Dahab

Late that night, leaving Cairo and going to Dahab, another 10 hours journey on bus, passing through the Suez Canal, before moving on a long and endless sand desert road straight to Dahab, getting thru some military checkpoints continuously asking for your passport, since Dahab is situated in Sinai peninsular, a region just next to the Israel border, the immigration procedures were a bit strict and made me felt like an illegal Indonesian immigrant (even though they always confusedly thought me as a Chinese, seriously I’m not lying)

Our arrival in Dahab warmly welcomed by Arabians taxi drivers competing against each others to offer their services, met a Russian traveler calling himself a Londoners which really can’t find the connection, offered to help us in getting a cheap taxi and end up squeezing 7 peoples (including the driver plus the Russian) in a taxi, went straightly to the Seven Heaven Hotel, much more a motel to me, surrounded by brick house huts in an area looks like gulf war refugee’s camp, but nothing much to complaint, the cheapest available motel in Dahab, what else to expect?

Dahab, at a glance, was just a tiny and dull town on the coast of the red sea, the streets were lined with seafood restaurants and souvenirs shops. There wasn’t much to do in Dahab except for sea diving and snorkeling, and as for us, at this period of time in winter, with this Malaysian pampered skin on our body, seeing other tourists with their scuba accessories; goggles, swim suits and what-not, were just enough. It’s not that we’re afraid of the cold water, but we’re just taking a precaution action preventing from unnecessary melting nose afterward

The whole evening we went on a camel trip, walking trough the desert, climbing up the canyon, before enjoying the sunset with a cup of tea, prepared on an open fire, the Bedouin style. Then, had our seafood dinner by the seaside, and it was really nice to be treated like some kind of millionaire in a restaurant similar to a café in a five star hotel by the red sea, even though it was dark and nothing much to see except for the food and some hungry Malaysian in front of you. Later, went back to the hotel and had some rest...Still had a mountain to climb

Dahab dari atas bukit

pak arab tekun memanaskan air teh

At 1 o’clock early in the morning, arrived at St Catherine National Park, going to climb the Mount Moses (Jabal Musa), a place where Moses meet the God. With the guide from a bidouin, we did the 3 hour hike up to the summit. Among the earliest to reach the summit, no one to welcome us except some bidouins selling blankets and mattress. The condition up there was dark and cold, cold until my hands were freezing and begun to numb. What really amazed me is that there were a small mosque, a church and a 5 pounds toilet up there on the summit. How on earth they’re able to build such structures on top of a 2300m mountain? I’m totally amazed. At 5.30 in the morning, no matter how bad a night we had spent up there, the sunrise just about made up for it, a pure natural beauty.

Saat matahari terbit di puncak Jabal Musa


tandas 5 pounds per entry

Hiking the Mount Moses was really exhausting and sleeping for the whole day was a good revenge I guess…

To be continued

KL to Cairo

Flying with Egypt Air through Mumbai, nothing much to do, nothing much to observe, I’m expecting to see beautiful Egyptian stewardess (jeles la tuh, no offence ok), but lucky I am not, there were only old steward and stewardess deserved to be called uncle and aunty on board, pity me, in the cramped seat I decided to sleep

After a long and sleepy 12 hours flight, finally arrived at Cairo International Airport, still dark and early in the morning, cold and frosty, it was winter in Egypt, the temperature was 12 degrees celcius, I had never thought a country like Egypt will be colder than what we have in Cameron Highlands or UTP’s Chancellor Hall, misinterpretation

At the immigration counter, being asked questions in Arabic which I am speechless to answer, at last the officer said to me in English with a grin on his face, “You’re Muslim and you should be able to speak in Arabic”, yeah I agreed, shame on me, but to be truth the officer was actually speaking to me in ammi Arabic, (bahasa arab pasar), which differ from what being recite in Quran or prayer..So nothing to be shame aite (saja bagi sedap hati, padahal arab baku pun bukannya phm sgt pun, nk ckp lagi laa kantoi)

The sun starting to rise, the location to go was Malaysian Hall in Abbasiyah, decided to take a taxi, witnessed the ‘deal or no deal’ situation with the taxi driver which is very common in Egypt, negotiation for the taxi fare beforehand is a must or else you will end up paying ridiculous amount of money, finally at 50 gernih (kira rm50 duit arab la tu) we proceed to Abassiyah (tambang asal 70 gernih, last2 turun jd 50 gernih, senang2 je arab ni kencing nk ambik kesempatan, cet)

Arrived at the Malaysian Hall or commonly known as ARMA (Asrama Malaysia), ARMA is a place where some of Malaysian students studying in Cairo live, actually outsiders like us are not allowed to stay there but there’ll always a way beb, hahaha, initial plan was to pass the guard by walking ‘slumberly’, pretend to be just like other students walking in and out of the hostel, but damn ‘kantoi’ (sorg2 beg besaq gerabak sapa suruh, for sure tak nmpk cam student yg bwk buku seketul dua je kepit celah ketiak), at first, we’re still saying that we’re students there and just went back from a vacation at somewhere far away, “Show me your student card”, the Arabian guy said to us like a school teacher scolding his students, still not satisfied eh, my brother confidently replied speaking in Arabic which the translation sounded something like this, “the truth is we’re not students here in Cairo but we’re all students from Alexandria and we’re really sorry for lying in the first place, unfortunately we had left our student cards back in Alexandria since we’re coming here just to visit our friends here in ARMA, something like ziarah-ziarah qudwah fiisabilillah kind of thing", huh, this is what I called ‘tipu dalam tipu’, (tipu menipu nih mmg menjadi amalan arab pun)

At last mission accomplished, I’m relieved to be eventually able to lay my back and take a proper nap at this so-called Asrama Malaysia

To be continued...

tengah negotiate ngan pak arab teksi

kelibat wira emas dari dalam teksi

MISR

winter sejuk cam syiaaalll..


aku ada kt mesir skang nih, nnt blk msia baru aku update blog, nk bg suvenir sorg satu mmg la takpat cek, ekonomi meleset beb..sangap nk suvenir gak? baca blog aku sudey, cincai2 kira suvenir gak la tuh

aku berhenti berharap

Petronas shuts petrochemical plants
By FINTAN NG and LEE KIAN SEONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has shut down indefinitely several petrochemical plants in Kertih, Terengganu and Gebeng, Pahang as demand for polymers fell sharply due to a slump in overseas factory orders.

Chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Hassan Merican said the materials were used to produce consumer goods and hence would be the first to get hit in a global slump.

“Resins are stocking up at Kertih due to lack of demand. When there’s no market for polymers or resins, there is no point producing,” he said. He did not give a timeframe when production would resume.

read further here

what’s next after university?

nk cari keja tak semangat, rilek2 dlu, nnt once dh msk alam pekerjaan xle dh nk rilek2, responsibility dh byk, masa pun cepat berlalu, tetiap hr pegi keja pkul 8 blk keja pkul 5, mlm lak abedaa sbb letih, rutin yg sama, tup2 umur dh 40 thn, baru le nk terigt tym muda2 dlu..

based on apa yg aku tahu secara puratanya manusia zaman skang ni mampu hidup sampai 60 thn je, klu ikut umur nabi lak sampai 63 thn je, so klu tempoh hayat manusia ni diibaratkan cam jam kt dinding yg ada 60 minit tu, umur kita yg 20 thn plus+ ni kiranya jarum dia tgh duk tunjuk kt angka 4 la, more than quarter of our life have passed, nk smp separuh dh perjalanan hidup kita kt muka bumi ni, so setakat ni..apa hasil?

btw, aku mampu ckp pe klu org tnya, I’ve completed my university life, blum dpt degree lg tp dh ada transkrip rm10 kira ok whut (buat duit sungguh utp nih), dari umur 6 thn dah kena bergelumang dgn pelbagai knowledge2 dan informasi2 yg perlu di’compressed’ dlm kepala otak yg hanya sebesar 2 bijik penumbuk yg dicamtum together, well done my friend, we’ve survived the Malaysian too-exam-oriented education system, takdenye kena barah2 otak pun, dan takde gak yg mati bunuh diri terjun bangunan ke, kne masuk wad psikiatrik ke dsb, syabas buat diri anda..

*****

sebulan pertama pas abih semua exam, presentation and whatsoever nih, aku takmo sentuh langsung buku2 yg berbentuk akademik ada equation calculation sort of things, letih dah ng benda2 akademik nih, bukan tinggal terus takmo sentuh langsung cam benda tu najis mughallazah, tp tinggal kejap je la, lgpun kan proses pembelajaran tu tak berhenti sampai peringkat universiti ja, but more than that..

aku nk travel jd backpacker, bwk baju dua tiga helai, pukoi kaki p bejalan melihat keindahan dunia, terigt lak crita ‘into the wild’, crita pasai sorg mamat nih pas grad ja terus meghilangkan diri pegi mengembara ke Alaska mencari ketenangan jauh dari hiruk pikuk kota, tp aku takmo la jd cam dia, apa jadah kan, last2 crita dia mati sebab termakan buah beracun, setel suda..

hahaha, aku ni karang ayat mcm aku ni tourist mat2 saleh yg slalu mai malaysia galas beg besaq pakai spek mata hitam pastu tnya direction “where is the national monument?”..aku bukan seperti itu yah, aku just nk p visit adik aku ja, so takda la challenging sampai kena mempraktikkan istilah ‘malu bertanya sesat jln’ once kt sana, kata dah ada tourist guide bertauliah, takda masalahnya, but who knows..tempat penginapan pun takyah pk, tp aku tak kisah pun klu kena tidur tepi jln, yg penting buku pelajaran buang tepi no more quadratic formula for the time being..

*****

and the month after that, job hunting begin..betelo kot klu duk rumah lama2 tak buat keja, pk nk cari keja nih bikin aku serabut, niat hati nk keja ng pet menabur budi pada negara tp apakan daya, takyah berharap sgt, senior aku grad sem lps recommended pun takpat lg, to make things worse dia ee lak tuh, so bule la berkira2 angkat kaki cari kompeni lain, tp situasi complicated btol, nk cabut p tempat len pun bukan senang2 cam hg jentik buah karom, kompeni len takmau budak2 yg bonded nih, takdak keja bg bdk2 ni position, keja baru sebulan dua ttba pet panggil depa blk, dh kurang sorg pekerja, pastu kna cari pengganti blk, susah2..

buat demotivated bule lak mamat ni, tak susah mana pun, yg penting planning kena mantap, manipulate the problem to be your advantage, lagak bercakap cam personal development coach, takleh blah aku..so apa perancangan? aku tny mak aku, mmg la dia suh duk rmh memasak, kemas rumah, bekebun dsb, aku kata kt mak aku, “cek takmo duk rumah ja, duit tak masyuk poket, len la klu ada sistem pembayaran megikut jam di rumah” mak aku pun bg ayat bernas blk kt aku “hang keja ja la kt supermarket”..mmg brilliant, tak perlu cari alasan cmn nk kencing kt employer nk explain yg hg bukan scholar pet, aku tny pakcik aku pun dia suh keja supermarket, to be more specific dia suh keja ng tesco, maybe sbb dia pelanggan tetap tesco kot, so dia rs berbangga klu ada sanak saudara dia yg menyumbangkan tenaga untuk menyediakan perkhidmatan yg terbaik di kalangan pengguna..

tp smp bila nk keja camtu, degree tinggi2 buat pa..itu sbg permulaan, pengalaman keja tu yg lbe penting skang ni, jgn bazirkan masa camtu ja..pengalaman keja tesco ja buat pa, nnt klu hg nk keja engineer bukan depa nk tgk pun..hahaha, ini yg org ckp kna pandai manipulasi keadaan, perancangan aku camni, dengan duit yg tak seberapa hasil titik peluh bekerja sbg kuli tu, aku nk enroll dlm Institut Latihan Industri (ILT), amik course chargemen, buat part time dh la, hujung minggu p klas, so amacam? brilliant..

masa 6 bulan tempoh idah sebelum di’release’ oleh pet tu takde la terbuang begitu saja, lgpun tym hg nk p interview tempat len nnt pun hg dah ada something yg lbe dari org len yg baru grad, pengalaman bekeja di tesco untuk menampung yuran pengajian untuk kursus chargemen, mmg la interviewer tu ckp hg ni eager to learn, hardworking and other positive attributes you name it yourself..

*****

bukan niat aku nk influence hampa suh follow plan aku ka hapa, tp aku just nk share je la planning aku, and most importantly to remind myself to appreciate the time as it deserve to, live no regret beb

pertama kali di'tagged'

Aku yg di’tagged’

1. pergi mana2 je, org akan ckp kt aku “you look familiar”, famous public figures look-a-like perhaps
2. kuat melalut keluar topik ketika bercakap, that’s why aku malas ckp bbyk
3. suka usap rambut di bawah dagu tym berfikir, not the only one having this habit, med pun sama gak cam aku
4. suka tgk Martha Stewart Show, aku take note tips2 dia kasi, pastu buat2 pandai dpn mak sendiri
5. tidur ketika menonton wayang mmg hobi aku
6. tgk muvi kt pc pun aku suka ‘pause’ tym tgh2 cerita, tido jap, pastu bgn sambung balik
7. berpeluh tym beli nasi lemak, maybe sbb nasi lemak tu yg panas, atau awek2 situ yg hot, atau mmg aku yg hot no one can’t complain, you judge? wakaka

Org yg men’tagged’ aku

1. sebut nama ko, org akan relate ng kereta atos
2. one of the otai taiko in ee, seangkatan ng waty
3. suara ngko unik, unik bukan bermaksud lunak seperti siti nurhaliza yah
4. ko ni kuat meronggeng, hidup enjoy abis tp..
5. scorer dlm exam, nampak cam tak kuat stadi pun tp pandai geliga cam sang kancil
6. vocab ko power, no wonder aku buleh terikut pakai perkataan ‘hectic’ ko
7. aishah dan atos, sama2 laju…bukan aku ckp tp org len yg ckp
   

Org yg aku nk tag

1. amin
2. jamel
3. waty
4. kn
5. uena
6. sakinah
7. kamu yg sweet itu

reverse psychology attempt

Bangun di pagi hari bajet mau stadi tak toleh kanan kiri, tp aku silap, aku tak perasan gajet kt depan aku nih lagi la hyper besar penangannya..hoho,aku ON pc aku sbb nk cari motivation je ok, don’t get the wrong idea here..tp sudah tabie manusia,ckp tala selupa bikin maa,mula2 jari telunjuk je yg buat giat klick sana klik sini,pastu jari2 len pun turut memberontak mahukan keadilan, mahukan perubahan,last2 skali terhasil la post ini, aku bingung ng jari2 ku sendiri..

*****

I’m touch actually, touch with a post from a friend of mine, about her mom being a reverse psychologist, giving advices to her, not by scolding her “kaw2nya”, but just simply by slow talking not-direct-to-the-point something like that, in malay we called it as “marah bukan kebencian tp tanda sayang”, wei!! its wrong laa, in malay we called it as “tegur berkias”, as for me I should always called it as “kalau terasa padan muka, kalau tak terasa peduli hapa aku,hahaha”

Enough of the babbling, I suddenly realize that she is very lucky, and I am as well, why? because we are still breathing this air at the moments where our moms and dads still breathing the same air as we are, not to say that one day in the future, our parents breathe oxygen while we breathe the carbon monoxide, I’m just saying that we’re lucky to live the moments, share the happiness and sadness together with our beloved parent while they’re still alive, to have someone who always remind us on so many things until we can’t imagine how spacious their head are, to actually keep the reminders, not just for themselves but also for others, a big round of applause to them..not enough huh? lets make a thanksgiving party for them, still not enough? “do you really need me to buy a lamborghini car or what to make you satisfied”, the father suddenly said softly “cukuplah sekadar doa agar bahagia dunia dan akhirat”, and the son reply spontaneously “betol2, I know that..i just want to bribe you with those materialistic things, to actually see how materialistic you are, but I know you’re not right?” the father, with a smile on his face, answer “that’s true, you’re so intelligent and “mulut manis” eh, nah amik duit sepuloh ribu ni,buat belanja kawin, belen dia masuk poket”, “belen celah mana? wanita2 skang ni mana dpt nya sepuloh ribu, semua stok graduate universiti, kompem la juai mahai” the son only whispering for his own ears while his hand grabbing the whole money..

Perhaps this post a little bit off topics or any other terms that you would like to called it, but as far as I’m concerned, and hopefully you're also concerned, appreciate your parents, make them happy while you can, although sometime you just feel uncomfortable for doing so, just try to be sincerely as you can, “kat awek buleh wat2 caring, tny dh mkn belom, sihat ke tak, tgh watpe tuh,cantik la baju awak mcm orgnya jugak..kt mak ayah tak buleh plak wat caring sweet talking camtu”, hahaha, this is what I called “kalau terasa padan muka, kalau tak terasa peduli hapa aku,hahaha”, I’m off here..

P/s: still wonder if one day before he die, will he say "how lucky i am for having you as one of my sons"?