Don't Regret The Past But Appreciate The Future

March 12, 2017

Actually, I would like to get it done with another blogger award's tag. Hehe. Thank you Anis (we have similar name ;D) Her blog is one of a kind with sincere life rants that I understand it maybe hard to share at the first place. This post of her is my favorite. Well, I have difficulties myself to share more on few parts of my 'personal' life even though I am very sure I already shared too much on my blog. Lol.

But, there are few things I still feel not into sharing them online. If you have read my blog for quite a while, I think you can realize that. ^_^

Accept your past without regret, handle your present with confidence, and face your future without fear. Well, this may sound unrealistic sometimes as human's hearts are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Haha.

1. Introduce yourself by stating 5 random facts about you.

- I prefer plain water.
- Once upon a time, I wore pink attire from top to bottom. HAHA.
- I used to be a huge fan of Kim Jong Kook.
- I fancy people with slightly bulging gastrocnemius.
- I am still living with carpal tunnel syndrome on my left hand. T_T

2. The first impression when you found my blog.

I love the way you put Chapter on the post title. Trust me, that is unique for me. It feels like I am reading a novel, even though the current post may or may not be related to the previous one. :)

3. If your life is a novel, what would the title be?

Regret vs Appreciate

I came across this quote (as written on this post's title) when I was scrolling my Facebook's timeline yesterday. Actually, it was a quote I posted in 2010 and upon reading it again, I can totally relate how the next 7 years have developed me into.

It was funny but embarrassing to realize how immature my choices of words are. Many posts are worth to be ashamed for. But, I think it is okay then, life is really developing someone into a better person.

I was quite active on Facebook few years back and I think I was very friendly to anyone at that time. My friends are always yours and I will treat your friends as mine. This is a thing I hold on to, till now. But, I forgot one thing. Not everyone treat a friendship / relationship just the way you treat it. I may have break other's heart along the way by not being considerate, loyal, over-confident.. anything you wish to say.

And yes, some things I still regret but trying my best to move on. Some things I wish I was not that enthusiastic to try that time and even some things I feel thankful to have that phase in my life.

"Don't regret the past but appreciate the future."

We can't change the past, everyone knows that. But we can change the future... and even the consequences that already happened because of the past. :) With His will, insyAllah.

A country that teaches me a lot about life.

4. What makes you confident?

Knowledge, experience, family.

5. What is your fantasy dream?

Pintu suka hati. Haha.

I love travelling and even though I am used to not staying at home more than half of my age, I miss my family. And I do believe that I need to responsible to my parents the way they take care of me for my entire life.

Well, my mum said I need to improve my creativity. So... can pintu suka hati be considered as fantasy dream? Hehe.

Actually, for dreams.. I have many stuffs in my bucket list but they seem to be logical? Lol.

6. What is your favourite thing about earth?

Nature and human.

Surviving this 5 out of 6 years of my degree course, I must say that I find human as interesting subject to explore more. Our physical anatomy can be different and obviously the mental part as well. :p

I don't think I should describe more on nature, as it is quite obvious that nature is my passion. :)

7. How would you spend your "Me" time?

Depends on the weather.

Wait... 'me' time means the time we spend just for ourselves, right?

I can walk along the river alone. I don't find it embarrassing to eat out alone. I can curl under my duvet the whole day, of course alone. I can go hiking or travelling alone.

But, trust me, it is not that I love to do these stuffs alone, I am so happy to welcome anyone to do them together :)

'Me' time? Haha

8. Between the moon and the stars, which one would you pick and why..?

Apparently it is quite hard to choose between these two as I love everything on the sky, even the planes. Hmm, maybe for this one I would say moon? Suddenly I remember of a quote, "we are looking at the same moon". Lol.

But, honestly I've been somewhere dark (but not totally dark) and the only light I had was a bright-shining moon to guide my way.

9. Who could inspire you the most? and Why?

I can't think of any specific persons because my interests are quite broad that they can be anyone. I have different people for inspiration of travelling, of life struggle, of working life, of studying life yada yada.

It can be you and your blogs as well :D

10. First thing you notice in a person?

Smile.

Can't describe more but a smile really make my day happier! especially from people I treasure the most.

11. A song that describes you.

THIS.

p/s - I need to work efficiently for Morskie Oko & Zakopane's posts.

HK, Czech

170311

Taking An Overnight Bus from Prague, Czech to Zakopane, Poland

March 9, 2017

Zakopane is basically a winter-resort town that is quite famous among Europeans (at least for Poland and Czech). If someone mention Zakopane, these are few things that will come out in people's head who know about this beautiful town.

Winter sports (snowboarding / skiing / sledding), Tatras Mountain, Morskie Oko, Rysy peak.

Well, they sound just similar to what Czech can serve. But, for sure different countries have different culture. Even though Czech and Poland are neighbors - they even share similar language (again)! but we can expect different experiences :)

Ala, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapura tu kan serumpun tapi untuk orang yang dah jejak ketiga-tiga ni faham rasanya perbezaan tu. Hehe

Turn right to Zakopane

Wait, did not I say that I went hiking to Morskie Oko, Poland?

Yep, you are correct.

Prague - Krakow - Zakopane - Morskie Oko

1. How was the journey?

If we refer to the map above, to get to Morskie Oko by bus from Prague is not a direct journey. It will be like this:

Prague - Krakow (7h 30m by Polskibus)
Krakow - Zakopane (2h by Mejarbus)
Zakopane - Morskie Oko (20m by local minibus)

The total of 10 hours on road! Hehe.

My bus to Krakow, Poland

2. How to choose bus options?

There are few choices of bus / train to get to Krakow - here are few of them that I can list out (Flixbus, Student Agency, Polskibus, Ecolines). You can search it online I guess. Things to consider when booking a ticket are:

Duration of journey (some may takes up to 15hours, with 1/2 transits)
Prices (some with shorter duration but more expensive!)
Time of journey (if you want to cut cost for accommodation, overnight bus is what you need)
Comfort (so far, I've tried Flixbus, SA, Polskibus - they are awesome. I personally prefer SA more!)

Krakow train station is just next to bus station, you will not get lost.

3. How to survive an overnight bus ride?

Since that was not my first time to Krakow and uncountable times on overnight bus ride, I can say I prepared myself well for the trip. I've posted a post on this topic, click to check it out. :)

I reached Krakow at about 4.30am and I was very glad that the bus station was already opened. Seriously this is one of the thing you should think about overnight bus, especially for solo-traveler. Search around if:

Will you be safe to stay outside? (most countries have polices walking around)
Is there any place we can warm ourselves? (you don't want to imagine staying outside during winter)
When is the next connecting bus? (take the earliest connecting bus unless you want to stroll around the city you transit)

Bus to Zakopane from Krakow

emilysguidetokrakow.com

I found this website to be very helpful for guides between Krakow - Zakopane - Morskie Oko. Most of the facts mentioned are quite up to date. Just, I think the price of bus Krakow - Zakopane has raised from 15 zloty to 17 zloty.

The best part is most buses for these routes provide free WiFi on board :)

Sunrise from the bus.

4. How to pray during the journey?

This is a quite famous question I received. I would love to make a separate post on this, insyAllah - about kiblat (direction to pray), khuf, praying on moving transportations etc... but I need to do a simple, proper post to prevent misunderstanding. Unfortunately I don't have any soft copy or hard copy of the knowledge I received about this when I came to Czech for the first time.

For now, you can read more about that on these links:

Solat dalam kenderaan - Utusan
Praying in a moving vehicle
Salah when on a plane, train or bus
Fiqh Solat Luar Negara - Azam Russia

----------------------

Dworzec = station. It is a Polish word for any train / bus station. In Czech, station is nadrazi.

A very simple bus station. This one is for buses arriving to or leaving from Zakopane. Buses within Zakopane are located in the other station / stops (just around this area).

If you desperately need to change money, there are few of exchanges around the bus station. After walking around, I found one exchange office in Krupowki street that offer good exchange rate.

I will take you around Zakopane & Morskie Oko in the next posts. :)

Till then.

HK, Czech

170308

Cycling Trip : Pardubice, Czech

March 8, 2017

The route was similar to the one I did in 2014 to Vysoka Nad Labem, just I cycled further to the south of Hradec Kralove to another city, Pardubice. My cycling momentum was not that good even though I started cycling again to school. Maybe 2 months of break (from the bicycle) is the main reason for this. I still have a month of bus card anyway. Hmmmm.

I will think about the bus card later.

HK-Pardubice

Hradec Kralove - Pardubice

Saturday, 4th March 2017
29km
1hour 57 minutes
15 km/h

There is a castle as the background if you realise. :)

Honestly, for all those adrenaline-rush activities I've done.... I believe the mental strength controlled them all.

It was always great to plan the route, but, I was gasping for air after 5-6km where I had at least 15km to go. My thigh and leg muscles were kind of giving up. But, the weather was nice, with sunshine and not that cold. Just, the wind was not helping much. Instead of pushing me forward, unfortunately the wind was attacking me from the front. Plus, the air pressure from the passing cars literally pushed me to the side of the road with deep drains.

Not good, not good.

I can feel spring is coming :)

I passed many neighborhood and surprisingly for the first time ever, I did not take lots of photos along the journey. I was really tired to paddle my bike, could not think much to hold the GoPro. My phone was safely attached to the handle (as navigation).

Upon reaching Pardubice, I was greeted with Labe River. Although it is basically the same river that passes Hradec Kralove, the feeling was a bit different. Along the river I could see many people enjoying the sunshine by spending time together with friends and families. Some people were riding the bicycles, some were roller-blading while some people just walked. :)

I am so going to miss this view.

2 hours before sunset.

I fancy this one! T_T

Awesome weather for an ice-cream!

Told you, my stamina was drained. I just could not think about cycling for another 20+km to get back to my hometown. So, I decided to just take a train. Hehehe. Guess what, the ticket for a bike from Pardubice to Hradec Kralove was almost the same as a ticket for a person. T_T

Oh yea, bicycle in Czech is known as 'kola'.

In the train

To hang the bike in the train was quite hard and luckily there was a helpful Czech who even helped me to take my bike downstairs and upstairs at the train station! Thank you so much!

Although this post sounds a bit depressing (ahaha), but hey, it was a very nice ride on a very sunny day, especially it proved that the spring is just around the corner. Wohoooo, can't wait for rapeseed fields, dandelions and green leaves again!

HK, Czech

170306

5 Adorable Moments I Enjoyed When Hiking to Morskie Oko, Poland

March 6, 2017

At least five, that I captured as memories.

Again, another last minute plan crossing the border to Czech's neighbour, Poland. It was a solo trip and eventually my third country for solo hiking trip abroad (other than Czech and Slovenia). I know that hiking in Malaysia is far more challenging thanks to its deep forests but I must say this is one of my greatest life achievements.

Well, hiking in winter season is challenging anyway. :)

5 Adorable Moments I Enjoyed When Hiking to Morskie Oko, Poland

The last day of February, I survived hiking on slippery trails, up to a famous and largest lake in Tatras Mountain; called Morskie Oko which is approximately 1400 meters above sea level. There are lots of trails throughout Tatras but winter is definitely not a good season to try at least for a amateur like me who totally have no experiences dealing with avalanches.

Avalanche - a rapid flow of snow down a sloping surface (Wikipedia)

Everything about the trip to Morskie Oko, Poland will be in another post. I mean, like rough direction and details how to get there, or how did I feel about the route etc. Hihi kindly wait for it, yea.

So, let's get started. :)

I always adore any fathers who carry their children on hiking baby carriers / backpacks. Have seen this view quite few times when hiking around Czech and I am still amaze with it. Usually the father will take the child on his back while the mother will carry a backpack for their needs - containing water bottles, energy bars, some dry socks, nappies for the child.

These two people were not related, I think... but both of them were actually running! :O

I was walking very slowly as my boots started to get wet. But, how could they do that? I mean, running on icy roads? WOWWWW!

Kinda similar to previous photo, just for this one he was not running. The wind was quite strong that day and I was so impressed with his passion to take the child to hike a mountain. Oh yea, for half of the trip we can use the service of horse carriage with some charges but to get to Morskie Oko (the lake itself), we definitely need to hike / walk.

The kid was sleeping peacefully when I look at him in the carriage. Haha. Oh boy, you are so lucky!

I called myself a lonely hiker that day! Hahaha. Why? It was so hard to find someone who hiked alone! Most of them were with a partner, with family members, with friends. I tried to walk / hike along with some groups of hikers but I guess my legs are too short to catch their paces. :p

Accept the reality, Nina... you are definitely not growing any taller.

p/s - honestly I would love to experience all these adorable moments myself, one fine day insyAllah. :)

HK, Czech

170306

Being Transparent | The Sunshine Blogger Award

March 5, 2017

It's been a while to have this blogger award thingy on my blog. :D It was a huge phenomenon the last time I was still active with blogs, 2009-ish maybe? Anyway, thank you so much Wany for this obviously unexpected award. ^^ I am very glad to know that my blog posts are one of the sources of your smile :)

From what I understand, the Sunshine Blogger Award is basically given to people / bloggers who simply give happiness to your day. It is honestly a lovely surprise for myself and I hope it will do the same to you :)

Rules (I just copy and paste Wany's):

Thank the person(s) who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog
Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you
Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions
List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or on your blog

And the interesting questions from Wany are these:

1. Of course, for self-introductory purposes, I would want to know you all better. Sketch a self portrait!

I lol-ed myself for this sketch.

Haha, even the first question is hard for me. I knew I lack creativity but well, I think I enjoy sketching something. Not even that average though. Asalkan bukan orang lidi kira okay la kan? Hehe

I am a 'specky' girl with short-sightedness, have no idea about wearing contact lens although I learned about this alternative in Ophthalmology class. I can say I am an adventurous person who is not that feminine but now trying my best to be one.

2. What character in a book or movie you would love to meet? And why?

I don't really fancy certain movies or books. But, hmmm maybe Doraemon? I love all of the innovative items he has. Wait, Doraemon is a he, right? I see Doraemon as a very good companion who is willing to help anyone, like Nobita although Nobita always take advantages of Doraemon's kindness. He helps animals as well, I still remember few scenes where Doraemon stops cats from arguing.

3. What's your favourite day of the week?

No special days actually but I love Friday for the barakah in it. And maybe Saturday as ideal day to do fun stuffs when I have Sunday to rest afterwards :)

4. What's your biggest accomplishment?

Solo-travel few times and survived in those adventures. Oh, I consider 'manage to cook something good at the first trial' as biggest accomplishment as well haha. And few other stuffs that I have no idea I can do it before.

walking on frozen lake morskie oko, poland

Recent hiking trip to Morskie Oko, Poland. Another greatest achievement lol.

5. What's a weird habit that you do?

I am not sure if the weird habit I have is considered as weird by other people. But... hmm when I was a bit younger, I used the 'view as' button on Facebook to see how my profile looks like to other people.

It is good on another side, when I can control any inappropriate things from appearing on other people's news feed.

6. Which part of your personality you hope people would see most?

I-am-not-all-the-time-decisions-maker.

7. What makes you bored?

Waiting, especially for buffered video.

8. How often do you go for blogwalking?

Every time I have free time and a laptop with me. I can read your blog posts on mobile, just I don't prefer to.

9. Which food out of all your faves you would never give up?

I love food, just when in Czech I prefer eating to live. Obviously in Malaysia we have so many food choices that I prefer living to eat. No wonder I can gain weight so fast every summer break and lose most of it upon returning to Czech.

These are two of my favorites. Udang masak petai & ikan patin masak tempoyak.

Salivating right now looking at this picture T_T

10. What was the laziest thing that you did?

Throwing trash into the dustbin like basketball pro and let the trash around the bin if it does not get in.

11. What was the last thing that you bought for yourself?

Cauliflowers. Heh.

I love most blogs I have on my reading list and I really appreciate the uniqueness of each of you :) There are always something to learn from other's blog posts as well as your awesome thinking and writing skills. For this time, I would love to nominate these 11 blogs;

Wany (http://syazwani14cats.blogspot.cz/)

Sofie (http://www.sofieadie.com/)

Siqah (http://www.siqahiqa.com/)

Nadiah (http://www.nadiaizzaty.com/)

Kak Mulan (http://o-mulan.blogspot.cz/)

Amy (http://www.amysyeera.com/)

Muteq (https://ilhamremaja.blogspot.cz/)

Nadz (http://nadzirahata.blogspot.cz/)

Mazni (http://supersagaaaa.blogspot.cz/)

Anyzz (http://adnan-daughter.blogspot.cz/)

Syakir (http://www.lakiterok.com/)

And my questions to you are.... (hehe sorry if they are not exciting as you thought they will be)

What is the first impression you always get?
Is it true? And do you like that impression?
How do you react to someone who keeps on talking to you about topics you are not interested in?
Do you mind to buy albums (physically / digitally) of songs you love to listen or just download them online?
What kind of items you don't mind buying the expensive one?
Do you jot down notes during lectures / talks or simply listen and remember?
Mountains vs beaches? And why?
Do you separate your trash into categories?
Do you put your phone on flight mode when charging?
Would you mind to share the latest picture in your phone gallery (if appropriate)?
Do you think time-travel is good (if it will be possible in the future)?

I don't mind if you guys are not possible to create a post on this blogger award as I believe most of you have been awarded by other bloggers as well. And there will be tonnes of questions you need to answer. Hehe.

But, maybe you can use the questions as a part of your future blog posts or maybe leave as comments below. It sounds just nice, I think. :)

HK, Czech

170305

Happiness Is When...

February 27, 2017

I came across this beautiful verse while reading few inspirational stories. Recently there was a recommended video on my YouTube feeds that I was very attracted to click and watch.

1. "Happiness is when we can make others happy."

Have we realized that, when we are going through hardship or difficulties in our own life, there are some points we really would like to forget for a moment that we are actually in hardship / difficulties. Escapism; getting tired to talk about our problems, our physical deficits or our debts that we are in. And even, We would like to escape for a moment by not thinking about all those things. Then, we seek for someone with hope that they can give us a sense of being normal again.

But, trust me, the moment you said you don't want to think about something, is when you will continuously think about it.

Be happy, be a person who can find joy in the life despite extremely difficult circumstances.

How?

By entering joy to the heart of others.

By bringing joy to a person's life.