Showing posts with label travel tip. Show all posts

Horoscope vs type of destination (2)


Taurus
Taurus people have regal taste. They love luxury, art, food, and culture. Unique culinary, cities with famous food and drinks and culture-rich plus  cosmopolitan aura will  make Taurus people really into it. 

Gemini
Gemini is impatient and unpredictable. They always want to absorb the culture from the place that they visit. They also love shopping, buying some souvenirs from the place they visit. The temperament of Gemini is fluctuating. Once they craving for peace and serenity but suddenly they want dazzling places so badly. So, the cities or places that have dual atmosphere is the best place for Gemini to visit. 

Cancer
Cancer people are sensitive and emotional. Since they always look the connectivity between their emotion with the place they plan to visit, Cancer people prefer to visit places that secure and comfortable. Places with historical significance are in their top list. But, oh don't forget! Since Cancer is water sign so they would really love places around water bodies.

Leo
Leo loves something glitz and grand. And glamour. They loves something adventurous in an extra ordinary way and Leo always wants to be a leader in every single moment.
Trekking or skiing in marginal places will be the option for them. Cities with throbbing night lives yet cultural underbellies are perfect getaways for Leo people. 

Horoscope vs type of destination (1)



Capricorn
Capricorn's people are usually love everything ellegant and stylish! So they would like a luxury and comfort destination. As an organized people, there is no change for Capricorn to travel unprepared or unplanned. They don't usually ask an adventurous trip or a backpack trip. They prefer a cozy and comfortable trip. 

Aquarius
As an Aquarius, their free spirit is important and will influence them in making a decission for their destination. Aquarius need rich and varied experience from the trip. Based on this, an adventurous trip will be the good option for an Aquarius. Diving, snorkling, wildlife adventure could be the option. A place or a destination with unique characteristic, unique people or unique culture is another option to choose.

Pisces
Pisces is usually emotional and sensitive. They love a place with a tranquil ambiance. They also artistic in nature so they like an artistic place. Beach is the place they would love in a first place. Cities that have galleries or museums might steal their attention.

Aries
Aries is usually people who energetic and adventurous in nature. They seem like they have unlimited energy. A destination with a lot of thing to explore is the best option for them. 

Backpacking to Yogya

As a top destination #2 in Indonesia, Yogyakarta has so many places to see and to do. From mountain to beaches. From cultures to culinary. That's why many travelers love to visit Yogya as their travel destination.

Yogya is a cheap destination, comparing to other destination in Indonesia. So, for budget traveler or backpacker, Yogyakarta is one of the perfect place to travel..

WHERE TO STAY
Sosrowijayan, absolutely! It's backpacker's area. Next to Malioboro - the most famous place in Yogyakarta - and main destinations such as: Vredeburg, Sultan Palace, etc.
But if you need more quiet place combine with low budget hotels, then you can stay at Prawirotaman.

WHAT TO SEE
1. Temples/candi
The two famous, Borobudur and Prambanan...everybody already knew! But there are so many temples/candi that you can see in Yogya and surrounding. Candi Ijo, Ratu Boko, Candi Plaosan, Candi Gebang, Candisari, Candi barong, Candi Sambisari, Candi Kalasan, Candi Mendut....they have their own beauty.





2. Beaches
Parangtritis and Depok in Bantul region is the two famous beach. But if you are looking for white sandy beach, go to the Gunung Kidul region! There are so many beaches there...some beaches are categorized as 'virgin beach'. Drini, Siung, Ngobaran, Ngrenehan, Pok Tunggal, Wediombo are the beaches you could visit. Or you can go to Kulon Progo region to visit Trisik beach, Congot Beach, or Glagah Beach.





3. HERITAGE
Vredeburg, Sultan Palace, Ulen Sentalu Museum, and Pakualaman are the option. Kotagede in south of jogja is the urban heritage destination that surely will make you amazed. If you interest in tombs, you could visit the royal tomb at Imogiri.

WHAT TO Do
1. Shopping
From batik till craft. You can have them in cheap price at Beringharjo Market. Or you can visit Mirota Batik. Actually, in Kulon Progo, there is Kampung Batik at Lendah.


2. HERITAGE TRAIL
There is heritage trail program in Kotagede

3. LAVA TOUR
Exploring Mt. Merapi after its erruption.

4. CULINARY
Enjoy the local food. Gudeg, kipo (you can find at Kotagede), or you can try 'angkringan' next to Tugu train station. One of the local restaurant you should visit is BU AGENG restaurant at Tirtodipuran. The owner is the famous artist in Indonesia: Butet Kartaredjasa.
If you love chocolate, you can stop at Monggo Chocolate shop at Kotagede or Tirtodipuran.


GETTING AROUND
You could use becak (pedicab), trans jogja (public bus), or you can rent motorcycle (recommend) or rent a car!


7 reasons you must stay at Sosrowijayan

Sosrowijaya alley
Sosrowijayan, a.ka the backpacker's kampong in Yogyakarta is truly heaven. When you are looking for a place that can make you mingle with locals but easier your life as a backpacker, you should stay at Sosrowijayan while you are visiting Jogja.

Here are 7 reasons why you should stay at Sosrowijayan.
1. There are a lot of cheap losging here. The average cost is 100.000 rupiah/night/room. It's about 10 bucks!
2. Many cafes here. Europian food, chinesse food, even Indian food.
3. You can see the local's daily life.
4. Need books for your partner during your traveling time?? You can find the bookshops here.
5. Sosrowijayan is in Malioboro area. So it nears with the royal palace, Mirota batik, and Beringharjo Market.
6. Easy to catch the public transport. From becak to bus. And next to the train station too!
7. You cand find tours operator and motorcycle/car rentals here.

Sosrowijayan FAQs
1. Sosrowijayan is really close to the red district 'Sarkem'. It just seperated by the alley.
2. Sometimes, the pedicab drivers at Sosrowijayan force you to visit and shop in the certain art shop or fake 'Dagadu' shop.

Prawirotaman or Sosrowijayan??

Yogya has two tourist villages. One is in Sosrowijayan area and the other is in Prawirotaman area. They all have their uniquness. And you'll get great experiences in both area. If you are a traveler, then in which area you would prefer to stay during your traveling time in Yogya?

1. If you visit Yogya with your family..please skip Sosrowijayan. Prawirotaman is the suitable place for you. Basically, Prawirotaman's market is family tourists and midle-up tourists. Prawirotaman is more comfortable than Sosrowijayan off course. Not too crowded. But you need some effort when you want to go to Malioboro area.
2. Budget traveler? Sosrowijayan is the best choice. If you don't mind with a room without air con and tv, then you can have US$ 10/room /night.

So, what's the real difference between Sosrowijayan and Prawirotaman?
Let me say, if you prefer to stay at Sosrowijayan then you are ready to stay in a middle of local people. You stay in a real 'kampung'. You can see the local everyday life here. Sosrowijayan also near to everything. Malioboro, railway station, the royal palace.

At Prawirotaman, located at south part of Yogya, people do not stay in a real 'kampung'. Prawirotaman is a street that full with hotels and art gallery and travel agents and bars but with only a bit of local house. So, I think Prawirotaman is best for family, or people who don't want stay in a crowded atmosphere. Here, in a front of hotels, you can still find batik sellers. And a lot of pedicabs too!

So, Prawirotaman or Sosrowijayan, it depends on your needs. But although these two tourist villages have different characteristic, I think they will give you great experiences, comparing if you stay at a five-star hotels.





Pick Your Right Hostel

Picking the right hostel could be your worst nightmare. With so many informations about it, sometimes you just don't know which one you have to choose. I formerly have written about how to choose the right hostel in general . Now, here are some tips from me that may help you to pick the right hostel for your next trip.

  1. Pick the hostel that can meet with your basic needs. You have to know all the information details of your hostel. Remember!!! The cheaper hostels sometimes are unclean, have the bug bed, etc
  2. It will be better if you choose the hostel that is close to any public transport: Bus station, MRT/subway station, etc. Or, you may choose the hostel that is not so close to any public transport but it will be easily reached by foot.
  3. Hostel in red district?? It's okay as long as the safety is guaranteed.
  4. Pick the one with the internet/wifi. Besides wifi, I always choose hostel with pc's in their common area
  5. The breakfast. Many hostels usually provide cereal, milk, toast, and coffee for the breakfast. I rather choose the hostel that provide breakfast with many options rather than hostel that provide only one kind of menu for breakfast
  6. Locker is the most top priority while choosing the hostel

Stuck at Changi then what should I do??



You’re in Changi and your flight turned out to be delayed for hours. Everything you have:  your books has been read, your music player is not interesting anymore, you are so bored playing with your gadget.....  So, if this situation happen to you then what should you do????
Well, Changi has facilities to entertain you while you have to wait for hours for your flight.  Instead all cafes and duty free shops, actually there are some facilities that may cheer you up.

TERMINAL 1
At departure transit  lounge level 3, near kid’s playground, you will find this beautifull roof-top garden.  Cactus Garden   is a good place for relaxing while watching the plane take off or landing. Or having some drinks from the bar that located at this garden. Internet kiosk is your option. Enjoying free internet. But, it will be automatically shut down frequently. 

TERMINAL 2
Unlike Terminal 1, Terminal 2 has so many facilities that surely will entertain you while you were waiting for your flight. 
At departure transit lounge level 2 there is Orchid Garden, Fench Garden and Koi pond. At level 3 you will find Sunflower Garden. Enough with the gardens?? You can go to transit area behind  Lee Hwa Diamond Gallery. There you’ll find Xperience zone. At there you can enjoy tv ‘s programs  through large screen,  play at gaming zone, and more interesting activities are waiting for you there.  

TERMINAL 3
This is my favorite. Butterfly Garden  at Terminal 3. Here, you can see many beautiful butterflies with good landscape. You also can see the place-that made from glass-as a breeding glass-case.



TIPS TRAVELER
  • Use skytrain as your transportation through terminals.
  • Kids play ground and internet kiosk is available in all terminals
  • To see the gardens, you should check-in first. 



Travel Tips: Backpacking to Tanjungpinang

Tanjungpinang is an old-fashioned city, lies near Batam Island in Kepulauan Riau region. Can reach from Singapore or Johor and...also Jakarta or Batam, this city is rich of culture. Mix of Melayu culture and Chinesse. This place is perfect for traveler who loves to explore a unique traditional cultures.

Get In
From singapore or Johor there are ferries that will serve you to Tanjungpinang daily.
From Jakarta there is a direct flight to Tanjungpinang
Or from Jakarta take the flight to Batam and then take the ferry to Tanjungpinang.

What to do
Tanjungpinang isn't big city. The best way to explore this city is on your foot or you can take ojek (motorcycle taxi). The main destination in Tanjungpinang is Pulau Penyengat (Penyengat Island), about 15 mins from the city by traditional boat which is called pompong. At Pulau Penyengat you can find the tombs of Melayu-Riau Kings' family, Melayu traditional house, and Sultan Riau mosque that has been built with eggs as the cement. You can explore this place by bentor (motor tricycle) or hire a bike or just walk on foot.
There are no accommodotaion here.
You can go to Senggarang, also by pompong and see the chinesse fisherman village, the Banyan tree, and the temples.
If you want to go to the beach, the nearest beach from Tanjungpinang is Trikora Beach. But you have to take taxi or rent a car to go to that beach.
In the morning, forget about the hotel breakfast. Just walk to the city, there are a lot of Kedai Kopi (coffee house) that serve coffee and local breakfast.

Coffee shop

Where to sleep
According to Lonely Planet, there is a cheap homestay which is called Bong's homestay. But when I was there I couldn't find it.
The other cheap hotel but comfy is Purnama hotel, just 5 mins from Melayu Square or 10 mins from the port.

Tanjungpinang is a safe place even for solo female traveler. Just before sunset, you should go to Melayu Square or to Tanjungpinang waterfront that located in front of Melayu Square. Enjoy the sea, the scenery, and the sunset.

Gees....I already fell in love with that city!!!

Travel TIps: My Favorite Photo Editing Apps on my iPhone





Traveling and photography are two things that cannot be separated. There is always an interesting thing to be captured by camera during our trip. Besides camera, I usually use my iPhone as a camera. The reason why I often use iPhone as a camera is because I can be able to upload photos at that time.


So...here are some of my favorite photo editing apps that I usually use for editing my photo






Camera+
it's my  favorite number one photo editing apps in iPhone. I often use this app to edit my photos. If you see the result here. Beside the usual tools like cropping, hue/saturation, etc this app has so many amazing effects that make your photos turn into beautiful photos....just like when you use SLR camera. With this app, you absolutely look like a real photographer.




PhotoWizard-Editor
It's my favorite number two!! It has straighten tool to make your photo straight. Not just rotate  90, 180, or 360 degrees and flip! Besides...I love the mask tool too. But the effects is not as good as camera+.






Art of Blur
If I want to make some blur effect on my photos, I just use this app. Just use your finger and drag slowly according to the shape you want. It's easy!! With 7 different brush....your photos gonna look like a photos taken from SLR camera!








Hipstamatic
For a lomo lovers, this app is really great. With so many choices of lomo lens and film, taking picture with this app is amazing.






  
FX Photo Studio
This app has so many choices of effects. pow WIith its powerfull color splash tool, make this app worth to buy. Wanna put frame to your photo? You can count to this app!!

Travel Tips: When you get bored during trip


Traveling is fun, we already knew that. But...is there any change for us to get bored during trip...???
For a long term trip...this could be happen. My friend said once when he was traveled to Europe for couple weeks...he was get bored in the end of the trip. I said, how could Europe can make you so bored?? But there he was.
So... I was thinking. As long as I travel to another countries or to another cities in my country....thank's God....I never get bored. Maybe during my trip I try to 'But... if one day, when I'm traveling somewhere...and that feeling occupied me.... well... I guess I must have some ways to anticipate it.

For me...traveling isn't just visit to destination, taking photo, upload it somewhere, and you can say "Hey... I was ever been there!"
I don't like traveling with tight schedule. I can't enjoy my trip. When I travel to a new place or maybe traveling to the same place for the second times or more... I try to get involve with the place. Okay... Maybe there are days for visiting tourism spot. But there are days I'd rather want to spent the times with the locals. Going to their traditional market, hang out there... Trying local foods...it's fun!!!

My last trip was exploring east java.... and I make some themes for my trip. Day one was doing some adventure activity. Day two was heritage things. Day three is beaches. So... I have different experience each day.
And still... I don't have any exact schedule. Just go with the flow!!

So... When you are on long-term trip...just listen to your heart. Don't push yourself too hard. If you feel tired and bored....just doing nothing or doing something different. Stay at your hostel, reading books, or having some chit chat with locals. Or maybe you can try traditional massage....get drunk in a club???? The choice is yours!!!

Have fun trip all!!!!




Travel tips: Couchsurfing


I heard about couchsurfing from somebody's blog. I was browse for my next trip and.....I found it.
Couchsurfing is just like a forum or a community for traveler or for anyone who interest in traveling world. Here people usually offer room in their house to stay while somebody from that community traveling to the city which they lived in. And it's free!!!
So... I think it is good joining couchsurfing and making friends with the members...so..who knows one day you traveling somewhere and you need a place to stay and you can ask your couchsurfing friend to stay with them.


Travel Tips: Things you can do when you stuck at the airport for hours


Sometimes..when you are traveling...you may trap in this situation. Your plane is delay for hours, you are alone, or you have to overnight at airport...
Yes..I know!! It's sucks! But we have to deal with it.
I remember when I have to spend at least for ten hours at Soekarno-Hatta Int'l airport (Jkt) or overnight at King Abdulaziz Int'l airport (Jeddah). It was so boring. 

So....here are things you can do when you trap at that situation.
  1. Read book... I always bring one or two novels while I was traveling. Reading books is one of the best options to accompanying me while I was trap in undesirable situation. 
  2. Sleep....is the best options to while you have to wait for . But...make sure that you won't miss the plane
  3. Facebook-ing, chatting, reading e-book, or playing with games?? Use your gadget. Find a free wifi at the airport. 
  4. Window shopping.
  5. Do you like photography? Why don't you just taking photos of the airport?? 
  6. Spending the time at airport cafe or executive lounge.
  7. My favorite things to do when I'm traveling alone is..... I usually observe people around me. Their style,  their clothes, what books they read, their fashion.....
  8. Just walking around the airports. If it possible, you can getting around from one terminal to others.
  9. Getting shower

My travel soulmate

Traveling with groups  sometimes makes me exhausted. I have to be very tolerant with my travelmates. Maybe there is someone who doesn't have the same interest, passion, or stamina with me. They don't love beach...but I do. They love shopping more than anything....I do love shopping but I love exploring the unique part of the country I've visited more than anything.
But, traveling alone is not my style too. Cause I have the spirit of narcism, so I need someone to take a picture of me. And I don't believe to strangers to take a picture of me. What if he or she steals my camera...??\

For me, traveling with my buddies - I usually called them my travel soulmates - is the best I can do. We have the same passion and interest and stamina.... okay..maybe not really the same... but.. traveling with them is so comfort.


Finding your best travel ates is not easy. Based on my experiences, three or four people in a group to travel together is enough. Just choose people who has at least same passion, same interests, same budget, and same stamina with you. You just don't want have a fight with your travelmate because of he or she wants to stay not in a hostel but your best option is staying in a hostel. Or maybe...they don't care if they have to eat in a food stall, but it would be your big problem if you eat there!!!

So...be wise on choosing your travelmate. And enjoy your trip!!!

Travel Tips: How to choose the right hotel/hostel

Choosing the right hotel/hostel is not easy. Sometimes, all information in their website is different from the real condition. Here is some tips you must do before you choose your hotel/hostel and booked it.

1. Choose the hotel/hostel that suitable with your criteria: your budget and the condition. Just find it through internet. You can find through hostelbookers.com, agoda, or from other hotel/hostel directory. Choose at least more than two options.
2. Now, you already have some hotel/hostel options. All you need is to find any review about your hotel/hostel. You can find it from trip advisor or maybe you can googling it. This review is important because it will tell us about the real condition from people who ever stay there.
3. After read some reviews....please...write an email for the owner of the hotel/hostel. Ask everything you want to know. How to get there, their policies, about the neighbourhood.
4. Then...choose the best one and booked it immidiately.

Another important thing you should consider before you booked the hotel/hostel is the location. Make sure the hotel/hostel is easy to reach, near with mrt station, and at least near with 24hrs convenience store (like 7eleven).

HOW TO BOOK THE HOSTEL
After you decide your hostel, I suggest you to book the hostel first rather than 'go show', especially if you plan a trip on holiday or peak season. Some hostels provide booking page in their website, while others are not. So, you can book the hostel through website that provide hostel booking service. I recommend hostelworld because they 100% trusted and...have app for smartphone (android and ios) so it easier for me if I have to book hostel while I'm not in front of my laptop.



Happy hunting!!!