[Photos] Walking On Frozen Lake of Morskie Oko, Poland
March 14, 2017
I am currently in surgery rotation and going to have a final exam at the end of April. For surgery, my friends and I were distributed into few subgroups and unfortunately Malaysians are not in the same subgroup. Within 2 months, every group will be given a week off. Actually... 3 days off. And they are IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK! Hahaha.
I really cannot brain why they give every group holidays on Tuesday-Thursday. Mine was 28/2/2017 - 2/3/2017.
That was the reason why I was alone for this trip. -_-'
I really cannot brain why they give every group holidays on Tuesday-Thursday. Mine was 28/2/2017 - 2/3/2017.
That was the reason why I was alone for this trip. -_-'
 |
| Yeay, a full portrait of myself with Morskie Oko frozen lake as the background, together with the mesmerizing mountains. |
Morskie Oko was already in my travel bucket list for a while. But, actually the route that I would love to try is to start from Poprad, Slovakia then sleep over at one of the cottage in the middle of mountain, then continue to hike to Rysy peak, end the trail with Morskie Oko, Poland. The route may take up to few days to make it more enjoyable.
 |
| But, this type of hiking plan will only work well during summer, in which I always use this opportunity to go home. :) |
High Tatras National Park.This national park mainly covers the mountain area of Slovakia but since the mountain is basically the border between Slovakia and Poland, you can expect there are few areas on Poland included as well in the national park. And in Europe, you literally need no passport to show at the top of the mountain just to cross the border. But, of course if you are a foreigner and you don't have EU citizenship, I would really recommend you to take the passport with you.
Another border I know that happen to be in a national park is between Czech and Germany, it is Bohemian-Switzerland / Saxon-Switzerland National Park.
 |
| Miss this view! |
Here are few basic instructions on how to get to Morskie Oko (refer the pictures' captions)
 |
| 1. In Zakopane, get to this station. It is NOT the one you arrive in Zakopane from other cities. This specific station is for transports within Zakopane itself. Not that far, these two stations are next to each other, together with the train station. |
 |
| 2. Take a mini-bus / mini-van at the bus station. It will be at the very first platform and you can see the destination in front of it. The driver will charge you 10 zloty for one way. Pay only when you arrive at the parking area closer to Morskie Oko. Same goes to the return journey. Get onto the van and pay only when you arrive in Zakopane again. |
 |
| See, platform number 1 to Morskie Oko. |
Before we can continue to Morskie Oko, we need to pay the one-time entrance fee to the national park. That was my first time paying this kind of fee. It is about 5 zloty per person. If you are a student, a senior (about 60years old), a person with disability or a soldier in active service (hehe I don't understand why), you are entitled for 50% discount, so... it will be 2.50 zloty.
So, prepare your identity card if you want this benefit.
1 Polish zloty = RM 1.10
 |
| I felt pity to those horses. -_-' They look so tired with lots of bulging veins. |
Then, we can choose to either walk-hike up the trails or simply use the horse carriage. I am not that sure the price but I have set my mind to choose the first option. :)
The trails were not that hard, I mean not that steep, alhamdulillah. Just, what made it harder that time was the roads were icy, slippery enough to make me walk just like a penguin! Haha.
Okayyyy, nothing much to say. Let's enjoy the view around Morskie Oko area. :D
I will share details as the captions yea.
 |
| We can see this board every 1km. |
 |
| I was glad they road was cleared from snow. Otherwise, my feet would be wet from the very beginning. |
 |
| Can you detect the waterfall? |
 |
| This kind of view was I think after 1-2km of walking. |
 |
| Standing against the sunshine to capture memories with this background... you cannot see my dark face. Haha. |
 |
| Many people, you would not feel that lonely. |
 |
| Again, you can expect this view almost through out the route. |
 |
| Oh yea, other than using pavement roads that are more for cars, we can also use this trail between trees. Just, mind our steps, it is far more slippery! :p |
 |
| Look at the ground. Dirty ice. Haha. That's the best spot to fall. Painful and wet. |
 |
| I have no idea why I love to pose like this. Trademark maybe hehe. |
 |
| A quiz for you guys, guess what is inside this picture? |
Morskie Oko
After walking about 3 hours (maybe), finally I reached the lake. As expected, the lake was frozen. Here, I shared few facts about Morskie Oko that can be found on the board there.
- It is the largest lake in Tatras Mountains, about 1395 meters above sea level.
- Morskie Oko means 'Eye of the Sea', called by the tourists. It was said to be connected to a sea (like beneath the mountains), but... seems impossible.
- Other than Morskie Oko, there is another popular lake just below Rysy Peak named Czarny Staw. Staw = pond.
 |
| The frozen lake. |
 |
| I should have wear a brighter tudung. :D |
 |
| This is a lodge, where tourists can have meal while enjoying the view. And advantage for people coming during winter, we can warm ourselves in this lodge and toilets are provided with a fee of 2 zloty. Meals' prices are okay range 10-20zloty on average. I have prepared myself with food so no need to spend money here. |
 |
| Get your souvenirs here if you want to :) Postcards cost around 1.50 zloty/piece. |
 |
| See, so many people. This lodge was very busy that day. Oh yea, it provides free WiFi! Can you imagine you can get connected from a mountain for free? :D I tried video call with my dad, but the video was not that clear. But, I had no problem to send videos on Whatsapp / scroll FB or Twitter timeline hehe. |
Going down to the starting point was faster as my feet were already wet and I need to perform my prayers. I planned to pray around the lake, but the wind was very strong I could not even open my eyes most of the time, what else to take wudu'. Cold and freezing enough.
Since Polish people are more religious (at least compared to Czech), it was not that awkward to pray in public. :) But, after reading few articles and international news, maybe I should be more careful as non-Muslim actually do not understand the movements in our prayers. Yes, we need to be 'izzah (proud) to perform salah but does not mean you need to expose yourself to danger. I've been told that some of them always feel threatened that we will do something horrible after that. Hmmmm.
Okay guys, for the next posts, I will try to take you around Zakopane. This small town is interesting as well! :D
HK, Czech
170312
[PHOTOS & VIDEO] 2 Life Lessons I Learned From Snowboarding
March 13, 2017
I had my first experience with snowboard in the middle of February. To be specific, it was on Saturday 18th February 2017. Yes, the first time ever. I tried skiing twice (I think?) but I was not into it as I struggled to balance both my legs together. So, maybe that was why I never tried snowboarding since then, I thought they were similar.
But, apparently not.
Snowboarding was much more easier to learn!
 |
| Loving the landscape at the back :D Do you remember I used to say I wore pink from top to bottom at my previous post? This bubble winter jacket was one the item I bought 5 years ago. How I decided to buy it, was another innocent yet awkward story to be told. |
Maryam and I just finished our exam on Thursday and we had 3 days to kill with leisure activities (no books please) before going back to our school routines on Monday. We decided to go snowboarding and our trip was with the boys - Idris, Quntam and his Thai friend.
Since it was skiing season now and the mountains were still covered with snow, we reached the ski areal with a skibus (direct bus from our town special for skiers and snowboarders). That means we did not have to transit anywhere and the bus would take us just right to the front of the ski areal. Awesome.
 |
| The funny incident that we thought we just need to present our town bus card to get discount. But, nope.. we actually need to have some money in the card! Well, it has been a while since I recharged my card, so... I need to pay 70kc instead of 50kc. Alaaaa. |
Quntam and his friend went straight to the ski lift as they already have experiences with snowboarding. Meanwhile, Maryam and I decided to learn first (at the children area hahaha) before going up the mountain and our coach was Idris. He was a very good coach, seriously. I was not expecting much during the journey on the bus but looking at how fast our learning progression was, we finally made it to start from the top of mountain!
 |
| At the children areal. Hehe. We kept on being too careful if we may fall onto the kids who played here. Dangerous, honestly! |
 |
| After getting the basic lesson from the 'coach', yeay, he approved we already have the basic skills. Let's go uphill! :D |
Going up the ski lift was another challenge. Haha.
 |
| The ski lift. To get onto this was okay. But, to stand up and get out of the chair was totally embarrassing. We were the few lucky snowboarders who kept on falling upon arriving at the top of mountain. Haha. |
Life lessons I learned that day:
1. Never give up to rise up after every fall.
Honestly, I fell more easily with ski than snowboard. Maybe because with snowboard, both my legs are attached to only one board so I just need to balance it. Compared to ski, it did not feel good to fall with wide open legs (kaki terkangkang T_T)
Falling down when playing winter sports are not weird at all. Experienced people also can fall sometime. Just, be determine to rise up. Do not give up and quit.
"You want to forget, but you want to remember. And you know that the healthiest thing is to let go."
 |
| See, those people in front of me also fell down :D |
2. It is okay to slow down.
Snowboarding down a slope covered with snow was really great. That adrenaline rush feeling, I just could not describe it. But, somehow we cannot go down as fast as we want. There will be some other skiers or snowboarders right in front of us; or we may suddenly going down to the direction of forest with big trees; or some poles that are under construction.
See, they can be 'obstacles' and what we need to do is to slow down.
Well, even on roads or highways, there will be some times you can always use the right lane, but when other cars move faster than us, we need to change lane and slow down.
Same goes to our life. We cannot expect everything to happen just the way we want it to be. We cannot expect things happened immediately after we wish them to happen.
3. The power of trust.
To all lovely people who are waiting for this (haha why am I so confident), hehe there you go.
*added 170315* this is not my video, most videos shared in my blog are Maryam's :D I am a forever fan of her artworks haha
See, they can be 'obstacles' and what we need to do is to slow down.
Well, even on roads or highways, there will be some times you can always use the right lane, but when other cars move faster than us, we need to change lane and slow down.
Same goes to our life. We cannot expect everything to happen just the way we want it to be. We cannot expect things happened immediately after we wish them to happen.
 |
| Idris, Maryam, me. ;D They are my adventure, life buddies. |
3. The power of trust.
After few rounds, Maryam and I decided to take a break (actually to stop haha). We were approaching the time limit to use the ski lift (it was for 2 hours) and we already rented the snowboards for 4 hours.
While waiting for Idris to quickly go up for his last round, Maryam and I got ourselves some hot chocolate. I found this view (picture below) to be interesting. You can see how these people just leave their equipment outside the cafe(?). No need to worry if someone else may take them.
 |
| Overall, the amount we spent for the whole day was approximately RM 150. |
------------------------------------------------
To all lovely people who are waiting for this (haha why am I so confident), hehe there you go.
*added 170315* this is not my video, most videos shared in my blog are Maryam's :D I am a forever fan of her artworks haha
Till next posts on Morskie Oko & Zakopane. :D
p/s - there are actually 3 life lessons. -_-'
HK, Czech
170312
Don't Regret The Past But Appreciate The Future
March 12, 2017
Actually, I would like to get it done with another blogger award's tag. Hehe. Thank you Anis (we have similar name ;D) Her blog is one of a kind with sincere life rants that I understand it maybe hard to share at the first place. This post of her is my favorite. Well, I have difficulties myself to share more on few parts of my 'personal' life even though I am very sure I already shared too much on my blog. Lol.
But, there are few things I still feel not into sharing them online. If you have read my blog for quite a while, I think you can realize that. ^_^
 |
| Accept your past without regret, handle your present with confidence, and face your future without fear. Well, this may sound unrealistic sometimes as human's hearts are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Haha. |
1. Introduce yourself by stating 5 random facts about you.
- I prefer plain water.
- Once upon a time, I wore pink attire from top to bottom. HAHA.
- I used to be a huge fan of Kim Jong Kook.
- I fancy people with slightly bulging gastrocnemius.
- I am still living with carpal tunnel syndrome on my left hand. T_T
- Once upon a time, I wore pink attire from top to bottom. HAHA.
- I used to be a huge fan of Kim Jong Kook.
- I fancy people with slightly bulging gastrocnemius.
- I am still living with carpal tunnel syndrome on my left hand. T_T
2. The first impression when you found my blog.
I love the way you put Chapter on the post title. Trust me, that is unique for me. It feels like I am reading a novel, even though the current post may or may not be related to the previous one. :)
3. If your life is a novel, what would the title be?
Regret vs Appreciate
I came across this quote (as written on this post's title) when I was scrolling my Facebook's timeline yesterday. Actually, it was a quote I posted in 2010 and upon reading it again, I can totally relate how the next 7 years have developed me into.
It was funny but embarrassing to realize how immature my choices of words are. Many posts are worth to be ashamed for. But, I think it is okay then, life is really developing someone into a better person.
I was quite active on Facebook few years back and I think I was very friendly to anyone at that time. My friends are always yours and I will treat your friends as mine. This is a thing I hold on to, till now. But, I forgot one thing. Not everyone treat a friendship / relationship just the way you treat it. I may have break other's heart along the way by not being considerate, loyal, over-confident.. anything you wish to say.
And yes, some things I still regret but trying my best to move on. Some things I wish I was not that enthusiastic to try that time and even some things I feel thankful to have that phase in my life.
"Don't regret the past but appreciate the future."
We can't change the past, everyone knows that. But we can change the future... and even the consequences that already happened because of the past. :) With His will, insyAllah.
 |
| A country that teaches me a lot about life. |
4. What makes you confident?
Knowledge, experience, family.
5. What is your fantasy dream?
Pintu suka hati. Haha.
I love travelling and even though I am used to not staying at home more than half of my age, I miss my family. And I do believe that I need to responsible to my parents the way they take care of me for my entire life.
Well, my mum said I need to improve my creativity. So... can pintu suka hati be considered as fantasy dream? Hehe.
Actually, for dreams.. I have many stuffs in my bucket list but they seem to be logical? Lol.
I love travelling and even though I am used to not staying at home more than half of my age, I miss my family. And I do believe that I need to responsible to my parents the way they take care of me for my entire life.
Well, my mum said I need to improve my creativity. So... can pintu suka hati be considered as fantasy dream? Hehe.
Actually, for dreams.. I have many stuffs in my bucket list but they seem to be logical? Lol.
6. What is your favourite thing about earth?
Nature and human.
Surviving this 5 out of 6 years of my degree course, I must say that I find human as interesting subject to explore more. Our physical anatomy can be different and obviously the mental part as well. :p
I don't think I should describe more on nature, as it is quite obvious that nature is my passion. :)
7. How would you spend your "Me" time?
Depends on the weather.
Wait... 'me' time means the time we spend just for ourselves, right?
I can walk along the river alone. I don't find it embarrassing to eat out alone. I can curl under my duvet the whole day, of course alone. I can go hiking or travelling alone.
But, trust me, it is not that I love to do these stuffs alone, I am so happy to welcome anyone to do them together :)
 |
| 'Me' time? Haha |
8. Between the moon and the stars, which one would you pick and why..?
Apparently it is quite hard to choose between these two as I love everything on the sky, even the planes. Hmm, maybe for this one I would say moon? Suddenly I remember of a quote, "we are looking at the same moon". Lol.
But, honestly I've been somewhere dark (but not totally dark) and the only light I had was a bright-shining moon to guide my way.
9. Who could inspire you the most? and Why?
I can't think of any specific persons because my interests are quite broad that they can be anyone. I have different people for inspiration of travelling, of life struggle, of working life, of studying life yada yada.
It can be you and your blogs as well :D
10. First thing you notice in a person?
Smile.
Can't describe more but a smile really make my day happier! especially from people I treasure the most.
11. A song that describes you.
THIS.
p/s - I need to work efficiently for Morskie Oko & Zakopane's posts.
p/s - I need to work efficiently for Morskie Oko & Zakopane's posts.
HK, Czech
170311
Zakopane is basically a winter-resort town that is quite famous among Europeans (at least for Poland and Czech). If someone mention Zakopane, these are few things that will come out in people's head who know about this beautiful town.
Winter sports (snowboarding / skiing / sledding), Tatras Mountain, Morskie Oko, Rysy peak.
Well, they sound just similar to what Czech can serve. But, for sure different countries have different culture. Even though Czech and Poland are neighbors - they even share similar language (again)! but we can expect different experiences :)
Ala, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapura tu kan serumpun tapi untuk orang yang dah jejak ketiga-tiga ni faham rasanya perbezaan tu. Hehe
 |
| Turn right to Zakopane |
Wait, did not I say that I went hiking to Morskie Oko, Poland?
Yep, you are correct.
 |
| Prague - Krakow - Zakopane - Morskie Oko |
1. How was the journey?
If we refer to the map above, to get to Morskie Oko by bus from Prague is not a direct journey. It will be like this:
- Prague - Krakow (7h 30m by Polskibus)
- Krakow - Zakopane (2h by Mejarbus)
- Zakopane - Morskie Oko (20m by local minibus)
The total of 10 hours on road! Hehe.
 |
| My bus to Krakow, Poland |
2. How to choose bus options?
There are few choices of bus / train to get to Krakow - here are few of them that I can list out (Flixbus, Student Agency, Polskibus, Ecolines). You can search it online I guess. Things to consider when booking a ticket are:
- Duration of journey (some may takes up to 15hours, with 1/2 transits)
- Prices (some with shorter duration but more expensive!)
- Time of journey (if you want to cut cost for accommodation, overnight bus is what you need)
- Comfort (so far, I've tried Flixbus, SA, Polskibus - they are awesome. I personally prefer SA more!)
 |
| Krakow train station is just next to bus station, you will not get lost. |
3. How to survive an overnight bus ride?
Since that was not my first time to Krakow and uncountable times on overnight bus ride, I can say I prepared myself well for the trip. I've posted a post on this topic, click to check it out. :)
I reached Krakow at about 4.30am and I was very glad that the bus station was already opened. Seriously this is one of the thing you should think about overnight bus, especially for solo-traveler. Search around if:
- Will you be safe to stay outside? (most countries have polices walking around)
- Is there any place we can warm ourselves? (you don't want to imagine staying outside during winter)
- When is the next connecting bus? (take the earliest connecting bus unless you want to stroll around the city you transit)
 |
| Bus to Zakopane from Krakow |
emilysguidetokrakow.com
For now, you can read more about that on these links:
I will take you around Zakopane & Morskie Oko in the next posts. :)
Till then.
I found this website to be very helpful for guides between Krakow - Zakopane - Morskie Oko. Most of the facts mentioned are quite up to date. Just, I think the price of bus Krakow - Zakopane has raised from 15 zloty to 17 zloty.
The best part is most buses for these routes provide free WiFi on board :)
 |
| Sunrise from the bus. |
4. How to pray during the journey?This is a quite famous question I received. I would love to make a separate post on this, insyAllah - about kiblat (direction to pray), khuf, praying on moving transportations etc... but I need to do a simple, proper post to prevent misunderstanding. Unfortunately I don't have any soft copy or hard copy of the knowledge I received about this when I came to Czech for the first time.
For now, you can read more about that on these links:
- Solat dalam kenderaan - Utusan
- Praying in a moving vehicle
- Salah when on a plane, train or bus
- Fiqh Solat Luar Negara - Azam Russia
----------------------
 |
| Dworzec = station. It is a Polish word for any train / bus station. In Czech, station is nadrazi. |
 |
| A very simple bus station. This one is for buses arriving to or leaving from Zakopane. Buses within Zakopane are located in the other station / stops (just around this area). |
 |
| If you desperately need to change money, there are few of exchanges around the bus station. After walking around, I found one exchange office in Krupowki street that offer good exchange rate. |
I will take you around Zakopane & Morskie Oko in the next posts. :)
Till then.
HK, Czech
170308
Cycling Trip : Pardubice, Czech
March 8, 2017
The route was similar to the one I did in 2014 to Vysoka Nad Labem, just I cycled further to the south of Hradec Kralove to another city, Pardubice. My cycling momentum was not that good even though I started cycling again to school. Maybe 2 months of break (from the bicycle) is the main reason for this. I still have a month of bus card anyway. Hmmmm.
I will think about the bus card later.
Hradec Kralove - Pardubice
Honestly, for all those adrenaline-rush activities I've done.... I believe the mental strength controlled them all.
It was always great to plan the route, but, I was gasping for air after 5-6km where I had at least 15km to go. My thigh and leg muscles were kind of giving up. But, the weather was nice, with sunshine and not that cold. Just, the wind was not helping much. Instead of pushing me forward, unfortunately the wind was attacking me from the front. Plus, the air pressure from the passing cars literally pushed me to the side of the road with deep drains.
Not good, not good.
I passed many neighborhood and surprisingly for the first time ever, I did not take lots of photos along the journey. I was really tired to paddle my bike, could not think much to hold the GoPro. My phone was safely attached to the handle (as navigation).
Upon reaching Pardubice, I was greeted with Labe River. Although it is basically the same river that passes Hradec Kralove, the feeling was a bit different. Along the river I could see many people enjoying the sunshine by spending time together with friends and families. Some people were riding the bicycles, some were roller-blading while some people just walked. :)
I am so going to miss this view.
Told you, my stamina was drained. I just could not think about cycling for another 20+km to get back to my hometown. So, I decided to just take a train. Hehehe. Guess what, the ticket for a bike from Pardubice to Hradec Kralove was almost the same as a ticket for a person. T_T
Oh yea, bicycle in Czech is known as 'kola'.
To hang the bike in the train was quite hard and luckily there was a helpful Czech who even helped me to take my bike downstairs and upstairs at the train station! Thank you so much!
Although this post sounds a bit depressing (ahaha), but hey, it was a very nice ride on a very sunny day, especially it proved that the spring is just around the corner. Wohoooo, can't wait for rapeseed fields, dandelions and green leaves again!
I will think about the bus card later.
 |
| HK-Pardubice |
- Saturday, 4th March 2017
- 29km
- 1hour 57 minutes
- 15 km/h
 |
| There is a castle as the background if you realise. :) |
Honestly, for all those adrenaline-rush activities I've done.... I believe the mental strength controlled them all.
It was always great to plan the route, but, I was gasping for air after 5-6km where I had at least 15km to go. My thigh and leg muscles were kind of giving up. But, the weather was nice, with sunshine and not that cold. Just, the wind was not helping much. Instead of pushing me forward, unfortunately the wind was attacking me from the front. Plus, the air pressure from the passing cars literally pushed me to the side of the road with deep drains.
Not good, not good.
 |
| I can feel spring is coming :) |
I passed many neighborhood and surprisingly for the first time ever, I did not take lots of photos along the journey. I was really tired to paddle my bike, could not think much to hold the GoPro. My phone was safely attached to the handle (as navigation).
Upon reaching Pardubice, I was greeted with Labe River. Although it is basically the same river that passes Hradec Kralove, the feeling was a bit different. Along the river I could see many people enjoying the sunshine by spending time together with friends and families. Some people were riding the bicycles, some were roller-blading while some people just walked. :)
I am so going to miss this view.
 |
| 2 hours before sunset. |
 |
| I fancy this one! T_T |
 |
| Awesome weather for an ice-cream! |
Told you, my stamina was drained. I just could not think about cycling for another 20+km to get back to my hometown. So, I decided to just take a train. Hehehe. Guess what, the ticket for a bike from Pardubice to Hradec Kralove was almost the same as a ticket for a person. T_T
Oh yea, bicycle in Czech is known as 'kola'.
 |
| In the train |
To hang the bike in the train was quite hard and luckily there was a helpful Czech who even helped me to take my bike downstairs and upstairs at the train station! Thank you so much!
Although this post sounds a bit depressing (ahaha), but hey, it was a very nice ride on a very sunny day, especially it proved that the spring is just around the corner. Wohoooo, can't wait for rapeseed fields, dandelions and green leaves again!
HK, Czech
170306
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
