Egypt - Day 2

Friday – 12th December 2009






We started our first trip out of Cairo today . We had a 3 hour journey of sitting on the bus to head down to Alexandria . We were accompanied by an Alexandrian security guard and Isis , Wael was left all alone in Cairo to guard our bags which we left for storage . It was a really long journey so we had a break from all of the driving and had a stop at the nearest R&R available which is called the Masters . They have Coffee Bean and even a Zoo which was totally cool . The place was filled with school kids having a field trip as today is their weekend and even tomorrow . I bought 2 Kit Kat flavours which won’t be found here in Malaysia which is Peanut butter and Caramel flavour which is delicious . Mama even bought their local nuts as its our family’s favourite snack during tv time . Funny thing happened though . Mama wanted change from Auntie Rapeah for 100 pounds but auntie didn’t know that they have 50 pounds and 50 piasters which is their cents in paper form as well . So Aunty thought she gave Mama 100 pounds in 50 each but she actually gave 50 piasters each . So , Mama was about to pay when suddenly the man at the cashier won’t accept the money and kept saying “ lak “ which means No .

Isis serving us her " handbaked " cookies .
After taking a couple of pictures , we continued our journey back to Alexandria . While on the road , I was mostly asleep as there weren’t anything exciting to see as it’s all covered in sand . Around 12 o’clock , we’ve arrived safely in Alexandria . We are surrounded by the beautiful Mediterranean sea which has 3 types of blue colours on them . We drove pass this beautiful military hospital where by their walls mural was unique and such a beauty to look at .







This is one of the pit stops before heading to the Montaza Palace .




Before checking in , we headed off to the Montaza palace where there were a lot of gardens and locals haveing picnics or even strolling in the park with their loved ones . According to Isis , each family has one palace for each one of them . So basically it was a really huge place and lots of wonderful scenery . We took a lot of pictures , and it was very windy so we had a " free spa " with the sand blowing towards our faces .








After taking as many shots as we could , we headed for lunch at this historical restaurant called the Al Fanda Shack Restaurant where we even had personal tour guide which was amazing . We kept taking pictures of the tour guide and kept saying how " gamila " she was which means pretty in Egypt till she blushed as red as a tomato .




We were also accompanied by lovely music by the musician's there .





After getting our tummies full , we head back to the hotel , the Mediterranean Azur the only hotel to be located next to the sea and so we had the best view of all . We went to the hotel to perfom our prayers and by 6pm we were out and about to head down to our next destination .



Before heading to the bus .

We had another stop of taking pictures outside the library for awhile and some other places to take pictures . The weather was a killer , it was freezing and my teeths were practically clicking - clacking all the way .





We then headed back to the bus to go to our next destination which was Masjid Abu El Abbas . The men went on to perfom their Maghrib prayers and the women basically went in to take pictures of the interior of the mosque which was beautiful and very artistic . Along the way to the woman's section , there were a lot of beggers begging for money . It was so sad seeing them that way .

After that , we headed down to one of Alexandria's shopping districts , near the mosque . On the way to the shopping district , the driver used a very small road and it gets smaller whereby cars were parking at both sides of the road and so we were practically stuck in the middle of the road . One thing I've to say about Alexandrian people is that their very helpful . The locals were doing their own thing when they saw that our bus were stuck , they came and help us out . They started doing hand signals to the driver to help him . They even tried to carry the car to move it but the car was too heavy .

One of the local's infront of the mosque

One of the men who was helping was then directing the driver at the front of the bus , and he was looking directly to the people who were sitting at the front and I was one of them . He was smiling and looking at this person at the front really intimately . I didn't know who he was looking at because I was behind of Isis , the tour guide . Then I decided to hide myself for a bit . Then I came out again , he started talking in Arabic , and then Isis replied so I thought he was talking to her but apparently not because after that she looked somewhere else and the guy was still looking straight ahead at me and our eyes sort of met for quiet long actually . I was blushing like crazy weyh . So after turning this and that way we finally managed to get out . This guy then came to my side of the window and started winking and then he blew flying kisses to me . My mom was right next to me and she saw the whole thing . I just smiled and started waving to him . Such a good looking man he was , too bad the picture I took of him was a blurr .


So the shopping district , was filled with locals shopping with family , friends and loved ones . There's a lot of shops from Marilyn Monroe to Demi Moore . I didn't buy anything as the stuffs were items I could get back here in Malaysia but we did went inside a couple of stores to check out their clothes . For those of you who are tall and big in size , it's very easy to find clothes here . One of the things you'll notice here is that , the sense of style is very similar in a way that if their outfit is blue then everything from their shoes , accessories , handbags , eyeshadow , mascara would also be in blue . The one thing I hate here is that everyone's smoking all the time even women here aren't ashame to show that their smoking , maybe its to keep them warm I presume or just for the sake of it .





We even had a chance to ride the local's version of the " LRT " which is called the tram . It's very classical and vintage looking . The ticket guy for the first tram was very good looking ( you could see at the back of the third picture , hehe ) , I kept eyeing on him until mama said he gotten all " perasan " already . They took the trouble of asking us to ride the tram just to let us feel how's it like . We even sang Rasa Sayang as loud as we can and started clapping and the locals were laughing and smiling and clapping along with us as well .




After experiencing that , we went back to the tour bus to head down to the restaurant where we shall be having our dinner . We've been eating a lot of beef and chicken lately so for dinner we had fresh fish , prawns and calamari's which was grilled and fried . It was so delicious and mouth - watering that I even took my chance and ate it with my hands .


After eating dinner we had a surprise birthday celebration for Imran's 20th birthday . His face was priceless . How happy and shocked he was . We reached the hotel around 10 pm and we sent a message to Syadza aka Tishtan to head down to our hotel .





A few minutes later , there's a knock on the door and there she was . How happy I was to see her . I miss her like crazy . Alhamdullilah she's well and she came over with her friend . We chit chatted with her all the experiences and adventures we went thru . There were a lot of laughing moments , which was fun .


Goodbye Alex :(

This is what I did for the second day in Egypt .

Listening to : Wehyati Khaliki - AmrDiab

:D

Egypt - Day 1

Wednesday – 9th December 2009
Thursday – 10th December 2009




Reached KLIA around 10 pm . I was really excited as this is my first trip overseas after 5 years of not travelling . We were one of the first ones to arrive thanks to papa’s excellent driving skills , so we headed down to Mcdonald’s for a late supper . Met another one of mama’s colleagues , Auntie Foziah who’s heading to Egypt with us as well . A few minutes later , Uncle Che Din came over to pass Syadza’s stuff as we will be heading off to Alexandria as well . After receiving a call from one of mama’s friends , we headed over to counter H18 to check in our luggage’s . Our flight was scheduled at 1 am and our check in time would be 12.15 am , so there were a lot of time to mingle and meet up with mama’s friends who will also be joining the group tour . I met a couple of new friends as I was separated by a lane of sittings from mama . I was seated next to Kak Liyana and Kak Syikin and also Auntie Ani , a very nice auntie who kept me entertained the entire time .



So we’re on the plane and I find it difficult to sleep as I later learned that we’re flying with Egypt Air and not the usual MAS Airlines . The one thing I like about Egypt Air is that we could see how the take off is done . They’ve installed this camera at the front part of the aeroplane for us passengers to get the “ real “ feeling of take off which was incredibly cool . Most of the steward and stewardess are really big in size and they weren’t pleasant to look at in a way that I’m afraid to even ask them anything because they look like they could burst into the HULK anytime soon .

After having dinner on the plane , the lights were out and I was exhausted so I thought it was pretty easy to sleep but , ho ho ho was I wrong . Everytime I get comfortable enough to sleep , there’ll be someone walking past , a baby cranking up , someone sneezing , and even snoring . One time , while I was getting the hang of everything , the aeroplane was shaking really bad and it was the first experience I had with air pocket and it was like we were about to crash . I was so scared that I was holding the handle of my sit really tight and that I wasn’t even thinking anything except that I’m going to die and we’re going to crash . Alhamdullilah , everything went back to normal .











We reached Cairo , around 6 am and the wheatear was freezing cold . As you know , H1N1 virus is still out there , and so we had to fill up forms indicating that either we’re healthy as a horse or not . After that we headed straight out to the main entrance of the airport for our travel guide Wael and Isis who’s name is one of the names of the Egypt goddesses . We headed down to the restaurant to have our breakfast using the airport way and it was really hazy and dusty and there were a lot of constructions going on . There are a lot of apartments here . According to Isis , the apartment will go higher and higher according to the number of people in the family so at the top of each building is most of the time left uncompleted . The whole journey to the restaurant was really hectic and boring as there weren’t many sceneries but only busses and vans sending kids to private schools which is near to the airport . We went to Elezba to have our first taste on Egypt cuisine . It was really quiet and such a unique place . The decorations were one of a kind and there were a lot of posters of famous people along the walls . For breakfast we had pitta bread , fitir , and cheese with some sweet sauce and red beans I presume all mashed up .






After breakfast , we took a couple of pictures and there was this one kid sitting all alone at the etrance and exit of the place , and we started taking pictures of him . He was a very good sport .





Then we headed down to one of the 7 wonders of the world which is the pyramids . Took a lot of pictures and there were great informations learned . The best experience for me was definitely riding the camel . As you know , camels have this HUGE hump on their backs . They are very tall as well . So they were resting on the ground and I had to leap as far as my legs could go to get on them . When it’s getting ready to stand was one of the scary moments as they move starting by the back first , to make myself stable there’s a leg sadle for the left leg and this stick where I’ve to jeep hold the whole way . So while enjoying the ride , my cute little camel started biting Suraya’s leg and there was saliva all over her shoes . Poor thing got whacked at the neck by the camel jocky . But then Sarah and Suraya started to pat it and it kept coming back for more . Another scary moment was getting down from it . Alhamdullilah , I got down safely after my dear camel “ left a little present “ .



There’s this extra payment you could make if you want to know what it feels like to be in an actual pyramid . At first I was really scared because I heard a lot of scary stories about it , then mama told me that arwah Tok Wan once climbed down it before and that it’s a once in a life time opportunity and I thought this sort of things shouldn’t be left out and so I did it . They won’t allow and camera’s to be brought it . But to sum it up , it was tiring and we were practically out of breath the whole time as we were suppose to keep our body as low as possible the whole time and the steps were really narrow and scary . My legs were sore for almost 3 days . The place wasn’t a big one and it’s like a one way road but we use it to enter and to get out . Imagine how that was . We walked every step of the way and after that there’s this huge widespace and if I’m not mistake there was an empty casket in the middle . There were 2 people sitting there like statues and were saying a prayer .





After that , we headed over to the panorama which is the highest and the best place to take pictures as you could see all the three pyramids in one line . We also viisted the sphinx . It was getting windier and colder so everyone started to head back to the tour bus .





Our next stop was at this shop which makes original scents without any mix of alcohol . After hearing and smelling the scents with its uses , we were served with drinks . I had a taste of their hibiscus tea which was delicious . We then headed to our next destination which is our restaurant for having lunch .








The name of the restaurant was Felfela . For starters , they served us pitta bread with lots of dippings you could put on your pitta bread and eat like a sandwich . Then we had falafel or tamiea which is made out of beans , parceli , garlic , onions , mixed together and deep fried which is my favourite dishes here in Egypt . We were also given a local dessert made out of thick milk which was burnt for it’s sticky effect . After getting our tummies full with delicious food , we had to say goodbye to Isis as she’ll not be with us tonight but will be rejoining us tomorrow , but Wael will be with us all the way .





We headed to our hotel , Barcelo which is one of the newest hotel build in Egypt and one of the main tourist choices for stay . The hotel was beautifully decorated . I really like their toilets very much . It felt so luxurious . After checking in , taking our luggage’s , getting our room keys , we headed to our rooms to perform prayers . Prayer time here is very early indeed . For Subuh prayer is at 5 am , Zohor is 11.50 am , Asar is 2.40 pm , Maghrib , 5 pm and Isyak is at 6.20 pm . We practically did " sembahyang jamak " the whole trip as we we’re usually on the road most of the time .






Night came by and it was time for dinner . We head down to the same restaurant we did in the morning which was Elezba . We had a different type of setting today as they placed us at this beautiful restaurant decorated like a Chinese theme restaurant . I was very adventurous during dinner because for the first time , I had a shot of eating a grilled pigeon with black peppers which was delicious . The meat was quite little and bak kata orang melayu , “ agak liat “ . I had to eat with my hands as it was hard not to . We then went back to Barcelo for a long night sleep as we have a long journey tomorrow .

Basically this is what I did for the first day here in Egypt .

Wrote this at 9.45 pm , Egypt timing .

Listening to : Mabalash - Shirin ( Egyptian singer )

:D

Terbang Jauh

Aku akan terbang bebas bagaikan burung di awan ,
Aku akan menikmati keindahan alam dan pemandangan yang berbeza bersama ibu tercinta di negara orang ,
Aku akan menyingkap sejarah dan kisah - kisah mereka ,
Aku akan ke sebuah negara dimana aku sendiri telah pelajari dalam pelajaran Sejarah Tingkatan 4 Bab 1 ,
Aku akan mengharungi suatu sungai di mana ianya menjadi nadi negara ini serta bagiku ianya bagaikan jodoh kepada negara yang akan aku jejakkan kaki gergasiku ini ,
Aku akan ke sebuah negara di mana tarikan pelancongannya yang diilhamkan oleh Imhotep telah menggunakan sebanyak 2 juta blok batu serta 100 ribu orang hamba ,
Aku akan pulang dengan pelbagai ilmu dan cerita yang bakal aku kongsikan bersama ,
Ya , aku akan tetap pulang ke negaraku yang tercinta ini kerana , tidak sama negara orang dengan negara sendiri .

Doakanlah perjalanan kami agar selamat pergi dan pulang . Selamat Tinggal semuanya .

p/s ; Akan aku tinggalkan dunia tekonologi ini dari 9th Dec - 16th Dec .

p/p/s ; zahiriladzim : @ainaadelaila ouh thank u dik! Ure so sweet! :) (tersenyum lebar sekarang) via twitter . Alahai , cair aku ~

Listening to : Who I Am - Nick Jonas & The Administration

:D

Team Edward

The Sparkling Vampire or The Hairy Werewolf ?

Setting it straight . This has got to end . I've been reading , hearing , watching those who've been updating about The Twilight Saga : New Moon . The one comment that's been coming out from each and everyone is " OMG , look how hot Jacob is , Edward looks so Gay " , " At first I'm Team Edward but after watching how hot and sexy Jacob was in the movie , I decided to change my team and become Team Jacob " .

At first it was hard for me to pick which team was I on . I had my doubts which team I should be on , is'it Team Edward or Team Jacob . If you do believe in love at first sight , then your Team Edward . If you believe in being best friends with a guy and eventually falling in love with him then your Team Jacob . I was torn between this two because I believe in both of it but after reading the whole Twilight Saga , my heart was all for Edward Cullen .

Okay , so everyone's going about how Robert's 6 packs aren't real and that their air brushed compared to Taylor's figure which is really buff and solid . Well let's clear the rumours shall we . Robert's 6 packs are NOT air brushed and that his been hitting the gym to prepare himself for his role in this movie with Kellan Lutz . So enuff said that those packs are real . Besides he doesn't have to get all buff in this movie while as Taylor has too since his sort of young to potrey Jacob who turns into this muscular werewolf so of course he has to build up his muscles to convince people that he looks like one . You think I'm full of bullshit don't you ? I'm not going to say something that does not have actual proof .

It's called Google honey and I suggest you do so .


" And it only got worse from there. He had to take his shirt off for director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) because Edward’s perfection includes a six-pack, something Pattinson didn’t have at the time.
But once he landed the role, he decided it was time to get fit. He began a two-month daily regimen that included three hours of kickboxing and at least two hours of running. He not only gave up beer but he also limited his meals to just one a day.
“I was just trying to lose like every ounce of body fat so when I took off my shirt, I would look like an alien,” Pattinson said, presumably meaning a hot alien. “I thought that kind of worked for the story. The idea of taking my shirt off and looking like some sort of Adonis? Everyone would just laugh.”
But then things went slightly awry. Two weeks before shooting, Hardwicke told him the shirtless scenes were being tossed because he had gone too far. He'd lost 30 pounds since the last time she had seen him. “I just looked so different,” he said. “I was so much more muscular than I had ever been in my life, but I looked weird.” - Source : http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b67923_robert_pattinson_talks_bare_bellies.html "

Another solid proof , darlihnks :

" Co-stars and fans alike have come to the defense of Rob Pattinson against nay-sayers who insist that Robs six-pack abs on the set of New Moon were created using makeup.
Kellen Lutz (Emmett) said last week:
“Taylor [Lautner] has been training Rob a lot, and that’s why he’s got such ripped abs,” so he insists, adding that “Rob’s been working hard. He’s trying to be the best Edward [Pattinson's character in the films] he can be.”
In addition to Kellen’s comments, an on-set source stated that the muscles were real, since she got to see them in person.
“He looks absolutely amazing, and the six-pack is real, so, so very real!” - Source : http://team-twilight.com/20090607/in-defense-of-robs-six-pack/ "



And FYI , the picture's that you've been saying ( the one above )about how disguisting he looks shirtless with all those black ugly dots that makes him look like his got " chicken pox " all over his body or " bird shitting on him " is for the computer to apply SPARKLES all over his body to complete Stephenie's vision of him as a sparkling vampire . It's called computer graphic's you moron's .

About how dull / ugly looking he is in this scene and the pictures well what do you expect him too look like ? happy as a clown , smiling all the way ? He thinks that the love of his life just died and left him which leaves him to think that there's no reason for him to stay alive as well . Now thats what you call true love . Of course he'll look dull and unhappy , ugly , emotionless , gay , he lost the woman he loves . Thats why he looks like this . Seriously , ada otak ke tidak ?



Besides that , I'm the kind of girl who just falls in love with a guy who could just serenade me with love songs or any type of songs and that's what Robert / Edward is gifted in real life and the movie as well . How could you not love someone who could sing , play the piano and guitar and compose songs which he actually did . If you've watched Twilight the scene where Edward told Bella how he could not stand to be away from her at the restaurant well if you hear clearly to the music background , Edward's song which he sang and composed ( I'm not letting you forget that ) was playing and it sounds amazing . Even his co -stars are admitting that his such a talented gift when it comes to music . And the scene where he played the piano for Bella was REAL . Yeap , it wasn't someone else's hands that was playing the piano like normal movies do , it's his real set of hands playing that song . How could you not fall in love with that ?





Regarding on the whole " Vampire's who Sparkle SUCKS " issues , I just don't mind the damn thing . Because everyone has their own sets of imagination and I happen to like this one because that's what makes him so different and special . Besides , I think he looks beautiful with all that sparkle . Haven't you heard that diamonds or anything that sparkle I might add is a girls bestfried , if you've never heard of it , where do you come from dude ? Like the ice age or something ?



With me saying this , it's not like I hate Team Jacob or the Werewolf pack for that matter because this team is equally important as the other . Without Team Edward or Team Jacob there won't be a good story to tell . Besides who can resist those good looking wolf packs eyh ? I can't deny the hotness factor the wolf pack has I mean come on you've seen the pictures of Taylor for GQ and even Teen Vogue haven't you ? They are to die for , and besides his such a sweetheart and a good kid . The actor who's playing Embry is not bad looking himself and after reading Breaking Dawn I fell in love with Seth Clearwater and I can't wait to see who they've chosen to potrey this character . So yeah , I don't hate Team Jacob I just prefer to be Team Edward .



I'm having such a major OCD ( Obsessive Cullen Disorder ) Syndrome right now . Hey , you just can't blame me . Even kids are going head over heels for this guy . I kept screaming / making noises whenever Edward was on screen and my mom kept on " shush - ing " me whenever I did that . I had a great time watching the movie and I think that it's so much better than Twilight . I had a few scenes of Jacob and Bella that I like and think that its totally adorable and cute . I even cried ( talk about taking it easy ) during the breakup scene , the jump off the cliff scene and even the scene where Bella said don't make her choose . Although I was quite dissapointed because the line that I've been waiting for Edward to say didn't make the cut , but its alright he had other lines that took my heart away .



Do I need to say more ?

p/s ; Had a great time with Nabilah and Mama today . Thanks Papa for buying the tickets for us . Love you :)

Listening to : The Heart of Life - John Mayer
:D

Ertinya apa ?

Bosan .

Aku bukanlah Picaso jadi tak perlulah nak mengutuk hasil karya aku yang aku rasa gila gempak sebab jarang sangat aku melepaskan kreativiti aku yang terperangkap . Bukannya apa aku ni bukanlah berjiwa seni lukis , boleh hancur dibuatnya suatu lukisan dek aku yang tidak punya mata seni dan kesabaran untuk menghasilkan sesuatu karya . Jadi bila at one point ' masuk jarum ' aku rasa tak salah untuk aku menonjolkannnya . Malu pun ada sebab lukisan lebih teruk daripada lukisan murid - murid tadika . Untuk pendekkan cerita seni lukis bukanlah makanan aku , aku lebih meminati seni collage ataupun cut and paste kerana bagi aku walaupun mudah tapi dengan susunan yang betul serta kreativiti yang ada pasti sesuatu collage itu aku menonjol .

Aku beria - ria nak berkongsi lukisan aku yang tak seberapa ni sebab aku nak lepaskan apa yang terbuku dalam hati aku . Lukisan ini adalah lukisan yang aku lukis tanpa perlu berfikir kerana aku lukis ikutkan hati . Jadi apa yang pada mulanya hanya untuk membuang waktu akhirnya mendatangkan hasil yang cukup bermakna .

Bunga besar disebelah kiri yang bermotifkan pelbagai corak itu menunjukkan perasaan aku yang bercelaru ketika ini . Marah , Sedih , Bosan , Dipinggirkan , Sendirian , Sakit Hati , Tidak Dihargai , itulah perasaan aku ketika ini .

Bunga yang mencakar ke langit pula menunjukkan cita - cita aku untuk menjadi seorang peguam menggantikan tempat mama . Pari - pari disebelah bawah menunjukkan liku - liku yang harus aku hadapi untuk mencapai ke puncak . Sesuatu yang harus aku lalui dengan hati yang tabah dan harus aku berusaha dengan gigih . Akhirnya suatu hari nanti dengan usaha serta doa daripada ibubapaku akan ku kecapi impian itu dengan cemerlangnya . Ibu bapa , saudara - mara , rakan - rakan akan bangga dengan pencapaian yang aku kecapi hasil titik peluhku sendiri .


Luaran tersenyum , Dalaman hanya Tuhan sahaja yang tahu .

Listening to : I wanna kiss a girl - Keith Urban

Recap

I made ' easy - cash ' during the festive seasons and I've spent a whole lot of them on stuffs that I've been dying to get my hands on . So , here goes .

1. Bought 2 new books and a notepad from MPH .
2. Treated myself and mama Baskin Robbins .
3. Hujan's Mencari Konklusi Album .
4. Went out with the girlfriends for Afiqah's surprise birthday party .
5. Bought Party Packs and Seventeen Magazine from Carrefour .
6. Paid for the birthday cake .
7. Bought a big head monkey .
8. Retro shades and a vintage necklace from Forever 21
9. Shoelaces from Bonita .
10. Mufler from SoxWorld ( refers picture above ) which I turn into a headscarf .
11. Another headscarf from this shop at SACC mall .
12. A headscarf and vintage bag from IAMJETFUELSHOP .

Am I a certified shopaholic now , :S ?

Listening to : Pergi - Aizat

:D

Spunk Ransom

Credits to : http://entertainment.malaysia.msn.com/

World Premiere of New Moon . I can't wait to watch it . I just hope I could strain myself from screaming everytime R.Patz is on the screen , which would be utterly embarassing for those who are watching it with me , hehe . Kristen Stewart looks beautiful ( she kind of looks like Katy Perry in certain pictures ) in her Oscar De La Renta dress and R.Patz as always never fails to charm me . Although I'm team Edward but I just love Taylor Lautner . Who doesn't , his such a sweet boy and no one can resist that body of his although I must say Fibril is pretty close to having a body like Lautner so Qayyum , you need a lot of catching up to do .

p/s ; Cbox , deleted !
p/p/s ; Class party . Attend or to not attend , hmmm ...
p/p/p/s ; What did my cousin's get for their UPSR eyhh , hope they did well though ;)

Listening to : My repairman repairing mama's toilet

:D