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!

Kapal Kertas

picture from: http://wwwlukisan-senja.blogspot.com/2011/08/perahu-kertas.html

Berangkat! Di atas Kapal Kertas!

The Ultimate Tuesday Crush of 2013: JGL

Hello Good People! Welcome to the last day of 2013!

Well anyway, since this is Tuesday, I'd love to post this year's latest Tuesday Crush post. And I'm gonna write about my (and lots of women's) ultimate celebrity crush: the one and only, Mr. Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

"Oh, so you're going to write about me?"

And below are another 3 reason why we, women, are head over heels to him. Just some extra evidences to remind you that JGL is so ADORABLE *bold italic capital mode: on*

1. JGL ages like a fine wine
JGL's undeniably cute since the 10 Things I Hate About You era, and then he turned to geeky-cool during circa (500) Days, and unbearably hot in Don Jon. Adulthood goes really well on him *drool*.

2. JGL can do no wrong
JGL acts really well. He succeeded his director debut. He's an artsy gutsy guy. His Hitrecordjoe open-collaborative projects (such as The Tiny Book) are impressive. He can sing. He can dance. JGL just can do anything.

3. JGL made Lady Gaga looked human :D
Take a look at this. Even Gaga couldn't stand his charm

 And because it's new year's eve, here's another video from JGL and Zooey D.

Ahahah :D How can we not love him?

Year End Notes: Keep Calm... and Enjoy The Moment!

Whoaaa! It's already year end again! A bit scary how 2013 has been passing just in a quick blink, eh? ><"

Anyway, last month was November, my month. Apparently I’m already a year older, getting closer and closer to the terrifying 30. TERRIFYYYYYYING *insert horror meme here*. Most of people I know have been married and getting babies, meanwhile I’m like still stuck in early 20s mental age. And it made me worry, made me want to hurry. I didn't want to be left behind.

But then, why worry? What to hurry? Life is a never ending journey. Don’t make it meaningless. If it takes forever to find out its meaning, then make it forever lasting journey of understanding. We don’t have to always understand what life means, often we just have to let it be. And either it means good or bad, it will keep happening anyway. So, just let today happens in its way.

Eventually, I am grateful for every bits of the past years. And I’m trying to enjoy it, trying to living it in the most fun way. Enjoying every silly moments and embrace my life with childlike optimistic. I know this might sound naive, but I believe, that the best thing to deal with life is to get along with The Master’s plan. Perhaps His plans on our lives are not always about happiness and laughters, instead He teaches us the goodness of mixed moments – up and downs, light and dark, happy and sad; the meaningfful binary oppositions.
We just have to keep calm and enjoy the moment :D