2nd Day - Bandung All The Way!

Assalamualaikum, from Jakarta once again!

Last night I slept at 4am and only got about one hour sleep. Woke up at 5.17am, I perform Subuh prayer, and then hurrying for our 6.15am express train to Bandung. There's two classes to choose from; business and executive class. We took the executive class of Argo Gede train for Rp45,000 per person, providing air-conditioned space and some bakery for complement. The three hours journey brought my sister and I on a chat in the first hour. We talked about the past, the present and the future. How we've grown up and going on our own way. I'm glad we talked, cause this might be the last real face to face talk we ever have before she go to the US.

The next two hours, I explore Abah's Blackberry internet fuctionality, discovering some places of interest in Bandung. After listing down all the places recommended in the internet, I called a rental car driver, Pak Dadang (whom number also I got from the internet) to get his service for half day. I'm so lucky to get an available car and driver even though I'm calling on the same day. We agreed on the price of Rp300,000 covering everything, including benzene and parking.

For your information, the train also provide meals like Nasi Goreng, Nasi Campur etc, but of course it will be charged and I believe the price must be a lot more expensive than the one you get at regular stalls. The one thing that you should never miss is the scenery along the last one hour journey, where outside you can see how natures can capture your eyes. Mountains, rivers, hills with rice-plants on them, so tempting! Subhanallah!



We arrived in Bandung on 9.30am. We met Pak Dadang, our guide of the day and we're off for our shopping heaven!!! Bandung, here we come!!!

Our Bandung-Jakarta train is scheduled on 6.30pm, so we got about 9 hours to explore Bandung. I asked Pak Dadang to bring us to Jalan Dago, one of the places with lots of factory outlets besides Jalan Riau. We first were brought to Episode, a factory outlet selling branded clothes for the whole family.

We shop,and shop, and shop until we drop! Actually, I'm not really a shopping person, compared to some of my friends (ehem ehem...), but normal for gurls, you just can't resist when you see something with discounts, cheaper price, and moreover with special gift goes with it! So guys, don't blame our nature, just remind us when we are going too far...hehe

Abah also enjoyed shopping in Bandung, and for the record, Abah's the one who started the shopping thing when he found the cheap wide-range branded trousers. You name it- BOSS, HUGO, DOCKERS, they're all there. We were blinded! Well, I got a cool grey sweater for myself... ^_^



Then we went to Grande just across the road from Episode, then realizing it's lunch time, we searched for a Sunda restaurant. Pak Dadang brought us to this restaurant called Sindang Reret, quite an exclusive one. Try Gurame fish dish, and a drink named Neinang Strawberry (if I'm not mistaken), offers an exquisite taste!



Then we continue shopping at Toko Tiga, a store with a with variety of jeans-Levi's, Cardinal, Lois~ you name it! The cheapest is about Rp50,000, but the higher the price, the better the quality and the brand. Next stop, Stock Center, where we bought Iffah's and Afiq's(my younger sis and brother) a coat-blouse and a sweater. Oooh...can we not buy something anywhere we stop?

Abah made us realize that Pak Dadang will always get inside the shop after we finished buying things. Apparently, he went inside to get some commission for bringing some client to the shop. Business minded, I say!

We then drowned ourselves with bags! Handbags, backpacks, luggage-bags, oohh, we can't make up our mind! At last we ended up buying 9 bags, one for everybody - three for me! huhu The thing I realized is every store we stopped, there must be other Malaysians there too. I'm so amazed on how crazy Malaysians are in shopping! Well, that may includes me, but come on, if there's more Malaysian than other foreigner here, what else can that conclude?

Then I insist on getting some 'jajanan' to bring back for family and friends. We stopped at a stall selling many types of 'kerepek' and 'manisan' or more known as 'jeruk' in Bahasa Malaysia. Last stop is the specialty of Bandung! Who knows, raise your hand! Right!! Steamed Brownies!!! Yummy!



Allright, enough for the day. We managed to get on the train on time (thank God!), and have our rest after whole day shopping like crazy around Bandung. New place, new experience and new goods! Haha ^_~

Well, for those who's planning to get to Bandung, plan your spending. List down what you want to buy, know where your aimed destination, make some space in your luggage, and spend wisely! It may seem cheap, but buy only when you need it! Okay, I guess that's all for now. Have a nice day! ^_^"

Wassalam.

IMAN NAILAH 2008
noradrenaline2001@yahoo.com

My Adventure in Jakarta - Day 1

Assalamualaikum!

Guess what? I'm in Jakarta!
I'm here to gather with abah and my sis, Izzah who's going to fly to Pennsylvenia, USA this August to further her study in Biotechnolgy. She already had 2 years foundation in Intec, now is going to commit three years in the Penstate University to get her degree. Well, I'm so proud of her. She'll be going to the state of my parents' first meeting and my birth. :)

Enough with USA. What's with Jakarta? As all of you know, I'm studying in Unhas Makassar, in an island named Sulawesi situated far east, near Australia. So for the reason of meeting my sister for the last time before she fly (because I can't go back to Malaysia in the mean time due to a course work demanding me to go into the hinterland village until mid-August), my father and I planned for their visit to Indonesia. At first I just ask Abah to bring Izzah to Makassar, in order for me to meet her, but the meeting become a boring option when thinking about what's interesting things she'll be doing here (in Makassar). To be honest, Makassar is quite a dull place for a simple tourist. It has a few great nature attractions, but they are not really accomplished yet. If you demand on a great vacation in Indonesia, Makassar might not be among the options because of it's distant from Malaysia which will cause a larger spending on the plane ticket. There's no direct flight from KL-Makassar, so you need to take two flights, transits in Surabaya, Bali or Jakarta.

So planning on, we then chose Bandung as our meeting destination, but looking at the difficulties for me only to get there (again, you can hardly found a flight from Makassar to Bandung, excepts for a few expensive airlines like Merpati), we decide not to meet there. At last, considering everything at both sides, we made Jakarta our next adventure!

Taking LionAir, I arrived in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 7.30am. Alone, I encourage myself searching for the place to have my breakfast (LionAir did not provide any food, not even drinks!), then for the arrival gate of Airasia. After being guided by nice people of Jakarta to Terminal 2, I found people see myself a little bit weird waiting for other's arrival but with me is a very large baggage like I'm going to somewhere far. While looking at the people coming out from the arrival gate, I saw some Malaysians starting to walk out. Then I realized how much I missed Malaysia. At last I saw them. ^_^"

Hoping for a cheaper-rate taxi, we walk ourselves outside the airport, yeah, until beyond the airport toll. We realized there's no taxi waiting there, so Abah had to stop a taxi at the highway road! Then we head to Central Jakarta to check-in to The Acacia hotel Abah booked a week before. Greatest surprise in the room is -- there's a computer! And not just that, with a wireless unlimited-access internet!!! (the one I'm using rite now). We got to the room, explore a little bit, get some rest, have our lunch and headed for our first place to visit.

And to be honest, we were not so sure which place we should go first. We only planned for tomorrow trip to Bandung, but being clueless about today's vacation plan. We are so lucky to have the taxi driver as our travel guide who suggest us to go to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah at Ancol, 30 minutes from Central Jakarta. When we arrived,we were told by the taxi driver that the place is so big that we need to travel by car to explore all the mini parks there. So this means paying the taxi meter until the end of our exploration in the Taman Mini! Fuuh, that would take a few hours at least, how much that would cost? Abah who had realized this earlier had gave the driver some reminder to turn off the meter if we are not moving. Meaning if we stops somewhere then the meter should stop too. Fair enough I think. So we take some pictures, walk a little bit, and then take some more pictures, and more until we are too tired to walk and explore anymore.

At 5pm, the houses started to close and we guess it's our time to go back too. It was a nice experience...and we got to see many beautiful architecture and landscape. The only thing I regret was not able to ride the mini cable car because we were too late and it was closed when we found the place. So for those whose interested, the entrance fee is Rp9000 per person and do come early so you wont have the regret I had.

We got back, tired and sleepy. I slept, woke up at 10pm, washed myself, and then perform my jama' ta'khir prayer. We went to find something to eat near the hotel, and we found out that Rumah Makan Mas Miskun's is quite nice place. The price is affordable, the food is satisfying, and the place is acceptable. Then we went to find a 24-hour minimarket in the middle of the night, and being lucky to be told by the hotel worker that there's one not far from the hotel. While walking to the store, we witness the night life of Jakarta common street. Many shops are still open, and most of them are cellular shops. After we bought some stocks for tomorrow journey to Bandung, we head back to the hotel.

Hmm...I guess that's it for my first day in Jakarta. Hope it interest you as much it interest my point of view! See you later... more updates from Jakarta, soon!

IMAN NAILAH 2008
noradrenaline2001@yahoo.com

Ape Nak Jadi ni...ish ish ish

Tagged by: Badrul Aini

I've watched a programme at astro where a reseach has been done to see some habbits of university students and here are the top 10:


sleep
makan maggi
stay up
last minute assignment
dating
main game
tgk movie
afraid of seeing the lecturer for CH
lazy to wake from sleep
last minute study

1) sleep

Tidur ni memang salah satu bakat terpendam yang dah digilap sejak F1 dulu. Time tulah start reti tidur atas meja, dari belakang nampak macam orang hilang kepala. hihi Sekarang bakat masih terus menyerlah, lagi-lagi kat lecture yang bosan. Kira layaklah nak bertanding ngan Nobita. :p


2) makan maggi

Kat Msia saya suka Maggi Tomyam! Kat sini makanlah jugak...paling ok coto makassar. Tapi kawan2...jgn ikut perangai saya ye!


3) stay up

Tgklah...lagi2 kalau nk xm, tp sbb bakat tidur tu sangat hebat, biasanye saya perlukan kopi utk stay up. Lainlah kalau tido siang...jadi burung hantulah malam tu...


4) last minute assignment

Hmm...first thing first ni pun masih saya cuba terapkan. Tengoklah, kalau suke buat benda tu cepat je siap. Kalau tak...tgklah kesedaran dan semangat.


5) dating

Alhamdulillah... ini sy mintak Allah sentiasa jauhkan dari saya selagi belum kahwin...(akhirnya ada jugak yg aku x buat...huhu)


6) main game

Oooh...ni sesuai utk lelaki kot. patut letak shopping kalo 4 gurls. adela sket2 kalo penat study. Main frog atau spider Solitair.


7) tgk movie

Kat cinema kt sini xpenah lagi. Kat Msia pun ngan family. Kat bilik dengan laptop x terkira. astaghfirullah...!


8) afraid of seeing the lecturer for CH

CH? apakah? Takut tgk lecturer? Hmm...takut? Adelah sekali dua nak jumpa dr. Asadul Islam...huhu


9) lazy to wake from sleep

Memang...lagi2 time cuti sekolah dan cuti solat....


10) last minute study

Sangat...makin lame makin menjadi. Bile stat sistem baru, berazam nak study setiap hari tapi adui...jiwa tak cukup kuat melawan godaan! Imannn...semangat!!!

Semacam muhasabah buat diri...thx Bad for tagging me! Buat yg bakal ditag...semoga bermanfaat! :)

I'm tagging...

1)Maimanah~khansa
2)Taan
3)Ainul Rhysyikin
4)Kak Fied
5)Shafiq Mansor

Macam Api Dengan Minyak

Keperluan yang mampu membunuh kesejahteraan manusia...

Assalamualaikum dan salam sejahtera.

Saya dah lama musykil dengan isu ni. Kenapa sebenarnye harga minyak naik? Alasan pemimpin adalah kerana nak alirkan penggunaan wang negara utk subsidi minyak kepada pembangunan negara dan pembinaan trek kenderaan awam mcm projek keretapi terbaru tu. Subsidi tetap ada, tapi hanya untuk pemilik kenderaan dan akan diberi secara cash melalui akaun masing-masing. Berkesan atau tak, kite tengok jela nanti.

Tapi ape kaitannya dengan kejatuhan matawang USD?

Ada yg mengatakan bcuz of traders dah tak nak beli matawang US Dolar tapi beralih kepada bahan asas dunia mcm minyak petrol, gas mentah dll. Jadi harga minyak melambung naik. Kerana mahalnya jadi di Msia pun naik samela...

Ni pun dapat dari satu sumber. Tak pasti sejauh mana kesahihannya.

Apapun, yg untung tetap orang yang pandai mengambil kesempatan dari setiap peluang yg ada dan yg miskin dan terus melarat adalah rakyat yg tak berkuasa dan tak memahami pangkal mekanisme naiknya harga minyak ni. Yg mereka faham cuma bila harga minyak naik, tambang kenderaan awam naik, harga barang pun naik. Jadi mereka marah...tapi tak berusaha kepada mengubah apa yg mampu mereka ubah.

Semangat memprotes kpd pemerintah itu bagus, tapi harus disertai dengan pengetahuan yg cukup mendalam tentang hal yg diprotes. Kalau protes hanya utk perut, bila perut dh penuh(disuap), senyapla.
Atau kalau perut pun dah biase dgn lapar tu...senyap balik. Nanti bile dapat berita minyak naik lagi, bising semula. Tindakan bising ni mcm dah lut dan takde kesan lagi kepada pihak yg bertanggungjawab sbb dah hilang rasa tanggungjawab dalam diri mereka. Yang penting perut aku penuh. Dua-dua pihak same je.

minyak petrol - barang utk golongan elit sahaja?

So kalau nak ubah keadaan ni, mulalah dari pembentukan diri. Diri kita sendiri kena proaktif, bila bertembung dgn satu masalah, kaji sampai hujung pangkal supaya kita tak mcm tin kosong. Bising je lebih tapi dlm takde isi.

So seek to understand first, then to be understood. Bila dh faham masalah, barulah kita mampu cari penyelesaian yg paling efektif. Belajar dr masa lalu dan sentiasa pandang ke depan. kalau dulu kita berdemo smpai berjuta org takde kesan, kenapa kita rasa kali ni akan ada kesan?

Cari penyelesaian for win-win situation. Kita senang, pihak berwajib pun senang. Dlm kondisi kita yg tak berkuasa langsung utk tentukan harga minyak tu naik atau turun, buat masa sekarang kita cuba cr jalan spy kita x overspend walaupun harga minyak dah naik. Caranya? Berjimat! Puasa, elakkan berlebih2an, belanja apa yg perlu - first thing first.

Kalau dah cukup berjimat smpai dah takleh nak jimat lagi, banyakkan infaq. Kita akan rasa terbeban, lagi-lagi duit makin sikit. Tp percayalah kata Rasulullah: Dgn bersedeqah hartamu takkan berkurang malah berlipat ganda. Tak percaya, buat dulu dgn ikhlas. Infaq yg dilakukan pada waktu kita kesempitan lebuh bermakna dari waktu duit MARA baru masuk, contohnya.

Kesimpulannya take this situation as a test to see how good we are in managing our money. Sharpen the saw! Siapa tau, di masa depan kita akan hadapi masa-masa yg berkali ganda lebih susah...wallahua'lam.

Berdiam diri juga bukan satu option. Synergyze with others in making one step further. Caranya? Tunggulah pilihanraya berikutnya. Jangan lupa mengkaji yer...jangan merujuk kpd isu ni je.


Isu minyak ni akan reda juga...tak seminggu dua minggu lagi, tunggulah sebulan dua lagi. Janganlah semangat kita sama mcm api yang disimbah di minyak yg mahal, hilang minyak, hilanglah apinya. Jadi, beremosi dan berjuanglah kerana Allah... Bentuklah diri yang peduli kerana Islam, kerana melihatkan kezaliman dan ketidakadilan, kesusahan saudara-saudara miskin, kepayahan ibu bapa kita berjuang memberi kita kehidupan yang serba cukup.

Kalau perasan kat atas saya ada boldkan beberapa ayat. Semuanya sebenarnya adalah 6 dari 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mukmin yg saya dptkan dari Permai 08 yg lalu. Semuanya terlintas masa saya tulis artikel ni, bukan sengaja nak dikaitkan. Satu lagi adalah begin with the end in mind yang saya rasa kalau saya fikir dalam-dalam lagi boleh je dimasukkan. Very applicable, not only in words but also very effectively in our daily lives actions. Maka amalkanlah apa yg telah kita pelajari!

IMAN NAILAH 2008
noradrenaline2001@yahoo.com

The Lesser The Better!

Assalamualaikum.

Someone once said,

"Malaysian's stomach is full while the Indonesian's is usually empty."

Now that's what making the difference in our spirit. Just imagine a starving lion and a full-stomach snake... which one would make you tremble?

Too much food made us over-slept!

Petrol price had just been increased to RM2.70/liter!

WAKE UP!!

IMAN NAILAH 2008
noradrenaline2001@yahoo.com

Doktor vs Isteri

“Amik ape? Medic??” terkejut Razi bila mengetahui jurusan yang diambil bakal isteri temannya itu.

”Aah, medic...nape?” Saiful memandangnya pelik.

”Ko tak rase inferior ke? Kita ni dahla amik course Syariah je. Alih-alih jadi cikgu je tau… ” kata Razi yakin.

Saiful menggaru-garu kepalanya yang tidak gatal.

Antara kita sendiri pun pasti punya jawapan untuk membalas soalan Razi yang tak berapa sesuai tu.

”Laa...kalau dah cinta apa masalahnya?” jawab si remaja yang sedang asyik bercinta.

”Harta dan pangkat tak penting laa...” jawab seorang peminat filem Hindustan pula.

Takpun paling cantik macam yang dijawab saudara Saiful:

”Bak kata Nabi, kahwinilah wanita kerana agamanya.”. Terdiam Razi sekejap.

”Ye ye...aku tau. Tapi Nabi pun cakap, kalau nak kahwin, biar sekufu. Sama darjat, sama pemikiran, sama tingkat ilmu. Senang nak masuk dengan keluarga masing-masing, senang nak berbincang, dan paling penting takdelah ko yang kena masak untuk die nanti...” berhujah Razi dengan kening-keningnya terangkat.

”Tapi seriuslah Saiful, aku agak peliklaa...nape ramai sangat perempuan jadi doktor ek? Aku taulah penting kalau nak rawat patient perempuan kan. Tapi masalahnya bile diorang kahwin, sibuk kat hospital. Family camne?”

Berkerut dahi Saiful. Dalam dilema agaknya. Dilema lelaki atau wanita?

Lelaki dan wanita dianugerahkan kelebihan masing-masing oleh Allah, sesuai dengan tanggungjawab yang bakal dipikul di dunia. Lelaki gagah dan tenang, sentiasa diletak di posisi pemimpin serta melakukan kerja-kerja di luar rumah. Wanita pula lembut dan sensitif, menjadi ibu yang penyayang dan menguruskan rumah tangga. Tapi bila ummah menuntut wanita mencebur diri di medan perubatan, apakah keseimbangan ini akan tergugah?

”Sebenarnya, tanggungjawab wanita bukan duduk kat rumah. Bagi makan kat anak-anak pun bukan. Masak pun bukan kewajiban isteri semata-mata”. Tenang saja wajah Saiful berbicara.

”Memberi nafkah, makan pakai keluarga adalah tanggungjawab suami. Nak kata masak tu tanggungjawab suami pun bukanlah, tapi sama-sama. Kalau isteri nak keluar untuk berbakti kepada ummah, kenapa halang?”

”So ko tak kisahlah kalau kau yang kena basuh baju, sidai baju, gosok baju, lipat baju, pegi pasar, masak, basuh pinggan, err...basuh berak anak...” Razi terus menyenaraikan segala kerja rumahtangga yang diingatinya.



”Sape kate aku tak kisah?” Saiful memotong Razi yang hanyut di alam domestiknya.

”Sebab tulah kami, insyaAllah akan cuba bahagi-bahagikan kerja rumah sama-sama. Ok, kau bayangkan ye, pagi-pagi suami dan isteri keluar pegi kerja. Contoh suami ni kerja arkitek kat office berair-cond, isteri pulak jadi cikgu kat sekolah menengah. Isteri balik pukul 4 petang, terus basuh baju, masak, kemas rumah, mandikan anak, malam lipat baju dan gosok baju anak. Tengok-tengok jam dan pukul 10 malam. Si suami balik dalam pukul 6 petang, duduk sofa, baca surat khabar, minum petang, pegi surau, balik, tidur. Rasa-rasa sape lagi penat?” kali ni giliran Saiful mengangkat keningnya.

”Alaa...mane ko tau suami tu tak penat, kat office die fikir pasal projek, pasal klien, macam-macam tau...” Razi seakan membela dirinya sendiri.

”Hmm...terpulanglah. Kalau nak kira energy yang digunakan accurately macam tak logik la pulak. Tapi bagi aku, tak adillah untuk isteri tu. So aku rasa, tak salah kalau suami berkongsi kerja rumah dengan isteri.”

Razi diam mengangguk.

”Tapi aku ada syarat jugak...”

”Amende?” laju mata Razi mendapatkan wajah Saiful.

“Satu : Hak-hak suami tidak terabai. Betapa hebat pun dia di luar rumah, di rumah, she’s still my wife.”

“Dua : Tugas dia as a doctor should never evade her from being a great mother to my children.” Terukir senyum di bibir Saiful.

“…dan yang terakhir dan yang paling utama, she can always strive in her career as long as it’s for the love of Allah.”

Razi mengangguk perlahan. “Kalau ada sorang macam tu, aku pun nak jugak…”, bisik Razi dalam hati.

"Dan (dihalalkan bagimu menikahi) perempuan-perempuan yang menjaga kehormatan di antara perempeuan-perempuan yang beriman dan perempuan-perempuan yang menjaga kehormatan di antara orang-orang yang diberi kitab sebelum kamu, apabila kamu membayar maskawin mereka untuk menikahinya, tidak dengan maksud berzina dan bukan untuk menjadikan perempuan piaraan." - Al-Ma'idah:5

"Dan di antara tanda-tanda (kebesaran)-Nya ialah Dia menciptakan pasangan-pasangan untukmu dari jenismu sendiri, agar kamu cenderung dan merasa tenteram kepadanya, dan Dia menjadikan di antaramu rasa kasih dan sayang. Sungguh, pada yang demikian itu benar-benar terdapat tanda-tanda (kebesaran Allah) bagi kaum yang berfikir." - Ar-Rum:21

IMAN NAILAH 2008
noradrenaline2001@yahoo.com