Travel to Australia

     I made the decision to travel to Australia in September during the spring season. I went there by AirAsia because of the cheapest ticket price. 

    I boarded a plane at 12 am. Initially, the weather was pleasant. In the middle of the journey, the plane swayed due to bad weather. I felt dizzy and wanted to vomit. However, we arrived safely in Sydney.

    We will not miss the opportunity to visit the Opera House and Sydney Habour Bridge when we visit Sydney. They are symbol of Sydney. Their structure are unique and magnificent. 

    The value of the Australian Dollar is high for Malaysian because we are from a developing country. The price per serving is approximately RM 50. When travelling on a tight budget, we have to be thrifty.  

    When a Muslim want to travel to a non-Muslim country, we have to bring some food because it is too hard for us to find halal food. Cookies, cake, bread and kerepok are among items I brought. We are unable to bring raw food like vegetable and fruits because it is prohibited.

    There are people of various races living here. It could be foreigners like to work here due to high salary and maybe because it is easy to be an Australian citizen.

    I enjoy visiting developed countries such as Australia, Singapore and South Korea because they provide a sense of security. They are more disciplined compare to people in developing countries.  They also enjoy assisting tourists. 

    The public transports in developed countries are great and excellent. They are very punctual. As a result, most of people like to use them. So, they can overcome the traffic jam problem. 

    I went to Melbourne after spending 4 days in Sydney. I stayed here for 4 days as well. I took a bus to go to the city centre after arriving at the airport. The scenery along the roadside is very beautiful with a lot of greenery and flowers. 

    Trams can be seen on the road in Melbourne city alongside other mode of transportation. This is my first encounter with the road system. The advantage of riding these trams is we do not have to pay anything when we ride in free zone ares. The disadvantage for international visitors who have never been here is there is no comprehensive map that we can use to navigate from one tram station to the next. It caused me to be stressed however, the locals are quite helpful. 

    

    I visited Melbourne in the early spring. The temperature was very cold and the tulip plants were unable to flower. As a result, the tulip flowers are hidden from view. I didn't come at the appropriate time. I suppose to come a little late. I was very disappointed.

    As Malaysian, we find it weird that their homes do not have grille. To prevent from burglary, most of Malaysian  place the grille in front of doors, sliding doors and windows. 

    When we visit to other countries, we do not only see their interesting sights but, we also gain a better understand of their culture, way of life, habits and attitudes. We might use whatever good as a role model to develop ourselves. Hopefully, you had a good time.

    

    

Travel to Hatyai

    Saya pergi ke Hatyai pada 2015. Saya dari Kota Bharu pergi ke Rantau Panjang by car. I parked my car at my friend's house. Then, I asked my friend to drop me off at Golak Train Station. Caj keretapi dari Golok ke Hatyai free of charge for anyone. Train waktu pagi at 7 am & 10 am.

    I stayed at a hotel in Hatyai city at cost RM50 per night. Hotel tersebut lengkap dengan air-cond, wifi, peti sejuk and bathroom. Saya pergi ke beberapa market di Hatyai city. Most of Kelantanese say, cashew nut di sini murah but for me, harganya tidaklah begitu murah seperti diwar-warkan. Kain sarung batik di sini cantik. Coraknya tidak sama spt kain sarung batik Kelantan & Terengganu.

    Saya pergi ke floating market di Klong Hae by "tut tut". Di sini terdapat pelbagai jenis makanan dengan harga berpatutan. Terdapat juga gerai pakaian di sini. 

    In the second day, I went to Ice Dome. Harga tiket pada masa itu dalam Rm30 sekali dengan jacket & glove. Harga sekarang mungkin dah meningkat because of our currency jatuh. Di sini, every thing diperbuat drp ais. Anda boleh lihat gambaran di sana dgn menekan link berikut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke2b6zsSUt8

    Di sini terdapat juga cable car. saya tidak ke sana kerana I've experienced riding a cable car several times at other places lebih-lebih lagi, cable car tersebut menuju ke tempat ibadah agama Budha. 

    I planed to visit at Chang Puak Elephant Camp after returning from the Ice Dome, but I was unable to do so because of communication barrier. No people can understand Malay and English languages. Jadi, saya pergi ke supermarket di Hatyai city.

    Saya pulang keesokkan pagi by train. Harga train ticket ke Golok lebih kurang RM10. Tak banyak barang yang saya beli di Hatyai, sekadar handbag, gajus and kain batik. 

Travel to South Korea

     I would like to share a few suggestion to anyone who plan to travel to South Korea. The advice is based on my personal experience .........

1) Plane

    AirAsia offers the cheapest flights from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island so, those on tight budget should choose this route. I was able to get a round trip ticket at price RM500 (KL to Busan & Busan to KL).

2) Season

    Malaysia's climate is classified as equatorial, being hot and humid all year. As a result, most of Malaysian prefer to travel during spring, autumn or winter because we do not have these seasons in our country. Spring and autumn are my favourite times to travel. Even though they are cold but, we can face them. 

3) Accommodation

    One of advantages when you choose the accommodation near the subway station is you can go and move from a destination to another destination. 

    If you go shopping in South Korea on a budget, you can stay near Namdaemun Market. It is one of the busiest market in Seoul. You can find clothes, leader goods, souvenirs, electronics, and etc. 

    If you are a Muslim and prefer to stay near halal food restaurant, you can stay in Itaewon. There are a lot of halal food available here.

    The tourism attraction of Busan are far spread apart. In this case, i recommend you to stay near Busan Station. It is easy for you to get around.

    Jeju Island is also same which is, the tourist sports are far away from each other. As a result, it is preferable for you to stay at a location where you can quickly use public transports quickly. 

4) Information needed

    There are many websites that provide information about interesting sports in South Korea so, you should be able to discover what you need. One of the top website is https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto 

    Even though majority of Koreans do not understand and speak English language but, their government quite helpful. There are a lot of tourist information centres in the area. You can ask and get information there. Even though the staffs cannot speak English fluently, but you will be able to understand them. Pamphlets with information about the interesting places are also available. They are completely free.  

5) Transportation

    From Busan, there are two options for getting to Jeju Island: by ferry or by plane. However, I elected to travel there via plane (Jejuair) to save money and time. When I landed at Jeju Airport, I took a bus to Seogwi-Dong and checked into a hotel. I went around Jeju Island by bus because of low cost.

    I also took Jejuair from Jeju Airport to Seoul because it was less expensive than other options. When i landed at the Seoul International Airport, i took a subway to go to a hotel near city centre. I traveled throughout Seoul by bus and subway.

    From Seoul, there are numerous option for getting to Busan. I've chosen to go by train to have a different experience. There are a lot of companies offer direct trains from Seoul to Busan with different speed. 

6) Discount card for public transport

    There are a lot of discount cards available here. I just used T-money card to gain subway and bus discounts. It is a rechargeable smart card. The card can be obtain at any convenience stores and subway ticket booths. We can also reload the card there. If the card has a balance, you can get the balance there too.

The scenery in Jeju Island

The scenery in Seoul

Seoul Towel

The scenery from Seoul Tower  

The great wall of Seoul

The scenery in Nami Island

The scenery in Busan

Busan Towel

China Town in Busan

Busan Station