Denmark | Nyhyn & Chilling at PapirØen (The Paper Island)

Second DIY trip with Anna.

We decided to venture places ‘unventured’ before (no, there is no such word exist).    

I was sincerely impressed with Anna, knowing that she is very much a city girl, trolley dolly and tour group type of traveler. The first time she agreed to travel with me is to the Balkan countries where we covered Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Austria and Germany (Frankfurt). To be honest, I was a tad worried as everything was not pre booked and these countries is not as modern as London, Paris or US that she frequented. But I was surprised that she coped really well and don’t mind all the long tiring walk (after all, I am the type that absolutely love to walk and wander around the city, especially old town). In fact, she wandered alone in Frankfurt, Vienna and in Sarajevo. Tabik spring…

I can’t recall how we plan, decide, or whatchamacallit… all I remembered was Anna whatsapping (or was it a call?!!) me saying we going to both Iceland. As we are flying via Copenhagen, that smart woman did the math and said we can actually extend our transit in Copenhagen for a few days with an additional RM600 (IF I remembered correctly). And so we did.

1 month later, we were in Denmark.

The only thing we did was book a flight and our 1^st city location, we plan to book the stay in Reykjavik the day we arrive Copenhagen. Smart huh. NOT.

We figure we shall learn to travel spontaneously. Since I was able to do the same in South India, I am sure we will fare well in this trip. We did bump into a few hiccups when we were in Iceland, kinda panicky one.

Anyway. Copenhagen is super easy to navigate oneself. Really. Super. Easy.

Stay in the city and your life is a bliss. Even if you don’t stay in the city, the city itself is pretty straight forward. You can even do your own walking tour. In fact, ‘get amazing lost’ in the city… you’ll find your way back in no time. Trust me (and all we have is a paper map). We stayed a walking distance from the stay, roughly a 10 mins walk or so, and this 10 mins walk is very pleasant and we will be walking by bakery shops, canal and old churches. There are a few ways to get to the city and my favourite is the route where it takes you through Nyhavn or New Harbour… it is the icon of Denmark.

Nyhvn

Almost everywhere can be done on foot, Nyhvn, Tivoli Gardens, Hard Rock Café, The Little Mermaid, Christiansborg Palace, The Radhus or Town Hall and etc. That is, if you up for a walk lah, a very very loooooong goooood walk. Hahhahaha…. As you walk into the street of Nyhavn, you’ll see the 17th-century colourful waterfront buildings, canal with boats docking, cafes and pubs blasting soft music in the evening sunset. Been to many cities in my travels, yet only Nyhvn gives me this ambience hence I always have the urge of going back, reliving my memories.

Papiroen or Paper Island

In one of our walks, we heard music by the warehouse at the rivedbank, people enjoying the sun, breeze and snack. We check the map and found out this place is called Food Market on Paper Island or Papiroen. We knew it’s a place we must venture…

This is the place where you sample Denmark street food. Yup!!!! Street food.

Opening Hours (Autumn / Winter)

Monday – Wednesday 12:00 – 9:00pm

Thursday – Saturday 12:00 – 10:00pm

Sunday 12:00 – 9:00pm

Copenhagen Street Food

PapirØen/The Paper Island

Warehouse 7 & 8

Trangravsvej 14

Copenhagen

#TravelTips | Where to stay in Berlin, Germany

This is very key, you need to read this and take note on what I am going to share.

#TravelTips 1 : Never plan a trip during a convention in town.

#TravelTips 2 : If you plan your trip and realized it later, then please please please book your accommodation way in advance, else you’ll get into a big trouble like us.

Pic source : Jugendgästehaus Hauptbahnhof website

Now that I got your attention.

This Scandi cum Europe trip was planned yet ad hoc. Why do I say that?

We have been planning for awhile but yet to purchase the flight tix, and when we did, it was 1 month before the trip. When our busy schedule and all, we apparently did not book anything except our flight. So. Our plan was to book our first accommodation and decide it in Copenhagen on when to stay in Iceland, and when in Iceland, purchase a flight tix to wherever and book an accommodation right after. Smart right. NOT.

Upon arriving in Berlin, we immediately fell in love, on everything we see, do, eat (there’s a lot of halal food near the highly populated Turskish/Middle East area), history, souvenirs and SHOPPING (because there’s Primark there and Anna wouldn’t mind coming here daily [me too *wink*]). The plan was 3d2n in Berlin and on the 2^nd day we decided to make it 4d3n and we figure it was easy to get an accommodation hence we went and book our bus the day after and you can guess…. We couldn’t get a room on the 4^th day. What happened in Amsterdam is going to happen again, history is going to repeat itself. We gonna sleep on street. I see this coming.

We tried to find an affordable accommodation; we tried everything, from hostel to Agoda/Expedia etc, to Air BNB or 1 to 2 star hotel, that was how desperate we were. Then as Anna was showering I bumped into a local hostel site, the hostel is located near Berlin main train terminal, which is perfect as our bus is departing late at night, we can just walk to the station, safely. I gamble and booked, worried that I might not find another place that is affordable, near and convenient. The only worries were, is it dirty and noisy, after all, it is a hostel (wanting to set the right expectation for myself).

Pic source : Jugendgästehaus Hauptbahnhof website

Jugendgästehaus Hauptbahnhof Hostel was simply perfect (unfortunately I did not manage to take any pic as there were already guests in the room, so I will use the visual from google and the hostel itself). Located at approximately 10 mins walk from Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main train stationattach to a small mall), near the hypermarket and walking distance to some of the attractions is a place if you are a budget traveller. Everything is clean and proper, facilities was great if you ok with just basics.

#TravelTips 3 : They also offer storage area.

#TravelTips 4 : Their canteen is super huge, they even have an ATM machine at the lobby.

#TravelTips 5 : WiFi is only available at the lobby.

#TravelTips 6 : Common toilet/bathroom for dorm.

Family Room

Pic source : Jugendgästehaus Hauptbahnhof website

And they even have family rooms, apartment (1-6 mths rental) aside from the usual hostel dorm.

Family Room

A double bed and a bunk bed

Bathroom with shower and a separate toilet

Balcony

Apartment (Minimum rental period - 2 months)

One bed/living room with a double bed (160 cm), a sofa, a dining table and a wardrobe

Balcony

Kitchen with refrigerator, electric cooker, dishes, washing machine

Newly renovated bath room with shower

Central heating

Laminate floor

Flat screen TV with DVD player

Internet (DSL, 16.000 kBit/s) and telephoneflat rate

Apartment

Pic source : Jugendgästehaus Hauptbahnhof website

I kinda like this place and wouldn’t mind to stay here again, probably will get a twin sharing room.

Jugendgästehaus Hauptbahnhof

Lehrter Straße 68

10557 Berlin

Tel. 0049 (0)30 398350-0

Email : gaestehaus(at)berliner-stadtmission.de

How I fell in love with P…

As I was saying earlier…

I fell in love with Poland.

Baffled? I shall explain.

So yeah. I feel in love with Poland. Love at the first sight I’d say. ‘It wasn’t plan’ as how the movies love to put it. And as cliché as it may sound, it wasn’t Poland, it was me. Ahaks… *cheeky smile*.

Thinking of the worst for whatever reason beyond my own understanding, I was still in doubt upon arriving in Krakow (a #UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978), Poland. Was this a good idea? What if it’s dangerous here? Scam? 1001 things played in my head, I even toyed with the idea of cutting short this country (from 4 days to 2 days, so yah… it was that bad). Arriving at our Air BNB changes everything (for Anna, I bet Chico changes everything). Let’s save the Air BNB apartment to later, an entry on traveltips shall we.

So we gather our courage (ni drama jer lebih) and head to town a short while after resting and sorting out. 3 stops away and 15mins later (plus waiting for tram time), we arrived at the station; below the mall, connected to the airport train (perfect right). Torn with shopping in mall or going to the Old Town we decided to O-som to decide, leaving it the fate, to god almighty (korang percaya ke my crap nih?!?)… Seriously! We concluded that we shall go to the Old Town to get my HRC shirt and shop at the mall on our way back. Get the most important thing out of the way (HRC short that is. Priority check!). Off we walk to the Old Town, probably a 10 mins or less walk with a few stop looking at bakeries, eyes lingering at souvenir shops, danced at the sound busker playing their hip-and-happening local song (waima I tak tau sepatah haram pun, tapi takpe, blend it with locals… so they say kan).

Maintaining my focus and setting my objective straight, I saw the sign saying HRC Krakow “this way”, ‘AHA! Turn right’ harmoniously we shrieked. We walked (practically skipped and hopped excitedly), entering the cobbled street enveloped by a fortress wall with watch tower and all, Renaissance style rows of shops checkered on the outer ring; circling the Old Town Square. Not wanting to take any chances of getting lost which is highly unlikely (drama itu penting dalam setiap plot) we asked around while checking-out the souvenir shops. Clear direction was given, walk towards the St. Mary's Basilica of which Anna translate as ‘that pointy thing’, HRC is located just next to it. We reach there within few mins, how irony I thought to myself, a Hard Rock Café right next to a basilica. Hemmmm…. And its right in front of a square where the smell of eateries captivate your nostril and the sound of music emblazoning the blue hour sky, not to mention people lepaking and enjoying the autumn breeze and beautiful sunset.

I settled my HRC within a few mins and we agreed to split and meet right in front of the basilica, and this is when I fell in love. Suspense dak?

I entered the most recognizable and notable building there, the Cloth Hall; where the textile trade used to take place. Now, this Renaissance style building is the most popular place for souvenir shopping and I, Lily Riani got so confuse of what to buy, for whom, how many and etc.

#TravelTips 1 : The exchange rate during my trip was 1:1, making maths failer like moi feels like a pro (seringgit duit kita, seZloty duit diarang. Sonang).

# TravelTips 2 : Even with 1:1 exchange rate, some of the stuff it is still cheaper than Malaysia and better too (dah lah murah, kualiti bagus, exchange rate best pulak tuh).

I got myself a few souvenirs for family and friends and decided to check-out the surrounding and snap some pictures. This is when I saw a few lovely, dainty, sweet looking souvenirs that I felt like buying. The. Whole. Shop.

#TravelTips 3 : You know how Amsterdam is face for the white lace and blue embroidery, so is Poland, except that the embroidery is bright and colourful.

#TravelTips 4 : So  this bright and colourful embroidery souvenirs are reasonably priced. Memang rasa nak borong. Sumpah.

Just outside at the Main Square, you’ll see buskers singing, dancers performing and guess what, I was lucky to witness a couple of stranger get together impromptu-ly and perform a rendition. How cool was that. Lalalalalaaa…. I can’t resist but to capture it on video. And to add the icing on the cake – is the horse carriage that will take you around the Old Town with a nominal fee. Of which I didn’t take lah (tetiba kedekut).

#TravelTips 5 : If you are worried on halal food, fret not as you’ll kebab, and kebab, and plenty kebab stall everywhere. Well, almost everywhere lah. Janji tak mati kebuluran lah.

#TravelTips 6 : And the people are awesome, very friendly. Or at least I was lucky as I met only nice people during this trip. Keh keh keh….

#TravelTips 7 : English is spoken widely in Poland especially by the younger generation.

I have to warn you though, the dessert here is yummilicious. A must try. Even if you can’t sample them all, do take pictures as it look so beautiful and nice to look at (tetiba terliuq).

After all this bragging, how could I not fall in love right? (ni belum cerita tempat-tempat yang I dah pergi and tempat-tempat yang I nyesal giler tak pergi lagi).

Poland | By chance… It was Iceland’s fault!

The most underrated country in Europe.

There’s so many to say. So many to share. And so many to shout about.

My ultimate advice is still, allocate 1 week and visit this country. Krakow and Warsaw; the 2 cities you should (dis)cover. The very least. You will not regret it. Trust me.

Having been traveling since the last 10 years or so, covering many European countries, Poland has always been out of the radar, omitted even at the preliminary stage, losing to neighbouring countries such as Czech Republic, Germany and the Baltic countries. So one might find it strange, if it is always a miss, so the mystery was, how did I end up in Poland and fallen head over hill with her. Well, here my journey… my love story.

How we (Poland and I) met was by chance, thanks to the supposed-to-erupt-Iceland-volcano-but-did-not. The original plan was to spend approximately 10 days in Iceland; doing the Golden Circle route, either self-drive or tour. Just 1 week before our departure, the Met announces that the plate shifted and the Iceland volcanos show sign of activities. Googling this lead to another miserable finding which validates the news… few volcanos around the world has emitted a faint cloud of grey smoke.

An initial indication that…

The dragon mouth (volcano lah tuh) has awaken. Jeng jeng jeng…

Worried that the history might repeat itself; 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull thick ashes covering Europe air travel for a period of 1 week. It was a catastrophic phenomenon as 20 countries closed their airspace to commercial jet traffic which affected about 10 million travellers. Us both don’t want to be in the same boat, knowing very well that the cost of living in Reykjavik gonna damage our bank account for the next few years. Will share more on ‘How to survive in Iceland with a small budget’ in my next entry *wink*.

Just 3 days before departure, we formulate a plan, a MASTER-FOOOLPROOF-PLAN we call it, with no  back-up plan (whatsoever, yeah… #overconfidentmuch). We shall decide upon arriving Europe on our next country of visit and the amount of stay per country (smart sangat kannnn). After monitoring the news, we both decided to cut down our Iceland trip (calling it a recce trip instead) and our action item was…

Anna : We google with flight travels to any Europe country that we both haven’t been to, the cheapest of course.

Lily : Set! (Looking at the map, identifying the possible countries )

And in the tiny Air BNB room we set, amidst Reykjavik cold and chilly weather, we googled and nailed down – Krakow! Quickly we search for a room in Air BNB and bam we found one to our liking, 3 station away from Old Town (anywhere near an Old Town [in any countries that is] is superbly good).

Since we are already geared up to be adventurous and spontaneous, we felt that it is only right that the whole 16 days of our trip (or whatever left of it) are planned in the same manner; deciding the next country best on – (i) cheapest mode of transport, (ii) a country we both have yet to set foot and (iii) the shortest and fastest journey. And we did just that, the whole trip.

But I only felt in love with one country. Poland.

(Lusa sambung)

Frankfurter in Frankfurt. And it's Halal!

Was browsing my Germany photos and realized I hardly (well 1 blog entry todate) blog about my trip. I guess there’s nothing much for you to blog about if you did a layover trip. Well, there was the Frankfurt old town and the factory outlet, that’s about it. For me at least.

Insisting myself to blog about Germany makes me relook al the whole Germany album. Ah hah! Found it. This will be a text heavy entry (which is quite rare for so I hope you read thru lah), enjoy….

As usual, when I travel, one of the main issue will be food; finding halal food to be exact. Of course alternatively I can go for pure vegetarian food, seafood, pork free and kosher (not in any particular order), but my first options will be halal food. The same goes for my layover city – Frankfurt. Having stopping here for less than 24 hours enroute to Balkan, I didn’t put any stress on it, maggi me will do. Yes, am simple liddat.

You know what? Was I wrong. Very wrong. So very very wrong.

“When you least expected, it’ll spellbound you. Always.” True?

Our journey begin when we arrived Frankfurt am Main Flughafen Fernbahnhof; the main train station, a short walk to the hotel we were staying. As I walk and look around, getting familiar with the surrounding I soon realized that there were a couple of halal shops, all within 5-10 minutes walking distance. I remembered saying to myself “I beginning to like Frankfurt, I underestimated this city”, obviously after the journey outskirt to the factory outlet, I told myself to revisit this city. A definite must.

Since halal restos are at abundance here, I do not need to ration my Brahim food stock *wink*, the days we were in Frankfurt, we will eat out.

I only have one concern though, frankfurter! I am in Frankfurt so obviously I should try their frankfurters. As we walk into the old town, Anna was leaping with joy “I must try this and this and that!” and I was only hoping to see a halal frankfurter stall/cart. Almost feeling disappointed, I saw this young chap selling frankfurters in green shirt, green container and green umbrella instead of the colourful rainbow coloured umbrella. Curiosity took over, and I made a beeline over and saw the word I was looking for “HALAL”, “Yeszaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…” I told myself (masa tuh rasa nak buat lompatan berpusing macam ‘Moero Attack’ hokkay). I told him what I want and eagerly waited. Snapped a few pictures *proud moment*.

Makanya… the taste?!?

Its ok, yummy but takde lah sampai termimpi-mimpi nak makan 3 juta kali lagi. Hehhehehhehe…..

Challenge accepted. Philippines local transportation.

I have a problem.
I am a sucker.
A sucker for local transportation.
Must have inherited this from my ayah (dad).
He have loadsa books on ships, trains, cars etc.

And I absolutely LOVE trucks!
Ayah bought me a few too when I was a kid, no... I don't play with dolls. Giler gurlie ok! Hahahhahahaa...

I insisted that Edgar, Gael, Llyod and Kirk to take Anna and I on all mode of transportation we bump ourselves into, from Manila to the most northern tip of Luzon; Pagudpud. All must try trip.

Yeah! I am crazy like that (cliche dak ayat nih).

Philippines entry :
Vigan Heritage City, Philippines
Vigan at night | Philippines (#UNESCO)Vigan Heritage City, Philippines
#TravelTips | Vigan Walking Tour (map) & Metro Vigan Inn, Philippines
Ferdinand Marcos Museum and Mausoleum & Imelda Marcos 
Bangui Wind Farm of Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Most of our rides are in this vehicle that they call tricycle but I call it tuk-tuk (peduli apa depa panggil apa kan.... hahahhahahaa...). Sempit tapi I masih celuih, dah kurus ler tuh (mode perasan berbau riak).

And guess what?

YES! We managed to squeeze ourselves into this tuk-tuk (ok ok ok.... TRICYCLE). Fine.

Untuk perhatian umum, tuh kaki Anna (sebab kaki saya gomok, kaki tuh kurus). Kejam.

The next one was abit drama, I rode on kereta unta, kereta kebal, eh! kalesa ride or horse carriage or kereta kuda.

I cheated. 

My carriage was in black which is very much the colour of all carriages in Vigan but since this one looks more princessy, I decided to take a picture with it. By the way, I was wearing my comfortable new #AdidasNeo shirt, proud.

Our bus got into an engine problem hence Edgar got the local to help us, this uncle fetch us to Bangui Wind Farm and later to the town nearby. I call this vehicle - motorcycle with sidecar but some still calls it tricycle (eyes rolling).

I tried a few local buses as well, this one is from Pagudpud to Vigan.

Giler retarded. Hehehhehheh.....

Their bus drivers are really cool, regardless of the age, most of them will play the 80s and 90s songs. So very the discomania. 

We tried their van as well to get to UNESCO site; Santa Maria Church, please take note muka baru bangun tidur.

I also tried their MRT, sila bersyukur LRT kita lawa. Sekian.

The interior looks exactly like any other MRT we have taken.

Philippines Jeepney! Yes, I finally get to try this. Excited ok.

I love the #AdidasNeo Sochi Olympics shirt, the material is very soft and cooling plus the peach colour stands out as well. Gonna bring it for my next trip. Thank you #AdidasNEO!

Tight squeeze.

This one fascinate me alot. Tricycle but with bicycle instead, similar to Malaysia beca but this one is fully covered.

So, which one have you tried and do you try other countries' mode of transportation. How do you like it?

Bangui Wind Farm of Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Wanna hear a stupid story?
As usual lah kan, every trip of mine bound to be one silly incident that we will talk over and over again. Kalau tak da, tak sah dalam trip I. Hahhahhahaha...

We took a bus from Batac City to Bangui enroute to Pagudpud. As usual, the plan was simple, stop in Bangui to check-out the wind farm at sunset. But hey, what fun is it if nothing interesting happen on the way there, and by interesting I meant those 'weird-funny-silly-stupid-scary-dangerous-almost died' experience.

So, this is how the story goes...

We took a bus, an old squeezy bus playing great 80s numbers, (the bus driver really know how to make a journey fun and entertaining) driving at moderate speed, stopping at small barangay (maknanya kampung ler tuh) to pick-up passengers.

Everything went well until.... jeng jeng jeng.

At one of the stop, one woman screamed in tagalog which made those sitting behind screamed in unison and rush out of the bus. Obviously Anna and I don't understand a word and all we did was just plainly staring at them, then we heard Edgar said 'Quick, get down! The bus is on fire!'. Giler apa, 'ON FIRE'!?!?!??!! Apa lagi, tak cukup tanah we all lari keluar, nak terjun kot tingkap tak celuih, yea lah, badan kan sihat-sihat dan embam-embam (drama giler dak idup I?)

As we got down, we saw the petrol was leaking but no fire lah. Panic sampai semput kot tadi, ngucap tak sudah-sudah. Nevertheless, we can't take the same bus anymore, half an hour later another bus passed by and almost all boarded the bus except us. We all look at Edgar who was talking to a few locals not far from where we were standing (dah macam kerang busuk dok tersengih-sengih), wondering what is the plan now. Then we saw him waving and calling us, asking us to come over. Hemmm.... apakah?

He said, this 'uncle' agreed to send us four to the nearest town to catch a bus, plus a quick stop at Bangui Wind Farm. We all ok kan je lah...

So yah! This was our mode of transportation for the next one hour or so, korang mampu? Hahhahhaha... Berkat kegigihan serta ketawakalan yang tinggi lagi jitu, we arrived safely at the Bangui Wind Farm. Alhamdulillah.

You probably wondered how does it feel riding a motorbike with a sidecar (ah... ituler nama dia, sidecar [google dalam setangah jam jugak lah nak cari nama dia keh keh keh]). One word to describe = VIBRATION/GEGARAN. I honestly and seriously believe that if we were to do a 2-3 hours trip on this motorbike-sidecar thingy, I can easily loose 1-2kg, like seriously. Think about it.

Oh yah! The first glimpse of the windmill, we all went 'Ahhh.... ohhhhh.... Look! Look! Sunset!!! Ahhhh.... ohhhh....'. At one point, I almost feel like the Optimus Prime gonna jump down and take the blade to fight some sea monster or something. #wildimagination #over

Nothing much happened after that, we ran everywhere and at every direction to take some perasan-lovely shots. Memang agak jakun lah jugak, besar kot kan. Sekarang tengah cuaca El Nino nih, I patut angkut a few balik pasang kat KL kan!?! Hahhahhah... ada setuju?

I asked the driver to leave them there. Hahhahahah... zalim dak?

At about sunset, he broke the news to us. His motorbike doesn't have a tail light, so we need to go now as the road is dark and he might get a summon for this. Dah pulak...



Philippines entry :
Vigan Heritage City, Philippines
Vigan at night | Philippines (#UNESCO)
Interesting things in #Philippines 
#TravelTips | Vigan Walking Tour (map) & Metro Vigan Inn, Philippines
Ferdinand Marcos Museum and Mausoleum & Imelda Marcos

Teaser | My Philippines Adventure (#UNESCO trip)

Memories capture during the trip...

I will be sharing the places, how to get there, where to stay and some travel tips in my next post. Stay tune...