Journey to KL - Day 3

Finally on Sunday we could start exploring Kuala Lumpur. After taking a bath and having breakfast, we split into 2 groups, the couple were tired, so they didn’t want to go too far, just exploring around our hotel. That morning it was raining, my friend bought an umbrella, because he stayed in different hotel and he had to walk to our hotel.

Lucky that the rain was stopped when we had finished the breakfast. Three of us started exploring Bukit Bintang area, entered some shopping mall such as Sungei Wang. Bukit Bintang, whilst apart of the Golden Triangle, is really more of a neighborhood than anything else. Bukit Bintang has always been popular and fashionable however in the last few years has undergone gentrification and come away as both historical and chic at the same time. Whether you fancy haute cuisine or hawker stalls, brand name fashion or quirky local boutiques it’s all available in Bukit Bintang. We took some pictures at the garden and also in front of some cafés along Bukit Bintang. The mall looked same as in Indonesia.
My friend wanted to buy some set of spoons in Ikea. The IKEA offer - a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at low prices. The IKEA store has thousands of square metres of ideas, offers, solutions and suggestions. I like Ikea, so I preferred to go there than going around malls.

We took KL Monorail from Bukit Bintang station to KL Central continuing to Kelana Jaya using LRT (Light Rail Transit). Malaysia is more modern than Indonesia for the public transportation, they have monorail with aircon inside, it’s quite comfortable. The ticket price is quite competitive too and it’s much faster than car. Anyway it’s a little bit different from Singapore, most of the station are in open area, we were lucky, because it’s raining in the morning, the weather was not too hot. We had to go pass through a traditional market to different line of the LRT station, the station was not connected to the monorail. Kelana Jaya was the nearest LRT station to Ikea, then continuing by bus which’s free of charge. After waiting more than half an hour, we gave up, because it's very hot and we were starving, so we took a cab directly to the mall. The restaurant was our main destination in the mall right after arriving Ikea complex he..he... I took roti prata, one of my favourite food with kickapoo juice in cane. My choice was quite right, the juice was fresh and delicious, the roti prata was so so.


There was a bazar at the mall's area, so we split and promised to gather in the middle of the place after an hour, because we had different interest. There were so many things sell, but most of them were clothes. I bought a beautiful light blue stone bracelet and I wore it right away. The center of the fields were decorated with flowers and fountain, of course we didn't forget to take pictures.


Ikea was our next destination, it's very huge, and amazing. So many things we wanted to buy, unfortunately we were afraid that we had difficulty to bring it back to Indonesia. I bought set of spoons that my colleague recommended for my sisters' gift, because they'd just moved to a new apartment. It's quite heavy, but the quality is good, with a very reasonable price. I was also interested to a blue vase, I doubted to buy it, but it's very attempting, then I decided to buy it. It's easier broken, so I had to bring it with care. I had to be extra careful to bring it home. Actually I was also interested to buy some desk lamps, it's so elegant and simple, but I realized that it would be very difficult to bring, so I had to forget it :-( Anyway I got a chance to take some pictures in front of some beautiful lamps.With so many stuffs on our hands, we decided to go back to the hotel. Although our feet were sore, we didn't want to waste time by exploring more places.


We had dinner at Alor street, in front of our hotel, then we continued exploring China Town at Jl. Petaling. It's 22:00 o'clock when we arrived at Petaling, we spent around an hour there to shop Malaysia souvenirs for our friends and relatives in Indonesia. The price was very competitive in this place as long as you are expert in bargaining. It's very satisfying when we could bargain and get half price than the offer he..he.. that's woman nature I think :-)

My friend was naughty, he was upset because we spent more than an hour to shop although we'd complained that we were very tired. He asked us to walk returning to the hotel, he said that it's near, but it took around 45 minutes to walk. It's very far, and it made us terrible tired that night. When we arrived in the hotel, we could not do anything else but sleeping.

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Old city area in Jakarta - Fatahillah Museum

In our company some of people who love photography create a club. We invite some professional photographers to teach and share their knowledge, also we go together to some places to practice and share skills or even we volunteer to cover company's events/activities. I joined them to the old city area in Jakarta on Saturday morning. At 07:00 o'clock in the morning we went directly to "Museum Fatahillah"; An impressive, classical-style building, surrounded by several other museums also in classical style, the former City Hall is now a culturally protected historical treasure. The records show that it took three years to build; construction began on 25 January 1707 under Governor General Jan Van Hoorn and was completed on 10 July 1710 by Governor General Abraham Van Riebeeck.




I'm still amateur, I don't know how to use manual mode in camera. I use a pocket camera, Canon Powershot S50. At that time, I didn't dare to play with manual mode, just playing with angle and objects using auto mode. The sky was clean and blue, there was no cloud at all, so it's a good time to take pictures. Although the museum was closed, there were quite some people on the yard. We'd just known that there would be a parade to celebrate Jakarta's birthday.


Some "ondel-ondel", Jakarta's trademark were also prepared for making the parade merrier. Ondel-ondel is a big doll with ± 2,5 meter high and ± 80 centimeters diameter, made of bamboo which is enable people to carry from inside the doll. It's wearing very colorful clothes. Formerly it's only used to refuse danger or ghost, but now it's common for launching new office, welcoming guest or celebrating a traditional party.


One of our colleagues became a photo model, she had to take some poses under sunbeam, it's quite exhausting, hot and also wasted some energy. Thanks to her that she didn't complain and she enjoyed it. One of my friend bought her an ice cream to cool down, but you know what happened; he selected the colorful ice cream, so she should pose too during eating the ice to get a wonderful picture, poor her :-)

After taking pictures from different angle of the building, we continued walking to explore the old city area along the river. Quite surprising that the river was clean enough, although it's rather smelly. At least when we took pictures, people won't smell it through the picture ^_^


We were surprised that we met other photographers group. It seemed that most of them are very professional, they brought a large screen to manage the sun light, also some professional models with many costumes. A couple riding a bike in front of the building described a western man costume with a chinese woman costume. The other group had a beautiful woman with a cute boy around 4 years old. Also two girls which took each other pictures and took turns as the model for the other.

Although some buildings were not used anymore, but the scenery is still quite good to explore by whomever wanted to feel the history. A good cafe, called Batavia still operated in front of Fatahillah Museum. The ambience of the cafe is quite nice, if you go to the restroom, it's quite surprising. All the waiters are wearing traditional costume, so if you want to feel old Indonesian environment, you should visit this cafe.

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Journey to KL - Day 2

On the second day where we supposed to be in KL, but we're still in Singapore. After resting a night, we had breakfast in Kopitiam at Lucky Plaza area. The restaurant is quite small and simple, but the food was quite acceptable. It's suitable if you're in hurry or you want to try simple Singaporean food. Kaya french toast and coffee were appropriate combination for breakfast, but I selected meat ball noodles, and taste a little bit of my colleague's french toast :-)


Check out time was at 13:00, but Mbak Wati - the maid, didn't have any objection if we wanted to place our stuffs in the apartment until we would depart to KL at 21:30 that day, so we could explore Singapore without any burden. After taking pictures in front of Paragon, Nge Ann City, and in front of the fountain inside Takashimaya, we split the group into 2 parts. The boys searched for the bus ticket for going back from Malaysia, while I lead the girls for sight seeing in Suntec City. We took MRT, the safest and fastest transportation in Singapore. From City Hall MRT station we walked through many shops to Suntec City. We still had a chance to take some pictures at some interesting sites. Suntec City is at Marina area, the building consists of offices, mall, and exhibition hall; all the buildings are interconnected by shops and restaurants with a large outdoor space for people to gather.

We directly went towards the booth ticket to join duck tour to roam Singapore. It's a bus! It's a boat! It's the Original Splashing DUCK! DUCKtours uniquely combines the city and harbour tour on an authentic Vietnam warcraft, offering 60 minutes of amphibious touring adventure on both land and sea. From the vehicle you could see esplanade (theaters on the bay), and also Merlion (Singapore symbol). While waiting for the time to depart, we went around the shops, I showed them the fountain of wealth, which is supported by four 13.8 metres high bronze legs and spreading over an area of 1683.07 metres. At night there is a laser beam with music dancing on the fountain where you could also put your own message to be displayed. Taking a rest at the bench under trees enjoyed zephyr were quite pleasant.

A good news came from the boys group while the girls enjoyed the tour. They could get the bus ticket for us, it made all of us relief. We gathered in Suntec City, then was continued to China Town. The goal was to find a hotel for a night after arriving from KL, and having lunch. As usual, China Town was always crowded. I selected Chinese food stall in the food court, where we could select 2 vegetables and 1 meat only cost for S$3.5 Ice kacang was also my favourite menu to complete the lunch only cost S$2. Some souvenirs shops were attracted us to stop by. We bought some souvenirs for our pals in Indonesia. We also got a chance to buy bakcang, a traditional Chinese snack. I felt full after lunch, no more space in my stomach so I kept it for dinner.

After finding hotel for my colleague, we were heading towards Clarke Quay and Boat Quay, they are side by side. Boat Quay is the after-work watering hole for professionals and expatriates from the adjoining Raffles Place financial district. As the evening wears on, the dinner crowd takes over and finally, the younger set of clubbers party into the wee hours, especially at weekends. Looking for a swingin’ good time? Then head on down to Boat Quay - the trailblazer of the Singapore entertainment scene. With an eclectic mix of high end restaurants and alfresco dining and lively bars and pubs, Boat Quay is arguably the favourite place to “chill out” for most professionals and expatriates.


It's still bright although it's 17:30 o'clock. We saw the G-Max Reverse Bungy where your dose of adrenaline rush with. I didn't dare to try riding it. Designed and developed in New Zealand eight years ago, the G-Max is Singapore’s first extreme ride. It involves up to three people being seated in a specially designed open air steel reinforced capsule, attached by US-approved bungy cords to two towers. The cords are tightened and then released, catapulting the capsule up to 60m in the air at speeds of 200kph. The ride lasts for about 5 minutes.


Actually Clarke Quay looks more beautiful at night with so many lights, musics and the crowd itself. Shop, eat and be entertained by the riverside! Featuring five blocks of restored warehouses, Clarke Quay offers a quirky alternative to mainstream attractions, with second-hand and antique shops and restaurants with an amazing array of F&B options. In the evenings, dance clubs and pubs come alive with music from the 1960s to the present. One dollar ice cream was our favourite snack in Singapore, we enjoyed it and sitting by the river while waiting for the dark to see the beautiful lights. Unfortunately until 18:30 were still bright, so we gave up, because we had to take our luggage to go to KL.

Back to the apartment we took our luggage, we got a chance to wash our face to make it fresher after a long walking and sweatening :-) We had dinner at Lucky Plaza food court, our luggage blocked the small space among the chairs, it made people could not go through behind us. I had one dollar ice cream again and ate the bakcang for my dinner meal. The Bakcang was so delicious, it's quite big, it made me full.

The day was ended by taking the bus to KL. We took an executive bus, it's so big, but it's contained only 33 persons. Only 3 persons in a row, each seat had a TV set, and there was a massage feature at the chair. We enjoyed it at the first time, but during the trip, it became very cold. We asked the driver to reduce the air conditioner, but he said it's automatic, he could not adjust it. During the trip all of us were shivering. Thanks God that we could arrive in KL faster than planned, around 03:00 o'clock in the morning. It's still dark, we were dropped at Pudu area, a taxi were escorting us to the hotel where we could sleep well with the proper room.

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Balikpapan, yummy crabs

During a business trip in Balikpapan last June'08 I stayed in Novotel which is located in downtown area. The hotel is quite new, with modern and minimalist style. So many foreigners were chatting and enjoying the bar besides the lobby. There are many oils company in Balikpapan, no wonder most guests are foreigners. In front of the hotel, a limousine is always standby, maybe it's for the vip guests. My friend was lucky, he gots a room with nice view, the beautiful swimming pool with sea as the background. It's very attempting people to swim with the blue clean and fresh water.


To find food, you could just walk near the hotel. That night we decided to have dinner in Dapeen restaurant located just across the hotel. The restaurant was not too crowded comparing to the one beside it, but my colleague had been there before and she said that the food was quite ok, that's why we prefered to try it. There were some seats on the beach, on the terrace and inside the room. On the beach was not too nice, because not enough light to enjoy the waves and the seat were wet by the sea wave. The moon was shining bright that night, it's very round, unfortunately I failed to show it in the photos, it looked like the electricity light than the real moon :-(. We sat on the porch, the wind was blowing so hard made the napkins flying, so we decided to move inside the room. Apparently the environment is quite nice too, there is a stage and bar tables, however no life band at that night. The food was quite ok, fried chicken was acceptable.

Balikpapan is hilly, the road is so gradient, if you're crazy about sports, please try riding bike here :-) I bet you will be sweaty. Our office is on the urban area, if I see from the opposite road, it seems that the building position is above the neighbour. Clean water is quite difficult to get, I heard they have to buy water everyday. We didn't realize that it's raining hard during the night, it's a pity that some colleagues had to cross the flood to go to the office. We got lost for a while, but lucky that we selected a different route so we didn't trap in the flood. People say that the lower part of Balikpapan is often flooding during the tide rises, rainy season makes them more suffering.


My colleague who knows well about Balikpapan suggested to have dinner in Kenari restaurant, which is famous of Kenari crabs. Of course crabs was the number one priority in our order list. We ordered a special sauce crabs, and butter fried crab, but steam shrimp, fried squid, and fish also in our list. We were very surprised when the first crab came, the portion was so huge, it's a dishful of 3-4 big crabs. We called the waiters to cancel the second one because we're afraid that we could not finish it, unfortunately she refused it. They had cooked the order for us, no chance for cancelation. We planned to wrap and bring it home if we could not finish it. When we started eating, some of our colleagues were not interested, the crab was very yummy, sweet, sour and piquant. Finally they attempted to try because we said many times it's very tasty. All of us were very ravenous to enjoy the crab, all of sudden it's completely finish off :-) When the next crab appeared simultaneously we gobbled it, nothing left on the table anymore. You should try if you love crabs, the crabs were very delicious with perfect combination ingridients.


All of us were satiated, as people say that it's not good to go to bed with full stomach. After riding the car around the city to see town square where young people are hanging around at night, Pertamina area where there is an eternal flame on the artesian well on the beach and some huge tanks for oil with the housing complex at the hilly side, we decided to enjoy the lobby hotel. We chatted and enjoyed the welcome drink, imperceptible time run quickly. Borrow my colleague's camera I also took some pictures at the spacious and luxurious lobby for our memory in the oil city, Balikpapan.

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Journey to Kuala Lumpur - Day 1

Last May'08 my colleagues and I (5 of us) as backpackers went to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL) through Batam. It's tiring but there were a lot of memorable incidents during the trip. As soon as arrived in Singapore we planned to go directly by bus to KL, unfortunately no seat available anymore. We were so optimists that we could get the bus, unfortunately we failed to get transportation to KL on that night. To find the bus, we had walked for several hours starting from the bus ticket office in Harbour Front, Golden Mile Mall, until Lavender MRT station; even train ticket in Tanjong Pagar was also sold out too. Golden Mile Mall is the central bus ticket to KL, when searching for it, we walked to the opposite of the correct direction for almost an hour. Some Singaporean people we met could not speak English or if they could speak English they gave a wrong direction maybe because we have different dialect, so sometimes we had a miscommunication. It's a pity while our feet were getting soar and it's getting late at night. I learnt that we need to write down every destination address, so we could just show it to them.

We didn't realize that it's a long weekend (that Monday was a national holiday) either in Singapore and Malaysia, no wonder no ticket available anymore. I gave up walking, so I asked my friends to go by cab (only 4 persons maximum in a cab) to find the ticket while one of my friend and I were waiting at MRT station. Accidentally when my friend bought candy, I saw a bus ticket just right on the front of the MRT station. We didn't see it before, because we were rushing walking to the direction informed by the station officer. Finally at 21:30 we could get the bus ticket for the next night, so we had to spent a night in Singapore. No room had been reserved, but lucky that we had collected a list of apartment rental http://aryanitj.blogspot.com/2008/07/singapore-apartment-rental-list.html in Singapore, so I could call one by one to find whether there were any rooms available.

I bought a local phone card to call one by one from the list. Madam Soh's apartment in Lucky Plaza was selected, she said that there were some rooms available and we could directly visited her. We met with her helpful and funny maid, Mbak Wati, from Central Java, so she could speak Javanese. We felt like at home meeting with a person from Java after getting lost in the evening :-). We need 3 rooms, unfortunately only 2 rooms available, so we must split the couple. Mbak Wati were very kind, she provided us clean rooms and some towels, although towels were not part of their service.

After taking a bath we felt fresh, but I was too tired to walk again, I took a rest while my friends walked through shining Orchard road street. I heard they stopped by Burger King to have supper then took some pictures along the Orchard road including playing around by taking funny pictures with the beautiful girl photos along the street. Not too long they had returned to the apartment, although the rooms were quite small but we could rest our feet at that night to continue the journey.

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Singapore apartment rental list

Lucky Plaza apartment - Orchard Road S$60-90/day near Mount Elizabeth Hospital

1. Ibu Maria #18-02: 9673 7590 / 6738 8190
2. Madam Soh (4 unit) #23-02 : 6736 1306/9639 1586
3. Madam Lie (Madam Soh's sister) : 6732 5629
4. Lucky Plaza #20-03 : 6737 1003
5. Lena (65) 97371587 / 97665990, Indonesia #: 0811-693088 or 62-21- 68857118
6. Lily (clean)#21-01 : 6732 9876/9003 0863
7. Lucky Plaza #20-01: 62386078, 67379128 - Ibu Frieda / her maid: Mbak Ati
8. Mdm. Wong 94570490 (maid: Umi/Ati 67387515)
9. Yani 68352014/67363901, mobile phone Umi (90680061) able to cook. There is an apartment unit with 2 bedrooms (1 queen + 1 single bed) and 2 bathrooms costs S$150
10. Ibu Tini, contact no. (65)96382430
11. Ibu Eli = +65 67379128 , 62386078
12. Ibu Ani 67363901 at 16th and 20th floor
13. Hui In +65 67325845 at 10th floor
14. ACU 97665703 , 947549943 at 26th floor
15. Tante Greta 96699375
16. Juliana / Asui : +6581080634, have units on the 13th , 14th and 17 th floor
    

Chinatown S$50-70/day, near Singapore General Hospital

1. Mrs Foo (her maid: Mbak Atun): People Park Centre # 17-05, #16-02 phone: 62250442/6330316
2. Ee In : People Park Centre #24-04 : 6535 2118
3. Elly/Lily (from Palembang) : Studio $70 could be filled with 8 persons, phone: 9690 8230
4. Rosmawati (A-ik) and Indrawati (Mei-hui) : People's Park Centre #13-02 at floor #15, #11, #19 : 6535-0226/9630 9430. Her maid, mbak Tuti Hp : 8126 8591
5. Mrs Teo : People's Park Centre #09-01 : 6536-5690, 6533-8404, 6532-4515
6. Mrs Liew : People's Park Centre #25-01, #10-03, #10-02 : 6221-2671, 6534-1791, 6225-3806
7. Mr. Lim and Nancy Tan : People's Park Centre #11-754, #24-901, #25-918, #26-05 : 6538-0027, 6535-3957 Hp: 9456-9861
8. Mbak Lia : People's Park Centre #?? : 9165-4613
9. Mrs Lee : People's Park Centre #?? : 9695-0980
10. Yetty Tan : People's Park Centre #14-04, #12-06, #22-03 : 6535-2929, 6535-4411 Email : wongtomo@hotmail.com
11. Mdm Lim : People's Park Centre #12-28, #10-27, #09-26, #27-05 : 6533-1938
12. Nyonya Liao : People's Park Centre #13-06 : 6532-7769, 6535-0782
    

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