Day 1 - KUALA LUMPUR to INCHEON to DONGYANG MIRAE UNIVERSITY

Mukhlis : Pagi tu sambung kemas sikit2 dan print apa2 yang patut. Jam 1030 pagi, adik Dima yg bernama Dima juga yg pandai bermain alat muzik dan merupakan salah seorang pemain Orchestra UM datang bersama Dima untuk mengambil aku dan menghantar aku dan Dima ke KL Sentral. Aku dan Dima naik bas je ke LCCT. Oh Kar Yee pun sama tp die dari tempat lain. Feena dihantar oleh ahli keluarga. Sebabnya beg die sangat besar. Seryes sgt besar ok. Die pun boleh masuk dalam beg tu. Dan bila timbang beg die 24kg. Nasib baik masa beli tiket aku dan Feena beli sekali. Jadi kire group dan total luggage adalah 40kg. Aku pun tatau die nk pindah ke ape.

Dima : I had sambal ikan bilis for breakfast...Siti had made a container full for me to bring to Korea, but dad's pep talk said a big fat NO, for fear of customs. Too bad coz it was real yummy. I ate what i could for breakfast...went online for a bit, wrote in my blog, then got ready. My journey officially began at 10am, with me loading my luggage into the car. My sis drove us to UM where we picked Mukhlis up and headed to KLSentral to board our bus. We were just chatting the whole way, i guess both excited that this Korea trip is really happening. We reached LCCT an hour later and checked-in with Feena and her family at Marry Brown.

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : After an early brunch, was on the way to LCCT. Brought 4 pieces of red bean pau from my usual Dim Sum place which was supposedly to last for the day… Always have no appetite for airplane’s food.

Mukhlis : Sampai di LCCT, tgk family Feena tgh makan Marrybrown. Dah la aku tak breakfast lagi. Makanan last aku makan adalah lunch semalamnya. Kemudian bahagi2 kan makanan yg di beli semalam ke beg masing2. Kemudian solat. dan berlepas.

Dima : That's me in pink...a colour u don't see me wear often. In the first pic you see us reshuffling our luggage to fit in the food Mukhlis brought. Most of em were sealed liquid food so we had to check them in. I think i took most of them in my bag...added a whopping 4kg to my total baggage weight. Thankfully my dad bought me a 25kg baggage limit, so i wasn't overweight.

Feena : zzzzzzz
Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : zzzzzzz

Dima : That's Feena & me with our massive suitcases. We had the largest bags in the group. Each bag filled an entire car boot, which means we needed 2 taxis to transport everyone & everything while in Korea.

Feena : zzzzzzz
Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : zzzzzzz

Dima : wait a minute...i think i saw this guy at the conference!!!

Feena : zzzzzzz


Kar Yee : Yup, met him during the first day of APACPH during Welcome Reception. He works in Malaysia, forgotten his name.

Mukhlis : zzzzzzz

Dima : Ooh, one thing, I was surprised they had Korean stewardesses in our flight. So the announcements we made in Malay, English and Korean. I was eavesdropping the conversation of the 2 Korean sisters seated in front of me, just to get a feel of the language...not that i understood a word they're saying.

Feena : zzzzzzz


Kar Yee : Was mistaken as a Korean. The flight attendant said “gamsahamnida” to me before boarding.

Mukhlis : Ini makanan yg aku pre-order masa book flight. Pilihan yg ada cuma nasi Lemak Pak ape ntah, dan International meal, nasi berlauk kan ayam Bulgogi. Ok aku tahu bunyi mcm bulldog tapi itu adalah ayam ok. Dan Halal. Sedap jugak la. Kalau boleh tambah mmg aku dah tambah. Oh dah sepanjang 6 jam dalam flight, aku rasa dah mcm kat pasar malam dah. Pramugari die menjual sakan, dah xlarat aku kira berapa kali die orang ulang alik, dari jual makanan, entertaiment, barang cenderahati dan sebagainya. Byk kali pulak tu. Dah la seat AirAsia paham2 je lah tahap keselesaannya. Tapi nak murah, apa kan daya.

Dima : I had my pre-ordered meal, Pak Nasser's Nasi Lemak. Fitting, as a last farewell to Malaysia. The flight was more confortable than i expected, but maybe that was because i was seated way back in the two-seaters without anyone sharing my seat. I couldn't sleep because they guy seated behind me left his table out so I can't recline my sear. Bummer.

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : Happily chewing my last Malaysian pau before preparing to immerse into the Korean gastronomy!

Mukhlis : Ni yg payah g jalan ngan student medic nih.

Dima : wow, Feena doing her case summary. Amazing. I went up front and chatted with Karyee, interrupting her beauty sleep. She was nicely curled up in a three-seater all by herself.

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : Yup Dima… Was lucky to get a seat without any neighbour. Able to lift up the hand rest and curl up and snuggle in the three –seated cushion.And again, was mistaken as a Korean! I was given a passenger card and it’s in Korean @.@

Mukhlis : Nak tido xboleh sgt. Tak tahu kenapa. Dan dah la makin sejuk. Sweater dalam beg baju yg aku dah check in. Jadi aku termenung, melihat bulan. Oh besar ok bulan time tu. Tak tahu la sbb pasa altitude tinggi atau kat korea mmg nampak bulan lag besar (time ni dah masuk ruang udara korea selatan).

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : Pandangan dari udara pada waktu malam di Seoul/Incheon sgt cantik. Mungkin sbb kepadatan banggunan nya yg sgt padat. Tapi untuk ambil gambar dalam objek yg bergerak, exposure kurang pulak, mmg susah ok. Ini aku dah pakai ISO 12400. Ini je lah yg terbaik yg aku mampu buat. Kalau dapat buat long exposure nih mmg best.

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : Oh lupe nak kenal kan. Yg duduk dekat2 aku, seorang masters student dari Indonesia, Indah namanya. Die dah lama juga belajar di Korea. Ini die tunjuk student ID die. Dan student ID ni bukan sekdar kad dan ID, tp merangkap IC dan Passport, dan boleh gune mcm T-Money, dan mcm debit kad untuk beli barang. Hanya dengan satu kad. Mcm MyKad lah kot?

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : Feena dan Indah.

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : zzzzzzz

Dima : Annyeong-haseyo Korea!!! Technically we're still on international soil...we haven't passed through immigration yet

Feena : zzzzzzz
Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : Setibanya di terminal ketibaan, kne naik shuttle train untuk ke banggunan airport yg untuk ambil lugage, kastam etc. So kire tempat yg betul2 nk berlepas dgn banggunan utama airport mcm 2 banggunan berbeza la. Dan airport die seryes sgt besar ok. lagi besar dari KLIA kot? Sbb die punye depature gate ada sampai 100 lebih.

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : There’s extra charge for every kgs the luggage you check-in but no charges for the weight you carry on your body. Having to keep my luggage light, I put on the heaviest cloth I had packed for the trip (the grey cardigan and yellow sweater). Think Incheon Airport is larger than KLIA, well, that’s explained the long walk we had and the passengers were shuttled via train to baggage claiming area and exit.

Mukhlis : Time ni dah nak dekat kat kastam. Feena tak hbs2 suruh ambil gambar die. Akibatnya aku kne marah sbb ambil gambar di tempat terlarang -.-'

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : Keluar je di lobi utama, aku terus cari kawan2 yg baik hati sudi ambil kami di airport. Yang aku kenal waktu itu cuma Hanafi (nama manja = Napi) merupakan final year student di sana. Datang bersama Ahnaf (nama manja = Pak Nab) yg menetap dah 5 tahun dan skrg bekerja di sana dan seorang lg Umair, juga student di sana.

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : Muhklis friends were really helpful to ‘mengiringkan’ 4 of us - the pendatang Malaysia from the airport itself! Incheon Airport is well connected to Seoul by subway. Unfortunately, the subway service is only available until 12pm.

Mukhlis : Kemudian singgah di Family Mart untuk beli T-Money dan topup skali. Feena and DIma pinjam Kar Yee punye. Kar Yee ada bawa 4 T-Money untuk ktrg pinjam. Kad2 tersebut adalah milik ibu bapa dan pakcik makcik nya yg baru sahaja ke Korea Selatan juga sebulan sebelum kami pergi. Oh dan Family Mart ini mcm 7-11 kat Malaysia. Boleh jumpa hampir di mana2. 7-11 kat sana tak byk.

Dima : zzzz

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : Korean’s Family Mart even sells books!

Mukhlis : zzzzzzzz

Dima : On the left is Ahnaf, a new friend. Feena, Karyee and myself stayed at his house with his pregnant wife, Nazihah. She's a real sweetheart. Too bad we don't have a picture of her. In the centre is Hanafi, Mukhlis's friend. These two gentleman met us all the way at Incheon airport and brought us safely to our accommodations at Donyang Mirae University. On the right is Mukhlis, creator & official photographer for this blog.

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : Dari Airport kami menuju ke rumah Pak Nab mainly naik subway. Rumah mereka berdekatan dgn Dongyang Mirae University. Somewhere dekat dengan Sindorim.  Tapi sampai di Station mana ntah, dah jam 12 tgh malam, dan subway tutup jam 12 tgh malam, jadi kne keluar naik atas untuk ambil teksi. Kami akan tumpang tidur di rumah PakNab untuk 2 malam. Area rumah tu lebih kurang mcm apartment. Yang perempuan menumpang di rumah PakNak (kesian PakNab kene halau keluar tinggal rumah dan bini ._. ..oh PakNab dah berkahwin by the way, dan anak insyaAllah ontheway) utk tidur di surau (surau pun asal apartment juga tapi dijadukan surau) dan aku tumpang di bilik sorang student Malaysia, namanya Fakrul. Yeayy dapat kawan baru. Apartment yg dimaksudkan tade lah mcm byk bilik, tp mcm satu bilik besar siap dgn dapur dan tandas. Ke aku patut gune perkataan bilik hotel dari apartment? Ok xkesah la.

Dima : A lil glitch in our plans : the subway closes at 12am. So halfway through our plans we had to take the taxi....2 taxis

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : zzzzzzzzz

Mukhlis : Dalam teksi PakNab sembang ngan driver, aku kat blakang mcm tgk drama korea cume tade subtitle ._. ...oh dari sini lah aku perati sistem jalan raya kat korea ni mcm pelik sikit. Aku pun tatau nk ckp pelik mcm mana. Mungkin sbb bilangan penduduk dan kenderaan yg sgt crowded menyebabkan sistem jalan raya pelik ini dicipta. Dan pemandu teksi yg tak ikut peraturan jalan.

Dima : Karyee and I took the taxi with Hanafi, who was fluently chatting with the driver in Korean. I was impressed. The only bits i could make out were that we were friends from Malaysia and there were 6 of us in total.

Feena : zzzzzzz


Kar Yee : Most of the taxi driver couldn't speak much English. Learnt from Hanafi that the driver he was chatting with had a nephew that coupled with a Malaysian girl. But as the eldest son of the family who carries all the ‘responsibilities’, the relationship just plainly couldn’t survive based on the ground that the parents didn’t accept the eldest son’s non-Korean girl friend. Sigh…

Mukhlis : Gamabr random bilik Fakrul. Oh dia ada roommate, ok tp aku da lupe nama die (sedangkan aku tidur atas katil die). Tp roommate die malam itu dan malam seterusnya byk stadi kat bilik kawan lain. Fakrul pun sama. Jadi most of the time aku kesorangan. Tp aku ada kat bilik pun just utk tidur je sbb time lain keluar. Oh dan time ni Fakrul nak exam next week nya. Tapi masih sgt baik melayan aku dan siap bawa kami jalan2 lagi esok nye. Terharu T_T ..

Dima : We met Ahnaf's wife, Nazihah at their apartment. After exchanging pleasantries and making ourselves comfortable, all of us collapsed in bed...tired.

Feena : zzzzzzz

Kar Yee : Tumbang… After checking-into Nazihah’s apartment at Joyang Officetel, near Dongyang Mirae University.

Ok sambung di hari ke 2