Preparation

2 WEEKS TO GO!

Like I said before, I applied utk AIESEC Exchange Program last year. The process started since August (2010), and now tinggal 2 weeks before I'm off to Turkey. Currently having mixed feelings...teruja/excited tu memang confirm-lah but at the same time, tengah freak-out sampai xboleh tidur. Seriously.

Preparation-wise, most of the important stuff dah selesai. Flight ticket booked (ages ago actually..), passport done, fortunately Malaysians are granted with visa exemption kalau nak ke Turkey for up to 90 days. Lega sebab kalau kene apply, the procedure sangat-sangat leceh. Documentation pon not much, so kiranya official traveling items dah ok.  

Except this one tiny problem, flight utk KL-Istanbul dah settle, tapi flight Istanbul-Izmir (final destination) belum dapat booked.Kalau beli on-the-spot masa sampai sana-would be a terrible idea, so worst case mesti travel to city of Izmir by bus, which will take 9 HOURS. Highly undesirable considering penat 12jam flight journey + heavy luggage.... 

Hurm, solving this later...

....................................................................................................................................................................

Ok now nak kongsi sikit on what I'll be doing during my internship (they call this program as Development Internship aka DT). 7 weeks in Turkey, I'll be joining a project called 'Meet My Friend'. This project basically is an education project focusing on cultural understanding. AIESEC Turkey invites EPs (Exchange Participants or interns) from many different countries to come and share their culture to high school children during actual classes etc. At the same time, these EPs will in return, learn about Turkish culture in depth by staying and live with actual Turkish host families. Cool kan project nih? :)

Jadi, most of the time lepas habis final exam last month, I spent preparing materials utk project nih...bits by bits...Baru sekarang sedar ada banyak2 sangat aspek budaya Malaysia yang boleh dikongsi dengan orang luar..seriously during these preparations, secara xlangsung timbul balik rasa appreciation on our own culture. Bangga. Hopefully nanti dapat buat orang bangsa lain pulak jatuh cinta dengan budaya kita :)

Nanti, apart from Malaysia (me ;p) ,ada lagi 30+ EPs  from 20 countries! Memang extravaganza kan2..haha. Tu baru di Izmir, belum lagi EPs yang ke bandar2 lain di Turkey...Just imagine the exposure those kids in Turkey would have...even the exposure for the EPs themselves! 

....................................................................................................................................................................

 Cukup lah dulu, for now. Waiting patiently until the 7th of February!! :) Wish me luck, till then, bye. Salam

Dream come true

I NOW HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT DREAMS, NO MATTER HOW CRAZY IT IS, 

SOMETIMES DO COME TRUE.....

if I dream about it hard enough!

....................................................................................................................

I have this one particular dream of mine, which i've kept for sooo long - 

I want to go overseas.

and not just as any tourist. More than that. There's a story behind this. 

I used to learn French at school. Apparently, I'm quite good at it. Only 6 pass the DELF-A2 during my year, and I was one of them. During those time, I could say I pretty much have fallen in love with everything that has to do with French. Then, a news came:

My French teacher at that time, was planning to do an EXCHANGE PROGRAM for the 6 of us who passed the exam. We haven't had that program for quite a while but that year, she was determined to make it happen. 

My wildest dream have finally come true! 

Those were exciting times, she began contacting her friends in France to find host families; finding sponsorships for the program etc. We began imagining a lot of things. I cant stop thinking about all the places I want to visit, things I want to do, people I would meet. But then, worst things happened to me:

I got chicken-poxes!  

I didn't go to school for more than 2 weeks. By the time I came back, things have been settled.

I am NOT included.

I still cant forget how hurt it feels to miss my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right in front of me. I still remember that night when the 5 of them depart from KL to Paris, somewhere in December 2004, I cant sleep because I kept hearing the sound of the plane in my head. 

It was painful. 

But just not as painful as when they came back.

Hearing those stories...

How they've been to Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees..all those France touristic spots

How nice their host families....

 Their experiences-of-a-lifetime

Excruciating.

That was the time I made myself a promise. I'll keep this dream of mine alive.My turn will come.It's not over.

..............................................................................................................................

6 years later, that dream of mine is still here in me. I kept it strong. I never let it go. But over time, it changes, evolving. I didn't longer want to go to France alone anymore, I began dreaming going other places too, somewhere more interesting. The idea of volunteering abroad began to appear to me, I search for opportunities like UNICEF just for fun etc. There are even days I spent imagining myself helping kids somewhere in Morocco....

I just need to keep my dreams alive.

Now,

Alhamdulillah. My turn has come. Allah S.W.T. has granted my wish. In fact, Allah give me better than I could have imagined.

It has been confirmed. Next year, I'll have my FIRST EVER VOLUNTEERING ABROAD, in TURKEY through AIESEC Go Exchange Program (GEP). You can check it out at http://www.aiesec.my/ . I'll be involved in Meet My Friend Project where I'll be explaining about Malaysia and its cultures mostly to high schools students, while meeting a whole new circle of friends from all around the world! :) 

(More of this in the upcoming post..)

Off to Turkey in Feb 2011! Can't wait :)

This will only be the beginning. 

Dream, persevere, patience and action.

InsyaAllah, it will come true :)

Backpacking Sabah: Day 1

This post is loong due. Cerita lama.
Tapi still rasa nak share, so that if anyone of you guys ever wish to visit Sabah later on (with minimal cost! heh ), harap2 these information sket sebanyak boleh bantu korang ok ;)

...................................................................................................................................................

In order utk korang dapat the cheapest flight ticket, selalu2 la visit air-asia punye website hehe. So last time, ktorng beli tiket 3 bulan before tarikh yg ktorng decide nak pergi. Without any special promotion pon, you can get as low as RM64 one way! Total return flight ticket was RM176 each! (termasuk taxes, insurances dll) Murah! Murah! Murah! Yeay

Tips: Beli siap2 tiket Skybus yg bertolak dr KL Sentral ke LCCT masa purchase tiket online. Save RM3

So, ktorng kumpul dari KL Sentral pukul 9 and terus proceed to LCCT. We had our lunch pastuh check-in terminal around pukul 12.30 tghari. 

Jom ikut kitorng :)

Supposely ktorng arrive pukul 3.30 tp since hujan masa sampai KK, so flight delayed until pukul 4.15 cmtuh..tp teruja okeh dah sampai jugak akhirnya woot! woot!

last naek flight 10 tahun dulu. jakun kejap ;p

........................................................................................................................................................

Tips: Dari airport KK nak ke  Bandar KK around 5 km. Normally people take cab which can cost RM20-30, tp kalau nak save, just tunggu depan entrance airport, ada bus mini yg straight pergi bandar KK, which only cost you RM1 each! Kaaching *bunyik syiling masuk poket!


Once sampai kat bandar KK, ktorng tetiba blur. Ktorng keluarkan la GPS memasing *KONON2 BAJET TECH-SAVVY TRAVELLER lah sgt ktorng time tuh heh, try nak locate kat mana actually backpacking hostel, yg ktorng dah tempah online before nih...Masa tu still hujan so mmg basah la jalan2 kaki wandering the entire city kot!

Kata backpacking style pfffffffft!

Jalan2 punyer jauh last2 jumpa jugak, so lesson learnt: MESTI BAWAK CITY MAP KALAU X FAMILIAR JGN HARAP GPS SEBAB HAMPEH serious. padahal tempat tuh senang je. aisshhh..

................................................................................................................................................................

Ok psl accomodation, dkt Sabah kan, xyah risau sgt, since kat sini ada banyak backpackers HOSTEL. We end up in a very small hostel called Traveller's Light Hostel. Sgt bersih, cozy lepas tuh staff die friendly sgt :)))

Tempat dia comel je tp terbaek lah!

Room rates: Kalau nak dorm, dia selalunya kira RM20-22 per head (per night), tp last2 ktorng pilih 1 room with 4 BEDS at RM85 per night. So sorng RM17 shj with katil sendri!  Save!

Info: HOSTEL concept different sket from hotel, shower room dia kongsi with other occupants (tp suprisingly clean and ada CCTV!!?) pastuh ada lounge room boleh sembang2 dgn foreigners huhu. Masa ktorng check-in tuh, ada this sibling pair from Sri Lanka duk next room; pastuh bilik depan ada European couple. Interesting experience.......hmmm...

...................................................................................................................................................................

Lepas siap2 dah fresh semua, malam tu ktorng pon keluar lah meronda KK city, actually KK xbesar sgt pun, boleh jalan kaki kalau nak adventure sket..heh. So apa lagi, ktorng pegi FILIPINO Night Market utk mengejar SEAFOOD! hooray 

Harga xlah murah sgt, tp the feeling tuh eating kinda fresh seafood by the seaside mmg best woo..We ate IKAN, SOTONG and UDANG BAKAR for RM40 kowt..kongsi2 saja nak taste *seolah2 kat semenanjung xde ikan..heh. tp puurrrrrfeeeeccccccct wa ckp sama lu! 

..................................................................................................................................................................

Info:Tahu kan yg since Sabah 6.00 pon dah gelap, so malam dia pon mcm cpt..around 10.30 pon mcm dah cool down. Pukul 6.00 pagi plak dah macam kul 8 aisshhh..

Since this was just the first day we only did some walking tours, pastuh ape lagi snap2 la gambar heh. Lepas photographer penat click2, model suma penat pose, ktorng pon baliklah hostel rest, since tomorrow is going to be a BIG ISLAND DAY woot! woot! 

Next post: DAY 2- PULAU MAMUTIK ITU KAMI YANG PUNYA!!!!

falling slowly

One of my all-time favorite song  :)

gambar lama wajah baru

owh lama x update!
since semester baru je mula, belum busy jadi adalah masa bukak balik gambar2 yang dah lama tangkap & tersimpan dalam 'arkib' rahsia wooh wooh wooh...

 
*this particular picture was taken last year, 
masa intern. 
location: sebelah central market 
during a typical weekend.. 

sengaja edit2 balik kot-kot boleh jadi lawa plak heh

tooth comel updated!

omg2 MY MILK TOOTH dah update weyh!! cepat2 tgk dan rasai kecomelan melampau please! :)

ganti tidur

cuti sudah kembali yeah :)

err. belum 100% officially cuti lagi. still got fyp oral next week.haih.

 ayah baru installed streamyx package yg include internal wireless connectivity, so skrng tgh jakun online 24/7 atas katil yeay..haha. Sgt malas nak balek utp okeh, patutnye hari ni tp cancel sbb asyik tertidur- pagi, petang, dan malam... way to go zaem!

hurm oklah bye. nak sambung tidur.