Where Had I Been In 2011

In just a few hours we all are going to say goodbye to the year 2011...i had a great year...going to places that i had only dreamt about before...but it became reality...

The year kicks off in late January...with a short stop over in Doha...we fly via Qatar Airways en route to our destination...not much we all can do in Doha...since we were stuck in the transit terminal...as our transit time was less than 6 hours...of course...arriving at midnite does not help our cause either...hahaha...

6 hours later...we arrived in Rome...its the first time for all of us...the first time for Dody to travel out of Malaysia...Rome is his first overseas city that he had been...what a way to start a travel bug...we spent 3 nites in Rome then off we went to find snow in our next city...

1 and half hour later we arrived in Prague...it was the second time for Ayumi and I...but the first time we were there it was the interchange from Spring to Summer a few years back...Prague is as beautiful as i remember it to be...the whole gang thought so too...two nites in Prague was not sufficient enough...Mym even told me that she will put Prague in the list of her dream honeymoon destination...hahaha...it was early February 2011...

We hop on the plane again...1 hour later...we were back in Italy...but different city...this time around we were in Milan...its like any other cosmopolitan city...but it was so easy to find halal food around the area...and easy to spent away those hard-earned cash too...hahaha...spent another 2 nites here...then we hop on a train for our next city in line...

2 hours and 30 mins later...we were in one of the most popular city in the world...Venice...it was indeed a big maze...one whole day in Venice by just walk and walk and walk again...my friend told me one has to spent 1 week in Venice to appreciate its beauty...but one thing for sure...i wouldn't spend 1 week in Venice...for two reason...one...i don't really like the feeling of being static in one city...two...because i can't never afford it...hahaha...then we took a plane ride back to Rome since train cost twice the fare and took about 6 hours...so we opted for flying instead...it was less than an hour...and we were going to back to Malaysia the following day anyway...that was a great trip...

I didn't have anything planned for the month of March...except for a short getaway to the east coast...but didn't make it either...by early April...i was on the plane again with Mym and Jaja to one of the most prominent tourist island in the region if not in the world...Bali...3 nites there was indeed a great getaway...even it was raining every now and then...but that doesn't deter us from enjoying it...from the worst hotel we had ever been to a great hotel...there was a lot of thing that will kept us laughing every time we talked about our trip to Bali...

A few of my close friends and i planned to go to Medan in May...but due to work commitment...Amry...Adi and i couldn't make it...that's left Linda with her hubby and son...along with Fyn to fly their way to Medan...but the following month i was extremely thrilled to be selected from hundreds of hopefuls to go for 1 month course in Japan...the course started in June just a few days after my 29 birthday and ended in early July...it was also one of those turning point in my life in the year 2011 apart from it was actually my birthday month...hahaha...some sort of birthday present...last year i was in Dubai...this year its Japan...i also made really good friends while i was there...the destination was Osaka...but of course...it was a whole month there...of course we make the best of it in the weekends while there's no class or field trip...also we make the best of what our few hours after classes to venture to the surrounding area...to top it all...my little brother was also sent by the company he work with to Osaka...

The first weekend we started off with Universal Studios Japan...its in the city of Osaka...but by the evening we already off to Kobe-Sanda to go for the Premium Outlet...the day before we were in another Premium Outlet in Rinku Town which was near the airport...i surprised myself as well as my friends and also the on lookers when i walk away with more than 5 pairs of shoes...errrrr...but what i can say is...it was totally worth every cents and it was for my family members as well...hehehe...

Second weekend we were there...we took the 1 hour train to the historical city of Kyoto...my little brother joined us as well...i think it was not the best time to go to Kyoto...as it was scorching hot...usually the postcards will have Kyoto portrayed in Autumn where all the leafs turn yellow and it was breathtaking...but it was new experience...but one of the things that i take in consideration...Kyoto was not that enjoyable in Summer coz it was extremely hot and really tired us out...maybe i will consider to go there again...but specifically in winter...

The following day during the second weekend we were there...the organiser planned a field trip for all of us...but they make a stop in Toba where Mikimoto Pearl Island situated en route to Tsu city where we will be spending a few nites...the girls went crazy over the pearls...errrrr...but girls will always remain girls...hahaha...but unlike Kyoto...Toba was perfect for summer...we have the sea with the wind blowing...wahhh...the organiser also made an effort to have us on a cruise ride while we were there...and i was really thankful for that experience...hehehe...

The next two cities that we had a stopover was totally beyond me...i didn't know these cities even exists...hahaha...no wonder i don't qualify to be a National Geographic journalist...the first one was Ise city...its actually the holy city for the Shinto followers...its where they done their pilgrimage of some sort...and the next one was the city of ninja...Kameyama...okay...i read a lot about ninjas back then...but i failed to noticed the origin city of it...hahaha...so this was a very educational trip for me...hehehe...

We tried to make the best of the final weekend we were in Japan...Pa'an...Aida...Tinie and I went to my little brother's apartment in Tada...but before that...we went to Kobe...just to experience the night life...since its also within the radius of going to Tada and we didn't have enough time to make it to Tokyo...we had to shift couple of train lines before we reached Tada...spent the nite in Tada...then the next day we went to Den Den Town in Osaka since Pa'an is hunting for those gundams...Den Den Town was well known for the gadgets and figurine stuffs...it also was the early month of July...

Time's up...we ran out of weekends...as that following Saturday we will be on the flight back to Malaysia...so that final Friday...we went to Kobe...to the mosque...this time around Zarir followed us...had halal buffet lunch...the owner even showed us a picture he took with Siti Nurhaliza when she went there for some show...he told us that he wasn't aware that Siti was a very big star in Malaysia...all he knew was that he was making big bucks that day as those Malaysians in the area flooded his restaurant...hahaha...i also finally managed to meet my old friend Tisya who currently was staying in Kobe since she is working there...had light dinner somewhere in Umeda then took the final photo of the final nite in Japan...it was seriously a satisfying business trip...very educational as well as very eye opening...hehehe...

August was a fasting month...of course the only trip that i done was the trips to go back home in Alor Star almost every weekend...then it was Aidilfitri...end of September i was supposed to go to Kota Kinabalu with Amy and Ina...for some sort of outdoor recreational activity...but once again due to work commitment i had to bail out from it...early October i was again at the LCCT en route to Phuket along with Fara and her little brother with his girlfriend...also Jepp...Zetty and Awang had to pull out since Zetty was in her first trimester of pregnancy...was advised not to fly...Azri also had to pull out due to work commitments...Ina and Hadi also had to cancel their initial plan to join us...that's left with only 5 of us...4 nites in Phuket...3 different beach areas...the first nite was in Karon...the following two nites in Patong and the final nite in Kalim Bay...this was actually interesting...as we rented scooter for most of the days...so we really save a lot on transportation...as well as we managed to cover more grounds (at least for me as the rest of the group went for island hopping and i spent the day away going around the island via scooter)...to be realistic...Phuket is a wonderful island with lots of things to do...and i don't mind coming again...hehehe...as it was seriously affordable too...hehehe...

Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City was the closure for my 2011 travels...it was only a weekend getaway to celebrate Jaja's birthday...it was totally on weekend...we didn't even applied for any leave days...this time around it was in a big group of 10...there was Hadi...Yanti...Aliya...Amy...of course the birthday girl Jaja...Ina and Ryn...Fara...Jepp and the last but not least...myself...Ned couldn't make it due to work commitment...she had to attend a compulsory course during that weekend...she was kinda devastated not to be able to join...since its supposed to be our annual thingie to go for one overseas trip together with the group of RyNedInaMal...last year we went to Tianjin and Beijing on the same month...but its okay...there's always next trip...

It was indeed a very great travel year for me...and also might be the final year i will be able to travel this extensively for leisure with my travel buddies as next year i am already transferred to another office...but whatever it is...i still will go on helping my friends out whenever they need help of some sort of advice on places they want to travel eventho i won't be able to join...we all had our shares of fun for the year 2011...and we all pray to god to give us good health and be able to venture to more places that god has created for all of us...for now...i am truly grateful and happy to have been to where had i been in 2011...

T.Y.S