Nona Backpacker

Packing Tips

Posted by Fico , Monday, December 17, 2007 3:15 AM

Packing too much will cost you more money. That's for sure.
There fore we must do the packing strategy that allow us to bring things that we need during the travelling. Ignore the "what if..." that mostly happened to all travellers.

Heres' the complete list what we might consider could help you to pack for your backpacking journey. Its not a "must" to carry things here on the list, but this might very helpfull for you to arrange things and maybe give thought at a very last minute of your travelling packing.

Remember only to carry things that you will need the most !

• ressy jacket
• 2 pairs trousers/skirts (shorts?)
• 2-4 shirts
• swimsuit
• dark (cardigan) sweater
• rainwear (umbrella?)
• parka, coat, or equivalent
• 3+ pairs socks
• 3+ pairs undergarments
• long (lightweight) underwear
• long T-shirt or sarong [cover-up]
• necktie, scarf, hairband, bandanna
• gloves / mittens
• sun hat / knitted cap, hat clip
• 1 pair dressy shoes (laces?)
• 1 pair walking shoes/boots (laces?)
• flip-flops or sandals
• belt

• travel pack or shoulder bag (& luggage cart?)
• daypack (fanny pack? purse?)
• lightweight duffel/laundry bag
• luggage lock(s) (cable?)

• universal (flat) sink stopper
• detergent, spot remover
• (surgical rubber braid) clothesline
• inflatable hangers [to dry clothes]

• toilet paper, antibacterial wipes
• (chemical or mechanical) water purifier
• analgesic of choice
• diarrhea treatment (e.g., Lomotil and/or Cipro)
• infection treatment (e.g., Keflex)
• malaria tablets
• insect repellent, mosquito net
• sunscreen, lip balm
• bandages, moleskin (other first aid?)
• menstrual, contraceptive, and/or prophylactic supplies
• vitamins, necessary medications
• plastic water bottle, (collapsible) cup

• pen(s), small notebook, glue stick [for notes, addresses, diary, …]
• personal address book (stamps?)
• maps, guidebooks, phrase books, Post-it® notes, restaurant lists, membership cards, business/calling cards, telephone access numbers
• reading material
• large envelopes [to mail things home]

• alarm clock/watch (batteries?)
• flashlight, headstrap, extra batteries (bulbs?)
• multipurpose tool, scissors
• spoon (fork? chopsticks? spork?), (coffee tin lid) plate
• compass
• whistle
• rubber door stop [for security]
• inflatable travel pillow
• hostel sheet bag (sleeping bag? bivouac sack? blanket? tent?)

• safety pins, rubber bands, cord
• sewing kit, including large needle
• to accommodate dental floss
• (Ziploc®) plastic bags, garbage bags
• duct (or gaffer's) tape

• toothbrush, tooth cleaner, floss
• razor, blades, shaving oil/cream
• comb and/or hairbrush
• shampoo, bar soap & container
• deodorant
• nail clippers
• [unbreakable] mirror
• (Viscose?) towel

• dark glasses, retainer, case
• lens cleaning cloth/supplies, copy of prescription (spare glasses?)
• earplugs (eye mask?) [to ease sleep]

• passport, visas, extra passport photos, vaccination certificates
• copies of important documents (international?) driver's license, health insurance information
• travel tickets
• charge & ATM cards, cash, traveller's cheques
• 2 personal cheques
• security pouch [worn under clothes]

• camera (lenses? flash? tripod? film? extra batteries? charger? download adapter?)
• cellular telephone (charger?)
• laptop computer (flash drive? power cord/adapters? network cable(s)?)
• (solar) calculator
• gifts

Condolance for Maria's Father

Posted by Fico , Tuesday, December 4, 2007 3:15 PM

Yesterday afternoon i were shocked with news from Maria that her father was in coma because severe heart attack.
We cry and hugging each other so tight, at my working desk.
At 6.10 pm when we went to our room at base camp, she phoned me and said her father already passed away, in Medan.
I know her feelings, it's really hard to loose someone that you love so much.
Today she fly back to Medan and hopely will arrive at 2pm noon.
I feel so sad.
I just hope that she will have strength to move on...

To a father, when a child dies, the future dies; to a child when a parent dies, the past dies.
Red Auerbach

Incase of Emergency

Posted by Fico , Thursday, November 15, 2007 11:10 PM

Penting untuk di ketahui oleh setiap perempuan, sebab banyak kejadian penculikan terhadap perempuan sekarang makin sering terjadi bahkan di siang hari.
Oleh sebab itu kita harus mengetahui hal2 di bawah ini untuk menghadapi situasi berbahaya yang mungkin bahkan bisa mengancam nyawa kita.

Setelah membaca 9 tips penting di bawah ini, foward tips ini kepada seseorang yang kamu sayangi. Tidak ada salahnya untuk berhati2 di dunia yang gila ini.


Tips # 1. Taekwondo
Siku adalah titik bagian tubuh kita yang terkuat. Jika kamu cukup dekat dengan orang yang menyergapmu, jangan ragu untuk menggunakannya dengan kekuatan penuh !

Tips # 2 Dari buku panduan turis
Jika ada perampok yang meminta dompet atau tas. JANGAN SERAHKAN LANGSUNG KE TANGANNYA. Lemparkan saja... kemungkinan ia hanya tertarik pada dompet atau tas itu saja, dan ia akan melepaskan mu. LARI SECEPATNYA KE ARAH YANG BERLAWANAN/KE TEMPAT YANG RAMAI.

Tips # 3 Tips ini sudah banyak menyelamatkan nyawa korban penculikan.
Jika kalian di lemparkan dan di kunci ke dalam bagasi sebuah mobil, tendang sekuatnya lampu belakang mobil yang biasanya tersambung dengan bagasi tersebut sampai lampui itu terlepas keluar. Ulurkan tangan mu keluar lobang lampu tersebut dan mulailah melambaikan tanganmu sesering dan selama mungkin. Penculik tersebut tidak akanmelihatmu karena ia sedan mengendarai mobil, tapi kendaraan lain dibelakang yang akan melihat tangan mu.

Jika kau di culik dan disekap di dalam sebuah mobil, dan penculik tersebut meninggalkanmu di dalam mobil, jika kau melihat kunci mobil tersebut masih di tempatnya, segera larikan mobil tersebut. Atau jika ternyata tidak ada kunci di stop kontak mobil tersebut, masukkan permen karet, kertas, atau apapun ke dalam stop kontak/lubang kunci mobil tersebut, kalau perlu, dan ada, masukkan jepit rambut dan patahkan didalam lubang kunci stop kontak mobil itu. Jika penculik tersebut tidak bisa menyalakan mobil, ia akan mengalami kesulitan untuk memindahkan mu !

Ingat, meninggalkan tempat kejadian penculikan adalah situasi yang akan mengarah kesesuatu yang lebih buruk !!!

Tips # 4 Segera kunci kendaraan/pintu mobil setelah naik ke dalamnya dan segera mungkin pergi dari tempat parkir
Perempuan punya kecenderungan untuk masuk ke dalam mobil setelah berbelanja, makan atau kerja dll, dan hanya duduk di dalamnya (menulis buku agenda, mencatat, memeriksa nota belanja, dll). JANGAN PERNAH LAKUKAN INI !!
Para penculik akan memperhatikan mu, dan ini adalah kesempatan sempurna mereka untuk masuk ke tempat duduk penumpang dan menodongkan senjata ke padamu, dan memerintahmu untuk pergi ketempat yang mereka inginkan.

Dan jika seseorang telah berada di dalam mobilmu, dan menodongkan senjata kekepalamu, JANGAN PERNAH IKUTI PERINTAHNYA UNTUK PERGI KETEMPAT YANG IA INGINKAN.
Masukkan gigi satu dengan perlahan sebelum menyalakan mesin, jangan injak kopling ketika akan menyalakan mesin, injaklah pedal gas dalam2. Atau, nyalakan mesin mobil seperti biasa, dan injaklah gas dalam2, tabrakkan mobil dengan apapun yang ada di depanmu !!
Air bag akan menyelamatkanmu. Jika orang yang menyerangmu ada di tempat duduk belakang, maka ia akan terkena dampak benturan yang paling parah !
Segera setelah mobil di tabrakkan, cepatlah keluar dari mobil dan meminta pertolongan !

INI LEBIH BAIK DARI PADA ORANG LAIN AKAN MENEMUKAN MAYATMU DI TEMPAT YANG TERPENCIL !!

Tips # 5 Beberapa catatan tentang bagaimana masuk kedalam mobilmu di sebuah tempat parkir (biasanya lantai dasar yang tertutup dan gelap)
A) Selalu waspada. Lihat di sekeliling mu, lihat ke dalam mobil mu, di lantai kursi penumpang depan, dan di kursi belakang.
B) Jika kamu memarkirkan mobil di samping sebuah mobil van besar, yang terlihat agak mencurigakan, masuklah dari sebelah sisi penumpang. Sebagian besar pelaku pembunuhan berantai menyerang korbannya dengan menarik mereka kedalam mobil van sewaktu perempuan tersebut akan masuk kedalam mobil mereka.
C) Lihat mobil yang parkir di sebelah mobilmu pada sisi pengemudi, jika di mobil sebelah mu tersebut ada seorang laki2 duduk sendirian di kursi penumpang, sisi yang terdekat dengan kendaraanmu, serta terlihat mencurigakan, segeralah berbalik arah kembali masuk ke mall/kantor dan mintalah seorang satpam atau polisi untuk menemanimu kembali ke kendaraanmu.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY !! (lebih baik bersikap paranoid dari pada mati sia2 !!)


Tips # 6 Selalu menggunakan lift daripada tangga. Tangga adalah tempat yang sangat buruk untuk berjalan sendiri, dan merupakan tempat kriminal terbaik khususnya pada saat malam hari !

Tips # 7 Jika penculik memiliki senjata api dan kau memiliki kesempatan untuk melarikan diri, JANGAN TAKUT ! ambil kesempatan tersebut untuk melarikan diri ! Kesempatan penculik untuk menembak korbannya yang melarikan diri adalah 4 berbanding 100 kali. Dan jika ia menembak, ia TIDAK AKAN mengenai organ vitalmu. LARI SEKUAT TENAGA dan jika memungkinkan lakukan dengan berzig-zag/tidak beraturan.

Tips # 8
Sebagai seorang perempuan, adalah hal yang wajar jika kita memiliki rasa simpati yang sangat besar. HENTIKAN !
Hal ini bisa membuatmu menjadi korban pemerkosaan atau bahkan pembunuhan !!
Ted Bundy adalah seorang pembunuh berantai, ia sangat tampan dan berpendidikan, dan ia SELALU menggunakan sifat simpati seorang perempuan.
Ia pura2 berjalan dengan menggunakan tongkat, atau pura2 timpang, dan seringkali “meminta pertolongan” untuk membantunya masuk kedalam mobilnya, yang kemudian terjadi adalah, perempuan yang menolongnya akan di tariknya masuk kedalam mobilnya dan di culiknya.

Tips # 9
Selalu ingat uang yang ada di dompet yang kita bawa waktu berpergian keluar sendirian. Ini adalah trend terbaru bagi para penculik, ketika mereka melihat calon korban yang baru masuk kedalam kendaraan mereka, penculik akan menunjukkan uang ke jendela korban dan mengatakan bahwa korban telah menjatuh kan uang tersebut dalam perjalanan menuju mobil. Dan ketika korban membuka pintu mobil/kaca dan berterima kasih, penculik itu akan membekap mereka.
Hal ini hampir terjadi pada seorang perempuan di sebuah tempat pengisian bensin. Penculik menunjukkan sejumlah uang, tapi perempuan tersebut ingat bahwa ia hanya membawa uang yang pas, dan kemudian ia mengatakan bahwa uang itu bukan miliknya. Seorang perempuan lain setelah perempuan yang pertama pergi menjadi korban pemerkosaan oleh pria tersebut.




Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a oved one's life.

Crucial
Because of recent abductions i daylight hours,refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation...
This is for you, and for you to share with your wife, your children, everyone you know.

After reading these 9 crucial tips , forward them to someone you care about.
It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.

Tip #1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do :
The elbow is the strongest point on your body.
If you are close enough to use it, do!!

Tip # 2. Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans
If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,
DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM
Toss it away from you....
chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse.
RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

Tip # 3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.
The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.
This has saved lives.

Tip # 4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.)DON'T DO THIS!!
The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR , LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

and... If someone is in the car with a gun to your head
DO NOT DRIVE OFF,
repeat:
DO NOT DRIVE OFF!!
Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car.
Your Air Bag will save you.
If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it .
As soon as the car crashes bail out and run.
It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

Tip # 5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
A..) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor ,and in the back seat
B..) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door .
Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
C..) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle,and the passenger side.
If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman
to walk you back out.
IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

Another tip i was resently given concerning cars, if you are ever locked into a car and the keys are in the ignition obviously drive that van away from there... fast! BUT if no keys are in the ignition jam it with something like a boby pin (break it in there) or even a wad of chewing gum... remember, leaving the primary location is the worst situation possible, if he cant start his van... he is going to have a much harder time transporting you.

Tip #6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs.
(Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)

Tip # 7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN!
The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times;
And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably, in a zig -zag pattern! (This was confirmed in the K.C. Star)

Tip # 8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP !
It may get you raped, or killed.
Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women.
He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked "for help" into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
************* Here it is *******


Tip # 9. Another Safety Point:
Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late
and she thought it was weird.
The police told her "Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door."
The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over.
The policeman said, "We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door."
He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby
He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

Please pass this on and DO NOT open the door for a crying baby ----
This e-mail should probably be taken seriously because the Crying Baby theory was mentioned on America 's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled
the serial killer in Louisiana

another tip i was sent earlier:
Know how much money you take into stores/gas stations.
It is a new trend that preditors will see somone get into their car, and knock on their window. Then they will show them a $5 or $10 bill and tell them they dropped it on the way back to their car. After the woman thanks the kind man, and opens her door, he will grab her. It almost happened to one woman, but she knew she only too $5 with her into the gas station, so the change was not hers, another woman got raped by that man though.

also, if you are ever pulled over and arnt sure if the "cop" pulling you over is really a cop you can call 911, do not roll down your window untill other poliece men arrive at the scene... the poliece man who pulled you over should understand this as it is part of their training.

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know.
It may save a life.
A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle.


Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one's life.

Travelling for girls 101

Posted by Fico , Thursday, November 8, 2007 8:09 PM

Memang ini bukan pertama kali gue berangkat ke luar negri (cieee ! gaya banget ngomongnya !).
Gue gak bakalan melupakan milis indobackpacker yang telah membantu banyak dalam hal informasi terkini tentang backpacking.
Nahh.. gue mau share beberapa tips yang gue pake kalo berangkat ke luar negri.

1. A Good Planned travel/itinerary. Artinya, semua harus sudah terencana, mulai dari budget, akomodasi, dll. Meskipun natinya gak bakalan sama persis, setidaknya kita sudah punya outline, dan gak bakalan buta soal tempat yang akan kita kunjungi. Minimal modal arah dengan peta deh... kalo bisa kumpulin sebanyak mungkin info via internet. Mulai dari tempat penginapan sampai dengan harga makanan (kalo bisa). Dari situ kita bisa punya bayangan soal perjalanan kita. Bila perlu di print segala sampe detailnya. Remember.. contact person disana kadang2 sangat membantu (gak musti, tapi kalo ada bagus juga). Contact person contohnya sesama teman backpackers yang kebetulan ke tempat yang sama, gak ketemuan juga gak apa2 tapi.. well its good to know someone when you're in a strange place.

2. Scan PASSPORT, KTP, SIM A/C, pas foto warna (kalo ada yang digital okkkee) dan upload ke http://briefcase.yahoo.com (kudu punya login yahoo) kalo ada dokumen yang hilang/tas hilang kita masih bisa nge print warna dari internet, gak perlu bawa copy kemana2 (copinya juga perlu sih buat jaga2). Electronic tiket yang biasanya dikirim via mail, tolong mailnya di kasih "flag" biar nanti kalo ada apa2 dalam situasi panik kita bisa dengan gampang menemukan mail tersebut.. lebih bagus lagi semua dokumen yang dikirim via mail seperti konfirmasi booking hotel dimasukin di satu folder.

3. Punya tas/dompet kecil buat ngumpulin semua tiket/boarding pass dan dipisah mana yang udah di pake mana yang belum (di kelipin aja) jadi waktu di perlukan gak perlu ngubek2 tas. Tas kecil ini di simpan di tempat yang aman (backpack).

4. Tas pinggang (kalo gak pake juga gak apa2) buat nyimpan passport, permen, pena, copy passport, kunci tas, dompet sama hape dan obat2 yang penting banget (obat maag girls???). Harus dari bahan yang kuat, dan banyak kantongnya. Uang mungkin dipisah dikit disini, dompet jangan terlalu banyak isinya.. biar gak ngundang niat jahat orang). Eiger bisa jadi rekomendasi (gue punya yang merek export, gak perlu branded lah yang penting yakin tali/penahannya kuat) butuh yang kuat biar gak gampang putus/lepas/di jambret orang. Nih tas pinggang jangan pernah2 di lepas kecuali waktu mandi (dibawa juga ke kamar mandi kali yeee).

5. Tali sling (dari besi) sama gembok tas cadangan. Buat yang ngerencanain jalan ke pantai. Tas backpack yang guede tentu ditinggal di penginapan, dan kita pastinya cuma bawa ransel lebih kecil. Nah guna sling (kabel kayak buat rante sepeda) sama gembok kecil, buat "ngamanin" tas kita kalo kita nyemplung di aer. Kan kasian kalo kita seneng2 sementara seorang temen dikorbanin buat jaga tas... udah jauh2 pergi kok jaga tas ????? Sling ama gembok cadangan juga amat berguna dalam perjalanan dengan bus/kereta api, kalo perjalanannya "overnight" alias lebih dari 12 jam.. kalo ketiduran kan aman berhubung tas di ikat dengan tali sling, jadi gak gampang "dilariin".

6. Pashamina/kain pantai yang bagus (agak tebal) multi fungsi tentunya. Bisa buat tempat dingin, jadiin selimut, bisa buat di pesawat juga kalo gak tahan sama AC-nya (air asia dingin bo !! sampe asepan ac nya)sama buat ke pantai jadiin tempat duduk (buat dililitin di pinggang/jadi kain pantai).

7. Termos. Believe it or not. Termos ini memperhemat gue selama di singapore !! 1 botol air mineral 600ml harganya 5 singapore dollar atau lebih dari 25 ribu rupiah !! sementara gue kayak onta yang haus terus. Setiap ketemu keran gue isi dah tuh termos sampe penuh, air di singapore bisa langsung diminum dari keran (keren !!!) dan gratis pastinya. Kalo kita jalan dari pagi dari hostel kita bawa aja air agak hangat, mumpung free. Lumayan, kalo sakit perut di jalan minum air rada angat bisa ngilangin sakitnya (cewek gitu loohhh). Lumayan hematnya ! Gak usah bawa yang besar.. sekarang kan banyak yang ukuran kecil.

Memang kayaknya ribet banget.. tapi gue ngerasa "aman" dengan semua barang di atas. Sebab bagi kita berdua barang yang di atas sangat membantu.

Why God ?!! why??

Posted by Fico , Tuesday, November 6, 2007 11:37 PM

Planning a vacation is hard enough.. especially if you're on a tight budget. Everything have to be on details.
It is seemed harder if you're planning to traveling in Indonesia.. I know some of you will disagree with this. But with 3 million rupiah i am sure could go to Singapore and stay for a week ! 3 million to Bali ??? less than 3 days for sure.
Not mentioned the accommodation.


Browsing..browsing dan browsing.

Cuma itu yang bisa gue buat sama cari literatur buat the next destionation. Tujuan berikutnya.
Kita niatnya sih ke Bunaken sama Bali. Kita cinnnnnnntaaaaaa pantai dengan semua aktivitas nya.
Ada beberapa destinasi lain yang masuk dalam "perencanaan" gue. Bangka-Belitung salah satunya. Ada teman gue yang asalnya dari sana, dan mereka terus ngomongin soal pantai2 di sana yang bisa bikin gue ngiler.. hehehehe...
Tapi.. terbujuk oleh tipi sama iklan2.. gue niat banget ke Bunaken sama Bali.
Bisik-bisik sama Maria; "bu, kita pergi ke bunaken sama bali aja yokk.." dia langsung cekikikan, and suruh gue cari info2 terkait, berhubung gue kerja di dalam ruangan dan punya akses terus ke komputer (dia kerja lapangan).
Shock !!
Wow.. wew ! wow !
Tiket pesawat aja mahal banget bo !
Dari Singapur ke Krabi kemaren tiket kita cuma 3 ratusan ribu one way ! dari Jakarta ke Manado ?? 700 ribuan one way !!!!!!! ngeri gak ???
Gue mikir ulang.. worthed gak ya??
Setelah di kalkulasi sama biaya akomodasi, dan transportasi liburan 10 hari less than 5 million rupiahs bisa aja sih.. tapi gak yakin... apalagi dengan niat yang pingin snorkeling.
Iya.. iya.. tau.. pasti seharusnya bisa lebih murah lagi... tapi gue coba untuk lebih logis. Jarak dari Jambi ke Manado di peta aja udah lebih jauh dari jarak Jambi ke Singapore.. wajar lah..kali..
Kita memang cari yang murah, tapi gak pengen sampe menderita banget gara2 nyari yang termurah. Ntar pengen cari senang malah susah di kota orang..luntang lantung..hiyy..

Hilang sudah bayangan bunaken dengan laut yang biru.. dan ketenangan di kala tersesat di kota orang (gak perlu mikirin bahasa !)

Browsing lagi...

WHAT ??!!!! tiket murah dari Singapore ke Phuket cuma 3 ratusan ribu.. olalaaahhhh.. (liat situs tigerairways.com) cuma dari bulan February sampe Maret !

Yang gue sesalin waktu ke Thailand (the "sins" list):1. Gak bisa datang ke catuchak weekend market di bangkok 2. Gak bisa datang ke full moon party di Koh Pangan island 3. Gak bisa nginap 1 minggu full di phi2 island buat lenjeh2 males2an

ohh.. godaan untuk balik lagi ke sana begitu besar...
Padahal kulit kita yang belang bonteng belum balik ke asal (waktu pergi sempat dikira orang cina....pulang ? hehehe mirip dakocan nan hitam..hehehe)

Jadi kongkritnya.. ??

Ada niat, tapi belum ada kesempatan.

Waspadalah ! Waspada lahhhhh !!!!!

kangen........

Posted by Fico , Tuesday, October 23, 2007 2:47 AM

da hampir 2 bulan petualangan berakhir....
kesibukan diplant dan kegiatan yang ketinggalan menyita waktu dan saat waktu sudah luang, kembali terbayang saat snorkeling or hanya berjemur di pantai........PENGEN!!!!!!!

apalagi foto2 yang terpajang didesktop laptopku yang....tidaaaaaakkkk!!!!

aduh, doain ya spy tabungan cepat penuh lagi so bisa ngatur rencana lagi tapi kayaknya taon depan ga bisa euy, partnerku yang cantik tapi rada2 'gila' punya rencana lain...

pergi sendiri aja yuk...tapi kemana ya....

punya usul ga??????????

700+ pictures and experiences

Posted by Fico , Friday, October 19, 2007 1:31 AM

When we got back to work, we still feel dizzy of vacation.
We can't even believe its all over.
For weeks, on our working place, we try to collect all pictures fro our flash disk, and camera memory, and it comes with amazing number of pics, more than 700 pics !!
I don't even feel that i took so many of them, and we obviously delete some of them when we went to Chiang Mai. That time Maria told me that she lost her flash disk.
Until today i try to update this blog with the newest pict and thisng that i might skip.
So.. theres sooo many pictures that we could post in here.. but i don't think it allowed somehow...


Kembali ke kehidupan semula.. rutinitas yang sama..
Ugh ! rasanya males banget bo ! udah sembuh dari demam gue kemaren, langsung besoknya masuk kerja... pengen duduk2 di pinggir pantai di Phi2 lagi...
Tapi apa boleh buat.. gue jadiin motivasi aja.. hehe itung2 ngumpulin buat jalan lagi hehehe..
Hasil dari jalan2 kemaren luar biasa banget. Gue gak percaya waktu ngumpulin jumpah foto yang kita ambil, jumlahnya mendekati 800 poto.. 700 sekian lah.... kaget gara2 gue rasanya gak se narsis itu deh !! (lirik Maria, hehehe)
Apalagi mengingat foto2 itu ada beberapa yang udah kita hapus waktu di chiang mai, Mari bilang flash disk nya hilang, bencana bo !
Apa boleh buat kita hapus beberapa foto yang kita anggap gak terlalu bagus (hiks). Akhirnya.. udah nyampe disini kita bisa upload foto semau2...tapi jadi bingung foto mana yang mesti di upload... kayaknya gak semua foto mungkin bisa di upload ke sini.
Jadi sampe hari ini kita masih login ke blog ini dan nambahin disini dan disana..

Keep up dated aja yah friends... sumpah gue bingung sama foto2 itu bagus semua sih !!

singapore ciaooo...batam lagi!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Fico , Sunday, September 16, 2007 12:20 PM

Stuck in Batam (...& sick)

Posted by Fico , Tuesday, September 4, 2007 2:23 AM

The best thing about going from Harbour front ? they checked your luggage in.
I don't have to carry my 23kg's back pack while i try to wake up from the flu medication. Hehehehe...
But the sun is still shining, i feel happy because finally the trip is almost over..
During the ferry trip i were just sleep, while Maria awake and listen to her MP3. I just feel exhausted, and maybe because the weather at singapore that made me feel tired all sudden (raining all day).
We got a different Penguin boat, its much better than the one that we got when we left Batam to Singapore. At least this one had a dining room, where we sit. Its a good chioce because in here we could sleep because the seat is bigger, and had a table between the seat.
The weather little bit cloudy but the wave is not so big. We made pop mie for each of us. We forgot to buy something in Harbour Front. Beside that actually before leaving we feel little bit full after the break fast.
We finally arrive in Batam, but alas !! all the flight are full, even to Palembang !!!! so were staying for a night in Batam (new adventure).
Were staying in Nagoya, the hotel name is Grand Mutiara. Taxi driver that drive us suggest to stay at Nagoya because it's in between Batam Centre and Sekupang pier where we should take boat to Kuala Tungkal. First we want to seek hotel near Sekupang, but he said there were less choice there, so we said, Nagoya is all right. It's not a vancy hotel. But its better than hostel tho.
I am not feeling so well, i had flu, i got headache and fever. But i will survive until back home (i had to!!).
I already call my mom so she dont need to worry.
Batam is not really "safe" for girls, that's my experience when i work at woman advocacy, to prefent trafficking. Most of womans in Indonesia are "sell" in here. Bad..bad place.
But i've seen worse so we will be okay. I never been here so it's quite experience too tho.
We had our lunch at Pizza Hut, i ate alot. At least our hotel is close to PH. (Another junk food).
We went to Nagoya Hill just to look around something. (Hehehe.. girls..). Its short of a shopping centre. Huge enough to explore all day after our journey from Singapore. We just want to make sure that we didn't missed anything !
Maria got a new cutie shoes with heels, cute. I bought my self a sexy shoes and a boot !! and its all Edward Forrer (sorry about the blurry pic, its from my cellphone). I'll use the boot sometimes to work, and i am so excited to think about that. And about the sexy heels ? i will use it for special occasion.
I got upset thinking that .. Bangkok doesn't have my shoe size, its so unfair !! my size is 41.. and their biggest shoe size is 40... same like most Indonesia shoe shop.
We're girls.. we're dying for shoes !!
We went back to hotel at 5.30 afternoon. We went to buy crispy banana fries near our hostel for Rp 10.000,- (i never eat fried banana this expensive before!!).
We take rest, Maria sleep fast, i still watch tv until 9. I think its because flu i can't really sleep.
We woke up at 5, and take breakfast at 6.30 with friend rice and fried noodles and eggs with orange juice (hehehhe).
We check out at 7.30 and then went to Sekupang. From our hotel the taxi flat rate is Rp 60.000 to Sekupang.
Sekupang ?? bad, dirty, full of "calo" that offer you ticket and pulling your 23kgs backpack.
We got "Sabang Marindo" ferry ticket and it cost us just the same price with the airplane ticket Rp 235.000,- . The ferry will depart at 9 am.

Back to singapore again

Posted by Fico , Monday, September 3, 2007 2:05 AM

Back to civilization again ??
I don't know if shopping centers counts as civilization (for girls yeahhh, hehehe).

This morning i wake up too early. There's few girls just got back from party, and they were so late, and NOISY to the hostel.
So we decide to just take a bath and get out from the hostel at 6.15 am. We left some of our biscuits there, too much to carry.
Theres a tuk2 outside the hostel. But he want to ask us for 80 baht to the hostel, for both of us.
Oh, God, we cried, not again !!
We said 50 for both, and he just don't want. Sorry.. but we're too tired with all of this tuk2 ISSUE, maybe its REALLY a tradition in here if you were talking about tuk2 that's mean headache.
We decide to walk a bit and there's a songthew passing thru. He stop, Maria don't want to do anything about the songthew because of yesterday incident. But i told the driver how much to the airport, he said 60 baht (wew ! lower than tuk2??) and finally he agree with 50 baht for both (could be cheaper because its not really that far).
Anyway, we just jump in to the songthew and then there's two other girls join us to the airport. They were planning to go to Koh Pang Nga. We already been there, sunshine and beach.. good luck girls !
The songthew stop us at local departure, wrong terminal.
But its not that far to go to the international departure. So we walk with the help of trolley (yess they had that !! so happy to see specially when you carry so much luggage!)
Okay, this is it... could we get thru without paying for extra weight with our big luggages ?
I did pay for extra luggage so we both could bring at least 20 kgs each. So total is 40 Kgs.
And you know how much our total luggage after we measure it at checkin counter ????
39,3 kgs !!!!!!!
Hahahahahhhhaaaa!!!
I think that was a good news, and need to be celebrate with being happy for the rest of our flight.
But..psssttt.. little black secret here..you know.. the total weight of our luggage is actually 43 kgs more. I just do some old trick to the backpack. If you were worried about your luggage over weight, when they put that on scale, don't lay them all. Put it straight up where there's less space/pressure to the scale, the weight getting lighter, its physics law. It works for me all the time on budget airlines !

We had our breakfast at the coffee shop at the 1st floor near the Tiger Airways ticketing. I had a cup of tea and a croissant for breakfast. Trust me.. its NOT enough for my Indonesian tummy. So i get few bites on chocolate that i brought also.
And when i take my wallet out, oh no... there it is.. my pink swiss army knife. AAAAAAAARRGGHHH !!!
Once again, i forgot to put it on my luggage.
Maria and i got sudden panic (especially me). But then we try to hide it on my wallet where theres so many magnetics cards (ATM, credit cards, etc) and it is attached to my keys as a key chain, but still it's a knife.
We went to the second floor of the airport. First we cant really decide what to do because we still have like 1 hour time to spent here. There's only coffee shop out side the waiting room. We try to peek in ..well yeah.. there's more shops there but not as much as in Singapore.
First i think it was amazing that a small city like Chiang mai have international airport, but then Maria reminds me that there's been Olympic games held here, so yes, its good. Small but comfy.
So we went to the immigration line to get to the waiting room. And (gasp !) they were taking pictures of me !! (arrrghh!) if i know they will take the picture i would made my self not looks like some one that "had" to be awake at 5 am ! (read:messy and dull).
We do body scan, and then they x-ray our things, my heart beating fast because i don't want them to take the swiss army knife !! and they re-scan my things AGAIN ! i think my face become more pale than it used... but then they said okay... then all sudden i could breathe as normal (i'm such a criminal...don't ever try this people !!)
We took few pictures there. The toilet is clean and international standard (toilet tissue, clean, smells good and no squad potty or leaking waters).
The flight is all right, and amazingly boring. I'm wondering what would it be on the plane for 18 hours or more?? I try to sleep, i feel tired but just can't. Read mags.. oooohh the mags too good to be read, that you know sometimes that you want to keep some of your reading because you afraid that you don't have anything to read.. that "syndrome" happened there, that time, so i quit reading the mags. I just try to write few things on my temporary journal.
Anyway theres a guy that ask for our blog address cause he see us taking pictures and i explain that for our blogs. He is a nice guy, always smile ( you need that when ever you were in a place that you never been, and you don't know anyone !).
So here we are in singapore and its raining quite hard. We're planning to go to Orchad road as soon as we book our bed at Betel Box. When we finally had our bed we feel so tired that we sleep until 5 afternoon.
The raining is not as hard as before, but its cold and cloudy. I guess moonson not only hit Thailand. We went down stair with umbrella. Hungry !
We rush to find Ayam Penyet Ria, just few blocks from Betel Box, all we need to do is just walk along the road, in rain !
My feet all cold, but thinking about the Chilli that i will eat, uuuhhmm.. Yums !!! we're Indonesian we can't live without those hot chilli and extra hot spices.
We almost can't find rice in Thailand, so when we did find rice.. awww and tempe !! feels we just at home (even the tempe sliced so thin !!). We full after eat a portion for eac of us. Maria have a hot Milo and i had my hot orange juice. I have fever !
After eat and lick our finger tips (yummss), we went back to hostel and wash our face and get ready for Orchad Road.
We took MRT and went to Orchad road. We're lost as usual on our very first day on every town.
Singapore, especially in geylang areas is look different than before we went here. There's a lot of pretty light and some people were busy building tent along the road. They were preparing food stand for the holly month Ramadhan.
Its good to see how this country could celebrate all of their religion beliefs. It's quite different than in Indonesia. I said so because even we had so many cultures and 6 religion and beliefs, you could only see the Moslem celebration.
As a moslem, it's good, but as a nation, where is other culture that we should show to others ?? so much to think about.... i rarely see chinese celebration held in Jambi.. where theres so many chinese. Or where its chrismast.. i could only see they put lights and christmast tree only in shopping centre. In Singapore, its every where !
But then we find the place that we want to go.
We have Burger King as dinner at Orchad, and watch Barongsai dance(lion dance) competition until 9.30 pm. The competition is an international competition. We could see the participant mostly is from Chinese or Hongkong. They were great , and people seemed like it.

chiangmai-singapore

Posted by Fico , 2:01 AM

Chiangmai-Singapore 3 September 2007

Penerbangan jam 9 pagi tapi kita da membuka mata jam 5 pagi dan jam 7 kurang sudah ready menuju ke bandara karena khawatir ga dapet tuk2 or songthew. Ternyata pagi2 songthew or tuk2 da berkeliaran dan tuk2 dengan sombongnya ga mau nganter ke bandara yang dekat (cuma 10 menit) ga kurang dari 60 baht dan tiba2 songthew lewat dan rasa trauma masih melekat aku coba untuk sombong dan bilang ke bandara mau 50 baht berdua, eh dia langsung aja jawab ya…’tarik mang!!!!!!!!’. Ada 2 orang wanita Australia yang nginap disebrang jalan mo kebandara juga so dia ikut bareng dengan harga yang sama.

Kami ga tau berapa berat backpack kami dan sepertinya kami khawatir lebih dari 40 kg (seharusnya bagasi hanya boleh 15 kg tapi kita da bayar lebih untuk nambah 5 kg lagi). Ga nyangka beban kita berdua dengan 3 backpack 39.3 kg, sebenarnya lebih tapi karena tas fico agak nempel ke dinding meja so beban berkurang sedikit…hehe…lumayan so ga perlu bayar (hanya tas fico 23 kg, maknyos de ngangkatnya!!!).

Penerbangan dengan Tiger Airways (ga perlu bayar pajak juga karena sudah masuk semua dalam pembelian tiket) seperti kemaren cukup lumayan walo cuaca masih tidak terlalu baik, banyak guncangan2 kecil yang buat deg2an. Perjalanan 2 jam buat kepala pusing dan sulit untuk tidur. Di bandara kita heboh buat foto2 dan minta tolong ke seorang bapak bule, kita bilang buat dokumentasi blog kita dan ternyata dia seorang tutor tentang blog dan minta alamat blog kita, ga tau de dia baca apa ga or ngerti pa ga soale sebagian ditulis dalam bahasa Indonesia.

Tiba di Changi dengan selamat, amin!!!!!!! Melewati imigrasi da ga takut lagi, keciilllll!!!!!!

Singapore 3-4 September 2007

Singapore lagi, recek jam kembali, 1 jam lebih awal. Kembali ke hostel yang lama dengan naik taksi, bayar S$12, lumayan mahal euy. Singapore hujan, ga biasanya dibulan2 sekarang. Mo tidur terganggu ma suara anak2 dari korea yang nginap dikamar, da diomongi mereka cuma bisa bilang ’sorry’. Rasa dingin mengundang lapar dan kami makan ’ayam penyet’ S$7.5/porsi. Karena ga bisa tidur kami jalan2 naik MRT ke Orchad Road (pastinya disepanjang jalan ini banyak mall!!!) dan di Ngee Ann City ada pertandingan barong sai, lumayan menghibur. Ga terlalu excited lagi selama di Singapore, apa karena kecapekan dan rasa was2 ga tau mo naik apa ke jambi dari Batam plus fico rada gak enak badan gara2 keguyur hujan (gara2 capek juga kali yakk, gw juga tapi kan rada beda, da terlatih selama jadi field operator yang sering ujan2an karena harus back on line equipment tapi gaji ga naek2...huuuaaaahhh). Balik ke hostel setelah makan di Burger King’s trus ke apotek buat beli obat flu buat fico (hehhehe...). Apotekernya gak mau ngasih obat kayak paracetamol dll gitu tanpa ada resep dokter (whaaalllahh) jadi cuma beli obat batuk woods aja sama vicks aja. Gw heran kok ada aturan gitu ya padahal di Indonesia obat kayak gitu di jual bebas, bahkan bebas banget!!!

ChiangMai day 1 & 2: The History City

Posted by Fico , Sunday, September 2, 2007 7:09 AM

Chiang Mai City Tour a.la Fika & Mari :

The famous Three King Park (With beach costumes..hehehe)


Arts and Cultural Centre next to the Three king Park


Walk 20-30 minutes and from the park, you will find night market open from 4.30 pm

Burger King Night Market Chiangmai (Halal problem ? ..solve! just order french fries and chicken/cheese burger)


Night Market from Burger king Level 2




Wat tour day 2

Wat Chediluang very first in the morning


Restoration (?) look at the top of the chedi (its only half of it (?))

girl power...

Posted by Fico , Saturday, September 1, 2007 11:04 PM

...read fico's story "we were sent to police!!!"...

I'm cool now but really I was MAD!!!!
I supported you fico...

we can't let people bother and we just be silent.
very amazing last trip in thailand end in police station with stupid, annoying songthew driver that can't defenced himself because he was guilty.
so you guys, don't be afraid to say NO and FIGHT if you are in right side.

go girls!!!!!!!!!!

We were sent to police !!

Posted by Fico , 11:00 PM

Okay this is what happened if a fraud songthew guy want to messed with two Indonesian girls.
It wasn't nice at all.
The story begun when we just finished visiting Wat Phrasingh. We decide to go to Doi Suthep by our own in stead taking tours. After went to seven eleven infront of Wat Phrasingh we ask an old white guy about the songthew that goes to Doi Suthep. He said it wont be more expensive than 40 baht for both of us from there.
So we stop one of the songthew (van/pickup public car), we ask wether he could took us to Doi Suthep. But he stop another songthew that coming from different lines and ask (??) that 2nd songthew driver to take us to Doi Suthep.
We cross the street to get to 2nd songthew, and don't want to made silly mistake we ask again wether the 2nd driver want to take us to Doi Suthep, he said yes for 40 baht for both of us.
We then jump in to his songthew. There's no other passenger at the back its only two of us. We quite happy that we could pay 40 baht instead 500 baht just for Doi Suthep.. well.. its out of town, its about 7 km's away.. but we could do it with songthew anyway.
So suddenly just like after 5 minutes ride with songthew the 2nd driver stop and ask us to get to another songthew that said could took us to Doi Suthep for 40 baht (what the heck ???!!!!!!!)
First Maria tought we could just jump in without paying the 2nd songthew but i could see the driver insist for his 40 baht. Maria get really angry !!
I told him its okay if we pay 10 baht for each, but not 40 baht. But he insist. We know they want to fool us, and Maria still get mad at him and give him 10 baht for both of us.
This 3rd songthew driver face turn red and said "if you don't want to pay my friend, he will took you to police station" both of us right away say "YES !!!" we want to go to police station. Its just wont going toi happened to us AGAIN (read in Bangkok)
And, amazingly he did drive us to Police station. I still chilled out, because i could see Maria is still really mad. But when we got to the police station, and we jump off, the driver talk to both of us and try to scare us that he will really told the police that we don't want to pay him. He make his eye bigger and high his tone RIGHT INTO MY FACE.
Okay, that's it !!!!!!!!!!!
He saw how mad Maria is, but he surely don't want to see me mad... but he did made me MAD !
We rush to go inside. I know from his body language actually he is not really want to get in. So i push the door, i could see few police guy inside. My brother inlaw is a policeman. I am not afraid. I didn't do anything wrong.
I step in, and talk to the first police that i see, and unpolitely before i FINISHED what i said that 2nd songthew guy cut what ever i said and try to talk at the same time, i said to my self... oh.. okay.. you are toatll wrong, want the asty part of me, allright, here we go.
I went crazy, and unstopable. Both of us Maria and me talk at the same time very fast in english. Made the police statioon so noisy. Until one of the police ask if there's anyone could speak english and translate what we said in english to thai language.
We did fnally find a couple tat could speak both thai and english. We told her what happened.
First she still thought it just a missunderstading until we told her that the driver absolutely said yas when we ask for Doi Suthep. If he can't take us there, he could say no, like the first songthew driver that we see before him.
After few minutes argueing, and explaining, yelling, and sighning, the policeman infront of us maybe thought "okay, thats all, this is all to silly.. better to send this two crazy girl out of my office". So he did ask the girl that translate us to ask us to go and not to pay anything since were not going anywhere AT ALL.
We go. I said thanks to her and her bf (nice guy). And to the police (that looks like really upset with all the noise), and SORRY to the songthew driver (that not succeed to fool another FARANG just like he always did). We rushing go outside, and think that we're too "hot" to think where else to go.
Still mumbling at street finally we went to our guesthouse, and take a rest for a while.
After 1 pm we were hungry so, we decide, mac love is our choice (read Mc D's), i want cheese burgers and ice creammmm ! after this hassle and heat... i deserve it.. hehehehe

From bangkok to Chiangmai

Posted by Fico , Friday, August 31, 2007 8:19 PM

I have huge back pack on my back(80ltr), one in front of my chest (30ltr)and we still had to drag other bag (50 ltr) to the MRT station, and then sub way. Have to walk on sky walk before reach the subway.
Nightmare !
Its the other price to pay when you're a shopohoilic. I got tshirt for my family, sisters, evern small tedy bear for my niece.
We check out at 10.30 from Central Shukumvit 25. We had our break fast there, also lunch after we get to internet first to back up our cameras memory. Maria camera already full so she have to move half of the datas to a new sony micro flas disk that i just bought (390 baht).
We bought KFC for our dinner at train ( no more "is this cooked with pork?" question at least). The KFC located outside the station. When you get your ticket you have to seek very carefully to the KFC sign on the other side of the waiting room of the station, its on the corner of the food court stairs (the food court on the 2nd floor).
We went here yesterday. We quite supraise to see a white guy as a cashier of the KFC. Ofcourse it could be anywhere, but not at Indonesia for sure. That white guy speak very fluently Thai language, that we even re-thought that he might 50% Thai (he is absolutely physicly 100% white guy).
Our train number was 15. We got the last seat. Its not really a seat, at night it will become a bed. Both of us choose the upper bed, with fan and its rapid train. The ticket price is 491 baht for each.
The train leaving the bangkok station at straight 2.30pm and we will arrive at 6.00 in Chiangmai.
The journey ?
Feels almost the same like a train that i used to go to Palembang from Lampung. Business class.. but you could see lots of "non-passenger" get thru you offering foods, drinks, etc. But at least they were more nicely than you see on Palembang-Lampung train. They don't push you or threat you to buy anything for sure.
I can't really sleep because outside the window the scenery is beautifull. Its not all jungle like in Sumatra. You could see rice field, jungle, yes, and small towns.
I don't want to missed that. Also the sunset for sure.
The ticket guy is really nice to us. He said that his brother went to Indonesia for working (i'm grinning because there's alot of Thai guys working on our plant shutdown job).
There's none pick us up. We check my mail from the raiway station internet (10 baht/15minutes), its fast enough. The internet just looks like a vending machine.
The guest house said that they were probably wont sent anyone if theres none at the station using yellow shirt with julie guest house name. None.
So we ask the information about the tuk2 price to the guest house they said it was 60 baht.
We went outside and theres a woman offering songthew (pickup van) for 100 baht but Maria insist for 50 baht. They left us. But after about 15 minutes the guy back and agree with 50 baht (good job maria !!)
At the first sight when i see the guest house, its alittle bit dark, and Maria also said.. "errrhhh... is this the same guest house that we see online???" well i don't know for sure.
The office is seemed still closed as they said on the net, they will open at 8 am.
So we're trying to sleep pn the hostel looby. That morning there's several people sitting, or just lying down the bed or sofas that the put outside the hostel.
There's several people also seemed just arrive just looks like us with loads of backpack on their back waiting, and trying to get some rest. But same just like us they have to wait.
At 7.30 then they open the front door of the office and i ask about my booking confirmation. They said there's only double room but without hot water. I don't feel i was booking a room without hot water, so i insist to get one. They said they will arrange the room but we should wait until 11..

crazy chiangmai.....

Posted by Fico , 8:11 PM

Bangkok-Chiangmai 31 Agustus 2007

Kita berangkat ke Chiangmai naik kereta setelah survey dan beli tiket satu hari sebelumnya di stasiun Hua Lampong (cuma ada 1 stasiun kereta, kita kemaren naik BTS dan lanjut naik MRT tapi dari stasiun .... ke stasiun Hua Lampong lumayan jauh so selamat berjuang kalo punya bawaan kayak kami kemaren). Kita memilih kereta 2nd class sleeper rapid train (491 baht) soale jam berangkatnya jam 2 siang so nyampe Chiangmai sekitar jam 6 pagi. Ada juga se yang berangkat jam 8 malam, kereta Express, coba cek websitenya aja biar lebih jelas!!! Keretanya ga mewah, sama aja kayak Parahyangan Jakarta-Bandung tapi yang ini punya tempat buat tidur so bisa istirahat de. Hati2 dengan bawaan, kita kemaren spare gembok gede buat jaga2 J.

Chiangmai 1-3 September 2007

Di Chiangmai sama aja kayak di Bangkok, semua hostel buka jam 8 pagi so kita nunggu dalam keadaan ngantuk, capek, dekil plus pusing (train lag J). Sambil nunggu kita ke warnet dulu, disini warnet 15 baht/jam dan cepat banget, sangat murah sekali dibanding dengan Krabi or Bangkok yang rata2 40 baht/jam.

Kita nginap di Julie’s hostel, kita nyewa 1 kamar dengan hot shower 179 baht/kamar tapi kamarnya mah kecil banget apalagi kamar mandinya. Menurut gw ga terlalu nyaman se tapi banyak banget yang nginap disini bahkan ada yang rela balik lagi kesini walo da nginap ke tempat lain karena kelamaan nunggu front office buka. Mereka punya restoran so kita ga perlu repot keluar mo makan or beli minum, harganya mang lebih mahal tapi cuma beda 10-15 baht dari warung luar so ga masalah kali ya.

Tadinya mo ikut tour keliling kuil dan tempat kerajinan sutra tapi karena kita pesan buat hari minggu so harganya jadi 3250 baht, halah, mending ga jadi. Tapi kalo hari biasa 2800 baht, mang mahal banget se tapi da dapet makan siang+malam plus menyaksikan tarian tradisional Thailand. Karena ga jadi so kita bertualang sendiri lagi, sorenya kita mulai dengan keliling pasar malam dan seperti biasa semua ada di jual disini.

Perjalanan ga jauh dari ’wat day’, kebetulan tempat kita nginap dekat dengan berbagai kuil yang cukup ternama dan masuk dalam rekomendasi buku yang kita punya dan kuil2 yang akan kita kunjungi kalo pake tour. Dimulai dari Wat Chedi Luang, disini kuil tua, ada 4 patung Budha yang gede lagi duduk dan ada replika patung Budha tidur tapi kemaren lagi renovasi. Wat Phra Singh, kuil tempat ibadah dan banyak dikunjungi masyarakat setempat tapi ga terlalu besar. Habis dari sini kita ga ada rencana lain tapi waktu masih siang dan ada ide mo ke Doi Suthep, kuil tertua di Chiangmai. Kita nanya2 ma bule yang lagi belanja di 7 eleven dan bilang ada songthew yang langsung kesana dan bayar ga lebih dari 40 baht. Mulailah memberhentikan songthew yang lewat dan bertanya dengan bahasa inggris yang singkat padat dan jelas..’doi suthep???’, dia bilang ga tapi memberhentikan songthew lain dan kami bertanya lagi...’we want to doi suthep??...’yes!’...’how much???’...’40 baht 1 person’...’ok, 40 baht to doi suthep for 2 person???’...’yes!!’. Naiklah kami ke songthewnya dan meluncur dengan pasti kearah jalan yang pernah kami lalui. Tiba2 berhenti dan nyuruh kami turun dan nyambung ke songthew lain mo ke doi suthep tapi kami harus bayar dia 40 baht. Gw marah dan jelas tersinggung, ga lagi2 gw diboongi ma supir. Gw bilang ga mau bayar dan supir lain malah marah2 karena ga mungkin kami diantar kesana dengan mobil itu. Gw bilang ’bodo amat, dia janji mo antar kok sekarang berubah dan kami harus bayar lebih, kalo ga bisa antar bilang ga bisa dari awal!!’. Dia malah ngancam, ’kalo ga mo bayar kalian diantar ke kantor polisi!!!’. Gw dalam keadaan emosi, makin berang aja ’hayo!!!!!’. Beneran kami dibawa kekantor polisi dan waktu fico bilang gpp kalo kami ke kantor polisi, gw tetep maju membela kebenaran. Sebelum masuk, supirnya melototin fico dan yang jadi berang malah fico. Masuklah kami menghadap pak polisi dan si supir ’terhormat’ itu yang merasa ada diatas angin, ngomong langsung dengan bahasanya tentunya dan waktu gw mo ngomong...huahhhh...ternyata ga ada yang bisa english tapi untung ada seorang wanita yang lagi mengantar seorang bule yang habis kecelakaan dan dia bisa english sedikit. Pertama si wanita berfikir kami ga mo bayar padahal da diantar, kita ceritakan semua kronologis dengan english secepat kereta dan kami berdua semakin panas dan suara meninggi. Awalnya si wanita sulit mengerti dan si bule membantu kami menerangkan dengan suara yang tenang dan lambat sehingga si wanita mengerti. Si bule juga berkata disini memang sering terjadi seperti itu, si supir sering membohongi para turis dan jarang yang melapor ke polisi. Akhirnya si wanita menjelaskan keadaan dan si supir ga berani membantah, mungkin bapak2 polisi merasa menghadapi kasus yang aneh dan bingung plus pusing mendengar fico dan gw ngomong dengan ’kekuatan bulan’ J akhirnya nyurh kami pergi setelah si wanita nanya ’kalian mau bayar bapak supir ga??’, gw dengan rasa marah dan BT bilang ’ga akan!!’...’kalo gitu kalian boleh pergi!!’. Gw heran, gitu aja??? Dan yang paling ga nyambung si wanita sambil megang tangan gw bilang ’Thailand is beautiful, the people is good’....’maksud??!!!??’ Kami keluar duluan, sedang si supir masih tertahan didalm, mungkin si polisi takut kami dicegat ma si supir kali ya ??!! kami berdua berjanji…cukup sudah kuil2an!!!!!!!!

Untuk menenangkan diri kami kembali ke hostel dan membagi pengalaman ini ma front office, eh dia malah ga percaya dan rada BT ngeliat kami. Negara yang aneh dengan penduduknya yang aneh pula. Karena emosi dan rasa pusing plus lapar, kami merindukan McD kami yang tercinta, panas terik ga menghalangi kami untuk sesuap burger dan kentang goreng dan tak lupa segelas besar coke. Makan siang menjelang sore sekitar jam 3 kurang dan kami melanjutkan perjalanan mengitari jalan yang belum pernah kami lalui dan menemukan ’Pantip Plaza Chiangmai’, mall alat2 elektronik dan fico tergiur dengan laptop yang lagi sale…hehehe…. Oia, disini ada internet gratis so lumayan buat ngecek email dan browse tentang taksi dari bandara change ke hostel. Petualangan Chiangmai kami tutup dengan mengobok2 tiap kios pasar malam dan kembali ke hostel sebelum jam 8 malam karena harus packing semua beban dan kembali ke Singapore sebelum kembali ke negaraku tercinta.

bangkok oh bangkok

Posted by Fico , Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:50 PM

Phuket-Bangkok 27 Agustus 2007

Check out hostel jam 12 siang so kita harus ngungsi lagi menuju kota lain...BANGKOK.... Kita rencananya ke Surat Tani dulu naik bis dan lanjut naik kereta mpe Bangkok tapi gw bilang ma fico, kalo gitu kita bakalan capek banget harus angkut segala bawaan yang tiba2 jadi bertambah dengan hebatnya karena bawaan orok wanita yang hobi belanja so gw memutuskan dan dikit maksa fico supaya kita naik bis aja langsung ke Bangkok. Kita ga tau jadwalnya dan front officenya juga ga tau so gambling aja langsung datang ke terminal bis yang dekat banget dari hostel tapi harus bayar 90 baht/tuk2 (pake taksi, supirnya minta di bayar dimuka gara2 mobilnya bensinnya abis (egepe daaah!)). Gw lupa jadwalnya tapi waktu kita datang itu sekitar jam 1 siang so bis yang mo berangkat itu untuk bis tingkat isi 36 (626 baht) jam 4 sore dan untuk bis isi 24 (910 baht) berangkat jam 7 malam (kayaknya ada website tentang bis lokal Thailand de, coba cek aja). So kita naik bis tingkat yang isi 36 tapi kursinya agak sempit buat kaki kita yang cukup panjang, so lumayan pegal aja 13.5 jam perjalanan walo bisnya nyaman banget dan dapet makan gratis juga ada pramugarinya loh!! Oia, ada waktu istirahat 20 menit sekalian buat makan, kalo penggemar makanan halal, tanya aja ma pramugarinya soalnya tersedia makanan halal dan tidak halal. Tempat perhentiannya ini keren banget dan luas, bersih banget ga ada de di Indonesia.

Bangkok 28-31 Agustus 2007

Tiba sekitar jam 5 lewat so kita langsung menuju hostel jalan sukhumvit soi 25 naik taxi dan bayar 200 baht padahal waktu nanya ma pramugarinya kita harus bayar 300 baht, gw dengan sok pedenya aja bilang 200 baht waktu para supir taksi nyerbu, awalnya supaya untuk ngusir mereka aja tapi ada 1 supir yang mau so hajar bleh, soalnya dari peta kelihatannya cukup jauh dari terminal dan benar aja, dengan jalan yang ga macet sama sekali dan terhambat lampu merah 2-3 kali kita nyampe dalam waktu 35 menit di Hi Sukhumvit Hostel.

Badan rasanya pegel banget dan pengen tidur dengan segera...eh, malah terhambat ma front office yang ngomel karena kita ga booking sebelumnya dan kita datang kepagian. Hostel check in sekitar jam 9 tapi kita datang jam 6 so kalo kita mo masuk juga harus bayar 90 baht. No problem with me...dia tetap aja ngomel, katanya kita ga boleh kayak gitu, harus booking dulu dan dengan pedenya bilang, ’gimana kalo tadinya ga ada kamar buat kita???’. Gw bete aja dengan pria yang agak gemulai itu (gw nyebut dia, banci kaleng!!) so gw ga nyaranin lo nginap di hostel ini, selain itu tempat tidurnya tidak nyaman dan AC hidup hanya dari jam 20.00 s/d 08.00, harganya buat dorm female 8 tempat tidur 290 baht/orang (hostel tertidak nyaman selama perjalanan).

Setelah jalan2 sekitar hostel, menemukan 7 eleven (tempat andalan lain selain McD, KFC!!), makan mie thai (25 baht) dan

an ada yang jual bendera kecil, waktu gw beli di Singapore S$2/bendera, disini cuma 20 baht/bendera dengan kualitas yang sama. Ada juga yang jual sutra tapi ga tau asli pa ga tapi dengan 500 baht bisa beli bahan untuk 1 pasang baju. Ada yang jaul baju Thailand juga dengan berbagai ukuran dan lebih murah waktu kita beli di Phuket. Banyak de jualannya mpe bingung karena kebanyakan yang dilihat!!!!

Oia, soal MRT ga perlu beli kartu karena kita akan lebih sering naik BTS tapi kalo mo koleksi kartunya se gpp or mo kembali dalam waktu dekat ga rugi kok. Kartu MRT berlaku sampe 5 tahun (kayak ka-te-pe de!!!!!!!!!!). Lumayan murah banget daripada harus beli lagi (kalau emang niat balik lagi), itung2 investasi bo! Peta juga bisa didapatkan di tiap hostel kita menginap or kalo ada spot ’tourist information’ pasti punya peta gratisan, biasanya petanya dilengkapi dengan nama stasiun dan tempat wisata dan shopping center so ga perlu beli peta sendiri, lumayan menghemat biaya plus bawaan.

Di Bangkok kita melakukan petualangan sendiri tanpa ikut tour, ga perlu kalo kita tau mo kemana aja, ga akan nyasar de, jamin mutu kalo kalian bisa baca peta dan punya peta BTS+MRT.

lebih keren kalo ngunjungi waktu sore soale dindingnya dilapisi kaca warna warni so bakalan berkilauan, masuk harus bayar 20 baht. Kuilnya tinggi banget dan tangganya curam so hati2!!! Trus lanjut ke Wat Po, disini ada patung budha raksasa yang lagi tidur, katanya dari emas (ga tau de, mungkin dilapisi emas kali!!!), masuk harus bayar 20 baht. Kita mo ke Grand Palace & Phra Kaew (dalam 1 lokasi) tapi waktu itu adalah hari budha so tutup selama 2 jam buat doa. Raja memberi subsidi buat supir tuk2 dan masuk Grand Palace+Wat Phra Kaew+Vimanmek Mansion gratis (seharusnya bayar 250 baht) semua tuk2 hanya bayar 10 baht keliling kota sepanjang hari selama 1 minggu dan ternyata waktu kita datang itu adalah hari terakhir. Kita dibawa keliling menuju budha duduk yang ternyata ga penting dan kita terbujuk rayu untuk beli cincin yang katanya kalo dijual balik harganya 2x lipat (ternyata BOHONG!!!) dan supir tuk2 maksa kita ngunjungi tempat jual perhiasan lain supaya dia dapet bensin gratis dan dia juga BOHONG kalo Grand Palace tutup jam 4 sore (buka jam 8.30 dan tutup jam 15.30). Oia, info aja kalo ketemu orang di tengah jalan dan bilang kalo Grand Palace tutup dan nawari ketempat lain naik tuk2, mereka BOHONG!!!! Lengkaplah rasa kesal dan amarah dengan dibasahi hujan deras, untung gw kemaren pake baju item.

Kami melewati gratisan so kita jalan kaki (dekat banget dari Grand Palace) ke Kao San road, tempat komunitas backpacker berkumpul dan hanya rame menjelang sore aja soale banyak orang jualan dan para backpacker baru muncul kepermukaan. Kayak pasar aja de sepanjang jalan, jalan aja rasanya sulit karena akan bersentuhan dengan para pejalan kaki lain. Oia, dalam perjalanan kita menemukan lapangan/taman gitu yang banyak merpati bebas yang ngumpul kayak di Inggris gitu de, keren de buat foto2 J (di depan Thammasat University (tempat fico’s ex lop steven ngajar ((huakakkakkkakkak) sempat masuk ke kampus poco2 di depan kampus sama membaca peta kampus (nyari kampus fisip tempat steven ngajar) dan ini hasil usul dand desakan gw yang buat fico malu2 tapi mau, halah!!!!!!).

Petualangan wat dilanjutkan besoknya dan memang Grand Palace indah banget, jauh lebih keren dari Wat Chalong yang di Phuket or Wat Arun, lo kudu datang kalo mampir ke Bangkok, walo bayar 250 baht, worth it!!! Bangunannya megah banget dan warnanya sungguh mempesona, ga bisa diceritain liat aja de fotonya. Habis dari ini kita ke Erawan Shrine (patung budha 4 wajah, turun di stasiun Siam), kata fico banyak orang yang berdoa disini terkabul doanya (?), coba aja de!!! Sekalian mampir di Central World (mall) untuk menghilangkan kepenatan seharian karena seharian jalan kaki dan cuaca yang panas banget kita tutup dengan mengunjungi bioskop dan nonton ’The Invasion’ (160 baht). Keren banget bioskop dan pastinya lebih dingin dari 21 diIndonesia. Jumlah teathernya 19, trus bisa milih jenis tempat duduk, oia ada yang VIP arti na duduk di sofa, ada yang bahkan bisa sambil tiduran sambil nonton di hari2 tertentu. Beli pop corn membabi buta (fico doank loh!!! Gw kalo nonton jarang sekali beli popcorn+minum, gw beseran se J) sebab ENAK BANGET !! Apalagi yang rasa karamel (makan popcorn kayak makan nasi huahahahah) anehnya harga popcorn di lantai atas lebih mahal dari pada yang dibawah. Yang dekat dengan counter penjualan tiket. (??). Oia, karcis nonton bisa di beli dengan kartu debit dan kredit card, bisa pesan via telpon dan internet (wooohoo, hebat!!!!)

Oia, disini ada pasar Chatuchak namanya, yang luaaaaaaasss banget tapi hanya buka sabtu-minggu tapi kita harus melewatkan ini karena harus berangkat ke Chiangmai hari sabtunya.