Part 8: Aidilfitri in Niagara Falls, New York City, Atlantic City and Washington DC

Again, this year I could not celebrate Raya with my family in Kelantan due to Organic Chemistry classes that I had to take this summer (darn!). But since it was the 3rd time I celebrated raya in States, I did not feel that upset. I guess Im already immuned to this kind of stuff (tapi kalau tgk org upload Malaysian food sedap2, terbakor jgk). Plus, this year we got a chance to celebrate Raya at the Embassy of Malaysia in Washington DC!

Niagara Falls

So, few days after Orgo final, we had a looong road trip (about 13 hours) to Niagara Falls with awesome people (Nurul, Min, Alya and Paan). We stayed at a group of Malaysian students' house that are studying at Buffalo Uni (thanks akak!) for one night. She welcomed us very nicely and even cooked delicious sahur for us (terharu dpt makan ayam masak pedas for sahur :'D ).

There's a lot of interesting places to visit around Niagara Falls. We rode a boat (Maid of the Mist boat tour) to get closer view of the the famous falls. These falls - American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Canadian Falls (also known as Horseshoe Falls) are connected together forming one huge, spectacular waterfall!

At the Cave of the Winds - the front of Bridal Veil Falls

The International Bridge - Canada on the other side! 

Portion of Niagara Falls - the American Falls 

I think we paid around $15 for the tour package -> Tram around Goat Island, Cave of the Wind, Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls Aquarium and Memorial. We had to wear these funny ponchos just to stay dry.

Hard Rock Cafe -Niagara Falls : Checked!

Check out this page if you are interested to know more about Niagara Falls! http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/niagarafalls.html

New York City

Done with Niagara Falls, later that day we drove to NYC for second time! We stayed here for two nights at another Malaysian's house that are studying at Stevens Institute of Tecnology, Hoboken, New Jersey. They were very welcoming and the house is very spacious and lovely!

Walked miles for a box of macaroons 

This time, we tried to visit as many places that we did not visit the first time we were in NYC. This trip was focused more on food search (biasalah time puasa smua benda rasa cam nak makan) --> Laduree macaroons, Dylan's Candy Bar chocolates and of course Nyonya, a malay cuisine restaurant. This place is seriously good especially their curry mee and laksa penang (memang da bomb wa x tipu!). We broke our fast (it was Ramadhan) with all the delicious dishes with fully-satisfied expression, not realizing that we actually caught the attention of one American lady. She came to our table and asked what food we were eating because it looked so scrumptious (nampak sgt makan x hengat dunia).

Little Italy in Chinatown

The super delicious mee tomyam! * I dont have any photos of mee curry. I was too hungry and just couldn't wait to eat it. 

Dylans' Candy Bar (FYI, Dylan ni the daughter of Ralph Lauren)

Malaysian Flag spotted at Rockefellar Center! *Imma proud Malaysian :))

Tak lupa jugak makan nasi arab depan Port Authority.
Another Hard Rock Cafe - New York City charm: Checked! 

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Before we continued our journey to Atlantic City, we decided to buy some bakery goods from Carlos' Bake Shop (The Cake Boss Show). We bought some canolis and a cheesecake. And tell you what, the cheesecake was super soft and ughhh there's no word to describe it. Just perfect. Heaven. Marvelous pergh!! Thanks to Min's senior, because of him, we could skip the long line that could take us 2 hours to get in the shop. *He lives in Hoboken (Stevens student), so he has that privileged given by Buddy and the family. Weehooo! 

Then, we drove about 3 hours to Atlantic City to collect more Hard Rock charms. I did not hear much about this place but when we arrived there, it's actually an amazing place! I love the funfair, the buildings, outlets, and the scenery. Finally, I got to see the American beach (there's no sunny beach in Tennessee :( ). Plus, there's a lot of Trump's building here. All are very enormous and beautiful. I guess many people come here for gambling since there's a lot of casinos in this city. 

 Beachside Walk

The Funfair

Another Hard Rock Cafe - Atlantic City charm: Checked!

Washington DC

After spending half day in Atlantic City, we then drove to En. Nazrol's house in Washington DC. En. Nazrol is one of the Pegawai JPA that take care of the Malaysian students  (JPA sponsored) in USA. It felt so good to finally meet the Malaysian family after such a long time. And they are very nice too!

On 1st Syawal, we went to the Embassy for Raya Prayer. There's a lot of people from different places that came to celebrate the holy day together. After prayer, we went to the courtyard to eat Malaysian food! Yeay! 

Pink lace kurung moden for raya outfit 

We spent two nights at En. Nazrol's house, had so much good food and so much fun. Thanks to En. Nazrol's family, other staffs' families and others for giving us such a wonderful raya experience.



 Before we headed back to Vanderbilt, we went to Serendipity 3 --> to try their famous frozen hot chocolate and Georgetown Cupcake --> to enjoy their yummy Red Velvet Cupcakes. We also visited the Reflection Pool and the Abraham Lincoln Monument (we did not visit these places during the first trip because it was raining heavily and we completely forgot about it!). Thank God we had another chance to actually visit Abe.

Serendipity 3 - love the deco!

Serendipity 3 frrrrozen hot chocolate

Georgetown Cupcakes

Abraham Lincoln Statue

Chilling at the side of  Reflecting Pool, eating Red Velvet Cupcakes. Yum!

Complete road trip member. Thank you so much girls!

It was a very long drive but totally worth it!
Photos credit to Paan (thanks for the pretty photos muah3!)
p/s: Another Hard Rock Cafe - Washington DC charm: Checked!

2012 Year in Review: Part 7 - Ramadhan in Nashville and Salam Perantauan 12'

Ramadhan 1432

2012 was my third year celebrating Ramadhan far, far away from home. Walaupun x dapat nk berbuka bersama family, I am still grateful to know that I'm never alone. I have a lot of friends here and we bersahur, cooked and berbuka puasa sama2. Biasanya kitorg sahur kt bilik jer dgn ape2 food yg ada - ikan sardin, telur dadar. Kalau rajin sikit, ktorg masak la spaghetti goreng etc.Time berbuka pulak biasanya ktorg ramai2 pergi bbuka dekat Islamic Center Nashville (ICN), about 15 minutes from our campus. Solat Maghrib, makan nasi arab then balik solat Isyak and tarawikh kat bilik dgn kawan2. 

Kat USA ni lama sikit la puasa duration dye - from lbih kurg 4 pagi until 8 mlm. Memang mnguji kesabaran btul la esp summer time ni (summer kat sini panas cam Malaysia, except for the air is dryer and the the light rays somehow feel stronger. Cam pedih kulit kalau lama2 kat luar uncovered. 

First day of Ramadhan 

Going to ICN for iftar 

Iftar with Vandy sisters makan nasi lemak :))

 p/s: 2012 gonna be the last year I spent my Ramadhan in Nashville sbb this coming Ramadhan 2013, I'll be in Kelantan for summer break - balik puasa and raya yeayyy!! However, still ssedih sbb dh xleh rs pngalaman Ramadhan kat sini lg dah :(

Salam Perantauan 2012

Selamat Hari Raya AidiliFitri daripada kami Vanderbilt students! 

Ramadhan is also the time where student2 oversea sibuk bergambar dgn baju raya masing2 sbb nk antar kt newspaper. Sama la jgk dgn Vandy students. Ktorg cari spot yg plg nampak American (kononnya) dgn harapan dpt convince kan pihak publisher untuk publishkan gmbr ktorg. Tips for those yg nak masuk paper kt ruangan Salam Perantauan:

Kosmo! Salam Perantauan

1. Photo location -> Make sure pilih spot yg nmpak oversea. Kalau kt Sydney, amik la gmbar with the Sydney Opera House kat as the background. Kalau xsempat nk g bergambar kt landmark2 area tpt korg, cari la mana2 campus building yg ad seni architecture yg style western2 ckit.

2. Clarity and Attire -> Kalau boleh amik gambar yg clear nmpak gmbr korg, doesn't mean that it has to be close up muka jer. Just make sure figure korg clear lam gmbar yg nk dipublish kan tu. Pakaian lak biasanya pkai baju raya, tp ade je yg pkai baju jacket tebal like puffer tu kuar paper gak. So depends jgk la.

3. Email -> Ni part paling penting. Time nk emailkan gambar tu dekat publisher, make sure guna email university korg. In my case, i guna email dotdotdot@vanderbilt.edu. This way publisher tau yg korg mmg btul2 student oversea.

4. Publisher -> send your photo kat byk2 publisher sbb bukan smua publisher sudi nk kuarkn gmbar korg kt paper dorg. Maybe gmbar korg x lepas piawai dorg. I sent to Utusan Malaysia, Kosmo!, Berita Harian tapi Kosmo! je yg published. Kalau korg nk dorg publish kat website dorg pn boleh jgk. just sent kt link (online) kt bawah ni. Kalau online biasanya cepat sikit kuar gmbr korg (and has higher probability to be published).

Berita Harian: salamaidilfitri@bharian.com.my
Utusan Malaysia: raya@utusan.com.my (paper), http://xtive.utusan.com.my/salam_perantauan/ (online)
Kosmo : salam.perantauan@kosmo.com.my

p/s: Dah send tu, jgn lupa pulak beli paper. Check tiap2 hari sbb publisher xkan notify korg kalau gmbar korg kuar paper dorg ke tak. All the best!

Salam perantauan '12 dari Nashville, TN, USA

Vandy 14' Girls

Package raya. Thanks for baju and biskut raya abah n mama! 

Walaupun duduk jauh, semangat nk shopping raya masih berkobar2 cam kt Malaysia ;)

All photos are credited to Farhana Harun <3 

2012 Year in Review: Part 6 - 60 Days of Summer with Yuna Zarai, White Water Rafting and Cummins Falls

a) Yuna Zarai's Show at The End, Nashville

It was one random evening, bila I dgr kawan2 I satu floor smua duk kecoh sal Yuna nk bt show kat Nashville. It all started at Twitter bila Yuna post gambar dia kat Franklin (I hour and 30 mins from Nashville) , and ktorg smua duk excited when she said that she will be perfoming at The End, a place which is only15 mins walking from my campus! So ape lg, ktorg yg tgh study for tomorrow's Orgo Test smua cepat2 beli ticket online and start dgr lagu Yuna kat Youtube. To be honest, I xde la layan sgt Yuna ni tp bila usha2 lagu dia, best la pulak. I like her version of Come As You Are and her original song Live Your Life. Suara dye mmg mcm lullaby abes la. 

Lepas abis show, ktorg ramai bergambar dgn Yuna. She is super tall and super nice person! Sgt peramah. Boleh borak mcm kawan2 biasa pulak. I xdapat join Yuna lepak makan pizza dgn kawan2 I yg lain sbb I kena balik study for test esok pagi (Orgo kot). I wish I could stay longer tapi ape pun I tetap berpuas hati dpt dgr Yuna nyanyi live. Mat salleh yg ada kt situ pn smua impress dgn Yuna. She is a truly talented musician.  

Yuna's signature on my phone case! 

                                      

b) White Water Rafting at Ocoee River 

I mmg peminat tegar segala aktiviti yg involve air. Xkisah la swimming pool ke, air terjun ke, pantai ke, I mmg layan smua. Maybe sbb sejak umur 6 tahun lg my parents dah hantar I pegi swimming lesson (for 3 years), I rs water is part of me. I literally find peace when I'm in big body of water (even in shower!). So nak dijadikan cerita, plan ktorg nk g white water rafting menjadi jgk. Ktorg sewa kereta, drove for 3 hours to Ocoee River, and here we are, again, for our second time white rafting experience. 

What is white water rafting?

For those who haven't tried white water rafting before, basically, it is a fun water sport (obviously) that involves a lot of paddling (about 1-2 hours of paddling). Many people ask if it is the same as canoeing (kayak). I would say not really (I canoed twice) because the stream is rougher and  has higher risks. Canoe is more relaxing and low risk of drowning etc. I personally like water rafting much much more that canoe because I love the bumps and the strong currents.

In order to navigate the boat, we need to paddle simultaneously as a group, so that the boat moves smoothly. Do not worry if you have no experience at all. The instructor is there to guide you. The instructor usually sit at that back and he will alert us for any dangers. We had Cleveland as our instructor that day and he is amazing! And funny too (kadang2 tu xpaham pun joke dye tp gelak jer). He 100% told us what to do and where to go.

The stream (Ocoee River) is divided into 5 levels of difficulty --from the safest to the one that can cause death (sounds scary but Alhamdulillah, everything went so smoothly). Level 1 usually very calm, very low current and relaxing. We can even swim at this area very safely (kalau pndai berenang la). The higher the level, the more challenging the path is (and more fun too!). The picture above (and below) was taken at level 4. I sat at the very front part of the boat and had so much fun! The current was really strong, I felt like I was riding a horse, a wild, crazy one. If you guys want to sit at the front, make sure that you hold the side rope crazily tight or you will end up being thrown into the boat (if you are lucky) or even worse, get kick out into the cold river (I'm serious). But don't worry. As long as you hold it tight, you will be fine. It is worth to try water rafting at least once in a lifetime, believe me.

Yang second time entah la kenapa tapi 10 ganda lgi best dri first time. Maybe sebab kali ni instructor tu awesome and berjaya guide ktorg without tersangkut kat batu2 and spoil our excitement. For only $17, I seriously rs berbaloi gler (will definitely do this again before graduate).  So sila la daftar Groupon untuk dapat harga murah cam ktorg yer. 

Lepas rafting for almost 2 hours, ktorg pn gerak ke Chattanooga Downtown, jalan2 amik gmbar. Nothing mcuh pn kat sini tp alang2 dah smpai, pergi jela mana2 pn. Biar berbaloi sewa kereta. 

c) Cummins Falls: Junior- Senios Picnic Time!

 Yeay, skali lagi dapat main air. Kali ni kat Cummins Falls. Sumpah lawa gler tempat ni. Before smpai kat kawasan kolam tu, ktorg kena hiking dulu (agak jauh tp xsure brapa km). Panjat turun bukit di bawah sinaran matahari yg terik. Bila akhirnya smpai depan kolam, I was like OMG. It felt like I just found Oasis or heaven maybe. Air sejuk, bersih and green!! I cepat2 tukar baju then terus main air!

Hiking 

Jom terjun! 

The best weekend so far! Thanks to those yg masak nasi lemak sedappp..
All photos are credited to Paan

2012 Year in Review: Part 5 - Universal Studios Singapore (USS) with Mi Familia !

Lebih kurang seminggu sebelum balik Vandy, ktorg satu family decided utk pergi jalan2 somewhere not too far just to clear our minds. So, kitorg pn decide to make a short trip to Singapore yg masa perjalanannya lebih kurg 3 jam from KL. It was my first time visiting Singapore, so hell yeah, I was so excited! Plus, all of my family members were available at that time (it was school break), so I berpeluang utk mnggila with all my siblings.

Yeah we love Kung Fu Panda!

The Universal Studio

Ktorg spent whole day kat Universal Studios Singapore. I am always a total coward when it comes to crazy ride like roller coasters but I did enjoy the amusement park so much. Of course I x naik the roller coaster but they have a lot of other not-so-extreme rides too. 

Mi Familia

My most favorite is The Transformer 4D Ride -- I literally naik benda ni about 4 times! It was super awesome. The graphics and the story line were really damn good that actions actually felt so real. Ah can't say enough about it but surely korang kena try ni kalau korg pergi USS. 

Transformer The Ride (4D)

And also The Mummy ride. This one is crazy. Sbb this ride is indoor, and kids are allowed, I xsangka this ride could be this extreme! Sumpah mengucap xhenti2  sepanjang ride tu.Wlaupn agak gila (for my level), it was amazing because of some unexpected elements during the ride. Plus, the whole ride was in the dark! Korang xleh expect ape yg ad kat depan. So yeah. That was my first and my last ride of The Mummy. 

The Mummy Ride - thank you for turning my face blue with your 'sweet' surprise. 

I also love The Madagascar ride. This one is not extreme at all. Just great to calm down your nerves after all those crazy rides. Plus, it is water ride! And Jurassic Park Rapid Adventure ride pn water ride jgk. This one is a bit extreme compared to Madagascar (about a notch). I will never forget that I was basah kuyup because of this ride. Too bad I did not wear poncho (lucky you Danny). So guys, get a poncho if you are planning to try this ride.

Madagascar Water Ride

Then byk lg la ride and show yg kitorg pegi like Shrek 3D show, Shooting Stage by Steven Spielberg (ni awesome. Baru tau susah nk buat satu2 filem ni).

Mama dah penat smpai kena beli selipar. Sape suruh pakai my wedges. Mmg xla kann nk tahan satu hari. 

Forever happy couple. Thanks sbb bwk kami adik bradik jalan2 sini! *mama spotted wearing my wedges before she changed to sandals. 

Around Lion City

The famous Merlion (Mermaid +Lion)

So we stayed in a hotel near Orchard Road, had dinner at Arab St., then walked around the city to witness the night life of the Lion City! From satu dataran (I'm not sure what dataran it was), I was so amazed to see a gigantic ship-like structure laid so strongly on top of three blocks of building. Yes, I am talking about the famous Marina Bay! I seriously x sangka structure bangunan tu mantap gler. The design, location, lighting, size -- all perfect! I love love love that place so much that I begged my parents to visit it again in the daytime. But too bad, I xdapat naik ke Skypark because of some reasons ( I actually forgot why) but hey, at least I made it to the lobby and used the ladies room. Whatever, I'll make sure next time I go to Singapore, I'll visit the Skypark.

Durian-like building. Impressive!

Danny with his merajuk face. 

Marina Bay at night

It was an amazing trip. Berpeluang untuk bercuti bersama keluarga, bonding2 setelah sekian lama, it's just priceless. Keep calm and love you family.

Now, it's time to go back to Vandy.