Journey to KL - Day 5

Finally we reached the last day of visiting Malaysia, we began with breakfast, not in the hotel, but at Alor street visited our favourite foodstall which sold prata with curry. Teh tarik (literally pulled tea or 拉茶 in Mandarin) was our selection to drink. It is prepared using a unique technique. The tea is poured from a hand held high into a container held in a hand below. The tea is poured back and forth in this manner to create a thick froth. Aside from cooling down the tea to drinking temperatures, it is believed that this method mixes the tea with the condensed milk more thoroughly. The main ingredients are tea and condensed milk. Ginger water may also be added to form teh halia, or ginger tea. It has become the de facto national drink of Malaysia. It’s cheap, only cost 3RM for food and drink. It’s very yummy especially for the prata, we bought some to eat along the journey back to Batam


Going back to hotel, we had satiated with the breakfast then we started bringing down the stuffs from the hotel room. The lift was full with us and all of the luggages. What’s a surprised that our hunting for souvenirs and snacks quite a lot. Each of us had to bring the backpack and 2 more bags. Lucky that there was a man in our group, but poor him, because he was the only man, he had to carry the box full of chocolate, it’s quite big and heavy (more than 10 kgs). He looked like a labour who went home from abroad  By cab we went toward the Pasarakyat Bus Terminat at. No 10, Ground Floor Jalan Melati off Jalan Imbi / Jalan Tun Razak 55100 Kuala Lumpur, phone: +603 2141 1771. We entered a nice cold waiting lounge decorated with Ikea furniture and glassware providing snacks and drinks while waiting for the bus departure. Before departing, we put all stuffs into the bus baggage, we still had time to take pictures around the bus.

The Transtar double deck bus was very big, but it only contained 16 passengers. We didn’t know that we would get the first class bus, it cost S$42 more expensive than our bus from Singapore to KL (S$33). Of course this one was more luxury and convenient, in each seat there was a 10 inch LCD TV set with your own set headphones, so we can tune into our favourite shows, listening music or even playing game. The leather seat was ergonomic with ultra spacious leg room, you can straighten your legs, it also had massage features device to knead away any tension during the trip that made you more relax and comfortable. All of passengers seat were on the top deck, while at the bottom deck, there was a spacious room providing a big screen with a long table and sofa to be utilized for either meeting or leisure such as karaoke. During the trip, a handsome young stewardess served us with snack, drink and meal (spaghetti). I was still full with breakfast, so I had my meal for lunch. We were lucky that we’d got the front seat, so we could enjoy the scenery along the trip.

Passing the immigration post in KL was ok, but at the next immigration post in Singapore it’s rather troublesome, because we had to bring down all of the stuffs including luggage through the immigration by ourselves. It’s very heavy and troublesome, we need to queue quite long although there were many lines open for checking. The bus dropped us in front of Golden Mile shopping mall in Singapore, actually it’s near Lavender MRT station, but we decided to take a taxi to Harbourfront Center, because of our stuffs. Arriving at Harbourfront Center we checked in at the boat ticket booth on the second floor of the mall. Lucky that we could drop our luggages, so we got a chance to explore the Vivo mall while waiting for the boat. From Harbourfront terminal to go to Batam Center took around an hour, our colleagues in Batam were kind enough to pick us up from the terminal to the hotel.

Finally our adventurer journey was ended, with so many unforgettable memories. Our legs were painful, but we were glad that we had visited many places in 2 countries with a limited budget, and we still could bring back some snacks and souvenirs. So many stories and pictures could be shared with our friends and relatives.

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Journey to KL - Day 4

After exploring food and souvenirs in China Town the day before, that day we planned to find the bus station place for returning to Singapore the next morning, so we wouldn't be lost. We didn't like the breakfast menu in the hotel, we decided to eat snacks along the Alor street. We bought some fried snacks, such as cakue; also jerked meat and moon cake. At the corner of the street we visited the store which sells traditional foods, lucky that we met Mr. Lau. He offered us to drive to the bus station and Beryl's chocolate store just for 5RM. We're glad to take the offer, so we didn't need to bother to walk to the public transportation or finding a cab.


After buying mooncake, we entered his car, driving directly to the bus station at Imbi street. The location was quite convenience, my friend had relieved to know the place, so we didn't need to worry for tomorrow. The next destination was Beryl's the best chocolate production in Malaysia, my friend's relative asked her to buy some chocolates here. The store located near the bus station, 38, Jalan Utara, Off Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, phone: 603-21458211. At the gate we were welcome by a cow statue at the front door, of course we took pictures with the cow and Mr. Lau our guide. Entering the store, you could see the history of Beryl's, the chocolate process including the production machine. If you need any explanation, the waiter or waitress were happy to help you.

The next room was full of various chocolate candy. Entering the room made you enchanted. Beryl’s Chocolate is a growing chocolatier that offers chocolate lovers some of the finest selections in the region. From ancient time chocolate had been a delicacy and a medicine for the human spirit. They offer you – and your spirit – an endless choice of chocolates featuring a variety of tastes, flavours and packaging to meet your every need! You could taste it before deciding to buy certain candy. The speciality was the fruit chocolate, such as apple, mango, kiwi, blueberry, rockmelon; they use the original fruit, but they also have the flavor fruit, so you could choose which one you prefer. It seemed that I want to buy all of them, but the price was quite expensive too. My favourite was the sesame chocolate and the mint chocolate. We didn't realize that we bought a lot, what a surprize, 1 big box for three of us.

From the store, Mr. Lau brought us to the other store, Sandaran Aktif, which was sold "Tongkat Ali", its scientific name is Eurycoma longifolia, has become popular for its alleged testosterone-enhancing properties. It has therefore been included in some herbal supplements for bodybuilders. Historically, South East Asia has utilised the herb for its suggested antimalarial, antipyretic, antiulcer, cytotoxic and aphrodisiac properties.Some scientific studies suggest that it enhances sexual characteristics and performance in animals. The store also provided oil for healing rheumatic or neuro pain. My right knee was aching, the waitress tried it on me, she asked me to put the oil on both of my palm, then I should put both of my palms on my knee for 5 minutes. It's very hot, it remained hot for 7 hours, but my knee had recovered after it. I bought 2 bottles of them, but I'm afraid to use it again, because it's very hot. My friend bought Malaysian coffee, she loves the white coffee, it's cheaper than in Indonesia.

Because our items purchased a lot, we asked Mr. Lau to send us to the hotel. We took a rest for a while in the hotel, then we continue to go for lunch to Kampung Baru, the oldest ethnic Malay residential area in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Putra KLR was our transportation to go there from Bukit Bintang station to Kampung Baru station. About ten minutes away from Chow Kit Market, it was founded in 1899 and there are still authentic traditional Malay wooden houses there. We went to food areas, the restaurant was like a fast food restaurant, but they provided traditional Malay food and desserts. You could take by yourselves, whatever vegetables, fishes, meats, or chickens you want with the red rice then the seller would count based on quantity of the variant you selected, such as 1 meat + 1 vegetable, or 1 meat + 2 vegetables, they didn't care about the portion. Similar to Indonesia, they also provided sweet dessert, such as Pengat (Tapioca or Banana) a thick brown sugar mix together with the ingredient and cook, ice durian, etc.


After satiated with the food, we continued to go to Central Market, Jalan Hang Kasturi, 50050 Kuala Lumpur. Central Market, a cultural and shopping center, is the best place to witness Malaysian culture, art and craft. A variety of goods are sold here, including handicrafts, souvenirs and art, all at reasonable prices. Amid the stalls selling souvenirs are small outlets where Malaysian artists display their works. Visitors may even have their portrait painted or order custom-made crafts. Just outside Central Market is a riverside amphitheater, a venue for traditional dance displays, wayang kulit, which is shadow puppet shows and more contemporary entertainment. I bought soya green bean, because I'd never found it in Indonesia, apparently my cousins love it when I gave her for souvenirs. I love the market, the building architecture is good, the goods sold were various, and there was also a food court if you need something to eat.

KLCC was our next destination, it's around 16:00 o'clock, we went there using monorail again, it's good because the station was exactly inside the mall, so we didn't need to walk through the open area. The mall was very huge with 6 levels shopping malls contains of many branded store such as Bally, Hush Puppies, Vincci (Malaysia shoes), Kookai, Zara, etc. They also had spa and hotel, we're not interested in shopping here. Anyway we split the team, girls and boy because we had different interest for shopping. My friend and I only visited Body Shop to buy lipstic, then we sat on the stone seat under the lift, to rest our feet while we wait for meeting time.

After an hour in the mall, we continued going to the 50-acre tropical landscape in the heart of the KLCC development provides an urban sanctuary for all. The public park reflects the tropical greenery, vibrant colours and patterns of the country's rich cultural heritage while its calm setting help dissipate the tensions of city living. It features various amenities such as a two-acre children's playground, symphony fountain, wading pool, jogging track, shelters and benches, patterned foot-paths and sculptures. Another striking feature of the park is the Lake Symphony which comprises two water fountains. Located at the esplanade outside Suria KLCC, the Lake Symphony is programmed to provide 150 magical dramatic animations. The total effect is a light hearted and gregarious atmosphere. We could take the twin tower from the park, it's still light, so we waited the sky got dark to get better picture. Unfortunately we didn't notice that KL night is later than Indonesia. We had to wait around 2 hours in the park, because we were too tired to go back to the mall. We sat on the grass, although there were some ants, around 19:30 the sky became dark. We were glad that we could take the awesome 88-storey PETRONAS shiny twin towers with the black sky background. We were too tired to take monorail again, because you had to long all the way back to the mall, so we took a taxi to go back to the hotel. We only put our shopping bags, then we had dinner at Alor street in front of the hotel. Black noodle and some seafood were our selection menu, it's nice. To buy additional souvenirs, we only explored near hotel, then we returned to the hotel to pack the stuffs and prepared for the check out tomorrow. We slept very tight that night, because we were exhausted of walking, but we were glad that we could visit some places on that day.

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Bunaken, marvelous national marine park

Almost midnight when we arrived in Sam Ratulangi airport - Manado, it took around 20 minutes from the airport to the Quality hotel at Jl. Piere Tendean No. 88 - 89 Boulevard Manado Phone : (0431) 8883888, Fax : (0431) 8881111 email: qltmnd@qualityhotelmanado.com The next morning after breakfast, we planned to visit the Bunaken national marine park which has some of the highest levels of marine biodiversity in the world. Scuba diving attracts many visitors to the island. Bunaken is located at the north of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs administratively to the municipality of Manado.


The Bunaken National Marine Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's growing system of marine parks. The park covers a total surface area of 890.65 km², 97% of which is overlain by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. Although each of these islands has a special character, it is the aquatic ecosystem that attracts most naturalists.
The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27 to 29 °C) Pick any of group of interest - corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges - and the number of families, genera or species is bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken. The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.

Escape to the world famous Bunaken National Marine Park, and enjoy the splendor of this underwater paradise was very attractive. We went to Ritzy Hotel Manado, to Blue Banter Marina Tour & Dive Center office to join the tour. They took us by car to the pier to embark to the boat. It took around 45 minutes to reach the park. The semi submersible see viewer brought us to experience the coral walls from its windows.
Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity. Northeasternly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.

Biologists believe that the abundance of hard corals is crucial in maintaining the high levels of diversity in the park. Hard corals are the architects of the reefs, without them, numerous marine organisms would be homeless and hungry. Many species of fish are closely associated with particular types of corals (folious, branching, massives, etc.) for shelter and egg-laying. Others, like the enormous Bumphead Parrotfish, Balbometopon muricatum, are "coralivores" and depend on hard corals for their sustenance. Bony mouth parts fused into an impressive "beak" allow these gregarious fish to crunch corals like roasted peanuts.


Back to the hotel we changed clothes and having lunch at Ria Rio seafood restaurant at Kalasey. It’s famous of its golden fish food, unfortunately no golden fish available when we visited them. We ordered some fishes, such as grilled kakap merah, fried bubara fish and its cah pakis. I like the fried bubara, it’s very delicious, crispy and piquant. I also tried the special and unique drink contains of young coconut with sugar palm called “es kelapa muda”. We could see the sea with mountain at the background, it’s very beautiful.
Cella Bakery at Jl. Tikala Ares I No.6 (phone: 0431-867620, 852682) is famous as the best klaapertaart with its cheese or raisin toping. My friend said that the cake’s rum is very delicious. Bagea kenari (made from sago) and kacang goyang were the traditional snacks that I’d bought for my colleagues.
Manado town square called Mantos at Jl. Piere Tendean launched at 2006 are full of food, you could find any restaurant, such as chinese food like Ta wan, fast food like Kentucky fried chicken, etc. Young people are also hanging around with their friends. Traffic jam usually occurs at Piere Tendean Boulevard because of the existence of the shopping malls. We didn’t hang out too long, because we had to catch the morning flight back to Surabaya at 06:45, it meant that we had to wake up early at 04:00, same as at 03:00 o’clock in the morning in Surabaya. The traveling was tiring because we had to go to many places in the tight schedule, but it’s fun.

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Malino, peaceful and magnificent tea plantation

I was stunned arriving in Hasanudin airport - Makassar when I went for business trip on Sep 08, because the building was very modern and sophisticated, the scenery was good either surrounded by mountains. It’s just operated a month ago, so some facilities are not available at that time, such as lobby lounge for credit card holder. Anyway there were some restaurants and shops opened already, so if you don’t have a chance to eat, or you forget to buy souvenirs, you still can get them there.


Makassar formerly was recognized as Ujung Pandang (1971-1999) is a capital city of South Sulawesi; a big city at the south west of Sulawesi island. It’s a cosmopolitan city which has many tribes e.g. Makassar, Bugis, Toraja and Mandar. Chinese population is quite big too here. The area covers 175.77 km square with 1.25 million people. Most of the houses still keep the traditional architecture with its wood columns supporting the house, they could look after their cattle under the house, currently most of them utilize it for small store selling daily needs. Seafood is famous here, such as grill fish, crabs, shrimps, etc. In Makassar, people love chili, so the restaurant always gives various ingredient for creating your own chili sauce including slices of young mango. Unfortunately I could not spicy food, so I only eat the non hot and spicy one :-)

We had lunch at Apong Seafood restaurant is fairly new seafood restaurant in Makassar, compare to the other seafood restaurant, but the restaurant has good popularity among people in Makassar. The reason is that it always has very fresh fish and you can find a lot of weird and delicious fish here as well. Its salty egg lobster are very delicious, and also the grill gindara fish. People say that gindara fish which lives below 250 meters under the water, is good to clean your stomach. We also tried “tuing-tuing” egg of flying fish, it’s a very rare food, not provided everyday, only seasonal. Pa’torani is the nickname for sailor who searches for egg of the flying fish. The fish will be spawned at evening or night, the sailor will sail in the morning, so they could reach the destination when the flying fish spawned. Tuing-tuing is what Bugis-Makassar people called the flying fish (Dactylopus dactylopus). If they are lucky, only six hours sailing, they could find tuing-tuing, but they also could find it after a day sailing. The closer tuing-tuing colony is in Makassar bay, the furthest up to Kalimantan or even Papua. It’s quite expensive costs Rp. 150.000,- to Rp. 300.000,- per kg. The people from Japan, Korea, Hongkong and Taiwan love it. The other popular traditional food in Makassar are coto Makassar, Roti Maros, Kue Tori, Palabutung Pisang Ijo and Sop Konro.

The scenery from our hotel room’s window was very magnificent facing the view of popular and beautiful Losari waterfront, it’s like a painting. We stayed in Imperial Aryaduta, modern and elegance hotel on Jl Somba Opu 297 Makassar South Sulawesi Indonesia 90111. Visitors wanting to take in some history will appreciate the hotel’s proximity to Fort Rotterdam – 15 minutes away on foot at most – while the Jalan Somba Opu shops are also close for those looking to buy some gold. Of course, at night the popular destination is Losari Beach promenade, always full of people and ambience and located right in front of the hotel. Unfortunately there is no sand for walking and playing the wave along the beach, the coast is very steep, so we only could enjoy the sea breeze.

Our colleague brought us to a beautiful tea plantation on the top of the mountain in Malino area. The tea plantation is on Bulutan village, around 9 kms from Malino city. To go there needed to struggle with winding and bumpy road around 2 hours from Makassar. Reaching the place made all of us relief and we keep admiring the majesty of the God who could create a very beautiful landscape. Of course we didn’t forget to take some pictures, although we felt freezing (it’s very cold and windy), we kept smiling and taking action whenever the camera shot pictures. There was a hut that we could sit while enjoying the gorgeous scenery. The tea is produced for export, it’s a cooperation of Mitsui Norin Co. Ltd and PT. Dharma Incharcop Coy with PT. Nittoh Malino Tea as the share holder. It’s a good alternative for relaxation, especially for escaping from noisy and chaotic city. Alas we could not stay too long there, because we had to catch the night flight to Manado.

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