Category: Places

Posted in Langit Senja, Life happens, Places, Thoughts, Travel

Umrah 2025

Posted on by arlanadya

We only slept two days in Medina.

The initial schedule was arriving in Madina around 9.30 morning, but then, six hours delay made us has to deal with 10 hours of layover and arrived at 21.30.

A flight with 100% punctuality and no delay history, yet, it delayed for 6 hours, ONLY on the day we departed. Instead of arrived early as planned, we had 10 hours of layover in the airport, wasted and doing nothing. Even the transit hotel plan missed us.

Half of the day was abruptly taken by unexpected event, half of them was more for Umra preparation, it left us with a full day in Madina. but Allah made this brief time spent in Madinah sufficient for all things that the heart yearned.

Arrived in Madina exhausted and unfocused. Alhamdulilah we chose the right hotel after changed it for few times. At least, something was right.

Nabawi has always been tranquil and beautiful. I only had few main itineraries in Madina other than regular pray in Nabawi. Visiting Quba, Raudah, and Rasulullah Biography museum.

Entering Raudah now needs some permit and it is quite hard to obtain. It seemed too good to be true until it turned out happening on the last minute. Even how smooth the visit was left me speechless.

It reminds me of one of Rasulullah SAW saying : “What has reached you was never meant to miss you and what has missed you was never meant to reach you”.

In this Umrah trip, we experienced both.

Umrah bound to Makkah using Haramain train and the Umrah process itself Alhamdulilah went smoothly.

The real struggle was when dealing with the bucket list.

In few previous umrah and Hajj, pray in the ground floor with Kabah view was a regular thing to have. Doing daily Tawaf on the ground floor is easily reachable. Returned to Haram afrer 13 years, it’s totally different situation to deal with.

It tortures me to certain degree on this trip until I spent almost 30.000 STEPS just to execute what has been fixated on my mind which becomes one of the bucket lists in this trip.

Constructions are all over the places and many access blocked. You can’t just enter from any gates to have what I want to have. More blocked access for woman too. Beside that, maybe as it’s getting closer to Ramadan, it’s been quite crowded.

I spent the whole first morning trying to figure out this, then continue the quest between zuhur and asr. Couldn’t stand the thought of coming here from thousand miles away just to accept things at it is without any proper fights.

Hajj was crowded and I even managed to do this for every prayer time I did in mosque, not easily of course. The voice inside kept saying, « Haji aja bisa masa umroh ngga ». Such thought can be poisonous, but I’d rather consider it as fuel.

When I finally figured it out, then I understood that I couldn’t have everything due to current situation and had to compromise a bit.

Such understanding can only be accepted knowing I have done the best possible thing through these thirty thousand steps.

Knowing what you want is indeed a blessing and a curse.

Umrah with Kid

I have been sounding several times to my travel members that we would plan for an Umrah trip once my daughter reached akil baligh age. The time when she’s considered an adult in Islam.

But then, plans changed, the calling for Umrah came faster and after a long search, the only way forward was to execute the plan.

I have told her many times that Umrah trip is totally different with any other trips that we have been through. It will be tough, it will be harder, and it won’t be a trip to the park and playground.

She once again, showed her maturity beyond her age in traveling. Dealing with long hours of layover, anxious and exhausted parents without any complaints which is the total opposite of her mother. I wish I could be as easy going as she is, a little bit.

As she has survived any kind of walks and hike, from beach to mountain, she endured all the walk and hike in this Umrah trip.

Taking children for Umrah for the first time, I learned that we should really set a realistic expectation for them and for us. Certain standard that allows them to enjoy their experience without compromising the parents standard of ibadah. We have gone far for that, after all.

So, what I did was in Madinah, we went all the way for five times prayer since the hotel is nearby and it was manageable.

While in Mecca, she only went for five times prayer in Zuhur, Maghrib and Isya altogther. Tahajud and subuh only for parents, and she just woke up once adzan subuh heard. Even her parents were leaving and doing their own thing separately.

Zuhur was at the mosque while Asr she stayed at home to have some early dinner to prepare Maghrib and Isya together at the mosque. Providing books during the waiting between Maghrib ane Isya worked well for her.

The only city tour I wanted for this trip only for museums and looked like it suits her well.

I hope this trip brings her joy, more experience and excitement as a moslem, and may Allah always guard her in every step of the way. Amin.

Epilogue

A trip (especially) to Holy Lands has always been about my meticulous plan and the reality that reminded me (especially) again and again the He is The One Who Decided all the results.

I often wonder should I be less invested in things so the expectation would be somehow not makes you devastated when things don’t go according to the plan?

I know all the theory.But, during turbulence it’s often hard to think clearly and stop the what ifs. I think this is the price of being quite opinionated and determined (In bahasa : sok tau and banyak mau).

His bounties are more than we deserve, but, the way it reaches us, I still need more training to get used to the suprise.

This trip is personally challenging.
It is emotionally exhausting, dealing with the unexpected long delay, the crowd five times a day, yet it is also exceptionally rewarding.

To have all my bucket list ticked with certain degree of struggle, to witness all the little help from Allah through the strangers we met, to enjoy the trip at our own pace, the best duration of the trip, surviving a long delay, completing Umrah together, again, Alhamdulilah is an understatement.

I saw that the doctor somehow also enjoyed it in his own way. Hopefully, he also found what he’s looking for other than all the surpsingly good speciality coffee in these two holy cities. We also had a young smart mutowwif as a company and the discussion has been really interesting.

Despite the struggle and the crowd, I love Makkah more than Madinah. I love how quiet it is in spite of the loudness. I love how diverse it is. Madinah is literally tranquil, but Makkah has some level of peacefulness that Madinah couldn’t have.

In the end, May Allah receive all the worship, grant all the prayers, and give us many more chances to return to these blessed places. Amin.

Posted in Books, Favorite things, Places, Travel

Visiting The Second Kota M

Posted on by arlanadya

One of the economic principles is actually applicable to travel: Maximizing the utility of goods/things to get maximum benefits with minimum resources.

Maximising the visa before it expires since obtaining it was quite a hassle.
Using the particular lane for families with young children while we still can.
Low-season travel while we get the chance.
And many more excuses I could make up to justify travelling.

We just returned from visiting another Kota M this year (there is a popular Netflix series here called The Setting with Kota M). While the first Kota M is located in Europe, the second one is in Australia.

After spring in Munich, we had a chance to experience another spring in Melbourne.

It was so nice to be in the place where the air is clean.

Cleaned my face after went around and the color of the cotton used to wipe the face didn’t change much, while at home, it always turned black.

Real blue sky in a normal country is surely different from one in another country whose sky is blue oligarchs.

Our itinerary in the city is always between garden and library. Walked around the huge Royal Botanical Gardens for few hours, breathing the fresh air, listening to the forest sound, and my favorite one : sat and stared by the lake. Doing boring things while traveling is always our main itinerary.

We also went to Luna Park and let the girl enjoyed quite few rides. It was hot and loud.

Done with sensory overload, what we need to is full amount of tranquility. So off we went to St. Kilda Beach.

After Three days in Melbourne, several things that really nice after visiting two cities in Australia :

  1. They have the most comfortable transport station to go around the town. Both Sydney and Melbourne have quite massive tram routes where most major landmarks can be reached by tram only. Tram is so convenient. No going up and down the stairs for subway/train. It makes everything feels near. Need to go to a proper beach? One ride 30mins tram away from city. Need to visit art gallery? Few rides stops from central. Need to run by the river or slow morning walk in a proper beautiful garden? Tram will take you there. I am always sold to a place where public transport system is well-designed.
  2. Proper halal good delicious food is easily accessible. Indonesian restaurants are everywhere, they have two best Lanzhou noodles that the rival only matched with the first one we had in Tokyo, and many more halal choices.
  3. People are (so far), properly friendly. No cold face like Korean and few Europeans, and most importantly no translation needed here.
  4. It feels European enough in ambience with Asian taste in tongue.
  5. Clean, fresh air to breathe.

The highlight of this trip was a road trip through Great Ocean Road. We stopped by Torquay Beach, Maits Rest Rain Forest Walk and the famous Twelve Apostles.

Nature trip will never fail to give you wide spectrum of emotions. It’s when the most sophisticated phone couldn’t capture what your eyes see. No words could describe properly to explain the magnificent beauty.

Couldn’t help being half grumpy while dealing with the windy, yet tremendously grateful by the opportunity to roam around the world seeing the nature created by Allah The Almighty.

We stayed a night in Port Campbell in a motel by the ocean. So so beautiful.

We safely returned at ‘home’ after 30hours on the road.

Road trip, in some parts, is indeed exciting. The breathtaking scenery along the way, visiting places that I have never thought I am able to visit. Places that always create constant self talk inside the head and sense of wonder and reminder how enormous this world is beyond my comfortable home.

But, some things behind the scene are ugly.

Like being cautious of the driving rules of another country, which is totally different from where we come from (which rules are never really clear). During travel, I am the anxious one while one in the driver seat has always been the calm one.

In a road trip, both are anxious (😂, now it sounds funny, but in reality, not really) which the only one left who stays calm is a 10 year old in a passenger back seat. My husband is basically an easy going laid back person, unless, when he drives. Driving in unfamiliar country doubles his tension.

Parking is tricky, eating schedule is messy, namaz time is uncertain and food is mostly unhappy (I survived with a banana and greek yoghurt yesterday since I couldn’t take more instant food). The other side of it is tiring for me.

A big applause for the driver for unlocking a new badge of road trip around the world and also, for the little girl on the back for surviving another long ride without complaining and whining. She’s also one of the reasons why we can go places enjoyably and sanely for many years, because we don’t have to deal with any tantrums,

I do really enjoy all the places we stopped by, but being trapped in the car on the road longer than 2 days, it’s not really my cup of tea.

And, unless doing it with this squad, I’d rather pass.

Most of the time, I always choose an accommodation which provides separate bed for kids. It’s important thing to take into account that everyone should sleep comfortably during the period of uncertainty.

I also visited two libraries and four bookstores in Melbourne and I couldn’t help myself buying and shooking my head in disblief : “Perpustakaan negara orang bagus-bagus banget, ya Allah”.

As always, I also did my solo stroll in Melbourne.

After few days here, this city feels and seems like to be a good place to start adulthood. Met Indonesian students everywhere we go, working part time either in restaurants,amusement park, or grocery stores, spent their free schedule to earn some money between courses.

The similarity : the hospitality looks genuine and they look happy doing their work.

In the tiny bussiness we run for the past few years, since 2019, I started hiring students to work with me and keep hiring students only. I want an employee who also pursue his study. I told them I’ll cater their classes schedule, whatever it is, as long as they commit to their work. It’s not a common practice in Indonesia to work while studying, unless you have a pressure to do so.

While I believe earning your own money once you turn 18 or at least 20 is really important for your emotional and mental health. You might still depend on your parents for certain things, but, at least, you don’t have to ask them to top up your phone credit, dine out out or pay your gas. To be a functional adult, you need such basic freedom at least.

Few other important things I notice here:

  • People in Melbourne walk in a normal pace. No speed walking, no rushing like they chase something. Exactly how they drive, no honking. When they overtake, they do it politely.
  • They’re Asians at heart. Other than coffee shop, the most full packed restaurants are either Chinese, Korean, or Japanese. Indonesian and Malay one is still full of their own people. Most employees in hospitality are Asians. No wonder they call this city the second home.
  • This trip feels comfortable because comfort food is reachable. Nasi goreng, sup buntut, iga bakar madu, sate kambing, you name it they have it.

Traveling always gives new insights.
The first Kota M we visited this year made me can’t go back to the usual pastry or bread.

The insight gained from this second Kota M already made me searching information and the tuition fee to study in a Melbourne University.

Seven days of pleasant beauty and hospitality finally come to an end.

Let’s meet again for another opportunity, insya Allah. Till then, Melb!

Here’s the highlight : met a koala in wild life.
Been to Australia : ✅
Posted in Life happens, Past learning, Places, Thoughts

Five Years from London Life: A Lesson on Courage

Posted on by arlanadya

September has been the most bittersweet month of the year since five years ago.

No matter how much I bore people with telling, showing, and doing so, I never get tired of repeating it. I could recycle all the memories thousand times over and over again.

It wasn’t merely about moving to one of the most exciting cities in the world. What I truly admired from us five years ago was courage.

We bravely moved without knowing where to stay, thinking renting a house in London would be as easy as renting in Basura: viewed once, deal, paid. It’s hard to believe that I was so naive, thinking that I just had to make a list of properties and then call the agent once we got there to make appointments, only to find none of those agents returned the calls.

We restarted the search from the beginning and only had a week to find permanent rent. Managed to get two viewing appointments, one of which was clearly a no, which left us with the only option we should take.

The opposite of all searching had been done in an unfamiliar area. The process took many sessions of “what?”, “How?”!!, “Really?! ” for days until the agent safely handed the key to our hand on September 12.

We emptied almost all of our savings just to pay the deposit and first month’s rent.We even borrowed money from my brother’s friend who was doing his Phd in England to pay for it first because we couldn’t open a bank account without a permanent address.

We lived the first month without any salaries other than the cash I had in my wallet, yet we still bravely made a trip and spent half of it calling the bank and the hospital about the salary we hadn’t received cause we couldn’t survive longer days without it.

I thought living recklessly could only belong to the 20s, yet,we did it in the middle of our 30s in a stranger land far away from friends and family.

But then, I always trust Allah highly, confidently and completely. There was no way he made us survived all the pre-departure mess for months only to let us failed miserably in reality.

I often record hard days more than the good ones, privately.It’s just like a library of experiences,feelings, that might be useful for the future.
Whenever I need some insight in the present about how courageous I can be,I always back to September in 2019.

The view of our home on the first night we moved

PS : This writing came up suddenly after another session of flowing tears rewatching Notting Hill. Not sure it was the PMS talking or I just miss London badly.

PS2: If there is another chance to move there once again in the future, will I take it? Then, my answer will be a big, bold no. That was the adventure of a lifetime once and done. Unless, Allah made that the only option.

Posted in Places, Thoughts, Travel

A City Personality: Munich

Posted on by arlanadya

I always believe that every city has personalities.
For me, it is shown from how the people treat you, how the third place is and how the public transportation works.

Knowing a city is just like learning a person.
It takes time to develop a feeling for it.
That’s why staying in one city and having a few daytrips in between is the most preferable way.
Building rapport couldn’t be done if we’re keep moving.

This is the first time I visit a city whose most restaurants and cafes close their door when weekend is about to start. Closed early on Saturday.

This a city where there is almost no ticket checking point in every mode of its public transportation. You just hop on and off leisurely. Do they have tickets? I believe most of them do. A highly trusted system like this must come from a highly trusted people.

I wonder why I rarely see coffee shops/restaurants/eatery full of local people in few neighborhood visited. It is almost always empty. This is the city where they charge slightly higher price when you dine in. Maybe this explains why and most of ones who dine are tourists.

The two places where I see locals gather with family are :two hiking spots we did and the museums we visited.

Munich (or Germany overall?) is obviously not overly warm with charm but definitely introvert, trustable, know their boundaries, and highly punctual and discipline. Kind of adult with maturity and emotional stability which personally make a good choice of life partner.

“Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love, or dislike, friendship, or enmity. Where one city will rise a certain individual to glory, it will destroy another who is not suited to its personality. Only through travel can we know where we belong or not, where we are loved and where we are rejected”.
-Roman Payne, Cities & Countries

Posted in Places, Thoughts, Travel

Hallo aus Munchen

Posted on by arlanadya

It’s been few days since we arrived in Munich.

So far, the experience with the people has been well, the type of people who might be not really friendly like we had in Porto, but, absolutely not as cold as one we had in Seoul. The German feels so efficient and effective. Talk when they need and seem couldn’t stand stupid question from tourists, haha.

We also have visited and stayed overnight in its countryside. Berchtesgaden and Konigsee are really beautiful. Not only popular with tourist but also with locals. It’s quite similar to Lake District in England.

We had a train trip with one transfer then proceed by bus to our hotel. Then, it took 20 minutes walk to reach Konigsee.

A boat trip with 28,50/person taken to go around Konigsee. On the other side, there is Berchtesgaden National Park where we had a short, easy, and pleasant hike.

We sat by the lake and enjoy some german bread. That was one of the highlights so far. As simple as enjoying a piece of poppyseed bread and staring at the quiet lake for a while. Doing nothing but listening to a perfect combination between nature’s white noises and human interaction. I told the doctor that this kind of thing is something I really love doing while traveling.

For some people, it may sound weird. Why with all the efforts, time, money, and energy to go here or anywhere, all you want to do is just sit and stare?

Not because I couldn’t do that when I am not traveling, but the new surrounding, especially when you’re being around nature in a strange place will hit you differently. When you’re at home, you have to deal with life responsibilities that you can’t escape. But, in a land far away from home, you can do something differently. You can charge yourself, think more about anything. It’s not about escaping life, but, to enjoy it better.

For me what makes going places exciting is it makes me accept better that life is full of struggles, but it’s okay. Traveling makes me realize, human basically deals with the same struggle. Went home from Berchtesgaden in rush office hours, that was exactly the regular view in my city. So, I am just be grateful that we can rest for a while.

We also visited Salzburg since it was only an hour away from Berchtesgaden. We didn’t stay overnight there just few hours of visiting Mozart’s house and his birthplace.

Salzburg turned out to be more interesting than I thought. I really love the vibe once I exited the train station. Warmer people, more English and moslem friendly, and tourist ready. There are many interesting spots that few hours visit couldn’t do. I am thinking to return there while we’re still in Munich.

So glad to finally got this first trip writing done, unless, it would just drift away from the memory without any proper storage.

Tchuss!

Posted in Favorite things, Places, Thoughts, Travel

The Accomplishments of The Year

Posted on by arlanadya

We went to a place with winter weather without any heater for this holiday. 

Dieng was chosen thanks to countless reels that promote this place and it successfully brainwashed me to arrange a trip here.

Other reason is to to balance the city trips throughout this year and last one is to let both spoiled girls (me and my daughter) experience less comfortable situations and see different things out there.

In spite of lack of facilities here and there, maybe due to its geographical location, but, the hospitality we received from the locals we met here was pleasing.

Few that make a trip called acceptable : clean bathroom, good food is easily accessible, feel safe to go around, and proper internet connection.

I can tolerate washing dishes with freezing water, no refrigerator is available, less comfortable ride and bumpy road, cold piercing weather that makes us stay inside with three layers of clothes and socks to stay warm, last day in freezing weather without water, all the attractions that require us to pay no matter how ‘nothing to see’ they are, but, it’s okay. The tickets were totally affordable.

We only had two main itineraries during the stay. Sunrise in Sikunir and Mount Prau Hiking. 

We climbed Sikunir on the second day and left our cabin house as early as 4am. It was freezing cold and quite tough when you traveled with a 9 year old.

But, the view up there was totally worth it.

On the third day, we climbed Mount Prau. I didn’t expect anything at first. But, along the way, we reached the first stop, then continued to the second one, then the third one till we finally reached the summit.

Mount Prau is considered as one of the beginner choices and I think it fits someone who has never experienced mountain climbing before. We departed from Dieng basecamp which is considered as the easiest route.

For someone who lived most of the childhood to adolesence dealing with genetically severe asthma, I climbed leisurely and happily, back and forth. We spent six hours climbing up and back down. 

One thing about nature trip, if it’s done with the right group (actually, whatever trip is only good when you go with the right companions), it’s the most mindful trip one could have. We can’t rush, especially when we travel with a kid, we couldn’t be disappointed much, the focus is only to get to the next stop, and whatever view we get along the way, it’s nothing but beautiful.

I love the silence during the 8km of walk.
The view of blue sky, white clouds, and fog out there. The each step taken in the quiet forest.

Kind of trip that makes you really tired but happy and realize how tiny we are in this enormous world.

Doing daily exercise, no zero day, wherever I have been, regular morning walk, for the last four years, show its benefits during this climb.

This is such a personal huge milestone in this decade.

But, that wasn’t only about me. There is a 9yo who also reached the summit with her own two legs for the first time. We did several hiking too before when we visited Bajo and camping, but, she received a lot of help back then.

Several comments we heard a long the way : 

“Wow, she’s so cool”.
“How old is she?”
“She went up to the summit? Amazing!”

Two climbs in two days for a nine year old is not a small feat indeed. She whined a lot, which is normal. She complained so much, which is more normal. She said she was exhausted and being grumpy, which is nothing but normal.

The parents who brought her to such trip and ‘enjoyed’ six hours of intense motivational coaching and mood lifting? Maybe that was the only one which was not normal.

But, enjoying such thing and left her behind is not an option. We’re suffering together is the only way to go.

Raising her, we never choose easy, and hopefully will never be, as much as we could.

She might not be impressed a lot about today, but I believe, her mind and body will keep score.

Life won’t get any easier, not always about fancy hotel and pool or beautiful city, but, we have to push through. We always finish what we have started, no matter how hard it is. I hope this trip teach her that.

Easier said and written than done.

Overall, Dieng is beautiful, cold, and worth the long road trip by train, car, and jeep, long hikes to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the highest village in Central Java.

In Dieng, we stayed in a modest cabin house without any heater in 10-15 degree. No proper hotel chain available in Dieng. Some good policy from the local government. So all the accommodation, restaurants here are owned and run by locals. No fancy coffee shops is seen here. No English speaking people heard except some few snobs from Menteng Dalem.

The scenery here is one of the places in Java Island that suits our tourism tagline : Wonderful Indonesia.

After Komodo-Labuan Bajo trip four years ago, this trip is another quite impressive domestic travel on the list.

Posted in Life happens, Past learning, Places, Thoughts, Travel

20 Years Later and 357 Kilometers

Posted on by arlanadya

It was quite loud last weekend.

On Saturday, I attended my high school reunion. Although I only stayed for a few hours, I was pretty happy I decided to come. Unlike some people who consider high school the best time of our lives, for me, it was just okay and full of pressure here and there. It is not about social anxiety but more about the academic one.

The best year was the last year of high school when I finally met a tribe with whom I could form lifelong friendships until now. One of these guys called us ‘a bunch of social misfits,’ I have been the organiser of almost every rendezvous we had for the past 20 years and the admin of our chat group. I am passionate about this misfit group, or am I just the most misfit among the misfits?😄

I have a small circle and a few close friends. I never feel comfortable being around a massive group of people. People always make me nervous. But, with these misfits, it has been 20 years of enjoyable ride. I write about them often and the latest one was here.

Back to the reunion, the most comment given that day to me was, “you don’t change at all!”, I have been thinking until I decided to write this here, is it meant to be an insult or a compliment?😂

It is almost impossible not to change at all in twenty years. Too many circumstances happen in one’s life within that long period. But of course, they didn’t know anything about what happened inside, so I guess to have some comments about how your outer appearance is unchanged after 20 years, I’ll take such a compliment gratefully.

On Sunday, we had a road trip to the doctor’s home town to visit his family.

Sixteen hours of road trip to the long lost hometown.

I came up with this idea on a Friday morning when my mother in law told the news of the passing of her sister-in-law in my late father-in-law’s hometown.

I knew she might want to visit the family there, but she obviously couldn’t go there alone, and since it was sudden, it was pretty hard for everyone to make time, including us.

But it was too disturbing to let this slide without doing anything. I calculated the rough estimation costs to go there before I proposed the idea, first to his son then his mother.

When I calculated the costs, it turned out more extensive than I expected for a day trip. But, when travelling, I always zoom out whenever the numbers speak.

Is it worth the hassle to make this happen?
Which one will you regret more later? Spending such an amount of money or losing the chance that might not come twice.
Who will benefit from this trip other than the main character?
Usually, when the answer include the little girl, that is one huge determining factor.

For this trip, all those questions answered with clear answers.

Taking my mother-in-law to give her condolence in person matters.
Taking the little girl for the first time to one of her roots matters, and it has been a while since the last time her father set foot there.

Me? I am never a fan of road trips, and so glad Mudik wasn’t part of my childhood. Trapped in the car for hours, the anxiety and insecurity watching the speedy driving throughout the trip (or the frustration of dealing with traffic), the countless drinks shown with all the tumblrs were out on duty yesterday, and many more.

It was a huge help when the road trip wasn’t loud and packed. It reduced a lot of tension.

Alhamdulillah, we got it ‘easy’ for this trip and all the good intentions were well delivered.

Visiting both her father hometown to Solo and Pekalongan checked.

The next ones should be visiting both her mother which obviously couldn’t be done with a road trip.

Senja in a rest areaw
Posted in Favorite things, Places, Travel

Bonjour, Emily!

Posted on by arlanadya

So, after four days in Porto, we started our journey back home, with another brief transit, in the one and only,

Paris.

Despite the scorching hot weather with lots of people, Paris never ceases to make me smile.

I loved everything I saw and smelled. The buildings, the boulangerie, the creperie, the small alleys, so little time yet so many things to see.

We stayed near the airport and went to the city by the metro. When we were there in 2016, we mostly traveled by bus because it was easier with strollers to carry around.

During the precious short visit, we only had few main itineraries :

– Visited the Institute Curie for the little girl.

– Bought a pan for the doctor.

– Stopped by chez Emily and Monoprix for me.

Since all of them are within walking distance and few metro ridings, we covered all of them within few hours spent in Paris (minus the sleeping).

Paris is always a good idea, just like Audrey Hepburn said, which I totally agree. But, spending some time during summer in Paris, bon, Paris en été, ce n’est pas pour moi. C’est chaud et trop bondé.

Glad it was only short yet still lovely.

Bonjour, Emily!
Ça va, Gabriel?
Posted in Favorite things, Life happens, Places, Thoughts, Travel

Adagio in Porto!

Posted on by arlanadya

It’s been a very long ride until we finally safely arrived in this trip main destination.

I didn’t have any expectations about this city. No idea what it would be.

I rarely fall in love with the first sight. But, Porto got me right.

Less than one hour set my feet in this city, I fell in love in an instant. This city is beyond charming.

It had been 48 hours without having a proper meal, it served us with a set of Portugese home made meal from a tiny homey local restaurant across our apartment. It was pumpkin soup and red bean rice with cod fish. I really wanted to cry while sipping the soup. It was the best meal I had in this trip.

We stopped by for the light groceries nearby then returned to the apartment. When we arrived, our room was ready.

We bought Andante card for the bus and metro at Sao Bento station. Our first visit in the afternoon was Ribiera. Sitting by Duoro river and listening to street musician. The little girl seemed too tired after countless flight and airports transfer to do anything else, so she just slept on the bench by the river.

We stayed for 4 days, the first two we went together, while the other two, the doctor attended the course which became the main reason we visited Porto, so me and the little girl explored the city on our own.

Porto is fascinating. I love almost everything about it. It might be not as neatly ordered or filled with stunning beauty like some of other citites in Europe. It is more like beautiful mess with the right measure.

Couldn’t help taking too many pictures of murals and facades. We also stayed in the street of art where there are lots of small galleries.

We basically ticked all the a must see places. Sunset in Jardim de Morro, Mercado de Bolhao, Santa Catarina, Livraria Lello, Cedofeita, Jardin de Palacio, Natural History museum in Universiti of Porto. But, the best one about the city is its charming alleys.

For someone who loves walking, being lost in Porto alleys were the highlights of my staying in this city. Just going in and out aimlessly made me happy.

I love how it felt safe to walk there. I reclaimed my solo traveling in between time spent together and it was so refreshing. There were those times when this trip worth all the hassles been through to get here.

Their bus card called Andante . In music, Andante means a tempo in walking pace. It’s funny how it fits the description of their city. Four days spent in Porto, I feel like life was running in adagio., which means a slow tempo.

Beauty. Safety. Walkability. Porto has set the bar too high for introduction to south Europe. It’s underrated yet highly recommended city to visit.

The city’s postcard view
One of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. Paid entrance for €5, which could be used for buying a book here.
One of the most beautiful Mcd in the world, said the article
Sunset from Jardim de Morro
Sardine is a serious bussiness here
Alma in front of Capela de Almas
Mercado Bolhao

Muita Obrigado, Porto!

Posted in Places, Thoughts, Travel

New Season of Traveling

Posted on by arlanadya

It’s still hard to believe that after three years, life is slowly returning to old days, including traveling. When I thought Sydney was more than enough this year, then another trip came only few months after that.

This time, it’s way of traveling that we have never been done before. Out of initial plan.

The past few weeks and months, I felt like dealing with the same old and new me while dealing with traveling thing. I am still the same old person who is very determined and detailed in planning, but certain part is totally unrecognizable.

I always know that I am good at waiting, although the reason might not be clear. Sometimes, I am questioning myself too what I have been waiting for. Just click buy and move on to the next thing. Why torture yourself for weeks instead? But still, I just chose to suffer.

When it comes to traveling, I feel like having this different tables inside my brain about few different itineraries with their own strengths and weaknesses. Funnily, these tables were not even fixed. After weeks of feeling certain that those choices were the only way to go, suddenly, I could restart from the beginning and resetting everything again to completely different plans. It was mostly a sudden new insight that came into my mind.

The old me would have started packing right after the visa was granted, mostly two or three months beforehand, but now, up to two weeks, my luggage was still sitting nicely on the cupboard. I wasn’t so sure what I was waiting for.

Previously, I was so sure a transit it’s fine as long as the time and price fit. Then, I found the airline rating was pretty bad. So, I considered another option. When I found one that had a good rating, I was still being hesitant once again. The greedy in me wanted more.

While waiting for this, I suddenly found the price that I had been looking for consistently for weeks. Then, when I was about to type the card number, I started thinking once again. This one fitted the time and price, but with a transit.

I ended up not with the lowest I could get, but it was the best indeed.

As the date of the departure is getting closer, my anxiety is slowly rising. Pre-pandemic travel gave me excitement, but the post ones are making me more cautious. I’ve been wondering why we adult has so many fears inside? Or is it just me?

Since the first time we traveled abroad as a family, we always stay in one city for 7 days. Enjoyed the city as slow as possible (although it was also a soft translation of not having enough to afford more). But this time, we would move to three different countries in 7 days. It’s scary. I didn’t plan to, but, as always, a travel twist made us taking such options.

Well, I wish nothing but hopefully we will survive this new season of traveling safe and sound. We never know if we don’t try. Right? Please, it is.

After having a summer trip in the east, off we go for another summer trip to the west.

Bismillah. Bismillah. Bismillah.