Thinking 2015 – Wanderer Style

Year 2014 passes so fast that we are now at its tail end. It has been a year of transitions for me, professionally, emotionally, spiritually (?) and to some extent physically. I jumped from being a Master student, to a wanderer, and back to a 8-5 office worker. Every transition affected me emotionally. Especially during the early months I was back in the office.

Yet, now I am (forced to be) ready for 2015, with more responsibilities given, whether at work or in activism. Being a (predominantly) thinker-self,  I cannot help but to chart my 2015 to the T, especially for my globetrotting plan.

詳しく北海道！DIY Hokkaido！-Part 4 (Day 1 & 2)

 

One of the amazing stuffs in Shin Chitose Airport

It has been more than a month since we returned from our trip to Hokkaido Wonderland, but I can still relive the whole journey, the kuuki, the fresh air, the glorious, crimson momiji along the journey, the freedom to drive on your own and to stop whenever you want. I wish I have more time in Hokkaido (and surely my parents agree with me!). My Day 1 and Day 2 were full of airport experiences and these did not get any better when you have awesome airports as the Shin-Chitose Airport in Hokkaido.

p/s: sorry for the long delay.

p/s(2): i am skipping Part 3 that is reserved for a post on the planning stage for DIY Hokkaido

p/s(3): more pics to be uploaded soon 😉

Noor The Backpacker (2)- Destination Next!

The Majestic Al-Hambra from Afar

Getting the right destination for your upcoming adventure is not an easy feat. Especially if you are a middle class (like me) but dreams big (like me). With so many responsibilities in hand and so little time and money, prioritizing is the only way to compromise.

Alhamdulillah, with Allah’s abudant bestowals, my family and I have travelled to quite a few places around the globe and the destinations were mostly decided by ME! If you are a hardore traveller like I am, you may do these things during your free time or when you are stressed at work (at least I am): (1) checking the national holidays for next year and plan for annual leave; (2) googling the world map to choose the destination up next!

This is how it works with our family to get the proposal ‘Destination Next!’ thru:

Noor The Backpacker (1)- Pack&Wear It Light!

Traveling Tips for (Single/Sans Children) Muslimah

Re-posted from my entry in Facebook with some reformating (i’m a format-nerd!) and updating after my last trip to Turkiye.

After almost 10 years of intensive travelling & experimenting with my Umi to achieve comfortable, light travel, alhamdulillah, I am going to (slowly) start series of tips & suggestions for traveling Muslimah. Some of the tips may be common sense or even heard before but nothing hurts to share hopefully beneficial stuffs. Insyaallah I will start off with some tips on choosing the right (aside from Islam-compliant) clothing & packing as light as practicable*.

‘Noor The Backpacker’ Series- Introduction

The Light of ‘Noor’ – An Inspiration in My Life
-credit to Sakkal Design (sakkal.com)

Following the ‘Traveling Tips for Muslimah’ series, I decided to revise the name to reflect my travel style better, which consequently influence the tips and advices, and to emphasise on my aim to show to the world (that is what I hope) how liberating being a ‘Noor’ is (as one of typical name of Muslim women), not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually. 

日本旅支度ーPlanning for Japan- When & Where

Japan’s Fabulous Four-Season as experienced by my family and I

Japan is a place that can never fail you at any time of the year, if you know the trick. There are many factors to decide on when & where to go such as the seasons, festivals, nature and weather.

詳しく北海道！DIY Hokkaido- Part 2

My first visit to Hokkaido in Spring 2009- with my Umi in Otaru and it was snowing!

With lots of time in my hand, I continued to research on traveling in Hokkaido. The more I read the travel forums, blogs and websites, the more I felt less satisfied to be limited by the public transportation. My interest grew towards self-driving in the prefecture with the advice and encouragement by fellow globe-trekkers. Furthermore, I have achieved my personal target to visit Japan in every season up to my 4th visit early this year. I need a different mission altogether to expand my experience in Japan. After consulting my parents, we agreed to make it different 5th time around.

詳しく北海道！DIY Hokkaido-Part 1

Map of Autumn Foliage in Hokkaido for 2014- credit to WeatherNews.Jp

 

始めの日本にドライブ、楽しみ！

It’s gonna be my first experience driving in Japan and I am sooooo excited! And it does not get any better than DIY’ing it in Hokkaido (the Japanese version of New Zealand).

The plan came about unexpectedly when I was researching for places to go since I have extra annual leave days for the remaining of 2014. I am that allergic to extra holidays. Initially, I planned to join my travel buddy Kokly with her husband for their trip in South Korea mid-October (what a meddlesome, ain’t I?). And I was tad close to buy flight tix and already had the itinerary done (save for next time insya-Allah). I was trying to get the best of autumn in South Korea since this is not my first time to the beautiful country. But the timing was just not with me given the relatively short period of autumn foliage (c.f. Japan) due to its geographical shape. (Un)expectedly, I ended up researching for none other place than Japan!! Somehow it just fitted nicely given the longer period for autumn foliage (Sorry Kokly!).

Destination: HOKKAIDO!

Delightful Turkiye- Deciding & Planning

Our backpacks for the trip to Turkiye in Summer 2014

The plan for encore trip to Turkey has been in my mind since my first trip there in winter 2008, right after I came back for good from New Zealand. My family and I went with travel agent and despite being a good trip, the independent traveller in me was left dissatisfied.

The OZ Series (1)- Studying Holiday

My journey as a PG student in IR started here!

It has never crossed my mind to continue my higher education in Australia. Studying and living in New Zealand for 3.5 years left some impressions of the neighbouring country with all the rivalry in rugby, netball (awesome!), the claim on who-have-more-sheeps and few more. I was not even bothered to plan a trip to Aussie while I was in NZ unless it is free *cough*petronas interview*cough*.