ENGLISHWell, I think I'm gonna write an interlude entry first before moving to the third and last part of my Mid Year Vacation : Singapore & Penang story, hehe :)Anyway, last Monday, I hang out with my friends. Actually, because we were kinda bored to hang out in Yogyakarta, we had a plan to go to the beach. I actually proposed to go to Baron beach (and some other beaches nearby) since I haven't been there like forever, LOL. The last time I went there was when I was in Junior High, even at that time I only went to one beach. However, because of some reasons, our plan to go to the beach had to be canceled.So, yesterday we departed at around 10.30 AM. At first we had lunch at Jejamuran Resto, a restaurant which only served mushrooms (jamur) as their menus. It was located pretty far from the city, about 800 meters from the Yogyakarta - Semarang main road. For me, it was just okay, nothing really special, but yeah, the price was really affordable (especially when comparing it to food price in Singapore, wkwkwkw). Then, because of the beach cancelation, we went to the exact opposite place, Kaliurang!! wkwkwkw. Kaliurang is located in the foot of Merapi Mountain, so yeah, instead of going to the beach, we went to the mountain, instead of going south, we went north, LOL. It was okay for me since I also haven't been there for pretty long.Kaliurang was just Kaliurang. Probably because now I'm used to live in Bandung where going everywhere takes forever, the trip to Kaliurang was felt so short, not as far as I felt as it used to be, haha. In Kaliurang we went to Tlogo Putri and entered the rain forest. I still remember vividly there was a waterfall and a pond beneath it in there when I was a child. Yesterday, the waterfall was still there, but not falling as much water as it used to be, and the pond had vanished!! Hmmm. Anyway, then we went to Warung Poci and played cards there for about an hour, haha. After that, we went to "Gardu Pandang" (Lookout Tower) which I realized that it had been renewed. Then, we went back to Yogyakarta.Actually I was looking for a tennis manager game, but I couldn't find it, damnit. After dropping one friend (well, I just remember there is one story I can write, I'll keep it for later, haha), my other friend and I had dinner at Galeria. Then, we went back home.Well, holiday has been real quick. It's not that tomorrow it's over, no, it will still last for another two weeks, it's just that tomorrow I'm going back to Bandung driving my car back there! Hmmm. It feels that my trip back to Jogja last May was like only two or three days ago, haha...
::: Soto Kridosono and sate
::: 9th Grade Wagyu Imported Steak I had last Sunday
::: mushroom farm at Jejamuran
::: some of our meal at Jejamuran
::: at Kaliurang's waterfall. I was standing in what I remember as a pond some years ago when I was a child.
::: some meal at Warung Poci
::: scenery at Gardu Pandang (Lookout Tower)
::: my dinner at Bee's Galeria
::: bakso
BAHASA INDONESIAYah, kayanya aku akan nulis posting selingan dulu ah sebelum masuk ke bagian ketiga sekaligus terakhir dari cerita Mid Year Vacation : Singapore & Penang, hehe :)Ngomong2, Senin kemarin, aku jalan2 sama teman2. Sebenarnya sih karena agak bosan juga jalan2nya di kota Yogyakarta mulu, kita ada rencana untuk jalan2 ke pantai. Nah, awalnya sih aku mengusulkan ke pantai Baron tuh (dan pantai-pantai lain di sekitarnya) karena aku udah lamaa banget kaga kesana, LOL. Terakhir aku kesana tuh waktu SMP loh, bahkan waktu itu juga cuma ke satu pantai aja. Namun, karena satu dua hal, rencana ke pantai harus dibatalkan deh.Jadi, kemarin kita berangkat jam 10.30 pago. Pertamanya kita makan di Rumah Makan Jejamuran dulu, sebuah rumah makan yang hanya menyajikan jamur di dalam menu mereka. Lokasinya lumayan jauh dari kota, sekitar 800 meter dari jalan utama Yogyakarta - Semarang. Untuk aku sih rasa makanannya biasa aja koq, tidak terlalu spesial, tapi benar bahwa memang harganya sangat terjangkau (apalagi kalo dibandingkan dengan harga2 makanan di Singapore, wkwkwkw). Trus, karena pembatalan rencana pantai, kita malah pergi ke tempat yang benar-benar berlawanan, Kaliurang!! wkwkwkwkw. Kaliurang terletak di kaki gunung Merapi, jadi yah, tidak jadi pergi ke pantai malah pergi ke gunung, tidak jadi pergi ke selatan malah pergi ke utara, LOL. Aku sih fine-fine aja sama rencana ini soalnya aku juga dah ga kesana lumayan lama sih.Kaliurang ya kaya Kaliurang. Mungkin karena aku dah biasa tinggal di Bandung yang membutuhkan waktu selamanya untuk pergi ke tempat lain, perjalanan ke Kaliurang jadi terasa singkat, tidak sejauh kaya yang aku rasakan dulu, haha. Di Kaliurang kita pergi ke Tlogo Putri dan masuk ke hutan hujannya. Aku masih ingat dengan jelas kalau dulu waktu aku kecil tuh di dalam hutannya ada air terjun dan kolam di bawahnya. Kemarin, air terjunnya masih ada tapi air yang mengalir sedikit sekali dan kolam di bawahnya sudah hilan!! Hmmm. Ngomong2, setelahnya kita duduk-duduk di Warung Poci selama sekitar sejam lah sambil main kartu, haha. Kemudian kita pergi ke Gardu Pandang yang aku sadar kalo tempatnya ternyata udah direnovasi. Trus, balik deh ke Yogyakarta.Sebenarnya sih aku sedang mencari game manager tenis nih, tapi kemarin gak nemu nih, sial. Setelah menurunkan temenku (yah, aku jadi ingat satu bahan cerita nih, nanti deh ditulis, haha), aku dan temenku yang lain makan malam di Galeria. Setelahnya baru deh pulang.Hmm, liburan benar-benar cepat banget yah. Ya bukannya besok udah selesai sih, engga, masih akan berlangsung sampai sekitar dua minggu lagi. Hanya saja, besok aku akan balik lagi ke Bandung naik mobil! Hmmm. Rasanya tuh perjalananku balik ke Jogja Mei lalu kaya baru terjadi dua atau tiga hari yang lalu, haha...
ENGLISH
Previously on Mid Year Holiday : Singapore & Penang : Zilko and family went on vacation to Singapore and Penang, Malaysia. After spending one night in Singapore, they went to Penang. Day two in Penang, now they were in Georgetown, the capital city of Penang State.
Day 4 (25 July 2009)
Most of "must visit" places in Georgetown had been visited the day before, because of the huge ammount of time we got after realizing that KOMTAR was not as fascinating as we expected before. At 9 AM, Mr. Francis Xavier, our taxi driver, arrived and picked us up. He already knew we were going to Air Itam to visit Kek Lok Si Temple and Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera). He was really kind that he helped us arranging our schedule.
I think the schedule he arranged was really wise, thanks for his expertise about Penang, haha. He dropped us to Bukit Bendera first to buy train tickets upward (and downward, we bought return tickets). If we still had plenty of time before the departure time, then he would take us to Kek Lok Si first. If we only had slim time, he would leave us (since at least people would spend around 2 hours in Bukit Bendera, it would be such a waste of money to make him wait for us, rite?) and suggested us to take taxi (and also told us the fair taxi price) to go to Kek Lok Si Temple. Apparently, our train was scheduled at 11 AM and it was still 9.30 AM, we still had enough time to explore Kek Lok Si first, so that's what we did.
Mr. Xavier took us right up to the top of Kek Lok Si Temple (there was a "traditional" way where we could WALK to go up climbing thousands of stairs. A big no no for that, LOL). Then, he also took us to the main temple with quick tour. At 10.30 AM, after taking photos, we went to Penang Hill to catch our train. At 10.45 AM, we boarded the train and it left 15 minutes before schedule (lucky we went to the station a bit early). The train was really full. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at a seemingly station which apparently was only a transit station, we still had to take another train upward, haha. The total trip took 30 minutes when we arrived at the top of Penang Hill. The air up there was really different, it was really chilly and more comfortable than the air down in the island. Up there, what we did first was having meal since we hadn't had one since the morning began, haha... :)
After having meal and took some quick tours on the hill, we went back downward. We contacted Mr. Xavier to pick us up. Anyway, there was actually nothing really interesting up in the hill, the thing I like most was the air, it was refreshing, but I think that's all, hmmm. O yea, the hill also provided us great scenery of the island. We could see downtown Georgetown, Penang Bridge, and even Bayan Lepas Int'l Airport. There was a free telescope to use. Back to main story, Mr. Xavier picked us up and brought us to coffee house first. Well, we didn't buy anything there since it was really expensive. After that, we went back to our hotel to pick our luggages then we headed to the airport.
Before going to the airport itself, we went to Aquarium and Penang Snake Temple first. Apparently, aquarium was literally aquarium, damnit, I thought it was like Seaworld, LOL. In snake temple, I thought there would be more snake in the temple, but there weren't. There was a snake farm nearby but we didn't get in, haha. After that, at 4.50 PM we arrived at the airport. At 7.45 PM we boarded our plane, Tiger Airways' Airbus A320-232 reg code 9V-TAE flight no. TR 427 heading for Singapore. At 8 PM we took off from runway 04. At 9.15 PM local time, we landed at runway 20R at Changi Airport Singapore. Anyway, at the custom, there was a funny incident, I will write about it later, haha.
Day 5 (26 July 2009)
Our main destination this day was Marina. To get there, we wanted to take MRT. To me, it was really exciting, haha. I had always wanted to try taking MRT. So, we went to Somerset Station, the closest one to our hotel. My friend already told me before to get an EZ-Link Card. We had to pay S$ 15 for this card with S$ 10 credit to spend, so the cost of making this card was S$ 5, but it was worthed since it is valid for five years and we paid less compared to standard one way ticket.
Anyway, so we arrived at City Hall Station and were at Raffles City Mall. Then, we walked to Marina Square. There, I bought Crocs shoes, new one, which was cheaper than in Malaysia or Indonesia, haha. After that, we walked to Suntec City Mall. I really wanted to go to the Fountain of Wealth, and finally we found it. We had a chance to take the 'tour' to the center of the fountain and did some rituals which was believed would make our wish comes true, LOL.
After that, our "must visit" destination was the Singapore Flyer. Singapore Flyer, with 165 meter in height, is the tallest rotating wheel in the world, even taller than the London Eye, haha. Lucky we got 50% discount because my mom had an HSBC Credit Card. If we showed Indonesian Passport, we could also get 29% discount, and if we had Tiger Airways' boarding pass, we could also get 20% discount. Unluckily the promotions couldn't be combined (of course, if I combined all three of them which I actually had in my hand, I would get 99% discount then, wkwkwkwkw). Anyway, so we ride it. The capsule was pretty roomy but at first I concerned that eventhough it was roomy, still, compared to 165 meter above the ground, it could still be significantly small, LOL. However, apparently, with the gentle move, it wasn't scary at all!! :) We could enjoy the view of Singapore. Tho I think we went there a bit too early tho (2 PM), I mean, if we went there like one or two hours later, the view might be better.
Then, we caught a cab to go to the Merlion Park. The park was full of tourists (of course), haha, it's where the most famous Merlion Statue lies. After taking some pictures, we walked to the closest MRT Station, Raffles Place. On the way, we stopped at Cavenagh Bridge. It was the bridge near the starting line of The Amazing Race Asia 2, haha, all teams took profile pictures on this bridge! haha... . Anyway, then we headed to Little India. After walking inside Mustafa Centre, we had dinner at an Indian Restaurant nearby. After that, we took another MRT and went to Chinatown. Yea, we didn't spend that much time in Chinatown, just around 30 minutes probably, since we were already tired. Then, we went back to our hotel.
To Be Continued ...
Next on Mid Year Holiday : Singapore & Penang
- Sentosa Island
- Songs of the Sea
- Chinese Garden
- Bugis and more Orchard
L : the making of Goddess Kwan Im's statue was underway at Kek Lok Si Temple
R : downtown Georgetown, as taken from Kek Lok Si Temple
L : Kek Lok Si Temple
R : the trains we caught to go up/down Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera)
L : a view from Penang Hill, Penang Bridge was within visible range!!
R : the train track
L : downtown Georgetown as taken from Penang Hill
R : Ais Kacang
L : a monument of ancient train
R : Penang Bridge, as taken from Queensbay
L : turtles at Aquarium
R : snake at Snake Temple
L : Bayan Lepas International Airport's Check-In Area
R : my dinner for last Saturday, at Bayan Lepas Airport
L : Tiger Airways' Airbus A320-232 reg code 9V-TAE arriving from Singapore
R : inside Tiger Airways' Airbus A320-232 reg code 9V-TAE flight no. TR 427 heading for Singapore
L : another dinner I had in Singapore, Saturday evening , seafood
R : my meal for breakfast Sunday morning, meatball noodle
L : Fountain of Wealth
R : a view of Singapore (Singapore River)
L : one capsule of Singapore Flyer
R : Singapore Flyer as viewed from Merlion Park
L : Merlion at Merlion Park
R : drinking the water, LOL
L : Esplanade
R : my Indian dinner
L : Cavenagh Bridge
R : Paula and Natasha, racers of TARA 2, also at Cavenagh Bridge
BAHASA INDONESIA
Sebelumnya dalam Mid Year Holiday : Singapore & Penang : Zilko sekeluarga pergi liburan ke Singapore dan Penang, Malaysia. Setelah menginap semalam di Singapore, mereka pergi ke Penang. Di hari kedua di Penang, mereka telah berada di Georgetown, ibukota dari Negara Bagian Penang.
Hari 4 (25 Juli 2009)
Kebanyakan dari tempat "mesti dikunjungi" di Georgetown telah dikunjungi sehari sebelumnya, ini karena banyaknya waktu yang tersisa setelah menyadari kalau KOMTAR itu ternyata tidak sebagus bayangan kami sebelumnya. Jam 9 pagi, Mr. Francis Xavier, sopir taksi kami, menjemput kami di hotel. Dia sudah tahu kalau rencana kami hari itu adalah pergi ke Air Itam untuk mengunjungi Kuil Kek Lok Si dan Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera). Dia baik banget loh sampai mau membantuk menyusun jadwal untuk kami.
Aku rasa jadwal yang dia susun sangat bagus tuh, terima kasih pada pengetahuannya tentang Penang, haha. Dia pertama-tama mengantar kami ke Bukit Bendera untuk beli tiket kereta ke atas (dan ke bawah, kami membeli tiket pulang pergi). Jika masih ada banyak waktu, dia akan mengantar kami ke Kuil Kek Lok Si dulu. Jika tidak, dia akan meninggalkan kami (karena setidaknya orang akan menghabiskan waktu 2 jam di Penang Hill, kan rugi kalau kita meminta sopir taksi menunggu kita kan?) dan menyarankan untuk naik taksi (dan juga memberi tahu harga yang wajar berapa) untuk pergi ke Kuil Kek Lok Si. Ternyata, kereta kami berangkat baru pukul 11 dan waktu itu sedang pukul 9.30. Masih banyak waktu kan, makanya kami pergi ke Kuil Kek Lok Si dulu.
Mr. Xavier membawa kita langsung ke atas Kuil Kek Lok Si (sebenarnya ada jalan "tradisional" dimana kita bisa BERJALAN naik mendaki ribuan tangga untuk naik ke kuil. Tentu saja itu pilihan yang NGGAK BANGET, LOL). Trus, dia juga membawa kami ke kuil utama dengan tur kilat. Jam 10.30, setelah foto2, kami langsung menuju Penang Hill untuk mengejar kereta. Jam 10.45, kami mulai menaiki kereta dan keretanya berangkat 15 menit lebih cepat loh (untung kami ke stasiun agak awal yah). Keretanya penuh sekali. Lima belas menit kemudian, kami tiba di sebuah tempat yang seperti stasiun puncak, yang ternyata cuma stasiun transit saja. Kami masih harus naik kereta lagi ke atas. Total perjalanannya sih 30 menit sampai tiba di atas Penang Hill. Yah, udara di atas memang sangat berbeda, sejuk dan jauh lebih nyaman dari udara di daratan pulau. Di atas sana, yang kami lakukan pertama adalah makan malam karena dari pagi belum makan, haha... :)
Setelah makan dan jalan-jalan sebentar di atas bukit, kami kembali turun. Kami menghubungi Mr. Xavier untuk menjemput kami. Ngomong2, sebenarnya tidak banyak hal menarik di atas Penang Hill sih, yang paling aku suka ya hanya udaranya saja, sangat sejuk, tapi ya cuma itu saja, hmmm. O iya, bukitnya juga menyajikan pemandangan yang bagus dari pulaunya. Kita bisa melihat kota Georgetown, Jembatan Pulau Penang, bahkan Bandar Udara Internasional Bayan Lepas dari atas sana. Ada teleskop gratis tuh untuk digunakan. Balik ke cerita, Mr. Xavier menjemput kami dan mengantar kami ke sebuah rumah kopi. Disana nggak beli apa-apa sih soalnya mahal2. Setelahnya, kami kembali ke hotel untuk mengambil bagasi dan menuju bandara.
Sebelum ke bandara, kami pergi ke Akuarium dan Kuil Ular Penang dulu. Ternyata akuarium itu ya memang akuarium aja, sialan, kirain kan kaya Seaworld, LOL. Di Kuil Ular, aku kira akan ada buanyak ular tetapi ternyata nggak sebanyak itu. Memang ada sih peternakan ular di dekatnya tapi kami nggak mampir, haha. Setelahnya, jam 4.50 sore kami tiba di bandara. Jam 7.45 malam kami menaiki pesawat kami, Tiger Airways Airbus A320-232 kode registrasi 9V-TAE nomor penerbangan TR 427 tujuan Singapore. Jam 8 malam kita lepas landas dari runway 04. Jam 9.15 malam kita mendarat di runway 20R Bandara Changi Singapore. Ngomong2, di custom, ada kejadian lucu deh, kapan2 deh aku tulis, haha.
Hari 5 (26 Juli 2009)
Tujuan utama kami hari ini adalah Marina. Untuk kesana, kami berencana menaiki MRT. Untuk aku, benar-benar mengasyikkan tuh, haha. Soalnya kan aku selalu pengen mencoba naik MRT. Makanya, kami pergi ke Stasiun Somerset, terdekat dari hotel kami. Temenku sebelumnya sudah bilang mendingan aku beli Kartu EZ-Link. Kami harus membayar S$ 15 untuk kartu ini dengan S$ 10 adalah kredit yang bisa dipakai. Jadi, biaya pembuatan kartu adalah S$ 5. Tapi nggak papa kan soalnya kartunya berlaku lima tahun dan dengan kartu ini, kita membayar lebih murah daripada tiket standar sekali jalan.
Ngomong2, akhirnya kami tiba di Stasiun City Hall dan pergi ke Raffles City Mall. Setelahnya kami berjalan menuju Marina Square. Disana, aku membeli sepatu Crocs, yang baru, yang lebih murah daripada di Malaysia atau Indonesia, haha. Setelahnya, kami berjalan ke Suntec City Mall. Aku sih pingin pergi ke Fountain of Wealth (Air Mancur Kesejahteraan) tuh, dan akhirnya menemukannya. Kami mendapat kesempatan untuk melakukan 'tur' ke tengah air mancur dan melakukan ritual yang katanya sih bisa membuat harapan kita terkabul, LOL.
Setelahnya, destinasi "harus dikunjungi" adalah Singapore Flyer. Singapore Flyer, dengan tinggi 165 meter, adalah roda berputar (kaya bianglala) tertinggi di dunia, lebih tinggi daripada London Eye loh, haha. Untungnya lagi, kami mendapat diskon 50% karena mamaku memiliki Kartu Kredit HSBC. Jika kita menunjukkan paspor Indonesia, kita bisa mendapat diskon 29%, dan jika memiliki boarding pass Tiger Airways, kita bisa mendapat diskon 20%. Sayangnya promosi tidak bisa digabungkan (ya iya lah kalo digabung kan kami bisa mendapat diskon 99% karena kesemua syarat itu kami miliki, wkwkwkwkw). Akhirnya, kami menaikinya. Kapsulnya luas juga, walau awalnya agak khawatir juga karena seluas-luasnya kapsul, dibandingkan dengan 165 meter di atas permukaan tanah, kan bisa dikatakan kecil secara segnifikan, LOL. Namun, ternyata dengan gerakan lambat, nggak menyeramkan sama sekali loh!! :) Kami menikmati pemandangan Singapore dari atas. Walau aku rasa sih andai kami kesana agak sorean dikit (kami kesana jam 2) mungkin satu atau dua jam setelahnya, pemandangan bisa lebih bagus.
Trus, kami menaiki taksi menuju Merlion Park. Tamannya ramai oleh turis (tentu saja), haha, karena taman ini adalah dimana patung Merlion yang terkenal itu berada. Setelah foto2, kami berjalan menuju stasiun MRT terdekat, Raffles Place. Di jalan, kami mampir di Jembatan Cavenagh. Ini adalah jembatan di dekat garis mulai The Amazing Race Asia 2 loh, haha, semua tim kan mengambil foto di jembatan ini! haha... . Setelahnya kami menuju Little India. Setelah berjalan di dalam Mustafa Center, kami makan malam di sebuah rumah makan India di dekatnya. Setelahnya kami naik MRT lagi menuju Chinatown. Kami tidak lama sih di Chinatown, mungkin cuma 30 menit, karena sudah lelah sekali. Trus, kami balik ke hotel.
Bersambung ...
Selanjutnya dalam Mid Year Holiday : Singapore & Penang
- Pulau Sentosa
- Songs of the Sea
- Chinese Garden
- Bugis dan lebih tentang Orchard
ENGLISH
So, I'm now back!! hehe... :) It has been really quick that now one week has already passed. So, here we go, the story of my vacation this mid-year to Singapore and Penang.
Day 1 (22 July 2009)
We departed at 6 AM from our house to Adisucipto Int'l Airport Yogyakarta. Well, it was my first direct international trip from this airport, haha. Anyway, finally we boarded Indonesia AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code PK-AXC flight no. QZ 7138 heading for Singapore. Our plane took off from runway 09 at 7.45 AM. Two hours later, at 10.45 AM local time, we landed at Singapore Changi Airport. It was raining when we landed tho, hmm. Btw, when we were taxiing, I saw three Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380s!! Finally I saw the gigantic aircraft with my own eyes!! haha
Anyway, after passing immigration and taking our luggages, we caught a cab to go to the city of Singapore. After about thirty minutes cab-ride we arrived at our hotel, Grand Central Hotel, near the well-known Orchard Road. It was kinda exciting for me since it would be my chance to practise my verbal English after a long time, haha, but apparently the receptionist could speak Bahasa Indonesia, zzz. Then, we walked to Orchard Road.
Actually, we spent all of our first day at Orchard Road. We went to several malls, like Ngee Ann City, Takashimaya, Ion Orchard, Paragon, Tang's, Center Point, Lucky Plaza, etc. Nothing much I could tell here. Anyway, finally I got the t-shirt I had been wanting since last June!! YEAH!! haha... . Anyway, meals in Singapore was incredibly expensive (compared to meals in Indonesia)! At least we had to spend around S$ 5 which is equal to around Rp 35,000.- (that's very very cheap) for a meal.
Day 2 (23 July 2009)
We got up pretty early to catch our next flight to Penang Island, Malaysia this day. After catching a cab to the airport (and entrusted some of our luggages at our hotel since we would be back there in three days), we arrived at Singapore Changi Airport's Budget Terminal. We checked in at Tiger Airways' counter and had breakfast after that. Budget Terminal was a lowcost terminal, so there was no travelator. Our gate was at Gate 2 which was really far and we had to walk, haha.
Anyway, at 9.50 AM we boarded Tiger Airways' Airbus A320-232 reg code 9V-TAB (yea, it was my first foreign plane-ride after my trip to Malaysia last early 2005) flight no TR 422 to Penang. We took off from runway 20C after queuing for some time. The pilot of this flight had a sense of humor. Personally, I think that flight was one of the best flights I had ever flown on, hehe :).
At 11.33 AM, we landed at runway 04 at Bayan Lepas International Airport Penang. After passing immigration, we went to Batu Ferringhi Beach. It was really hot (I mean it, REALLY HOT) in Batu Ferringhi. Weirdly, it was really crowdless, not like a tourist destination. We had lunch at a Lebanon Restaurant which apparently was run by Indonesians, haha. Because of the damn weather, we decided to wait until the sun went down a bit.
At around 5 PM we walked to the beach. At the beach, the tourist atmosphere was a bit more dazzling. There were so many tourists and beach activities which kinda were a bit expensive (almost as expensive as in Bali). After walking in the beach for some hours and the sun set at 7.30 PM, we had dinner at a chinese seafood restaurant just located by the sea. One of the waitress was Indonesian Worker from Godean. She had been working there in Penang since 1996, hehe. The food was delicious, hehe. At 10 PM, after having our stomachs really full, we walked to the main street to see the night market. Nearly midnight, we went back to our hotel.
Day 3 (24 July 2009)
After having complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we all left Batu Ferringhi and went to downtown Georgetown, the capital city of the State of Penang. Georgetown was only about 25 minutes away from Batu Ferringhi. At first we planned to stop by at the Toys Museum but then canceled it (and later on I regreted it because apparently there was a manequine of Seven of Nine there, damnit!!). Instead, we went to two temples, the famous Wat Chayamangkalaram (Reclining Buddha Temple) and Dhammikarama Temple (Burmese Temple). Some said that the Reclining Buddha Statue there was the biggest in the world. Well, I have been to the other Reclining Buddha Temple once I was in Bangkok, Thailand five and a half years ago, but I'm not sure which one is bigger, LOL.
Anyway, after that we went to our hotel in Georgetown and checked-in. Our hotel was located next to the (supposedly) well-known site in Georgetown: KOMTAR (Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak (Tun Abdul Razak Complex)). It was a famous shopping centre some years back. However, when we got there, it was really pathetic. The shopping centre was really 'old-fashioned', and we even couldn't get to the top floor of the tower to get the scenic view of the island. Damnit!! At first we thought (which I had already doubt in the first place) that Komtar was a 58th storey shopping centre, haha.
Therefore, we had plenty of time to spend in the evening. That's why we decided to make our own city tour. With local map in our hands, we went from one site to another site on foot around the city. It was tiring tho but also fun to see the city, hehe. We went to some temples, old church, and finally we went to Fort Cornwallis, an old Britain fort in Georgetown located at the northern beach of the city. Then, we enjoyed the beach scenery there sitting at the plaza located at the beach.
At 7.30 PM, after the sun set, we wanted to go to Gurney Drive. Gurney was a place with many foodstalls. I googled it before going there and I think it was interesting, so Gurney was our next stop. It was already dusk and we concerned about getting a transport there. It was clearly not within walking distance. Then, a cab came dropping passengers at a park nearby and we caught it. I think we were so lucky. The driver, Mr. Francis Xavier, was really really kind and nice that we decided to hire him for our trip the next day. Anyway, then we arrived at Gurney and went to Gurney Plaza first. After that we walked to Gurney Drive Foodstalls and had dinner there. After that we went back to our hotel.
To Be Continued ...
Next on Mid Year Holiday : Singapore & Penang
- Air Itam (Kek Lok Si Temple and Penang Hill)
- Some Other Places in Penang
- Marina, Singapore (some more malls, Singapore Flyer, Merlion Park)
- More of Singapore
L: Indonesia AirAsia's Airbus A320-216 reg code PK-AXC flight no QZ 7138 bounding for Singapore was ready for boarding
R: cloud at 38,000 feet
L: Landing at Singapore Changi Airport
R: a Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380!! Finally I saw this aircraft with my own eyes! :D
L : First Meal in Singapore which cost S$ 6.50
R : Ngee Ann City, Orchard Road
L : Orchard Road
R : first dinner at Orchard, at Din Tai Fung Restaurant
L : Singapore Visitors Center
R : Changi Airport Singapore's Budget Terminal's Check-In Area
L : Tiger Airways' Airbus A320-232 reg code 9V-TAB flight no TR 422 was ready to fly to Penang
R : a busy morning at Changi Airport. Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777, Royal Brunei's Boeing 767, and a privat jet were lining for take-off at runway 20C.
L : Bayan Lepas International Airport Penang. Lion Air's Boieng 737-400 and Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 737-400 were also there.
R : Batu Ferringhi Beach as taken from our hotel.
L : Batu Ferringhi Bistro, Chinese Seafood.
R : Jalan Batu Ferringhi Sign
L : at Reclining Buddha Temple
R : Buddha statue at Burmese Temple
L : KOMTAR
R : blackpepper sirloin steak as lunch
L : Little India at Georgetown, Penang
R : St. George Church
L : Fort Cornwallis
R : the beach next to Fort Cornwallis
L : Gurney Drive Foodstalls
R : omelette oysters
BAHASA INDONESIA
Jadi, aku sudah balik nih!! hehe... :) Benar2 cepat yah tak terasa seminggu sudah berlalu. Jadi, mari dimulai deh cerita liburan tengah tahun keduaku ini ke Singapore dan Penang.
Hari 1 (22 Juli 2009)
Kita berangkat jam 6 pagi dari rumah menuju Bandar Udara Internasional Adisucipto Yogyakarta. Hmm, waktu itu adalah kali pertamaku naik penerbangan internasional langsung dari bandara ini, haha. Singkat kata, kita kemudian naik ke pesawat Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-216 kode registrasi PK-AXC nomor penerbangan QZ 7138 tujuan Singapore. Pesawatnya tinggal landas dari runway 09 pada pukul 7.45 pagi. Dua jam kemudian, pukul 10.45 waktu lokal, pesawat mendarat di Bandar Udara Changi Singapore. Ketika mendarat ternyata sedang hujan, hmmm. Btw, waktu pesawat sedang taxiing, aku melihat tiga pesawat Airbus A380-nya Singapore Airlines loh!! Akhirnya aku melihat pesawat raksasa ini langsung dengan mataku sendiri!! haha
Ngomong2, setelah melewati imigrasi dan mengambil bagasi, kita naik taksi untuk pergi ke kota Singapore-nya. Setelah perjalanan selama kurang lebih setengah jam, kita tiba di hotel, Hotek Grand Central, didekat Jalan Orchard yang terkenal itu. Aku bersemangat karena akhirnya mendapat kesempatan menggunakan bahasa Inggris verbalku setelah sekian lama, haha, tapi ternyata resepsionisnya malah ngomong bahasa Indonesia, zzz. Trus, kita pergi ke Jalan Orchard.
Sebenarnya sih ya kegiatan hari pertama ya cuma terpusat di Jalan Orchard saja. Kita pergi ke beberapa mall seperti Ngee Ann City, Takashimaya, Ion Orchard, Paragon, Tang's, Center Point, Lucky Plaza, dll. Nggak banyak deh yang bisa ditulis disini. Ngomong2, akhirnya aku mendapatkan kaus yang sudah aku ingin2kan sejak Juni lalu!! YEAH!! haha... . Btw, makanan di Singapore mahalnya gila2an yah (dibandingkan makanan di Indonesia)! Setidaknya kita harus keluar minimal S$ 5 yang kira2 sama dengan Rp 35.000,- tuh (udah yang murah banget nih) untuk sekali makan.
Hari 2 (23 Juli 2009)
Kita bangun lebih pagi untuk mengejar pesawat selanjutnya menuju Pulau Penang, Malaysia pada hari ini. Habis naik taksi menuju bandara (dan menitipkan sebagian barang kami di hotel karena kita akan balik dalam tiga hari) kita tiba di Bandara Changi Singapore di Budget Terminal. Kita check-in di konter Tiger Airways dan makan pagi setelahnya. Budget Terminal adalah terminal biaya rendah, makanya tidak ada travelator. Gerbang kami adalah Gerbang 2 yang lokasinya sangat jauh dan kita harus berjalan menuju sana, haha.
Ngomong2, sekitar jam 9.50 pagi kami menaiki pesawat Tiger Airways Airbus A320-232 reg kode registrasi 9V-TAB (ya, itu adalah kali pertama aku naik pesawat beregistrasi asing setelah perjalananku ke Malaysia awal 2005 lalu) nomor penerbangan TR 422 menuju Penang. Kita tinggal landas dari runway 20 C setelah mengantri untuk beberapa saat. Pilot pada penerbangan ini benar2 lucu tuh. Aku rasa mungkin penerbangan ini adalah salah satu yang terbaik yang pernah aku naiki, hehe :).
Jam 11.33 pagi, kita mendarat di runway 04 di Bandar Udara Internasional Bayan Lepas Penang. Setelah melewati imigrasi, kita pergi menuju Pantai Batu Ferringhi. Cuaca waktu itu benar2 panas (beneran nih, PANAS BANGET) di Batu Ferringhi. Anehnya, suasananya juga sepi tuh, tidak terasa seperti destinasi turis. Kita makan siang di Restoran Lebanon yang ternyata dijalankan oleh orang Indonesia, haha. Karena cuaca sialan, kita memutuskan untuk menunggu sampai matahari turun sedikit.
Sekitar jam 5 sore kita berjalan menuju pantai. Di pantai, atmosfer turis jauh lebih terasa. Disana ada banyak sekali turis dan banyak aktivitas pantai yang harganya mahal juga (hampir semahal Bali tuh). Setelah berjalan-jalan di pantai dan matahari terbenam jam 7.30 malam, kita makan malam di rumah makan chinese seafood di pinggiran pantai. Salah satu pelayannya ternyata TKW asal Godean tuh yang sudah di Penang sejak 1996, hehe. Makanannya enak tuh, hehe. Jam 10 malam, setelah perut penuh, kita berjalan menuju jalan utama untuk melihat pasar malamnya. Sekitar tengah malam, kita balik ke hotel deh.
Hari 3 (24 Juli 2009)
Setelah makan pagi di hotel, kita meninggalkan Batu Ferringhi untuk pergi ke Georgetown, ibukota dari Negara Bagian penang. Georgetown berlokasi sekitar 25 menit dari Batu Ferringhi. Pertamanya kita berencana untuk mampir di Museum Mainan tapi kemudian membatalkannya (dan setelahnya aku menyesal karena ternyata ada manekinnya Seven of Nine disana, sialan!!). Lalu, kita pergi ke dua kuil, yaitu Kuil Wat Chayamangkalaram (Kuil Buddha Tidur) yang terkenal dan Kuil Dhammikarama (Kuil Myanmar). Beberapa orang bilang bahwa Patung Buddha Tidur disana adalah yang paling besar di dunia. Yah, aku sih sudah pernah pergi ke Kuil Buddha Tidur lainnya ketika berada di Bangkok, Thailand, lima setengah tahun yang lalu, tapi ga yakin juga mana yang lebih besar, LOL.
Kemudian kita pergi ke hotel kita di Georgetown dan check in. Hotelnya terletak di sebelah tempat yang (seharusnya) terkenal di Georgetown: KOMTAR (Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak). Itu adalah pusat perbelanjaan yang terkenal beberapa tahun lalu. Namun, ketika kita kesana, koq menyedihkan sekali yah. Pusat perbelanjaannya benar-benar 'kuno' dan bahkan kita tidak bisa naik ke lantai atas untuk melihat pemandangan keseluruhan dari pulaunya. Sial!! Pertamanya sih kita kira (yang aku sudah ragukan sejak awal nih) bahwa Komtar adalah pusat perbelanjaan berlantai 58, haha.
Makanya, kita jadi ada banyak waktu untuk dihabiskan sorenya. Itulah mengapa kita memutuskan untuk membuat tur kota sendiri. Dengan peta lokal di tangan, berjalan-jalanlah kita dari satu tempat ke tempat lain di dalam kota dengan jalan kaki. Capek sih, tapi menyenangkan lho untuk melihat-lihat kota gitu, hehe. Kita pergi ke beberapa kuil, gereja tua, dan akhirnya tiba di Fort Cornwallis, sebuah benteng tua peninggalan Inggris yang terletak di pantai utara dari kotanya. Trus, kita menikmati pemandangan pantai dengan duduk-duduk di plaza yang ada di pinggiran pantai.
Jam 7.30 malam, setelah matahari terbenam, kita mau pergi ke Gurney Drive. Gurney adalah tempat dengan banyak warung makanan. Aku nge-google-nya sebelum pergi dan kayanya menarik, makanya Gurney adalah tujuan selanjurnya. Hari sudah senja dan kita agak pusing juga memikirkan transpor menuju Gurney. Gurney jelas tidak dalam area yang terjangkau dengan jalan kaku. Trus, sebuah taksi datang dan menurunkan penumpang di taman dekat lokasi kita dan kita menyetopnya. Rasanya kita beruntung banget tuh. Sopirnya, Mr. Francis Xavier, ternyata sangat baik sampai kita memutuskan untuk menyewanya untuk perjalanan kita keesokan harinya. Yah, akhirnya kita tiba di Gurney dan jalan2 di Gurney Plaza dulu. Kemudian, kita pergi ke Gurney Drive Foodstalls dan makan malam disana. Setelahnya, kita balik ke hotel.
Bersambung ...
Selanjutnya dalam Mid Year Holiday : Singapore & Penang
- Air Itam (Kek Lok Si Temple dan Penang Hill)
- Beberapa Tempat Lain di Penang
- Marina, Singapore (beberapa mall lagi, Singapore Flyer, Merlion Park)
- Lebih tentang Singapore
::: Soto Kridosono and sate