Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

It's Ramadhan and it's only appropriate I start this post with the name of Allah, the Most Merciful. After all, what I want to write is really about Him, His blessings and His Gracious.

My beginning of Ramadhan was very average compared to all the previous Ramadhans. As far as I can remember, I always wish to perform taraweeh at least 8 rakaat every night, to read all the 30 chapters of Al Quran and to perform as much ibadah as possible. However it's a bit different this year. For the first time, I did not wish to perform taraweeh 8 rakaat every night and my free time was not spent by reading the Quran. It's a bit unusual, I have a feeling that even my soul was a bit shocked. I had no idea why, but that's what is going on currently. My wishes for this Ramadhan are very simple. I want to start doing something that I will continue doing even after fasting month. I just want to share my rezeki with my family and do as much as I can for my parents and to pray at the earlier period of prayer times. I know it's nothing grand, but delaying prayers has been my biggest enemy for so long. I intend to do just that, a baby step at a time, slowly but surely. Insha Allah.

Today is the eighth day of Ramadhan which means we have entered into the second week of this Holy Month. I think my soul is thirsty for something, for when I was listening for some songs (as I usually do on my way to work), and a remake song titled "Sesungguhnya" was being played, I felt like crying when I heard the verse "syukurku adalah milikMu" (my gratitude belongs to You). I felt like I haven't been grateful enough. Probably it's sending a message to remind me the post-it note I stuck on my vanity mirror, which to express and deliver my gratitude every day. I've neglected the note for awhile now. It's a month full of blessings, and just by a snap, He sends his message. In His subtle way, He reminds me to be more grateful, maybe to be grateful I have the opportunity to experience another Ramadhan. I see now. I probably a week late in the fiesta of ibadah this year, but let's do this. My soul is thirsty for good deeds and I'm ready to feed it. Now first thing first thank you Allah for the lovely reminder.

Spring is my favourite season. Most Malaysians love cold weather but as someone who doesn't really like cold and love beautiful sunny day, spring is my favourite. I love spring even before I discover how nice a day in spring really is. Spring days are not really hot and not really cold, it's somewhere in between. I find that just like the quote, it has a calming effect.

And for the spring this year, I'm grateful for the opportunity to travel to Seoul for some soul searching ( read: #seoulsearching )

My trip to Seoul was for 7 days, and again I travel solo.

WHY SEOUL?

1. It is known that Seoul is safe for a woman to travel solo.

I met a few women who came to Seoul alone. We share the same opinion that Seoul is safe. Even walking at night is safe enough.

2. K-Beauty

The world knows that Koreans view beauty a little bit from a different perspective. Their beauty regime is way advanced. When I had breakouts in December last year, I adopted the famous Korean 10-step skin care routine. Although I did not stick to the routine religiously, it actually worked and my breakout only lasted until around February this year. This trip was really an opportunity to stock up my skin care products.

3. Running Man/K-Drama

I don't have to elaborate, you know. Song Joong Ki, c'mon. *drooling

Now we're done with the reasons why I wanted to visit Seoul, let's move on to the itinerary and this time, I'll provide Seoul's complete itinerary for 7 days. YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THE PRINTABLE VERSION HERE.

For each destination, I also provide the stop, exit and where you can find halal food and prayer room.

Now, I'm back at home writing this post, I suddenly miss Seoul again. I truly love the shopping experience. I was going insane for buying a lot of things and I totally get it why women love Korea. I also have so many good things to say about how convenient and accessible the subway stations are.

Which part of the city that I love the most, and why?

Gangnam/Apjugeong. Because Gangnam is entirely different compared to Insa-dong or Jamsil. Plus, most people in Gangnam/Apjueong know or at least they understand basic English. Communication is really easy in these particular neighbourhoods.

Will I be back?

Of course. I will be back just to shop, really. Besides, I didn't get to wear hanbok and visit the theme parks so I will do just that if I were to visit Seoul again.

Where to stay?

My Airbnb (click the link to get MYR105 credit voucher) is in Hongdae neighbourhood. In my personal experience,  I really like Hongik ( also known as Hongdae ), Sinchon and Ewha University neighbourhoods. Probably because of the youth vibe as they are located within university area. My friend who stayed in Ewha told me that her neighbourhood is really safe and there are always food stores open at night. 

Till then, tadaaa.


P/S: I also would like to use this opportunity to wish everyone a happy ramadan al-kareem.

I don’t know about other people, but in my case I always feel emotional whenever I fly international especially if I fly solo and the emotion is even stronger when one of my family members drives me to the airport.

When I’m writing this, I am on my way to Seoul. I am sitting at the airport lounge waiting for my flight to depart at 2.50pm. Yes, I fly solo again. 

The same happened before my flight home. I was very okay when I arrived at the Ataturk Airport. I was very calm when I arrived at the airport despite having to bid farewell to my sister the night before. My emotions were still under control when I passed the immigration. But as I was alone at the waiting area with my pink luggage, as I was watching all those people with their family and friends all the emotions came rushing to me at the same time. I started crying because I already missed my sister. I mean she’s the youngest one, all of us somewhat feel overprotective over her. I shed more tears when I remember I had around TL 100 left in my purse and I was regret I didn’t give all of the Lira to her. I have to admit that I was utterly alone and jealous over other people around me who got to travel with their family and friends. I felt a hollow in my heart like I never felt before. It’s hard to express those emotions with words but trust me, those emotions were not pleasant.

Despite my countless of times flying solo domestically, they were not the same as being in an 6-hour flight with strangers and none of them knows you. Though I never thought I would travel solo again but here I am, sitting in a corner, alone. There is a family of three sitting next to me. A couple and their baby. As I'm watching them laughing and playing with their baby, I get a feeling that I am having a repeat of what I felt last year. Yes, the same hollow is starting to make an appearance again.

Flying in a group doesn’t stop my emotions from jumbling altogether. In a recent year, I made a visit to Yogyakarta with my mother and brother. As usual my father didn’t join the trip since he had a heart attack. He is afraid he couldn’t stand the pressure in the cabin. My father doesn’t like travelling to be honest unless it’s a family vacation. He never told us any place he wishes to visit until we told him we would visit Borobudur. To our suprise, he mentioned that Borobudur is one of the places he wants to visit. Knowing that, I felt sorry because I couldn’t bring my father along. As we hugged our goodbye in front of the entrance of international departure, I vowed to bring my dad to any place he likes in the future.

Back to the present, whatever emotions I feel right now, I know it won’t last and even though it is so heavy to contain all these emotions in my heart, I know I won’t stop becoming a lone wolf in my journey. There is a phrase saying that “this world is my oyster, the road is my home and I know that I’m better off alone”. I guess I’ll stop here this time. I need to get moving to find my pearl. Ciao!