Belgrade, Serbia

Heyya :)

Just a brief introduction to travelling around Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia in which I will be writing in my upcoming posts. These countries are sort of known as war-torn countries. Thus, they are filled with historical places to visit rather than the urbanized sort of culture you would expect whilst travelling in Western Europe.

This area was also known as Yugoslavia, that broke up into their own parts in 2001 and is currently known well as the Balkans ! Sounds barbaric eyy ? But its quite a nice place to travel to ! 

Anyways, 

The currency they use here is Serbian Dinar ! Although Euros are accepted, it is well known that they will charge you at a higher price if you pay in Euro, in most parts of Europe that has their own currency, so it is definitely advisable to change :)

Booked a place to stay in for the night at the Belgrade Modern Hostel, which I personally highly recommend ! They've got part of the hostel just for girls so its definitely convenient in that sense. Beyond that, its only a 5 minutes walk to the central and costs me only about 10Euros a night. 

Tried out some Pastries for breakfast earlier that day and that's a selfie infront of the hostel. Pretty much a safe place :)

Really gotta love the architecture here in Belgrade. Due to the occupation of the Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire and the Soviets mainly. 

Republic Square 

There's a few free tours and some paid for which you can find out more on; http://www.belgradewalkingtours.com/#_=_ . I decided to go for the 'Free Walking Tour' as I thought it'd be a great insight to this historical city ! The meeting point was behind the monument in the Republic Square and it was definitely worth it !

 The tour guide offered us 'Rakya' - the famous alcohol in Serbia and offered us some homemade 'Agvar' - the local pepper jam usually eaten with bread by the Serbians. I gotta admit, agvar was really delicious and it was not as spicy as it looks ! But cause I don't drink, I wouldn't be able to tell you precisely how Rakya tastes like. Haha. Most old men here sips a shot of Rakya every day as they believe it's good for their health. 

Yummy Delicious Agvar ..... 

The tour guide brought us around the important places in Belgrade. I even managed to cover most parts of the 'Top Things to do in Belgrade' through this tour such as ; 

 

The Bajrakli Mosque; the only mosque preserved under the law of the Serbian Government

The Skadarlija ; a street preserved with the Serbian Culture 

The Belgrade Fortress

The tour was about 3 hours so be mentally prepared to take in as many info as you can throughout the whole 3 hours haha. Anyways, met up with other solo travellers during the free walking tour and we decided to eat somewhere nearby which was highly recommended. Food here is quite cheap and is definitely worth. If you're a vegetarian, Serbia would definitely be a struggle for you to eat as they enjoy meat ! As it was nearly impossible to find Halal meat, I walked around eating vegetarian or seafood which was not so bad here at Belgrade .

How to survive in a country with language barriers?

Hey guys !!
If you guys follow me on my instagram or are friends with me on my Facebook, then you'd know I'm still here travelling in Serbia, will be pushing off to Pristina, Kosovo insyaAllah today :)

Made friends with an ex tour guide whilst walking in the free walking tour and she gave ample of historical information regarding this historical city ! 

Anyways, I've encountered so many problems with language barriers here ! So, I thought might as well randomly write a blog post to share with you guys the many ways I tried using whilst I'm here. Ps, the main language here is Serbian language, which ofcourse, most of us know nothing off....

1) Once you arrive, check out the information counter in the cities. They should be able to guide you along the way and provide you with the super duper important Dora map !

2) Try to join the tours ; especially if they're free ! Haha . Your tour guide should not have problems speaking in English so blast them with as much questions as you'd like (Only if the tour is spoken in English)

3) Traditionally, have a translator on your phone or a dictionary

4) Grab a map,  carry it everywhere you go and just point to locals where it is you want to go, try ask for hand gestures if they try to give you directions in their own language (which they usually do and I end up understanding nothing off)

5) The younger generation are most likely to be able to speak English more compared to the elder ones. So never doubt asking them for directions

6) Find a buddy, its always easier, if you get lost you won't be alone atleast. You can usually find for buddies at tour guide sessions

7) Always give doubts that the first person you asked might not have understood you completely, so ask other people just to reconfirm the directions till somehow it makes sense

8) If you can't remember the name of the place you wanna go and you opt to take the cab, just borrow the cab driver's phone and google your place

9) Try to be friends with locals by asking them to take pictures of you and make friendly
conversations. You'd be surprised by the information you can get from them, especially the young ones !

10) Also, never try to make full sentences like, 'Do you know where the bus station is?' , instead just say, 'Bus station, where ?' . It's definitely easier for everyone to understand.

Don't forget, never doubt the power of pen&paper to doodle ! Hope this helps !

Abu Dhabi : The Culture & Society

Hey ! I know most of the time I write based on the days I travel but just decided to turn things around a little here :) Note that there may be not as many pictures of Arab women as the women are known to be quite conservative here. 

Anyways, before you go to Abu Dhabi, here are a few things you would want to expect from the society regarding their culture based on my experience in spending a day in one of their homes.

So how do these Arab women and men have lunch or dinner ? Do they dine together or separately ?

Traditionally, men and women in Abu Dhabi eat separately when they have guests. Not only that, they chill separately as well. The women don't talk as much or laugh while eating. And they serve their food like a buffet served on the table. In the day, we ate inside. In the night, we ate in the room outside. They sometimes do prefer to eat using hands, and some of them choose to eat using fork and spoons. They do definitely cook in huge portions ! They do eat together when its close relatives or just within the family though. 

What do the women traditionally do to pass time ?

Well, frankly I do not understand almost everything that they were conversing about as they were speaking in Arab and I don't understand Arab. But based on what I asked around, they usually chill under the tent outside if the weather is good, to drinking Arab coffee. They pretty much just enjoy each other's company by chit chatting to pass time and immediately commenced prayers once the Adhan was calling. Oh yeah ! They do henna too to pass time :) 

How do Arab women go through marriage ? Is there a Bachelorette party by any chance? 

Apparently, they sorta do have it ! But in their own traditional way. The soon-to-be bride gets her whole hand, from her shoulder to the end of her fingernails, tattoo-ed with henna. And there will be a night when its all girls, and the bride would show off the beautiful art on her hand within her girl friends.

What if I wanna take the bus around or cabs ?

Women gets treated with respect here in Abu Dhabi. If you were to take the bus, women sits infront and men sits at the back. Even if there are no seats for women at the front or space, the men would have to offer a seat or space for the women and cramp himself to the back. If you were to take the cab or hire a driver, it is always 'preferable' or advised to sit at the back rather than next to the driver. 

What do the men and women wear there ? 

Women and men from Abu Dhabi wears abbaya and jubah respectively. The women usually wears black and the men wears white with head coverings. Women from the olden days wear a different type of face covering than the common black cloth. 

Its not made out of cloth. Its kinda made of paper sort of material. And the women wear it even in their homes within themselves, not only infront of men. But the younger generation covers their face with burkha / purdha mostly only when meeting men. Note that this is apart of culture, not religion :) 

Abu Dhabi is quite an international country. Is it because there are many immigrants there?

They do not acknowledge these international workers as immigrants, as compared to other countries mostly do. They find if quite offensive to be regarded as immigrants. Hence, always refer to them as expatriate. But it is quite an international country as people from all over the world come to work in Abu Dhabi as it is strategically situated in the middle of the world map. Beyond that, the place itself has been developing to accommodate tourist since a couple of years ago. 

How do men and women socialize there? What are the boundaries between men and women? 

Men and women are generally conservative there. You would barely see Arabs dating or chilling out just the two of them as it would be considered as inappropriate.When there is a room with women and a man chooses to communicate to any one of them, he would have to stand outside of the room and keep his distance whilst talking to any one of the ladies. A man who performed sexual assault on a woman would immediately be deported to another country (an incident that occurred in which a worker in a hotel kissed a German guest who's a lady, and got kicked out of the country to Egypt for his inappropriate action) 

What about entering clubs or pubs? What's the age limit etc ?

The age limit for drinking, clubs etc would be 21 y'old and those wearing muslim clothings (hijab, abbaya or jubah) are not allowed in. If you're a tourist and you wanna grab a few drinks, do get yourself a license to consume alcohol and being drunk or under alcohol influence in the public is strictly prohibited. 

How do people usually get around Abu Dhabi ? Do they cycle, walk or take the bus?

The bus is only 2 Dirhams per entry despite the distance, but mostly taken by expatriates rather than the locals.  The locals usually drive around. Note that the weather could possibly be hot most of the time hence people there would barely walk around or cycle. 

What about language? Would being able to speak English only be a barrier ?

Most people I've met there are not that fluent in English. I would say 60% are great with basics of English so being able to speak in Arab would definitely come in handy ! 

So, there you go ! A rough idea on what you would have to expect from the society in Abu Dhabi ! 

PS, it is kinda guaranteed 95% safe personally to me, to travel alone, especially if you're a girl. 

Anyways, if you're planning to go there anytime soon, don't forget to bring your sunnies and some fit flops! 

The Student Life You Want

Hey,
Here's a post that's a little bit personal.

As days go by in my first year in uni, I never still fail to ponder what kind of student life I want. What I want from my first year or throughout my university life.

The things I have been participating with recently have been intellectually engaging,
For instance the 'Teh Tarik Sessions with Prominent Speakers', 'Speaker Series', Projek Amanat Negara, London International Model United Nations etc. Name it, the moment you tell me there's such an event, I would just get on my feet and go for it.

But recent events have made me wonder,
You know how in university life people make friendships that will be everlasting memories ?
I'm starting to ponder if I am missing out on that, really badly.
And those just 'chill out' days,
As I spend my nights researching about current world issues,
Believing that I need and want to equip myself with such knowledge.

For instance, this weekend, its Derby Day !
Where Essex University plays against East Anglia University which is supposed to be one of the most fun days and night of the year. A couple of my friends will be competing then, which would be great to watch them play and we'll have a chilled out night later on.
On the other hand,
There'll be the Law Career Convention in London on that day itself as well. Which would be a great opportunity to mix around and build my career background.

But honestly I feel, the chilled uni life is only once in a lifetime. And you can take your whole life to build your career. Though at the same time, it's always good to build a great career background and network from now. Hmm.

In simple words, I am caught in between having the 'chilled back student life' or the 'career building/workaholic student life' and I couldn't wish it to be any more easier :)