And the end of the year comes so fast..

So i just checked on my last post, which was astoundingly more than 6 months ago.

Sometimes i think the world is just zipping by and i'm just sitting staring dazed out the window. But then to say that I've been idle for the last few month wouldn't be fair either. Life just has a way of tugging you away from certain things that you love to shove you back into reality.

As always, my masters is still in its ever evolving process. Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel seems to pierce through the darkness, but it's evaded me more than once, so can't be too sure if i see it next time.

Atop that, filial duties will always and forever clash with anything and everything that i have planned out. Having two homes is taxing physically, financially and emotionally. It's amazing that i'm finally feeling my age. Ahahhah.

On the bright side i have finally come clean about my uh 'namja'. Which has been kind of a big burden on my shoulders. It takes a lot to keep something under wraps apparently. Your memory has to be spot on, which i can safely say, mine has failed me many a time -_-. This all seems so trivial though seeing that 2014 has seen so many of my school friends tie the knot, or get engaged, or expecting new additions to the family. ^_~ below are just to name a few not in chronological order because i'm just lazy like that

Ct's wedding

My housemate kak piza getting engaged 

Schoolmate Zuhair tying the knot

Close friend Hana from college tying the knot

Schoolmate Mun getting engaged with a very pregnant Ct in the back hehehehe.

Moving on... the other day we went to the zoo. I know, it's so primary school. BUT, guys.. the zoo is freaking awesome. Like i didn't remember it being so awesome when i went the last time. Aaaaaaaannnnnddd i got to see PANDAS! It is so surreal to see them swagger and eat their veggies i am not kidding. It's like you expect them to go all kungfu panda suddenly. But cute overload, i was practically squealing the whole time. (horrid pictures i know but i forgot the bring the camera).

Of course like every year, I celebrated my birthday at the lab. This time with several other close birthday girls..Having your birhtday close to the end of the years has its cons. I mean in just 3 months I'll have to say that i'm 27 already. Yikes..

Putri and I also attended out first international conference. Which unfortunately has amounted to a few headaches and heartaches, but i guess the both of us will just have to take that with a pinch of salt. My poster looks like dirt in the picture because it wasn't printed according to its original color specs. sobs.

And.. yesterday I went to the Big Bad Wolf sale 2014, on the very last day of their promotions. Luckily the hall was not packed. I was hoping to score me some fantasy, medieval, historic fiction, but I was too lazy to scour every single book at hand. There was however  literature section where i scored these classic babies (pardon the pixelation)

I thought they were pretty awesome to keep. I mean when i have children, i want them to know these classics Ecewah,

Welpz thats about it i guess. No so much to story. My life is currently void of heavy drama, and i am intending to keep it that way. In March i'll be heading off to Sabah for a bit and tentatively vietnam sometime in the future. So heads up for some pics. My rebleshot has been hanging in my room since forever without much playtime. -___-

adios muchachos!

Can you repeat that?

Soo,

recently in light of trying to have a more active lifestyle, Zafu, Mid and i have been trying out swimming at the putrajaya swimming pool, the one by the Pullman hotel. It has an all ladies day every Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-7pm. I think swimming will probably be one of the few strenuous sports i actually enjoy participating in.

But, it seems i'm prone to getting what people usually call swimmers ear. Yeah, the one where you get water logged in your ear canals and then gets infected and hurts like heezie. The first few times it was just the whole water getting stuck. But on our last trip, for the life of me i could NOT get it out and so this persisted for around three days where i was finally convinced that i had some sort of infection. Before visiting the doctor i purchased ear drops called cerumol which are usually used to remove ear wax ( i was pretty desperate by then). But it clearly states on the label "not to be used when there is inflammation".  

So, being ever so cautious i went to the doctor get my ears checked. I must say i was a little disappointed at how he handled the whole situation. I told him that my ears had been hurting for the past three days and that i wasn't able to hear properly. Of course he checked out my ear canal and told be that it was just ear wax that i had to clean out. I kept telling him that it hurt and that the cerumol medication advised not to use if there is inflammation. He insisted that it was alright. It took a while before he finally relented to give me antibiotics "just in case". Trust me i am no fan of antibiotics. Downright hate them ever since i had to down packets and packets of them when my one of my nodes were swelling back in 3rd year. But he seemed to make light  of what was clearly a painful experience on my part. If you have never had an ear infection then you will not understand. To prove my point i actually abstained from the antibiotics for 2 more days in hopes that the doctor was right and that i just needed to clear out my ear. It proved fruitless, and the pain worsened where i actually had to take painkillers twice a day.

Finally, i took the cursed antibiotics on the 6th day, and are still on them at the moment. Tomorow will be my last day. 5 days of 6 pills a day. Crazy drug abuser i tell you. But my ears are feeling better, and i'm off the painkillers already, though my hearing is still slightly impaired on my left side with this annoying constant ringing.

But it kinda gets you thinking. What life would be like if your sense of hearing left you. On one hand, if you were born with the disability and on the other if it suddenly fades away. They say the last sense to leave you is hearing. Last raya we visited a relative of mine in semerbuk negeri sembilan, and there is this atuk who can hardly hear. And i remember watching him look at other people, probably wondering what they were saying and felt so incredibly sad. Knowing what it feels like to be able to have a normal conversation with someone and then not being able to do that anymore. I guess it's the same for people who were born with the disability as well. How people natural avoid interactions with them. But for those hard of hearing i guess there is still the option of sign language. In the case of old people, they probably don't have the strength or want to even do that anymore.

But it's true i guess. Tuhan akan menduga kita untuk memberi pengajaran. There is much reflection to be done when we are in trouble or not in the best of health or facing a hurdle too huge to ignore. Alhamdulillah syukur untuk nikmat yang sedia ada ^_~.

Travelogue : Istanbul Day 5

Our last day was specifically reserved for our island visit.

There is a group of Islands quite famous in Turkey known as the Prince's Islands or locally known as Adalar. During the Byzantine period, these islands were the place of exile for royalty, hence its name. Now these island sport no auto transport and people are transported by horse drawn carriages. If you're a nature person then I fully support taking at least a few hours out of your stay to visit these places. The view is amazing!

Take the funicular at taksim -----> kabatash 

But today we actually took a taxi straight to Kabatash because we were running late. It cost about 8TL. It was actually lucky that we knew the fare early because later we were able to use this info.

At kabatash there are a few ferry lines which you can take to get yourself to the island. The most famous is the Sehir Atlari (large ferry) and then IDO (smaller and faster ferry.) Both of which you can use your istanbulkart to pay. You can check out the fares and schedules for Sehir atlari ferries here and the fares and schedules for IDO ferries here. You can pick and choose which of the two you want to go and come back with. We chose Sehir to go and IDO to come back, strictly because of time restraints. It is not advisable to take the last ferry to either side seeing that the ferries may become overloaded.

The ferries were pretty comfortable considering the ride took around 45 minutes to an hour. My sis and I choose just one island to visit, Heybeliada. Here we found a horse ride for the whole island at 40 TL. The trip was pleasant and there are some very nice houses here. You can also choose to walk if that is more your style.

I really enjoyed the ferry ride. It was really peaceful and perfect if you just want to get away with just your thoughts for a few hours. They also serve some light snacks like them chocolate bagels and tea. I actually fell asleep for a bit because it was so cozy.

Afterward my sister and I tried to look for a cab to get back home. And here was where we met our first of 2 con taxi driver. He was parked just to the side of where the ferry stations were. We told him our destination and he agreed to drive us. But before this there was a small commotion with him telling his friend that he got a customer. Clearly we were partly at fault for not asking the rate before getting in, but because our previous taxi drivers were all honest people I guess it slipped our minds. Not only did he drive like a maniac. He kept trying to show my sister pictures of an automobile museum not far away. Probably thinking we might want to change our course. When he did finally drop us off my sister asked the fare and he confidently said "excuse me meter" and pointed and the meter which showed 32TL. And clearly the meter had not moved from the beginning until he had stopped.So my sister got angry saying that she already knew the fare was if anything less than 15TL. And after a bit of argument we stepped out and handed him some USD which roughly translated to i think 10 TL or around that. And he kept saying that is was difficult to change small dollars. I was close to just walking away but then there was an elderly lady who was kind enough to ask us what the taxi was charging and then she scolded him and kept telling us to leave and that he was a bad driver and we shouldn't even pay. My sister had 20TL with her but she demanded to get 10TL back. He kept saying he had no change. I told my sister to keep the door wide open and to get his 10 before he took her 20. In the end, because the elderly lady was making a commotion and people were looking his way and getting a rough idea of the situation he relented and gave us 10 back. Personally I though he shouldn't have even gotten even 10TL but whatever.

Later that night, with my mom in tow we made our way to the blue mosque, because word had it that they had Iftar before the terawih prayers. It turned out we were misinformed and had to buy outside food, which was pretty depressing since we were late and all the good food was finishing. Rezki kurang I guess malam tu. But we did get to pray terawih 8 rakaat. The feeling was not like that in Malaysia. I'm not really sure why, but I missed our normal mosque at home right then.

By the time we were heading home it was past eleven and with the con  taxi fresh in our minds I was pretty weary of who to hail. But again we hailed a parked taxi who assured us that he was under the blue mosque's taxi company or something or rather. I observed the meter and it still didn't show any rates while we moved and he kept reassuring us that it was normal. So when we reached he charged 25TL. Which was exorbitant. There are no night rates in Istanbul. But being that it was late at night, we were all girls and the fact that we had no energy and were kind of scared to make a scene we handed over what he asked for.

Word of advice, never hail a parked taxi. They are parked probably because they don't need to make the proper rounds to earn enough money like everyone else. And i would advice to try and find ones with older drivers. The previous taxis we boarded with fair prices were all driven by quite elderly men. And the meter moves WHILE they drive. Not finally when they stop.

So that was pretty much it. We packed out bags that night and was ready for checkout by 10 the next day. All in all it was a pretty satisfying trip. I got to see all the place I wanted, buy all the souvenirs I needed, tasted a few of the local cuisines despite being in the month of Ramadhan, and got to take some nice pictures here and there. Istanbul is definitely worth while visit.

Travelogue : Istanbul Day 4

Today was specifically reserved for shopping ^^

And since my mom could take a day off from her conference she came along for the trip.

Take the funicular at taksim -----> kabatash - take tramway (T1) ------>; Beyazit station.

Here we found the Grand Bazaar full of your souvenir needs. The first row we entered were full of gold and jewelry. I am not really sure of the authenticity of these trinklets, so shop at your own risk. Some of them do look pretty legit. But we were focusing our efforts more towards spices, teas, and sweet. And lemme tell you there is a whole lot to choose from. I didn't even know there were so many kinds of turkish delights until i saw them in front of my eyes.

There are however temperamental shop owners who seem to take offense if you leave their shop without buying -_-v. Its pretty much Beijing all over again. But since the Lira currency is higher than the malaysian ringgit, we had to be a bit more choosy in the things we pick out. I wouldnt say things are very cheap. But affordable. Plenty of pouches, trinklets and magnets to pick out for them peeps back home.

There is also a huge mosque at the and of the strip where we had to drop off my mom because she had a sudden vertigo attack. Shopping pun shopping, solat itu wajibulghunnah. Visiting the grand bazaar would have been that much more awesome if we were able to taste test everything they had in the stores. Seriously, if you're a sweet tooth, this is the place to be. We pretty much settled 90% of souvenir shopping here.

Afterwards we headed home for break fast where we bought some kebabs. Terawih was as usual up to 1  am. But being wayyy exhausted we thought of lazing back the next day. We almost didn't make it to the cruise ^_~ coming up next!

Travelogue : Istanbul Day 3

Day 3 proved to be the first day of fasting. 18 hours mind you. We were going for the long haul. Soo with that in mind we took it pretty slow. We stepped out of the apartment well after noon having prayed so that there would be less hassle.Today would only include the Basilica cistern as well as a stroll in the topkapi garden.

Take the funicular at taksim -----> kabatash - take tramway (T1) ------>; Sultanahmet station.

Similar to yesterday. In fact basilica cistern could actually be covered along with aya sofya and the blue mosque, if one has the energy to do something like that since they are just a few hundred meters away from each other.

Entrance fee to the cistern in 20 TL. On the net it said 10. But i guess prices have been hiked. Unfortunately the muze pass doesn't not work here so the line is inevitable. The place is a bit dark and the lighting is very minimal. I think they purposely made it that way to give you that old eerie feeling. The cistern used to hold water for the immediate community and water was transported from the mountains 19 km away. Now it's just  a museum and the water levels are pretty low with a few fat fishes swimming around. There are two very famous madusa head statues at the far east corner. There's supposed to be a reason why one is upside down. I don't particularly remember ^^v. The cistern is actually pretty chilly. The mortar is specifically made to be waterproof. Take care though it's a bit wet and slippery here and there.

We walked along the street for a little while to find this guy who was making calligraphy signs on these really nice backdrops. So we bought one for our room with our names on it. 25 TL. Its amazing the money you can make from just being creative.

Since it was the first day of a long fast we hung out at the newly constructed park next to the Topkapi Palace. There were a whole lot of people but the place was really nice, with families lying in the grass and kids playing at the mini water park. I must say people in Istanbul really know how to take it easy.

Welpz not much, if i can say so myself. We were trying to conserve energy. That night we bought ourselves some kebab for buka puasa. It comes with this yogurt drink called ayran i think which you can see people drinking left and right. Not like the yogurt drinks we have here though. I was actually surprised to find that it was thick and salty. And despite my love for salty foods it didn't really go down that well. But when you make it into a dip, it tastes better.

Terawih with my mom started at well past 11pm and finished close to 1 am. Sahur was around 3.30am. Not a lot of sleep really. But what to do..

Coming up : Grand Bazaar ^_~