Padang adventure

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Allahumma yassir wala tu assir

Here start our journey to Padang, Indonesia. A whole new experience on travel.. we will be riding together with 8 other bikers, hosted by Overlander tour.

The night before, we slept at Tt's hse as we need to leave by 5am to the airport.

Flight will be at 730am.

Lombok treasure

https://indonesia.tripcanvas.co/lombok/things-to-do-in-lombok/

Lombok adventure - the local cost

Aril kena jahit at Lombok by Dr Adit & Dr Vera Rp100,000

Lunch Rp100,000

Taxi airport to Bangsal jetty Rp300,000

Speedboat to Gili Trawangan Rp85,000 per adult (10 mins)

(Cheaper option by normal boat is RM15,000 but will take much longer time. They will wait until full passenger boarded the boat ~50pax) (30 mins)

Cidomo (kereta kuda) at Gili Trawangan from jetty to Ombak Sunset hotel Rp75k to 100k

Dinner or lunch. . Nasi goreng from Rp60k to Rp90k... with drink normally Rp300k (~RM100). Mini mart is available if u wish for cheaper option i.e instant noodle or bread

Snorkeling normally start at 10am to 3pm.. cost Rp100k/pax .. or 900k per boat (speed boat) for private trip. We got lucky to grab a nice deal of 750k for a private glass-bottom boat for 4 hours.

Hopefully to see turtles and awesome corals tomorrow. insyaAllah

Lombok adventure - makan time

@ Lombok

Just outside Lombok airport, we tried Nasi Balap Puyung.. as recommnded by our supir, Pak Ibrahim.

Yummy !!

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@ Gili Trawangan

It is no doubt that food is pretty expensive here. A normal fried rice will cost from Rp60 up to Rp 100.

For dinner, the most happeningmakan place is the Pasar Seni.. just right at the jetty. It's like night market.. plenty of seafood here. Lobster cost from Rp85k per 100g. A huge lobster can weight around 500g... so u can get each at around Rp400k (~RM120)....

Our catch tonight is Ikan merah bakar for Rp50k each and a hugeeeee squid for Rp100k

The 3 Gili(s)

Awesome trip we had today.. exploring the 3 islands.. Gili Trawangan - Gili Meno - Gili Air

It was an island hopping and snorkeling trip from 9am to 2pm (supposed to be a 4 hours trip but due to bad weather it took a longer time)

We rented a private to, a small glass bottom speedboat with two private guides.. which are the boat "captains", they call it.

The tour cost us Rp750k.. the best price we found so far. Mostly they charge arnd 900k to 1 million Rp.

So we started from Vila Ombak jetty, going to the turtle point. We weren't so lucky to see any turtle today but the coral and the fishes were awesome. Subhanallah!!

Then we went to Gili Meno for fish feeding. Kids were terrified at first but later they started to enjoy it.

Finally we went to the smallest Gili... Gili Air. We had the best lunch by the beach and took a cidomo ride around the island. The 30 mins ride cost us Rp200k and it was worth it!!.

This is the quieter part of the Gilis,. And romantic also.

Gili Trawangan - hotel review

Day 1 || Ombak Sunset @ Gili T.
Very nice ambiance.
Huge room with 2 king beds.
Rate was from RM240 w/o breakfast.. with breakfast is RM300++. Top up breakfast is 100k per pax. So better to book online with breakfast next time.
This place is pretty far from center (4 km).. but beautiful sunset.
Awesomely huge pool.
To go there will need to pay Rp75k to 100k by cidomo (horse ride)

Day 2 and 3 || Vila Ombak @ Gili T.
At the center with many shops.
Easy to dine.. day or night
Room not too big..but ok
Toilet is "open style" concept
Pool is not very big. .but several sections, so u got your privacy there
Lots of mosquito..especially when u leave the toilet door open (it's outside, remember).. but don't worry, they supplied electric mosquito repellent.

Day 4 || Kebun vila, Senggigi @ Lombok

Lombok, Indonesia

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Rabbi yassir wala tu'assir

In between Bali Island and West Nusa Tenggara there's located a small island.. Lombok

It is indeed small but there lies one of the tallest mountain in Indonesia.. Mount Rinjani (3,726m). The small town, Mataram is very lively and.. cheap!

On the upper north-west, there are 3 small islands : Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air... most people stay at Gili Trawangan and enjoy the sunset.

No motorised vehicle in this island.. just horse carriages and bicycle. 

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We finally did out booking for this CNY holiday. .from 19 until 23 Feb 2015.

I will update from time to time.

Xoxo

New Years Eve 2010 @ Jakarta Bandung

We were suppose to celebrate New Year of 2010 in Jakarta. Redeemed our Enrich miles which was about to expire.. pick a location and fly!..

We chose Jakarta as we planned to see the new year celebration and from there we travel to Bandung to meet Hubby's old friend when he worked there several years ago. Bandung was known for it's shopping paradise and cool ambient. I am quite interested as I was never been to any part of Indonesia before..

So, we arrived Jakarta on Dec 31st 2009 and checked in at Mangga Dua. The taxi driver introduced us to that hotel and we believe it's gonna be awesome. The hotel was very near to Taman Impian Jaya Ancol - something like Disneyland.. they said.

Well, did I sound weird enough with all my descriptions? OK here goes..

When I first arrived in the heart of Jakarta, the air was so 'unpleasant'. There was too much of cigarette and exhaust smell. And the hotel we stayed was way too close to a huge sewage or.. was it a river? My throat was becoming worst as it goes and I bought a face mask. Was wearing it throughout the stay.

Later that night, we took "ojek" (riding up to 3 person on a motorbike) and also "angkot" (mini-van) to go the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol. To my surprise, there was like millions of people coming out to celebrate. We can't even queue to buy a ticket. There were even group of people who just climb the entrance gate and the security just can't do anything about it.

Then we walked and walk and walk.. like nearly 10 kilometers (exaggerating!!).. hell yeah.. it was a loooooong walk. We can't even find the park and also if there are any special place to see fireworks. Then we felt so tired and go back before we finally reached the end of the Ancol thingy. There was a huge concert going on and again.. millions of people watching.

We saw people everywhere.. like no place even to sit.

We then finally decided to go back and it was midnight. We did see some fireworks on our way back to the hotel. Felt lucky that we finally arrived the hotel. Moral of the story.. DO NOT GO NEAR JAKARTA ON NEW YEARS EVE!!! ...if u hate crowds.



Plaza Indonesia

The famous TEH BOTOL

Us at HRC Jakarta

Plaza Indonesia again

Taxi??

Now he is co-orperating

See my mask?

Millions of people everywhere



See.. people everywhere!

Along the highways too

Finally gets to see fireworks.. but from far

The next morning we took a train to Bandung. It took us 3 hours to reach there. Luckily the view was nice. We saw nice bridges and paddy fields or we call it "Padi Huma"..planted along the cliffs.. quite amazing that they can design the retaining walls for the watering system. I felt a sleep for the rest of the journeys.. ha ha!

Derry was waiting for us when we arrived at the Bandung train station. Took a van to his house and there was his wife and boy. His in-laws were also just arrived. Had a chit chat with the locals and luckily the air was fresher in Bandung.

We rented a car with driver (Pak Supir) the next day to bring us to the Tangkuban Perahu and also Ciater. Tangkuban Perahu is the world-famous inactive volcano in Java. It was my first experience seeing a volcano and went so close to it. The biggest on e was called "Kawah Ratu". It releases sulphur. Smell so bad and it's also dangerous. We went up there and enjoyed the air.

On the way back we went to Ciater hotspring. Not to mention the traffic. "Macet Macet Macet" I think we spent almost 4 to 5 hours on a normally less than an hour journey road. Our original plan to visit several Ci(s) - Which means Water or "Air" but due to the traffic we only manage to visit Ciater. Again.. thousands of people and theres wasn't even 1 spot for us to feel the hotspring. So, we just watch them having fun and there was also stage performance going on.

We went back and visited several outlets. Did buy something but wasn't really my type.. I can see imitations everywhere but people still love to buy and they feel that it was really cheap. But if I happen to come here again I hope I will find a good place for shopping.

Anyhow, one of the good things that I appreciated was the "telekung" shops. It was quite cheap but the quality wasn't excellent. I did buy one thou :)

We went back to Jakarta to catch our flight the next day.. and to end the "happy ending".. I've got food poisoning at the airport. It hurts really bad until finally I was sent to the airport Emergency room. Got drip and knock out for several hours,.. just before the plane boards. And the best thing was, we did not have enough cash to pay the Medical bill.. and they did not accept credit cards.. arghh...

Luckily 1 nice guy from the same flight lend us some money. We pay him back right after we landed at KLIA.. gosh I never felt soooo good to be home..

Conclusively, it wasn't about Indonesia but maybe we have selected the wrong location at a wrong timing. Never knew that it can be that jammed packed in Indonesia during holidays or they call it "libur"..

Next time I will write about "the other side story of Jakarta". If you don't know what I meant, I went again to Jakarta on a business trip. Those people in Jakarta was really taken care of us as I went there with the Vice President of TNB. Well it did make some different.. ! wait.. opsss.. A LOT of difference..trust me!! (well thanks to my dear PLN friend.. Bu Dhini.. mmuah mmuah)

Ta-ta

Kawah Ratu

To read more about these Kawah Ratu, Kawah Domas etc.. can visit http://alampriangan.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/gunung-tangkuban-perahu/

Tangkuban Perahu





Enjoying our Teh Botol

Pretty cool trees

Nearby tea plantation area