Sunday, November 10, 2013

[Journey] 14 Days Trip Exploring Turkiye - Part 1

More pictures from Turkiye Trip can be seen at my flickr

It was sometime in Jan 2013, my best friend Fitri and her husband mas Arief provoked me by showing beautiful pictures of their visit to Istanbul two years ago. They told me about Topkapi palace and its collections, i.e. the tube containing beards of Rasulullah Muhammad SAW and also Caliph Ali’s sword, and I can wait no more to see them. Luckily Dina is willing to accompany me (with a deal that I should join her to visit NZ next time hahha).  In February we execute the ticket arrangement for May trip (we heard that the best season is May-July). We bought Etihad’s Jakarta-Istanbul-Jakarta for 14 days trip, though we are not sure about the detail plan, whether it will be Turki only or Turki and its neighbor, Greece. 

Until two weeks before D date, our itinerary is not fixed yet, we are still trying to get visa to visit Greece. It is so difficult to get visa from Greece embassy in Jakarta, although we already had a guarantee letter from our relatives there, had sufficient amount in our bank account, covered by travel insurance, they still asked for some documents that is hard to provide. We decided to forget about Greece and focus on Turki, one week before D date, we finalize our itinerary and booked the hotels. 

Dina is always a good partner in crimes, she has no objection to the crazy itinerary and hotel arrangement I made, although I still have no idea how to get to from one place to others. I am a bit picky on hotel arrangement though, crave to get the clean - comfy - good location in a low price, thanks to TripAdvisor.com, got plenty useful info from them. Bismillah, qui sera sera whatever will be will be. Here we go, 14 days exploring Turkiye, Dina call it “glamping”, not a fancy trip, neither a backpack trip as well. 

 

Time to Fly

Yippie the day is come, 24th May! We meet at Soetta Airport Jakarta right on time to check in. Each of us brings one cabin-size luggage and one day-backpack, plus camera bag and small bag for our snacks. We minimize our carriage, to ease us on travel around the country by public transport. 


My note: 
- It is nice to have a special request for meal on flight, caused they will prioritize to serve us. Low calorie meal is usually very healthy, mostly steamed food and fresh fruits.
- If you have connecting flight, it is better to check in for your next flight once you arrive at the transit airport, no matter how long your transit time will be.  A month before departure date, we received email notification telling that our connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to Istanbul will be rescheduled from 0200 am to 0900 am. Luckily we prefer to go directly to the transit board when we arrived at Abu Dhabi around 2300 pm, shockingly we were informed that we will fly as per previous schedule at 0200 am. Save by the bell :) 

Day 1 – Welcome to Istanbul

Landed safely at Attaturk airport as scheduled, 15 minutes queue at Visa On Arrival counter (Indonesian kena tarif USD25 saja), another 15 minutes queue at Immigration, get our passport stamped, 5 minutes for baggage, then we go to foreign exchange inside the airport since we do not have any Turkish Lyra in our hand. There are four cash exchange outlet nearby the baggage claim area. The exchange rates are similar, as well the commission fee.  Finally we are ready to get to the town.  We decided to take metro (subway) as the economist and easy transportation, just follow the direction board and go downstairs to the subway line, get the token at Jetonmatic machine by inserting coins or notes, one token for a trip costs 3 Lyra. 

The first destination is Best Town Palace Hotel at Sirkeci area, we need to drop our luggage before exploring the city. From the Airport’s Metro, we transit at Zeytinburnu station, take the tram to Kabatas and stop at Sirkeci station.  We could see the Istanbul University and Sultan Ahmed main tourist destination, Hagia Sophia and its surrounding on our way.  Sirkeci area is very close with the famous Galata Bridge, only two stops from Sultan Ahmed, therefore it’s a bit crowded with people walked in and vehicle passing by. It is so easy to find souvenir stalls and restaurants, local or franchise i.e. Burger King. We stop by at one of the local resto selling kebab, the price is about  TL 5-6 for durum kebab (served with tortilla) and TL 10-12 for porsiyon kebab (served with fried potatoes or rice).  We also try Turkish coffee, it served on small cup like espresso, nice. 
Upon check in and have enough rest at the hotel, we go out and catch tram to Kabatas wherein the Dolmahbace Palace is located. Unfortunately the residence of last sultan of Ottoman Empire is closed for public at 05.00 pm, so we could only go round the perimeter and take picture of clock tower in its yard.  Back to tram station, we meet street stall sells Baklava and Simit (Turkish simple bread), good to try. I like Simit, it tasted like Bagel, only 1-2 TL per piece and it’s big enough. The baklava is a bit different to the one I tried in Saudi, Turkish baklava is sweeter, seems like they spread lots of honey on it.  

Sun goes dusk, we go back to Sirkeci, enjoy the panoramic Galata Bridge and have a light dinner, we walk round the Gulhane area and find out some souvenir shops that offer good price without bargain, seems it’s a good alternative if we have no time to visit the Grand Bazaar. It was 11.00 pm and the city was still so lively, but we need to take a rest. 


Day 2 – Istanbul - Yalova - Bursa 


For the second day, we already booked a hotel at Bursa city, so no matter what we have to find a way to get in there. It is recommended by the hotel manager to go to Bursa by fast ferry, but the schedule is either too early or too late. We prefer to take ferry to Yalova city at 11.30 am so we can have enough time to enjoy our breakfast.  It is a good decision though, having breakfast at the 5th floor of Best Town Palace hotel is a must have experience, breathtaking views of Galata Bridge, Marmara Sea, Galata Tower, Gulhane Park area is over the top, too precious to be passed. The food is also nice, plenty choices of salad, meat and cheese, among the best from other hotel we visited in Turki. 

Leave the hotel at 09.00 am, it takes only 10 minutes and TL12 to IDO ferry terminal at Yenikapi by taxi. The boat costs TL 19 and the cruise to Yalova city will take 40 minutes, much faster compare to intercity bus. While cruising, we could sit inside the passenger room as our seat number or at the windy balcony outside and enjoy the scenic view of Aegean Sea.  Traveler with big luggage could store it on the rack provided at the deck, just make sure it is locked properly. Few minutes before arrival to Yalova, we stood over the balcony enjoying fresh air and the city's mountainous view. Back to the passenger room, i was a bit panic to find my seat is empty, my snack bag is gone. Apparently, one of the crew keep it safe at the crew's room, thought it was left by the owner. Nice isn’t it. And we leave the ferry smilingly, knowing that we are in a land of good people.
 
Feel hungry we get to the food stall selling kebab nearby the jetty. This time we try Doner Porsiyon, meats and pilav (rice), and mineral water. When the restaurant manager looked at us put a sachet of chili sauce to our meals, he asked if we have another sachet for him. It is a Sambal Terasi (shrimp paste), and it smell something weird for him. He tried and we laughed looking at his expression.


There are Dolmus (minivan) terminal closed to the jetty but if we want to go to Bursa we have to change twice,  so we decide to take intercity bus, costs 12TL for 2 hours ride. The bus is nice and clean, TV in each seats with some movies options, unfortunately it’s in Turkish and no subtitle. I notice the bus agent took note on the passenger gender for seating arrangement, alone female passenger must be seated with another female, or they will let her alone, never mixed female and male, unless they are couple or buy together. It’s so thoughtful, following Islam rules to separate female and male unless they are “muhrim”.

 
Arrived in Bursa, we have lunch at bus terminal and take taxi to the hotel. Some people say we could take a public bus, but we are too tired to wait. It takes 20 minutes from bus station to hotel, taxi costs 36 TL. The Aloft hotel is located at Nilufer district, not too far from Uludag mountain, it’s perfect for those who want to go skiing on winter or come to Bursa for business trip since it is close to the business area. I love their interior design very much, fancy young elegant, and it costs so cheap. Unfortunately, our main destination is on the old town, and we have to take tram to get there, and we have to walk a long way from Aloft hotel to nearest tram station. We almost get lost on direction, until we meet a friendly guy, Osman, who is so kind to lead us the way to the metro (tram) station. Metro from Nilufer (Acemler station) to old city (Sehrekustu station) cost 2.5 TL and takes about 10 minutes. 


Ulu Camii or Ulu Mosque is our main destination, takes about 10-15 mins walks from the station, the direction is clear, no worry to get lost. The Ulu Camii, built before 1400, is so enchanting, especially the marble fountain and the mimbar inside, also the calligraphy, beautiful. We feel like we want to stay there for a long time, coz it’s so peaceful. All of sudden we hear the Adzan Magrib, it should be a call for us to join the praying, unfortunately I only wear short pants and I don’t bring my praying dress, no other choice, we have to go out and leave the Camii. Sad. There are some more historical buildings at the old town, but considering it is difficult for us to take nice pictures in night modes, then we decide to go back to the hotel and enjoy the room. We stop over to buy Turkish ice cream and tape the funny tricks they play while serving it. The ice cream is delicious, sticky but so delicate. Well, don’t believe me, wherever whenever, I am a good friend of ice cream, hahaha.




Day 3 – Bursa – Izmir – Selcuk – Ephesus


We left the cozy room of Aloft hotel at 0730, take taxi (sorry dude, we are in a rush, excuse hahha) to the bus terminal, buy ticket for first bus to Izmir, buy Durum Kebab, Baklava and Simit for our brunch. Bus from Bursa to Izmir costs 30TL, takes 3.5 hours ride. They serve us with water, coffee/tea and snack on board. The driver and assistant is dress up and cute, though the road is long, we never get bored hahhaa. 

Arrive in Izmir, we plan to take a Dolmus for city sight seeing, before that we have to find a locker to put our luggage. Too bad, mostly people in the bus terminal can’t speak English, we are lost in translation this time, almost an hour we go round up and down with our carriage to find locker, and no luck. Get dizzy and starved, we buy some breads and decided to take bus to our next destination, Selcuk. Bye Izmir. 

My note: It’s a must to take note on some local wordings when you do backpacking to a country wherein English is not their main language. I do memorize some, but it’s not enough though. Later at Konya we just realize that Locker in Turkish is “Emanet”, and Dina told me, she remembers there was an emanet sign at Izmir bus station. *sigh*

It takes 1 hour from Izmir to Selcuk by Dolmus, and costs 9TL. On the way to Selcuk, I keep calling Tom the CP of Artemis Hotel, wherein we will stay for two nights to ask for direction, in hostelworld they promise a free pick up. Tom says his friend Muslim will pick us up at the otogar (bus terminal). Ok great. Arrived in Selcuk, Muslim easily recognize us and show us the way to the hotel, on foot, hahaha no wonder its free. The Artemis hotel is only 10 minutes walks from otogar however it kind of tough part if we have to walk when we are tired and starved and have to carry our own luggage. Ga ada ojek nih Din?

Tom is a very friendly person with excellent selling skills, he shows us a map to explore Selcuk and arrange a day tour for us to Pamukkale on the next day. The Artemis hotel is merely a hostel ++ for us, it is clean and tidy, but the toilet is old fashioned. It’s not a big problem though, as long as it works as properly. 
Our plan for the afternoon is visiting the legendary Ephesus. Tom said there is a dolmus to the northern entrance, but he recommend us to take taxi from otogar to upper gate or southern entrance, so we could walk downhill, then finish at northern entrance and we can take dolmus or go on foot for 30mins back to the hotel.  We follow his guidance, pay 15TL for the taxi and 25TL for the entrance fee and enjoying the wonderful Ephesus. Coincidentally we meet a tour group from Bank Mandiri Jakarta, we say Hi and they offer their assistant to take picture on us, cool. Dina meet some new “friends”, two photographers from China, one of them greets her with fart in front of her, the other is more rude, shouting to people to stay away from the front of Celcus Library, coz he wants to take picture, helloooow.

More info about Ephesus, visit Wikipedia please hahaha.

From the northern gate, we take a dolmus for 5TL back to Otogar. I was a bit pale coz of my PMS ache then we decide to have some good food before we go back to hotel and prepare for Pamukalle trip tomorrow. 

To be continued.. 
mampus khan semuanya to be continued wkwkkwkw

Sunday, November 3, 2013

[Journey] Medan Toba 2013 - 2 decades friendship

Sesuai plan 2 tahun lalu waktu kita ke Jogja, our next trip will be North Sumatra. As always, the fix schedule is confirm after Mira, miss expat, arrives from her current base, Germany. Secara waktu jalan-jalannya cuma sebentar jadi kita focus on lake Toba and Medan. A bit curious to see the new airport Kuala Namu, since many people said it is the most modern airport in Indonesia.

And here we go :) ..  leaving Kuala Namu (similar to Terminal 3 - GGK laah, but they have train to the city) at 10.30 am, our first destination is Taman Simalem Resort, at Merek Hills nearby Tongging village, an hour from Brastagi. Its about 4 hours from the airport and we only stop by for lunch at RM Garuda at Sibolangit city. Make sure you have some drink water and snack before you leave Medan, coz its a long ride with many curves, tanjakan turunan kelokan gitu lah.

But its worthy. See the beautiful scenery we have from the balcony of our lodge.



We booked family lodge costs Rp.1.8million per night for a room with 4 beds, its inclusive dinner-breakfast and tour program (i.e. jungle trekking, farmers tour, coffee roasting, labirin etc). The room is clean and spacious, there are 2 mini tv inside, however the toilet and shower is outside the room (4 toilets & 4 showers in each floor).

 -- the family room, mind the messy bed cover please :p --
 -- shower & toilet --
 -- the homy sitting room--

We check in at 15.30, upon had the fresh orange juice as welcome drink, the guest relation, Ms. Pinta, offers if we want to have tour around the orange farms and walk to the small waterfall nearby the tree house. Sure, we can't say no :)

We also visited the honeymoon suite, eucalyptus, its nice with the open air jacuzzi close to the river.

Buffet Dinner was also nice, they have an expat chef with a good knowledge of Indonesian food. I enjoy the green pineapple drink and the clear soup, it was perfect for a cold night. 
Back to the lodge, we spend sometime for chats and laughs, testing new breathable nail enamel, and sleep at 01.00 am.
Wake up again around 4.30, huaa we almost late for the sunrise hunting, fortunately our neighbour inform, yesterday they fail to see sunrise, too cloudy, seems like it will be the same for today, hmm blessing in disguise, we don't feel guilty for wake up late hahaha. But still we go to the view point, and just take a picture of its surrounding.


Miss Pinta, as discussed before, take us to the twin waterfall, to get there we need to walk 1.5 hours through the jungle.. the track is slippery but clear enough, so i guess no one will get lost here.. we meet some monkeys and couple of orang utan, playing happily above the trees, some birds flying and singing, so lively and lovely..
 
 
finally we get there... its not too big, surely nothing compare to the Sipiso Piso waterfall, but it looks good with some layers.

 
 
Back to the lodge, we clean up and be ready for breakfast, they offer Indonesian style (nasi goreng) and American style (toast and omelete), as usual i choose toast and two boiled egg. At 10.00 we leave the Taman Simalem Resort, heading to Samosir Island. 
It takes 3 hours from Taman Simalem to Samosir Island via Tongging, we stop a while at Tongging for taking pictures, the view from Penatapan Tower is so breathtaking, beautiful, too bad, the tower is not managed well. 
Reach the Samosir island, we try to find some meals, it almost 2pm, starved to the max. It's difficult to find halal food in Samosir island, Thank God there is one moslem restaurant, small but fine lah, better than nothing. Feel enough, we go to Tomok port, to catch Ferry to Parapat. Along the way we see many traditional house, where the pets lives below the house.

Aaahhh we missed the 4pm Ferry, have to wait for the next which is 7pm, hiks have to forget my plan to stop by at Roti Ganda, Pematang Siantar. Mau kemana lagi juga bingung, akhirnya nunggu aja di mobil. Sampe Parapat langsung makan malam di deket kantor pos, enak dan puas dan murah hahaha. Reach Medan at 1pm, we stay at Hermes Palace Hotel. 

Day 3, yippiee our culinary day. Start with breakfast, we planned to skip BF at hotel, but we think we need a cup of coffee or tea and some fruits for starter, then we stop by at their rooftop restaurant, no regret, their coffee is very nice.
Our first target today is Bihun Bebek Asie at Jl. Kumango, I went there once, it was so delicious and have read some reference in internet mentioning that it is halal, so, a must to visit again. We take Bentor (becak motor) in front of the hotel, cost Rp.15.000 one way. deal. Mira and Lani enjoyed it very much.



Takes only 7 minutes, and we arrived at Bihun Bebek Asie, all table is occupied, except the one close to the stove, huaaa panasss. Waited for 15 minutes. Good decision to order 2 only instead of 4 portion, it is a big portion. Two years ago it cost Rp.35.000, now Rp.50.000 per portion, but its worthed. The bihun aka rice noodle is so delicate, thick duck meat, and the fried garlic make it so yummy.

Overeating, we decided to go walking back to the hotel, through Jl. Kesawan, we stop by at the historical building Cong Afie Mansion, it reminds me to Blue Mansion at Penang island Malaysia, they are similar, also belongs to the powerful and richest Chinese taipan in the past, but i think this one is slightly bigger.

Our hotel is located in a very strategic area (at least for our culinary purpose), within 15mins walk from the Bihun Bebek, we reach the hotel. And just realize there are some food stall in its surrounding, including the Wajir Seafood, one of our target for this evening.

It is just a starter, we will have some more destination to go, Bika Ati, Bolu Meranti, Manisan Jambu, Soto Sinar Pagi, Duren Ucok, Jala-jala (pancake durian), Sate Kerang, Mie Titi Bobrok, Roti Tissu, Seafood Wajir... to be continued.. hahhaha


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Saranam Resort - Bedugul Bali


Aw aw awww, nemu tempat baru :)

You can find this resort easily on the main road on your way to Bedugul plateau (the famous Beratan Lake & Pura Candi Kuning). Located at Pacung village, they have restaurant at the front side facing the main road wherein you can enjoy the local food and coffee, while the resort is hidden perfectly at the back side. 

I think the greenery of paddy field “terasering” looks more breathtaking rather than those in Tegal Alang Ubud. They have swimming pool (though I would not consider to swim at open air in Bedugul, the air is too freezing for me ;p) and some children playground. And there’s an elevator to take you down hill or vice versa, it helps much if you don’t like to walk. 

The food and beverage price at the restaurant is so so, while the room is offered at IDR600.000 and above. I only stopped by to drink Bali coffee and it was nice, so if you have no time to stay overnight just enjoy their restaurant, it is very relaxing.  If you would like to stay, please bring with you sweater or jacket, sometime it’s freezing and windy at night.
More info please visit their website www.saranamresortbali.com  







Friday, August 16, 2013

Stand Out from the Crowd :)

Bosses who stand out from the crowd http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23681605

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Ramadhan 2013 Quotes

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wa barakatuh :)

As always Ramadhan for moslem is the best time to learn about good things, a time when we are hungry phisically but full filled by heart. Its a school and training centre for those who wants to be better person. Insya Allah loving Ramadhan will give us lots of barakah.

I summarize here some of best quote I heard from the khatib or spokesperson during Tarawih session, especially those who deliver khutbah at my fav masjid, Al Hakim, Menteng. I love to spend my Ramadhan at this masjid, coz its small but classy, and the most part i love are the khutbah and the jasmine spread out in the masjid stairs. I feel like being in a bride room, full of love, love to the One creating us, Allah Jalla Jalallah..

My own quote, writen at day 3 ; Ramadhan gives many lessons, one of those about "delay", Allah doesnt say "NO" for halal food you want to eat, but "WAIT" until sometime.. in this life we'll meet many things where we have to be patient, sabar, even for good wishes.. believe that the answer isnt "NO" but "NOT YET" .. insya Allah

Here's from the uztadz,

Uzt. Aa Rizal ; Islam tidak mengajarkan sifat SINIS, PESIMIS dan suka MEMVONIS ..

Uzt. Agus Dharmawan; syarat kematian bukanlah tua maupun sakit, maka yg muda dan sehat pun harus mempersiapkannya..

Uzt. Toto Tasmara;
* Istighfar ga perlu dihitung, makin banyak makin baik, karena dosa kita pun tidak bisa dihitung..
* Gelas itu dinilai dari isinya, meski indah dan mahal, jika berisi racun tetap saja disebut segelas racun. Maka luruskan niat dan naikkan ahlak..


Uzt. Teuku Zulkarnaen;
* orang yg bertakwa tidak menyentuh yg haram dan tidak rakus pada yg halal
* food combining bukan diet cara baru, 1400 th yg lalu Rasulullah sudah mengajarkannya. Jika Rasulullah makan daging maka tdk akan minum susu. Makan jumlahnya sedikit2 saja.
* agar dicintai Allah dan manusia maka utk urusan dunia ambillah sedikit2 saja, tp utk urusan akhirat lakukanlah banyak2..


Uzt. Adiwarman Karim ;
* Dalam mendidik anak, Rasulullah menggunakan sistem, 7thn pertama dgn bermain, 7thn kedua diajari disiplin, 7th ketiga menjadi teman baik, 7 th keempat jadikan mandiri.

Uzt. Taumpuli ;
* Istiqomah, kita tidak boleh mencirikan Allah dengan mahluk apapun, percaya pada Allah dan tetap berkomitmen. Termasuk tidak gundah gulana menjalani kehidupan di masa depan.
* istiqomah berbentuk:
1. konsistensi (apa yg dibicarakan yg dilakukannya).
2. Kontinuitas (terus menerus dilakukan tanpa mharap balasan)
3. Konsekuensi (bsedia menerima akibat dr keimanan kita)


Uzt. Rusli Amin ;
* Meraih cinta Allah dengan:
- mencintai Allah, patuh kepada perintahNya
- mencintai Rasulullah sebagai mahluk yg paling dicintai Allah
- kasih sayang kepada umat manusia dan semesta hanya karena Allah. Dimulai dr org2 yg terdekat dgn kita
* "Tangan yg kita pakai utk memberi akan kita gunakan utk menerima"