Travel to USA (Hollywood) : Tips & Tricks - Preparation

Haii korang..berbunga-bunga kembang setaman hati I bila nak taip entry ni sebab I is sangat sangat suka and teruja untuk berblogging pasal travelling..and kalau lah ada pekerjaan yang memerlukan I travel ke merata ceruk dunia secara free of charge..Oh yes I am at your disposal!! haha (berangan tu tak salah tau)

 

fyi, we will be travelling to US this coming Feb 2018 and seriously I can't wait for that day to come walaupun kadang-kadang hati rasa cuak sebab flight semua lama-lama oiii..KL - Narita, Japan (6 hours) and Narita, Japan - Los Angeles (9 hours) tambah-tambah route Narita, Japan - Los Angeles kena lintas Lautan Pasifik semata-mata for like 9 hours???..hoii seram sejuk akuu ni

 

Okay lupakan pasal laut..seriously aku fobia laut haha let me start the story first about my preparation prior to the trip. With me as a travel planner, everything is well planned earlier coz I hate kelibut di tempat orang

 

Why US? - aah la kenapa eh nak pegi US? Sebab nak jumpa Donald Trump? ermm tak taakk..sebenarnya sebab I love to explore new place with new people. Sebelum ni dah 2x ke UK / Wales and dah macam familiar with the area and the people and jangan cakap akak tak payung ASEAN countries ya sebab I've visited Thailand, Indonesia, Phillipines and etc as well..tahun ni je repeat Bali again..so kali ni rasa macam why not we explore the other continent which is US? US ni macam unik sikit in term of people and environment. Lagi rasa macam membuak-buak nak pergi bila I search online for reference actually not many Malaysian yang blogging about travel to US. I tau ramai yang dah travel ke US lagi awal dari I tapi tak semuanya diceritakan secara detail dalam blog sampaikan kalau I search pasal travel ke US je banyak blog from Indonesia yang cerita in detail..alaaa I is tak paham sangat language Indonesian nihh..and perhaps I find it a bit difficult to get a reference on how to apply US visa as a Malaysian family when I want to start the visa application last time till I find my time to write about it so that hopefully it will benefit others too..;) Maybe in term of cost wise yes it is a bit on high side, but early planning with the help of Skyscanner, nothing is possible ok ;)

 

Like what my husband said - never across his mind to travel to US and to me, with proper planning and must have money too either you go on budget traveller or "have-have" traveller ;p, we can actually travel to every places in the world

 

Flight

 

After rounds and rounds of scan langit via Skyscanner looking for the cheap tickets, yeah finally I've decided to choose ANA (Air Nippon Airways), a largest airline from Japan. Actualy in a row ada few more airlines that offer a slightly cheaper rates than ANA like Eva Air, Philippines Airlines & China Southern Airline but looking at the ranking, I feel a bit safer to go with the Japanese..I do trust Japanese in term of quality in everything..please drive us safely baby! hihi

5 years in a row (including 2017), ANA is ranked as a 5-star airline by Skytrax and they have the world best staff service award for 2017.

If last time had a chance to experience Airbus A380 (double deck) plane for Dubai / Abu Dhabi - London route, now we will have a chance to try Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane for KL - Tokyo route..yeay!

 

Flight cost for 3 pax : RM 9,700++, so roughly per adult = RM 3,500 and child = RM 2,700

 

The trick is - book flight as early as 6 months earlier haha. Harga yang kitorang dapat ni actually 5 months earlier.

 

Boleh lawati website ANA at http://www.ana.co.jp untuk latest info berkenaan flight ticket, promo and etc

 

Accommodation

 

We will actually cover 3 areas - Los Angeles, Las Vegas & Arizona.

 

Accommodation is a bit tricky knowing that it is not cheap to get a hotel / apartment that have my preferred criteria - close to almost everything + perfectly located at town ;p. This is my first time to use Airbnb for Los Angeles. I've booked 2 different units of Airbnb (both are studio suite) and hopefully the house is a home sweet home as advertised. The hotel rate and Airbnb rate almost equivalent as I choose Airbnb at town area mainly near tourist attractions, so roughly per night RM 700 - RM 800 and both Airbnb come with 1 x queen bed, 1 x single bed, 1 x sofa bed, dining table, kitchen, WIFI, TV with Netflix and etc, Laundry, Free Parking, Coffee Maker & Cereal available in fridge..so what else you want? I am more than happy to have this Airbnb complete with all necessary items required during the stay..so choose wisely!

 

Important Note : Choose a home that do not allow pet inside okay

 

Nak booking Airbnb jugak? Sila lah visit Airbnb website and choose your preferred location..easy peasy!

 

For Las Vegas, I invest more by made a booking to stay at Trump International Hotel. The hotel is superb even though located just the end of the famous street called The Strip. I choose Trump International Hotel coz I want to say "Hi" to Donald Trump kalau jumpa lah haha..just joking! Actually, the reason is because of their tagline :

 

"The Trump International Hotel™ Las Vegas is a sophisticated, non-smoking and non-gaming, luxury hotel situated high above The Strip, steps away from the best of Las Vegas shopping, yet removed enough to be considered a family-friendly hotel"

 

 and I just want to have a feel of how it is look like to stay at one of the luxurious hotel in Las Vegas - I've seen the room preview in Youtube - all is gold looking! and the added advantage is that this hotel do not have casino at the lobby - so a good environment for kids. Roughly per night cost us RM 1,000.00 and we stay here for 3 days 2 nights.

 

Nak try book Trump International Hotel macam kitorang, boleh visit the hotel website at https://www.trumphotels.com/las-vegas

 

For Arizona - we do not have any plan to stay here as I only booked a day trip to Arizona from Las Vegas for a Grand Canyon Tour (West Rim). The tour is a 1 day tour worth USD 310.00 c/w coach bus, free breakfast, free BBQ lunch and yang penting, dalam bas ada WIFI and toilet. Along the way, the tour will stop at Lake Mead / Hoover Dam. I minat nak buat tour ni sebab terpengaruh scene dalam video klip Britney - I'm not a Girl Not Yet a Woman. Ada dua tempat involve dalam klip video tu - Grand Canyon & Antelope Canyon, tapi dek kekangan masa and distance between these 2 places, yang paling sesuai buat Grand Canyon Tour aje.

 

Tour ni kitorang book via GC Tours and the website is at https://gc.tours/

 

Places of Interest

 

1. Hollywood area : Griffith Observatory, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Kodak Theatre, Hollywood

                                 Walk of Fame, LACMA, Lake of Hollywood and etc....

 

2. Santa Monica : Santa Monica Pier, Pacific Park, The Third Promenade, Santa Monica Beach and

                             etc...

 

3. Universal Studio Hollywood

 

4. Citadel Premium Outlet & Dessert Hills Premium Outlet

 

5. Las Vegas : The Strip, Fashion Mall, Bellagio Dancing Waters, Fermont Streets, Grand Bazaar and

                        etc...

 

Transportation

Will make use of UBER / LYFT coz most of the places dekat-dekat aje. Until this trip we still find that driving can be a little bit hassle as we do not familiar with driving on left side plus at some places like Las Vegas, the parking rate is damn expensive and also we try to minimize the problem of to look for a parking whenever we want to make a stop haha. Maybe later on when Aqeil dah besar we can try again option to drive while travelling. Movement between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is via Megabus. The trick is - book as early as 1 month before the trip to get the seat at a cheaper rate.

Food

I'm awaiting reply from US Embassy if processed food contain meat / chicken is allowed contoh macam Pek Brahim, Serunding and etc..maklumlah mulut Melayu memang tak kuasalah nak makan fish & chips, kebab je sepanjang dok sana..boleh menitik air liur aku terkenang masakan Melayu time sejuk-sejuk winter tuh

Actually ada few halal restaurant around Hollywood area hasil I search via yelp.com and so far insyallah tak kebuluran lah hihi

Rasanya, dah takde lagi nak mengomel pasal persiapan ni. Kalau ada yang memasang angan-angan untuk ke US but still hati berbelah bagi macam nak tak nak or takut-takut, come on!! you go girls!! There's nothing to afraid of coz I believe out of million of Americans there, only 1% of them is racist / anti Islam while the other 99% are ok and just live like a normal people like we do here...do not afraid of travelling coz when we travel, we learn a lot from there.

Till then, salam kasih sayang muahhh..muahh..nanti dah start trip, I hapdet lagi yaaa..

 

My 1st Breast Checkup - Dr Harjit Kaur (Prince Court Medical Centre)

When was your last time checking your breast??

 

I throw that question to myself as well since even though I did it on my own every month but yet still I do not know if that "own checking" is a right method to determine any lumps, unusual changes and etc.

 

Without further a due and thank you to myself for this early awareness, I search for a few doctors online and found out that meeting Dr Harjit at PCMC could be one of the best option to start my first checkup. I've to wait for at least 1 month before my appointment date due to a very long queue and yeah finally this is the day! Before the appointment date, I did search from online about other people who experienced hard lumps, unusual changes to the breast, nipple discharge and etc and unfortunately 70% of their stories lead to breast cancer..and yeah I have scared myself to the fullest while reading their stories huhu

 

The next day, nervously waiting for the session with Dr and it's a lucky day for me as it went very smooth since I went to Prince Court without any insurance and I opted to self pay first to expedite the appointment session. Received a warm welcome from Dr Harjit, she such a nice person. After few questions checking on my background and menstrual cycle, she asked me to lie down on a bed next to the ultrasound machine. She's going to perform a breast ultrasound on both side to check for any lumps / abnormality / causes for swelling or pain.

 

Proses checkup berjalan dengan pantas about 10 mins camtuh dah siap and Alhamdulillah, both side is very well and I cant forgive myself of reading too much last night till I scared myself hihi. If you planned to have your first consultation for breast checkup with Dr Harjit Kaur, the expected fee as below :

 

 

 

You can search online how to do "own breast checkup" and how to detect any unusual changes to the breast

 

Remember, frequent own breast checkup would made it much easier for you to detect any unusual changes to your breast and it is recommended to perform yearly breast checkup with the doctor coz early detection of any abnormalities may save your life

 

This is our asset and it's our own responsibility to look after it..

 

I care because I want to see him growing...

 

 

Till then..take care and have a wonderful day ahead!

 

Happy New Year Peeps!!

 

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

 

Stayed late till midnight waiting for the countdown? Bestnyaa..how I wish I was at the age of muda remaja hang out ngan kengkawan tunggu dekat dataran or KLCC for the fireworks..;p unfortunately none of it happen now sebab selepas berfikir secara waras tak sanggup nak hadap jem time nak cari parking and also time nak balik rumah after the fireworks, so we choose to stay at home with a hope that, ada la fireworks area umah I with best view from my sliding door ;p and what actually happen was, we fell asleep just before 12am haha

 

Hmm speaking about azam, of course some of you dah fully determined with their own azam and tak sabar-sabar nak achieve while I'm pretty sure ada yang stil kriik..kriik..cengkerik cari azam apa nak set untuk tahun ni..yes we are gang!! hoho As of me, I have few things in my mind that I wish will be fullfill within this 2018 and the list are :

 

1.Travelogue - USA (Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Arizona) in February 2018

2.Travelogue - Kashmir (my festaim to join backapckers girl group) in July 2018

3. Perform Umrah with my husband and my kid, by end of the year

4. TTC - pray for another baby this year

5. Have a slim stomach muahaha..hopefully

 

And the most important thing of all listed above, I always hope that my LOVE to him getting stronger and stronger so that yeahh..another baby is producing very fast kikiki. No pressure on this but yeah, I miss a baby smell actually and I want to have at least 2 kids so that I have more home to visit during older time muahaha

 

Well, we may set the important milestone that we want to achieve but always remember, Allah is the best planner among all. We might not have it now coz He has a better plan for us in the future and we might have it now coz He know that's the best thing that you should have..berlapang dada untuk accept semua fate walaupun kadangkala tak semudah yang disangka...

 

Let me share with you our best nine in 2017..I am blessed with my life and I hope everyone will find your own happiness in 2018 onwards..

 

 

and also mommy's new year OOTD dengan penuh perasaan jiwa remaja gittew..

 

till then, have a great day ahead..ada masa iols update lagi ya xoxo