19 August, 2017

i went to Tokyo: KLIA2 to Haneda Airport

Assalam and hello.

i suppose my posts about the Tokyo trip will be very detailed and long instead of simple and concise like what every blogger supposed to. but whatever, it was my 1st trip after more than a decade, so i decide what i want to blog.

and i hope you read it like a diary that you secretly read too.

somewhere in Taito, i think.


so the flight was on 29th June 2017. just 5 days after Eid Fitr. a week before the trip, i've already told the people closest to me that i'd go to Tokyo with my sis. all i want at that time were their blessing for a safe trip. tho my sis was still a bit secretive about it but she did tell her closest friends about it.

2.30pm was the time for our plane to depart and so we arrived at the airport around 11am. we actually had some payments to do even though i said before that we only handcarried our bags to the airport.

firstly, we had to pay for the our check-in luggage for the flight from Haneda-KL. at first we thought 7kg of handcarry bags was enough cos like a show-off of poor people, we thought we wouldn't do any shopping.

hahaha. for someone who went there for only 4 days, 60000yen is actually too much. so we decided to just pay for the check-in bag but only for the departure flight to KL. mind you, because we paid it after the booking time, we had to pay extra RM30. original price is about RM70, i think. so we ended up paying RM102.

that wasn't all. few weeks before the flight, my dear little sister suddenly said she wanted to sit with me in the plane. so we had to pay more. luckily, there was no extra charge than the original price for the seats, but still, it was so last minute, i kinda cursed at her. apparently, she wanted to put her head on my shoulder when she sleeps on the plane so she needs me beside her. nway, the price of the seats for one person for both return flights was about RM78? i wasn't sure now. but *sigh* about that price.

i tell you, ok. last minute plan before a trip that require money is a bloody no no. but hell, i had to.

all of these were paid at the Customer Service Counter. we didn't have any check-in luggage so avoided those counters.

thanks dear AirAsia staff who was so kind to us during this time. 


and lastly, we went to take our portable WIFI. we booked a portable WIFI from Samurai Wifi. it was recommended by JTB at AEON Shah Alam. so we booked it from the website and took it on the day of the flight at KLIA2. by the way, they don't accept cash. luckily Alisa still have some money in her debit card, so we paid using that. i think the price for 5 days at Tokyo using the Samurai WIFI is about RM160. plenty money, but if you want to explore Tokyo freely and safely without worry, i suggest you to have this WIFI. and oh, and a powerbank. the thing only last about 10 hours.

oh, before we went to the departure hall, we went to McDonald and bought 2 burgers and fries to eat inside the plane. at this time i noticed the McD staff there were mostly old Indian women, which i really don't mind them for being Indian, but they were so slow!!! like hell, you have plenty customers, so work faster!

funnily enough, after we went inside the departure hall, there's a McD there and the same kind of staff were also there, and again they were so slow. i kinda guess that maybe they only hire these people to work at the airport?

oh. as i said, i brought handcarry bags only. i have 2 bags with me. a backpack with my clothes inside, and another small backpack for the camera, phone, powerbanks and purses. by the way, i recommend you to bring a small pouch for the Japanese coins cos they use them so often and you also can keep your SUICA card in it.i mean, the SUICA card is so good that the machine can detect the card even inside the purse. TouchNgo also can do that but the machine in Malaysia can't detect them as fast as those machines in Japan do.

i know cos i already tried. the difference is the fast or not fast. but still, usable and detectable inside the purse.

ok back to the airport.

oh we borrowed AhHin's and her sister's SUICA card. the card still usable even after 2 years of not using it. unlike TouchNgo that is unusable after you haven't use it more than a year or so. i think.

really, back to the airport.

oh, i had Ayam Goreng McD for my lunch before the flight. that's how i saw the slow staff.

as it was my first time checked into the departure hall, i was a bit in awe. like, yeay, another step closer to Tokyo! like that. i suppose there were about 3 kinds of check-ins to the gate. 1st, the passport check-in. then the this security/custom check-in. the guard there wasn't so strict by the way. at this time, i was wondering when will they check the weight of our bags.

then the 3rd check-in where it was a bit stricter but we still easily went in with no problem. it was satisfying at that time. i guess the guards saw my excited face, first time and all, so they mostly smile.

smile. the one thing that can easily lighten up a person's mood.

saw our gate. still wondering why they didn't check the weight of our bag.

then, off to our plane.

this is the time when i finally tell the world that i was going oversea
as i mentioned before, we paid for our seats, both for KL-HND and HND-KL flights. apparently, there were so many empty seats in the plane, my sis said the most obvious thing "if we know this, we won't even pay for our seats"

the plane was so empty, that there was a Japanese women who should have seated beside me, asked the stewardess if she could change her seat or not. the stewardess said "there are many empty seats, so she can change her seat. so the Japanese lady took her bag and told me "i'm going to seat elsewhere so that you can easily go to the toiler, ok?" i was like "oh, ok"

so-excited-to-meet-Tokyo moment
maybe cos the Japanese people are not that fluent in English and even the most fluent have the same quality of speaking English like me, so i felt like "wow, my English is brilliant" and i thank my years of listening to the interviews by non-English footballers and managers that play/ed/s for Liverpool FC for the understanding their weird English.

thank you, Rafa Benitez, Xabi Alonso and Jurgen Klopp.

2.30pm, in the plane, flying to Haneda Airport, Japan. the feeling was like being in a bus after lunch hour. a 6-hours flight that have plenty empty seats. i actually got bored after watching an episode of 1N2D, an episode of Fight My Way and an episode of Queen for 7 Days. so i ate the McD fries. some people already pre-booked their meal.

i also have that picture of clouds-when-i-am-flying
then, there was dinner time, which i ate a McChicken. i suggest you prebook a meal if you fly with AirAsia. the smell of the food was so good, that the McChicken can't even beat it. so both Alisa and I asked the stewardess to give us one. we used the only available Ringgit cash that we had. i forgot what we ate but it was good. very very good.

i also have picture of sunset-while-i-am-flying
then, we arrived. the smoothest landing of a plane that i ever had. maybe the Japanese road or what but the landing was so smooth. i saw a Star Wars plane by the way. and i think they have longer path to the taxiway than KLIA. and i never saw that many planes in one place before. like, wow. plenty.

oh, there was an announcement about checking the weight of our bags. we were like "finally~" and also the announcement "welcome to Haneda International Airport, Japan" in that formal common Japanese tone.

we arrived and the first thing we did was went to the toilet...

...πŸ˜πŸ˜‚πŸ˜ƒπŸ˜„πŸ˜…πŸ˜†πŸ˜†πŸ˜ŒπŸ˜....

....i used it. Alisa also used it. i went out first, and Alisa went out of the cubicle too. we looked at each other and we laughed, HARD. "CANGGIH GILE TOILET DIA, ALIA!!!!"

and i'll end this here.

ps: might have small post about Haneda airport later

22 July, 2017

i went to Tokyo: planning time

Assalam and hello.

few weeks ago, i went to Tokyo. 30June-4July. hoho.




my flight ticket was paid by my sister, who suddenly wanted to go to Tokyo. i didn't have any money at that time (and also now) so i was contemplating at first. then she said her friends mostly are blacklisted by PTPTN, that they cannot go to any oversea trip.

so her last resort is me.

it wasn't the "i'll pay for ur tickets first" that convinced me to go. it was her history of travelling anywhere. she had plenty bad lucks whenever she had a plan to travel. there was a time that her friend who kept the tickets for her USS trip lost her father, so end up that she could not go. money burn just like that. then there was that time where she planned a short stay at Majestic Hotel in KL, and she couldn't go there too. then there was that time when she already bought ticket flights to Krabi, and suddenly there was bombing incident in Thailand. conclusion: her travel luck sucks.

therefore, she asked me. and i pitied her bad lucks. and i might as well accept it cos the last time i actually went travel oversea by plane was about 12 years ago where i went to Bandung and Jakarta with my family. at that time, the 1ml liquid rule haven't even exist yet.

so we bought the tickets on January 29, my sis' birthday. bought from Airpaz. the price for 2 people, return tickets were about RM1899, AirAsiaX. we chose the best time we could think of: a week after Raya, where nobody could disturb my raya. oh, we purposely chose summer time cos we wanted to save some money. so we chose to just rely on handcarry bags cos we didn't need to bring too many clothes. but still, no plan is perfect.

our accommodation? we booked them at Grids Nihombashi East Hotel & Hostel. the hostel was rated 'fabulous' in Booking.com. it's about 3200yen/night. i'm a person who always plan ahead. i saw that we could cancel it before 29th June (flight:30th June) so i booked for 4D3N.

as it was our first time travelling overseas without the parents, i sent plenty messages to the hostel and they were kind enough to answer those questions. here are the screenshots:

so i asked them about the amount of plugs they provided for 1 bed. btw, i stayed in a dormitory-styled room a.k.a a capsule. woot woot!

and these are my favourites πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚



kawaii-ness at it best!

btw, the flight we chose would depart at 2.30pm, Malaysia time. it'd arrived Haneda Airport at 10.30pm. because we thought that we might be delayed at the airport, so on the 30th June, we planned to just sleep at the hotel.

oh, you really can sleep at the airport. many people do that. there is also shower room. but unlike KLIA2, where i found to have free shower rooms, Haneda Airport's shower room has an entrance fee of 1500yen/30min. additional 500yen for each 15min more. tho i heard they provide free toiletries.

so the initial plan: arrive at the airport, pray at praying room, sleep there (if can), shower at shower room.

THAT was the initial plan. as usual, there's no perfect plan in this world.

i'll talk about that in the next post when i have free time. tata!

01 April, 2017

racist? sexist?

Assalam and hello.

went to the market this morning. stopped by the bank to cash out some money and saw 2 black guys in front of the bank.

they did nothing, really. they were sitting and chatting with each other. normal stuff. but i told my maid who inside the car to lock the door.

it was ridiculous, really. we locked the door when we usually don't.

am i really that racist?

i remembered that time when i saw a group of Indians  guys at the market trying to sell stuff. i locked the door too at that time.

is it bcos i was scared of them?

am i really that racist?

then i realized i think i usually did that whenever there's are motorcyclists or some men wandering around the car. i locked it whenever that happen.

the similarities in all these situations are that i only do this when there are men around me, excluding those i know. men, even Malay men. i don't trust them.

so i guess i don't trust men then.



now, is this sexist?

bye.

27 March, 2017

update about UPTA

AsSalam and hello.

update about my UPTA appeal:

REJECTED.

bcos of QUOTA.

apparently, the cost for the UPTA scheme were lowered so much, that UITM have to make a quota after years of not having one.

unfortunately, they had to do this deed when i want it so badly, so badly my entire semester actually depend on this.

they only provide it to 500 students. i'm not sure myself, but i think that 500 includes the students from other faculties too.

so... i'm broke for the next few months or maybe until i have a job.

yes, i have my father who have provided for me for years since i was a little child, but i have my pride too. until when will i ask my father to support me? until i'm 30? πŸ˜”πŸ˜”πŸ˜–

this is the 1st time i ever feel that i should just have a job instead of continuing my study. but i love to learn new things tho. i love doing lab work. i just hate climbing the stairs and the hills and also park the car at UITM. no regret but i have to just swallow my pride and ask my father for help.

i've just send my car's aircond for a repair just now and coincidentally, my father was close by and he had lunch with me and my brother. as the luck shine for me, my father paid for the repair 😊.

as much as i feel happy and grateful and very lucky for that, i still feel a bit sad that i still need to ask for money from him.

my supervisor is a bit guilty about this. i hope she does. i mean, who will take care of her lab this semester? someone who doesn't know anything obviously.

still, i hope she has a good UPTA student that will give her more good than harm. i wish her and the new student well. just don't come to me for free and ask for something. i don't have the money to help you. really.



ps: ooh. there's a meme generator on the internet!

22 March, 2017

appeal letter for tutor

AsSalam and hello.

update about that problem i had few days ago.

i asked my supervisor yesterday and she was also surprised that my application was rejected. she said she will check on it and told me not to worry much about it cos i also told her that i became stressed because of this.

she said again"takpe. don't worry"πŸ’ͺ

i met her again. i updated her about my labworks and all (got some scolding cos i forgot what happen when glycan associate with proteins. my mind went blank. she told me to give the answer by tonight but i 'accidentally😳' forgot to tell her), and i asked her about the UPTA update.

she said she haven't checked yet but she told me to make an appeal letter first and mention that she will support my appeal.

appeal letter. a formal appeal letter πŸ˜–. i got A1 in my Malay subject when i did my SPM and at that time, i could even wrote 4 pieces of essay, front to back in just 2 hours. but this only relevant if i write a non-formal writing.

a formal one? an appeal? that is one of my weaknessπŸ˜“. i couldn't even write the right words when i emailed a bank in Malay language. not saying my English is good, but i've been reading so many journals in English that i am mostly comfortable using English words for something formal.

so i asked for help from the best person who can help me with this: my stepmother. she works for the government. she read and writes formal letters almost everyday. so i asked her for help.

and the result is fantastic. in my opinion anyway. thanks Cik Jie! you save my life here!πŸ˜†

sorry. i won't upload the official one but this is the gist of it πŸ™ˆ.

anyway, here's hoping my appeal will be successful or else i really have to ask for my father for pocket money that is in smaller amount.

bye then.

ps: i ate 4 muffins today πŸ‘…πŸŽ‚. yeah, i've just noticed that blogger support emojis. haha. 🐐


20 March, 2017

Plz Don't Be Sad.

AsSalam and hello.

i'm blogging again.

why? cos Highlight a.k.a the legendary old BEAST just dropped their mv for their new song, Plz Don't Be Sad.

as usual, i understand none of the korean lyrics, but the song is so good, i have a smile on my face throughout watching the mv. the chorus is quite addictive. yeah i cannot even pronounce the suppose lyrics but the chorus still feel good for the ears. so that's nice.



some said the song is like a chill Block B song. i only know Zico tho so ok then.

Doojoon looking so mighty fine in the mv and the others also just as good but not as good as him ahahah but still with all the stressful stuff that happened to me for the last 12 hours or so, this mv and this song is my current medicine.

feel nice to see Gikwang at the center, enjoying himself better than before. a tiny bit disappointed that Dongwoon's voice not as clear but oh well. Yoseob and that game looking like a childish and adorable 8y.o boy.

overall, i love this song. the song before this song is also nice. i'm happy Highlighter! hee.

update about the problem before: told my dad about it. was hoping for a montly allowance like when i was doing my degree. he told me to check with UITM first and nothing can be solved, i have to accept it and move on to other things. might checkout some translating work too.

no tutor, no money, have problem.

AsSalam and hello.

i'm a bit in a depressed mode right now. all of sudden things are not looking good.

currently, my allowance depends on this teaching assistant scheme by UITM. i was expecting that i'll be doing the tutoring for this semester. however, suddenly, VERY SUDDENLY, my application for the UPTA is unsuccessful.

madness. now i'm shocked. very very shocked. my plan for the next 5 months just went blank, and i don't even have any plan B to prepare for this.

now i'm not sure how to have my own money. i had this plan to do a part-time job possibly this September, where i expect that my labwork might have finish by that time. but now, maybe i have to do the job earlier than expected tho.

i was thinking where should i get my allowance right now. things really not looking bright. part-time job is an option, but difficult for someone like me who is a research student hoping to finish her last labwork as quickly as possible.

credits image: theodysseyonline.com

currently, my labwork take 3 days of the week, with each day take about 6-12 hours of the day. the only work that might be helpful is a do-at-home job like key-in some datas like in the old days where a piece of data= RM1 each.

this is tough. in normal days, i'll choose a part-time job over doing labwork but right now i'm in the most crucial moment of my research. coursework students might have better chance to do part-time job cos they know when is their class and all, but my research can be too flexible, so i can't do inflexible part-time job.

tough. very tough.

you might have notice the ads in my blog. that's one of source of income. i put the ads since 2010 but the revenue that i got from that since 2012 is $3.++. HAHHAHAHA. tho that might be bcos of the lack of updates. i did notice that there is an increase of $2 since i blog about Train to Busan and that was few months ago.

so imagine if i update ALL THE TIME maybe i can have some bits of money from that then.

oh. my eldest brother just told me about his plan to do GrabCar. ok now that is one option. but that is only possible if i actually have a less than 10 years car. currently, i'm using a WIRA that was built during 1998. Commonwealth Games in Malaysia was during that time. Rombongan Cik Kiah was during that time. hrm.

this problem actually stressing me out since last night before the Man City vs Liverpool match. i could not focus much on that game. thankfully it was a non-boring draw, nevertheless still a brilliant match by both teams. i did have the thought when looking at those young football players that are mostly younger than me who also have more money than me too. i mean, Coutinho is only 25 this year, i think, and he already has 150k pound/week. granted, his job is difficult, but still.

yup, a Mickey Mouse tattoo on a very fit and rich Coutinho's abs
credit image: foxsportsasia.com

ah well. praying for a best outcome from all of this. this is a small matter compare to other problems i had encounter but not unsolvable. pray for me that things will be better then. thanks.

You'll Never Walk Alone.
the Liverpool version, not the BTS one.

05 February, 2017

Some bits of reminder

Hello.

To be honest, nowadays i am a boring person. I stay at home or go to the lab. I feel content when i go to the lab. I feel like i am relevant when i go there.

Then i saw all those stuff that i need to clean up and i avoided the lab after that. But i still go to the lab. I did my work and just avoid the cleaning activity.

I get easily bored nowadays. I watch a drama and some of them still haven't finish yet. I paid RM10 for a month of VIU subscription and the only thing that i actually watch from that is New Journey to the West 2 and 3.

Honestly the show is so brilliant and hilarious, i have to praise PD Na for being a genius in the variety world.

Anyway, i haven't finish most of the drama that i had started watching. the only one that i actually finish is Goblin. Which is so brilliant, my ears still want to hear some bits of its OST.

Liverpool not having a good start of the year too. And so my mood is down. I need them to win. Get themselves some good vibe and all things will be good. Currently, things just seem out of place. The players are so weak minded.

Oh. I'm getting fat. The boobs not getting bigger. But my thighs are bigger and uglier than ever. InsyaAllah i'll be going on a trip later on this July so i'm hoping that i'll be back to my normal weight when that time comes.

Another problem that is stressing me out right now is MyBrain15 haven't paid my March2016 study fee yet. And i just got a text that i need to pay them by this February. I went to UITM finance department and they said MyBrain15 have no money to pay the students right now. And i can't do anything about it. The staff there did say that i should sent an email to them so they can solve the problem. I did send the email but for days now, there is still no response.

So here i am, will advise you, take MyBrain15 if you want, but prepare some bits of money just to be sure that this problem will not occur.

Be grateful. Ta.