zags travels

I need to pack! In 2 days we're going to Central Java by car. First destination: Semarang, but will stop by in Cirebon (West Java) to have the tasty fried chicken! Then from Semarang to Blora, my dad's hometown to visit granddad's house (now our relative is taking care of the house), eat the Tahu Lontong and Sate Blora yum! Then to Solo (not staying) then Jogja (Yogyakarta).

We'll see!

After the typical busy Jakarta weekends, we finally spent a(nother busy) weekend in a nice place close to the nature, Taman Safari Indonesia. It's a large park located on the slope of Mount Gede in Bogor, West Java. It has a zoo, a baby zoo, recreation parks, hiking trails (Safari Trek), a camping ground, an outbound area, bungalows, caravans, lodges, hot-water swimming pool, jacuzzi, etc.

It was my sister's idea to spend a weekend there to take her mom-in-law who came from Japan. Unexpectedly, it became a big family weekend as we found out that my aunt was also taking my cousin and her kids who came from UK for a holiday here. They also invited my cousin's parents-in-law and sister-in-law and her kids. There are also my other cousin with her family (hubby & kids) and her sister-in-law with her hubby, another cousin with her kid and parents-in-law. So there were 3 bungalows with many families altogether (count for yourself). Maybe it's hard for you to imagine, but this is not so unusual for Indonesian families. By the way, each bungalow has 3 bedrooms. Only our bungalow has a kitchen, so in the evening we gathered there - had dinner and chats.

Saturday late morning we left Jakarta - 7 adults + one baby in one car: Didi, my parents, my sisters, my sister's baby, and my sister's mom-in-law. We went up to Puncak - the summit - and had lunch at the well-known restaurant there called Rindu Alam. The service was bad - the waiters didn't welcome you nor came to take your orders. It was difficult to get them and our orders came after a long wait and we were very hungry. After lunch we stopped for a while at a mosque with a nice view down to the tea plantation.

There were many street vendors selling food, drinks and accessories at the parking lot. After then we went back down to Taman Safari, to our bungalow. The others were at the recreation park and went back to their bungalows late afternoon.

After dinner at our bungalow, some of us got out for the Night Safari. I didn't go because I didn't feel like it, but then I'd been there before. You must try if you haven't been there. After you finished the Night Safari you can have fun at the recreation park. Jet coaster and the like. You want to know how scary Indonesian ghosts are? Try the haunted cave!

As planned, the next morning we went for the Safari Trek. The "Kancil Trail" is 3 kms and the "Macan Tutul (Cheetah) Trail" is another 3.5 kms. We went through a forest, met an elephant on our way, crossed a creek through a hanging bridge and so on. The end of Kancil Trail is the camping ground and the outbound area. You can play all the games there for only 25,000 rupiahs (about only US$0.25). I saw adults acting crazy there, playing games and water slide - it's such a healthy way to release stress.

In the afternoon we went to see a new performance called "Wild Wild West". It's like a play performance about American Indians and cowboys. I don't know why it should be about Wild Wild West, but...nice effects. Maybe I'll put the photos later.

For you who like shopping, there are many nice and cute merchandise in the shops at Taman Safari. I bought a baby blanket with giraffe-skin-like prints and a cute tiny T-shirt for my nephew. There are also dolls/stuffed animals, mugs, CDs, umbrellas, photo frames, and other animal-related stuff.

On our way back to Jakarta, we stopped to have a late lunch at a restaurant called Sinar Alam. The food was good! I am a person who don't really like eating, but I was so amazed by its Ayam Penyet and sambal.

A tiring but fun weekend.

It was kind of sudden. I went to join Didi for the weekend. After an hour of waiting for the check-in counter to open, I found that all Air Asia flights were delayed. There was even a flight to Batam which was supposed to leave at 3pm that was delayed to 9pm. My flight was supposed to be on 8.40pm but it was delayed to 11pm! It's a boring place, the terminal for cheap flights, so maybe I shouldn't complain? There wasn't even a book shop there. Only a few snack shops and, strangely, a T-shirt shop. They would be closed before we board and the terminal would become even dimmer.

Luckily my cousin, aunt & uncle who live not far from the airport were so kind they picked me up after I checked in for the flight to their house. They even opened their doors for my new acquaintance. We had dinner and spent time chatting. At 10pm my cousin & her husband drove us back to the airport.

We arrived at around 2am. There is no airport shuttle from Le Meridien hotel so we had to pay to use the hotel car & driver to pick me up. We arrived at the hotel at 3am. I was very tired and sleepy.

Day 1

Got up late and had breakfast just before the breakfast time was over. I could see the temple of Tanah Lot from my table but I couldn't get a good angle for a photo because I didn't have a zoom lens. After breakfast and shower, I just couldn't believe that Didi got a call from his office and he had to work! He was supposed to be on days off. So worked on some presentation slides (yuck) and I went around the swimming pool that has curves and slides, then went around the back of the hotel.

Later we had to check out and paid for a car & a driver from the hotel to take us to our next accommodation in Kuta beach. Alam Kul Kul is a nice boutique hotel. It's like a garden with rooms and villas closed to each other. There is a swimming pool and a "garden" pool. The soap bars were jasmine-scented, which I loved. So were the shampoo & conditioner. And we got a complimentary body moisturiser placed on a couple of small basins made of banana leaf - also jasmine-scented. I loved it!

Starving, we walked to find something to eat. We had a very late lunch at a "contradictive" restaurant called "Ketumbar". It's a name of a kind of Indonesian spices, but they serve Italian food, which I think is not spicy at all.

Later in the afternoon we went to the beach watching people surfing and the sunset. I found something familiar: a red flag saying "no swimming in this area" with a skeleton (check out Lonely Planet's BLUE LIST p.32).

In the evening, believe it or not, Didi flew back to Jakarta for an important thing the next day. After dropping him at the airport by taxi, I met up with Aswin at Bali Discovery. He picked me up and we drove on the bike for dinner at a reasonable price: where locals eat. It had been a long time since the last time I rode a bike, so it was fun. He drove me back to the hotel after dinner, and picked me up again at 11 pm. We went to Hard Rock Cafe to see one of a nice jazz group perfomed, Maliq & d'Essentials. It was fun.

Day 2

Aswin's supposed to join me for breakfast (after all I had a coupon for 2) but he didn't wake up and answer my sms until it was late. I had breakfast then exercise by myself on my room's balcony, getting sweaty, taking a break, then having shower. By then it was already too hot to go out so I just relaxed in my room watching TV until I got starved. Aswin came and picked me up again. Dropped off some laundry on the way and had lunch.

Late afternoon he was supposed to pick me up with a rental car, but something came up and he didn't make it. So I went alone. Took a taxi and went to Uluwatu. I was just there for half an hour enjoying the view from the cliff to the ocean and taking a few photos.

Beside the cliff, the monkeys are interesting subjects. A monkey jumped on the head of a tourist, who then couldn't stop screaming while it stayed on her head.

Didi arrived past midnight. I was awaken by the ring on my phone, opened the door for him, and fell into a deep sleep again.

Day 3

It was like the first day he could be on vacation. He wanted to go somewhere. After doing silly things like having temporary tattoos and 4 braids on my hair, we got a rental car and went North to Gunung Kawi Temple in Tampaksiring. It was located in a rice field area, with many stairs down to reach the site. Rock cliffs are carved to form a temple. It was my first time there and I think it's a creepy place.

Somehow we met a couple who offered to take our photo for us in return for us to take their photo for them. So here it is:

From there we drove South past Kuta to Uluwatu to watch the Kecak Dance performed when the sun was setting. It was like magic.

When the dance finished it was already dark. We left Uluwatu and drove back to Kuta and had dinner. Then we came to see Aswin at Harris Resort and watch the live performance of a music group called Saharadja. Their music is unique and interesting. Sometimes it's jazz, sometimes it's ethnic.

Day 4

As planned the night before, we came to Harris Resort again to learn to surf. After some theory and paddling practice in the pool, we went to the sea. It was fun!

Day 5

Breakfast, went to the beach, went swimming, packed and went to the airport. Vacation was over. I went back with dark and burned skin, but I was happy.

Just arrived in Bali late this afternoon
now am leaving Tanah Lot for dinner.

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In bali but didn't feel like bali.
Spent the whole next day on "team building" program with colleagues and bosses... :-|

After team building was over I was so starving my room mate and I ate lunch in our room silently - each busy with our own lunch. It was good! Nasi Wardhani - yummy... After that: shower, packing.. Some went out for some shopping, but since I was leaving I stayed for a while longer at the hotel before heading to the airport. And off I flew back to Jakarta. Later I heard stories from colleagues who spent another night and day there visiting places with the boss...

Ah.

I'd love to thank my good old camera (was actually my dad's), the Nikkormat that had been with me during my travels, burdening my shoulder and/or neck but I just couldn't travel without it It's heavy because of its metal body, but it's strong.

This is a picture of a religious ceremony in Kuta beach, Bali, one of the pictures I have taken with my Nikkormat. I had to go through a crowd to get this shot, but the result is not disappointing - in my opinion.

Now my Nikkormat is lying in my room, its lens needs cleansing because of fungus(?). I've had a new pro camera early this year. It's lighter and it's digital.

Now I travel with the new camera.