Ljubljana Free Tour, Slovenia

Ljubljana is pronounced lub-lee-yana.

As you know, I have the weirdest reason when picking a country, of which I feel it is rather inconsistent as it can be for whatever reason at that point of time. And for Slovenia, it was because of the dragon. Yup! DRAGON! Very loman hor. Hehehehheee...

There is so many version and I shall share the one I like most, or perhaps I should just create one. *wink*

Story 1 

Legend has it that Ljubljana was founded by the Greek mythological hero Jason and his companions, the Argonauts, who had stolen the golden fleece from King Aetes and fled from him across the Black Sea and up the Danube, Sava and Ljubljanica rivers.

At a large lake in the marshes near the source of the Ljubljanica they stopped and disassembled their ship to be able to carry it to the Adriatic Sea, put it together again, and return to Greece. The lake was the dwelling place of a monster, which Jason fought, defeated and killed. The monster, now referred to as the Ljubljana Dragon, found its place atop the castle tower depicted on the Ljubljana coat of arms.  From Visit Ljubljana

Story 2
According to the Slavic myth the slaying of dragon releases the waters and ensures the fertility of the earth, and it is thought the myth in this area is tied to the Ljubljana Marshes, the expansive area that has been threatening because of frequent flooding that reached Ljubljana. According to the celebrated Greek legend, the Argonauts on their return home after having taken the Golden Fleece found a large lake surrounded by a marsh between the present-day towns of Vrhnika and Ljubljana. It is there that Jason struck down a monster. This monster has become the dragon that today is present on the city coat of arms and flag. From Wikipedia

I like Story 2 better, but no lomance wan?

Franciscan Church of the Annunciation

Here's the thing, Ljubluna city is pretty small a quaint, technically one can cover it within one day and I found the best to do this and get to mingle with fellow travelers as well.

#TravelTips 1 : I found a Ljubljana Free Walking Tour website where by the walking tour itself is free (great for budget travelers) and takes approximately 2.5hours or so. At the end of the tour, if feels that the guide did an excellent job you can reward them with tips as they very much rely on this tips.

#TravelTips 2 : Don't stinge on the tour guide tips just because it is free, kemut pun jangan lah sampai ambil kesempatan yek.

#Travel 3 : You can stop at any point of time but make sure the tour guide is well informed, jangan blah senapas.

Aside from the free walking tour, they also do chargeable tour, pick one you like. I personally enjoyed the free walking tour... I just wish the weather was better and the sky is bluer.

The starting for this walking tour is from the town center itself, we waited for the guide at the steps of Franciscan Church of the Annunciation. No way you can miss it, its the orange colour church *smile*. Briefing will be conducted then off we go.

#TravelTips 4 : Make sure you camera, smartphone, good walking shoes and water handy, And keep close to the guide when he explains the buildings and history. Semua orang tunggu part dragon tuh ajer arituh, hehehheee...

Some of the building is really amazing and I am sure there's a beautiful story wrap around it. but it not be a heavy weight in history. So tangkap jer gambar sambil gawk (yup, yang gawk to adalah saya).

Not to worry, within the 2.5hours walking tour, they will take you to the famous dragon bridge.

Background
The bridge was originally named The Jubilee Bridge of the Emperor Franz Josef I. In July 1919, it was renamed to Dragon Bridge. The Dragon Bridge, although significantly modeled after the Nußdorf weir, is often regarded as the most beautiful bridge produced by the Vienna Secession.[7] It is the first bridge in Slovenia paved with asphalt, the first reinforced concrete bridge in Ljubljana, and one of Europe's earliest reinforced concrete bridges. When opened in 1901, it had the third largest arch in Europe at that time.

From Wikipedia

#TravelTips 5 : My suggestion is to allocate between 3 -4 days if you plan to wonder outskirt of Ljubljuna as well, else a 2 full day trip here is sufficient. 2 full day tau, bukan 2D1N.

There are a few key places that you should cover this medieval city.

• Wander the medieval town
• Walking down Ljubljanica River
• Experience the hustle and bustle of the central/flea market 
• Ljubljana Castle
• Night crawler (night performances and buskers everywhere)

I missed out the boat cruise when i was there though. Sigh.

The walking tour ends at the Križanke Open Air Theatre, it is most active during summer festivals, Located at the French Revolution Square, it was once the courtyard of the former Monastery of the Holy Cross. There are cafes around this area for you to chill after the walk *smile*.

6 months after this trip, I head to the land of "How to train your dragon". Wanna take a guess which country I visited?


More stories on Slovenia
Ljubljana Castle / Ljubljanski Grad, Slovenia
Day trip to Lake Bled, Slovenia (did toboggan ride too!)

Jami Air Tiris, Oldest Mosque in Veranda of Mecca City, Kampar

The great thing about doing road trip is that you can stop anywhere you want at any time you feels like.

It brought us to Veranda of Mecca City in Riau,  Kampar.

And this is what we did, Iman, our kind supir wanted to show us the oldest mosque in Kampar, Province of Riau, Indonesia and to perform the Zuhur prayers as well. We stopped at Jami Air Tiris, an mosque that was built in 1901 AD. The design was influenced by Malay and Chinese architectural styles, the uniqueness is that it was built without using a single nail and that it has a pyramid-shaped roof.

There is one thing that I found out right after I got back to Malaysia, that there is a water bath in it submerged large rock-like head of buffalo, apparently the stone is constantly moving despite no one moving it. Many said that it being sacred, hence they visited this beautiful mosque and cleanse themselves with the water, thus resulting to their wish and desire being granted, also that the water is able to cure diseases. Katanya lah kan…

Like any places, there is also a legend associated with Jami Air Tiris as well (wallahulam), during the Netherlands colonial era, they have tried to burn the mosque down but to no avail, not only that, Mesjid Jami survived the flood.

Note :

Many have requested me to share the list of places I covered during this road trip, I will do so in my next post.

Gasing Uri; the Spinning Gasing of Terengganu

Gasing or Spinning Top; is a folk game that is being played as a past time as well as competitions and performances by the locals in Terengganu and Kelantan. It also serves as a unity platform amongst the locals where it bridges generation gap, cut across all races and knows no social boundaries. With the current social media advocates trending on virtual space, this once a traditional game has taken one step further; now a major tourist attraction.

There are 2 categories of gasing in Malaysia; ornamental purposes and while the other is for playing. Ornamental gasing are namely the Plate-shaped, Heart-shaped, Hat top-shaped, Egg-shaped and Berembang-shaped (Berembang is a mangrove tree, home of the fireflies), where else the playing or competition gasing are Pangkah Totok, Pangkah Hentak, Pangkah Layang and Pangkah Tebang.

One that impresses spectator most is the Gasing Layang or Gasing Uri from Terengganu, whereby when the gasing top is launched, the top is carefully scooped off the ground using a thin wooden bat called cokok (a 60cm wooden spatula like) which then transferred to a lopok (a 45cm piston like handle made of wood). The team is required to ensure the gasing spins the longest time possible, current record stands at two hours, only an experience and skillful gasing master will be able to know the technique of sustaining a spinning gasing. Monthly spinning gasing competition is still being held in Kelantan till this date.

A good Gasing Uri is made from selected wood such as kayu semeru (Micromelum pubescens), kayu bunga cempaka merah (Michaelia chanpaka) and kayu kemuning (Murraya paniculata) which is not termite-prone. Copper is usually being used for decoration as it is heavier, however for competition gasing; lighter aluminum is being used. Standard weight for Gasing Uri is around four kilograms each.

One can easily purchase or custom made a Gasing Uri, price is subject to the size, type of wood and aluminum used, it can range between RM100 to RM400 each.

Note :

Terengganu International Squid Jigging Fest 2015 or Pesta Candat Sotong Antarabangsa Terengganu 2015 is sponsored by the state government of Terengganu, this annual squid jigging carnival aims to introduce as well as relive the old tradition that was once livelihoods for many along the coast of Terengganu between April and August each year.