Singa Pura Pura

After a long hiatus, I finally write some proper entry in this dusty Travelogue. Reason for not updating? none. Its a pure laziness. Reason for updating the blog all of a sudden? Because Nuffnang is paying me for several campaigns. Rugi tak update dan naikkan traffic time dapat campaign ni. Hehe. So, what buzzin'? Uh.. Just wanted to share with my fellow readers a few blogs I recently following. Travelogues of course. :D

The first one is  Mama.Nuraina.com

Well, you won't know there is a small town called Malay Falls in Canada if you don't read her blog!

The other one is Adventures of Lydia and Calvin 

By far, this is the most detailed travelogue I have ever read. They write those useful information on flights which bloggers used to skip. This couple sure travels a lot! Do read! By the way, there are other two blogs I have been following since March. Click here.

Thanks to Mr/s X for the tips!
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Okay, berbalik kepada tajuk entri, Singapore. My brother just got married with the dewi merah jambu: Aida Thepinkgoddess last month and they went to USS for their honeymoon. Memandangkan review about USS yang ditulis oleh my sister in law is very positive, it encourages me to at least  menjejakkan kaki ke sana once in my lifetime. Di tambah lagi dengan feedback dari kakak kepada seorang rakan yang baru sahaja pergi kesana yang sangat-sangat menggalakkan, terpanggillah hati ini untuk ke sana. Lagi pun, memang saya tidak pernah sampai ke kota singa sebelum ini. Walau bagaimanapun, belum ada proper planning lagi untuk pegi. Nanti bila dah decide, saya tulis disini. :)

Honestly, what do you think? a bus ride from KL - SIN or train is better? which is more worth the time and money? do I have to stay overnight at Johor or just go there for a one day trip? Share your thoughts with me via comments or twitter: @ahmadfarids Thanks!

Perjanjian Saidina Umar dan Para Penganut Kristian

Umar membuat satu perjanjian bahawa orang kristian di Jerusalem akan dijaga harta mereka dan hak mereka jika mereka tidak bekerjasama dengan Rom dan Yahudi, juga hendaklah mereka membayar Jizyah. Bagi Islam, mereka ada zakat dan bagi orang kafir ada Jizyah. Perjanjian ini terdapat di Masjid Umar hingga sekarang. Ia disaksikan oleh empat sahabat besar iaitu, saidina Khalid al-Walid, Saidian Abdul Rahman al-Auf, saidina Mauwiyah dan Saidina Amru al-Ash.


Sumber: Ustaz Amin
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Menariknya Palestin!

Zion Gate, Palestine

Ini adalah Bab Nabi Daud, atau Zion Gate. Pintu ini adalah pintu terakhir pertahanan orang Islam ketika Yahudi cuba menawan Jerusalem. Lubang-lubang di pintu ini ialah bekas tembakan peluru peperangan pada tahun 1967 yang menyaksikan Israel mengalahkan lima negara iaitu, Palestin, Syria, Lubnan, Mesir dan Jordan.

Sumber: Ustaz Amin
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Lima negara tewas di tangan Israel. Dimana silap nya?

Sate Bota, Bota, Perak

"Sate ada lagi tak?" tanya lelaki cina tersebut kepada mak cik penjual sate.
"Ada, nak bghape?" Jawab mak cik spontan. "100 batang boleh?"
"Oooo boleh-boleh. Kejap naa"
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Begitu la lebih kurang perbualan antara mak cik penjual sate dengan seorang lelaki cina semalam di Mustafa Satay Bota. Kalau anda tanya student UTP kat mana sate yg sedap kat Perak, mesti jawapannya sate Bote. Setelah sekian lama menetap, membesar dan menua di Tronoh ni, baru semalam ada peluang untuk merasa sedap sangat ka sate bota ni. Perjalanan ke lokasi restoren dari UTP mengambil masa dalam 10-15 minit. Macam dari UTP ke Pekan Batu Gajah. Restoren tu betul-betul di tepi jalan. Jadi bila dah lalu jambatan, (mesti korang perasan punya akan lalu jambatan kalau bergerak ke arah lumut dari UTP) Ambil lane kiri dan kurang kan kelajuan kenderaan kerana anda semakin menghampiri Sate Bote. Cewah, ayat formal gila.

Time kami datang, daging tinggal 20 batang. Rezeki kami la.

Omellete

Antara makanan yg mudah diterima oleh selera orang Malaysia di Beijing: Telur dadar!

Ada Apa Dengan Bahrain?

Bahrain (Arab: مملكة البحرين) ialah sebuah negara yang tidak mempunyai sempadan. Lokasi Bahrain sebagai sebuah negara pulau di Teluk Parsi (Timur Tengah). Jiran Bahrain, Arab Saudi terletak disebelah barat dan disambungkan ke Bahrain menerusi Tambak Raja Fahd (dibuka secara rasmi pada 25 November 1986), dan Qatar di sebelah selatan menyeberangi Teluk Parsi.

Sumber: wikipedia

Bahrain WTC

Macamana agaknya negara tanpa sempadan? Macam Israel lah kan. Boleh tiba-tiba expand ikut suka hati depa. Tapi Bahrain tak la macam zionis. Diorang duduk diam je. Tak kacau orang lain dan seperti kebanyakan negara yang berada dalam lingkungan negara-negara arab, Bahrain jugak pengeluar minyak dunia. Pemerintah Bahrain sangat-sangat lah mewah. Best betul jadi pemerintah negara pengeluar minyak ni kan? Lebih kurang Malaysia jugak la. Tapi Malysia tak produce minyak sebanyak negara-negara arab.. Pendapatan tak la semasyuk depa. Plus, diorang memerintah bukan secara demokrasi. Dari raja sampai menteri tandas semua sepupu sepapat.

Masalah nya sekarang, kaum minoriti Syiah di Bahrain sedang memberontak. Memberontak kat siapa? Pihak pemerintah monarki Sunni. Sekali lagi saya ulang, MONARKI S.U.N.N.I. Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah laa. Macam majoriti kat Malaysia ni. Macam kat Malaysia jugak, Syiah dipandang serong oleh majoriti Malaysian. Serong dalam erti kata melabel semua syiah sesat. Sedangkan tak semuanya sesat. Tak semena-mena, si Monarki Sunni di Bahrain ni pun dengan senang lenang nya dan tidak semena-mena (sebab sebelum ada pemberontakan, tak pernah pulak diorang ni dilabel sesat kat Bahrain) melabel para protes yang majoritinya terdiri daripada penganut syiah, SESAT dan halal darahnya.

Halal darah = Bunuh tak salah. Jadi, inilah yang terjadi di Bahrain semata-mata hendak menjaga kepentingan Keluarga di Raja - Amerika (Emang dasar!) :

of IKEA's Meatballs, Chicken Chop and Daim Cake

Untuk seseorang yg tidak pernah ke IKEA, memang teruja sekali bila pertama kali menjejakkan kaki ke sana. Maklumlah, saya dari Sabah, belajar di Perak. Di Sabah mana ada IKEA, sama jugak keadaannya di Perak. Sebelum mengetahui adanya ruangan lebih kurang food court seperti di Tesco di IKEA,yang saya tahu, IKEA merupakan syarikat dari Sweden yang menjual perabot-perabot cool. Rupa-rupanya IKEA juga terkenal dengan Meatballs dan Daim Cake nya! (selepas baca blog orang lain dan tweets yang menulis pengalaman mereka menikmati meatballs) Saya sungguh tidak updated -.-

RM39.80 Untuk semuanyaa! 10biji meatballs, satu mushroom soup, satu egg tart, satu Daim cake, satu caramel pudding, satu chicken chop, Note: plus 2 ketul chicken wings, satu minuman panas dan satu soft drink (free refill!) Bukan macam Subway. Sekali refill RM1 . huh!

Woah, Book Tiket Penerbangan MAS di Facebook! (Lagi?)

Siapa yang belum buat akaun Facebook angkat tangan! Aik? Tak kan ada yang belum register? Tak pa, bukan benda wajib pun. Cuma senang la kalau saya nak ajak pegi melancong. Boleh roger-roger kat facebook je. Hehe. Previously, I have mentioned about MAS new Facebook application that allows facebook users to search for flights and share it with their Facebook friends. Harini, saya nak review in detail pulak application ni since it looks neat and creative. I appreciate MAS's effort to ensure we got the MH even from a social network site. Haha. Lagipun, they paid me to do so. So why not review kan?

Iklan MHbuddy didalam kotak kuning

The first step is to go to

Woah, Book Tiket Penerbangan MAS di Facebook!

Perasan tak dekat header blog ni, ada iklan MHbuddy? Facebook Application untuk share flight MAS dengan kawan-kawan di Facebook. Sangat efektif untuk kongsi penerbangan yang sudah dipilih dengan kawan-kawan. Senang la nak plan trip. I rarely review things for free tapi produk terbaru MAS ni sangat bagus. I need to share.

In case iklan tu dah tak da, (sebab bukan iklan buffer earning atau advertorial) boleh klik link ke facebook MHbuddy dia sini . Tak nak review lebih-lebih sebab review ini tidak berbayar. Hehe. Cukup lah sekadar diberitahu kewujudan MHbuddy.

Mengembara Ke Turki Tanpa Visa #2

Siri Mengembara Ke Turki Tanpa Visa nampaknya mendapat sambutan yang menggalakkan daripada para pengunjung Travelog Saya. Ini yang buat saya semangat nak menulis nih. Hehe. Bagi yang belum sempat membaca siri Mengembara Ke Turki Tanpa Visa #1, jangan malu-malu untuk membacanya terlebih dahulu. Nanti tertinggal pulak part 1, lompat terus ke part2. Oh ya, untuk pengetahuan tuan puan, adik abang sekalian, Siri ini saya labelkan dibawah label Info Travel. Boleh baca compilation Info Travel yang saya tulis di situ.

Sejujurnya, saya sendiri belum pernah menjejak benua Eropah dimana Turki berada. Apatah lagi Afrika. (Sila baca Ethiopia: Negara Yang Mempunyai 13 Bulan Dalam Setahun) Tetapi, oleh kerana sangat berminat untuk kesana bila ada peluang, I do a little bit of reading about Turkey and share with you. Bagi sesiapa yang pernah pergi ke Turki, kongsilah pengalaman anda diruangan komen. Jangan malu-malu :)

Ottoman Crest

Untuk justifikasi ke 3 sebab untuk melawat Turki adalah: di dalam sejarah moden dunia, banyak-banyak "negara Islam" di dunia ni, "negara Islam" manakah yang pernah menjadi kuasa besar dunia tanpa mengamalkan sistem demokrasi? A. Indonesia, B. Brunei, C.Arab Saudi D. Turki hah, jawab. Apa jawapannya?

Mengembara Ke Turki Tanpa Visa #1

Ada terbaca berita pasal Malaysia dan Turki dah mansuhkan keperluan visa?

ANKARA 23 Feb. – Malaysia dan Turki bersetuju memansuhkan keperluan visa untuk membolehkan rakyat masing-masing membuat lawatan antara satu sama lain.

Link berita disini

Do you know what does it means? Maknanya, kita cuma perlu buat passport antarabangsa, beli tiket penerbangan ke Atatürk International Airport, Istanbul, and as easy as that we are off to Turkey! No more hustle. Mungkin saya agak terlewat menggembar gemburkan berita ni tapi apa salahnya kan? better late than never. Lagipun, bukannya semua rakyat Malaysia berduyun-duyun ke Turki lepas kena announce pemansuhan keperluan visa ni. Mesti ada yang berbelah bagi nak pegi ke tak. Sebab tak boleh nak justify sebab apa nak pegi Turki. Kan?

Blue Mosque and the Bosphorus

Travelogue I Recently Follow #1

My friends and I are currently in the middle of completing extended proposal for our Final Year Project but some how I still got time to update my blog. I guess I am good at managing time heh or is it I am the only one with a blog in my circle of friends? Never mind that. I want to share with my beloved Travelog Saya visitor two blogs that I recently follow:

1. Iamthewitch (link)

I just love her writing. She's funny and quite adventurous. You should read her story when she had an accident when skiing in Beijing. Well, as long as we still alive, any minor accidents can eventually become a funny experience for us right? Haha. Oh ya, she featured on The Star Sunday Metro as a guest writer. Check out her blog! It is worth reading.

Gotta love her food entries!

2. My Kafkaesque life (link)

He is a European guy who likes to travel around asia. He had been to Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore bla bla you name it. Well, it excites you to read other people's review towards your country and other countries in the same region don't you? I am interested to know other point of view especially from the west/European side towards Asians. His review on South Korea had made me want to go there so baaaadd. Simply love the below 15 Celsius temperature. It is just too hawt in Tronoh!

This picture is not from his blog. He disabled right click. The picture above is in Korea though.

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Before you read those blogs, read mine first!! Click here for sitemap. All links in one page.

Negara Yang Mempunyai 13 Bulan Dalam Setahun: Ethiopia

"I need to tell you because this is a declarative knowledge!" Kata tutor lab Knowledge Management kami. "In Ethiopia, we have 13 months a year." Kami pun semua tekesima sekejap sebab: first - kami baru tau dia ni orang Ethiopia. Keduanya sebab ada jugak negara yang tak guna Gregorian calendar kat dunia ni. Ethiopia / Euthopia terletak di benua Afrika, bersempadan dengan Somalia dan Kenya. Boleh refer kat wiki (link). Okay, berbalik dengan cerita 13 bulan setahun..

Addis Ababa ialah ibu kota Euthopia

Cheap Travel By Sierra Black

Good points!

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By: Sierra Black

Travel has always been a priority for me. I love seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and just getting away from the routines of my daily life. Even more important, my family and close friends are a pretty far-flung crowd. I have loved ones spread from Boston to Buenos Aires. We buy a lot of plane tickets in my family. We buy so many tickets that I should have become savvy about how we buy them much earlier than I did.

For years, I’ve mainly just flown with JetBlue. I use Farecast to see if there’s a better deal available elsewhere. If there’s not a significantly cheaper ticket on that site, I buy my ticket through JetBlue. They generally have low fares and a good frequent-flyer program. This is a pretty simplistic approach. Since I’d never researched it carefully, I didn’t know if I was really getting the best deals on my travel.

Read full article at: Getrichslowly.org

Planning On Visiting Perak? | www.peraktourism.com

Have you ever heard of UTP? Not that UTP cable laa.

Most of us here in UTP (Universiti Teknologi Petronas) experienced the awkward moment when being asked by others especially the elders which university are we in. It usually goes like this:

"Adik belajar kat mana?"

- "Kat UTP, mak cik"

Dahi mak cik mula berkerut..

- "Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, UTP mak cik. Kat Tronoh, Perak. Otw ke Pangkor tuu"

" Oooooohh.."

Muka mak cik masih kebingungan buat-buat tau lokasi sebenar UTP.

Don't tell me you haven't experienced that..

Hopes Up High - Jangan Berhenti Berharap Asalkan Berusaha

Sangat sedih, sebak, pilu bercampur kecewa bila singgah blog-blog yang dapat buat advertorial hebat-hebat. Terutamanya bila benda yang diiklankan tu benda yang memang nak dibeli. Agak-agak blogger yang buat iklan untuk blackberry(bb) tu dapat bb free tak? Rasanya macam dapat kan? I was once awarded with an advertorial on TMtalk card. Memang kena bagi kad tu betul-betul untuk blogger guna dan review. RM30 jela. Plus tiket wayang, invitation to launching parties and stuff. Tapi kalau nak compare dengan free bb, macam langit dengan bumi la bezanya..

Oleh kerana buat masa ni belum ada plan nak travel, dan dah kehabisan modal nak update pasal travelling experience, Let me share you my travelling gadget/gear/needs wish list. Dengan harapan ada insan yang bermurah hati nak bagi benda-benda ni. Hehe

1. Deuter Bag

Latest collection: link

Ekceli ada sebiji kat rumah. Tapi size bag tu sangat lah besar. Baru guna sekali time pegi OBS Lumut. Masalah dengan bag-bag travel ni pulak, retail price macam haram. Atau dalam erti kata yang lain sangat mahal. Pastu kita isi baju penuh-penuh, malas nak bawak masuk flight sebab berat dan gemuk. Kena la letak dalam cargo. Masuk cargo, confirm lah kotor (kena grease, all kind of dirt and stuff). Beli mahal-mahal, last-last jadi buruk jugak..

Tapi tetap jugak nak 1!!

Buat masa ni, pakai dulu bag laptop swissgear ni. Yang penting ada bag pack. Ada orang nak beli kan untuk birthday tak? September ni. Hoho.

2. Compact Camera

Nikon Coolpix S1100 (14.1 megapixels, 3-inch touchscreen & 5x zoom NIKKOR glass lens)

Walaupun sangat-sangat berminat dalam photographing, rasanya tak perlu untuk memiliki DSLR canggih manggih untuk ambil gambar. Lagipun, ikut pengalaman saya, compact camera lagi convenient dibawak travelling compare to SLR yang besar tu. Plus, guna N70 pun boleh ambil gambar yang ala-ala professional apa?

Not bad lah snap guna N70 kan? Tapi dah enhance pakai photoscape la.

Oh, boleh baca review pasal Camera

Nikon Coolpix S1100

tu di sini: (Jeles diorang dapat review camera.. I need it so badly.. @timothytiah, give me one also!!

• Hanis Zalikha
• Kenwooi (Do you really get to own the camera?Bestnyaa!)

3. Smart Phone

Blackberry, iphone or any androids should be okay. Tapi yang penting, smart phone to boleh memudahkan kerja-kerja remeh yang kita selalu terlupa time travelling. Contohnya waktu solat waktu tempatan, arah kiblat, the nearest police station, currency exhacnge etc etc. "Peh, banyak la ko. Nak guna apps konon... Ko nak bergaya je kan? Bukan tak boleh tanya orang.." memang la boleh tanya orang, tapi kan lagi mudah kalau boleh dapatkan sendiri. Orang putih cakap convenient. Ni antara apps untuk travelling iphone offer: link

4. Money

Perlu explanation? Haha. Takda duit macamana nak travel. Warghhh.

P/s- Macam perlu postpone dulu trip ke Cambodia sebab kemungkinan ada trip free ke Medan atau Singapore. Hehe. Mungkin lah..

Tony, Don't Read This - Choosing The Cheapest One

A third article from Mr/s X. I think he/she is a frequent traveller. Got so many informative info on travelling by him/her recently. Please don't stop email me with your article. I bet you got a lot to share with us.

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With the introduction of low cost carrier, many have stereo typed that AirAsia is the cheapest option to fly. Many are not aware of deals done by full-fledged carrier such as Malaysia Airline which sometimes are much cheaper than AirAsia. Travellers should also bear in mind that when you are travelling on low cost carrier, you are only allowed to carry a hand carry luggage worth 5kg. any extra you need to pay yourself. And remember, no food free food will be served on board and there would be pay-per-use Inflight Entertainment. So if you called yourself a budget traveler, that doesn’t mean that, you should only travel by AirAsia.

Here I will be sharing some full-fledged carrier which transits in KUL before its final destination. So you could take advantage of this advantage, by getting low price and flying wide body aircraft to any of your final destination

Carrier	Final Destination (Airport code)	Frequency(per week)	Website
KLM	Jakarta(CGK)	7	www.klm.com
Kuwait Airways	Jakarta(CGK)	3	www.kuwait-airways.com
Air Zimbabwe	Beijing (PEK/BJS)	1	www.airzimbabwe.aero
Emirates	Melbourne (MEL)	7	www.emirates.com
Lufthansa	Bangkok(BKK)	4	www.lufthansa.com
Royal Jordanian	Bangkok(BKK)	3	www.rj.com
Qatar Airways	Phuket(HKT)	7	www.qatarairways.com
Yemenia	Dubai	2	www.yemenia.com

For those in Johor, you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to fly from Changi, Singapore instead of travelling all the way to KUL as this could save your time and money.

Carrier	Final Destination (Airport code)	Website
Cathay Pacific	Bangkok(BKK)	www.cathaypacific.com
Cathay Pacific	Colombo (CMB)	www.cathaypacific.com
Cathay Pacific	Jakarta(CGK)	www.cathaypacific.com
Emirates	Brisbane(BNE)	www.emirates.com
Emirates	Colombo(CMB)	www.emirates.com
Emirates	Melbourne(MEL)	www.emirates.com
Etihad	Brisbane(BNE)	www.etihad.com
KLM	Denpasar/Bali(DPS)	www.klm.com
Lufthansa	Jakarta(CGK)	www.lufthansa.com
Qatar Airways	Denpasar/Bali(DPS)	www.qatarairways.com
Qantas	Bombay(BOM)	www.qantas.com

These airlines might not offer the cheapest price but consider checking their websites before you purchase a flight ticket.For more info, feel free to visit www.airlineroute.com

“Travels open one’s heart to be better in many ways”

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The main point is, Mr/s X is telling us that we still can fly without Air Asia. Haha. Thanks again Mr/s X!

Get The Cheapest Flight With Plantripnow

Another great tips from Mr/s X. You should read his/her first writing. Click here. He/she still did not want to reveal his/her identity but continuously giving me articles on travelling. I bet you haven't heard about plantripnow right? Let Mr/s X show you how it works.

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Hi!! Im back for more travel tips.

This is one great website for local travellers finding the cheapest air fare to their preferred destination.The website is www.plantripnow.com.

After selecting you preferred destination to and from you are travelling together with you planned date, the site will populate all airlines serving the route with the cheapest option for you to choose. This certainly helps and save a lot of bucks, and I personally have been using this site to view cheapest option I have to fly. Don’t worry of any fraud as all transaction would be done at the respective airline website or if you still don’t trust them, just take the data you have got, go to the airline website and buy it as usual.

So here are pictorial guide on how to use the site.

For tutorial purpose I have selected to fly from KUL to BKI (Kota Kinabalu) on 1st april 2011 and returning on 3rd April 2011

Don't Get Sandwiched!

An anonymous voluntarily offers me his writing on Travelling tips. He / she didn't want to reveal his/her identity. So let it be. Anyhow, its an honour to have a guest writer in Malaysiasmack. I present you, Mr/s X. If you want to share anything in Malaysiasmack, please feel free to email me via eighteen7artwork@gmail.com

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This would be my first post on Malaysiasmack. Thanks for the opportunity to Mr Farid.

Universal Adapter @ Jakarta

Alhamdulillah, back safely to Tanah Bertuah Malaysia at 10:15pm local time last night (7 February 2011) from Soekarno International Airport, Jakarta. Gotta share with you some tips in Indonesia. You may read my previous post before reading this one: click here

ini ialah power plug di Indonesia. Ngak sama dengan di Malaysia bukan?

Solusinya, bawa bersama universal traveller adapter anda!

Tada! Berjaya mengecas telefon bimbit anda dengan jayanya. Konklusinya, jangan lupa untuk bawa universal adapter bila anda keluar negeri. Penting!

P/s- Ill share with you my experience in Jakarta - Bandung later. Eh, Beijing trip pun tak habis tulis lagi kan? adoi..