The Pearly Pearl Museum Benteng Heritage

Remember the Jakarta By Train website that I mentioned earlier? The web creator - Anggara - decides to make a gathering of his web readers and his twitter followers regularly, in the form of a tour toward some unique destinations in Greater Jakarta, using commuterline. The gathering's called #TourKRL. 

A few months ago (disclaimer: this is a very very late post, ha!) me and Ilma joined the #TourKRL to Museum Benteng Heritage in Tangerang.

at Tangerang Station with fellow #TourKRL members 

It's fun to meet strangers (turn friends) with the same interest! I rarely found people who's fond of museum before :(

We then walked into Pasar Lama area. This crowded area near Cisadane River, is believed as the initial settlements of Chinese ethnic in former Batavia. The initial settlers are part of Admiral Cheng Ho's followers in 15th Century. These settlers have since become known as Cina Benteng, or Chinese of the Fort, as Cisadane River becoming the site of Dutch Fort in 17th Century. Today, the Cina Benteng community are living in harmony with their Moslem neighbors. 

Cisadane Riverside

on our way to the museum

What's so special of the Museum Benteng Heritage is, it's a private owned Museum and Banten's filthy corrupt government (Ratu Atut and her clan *sigh*) do nothing to help it. Museum Benteng Heritage is founded by Bapak Udaya Halim, an education figure in Tangerang, in order to preserve and appreciate Chinese cultures and traditions.

Bapak Udaya is a Chinese Benteng descendant who lived in Pasar Lama when he was a kid. Much later, he bought one of the abandoned shop-house there, renovated it while keeping it as original as possible, and turned it into museum.

I can't imagine how much Bapak Udaya spent in the restoration. He had to travel here and there to find Chinese Benteng related heritages that spread across Asia. Not to mention the museum's impressive decor that got awarded by FIABCI (International Real Estate Federation). Our guide also told us that some artifacts and collections had to be separated into tinier pieces because Bapak Udaya and his family carried them on a commercial planes, and Bapak Udaya's brother (who's apparently an architect) had to reconstruct them.

The museum is quite small but its' interior is sooooo pretty. Too bad taking photo is restricted inside the museum :( You can find out about the museum here.

posing in the museum lobby

at the Museum's terrace

The museum also have a heritage walk program around Pasar Lama area. It's kinda pricey but totally worth it. After all, idealistic people like Bapak Udaya should have to be supported, right? Our government will do nothing about culture and tradition or tourism. I'm kind of irritated to see area in front of the museum is filled with garbage from the traditional market that hasn't been cleaned yet. Our guide said that the museum already complained and asked for some acts of the government to fix it but no actions have been taken yet :(

Near the museum, there are also Klenteng Boen Tek Bio, the oldest Chinese temple in Tangerang.

at one of Klenteng Boen Tek Bio's gate

Around May or June, a festival named Pe Cun is held in Cisadane River. There will be dragon-boat race and Barongsai procession. And not to mention the yummy Chinese foods! :9

I also have another travel stories with the fellow #tourKRL member. 'Til the next posts!

Credits: some of writing materials are taken from this.

Another Day in Bangkok: Songkran Festival and Chinatown

Just shortly after booked a round ticket to Bangkok with the girls last January (that I blogged before), I found out that I won another round ticket to Bangkok from Air Asia! :D Yeaayyyy! Bangkok, I'm back!

The quiz was held in twitter to celebrate Air Asia's CEO Birthday. I never expected I'd win! Ahaha apparently my lucky charm still works, eh? Anyway, for the gift, I could freely chose date between January to April 2014. But, the free ticket only valid for one person. Thinking that I'd probably go alone and the trip would probably be my first ever trip alone, I chose the date of Songkran Festival at mid April 2014.

While getting closer to the departure date, I was really nervous since I have never going abroad alone before. I also worried that I'd be bored to death since I'd have none to talk to and how could I enjoy the festivity while I am feeling lonely? And what if I'd lost and couldn't find anyone speaking English? What if there'll be another shutdown and demonstrations like we met last January? And so on and so on...

But I tried to calm myself down by kept thinking, that I'm lucky. Not everyone got the chance to see the famous Songkran Fest. And not everyone can go abroad without paying no fare :D

And then, just two days before departure, Emi texted that she wanted to go with me! Omaigod I was soooo relieved :'D Finally I won't be alone there!

And so there we were, enjoying water festival and exploring the city!

view from Silom BTS Station: thousand of people marching armored with water splash gun 

EPIC! All kind of women, men, kids, elders - all roaming down the streets searching for the next victim :D

Songkran Festival is a celebration for Thailand New Year Day. Everyone participates by throwing the water to another person as a symbol for washing the bad things away and starting the new year with clear mind and soul. The water also mixed with some kind of white chalk that means blessing. 

The festival happened after lunch, because in the morning they usually pray and visit the family. The roads were rather empty and only tourists passing by. But around 2 PM, it seemed like everyone were coming to the streets carrying water-guns! And they kept throwing and splashing water to everyone! It was a chaotic fun!

the water mixed with some kind of chalk and left the streets covered with white mud

cheater Emi didn't want to get wet so she carried herself a raincoat. Cheater! >:))

posing in front of Silom Station - just exactly before someone splashed me in the head!

earlier before lunch, the kids at Chatuchak Market already shot us

Pro tip for enjoying Songkran: don't let yourself dry for too long! Seriously, just smile and mingle with random strangers you meet and have yourself a blast. The festival is really entertaining.

Aside from getting wet, we also managed to visit another places in Bangkok, especially since this is the first time for Emi. We went to the famous Wats (Emi was really fond of Wat Arun, but hey, who doesn't?) We went to Chatuchak and Asiatique (still my favorite spot in Bangkok, ever) and some night market near Pratunam Shopping Centre. Actually, we tried to go to Pratunam and Platinum because I haven't got the time to go there on my previous visit. But apparently, due to the national holiday, the shops closed earlier. And while trying to find the nearest BTS Station (we're lost, haha!) we found a night market nearby that sells Chatuchak-like stuffs. Even better that we didn't have to thrust around.

at the night market

We also went to Bangkok Old Town - the area near Hua Lampong MRT Station, and more known as Yao Warat or Chinatown Area. This part of the city looks really similar to Jakarta's Glodok. 

at old Hua Lampong Train Station. The neo-renaissance-like architectural was nice, but very dirty and smelly :(

a cute statue near the Yao Warat Gate. Still wondering what animal is this :))

The Chinese Arch that marks the beginning of Yao Warat Road

People say the best time to visit Yao Warat is at night, because at the day the roads will be looked as same as other part of Bangkok busy district. But at dawn, street food restaurants will pop out. There's even a culinary walking tour here that offers tasting some famous local eateries and visiting some landmarks. 

Another highlight of Yao Warat other than its Chinese heritage and culinary vaganza, is Wat Traimit, or The Temple of The Golden Buddha, where the world's acclaimed largest solid-gold Buddha image is located. Too bad, I came there in the afternoon when the wat has closed already :( I also couldn't take the temple's yard properly because of the cloudy weather.

the nice Monk in the Wat Traimit's yard

can you see the golden tower at the background? It's Wat Traimit

  

Please do forgive me for the un-proper picture ><" Anyway, although Yao Warat is full of Chinese communities, apparently there are a lot of Moslem in the Bangkok Old Town area :D Since Emi wears hijab, we're recognized as Moslem and greeted salam. A nice simple thing that matters :')

I just love our short trip to Bangkok this time. And I'm glad I was there.

See ya on another post!

Girls Days Out: Bangkok!

Super Mega Ultra Extra Late Post about my trip to Bangkok with the girls, that happened about a century ago last January....

Our ritual 'morning meeting' trip. Who says women can't read map, eh?

We already planned about this since end of 2013. Although facing the worrisome fact that we'd be in town on the onset of Bangkok Shutdown, we kept going, and thankfully, we enjoy all of our times there, safe and sound.

We stayed in a hostel named D'Talak (such a horrible name for us Indonesians xD). The hostel was not fancy but quiet clean and ok, and located near a MRT Station, which is the most important part of us since we're exploring the city by train. Trains (both MRT and BTS) apparently are the most effective public transportation in Bangkok - you can't count on their taxi (they're meter-less and always offer you high rate) or bus (annoying traffic everywhere). With all its hustle and bustle, Bangkok really reminds me of Jakarta, even in some certain ways I don't feel like in abroad :))

Mandatory Visit: The Temples
You're not going to Bangkok if you haven't seen their stunning temples (or Wat, as locals call 'em). There are more than 400 Wats around Bangkok, but the most famous among tourists are this three:
Wat Arun

Wat Arun: The Temple of Dawn

Located in the riverside of famous Chao Phraya, Wat Arun is so far the prettiest among all of temples I've saw. It's built of thousands tiny pieces of colored glass and porcelain that placed delicately into wonderful patterns. The glasses reflect lights at night and will be looked even prettier at sunset. 

How detail! Wonder how long did it take to build this? (*o*)

Dare yourself to climb the spire! We can see the Grand Palace and Wat Pho opposite.

View from the top. Very windy up there

Wat Phra Kaew 

Also known as 'Temple of Emerald Buddha', Wat Phra Kaew located within the area of The Grand Palace. Inside of the shrine is the Buddha statue carved from jade. Since no one but The King is allowed to be near the statue, we could only see it from the outside. Too bad it was really crowded, so I can't get the pic of the statue :(

Temple of Emerald Buddha

Wat Pho

This is a large complex of temples with gigantic The Reclining Buddha statue as a highlight. The chapels' architecture is also worth-seeing (and very instagrammable :p)

the girls feat Wat Pho's Guardians

Wat Pho's courtyard

The smiley Reclining Buddha statue. It seemed he's got a Budhha's Delight :))

All of the temples are in the same neighborhood. I suggest to visit Wat Phra (and Grand Palace) first, next Wat Pho, and then crossing the river to Wat Arun. You could take BTS to Saphan Taksin Station (Silom Line) and transfer to Central Pier (or Sathorn Pier) by tourist boats. Very important tips: watch your wallet! They say there's some pickpockets at the boats (thanked God we didn't meet one). Also, pay attention to the boat type - there are several kind of boats with different price range depends on your budget.

The Grand Palace

This city's famous landmark is also still functions as the King's Home and government building. Beside Wat Phra Kaew, I love how its' architecture style and Europe-ish inspired. 

The Chakri Maha Prasat (Grand Palace Hall)

Chakri Maha Pasat's awesome decor

The Chakri's buildings were inspired by various architectural style the former King Rama saw on his trip to Java and Singapore, but designed by Englishmen (or so it said in guide book :P). That's why the culture mix are so strong on these buildings.

The Phra Thinang Boromphiman (Boromphiman Throne Hall)

As a vintage-looking building fetish, I just loooved to wander around Grand Palace. If only the sun wasn't that hot!

The Shopping Galore

Chatuchak Market

We went to Chatuchak weekend market (obviously). Since we're too busy strolling around (we even get lost each other!) we didn't even have time to take proper pictures. To be honest, I didn't really fancy Chatuchak's kind of clothes because of the materials seem cheapo (well, most of them) but I worship their interior designs stuffs! There are tons of cute vintage cupboards, coffee tables, lamps, anything! Well, basically you can find ANYTHING at Chatuchak - from trendy clothes for human and pet(!), to real animal (idk if it's legal), to groceries to medicines. There are new stuffs and preloved ones. There are also hip local designers product with better quality and massive convection products (with lesser quality 'course). Literally you can find anything here.

The foods were also tempting and varies from Thai Food, Mexican Food, Spanish Food, Indian, anything. And no worries, we can find halal foods easily here (just ask first).

the friendly Cook with extra large Paella pan. He's making a love for us! xD

Pro tips while visiting Chatuchak: if you go in a group, do choose a meeting point and meeting time after you finish your shopping, because the chance for you to be separated and lost. Also, wear the most comfy t-shirts and shoes since the weather is going to be very humid.

Anyway, it's really easy to find Chatuchak. Just take MRT to Chatuchak station or BTS to Mo Chit station. You can also take direct bus from Don Mueang airport.

Asiatique The Riverfront

With a free shuttle boat from Saphan Taksin, this current it place for youngsters is really accessable. It's a combination of a night market with dining experience, in a big warehouse-like hangar. I love this place! I think I can spend the whole afternoon reading here my self in one of its hip coffee shops.

the Bangkok Eye

We can find stuffs similar to Chatuchak or MBK (in a bit higher price) but without too much hassle and less crowded situations. There are also upper-scales boutique with interesting displays. This place is such an eyecandy.

the food hangar arena at dusk

riding a ricksha in the bay front

There are another places we visited. Such as Khlong Toei traditional market near our house and some random restaurant recommended by Tripadvisor. I ate some very lickin tasty tom yam and pad thai :9 Bangkok street foods are also make me drool :9

After 3 days, I went back to Jakarta while the girls continued their trip to Chiang Mai. I definitely will go back to Bangkok again!

JungleLand, Adventurously Fun!

It all started when Emi, out of the blue texted me, “Let’s go to Trans Studio Bandung”.

But after we googled, TSB entrance ticket is apparently quite pricey, plus, we need to spend more for train or shuttle bus to Bandung. Hence we skipped the plan. Not long after that, we found in Groupon a discount voucher for JungleLand, the newest theme park located in Sentul, near Bogor. Because we both happened to be really needed some adrenaline rush (but we’re kinda bored with Dunia Fantasi) we bought the voucher and went there in a rainy Saturday last February.

Anyway, for you who is interested to go to JungleLand, here some express tips from us:

1. Use your own car/ motorcycle, because there’s almost no public transportation routing to JungleLand. Or,

2. If using taxi, go in a group of minimum 4 people for better cost-sharing. Me and Emi took a taxi from Bogor Train Station straight to JungleLand and it costed almost Rp 100.000 (included toll, parking, and entrance ticket). I recommend you to rent an angkot for cheaper cost.

3. If using taxi, ask the driver his phone number and ask him to pick you up (and give extra for that). Because if you phone taxi call centre, they won’t likely accept your order to come, since it’s quite far from the city.

When we arrived, we’d rather surprised because JungleLand is really large! Apparently, with 35ha area, it claimed as the largest theme park in Indonesia. It's also located precisely in a hillside, with Gunung Pancar as a background view. This makes JungleLand more comfy than the (literally) hot Dunia Fantasi. At the entrance, there are some familiar restos and cafes such as Starbucks, Kedai Tiga Nyonya, some fast food chain stores, etc. The toilets and mushollas are also very clean and tidy (oh yes, the cleanliness of toilets and mushollas are my main concern of all places).

The Rides

All of the rides and attractions on JungleLand are named in Sundanese. We rode almost every thing, except the ones which under maintenance or didn't run due to safety reason (because it was raining all day long and some machines are dangerous to be run). Too bad, some of the closed ones are the most terrifying rides like Petir or Kebut-Kebutan :(.

Anyway, here are some of my favorites.

Hihibeuran

This one is my most favorite and I rode it twice in a row! Imagine you ride a jet-force that turns you upside-down, 180 degrees!

Disk'O

The giant plate is spinning and bring us up to 15 meters high!

Pontang-Panting

Kolecer

This claimed to be the highest ferris wheel in Indonesia, the top reached 45 meter height!

what we see from above

Ceblak-ceblok & Sarang Burung Berang

To be honest, I didn't have to courage to ride Sarang Burung Berang, so we just took its 'kiddo' version named Ceblak Ceblok

Dunia Dino

Total, there are 41 rides and attractions (and keep expanding) in JungleLand that divided into 4 zones. Each ride offers an unique concept (like, a roller-coaster with harvest theme, or a ferris-wheel that looks like strawberry) and can be enjoyed by all ages. At almost every rides, JungleLand made them on two version: for kids and adults. Everyone will enjoy their time here, just like us did :).

P.S: Due to very low quality of photos we took, I grabbed some photos above from here. And if you want to read more of JungleLand, care to visit their web.

Jakarta, by Train

photo from JakartaByTrain website

Have I told you I am an avid user of commuter-line train?

I use commuter-line almost every day to and from work, and sometimes on the weekend too. For people like me who live faaaar faaaaar awaaaay from the downtown, commuter-line is the best transportation mode I could find. It’s cheap, free from horrible traffic jam and way faster than any other mass transportation. It’s also almost as comfy as our private car. The only bad things about it is its lack of rail track that make the trains have to wait in line for the other train comes first every now and then.

So anyway, due to the need for update with commuter-line track info and condition, I follow some twitter account about commuter-line. Either the official one from PT KCJ or the ones that made by the commuter-line user communities. One of the accounts I followed is @JakartabyTrain.

Unlike the other accounts, @JakartabyTrain (which apparently has a website, too) not only informs about the lines traffic or the train conditions, but more to let us know about tourism destinations in Greater Jakarta Area nearby the commuter-line station. As stated in its website, it’s created to help everyone that wants to explore Greater Jakarta without worrying about the famous Jakarta’s traffic. While at the same time, also helps in reducing the usage of private transportation.

I do fall in love with @JakartabyTrain website, because, it’s not only giving us information about common tourism destinations such as museums, shops and malls, or restaurants but also informs about embassy locations, monument and statues, upcoming events, almost anything! It tells us about how to get there by train- e.g. which line we should take, how much time we need to walk from the nearest station (approximately less than 30 minutes walk to each destinations) and also the history behind the places.

The last part is what I like the most :D Do pardon my fetish to history and old buildings, eh? xD

The @JakartabyTrain website also serves us with rare info about some interesting Jakarta hidden gems. For instance, have you heard before that there’s a street named after Tan Malaka? Or do you know that the legendary wealthy Oey Tambah Sia did exist, and his former house still operates as diving gear equipment until now? Or do you know that current PGI Cikini Hospital Office was a replica from Callenberg Palace in Germany? Aaand, all of those fancy places could be reached by train.

I think this is a great website for a historical junkie and to promote eco-tourism awareness, and surely helps for a budget traveler like me. Ha! xD 

Let's explore Jakarta, by train!

September Getaway: Singapore!

Just some (late, as usual) recap from my weekend getaway with Emi to Singapore and Johor Bahru, last month.

At the first day, we went to Sanrio Hello Kitty Town in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It is an indoor theme park that shares a mall-like building with The Little Big Club. Every single things there are decorated in kitty style and the pink colored everywhere are definitely enough to satisfy the girlie-girl soul in you. 

At the Hello Kitty bedroom. Pink is all around

A lame show *whoops* of dancing Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel :))

Seriously, unless you're a massive Hello Kitty fan, you'd better not going to Hello Kitty Town :)) I warn you! Hahaha kidding, this place is dedicated for kids (and toddlers) and not suitable for grown ups. I'm not a big fan of her and neither does Emi - we're just want to take some silly pictures there. It's fun though, and we did took loooots of pictures, but besides taking pictures, there's almost nothing else you can do since most of the game venues and the activities are for them whose heights below 1,5 meters :P.

The next day, we went to Singapore Flyer and enjoyed the city view from the gigantic wheels, 165 meters above the sea :D

The Helix Bridge with MBS as a background (pardon my greasy face anyway)

The view from the top

With Emi inside of the wheels

If you can afford, you could have a fancy dinner on the wheels. It must be really nice to get proposed on the dinner, right? :P

After that, we hanged out by the river at Clarke Quay. I do love Clarke Quay's ambiance.

On food section, we discovered a tasty Nasi Padang owned by a Javanese lady in a hawker at Serangon Road. Her name is Ibu Nuraini and she's quite famous there :D 

On the last day, we went to 313Sommerset at Orchard Road to eat breakfast at Charlie Brown Cafe and to see HMV - a record store that looks like heaven for music memorabilia collectors. We also visited Singapore Art Museum as well. And of course, we went shopping at familiar places such as Mustafa Centre, Bugis Street, and Haji Lane. More photos comin' in the next post!