After having the best time at the Pandawa beach yesterday, we moved to a countryside, Sidemen (read: see-the-mund). And I blame all the fun we had to Rika for successfully fumed my jealousy over her family trip there.

The drive from Uluwatu to Sidemen took 1.5 hours. Probably because they were exhausted from building sandcastle, the kids slept almost all the way. It was a smooth drive as the roads in Bali were amazingly good. I really enjoyed driving there. And again, thanks to GPS I didn’t get lost at all and arrived in Sidemen without scratching asphalt road. (jadi gak lucu ya ekspresinya kalo di enggrisin.. qiqiqik)

The view from our spacious terrace/balcony.

Our accommodation, Lihat Sawah homestay is easy to find once we got to Banjar Tabola. The owner and his family actually owns several accommodations in Sidemen, such as Sawah Indah Villa, Kubu Tani, and I don’t know what are the rest. Lihat Sawah is actually the oldest establishment they run and as a little bird told me, the third oldest hotel in Sidemen. So yea.. it’s rather old and I honestly think they need to upgrade the rooms a bit. But, what they lack of in term of charming room, they made it up with a nice swimming pool, as advertised on their sign post.

Their swimming pool won our hearts. It’s all about a pool for us. The weather at Sidemen was mildly cool. It’s not as cold as Ubud but definitely not as hot as in Kuta. We just didn’t sweat here. The air was just perfect and so did the water in the pool. On the first day, the girls enjoyed swimming until 6:30 p.m. without feeling cold. The only reason they agreed to get out of the water was because it got dark and they got hungry too.

Not so much liking the bedroom but absolutely love the terrace/balcony

The pool that won our hearts

There were not many dining options there. Visitors can go to restaurant at different hotels or to even more limited option of small local joints. Do bring enough cash as most of them do not accept other form of payment. Fortunately, BRI bank has an atm near the accommodations.

Day 2 at Sidemen, we again followed Rika’s suggestion to go sawah trekking. At 7:30 a.m. our guide, Komang, came to our bungalow to pick us up. Raissa was not too excited with the thought that she was going to walk on a somewhat tough terrain again after Bingin beach.  She said she would prefer to just sleep at the hotel. I did feel sorry for her, a teeny bit, but since I wanted the kids to fully experience village life and got all muddy at paddy field (sawah), I tricked her to agree do the trekking because at the end of the tour there’s a river where she can splash water. She gave in.

The trekking was supposedly to sawah but since paddy plantation was not in season, we went to rows of chili, and some sporadic planting of water spinach (kangkung), passion fruits, long beans, and cassava leaves (singkong). There were even wild coffee trees which flowers exuded heady smell I love. Done with the vegetation stuff, we went to the river.

The water at the river was clean but co-cooo-ccooolldd. None of us wanted to get wet more than just dipped our feet up to the ankle. I noticed that there were feathers in the water though so I asked our guide from what animal the feather came from. He said it’s from wild geese. Usually slightly after 1 p.m., a flock of wild geese would fly over the river. It would be a wow sight but…  we didn’t want to give up the chance to use the pool before check-out just to see flying geese. Ummmm… maybe next time. Maaaaybee. From the river, we headed back to the homestay. We booked 1-hour trekking tour and ended up did 2 hours. A lovely morning exercise for Raissa and myself, while Fiamma slept the whole time. Booo..so much for kampung experience idea.

lihat kebunkuuu

Jernih ya airnyaaa

We really enjoyed the stay at Sidemen. Raissa even said that she wants to come back with PapaKris. Just like Raissa, I also feel sorry that Kris had missed a wonderful experience staying at Bali countryside so I wouldn’t mind coming back again too. But only if Kris comes along. On the accommodation though, while the staff at Lihat Sawah were attentive and friendly but for the next visit, I think I’ll opt for newer accommodation. Unless Lihat Sawah completely upgrades their rooms or half their rates.

Last day at Sidemen was also our last day in Bali. We headed back to Kuta in the afternoon and spent the last hours of our holiday strolling around Kuta/Legian eating gelatos and sipping yummy, cold fruit juices. The girls’ first trip to Bali showed me many new angles about my favorite island. This awesome holiday could only be better if Kris had been a part of it. That’s a very good reason to come back next year, right?

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Then it was time to pack our back, check-out, and head to a secret beach before going to the countryside.

The road to a not-so secret beach

The secret beach we went to actually is not a secret anymore. Pandawa beach, a name given by the local government, used to be called Secret Beach. It’s a 30-mins drive from Seminyak, going to direction of Ungasan, Uluwatu. It was very easy to get there with the help of GPS from my mobile phone, and this time I didn’t get lost at all. Woohooo.. I’m finally “localized” Btw, if you want to use GPS as well, to find location, do input: Bali Cliff. Once you reach Jalan Bali Cliff, just follow the sign to Pandawa beach.

The beauty of Pandawa beach is difficult to describe. Although, there are quite a number of tourists there but it was still rather an empty beach. This was simply the best beach we visited during this holiday. I’ll just let the pictures speak on behalf of this white and soft sand beach. Heavenly.

There are 6 shrines which each of the Pandawas occupies

Pandawa beach was a fishing and seaweed cultivation village

Still quite empty

Enjoying their time at a pristine beach to the fullest

We’ll be back!!

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First act, getting up earlier to get to the pool.

happy mini swimmer

After 2 hours in the pool, breakfast and shower, we were ready to push ourselves to leave our comfy hotel and off to Kuta Square since Raissa wanted to buy the sand tools to build sandcastle before going to, as I told her, a very very beautiful beach today. We didn’t spend much time there, and once we found what we wanted, we left because we want to see some monkeys.

I told the kids that they’re gonna see monkeys up-close. At first, I wanted to take them to see monkey in Ubud with a personal hidden agenda early dinner at Dirty Ducks. That mission failed because the silly monkey who drove the car couldn’t read the map good enough yet, so when I saw roadsign directing to Sangeh I opted to take them there instead.

I was a bit worried to take them there because Sangeh monkeys are notorious for bad behaviors, snapping cameras or bags or jewelries or whatever the visitors hold. A monkey took my mom’s sandal when she visited it two years ago. I imagined Raissa and Fiamma would be petrified seeing shrieking monkeys swinging wildly between trees.

It turned out there was nothing to worry about and we had a good time there. The monkeys were rather docile and friendly. We fed them peanuts which they took gently from our hands. No monkey went crazy. Thank God. Btw, the whole time in Bali I noticed a lot of ads offering many activities with elephants, at different places too. From education show to riding, feeding, to bathing Dumbo relatives. There’s even a lodge that bears elephant on its name and guests will be escorted to their room on an elephant! We skipped a chance to interact with them this time because I don’t think it’s safe with Fiamma still not fully understands safety instruction.

Can you guess what went through my mind?

Enough fun with the monkey, we all longed for another beach. After reading about Bingin Beach, I’m sold at the words secluded, hidden gem, and tranquil beach. From Sangeh, I drove directly to Pecatu, Uluwatu. The sweetest thing happened on our way to Bingin. Raissa and Fiamma sang me Happy Birthday cheerfully clapping their little hands. Yep, today, it’s actually my birthday! I wish Kris was with us in Bali.

Anyhooo,  I got better in reading the map from my mobile phone but still had to make a few detours. Passing the Padang-Padang beach, there were many tourists wanting to see the sunset thus creating a bit of heavy traffic. I was tempted to just stop there too because the time was almost 5 p.m. and I really should have! But this silly monkey me, upon seeing too many people there, and then the parking-man said that Bingin beach is only 10 minutes away and I firmed my will to get to a tranquil beach.

We finally arrived at the parking area of Bingin beach slightly after 5 p.m. and I asked the locals for direction to the beach. The locals, while gave me direction, also asked me why I want to go to beach so late. They then asked if I’m going to stay overnight there. When I replied that we did not plan to stay the night there, they told me to seriously consider turning around because the path to the beach was too steeped. I was already disheartened upon hearing their advice, but Raissa had said repeatedly that she wanted to go to beach to build sandcastle. She was very consistent in asking when we’re gonna get to the beach and as a birthday gift for me, I just wanted to spend and end the day with my girls happy.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, we rushed down the path to the beach. I carried Fiamma in my loyal babyhwak carrier and held Raissa’s hand. We started to walk down the cobbled path and I thought the path was easy to walk on so I don’t care if it’s a long way down. We were happily walking for the next 10 minutes until the cobbled path ended and we encountered the steep steps to get down the cliff and on to the beach.

The steep steps.. this is probably about three-quarter distance away from the beach.

pic is taken from here

The steps started to daunt me. It was so steep, so high, and zigzag-ing and… the area was not well-lit. I told Raissa that we might have to turn around and she said ok. We could NOT see the beach, that’s how steep it was. Yet, we could see the ocean already which was enough to recharge Raissa’s energy and so we marched on. About 10 minutes later, we arrived at the beach. I ran out of breath, while Raissa quickly dumped all her new sand tools and started digging sand. Fiamma fortunately was a bit calm at Bingin beach, otherwise I could not imagine having to struggle keeping her off the water. I started feeding them dinner because it’s already over 6 p.m. and I’m haunted with hungry crying babies on our climb back up.

Bingin Beach is really a surfing paradise. Most of the tourists staying there are surfers. Feast for mama’s eyes :p  The beach is actually quite pretty and I can imagine a romantic stay here because all of the accommodations actually sit on a cliff. The accommodations are all look rather modest but inviting. However, I would not recommend it for family with young children, definitely not for children under age 5. The path or rather the steps there were really steep so it’s dangerous for young children. We stayed there for only half-hour because it turned really dark on the beach and its surrounding.

Finally…the tough-earned Bingin beach

Oh my, what a cardio exercise to climb up the cliff. I was out for breath after 5 minutes and took a break for a minute, and then… Raissa said that she needs to go to the loo. We headed to the nearest cafe to use their toilet, and I also ordered a large bottle of mineral water and coke. I did feel I need all the sugar boost to finish Bingin challenge. If you google to see how steep Bingin’s steps are, no picture can justify it because not only it’s steep but as I said earlier it went zig-zag, instead of a straight line. So it’s a steep and long path.

Raissa was a real trooper. She walked up on her own feet. She didn’t let me take a break because she was more scared of the dark than feeling tired We did not, of course, carry any flashlight. Note to everyone, flashlight is so important when you consider staying at Bingin beach. I’m not sure how long it took for us to came out from the stone-and-gravel steps but it felt like forever. I felt relieved already when we finally finished with the steps and reached the cobbled path again.

Once we were on the cobbled path, luck was with us. A tall, big, and well-built Balinese guy (he might be just a slight smaller than Ade Rai) carrying a flashlight happened to walk behind us. I told him to just walk past us because I was afraid that we would slow him down if we walked in front of him. He turned down my suggestion and continued to walk behind us and lit the path for us with his flashlight. Once we got to the area with some street lights, he asked if he can help me carrying Fiamma. At first I turned down his offer because that would make me feel bad, but he insisted that it’s ok, so I finally gave in. He took over Fiamma and when we chatted a bit more, he said he owns car rental business and that he lives in Seminyak as well. Perfect. I immediately asked him if I can follow him back to Seminyak, being a nice guy he of course said yes and even gave me his name card with his mobile number. He said if we get separated I can call him up for direction. Phheeww, bless you, bli Nyoman. I can finally let my inadeqaute map-reading skill a break.

The kids fell asleep on the way back to the hotel, and watching them sleeping in bed that night, I thank God for blessing me with an exciting day on my birthday with my most precious treasures. I love you to the moon and back girls and Happy Birthday to me *cheers*

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From our balcony.. Life is good, eh Fiamma?

First, I re-affirm that it’s best to travel during the kids’ sleeping time. Very little hassle even for an adult travelling with two toddlers. Fiamma did roam around the Soetta airport mopping the floor with herself, but just before the plane took off, she fell asleep and didn’t wake up till Bali morning sun greeted her the next morning. While Raissa… just a perfect travel buddy. Her sanguine-self is just the best partner-in-crime for any adventure.

Our first stop is of course the touristiest spot: Kuta-Legian-Seminyak gang. This is the girls first trip to Bali so I think it’s best to start with the basics  We stayed at Arana Suite. It’s a new small hotel with only 32 chic rooms decorated just the way I’d do my tropical home. Located in Seminyak but not the area where KuDeTa and all that expensive hangout places on Jl. Petitenget crowd together. It sits on Jl. Nakula (just off Sunset Road) and although it’s not within short walking distance to the beach but it’s still close to all the conveniences, such as Starbucks, McD and other small local eateries and stores. The hotel also provides drop-off service to Kuta beach and Double6 beach three times a day. For me, the serenity of the hotel’s immediate surrounding, being away from the loudness of partying drunks, is perfect for family travelling with little children.

Our comfy bed in our cozy room

The pool we abused lovingly

The hotel has a nice swimming pool but unfortunately no kids pool. Nonetheless, the kids armed with floating armband  and vest relished the pool every morning as soon as they left the bed, after breakfast, and tempted to plunge into it again before they hit the bed. Actually, I think they would be just as happy to stay by the pool at the hotel the whole time if I didn’t let them know that they are surrounded by white-sand beaches. But their momma has a big mouth and the words about nice beaches were out in noooo time.

First stop, the closest beach to our hotel: Kuta.

Kuta beach.. welll, just like what any google search result would tell you. White-sand beach, packed with people, too many vendors offering everything from drink to massage and hair-braiding service, but it’s all fun. I was happy to find Kuta beach much much cleaner and less packed from my last visit. The kids had a blast here. Too much fun that Fiamma had to change clothes 3 times because she always pushed her way back to the ocean and I simply couldn’t drag her off the water and sand quick enough!

We then had a quick lunch on Kuta main street while waiting for our rented car to be delivered. Yep, I rented a small KIA Picanto car almost the whole time we were there. At first, I thought I could just use taxi everywhere but travelling with two super-energized kids, it was much easier to have a car with us so I don’t need to carry them too long too often. I would recommend any family travelling with small children to just rent a car in Bali. It’s definitely much cheaper than going around by taxi. I rented mine for Rp. 150k/day (24hours, no driver).

As soon as I had a car, we went back to the hotel for a quick nap, and out again before sunset to drive around the city. The goal for the evening is to have dinner at Warung Eny in Seminyak. The warung is so small and really is a warung, that is difficult to find. It’s nothing fancy but the food is oh-sooooo-delish! We had corn-fritters (bakwan jagung), Balinese-spiced chicken (ayam betutu) and grilled snapper with garlic flavoring, and they were all divine. I bagged whatever we didn’t finish and ate them the next day, and all were still good. Truly fingers licking good meals.

We went back to the hotel after dinner and straight to bed with happy tummy. Day 1 ended a bit early as we wanted to take it easy and because I’ve planned for a more adventurous activities for Day 2.

. My beach babes

Outfit #2

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I wish tis’ the view from my backyard

Liburan murah meriah, pantai pasir putih, ada unsur edukasi untuk anak dan anak-anak penyu yang lucu dimana hayoo?

Aceh? Bali? Lombok? Benar semuaaaa. Tapi ada lagi yang tempatnya lebih dekat ke Jakarta lho.Yaitu di Ujung Genteng! Dan wiken 4 hari di bulan Oktober lalu, kami sekeluarga menghabiskannya disana.

Ujung Genteng adalah kawasan ekowisata pantai di daerah Laut Selatan. Masuk dalam administrative kabupaten Sukabumi, Ujung Genteng “bersebelahan” dengan Pelabuhan Ratu. Kalau berangkat dari Jakarta, kita akan menuju arah Pelabuhan Ratu namun berbelok kearah Timur dan kira-kira setelah menyetir 2.5 jam kemudian sampai di Ujung Genteng. Total perjalanan darat dari Jakarta – Ujung Genteng adalah 10 jam. Sudah termasuk waktu untuk makan siang (yang lama karena harus nyuapin 2 anak kecil) sholat, dan berhenti berkali-kali untuk bergantian duduk dibelakang setir.

Jam 8 malam, akhirnya sampai juga kami sampai di penginapan yang sudah saya pesan jauh-jauh hari. Dan saya menyesal. Penginapannya sangat terpencil dan untuk fasilitas dan rupanya kemahalan. Padahal ke Ujung Genteng ini karena ingin liburan yang murah meriah. Untung ketika makan malam, penjaga penginapan menanyakan apakah kami tertarik untuk melihat penyu bertelur malam ini. Mata yang tadi sudah terasa sepet mendadak terang lagi, dan tentu saja kami jawab iya. …. untuk cerita selengkapnya, tentang :

Penyu bertelur…

“Starfruit” Turtle at Pangumbahan Beach

Anak penyu, aka tukik, yang lucu…

Live on cute babies

silakan jalan-jalan ke Backpackology ya.

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It’s such a delayed entry but better late than never Here’s the part 2 from our holiday to Batu Karas, on places visited  and had such a blast.

Green serenity

So after arriving around midnight at our accommodation at Batu Karas, we took it easy and slow the next day spending most of the morning lounging at the resort and only ready to go for some adventure after lunch. At first we wanted to check out the Green Canyon at Batu Karas but it turned out that to be able to get down to Green Canyon we needed to get there bright up and early especially during holiday period. The waiting line was crazy and tickets were sold out within hours. It’s better to ask if your hotel can arrange your trip, which means they would make a deal back door with the management to get tickets for you. And that’s what we did, we had Riversider staff to get us tics for our second and last day there.

However by mid afternoon, I didn’t entertain the idea of being cooped up in the resort so I talked my sister-in-law into renting a boat to take us to a nearby lagoon as offered by the receptionist. A lagoon which I have never heard before and even google would not be able to tell you about it. She agreed and so Teteh, her son: Aa Nan, Kris, Raissa, Fiamma and myself soon enjoyed a dreamy cruise down the Cikoneng river to the lagoon.

Catching Cikoneng bubbles

TANJUNG KONENG LAGOON

I had no expectation of what the Tanjong Koneng lagoon, named after the river, has in store for us. I just wanted to venture out the resort and excited to take Fiamma on a boat cruise for the first time. Albeit a teeny bit worry as we did not wear safety jackets and the boat’s owner came with three “crews”; all under age children. Fortunately, it was a very serene and short trip, before we even got a chance to get bored, we’re told to get off the boat.

What a lagoon! It was bleakly beautiful, if that statement makes any sense.

We jumped off and ran wild

The kids enjoyed the lagoon the most. The crew kids were somersaulting from the soft sand to the shallow lagoon. Raissa was dancing like there’s no tomorrow. She and her cousin, as coined by a dear friend, became mud-angels (instead of snow-angel, a childhood winter activity which kids would lie down on fresh snow and move their arms up and down, and also their legs from side to side). Fiamma could not stop giggling when I put her down to let her try walking on the shallow water.

I wish I joined them

We were the only group there, yet we can see people on man-made barriers looked down at us and probably wondered how the hell-0 we could get down to the lagoon. The key is boat rental, my friend. I highly recommend a short visit to this lagoon. If only I knew it better, I would bring a blanket or mat, plus some food and drinks along. And folks, if you do please bring a plastic bag to take back your trash as the lagoon is very very clean, and anyone going there better keep it that way.

We spent about an hour playing, screaming, and splashing before head back to the resort half-hour before sunset.

GREEN CANYON

Our last day, we woke up very early as we were told to be ready at the lobby by 6 a.m. at the latest for our escort to the more famous tourist destination in the area. We managed to meet the agreed time and even had to wait a bit before boarding the hotel’s shuttle to take us to Batu Karas Green Canyon.

The waiting line to get a boat after tickets already in hand was still crazy. They told us that the long line was due to the holiday period so it’s not always like that. We finally got a boat after waiting for at least 30 minutes or more. The Green Canyon was indeed pretty but did not offer that much excitement for me because there were too many people cruising down the canyon in the same time. We had a bit of traffic jam on the water. No one was interested to swim in the cavern behind a giant rock. Maybe we’ll take a dip next time when we go there again during non-holiday period.

Nonetheless, the view of the Green Canyon or Cukang Taneuh in local dialect, offers a pretty sight. The grandeur of the cliff lining the river is something to awe. If anyone ever make it to Pangandaran, particularly the Batu Karas area, do make time to visit it.

On the way to the cavern

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View from the dining area deck

To say I enjoyed this (extended) Eid Holiday is an understatement. It’s more like: I had a super wonderful blasting holiday.  Whooppiie doooo!!!

Born and bred in Jakarta with my parents family already planted in Jakarta even before my parents met each other, I only had one “mudik Lebaran” experience growing up. I had always felt grateful that I didn’t have to go far and stuck in traffic jam for days to celebrate Eid with my grandparents. I am even more grateful that I can roam around empty J-town, change my intended destination several times within an hour and arrive anywhere in the Big Durian in a blink.

That privilege expired when I got married. Being a blessed Mrs. K, mudik is a Lebaran celebration SOP in Kris’ family. I consider it as my “cultural experiences”, even after all those years. This year, I determined to make a twist and add my personal stamp to the ritual skippin’troupe-style. That is mixing “working” with pleasure.

I arranged a trip to Batu Karas, about 9-hour drive from Bandung, or 2.5-hour drive from Ciamis, a sleepy town where Kris’ family is originated. I took charge as coordinator, doing the accommodation booking and setting itinerary, which I always enjoy to the max. So then… on the third Lebaran day, off we went to a resort by the river, but only 2km away from a beach. There were 11 of us in total including babies.

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The entrance

We had a little transportation challenge when suddenly our car decided to break down in the middle of nowhere. Even though we did take it to a car repair shop prior to the long haul to make sure everything works but thing happens. Fortunately, the car broke less than 1 km away from a car repair shop and after we left the car there, the owner of the shop drove us to our accommodation:  Riversider-Batu Karas Resort.

I knew that the trip to get to Batu Karas is a long-ride. But when we kept on driving for hours close to midnight, cutting through long, winding, dark, and empty road, my faith was tested. I was sure that the local who drove us there got lost and had no idea where Batu Karas is. I even told him to turn around and asked someone. The problem was there was no one!

Good thing, our driver ignored my wimp and we finally arrived slightly pass midnight. It is a delightful surprise that there’s quite little commotion in our resort besides security guide and friendly receptionist in that wee hours. There were guests scattered on the semi open-air dining area having some coffee and hot chocolates. A bonfire in a corner. 

After quick check-in, we were led to our cabin: Missisipi (yes, I know it’s a mispelling of that river in the USA, but that’s how they spell it there). At Riversider, all cabins are named after a river because the resort sits on a riverbank.  The view is bee-uuuu-tea-full!

Missisipi Cabin

The Missisipi cabin is a 2-level traditional-looking barn. The top level is the sleeping area and there’s nothing but beds and AC. No TV, no telephone, not even clothing cabinet. Back to basic. I like that. The slightly-above ground level is a bale-bale. We used it for chatting, dining and praying. The outside but private bathrooms (2 are available for use for this cabin only) are a short hop away from the bale-bale.

We stayed one night at Missisipi since we originally planned to stay for 1 night only. Fortunately,  the car was still being fixed and so we had to extend our stay. Yipppiiieee! *God is with those who is patient. So true!* :)

For our second night, we had to move to a different cabin. Gladly. I wanted to sleep in as many cabins as I can because each of them is different and each looks so inviting. We moved to Serayu , 1-storey cabin with a coconut tree in the middle of the room. The sleeping area felt more spacious than the other one. I love it better than the Missisipi cabin. Plus, it turns out to be cheaper. Double like!

Serayu Cabin

Overall, I have no regrets staying at Riversider. Although there’s a need for improvement in some areas. For example, the toilets in Missisipi definitely needs to be upgraded. The dining menu, mostly fried rice with various toppings is boring. But the worst part, whatever you order, the taste is bland and makes me to seriously want to enroll the kitchen staff in Restaurant Makeover show. 

And their best asset? It’s their staff. Everyone is so friendly, helpful, and welcoming. They really make a point to be nice to the guests, even to the bitchiest ones. No one from our troupe,  of course. Maybe they realize that just to get there needs a gigantic effort, so they want the guest to feel homey there. Let me tell you, they succeed with flying colors.

If I have to describe the resort, it would be: traditional with a dash of modernity

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Ha Long Bay. Dreamy and a World Natural Heritage.

Yeayy, finally I have the mood to write something about our latest family trip in late July. It wasn’t easy to blog it as so many unfortunate events happened after our return home. There was a car breakdown in the middle of the highway which we then had to call a towing service and left the car at a repair shop in Bandung (the latest news about the cost of the repair is that it will cost us the latest, most sophisticated macbook pro ). This week I started to have bad flu with lots of heavy coughs hurting my chest and tummy. Finally, I force myself to start writing about our trip to Vietnam before I forget too much about it.

As a planner, Kris is so infatuated with the buildings and cables that look like webbing the city.

From Jakarta we flew to Ho Chi Minh City and stayed there for 2 nights. Then, we flew to Hanoi and stayed there for 3 nights and managed to take a daytrip to Ha Long Bay. Although I have developed a very rough itinerary but once we got there we kinda just tossed it out of the window and just randomly picked some touristy spots on the day based on our mood.

Pagoda Giac Lam, a random pick but it turns out to be historical and quiet.

Vietnam was very very hot as it is summer time from April to August. We would stepped out of the hotel for half hour and drenched with sweat already. As a result, we went around the city mostly by taxi which luckily was cheap but unluckily very tricky. Please do take this advice: only take taxi from reputable companies (Vinasun and Mai Linh in HCMC;  Hanoi/Hanoi Tourist and Mai Linh in Hanoi). Make sure to familiar yourself with how the taxi of these companies looks like as there are many of their knock-offs. We learned our lesson for not paying serious attention on this taxi business and paid 4x times more and almost had Raissa’s stroller stollen. Also, when you want to pick up a fight (like Kris did) make sure the other person travelling with you already open the door first and step out (so another tip would be not to take taxi alone) of the taxi and collect your belongings then the other peson can start the fight. Otherwise, everyone would be locked up in a taxi (using child lock), drove away on driver’s wish while drivers pull out a stick to bang on his passengers until the passengers beg for mercy and agreed to pay the amount the driver asks for. Thank goodness it didn’t happen to us but it happens to many others including a friend of mine. So after Raissa and I stepped out and I, thank goodness felt something fishy, immediately opened the passenger front-seat door to take out Raissa’s stroller, only then Kris did start his fight and successfully threatened the driver who looked very scared and sped away as soon as Kris threw the money to the floor.

The toughest part about Vietnam for us was to find Halal food. It was a real scarcity. We were quite lucky because I was already warned by my aunt to bring some Halal and non-spicy food from home, which worked out okay for Kris and Raissa but not so much for me. I love food. When I travel, I want to eat what the local eats. I want to eat things that either don’t exist or very difficult (or too expensive) to enjoy in Indonesia. Plus, all the food we bring from home, naturally are instant food. It’s okay for a few survival moments but not for every meal. Oh please no. So I got cranky and determined to find Halal food in both HCMC and Hanoi, when I googled it came out with a few recommendations. Unfortunately, one which I aimed to visit in HCMC seemed to have been closed down or the information provided was wrong. We couldn’t find it. We finally had a dinner in a Halal Indian restaruant, which weirdly has a Jesus on a Cross above the cashier. But we did check if the food there is Halal and they said yes. At last, I had a grilled lamb for dinner. In Hanoi, we found a Malay restaurant (Nisa Restaurant) but only served Chicken Pho (Vietnamese Noodle) on the spot. Unless, we called and ordered other meal before going there first so they have time to do grocery shopping. The owner of Nisa is a very nice man though and it turns out that he’s half Malaysian (his mom), half Indonesian (his dad) and his wife is Vietnamese. Anyhooo, when finally back on Indonesia soil, I abandoned eggs, corned beef, sausages, noddles, and potatoes from my diet for awhile now. Because I had enough of those when we were in Vietnam.

Scary stories and the food challenge aside, we enjoyed Vietnam though particularly on the accommodation and craft shopping. Things are cheap(er), people are actually very friendly, and the country is clean. The cities are quite green and pedestrians can have their stroll on their walkway just like in Singapore (and unlike in Jakarta). Honestly, HCMC and Hanoi are so much nicer than Jakarta, and Jakarta is my (one of my fave) hood, y’kno!

I hope you enjoy the pics 

It's a War Remnants Museum, so we probably should be somber but with a rambunctious little girl like this, how could we not feel cheerful.

Another shot of beautiful Ha Long Bay

A working mom

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Flight Itinerary:

Jakarta-HCMC (Air Asia), HCMC-Hanoi (Vietnam Airlines), Hanoi-Singapore (Tiger Airways), Singapore-Jakarta (Lion Air)

Phheewwww… I really did check out all possible options and combination and decided that the itinerary I chose might not be the cheapo cheapest but it was still quite cheap and most convenient for us (things considered were baggage allowance, transportation to airports, overnight stay, and time consumption, etc.)

Accommodation:

HCMC: Saigon Mini Hotel 5 (nice)

Ha Noi: Hanoi Eclipse Hotel (highly recommended)

We booked the tour to Ha Long Bay through this hotel. The staff are so friendly, accomodating, and just simply easy going, yet very professional. The hotel location is also strategic.

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Appropriately dressed with boots and caping hats

We had friends over last week. Weeks before their arrival, Manda just had one request: no malls please. So this time Krismara family took Manda, Faizal, and their three kids to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah and Little Farmers in Bandung/Lembang. They also went on their own to Ragunan Zoo.

As TMII and Ragunan Zoo are so well known to many already, so I’m sharing here some memory bites from our fun and very educational trip to Little Farmers.

Mini farmer looks out for the carrots

working the hoes and spreading the seeds

Medicinal plants row.. this one is "Hexos Tree" (one of the things that make up hexos candy)

Biggest catch of the day by Akasyah

harvesting lettuce

After greetings the goats, rabbits, roosters, a duck, and guinea pigs, we fed the cows.

And our fun farming experience finally ended

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Little Farmers

Program Pendidikan dan Wisata Berkebun
Jl. Kol Masturi no 339
Cisarua- Kab, Bandung Barat
Phone : 022 2700919 or 022 91140797

Entrance fee: varied depending on choice of tour package.

For our small group was IDR 25k/person. Children under 3yo are FREE.

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Ini baru yang namanya kesenjangan sosial! Arrgghh!!

Harga masuk membawa mobil pribadi ke Kawah Putih IDR 150,000/mobil. Benaran lhoooo jumlah angka nol nya ada 4 biji.

Kata Kris ke penjaga loket, harus di demo ini Bupati Kab. Bandung.  Memangnya ada apa di dalam? Tambang emas? Harga yang tidak masuk akal. Sedangkan untuk masuk Ancol dan Taman Safari, mobil hanya dikenakan biaya IDR 15k dan tempat-tempat tersebut yang jelas lebih membutuhkan biaya pemeliharaan karena sudah mengeluarkan sejumlah investasi dalam pembangunannya. Sumpah tidak ikhlas banget!

Oiya dan harga itu hanya untuk membawa masuk mobil pribadi saja, belum termasuk harga masuk per orang nya yang IDR 15k/person.

Akhirnya kami pun balik arah dan pindah ke Situ Patengan yang tidak jauh dari situ.

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