South Africa - Jalan Jalan Johannesburg

assalamualaikum si peliks!

ohoks! terbatuk sat.
rasa cam lama tak update blog tau. ada orang rindu ke baca blog ni? *krik krik*

oh well =p

secara tiba tiba, atau in bahasa mat salleh, suddenly,
i just remembered that i have not blogged about our family trip to South Africa.
i have mentioned it, but tak story penuh penuh. i like to keep you suspenders, you iz noez? heheee =p

thing is, we went on this holiday trip to South Africa because mama said so.
kesian mama.. bila anak semua mostly boys, and this one girl who just couldn't be bothered where we'd have our holiday as long as the weather's good (i'm allergic to winter), mom had to decide on her own.

"nak gi mana this year?" tanya ibu

"mana mana je la"
"suka hati mama"
"entah"
"tak kisah asalkan tak sejuk"

ha cuba teka la iolls punya jawapan mana satu! muahgihgih!

that's how we ended up in South Africa! it was Johannesburg at first, then we went to Cape Town.

now, onto Johannesberg!

hello imigresen Johannesberg!

bajet rebel sebab tanak remove glasses =p

so you know, that ride from the airport to wherever we're staying is when we look out and try to absorb as much of that country's lifestyle as possible? 

yeah, from the airport to our homestay, i was looking around (maklumlah, jakun) and was surprised to see how flat the place is.

tanah rata gila. you know?

like from our position, i could probably locate a girl eating chocolate pudding 10km away!

flat gila!

skyscrapers, pffft! who needs them when they have so much land to fill?

best gak. jealous sikit pun ada la.

sebab tak serabut, tak sempit dan rasa best dapat tengok the sky dengan perasaan penuh ketenangan.

Alhamdulillah, syukur dapat rasa keadaan camtu.

said i am allergic to winter, right?

well.. IT WAS WINTER IN SOUTH AFRICA!

eventhough we checked online, and it said that the weather's about 16 to 20degC, TO ME IT'S FREAKING FREEZING!

malam jangan cakap la. *nanes*

apo nak buek kan. layan je laaaaa.

don't be fooled by the sunlight!

it was cold, i tell yaaa!

OOTMoment: 3 layer baju, muka pucat, tudung Al-raqia.

oh i think i was about 5 months pregnant here. =)

kat Johannesberg ni, one thing about the people is that they reaaaaally look up to Nelson Mandela.

our first day trip consisted mostly of Nelson Mandela and his 'life story'. i'm not a history buff, to be honest, but i just went with the flow and sneaked as much time as possible to look at the locals.

i have a thing.. for.. ehemm.. takpelah. =B

with le husband at the Apartheid Museum where we get to pretend we're either a Black or White/European.

for a few seconds, that is.

masuk museum tu, apa kisah daaaah. 

YO, YO! check this one aaiiiiiggghhht! see that column "POPULATION 1896"? check it out yaaawww.

Malays were there yaww.

husband and i did some reading before we went to Joberg so we knew there are malays there. but when we saw this, we got excited (aspidos the husband was more excited than me. ahaks!) that from that moment, we made it a point to look for one. just to know what they're like.

=p

we went to the slum area in Soweto too. 

why?

why not?

the difference between the upper and the lower class is super big. the slum area is right opposite of the rich zone.

quite a sad thing to see, really.. but that's how they've been for the longest time. 

our tour guide said that if we want to donate, we better donate at the organisation that helps the poor coz if we give the people there money directly, they might just buy beers for themselves.

aiyaaah.. 

papepun, being there and seeing how the poor lives, could make anyone feel grateful for everything they have. we all felt that then.

syukur sangat dengan rezeki Allah =')

e eh, budak ni lak tetibe.

=p

this was taken outside of Mandela's house.

we didn't go inside, coz let's face it. none of us were interested to know how he decorated his room and such. hehe =p

we went to visit Nelson at Pretoria Hospital on our last day there. saje. jumpa kawan lama kan =p

banyak card untuk beliau. one wall was full of cards, flowers, and artsy fartsy 'get well soon' stuff.

the cool thing about the south africans, are their songs. it wasn't like "hey mandela you must live~ my heart will go on~" but like "kakaco camaeeee eeeee mandelaaa~".

main taram je lyric tapi the way they sang it wasn't full of remorse, but very uplifting & well, i felt positive eventhough i had no idea what it was about.

cool kan?

in case y'all forgot about what happened, Nelson was admitted into the hospital because he suffered from lung infection. ramai gila orang.

dan ramai gila orang media.

we went to see more places and got ourselves educated about Nelson Mandela's struggles and victories. it was all fine and dandy.

but like i said, i'm no history buff.

what i remembered were:

1. KFCs. they're EVERYWHERE! even at the slum area. imagine rumah setinggan rapat rapat, tetiba ada satu KFC besar kat seberang jalan. it reminded me of Snoop Dogg's reality tv show i watched. the one yang Beckham ada tu and Snoop took him to this fried chicken restaurant. so ummm.. heheheheeeee.. all that stereotype about blacks and fried chicken, yeeeaaaaahhh. PROVEN! =p

2. Turbans are normal. Tudungs aren't. although, i'm not sure if it's the tudung completely or the family. see, in Joberg, muslims tak ramai macam kat Cape Town. i kinda get stares when we went around but at the same time, i can kinda understand why. our little group consisted of a japanese (my husband), an almost arab (me), a super big filipino (my adik), and the rest are like weird asians. my brothers are tall, taller than most of them, can you believe it? so most of them just couldn't recognise where we're from. i think they were confused with the mixture. hahahaha! oh, and my tudung. 

ada orang tanya "you don't wear this (shawl) like an arab. so where are you from?"

"Malaysia"

"oohhh.." muka blank tapi bajet tau. ceit.

"we're Malays"

"oooohhh!!" - coz they know Cape Malays (malays yang duk sana sejak tahun tak ingat)

fyi, they look way different than us =)

3. security. the rich are so rich that they have security guards to guard their house. oh tapi tak cukup lagi tuuuu. tembok diorang bapak tinggi, pastu tambah lagi barb-wire! remember Jurassic Park? remember the electric fence? yeah. they have that. they barricade their house with super maximum security! our tour guide said it's because of the high crime rate. the poor wants to be rich or drugs or drinks, so they rob.. 

4. their 'budaya melepak' is way different than ours. we here like to lepak mamak or chill at some fancy cafes. they can lepak anywhere. tepi jalan on the curb, belakang kereta tengah jalan, car wash, anywhere. i think it's probably coz of the weather. kalau malaysia ni tak humid, memang kita pun lepak mana mana je kot kan.

5. the locals are well mannered. they stare at you, but when you look at them, they say hi. kalau i, i stare at someone, orang tu tengok i balik, i buat buat tengok something belakang dia or awkwardly look elsewhere (eleh, korang pun camtuuuuuuuu. ahakks!). apart from that, diorang tak kedekut 'please' and 'thank you'. sweet sangat =)

haaaa..

enough Nelson Mandela & my observations.

next South African story will be about the SAFARI, yayyyy!

amboi. yay kan diri sendiri.

ceit.

ok, peace!