2013

Assalamualaikum. It's going to be 2013 soon. Just a short update. How Egyptians celebrate the new year? They throw used fragile furnitures and stuff out of their windows.    Watch your head! (Nmpknya berkaca la jalan esok nak pegi kelas =__=;) Alhamdulillah for another year. May Allah bless us all. Ciao~ ★♥★♥

Matrouh and Siwa trip 2012

Assalamualaikum! Hey, how's everyone? 

I know that this was long overdue but yeah I'd like to talk about my trip to Matrouh and Siwa!

Endless sea of sand, camels and BLAZING fiery market. LEMME EXPLAIN.

It was quite a long journey from Alex to these places (I took the bus). My advice for you, relieve your bladder at every possible STOP because hey, you will find yourself in the middle of nowhere a.k.a the desert. Thus, endless sea of sand. Only camels and solar panels.

After getting hypnotized by the sand...o___o endless sand...you'll arrive in SIWA but before that.. FLASHBACK <<

On the first day, we arrived in Matrouh because well, my friends and I and the whole tour group were staying at this one motel. BLUE AND WHITE. I guess that's the theme of the town. The people are way nicer and more polite (I should add a "than" to compare but I won't hehe. Their language is somehow similar yet different than the one that I'm learning. *COUGH2 bila nak pandai cakap arab ni?? It was nice. The sea's MAGNIFICENT! There are some areas that makes it seems like a dead town but that's what I needed to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Phewh! Oh yeah, one more thing happened there. The morning after we went to the Matrouh market, well, the place was blazing! The market got caught in a fire. I MAY be the last person from the tour group to get out from that place BUT I HAVE NOTHING to do WHATSOEVER with the fire. Not me!!! But I did managed to save a bag from the fire. (sebab tu keluar paling last =__=;)
Yeah...

Siwa was a lot of fun. Considering that it's your first time and it's your first time seeing the places there. We even went to Cleopatra's bathing place. So awesome.

Disebabkan oleh kemalasan untuk cerita,  "IT'S PICTURE TIME!"

"LE SCHEDULE"

Ageba Beach

Matrouh market for the last time

Camels + desert

Local crafts

Jabal Mauta / Mountain of the Dead

Proud man showing his works (I think it's his work)

Shop like a tourist! (I know I didn't *sigh)

Chilling at Cleopatra's bathing place (I forgot the official name XD)

Local tea. No sugar. Tastes like bubblegum. 10 LE. Me? Someone offered me. Thus, free! hehe

The people wear local clothing.

Aman Siwa - Mineral water from Siwa waters

more sea time

(Tangki air) I swear this thing looks like something that came out from Ghibli)

The bag that I saved. mngaahaha

-FIN-

Ciao! Later~

19 . Novemberians

Assalamualaikum. Hey everyone! How are you doing? Well, sadly today's post is not going to be something related to Egypt. It's more of a personal thing. PERSONAAAL??

Guess what? I safely turned 19 last week on 29th of November (eheh sorry for the late update). And *cough2, Fatihah also turned 19 this month. Yup, she's 20 days older than me. I'm the maknae of the house. Get over it. HAHAHAHA..umm ok.

So, a lot has happened, the transition from 18 to 19, a little physically? but more emotionally and mentally that is. Of course, my life here is not all sunshine and candies, there ought to be bad things that I have to go through but yeah I'm over it! Yes, to those who know and understand me all too well, I hate life dramas, as in fights and all those stuff. So, IMMA BE DIRECT WIF U IF I THINK YE GOTS A PROBLEM WIF ME EH. Hehe

Being 19, I'd wish for myself to become a more honest, outspoken person. I'd like to make my own decisions without anyone making them for me, except for my parents of course. Yeah, since I have amazing, incredible parents, they've always taught me to make my own decision. They're there to help me make the RIGHT decisions. HOOH!

I'm not going to hide the fact that I'm kind of a naive person and I trust people too easily but that's something I'll try to balance out. I'd like to be more independent, and... proactive. Yeah, that's the word.  I will not tolerate people who wants to pijak my kepala. Even though, I do tend to feel tired nowadays, I'M NOT GOING TO FALL FOR IT. Ganbatte!

Being 19, of course, I'm more than thankful to Allah. Alhamdulillah. I'm thankful for the loving people around me :D

Mentally and emotionally...well, I believe there's a slight change. Have I matured into a proper, prim, super sweet kind lady? Not really. I believe the term "mature" differs for everyone. Well, "mature" for me defines more on the way we think. Fighting = immature, talking behind someone's back = immature. And trust me, some things have made me change the way I think. oohhshyeaah.

Someone actually told me that I haven't change since the first time she met me. That's good heh. I don't mind changing for the better, but I DO NOT appreciate it when people ask me to change into someone I'm not. So, please don't. ^__^

A shout out to my bestie, Fatihah who's always been there for me all these time. Love you lots buddeh. Happy birthday to you too. Man, we're 19!!! Next year, we'll be 20 >__< !! We'll celebrate our 10 year anniversary next year eh, insyaAllah.

Lastly, a shout out to my dear parents who are also Novemberians! I have the same birth date as my dad, yes be jelly yo haha! And my mom, 15th of November! Happy birthday Abah and Mama. I love you! May our family be together till jannah. :D

P/S: This CNS module is NO JOKE. I'm bleeding from reading. Pray for us. Exams are coming up! >____< NEWWWOOOH! To add everything up, I seem to have caught a cold. Winter's here.

Ciao!

Those strange clouds

Assalamualaikum people. Hey~ Just a short post. 

Something's brewing here in Alex. Hopefully nothing serious will happen. Though something still happened. So I'm currently stuck in the middle. Literally stuck. Hmm.. 

Be safe Alexandrians. (Pray for our safety pureeeeasu.) Thanks :)

ciao~

COE: Chapter 3 - Safety! Back off punk!

Assalamualaikum. *hides in a  corner* eheh, hey there. I've been gone for a looong time. Yes, A LOT has happened. I've been busy with studies and exams and umm studies. Yes, that's the reality for me. Ok, enough about that, during the last Eid adha, I did some traveling. Yes, it was ages ago but yeah if I'm up for it, I'll cover that in a different post. But today, I'll be talking about something that is, I correct, that MUST be told since I've been hearing so many cases nowadays. SAFETY - perverts. Especially for my lovely girls.

Of course you can't expect to be safe 24/7 but you can try to avoid it at least.

Alexandria's pretty safe to live in but there are some times that you may encounter such unwanted situations. Basically, perverts are perverts. They are dangerous. They follow you home. FULLSTOP. If it's night time, girls can call for a musyrif which is basically like a male escort. Well, you don't really need to pay them but it's courteous to give them at least snacks as a "thank you". Or, pay the taxi fare. I'm going to be frank here, I've used this musyrif system before, but not really.. now. Unless if the place that I'm going is pretty dark or dangerous or pretty far away. Do what you think is right.

Musyrifs aside. Perverts do appear in daylight. In the midst of the crowd, you never know. Trust me, I've heard a lot of experience from other people. I've even had some experience but being a Yakuza and all, Alhamdulillah, nothing happened to me hehe.

These perverts will try to grab your attention. DO NOT in any way show any interest or don't even let them see that you're scared. Just plainly ignore them. In some cases, they will just stop there. BUT. If in case they follow you, don't keep quiet. If that pervert still insists on following you, scream!!! If you know self-defense, you can use it but it's advisable for girls to just scream. ATTRACT ATTENTION! Don't be afraid. Ask for help, run!!!

One mistake that most girls did  is, they just kept quiet and cry and guess what? That pervert followed them home. If you're too shy or scared (I understand, some people cannot scream when they're too shocked) and you find yourself in a situation where the pervert is following you, do not, I repeat, DO NOT go straight home. Stop at a shop, somewhere, but not home. Maybe you can ask the shopkeeper or anyone for help. In shaa Allah, they will help you. :) And girls, try to walk in groups. I know sometimes it is inevitable, but please be aware of your surroundings. Selamat ula'! Safety's first!

May Allah protect us all :)

Life update: It's not even been a week since I've started this new module but heeyyy, it's interesting and all, but oh so..hmmm...CNS why u do this to me?? >___<

Ciao~

COE: Chapter 2 - How do I get there?

Chronicles of Egypt  : CHAPTER 2 - How do I get there?

Assalamualaikum people and cats and trees and umm everyone - everything. Sorry, just got back from a whole day of class. @___@ Meh.

But but but I shall not procrastinate anymorreh. Today's COE is about TRANSPORTATION. DAHHDAHHHDUMMM.

(Note: I shall only talk about what is common here mostly in Alexandria)

For those who are still confused on how to get to places, fear not! Don't make that stop you from exploring or going to places. There are A LOT of ways. Seriously.

1) Taxi/Cabs

Yes, this is basically how taxis here look like. You don't need to worry because there's TONS of taxis here, everywhere. Just stop them, and tell them where you want to go to. They don't use the taxi meters here so it'd be wise to know for how much, you can get to a certain place. Yes, some taxi drivers do see you as gullible foreigners and will right away, charge you extra. I mean extra, extra. However, I do find them a lot CHEAPER compared to the taxis in Cairo. 

2) Micro bus/ Tram-co

This way is much, much cheaper compared to taxis and buses. How to get to your destination? Just tell the driver the place, and he will either drop you there or somewhere near it. Or, you can stop him. Simple as that. And yes, I recommend this type of transportation if you wish to save your money as taxis cost more. But I shall warn you first, the ride is quite similar to a roller-coaster. So, if you have a terrible case of motion sickness, don't, just don't make it your option. Now that I mentioned it, taxis are kind of like roller coasters too.

3) Trams

Tram is a pleasant way of getting to places...on a holiday morning that is. Yes, compared to all of the transportation available here, this would be the cheapest kind. With only 25 piasters (cents), you can go from one end of the station to the other end of the station! WARNING: the probability of it to be packed with people are high mainly on school days (morning) and in the afternoon. I've been squished into a corner before. NOT a good experience. There are many kinds of trams, some take you only to certain places (e.g : VICTORIA trams take you Victoria but you can stop anywhere along the way. They look different compared to the other trams. They are wooden trams and look more cooler and enchanting. It costs more, about 1 LE.) but don't worry, there will be a map in every stop so you can refer to that. But yeah, I totally recommend this, considering that you're not in a hurry due to some emergencies. If so, STOP A TAXI! 

4) Horse carriage

This is mostly, just for the experience, say if you're on a holiday. Costs waaaay more than a taxi. Found mostly ala bah ( in front of the sea, yes so that you can enjoy Alexandria's sea view)

5) Trains

(Alexandria Train Station)

(Cairo Train Station)

Trains, if you wish to travel outside or even in Alex. Of course, the cost and the seatings are different. 

1st class - around 50 LE, air-conditioned, cushioned chairs (single/2 people), comfortable.

2nd class - Less than 50 LE, around 25- 30 LE. Normal. 

I'm not quite sure about the other classes but I've went on a train before to get to a place inside Alexandria. But that is a WHOLE different carriage. Normally, local people (I mean orang-orang kampung Alex la) go on them. It's packed. You may have to stand as the seats may all be taken. But it costs around 50 PIASTERS - 1 LE  There's also this one train, that carries poultry (a.k.a train ayam). That is also accessible, if you wish to. Warning: it smells. My advice, just hang in there! 

...

Of course, there's that option that doesn't run on money and fuel. Just your sweat. WALK. That's what you'll find yourself doing, most of the time. 

...

Lastly, enjoy this beautiful scenery. (Taken from my old house) 

Ciao!

Note: Pics are from Google and yours truly. 

COE Chapter 1

Chronicles of Egypt : Chapter 1

Assalamualaikum and a very good day! How are you? Today marks the 1st time I'll be writing about COE. Le grand opening! Wooh!

Today's topic : Language barriers and Charades.

Speaking from my experience, people will react differently to your insufficient knowledge of Arabic words. Mind you, I have NO BASICS whatsoever in Arabic language (minus the ones that's practiced in Malaysia -  Ahlan etc.)

From my first year experience (still muka hingus)  living in Alexandria, some people are helpful and others will just ignore you. Here's how the story goes...

(Helpful people)

I always love how these people react. They really want to help you! Be it, a certain store or the hospital or even the food you want. They will try to figure out what you want! Usually, these are the friendly folks. Well, if you're with me, we'll probably end up playing charades hehe. There was this one time that my friend and I wanted to go to the big library in Alexandria, the Bibliotheca. For some reason, people here do NOT know what Bibliotheca is..hmm...(They call it by a different name and I was too ignorant to know at that time >___<) So, as I told the driver, he was like "Eh??" (What?) My friend and I repeated a few times so finally I decided to make gestures with my hands and was saying "Book! Book!" The driver was a good sport and said "Well, just stop/tell me when we get there!" In Arabic of course. So we rode in the tram-co and the funny thing was, the place wasn't even that far from where we were, a walking distance really haha! We were somewhat lost. The pak cik was like "Ahhh, Maktabah Iskandariah!" My friend and I were like, "Ohh! Maktabah Iskandariah!!", said thank you and left.

Another story, this was when I wanted to buy sugar from the shop. The lovely old shop owner is really kind. I went there with my derp face.."Ana ayza sugar. -(I want sugar) Sounds slightly disturbing after it's translated" She was like..."eh?" And I was like, never mind, I'll look it for myself. As I was browsing, she kept taking one thing after another and asked me if the thing she's holding is what I'm looking for. After some time, she took out the sugar and I was like "YEAH! THAT'S IT!" Then, she asked me to repeat after her..."Sukkar...Sukkar." I got to learn a few words from her as I paid for the sugar. She pointed and made me repeat after her..and so I did. I had a fun time learning! We laughed and I said my salam and goodbyes and left, happy, as I successfully bought sugar.

And some other time, you'll find yourself surrounded by local folks playing charades with you. Well, at least I did. ^_______^


( "I don't give a damn!" type of people)

So we have come to this. My experience...TAXI DRIVERS.

Not all taxi drivers are bad. But there ARE bad taxi drivers. =___=

Before you get in the taxi, as always, you tell the driver the place you want to go. Easy huh. Not really. Some of them would have their Don't-waste-my-time- face on and drive on, leaving you in the dust, literally. Common. VERY VERY common. Well, that's better compared to the taxi drivers on PMS. Yes, apparently, I've experienced them all.

Other times, people would either ignore your existence or just find you a nuisance. Sad but true.

...

Okay, so my point is, if you ever find yourself stuck in translation, my greatest advice would be ask or speak politely, play charades, SMILE! You have to have a positive attitude when facing this kind of situations. Smile when you're asking. You don't want the other person to be rude to you, so you SHOULD'NT be rude to them! Lastly, just learn Arabic haha. A reminder to myself too of course. But, I believe that you can and you will pick up a lot of words just by talking to the people in the streets. There will be people kind enough to teach you words so don't worry too much!

...

Random picture TIME!!

Vanille chillin'

Everytime I see the buildings here, a certain soundtrack will play inside my head, yes - (Aladdin : One Jump Ahead)

.

.

.

Streets of Alexandria

I will try to update COE whenever possible. I'm thinking of making it a weekly update so stay tuned! 

Ciao~

ROAAAR

Assalamualaikum everyone! Good day!

Aeroplane: BABUMP...*drifts*.....stops

Me and Fatihah: Hello Egypt.

SECOND YEAAAAARR!!! XD

Yup, I've officially returned to Egypt for my studies. Yes, I'm excited.

"I'm excited to learn." - Goliad (Adventure Time)

So... my flight from Malaysia was pretty epic. Alhamdulillah everything went quite smoothly. The important thing is I'm here, still in one piece.

Class started today...THAT was refreshing. I'm preparing myself mentally and physically of course to face another year. Ganbatte!!

...

I was thinking of making a series. Yes, about my life here in Egypt. I would love to share my experience, living in Egypt. Hopefully, it'd be informative yet fun at the same time. So, put on your adventurer hats everyone heee. I'd call it Chronicles of Egypt. COE for short. "Koe" in Japanese means voice. So this is kinda like my voice/ my opinion on Egypt ^___^ No puns intended even though I'm the pun master bwahahaha FEAR ME!

Hmm...

But today, I'll just be updating about some of the stuff that I'll be taking for this semester. Prepare thyself!!

Ya Allah, how hard it was for me to get them. Don't worry first years, usually you can get them at the convention centre (C.C.)lol code geass much  For some reason, they decided to sell them at a different place. *cough* Darl Elm

I still have more to buy but these are the only ones I managed to get so far. The good thing about them are that they're entirely made/ written by the PROFESSORS or the department in charge, which I find pretty neat! ALEXANDRIA U GO GO!!

Still more to come though...horrrrr....

 yeah awesome stuff. *hands on head* *mouth wide-open* "MACAM MANA NAK SUMBAT SEMUA NI DALAM KEPALA HAAAAA??"

The good thing about being in second year is that, you can adapt better to your surroundings, while studies are on a whole new level, your daily life kinda improves because you know what to expect from the people around you. All the good and bad things that is. Plus, people recognizes you, which can be a good thing...

I have yet to brush up my arabic skills. cannot even be considered a skill, I only know a few words  Getting kinda rusty. hmm....yes, I use a lot of hand gestures trying to describe something...and I still do. DEAL WITH IT! It's like playing charades really. Since I'm running out of ideas on what to talk about, I'll stop now.

CIAO MINNA-SAN!! 

P/S: I'll update COE later~

Summer Break 2012

Assalamualaikum and a very good day! How's everyone?? So for this year's summer break, I did quite a few new things.

(Both events were at the same place!)

FIRST UP!

ASABAN 2012

ASA = Day, BAN = Night
I've always wanted to go to an anime/game convention! I went there along with my siblings and my bestu frieeenduu and her brother. It's safe to say, it was a lot of fun. Yup, besides pointing at each other and calling each other "otakus", pretty much, Fatihah and I had unleashed our otaku side.

There were quite a lot of booths selling neat anime/game stuff. As expected,there were cosplays. Pretty neat. Oh yeah they held competitions like singing and cosplay competitions too. A japanese band even came to perform but that was at night time and I didn't go hmm. I believe there were even fireworks.

Ok, on with the pics!

(Lupa nak sorok plastik bag haha)

A very cute BJD

Yup, the band picture in the back performed that night. A picture inside a picture..ooh pictureception.

Derpin'

Card game. A must in a convention. THE BATTLE IS INTENSE! O__O

*___*

 Making my mark horrhorr

Awesome drawing from Kuroi.

Cosplay stuff for sale! There even cosplay clothes but forgot to take a pic ehehe

MAKAN BREAK

with Kadaj. He won the cosplay competition. Congrats!

Game corner. Persona 4!!

Guilty Crown

Tsubasa

Moe moe time. nyan nyan ROAAR

Persona 3 

TUSO 2012 - Expressions

I went there, again, with Fatihah haha I don't have any other friend. DEAL WITH IT!! Hehe just kidding.

So, the orchestra was really good but there's still room for improvement. One of the violinists had even performed at the MPO. That's pretty impressive. They did a few of my favs like Carmen Fantasy and Hungarian Dance No. 5. It was a lot of fun ^__^ .

To sum it all up, I had a great summer break in Malaysia! Indeed, it was the break that I needed from all the medical stuff haha. This would be my last post from Malaysia. *sigh* BUT! Fear not as there will be more adventure soon hoho. Ganbatte minna!

Ciao~