Posted in Places, Review, Travel

Dua Hari di Yats Colony

Sepanjang tahun lalu hotel ini sering sekali terpapar di media sosial. Saking terlalu seringnya, sampe berhasil ngeracunin otak saya buat buktiin sendiri rating 8.8 di salah satu situs pemesanan hotel.

Saya pesan 2 kamar tipe RA dan KA. Untuk yang RA dipesan duluan untuk 2 malam sedangkan yg KA menyusul hanya 1 malam karena full booked.

Perbedaan 2 tipe ini adalah viewnya. Harga beda tipis cuma selisih 50 ribu. Untuk KA pemandangannya koridor, sedangkan kamar RA ada di lantai 2 dengan pemandangan kolam renang. Meskipun harga RA lebih mahal sedikit, menurut saya kamar KAnya kok lebih enak ya.

Kamar KA yang di dapet ada di lantai 1 gedung yang belakang, letaknya di pojokan, jendelanya menghadap taman kecil, kamar mandi yang lebih luas, jadi kaya paviliun sendiri. Sedangkan kamar RA ada di lantai 2, betul menghadap kolam renang tapi jarak pandang ya lantai 2 gedung sebelah. Kamar mandi agak sempit, wastafel di luar. Dua kamar yang saya pesan tidak ada kulkas dan pemanas air. Tapi di masing-masing koridornya tersedia dispenser dengan pantry kecil yang menyediakan teh, kopi, gula sachet dan gelasnya.

Kolam renang kecil tersedia, buat anak-anak juga bisa. Buat berenang santai cukup lah. Langit berenang dua hari berturut-turut dan hepi. Airnya ngga terlalu terlihat jernih, buat saya.

Semua kamar setau saya sudah termasuk sarapan. Dua hari sarapan di sini menurut saya cukup oke. Hari pertama dan kedua beda kecuali pastry dan minuman jusnya mirip.

Hari pertama saya cuma makan nasi pake ikan asam manis sama sup kimlonya. Enak. Ayah saya coba lempernya juga bilang enak. Hari kedua saya coba hampir semua dengan porsi mini. Nasi pake beef curry, pom pom yang rasanya kaya onion ring, bihun, nasi goreng, bubur ayam, dua danish pastry, dan orange jus. Mereka juga nyediain jamu lho. Ada beras kencur sama apa ya satu lagi lupa. Menurut oke semua sih. Langit juga makan dengan enak di dua hari sarapan.

Selain sarapan, dua malem di sana saya juga nyoba makanan room servicenya dan a la cartenya. Malem pertama saya coba rice bowl chicken salted egg dan tante sama sepupu saya pesen nasi goreng seafood. Saya suka rasanya dan porsinya pas banget. Harga standar untuk ukuran room servis. Buat saya sih sebanding antara harga, rasa dan porsi.

Hari kedua ada tante, om dan sepupu yang tinggal di Jogja main ke hotel dan diajak makan di restorannya. Makanan yang dipesan rice bowl dori sambel matah, chicken salted egg lagi, mie ayam jamur bakso, saya pesen ande-ande lumut kaya puding ager pandan gitu, ayah saya pesen affogato. Semuanya tandas.

Baru kali ini kayanya nginep di hotel yang tiap malemnya lebih milih makan di hotel daripada keluar. Jogja macet. Males juga keluar.

Secara keseluruhan, buat saya hotel ini oke. Di pusat kota, 15 menit dari stasiun, konsepnya artsy dan emang bagus ya pemilihan interiornya. Menarik. Ngga standar hotel-hotel biasa. Harga yang ngga semurah hotel jogja biasa menurut saya sesuatu yang dibayar untuk ide desain yang dinikmati tamu hotelnya.

Dari interior, eksterior dan pemilihan barang-barang dan material propertinya menurut saya apik dan detil. Setiap sudutnya baik di outdoor dan indoor emang instagramable. Dengan lahan yang ngga seluas itu, hotel ini nawarin suasana yang alam banget di tengah kota. Cuma ada 2 lantai di hotel ini dan ngga ada lift. Kalo dibandingin dengan hotel bintang lainnya, Yats Colony ini cocok disebut ‘down to earth’ menurut saya.

Saya ngga punya komplen apa-apa tapi kalo buat ayah saya dengan harga yang sama dia lebih milih Alana. Emang bukan selera hotel orang tua juga kali ya😁.

Kalo ada yang tanya, bakal nyaranin ngga orang buat nginep di sini? Kalo saya iya.

Kalo ditanya ke jogja lagi nginep sini lagi ngga? Bisa iya bisa ngga.

Kalo ditanya 1-10, dari saya kasih 8.2 buat hotel ini.

Mungkin bisa lebih karena kalo ngga nginep di sini, saya mungkin ngga akan tau kalo Langit bisa berenang seperti ini, tanpa pengawasan pelatihnya (papanya) setelah lima bulan absen dari kolam renang.

Enjoying adult pool like a boss.

Posted in Thoughts, Travel

Alasan Panjang untuk Sebuah Trip Pendek

Buat seorang pemales kaya saya, liburan yang bener-bener disebut liburan itu adalah tinggal di rumah, ngga harus ngerjain apa-apa, ngurusin siapa-siapa, tidur-tiduran sepanjang hari atau justru pergi kemana-mana sendiri tanpa harus khawatir ninggalin sesuatu atau seseorang di rumah. Kaya satu hari di bulan Februari waktu Pak dokter dan Langit berangkat duluan ke Bali, dua member lainnya juga pas ke luar kota. Baru kali itu kayanya dalem sehari saya keluar rumah tiga kali dan super hepi.

Empat bulan berjalan di tahun ini sudah diisi dengan berbagai perjalanan ke berbagai tempat. Beberapa karena ‘harus’, satu karena disuruh sama tiket murah, dan yang kali ini karena ‘pengen buat orang lain’.

Beberapa trip yang dijalani dua tahun terakhir, sedikit diantaranya adalah karena pengen ajak orang. Trip ke UK April tahun lalu itu bisa ada karena motivasi yang kuat banget setelah ke Paris dan setengah sangkel karena ngga ajak Ayah saya. Makanya dengan alesan itu, plus adik saya juga pas lagi ambil master di London, setengah maksa saya bujuk Ayah saya supaya mau pergi (dan ngebayarin tiketnya)😁.

Perjanjian dibuat karena tiket ditanggung, semua biaya lain saya ambil alih, dari akomodasi, tiket ke luar kota, makan, transport selama di London, pokoknya semuanya, yang mana ya hampir seharga tiket juga buat 4 orang.

Selama kurang lebih sebulan saya berkutat dan muter otak buat cari tiket dengan harga yang bisa diterima, buat 4 orang. Dapet tiket JKT-KL-London dengan maskapai bintang lima timur tengah dan kasih kelas bisnis buat ayah saya dari KL-JKT dengan total harga yang ngga sampe 9jt per orang, salah satu prestasi yang bisa dibanggakan sama otak pas-pasan ini. Bukan sekedar untung itu, skill juga😎.

Ribetnya ngurusin semua tetek bengek trip UK buat 4 orang, sendiri, dengan segala dramanya dibayar sama hepinya wajah ayah saya waktu dia di Manchester ngeliat kampus lamanya, asrama mahasiswa tempat dia tinggal, apartemen yang pernah kita tempatin sebulan waktu ke sana, dan masih banyak lagi yang ngebuat semua kerepotan yang harus dijalanin jadi terasa worth the price.

Trip ke Jogja kali ini ada juga karena alesan yang kurang lebih sama untuk orang yang berbeda. Tiap saya pergi dan ayah saya ngga ikut, saya pasti ngerepotin tante saya dan keluarganya dengan minta untuk nginep di rumah supaya bisa ngurusin ayah saya. Tante ini adik almh ibu saya yang paling kecil, yang paling baik, yang paling ngga pernah nolak kalo diminta tolong, dan mungkin yang paling punya sedikit kesempatan untuk bepergian dengan segala keterbatasannya.

Setelah semua urusan trip ke Tokyo beres, saya udah niatin untuk bikin satu trip lagi dan kali ini akan ajak tante saya dan anaknya. Sering banget minta tolong kok ya ngga ada terima kasih yang lebih dari sekedar oleh-oleh dari tempat yang saya datengin.

Kebetulan pas banget ada sabtu merah lain di April ini yang mana saya ngga perlu hutang kelas dan saya punya satu hotel yang saya penasaran buat nyoba karena saking seringnya terpapar review di media sosial tentang hotel ini.

Awalnya saya ragu tante saya mau ikut karena takut sungkan dibayarin dan sebagainya. Orang lain mungkin dengan senang hati tanpa malu-malu akan bilang iya, tapi tante saya beda. Dengan hati-hati saya nanya apa dia mau ikut, jelasin naik apa dan durasinya juga ngga lama, yang penting refreshing aja sebentar berdua sama anaknya dan keluarga saya.

Di luar dugaan ternyata dia seneng banget ditawarin ini. Lega banget dengernya. Makin deket ke hari H, seneng banget denger betapa semangatnya mereka dengan trip ini. Puncaknya pas udah duduk di kereta dan tante saya bilang,

Dia (sambil nunjuk anaknya) ngga berenti bilang ‘ini baru bagus, mah, ini baru kereta bagus, ngga kaya dulu kita pergi sama kak iwan’.

Ikhlas banget rasanya bayar(in) semua pengeluaran di trip ini dengan denger komentar anak 10 tahun yang pemalu kaya gitu. Siapa bilang bahagia itu selalu dari diri sendiri?

Trip kali ini juga merupakan banyak hal pertama buat saya. Pertama kali pergi tanpa Pak dokter, travel partner andalan, pertama kali pergi tanpa bawa SATU PUN makanan berat favorit Langit (yang ini bener-bener agak nekat), dan pertama juga pergi dengan ninggalin toilet seat Langit di rumah. Ini seperti tes drive traveling ke level yang lebih tinggi. Sekali lagi, buat yang males kaya saya, pergi tanpa tiga hal tersebut itu sesuatu sekali.

Bismillah. Semoga semua dilancarkan dan kenyataan bisa mendekati harapan dan senantiasa dilimpahi kesabaran. Amin.

00:58, Taksaka 54 yang super dingin dan bikin ngga bisa tidur.

Posted in Past learning, Thoughts, Travel

Travel Babble : A Warm Welcome

I am writing this from 32sqm room in Tanah Bumbu Regency where the doctor will spend a year of compulsory service.

The battle between joined and sent him off first to this place was tough. Days in last week spent by non-stop googling about the ticket price, calculating benefit and risk, lots of conversation happened between head and heart. After long and hard battle inside, finding the best possible route with the least cost,two tickets bought just two days before the departure.

My travel history had never been this nekat. The tickets price might be quite scary for the saving, but regret of not buying them would surely be greater than the pain of paying them.

Unlike the other trips that had been meticulously planned, this one was almost zero, not because it’s a domestic one but more to limitation of information we got in our hand.

There things that are unggogleable no matter how hard you search for them. The only thing to do is just come and see, then let’s see what we can do about them on the spot.

This trip will be another huge challenge for me because I will travel back to home with the little girl only two of us. Two flights, if one doesn’t sound challenging enough. During traveling, I am so dependable with the doctor. He has more patience in dealing with this girl than me. As a lazy person, it takes something really important until I dare to take the risk to do this kind of thing.

I have my number one pray whenever we go places. For us to meet the kind ones to help whenever we are in need. So far, the prays always answered until the least important thing. Paris, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Tokyo, the trips were greatly enjoyable because of those strangers kindness that we could never payback. This Tanah Bumbu trip turned out to be the same.

We booked differently because the doctor didn’t need the return flight. So when we checked in we turned out to have separate seats. Seven rows differences. I had the thought in my mind to ask for switching the seat with the other person so the doctor could sit with us together.

We happened to seat with a man at the same age with my father, maybe, and when he saw we sat in different row, it didn’t take him long to walk to the back of the plane and asked the doctor if he would like to sit with us. That was very kind of him. I didn’t even say any words about switching the seat.

Arrived in Tanah Bumbu we drove with a fellow obgyn doctor. After some talk and believe it or not, in spite of his thick javanese accent, he is a Gorontalonese. You can meet javanese everywhere, padangnese is also pretty common, but it’s a very very rare chance to meet a Gorontalonese in the land of nowhere. I destined to met one here. In this tight schedule trip.

Another one that makes me shivering more, among thousands of remote areas in this country, this land of my dad’s birth land chosen, more spesifically it was where my late grandma’s spent her childhood.

Never, a single path of life, is a mere coincidence. Every thing happens for a reason.

No matter how overrated people think traveling is, but it’s never for me. I had my very first real traveling back in 1993, and its impact was greater and longer beyond a mere going to new places and showing it to others. It developed many things inside of me that I believe they were something that only could be done and got from traveling.

Traveling is always an eye opener to new things that we don’t know and to learn something new is only exciting by seeing something in other places than our comfort zone.

I don’t remember if London and Tokyo made this much babble within seven days of traveling. Tanah Bumbu made it this much only within few hours of arriving.

In spite of the nice words written above, the mess of having long distance marriage is waiting ahead.

Be kind, please, Life.

I am really looking forward to April….

2019.

Posted in Places, Thoughts, Travel

A New Adventure Begins

Safely finished five years of residency was surely one of the biggest blessings in this marriage jungle. Far from easy, shitty and stormy, yet, we made it to the end.

Some decent jobs in good places had been offered and one had been gladly accepted. Another blessing that no time needed to apply here and there, waiting for interviews, etc. Even the salary has been paid right after the interview. To call it a mere blessing is such an underrated word. We are extremely grateful for this.

The end of an adventure is always a door to the new one. Right after residency, the health ministry released a new policy : Compulsory service for five major specialist doctor to go to some remote area all over the country for a year.

WKDS is destined to be our new adventure. The waiting was pretty torturing and took some dramas. Some offered that too good to be true once made but then, if it’s too good to be true then it doesn’t exist. Prayer had been made to ask the best place appointed.

The announcement was out before we departed to Tokyo. A small regency in South Borneo become our destination. A small city with 30 minutes flight from Banjarmasin, the native land of my father. Maybe it’s so right to say we will always be back to our root. Among thousands of cities in Indonesia, my half hometown is destined for us.

Unlike previous traveling that planned thoroughly and had enough time to make preparations, this one is really stressful and high tension. Ticket had been booked just 2-3 days before departure, price was far from cheap, and it took two flights to arrive at the city. We’re pretty lucky because there is a flight with small plane so we don’t have to ride hours of trip by car.

Commuter and long distance marriage mode is on. It is not the first time we’ve dealt with this, yet, it doesn’t make it feel easier. I survived those endless shift schedules for five years, yet knowing it would take months until another meeting is truly scary for me. Hoping my patience will cooperate well this time.

I love traveling to new places. But this one is quite different. Who knows what one full year could bring? It scares me a lot.

But then, like every previous steps taken and destined for us, the helping hands were always there. Surely know that we’re never being left alone. What had been appointed is always the best plan more than we could expect.

So, the utmost trust placed to the One whose hold all affair and decision. May this new adventure brings lots of new learnings, bigger blessings, and we’ll be back safely after a year.

Amin.

To Tanah Bumbu we go!

Bismillah.

Posted in Places, Travel

Tempat Solat di Tokyo

1. Takashimaya Shinjuku lantai 11.

2. Neo Dougenzaka Shibuya lantai 11 (shibuyamosque.com)

3. Tokyo Mosque Turkish Culture

4. Gotemba Premium Outlet

5. Narita Airport Terminal 2, 1st Floor

Work hard.

Save much.

Travel far.

Pray sincerely.

Posted in Places, Travel

Eating in Tokyo

Dominique Ansel Bakery
Ayam Ya Halal Certified Ramen
Tokyo Milk Cheese Ice Cream
Gyukatsu Motomura Harajuku
Less known Halal Ramen : Mazilu_Tokyo
The only menu in Mazilu Tokyo
Sushi and Blueberry ice cream Tsukiji Fish Market
Snacking at Yoyogi Park

Outbound meal from Japan Airlines

Most favorite snack from JAL

Yoshinoya

Enjoying Chicken Ramen Ayam Ya

Posted in Langit Senja, Places, Travel

Langit Senja in Tokyo

When Autumn in Paris was the hardest since it was the first time, Spring in London were bearable and manageable in spite those hours of transits, we could say Winter in Tokyo was very much easier.

Knowing Langit had survived Paris and London, we were pretty confident with Tokyo and she turned out really nailed it. She enjoyed the food a lot, survived all day being outdoor with very little crankiness. We decided not to go to Disneyland because it was too expensive for her age. In spite of Disneyland, we decided to let her having a dose of playground everyday which we found a lot in Tokyo, unlike in London. We let her play for an hour, mingled with those Japanese toddlers. We even visited a large indoor playground near our apartment, not free of course and it was only for an hour.

Unlike Paris and London where buses were available for our itinerary, Tokyo has very limited choice. Not even once we took bus to go anywhere. So subway was the only choice and way to reach the train were very long with lots of stairs. We made her walk down the stairs on her own. It was slowing us down for sure, but that was fine. She enjoyed doing it alone. When the passage was too far, we let her to hop on her stroller again.

At this age, she had been to place I could never think of when I was her age. The hope that her steps could go further than her parents could take her to is surely high. Amin.

Tokyo dome
Ueno Park
Meji Jingu Shrine
Yoyogi Park
Tokyo Tower
Shinjuku Station
Korakuen Station Playground
Posted in Review, Travel

Japan Airlines to Tokyo with Toddler

The trip started when amazingly cheap ticket price offered by this airline.

I always start with some research with the question, “how cheap is cheap?”. For Jakarta-Tokyo, the normal price when you take FULL BOARD airlines is around 7-8 millions rupiahs. When the doctor talked to one of his Japanese colleague, he really surprised to hear the price we got for 3 pax of tickets while he had nearly such price for 1 ticket only.

I bold that full board airline because some low cost airline also offer the flight with very slight different compared to full board price yet with the facilities very less than the full board one. Going with full board airline is always a better choice for more than 5 hours destination.

As we had an early flight, we checked in safely without crowd, passed through immigration quickly and boarding on time. They were actually ready take off precisely at 6.45 am but it seemed they couldn’t avoid queuing for runway to take off. So, they just really took off at 7.10 am.

One of the perks of traveling with toddler : you beat the line even to those in bussiness class😀.

We had a very nice departure and return flight. Legroom was wide and I found out later that JAL won the best Economy Seat Award in 2017. Compared to Qatar Airways when we went to London last year, this one was surely more comfortable.

One of my best impressions was the non-stop service from the cabin crews. Along the 7 hours flights, they literally didn’t stop going back and forth offered something. Any kind of drinks or whatever it was. It was totally different than what we experienced with Turkish Airlines.

Their meals were pretty good for me. I rarely finished any on-board meals, but twice having those from this airline, I finished it clear and clean. They also had this snack that Langit really liked until I dropped my pride to ask for two other packs of the snack. They provided ice cream cup as dessert. Walls for departure flight and Haagen Daasz for return flight. Another indicator that the meal was quite good : Langit enjoyed it as well. Not only the ice cream.

For kids amenities, it’s just a standard one. Maybe because it was just a 7-hours flight. Langit get key-chain plane doll for departure flight and pensil case for return flight.

I was more than satisfied flying with this airline. I even considered to go with this again later, IF, we would take another long haul flight in the future.

JAL deserved at least 4.75 stars out of 5.

Why not 5 out of 5?

Their return cabin crews were not as impressive as the departure one.

Hope it helps!

 

 

Other flights with a toddler reviews :

Malindo Air&Qatar Airways Flights (with a toddler) to London 

 

Turkish Airlines with A Toddler

Posted in Places, Travel

About Tokyo

Writing this from our tiny apartment in Bunkyo-ku. Seven days of Winter in Tokyo have reached the last night.

This city might be not as exciting as Paris for me, but two that move me are its food and people. They are both are genuinely nice.

Expensive? For me and my family, yes. This one even feels more expensive than Paris and London. The fact, it is more expensive for the transport and food.

Since we highly consider of eating, so the food here means proper one we had at restaurant. When it comes to food, we spent more lavishly than things.

Unfortunately, this city also offers those little things they sell in their cute little shops nearly everywhere we have been to and softly slowly emptying our walley because they’re too irresistible. When we think ‘ah, it’s only xxxx yen, just buy it’ then, those yen piled up and we happened to have to withdraw another amount of cash again. The thin line between cheap and expensive is totally unclear.

We loved exploring alleys. Seven days here, we found lots of hidden gems inside those alleys. Like a small shop around Ueno that sells made in Japan children clothes in a very affordable prices, a little shop around Korakuen that sells cute merchandises, too many to mention one by one!

The people. I couldn’t say much about them, but after talking with these people for a week,

can I say Japanese or Tokyo-san people number on qualities are kind and mindful? They always have other people in their mind. When they’re asked for help, they will help as much as they can. More than we could think of. They’re really kind by nature. More than Paris and London, I feel very safe in Tokyo.

Throw some pictures first before another closing post is coming.

Posted in Places, Travel

Hello from Tokyo

The third days here and I could tell this city main attraction is the people. Their transportation system might be so confusing and less comfortable for traveler with toddler like us, their parks are not as good as Paris or London for me, but their people, in spite of their lacking in English, are truly genuine and might be one of the kindest ones in the world.

Honestly, I am not that sold to this city for the architecture and the feel. My medium to low expectation meets the reality. So, I am just enjoying some candy eyes view the city offers for the few first days.

First evening of arrival greeted by Langit Senja
Tokyo Dome Carousel
Tokyo Dome City
Asakusa Sensoji Temple
Sensoji Temple
Ueno Park