Cherating Cherating..... surfing Cherating

It's been awhile since my last blog. I had to job hunt since my pockets were running low in cash. Finally after having my 5th interview since September, I conclusively received a job. Initially, my employer welcomed me to affiliate them in December but I requested to postpone as I had the one last thing on my mind to do before my reality starts and that is to surf...... the yearly monsoon invades again and it’s the perfect time for me to study surfing. I spent my remaining productive lazy bumming days in Cherating. I did not had much to spent, so I did some part time working only to survive the free stay at Cherating Cottage.




Cherating had been my favourite destination in Malaysia for the past seven years, mostly because I am astonished and fond with the travelers and backpackers that I encountered. My networks also expanded through the people I met which were related to my euro trip last summer. As I was getting bored of Cherating, I realized from Jeany, that I had come at the wrong time of the year. Usually I would crash Cherating sometime around between March to August, but it seemed Monsoon season brought something interesting for the villagers. I decided to stay for a month at the end of 2009 and a little bit of 2010 just to learn to surf. Khad and Man had been Cherating much earlier as they had their jobs as lazy bummer beach boys. So I got myself a surfing board and learnt it like the locals did. To my advantage, some of the locals were my friends and they were warmhearted and generous enough to teach and guide us. Most of them were really young at age in vice versa I was young in surfing. It was really stressful at beginning, as frustration arouses only my determination to keep on going. Step by step, one by one I had to experience to perfection (still not perfect though). Paddle!!! Paddle!!! Paddle!!! ... As the kids around me yelled giving me the energy to paddle harder to catch the wave. That was my weakness as my upper body was not as fit as my lower half because of the sports that I played had mostly applied more on my legs. It took me some time for me to get my balancing point on different surfing boards. I started out on Abbas long board. After I had a few little rides I transferred myself to my fun board. It was a tremendous change for me as the fun board it's shorter than the long board and weighing at 78kg would make it harder for me to balance on 6'2 fun board. And then it was about the waves. They do not come in good forms every day. Sometimes it was fat; sometimes it was too short, sometimes it was everywhere and sometimes there was none at all. It entirety depends on the monsoon wind which also had created a variety of strong current. I like to surf during the rainy and cloudy days compare to the hot sunny days which will ultimately burn my skin and tanned me to shiny black. The sun block was not much effective and the sea had put us in denial of the heat as it was really cool when the sun was happy. The low tide waves were better than the high tide waves as it is much thinner and much force to give you that push to have longer rides. The atmosphere in the sea were simply fantastic, mostly surrounded by the locals, sometimes foreigners, pro surfers, hot chicks and sometimes the cocky town locals (they just had that look on their faces like surfing were only meant for them, not for others to learn – usually the ones that would get pissed off with you and blame it all it on you). There was always time to chat while waiting for the waves. And to make it all worth it was that moment of ride. It was another dose of adrenaline shot to repeat it over and over again. For me that was the steps of a beginner. It took me about 5 weeks to get that ride on my own. The next level would be the maneuvering and skills.








Besides surfing, we did other activities when the sea was flat. For instance, skim board at the edge of the sea water, volley ball, beach football, kayaking and more. It was the school holidays and the young locals would always be around to make it all fun and worth staying. There were even people from outside Cherating who would stay just for the monsoon season just because of the adrenaline of wave catching. Thank you to the locals and old & new friends I gathered . Thank you Pak Tain for the stay. Now I know how it feels like craving the waves. It’s going to be some time for my next trip as I started working a couple of weeks ago just for the purpose to save up and explore. Till then see ya

Route Explorers: Journey to Bangkok (Songkla - Krabi - Phuket - Bangkok)

My next exploration was from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok.I had two other acquaintances, Khad & Lish and our mission came with a motive. It's not a vacation but a job to be done as a step to take on the world.

Day 1 (25-26/09/09)
We boarded the 14 hours KTM train ride from KL to Hat Yai which departed 9pm the night before at KL central. The cabin was comfortable but at periods can be a little a shaky as it stopped from station to another through out the east coast track. We checked in the immigration at Padang Besar by 10am. An hour later we reached our first check point in the Songkhla province, Hat Yai. The language barrier made it complicated for us get a simple answer. We met a random guy at a nearby mosque and he showed us where the minivans that will be parted to Songkla. We went on the minivan not knowing where to explore and to sleep for that night. Khad applied his communication skills which where we met two lovely girls, Pa & Jeab who had volunteered to show us around Songkla. They were heading to Rajamangala University of Technology of Srivijaya as they had some chores to do as students. After putting our bags to safety, Pa and Jeab took us to nearby beautiful beach but the sun was too hot for us to browse around. Then, we took a Tuk Tuk (Thailand kinda taxi) as Pa & Jeab took us to the Songkhla aquarium where exhibitions of fishes were displayed. Soon after, Pa & Jeab brought us to the Naga Head statue at Song Thale Park, Laem Son On and the Mermaid Statue at Samila beach. Both figure had appreciable backgrounds for the people of Songkhla. We head back to Hat Yai to spent the night at Cathay travelers hotel for 250baht per night. Later that night Pa had brought us to dinner next to the night market in Hat Yai. We met Jenny, Pa’s relative and had a little chat before ending the night.



Day 2 (27/09/09)
That morning Pa, Jeab and Jenny had breakfast with us before our departure to Krabi at 9am which cost us 240baht per person. The trip was about 5 hours with a stop at Trang. First, we searched for accommodation as we flow from a guesthouse to another to acquire an appropriate charge. We met Urai, owner of Nature View Guest house which had given us a double bedroom for 250baht per night. We were introduced to Bat, his brother who was a Tuk Tuk driver and had brought us to Tiger Temple Cave. It was 1237 steps that we climbed as my breathang became deeper for every step which made it all worth it once we were at the highest peak to view the whole of Krabi. According to the Buddhist monks that they would climb up the stairs at least twice a day. Bat had brought us to a nearby cheap halal hawker stalls nearby for dinner and later sent us at the night market.


Day 3 (28/09/09)
The day had promise us beautiful beaches and clear sea as we had book a day on a trip to Phi-Phi Island for 800 baht each. A truck picked us up from our guesthouse at 9am as they brought us to Ang Nang, 40mins drive. The trip was socially connected as we met and had conversations with people from Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, Canada and the locals. The weather was fantastic as the sun light reflected down in the deep blue sea. The jumpy boat ride took us to our first stop at Phi Phi leh, the smaller island of Phi Phi. The combination of limestone in the middle of the sea with a background of sunny blue sky mesmerized me. To my disappointment the trip to Maya Bay (The Beach, Leonardo Di Caprio) was canceled due to bad waves. We snorkeled for a hour before moving on to the Monkey Bay where the monkeys were egocentric of their appearance. We had watermelons to tease them closer and fed them; they even drank coke straight out of the glass bottle and performed mating session. As noon approached the tourist guides, Is and her sidekick Mau, which Khad managed to get intimate with, took us to Phi Phi Don which was the bigger island for lunch where we were served with full of hospitality. Before going back to the main land, we had a one last stop at the Bamboo Island to swim and relaxes. Besides that Is also explained and showed us the Tsunami hit locations in 2004. At Phi Phi island itself more than 5000 died. By 6pm we were back at our guesthouse and went for dinner.



Day 4 (29/09/09)
We left Krabi for Phuket at noon, four hours journey which cost us 250 baht each. We had the minivan sent us to Kata Karon Beach since we can get cheaper accommodation compare to the ones at Patong Beach. Phuket were known world wide as tourist favourites and the prices can get high at certain places but we sidestepped that by getting a place at Karon Beach for 300 baht per night. We went for swimming that evening at Karon beach. The tidal waves were too strong until a lifeguard had to tell us to get out. That night we rent two scooters for 350 baht and we searched for halal food. The one we ate was expensive since it was like a formal Indian restaurant. eg. Roti Cheese Naan 1250 baht = rm12.50. Yeah right but we had no other choices as we couldn't find cheap halal shop around. By 10pm, we took a drive to Patong Beach which was about 20 minutes away. The night was a total chaotic happening tourist getaway as people were partying and were entertained by the dancers. The weather was unpredictable too that night. It rained a couple of times but only for short while.



Day 5 (30/09/09)
The rainy night had made us overslept till ten in the morning. Our bus to Bangkok was five hours away. We had the rent bike for 24hours hence we spent our time to explore more of Phuket town. Along the way, there was the Wat Chalong Temple which we had a look around. It’s one of the holiest temple in Phuket. We prolonged our way to tesco to get some groceries and along the way Khad with Lish were stopped by a Thai police officer. To my relief, the police officer said "Malaysia, Asia… Okay!!!!". We found a cheap halal restaurant for lunch before we left for Bangkok about 3pm. It cost us 950baht each for the 14 hours from Karon beach which they took us by minibus to the Phuket town and from there we took the overnight bus to Bangkok. The bus was cozy but the seats did not give us that proper sleep. We had a stop at Chumpon around midnight for dinner before elongated our destination to Bangkok.


Day 6 (01/10/09)
It was a sudden awake when we reached Bangkok as the bus conductor had to call for us. It had rained all night and still was that dawn. We took a bus to Banglumphu where we researched to get bargain stay in Bangkok as we were running low of cash. Without perceiving the scenario of how it would be, we had found a place exactly on the Khosan Road itself. We furthered our rest on the bed till noon. Khad had surveyed around Banglumphu area that morning and brought us around the hectic town. We went to one bridge, Rama VII Bridge which crosses the Chao Phraya River. Some activities were done by students from schools as they were preparing for their cheer leading competition. Later that evening we head to the city by local bus and took the skytrain to Siam where all the shopping complexes illuminated the night life of Bangkok. We were told that all KFC were halal in Bangkok and it was confirmed when we had our dinner before heading to the most prominent business and financial centre of Bangkok, the Silm/Surawong area. Over 50 years ago, nobody would have the foresight that the Surawong – Silom area, then a remote district with paddy fields all around, would be main centre of business and financial. The two streets were busy not only in the daytime, but also in the evening, when people came out to eat, to meet business friends or to seek entertainment. We took the last bus to Khosan road at 10pm and to my amazement the road was a busy night market with mini bars hawker style, sarcastic t-shirts, insect foods, illegal license, foot massages all can be bought in Khosan road and the tourist from all around had made it commercialize. The loud music amplified our room till 2am. Imagine sleeping to that.



Day 7 (02/10/09)
The unplanned wake up call from the music stall had started from 7am and it carried on during the day. We went for our Friday prayers at the Cakapung mosque which was placed in among buildings where a series of alleys before finding it but the azan had always arouse the existence. It seems throughout the journey, we discover the influences of Islamic culture was mostly from Malaysia. The khutbah was almost similar with minor differences but in Thai language that kept us wondering. We had a chat with the Imam for that Friday prayers which had introduced us to Manas Nana, the Director of the New World City Hotel. He brought us to his hotel nearby and had invited us for lunch. Manas suggested going by boat along the Chao Phraya which were known as the Venice of the east. It was a cheap way to travel and also for tourist to competence the trip down the river. Later that evening we went back to our guesthouse and waited for the night as we head the Sulom/Surawong area for some amusement. We did our last minute shopping at Khosan Road before off to bed.



Day 8 (03/10/09)
A minivan took us to the airport for the 1pm flight to Penang since it was the cheapest and available. By 4.30pm we were in Penang and used the local bus to Sungai Dua for the bus back to KL. We were back home by 11pm.

A Night of Power....

A reminder to my fellow Muslims...

Laylat al-Qadr, basically is the Night of Power. Qadr means honour and dignity. Lailatul Qadr means the night of honour and dignity. Laylat al-Qadr is the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. It is also the anniversary of the night in which the Qur'an is believed by Muslims to have been revealed in its entirety.

This is one of the holiest and most blessed nights, which is likely to occur on one of the odd nights on the last ten days of Ramadhan and mostly believed to be the 27th. The reward of worship on this night is better than the worship of a thousand months of worship, equivalent to a person's lifetime. This night had already opened its gates of treasures when the angel for the first time had come with the Divine Message in the cave of Hira, but its auspiciousness has continued to be with us permanently. Every year in the month of Ramadhan, this night is given to the Ummah.

As far as the signs of Lailatul-Qadr are concerned:
1. The sun rises early in the morning without rays.
2. Rain may fall either during the night or during the day of that night.
3. During night the sky will be lightly foggy.
4. The sky will be slightly lighted without reflections and without rays.
5. The angels and Gabriel all descend down onto earth for many purposes.

Anyone who is interested in attaining the Mercy of Allah will strive very hard to look for the Night of Power. Anyone who is interested in receiving the blessings of Allah on the Blessed Night will work very hard to enjoy the Night of Power. Anyone who is interested in attaining peace of mind, peace of body and peace in society, he has to look for this Night and to live it.

(Qur'an 97, 1-5)

In the name of God, the Benevolent, the Merciful.
1 Lo! We revealed it on the Night of Predestination.
2 Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Night of Power is!
3 The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
4 The angels and the Spirit descend therein, by the permission of their Lord, with all decrees.
5 (The night is) Peace until the rising of the dawn.

Ameen

Graduation Day

It's been almost two month since my return home from my mini Euro expedition. I cannot deny encountering a massive Europe hangover after being back in Malaysia. Reality check!!! My return home had put me in dissatisfaction as my journey to take on the world seemed to be unattainable due to the 3rd world country we reside in. But of course nothing is impossible yet only time was required.
I had been down for more than a month, desiring to be in back in Europe or elsewhere rather than stuck practicing something that im not interested in. Pressure mounts me as peers and family had questioned why am i not working yet? Well how can i be someone that i am not? How can i proceed to do something that i am not passionate in? Im done pretending what that i am not!!!
Graduation Day had just went by. After 5.5 years of studying, i conclusively received my Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (hons). I do not regret taking this course hence of the exposure that i had, the people that i met, the life experience thay i gained and most of all it had sharpened my mechanical mind only to discover what i really wanted in my life. All in all, i did it for my beloved parents as they had been supporting me through the years. Once, about half way through my years in UNITEN, i had requested my dad that i could not take anymore of this course as it was getting more complex and complicated. My dad responded with full of support and just saying just to finish off my degree. Since that day, i vowed to complete it. From that i learned to complete what i had started and my determination to hold on to a commitment. An advice from my academic advisor had changed me into whom i am today. She told me to expand my network within my course so i can achieve better or at least to survive with my academics. I had been less conservative since then, and had consumed more knowledge from others by forming a study group and finding tutors among friends, in my definition 'Parasite'. It may sounded negative, but the friends that i had made i would cherish forever as a way to say thank you. I would say half of my degree belongs to my friends that had helped me along the way in accomplishing the certificate that i have today.

Some would ask why did i go through with it? Well there was no one to blame, only to say that i was fickle minded and indecisive of what i want during those period of days. Growing up as the youngest boy in the family, most of my decisions had been made since during preschool. perhaps i was too pampered to know what i want or perhaps i was not revealed to other fields beside science related. Yup, i grew up in the 90's era where science in Malaysia was growing fast and seemed to be the only way to be successful in life as opportunities had widened. Even during my secondary school, for those who did not yet made a choice and had a good result for PMR were put in the science stream classes automatically.
Alhamdullillah that Ramadan had cleared my mind spiritually. I only need to believe and to be patient to achieve my real goal in life. After conversations with friends, wise individuals and observations, i can only understand that i need to execute with what i want in life to be happy ever after. Only time will tell. And after all that, it all came down to qualifications and experiences in the related field, which i had none, only personal experiences which was not presentable enough. And without that, money was always the factor. So therefore, i may need to get a decent job for a year or two to build the foundation of my dreams. One step at a time. It's healthy to have a plan rather than those that does not have any. InsyaAllah i can achieve it.

Euro trip: Milan (Italy) - Paris(France) - Den Haag (Holland) - Amsterdam - Brussels (Belgium) - Back to London

My Euro trip came down to the final part of the journey despite having more cities in more countries to be explored. My time in Switzerland had left me passionately attached as I embraced my exploration to Milan, Paris, met parents from Malaysia in Den Haag, Brussels and back to London for my return ticket home.

Day 26
Andy had left for work that morning following our goodbyes to each other. I carried on sleeping for a couple more of hours and packed my bags just before noon. I reserved a night train from Milan to Paris the day before. My prepaid ran out of credit and my communications to my contacts were only by public phone. I left Zurich at 1pm and reached Milan about 4+ pm which had left me around six hours to bewilder around in one of the world capitals of design and fashion city. The grace of refinement and beauty in manners of the Italians had alienated me to a total tourist. The Gucci handbags, the Prada shoes, the Armani suit, the Versace perfumes, you name it... it was visible of my surrounding. Approaching the Cathedral, I went through a passage surrounded with shopping malls, inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which was covered over by an arching glass and cast iron roof, a popular design for 19th-century arcades. I continued my walk searching Da Vinci museum but to my disappointment it was closed by the time I was there. The sunset in Milan had slowly illuminated by the shopping and street lights of the elegant city which had left me perceiving the scenario before leaving to Paris.



Day 27
I shared a room with two Argentineans and a random Arabic speaking fellow in a room with six beds hanging beds, three on each side. My night train had brought me to Paris in the morning. I had wasted for more than 3 hours going farther away from the Eiffel Towel until I realized it was only 25 minutes away by metro train. I had only chosen two locations due to shortage of time, the Eiffel Tower and Art De Triumph. I had been to Paris before but that was 14 years back with my family and one place that I was astounded with was the Art De Triumph, where the insane fast cars without traffic lights roundabout. I rushed for the train to Den Haag at 3.35 only to miss it since I didn't do my reservation to cross country. We took the next train an hour later and reached Den Haag around half past eight. Couldn't find any public phone and didn’t remember the name of the street of my hostel reserved room. I arrived at the train station and the first thing that was on my mind to find for Scheveningen beach as that was my only remembrance of where the Jorplace, my accommodation for the next three nights. Reached my dad by public phone once I’m Scheveningen and he told me to look for Kaiserstraat the street where Jorplace hostel. I met my sister again but this time with Don, as I checked in for my room with Don. After perceiving the sunset, we sent Doya to Ambassadors hotel nearby Centrum which was 20 minutes away by tram, where my parents had stayed.



Day 28
Pa had some consultation to get an agreement with the Dutch relating to Palm Oil. Whiles Ma, Ma's friend, Doya, Don and I gathered at the Ambassador hotel as we went for window shopping at the shops and malls in Centrum which was nearby.



Ma had showed us Noordeinde Palace which was one of the four official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Pa had studied there for his masters in business when it was the Institute of Social Studies, based in the north wing of the palace between 1952 and 1976. Ma and her friend had separated with us as she went for shopping and Doya, Don and I went for lunch with a friend of a friend of mine in UNITEN. Feisal had lived in Den Haag since he was born and was a teenage friend of my course mate, Faizal who had lived in Den Haag before furthering his studies in UNITEN. Feisal came with her younger sister and had conversed with another two friends for the lunch. A bomb threat had arisen outside the restaurant as the waiter informed us that the police did not let anyone out as they safeguarded the place only to find out it was a false alarm.

Soon later, Feisal had showed us a little more of the town as we walked to the tram station. Doya and Don went to Moduradom (miniature Holland buildings) and as for me; I went back to Ambassador Hotel to reunite with Ma and Pa. Before night falls, Ma and Pa had brought us walking along the beach of Scheveningen heading to the house where they had lived 35 years back. Ma and Pa were extremely happy as they had presented us down their memory lane with new unfold stories of their past. The year was 1974 when Ma and Pa married and lived together for the 1st year in Scheveningen at the age of 24 (and now I’m 24 doing this???) and was impregnated of Elal about a year later (No wonder he loves the Dutch football team.




Day 29
I was in Amsterdam with Don and Doya approximately to 3pm and met Azfar again minutes later. Azfar went from Rome to Milan to Paris to Munich and to Amsterdam after the split. We used the tram to get inside of the town. We walked around town with some miss direction searching for the one museum that Doya wanted to go to. We bought souvenirs at the hard rock cafe and went to the park next to the Van Gogh museum for a photo session with the 'I amsterdam' sign. Vondelpark was a few kilometers away, so we wouldn’t want to miss that, as it had an average of 10 million visitors yearly. We had a night walk just after sunset just to sneak peek a delicate bit of the nightlife before we went back to Den Haag for the night. Sent Doya to my parent’s hotel and said my goodbye to my parents and Doya as we couldn't meet up the next day and I had to overnight in Brussels to catch my return morning train the day after.





Day 30
I was supposed to meet Azfar in Amsterdam before going to Brussels but he went off just before I reached Amsterdam. I had a little walk around the town for the last time whiles waiting for the next train to Brussels. After four hours train ride, I finally arrived in Brussels at 8.25pm. I only had a few hours of the sun before the night falls. Azfar had picked me up at the station and brought me to a famous park with administration buildings nearby. Just before dark, we walked towards the town and stopped by for some dinner, before enjoying the night life in Brussels. We checked in a random hostel exactly next to the main train station so we wouldn't miss the train next morning at 7.59am.





Day 31
We were on time for the morning train and arrived in London about 10am. The initial plan was to meet Nafeez in Portsmouth, but Nafeez had to work for the rest of the day, so we preferred to be in London to finish off our remaining cash before our return flight. We had lunch at Malaysian Hall which I just realized how lovely it was to have Malaysian food after not having a taste of it for the last two weeks. I met a schoolmate of mine Liza. Adah brought me to Oxford street soon after for some shopping. I had a dinner again at Malaysia Hall. Met Ema, an old friend and met some of Raja's family, my neighbour. It's the weekends and Malaysian Hall canteen was the preferable place for a meal. We slept at Jeff's place for the night, as Hadi (Jeff's housemate) had entertained us before bedtime.

Day 32
I started my day searching of Craven Cottage as I had to get a Fulham jersey on my brother's friend request. It took me two hours until I had found the only shop that sells the jersey which was a few kilometers away from the stadium and only to find out that it was closed on Sundays. I met Jeff at 4.30pm as he was from Northampton from his working place. Again, had my dinner at Malaysian Hall and this time I met Farahana.

Day 33
Jeff brought us around town with his company car. It seems that having a car in London was really expensive as you have to pay for congestion in central London, parking which can be expensive and of cause the fuel cost. First we went to Malaysian Hall again for lunch. Then we went to Putney Bridge where I had to get Fulham jersey. Soon after we went to a shopping mall as Jeff had meeting to deal with. Azfar and I had left London Paddington at around 6.30pm heading to London Heathrow for our return flight at 9.10pm.