Posts from the ‘TRAVEL – MY GLOBE TROTTING EXPERIENCE’ Category
Malaysia,KL, 4 – 7 April 2012
A few great words to summarise Kuala Lumpur. It’s clean, fresh, organised, well structured, beautiful and very green city. I loved it. So much todo, so much to eat, and truly cosmopolitan and all religions seemed to be very happy side-by-side. I hope Malaysia will continue to embrace piece and harmony in the country. As an Indonesian origin, I am truly jealous!!
We stayed at the Swiss Garden Hotel in Jalan Pudu, a really nice, clean and affordable hotel. Its location is very centre, easy to get to great places in the centre of town on foot. It was a little bit far to walk to the PETRONAS Twin towers, but we did walk it, and as Kuala Lumpur was fairly cool in the evenings, it didn’t matter at all. If you plan to walk around KL, just make sure you carry some mineral water with you.
The layout out the city is really great, perfect for walkabout. Taxis are not too expensive, but you could also go on public transports such as busses and the monorail. The transport system in KL is so organised and it was easy to get to places. Most busses are air-conditioned, and the monorail system is well organised and the map is easy to follow.
There are so many things to do in KL, sadly we only stayed for 4 days, but we had so much fun. The China Town and the Pasar Seni were very special, but my favourite was the bird park. In the evening we would visit the street restaurants nearby the hotel. I can’t remember the name of the street exactly, I think it was at Persiaran Raja Chulan, not far from Jalan Bukit Bintang.
Evidently, many Indonesians go there now for short holidays, as Jakarta no longer able to offer that short break comfort. I think it’s time for Jakarta to tidy itself up, or its population will escape one by one to other Asian cities, particularly now Air Asia offer cheap tickets to all Asian Destinations.
KL, is really a destination worth a visit. This was my second visit, I went there with my husband in 1988, things got better since then. Well done Malaysia.
Germany – a day in Cologne Cathedral – 29 January 2012
Begun in 1248, the construction of this Gothic masterpiece took place in several stages and was not completed until 1880. Over seven centuries, successive builders were inspired by the same faith and a spirit of absolute fidelity to the original plans. Apart from its exceptional intrinsic value and the artistic masterpieces it contains, Cologne Cathedral testifies to the enduring strength of European Christianity.(Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/292)
VENICE, FREEZING FEBRUARY 2012, COLD BUT HAPPY SNAPPING
You probably have heard of Venice, a city apparently founded 1500 years ago, for sure long before Indonesia was born. A according to an online source Venice is linked by a series of over 150 canals and 400 bridges…..good grief…that many. I only passed about 50 of them in my 3 day visit. A friend and I visited the place during the coldest part of this year (2012), February 6th, to be précised. The canals were frozen and the air was so crisp and freezing, I felt that any part my uncovered body bits was going to just flicked off if I wasn’t careful, it was freeeeeezzzziiiing.
We spent most of the waking hours walking around the city crossing one bridge to the next, and spent an awful long time hanging around San Marco, taking pictures from every direction. It was fairly uncomfortable, wearing those enormously thick gloves and trying to click the camera’s shutter button at the same time. Oh boy…that was a miserable task, but managed to capture some amazing pictures from this visit. Phew!!
I am not much of a historian, so I am not confident enough to share what I know on this city historically, but if you need to know more about history of Venice, dating back to the beginning (well …..1500 years ago), do Google it, there are plenty of sources that would tell you amazing stories about this place.
I have to admit that Venice must be one of the most popular City in the world, even though the winter was so freezing, they were many visitors to this when I was there. Be warned that the city is quiet expensive, even for Londoners can be pretty expensive. Sadly there are not many public spaces where you can rest once your legs gone jelly, but a few churches open to the public, but you can’t chat there. The only option to rest is to stop in any cafe, have a cup of cappuccino or a glass of wine and just chill out.
The Italian tourist board is fairly organised and you can get all the necessary information on the city at the tourist information centres. River buses are easy to board, but these are not very cheap, but private taxis of course would be more expensive.
I enjoyed Venice tremendously, but certainly won’t go back there during the cold season, I found it hard to cope with the icy condition. The best time to visit Venice would be around April, May, September & October as June, July, August would be too hot and November to March would be too cold. Its climate is probably a bit like New York’s temperature, blue sky and cold win from the sea, contribute to the low temperature in the winter time.
Enjoy Venice, is a lot to see and to eat.
Batam, Indonesia, Galang Refugee Camp, Feb 2011
Galang Refugee Camp, Batam, Indonesia, Feb 2011
Spending 3 days in Singapore along the never-ending row of shopping centres and some artificial forests was really far too much and far too long for me. My boredom finally forced me to escape this super modern city to find peace and tranquillity out of intense capitalist atmosphere.
After a few brief discussions with my niece, she agreed to come along for a day visit to Batam Island of Indonesia. We didn’t have any guide book; the plan was just a trip for real Indonesian food, I was bored eating noodle and modern Chinese food for 3 days. I have heard a lot about Batam in the past, but only Batam as an industrial island and as free trade zone area as we all know it, but our visit to Batam was more than just a quick lunch, but an amazing trip full of stories, many of us probably haven’t heard before.
The journey from Singapore took only 45 minutes to the harbour in Batam. The boat was very clean and well managed. Upon arrival in Batam, the immigration procedure was fairly simple and we landed in a cafe/restaurant a few minutes later. I honestly felt so at home here, just by looking at the smiling waitress approaching us. Gosh, I am so proud to be part of this smiling nation. We indulged on some Padang food and Rendang was the main point of the trip. During the meal, a man approached us and I immediately sensed that he was selling something. I gave him a dirty look and said “thank you, we are eating”. After the meal, he started smiling at me again, and said “mbak…mau jalan-jalan?” means roughly in English “are you planning to travel around?”. As we planned to stay a few more hours before the last ferry back to Singapore, I said “yes, do you know a good place here”. He got up and headed towards our table and asked permission if he could sit down near us. He then told us a few good places and offered to take us there in return for a few Singapore dollars, sadly he won’t accept Indonesian Rrupiah L. We agreed and the journey began.
We started the journey from the main harbour, heading towards the outskirt of Batam passing the 7 bridges. The first bridge is very grand and followed by smaller bridges before we finally arrived at the Galang Refugee Camp. We arrived late afternoon welcomed by beautiful blue sky and extremely green forest. The driver suggested that we visit the museum office first to get some ideas what we were about to visit and see. We then drove slowly passing small streets and what looked like an amazingly beautiful village. UNHCR has designed the village so perfectly that the visit to the Camp has prompted many questions in my mind. This village is now redundant, not a single person insight, apart from us and a few other visitors.
It felt so peaceful, so near to heaven being able to see so many different house of prayers (The Mosque, The Church, The Buddhist temple, The Hindu temple, The Chinese Quil) standing side by side, and no war in sight. The fact that we didn’t see any human being around was indescribable feeling.
I dream that one day I would find a perfect village like this one in Indonesia, but functional one of course. A village with so many different religions live side by side in harmony. A village with a school, a hospital, a youth club, and few amazing playing fields between the houses. I don’t think it would be difficult to create this type of village, if we could all put our ego and differences aside and just think of God as the creator of all things.
I wonder how it was, when this camp was occupied?
