Leh, India: August 2016 Part 2

Bismillah..

Luckily, the symptoms subside after 24 hours and we had the chance to explore Leh the day before we start our hike. Everything is in walk-able distance in Leh so it was really easy to get around. We went to the Leh Palace first.

The palace is the most prominent structure in town set on a hill so we were actually itching to go there. We had to pay a small amount of fee to enter; I don't remember how much but it was not that expensive. The palace was built back in the 15th Century and it's actually a miniature version of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. It is 9-storey high and when we were there all sections were already opened (during my research some bloggers mentioned about some sections being closed for renovation). There were  balconies on each level that overlooks the town and there were prayer flags hung there whose colours added beauty to the background.

 The topmost balcony gives a 360 view of Leh so we were actually surprised to see the green side of the town.

The inside of this palace was not well lit because it was purposely constructed in such a way that there is no need for artificial lighting so I have no clear pictures to show how it looked like. The halls were basically not furnished, just one or two halls with boards with pictures and infos. There was one room for a short video show. The part I remember is when the narrator mentioned that the materials to build this palace was actually passed by hand by men forming a looooooong line.

Then we went strolling around the town and see what can be useful to bring along for our hike. We went to a pharmacy to get more Dexamethasone and was again surprised to see the price of medicines and health and beauty products were like 3 times cheaper than Malaysia! Dan tiba-tiba aku memborong facial cleanser di sana. A few shops from it was a bookshop and the books were twice cheaper there! Harry Potter and The Cursed Child just came out that time and the pre=order price in Malaysia was RM 100+ and I got it for only RM53 in India!

It started to drizzle later that afternoon. Before coming to Leh, we didn't really searched for Halal food in particular because we normally go to Indian restaurant when traveling to other countries since we can always order vegetarian food there. That evening, we decided to randomly pick any of the restaurant in town for dinner. As it was drizzling and the pavement was not roofed, we had to run from one shop to another to get to the end of the shop lot where we saw a lot of restaurants there on our way to the pharmacy.

And when we reached this small opening that has narrow stairs that leads to some souvenir shops, a man suddenly appeared from behind the stairs. He promoted his souvenir shop at first. And when I said we just arrived and not searching for souvenirs yet, he went on asking where we were from and what are our plans in Leh. When I told him that we are actually looking for a good restaurant, preferably Muslim's, he told us there is a Muslim Restaurant just a few meters away called Mazwan Planet. "It might be one of the best around here!" 

As he was giving us the direction, he saw the owner of the restaurant passed just across the street. He yelled the owner's name and they spoke in Ladakhi. 

"He is going to the restaurant. You can follow him."

Well, we end up eating there for lunch and dinner in most days since the food was very good and the price was reasonable. 

Leh has been a popular destination for European for many years, so I guess that what makes it easy to find good food around Leh and the menu is variable. Below is one of my English breakfast set. This place is actually a square with 4 or 5 restaurants. We had breakfast here almost everyday and tried them all. The set usually come with coffee or tea and juice and you get to choose 3 or even 4 dishes in one set and it was really really cheap; like about RM5 per set.

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Wedding Preparation; The Do's And the Don'ts

Bismillah...

Wedding preparation in years to come, that is. Well, I got involved in lots of weddings before and currently am busied with the preparation of my cousin's wedding. So, finally I found some time to write down the DO's and DON'Ts that I've collected for years lol. I write it down here for the purpose of easy retrieval. Who reads my rambling in this blog anyway tchhhh


1. COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR FAMILY!

There might be things that we deemed as unnecessary in a wedding but is considered a must by our folks. From my observation, defying those things behind their backs will only give rise to new problems and often it will be mentioned over and over again (as a bad example) even after the wedding. So I think, communicating is the best solution and my bff told me "be prepared to lose, make sacrifices and let it be"


2. PREPARE THE FORMS EARLIER ON!

The  Jab. Agama put it that the forms can be submitted within 3 months to 2 weeks before the date of the nikah. However, all the documents can actually be prepared earlier on. I've seen the huge difference between those who prepared earlier on and those who just started preparing within the period given. Those who prepared earlier didn't have to hassle on incomplete applications or if there are kinks, they still had enough time to settle them. Whereas those who decided to do it at the last minute had to struggle to ensure things are done on time.

3. FOOD IS IMPORTANT!

Actually this is my personal POV. I think food is the most important one because it's usually the thing that I remembered most when I attend a wedding. Like SJ's roasted lamb on her side and ikan keli on her husband's side, HH's ikan patin, the delicious nasi briyani during my friend Azie's wedding and how my cousin Mahani creatively served her desserts are among the things I remember. I will also remember the weddings at which I had to go to a restaurant right after because the food was not enough. I don't usually complain because there is no perfect wedding after all. I just have a good memory of them, that's all. Putting most of the budget on food is worth it!


4. DON'T WASTE MONEY ON THINGS THAT YOU CAN SAVE AT!

The things you don't necessarily have to splurge on to me are...

- Barang hantaran
Perfume, al quran, cosmetics, kasut etc are the things that I already have! Lain la kalo mo bagi kereta ka, kunci rumah ka :p

- Photograph and video
Although these are in my 'must have'  list, but I think cheap packages still produce good works.

- Make up
It surprises me how people can splurge on something that you will wipe off after a few hours. Same with photograph and videos, there are still many skillful MUAs with reasonable price out there.

- Baju kahwin
I think this is only necessary when one is a non-standard size type. Or like a relative of mine who is good in designing clothes; her wedding dress is simple and elegant yet the type that can be worn in other occasion as well. The bridals often come with packages that includes pelamin and baju pengantin. If you can find good offers, they will even include cakes and dessert booth too!

-Door gift
I have a stack of unread yassin in my room and my Umie's book shelf have one petition that's dedicated for placing unused souvenirs from weddings. When my time comes, the door gift will either something different from these or something consumable like food.


5. ASK FOR OPINIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

I think this really helps to organize things, save budget and to avoid from things that you paid for turning out to be different from what you expected. Things can look great in pictures yet the real thing might not be as satisfactory.


6. IT'S YOUR PARENTS' DAY AS WELL

There are a lot of posts on fb that read something like 'masih ada perempuan yang minta duit hantaran murah di luar sana' or 'Ku pinang dia dengan RM 500'. I don't really get it what's the fuss about that since there might be difference in culture between me and these people. But to us, the high dowry is not like the guy is 'buying' the daughter. It's to show that the guy is being respectful to the girl's parents by partially financially supporting the wedding on their side. And all the monetary gifts received during the wedding will be fully given to the married couple to start their life.

And what I meant by saying it's your parents' day as well is I've seen just how happy parents were while hosting their children's wedding even though it's exhausting. I think it's worth it to consider how they want it to be as long as you can afford it.

7. LOAN; YAY OR NAY??

I can't say much about this since most of my friends had to make loans to afford their weddings. But I still have time to try to avoid this. I have always have a separate saving just for my wedding; which means it's aside from my other savings. Truth be told, my savings are divided into; saving for the future, emergency, travel aaannnddd wedding LOL I've started it ever since I started working thinking that it will be one of my biggest investment hahaha Tapi sebab aku NDA AKAN KAHWIN TAHUN 2017, I'm going to use the money for my coming big trips!

I purposely capitalize the "NDA AKAN KAHWIN TAHUN 2017" because whenever I said this, people will go like

"Selalu kalau cakap begini, tekahwin ni.."

I've said this sooooo many times years before and I'm still a carefree single and it will still be the same for the year 2017! \(^^)/

I'm soooooo looking forward to my next trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Just some of those things I did...

Bismillah...

Recently, I went to try two hiking trails in Tambunan. I've never been to Tambunan all my life so I was really looking forward to the first trail we did in Mount Wakid.

I didn't took the pictures of the trail but to me it was easy enough for a beginner. It was about 7 km hike from the starting point to the peak and back. At the first part we were walking through a village and then passed some paddy fields and vegetation. The trail to me is a slow incline but was very steep towards the peak; I say it was close to 90 degrees that we were almost like rock climbing there. It was a bit muddy due to rainy season so we have to grab the stems and roots for support as we climb. If you're not comfortable with getting dirty, it's best to have a pair of gloves ready. And what I didn't expect was the number of river crossing. It was only around ankle to knee-high deep but some rocks were loose and I did trip and dipped my legs into the river.

You can see there, it's just 1372 meters so since it was only a month away from my hiking in Markha Valley, I found it was quite okay that I didn't have to struggle to bring air into my lungs. We paid RM 80 for the trip which included guides and late lunch which was served when we completed the trail. 

It was actually a well-organized trip. The guides were professional since they were officially from Taman-taman Sabah. There were enough rest for all but a bit too much rest for me because I can be easily tired if I have to slow down my pace. 

The next trip was Minduk Sirung which I'd underestimated and decided to not wear my knee guard for the climb! What on earth was I thinking!!!!!!????

I did take a look at the trail and the elevation given in the group, the trail was a long stretch with slow inclination but I didn't notice that the descend was tough and long; which is actually a known disadvantage to me. The total distance is 12 km and we completed it in 8 hours.

The footpath was not in its best condition because there was a trail run the week before and it was raining for the past few days before we arrived. So can you imagine how muddy and uneven the trail was with hundreds of people using it the week before.

My left knee was in severe pain when I reached the peak. I took Hakim's muscle spray and literally finished it by the time I completed the trail. Although the spray was for muscle pain, it did work for my aching joint. When the pain was no longer bearable, I'd to spray it to go on. It rained when I reached 2/3 of the trail and it was already getting dark when I reached the Mahua Waterfall. 

The trail actually reminded me of Mount Irau's. The climate was cool since the very beginning and the tree barks are mostly covered with moss. If I ever to do this again, I'll make sure I wear my knee guards and from now onward I will never ever leave them behind even if the trail is easy. Promise!

And last year I got to go to UMS Bon Odori. Luckily we were already back from Jakarta. And my proudest moment is that I donned this Yukata on my own!!!!! \(^^)/

To be honest, I practiced for 2 days! A full day on the day of the event; my Yukata was the first thing I reach the moment I woke up that morning. I was afraid if the Obi (the ribbon) is not tight enough that it loosen as I walk around. I was planning, if that was to happen, I better prepare myself some safety pins. Alhamdulillah it didn't! 

The event was great. There were Japanese involved too. There were martial arts performance, a tea ceremony demonstration and the Bon Odori dance.

Can't wait for my Japan trip!! I'm so looking forward to go to the places that I didn't get to go last time.. The Samurai museum, the sumo tournament, the zen gardens, the war memorials... #Japaneseatheart

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