~The unforgettable travel story to South Korea : The passport lost in the middle~

         Last year, when my university, International Islamic University Malaysia had announced  in its website about the selection of participants for the Educational Visit to South Korea, I said to myself that, wow, this gonna be my chance to go abroad. In fact, I never have the opportunity to go outside Malaysia, even the nearest one to my state which is Thailand. Therefore, I tried to apply to this program and  after went through the selections including interview, the organizer called me and said, "Congratulation Jannah! You are our one of the 35 participants  that have been selected to go to South Korea...Woowoot!!(Chicken dance) hahaha.  This trip was fully sponsored by my university as a sign of acknowledgement to the students who have a good performance in academic and also have participated actively in co-curriculum. Thank God for opening their heart to choose me..hehe=)

Therefore, after settled down with my passport and everything, finally, on 25th June 2012, my friends and i were departed from LCCT Kuala Lumpur to Incheon airport at 8.20 a.m.

I was really excited to join this trip because as I mentioned before, I never have a chance to travel abroad for free since i didn't really afford to pay for the trip. In fact, I was informed by the organizer that the cost per person in my trip is almost  RM 5K.. Phewww, no money, no walk dear.

                      Can't take my eyes on seeing this beautiful sky...Subhanallah..How lucky I am..

Despite of feeling happy and excited, I can't deny that I also felt  a bit nervous and uneasy. Even a few days before the trip, I didn't feel good. And maybe these were the signs upon something bad that gonna happen to me...(Yeah, who knows)..

It took almost 6 hours to arrive at Incheon Airport..While walking into the Incheon Airport I didn't realize that the floor was quite slippery for my shoes, then suddenly i fell down. It's in front of public you know!Shame on me..huhu.. To cover up, i quickly stood up and said to my friends " This is the bad sign you know,hahaha...While laughing with my friends, i did not notice that, there was "something" that has been missing from my hand during i was falling."Something" that tremendously important in my life that will block me to enter this any country in the world if i lost it.

I bet you know it.Yea,. it was my passport!!!!!! Again..My passport has misssinggggg in the airport of South Korea!!!!

Since I was in charge to keep the passport covers of my friends, so, I didn't realize that I actually lost my passport until i reached at the Immigration Service. I thought I have it since there were many passport covers in my bag. Unfortunately, there were nothing inside except for the covers.

Only God knew how i felt at that time..Tears, worries and sadness were coming like a tornado. Although my officers and the tour guide who accompanied the trip were helping me hardly in finding my passport, but at the end, they could not find my passport. Consequently, I was not allowed to pass the immigration like my friends. 

As far as i remember,after waiting for almost 1 hour in the immigration room, the Korean officer asked our advisor, Madam  Rusnani and the tour guide to leave the room. They cannot wait for me any longer since i was the only one that involved with this case and before they left me, they gave me some fruits and food.. Tears rushing down my face while seeing them leaving me.. Looking them till the last sight, i  wondered what will happen to me next..

The officer then brought me to the detention room. Although, i was walking in front of public, i didn't realize why  i was crying loudly like a hungry baby while walking with him. However, I felt so sorry to that man for doing that, but seriously i could not control my emotion at that time...huh!.Despite of my bad attitude, the man tried to persuade me by saying calmly "Kwen Chah Nah" which mean"It's okay". 

After 20 minutes  of walking and going through some procedures, I finally reached at the detention room. There, i met a lot of new "friends". They came from all over the world. Some of them came from China, Thailand and Mongolia. People come and go every hour depending on their case and their flight availability. Then while bringing my bag inside, I  noticed that there were two men  looking at me. I believed they were Indonesian by looking at their face. And yea, they came to introduce themselves  and tried to ask about my case. Pheww, i felt sooo relieved when i can speak with them!!At least, there were people who able to understand my language. 

Laying down, crying and praying...Hope for something good for me..sigh..

I could not sleep at that night. Trying to find out how to contact my family. There's no credits to call them. Even, I brought my laptop but I didn't have the password for the WIFI (of course). Then, when i asked  the officer about the password, he just shown the sign of X like Ultraman Mebius by using his hands...(which meant I cannot get it). Huh!  If my passport could not be found till the next morning, it meant, I will return back to Malaysia immediately. And that was confirmed.

The time was flying fastly like water. Just like my tears. At first, I planned just to hide the tragedy that had happened to me from my family. I was scared if my parents worried too much about me if they know what had happened. However, I could not wait anymore. Telling them is a must now! At least, they can pick me tomorrow at the airport. Suddenly, I saw one Chinese woman was using the Facebook happily (How could her). Then I tried to ask her about the password. At first, she seemed to ignore my request. After i kept on begging her, finally she helped me to connect to the WIFI. I quickly opened my Facebook  and the first message that i gave was to my sister. I told her that I have a big problem there and I really need her to check with the Air Asia about my passport.

 My sister, Nurhaffiza then spread the news to all my family members and my brother who worked with the Diplomatic tried so hard to contact with the Malaysian Embassy at South Korea and asked them to assist me.  Besides, my friends, Mahirah and her family also helped me a lot, they added my credit phone and help me to contact my family. Thank you Uncle Rashid and Auntie Syarifah.

Besides, my family put a very high effort to help me.My sister, Nurhaffizawati had emailed to Tony Fernandez, the CEO of Air Asia about this thing, asked his staff to check my passport and I do believe it won't work.. at all and yes it's!!! sigh...( Well, at least, she tried her best) Cryingggggg.  Finally, after waiting for the whole night, the embassy called me and said that they will come to see me tomorrow at 10.00 a.m and asked me not to attempt to run away if anything happen. The hope was there. But I didn't know whether I still have the chance to stay here a bit longer while waiting for my passport to be found.  

The next morning, the Korean officer told me that my flight will be at 8.50 a.m. With a heavy heart, I was accompanied by the staff  t,go to the flight. Deep in my heart, i prayed to God. Telling Him that I really want to stay here. My sister,Effa asked me to take pictures as many as  I can since I will never come back to this country again. Yea..Good Bye Korea.. Meet you in my dream..

Put a fake smile, snapping as many pictures as I could and waiting for the next fate. In the flight, I was thinking what will be the best story that I could share with my friends, relatives and lecturers who knew about my travel to South Koreaa...No Jeju, no Seoul story!!I just stayed at the airport for the whole time!Wuaaa

Meanwhile, I noticed that many passengers in Air Asia were looking weirdly at me because, I kept on crying and just stopped for the purpose of taking pictures..Haha(Sounds crazy right?). Yea... I felt it too..huhu..The steward and stewardess kept on coming and asked me many questions. They were the same staff that served me in my flight yesterday.They told me that they didn't find my passport in their cabin...I just listened to them with a plain mood...(The luck is always not belong to me)...sigh..

Because I didn't eat anything since yesterday, I felt very hungry in the flight.Although, they gave me Burger King with Coke in the detention room, but I did not feel confident to eat them. I tried to ask the steward whether my ticket that they gave was provided with the food. Unfortunately, there was no food booked for me (How could you). The steward named Putra gave me bread and a cup of hot Milo. He said, I didn't have to pay anything. He gave me for free!! Thanks brother!It's free, and I like it =)

When the flight landed at Malaysia,  I was accompanied by the stewardess until the immigration. Although i felt disappointed on myself but I can't deny that I felt soooo relived.At least, my family was there for me.  After, I switched on my phone, I realized that there were so many messages from my friends that told me about my passport. They said, someone has found my passport! And  I can pick it at Air Asia Malaysia now!!. They also asked me to come back again since my return ticket is still valid. Well, I just walked, put a small hope to return back but I knew it might be impossible since it required a lot of money for ticket .. I didn't have any idea for that. Then, I saw my mother at the arrival door, She's waving her hand when she saw me. I can see she's crying while hugging me with my dad...I smiled to them calmly deep inside my heart, I said "Mak, I am so sorry for making you worried about me..Sorry for disappointing you Abah" sigh...

My brother, Effie, asked me whether I want to go back to South Korea or not. Definitely I said  yes (although i have no money for the ticket =p). Then by collecting money from all of my family members,he asked my sister, Aqilah to book the ticket from MAS at that night..So,finally


Helllooo Koreaaa, I'm coming!! .....Again..hahaha



The beautiful arrangement to my fate from Allah to me..=)

Million of thanks to my family for their struggle and support to send me back to Korea..I heart them so much...

Travelling with MAS was super duper Heaven!!Delicious food, more relaxing and more space for me..haha
Departed at 11.30 P.M and arrived at 7.00 A.M

It's just like a deja vu when I arrived at the Incheon Airport. Everything seemed to be familiar to me..( Yea, I have been to this place yesterday..haha)

The place, where I supposed to do my passport checking with my friends yesterday...Oh Passport,where have you been yesterday? You supposed to be here dear! Please..  Don't do it again okay...(Emo for a while)

So, after getting my bag,  I was welcomed by this friendly and beautiful tour guide, Clara..She's from Busan actually..=P..Kamsahamida Onnie for helping me..Ippoyo..=)

I also have recorded something from her=)

  Jeju Island

Clara brought me to  Gimpo Airport to go to Jeju Island because all my friends were waiting for me there. It took almost 1 hour to arrive there and you know what, the services provided by the Korean Air are  super duper good! You will be not disappointed with their service. Friendly stewardess and I  was also mesmerized with the beauty of Korean Air stewardess,haha..Almost asking them what are the skincare products that they used...=P

When i reached Jejudo, I was welcomed by this Ahjushi and he brought me to the place where my group had gathered!!! Yeah!! I didn't talk to much with him since he did not speak English and I could not speak Korea (Of course) So, in order to make the environment in the car alive, i took my phone and played few Korean songs from the OST Stairways to Heaven (Bogoshipda) and My girl..hahahaha...He just laughed when I played that songs...(Hahahaha) poor you uncle...If you cannot speak to me, at least we can laugh together right? =P

Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak.My dream place.Unfortunately, I could not climb up there since my friends had just went down..and we did not have enough time to climb up again because we need to go to other places..huhu ...so sad..not my luck right...But seriously, this is the most favourite place that I want to go in Jeju Island. sigh..Never mind, next time, I will come again to this place!

By the way, before I forget,  let me introduce you to my group. IIUM team!!! In this trip, we were accompanied by three officers, Dr. Akmal, Madam Zuraida and Madam Rusnani. I really thanked them for their concern to my case including dealing with Embassy and also guiding me to come here.Thank you very much Dr and Madam. And not to forget,to all my friends here, they also gave me support during I was in the detention room.=)

Jeju Island, the island where you can find "heaven" there. Your trip to South Korea will not complete if you are not visiting Jeju Island.=P

I went to lot of places in Jeju Island like TESEUM(Teddy Bear Museum)

Jusangjeolli Cliffs,Yongduam Rock,Seonimgyo Bridge, Cheonjiyeon Falls and many more. Too many interesting places to write but believe me, Jeju Island is a must when you come here!!

Teddy Bear Museum or known as TESEUM...From the smallest bear to the biggest bear..Just name it..You will find all here..

My hotel...Looking good right..yeah, windy and fresh!!haha

The place where my favorite Korean Drama, Stairways to Heaven was shooted...Bogoshipda Lotte World=)

 I also went to Nami Nara or Nami Island that renowned with the Korean Drama, Winter Sonata..I love this drama long time ago.. The place is so romantic and good if you want to plan and go for your honeymoon=)

Wearing Hanbok,Korean Traditional Cloth, and also Kimchi making were the marvelous experiences ever. By the way, Kimchi is quite sour and spicy. It is good for me in reducing my weight..Believe me, I lost 7 Kilos here okay..hahahahahaha. 

Got the new friends here. Look at their skin...So flawless! Aww! I was informed that the secrets of Korean  beauty are because they love to eat Ginseng and also drink lot of plain water. They also love to walk instead of using the car to move...Wooooww..No wonder they are Ippoyo!!=P

I also love the food here especially the seaweed soup. There are quite a few Halal Food Restaurants here. So, don't worry too much about food. 

 Lastly, before we went back, the Korea Tourism Organization gave me and my friends this beautiful souvenirs. It contains a pair of spoons and chopsticks. The spoon here is slightly different compared to the ordinary one because it is longer and of course more beautiful..=) Anyway, thanks to KTO for providing us good service, showing your beautiful country and friendly people too. I am sure i will come again to your country=)

Bogoshipda Korea. Hope to come here again. Thanks for teaching me some lessons about places,people and friendship. Thanks for experience...and thanks God for the second chance you

 gave me. This travel is going to be the most unforgettable travel story ever !=)

P/S: I am now participating in this competition to make my dream to go to Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. Let's join this competition and don't forget to vote for me ok!!=)