#832 - Mid Year 2010 Vacation : Singapore, Krabi, KL (Part 4)

ENGLISH

Previously on 2010 Mid Year Vacation : After spending one amazing day in Phi-Phi Islands, Zilko and his friends now must leave Krabi.

Day 5 (Tuesday, 15 June 2010)

Our flight to Kuala Lumpur would depart at about 2.10 PM this day. So, we actually still had about half-day in Krabi. However, the day before we already asked the restaurants in Ao Nang Beach about their hour of operation, and they all opened at 10 or 11 AM. Well, whatta time to open! :-( Practically there was nothing to see or enjoy in Ao Nang Beach that morning. So, we decided to really enjoy our rest and got up pretty late.

It turned out that we were lucky because that morning it was raining! Well, lucky the day before, the day where we had our tour, was very shiny. Anyway, after having breakfast and checked-out, we ordered a taxi to go to the airport. They said that the "taxi" had all been booked and the only available vehicle was "pick-up". D*mnit but we had no choice, rite? Okay, we agreed on it. But then it turned out that the "pick-up" was not a "pick-up" I imagined (I thought it was an old uncomfortable pick-up truck), it was A LOT more like a van, with a small open-area in the rear. Basically, I still think it WAS a taxi but operating with different vehicle, haha.

The scenery to the airport was beautiful. Anyway, so we arrived at the airport and checked-in. Btw, just when we arrived at the airport, my friend told me that his clothes were LEFT behind in our hotel!! $&%&#@*&!! Well, nothing else we could do, he just let them go. We then walked to the waiting area and finally at about 1.50 PM we were allowed to board our plane. It was AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code 9M-AFQ in special "ZOOM" Livery flight no. AK 805. Then, we took off from runway 14 and headed to Kuala Lumpur. The weather was not really friendly as there was thick cloud in most part of our short trip to KL, in fact we also experienced a pretty harsh turbulence (well, it was a small turbulence though). At about 4.30 PM we landed at runway 34L of KLIA.

After taking my luggage, we then must find our way to the city of KL. During our (long) transit in KL two days earlier, we knew that there was a new alternative way to get to KL, which was by "KLIA Transit", a bus-train service which departed from KLIA's Budget Terminal to KL Sentral Railway Station downtown KL. It only cost 12.5 MYR per pax and we thought it was a competitive price compared to the 9 MYR fare for a bus to downtown KL. That's why we picked it.

So, we got into the bus-stop of Line 6 Bus and lucky enough, we still could catch the 5.25 PM bus (otherwise we would have had to wait for the 5.55 PM bus). The bus departed and brought us to Salak Tinggi Station. After waiting for about 5 minutes, the train came. It really looked like the "KLIA Express" train though :-) Anyway, at about 6.30 PM we arrived at KL Sentral Railway Station. Well, recalling my memory from my five and a half years ago, I knew that this station was not really far from the Monorail Station. So, we looked for it. After asking several people, we finally found the station (d*mn construction, we had to get around pretty far to get there, and bringing a luggage, surely it was not convenient). Anyway, we then realized that the bus service from Budget Terminal stopped at KL Sentral and it was SO MUCH CLOSER to the monorail station!! Haha, we should have taken the bus (but it might take longer to get to the city). Btw, why did I find the monorail not as cozy as five and a half years ago? Hmmmm...

Anyway, so we finally arrived at our hotel: Tune Hotels at Downtown KL. After putting our luggages in our room, we left the hotel and decided to look for dinner. We went to Bukit Bintang Street (as it was easy to reach there, we just needed to catch the monorail). Bukit Bintang was (still) VERY CROWDED. I liked the atmosphere, haha... :-) We had dinner at this chinese food stall. Then, we walked around the area.

At about 10 PM, we went back to our hotel.

Day 6 (Wednesday, 16 June 2010)

We had nothing much to do this day. D*mn, we should have spent 2 nights in KL tho, haha. Anyway, because of the not so convenient experience we had the day before plus because we had already saved some money, we decided to spoil ourselves by taking a taxi to get back to KLIA :-)

To make long story short, so finally we boarded our flight back to Singapore. It was AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code 9M-AFS flight no. AK 707. We took off from runway 34R and we left Kuala Lumpur. About 50 minutes later, our flight landed at runway 20R of Singapore Changi Airport.

That day, we just went to Newton to have dinner. That was it. Singapore was boring for me :-)

Day 7 (Thursday, 17 June 2010)

Even though I found Singapore boring, at least there was still one exciting destination I could go to, The Universal Studios in Singapore. Thinking that there was no parameter to say a theme park was "full", we didn't get there as early as possible. We got there at about 10.30 AM :-) But then, a bad news came: the ticket had already been SOLD OUT until (the next) SUNDAY!! WTH!!! That was crazy and totally unexpected!! How do we say a theme park is "full"?? Strange, rite?? (come to think about it, there is one parameter I can think about to say a theme park is "full" though, it is related to queueing theory in mathematics). Well, we had no other option than leaving the park :-( (but at least I still managed to get a picture in front of the well-known "Universal Globe").

Then, I knew that there was also a well-known circus currently playing in Singapore, Voyage de La Vie. When we got to the counter, the tickets also had been sold out until July 2nd!! Arrrrgggghhhhh....

I guess we lost our Fortune Goddess that day, LOL. So, we just walked around Sentosa Island. I also played LUGE and SKYRIDE, my favorite ride in the island. (btw, there was a new track at LUGE :D). Bored, we then left Sentosa and went to Orchard Rd. Anyway, speaking about Orchard Road, I was lucky because the day before, the road was flooded!!!

That was it.

Day 8 (Friday, 18 June 2010)

Well, this day, I was scheduled to get back to Indonesia. I ordered a taxi to pick me up at about 8 AM (I brought two luggages). After checking in at the very-crowded AirAsia's Desk, I went to my gate.

At about 11.10 AM I boarded my plane back to Yogyakarta. It was Indonesia AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code PK-AXJ flight no. QZ 7139. We took off from runway 20R of Changi Airport. About 1 hour 40 minutes later, my flight landed at runway 09 of Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta. This marked the end of this Mid-Year Trip.

THE END


L : Keyboard in Thai. Lucky at least it still had Latin Letters :-)
R : A beautiful Scenery on our way to Krabi Airport.


L : International Waiting Lounge at Krabi Airport.
R : This is how it looked like outside our window during our Krabi - Kuala Lumpur flight.


L : AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code 9M-AFQ in special livery just after landing at KLIA from Krabi as AK 805.
R : A railway network in Malaysia, as seen from Salak Tinggi Station.


L : The train of KLIA Transit.
R : KL Monorail at Medan Tuanku Railway Station.


L : Crowded Bukit Bintang Street.
R : Ais Kacang.


L : Busy Bukit Bintang Crossroad and Bukit Bintang Monorail Station.
R : Raja Chulan Monoral Station.


L : Highway to KLIA.
R : AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code 9M-AFS was ready to fly to Singapore as AK 707.


L : Inside AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code 9M-AFS flight no. AK 707 to Singapore.
R : Our meals at Newton that day.


L : The well-known Universal Globe.
R : Hollywood Avenue at Universal Studio. I wasn't allowed to get in there :-(


Note : Weird enough, I ONLY took pictures with these two flags and both Netherlands and Spain made it to this year's World Cup Final!!


L : Siloso Beach.
R : One Spot at Siloso Beach.


L : The Southern Most Point of Continental Asia, at Sentosa Island.
R : Overlooking Palawan Beach at Sentosa Island.


L : A cute Poodle Cloud I saw.
R : Minced Meat Noodle at Orchard, tasty!! :-)


L : MRT's train in Singapore.
R : Qantas A380-800 reg code VH-QQC was ready to fly her part of the "Kangaroo Route", Singapore - Sydney.


L : Indonesia AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code PK-AXJ which would bring me back to Yogyakarta as QZ 7139.
R : Two Layers. This is how it looked like during my trip back to Yogyakarta.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam 2010 Mid Year Vacation : Setelah melewati sehari yang mengagumkan di Kepulauan Phi-Phi, Zilko dan teman2nya kini harus meninggalkan Krabi.

Hari 5 (Selasa, 15 Juni 2010)

Penerbangan kami ke Kuala Lumpur baru akan terbang pada pukul 2.10 siang di hari ini. Jadi, sebenarnya kami masih memiliki waktu selama setengah-an hari di Krabi. Namun, sehari sebelumnya kami sudah tanya2 ke beberapa restoran di Pantai Ao Nang mengenai jam buka mereka, dan kebanyakan buka jam 10 atau 11 pagi. Duh, nanggung banget kan waktunya! :-( Jadinya sih bisa dikatakan nggak ada yang bisa dilihat atau dikunjungi lagi deh di Pantai Ao Nang pagi itu. Jadi, kami memutuskan untuk santai-santai aja dengan bangun agak siang dikit.

Ternyata kami beruntung loh, soalnya pagi itu hujan! Untungnya sehari sebelumnya, hari dimana kami ikutan tur itu, kan cerah banget. Ngomong2, setelah makan pagi dan check-out, kami memesan taksi untuk pergi ke bandara. Katanya sih "taksi"-nya sudah habis dan kendaraan yang ada cuma "pick-up" aja. Waduh, gimana nih tapi nggak ada pilihan lain kan? Ya udah deh kami setuju. Tapi ternyata kendaraan "pick-up"-nya ini tuh bukan kaya "pick-up" yang aku bayangkan loh (kan aku bayangin berupa kendaraan kaya truk tua gitu yang ga nyaman), ternyata SANGAT mirip mobil biasa, dengan sedikit bak terbuka di belakang. Ya menurutku sih kendaraan kaya gitu masih bisa disebut taksi lah cuma pake mobil yang lain aja, haha.

Pemandangan menuju bandara indah juga loh. Ngomong2, jadi akhirnya kami tiba di bandara dan check-in. Eh, waktu uda sampe bandara temenku bilang bajunya ketinggalan di hotel!! $&%&#@*&!! Ya uda mau gimana lagi, direlakan deh. Kemudian kami jalan ke area tunggu dan akhirnya sekitar jam 1.50an kami dipersilakan naik ke pesawat. Pesawatnya adalah AirAsia Airbus A320-216 kode refistrasi 9M-AFQ, dengan livery khusus ZOOM loh, dengan nomor penerbangan AK 805. Ya kemudian kami tinggal landas dari landasan pacu 14 dan bergerak menuju Kuala Lumpur. Cuacanya nggak begitu baik dan di sepanjang perjalanan menuju KL langit diselimuti awan tebal, kami juga mengalami turbulensi yang lumayan (tapi masih bisa dikatakan kecil sih). Sekitar jam 4.30 sore kami mendarat di landasan 34L KLIA.

Setelah ambil bagasiku, kami kemudian harus mencari cara untuk pergi ke kota Kuala Lumpur. Dalam transit (panjang) kami di KL dua hari sebelumnya, kami tahu bahwa ada alternatif baru untuk pergi ke KL, yakni dengan naik "KLIA Transit", layanan bus-kereta api yang berangkat dari Terminal Budget KLIA menuju Stasiun Kereta Api KL Sentral di tengah kota. Biayanya cuma 12,5 ringgit dan kami rasa harga segitu lumayan bagus lah kalau diadu dengan biaya naik bis yang 9 ringgit menuju tengah kota KL. Makanya kami memilihnya.

Jadi, kami langsung deh menuju halte bus Jalur 6 dan untungnya, masih keburu naik bus yang jam 5.25 sore (kalo engga kami harus nunggu bus yang jam 5.55 sore tuh). Busnya kemudian berangkat dan membawa kami ke Stasiun Salak Tinggi. Setelah nunggu sekitar 5 menit, keretanya datang. Keretanya keliatan kaya keretanya "KLIA Ekspres" tuh :-) Kemudian, jam 6.30 sore kami tiba di Stasiun Kereta Api KL Sentral. Yah, berdasarkan ingatanku lima setengah tahun sebelumnya, aku tahu bahwa stasiun ini terletak nggak jauh dari Stasiun Monorail. Jadi, kami mencarinya. Setelah bertanya ke beberapa orang, akhirnya ketemu juga tuh stasiun (pekerjaan konstruksi si*l, karenanya kami harus jalan memutar lumayan jauh deh dan sambil membawa tas troli tentu ini nggak nyaman). Ngomong2, kami kemudian menyadari kalo layanan bus dari Budget Terminal juga berhenti di Stasiun KL Sentral dan lokasi berhentinya malah LEBIH DEKAT ke Stasiun Monorail itu lho!! Haha, jadi emang harusnya kami naik bus nih (tapi mungkin akan membutuhkan waktu lebih lama untuk tiba di kota sih). Btw, kenapa ya aku koq merasa monorail-nya nggak senyaman lima setengah tahun yang lalu? Hmmmm...

Ngomong2, akhirnya kami tiba di hotel kami: Tune Hotels di Downtown KL. Setelah menaruh bawaan kami di kamar, kami meninggalkan hotel dan berniat cari makanan. Kami pergi ke Jalan Bukit Bintang (soalnya gampang kan pergi kesana, tinggal naik monorail aja, haha... :-) ). Bukit Bintang (masih) SANGAT RAMAI. Aku suka tuh atmosfernya, haha... :-) Kami makan malam di sebuah warung makan chinese food gitu. Trus, jalan2 aja deh di sekitar sana.

Sekitar jam 10 malam, kami kembali ke hotel.

Hari 6 (Rabu, 16 Juni 2010)

Nggak banyak yang dilakukan hari ini. Si*l, harusnya kami mengalokasikan 2 malam deh di KL, haha. Karena pengalaman ga gitu menyenangkan sehari sebelumnya dan karena kami sudah menghemat sedikit uang, sekali2 nggak masalah dong kalo memanjakan diri sendiri dengan naik taksi untuk kembali ke KLIA :-)

Untuk mempersingkat cerita, akhirnya kami menaiki pesawat kami untuk kembali ke Singapura. Pesawatnya adalah AirAsia Airbus A320-216 kode registrasi 9M-AFS dengan nomor penerbangan AK 707 tujuan Singapura. Kami lepas landas dari landasan pacu 34R dan meninggalkan Kuala Lumpur. Sekitar 50 menit setelahnya, pesawat kami mendarat di landasan pacu 20R di Bandara Changi Singapura.

Hari itu, kami cuma jalan ke Newton saja cari makan malam. Itu saja sih. Kan Singapura sudah terasa agak membosankan deh buatku :-)

Hari 7 (Kamis, 17 Juni 2010)

Walau aku merasa Singapura membosankan, setidaknya masih ada satu tujuan menarik yang bisa dikunjungi, The Universal Studios di Singapura. Berpikir bahwa tidak ada parameter yang bisa digunakan untuk mengatakan sebuah taman bermain itu "penuh", kami nggak bela2in datang awal deh. Kami santai2 aja dan tiba jam 10.30an pagi :-) Tapi kemudian ada kabar buruk: tiket masuknya sudah HABIS sampe hari MINGGU (besoknya)!! WTH!!! Gila banget kan dan sangat tak disangka-sangka!! Gimana sih kita mengatakan sebuah taman bermain itu "penuh"?? Aneh, kan?? (walau kalau dipikir2 lagi ada sih satu parameter yang menurutku bisa digunakan untuk mengatakan suatu taman bermain itu "penuh", dan ini berkaitan erat dengan Teori Antrian di matematika). Yah, nggak ada pilihan lain deh selain meninggalkan taman bermain itu :-( (tapi paling enggak sih masih bisa deh ngambil foto di depan "Globe Universal" yang terkenal itu).

Kemudian, aku tahu bahwa sedang ada sirkus terkenal yang main di Singapura, Voyage de La Vie. Ketika kami tiba di konternya, tiketnya juga sudah habis sampai tanggal 2 Juli!! Arrrrgggghhhhh....

Aku rasa kami kehilangan Dewi Fortuna deh pagi itu, LOL. Jadi ya kami jalan2 di sekitar pulau Sentosa aja. Aku main LUGE dan SKYRIDE, atraksi favoritku di pulau itu (btw, ada jalur baru loh di LUGE :D). Bosan, kami meninggalkan Sentosa dan jalan menuju Orchard. Btw, ngomong2 tentang Jalan Orchard, aku beruntung loh soalnya sehari sebelumnya jalan itu kan kebanjiran!!!

Itulah.

Hari 8 (Jumat, 18 Juni 2010)

Hari ini adalah jadwalku untuk balik ke Indonesia. Aku memesan taksi untuk menjeput jam 8 pagi (kan aku bawa 2 koper). Setelah check in di konter AirAsia yang ramai, aku jalan menuju gerbang keberangkatan.

Sekitar jam 11.10 kami dipersilakan naik pesawat tujuan Yogyakarta. Pesawatnya adalah Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-216 kode registrasi PK-AXJ nomor penerbangan QZ 7139. Kami tinggal landas dari landasan pacu 20R di Bandara Changi. Sekitar 1 jam 40 menit kemudian, penerbanganku mendarat di landasan pacu 09 di Bandara Internasional Adisucipto di Yogyakarta. Ini menandai akhir Perjalanan Tengah Tahun ini.

SELESAI

#831 - Recent Update

ENGLISH

It has been a while since I updated about my daily life, thanks to Mid Year 2010 Vacation Story, the World Cup "Incident", and Wimbledon. So, before continuing my vacation story, I'd like to write something about my daily life first, hehe :-)

1. Speaking about World Cup, I am really happy that finally my dream final comes true this year!! After failing to have a dream final at tennis lately, at least now I have one here. It is between Netherlands and Spain!! Well, in this edition of World Cup, I ONLY support these two teams and now both of them make it to the final! How great is that!!


2. Somehow, we are already in the month of July!! Wow, time really flies!! Usually, every July, Yogyakarta is so crowded with all the tourists from all over the country who are on their school-break vacation. But this is not the case this year. Sure, there are some traffic jams at some spots, but overall, it is still "handleable". I won't say this is a typical Yogyakarta during holiday season. I have a hypothesis that it might be because of the World Cup.


3. I went to Solo last Tuesday. Well, nothing really special I did there, I just helped my parent stocking our stores there.


4. Anyway, one of my (then) favorite local reality show, Penghuni Terakhir, is finally "reborn"! After about five years of hiatus, now it is back on TV. Well, it was premiered earlier this week but I haven't watched a single episode of it though. This is because mainly those episodes were only about the audition, which I always find not interesting. I think I will watch it regularly once the "main" round has started (which I suppose is today). Hopefully, the composition of character this season is diverse (not overlapping) as that will make the show A LOT more interesting. Not like the last season where there were just a bunch of "hoodlum"-characters in the show. Anyway, whatta time to be "reborn", just when I am leaving Indonesia in one month or so, it is premiere-ing, damn. I think I will need to find a streaming of it, haha.


5. Speaking of leaving Indonesia, I am preparing an exclusive entry about it. I will post it some time in the future :-)


6. I do believe in one thing now: "The Principle of Attraction". When you have a happy heart, everything is going to be working your way!! The contrary also works. When you have a bad mood, everything is not going to be working your way. This is like an endless circle though, since if something is wrong in our eyes and we get even a worse mood because of that, even more "bad" things will come to us. That's why it is very important to start a day with a happy heart :-D


7. Well, I know that I don't have much topic to write about right now, so just as usual, I would like to post some random pictures I took lately :-D

::: Soto Kridosono I had (almost) every Sunday at Yogyakarta.

::: One day, I was craving for this fried mussels. I dunno why :-D

::: Tenderloin Beef Steak at Sagan Ribs & Steak.

::: My Favorite Onion Fried Ribs at Sagan Ribs & Steak.

::: Sate Karang t Kotagede.

::: Pempek.

::: Salmon Steak.

::: Dori Fish Steak. It is tasty!!

::: Nasi Liwet I had in Solo when I went there last Tuesday.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sudah lumayan lama juga ya sejak aku menulis hal-hal sehari-hariku, terima kasih pada Mid Year 2010 Vacation Story, "Insiden" di Piala Dunia, dan Wimbledon. Jadi, sebelum melanjutkan cerita tentang liburanku, aku pengen menulis hal-hal sehari-hari dulu deh, hehe :-)

1. Ngomong2 tentang Piala Dunia, aku sangat senang nih karena final impianku terwujud di tahun ini!! Setelah gagal mendapatkan final impian di tenis akhir-akhir ini, sekarang aku mendapatkan satu neh di sepakbola. Final adalah antara Belanda dan Spanyol!! Yah, soalnya di edisi kali ini dari Piala Dunia aku kan cuma mendukung dua tim ini saja dan kini mereka masuk final! Keren banget kan!!


2. Tiba-tiba, kini koq sudah bulan Juli lagi ya!! Bener2 cepat nih waktu berlalu!! Biasanya, setiap Juli, kota Yogyakarta ramai dikunjungi turis dari seluruh penjuru negeri yang sedang menikmati liburan sekolah kan. Tapi, ini bukanlah yang terjadi tahun ini. Memang sih lalulintas agak ramai di beberapa tempat, tetapi secara keseluruhan sih masih bisa "dikendalikan". Menurutku ini bukanlah tipikal Yogyakarta saat liburan deh. Aku sih punya dugaan kalau ini ada hubungannya sama Piala Dunia.


3. Aku pergi ke Solo hari Selasa lalu. Nggak ada yang khusus yang kulakukan sih, aku cuma bantu ortu menyetok barang di toko disana.


4. Ngomong2, satu reality show lokal favoritku (dulu), Penghuni Terakhir, kini "lahir kembali"! Setelah nggak tayang selama sekitar lima tahun, sekarang kembali diproduksi nih. Yah, sebenarnya acaranya sudah mulai ditayangkan sejak awal minggu ini, cuma memang aku belum nonton satu episode pun sih. Ini soalnya sekarang kan masih episode2 audisi yang menurutku nggak penting dan nggak menarik. Aku rasa aku akan nonton dengan reguler deh setelah babak "utama" mulai main (yang aku duga sih hari ini). Mudah2an komposisi karakter penguninya musim ini tuh luas (nggak saling tumpang tindih) karena ini akan membuat acara ini jauh lebih menarik. Nggak kaya musim terakhirnya yang menurutku kebanyakan karakter sok-"preman"nya. Kan jadi bosan. Ngomong2, bener2 deh, kenapa "lahir kembali"nya baru sekarang. Ketika aku akan meninggalkan Indonesia dalam sekitar satu bulan, eh koq malah mulai ditayangin lagi. Kayanya aku harus cari streaming-nya deh nanti, haha.


5. Ngomong2 tentang meninggalkan Indonesia, aku akan menulis sebuah posting khusus tentangnya. Aku akan publikasikan nanti deh kapan2 :-)


6. Kini aku percaya pada satu hal: "Prinsip Tarik-Menarik". Ketika kita memiliki hati yang lagi senang, semua bisa terjadi sesuai kehendak kita lho!! Yang berlawanan juga berlaku. Ketika kita memiliki mood yang lagi jelek, seakan-akan semua hal itu bertentangan dengan kehendak kita. Ini jadi seperti lingkaran tak berujung sih, soalnya kan kalau sesuatu itu salah di mata kita, dan kita jadi makin memiliki mood yang lebih jelek karenanya, hal "jelek" lain akan malah terjadi juga. Makanya, penting deh memulai hari dengan hati yang senang :-D


7. Hmm, aku tahu aku lagi nggak ada banyak topik yang bisa kutulis sekarang, jadi kaya biasa, aku publikasikan beberapa foto yang aku ambil baru2 ini ya :-D

#830 - 2010 Wimbledon Championships

note : This entry will only be written in English due to its length

Last Sunday, the third grandslam of this year, the Wimbledon Championships, was concluded. This grandslam is always held on grass court and of course several grass-courter players were predicted to win. Still, there were several surprises!

First of all, occurred the longest tennis match in history, it was between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. The match took 11 hours and 5 minutes to complete, dwarfing the previous record of "only" 6 hours and 33 minutes", and spanned in three days! This particular match also broke some other records which you can find here. In the end, Isner won by 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 70–68. Well, this is CRAZY!!

Anyway, in the ladies' singles, the two most favorite players to win are sisters Serena and Venus Williams. Prior to the tournament, they were ranked 1 and 2 in the world. So, this meant that they would be seeded 1st and 2nd and therefore they would only meet in the final. I personally think that the best final in Wimbledon this year would be between these two sisters, making another all-Williams final. Why? Simply because they are the best players on grass this era. Imagine this: Since the beginning of the millennium, only the final in 2006 where it didn't involve at least one of these sisters. This year, the sisters also performed promisingly. Serena Williams won the Australian Open but then had an injury and had to be absent for several months before playing again at Rome. Venus Williams won back to back titles at Dubai and Acapulco. Then she reached the final of two Premier Mandatory events: Miami and Madrid. Given their condition and their grass-suited style of play, no wonder these sisters were the favorite to win.

Venus Williams had a (seemingly) easier draw as she would face no threat (theoretically) until the SF where she potentially met Kim Clijsters/Justine Henin/Jelena Jankovic. Prior to the SF, she shouldn't face any threat. Serena Williams had a little tougher draw with potential clash with 2004 Wimbledon Champion, Maria Sharapova, in the fourth round. But before and after that, she shouldn't meet any problem.

However, Venus Williams surprisingly lost in the quarterfinals!! She lost to unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova!! Well, at that time, I have to say that Venus Williams beat herself. Tsvetana Pironkova, I still respect her though because she did make it to the SF, was not even in Venus' league. She played okay with minimum errors, but Venus blew her opportunities time after time. I can say that Pironkova was just simply being "lucky" as Venus committed too many errors. Had Venus Williams played okay (didn't have to be her best), I can say Venus would have won hands down. This is the most disappointing defeat this season!!

In the other part of the draw, Serena Williams was able to smoothly beat her opponents to reach the final. She overcame Maria Sharapova 7-6(9), 6-4 in the fourth round, which I think was Serena's hardest match in the championships this year. In the final, she beat grandslam singles' final first-timer Vera Zvonareva. Of course Serena Williams easily crushed her, by 6-3, 6-2 to win her fourth Wimbledon title. No surprise, the final was a lopsided. Had it Venus Williams in the other side of the net, it would have been much more interesting. But anyway, Vera Zvonareva was the one who made it to the final, so, still congratulations to her! Of course, congratulations for world no.1 Serena Williams!! You deserve that!! :-)

In the Gentlemen's Singles', another shock happened. Roger Federer, 6 time champion of Wimbledon (and 7 time consecutive finalist there) lost in the quarterfinals to Tomáš Berdych. This defeat followed his earlier defeat at the quarterfinals of French Open. Some said that this defeat shows the end of Federer's Dominance Era. Later on, Berdych progressed to his first ever grandslam singles final. In other side of the draw, French Open champion, Rafael Nadal, made it to the final after beating local (and my) favorite, Andy Murray. In his fourth Wimbledon final, Rafael Nadal beat Berdych in straight sets for his second Wimbledon title, no wonder!! Now, Nadal leads the ranking points comfortable with 3840 lead from the world no.2, Novak Djokovic. I guess, he is safe enough to be this year's world no.1 by the end of the year.



For the coming-up hard court season, I really hope some other male players, especially Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, to step up and perform more consistently. Well, this is to make the competition in men's tennis much more interesting to watch.



Anyway, congratulations once again to Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal!! You guys are truly the champions!!

ps :all photos were taken from Wimbledon's Official Website, link above

#829 - Mid Year 2010 Vacation : Singapore, Krabi, KL (Part 3)

ENGLISH

Previously on Mid Year 2010 Vacation : After having a long Sunday, Zilko and his friends finally arrived at Krabi. Now they were ready to welcome the new day, which would be the most exciting day of the trip, Monday, where they would join a tour to Phi-Phi Islands.

Day 4 (Monday, 14 June 2010)

I got up at about 7.30 AM because the local tour would pick us up at about 8.30 AM. After having a pretty good Western-style breakfast, we were ready at the hotel lobby. Up to about 8.40 AM, the pick-up was still not there yet. I asked the receptionist to call the number and they said they were already on the way. Not so long after that, they arrived. The pick up truck was this big old pick-up truck with two long benches at its rear with, of course, a sun-cover. We were apparently the last people they picked (there were already about 15 people on it when we got picked), as we directly went to the beach next.

Apparently, the departure point for all tours was at the same place: the west end of Noppharat Thara Beach. Anyway, this part of the beach was, I think, the most beautiful place in Ao Nang Beach. There were several limestone mountain near the coastline with a small pier with several boats and yachts. Anyway, then we got split into several groups according to our tour. We were with this group of about 30 people having the "Phi-Phi Islands" Tour. We were briefed for a moment before embarking out yacht. After everything was ready and each participant had picked his/her seat (as we were not allowed to trade seats after that), we left Noppharat Thara Beach. Anyway, I was stupid for picking the rear part of the yacht while the best part was the front part where a broad view was available. But, there was no sun-cover for those seats so be ready to get sun-burnt if you pick them.

Phi-Phi Islands was pretty far from Ao Nang Beach. It took us about 50 minutes to get to our first destination. Anyway, the view was so scenic, especially not long after we left Noppharat Thara Beach. But after that, it was just water, water, and water.

Bamboo Island

We arrived at Bamboo Island at about 10 AM and we got one hour to kill there. Before disembarking the yacht, they lent us snorkeling equipments and said there was a safe spot in Bamboo Island which was good for swimming. Okay, so we got out of the yacht and walked to the island.

Since Bamboo Island was our first destination, it looked so beautiful!! It was a small island overgrown with (seemingly) bamboo trees. Btw, we then realized they were not bamboo trees, I guess they were more like pine trees but from a distance they looked like bamboos. Kinda weird.

Anyway, since they lent us snorkeling equipments, I thought there was something under water to see. When we headed to the pointed area and swam, there was virtually NOTHING under it but just some small white fish. So, after just about five or ten minutes swimming, I got back to the beach and dried myself. I killed time by walking around the island, I didn't walk that far from my yacht though.

Open-Sea Snorkeling

This was our next destination. Our yacht stopped at the open sea not far from an island. The guide said that we could snorkel there and of course that's what we did! Our options were either snorkeling or just staying on the yacht. Of course the former is more appealing. So, after preparing ourselves, we jumped to the sea. Well, it was under our expectation. The water wasn't really clear so that we hardly enjoyed the corals down there, plus the corals were so 'uniform'. Well, but the good news was that at least there were many coral fish swimming, and it was kinda a good thing to see, at least. Then, suddenly the current got stronger and we all decided to get back to our yacht.

Phi-Phi Don Bay

Phi-Phi Don is the largest island in Phi-Phi Islands. Its beach was really beautiful. The limestone mountain was really in contrast with the clear blue sea, whatta magnificent scenery!! And that was where we had our lunch!! The restaurant was located right next to the beach, just steps away from where our yacht docked. So, we could enjoy all those scenery while we were having lunch (if we picked good table, and that was what we did ;-) ). It was a buffet all you can eat lunch with pretty good food (I am emphasizing on the "all you can eat" though, really cool, right?). It was lunch time and all tourists from many boats flocked to the restaurant.

We had one hour lunch break there, and because we still had about 30 minutes before get going, we decided to do a little island exploration. Well, it was really not an island exploration though because we just walked at the beach and looked around. Phi-Phi Don Bay was an inhabited island and so there were some communities living there. They opened some small stores and hotels. We then noticed that the price for items at this island was about twice as expensive as its price in the mainland! After walking around, we got back to the restaurant.

At about 1 PM we were called to our yacht to continue our tour.

Phi-Phi Leh Island

Phi-Phi Leh is the second largest island in Phi-Phi Islands, and apparently, this island was the highlight of our tour that day. There were three places we went to there.

Tham Viking Cave

Well, this cave was actually the remains of some pirates seamen who got stranded in the island due to severely bad weather. They built the cave with some traditionalistic structure and lived there for a while. Well, we didn't stop at the cave but our guide said that there was an ancient painting on the wall of the cave.

Ao Pi Le Lagoon

This lagoon was located not really far from Tham Viking Cave. It was such a beautiful lagoon surrounded by several limestone rock!! Our yacht went around the lagoon slowly allowing us to enjoy it and took some photographs. I gotta say this lagoon was the best lagoon I have ever been so far!! Even one man (who was also in our tour) described this place as "paradise" to his family, haha....

Maya Bay

This beach was probably the highlight of our tour that day. Famous because one Hollywood movie, The Beach, was filmed there, this bay was located in the other part of Phi-Phi Leh Island. I was really super excited when our guide said our next destination was this beach because I wanted to go to there BADLY!! Lucky the weather was good that day so we could drop by at this bay.

Well, just like in the movie, the beach was SUPER beautiful and clean!! The contrast white sand with the clear blue sea and all those limestone mountain, it was paradise!! Unfortunately, we only had thirty minutes to spend there. D*mn, we should have had at least one hour!!

After getting around and taking pictures at the beach, we still had about 10 minutes and decided to follow a pathway track into the island. Well, the scenery was also beautiful as the track led us to (seemingly) a valley between two gigantic limestone mountain. We only reached the restroom and decided to go back as we only had slim time. Actually the track still went deeper into the island and actually I am still really anxious about it. If only I had had enough time, I would have followed that path much deeper :-)

Anyway, we then went back to our yacht and left Maya Bay.

(Another) Open Sea Snorkeling

As we were getting back to Noppharat Thara Beach, we made one last stop at another spot in the open sea. They said it was the best site in Krabi to go snorkeling. Well, of course I then got excited after hearing that. I really had expectation on this one.

Again, we then jumped to the sea and it was true that this site was much better than the previous snorkeling site we had. HOWEVER, I won't say it is a great place to do snorkeling. Sure the water was fresh clean and we could see clearly all the corals and fish underneath it, but it was just, well, so-so. Some tourists got excited just seeing clown fish but I didn't, haha. It was just clown fish, you know, I can see them like, figuratively, anywhere.


After snorkeling for about thirty minutes there, we got back to our yacht and went back to Noppharat Thara Beach. Well, apparently swimming in the sea is super tiring!! Now I fully understand how hard it is to be a survivor who gotta float in the open sea waiting for rescue to come, LOL. We can hardly control our body because of the current and sometimes accidentally drink the salty sea water, which sucks to hell! hahaha...

Anyway, I got some short sleep during our way back to the beach, hahaha. It was so comfortable :-) Back at the beach, the "touristy" atmosphere became stronger as some locals apparently silently took our pictures earlier that day, printed it, and put it in a nice beachy frame. I found the frame was kinda unique and so "beachy" plus they offered an understandable price for it: 100 baht, so I decided to buy it as a memorabilia :-)

We then got back to the parking area and waited for our transport back to our hotel, it was included in the package!! Whatta responsible tour, haha. Anyway, there was this minor argument (not involving me, thanks God) between one of the tourist with the guide. I'll keep it for later though, hehe... :-) Anyway, so we then got back to our hotel safely.

Tired, we took a short rest but then got ready to get back to the beach that evening. This time, we didn't do the same stupid mistake, and used the free transport offered by the hotel to get to the beach. The day before, we explored the Ao Nang beach (to the left from the T-Junction from our hotel), and that day we decided to see what was in the right side (Noppharat Thara Beach). Apparently, Ao Nang Beach was much more interesting and more "live". There were just hotels or resorts at Noppharat Thara Beach and that was kinda a bit uninteresting to see. So, we walked back to Ao Nang Beach.

This time we stopped by at several shops. I bought some gifts there, my friends did also. Then we had dinner at a crowded Italian Restaurant which offered special promotion rate for pizza. They priced all their pizzas 140 baht and of course to maximize the discount, we picked the two most expensive pizzas, hahaha :-) O yea, they also gave us free salad. The pizza tasted tasty and no wonder this restaurant was the fullest restaurant in that area!! After that, we explored the town a bit more. Apparently, the small town of Ao Nang was much bigger than we expected! After walking pretty far and it seemed that we already reached the end of the city, we decided to catch a tuk-tuk to get back to our hotel.

to be continued...

Next on : Mid Year 2010 Vacation :

• Leaving Krabi
• Kuala Lumpur for a brief time
• back to Singapore

L : My Western-Style Breakfast
R : One view at Noppharat Thara Beach, near the pier.


L : Noppharat Thara Beach
R : They call this island "Chicken Island" though at first it was more like a 'turtle' for me. But, whatever...


L : Approaching Bamboo Island.
R : At Bamboo Island.


L : Beautiful Beach at Bamboo Island.
R : The "bamboos", but they were really not bamboos tho


L : At Phi-Phi Don Island.
R : Another View at the inhabited Phi-Phi Don Island.


L : Whatta busy Restaurant!
R : Tham Viking Cave.


L : One view at Ao Pi Le Lagoon.
R : Another view at Ao Pi Le Lagoon.


L : Another view at Ao Pi Le Lagoon.
R : The scenic Maya Bay.


L : Another view of the scenic Maya Bay.
R : Getting deeper into the island.


L : Tourists at Maya Bay.
R : Maya Bay.


L : Leaving Maya Bay.
R : Phi-Phi Leh Island, the island where Maya Bay is located.


L : Phi-Phi Leh Island, the island where Maya Bay is located.
R : Going snorkeling, it was tiring.


L : One view at the east side of Noppharat Thara Beach. After getting to Maya Bay, this beach turned to be just "okay", haha
R : Free All-You-Can-Eat Salad!! Wow


L : two pizzas in promotion rate.
R : A Roman Soldier statue at Ao Nang Beach

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam Mid Year 2010 Vacation : Setelah mengalami hari Minggu yang panjang, Zilko dan teman2nya akhirnya tiba di Krabi juga. Sekarang mereka siap untuk menyambut hari yang baru, hari yang seharusnya menjadi hari paling mengasyikkan dari perjalanan ini, hari Senin, dimana mereka akan mengikuti tur ke Kepulauan Phi-Phi.

Hari 4 (Senin, 14 Juni 2010)

Aku bangun sekitar jam 7.30 pagi karena turnya akan menjemput kami sekitar jam 8.30 pagi. Setelah makan sarapan ala barat, kami sudah siap deh di lobby hotel. Sampai sekitar jam 8.40, jemputannya belum tiba juga. Aku meminta resepsionis untuk menelepon nomor yang mereka berikan dan katanya mereka sudah di jalan. Nggak lama, truk pick-up jemputannya tiba. Truk pick-up-nya adalah truk pick-up tua yang besar dengan dua bangku panjang di bagian belakangnya dengan, tentu saja, penutup sinar matahari. Kami ternyata adalah orang terakhir yang dijemput loh (waktu kami dijemput sudah ada sekitar 15 orang di truk itu), dan kami langsung menuju pantai.

Ternyata, titik keberangkatan untuk semua tur ada di tempat yang sama: ujung barat pantai Noppharat Thara. Ngomong2, bagian ini dari pantai tersebut adalah tempat paling bagus di pantai Ao nang tuh kalo menurutku. Ada beberapa bukit kapur nggak jauh dari pinggiran pantai dengan sebuah dermaga kecil dengan kapal-kapal dan yacht. Lanjut, kemudian kami dibagi ke beberapa grup berdasarkan tur kami. Kami bersama satu grup yang terdiri atas 30an orang yang akan tur ke Phi-Phi. Kami di-briefing sebentar oleh pemandunya sebelum akhirnya menaiki yacht kami. Setelah semua siap dan setiap peserta memilih tempat duduknya (karena kami nggak boleh bertukar tempat duduk setelahnya), kami berangkat. Ngomong2, aku bodoh deh karena memilih tempat duduk di bagian belakang kapal, padahal yang paling enak kan di depan kapal tuh yang pemandangannya luas dan tak terhalang kan. Tapi ya kalau duduk di depan nggak ada penutupnya, jadi ya siap-siap aja terbakar sinar matahari.

Kepulauan Phi-Phi Islands terletak lumayan jauh juga dari pantai Ao Nang. Membutuhkan waktu sekitar 50 menit untuk tiba di tempat tujuan pertama kami. Ngomong2, pemandangannya bagus loh, terutama nggak lama setelah meninggalkan pantai Noppharat Thara. Namun setelahnya, ya cuma air, air, dan air saja.

Bamboo Island

Kami tiba di Bamboo Island sekitar jam 10 pagi dan kami memiliki waktu satu jam untuk dibuang disana. Nah, ceritanya kan sebelum turun dari kapal, mereka meminjamkan peralatan snorkeling pada kami dan berkata ada tempat aman di Bamboo Island yang bagus untuk berenang. Oke, kemudian kami turun dari kapal dan berjalan ke pulaunya.

Karena Bamboo Island adalah tujuan pertama kami, pantainya kelihatan bagus banget lho!! Ini adalah sebuah pulau kecil yang ditumbuhi oleh (seperti) pohon bambu. Btw, kami kemudian sadar kalo sebenarnya pohon2 itu bukan bambu deh, aku rasa lebih seperti pohon pinus tapi memang kalau dari jauh sepintas seperti bambu sih. Aneh juga.

Ngomong2, karena mereka meminjamkan peralatan snorkeling itu, ya aku kira ada pemandangan bawah air yang bisa dilihat dong. Kami kemudian pergi menuju area berenang itu dan ternyata NGGAK ADA APA-APA di bawah air kecuali beberapa ekor ikan putih. Jadi, setelah sekitar lima atau sepuluh menit berenang nggak jelas, aku naik deh dan mengeringkan diri saja. Kemudian aku jalan-jalan keliling pulaunya, yah nggak jalan jauh sih cuma di dekat kapalku saja.

Snorkeling di Laut Lepas

Ini adalah tujuan kedua kami. Yacht kami berhenti di suatu tempat di tengah laut nggak jauh dari sebuah pulau. Pemandu kami berkata kami bisa snorkeling disana dan tentu saja itu yang kami lakukan. Lha pilihannya antara snorkeling atau duduk-duduk nggak jelas di kapal sementara yang lain snorkeling. Jelas pilihan pertama tuh yang kami pilih. Jadi, kemudian kami mempersiapkan diri kami, trus lompat deh ke laut. Yah, ternyata nggak sebagus bayangan deh. Airnya nggak terlalu jernih jadi sulit juga melihat koral yang ada di bawahnya, di samping itu, koralnya 'seragam' banget. Yah, tapi berita baiknya adalah setidaknya masih ada deh banyak ikan disana, jadi ya masih ada yang bagus lah untuk dilihat, setidaknya. Kemudian, tiba-tiba arusnya jadi kuat dan kami pada naik ke yacht lagi.

Phi-Phi Don Bay

Pulau Phi-Phi Don adalah pulau terbesar di Kepulauan Phi-Phi. Pantainya benar-benar bagus banget. Gunung-gunung kapur yang kontras dengan air laut birunya, bener-bener pemandangan yang keren!! Dan disanalah kami makan siang!! Restorannya terletak persis di pinggir pantai, hanya beberapa langkah dari lokasi yacht kami ditambatkan. Jadi, kami bisa menikmati semua pemandangan itu sambil makan siang (kalau memilih meja yang bagus tentunya ya, dan itulah yang kami lakukan ;-) ). Makan siangnya adalah model buffet all you can eat (aku tekankan nih, makan siang sepuasnya loh, asik juga tuh). Waktu itu adalah waktu makan siang dan alhasil restorannya penuh oleh turis.

Kami diberi waktu istirahat makan siang sejam disana, dan karena masih ada 30 menit sebelum jalan, kami memutuskan mengeksplorasi pulaunya sedikit deh. Yah, nggak mengeksplorasi pulau juga sih soalnya cuma jalan-jalan aja di pinggir pantai, haha. Pantai Phi-Phi Don ini adalah pantai yang berpenghuni dan ada beberapa komunitas yang tinggal disana. Mereka membuka beberapa toko kecil dan ada juga hotel. Kami kemudian menyadari kalau ternyata harga barang disana sekitar 2x lipat harga barang di daratan utama loh! Setelahnya, kami kembali ke restoran deh, duduk-duduk disana.

Sekitar jam 1 siang kami dipanggil untuk kembali ke yacht untuk melanjutkan tur.

Pulau Phi-Phi Leh

Pulau Phi-Phi Leh adalah pulau terbesar kedua di Kepulauan Phi-Phi, dan ternyata, pulau ini adalah inti dari tur kami hari itu. Ada tiga tempat yang kami kunjungi.

Gua Viking Tham

Yah, gua ini sebenarnya adalah sisa-sisa dari beberapa bajak laut pelaut yang terdampar disana karena cuaca sangat buruk. Mereka membangun gua itu dengan beberapa struktur tradisional dan tinggal disana untuk beberapa waktu. Ya kami nggak berhenti disana sih cuma kata pemandunya ada lukisan kuno yang terlukis di dinding gua.

Laguna Ao Pi Le

Laguna ini terletak nggak jauh dari Gua Viking Tham. Ini adalah laguna yang sangat indah dikelilingi beberapa gunung-gunung kapur!! Yacht kami berkeliling laguna pelan-pelan sehingga kami bisa menikmati pemandangannya dan mengambil beberapa foto. Aku harus bilang bahwa laguna ini adalah laguna terbaik yang pernah kulihat!! Bahkan seorang om2 (yang juga ikutan tur itu) mendeskripsikan laguna ini sebagai "paradise 'surga'" ke keluarganya, haha....

Pantai Maya

Pantai ini mungkin adalah tujuan paling penting dari tur hari itu. Terkenal karena sebuah film Hollywood, The Beach, disyuting disana, pantai ini terletak di bagian lain Pulau Phi-Phi Leh. Aku sangat bersemangat sewaktu pemandu kami bilang bahwa tujuan selanjutnya adalah pantai ini karena aku kan SANGAT ingin kesana!! Untungnya lagi, hari itu cuacanya lagi bagus sehingga kami bisa mampir disana.

Yah, kaya di filmnya, pantai ini benar-benar SANGAT bagus dan bersih loh!! Pasir putih yang kontras dengan air laut yang berwarna biru dan semua gunung-gunung kapurnya, wow, kaya nirwana tuh!! Sayangnya, kami cuma diberi waktu setengah jam disana. Si*l, harusnya paling nggak kan sejam tuh!!

Setelah berkeliling pantai dan foto-foto disana, kami masih memiliki waktu 10 menit dan memutuskan untuk mengikuti sebuah jalan setapak masuk ke dalam pulau. Pemandangan di dalamnya bagus juga lho soalnya jalannya kan (seakan-akan) membimbing kita menuju sebuah lembah di antara dua gunung kapur raksasa. Kami cuma jalan sampe toilet saja sih soalnya waktunya kan sudah mepet banget. Sebenarnya jalannya masih bisa masuk jauh ke dalam tuh dan sebenarnya aku merasa penasaran juga. Kalau saja waktunya cukup, sudah aku eksplorasi lebih dalam tuh :-)

Ngomong2, kemudian kami kembali ke kapal kami dan meninggalkan Pantai Maya.

Snorkeling di Laut Lepas (Lagi)

Dalam perjalanan kembali ke Pantai Noppharat Thara, kami berhenti di satu pergentian terakhir di tengah laut. Katanya sih ini adalah tempat terbaik di Krabi untuk snorkeling. Tentu saja aku tertarik setelah mendengarnya. Aku benar-benar berharap sama satu tempat ini deh.

Lagi, kami kemudian lompat ke laut dan ternyata memang lokasi ini jauh lebih baik dari lokasi snorkeling sebelumnya. NAMUN, tetap saja aku nggak akan bilang ini adalah tempat yang bagus buat snorkeling. Memang sih airnya jernih dan kita bisa melihat semua koral dan ikan di bawahnya, cuma ya, gimana ya, biasa-biasa saja gitu. Beberapa turis ada yang bersemangat banget karena ada ikan badut cuma aku sih engga, haha. Kan itu cuma ikan badut aja gitu lho, yang bisa dilihat dimana-mana kan.


Setelah snorkeling selama sekitar setengah jam, kami kembali naik ke yacht dan kemudian langsung balik menuju Pantai Noppharat Thara. Eh, ternyata berenang di laut itu sangat melelahkan loh. Tahu deh aku sekarang gimana rasanya menjadi seorang korban selamat di tengah laut dan harus mengapung sambil menunggu pertolongan datang, LOL. Susah banget mengontrol gerakan karena arus laut dan kadang-kadang harus terpaksa meminum air laut yang sangat asin, yang sangat menyebalkan!! hahaha...

Ngomong2, dalam perjalanan balik ke pantai, aku tidur bentar loh, hahaha. Atmosfirnya lagi enak banget sih :-) Kembali di pantai, suasana "turis" kembali reasa karena beberapa orang lokal ternyata mengambil fotoku diam-diam paginya, mencetaknya, dan memasukkannya di sebuah frame foto yang memang unik dan "pantai banget". Aku rasa frame-nya unik juga dan "pantai banget" ditambah lagi harga yang ditawarkan masih masuk akal lah: 100 baht, jadi ya sudah aku beli saja sebagai kenang2an kan :-)

Kami kemudian kembali ke tempat parkir dan menunggu transport untuk kembali ke hotel, ini termasuk fasilits turnya loh!! Bener2 tur yang bertanggung-jawab, haha. Ngomong2, ada percek-cokan kecil (untung nggak melibatkan diriku, trima kasih Tuhan) antara seorang turis dengan pemandunya. Ceritanya aku simpan untuk nanti deh, hehe... :-) Yah pokoknya kemudian kami tiba di hotel dengan selamat.

Capek, kami kemudian istirahat sebentar sebelum kembali bersiap-siap untuk jalan lagi ke pantai sorenya. Kali ini, kami tidak melakukan kebodohan yang sama, dan menggunakan taksi gratis yang disediakan hotel untuk pergi ke pantai. Sehari sebelumnya, kami jalan-jalan di pantai Ao Nang (belok kiri dari pertigaan besar dari arah hotel kami), dan hari ini kami memutuskan untuk melihat apa yang ada di sebelah kanannya (Pantai Noppharat Thara). Ternyata, pantai Ao Nang memang lebih menarik dan "hidup". Di pantai Noppharat Thara kebanyakan cuma ada hotel saja jadi kan agak nggak menarik untuk dilihat. Jadi, kembalilah kami ke pantai Ao Nang.

Kali ini kami berhenti di beberapa toko. Aku beli beberapa barang, teman2ku juga. Kemudian kami makan malam di sebuah restoran Italia yang menawarkan harga promo untuk pizza. Semua pizza-nya diberi harga 140 baht dan tentu saja untuk memaksimalkan potongan harga, kami pesan saja dua pizza yang paling mahal, hahaha :-) O iya, mereka juga ngasi salad gratis loh. Pizza-nya lumayan juga tuh dan memang nggak mengherankan mengapa restoran ini adalah yang paling ramai disana!! Setelahnya, kami mengeksplorasi kota kecil ini lebih dalam. Ternyata, kota kecil Ao Nang ini lebih besar dari bayanganku lho!! Setelah jalan lumayan jauh dan sepertinya hampir sampai di ujung kota, kami memutuskan untuk naik tuk-tuk untuk balik ke hotel.

bersambung...

Selanjutnya dalam : Mid Year 2010 Vacation :

• Meninggalkan Krabi
• Sebentar di Kuala Lumpur
• kembali ke Singapura