Senin, 08 Oktober 2012

Malaysia Trip

Liburan di low season memang asyik, harga tiket dapat murah, bandara tidak penuh sesak.... kali ini kami dapat tiket pp Airasia Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur hanya Rp 388 ribu (belum termasuk airport tax Jakarta). Malaysia trip kali ini, 3-6 Oktober 2012, kami mengunjungi Genting, Melaka dan Kuala Lumpur (Lake Garden, KLCC Tower dan Batu Caves).


GENTING

Mendarat di LCCT, kami langsung mencari loket tiket aerobus untuk membeli tiket perjalanan dari LCCT ke First World Plaza, Genting harganya RM 35. Kami memilih bis ini dan tidak memilih jalur LCCT-KL Sentral-terminal genting-skyway karena mau mengejar waktu. Sesampainya di First World Hotel kami melakukan check in kiosk setelah mengambil nomor di counter.

Beruntung jalan di weekday dan low season, kalau tidak antrian check-in nya panjang karena hotel ini punya ribuan kamar. Kami juga beruntung karena dapat harga kamar standard yang promo cuma RM 38 per malam. Ukuran kamar hotel kecil tapi cukup untuk tempat istirahat setelah berkeliling Genting. Desain kamar kecil dan kamar mandi terpisah, tidak seperti hotel lain yg biasanya digabung, jadi kalau berdua bisa gantian....cuma karena sangat kecilnya ruang mandi, di dalamnya tidak ada gantungan baju karena kalau digantung di dalam bisa basah.

Selama di Genting kami ke Snow World dan nonton 4D.

Snow World belum lama selesai di renovasi, disana tidak boleh membawa kamera tapi banyak orang yang mencoba-coba mengambil foto dengan kamera sendiri. Pihak Snow World menyediakan jasa foto, menurut saya lebih efisien jika kita minta difoto sebanyak-banyaknya dan kita membeli softcopy nya, kami beli 15 softcopy foto seharga RM 125....harganya hampir 3x harga kamar promo First World Hotel yang kami dapat, tapi ini lebih murah daripada membeli foto yang dicetak.

Setelah itu kami nonton 4D, film yang diputar malam itu adalah Haunted Mine....agak membuat jantungan tapi seru, ceritanya kita diajak ke area bekas penambangan, sebelum masuk aja kita sudah dikejutkan dengan beberapa adegan, yang paling mengagetkan dipatok ular....adegan berikutnya adalah seolah-olah kita lagi naik kereta pertambangan yang jalannya seperti roller coaster ditambah beberapa adegan mengejutkan.......kalau kita inget itu cuma film kita tidak takut tapi kalau sudah terbawa suasana, sekali-kali kaget juga sampai sempat memejamkan mata....ha...ha... Harga nonton ini relatif murah hanya RM 8 tapi cuma sebentar, paling 10 menit...yah cukuplah 10 menit untuk melatih jantung... Tiket di First World Plaza bisa dibeli per ride di counter-counter yang letaknya tidak jauh dari tempat permainan jadi kami tidak membeli paketnya.


KUALA LUMPUR

Keesokan harinya, kami ke Kuala Lumpur dengan rute skyway-terminal genting-KL Sentral-Bukit Bintang. Oh ya ada satu hal yang unik, check out di First World Hotel hanya memasukkan kartu kunci kamar di mesin check-out kiosk....sistem saling percaya banget, mereka tidak ngecek kamar dan kita juga tidak diberikan slip tanda terima sudah check-out, hanya ada tulisan thank you saja di layar mesin.

Setelah kami sampai di Bukit Bintang untuk check in Hotel Season View di Jalan Alor dekat Bukit Bintang, kami jalan ke dekat mall lot 10 bukit bintang untuk naik bus Hop on Hop off (website www.myhoponhopoff.com) harga tiket RM 38 bisa dipakai sepuasnya sepanjang hari. Kami mulai naik bis ini sudah jam 2 sore jadi hanya sempat keliling separuh rutenya.... Bis ini cukup membantu untuk keliling Kuala Lumpur, namun ketepatan waktu tidak sebaik bus Hop Hop di Singapore. Kami sempat stop di lake garden dan menurut kami masih bagusan kebun raya Bogor, lalu lanjut ke KLCC untuk foto...dengan segala trik sampai ada yang duduk setengah tiduran di trotoar, akhirnya didapatlah foto yang keren ini. Setelah itu kami naik LRT dan monorail ke Bukit Bintang untuk shopping.


MELAKA

Hari ketiga kami ke Melaka dengan transportasi umum. Kami naik monorail dari Bukit Bintang menuju stasiun Hang Tuah lalu berganti koneksi ke LRT menuju stasiun Bandar Tasik Selatan. Disini terkoneksi LRT, KTM, LRT KLIA Transit dan terminal bus Bersepadu Selatan yang melayani rute domestik wilayah selatan dan antar negara, Singapura. Terminal bus Bersepadu Selatan rapih dan bersih, suasana seperti di airport dan bahkan menurut saya suasananya terkesan lebih rapih dari LCCT tapi toko-toko lebih lengkap di LCCT.


Tiket bus dari terminal Bersepadu Selatan ke Melaka Sentral hanya RM 12.5, bus yang kami pilih bus Transnational, busnya bersih dan nyaman. Sesampainya kami di Melaka Sentral kami mencari bus Panorama Melaka, harganya super murah buat keliling Melaka RM 1.5, tapi busnya lebih kagak jelas datangnya daripada bus hop on hop off di KL, jadi akhirnya memilih jalan kaki tapi jadi tidak bisa ke tempat yang jauh....jika punya waktu banyak,jika sudah dapat naik bus itu diikuti saja semua rutenya sampai puas baru setelah itu berhenti di Dutch Square disana ada Christ Church, Clock Tower, Stadhyus (dulunya balai kota, disini ada patung Ceng Ho dan tentang sejarah Melaka), bukit St Paul (harus menaiki anak tangga lumayan banyak).....lalu kami jalan sedikit, menyebrang mengikuti jembatan ke Jongker Street.

Di jalan sebelah Jongker Street ada museum Baba Nyonya, tiket masuk RM 10 (ini harga diskon karena bagian atas museum tidak bisa dilihat, sedang renovasi). Museum ini dikelola swasta, dimiliki oleh generasi ke 4 dari pemilik rumah...sayang disini tidak boleh foto padahal banyak furniture antik dari China...saya paling suka lukisan dari sulaman tangan yang halus sekali, katanya lukisan sulaman ini dibuat selama 4 tahun dan bahkan yang ukuran lebih besar dibuat selama 6 tahun.

Kemudian kami balik lagi ke daerah Dutch Square, dari sana bisa jalan ke arah Formosa dan Sultane Palace tapi kagak jelas berapa jauhnya, oleh karena itu kami memilih berjalan kaki ke arah sungai menuju Museum Maritime.


Dalam perjalanan ke Museum Maritime kami berfoto di benteng yang meriam nya menghadap ke perumahan....aneh kan....masa mau membom rumah-rumah....ini kenyataan....letaknya seperti itu karena rumah-rumah itu adalah daerah reklamasi...saya baca di buku dan juga sudah melihat sendiri bahwa kota tua Melaka adanya di tengah kota dan pinggir kota adalah area modern yang merupakan reklamasi. Setelah sampai di Musium Maritime kami foto di depan musium tapi tidak masuk ke dalam musium yang berbentuk kapal ini. Di dekat musium ini ada counter Melaka Cruise.

Jalan-jalan di Melaka akan banyak berjalan kaki dan berpanas-panasan, kita bisa juga gunakan becak berhias untuk keliling tapi buat saya agak ribet kalau mau stop lama di suatu tempat. Kami balik ke Kuala Lumpur dengan bus Transnational, tapi kali ini bus terlambat datang, tiket bus pulang kami beli pp saat membeli tiket berangkat.

Perjalanan dari kota tua Melaka, Dutch Square ke Melaka Sentral agak ketat kalau cuma disisakan waktu 1 jam, baiknya 1.5 jam karena di jam-jam tertentu macet. Sebaiknya juga tidak mengandalkan bus panorama melaka, kami naik taxi dari Dutch Square ke Melaka Sentral.

Bagi pencinta shopping, souvenir di Melaka banyak dijual di kios-kios disamping Stadhuys dan di Jongker Street...kami paling suka dengan sumpit bertuliskan marga china dalam huruf mandarin, kami beli sumpit bertuliskan marga kami 谢, harganya RM 10 untuk 3 pasang sumpit.


BATU CAVES

Hari terakhir, kami masih punya waktu sampai jam 11 siang sebelum berangkat ke airport....agak riskan jalan jauh-jauh apalagi naik transportasi umum, tapi setelah bertanya-tanya kalau tidak macet naik taxi hanya 30 menit ke Batu Caves ditambah hari itu adalah sabtu maka kami putuskan pergi ke Batu Caves. Kami berangkat dari hotel jam 7.30 dan sampai di Batu Caves jam 8 pagi. Datang pagi lebih nyaman, pengunjung belum ramai jadi lebih mudah foto-foto dan monyet-monyet sepertinya masih tidur...jam 9 kurang mereka baru muncul di tangga-tangga, di bawah patung, dan tempat-tempat lainnya di tepi Batu Caves.


Di pintu paling depan saat memasuki area, kami disambut oleh sekerumunan burung dara. Saat genderang bunyi semua burung dara terbang-terbang di ketinggian 1-3 meter area di depan patung, kompak banget mereka....dan mereka jago, kami yang berdiri di tengah-tengah mereka tidak ditabrak dan jadilah foto yang indah berdiri di depan patung dengan dikelilingi burung dara terbang. Setelah itu kami menaiki anak tangga yang lumayan banyak sebelum sampai ke gua. Guanya tinggi dan luas, didalamnya ternyata ada toko-toko souvenir.


Di tempat ini tiap thnnya menjadi pusat festival Thaipusan (digelar oleh suku India Tamil yang tinggal di Malaysia) yang bisa diikuti 1 juta orang. Tekstur gua cukup antik tapi tidak seantik Tien Cung Cave di Halongbay.


Setelah ke batu caves, kami masih ada waktu 1.5 jam sebelum jam 11 siang, jadi kami disarankan pak supir taksi melihat daerah Macik Indah, daerah India Square, tidak jauh dari daerah bukit bintang, disana kami membeli asesoris gelang yang murah meriah tapi cantik...lalu lanjut makan di kwetiau penang dan beli kue pia loong kee di jalan alor.

Kami ke bandara LCCT, awalnya ingin naik bus dari KL Sentral tapi akhirnya memilih naik taxi RM 80. Pesawat kami sempat delay beberapa menit.

Di pesawat kami bertemu seorang mba asal Lampung yang kerja di Malaysia sudah 4 tahun dan baru kali ini balik Indonesia....dan si mba ini logatnya sudah berubah jadi logat Malaysia...saya sampai tidak percaya kalau dia asal dari Lampung....

The End.... See you in our next article.

Rabu, 12 September 2012

Things to Do, Hear and See if I Visit SEOUL again

Anneoung Haseyo (how are you) friends and readers?
Hopefully you are in happiness and blessed.
In this article, I want to share about Korea.....

Last week I had a plan to write article in this blog about my last year trip to Korea. Before I start to write, I read about a Asia on Air Program Contest for blogger in Twitter of Korea Tourism and the prize is a 5 day tour to Korea, .... So, I hurry write this article.

Last year, I visited Korea with my sister, four new friends and eight friends from BIA (my previous workplace), therefore we had a reunion trip in Korea. It is very nice, we visited Mount Sorak, Everland, Teddy Bear Museum, some interesting place in Seoul and off course Nami Island.

After I had my first trip to Korea, I said to myself that it will be very nice if I have chance visit Korea again especially in different season.
This contest brings a chance to me and other blogger to visit Korea.


"Things I want to do, see and hear if I have chance to visit SEOUL, described in five paragraft which are starting with alphabet S-E-O-U-L"


See Korean actors or actress. I saw them in television and they look handsome/pretty, have smooth white skin and cool haircut. In my last trip, I only saw Korean citizen, almost all of them have smooth white skin....I think that I should go to Seoul Plaza to see Korean actors/actress in a concert or other art performance.






Eat kim chi. My tour guide said that Kim chi is the Korean flawless skin secrets and slim body.
This is a picture when I and my friends studied to make kim chi in Kim chi Experience Center in Seoul.






Opportunity to make a real picture with Mr and Mrs President should be propose to Korea Tourism if I win this contest.

In my last visit, I had a picture with Mr and Mr President Lee Myun-bak in Cheongwadae Sarangchae Museum, but this is unreal, they took picture and put in a template.




Understand Korean History by visiting palace and museum.
In my last trip in Seoul, I visited one palace, Changdeok Palace. There are some other palace which is interesting to visit, Gyeongbok Palace, Changyeoung Palace and Deoksu Palace.
About museum, in my last trip, I visit Cheongwadae Sarangchae Museum. This museum is modern and comfortable. In this museum we took some interesting picture with "Mr and Mrs President" (as mentioned above) and photo in Replication round table conference. In next trip, I think I should visit other museum, eg National Folklore Museum.

Looking for clothes which model is similar with clothes that are wearing by Korean actress. In my last trip, I rather had difficulty to find them, I only bought 3 dresses in Dongdaemun...I need more ha..ha...
Talking about fashion in Korea, don't forget to make a picture wearing Hanbook, Korean Traditional dress. See this picture, all off us look nice in Hanbook Dress!




Gamsa Hammida.... (Thank you very much) for reading this article!

Written by, Kumala Sukasari Budiyanto

Rabu, 22 Agustus 2012

Beauty of Mathematics

This link about God's love for us that is reflected in beautiful mathematics
http://ow.ly/aqu5U

Kamis, 16 Agustus 2012

Panda in Singapore


Welcome to Singapore, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, two giant panda from China. They will arrive in Singapore on 6 September 2012 from China and will be housed at the Yangtze River zone of the upcoming River Safari.

Kai Kai and Jia Jia will fly by Singapore Airline Cargo Boeing 747 freighter. The pandas will be transported in special crates that offer ventilation and adequate space to move about in relative comfort. I think they will be served as First Class passengers!

After arrive at River Safari, Kai Kai and Jia Jia will have quarantine process. Visitors can look forward to visiting the giant panda exhibit in December 2012, the month that River Safari opens to public.

I haven't see giant panda directly. Some years ago when I went to Hong Kong, I haven't enough time to see Jia Jia (F), An An (M), Le Le (M), and Ying Ying (F) at Ocean Park. I hope in my next trip to Beijing, I can see the other giant panda.
After I heard about this news, I think I have more chance to see giant Panda, I can see panda at Hong Kong, Beijing and also Singapore the nearest country from my country.

River Safari is the 4th zoo in Singapore, after Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park.
The attraction built over 12 hectares of land, and will be nestled between its two counterparts the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. Tentative admission rates at S$28 to S$30 per person.
Website http://www.riversafari.com.sg

See you soon, Kai Kai and Jia Jia!

Minggu, 05 Agustus 2012

Exotic Bali

Do you know Bali?
I think all of you will answer "yes".

Then, do you ever go to Bali?
I think almost of you answer "Yes, off course" and some of you who do not yet visit Bali will answer "Someday I will visit Bali".

I, Myself, already visited Bali three times and I still interest to visit Bali again someday.

In this article, I want to share my third trip to Bali in March 2012. In this trip, I choose places that I haven't visited yet, except sunset Kuta Bali that always schedule in my itinerary.

I went from Jakarta to Bali by Airasia. I got very very cheap promo ticket, Rp 500 thousand for three tickets round trip. Thank you Airasia!


SUNSET at KUTA BEACH

First day in Bali, I enjoyed sunset in Kuta Bali.
The Kuta beach in the back of Bali Dynasty (hotel that I stayed along this trip) is not crowded and the beach is quite clean so that I enjoyed sunset there.
Waiting the sunset, I walked along the road beside the beach from the back of Bali Dynasty Hotel to Mall Discovery.
When the sunset comes, immediately, I took some pictures. In the second day, I also took some sunset picture but the sunset colors of these two days sunset were different.
The first day sunset colors were combination of yellow to brown color and the second day sunset colors were combination of purple to dark blue color. Why do they different? Because the second day afternoon was raining then the sunset color become combination of purple to dark blue color.
Beside Kuta Beach, we also can enjoy sunset at Jimbaran, Tanah Lot, GWK, Dreamland. In my second trip to Bali, I also enjoyed sunset at Tanah Lot.


SUBMARINE


Second day trip, I tried submarine.
In Bali, there is a submarine that is used for tourism.
It solved my problem because I want to look the view of sea bed but if I take diving or snorkeling, I have trouble with my contact lenses and I also need to add my brave.
Bali submarine is located at Amuk Bay, we need around two hours to go there by car from Denpasar. I bought the submarine ticket online at http://www.adventurebali.net/odyssey-bali.php

When I went into the submarine after a five minute boat ride, I was surprised because in the bottom of the sea was so bright! The sun also shines unto the bottom of the sea!
Before, I thought that in the bottom of the sea as darker.
The submarine went down to 35 meters under the sea. We can saw coral reefs, but we had not yet saw fishes. Where were they? Some minutes later, many fishes came to the window.... Very brave fish that was not afraid with big submarine, I think,... but my thinking was wrong, they followed a diver who arranged them to go near the submarine by giving them food. Yeah, yeah...., naturally fishes will avoid the big submarine therefore they used this way so that all of us inside submarine can see fishes.
The journey was not long, only around thirty minutes, but this trip gave me one wonderful experience and cut off my opinion that under the sea is dark although at noon.


BALI SAFARI and BALI AGUNG THEATRE

Third day - Bali Safari, I saw some shows that present by animals. There are funny and clever.
My sister had a dream to take picture with white tiger. But, her dream cannot come true. The white tiger is big now, therefore visitor cannot take picture with him anymore. We only take white tiger picture behind the glass. The white tiger is so funny because he is pacing back and forth while there are visitors behind the glass. I think that the white tiger still happy if people take his picture, same when the white tiger still a baby tiger.
To fulfill my sister hope to take picture with animal in Bali Safari, she took picture with a baby orang utan.
I have one comment to this baby orang utan "this baby orang utan make a big contribute to the safari income". We need to pay Rp 50 thousand to take picture with this orang utan and many visitors took picture with this orang utan. Then, I think "Do I already give a big contribute to my company where I work? Do I already give value for my family, my nation, my God?"... Ho..ho..ho..I hope I do and need to be maintained. I do not want to lose.

After I saw animals in Bali Safari, I saw Bali Agung Show. It is located inside Bali Safari. The show held on Tuesday to Sunday, 2.30-3.30 pm.
For me, the stage and the light setting is cool! No less compare with Lady boy show at Pattaya. The show story is inspired by the historic and legendary 12th century accounts of King Sri Jaya Pangus and his beloved wife Kang Ching Wie.
http://www.balitheatre.com/

This is the end of my third Bali trip story. Even I already when to Bali three times, I still have to dream go there, I hope next time I can enjoy yoga in Bali.

Written by, Kumala Sukasari Budiyanto




Sabtu, 28 Juli 2012

HKSummerSpectacular in Fashion

This is my second article about Hong Kong Summer Spectacular.
As described in the previous article, Hong Kong Summer Spectacular is held from 22nd June to 31st August 2012 with some attraction and festival http://beta.discoverhongkong.com/eng

In this article, I choose a topic about Hong Kong fashion in summer; I hope this topic is interesting for us.

I see that Hong Kong fashion products are famous for us. We have image that the product quality is good and keep abreast of fashion.

In Hong Kong, fashion industry generates foreign exchange and I was amazed that fashion industry is the second largest contributor after electronic industry. Hong Kong fashion industry also was recorded as third main exporter in the world.

Hong Kong since 1966, held Hong Kong Fashion Week to support the growing of fashion industry.

In summer, Hong Kong Fashion Week for Spring/Summer also enlivens. This Fashion Week was held on Jul 3, 2012 - Jul 6, 2012 at the HKCEC (Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center). This event followed by 1295 exhibitor from many countries and visited by 23272 visitors.


Products displayed in this event were ladies' wear, men's wear, babies and children's wear, sportswear, lingerie, evening wear, swim wear, handbags, shoes, costume jewelry, eye wear, fabrics and buttons.


As Hong Kong is one of the world’s fashion capitals, many local and overseas fashion brands choose Hong Kong Fashion Week to launch their new products and consolidate their brand image in Asia.

I have one comment about Hong Kong fashion market. Many international labels can be found in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong product more many and widely export to other country and also easy to find in its country. It's nice!

Hong Kong also supports creativity of their local designer. In this event, there was “Hong Kong Fashion Designers Contest” which showcases Hong Kong’s young generation of designers.

Then, let's see fashion model which is popular in this event (fashion trend).

As I saw the fashion show video of Hong Kong Fashion Week and also other fashion shows of world top designers, the color which dominant are white and black. And there is one new color in some show, mint green.
The costume siluette looks simple. The main theme is somewhat tailored, and classic, but with a touch of bold, and edgy.










Let's we back talking about Hong Kong fashion. Many Hong Kong brand already famous for us, here is some of the brand Baleno (Hong Kong), Bossini, Esprit, G2000, G cont, Giordano (store), IT, Ipa-Nima, Izzue, Joyce Boutique, Henry Lau, Shanghai Tang, U-Right, U2 Clothing. Beside these brands, there many local whole seller brand export to other country.

Many Hong Kong fashion labels can be bought in our country without we must go to Hong Kong. But it will be more interesting if we can visit at Hong Kong and buy some dress or other fashion product.
Then, the question is "where we can hunt fashion in Hong Kong?"

If we visit Hong Kong while Fashion Week is held, we can go to HKCEC to see it (I hope one day I can see directly, not via video.....). We can go to HKCEC by MTR and bus. Currently, the closest MTR is Wan Chai Station (exit C) on the Island Line. The proposed North Island Line, an extension of the MTR's Tung Chung Line, will have a station at HKCEC. We also can use bus number 960, 961, 40, 40M, 8 & 2A.

Along the season, we can look and buy fashion product in shopping mall. International brand and local brand are sold there. List of shopping malls in Hong Kong are listed in this link http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/jsp/shopping-malls/shopping-malls-index.jsp

We also can find trendy fashion in:
Causeway Bay (Paterson Street, Great George Street, Kingston Street, Sharp Street, Percival Street) - Many shops on these streets, particularly Causeway Place, Fashion Walk, Island Beverly and Laforet.
Tsim Sha Tsui (Granville Road) - Find designer brand samples or cast-offs at a fraction of their retail prices. Right nearby is Granville Circuit, where you'll find many shops selling their own designs or collectibles, along with accessories and vintage item.
Mong Kok, Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Shantung Street, Dundas Street)

If we like street market, we can go to Ladies Market. Ladies' Market is a must-visit destination for fashion lovers with an eye for bargain-priced clothing, bags, accessories, toys, cosmetics and household knickknacks. It is located in Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok. It is open from noon until 10:30pm. To go there, we can take MTR and stop at either Prince Edward or take exit B2 or Mong Kok and take any of exits B2, D2 or D3.

In this summer, there is Visa Shopping Indulgence Lucky Draw, period 22 June - 31 August (Applicable to all Visa cardholders). Every time you spend HK$300 with your Visa card in Hong Kong during Summer Spectacular you are qualified to enter the lucky draw to win a grand prize of HK$200,000 worth of Visa spending credits. Ten shoppers will also take away HK$10,000 Visa spending credits each. And there will be Olympic souvenirs for 40 runners-up. Visitors and locals can register to enter at www.visa.com.hk.

This is the end of this article and I close with my opinion about following fashion trend.

"Follow fashion trend is not necessarily expensive. Smart buying and good at combining clothes will keep us in the follow-saving mode. Let's style with Fashion!"


Written by, Kumala Sukasari Budiyanto
This article is written to join HKSummerSpectacular Blogger Writing Contest.

Selasa, 24 Juli 2012

My Father's China Trip

This July, my father joined Dwidaya Tour to China. He is very happy that he can see China country. Before this trip he thought he hasn't opportunity to go to China.

Along 8 days and 6 nights tour with new friends in a group tour, he sent me some BBM (blackberry messenger), pictures via bbm and emails what he did (amazing, my father, 73 old man, can use BBM and email more and more fluent day by day, he...he.... After join this tour, he has one more ability in using bbm...he can types in chinesse words...he studied it from his tour guide) and after went home he told me some story and note which I share below.

I myself note yet go to cities that my father visited (I ever visited only some cities in South China) and hopefully I can to go there too.


BEIJING

He visited Tian'an Men Square, Temple of Heaven. Beijing Olympic Stadium "Bird Nest"and of course The Great Wall!

He told me that Tian'an Men Square is very very broad, we need 2 hours to surround.

One thing that was surprizing me. My father informed me proudly that he can went up to Great Wall. He asked me to do more exercise if I want to go there because hard to go up, the step stair size not similar and steep.

In Beijing, my father bought a very very nice souvenir for me and my sister, a marble stamp of my and my sister' Chinese name.

One thing was surprising me was my father first message when he arrived at Beijing. He told me Beijing same with Jakarta, the different only many flats in Beijing. I said in my hearth "Is that true?" The modern city maybe was liked that but if he saw the old city, it will be different".....and it's true he amazed after saw Tian'nan Men and Great Wall.

I also had a comment when saw close picture of Great Wall and told to my friend, "How they fight depended the wall which the high is only one meter something". My friend said, "For current condition your comment maybe true but this Great Wall was built long long ago (7 century BC) that the weapon still so simple." ..... "Yes, yes, yes," I said and continued to admire the Great Wall picture that my father sent to me via BBM..


SHANGHAI
He went to The Bund area, then saw Shanghai city from The Oriental Pearl TV Tower. In this place, my father tried to sleep on the glass floor..... Ho..ho...he was so believed that the glass floor is strong. In the bottom of the glass flour there is no other material, only the land beneath the high distance.
Shopping at Cheng Huang Miao Market, a traditional market. Around here, my father took a picture in a photo studio...., look! his picture with black long jacket and hate, he looks like a "shanghai gangster".


SUZHOU
He visited Tiger Hill, oblique octagonal pagoda and silk factory.


HANGZHOU
Here is the city of white snake legend.
The story tells about a young scholar, Shi Hanwen who falls in love with a beautiful woman, unaware that she is a thousand-year-old white snake, Pai Suchen that has taken on human form. A monk, Fahai, intervenes in order to maintain a law that forbids humans and spirits from falling in love with each other, and casts the white snake into a deep well at Leifeng Pagoda.

My father visited this pagoda and also the beautiful lake, named Xi Lake (Danau Barat). This lake is surrounded by hill at three side and has square 5,6 km. In winter, the water of lake become frozen and people can walk on it.


XIAMEN
Visited small island, Gulungyu, named "Flower Garden on The Sea". In this location, there is museum of piano.

My father enjoyed this trip and I think he is waiting for his next trip.



Written by, Kumala Sukasari Budiyanto

HKSummerSpectacullar - City Sightseeing by "3 Cups of Coffee"

“3 cups of coffee”

Is the meaning, we drink 3 cups of coffee while enjoying Hong Kong city sightseeing or what?

The answer is “maybe yes maybe no”.

Let’s read my story below to find the answer…….. , and I hope all of you enjoy it!

Summer in Hong Kong has been celebrated annually. This year, Hong Kong Summer Spectacular is held from 22nd June to 31st August 2012 with some attraction and festival http://beta.discoverhongkong.com/eng . We can enjoy Hong Kong trip by joining the event or just city sightseeing. In this summer Hong Kong Tourism also helds a photo contest.
http://summershowreel.discoverhongkong.com/id.

First thing we do to visit Jackie Chan’s country of birth is looking for flight. We can choose direct or indirect flight from Jakarta. Direct flight e.g. Garuda and indirect flight e.g. Air Asia JKT-KL-HK, Tiger Airways JKT-Sin-HK or Jetstar Sin-HK and JKT-Sin by other flight.
The flight will landing in Hong Kong International Airport. It is colloquially known as Chek Lap Hok Airport, being built on the land of Chek Lap Hok by land reclamation.

Then, how we can go to the city by the cheap transport? If we have family or friend who can pick up at the airport, it will be the best one because hopefully it will be no charge (ha…ha…, hope, hope, hope). But if we go by ourselves, the cheapest one is taking Airport Express Train.
The station platform is within the terminal building about 50 meters from the arrival hall and clearly signed. There are the trains every 10 minutes and we only need 25 minutes to Hong Kong Central. The Airport Express train is link to some MTR (=Mass Transit Railway, in Singapore we call MRT) Orange Line at Tsing Yi Station, Kowloon and Hong Kong Central. We only need 25 minutes from airport to MTR Central Station. The Airport Express Train passengers can use shuttle bus from MTR station Kowloon and Hong Kong Central to and from some major hotel (details please see http://www.hongkongextras.com/to_fromairport.html).

The Airport Express Train Adult Ticket Fare from Airport to Hong Kong Central is HK$ 100 for one trip and HK$ 180 for round trip. We can buy Octopus Card to use Airport Express Train and most of public transportation, MTR, Tram, Peak Tram, Bus and Ferry.

Octopus Card is an electronic store-value ticket, like EZ link card which use in MRT SIngapore. The fare will deducted from the stored value each time, so we do not have to carry heavy coins. The card is valid for three years. We can buy Octopus Card at Airport Express Customer Service Centers in area A and B of arrival hall Terminal 1 & arrival hall Terminal 2 and MTR Customer Service Centers. The price of Octopus Card is HK$ 150, included HK$ 50 deposit which can be refund. The card value can be top up at MTR Service Centers.

After talking about airport transportation, let’s talk about the city sightseeing trip.

Oo…., oow…. But, I think, there is a missing topic.

Yes, about the hotel!

We can book hotel via local travel agent or online booking via agoda.com and other online web before we depart. The important consideration when we choose the hotel is hotel connection to MTR station or other public transportation terminal. We can check hotel location in Google map.

Now, let’s we explore Hong Kong City Sightseeing! Assuming, we start the journey in the morning.


THE PEAK

The first place we visit this city sightseeing is The Peak (Victoria Peak), a mountain which located in western half Hong Kong Island. The peak is also known as Mount Austin.
We can go to The Peak by bus no 15, minibus no 1 from public transport terminal, and if we want to try exciting transport, we can take The Peak Tram.

The Peak Tram Lower Station is located at Central's Garden Road St Joseph Building (Pictured in the middle), and we can go there by MTR. From Exit J2 Central's MTR Station, walk along Garden Road which is in between The Bank of China building and The Cheung Kong Centre. The walk to the tram station only takes about 15 to 20 minutes.

The Peak Tram is the steepest cable car in the world and the first mechanic transportation in Hong Kong. The peak tram has been operated since 1989, connected Hong Kong Center to Victoria Peak with 1.4 km distance. Climb 45 degree (WOW…! The degree is creating my beating heart!), The Peak Tram up the hill and along the journey we can see the sea north of Hong Kong, Victoria harbor and Kowloon.
Seats tram design is unusual because all seat face to the front, then when we go back from the peak, the train road back and the passenger sit at the same way, to avoid that passengers are not tumbling when the tram go down at steepest way.

The Peak Tram tickets fare are HK$ 22 for one-way and HK$ 33 return. Peak Tram Operating Hours: 07:00 to 00:00 with frequency every 10 to 15 minutes. Octopus card is accepted to pay.
At the peak we can enjoy Hong Kong spectacular view at Sky Terrace (entry fee HK$ 30). If we can go at night, the view is more beautiful with spectacular lighting.
At the Peak Tower there is some shops and we also can try to enjoy cha chaan teng food, in our record there is one branch of famous cha chaan teng in Hong Kong, Tsui Wah at ground floor.


CHA CHAAN TENG

Cha Chaan Teng is the most iconic dining in Hong Kong. The menu is combination of western dining and oriental dining, serving a wide range of food, from steak to wonton noodle, to curry to sandwiches. Our normal spending at Cha Chaan Teng around HK$ 40-100, and of course, it can be more than that if we take more portion.



TOUR BY TRAM

After enjoying the Peak, we can continue our city sightseeing by tram. These double-decker streetcars have been travelling through Hong Kong's busiest thoroughfares since 1904 and Hong Kong Tram is the only one tram in the world which has two floors. The best view if we want to enjoy city tour by tram, take the front sit at the up floor.

Hong Kong Tram operates 6 main routes running between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan every day from 6:00 to 24:00 and departs in every 1.5 minutes. The tram routes are Shau Kei Wan to Western Market, Shau Kei Wan to Happy Valley, North Point to Shek Tong Tsui, Causeway Bay to Shek Tong Tsui, Happy Valley to Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan to Kennedy Town.

Tram is the most economical mode of transportation in Hong Kong. Regardless of distance, only HK$2.30 will be charged for each adult passenger. Children aged below 12 and senior citizens aged 65 or above can enjoy a lower fare at HK$1.20 and HK$1.10 respectively. Octopus Card can use to pay the tram fare.

To start our city sightseeing by tram, from lower station of Peak Tram, we can walk to MTR Central station and take MTR to Shau Kei Wan station, exit at B1 and walk along Shau Kei Wan Main Street East to the Tram Terminal. The first journey, we can take route Shau Kei Wan to Kennedy Town (80 minutes). At Kennedy Town, MTR still in progress and plan to operate at 2014. Therefore to continue our journey, we can take second journey by Tram, from Kennedy Town to Causeway Bay (55 minutes), then, follow the journey by walking to Time Square.


TIME SQUARE

Time Square is one of five big malls in Hong Kong, Pacific Place at Admiralty, The Landmark at Central, Harbour City at Tsim Sha Sui and Festival Walk at Kowloon.
Time Square offers 230 shops, cinema, restaurant and also food court. We can have dinner here before continue our city sightseeing trip.

In the ground floor podium, there is gate to MTR Causeway Bay (gate A1) therefore easier for us to go there.

Our next trip is Avenue of Stars and A Symphony of Lights. We go there by MTR from Causeway Bay station to MTR Central station. Actually, the easiest way is stop at MTR Tsim Sha Shui, but because we want to try Star Ferry, we stop at MTR Central.


STAR FERRY
To go to Central Star Ferry pier, we take exit A at MTR Central, then walks to the pier along Man Yiu Street.

Star Ferry is a double deck ferry and become one of famous transportation in Hong Kong. Star Ferry has operated since 1888. Along our journey, we can enjoy view along Victoria Harbour.
Sometimes, the Star Ferry crew uniforms ancient mariner which interesting to take their picture.
After arrive at Tsim Sha Sui pier, nearby, we can see Clock Tower.

CLOCK TOWER
is the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon Station and the Kowloon Canton Railway.


AVENUE OF STARS

Avenue of Stars is along Victoria harbour waterfront and this is free of charge entry. We can see a 4.5 m tall replica of the statuette given to winners at the Hong Kong Film Awards, a 2.5 m bronze statue of famous Hong Kong famous film star-Bruce Lee, the story of Hong Kong's one hundred years of cinematic history is told through inscriptions printed on nine red pillars. Some plaques contain hand prints and autographs of the stars set in cement and autographs; Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeo, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat and Meggie Cheung.

There are three souvenir kiosks along Avenue of Stars. For Jackie Chan’s fans, one of three kiosks sells Jackie Chan merchandize and memorabilia.

Near this place, we can enjoy for free, A Symphony of Lights. To get best view, go to the waterfront between Avenue of Stars and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.


A SYMPHONY OF LIGHTS
We can enjoy the spectacular light start at 8 p.m. and we can enjoy it for free (Ho.. ho…, I like it! Free of charge again). The show creates an all round vision of colored lights, laser beams and searchlights performing a stunning, music and narration that celebrates the energy, spirit and diversity of Hong Kong. There are five main themes: Awakening, Energy, Heritage, Partnership and Celebration.



TEMPLE STREET

The last journey for this day city sightseeing is a heritage market which sales cheap product and the palace will remind us the Hong Kong heritage.

We can go here by MTR, start from our last MTR station, Tsim Sha Sui to MTR Jordan.
Temple Street is the largest night market in Hong Kong. The market’s name was take from the Tin Hau Temple which it bisects from north to south.

This market also called “Man Market” as its first time target, male customers and offer huge range of tacky and often counterfeit goods. Hong Kong also has “Ladies Market” in Mong Kok, Kowloon. It’s looked fair that each men and women “have” market. But at this time, actually, both of the market sell not goods for man or woman only, therefore, now it is only name.

At this city sightseeing, although I am a woman, I choose this “Man Market” because I interest to see local performers such as opera singer that perform occasionally in the section of the market from Public Square Street to Jordan Station. Hopefully, can see their attraction and take a photograph with the street opera performers.

Opera is Hong Kong cultural legacy and to taking care this legacy, Hong Kong government presents Chinese Opera Festival in summer, this year the festival on 15 June to 5 August 2012.


This is the end of the city sightseeing and let’s we calculate our cost:
- Peak Tram = HK$ 33
- Sky Terrace = HK$ 30
- MTR Central to MTR Shau Kei Wan = HK$ 7.3
- Tram Shau Kei Want to Kennedy Town = HK$ 2
- Tram Kennedy Town to Causeway Bay = HK$ 2
- MTR Causeway Bay to MTR Central = HK$ 2.6
- Star Ferry from Central to Tsim Sha Sui = HK$ 2.5 (weekday)–HK$ 3.4 (weekend&holiday)
- MTR Tsim Sha Sui to MTR Jordan = HK$ 4
- Cost from and to Hotel by public transport, assume HK$ 20
(I don’t calculate breakfast, lunch and dinner cost because I assume we spend cost equal to our daily food spending).
TOTAL COST is HK$ 104.3 or equal Rp 125,000. This total cost is equal of the price of 3 cups of coffee in famous coffee shop.

So, now, all of us know the meaning of this article’s title. We only spend money equal to 3 cups of coffee price to have city sightseeing journey. But, the answer in the beginning of this article could be correct too (oh yes?) Yes, if since the city sightseeing, we have 3 cups of coffee, 1st when breakfast, 2nd when lunch and 3rd when dinner.

If we have more money, we can add some things in this journey e.g. see wax statue at Madame Tussauds at Peak Tower with entry fee HK$ 160 (there is some promotion during summer and new design of Michael Jackson and Joey Yung wax statue) and shopping; In this summer, Visa helds Visa Shopping Indulgence Lucky Draw for all Visa cardholders.

If also have more holiday time, we can stay more days in Hong Kong, maybe three to four days more, we can explore Lantau Island’s interesting place: Disneyland which open new attraction area “Toy Story Land”, Ocean Park and Big Buddha which can be visit by using Ngong Ping cable car, the long cable car with 5.7 km distance. Then, visit another mall and street market

Hope all of you enjoy reading this article and same with me want to visit Hong Kong again!

Note: all pictures were taken from http://www.discoverhongkong.com/


Written by Kumala Sukasari Budiyanto



This article is written to join “HKSummerSpectacular” Blogger Writing Contest

Kamis, 21 Juni 2012

Vietnam Trip



Pada bulan Mei 2012 lalu, kami mengunjungi Hanoi, Vietnam dengan tujuan utama melihat Halongbai, salah satu dari 7 wonders of the world. Perjalanan kami dari Jkt-Sin-Hanoi-Sin Jkt dengan menggunakan pesawat airasia dan Vietnam Air. Selama perjalanan kami mencatat beberapa hal dari hasil pengamatan dan info dari guide sebagai berikut:
Pajak beli mobil di viet 200%, oleh karena itu motor jadi populer dan banyak banget di jalanan.

Jumlah penduduk Vietnam saat ini 90 juta jiwa, termasuk padat, paling banyak tinggal di Hanoi terutama old quarter. Wilayah Vietnam terbagi menjadi north, middle, south.

Paling besar north, dan di wilayah ini ada Hanoi, Halongbai, Sapa, dst.
Sapa is spring city, temperaturnya selalu 18c karena di dataran tinggi.
Halongbai sebagai new wonder of the world, ditempuh 3.5 jam naik mobil dari kota hanoi, indah sekali pemandangannya. Dari pelabuhan kami naik kapal dan makan siang di kapal sambil menikmati pemandangan yang indah. Lalu kapal merapat di kampung nelayan untuk naik perahu kecil atau bisa juga kayaking, melewati gua kecil, agak ngeri awalnya, tapi ternyata di dalamnya indah dan unik, batu gua yang berbentuk penis. Setelah itu kami mengunjungi Tien Cung Cave, gua dengan tekstur yang indah dan tambah indah karena sudah dipasang lampu warna warni.

South Vietnam terkenal dengan rice, fresh food, mekong delta. Cuaca di south hanya 2 musim hot dan very hot, tidak seperti di north ada 4 musim.

Rumah di Vietnam, lebarnya sempit tapi panjang dan banyak lantai karena bisa 3-4 generasi tinggal serumah. Banyak rumah dibangun keatas karena tanah di depannya untuk jalan dan uang kompensasinya mereka gunakan untuk bangun rumah bertingkat. Tanah dikuasai pemerintah untuk pertanian.

Hotel kebanyakan kecil dan sederhana, terutama di old quarter.
Hotel bagus di Hanoi menurut info warga yang saya temui di airport adalah Hotel Fortuna.

Embassy hampir semua dekat Hochimin Mausoleum.

Di Vietnam ada 5 kelompok etnik dan ada 40-an dialek, jadi anak-anak yang di daerah kalau sekolah harus menyesuaikan dialek.

Rabu, 14 Maret 2012

Bangkok Trip






















Jalan-jalan ke Bangkok kali ini pada tanggal 9-11 Mar 2012 karena menang kontest Just Go Bangkok yang diadakan Airasia dan Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Pemenangnya Fikri, Indira dan saya, Kumala.
Just go bangkok selain diikuti oleh 3 pemenang dan pasangannya, juga diikuti oleh 4 orang dari TAT, 2 orang dari airasia, 3 wartawan dari Cosmo, Femina dan Cleo.

ITENERARY Just Go Bangkok

Hari ke 1
Tiba di bandara, langsung makan di food court lalu menuju President Palace Hotel

Hari ke 2
Ke Chatucak naik BTS dekat sukhumvit dan berhenti di Mochit. Lanjut ke Terminal 21 MRT, makan siang disini. Kemudian menuju ke Platinum naik bis. Terakhir makan malam di Siam Paragon.

Hari ke 3
Menunjungi Ananta Samakhon, Wat Arun, makan siang di Baan Khun Mae dan dilanjutkan shopping di IKEA.

BEBERAPA CERITA YANG SAYA DAPATKAN SELAMA PERJALANAN

Di patung 4 face budha banyak orang minta macam-macam, tgl 9 nov perayaannya dan hotel selalu penuh.

Line dari mrt maupun BTS menghubungi antar pusat-pusat perbelanjaan . Transportasi wisata Thai arahnya dikembangkan dengan train.

Harga barang di Thai murah-murah katanya karena tidak ada korupsi

Oleh-oleh makanan bisa dibeli di gourmet Siam Paragon, kalau di duty free banyak tp harga bisa 2x lipat

Wat Raimit, patung budha dari emas 5 ton, dulu zaman abad 12 wkt perang dengan burma ditutup semen dan baru sadar di abad modern saat seorang biksu mimpi ada patung yg bersinar

Siam city hotel, hotel bintang 5 yang paling murah di daerah siam city, paling cocok untuk backpacker. Jadi hotel murah di daerah kota. Tarif usd 70 per kamar

Orang Thai namanya panjang-panjang tapi semua punya nickname, yang paling keren nickname nya “god”

Raja tidak tinggal di Grand Palace tapi di istana yang baru disana ada tanaman sehingga mereka menanam sendiri termasuk irigasi dan ternak, dan ada tim researh disana karena raja suka pertanian

Citralada, adalah kios lukisan di bandara yg dikelola putri raja

Ananta Samakon dibangun 200 tahun yang lalu di zaman raja 5....arsitekturnya mantap seperti di eropa, misi raja membangun ini untuk menunjukkan dunia, Thai berdaualat dan bisa disejajarkan dg negara2 maju pd saat itu.

Krungtep = kota malaikat, itu panggilan kota bangkok oleh rakyat thai Nama bangkok artinya desa yang ada pohon kok, orang bule yang ke thai yang menyebutnya

Di bangkok banyak istana karena setiap raja dan setiap pangeran boleh buat palace

Siam paragon milik putri raja ke 3

Siam kempinsky semua kamar hadap kolam renang, tdk ada jendela yg hadap keluar karena sebelahnya palace milik putri, dan di bar hotel tersebut peredamnya tebal sekali supaya tdk mengganggu palace

Tempat wisata menarik di luar Bangkok antara lain:
· Rancaburi, resort bergaya unik, ada gaya flinston dll
· Kancanaburi, tempatnya jembatan yang dibangun oleh tahanan berbangsa Amerika dan Inggris saat perang, banyak yang tewas saat itu.

Turis Indonesia (tdk termasuk transit dan bisnis) yang mengunjungi Thai tahun 2011 lalu mencapai 315.000 orang

ARTI KATA


Catoy = lady boy, mereka operasi dari cowo menjadi cewe butuh waktu cukup lama, 5 tahun
Rakatoray = how much

NOTE FROM ME
Selama trip ini saya beli baju dan tas paling cocok di platinum, kalau di chatucak bagusnya pernak pernik termasuk asesoris.
Terminal 21 mall desain mall nya menarik, serasa di terminal bandara, barang-barang yang dijual high quality produk.
Restaurant Baan Khun Mae (artinya dapur mama), rasanya autentik thai banget, letaknya dekat Universitas Siam
Bandara bangkok sudah bagus, mirip incheon airport, tapi.... letak gate-nya jauh, belum lagi jika antrian check in bagasi panjang, jadi harus siapkan waktu lebih banyak sebelum boarding.