then camwhore sampai lebam. I still regret for having this motion sickness. Sangat tak membantu!!! Hm..


We stayed at Disneyland till the very end. Then, we rushed to see Eiffel Tower at night. That was the only night we have in Paris so terpaksa lah. Yes we were 1 day behind our schedule because of the volcano. Wasted 1 day kot in Rome.

Eiffel Tower at night adalah sangat cantikkk! But we couldn't spend much time there cuz the last train to our hostel leaves at 12, kitorang sampai Eiffel pun dah 11 something, nak lari pergi train station lagiii, memang rushing gila. And that explains why I only have 1 picture with Eiffel Tower at night. Hodoh pulak tu. Takde masa nak posing banyak2 kali kot. Haha.

The next day, we managed to go to only 2 places - Eiffel Tower and The Louvre coz our bus to London leaves at 2pm so haisshh, rushing lagi. Our stay in Paris adalah sangat tak best cuz we had too little time. Banyak kot tempat yang tak tercover. Dengan duit yang limited lagi! -_-" Time ni, masing2 dah mintak tolong parents transfer duit. Serious tak cukup weh. My dad pun dengan baik hatinya bersetuju untuk transfer duit via Western Union. Agak segan ah mintak tolong transfer duit from my dad, cuz I don't usually ask for money, but kalau time ni nak segan jugak, memang tak hidup ah.

Joe, trying to be girly and Ninot,
trying to be macho haha

my fav pic!

I don't have much to tell about Eiffel Tower and The Louvre. Ramai je orang dah pernah sampai sini kan. Kite je baru nak kenal Paris. Time ni pulak lah my shades patah haisshh. Kalau gambar pakai shades tu that means it belongs to someone else. Btw, more pictures less words.

around the Eiffel Tower

2 heads are better than 1, REALLY WEH?!

Do you have any idea why the students usually work in a group? Study group ke, buat PBL in a group ke or simply prepare a presentation in a group keee. Apa eh purpose buat kerja sama2 in a group kalau buat untuk menyenangkan one another? Kalau bukan untuk help each other and make the best out of it?

Kau pikir the lecturer kasi kau buat kerja in a group supaya kau boleh gossip and gelak2 sampai lebam or so that kau jadi pelajar lembab sebab asik rely dekat group mates yang lain je ke? Weh aku sokong bab gossip and gelak2 sebab pada aku, kalau kau blaja stress2 tkde selingan gossip dan gelak setan itu memang sangat membosankan. Boleh tersengguk-sengguk wa cakap sama lu. Tapi boleh tak beragak, kau nak gossip kau gossip la, nak gelak setan kau gelak lah, tapi boleh tak kerja tetap jalan? Boleh tak come prepared and bukan rely on your group mates semata?

It's never a good thing to have a big group when working on something. Sebab tendency untuk sorang dua student untuk bajet VIP tak nak buat kerja or datang with very little preparation adalah sangat tinggi. Kalau group aku 10 orang pun aku ada tendency untuk bermalas nak prepare sungguh2 lagi2 if the topic assigned mmg ciput stok 2-3 orang buat pun dah cukup. Tapiiii, katakan group kau tu group yang kecik, 4 orang ke, 3 orang ke, or worse, 2 orang keeee, boleh tak kau develop sikit sense of tanggungjawab?!

Aku tau I don't look like I care. Tapi percayalah, if I work in a small group, and I am assigned untuk prepare some notes or read a certain topic beforehand, I swear I'll do it! Tak percaya boleh tanya my study group mates, pernah ke aku datang study group tak siapkan notes untuk topic hari tu? Siap buat kemas-kemas kot! Pernah ke aku baca bodoh2 lepas tu present the topic assigned macam sampah? Tanya my IRP mates, aku siap cari soalan untuk the study group kot! It doesn't sound like me at all, tapi itu hanya untuk orang2 yang tak kenal aku betul2. Kalau aku rasa aku responsible untuk orang lain jugak and if kelalaian or kemalasan aku tu boleh menyakitkan hati, or membuang masa, or menjejaskan prestasi pembelajaran or presentation orang lain, memang bangang gila lah kalau aku suka hati nak lepas tangan kan? Memang aku layak kena maki la kan.

The idea of having to work in a group, or a pair is for us to help each other. Kalau kau kerja every time pun nak datang dengan otak kosong siap kalau aku ketuk boleh bergema-gema sebab kosong sangat, apa guna aku jadi group mate kau? Apa guna ada 2 atau 3 kepala, 2 atau 3 otak, kalau hasilnya tetap 1 otak je yang berjalan? Sekarang ni aku sorang je ke yang tengah menuntut ilmu, abis kerja kau apa? Interview aku sebijik-sebijik apa nak buat? Atau supervise kerja aku? Hamboi sejak bila kau naik pangkat jadi tutor aku? Rasanya kau tak dihantar untuk jadi group mate aku supaya aku buat semua kerja and supaya aku bagitau kau semua benda yang patut dibuat apalagi untuk kau just tengok ape kejadah yang aku buat. We have to do it together! Banyak cun muka kau kalau semua benda pun orang lain nak settlekan, semua benda pun orang lain nak bagitau.

And boleh tak faham kalau orang tengah serious nak buat kerja kasi siap cepat and obviously masa pun dah suntuk, boleh tak jangan buang masa goyang bontot korek hidung lepas tu bila aku kata we need to do it fast kau boleh kata "chillexlah kak, masa banyak lagi" eh eh, kepala hangguk lu! Engkau punya chillex tu kalau tak menyusahkan aku, aku tak kesah dowh, kau nak chillex korek hidung ke korek bontot ke apa ke suka hati lantak kau lah! Tapi kau punya chillex tu, kalau menyusahkan aku, bagi aku 10 sebab kenapa aku tak patut naik angin. Panas ni beb, panas! Make up gua boleh cair sebab panas hati lu buat perangai macam bagus. Kalau chillex chillex tapi kerja siap kerja mantap aku tak kesah weh. Aku pun tak suka gelabah-gelabah buat kerja. Tapi kalau kau dok kata chillex lepas tu bila kerja tak siap orang lain yang nak kena jawab sebab kau hilang pergi men-chillex-kan diri dengan selambanya, apa barang ni bang?

Aku memang malas, I admit that. Tapi aku tau malu and aku tau aku dah menyusahkan orang kalau aku tak prepare apa yang patut lepas tu kerja nak tanya orang je. Semalas-malas aku, aku ada effort nak bukak buku cari mana yg aku miss, apa yang patut buat, apa yang patut tulis etc etc. Aku boleh terima la kalau kau tak prepare sebab malam tadi kau berak keluar darah, makan pun tak lalu. Takde hal beb kalau kau sakit ke apa. Tapi dah kalau everytime pun kau tak prepare, lepas tu orang lain yang nak kena struggle disebabkan kemalasan kau tu, tak beragak la ni!

Lepas tu, aku pantang orang buat kerja tak systematic. Otak aku ngan otak lu memang tak sama bro, sebab tu kita kalau nak kerja kasi smooth, ikut la order! Ini tak, member lu baru nak tulis karangan untuk pendahuluan, kau tak semena-mena bagi isi-isi untuk penutup! Kalau rasa otak kau abstract sangat sampai kau rasa nak ikut order and jadi systematic itu bullshit and buang masa, aku dengan rela hati boleh kasi kau buat kerja tu sorang-sorang. Tapi papehal, kau sila tanggung sendiri!

Aku pun bukan bagus sangat. Tapi kau pun tak bagus mana. Tapi masing-masing ada otak, masing-masing nak belajar. Kalau benda kena buat sendiri aku takde hal la kau nak bantai malas kau tu sebab itu memang takde effect dekat aku dengan orang lain. Tapi if you're working in a group and especially with me, boleh tak respect sikit effort and masa yang aku and orang lain spend for the sake of that group? Kalau aku yang malas ni boleh selak-selak and baca sikit2 apa yang patut, prepare sikit-sikit apa yang perlu, kenapa kau boleh selamba tahi datang without anything, not even a single thing in ur head?! Habis otak lu yang bijak pandai tu nak buat apa dowh?

Kalau bekerja dengan orang, buat cara bekerja dengan orang. Biar lah my presence as your group mate tu membantu pembelajaran kau, and kau jugak membantu pembelajaran aku. Kalau ada group mate sikit pun tak menolong, baik tak payah ada group mate. Ini bukan mentor-mentee bukan tutor-tutee. So lu pikir ah sendiri sebab gua dah betul panas hati.

Sekufu

Apa barang cerita pasal sekufu ni? Aku biar betol kot.

Sekufu means 'sama'. And wali bagi sesebuah perkahwinan tak boleh suka-suki kahwinkan anak perempuan dia dengan laki yang tak sekufu melainkan dgn persetujuan perempuan yang tersebut. And perkahwinan boleh dibubarkan if wali tersebut rasa pasangan tersebut tidak sekufu. So did I sound like ustazah? Rilek dulu.

Before this aku selalu rasa, apa lah penting sangat sekufu ni. Janji sayang, janji cinta, jalan je lah. Nak sekufu sangat apehal. Apa ada hal kalau educational background tak sama? Apa ada hal kalau sorang pangkat tinggi, sorang lagi pangkat rendah? Apa ada hal kalau sorang kaya, sorang miskin? Ada hal ke weh? Cinta tu kan buta. Kalau dah buta, sekufu is not a question anymore.

Okay that's how modern people menilai tahap ke'sekufu'an. Padahal banyak je benda lain kena consider. Sekufu here includes pengetahuan ilmu agama, 2-2 pandai mengaji ke tak, 2-2 solat cukup ke tak, bangsa yang sama, agama yang sama so on and so forth.

Before this, I believe I can handle ketidaksekufuan. To me, janji you don't belittle your partner and ungkit about it every now and then, everything will be fine. Tapi cakap atau berangan memang senang. You need to be in the real situation to feel it for yourself.

Ada ke lelaki boleh terima girlfriend dia 10 juta kali lagi pandai dari dia? Or worse, ada ke lelaki boleh terima girlfriend (or wife) dia dapat gaji 5 kali ganda lagi banyak dari dia? Boleh, tapi tipu lah kalau kata laki tu tak inferior kan. Unless laki itu memang kerja dia nak kikis duit perempuan tu.

I have a friend, a girl, genius nak mati gila2 genius tahap extreme. Cantik, baik pun baik. But she felt miserable inside coz according to her, no guys dare to date her because of that. So dari situ dah nampak kepentingan sekufu in a relationship. Takde lah kata she has to marry another Albert Einstein, but obviously she has to find someone yang pandai, at least someone who won't appear dumb in front of her.

And then there's a friend of my dad, his office boy. This office boy gila lucky to marry an anaesthetist who make thousands in a day (okay exaggerate kot) but you get the difference kan. They were happy for some time and one day this guy consulted my dad (yes my dad ni terlebih ramah all his anak2 buah dah buat dia macam their own dad dah), he said he couldn't blend in with his wife's colleagues and that he feels terribly awkward when they're having dinner together coz he's not fluent in english and blablabla. Another proof that sekufu is important in a marriage.

As for me, yes I now realize that cinta tidak sepatutnya buta. Love is not just about love. It's obviously more that just love. Let's not talk about puppy love. Zaman sekolah, budak perempuan kelas first everytime exam dapat no 1 pun boleh couple dengan mat rempit kelas last yang dah sah2 belajar lingkup. Takpe lah, kasi can merasa kan. Everyone has to experience bitter things in life to learn. Kan?

But it's unfair to measure ke'sekufu'an solely on educational background and power. It's true. Aku dibesarkan with this radical belief that hanya orang yang pandai kuat belajar baca buku 10 jam sehari je yang akan berjaya. The rest yang duduk kelas last malas belajar dapat no corot memang confirm jadi sampah masyarakat. That's not what my parents taught me, but it was just something I believed in. And I was really wrong. Really really wrong.

Some people, they don't need a certificate to be a successful person. Especially for those who are granted with talent - tailor, musician, writer etc etc. So walaupun educational background diorang takat SPM je, they still have something you don't have. So I don't think you can declare yourselves tidak sekufu because he's an SPM holder and you're a Degree holder.

I don't wanna go against the current. Men will lead the women and nothing can change that. When I have my own family one day, I don't wanna be the one to lead the family because that's what my husband will be doing and what me and my kids (LOL) will be following. And believe me when I say, I'd prefer, and I'd love it if the husband is superior than me, tak kesah lah in education ke gaji ke pangkat ke ilmu agama ke MEMASAK keee hahahaha. Because I don't compete with someone I love so be it. Plus, honestly, I think a guy who's smarter, has better income, terer agama, pandai socialize (not party animal pls), outspoken and yg sewaktu dengannya adalah sangat HOT.

Kalau nak orang kata kau dengan pasangan kau tu bagai pinang dibelah dua atau duduk sama rendah berdiri sama tinggi, silalah cari yang sekufu eh. Btw, if you think you are way behind your partner, you can always catch up, if betul sayang lah. Sekufu tu bukan benda yang fixed pun, it just need some effort je, especially for guys. Perempuan takde masalah sangat kot kalau kerja housekeeping lepas tu ada CEO nak masuk meminang. Itu namanyaaaa durian runtuh! Eh eh hebat pulak aku berperibahasa.

Okay sila check sekarang, adakah anda dan pasangan anda sekufu? Kalau ye, boleh pergi kursus kahwin sekarang. Bye!

Amazing Race : Pisa and Rome

We took the train from Venice to Pisa. Left our luggage at the train station and off we go - Piazza del Duomo. This is where the leaning tower of Pisa stands! Besides the leaning tower, there are few other monuments in that area.

Piazza del Duomo

And the signature pose one must do when taking picture with the leaning tower! Everyone does it! Including me ;p

The signature pose

My turn

doesn't turn out so cool

Leaning tower of Pisa

Nothing much about Pisa though. We spent around 1-2 hours taking pictures, and quickly took the bus to the train station. We had a train to catch up! Euro star train to Rome!

Reached Rome at night. Found a hostel which was quite expensive, but we were too tired to search for a cheaper hostel maka, layan! Off to bed early, gotta be early for the Colloseum!

Early never seems so early for us girls ;p I guess the guys were getting too much annoyed with us. Geez. It's a girl thing. You'll never understand anyway. Funny enough, this top world wonder is located just next to the main road. Sungguh tak mystical. Seriously, keluar the train station, terus nampak the Colloseum across the road. Once again, sungguh tak mystical.

In brief about the Colloseum ; it was something like the ancient version of our modern stadium where it can occupy up to 50 thousands spectators at a time. Basically, the games held were those of gladiatorial fights, men vs animals match and animal hunts. These form the basis of Roman entertainment -_-" sangat cruel kan? Mostly, the gladiators were the slaves, prisoners of the war and condemned criminals. But there were also volunteers who came up front for the sake of monetary reward and fame! Now that's my hero!

But what we see today is just the ruin of the Colloseum. All blame goes to the earthquake, fire, stone robbers and other natural disasters. Much of the original structure which are supposed to give the lavish decorations of the Colloseum are nowhere to be found. But you can see some remains at the Colloseum exhibition.

That's a very brief information about the Colloseum. Outside the colloseum, bangla-bangla sumpah bersepah and yes, they recognize Malaysians and they'll speak malay with you. Campaklah bangla kat mane2 pun, they'll survive. Ha kan dah masuk cerita pasal bangla.

Colloseum~

the ruins of Colloseum

Inside the Colloseum

The interior of Colloseum

Next, we went to the famous Pantheon. Pantheon was built during the Roman Empire, and it depicts the symbol of God, heaven, and things like that lah of the ancient Rome. It is a burial site for some important Italians. Too bad the building was under construction during our visit. Hm.

Pantheon means All Gods

Next was Trevi Fountain. Ala terlupa nak upload pic. It's somewhere in my facebook photo album. It's just a fountain, a beautiful and famous one. People are throwing coins every now and then into the fountain and they get roughly 3000 euros per day!! That's crazy man!

And did I mention that beggars are everywhere in Italy? But beggars in Rome especially, adalah sangat stylo. They don't wear shabby clothes and they don't smell like ikan kering. All they need to do is pretend to be 'someone' or 'something' amusing, and gain money out of it. Some even dance in the middle of the crowd to earn a living. But at least :)

The invisible - the beggar

another beggar

The next day we went to Vatican City, the sacred place of Christians. Nothing much really. Not lucky enough to meet the Pope LOL! Vatican City adalah sangat kecik okay I thought the area is big coz it's a whole different country kan! That makes Vatican City the smallest country in the world.

Joe is my tangkap-gambar-kasi-poyo partner. At Vatican City

Vatican City

St Angelo Castle is just a few steps away from Vatican City. Tanak cerita banyak about the castle (yes you got me right, I dunno much about the castle pun) It was originally built by Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum, later functioned as fortress and currently is a museum. Okay, I only know that much. The history isn't that interesting anyway!

St Angelo Castle

Piazza di Spagna was up next. Also famously known as Spanish Steps. Spent a few minutes there coz really there was nothing interesting pun. Wonder why it attracts tourists, sebab cantik semata la kot? But anyway, there were churches up there, so maybe that's why.

Piazza di Spagna

Lastly, the Colloseum at night! Taraaaa, memang cantiklah at night! But you can't possibly get into the Colloseum at night, tangkap gmbar dari luar boleh lah.

Colloseum at night

That night we refused to check-in the hostel coz our bus to the airport leaves at 4am so mcm not worth la check-in hostel then dapat tidur till 3am camtu je. And anyway, there was supposed to be a 24-hour cafe so intended to just hang out at the cafe till 4am. Malang itu tidak berbau, cafe yang dimaksudkan tutup pulakkk! Tensi! And we get to know that the cafe was closed pun dah late at night. Lagilah tak nak check-in sebab rasa tak worth it.

Okay buat muka tak malu tanya the receptionist of the hostel if we could just hang around at the lobby till at least 3am. Dengan segala kesiannya, they refused to let us stay. Eiii sangat takde courtesy okay! Dahlah we stayed at the hostel for 2 nights kot! Courtesy to the guests takde kee?!

Clueless about where to lepak till 4am. McD closes at 2am, so it'll still be the same, plus you need to spend some euros if lepak in McD. So tell you what, I suggested that we just lepak dekat the ground floor of the hostel as the receptionist won't get to see us still merempat in the hostel vicinity. At least tak mati kesejukan if terpaksa lepak luar kan.

Tah macam mane, tetiba there's this one pakcik datang, halau kitorang okayyy!! I believe the pakcik is the owner of the hostel or the manager ke apa tah la. Won't forget his words.

"You better leave now before I call the police"

Okay, macam pendatang asing kan? Sumpah biadap. We stayed for 2 freaking nites at the hostel, paid quite an amount, takkan kau sikit courtesy pun takde? It's not that we don't have money at all, it's just that we need to save some for future purposes! I was not bold enough to pull a dramatic act so okay pakcik, we left the hostel. We end up joining the homeless ppl outside Rome train station that night.

Believe me when I say, kiri kanan kitorang adalah homeless yang bentang surat khabar or kotak2 utk tidur and berbau hampas hancing hamis yucks yucks but we had no choice wehhhh so terpaksa join. Baru landing beberapa minit, ada pakcik homeless selamba tahi kencing just about 10 metres in front of us. Redha.

Outside Rome train station

And I overheard a passerby said "Pity them...."

Damn it.

geli okay nak geli-geli dengan kawan.

some people fall in love with friends. u know, you've been friends/best friends for years and suddenly you realize that your so called friend is made for you and that both of you make a good couple yada yada and taraaaa, you're now dating your friend!

i fall in love with stranger. yes, stranger. i've never fallen in love with a friend. never before, never will KOT. KOT la kan, jodoh pertemuan tetap di tangan Tuhan. karang saye yakin boleh kata takkan in love with friend, kang ter-in love kang, korang jadikan bahan pulak.

but anyway, i already have a steady boyfriend lah. he was not a friend. though we went to the same college, we never talked to each other, not a single word. padahal class selalu combined, we once work on the same drama "degup jantungnya" but stillll, kenapa tah tak pernah cakap?! he's the only guy i never talk to in kms. if he was a friend (a friend here means a good friend la whom you can gossip and laugh with) agaknya tak couple kot.

because here's what i feel, adalah sangat geli untuk geli-geli dengan kawan. that's purely what i feel, and i'm not saying i'm right and you're wrong. coz whoever you're dating, you know better. tak kesahlah orang tu ex-best friend ke, ex-enemy ke apa, u still know better. so don't accuse me for being irrelevant ke apa, suka hati aku ok?

so back to the real thing, tak kesah lah mamat tu tampan ke kacak ke pemurah ke baik hati ke, if he's a good friend and suddenly he's being all flirty to me, dengan segala automaticnya, saye geli. geli yang 'euuwwww stop it already!'

to me, if he's a friend, he's forever a friend. saya adalah orang yg senang berkawan. and bile saye dah selesa berkawan with someone, saye takkan selesa bergatal-gatal ala2 scandal dengan kawan. apa lagi nak bergatal ala2 girlfriend. dah kawan tu kawan saje kotttt?

some people say, it's a bless to have your best friend as your boyfriend/girlfriend. but not to me. saya tamak. i want a different best friend and a different boyfriend altogether. say if i lose my boyfriend, i still have my best friend (and vice versa). but if my best friend/friend turns out to be my boyfriend, if i happen to lose him, i'll lose both best friend and boyfriend at the same time. tak ke devastating?

lagipun if you're used to be friend with him, suddenly dia naik pangkat jadi boyfriend, tak susah ke nak tukar all the things yg u guys dah biasa buat? like for example, u guys dah biasa cakap aku-kau, cakap lepas, lepak makan ice-cream ramai2 tepi longkang, and cerite about how hot is his friend compared to him. tak ke susah?

if dia dah jadi boyfriend, nak cakap aku-kau is kinda inappropriate, cakap lepas pun tak syiok la kalau all the time kau nak bantai cakap lepas, itu sungguh tak menyelerakan as a boyfriend. and takkan still nak lepak ramai2? tapi if tak lepak ramai2, nnti rase pelik. and you can't go on telling him how hot his friend is! though most of the time, you will continue acting 'like i care kite kan dah biasa mcm tu dulu' so ask urself, whats the difference of him being ur boyfriend or ur best friend?

shit i've gone too far. actually that's not the main point lah. coz once u've decided that ur best friend is the one for you, you guys need to work things out la kan camane pun. who am i to say anything pun kan. the main point is, tolong jangan nak geli-geli dengan saya when i am comfortable to have you as a friend. SAYA TAK SUKA SEBAB SAYA GELI. full stop.

Amazing Race : Venice

From Milan, again, we hopped on and off the train(s) to get to Venice. We were informed that the train from Milan was gonna leave at, say, 4pm. No, this time we're not gonna be late again, not gonna run for our life with those bags again, NEVER AGAIN! So we were there at the train station early, hoping that we could save our energy from panicking that the train is gonna leave soon and we're yet to be there blablabla. Wak lu! Datang awal2 only to know that the train leaves at 3.30pm. Nasib baik datang awal! Kalau buat perangai nak Amazing Race macam dekat Interlaken lagi, confirm tertinggal train. Takde maknanya nak save energy from running and panicking! Menyirap adrenaline gua!

So btw, we got the best deal for the train to Venice! Damn cheap! Wonder why? Because the train that we took was something like our Komuter or LRT. Yes, you gotta run for your seat. Btw, we didn't get any seats pun, so we just sat on our baggage ;p for ermmmm, 3 hours like that kot rasanye! Hey who cares, as long as we get to save our money!

the Italian version of komuter

sitting on our baggage! yeay!

By the time we reached Venice, it was already dark. We didn't book the hostel. From Venice train station, you need to take the boat to get to other places. No other cheaper means of transport available. Higher ranges are available though. Unfortunate for us, the hostel was already closed. We had no choice but to check-in the hotel. It was just a 3-star hotel, but it was indeed, luxurious enough for us. Don't talk about the rate. Bukak purse, pejam mata, amek duit, bayar, senyap.

Ini mahal okay. Ini namanye terpaksa okay.

Time nak bayar, semua orang agreed to check-out from the hotel the next morning to check-in the hostel. Tapi bila dah sampai our room, tetiba the guys decided to just stay in that hotel and that they don't mind paying more for the hotel room. I was likeee, OKAYYYYY, great idea, tapi duitkuuuu....okay redha, sebab memang hotel tu layan pun. Maka, that marks the beginning of our luxurious vacation in Venice.

We had the whole day to spend in Venice the next day. But to be honest, one day is not enough to cover the whole Venice. For guys yg tidak romantic enough maybe akan cakap Venice is boring and you need not cover all the places blablabla. But to me, Venice is one of my favourite :D and I am definitely up for a longer stay in Venice!

Gondola ride anyone?

So love Venice

One of the stop. Lupa nama.

Well basically, we spent most of our time at San Marco. The main attraction in San Marco is Piazza San Marco aka St Mark's Square. It is the centre of Venice as it is the focus of many festivals in Venice. Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in Venice and it is the first area to get flooded during Acqua Alta (means high water in Italian). Don't buy your souvenirs here coz it's a bit expensive compared to those in celah-celahan Venice. But I bought few t-shirts for my parents here, haisshhh, Abah and Mak kena sayang kite lebih okayyyy!

Piazza San Marco

St Brasilica

one of the streets in San Marco

We had lunch at one of the Italian (duh!) restaurants in San Marco. Niat untuk berjimat-cermat sudah tinggal kenangan. Time ni, masing-masing berpegang dengan pepatah melayu 'alang alang menyeluk pekasam biar sampai ke pangkal lengan'. So alang2 dah check-in hotel mahal biar semua benda pun mahal! Haaa amek amekkkk! Ada berani lunch tempat mahal? Kitorang berani punyaaaa! (padahal duit dalam pocket tak seberapa!)

And please please please try ice-cream in Venice! Actually, anywhere in Italy! To all ice-cream lovers, it's a must! Jangan kedekut okay ;p

Pizzaaaa~~

makan ice-cream dengan tidak senonohnya

And it's about time for the famous gondola ride!! Riding a gondola in Venice is quite a luxurious activity but heyyy, you're in Venice and you're not gonna miss the gondola ride! It's a Venice thing kottt so to me, it's a must! And instead of taking a short tour (which is of course, cheaper), we took the long tour simply because kami budget kami kaya padahal nanti dekat Rome kami homeless lagi. OK OK save the stories for my next post about Rome!

Well well, the gondola ride allows you to see the hidden parts of Venice which you won't be able to see when you're on the land as the tour takes you to the narrow canals. It's best to have a gondolier who can tell you a little bit about the history of a certain buildings so that your journey isn't all about seeing places but also about gaining some historical knowledge about Venice.

You can actually ask the gondolier to serenade a few songs to add more ambience to your luxurious ride, but you've gotta pay extra for that. Before getting on the gondola, be sure to confirm the length of your journey so that you won't be paying a fortune for a short tour.

The water isn't crystal clear, the view isn't exactly what I've imagined, but Venice is still one of my favourite and there's really no regret for spending so much in Venice. The hotel, the food, the ice-cream, the gondola ride, the souvenirs, everything are expensive but it's okay because Venice is worth going la seriously, and more importantly, worth spending!

I got the best seat! yeay! with kesayangan!

kesayangan juga!

all of us!

the famous Rialto bridge

To cut short, we went to few other attractions in Venice but I need not write all la kan. That night, instead of just maggi, we dined out for some seafood yeay! And yeay, it's good not to think money is a problem right? Just spend 'em all and you'll feel goooood :D

night in Venice

waiting for dinner to be served

Made our way to Pisa and Rome the next day! The time spent in Venice was too short, and I swear I miss Venice already! Baby sayangggg, kite pegi Venice nanti okayyyy?