It was my first winter experience and we are going to places that the temperature can drop up to -35°C. We definitely need to prepare carefully to avoid fall sick cause nobody wants that while on vacation.

Clothes

Every site found on google suggested that I had to wear at least 3 layers of clothes. Damn that was a lot of clothes. Tapi memang betul, saya gembira je takde pun kesejukkan melampau. Paling pun stress muka beku sebab muka mana boleh layer sampai 3 habis la tak nampak jalan.
  
I survived just fine with these



Extra tu make differences tau. Covering ears, neck mouth and hand help survive the winds. Oh and tampal heat patches everywhere you want.
 
It is definitely better to travel light that brought all those unnecessary items. Menyesal betul angkut beg berat dari kl dan tak pakai half of the baju. Buy winter attire bila dah sampai destinasi je. They usually sell those jackets, scarf, gloves and heat patches a lot cheaper compare to in Malaysia.




When you are in winter trip, you'll mostly inside the buiding and your day will end earlier. Lagi malam lagi sejuk kot jadi mesti nak cepat-cepat balik hotel and rehat. Baju and tudung semua tu boleh recycled tak perlu nak pack banyak sangat sehari 5 helai sebab perlukan 5 layer. I basically brought almost 30kgs of baggage full of i-dont-know-what-clothes but just recycled the same few days worth of clothes in the end. Please do not follow my mistakes.

 

 

Skincare

I brought along in-shower body lotion, facial oil, vaseline petroleum jelly. Walaupun dah mandi dengan in-shower body lotion, pakai lotion biasa jugak to make sure kulit tak overly dry. Petroleum jelly jadikan bestfriend for lips. Especially when you have sensitive skin. Takut luka sebab terlalu kering.

I have dry face so face oil tu bestfriend. Biasa kat kl pakai one or two drop je. Kat sana pakai macam moisturizer hahaha. Alhamdulillah, i dont really have skin problem throughout the trip.

Suncreen jangan tinggal eh walaupun matahari muncul kejap and tak rasa panas langsung, the uv exposure still can cause sunburn.

Phone

Most smartphone batteries are lithium-ion, which can stop discharging electricity in extremely cold temperatures. Do not surprise to see your phone just suddenly shutting off or has shortened battery life. It is actually normal. Boleh tahan sakit hati la bila tengah syok buat insta-story tetiba battery tinggal 5%. Or tengah ambil gambar, then the phone suddenly freeze and auto shutdown. Restart and voila all the previous pictures has not been saved.

There is actually not much you can do, just engage with real world and enjoy the trip.






p/s : the trip was in Jan 2018 hrmm setahun lebih dah 

Photo by Kody Gautier on Unsplash

Siapa yang suka sangat online shopping memang wajib ada ShopBack account! Ni bukan lah sponsored post, cuma suka nak share benda best yang boleh mendapatkan keuntungan kat semua ni. Now we can earn sikit dari perangai shopaholic kita tu instead of just spending money.


Why?!
Because they offer cashback each time you shop online. Maknanya tiap kali shopping dapat sikit balik ke kita. If we are not using this, we still spend the same amount of money to shop kan why not gain a litle bit extra.


How?!



Merchants rewards ShopBack then they share it with us! Point kat sini, kena get redirected to merchant store from ShopBack site. They are growing so dah makin banyak merchant join. Then kadang-kadang waktu sales ada kasi certain promo code atau vouchers atau cashback% bertambah. Kena la ambil kesempatan time tu.

I do check several other cashback site and yes, ShopBack offer their user paling tinggi % cashback. Merchant mostly sama je.




Dia ada both website and mobile app, tapi saya as usual suka shopping guna website lagi senang nak nampak. Mobile version site selalu kurang stabil tapi kalau uber and grab only applicable on their mobile app. Tiap satu trip dapat 20sen free oh siapa nak kasi kan.

Betul ke ni??

As normal human being mula-mula macam skeptical juga lepas tu last month like finally lepas almost 6 months tunggu tetiba some of the pending cashback dah turn to redeemable. Saya pun apa lagi cepat-cepat try to cash it out.







Cuma kena sabar sikit je boleh tahan lama pending tu bertukar jadi redeemable. Sebab it is free and easy saya tak kesah langsung bab menunggu tu.


Be a smart online shopper and earn extra cashback okay darling. Happy shopping!

"Untunglah kaya"

Even it is in joking tone, it still irk me so much. Because i know that travelling is a luxury for me. I work for it to happen. It is definitely not a last minute plan.

I usually plan my trip a year before. Too early?? I don't think so. It give me enough time to breath and properly plan my financial flow. Of course original plan will not be the same with the final plan but that make excitement of planning a trip, make you look forward to the good times ahead! Well, there is the famous saying 'if you fail to plan, you plan to fail'. After financing myself for awhile, I learned that it is very important to prioritize things since I couldn't afford everything with my fresh grads salary.

Save RM10,000 and spend it in all at once for travel seems impossible for me. Unexpected thing might come and I may having temptation to change my mind on the very last seconds. So I make sure to have a goal and timeline.

Timeline that I usually follow (click for clear image)

So the trick is :

1. Have a realistic goal. Ukur baju dibadan sendiri.

2. Start saving as you do your research. Know your saving target and where to spend the money first. For example, I decided to book the flight ticket first cause normally the ticket price will just go up and won't go any cheaper. Then move to accommodation and transport.

3. Be a diligent researcher, do not settle in one place. Check every single website, make google your beloved bestfriend. Don't afraid to ask around, use referral links, join facebook group for tips

4. Do not go too far off the margin.You can be flexible, just make sure give range to it. Be wise, darling.

5. Subscribe to all related newsletter. And do check every 2 weeks. You will never know when they drop the promotion with good bargain price. Take advantage of Air Asia free seat or MAS deals of the day.

6. Consistent is the key. I have a travel fund and fill it every month without fail. So you do need to be discipline if you were to follow this plan. Maybank have goal saving plan feature that you could utilize to help you reach your target consistently.



Travelling should be a happy and relaxing occasion not something burdening. I never believe in owing money just for travel. That is why I make plan to help me sort out everything properly.

Assalamualaikum, hi!



Alhamdulillah syukur sangat my application dah pun diluluskan. Now i'm officially selesai urusan bersama PTPTN. Super blessed to have the opportunity to score well in my degree despite segala perangai pemalas and suka bertangguh nak siapkan kerja. Alhamdulillah couldn't ask for more.

This is for semua student-student perform yang graduate with 1st class degree honour semasa dalam pengajian sarjana muda/undergraduate/bachelor degree. So sorry for diploma and master student, this is not applicable for you guys.

When you're manage to graduate with 1st class degree, awak automatic layak untuk dapat pengecualian pembayaran for your pinjaman PTPTN. Kira pinjaman ubah jadi biasiswa la. So cepat-cepat la apply for it as permohonan ni only valid selama setahun selepas hari graduasi anda.

Cara permohonan dia pun senang je. Dapatkan BORANG pengecualian bayaran balik, isi dan hantar sekali dengan segala dokumen yang diminta, salinan yang telah disahkan.

1. Salinan Transkrip Peperiksaan
2. Salinan Ijazah Kelas pertama. Pastikan perkataan KELAS PERTAMA dicatatkan pada Ijazah dan/atau Surat Pengesahan Kelas Pertama daripada Bahagian Akademik IPT jika tidak tercatat perkataan KELAS PERTAMA pada Ijazah.
3. Salinan Sijil Perakuan Akreditasi daripada Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia (MQA) jika penerima biaya menuntut di IPTS

Kat my degree cert takde tulis ijazah kelas pertama so i had to request surat dari university. Thank god limkokwing's registry department punya urusan tak lama and quite senang. Hari ni minta esok dah siap. Cakap je nak apply surat for pengecualian ptptn eh dia sediakan segala certified true copy of all the document needed. Mesti dah ramai yang request so they already knew what is needed tak payah all the student keep requesting macam-macam berulang kali. Buat semua orang punya kerja pun senang.

I went straight to menara ptptn untuk hantar borang and all the supporting document since dah dekat kl kan. Senang cepat sikit dia proses. Tapi boleh je hantar ke cawangan PTPTN negeri masing-masing. Waktu hantar tu staff PTPTN tu kata application process dalam masa 90 hari but my application was processed within 2 weeks. And surat sampai rumah lepas sebulan dari tarikh saya submit borang. Memang tak sangka secepat tu.

Being me yang suka sangat buat kerja last minute, rabu the schedule flight hari selasa baru terkocoh-kocoh pergi renew passport. Supposed to buat on monday dekat putrajaya lepas selesai urusan dekat campus but datang lambat and nombor habis. Kecewa sebab ingat boleh selesai semua on monday but takpe la nasib baik ada satu hari lagi.


Errrrrrrr... The last time i renew passport, 5 tahun lepas masih guna borang dan kena bawa gambar sendiri. Wow now all urusan dah jadi super easy. Dah la first time buat semua sendiri. Before saya masih dibawah umur so ikut saja mama suruh kesana kesini puff dah siap. Since now dah besar, need to berdiri atas kaki sendiri baru lah nak aware dengan segala procedure dia.

Jadi hari tu memang determine habis la wajib siapkan today kalau tak cancel la plan bercuti oh no. Hantar amsyar pergi sekolah at 7am then terus pergi UTC Sentul. Nasib baik sangat Mini UTC Sentul ni wujud sebab now dah tak perlu pergi jauh untuk segala urusan rasmi kerajaan, dekat kawasan rumah je wiwiwi. Pagi-pagi parking kat luar tu dah penuh to be honest memang tak pernah sekali pun nampak kawasan tu lengang. Pusing-pusing cari parking kat luar tu dapat la kawasan belakang. Okay sebab selekeh benda first saya buat bila dah sampai UTC is cari tandas.

Dah terpacak depat pejabat tu around 7.30am lepas siap touch up semua. Aim untuk rebut the first number gagal, the line has started. I wonder pukul berapa orang paling depan tu sampai kan. Oh the pejabat pengeluaran passport utc sentul is on the first floor. Dari ground floor tu naik je escalator, pusing belakang and you'll find it.

Pukul 8am line dah start getting longer and longer. Sejam menunggu and akhirnya pintu terbuka. Lega weh sebab penat dah berdiri.



Tunggu no giliran lagi satu hal. Quite lambat since there is only one counter je yang buka. Actually there are three but the other two are the special needs counter for warga emas, ibu mengandung dan kanak-kanak bawah 2 tahun.



Around 10+am baru la nombor dipanggil. You just pass your old passport and ic. Lepas tu ambil gambar on the spot. Nanti dia proses je semua. They'll give you the form to sign and cap jari. Selesai tu wait for the same number to be called for payment. RM200 untuk 5 tahun.



I got my new passport around 11.30am lega dapat selesai segalanya and dapat proceed my vacation dengan tenang. The process is simple cuma perlu bersabar kalau dah ramai orang. Kalau takde orang dalam masa 2 jam pun you can get a new passport.

Since lama dah tak bercuti, #throwback2012

Saya ni memang sejenis orang yang sangat sangat failed bab pack barang kalau nak pergi somewhere more than one day.  At first memang la okay dah tau set dalam kepala cuma pack apa yang penting dan berguna sahaja. Once dah start tu tiba-tiba rasa segala barang dalam bilik tu penting dah berguna. Ha cemana pulak dah takkan nak angkut satu bilik ikut sekali kan.

Selalu rasa takpe bawak je lebih manalah tau kan. Just in case. Lagi elok berlebih dari terkurang. Mesti ada gunanya nanti. Hakikatnya itu semua ayat brainwashed sedapkan diri sendiri agar dapat angkut sebanyak barang yang mungkin padahal most of the time barang tu memang tak perlu.

Sebagai seorang yang aspire to be a full time traveller, I believe that it is about time that i need to start learning how to be a smart traveller. Jadi bijak mengatur hidup semasa merantau ke tempat asing. First and foremost is by becoming a really practical person when packing my stuffs.

Here i'll share some tips and trick i found online that are pretty useful


Determine barang yang sangat-sangat you can't live with contohnya ubat or bantal busuk or phone or apa jelah. Kalau ke tempat yang beriklim sejuk kena bawak baju yang tebal, kalau pergi dengan anak kecil kena pastikan basic needs dia cukup, kalau on business trip kena pastikan segala document penting tersedia etc.  Nak bawa backpack ke luggage ke, besar mana. All these ques will help you determine what stuffs you really need and help you plan properly.


Satu barang pelbagai kegunaan ni sangat berguna sebab kita dapat kurangkan lagi quantiti barang yang perlu dibawa. Pilih baju yang flexible dan senang mix and match, kasut yang sesuai dipakai in any ocassion, bag yang boleh jadi bantal dll so that kita boleh recycle the items. I always go with baju yang boleh dipakai dengan pelbagai gaya contohnya button jubah/shirt. Hari ni pakai the jubah/shirt normally tapi esok use it as an outer wear so that orang lain do not actually notice that kita pakai baju semalam. Basic colours dan jenis kain tak cepat renyuk is a plus. Bagi muslimah bertudung, selendang anda boleh dijadikan selimut pada waktu malam.


Plan nak pakai apa, guna apa for each day and make a list. Pack according to the list. Senang nak rujuk dan boleh avoid drama tertinggal barang penting. Most of case tertinggal barang ni mesti orang yang cuma buat list dalam kepala dan bajet dia ada power memory *like me duh*. Stick to the list and jangan create alasan yang konon munasabah. Deep inside you always know that it is just an escapism untuk angkut segalanya.


Kena pandai utilize all the spaces as we have a very limited space. Kalau google ada banyak cara yang nak lipat baju jadi compact. Yang paling common adalah teknik gulungan. Sesuai sangat untuk backpack.


Dah tau nak lalu imigresen jangan la pergi pack your passport kat dalam tengah-tengah backpack tu dah satu kerja membongkar beg yang padahal before dah susun cantik-cantik. Barang macam camera, phone, duit, ic, passport, air, snacks yang sentiasa kena bawa kemana-mana and selalu digunakan tu usually lebih elok letak sekali in a handbag ke backpack kecik ke yang kita memang bawa everywhere. Atau letak kat poket-poket kecil backpack or luggage tu.


If you are going to somewhere for anything approaching two weeks or longer, you’ll want to pack only for one week, and then every week or so you can have laundry done. Kalau ramai-ramai tu cari la self services laundry berdekatan boleh share load tu dah jimat money and time. Or choose to stay kat dorm yang provide washing machine.  


Unpack pun satu perkara padahal nak kemas balik to its place je kan malasnya ya amat..