Taiwan free and easy- 7 days

7 Jan 2020
8.15 am Flight Air Asia dari Klia2 ke Kaohsiung
12.30 pm arrived safely at Kaohsiung, Taiwan - We took train to Kaohsiung arena station to Long Xiang Hotel - We took cab to Dragon and Tiger pagoda -  Dinner at Indonesian restaurant - later walk to banana pier nearby - To Ruifeng Night market

8 Jan
8 am breakfast with hotel coupon at mc Donald!
9 am took uber taxi to Gushan pier going to Cijin island - Light house, rainbow chapel, dried seafood product market
3 pm speed train to Taichung
5 pm arrived at Taichung central station - checked in at Kiwi station hotel nearby
6 pm dinner at Kiki Indon Restaurant - ice-cream at Miyahara

 9 Jan
7 am hotel breakfast
8 am charted car ride to Sun Moon Lake with Mr Chan
10 am boat ride around lake from main jetty to Syuangang jetty near Lulu island - hiking uphill to Clen Pagoda the highest point of Sun Moon Lake
12 noon lunch at Halal Chinese restaurant in Pali
2 pm drove back to Taichung with stopover at Rainbow village@ an old village with 20 houses being held heritage due to colourful painting by an old man @grandpa
4 pm arrived at Geomei Wetlands for  a very beautiful sunset and windy beach - also known for wind turbines field
6 pm stopped over at pineapple cakes house for famous Taiwan desserts
Dinner in hotel

10 Jan
7 am breakfast at hotel
8 am we browsed nearby area for morning local market and heritage village
12 noon took train to Xinwuri station for another speed train ride to Taipei
2 pm checked in airbnb at Asia Central Building in front of Taipei central station
5 pm walked to halal beef chinese noodles restaurant and to Xi Men Ding night market

11 Jan
7 am home cooked breakfast
8 am charted car tour to north region of Taipei with guide mr Peter
9 am arrived at Yehliew Geopark- beautiful rock formation - then to Rui fang district  for Jiufen old street populated by old Chinese and Japanese occupants as gold diggers- to cat village and mines museum at Houtong - to Pingxi district for Shifen old street lantern festival by an old rail tracks
dinner at home

12 Jan
After home cooked breakfast we took hop -on -hop-off bus ride each cost 600 nt for one day
Blue bus going for grand hotel, presidential palace, chiang kai shek palace and Taipei 101
Red bus going Lijiang night market and Taipei 101 too

13 jan
9 am ready for Taipei airport
5 pm arrived Klia2
   

Chasing falls in Honshu, Japan

Day 1 - 2/11/2018

Klia - Narita MAS
Flught was almost full.. Our entourage ada 9 orang with 3 guys.. Dr Nash was our leader as he made this trip happened!
From Narita we took the subway line to Oshiage, suburb Tokyo. We bought the Pasmo card for our use in Tokyo trains. Kept our luggages at station lockers since it’s still early for checkup in our rented house.(Airbnb)
From Oshiage we took their mrt to Ueno, Ameyoko Market. This market was given this name as American market as they were selling mostly imported goods... still there are some local products you can find there.
Then we board mrt to Asukasa to see their famous temple and head for muslim ramen restaurant nearby for our jamak prayers and ramen...

Day 2 -3/11/2018
Breakfast in house with our bekal yg banyak tu...
From Oshiage we took mrt to Shibuya to see the famos zebra crossings and nad the lagendry Hachiko dog.
Then hop on to Shinjuku as Nash said we can only find tall buildings here. Japan were exposed to rampant earthquakes so the govt were very strict with their laws.. and only in Shinjuku were allowed with tall buildings as the were many goverments offices were here. Off course the buildings were with all the safety measures.
As we approached the park we saw banners that they were having Malaysian Fair there... we had photos with Amy search and some malay delicacies...
Then we head on to Akihabara fot the gadgets town@ electronics. Stops for solat at mussola in one departmental store and to Indian muslim restaurant for naan n biryani dinner.
Then we off to Nippori known as textile town. Borong banyak cotton materials.... murah la jugak.. then back to Oshiage.

Airbnb Oshiage house - 2 nights stay.
It’s a 3 storey narrow house with 5 rooms, 3 baths and 3 separate toilets. The spiral stairs make it more difficult to move. 2 rooms with double bed, one with single bed and another 2 rooms with futons on tatami. The house equiped with microwave and washing machine. Sincerely i do not recommend this house for the elderly or anyone with knee problems....

Day 3- 4/11/2018
Selepas breakfast kita checkout our Oshiage house to Ueno. Check-in bags kat lockers  and we head to Kawaizumi. Ada outlets on branded items and very near to Nagano yg famous for Winter Olympics. Boleh nampak ski slopes dari Kawaizumi...
Balik stopped at Tokyo station for solat jamak and moved to Yoyoji. Kami solat maghrib/isya kat famous Tokyo Camii Mosque. Dinner sekali lagi kat muslim pakistani restaurant - naan  , biryani n butter chicken.
Back to Ueno check-in @Mystays hotel.

Mystays hotel Ueno - one night
The hotel was surprisingly equiped with microwave though it was not very spacious. Furnished to modern taste and clean. It was about 20 min walk from the station.

Day 4 - 5/11/2018
As early 8 am we were moving to our next destination. We took super express shikansen to Sendai on the north of Honshu island. The ride took us 1 hour 30 minutes with top speed of 350km/hr.
By 9.30 am we arrived at Sendai station. From station we walked to our next hotel - Dormy Inn. After checked in we took another local train to Aomori. From Aomori station we have to take another old local train to Aomori Port (Port to Hokkaido) where we were hunting for fresh sushi and other seafood dishes for our lunch at the local fish market. They had sushi shashimi tempura and etc. Aomori town is famous for their apples and pears. We tasted local apple pies at the train station, it was delished!


Hotel Dormy Inn  - One night
This hotel was about 30 minutes walked across the town. With bigger spaces and modern deco. Right in the middle of Sendai town, the hotel offered hotbath in their common area as well as paid laundry machines.

Day 5 - 6/11/2018
By 7 am we moved back to Sendai station for our next journey to Kawaguchiko. Since it was still early we went for a short detour to Aoba Castle. From Aoba station it was a real walk up the hill for the castle and Aoba city view. The sceneries was sooo nice.
Back in Sendai we took another shikansen Express to Tokyo as there were no direct train to Kawaguchiko. From Tokyo station we transfer mrt to Shinjuku for another express shikansen to Otsuki Station. Then we took Thomas land train from Otsuki to Kawaguchi station. Thomas land train was painted and decorated with all Thomas and friends characters. Beautiful and fun..
From the train station we had another shuttle arranged by the hotel to our destination Yamagishi Hotel. After checked in we heading for boat ride around the lake. It took us around 45 minutes .Santai...

Yamagishi Ryokan Hotel - 2 nights
This hotel served the japanese traditional accomodation with full course of breakfast and dinner... hahaha this is luxury! Also this ryokan has a divided hotbaths rooms. We slept on futons with tatami. It’s a five
stars.

On the first night, after dinner we walked across the Kawaguchi lake to the musical forest.  Only the singlets and Nash walked together. The married couples tood a taxi ride as they said it was too far for them. After 3 hours walking we filled ourselves with family mart’s foods next door!
The musical forest was not in the forest but it was a village decorated with lights on all their trees... it was very colorful and from far it looked bright and beautiful.

Day 6 - 7/11/2018
Breakfast was served with japanese foods too. Then we took the hotel shuttle to Kawaguchi station before we took another bus ride to 5th station on Fuji foothill. The day was cloudy so we were very sad to say we cannot have a proper view of snowcap Fuji mountain! After shopped for souvenirs and ice creams we came down back to Kawaguchi station to a sumptious udon meal at an old udon restaurant right infront of the station. As Nash asked the owner they said that they can prepare us the no meat meals The dishes were really good as we were also very hungry... again the couples didn’t want to join us.
After solat at the ryokan we went out again to Roperail Cablecar at a nearby station.the 15 minutes cable car ride brought us to the top hill whereby we were supposed to have a great view of Fuji Mountain. But with the cloudy weather again we were hampered. Down from cable car we stopped at the local bakery for hot tea and cheese cake. Again we the singlets have a walk-a-round the lake for another 2 hours.
Back in the ryokan for dinner and resting..

Day7 - 8/11/2018
It was a pack that we woke up as early as 3.30 am to feel the hotbath....end up we only celup kaki...
By 7 am after breakfast we checked out and head to station for our next destination Nagoya. From Kawaguchi to Otsuki we took an electric steam rail. From Otsuki to Shiojiri we took Azusa shikansen for one hour ride. From Shiojiri to Nagoya anither express train for 2 hours.
In Nagoya we sent luggages and checked in Hotel Via about 10 minutes walk from the station.After solat we made our next tour on the hop-on-hop-off city tour. We had brief stop at Toyota Planet, Noritake factory outlet and old castle. Dinner we had maguro, japanese meals at the mall near the main station.

Day 8 - 9/11/2018
After checked out we took Hikari Express shikansen from Nagoya to Hiroshima. According to Nash Hikari is the second fastest shikansen in Japan after Nozomi700.
Upon arrival Hiroshima station after 10 am we deposited our luggages into paid lockers and took another local train to Miyajima station. From there we had to board ferry to Miyajima Island. It’s a small island in the south east of Honshu.This island is famous for state of the art red color shrine off the shore. We had lunch with their famous oyster dishes. From Miyajima guchi jetty we back to Miyajima station for another local train ride to Kokuru Station in Kyushu Island.
From Kokuru we took another local train to Moji-ko, a retro town of Moji Port. The town was rebuilt beautifully and very windy. We spent about 2 hours wrapping the whole town.Back from Kokuru station to Hiroshima we rode Sakura express shikansen.
We had to take local tram to our next stay airbnb apartment. The apartment was very comfortable and roomy compared the one in Tokyo city.

Day 9 - 10/11/2018
After breakfast we walked to the nearby Hiroshima Atomic Monument site we spent about 3 hrs moving around the historical site garden, famous Hiroshima Dome and the museum. Some parts of the site were closed for restoration in progress.
By noon we took the super express Sakura to Shin Osaka. From Shin Osaka we took another train to Kujo station. In Kujo, Osaka we took another airbnb but this time only for the singlet ladies. The couples stayed at hotel near the station and Nash opted to stay near airport as the next day is his flight back to KL.
The airbnb house with 4 rooms and narrowly 3 floors built. Dinner was back with Nash as we were looking for wagyu dish. We had Yakiniku and wagyu at one halal restaurant in Osaka.

Day10 - 11/11/2018
First day without Nash we hired Nizam as our local guide.From Kujo st- Osaka st- Kyoto st. Kyoto is an old town. We took a bus ride from main station to Kita-ku, the famous picturesque golden temple from there we took another bus to Bamboo forest, where we had aur lunch and prayers at one halal restaurant. Ada tempat ambil wudhu siap.
After that we took local train to Gion, town famous for geisha...walked on streets in Gion and climbed the steep hill to the pagoda and view off Kyoto. After starbuck break we headback to Kujo for home cooked dinner. We passed the leftovers of jajan n noodles to Nizam.

Day 11 - 12/11/2018
From Kujo we had a direct local train to Kobe- Hanshin line. In Kobe we bought loop bus ticket. Hop-in/off .most of the time we were on busses and stopped by the city hall observation deck on 24th floor, kobe tower and. Ferry tour.
From Kobe st we walked to Kobe mosque and had our dinner nearby muslim biryani restaurant. From Kobe we went back to Osaka city for Namba and Dotonburi. We were looking for glico-man and bigcamera store.

Day 12 - 13/11/2018
After checkout Kujo we head to Osaka Namba station and to Izumi station. We checked in for the last  time. From Izumi we went to Rinku brand outlet near Kansai. Jumpa la coach and kipling and chocolates.... We had dinner at pizza outlet. Sampai 2 round ke outlet sehari.

Day 13 - 14/11/2018
By 5 am we took a shuttle from hotel to Kansai airport as our flight will be around 8 am

Persiapan mengejar musim luruh di Japan- DIY

Apa perlu buat sebelum pergi.

Beberapa bulan sebelum pergi perlu di buat rancangan bila mahu pergi. Memandangkan Jepun banyak terdedah pada bencana seperti monsun,  ribut, taufan dan juga gempa bumi, banyak perkara harus di ambil perhatian. Akhirnya keputusan diambil untuk menjelajah Jepun pada dua minggu di awal November. Ini juga tertakluk pada persetujuan 'tour guide' yang di lantik yang akan mengenalkan kami pada budaya dan kehidupan di Jepun.

Tiket penerbangan harus ditempah lebih awal untuk mendapatkan diskaun sebanyak mungkin. Harga tiket agak berpatutan bila ada 'sales' dan promosi. Mengikut pengalaman guide@ dr Nash, kami akan bergerak menjelajah banyak menaiki keretapi laju Shinkansen. Jadi untuk penjimatan seterusnya sebelum berangkat kami perlu membeli tiket JR RailPass bagi perjalanan seminggu@ 7 hari. Semasa promosi Matta Fair harga JR Rail pass juga turut diberi sedikit diskaun.

Bila menghampiri bulan Ogos kami mula mengenalpasti arah perjalanan di Jepun. Hendak melawat apa dan bermalam di mana. Bila 'route' dah pasti barulah tempahan hotel dan Airbnb di buat. Memandangkan kumpulan ini agak ramai dan ada ' couples' dan dr Nash, banyak yang perlu diambil kira. Akhirnya dua minggu sebelum berlepas semua sudah dapat di atur dengan sesempurna mungkin.

Seminggu sebelum pergi kami mengikuti rapat semua berita yang berlaku di sana terutamanya tentang cuaca. Pakaian yang perlu di bawa harus sesuai ikut cuaca. Arah utara Jepun agak sejuk berbanding dengan di selatan. Ada juga ramalan hujan sewaktu di sekitar tasik Kawaguchi.
Kasut harus sesuai dengan banyak jelajah jalan kaki yang akan kami lalui. Perhatian juga pada saiz bag yang di bawa kerana ada tempat yang perlu menggunakan loker storage di stesen keretapi. Selebihnya bawalah wang belanja untuk diri sendiri bagi biaya semasa di sana terutamanya untuk makan dan souvenir. Akhir sekali bawalah hati dan fikiran yang terbuka untuk berlibur dan banyakkan sabar bila pergi dalam kumpulan yang besar. Kata pepatah kita akan mengenali seseorang itu bila kita berjalan musafir dengan orang itu...wallahua'llam

Ramadhan datang lagi... aku Berharap tahun ni dapat lebih mengabdikan diri, lebih ibadat, lebih baca Quran kurang buang masa dgn tak faedah, kurangkan makan.... Hari ni dah cukup 5 Hari. belum pun mula puasa sebenarnya, dah pergi shopping Kat kwc Emmmm... best jugak tapi sakit kaki berjalan turun naik mall tu.. Ada gak rasa macam jalan Kat MBK... Not bad tau, jumpa macam-macam Kat situ akhirnya.. hai sesiapa tak pernah sampai tu elok la jenguk situ sebelum rasa nak shopping ke Bandung ke Bangkok ke....

Hari ni dapat call dr Na. Dah lama tak dengan cerita kawan kita ni. Agaknya hari ni dia tak ada kelas tuition,jadi boleh layan sembang. Na seorang sahabat yang sangat saya hargai kerana sesekali dia akan bertanya khabar, updates hal hal kawan dan keluarga. Hari ini mula cerita pasal anak dan pelajaan, mak mana tak risau kalau anak tetiba talipon nangis ditalian. Rupanya tak faham apa yang diajar di kelas... alangkah bertuah Na ada anak yang perihatin tentang pelajaran... alangkah bagusnya kalau along kita pun macam itu... ini tidak, dapat markah 20 until maths pun masih boleh berkata "riles la ma"... Fening kita dibuatnya. Na ni tinggal seorang saja lagi yang masih di sekolah. Seorang dah habis degree, serang tengah sambung degree and seorang lagi baru masuk kolej persediaan. Untung jagak Na, tak lama lagi lega sikit bila semua dah peringkat pengajian tinggi. Kita jugakla lama lagi nak menapak. yang si adik baru nak upsr.. Then kita cerita tentang kawan lama yang telah lama juga merantau....Dari setahun ke setahun tak balik-balik. Cuma ada balik bercuti dan sempat ziarah Na... tapi disebalik tu rupanya kawan kita ni tengah menambah pelaburan....Bukan buka cawangan baru, tapi pelaburan harta untuk masa depan. Itu pun perancangan dia untuk anakanak. Macamana pun sekalung "tahniah" untuk kawan kita... Cerita pasal tambah cawangan, kerap kali diumur senja ini kita jumpa cerita yang tak sedap dihadam oleh kaum hawa tapi menjadi halwa manis untuk kaum adam... Rata rata kalau tanya orang lelaki mana yang tak nak bini lebih...maksudnya lebih dari satu... Kalau berupaya dan berkemampuan tu tak tanya pun memang dah pasang angan angan siap. Dalam golongan kawan kawan pun dah berapa ramai yang memegang payung emas ini....dan yang tak berapa best tu dalam keluarga terdekat pun cerita ini tak berkecuali.... Tapi nasihat aku, pandai buat pandai tanggung. Jangan sampai menyusahkan orang sudah la....Ini bukan kes makan cili terasa pedas, kot kalau kata dah bengkak biir pun kadang tu orang susah nak mengaku buat perkara ini... Kesiannya pada pihak yang teraniaya atau terkena...Cuma sang suami tu kalau ya pun nak buka cawangan buat la dengan cara yang betul, jangan baling batu sorok tangan. Ikutla peraturan, kita ni hidup sekeliling ada undang undang. Isteri pertama tu jangan diperlekehkan, jauh sekali ditipudaya... Orang kata sepandaipandai tupai melompat akhirnya jatuh ke tanah jua... bangkai macamana sorok pun tetap berbau...Kalau dah pecah pandai pandai la selesaikan dengan cara baik. Keluarga harus diutamakan, bela nasib anak dan isteri pertama tu walau pun yang baru tu maih muda dan bergetah kata orang... Yang ditakuti nanti yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran....dah banyak kita tengok benda ni berlaku... so ambil la iktibar wahai sang suami....fikir panjang sebelum ambil sebarang keputusan..cuma ingat kalau dah tak ada persefahaman, jangan siksa sparing partner anda... semua orang berhak bahagia walau dengan cara mereka sendiri.... Betulla bahagia mesti dicari, tapi kalau dah cuba tapi tetap tak boleh jugak tu, mungkin jalan terbaik adalah mencari haluan masing masing... mungkin kita masih oleh jumpa greener pestures on the other side....wallah-hu-allam Akhirnya balik pada sembang Na tadi sejam berlalu tak terasa...tapi sekurangnya puas melepas rasa dengan kisah kita, Na kata dia kena sambung buat cream untuk creampuff sebab customer nak datang ambil dalam setengah jam lagi....Insyaallah lain kali kita sembang lagi. Assalamualaikum....

Ramadhan datang lagi...

Hari berlalu, usia bertambah pejam celik dah nak masuk bulan puasa, Ramadhan. Ya Allah pertemukanlah aku dengan bulan Mu yang ,mulia ini..semoga di tahun ini aku akan melipat gandakan usaha mencari redha Mu. Azamku biarlah dapat beramal ibadat dengan tenang sepanjang bulan itu, dapat bersembahyang Tarawih pada setiap malam Mu, dapat khatamkan ayat ayat suci Mu dalam bulan yang mulia itu seterusnya bawakanlah berkat Mu kedalaman keluarga ku, lindungi kami dari kelalaian, kemaksiatan dan kemurkaa Mu Ya Allah, Ya Rabb. Selepas Raya alang akan menghadapi peperiksaan UPSR. Permudahkanlah alang dalam menghadapinya. Mama sentiasa doakan Alang akan beroleh kejayaan sepertimana along dan angah. Amin. Sudah lama tidak menulis terasa kekok tangan menaip atas keyboard ini. Insyaallah jika diizinkan aku akan menulis lagi..

memories...

This month of March ada ramai gak yang celebrate birthdays....that include Jas / Zazli (1st March), Boyak (2nd March), Nahidah (3rd March) and kalau tak silap Eliza/Elida (5th March)... and kalau tak silap towards end of month pulak Nosi nye ...anyway to all, wishing you Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day....doakan semoga kalian semua beroleh kemenangan and sentiasa dilindingi oleh Nya hingga akhir hayat....Juga diangkat menjadi muslimat sejati....Amin.



Malam tadi aku and Has had a small celebration dengan Boyak since dia naik KL...Dah lama tak merendek malam,tak tahu mana nak melepak...we were at Jalan Ampang, pas tu rasa nak dudud bercerita kat tempat yang ok sikit... we all ingat nak ke Nikko Hotel, sampai sana tengok nama hotel pun dah di tukar!!! Lawak ...tak nampak batang hidung Nikko pun...coffee house masih buka la cuma dah tak banyak serves food tapi sebab we all dah malas nak jalan ke tempat lain, lepak jugak la kat situ... overall it was ok and we had fun...the whole coffee house tu for ourselves je.... then we strolled back to boyak's hotel...After sending Has balik rumah aku crawled onto my bed dah 3 pagi.....isk...mengantuk nya...lepas subuh, boom balik!!


So long we all tak buat macam ni ...so teringat la once dulu aku, has, li and arwah pah went out around mid night one of the many malam minggu yang kita melepak...naik has punya antic car, fiat kot aku tak ingat la....dah sampai junction jln pinang and jalan ampang, gear box was not working...bukan apa patah gear stick tu...tercabut masukkan balik pun dia jammed... masa tu belum ada klcc lagi, jalan pinang was famous for clubs and holiday inn on the park...So apa lagi, kereta tu kita orang abandoned je kat trafic light tu...we all jalan la bawah pokok besar2 tu...ada pulak yang buat lawak buka cerita hantu, mula la takut, jalan laju2...nasib baik masa tu semua slim and tak sakit lutut lagi...sampai holiday inn tu we stay sampai pagi sebab takut nak pergi balik ke kereta...teguk la kopi holiday inn tu berjug2...sebab free flow masa tu..



by the time masuk subuh tu baru we all jalan balik ke simpang tu and ambil kereta...guess what??? we drove the car back to rumah Li kat taman TAR dgn gear 2 je...gear 3 dah tak boleh masuk!!! nasib kita orang baik la...tak meletup kereta has tu....so every time ingat kesah tu, ingat la kat arwah pah...and that was our last outing with her...sebab lepas tu dia pindah kerja to Ipoh. Semoga Arwah berada bersama para solihah. Diampunkan segala dosanya and tenang dia di sana..

Al Fatihah.