Central-East Java: Preamble

Salam dari Malaysia (saya dah kembali ke tanahair minggu lepas),

Ok, ini adalah percubaan pertama untuk menulis dalam Bahasa Melayu walaupun english saya pun takde la bagus sangat. Entry yang terlibat mungkin entry trip ke Indonesia baru-baru ni sahaja (bergantung kepada hasil entry ni nanti). Sila abaikan sebarang kecacatan bahasa yang mungkin ada ok. Dah lama tak tulis begini *OMG begini hehe...

Pertama kali saya ke Indonesia ialah ke Medan, Sumatera. So, kali ni nak cuba ke tanah Jawa pulak. Cita-cita asal nak buat trans Java dari Jakarta sampai ke Bali dalam 2/3 minggu, tapi biasala cuti yang ada menjadi penghalang, jadi terpaksalah layankan tanah Jawa ni berperingkat-peringkat. Baik ada sikit daripada takde langsung kan. Jadi, saya belilah tiket ke Yogyakarta pergi-balik untuk duration 6 hari. Kenapa ke Jogja? Sebab di Jogja ada 2 UNESCO site yang boleh saya cover. Kan travel priority saya nak cover seberapa banyak UNESCO site. Dan dari Jogja jugak, dekat saya nak menziarah kampung nenek saya di Cilacap. Kalau setakat nak melawat Jogja, 3 hari je dah cukup rasanya. Ok, itu adalah tujuan asal. Tapi yang jadinya lain :p Oleh sebab masa buat planning trans Java tu dah ada beberapa tempat wajib yang nak pegi di Jawa Barat, Tengah dan Timur, jadi saya tiba-tiba berubah fikiran nak pegi jugak satu tempat di Jawa Timur. Selitkan asal boleh ye. Menziarahi keluarga di Cilacap tu ditukar ke keluarga di Surabaya pulak. Huh, agak padat dan ambitious jugak tau sebenarnya. Itula kelemahan saya bila buat travel itinerary, over ambitious hehe...Tapi takpe, travel itinerary saya, saya punya suka la kan :p Sebab tu la saya suka travel independently daripada travel pakai tour pakej. Neway, Leo is known for being independent ;)

Saya bertolak dari KL ke Jogja pagi2 buta dengan adik saya. Ye, adik saya :)Ok, ni 1st time ok travel bersama adik. Saya konon2 nak cuba pegi solo je tapi tiba2 masa nak beli tiket tu macam tiada keberanian nak ber-solo-an pulak, jadi sebagai kakak yang konon2 bercita2 menjadikan ni trip bonding session, ajakla adik yang hanya pernah ke Singapore itu. Flight pagi ni agakla mencabar jugak sebab kena bangun pagi buta dan pertama kali sejak ada web check-in ni, saya terlepas untuk web check-in ok. Gila tak bersedia! Saya jadi bertambah cuak bila sampai airport tengok kiosk check-in tu ramai orang beratur. Jadi untuk mengelakkan ketinggalan pesawat, saya dengan percakapan paling sopan dan berbudi bahasa minta potong barisan orang lain. Terpaksa. Tapi, bila nak check-in tak boleh pulak, screen tu arahkan pegi ke kaunter pulak. Super cuak dah disitu. Tanyalah dekat petugas yang ada di situ, dia pun suruh pegi ke kaunter. Tengok jam, ada lebih kurang 45 minit je sebelum berlepas, itu jugak bermakna check-in time sudah hampir tutup! Lantas berlari ke kaunter (nasib baik bawak backpack aje kali ni) dan sebab kaunter tu share check-in dengan penumpang ke Jakarta, saya terpaksa potong barisan jugak. Lepas dah dapat boarding pass tu, huh teramat la lega perasaan. So, Yogyakarta here I come :)

Inilah backpack yang membolehkan saya berlari pantas :) The smallest in my travel history. First attempt saya untuk travel lightly. Harus diteruskan cara begini untuk trip seterusnya.

Untuk mengelakkan menjadi kelam kabut macam saya dan terpaksa berlari dan potong barisan di airport, ni adalah guideline untuk check-in bagi penumpang Air Asia. Sila ingat ok :)

Web Check-In: 7 hari hingga 4 jam sebelum masa penerbangan
Kiosk Chek-In: 24 jam hingga 1 jam sebelum masa penerbangan
Web Check-In: 7 hari hingga 4 jam sebelum masa penerbangan
Counter Check-In: 2 jam hingga 45 minit sebelum masa penerbangan
    

Lepas 2 jam 30 minit dalam pesawat (mood Indo, jadi harus guna pesawat hehe...), kami tiba di Adi Sujipto International Airport, Yogyakarta. Apa yang saya suka pada airport ini ialah ia dekat dengan bandar, ketika hampir mendarat dapat tengok macam2 pemandangan di bawah sana. Oh, saya juga suka tengok awan yang macam cotton candy tu. Hati saya berawan-awan :')

Bandara (airport) di sini agak kecil kalau nak dibandingkan dengan LCCT. Dalam 100 meter dari pesawat dah ada pintu masuk (tak payah nak jalan penat2), di situ jugak la kaunter immigration dan kat tepi tu jugak la baggage claim. Sangat kecil! Barisan untuk immigration check tu punyalah panjang sebab ada 2 kaunter sahaja, saya sempat berborak lama dengan uncle dari Malaysia yang menyangka saya adalah student Malaysia yang study di Jogja. Yelah, Jogja kan terkenal sebagai pusat universiti di Indonesia. Kelihatannya saya masih muda sebab disalah anggap sebagai student :p Walaupun airport Jogja ni kecil, pemeriksaan immigration agak canggih dari Malaysia. Perlu scan ibu jari dan anak2 jari lagi. Lepas tu perlu juga senyum dan pandang iris scanner di kaunter itu ok :) Didn't I tell u its canggih?

Waktu di Indonesia lewat 1 jam dari Malaysia, jadi bila kami tiba masih agak pagi lagi. First thing yang saya lakukan lepas keluar airport ialah beli topup sim card Indonesia saya. Saya tak pasti ada jual di airport atau tidak tapi warung kecil di luar airport menjadi pilihan. Dari airport, jalan terus menghala ke landasan keretapi, selepas melepasi post office dan beberapa warung makan, akan jumpa warung kecil jual topup. Jarak cuma dalam 100 meter aje. Bezanya di Indonesia bukan panggil topup tapi 'tambah pulsa'. Mula2 agak jenuh jugak nak explain ke mbak tu apa yang saya nak hehe...Harga topup di Indonesia macam di Beijing. Peniaga bebas nak mark up berapa harga jual. Selalunya diorang akan letak beberapa ribu extra. Macam di sini, saya beli topup Rp 50,000 tapi perlu bayar Rp 52,000. Maybe kalau di airport lebih mahal kot. Oh lupa, currency exchange ketika ini ialah RM 348 = Rp 1M. Cuba la kira berapa harga tambah pulsa saya tu. Harga terendah untuk tambah pulsa ialah Rp 5,000.

Lepas discuss dengan host saya di Jogja, saya mengambil keputusan untuk terus ke destinasi (tak budget) pertama tanpa ke rumah Lisa dulu (bersama backpack saya itu) ke Prambanan Temple. Transport yang digunakan di Jogja adalah bas Trans Jogja. Tiket ke mana-mana destinasi adalah Rp 3,000 sahaja, murah kan? Dari pintu arrival, menghala ke arah kiri dan korang akan jumpa laluan ke Trans Jogja.

Sepanjang perjalanan dari pintu arrival ke laluan Trans Jogja ni, saya diekori oleh teksi driver yang sangat persistent menghendaki saya menjadi penumpangnya. Biasalah tu kan, tempat tourist. Jadi dengan persistent juga saya menolak dan terus ke bus stop Trans Jogja. Tapi bila sampai, bus stop Trans Jogja ni sangat la beda dengan bus stop di Malaysia atau di tempat lain. Ia agak elevated dari tanah, berplatform dan berbumbung dan berdinding. Ia juga tak dipanggil bus stop tetapi halt yang mempunyai maksud yang sama. Tengok gambar la senang nak faham kan? Masa itu jugak saya baru tau rupanya tempat Restu berjumpa Dinda dalam cerita Love (Cinta versi Indonesia) itu adalah di bus stop rupanya. Bezanya, diorang di Transjakarta.

Inilah Trans Jogja halt

Tiket dibeli di pintu masuk halt dan selalunya penumpang yang tak biasa (macam saya) akan tanya laluan ke destinasi. Diorang akan bagitau bas nombor berapa perlu naik dan turun di halt mana dan jika perlu tukar bas, diorang akan bagitau juga. Bagus kan? Senang juga. Setiap kali bas tiba, petugas akan announce nombor bas dan laluannya. Dan, saya telah mula menyukai Trans Jogja ni :') Kelebihan Trans Jogja ini juga, ia mempunyai laluan tersendiri (tak bercampur dengan kenderaan lain), jadi ia cepat, reliable dan murah. 

Jadi, inilah rupa satisfied passenger of Trans Jogja :)

@travelleranatomy.blogspot.com

Live from Yogyakarta :D

Salam dari Yogya!

As i'm typing this, it's raining heavily outside (can't 'merempit' back home) and this place is playing very nice Indonesian song :D Feel like staying longer and writing some brief update to u guys.
 
I arrived yesterday morning, it was raining in the evening and now at 1.00am local time, it's raining again. Seems like rain keep following me on this trip. I hope for sunny day when I reach east java in 2 days. Will be back to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday morning.


Started the day very early today, at 5am! Went to Dieng Plateau in Central Java, it's a 4-5 hours trip. On the way back, drop by at Borobodur before going back to Yogja. It was a sudden change of plan as adviced by my host. Anyway, it's worth the journey. Will share some photos when im back because the camera cable is not with me now. I just got here after dinner at vegetarian restaurant with my host and my sister. It's a lovely place and food is very cheap there! Im still wearing the same cloth since this morning so u could tell how my time were spent when im travelling. And top it up, I have no confirm plan to Bromo YET! The initial planning is to take midnight train tomorrow and enter Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park via Ngadas but the things happen, the arrangement I made earlier is not working out. So here I am, trying my best to stay calm and make Plan B. This is not what I usually face while travelling, never! Let's hope everything is working well as I expected. Amin.

Oh, they are playing english songs now. Don't feel like in Indonesia anymore hehe...the heavy rain has subside, might as well suggest my host to 'merempit' back to her place. Oh no, I supposed to top up my Indonesia sim card but it's already late, not sure if there's any available shop selling it at this hour. I expect the Rp 50,000 worth airtime lasted until Wednesday but updating my twitter regularly definitely not gonna make the thing happens. Lucky i can't access my FB via mobile, it'll make the credit drain faster. Ok guys, sweet dreams. Lisa, ayuh pulang dong!






@travelleranatomy.blogspot.com

Sunday Morning in Temple of Heaven

It was hard to wake up late during travelling for me. I was afraid of missing many things the place could offer. That's the insecurity I feel when travelling. When I know the place (thing) is not belongs to me, I won't take it for granted. Mmm...I guess that's the trick for me to appreciate a place (thing), to be always on the move and never settle. But for now, it doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I'll figure it out later :D

While Sunday morning at home usually sees me lazing around on bed or in front of TV, my first Sunday morning in Beijing I woke up to an early sunrise from comfy bed at Steph's house and quickly heading to subway station - to Temple of Heaven.

Sunday morning in Temple of Heaven was enthusiastic. The Maroon 5 Sunday Morning melody keeps playing in my mind when remembering the day, definitely not No Doubt's. The weather was still cold (for me) but the park was filled with so many people that I expected them to stay inside home. As I entered from the North Gate, music could be heard (not Maroon 5's of course) like there was some sort of festival were going on. 

North Gate crowd

The music came from them.

Yes, they were dancing...happily :D
Look at how they enjoyed themselves.




There were so many activities in the park that day besides dancing. The park serves as a place for the local especially the elderly to gather and socialize. As I moved further inside, there I found a man singing and writing on walking pavement and more dancing.

It got more crowded when approaching the Long Corridor.
The spaces in between the red column of The Long Corridor were fully occupied up until the entrance of Gate of the Supreme Hall.

They were playing cards;

Chinese chess;

And even knitting;

And this is....mmmm, i had to peep through in between these uncles to see.

"Excuse me, what's so interesting here?"

Aha, another boardgame. This must be an interesting game because many were surrounding the two players.

If domino is your kind of game, do join this group please. I might need to learn how to play first before joining them.

 Perhaps this uncle could help teaching me how to play

But this one looks more professional, with his cap and all :D

It was too hard to learn by watching (uncles didn't want to let me learn, they were too busy playing). So, eventually I chose to join this 2 lovely aunties.

At least they can teach me how to make this cute panda...on my next visit :p

No, I didn't learn how to play board game nor knitting here. But one thing I learnt from them elders was to have fun in everything I do regardless of the age. You are not too young or too old for anything :D

@travelleranatomy.blogspot.com

Weekly Travel Photo

Toboggan ride, China

Yeeehaaaa....This fun ride is available at a very historical and magnificent site in the world! A place where ancient and modern meet. Guess where it is. But please don't answer it is in a theme park ;p 



@travelleranatomy.blogspot.com

The fastest way to Beijing from Tianjin

Although Air Asia offers dirt cheap flight to Beijing, they don't really landed in Beijing (Beijing Capital International Airport, IATA:PEK) but in Tianjin (Tianjin Binhai International Airport, IATA:TSN), a metropolis 140km away. However, landing in Tianjin and travelling between the 2 metropolis are still cheap than a roundtrip ticket to Beijing. Yay to frugal travelling! :D

While travelling with bus will take approximately 2.5 hours to reach Beijing, why not use a more convenient and fastest transportation, bullet train!

How to get to the station?
There are actually 2 options; Airport Shuttle Bus or Taxi

Airport Shuttle Bus

From departure hall of Tianjin Binhai International Airport, walk straight outside of the airport to purchase ticket at this Shuttle Bus Station counter.

Ticket to Tianjin Railway Station cost only CNY10. Although the counter is at international airport, none of them speaks english (don't panic, this is the time to use your Mandarin you've been practising). Or u can just point the destination at the glass window if u have difficulty purchasing your ticket :p Bus to railway station departs every 30 minutes and duration is 30 minutes.

Taxi

Metered taxi usually cost around CNY40-50 from airport to Tianjin Railway Station. It will take about 20-30 minutes depending on the traffic.


During my last visit, the bus stopped a bit far from the railway station due to some road closure and I had to lug my [heavy] luggage and tail other passengers to the station.

Tianjin Railway Station (back side)

Like at the airport, all your bags need to undergo x-ray machine for security check here. No exception. This procedure was effected since pre-Olympic 2008 and it gets extended to each subway station too.

The railway station is sooooooo big than I imagined it should! I was amazed at the massiveness and its modern interior. Nothing like any railway station i've been to (I haven't been to many stations to be honest). Well, I think it should be built like so to cater the billions population of China! For this station also connects to other cities in China as well.

If u need to purchase a local sim card, buy it here (near the entrance) at one of China's telco company. I couldn't find anywhere cheaper than here!


Purchasing ticket for bullet train need not to be in advance as there are 70 trips daily between Tianjin-Beijing. I opted to use the ticketing machine as it has english translation.

Sayra helping me buying ticket

Ticket is priced according to its class:
Top Class - CNY99
1st Class - CNY69
2nd Class - CNY58

For just 30minutes ride, the 2nd class seat is decent and comfortable enough. Seat is numbered and you'll get complimentary bottled water.

Just so you know, this is the look of the ticket and the important info u should be checking.

15 minutes before the train leaves, find yourselves queueing with the rest of these people. Did I tell u China has the largest population?

I was queueing impatiently to board the top 10 fastest train in world with them all and when I saw IT, I was super excited like a kid gets a free candy (it was more like 'jakun' actually :p)

 Oh yeah baby, that's the train :D

Let's see how the inside of this train in 2nd class coach.

The seat numbering

The seat

There's overhead bag compartment

Passage to another coach

Toilet

The complimentary bottled water

Ok, I guess enough about the interior of the train and its services. This CRH train is about speed y'all. It can goes to maximum of 350 km/h!

In 6 minutes;

And this was the fastest speed I captured during this trip; 

In exactly 30 minutes at 6.00pm, the train reached Beijing South Railway Station. And this is me, officially in BEIJING! Yippie :D

That's how u can travel from Tianjin Binhai International Airport to Beijing South Railway Station in total of 1 hour.

Beijing South Railway Station is another big railway station and interconnected with Beijing Subway Line 4. You can connect to any subway station from here. For me, here was the starting point of my Beijing's travel adventure :D I straight away making a ticket purchase to Datunlu East Station, where Steph's house is.

To end the day, I had my dinner (first meal in Beijing) at muslim restaurant next to Datunlu East Station.

@travelleranatomy.blogspot.com