Flying Money 💸

SO

I actually forgot to try and make a post about this.

Hmm

Maybe becoz I just don't want to talk about how much money I spent in pre-ordering kpop items.

LOL

Let's break this ish down;

1. Key!

He is finally doing his solo. Like, a real solo. I know he did the ToHeart thing but to me, that doesn't count as a solo, since he did it with Infinite's Woohyun (on wiki, Toheart is dubbed 'sub unit'. I don't think thats appropriate since sub-unit usually meant for a unit that is form within a unit and SHINee and Infinite is not from the same unit, is it?)
anyhoo
Key is finally doing a solo!
his first single is called, Forever Yours featuring Soyou.



I love this song at the first listen. 

and then he dropped his album, called, FACE,  on 26th November.

I haven't properly listen to this album yet but managed to I listen to Easy to Love in full, and i like the English lyric.





2. ONEW! 

argh. his news are the most devastating.
first, SM announced his enlistment date, 10th Dec.
AND THEN!
THE SECOND NEWS! he's dropping his first solo album, on the 5th Dec. 

like 😒😒 I hope SHINee make SM rich this final two months of 2018.

Onew's album is called VOICE. titled song will be called Blue.

Kononnya, this album is a gift to Shawol/MVP for our undying love and support for him. 
basically, something for us to hold on to while he in the army. or something like that.

SO EXCITED FOR THIS!!

not that he never sang solo before, but previously he sang for OSTs, and for SMStation releases, he sang two duets. So, I don't know, doesn't quite counts.

🤷🏻🤷🏻



3. SHINee Japan!

YES! IT'S NOT DONE YET! titled is not a joke. 💸💸💸💸

SHINee World J presents! a DVD for the special Fan Event they had at Tokyo Dome for SHINee's (i think) 7th anniversary since debut in Japan.

Thus, including the Season Greetings, 
I have 4 kpop items to look forward to this month and in Jan 2019.

as excited as I am, I do have this thought at the back of my mind, that, these releases, are meant to be a distraction for us.

becoz

December.

I can't believe we made it thru the year.

I don't know how I should feel about it.

I keep forgetting anyway, and I kinda prefer it that way.

*shrug shrug shrug*

ok, ok.

let's not go there.

let's enjoy these lovely gifts, shall we?

My wallet does not appreciate my decision this month 😂😂

. . .

Bonus items:

Remember that time when Jonghyun plaglarize Taemin's ACE?

Ever since then, Shawol been speculating other member's solo releases.

this one win. Onew Chicken. LOL!!

*break-time* took me forever to search all the fan made album covers of the other members. Andangnya~~ bila di cari, nada. bila inda di cari karang~~ ada ya tu palak2 dapan mata. I wana say "thanks IG's saved button" but no. you miscalculated how much I saved PER DAY!

*in that spongebob french accent* 2 hours later~

I FINALLY FOUND IT~!
found them like from January 2018 post. like...thanks..
of course, within the two hours, I go toilet, eat snacks, etc.

I realized this Bonus section is getting longer too.

Fan made album covers:
obviously these are the newer version. there were other versions before.

Shawol lived for this shiz! HAHAHAHA

but of course,

reality is different.

hahahahah

I know I saw somewhere a new fan made album cover for Minho's but I am NOT gonna go thru another hour searching for it. like, no.




. . .

a Little taken aback by this

I want to quickly get this out of the way before I continue with my final entry for my KL Trip.

xD

let's get on with today's topic;
a Little Taken Aback by This.

as many know, I like to browse youtube.

currently, my obsession is looking up video for Solo Traveler to Japan.

thus, it make sense when below video pops up as a recommendation

Now, you know I've been to Japan back in 2016 and was so in love with that trip that I planned on going back in 2018.

but let's now watch the video first before you read my next set of thoughts.




First of all,
that hurts.

Second of all,
I think I understand what he meant.

I don't know which part I was most offended on, coz in all honesty, I didn't bother looking for muslim-friendly places while planning for my trip. all I care about is looking for the cheapest hostel!

Back in 2016, I noticed all the things he said, about Japanese being scared. 
We were being stopped at the airport once we stepped out of the immigration.
then on the train, there were EMERGENCY ALERT posted on the train monitor. the National Security is on high alert it says. I already thought that it was becoz of us when I first saw it.
Yes, there are people who looked at us dari atas ke bawah.

but apart from those awkward experiences, people don't really care about us. I mean, time kami bejalan to the station, buying food in the convenient stores, boarding the train. Nobody took a second glance at us. PLUS there are a lot more kind people I met than the judging/scared glance people.

Japanese really is a polite country, if you project the same.

It is true when he said, Japan isn't really Muslim-Traveler friendly.
Even when you try to Google, there aren't much. 
of course lah ada muslim friendly eatery but still those places aren't that easy to get to, at least not to first timer. 
From my recent research, Osaka has a lot of Muslim friendly eatery popping up this year and 2018.
even so, masih limited lah.

anyway,
when you watch the video from start to finish, you are gonna hate Mr. Nobita.
LOL
that's my initial reaction, at least.

I was mostly thinking "and you continued to be ignorant?!"

but then again,
it's not like I'm gona live in Japan forever.

I'm mostly gona be there for at least a week at a time. and all becoz of Harry Potter and Disneyland. 

So, I get what he was trying to say;

1. they are just scared. which is natural. I mean, I would too. better be safe than sorry.
2. it seems illogical to work so hard to accommodate a group of people who would probably just gona be there for a week. or sekali atu saja they visit Japan.
3. They can't just throw away their culture just for short-term visitors.

it's like when we want people to respect our home when they come around.
yes, we try to make our guest feel comfortable but that doesn't mean they can just do whatever they want or be too demanding, right?

so yeah... I understand.

but I'm afraid, I'm a little scared to go to Japan now.

LOL

I hope Universal Studio Singapore would have the rights to build their own Wizarding World of Harry Potter soon.

Kalau bukan kerana Harry Potter, I wouldn't be this worked up about going to Japan, banar tah.

hahaha odahnya...

but seriously, Mr. Nobita can say whatever he wants and I can be offended and decided upon never setting foot in Japan anymore.
After all, the world doesn't revolve around any of us and Japan will remain one of the top choices for female solo travel to go to.

I just wish I didn't watch the video.

. . .

Japan Trip Day 2.1

I know this is long over due but give me a sec.

I remember planning to have 1000 posts by 6th December
and I'm telling you now that it's not gonna happen.



Because, my life is so hectic and weekends are always tiring, i don't know anymore.

So, I'm just gona continue posting stuff up until the end of the year whether or not it'd reached 1000 posts.

Besides, the point of celebrating an anniversary is to celebrate the existent of something, right? 

So, chin up.

. . .

Japan Trp Day 2.1

Still my birthday, 10th Sep and our next tour was at Osaka Castle.

Before kami ke sana, we rehat first di hostel and eat. 

I bought sushi again and that milk drink. keke



By the time we made our way to Osaka Castle, night fell.

We (as you all know) were still very tired from USJ wandering during the day, kaki almost pulak already but we pushed through jua because, bila jua lagi kan?

It took maybe around 5-10 mins walk from the station to Osaka Castle.

Since it was dark already and it was a little quiet a long the way we bumped into a number of people doing their exercising; running, jogging, cycling, etc.
In my head, this scenery wasn't shocking but it was still interesting to know and see that Japanese healthy life style isn't that much different from Bruneians.

Anyway,

the view up the place is astonishing.

the bridge was dreamy.



(my phone doesn't do justice! but later on, Buzz found out what her phone could do and we took awesome pictures for the rest of the tour)

Once we arrived at the station, we found out that the tour of the castle was only during the day - 9am to 5pm. So, we were a little disappointed but time is limited for us at that time so kami carry on saja.

I finally understand just how big the wall stone walls were. 



I saw people taking pictures of the size of the brick/stone before, so I took one for myself too. :p



Seeing as kami inda dpt naik and had a closer look at the place, we sat down at a bench, relaxing our feet. 



Buzz was coming down with a fever too at that time! salute to her for really pushing thru that trip! I am glad that she did coz we both agreed, "bila tah lagi?"

I know I was tired too but I just had so much energy to jump around and take as many pictures I can.






We stayed there for a while.

Even joked about how the Japanese also start 'bejalan2' after Isya prayer. (Becoz in Brunei thats what usually happens too, people starts swarming the mall at around or after Isya prayer). When we first arrived at the place, inda berapa ramai urg but after a while, people keep coming; either jogging, cycling, or just jalan2, at around the time of Isya prayer. *ketawa with tears*

Kami finally made our way back at around 7pm+ almost 8pm



to end this post, I share with you some more photos:

We took pictures at our bunkers



and lupa ku yg i have this picture,



where I bought my sushi supply. twice! while I was in Osaka.
it's the kadai at the Universal City station/place. 

Looking back, 
I kept dwelling about all the things that I did wrong during this trip
makes me wana go back to Japan again and do it right that next time around.

#alreadyplannigformynexttriptoJapan

. . .

Japan Trip Day 2.0

Let's sub-title this as PICTURES ARE NOT ENOUGH!

and also

SUPER LONG POST

and

I WILL MAKE YOU JELES!! Wehwehweh
. . .

composing this in public coz, my brother.

*rolled eyes*

So, day 2 in Japan was *jeng jeng jeng*

MY BIRTHDAY!!

and I screenshot this


(say goodbye to the 'Slide to Open' features)

lupa ku if this was taken when I woke up or when we're ready to go to Universal Studio Japan.

pokoknya, aku excited and can not wait for Harry Potter!

We bought tickets on the spot. We were supposed to buy them online but for some hassle reason, I decided we didn't. yatah kami bali time di sana sja.
The Q was pretty long but the service was kinda fast, so we weren't there for even 30 mins.
I guess it was just my birthday. (hahaha)

Since it was my birthday, Bazilah actually agree to just go straight to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter part of the USJ.
we actually got turned away once we got to the entrace.
*nangis*

I read somewhere that you need to book an entry tix (it's free).
the reason being for them to control the number of people flocking into HP world.
So, on we went looking for a certain ticket kiosk (as directed by one of the HP helpers).
We got lost.
and my impatient ass almost cried when we couldn't find the ticketing kiosk.
hahah seriously
but once we found it, there were a lot of Qs (coz a lot of ticket kiosks!) and before my ass could properly panic, there were a lot helpers there (coz everything is in Japanese and I was scared of not being able to obtain that entrance tix) and before (once again) my ass could cry, we were helped and we were on our way back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.



took this picture coz at first I thought I could keep it but at the entrance, the ticket person ambil balik this tix (instead of durang punch a hole on it or something).
note: Eventhough on the ticket it says 10:30 till 11:30, we actually stayed inside Hp world right up until 4pm or something. they didn't shoo you away or anything if you overstayed.

so, it was a long way away before you could see the Hogsmeade gate.

i found a lamp that actually reminded me of Narnia

(and this pathway is not even halfway to the park!)

and Mr. Weasley's magical car turned beast.

I had a video when I was entering Hogsmeade but I don't know if the internet would upload it today.
(i tried again on the 7th Oct, but video still refuses to load -__- )

I don't have picture of the gate.

once we masuk that place, GAH!
words really inda dpt explain how I felt
this is like my entire teenage years bursting out and greeting the place
everything was like a dream.
the feeling of you wanting to take pictures of everything but you also want to just 'be there'.
like you wish your eyes can just capture everything for you and auto transfer those images from your brain to your phone.
you know that feeling?!

but lucky I was rational and took as many pictures/videos when I could. or remembered to. LOL


of course, there were things yg I didn't take picture of.
partly because I was lazy to snap them. HAHAHA
I mean, COME ON!
I was there in person!
and as much as I want to share with people about my experience (being physically there),
there's just so much photo or video I could share.

But
in all seriousness,
I was just ...IN AWE!
like, I WANA LIVE THERE!

I wonder how the workers feel being there all the time?
I mean, I could die happy there (hahaha)


I'm gonna let the pictures do the talking next. (with captions if I could think of any xP)


Butterbeer (non-alcoholic it says) tasted like a dream~~~~




(trying on my wand, "Give it a wave" Mr Ollivander said)


the female part of the 'Public Convenience'. 
Thats what it says outside the restroom.



If Brunei is hot, Japan at that time was WAY hotter. like, daym!


Coz my brain said, 'Pick your nose, it'd be hilarious!'


Trying on my new move at one of the alley



'Death is just the beginning' The Mummy. not a HP quote.

that maybe the last picture I took from HP world but I will be back in two years time to take some more!! (InsyaAllah~~)

. . .

I tell you, we were already tired from the previous day that by the time we walked out of HP, we didn't have enough energy to play other rides. 
Seriously!
ahaha

So what we did was that, we just walked around USJ.
its definitely bigger than the one in Singapore, thats for sure.
but both still give me that awesome feelings for just being inside the park.

I managed to play the Flying Dinosour, from the Jurassic Park part of USJ.



a very awesome 'flying' roller coaster.

cBuzz didn't join me. So I went solo.

and I could've moved along the Q just fine but I was stopped twice coz I was using a 'headscarf' and this Flying Dinosour ride does not allow people wearing anything that is loose and one of those things include 'scarf'.
Thus, being the strict rule follower that they are, they stopped me twice, trying to explain to me in English that I need to use a certain jacket (that actually was supposed to be used during water ride).
Of course I don't have picture for that coz I actually left my bag with cBuzz. I only had my hand towel with me at that time.
Anyway, I don't know how long I was there 'Q-ing' but once I got on the ride, I understand why they were very strict. the moment before the ride get off, our seats was pulled up from the feet, so we were actually in a 'flying' position.
and the ride was super fast, it actually go up and down, side ways and twisting around. Lucky I didn't feel like puking. I saw mostly sky. a section of the coaster track goes inside a tunnel! 
I was mostly laughing. ahahah coz I enjoyed it so much! I screamed certain area, of course but mostly was feeling so giddy.
hahaha crazy

Lapas tu, we were supposed to Q and watch the Under World show but Buzz wasn't feeling it so we just continued to walk around the park.

I didn't take picture but from the moment we stepped onto the Universal Cit Station, there were a lot of cosplayers. All universal movies' characters of course.
there were; 
1. Sexy Police girlfriend + Prisoner boyfriend, 
2. hot Sexy female/male SWAT team, 
3. Maids, 
4. Minions (Minions are the craze there), 
5. Sexy (stripper like) mom with her kids,
6. Sexy army, 
and 
many many MANY more!
most people actually went there dressing (what we call here in Brunei when people dress similar in color/pattern) Sekayu.
it was all very interesting to watch.

I might not play all the ride outside of Harry Potter world but the scenery in USJ is entertaining enough man! like, daayyymmmmmmm!

hahahah

I think we left USJ at around 5pm kali and we bought dinner before we went back to our hostel.

got lost once though before we finally made our way to rest our feet a bit at our hostel's lounge before we made our way to Osaka Castle.

. . .

a/n: told you its a long post. Thank you for even reading this far. xD this was supposed to be posted yesterday, 6th of Oct but internet being its awesome-self, and the pictures refuses to upload. but, here it is, edited and posted on the 8th Oct.

Hope everyone enjoy their weekend ahead xD

Japan Trip Day 1.3

We will sub-title this post as 'Jalan saja. Bila tah lagi' part A

. . .

So, we left our hostel to go look for USJ, Food, and Data Line.
Buzz asked the Drop Inn receptionist earlier where we can buy a data line and the lady told her that for sure to find them at Osaka Station. because it's a main stop place where every convenient needs at.
So, to Osaka Station we went.
Once there,
pasal kami masih trying to get our bearing, we couldn't get anything right.
endingnya, kami ke Information coutner tah saja, betanya.

Lesson Learn no. 2: Jangan Malu Betanya. When in doubt, ASK.

mula2, the Information lady told us we could buy the data line at their counter but they said they only accept payment via credit card. We only have cash! so we asked her where we can buy the data line and she very kindly show us the direction to the place where we could buy the data line.

Lesson Learn no. 3: READ! and don't assume labels and signs. Most labels in Japan has English.

EXIT signs there are in Yellow color. So, when the lady told us the name of the place we should go (Umeda something), I was looking for a purple label. I don't remember if she showed us a map with purple logo or something but I was looking for a purple colored label.
BUT luckily for us, I read the label the second I could not find the purple colored ones.
and true enough, the Umeda was mentioned on the Yellow colored label.
Remember I mentioned EXIT signs being Yellow? I guess thats why we both skipped the Yellow Labels.
hahaha macam, udah ku pikir kan balik, memang pun ke Umeda atu EXITing the Osaka Station, so that is why the label is in Yellow.
So, follow the labels direction lah kami after that.

We bought our data line and our next destination was Universal City Station, where the Universal Studio Japan is at!!
I suggested to go there was because I don't want to get lost the next day, our actually day going there.



and also, I just couldn't wait for the next day!

first glimpse of my home.



bought dinner


got lost on the train back to our hostel. we decided to eat dinner first before we both pengsan, deprive of food.
seriously, it is not like Singapore. Japan is seriously a bigger country and Osaka is like, sub-big size city.

eating my bento sushi.


I bought two coz aku tamak.
MUAHAHAHAH! 
I finished both, don't worry. not wasting food.
these two cost around JPY500 and JPY600 each. consider expensive lah since aku bali atu around Universal (outside the theme park) area.

this drink is delicious! actually bought at the 7eleven near our hostel.

Lipton Peach Tea

ada Milk Tea flavor which aku nada took picture of! like what?!
menikmati banar rah ku tu sampi lupa kan menggambar.

After dinner, we went to this Tenjimbashisuji Shopping Street.
supposed to be famous.
but when we got there, most of the shops were closed.
and I remember reading somewhere about Friday nights is the night out for the men in Japan, like after work thingy. I couldn't remember the detail well and I malas to search the article now. I'm guessing, that was why most shops were close early, since kami pigi atu at around 9pm++ almost 10pm.



Sekali round saja kami dsana ah...after that balik tah kami, we were so tireddddd and kaki almost fell off already at that point.

we needed to rest well for the next day's adventures.
although I remember we didn't left the lounge area until it was pass midnight. hahaha 

. . .

Japan Trip Day 1.2

we sub-title this post : New Experience

. . .

We 'partial' check-in at our hotel, Drop Inn Osaka. well, actually, bukan hotel. 
it's an hostel.
coz we sleep in bunker bed and eat at the lounge and share bathroom with others.

I didn't take proper pictures of our stay there.
I think cBuzz ada make video of it.
I only took pictures of where I sleep.



The place was surprisingly ok.
the rules weren't that tight.



we stayed for 2 nights and those two nights were a challenge.
coz we stayed in a dorm like room; for about maybe 20 females (yes, separated dorms for male and female. but they also have Japanese style bedroom for 4 people.) and at around midnight, people kept coming and out of the door non-stop. our bed was facing the main door, which must be kept shut at all times, thus the opening/shutting door was very noisy.
nasib kami ngaleh. and I was surprised with myself jua. Usually, I don't sleep well in new places, but i think I slept well from midnight till next morning.

anyway, once we finished our 'partial' check-in ( I said 'partial' because we couldn't get to our bunker yet. they only available at 4pm. it was only 1pm or 2pm when we check-in), I asked whether we can use their shower area, and was SO glad we could, so our next mission was to clean up and freshen up.

bathroom area was just as photographed on Agoda.com
individual shower area, ada doors with locks.
we could bring our luggage into the shower area (coz ada extra not-shower space) and can still change baju inside without having to go out and be conscious about people looking.

After that, we were feeling a little lighter and decided to rest arah the open lounge/common room.
since our last meal was dalam kapal at around ...pokoknya couple of hours before kami land at 9am, I decided we celebrate my bday early and eat the cake.

butt



too bad

i wouldn't know that it was a mousse type of cake.
and it was out of the freezer for more than 6hrs by that time.
Kesian the cake.

but lapar punya pasal, kami ngap! je

We stepped out of the place at around 3pm and when we were to left our luggage at the counter (coz we were told our bed balum ready till 4pm kan), the receptionist said 'you can check-in already' and although I made this -_- (physically shown or not), I was just glad and we both naik the lift once again and go to our dorm and left our luggage before we ventured out in search of Universal Studio Japan.
and food.
and bali data line.

. . .

Japan Trip Day 1.1

Lets sub-title this post as 'Lost'

. . .

As soon as we landed, we both looked for toilet first.
coz our body wasn't cooperating well with us.
hahahah
Once that settled, we both were tired and all our plans actually thrown out of the window.
seriously.

we were looking for the Japan Railway office/counter to exchange our passes when we were approached by the airport police officer.
kami dua tarus nebes
coz we both pakai tudung
maybe ia pikir kami terrorist!

but he said it was just a random security check and we tried to be calm. we ended up asking him where the JR counter was and he helped us.

We did the exchange, and since we were sorta given a free hotspot wifi password thingy, we forgot our intention to buy the data line at the airport.
so basically, we left the airport, board a JR train that would bring us to our hotel, 'blindly'.


(sorry buzz, but I don't have train picture on the first day. ^_^v)


I said 'blindly' because, once we were on the train, the internet was not at all stable (coz, durh! its a moving train) and we couldn't get proper map to our hotel.

and of course, once we arrived at our next station (supposedly 5 mins walk from that station to our hotel) and we were extremely lost.
both tired. both hangry (hungry and angry HAHAHAH).
We first asked help from 7eleven employee. he showed a map, but that was not much help coz we don't know Japan, let alone their local map.
sekali, one last resort, literally dragging our tired feet, cBuzz decided to tanya hawker Machi selling cold drinks. I waited for her in front of a parking area where it was limbu (sheltered from direct sunlight) coz Japan weather was still hot when we got there. like, if Brunei is hot, Japan is hotter. I got sunburn. 
anyway, while I waited, this paci, the parking carer (i think), approached me and tried to help. we both don't speak each other's languages, but what touches me at that moment was how nice he was trying to help eventhough we couldn't really communicate.
a few minutes into it, then came a passersby, we called him 'Uncle' (coz he was a lot younger looking than the paci), and the paci asked him for help too. Lucky for us this uncle know English!
thus, the uncle helped next. he followed the map the 7eleven gave us at first, but after we got lost again, cBuzz suggested he called the hotel and asked for direction. He called, and found out the map was wrongly given to us and very kindly, he helped us walked to our hotel!
We were just thankful! and said thank you to him a lots of time! nasib kami tau cana cakap 'thank you' in Japanese. LOL

At this point, we already regretting our neglect of buying the data line at the airport.
INTERNET IS IMPORTANT PEOPLE!
especially tempat baru.
Lesson Learn no. 1; bali data line before anything else!

. . .