Bali quick trip - October 2013

Whenever there's a good deal from airline, it always seduces me. This time it's with Bali ticket, but not from Jakarta, instead it's from Bandung. Since we got the ticket in a really good deal (well not as good as the one we bought for our honeymoon, but it's still quite a good deal) we bought it though we still have to think on how to get to and from Bandung.

We decided to use Daytrans shuttle travel service for Jakarta-Bandung with their second earliest schedule to avoid traffic make sure we won't be late for our plane. We arrived in Bandung with a lot of time in our hand and not knowing what to do :P (shopping is a big no no said hubby hehehe...). Hubby has said about a small pizza place in Bandung which tasted quite good and quite cozy some time ago. So when we pass the place we decided to spend some time here and maybe some other place again later.

Warung Laos - Processing our Pizza - our Pizza

It's called warung Laos, they made their pizza from scratch and using wooden oven. Turns out when we reached there it's not ready to receive orders yet, but they are really kind to let us in and take a seat with our backpacks. We chose the balcony seat up stairs so we can have a view, which was a good decision. The food was good, we enjoyed our pizza & potato skin and I love my iced chocolate, plus it's really a good place to hang out with good waiters who will not rush you. We ended hanging out in this place and go straight to the airport by taxi which was really easy to get.

I've never traveled to or from Bandung airport, I just came to know after this trip that it's really small :) We read that taxis from the airport is really not recommended (they would play with their fare), so when we went back home from Bali to the shuttle travel to go back to Jakarta we walked a little bit further from the airport to get a taxi though it was drizzling, thankfully we got a good and fair fare taxi.

Laota's delicious Bubur Pelangi

For our first night in Bali we just needed a place to sleep with basic necessities such as hot water and good bed since we arrived at around 6 PM local time, so we chose Tune Hotel in Legian. We had our dinner at Laota with it's delicious bubur pelangi (rainbow porridge), yummy.... Tune as usual delivers their promise for good bed and hot water shower and this time we are quite lucky for getting a place to park easily in the hotel's parking area. There is no big change from the last time of my visit there except that the little restaurant inside the hotel has changed. Hubby prefers Tune Legian than Tune Kuta for it's better parking space.

Nasi Campur Pak Dobiel

Next day we started our day early with breakfast of the delicious Nasi Campur Pak Dobiel in Nusa Dua area. It was delicious but very very spicy for me even the soup was spicy, cost us around Rp 80.000,- for 2 person with 2 cold teh botol :) The portion was just right, it's not making us too full but we realize that in a little time it enables us to find a room for another portion of another nasi campur.

Nasi Campur Sanur

Knowing that the day after tomorrow will be Galungan (the day we come back to Kuta area), I seduced hubby to go to Sanur trying the Warung Babi guling Sanur.

It tasted delicious, not as spicy as Pak Dobiel's but it became more delicious after paying, it cost us around Rp 50.000,- for 2 person with 1 medium sized aqua mineral bottle :) It's a bit tricky to find this place especially when it's not open yet (at the time we were in the area it was still not open yet), it's just across McDonald's (big road) in Sanur before the traffic light.

Hubby said he wanted to come back to this place when we came back at our last day, but too bad it is still closed.

New Toll Road

To go there from Nusa Dua area we went on the newest toll road in Bali, which was the 1st toll road in Indonesia above the sea, we enjoyed the view.

Taman Ujung Complex

Breathtaking view from Balai Kapal

Balai Kapal at Taman Ujung

Palace of Taman Ujung

Now we start our adventure to east of Bali going to Amed where we will spend our night at Aquaterrace. We made a few stops which we planned at Taman Ujung and Tirta Gangga, both in Karangasem area. Taman Ujung and Tirta Gangga are both water castle, Taman Ujung has a much larger area with Balai Kapal as my favorite spot to take pictures, Tirta Gangga is much smaller to compare with Taman Ujung but both are really beautiful. If you are going through this area it's really worth a visit.

The Beautiful Tirta Gangga

After a 4 hour ride (with all the stops we made and confusion of thinking we already passed Amed by being in Tulamben after reading a road sign, thankfully we haven't past it yet) we finally reached Amed. It took around 30 minutes from desa Abang for us to reach Aquaterrace Bed & Breakfast since we didn't know the area at all.

Aquaterrace restaurant area : Welcome drink - breakfast - sitting

Fish with sambal matah - Okonomiyaki

I love the B&B, it only has 4 or 5 rooms, the view from our room (which we booked ahead for the specific room) was great. The hotel has a small pool but just perfect to hang around though not for real swimming. The staff's service was great and they were genuinely friendly. The food was delicious, the fish I ordered for dinner was really fresh and they really follow my request not to make it too spicy and the okonomiyaki we ordered for teatime snack was delicious as well.

Our room's Balcony

View from our room - Pool

Since the time we arrived (after our welcome drink) we mostly spend our time enjoying ourselves in our room especially at the balcony, taking pictures with it's beautiful sea view, feeling the sea breeze while lounging on the comfortable sofa and reading a good book of Inferno by Dan Brown.... the perfect holiday for me.

We loved hanging around the balcony so much that we even had our late dinner there, we were lucky that at the time of our stay it was a full moon, so we have a romantic view at night while having our dinner :) too bad our camera can't do justice capturing the full moon view.

The only down side I can find is that there are ants on the day bed in our room so that we really have to make sure we don't leave our open luggage on it.

3 tips I can give for going to Amed : make sure you have enough cash with you, since the only ATM machine there was broken when we were there, have your own transport vehicle (car or motorcycle) since I didn't see any taxi there and there is almost no sand on the beach so don't expect it please but the view compensated it for us.

Goa Gajah : outside the cave - tracking area

Inside the cave of Goa Gajah

We started the day a bit late after staying late last night, our plan for today is Ubud. We made a stop at Goa Gajah, I have been curious about this place for a long time. After being there, I can't say that the view was a big wow especially for a place which admission fee for local and international tourist is the same but still ok. The place gave me a feeling that I have to respect it and be careful of what I said while my visit there. After visiting the cave there is a quite a large tracking area which you can look around (but we didn't walk the track). One thing though, make sure you are not claustrophobic if you want to get inside the cave, it was really hot and humid inside but not dark as they put lights inside.

Naughty Nuri's

Nuri's BBQ pork rib & pork chop

By the time we reached Ubud we were famished, I picked Naughty Nuri's as our place for late lunch as we have heard a lot about it but never tried it before. We ordered BBQ pork rib and pork chop, the rib was great but the pork chop was a bit tough though still addable.

The hotel we stayed was not too good, the first impression while checking in the lobby I saw 2 rats running and finally climbing the stereo set on the wall to hide. For dinner we were still full, but I was really in the mood for trying Bebek Bengil's black russian pie, I liked it but hubby didn't, he said it was too bitter and we ordered the crispy duck to take away for our dinner in our room. And when we went back to the hotel that night, I can't believe my eyes, on the way to our room, on the ceiling and walls there are lots of cicaks and the worst for me is on the ceiling of our balcony is full with cicaks and it even has 2 big geckos, yuck!!! Thankfully our room is clear from it. In the morning I didn't dare to eat their complimentary breakfast after seeing the rats on our checking in time.

Galungan festivity in Bali

Nuri's Mexican : Nacho's & Burger

After last night we wanted to start our day early to get out from the hotel as fast as we can, miraculously all the cicaks and geckos has all disappeared in the morning. Since today is Galungan, it's a bit hard to find a place to eat but luckily Nuri's warung (the mexican one) is open, so we had our brunch there. We ordered burger and nachos, both are delicious. Before we got to Nuri's we went around Ubud until Payangan area to look for food while looking at the festivity in the local area, they decorate their village beautifully.

Amadea Resort & Villas

Our room @ Amadea

Famished with our brunch now we are ready for our trip back to Legian and went straight to the hotel we booked at Amadea Resort & Villas. The hotel is nice though it is not beach front, lovely room, the staff's service is good, breakfast is ok and the pool looks really tempting to swim in and hang around. The only thing I have to say for the negativity of this place is the mosquitoes, there are a lot in the lobby area at night, some even came inside our room which made us avoid our room terrace at night, but the hotel is aware of this and I'm sure they have tried their best by fogging and everything to get rid of the mosquitoes, they even provide electric insect repellent in our room. For sure we will come back to this hotel if we wanted to come back to this area and got the special rate again as we had on this trip.

Both me and hubby have one of our best friend who lives in Bali, so we always contact them when we go there and try to arrange at least 1 time to hang out with them. Me and hubby had dinner at a seafood chinese restaurant with hubby's friend at Tuban area which tasted ok (though I was soooo in the mood with the local seafood but not in Jimbaran area) and the next day (on the day of our departure) I got to hang out with my friend around Kuta square at lunch time. It's always nice meting and hang around with your friends in a holiday mood.

Departing from Bali we're using the new airport though at the time we arrive we were still using the old one. The new airport is still in the same area as the old one, it's much more bigger than the old one. When we arrived in Bandung it's dark already, we just went to Cititrans shuttle travel service which hubby has bought the ticket on the day we arrived in Bandung at Cihampelas walk (while walking to warung Laos). It's almost the same between Daytrans and Cititrans car, but I guess it's a bit more spacious for Cititrans, too bad I got the seat near the door which has steps there and it made my seating a bit uncomfortable.

All in all both of us enjoyed our Bali quick trip, surely we will go back there again for another great holiday :)

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April 2013 Siem Reap trip : Penang - KL - Jakarta

Thankfully we could wake up on time, before 6 AM we already finished checking out. As advised by the hotel’s receptionist last night, it is not a problem at all for us to find a taxi at our time o check out since there were already 3 taxis queuing waiting for passengers.

Entering the taxi, we found something strange, there was a woman sitting in front with the uncle taxi driver. We thought she was another passenger going to the airport as well, but she was not saying a thing and neither did the uncle said anything about her, oh and he was a quite talkative. Till the end of the ride, we didn’t know who she was, I guess she is the uncle’s daughter who was worried about him driving really early in the morning y himself.

On our ride to the airport, the taxi uncle told us he has been waiting for passengers for 13 years at the area, which means even before Tune hotel was there. The taxi fare to Bayan Lepas cost RM 50. If our plane is not that early and being in a hurry, going to the airport by bus would be much more cheaper. Walk a little bit, to catch Rapid Penang bus to Komtar, and from there take the bus from Komtar (Georgetown) to Bayan Lepas Airport (Jamestown).

Since it’s still early in the morning, it only take 40 minutes from our hotel to the airport. Still having time in our hand, we chose Mc Donald for our breakfast. After getting into the departure area and through x-ray machine, we can’t find the check-in counter. Luckily this is not a problem for us since we have done the web check in and we didn’t have to check in our baggage. When asked to an airport security, he told us to go directly to the boarding gate. At the boarding gate there was only a small Air Asia counter with 1 Air Asia official on site. We were sure this can’t be the check-in counter, up until now we are curious where it is located.

Flight was on time, there was no delay, it took 50 minutes from Penang to KL. It’s our third trip to KL for this week :P

There are still much more interesting places in Penang which we haven’t went yet due to time constraint. Most important is the places we wanted to see, we did such as Georgetown, Gurney Drive, etc and we were glad we did it. Probably we will go back there again. This time, there are 3 cities in Indonesia that has direct flight to Penang : Medan, Jakarta & Surabaya.
We arrived in KL at around 10 AM, we still have time to hang around with my sister in law’s family before our flight back home to our beloved Jakarta at 17:00.

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April 2013 Siem Reap trip : Butterworth - Penang

It’s 06.30 AM when the train stops at Butterworth. To go to Penang (which is an island) we have to get a ferry to cross or ride a taxi to cross the bridge but for sure this will cost much more. Since it’s still dark and raining when we arrived, we waited a bit for the sun to shine to find a way to go to the ferry. There were some taxi drivers offering there service, but we were not interested. Too bad there were no officers or information desk available for us to ask the way to the ferry terminal. 

 While waiting for the rain I talked to a lady with her lovely daughter (sorry I forgot her name) she is originally from Butterworth and visiting her family. From her I found out that the railway station is still under renovation to make it adjacent with the ferry terminal (and bus station if I’m not mistaken). Turns out while I was talking to her, hubby was talking with a local person as well and he was going to Penang by ferry too, so we went there with him. Turns out the ferry terminal is not far at all, we just have to walk and cross a overpass which has no roof yet (still being under renovation I guess), it only took a 5 minute walk.

Luckily by the time we reached the terminal there was a ferry ready, we only waited about 5 minutes for it to sail. The ferry is an opened type, sitting is available around the railing and in the middle, while on the left and right side is space available for cars. The ferry ticket cost RM 1.20 / person from Butterworth to Penang island, as from Penang to Butterworth it’s free. At the ticket booth we changed RM 5 to small changes since we have to pay using coins to pass to the terminal dock. For the ferry from Butterworth to Penang island, it cost RM 1.20 for adult, RM 0.60 for children 5-12 years old, RM 1.40 for bikes, RM 4 for motorcycle, RM 7.70 for cars.

At the time our ferry started sailing, we could see Penang island from afar still with city lights on, since sky was still a bit dark and the sun just started to rise. It’s really nice having a sunrise view on our ferry ride from Butterworth to Penang island. The ride took around 15 minutes, we could see Penang bridge, Georgetown the more the ferry reaches Jetty dock (Raja Tun Uda ferry terminal - Weld Quay) to berlabuh.

Arived at the Jetty dock, we still don’t know which way to go since check in time at Tune Hotel is at 2 PM (and we are sure we won’t have luck with early check in as we had at Borei). Thankfully at Weld Quay Bus Terminal there is Hop on Hop off CAT (Central Area Transit) bus which is free, so we just hopped in while thinking which places we wanted to see.

In our way, we saw a beautiful church which is one of Penang’s icon, so we went down from the bus at the church’s bus stop. It’s St George’s Church, built at 1818, and it is said to be the oldest Anglikan church in South East Asia . In front of St George’s Church, there’s the Penang High Court Building which was built in 1903, before being High Court, it was a Courthouse which was built in 1809. We continued our journey in Georgetown on foot. We also pass a building which seems like a school built in 1852 in Convent Light Street.

In Penang, especially at Georgetown, there are lots of old building and still being used until now.

One of the restaurant still keeping it's original state

Logan Memorial

Mahkamah Tinggi

We wanted to visit Fort Cornwallis when we past it, but we will have to wait another hour for it to open. So we decided to hopped in the free CAT bus again to bring us to other places, turns out the bus brought us back to the Jetty dock and the driver took his break, so we just waited at the bus stop while waiting for another free CAT bus again J

Tanjong City Marina

Church Street Pier

After getting on the CAT bus, we went down at an area where it looks crowded for food stalls, since we were famished and needed breakfast badly. We finally decided to have our breakfast at Kedai Kopi Ho Ping at Malabar street, we ordered Char Koay Teow and meat ball. The Char Kwey Tiau was ok, as for the meat ball is delicious but the noodle inside the meatball is not too good. At the time we entered this place, there were still lots of tables available, but when we finished it was full.

Then we just hopped on the free CAT bus again to KOMTAR Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak). KOMTAR is the highest building in George Town, it has a mall and many destination bus terminal in it.

We took the Rapid Penang bus to go to Penang Hill, it’s not free but still cheap it cost RM 2 to go there, just make sure you have the exact change as the bus driver won’t have any change, as we just put the money in a box and the bus driver will give you ticket according to your destination and cost.

After around 45 minutes, we arrive at Penang Hill. It is said to be the highest point in Penang island (cmiiw). Truthfully we came there not to see Penang Hill itself, but we were curious from other bloggers story about the train which transport us to the peak of Penang Hill.

The ticket for foreigners cost RM 17 (one way) and RM 30 (return). As for Malaysian citizen and holder of MM2H Visa only cost RM 8, for senior citizens and children 4-12 year old cost RM 4. Hubby had a naughty idea of being a Malaysian since we do look like the locals. And at the ticket counter, the officer talked in Malay. He wanted to act as local but being afraid for the having asked the ID card to be shown, we just paid the tourist price for return ticket RM 30x2 people = RM 60.

Queuing to get on the train 

Going up the hill

View of going down

Tips : For going up the hill, it’s a better position to sit at front, since we can feel the sensation of the steepness which is quote thrilling. But sitting way at the back is quite an experience as well. If you sit in the middle, you won’t get any of that feeling at all whether for going up or going back down. As for going down the hill would be the same thing, taking the front position would give the best experience. Personally we liked the sensation when the train goes down, especially at the from seat (as we did) as we can see the train’s rail which is really steep, kind of a roller coaster ride feeling J

On top of Penang Hill, we can see Penang surroundings from above, we could also see the Penang Bridge. They also provide telescope for RM 1 so we can see the view much clearer.

Done walking around Penang Hill, we went back using Rapid Penang to KOMTAR. Our next destination is to check in at Tune Hotel, since we don’t really know where it located at Jl Burmah (keep in mind that this road is quite long) we just wanted to arrive at KOMTAR and see it from there. But as we are approaching KOMTAR, we saw a red and white building which looks like the hotel. We asked the bus to stop immediately, thankfully the bus driver is able to stop nearby, since we could just walk for a little bit to reach the hotel from there. As if we had to stop at KOMTAR it would be a hassle to reach Jl. Burmah again.

It only take about 300 meters from our stop to Tune Hotel. The location is quite strategic, just nearby it there’s the New World Park, 7 eleven is available at the ground floor to buy drink and snacks. Since it is still 13.00 we stop by at a restaurant next to the hotel for lunch while waiting for the check in time at 14.00

Fatty Boy Chicken Rice

The restaurant name is Fatty Boy Chicken Rice, I ordered 1 mix plate of pork and chicken, 2 rice and 1 bowl vinegar pork leg, thinking that if we were still hungry we’d just order more. It was a good decision since it really made us full. All the food we ordered tasted really delicious, I was hoping that tomorrow morning we could still eat there again before our flight but it wasn't possible since our flight is really early. I forgot how much it cost but it wasn't expensive at all.

After lunch we went to the hotel straight away to check in. The lobby is not at the 1st floor, so we have to go up the elevator first to the second floor. The lobby is quite OK, it has the internet corner, massaging chair (you have to pay for it though), and there is even travel agent available. Our check in was very smooth, the front officer was very nice and handled everything efficiently. We went to our room straight away, took a shower and take a nap which both of us really needed.

Woke up at 7 PM, washed our face, and ready to start our exploration again. Our destination is Gurney Drive (Anjung Gurney), it’s an area nearby the beach (?) where it has a big eating area with lots of food stall of selling mostly Penang food. We were running out of Ringgit, while we still have to pay for the taxi back and forth to Gurney Drive, taxi for next morning to Bayan Lepas airport, dinner at Gurney Drive, etc. So the first thing we have to do is looking for 'pengurup uang' (money changer). We deliberately walked, in fear that if using taxi we would miss it / harder to find. Turns out it’s not that easy to find a money changer on the way to Gurney Drive especially at night , as we didn’t find any that day. Too bad we didn’t go at day time while we were in Komtar area, as there were quite a few money changer there.

Church we passed on our way to Gourney Drive

Seeing a medium sized mall, we went in with eagerness hoping there’s a money changer inside. Asking the security of the mall for the money changer in English, he didn’t undestand, asking again in Malay, he didn’t understand us too, probably he is not Malaysian. Frustrated, we asked the supermarket’s cashier, and the news is there is no money changer there.

Continued our walking adventure again, it’s 8.30 PM already we still haven’t found money changer and it’s already ½ way to Gurney Drive. Finally we saw a person which looks like a local and asked him for the nearest money changer, and the nearest one is at Plaza Gurney, near by Gurney Drive. We really hope we can get there on time, since it still needs 20-30 minutes walking to reach the place.

From our plan to ride taxi to Gurney Drive, finally we went there on foot which was quite far, probably around 4km. Considering that we don’t have much time to reach Plaza Gurney on time, from a relax pace now we have to speed up, since it would be a disaster if the money changer is closed already.

Finally we have reached Plaza Gurney and found our beloved money changer still open.. yeay!!! J

It only took a 5 minute walk from Plaza Gurney to Gurney Drive. The places we wanted to go in Penang besides visiting their world heritage UNESCO old buildings, getting on the train at Penang Hill, Gurney Drive is certainly one of them for the culinary experience for cheap Malaysian food.

Gurney Drive eating area

Wan Than Mee - Sui Kow - Prawn Mee

Oyster Omelete - Assam Laksa - Chendol

Hawkers @ Gurney Drive

We had a good time at Gurney Drive looking around for foods at hawker stalls, as there are lots of them. I'm not sure but I got a feeling that they are dividing the stalls in 2 parts of halal and non-halal food stalls, it's not really obvious but you can feel it. Not all the foods we tried are all good, but my favorite is the Sui Kow which I ordered with the Wan Than Mee.

Traffic jam around Gurney Drive

the "beach area"

Gurney Drive was packed that night, there was a 1 km traffic jam going to the place (blessing in disguise for walking there), probably because it was weekend or maybe every night is like that we were not sure. The “beach area” in front of Gurney Drive is packed as well, there were youngsters, family, friends and couples enjoying the night sea breeze. Why I said “beach area” since it is not the usual sandy beach where we can play around, this is more of a pedestrian walk and a knee high wall to border the walking area from the sea.

Fulfilled and satisfied our curiosity for Penang street food, we went back to hotel. While strolling on the pedestrian beach walk, we were looking for a taxi to go back. Though walking quite far we still can’t find a taxi, truthfully there were some available taxis but once we mentioned wanting to go to Tune hotel they refused, don’t know why.

Walking half the way back finally a taxi would take us back but for RM 15, feeling it’s only half way back we finally decided to go back. All in all we walked aor about 8 KM, didn’t expect to have that stamina on us, if we were to do it deliberately planned I’m sure we won’t do it :D

Just FYI : Though the taxis has meter (Argo meter), but the taxi in Penang won’t follow it. At the time of our visit an average cost for taxi in Georgetown area will cost RM 10.

Very happy to see our hotel at the end of our night stroll, hanging around in the lobby for a while, then go straight to our room for bath, packing and sleep since at 06:30 AM we have to arrive at Bayan Lepas Airport.

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