TRAVEL DIARY + VISIT INDONESIA: JAVA-BALI OVER LAND, SEA, AND FLY! (Part I)

Hey there my friends! I’m back with my new travel diary series. I’ve been busy with my last semester which means I’m going to end my university life soon! YEASHHH! Last year was probably the most frequent I went for traveling. I haven’t post much of my traveling stories both in this blog nor my YouTube channel. Now, I finally got to edit 1 out of 4 postponed travel diary series. Check out my video first to know what it is about and read this post to know the BTS!

Actually this is my second time traveling from Java to Bali over land, sea, and fly. This trip is one of my faculty’s program. So, we get scored during this trip. It was much more of an educational trip rather than leisure but, we are given free time at the end when all the mandatory program are done. I got to join this trip again this time is because I helped my lecturer at that time. Yes, I’m the one who gave score for my juniors. FYI, we are trained to be a good tour guide for this trip. So, let’s get into the BTS!

DAY 1

I didn’t write day one and two in my video because it’s a bit confusing. 😂😅 So, we started this trip at the dawn around 4-5AM. We ride our school (university) bus, which you can see the awesomeness in the video. It is a 41 seater bus and the group consist of 40 people, so yeah it is a full-house trip! And fyi, we had to sleep in the bus and that means our first 24 hours are spent inside the bus. Throughout the journey from Tangerang (city near Jakarta) to Banyuwangi, where we cross the sea to Bali, the students (my juniors) had to do a guiding about topics related to this trip. For example, the culture of Javanese, culinary, arts, etc. It was a pretty tough task for them and so do I. I’ve to listen to their guiding and sometimes it feels tiring. But, I’m amazed with what my lecturer done. She has been doing this trip every year and got to hear the same topics all over every year. Even though both mentally and physically tired, I’m happy to join this trip. I got a chance to skip class and came back to Bali for free!

View from the bus on the highway

We stopped by at Pekalongan for Lunch at Sop Buntut Bu Leman. This restaurant is known for their ox-tail soup. The ox tail can be served in two ways, grilled or not. I chose the grilled one because it is more savory. After lunch, we continue our journey toward Kudus, Semarang, then we stopped at RM Wahyu Utama, Tuban to have our late dinner as well as get ready for sleep like brushing our teeth and change our cloth, etc. 

Highlight of the day: BEEF!!

DAY 2

Good Morning

It was rainy season so, it is quite a challenging trip both for our drivers and us. As it getting dark, the bus getting colder and it made me missing bed so much. Anyways, it took around 7 hours to arrived at Banyuwangi. I woke up quite early, like around 5 AM and I saw a beautiful sunrise near the sea at around 6 AM. The morning view is incredible. You can see the sea on the left side and mountain on the right side. If I didn’t took this trip, it is something hard to see. We passed by Baluran National Park which has a unique view. When it is dry season, the trees didn’t have leaves and it looks like a fall-winter season. Oh the tree’s color also grayish, so it looks like a winter season in Indonesia. But since I came back on November and it is rainy season, leaves are starting growing back so you can’t really see it. This national park still have wild animals, but it is safe to cross because there is a road made for it.

Beautiful countryside view

The mountain peek through the clouds

Baluran National Park at dry season

It is much better seen in real life

We stopped by at a gas station to do our morning routines and then headed to the bay for Bali. We used a ferry to cross from Java island to Bali island. It only took a good 10-15 minutes to cross the Bali Strait. We arrived at lunch time in Bali then we went straight to lunch at Ayam Betutu Gilimanuk Bu Lina. It is one of the traditional food in Bali, Ayam Betutu, which is a dish made from chicken served with Balinese condiments. It can be quite spicy for foreigner especially if you choose not the fried one. The fried Ayam Betutu is less spicy because the condiments are separated. I also not too good eating too spicy food, so I always choose to fried Ayam Betutu. 

On the middle of Bali Strait

After a hearty meal, we go straight to our hotel. It took around 2 hours to arrived at Kuta from Gilimanuk. After lunch, our energy got drained but we still need to continue the guiding session. When we arrived the hotel, I went straight to my room and took a bath and sleep. It was a really nice sleep after a extremely tiring journey. We had our dinner at the hotel because we are too tired to move around.

DAY 3

Starting the day with hearty breakfast at the hotel. Then we went to Jenggala Ceramics to do some artsy time. You cannot leave Bali without getting involved with their artsy life. Jenggala Ceramics is one of Balinese local ceramics producer. They have several shops and a factory. We visited their factory to see how they produce their ceramics as well as joining their workshop. You can visit their factory by notice. We had some art time by painting the half done clay. This is what I made for my mug. It is simple just because I can’t really draw. After some healing time with art, we got some snacks. Even though after the activity we will be heading for lunch. 

Some satisfying things to see

Froggy in process

Queuing...

Pink tea set

We had our lunch at Warung Krishna, they are Nasi Campur Bali specialist. It is also one food that you should taste once in Bali. You can choose between rice or lontong. Lontong is also made from rice but then wrapped in banana leaf. If with lontong, you will be served in a soup, like a curry. I always go for the rice one. As I am writing this down, I get reminded by how it taste and it makes me hungry and missing Bali a little bit. After lunch we headed to Gianyar area to see the making process of organic salt in Kusamba Village. It was scorching hot at that time, but we need to bear it because it is actually a really important activity of the day. Balinese has several organic products production such as soap, aromatherapy, and also food. This salt is special because it is less salty than your regular kitchen salt. So it is good enough for your health. For your information, Indonesia doesn’t really have much attention about using organic products so there aren’t many producers. It is fascinating to see the process also by buying you helped the community. 

Nasi Campur

with Lontong

 

The salt is bathing in the sun

After grilled by the sun for a good 30-45 minutes, we headed to Goa Lawah Temple, which is only a 5-10 minutes away from the organic salt farm. This temple is unique because it is actually a temple with bats living there. Lawah is Balinese word for bats and Goa means cave. So, inside the temple there is a cave with thousand of bats living there. There are few tips before entering Balinese temple. 

One of the Pura in the Goa Temple Lawah complex

After the temple visit, we went to one of the best villages in the world which is Panglipuran Village. It is best known for their cultural value that is still done till this day and their village layout is nicely done. Even though this village has became a tourism destination, the locals are still living here. You should pay the tickets to enter this village. If you came at the perfect time, you can take a really good Instagram worthy picture. You can also get in touch with the locals. Some of the locals opened some souvenir shop as well as food stall so it is tourist friendly. 

Not your usual runway

We had our dinner in a very special way, but I didn’t have the footage because first it was raining second it was too hectic to film. We had a dinner at a night market called Pasar Senggol Gianyar. Well actually this market’s name is unique because the word ‘senggol’ means bump. So the literally meaning is bumping market in Gianyar. But well, market is usually crowded with people, so there is a chance for people bumping into one another. The kids are given allowance for dinner for about 30,000 rupiah. I ate a lot of satay and grilled corn. If you got a chance of seeing grilled corn in Bali or any part of Indonesia, do buy it! In Bali, the best places to buy the grilled corn are near Single Fin (Uluwatu) or Petitenget Beach. With raining still relentlessly falling down, we went back to our hotel and get some rest.

I’ll cut the post into two because I think it is too long and I know how it feels to read a super long blog sometimes kinda boring. Thank you for keeping up till this part. See you on the next post! There will be the highlight of this trip. So make sure to read the next post! 

[LATEPOST] MID 2017 HAUL

Hello! I’m finally writing a post on my blog and uploaded a video on Youtube. Finally I got time to write and sum up all my hauls for middle 2017. On this blog, I’ll write the things that are not included in my 26 minute long video. Ikr… But mostly it’s about clothes that I bought, snacks, and few un-categorized things, but its cute!

COTTON ON HAUL

 

I bought few pieces of clothes from Cotton On. In case you didn’t know about Cotton On, it is a retailer like H&M, Forever 21, etc. It is originally came from Australia, so the price is quite cheap. Well, you can say Cotton On is one of the competitor for both H&M and Forever 21. Oh, I bought a cute fries sweater also. But I forgot to take the photo of it.

PETER ALEXANDER HAUL 

I was dragged to this Peter Alexander wagon. Peter Alexander is a sleepwear brand from Australia. I bought few sleepwear from this brand in discounted bargain. The real price of this brand was not cheap. Expensive actually for a sleepwear. BUT! If you touch the material, you will accept the expensive price. Not only that, they have cute designs also. I fall in love in the first sight when I enter the store. If you happened to get your hands on this brand, you should. Find the good bargain though, like going to the Factory Outlet! More details:

I bought 2 types of sleepwear. Longer one and shorter one

Do you think is it a mango or a lemon?

The Peter Alexander iconic dog

RED ROCK DELI 

I’ve mentioned it one of the flavor on my video. IT IS THE BEST CHIPS IVE EVER EATEN! They have various flavor available, but my favorite one is the Honey Soy Chicken one. I’ve also bought the Sea Salt & Black Truffle, it was nice at the first few bites. Maybe, if you eat the whole package at once, it will taste too salty. But, the fragrance was so goooood! I really like truffle though.

KIKI.K HAUL

 

I went to my favorite shop, which is KIKI.K. This shop sells variety of notebooks, office supplies, and stuff with cute designs. I bought like few things, such motivational books and its workbook (?) and also a reflection book. Their design catches my eyes and motivate me to use it. It motivates me to do some of this aesthetic photography more.

Aesop x Kiki.K project (?)

Trying to be aesthetic. Is it good enough?

Instead of pen, I use mascara. Balanced lashes is important, girls!

TYPO HAUL 

Another shop that I went to buy un-categorized stuffs is Typo. Both stores are like a heaven for me (?) I went crazy after going inside the store. I wanted to buy everything. I went to a factory outlet one, so they have all products on discount. It makes me more crazy. Stuffs I bought are patches, cards, and sticker books for decorating. The comic bubble pouch is the it-item from my Typo hauls. So cute, isn't it? The stickers to decorate it were also from Typo.

CHOCOLATES HAUL

My love for chocolate was unstoppable when I went to Australia. So, I bought few chocolates that are not available in Indonesia, especially my own Kit Kat. It was the cutest thing ever in my chocolate world. Even though it is expensive and I prefer the regular Kit Kat, but I can't resist to buy. HAHA. Look at the design! The other one was the awesome Celebrations Chocolate. I was introduced to this chocolate from Tanya Burr and I love all of it except Bounty. Idk why I don't like it. I bought it from Target, some place I've never been before and excited to see it but the Australian Target kinda sucks. Oops!

Well, that's all for my remaining mid 2017 haul. Sorry for posting it so late. But, thanks for keeping up with my bad time management and mood. See you on my next post. Have a nice day!!

 

VISIT INDONESIA: Independence Day Specials!

August is popular with celebrating independence day. I don’t know why there are few countries that celebrate their independence day in August. Few examples are Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland. Indonesia also celebrate their independence day on August. For some people who knows the struggle of being ruled by other party, Indonesia’s history can be a painful one. Getting our independence has shred blood, tears, and sweats (like BTS’s song) of our founders and heroes. That's why on this year’s Independence Day, I tried to make a special edition content. I visited historical places regarding the independence day in Jakarta. You can checked the footage of my friends and I visiting Proclamator Monument (Tugu Proklamasi) and National Monument (MONAS).

I had so much fun visiting those places. My OOTD that day was also matching with our country’s flag, red and white. I made “Kemerdekaan Fun Fact” o my video, hope it help the viewers to know a little bit of our history and how smart is our first President. On this blog post, I’m going to write more about the behind the scene of this travel diary. So, watch my video to know what I’m talking about.

Actually, my friends and I went to those places last year. I treated them a buffet lunch as my birthday celebration last year. Since, we are bored with our usual hanging out activities, I suggest them to visit those places. Even though they live in Jakarta, they never went to Monas. I’ve been to Monas for several time, but I’ve never been to Taman Proklamasi. This idea came from an article I saw from an inflight magazine when I went to Jogja last year.

Since we have lunch in Grand Indonesia Mall, going to those places are not far. After lunch, we went to Taman Proklamator first. The park is located on Jalan Proklamasi no.56. It used to be Jalan Pegangsaan Timur no.56, where Soekarno lived before. They demolished his house and made it into this park. Use Google Maps to find this place. I’m not good in giving direction with public transport in Indonesia.

 

Mr. Soekarno, Indonesia first President

Mr. Mohamad Hatta, Indonesia first Vice President

Waited for some time to get this group photo

This will happened if you don't have your monopod

There weren’t a lot of people coming here because this place is less popular than Monas. But, it’s nice since we can take lots of photos without any photo-bomb and look too touristy. The downside is, when we want to take a group photo, we took a long time to ask people passing by to take picture for us. The best time to visit this park is in the morning or around 4PM. We stayed for 40 minutes. There weren’t much to do there beside sightseeing or just to sat down for relaxation. Maybe, you should bring monopod to help you take a group photo if you came here.

#shotwithiphone

Then we drove for 15-20 minutes to Monas from Taman Proklmator. Monas is the icon of Indonesia, specifically Jakarta. Soekarno himself initiated the construction of this icon. This monument is located strategically, in the heart of Jakarta. You can see it from the south, east, west, and north side. Soekarno himself intentionally build Monas on that specific location, because it is near the Istana Merdeka (President’s palace) and other government offices. So, if you go to Monas, you can also visit other attractions such as, National Museum, Cathedral, Istiqlal Mosque, Pasar Baru, Lapangan Banteng, Radio Republik Indonesia (the first radio in Indonesia, also the one who spread the Independence news to the whole world!), Gambir Station, several shopping malls in Jakarta, and much more. You can search the surrounding of Monas on Google Maps.

Oh, there is also double-deck bus for sightseeing! AND IT IS FREE! More info about the route can be seen from here.

Since I’ve been to Monas few times, it isn’t a new thing for me. But it is for my friends. Monas was under renovation for few months before I came here last year. Because this year, there was an event for Countdown to Asian Games 2018 held on Monas on the 18th of August. That’s why they did some renovation. The one you saw on my video was so much better than before the renovation. Stalls and food court are placed nicely BEFORE entering the Monas area. The area is quite big, so if you want to go to the monument, you should take the shuttle train provided. Well, if you want, you can walk, but I’m not sure you will do that because it is quite far and hot. No matter what time you go there, it will be always HOT.

our kind of group photo, girls vs boys

If you want to go to the inside of the monument, where there is museum underground and you can go to the top of it, you need to pay IDR 27,500 (adults) and IDR 13,500 (kids). These price is a total price if you want to go up to the top. If not, you only need to pay 20,000 for adults or 10,000 for kids. The underground museum have air conditioner installed, so you will not feel too hot. But, on the second floor, where you can hear the proclamation speech of Soekarno, there doesn't have air conditioner. The area is also smaller than the underground museum.

Inside the museum, you can see around 51 dioramas (a 3D display). Each diorama tells a different story but all of it are connected. From the beginning of human evolution till Indonesia’s development. You can see how painful Indonesia’s struggle to get independence.

After strolling around the museum, we went upstairs to go to the “Ruang Kemerdekaan”. There, you can hear Soekarno’s voice recording when he read the proclamation speech. Fyi, the space does not have AC, so you won't stay long there. The recording plays every hour from 9am to 5pm. When I went there, it was around 7pm, so there is no recording. We just went through the room.

At the time we are waiting for the lift to the cone, it was almost raining. At the time we are at the top, it was raining heavily. We couldn’t enjoy the skyline of Jakarta, because it was too crowded and rainy. We went down after few minutes. We waited for an hour before we decided to go back. The rain doesn’t stop for few hours. Andddd my friend just bought his new shoes, so he doesn’t want it gets wet. We waited until the rain is less heavy. We waited for the train shuttle and then suddenly the heavy rain pour down again. Entering the train was also a struggle, we have to fight with other people who wants to ride the train ASAP. My friends and I were separated. Then after we arrived, we faced another problem. We couldn’t see the floor. It was flooding around an ankle-high. In the end, my friends have to remove their shoes. LOL. We ran to the food court to wash our hands, but the water was so dirty. So we ran to the car, use a lot of tissue and wet tissue to clean ourselves and our shoes. It was a roller coaster ending of our day trip. We finished our trip with a good McDonald meal to save our stomach.

Do bring monopod and have fun!

Nevertheless, it was one of the best day trip I’ve done, because I can share the insights of Independence Day with my friends. Also, we tried to get rid the habit of spending money to the mall or watching movie. Let’s try to appreciate the small little things that are big in value, like visiting historical places near you. Get to know your country history and feel proud about it. I hope you enjoyed my Travel Diary and behind the scene of it. Have a nice day, all!