The World as Captured in Mayz’ Eyes

Welcome to my humble blog. This is actually a combination of my old blogs in multiply and friendster. That is the reason why many posts are outdated. They were as old as 2007. Warning, english is not my native language so forgive me if there is any typo or wrong grammar.

This blog will contain all the things I love. First and foremost, I love traveling because I love observing new cities and how the people interact there. I don’t have much opportunity to do so but anytime I have the chance, I will post the city review. I’m a huge manga fan so expect much manga review here and perhaps some anime and dorama review. I’m also a movie addict so whenever I watched good movie I usually review them. I love listening to the music but the meaning of the lyrics is my muse regardless of their release date so those songs might be out of date. I’m also a fan of good food and whenever I dined out at a good resto, most likely I’ll write about it. Oh, and if you have spare time, please read my original fiction and fanfiction. They’re so rare, haha.

In the end, have a pleasant stay here and any constructive comments will be highly appreciated ^_^

Family Fun at Harris Hotel Sentul

Hello again, people! Still with staycation theme, this time I want to share hidden gem very nearby to Jakarta, Indonesia. This hotel has complete package for a fun family with toddlers/kids staycation. It is Harris Hotel Sentul.

With a modern minimalist touch, the hotel use orange color as its brand. Only one room type is available but it is very sufficient. Most room has twin bed but they can be set as double bed.  It is completed with the usual furniture such as bedside tables, TV, wardrobe, safe deposit box, fridge, working desk plus wide sofa nearby window that can be used as extra bed.

Another worth to mention facility is that the shower room and the toilet each has separated door so everyone will get their privacy even though both rooms are uses simultaneously. It’s a very time saving treats for family with toddlers such as ours.

Now moving to facilities for kids entertainment. First, the swimming pool. It is very spacious and lights decorated its surroundings at night time. It sure is kids favorite. Next, playground. It has swings, slide, see saw and climbing bars. The slide is quite high so little kids should only use it under close supervision by adult. This area is especially toddlers favorite. Another facility for toodlers is Dino Kids Club. This is a very spacious kids club, complete with slide and ball pool. A lot of children toys and huge stuffed animals also available. A very well maintained area.

Swimming Pool

Kids Playground

Dino Kids Club

More facilities for kids are hobbit house and trampoline. There are only one table and two chairs inside hobbit house but its exterior is very beautiful for photo spot. While the trampoline is designed for few kids only. It does not reduce the fun it promised though. There are sittings area also, which is very tempting on a beautiful morning and evening. There is also huge football field available nearby the playground.

Cute Hobbit House

Trampoline

Sitting Area

Moving on to facilities for older kids and even adults, ATV, archery, or fishing. Area for ATV is prety spacious, filled with trees and manmade slopes. Only paying 100k rupiah you can ride the ATV on the track twice which usually takes 15 minutes. We visited this area in the late evening and we got a bit spooky vibe so I suggest you to use this facility in the morning when the sun is shining but not too hot yet. Now to my favorite activity, archery. It costs 50k rupiah for 12 shots and I assure you that it is very addictive because you are challenged to improve your skill. While for fishing, the pond and fish are there but no one was attending it during my 3 days stay.

ATV

Archery Spot

Fishing Facility

After we cover the entertainment section, let’s move to another important matter in choosing your staycation hotel, the food. I have to applaude the chef because all the food I tasted were delicious. Breakfast variety was excellent even though mostly carbs and very limited animal protein. As for room service, by joining ASR membership, you will instantly get 15% off of the food and beverage. The food price shown in the menu already cover all taxes and it is quite reasonable such as 75k rupiah for steamed rice with roast chicken, 120k for a very delicious pizza, etc. The hotel also offer hotpot/grilled package for 125k rupiah per pax.

The Recommended Sentul Pizza

Turmeric Roast Chicken and Mochaccino

Ice Cream, Magical Tea and Oreo Milkshake

Another very important aspect is service industry is the staff hospitality and I have to say that I am impressed with the staffs here. Everybody is very helpful and nice. Great job, Harris Hotel Sentul! I sincerely plan to return because we really enjoyed our stay here.

The Lobby

Quiet Escape from the Bustling City at Century Park Hotel

It starts with a wedding invitation from my nephew in which the event starting time was very close to prayer time. Considering the venue was at Century Park Hotel Jakarta, located just across Gelora Bung Karno Station and close to multiple shopping centers, we decided to book a room.

We book the type Premium Room, 3rd type from the cheapest rate, considering that this room includes access to Anjaya Premium Lounge. We booked through tiket.com a week from our staying date, selecting non refundable rate with free breakfast for 2 adults, for IDR 1,088,000. This room takes wooden theme, from wooden flooring and wooden wall panel. The vibe was very elegant and the room is very spacious. We got a beautiful view to the baseball court and Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. All room type has bathtub but the size was a bit small and the plug wasn’t tight so it took a long time to fill the tub to the desired water depth. The bathgel was not very bubbly as well, so I didn’t quite enjoy soaking in the tub.

Premium Room

Beautiful View from the Window

The Not So Big Bathtub

As expected, the Anjaya Premium Lounge answered our expectation. Not only it was cozy and quiet, it served delicious coffee by Tanamera (Forte Blend) and they served wide variety of food on 6 to 9 pm. You can find salads, cakes, dim sum, meatballs, pastries, sandwiches, juice, infused water, etc. Very fulfilling for a light dinner. One critics is about the opening hour of this lounge which is at 2 pm while the website mentioned optiin for having breakfast there instead of 100 Eatery & Bar.

Anjaya Premium Lounge

Another facility that we didn’t try there was the swimming pool because it was weekend and we avoided being in the crowd. But here’s the swimming pool photo taken from the hotel website.

The Swimming Pool

A bit comment on the breakfast at 100 Eatery & Bar. The selections wasn’t that much and mostly on the carbohydrates side, very limited protein options. They served fried rice, pasta, potato wedges, noodle stations with meatballs, porrige, cereals, pastries and breads, mung bean porrige, black sticky rice porrige, egg station, and the hot beverages was limited to hot tea and hot black coffee with additional milk if you want a white coffee, no coffee latte or cappuccino options.

A very worth to mention perk of staying here is that Plaza Senayan is just within walking distance. It only took 10-15 minutes of strolling, a very convenient location. Another worth to explore option is the staycation special deals when booking directly through their website. They provides connecting rooms, king size bed and 2 single beds room decorated with ocean themed wallpaper, complete with teepee tent and children mini playground inside.

All in all, we really enjoy our stay here and really considering to return with our childre. Thank you for the hospitality, Century Park Hotel Jakarta =)

Fantastic Family Staycation at Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta

Hello, everyone, 1st post after 8 years without any new post! A lot has changed, I’m married now and blessed with two beautiful 6 and just turning 2 y.o. daughters. I don’t read manga anymore but I still love relaxing in hotels so this time I want to share my amazing family staycation in Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta. As you now, we’re still in pandemic situation thus health protocols enforcement in a hotel is our first filter before deciding to spend some nights there.

The main reason we chose this hotel is because we had been there in 2020 and we looove the vast swimming pool and aqua playground, and this hotel has bathtub as backup in case the swimming pool was too crowded. Health protocols prior entering the hotel premises is simply wearing mask, all adults has to check in thru pedulilindungi app, and body temperature check. Not too stringent but acceptable because the alternative hotel candidate requires antigen test of my two daughters, including the 2 y.o. one which is difficult to be done.

Pandemic surely slow hotel business so they has to be creative is packaging an offer. There were several staying package but we chose Staycation Package because it already includes breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children under 12 y.o. (children 6 to 12 y.o. normally has to pay 50% buffet rate), 30% F&B discount (dine in and in room dining), 25% laundry discount (not that we use it because it was really overpriced!), surprise kids amenities (turned out to be two plates of two cute cupcakes and two lollypops), 50% room only discount for the second room if needed (we didn’t), and free extra bed upon availability.

The Cute Surprise Kids Amenities

When we chose the Staycation Package, we could also choose the room type. We selected Horizon Deluxe Room, the 2nd rate from the most economic, because the room entitled access to Horizon Lounge for private check in and afternoon tea and evening cocktail, L’Occitane bath amenities (yeah I do love pampering myself with bathing products), and late check out up to 4 pm upon availability. The price we ended up paying for 1 night was 3.2 mil rupiah nett.

Horizon Lounge, Spacious, Fine Snacks, and Over Flowing Drinks

I specifically mentioned that we were staying to celebrate my 2 y.o. daughters birthday so the GRO staff decorated the room and surprise us with a super delicious and rich chocolate cake. I also requested pool view and high floor but our room was at 25th floor with city view, a bit let down there. But still, it was a spacious 45 sq.m room with carpeted floor. My daughters were so happy running around and rolling on the floor. Cleanliness check passed. Another minor glitch was that I had to call the reception to ask for the L’Occitane bath products since the ones prepared in the room was the basic Shangri-La products. And this happened again the next day when they cleaned and re-supplied the amenities. The hotel staffs should have automatically stocked Horizon Deluxe rooms with L’Occitane products just like they elaborates in the room descriptions. Oh, and if you’re a TV fan, just wanna warn you that the TV signal was not cleared. I didn’t bother to complain because we didn’t watch the TV but it’s another critics for improvement to the hotel.

The Decadent Rich Choco Cake

Ballons that Excites My Kiddos

Now to the kids fun time review, swimming pool and aqua playground. I’m a fan of spacious swimming pool and this hotel has that. We stayed during weekend on purpose, to reduce the risk of being in a crowded public place and we succeded since the pool felt like private, less than 5 groups were enjoting it during our swimming time. Aqua playground usually only open on weekend and public holiday, but it was also open on the last day of our stay because the day after is also public holiday. Some fun facilities in the pool are giant floats in a shape of duck, crocodile and popsicle, a football goalpost and basketball hoop with the balls.

The Spacious Pool

Aqua Playground When Closed

Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta surely go far and beyond in serving their little guests because they also offers add on for kids in room fun activities such as game console or like the one we chose, a tent package. The tent gives Indian inspired tent vibes and it came with thick comfortable blanket served and tent mat, cute animal shaped pillow, playing mat, washbasin stool, coloring book, puzzle and another set of cute cupcakes and lolypops. My daughters loooves this tent so much they even nap and slept there. Kuddos for Ms Lia, the GRO staff who set up the tent, upon seeing that I was with 2 kids, she sent another set of kids activities pack.

The Tent Got Make Over by My 6 y.o. Kid

Another Dose of Cupcakes

The Kids Activities Pack

Now moving to another facility of this hotel that unfortunately I didn’t use even though I was craving to use it, the workout room. Rows of working out equipment separate stylishly to provide extra precautions in this pandemic era is ready to use by the guests. They also provide tennis court and wellness spa. This all is available on the 4th floor.

They’re Calling Me!

Moving on to the breakfast experience. We met a very attentive staff on the 1st breakfast, Ms Septi. She was very friendly and engaging to my kiddos. She even packed some sweet treats for them before we left the Saato Restaurant upon seeing that my daughters only had cereals and nothing else. Breakfast buffet was a total feast! So many selections, chicken noodle, chicken soto, chicken porrige, nasi lemak, lontong sayur, western style breakfast, indian cuisine corner, vast selections of breads, ice creams, sliced fruits, cereal bars, sushi, you name it! One improvement though, the restaurant was practically empty but the staff tended to seat the guests on one certain area. The original settings was 1 table for 2 guests, but a family of 4 will gather at the same table and if more than 1 family of 4 ate at the same time, the minimum 1.5 m distance between guests was not maintained since the distance between table was close, just like before pandemic.

I have to emphasize about Horizon Lounge at 23rd floor. It’s a very cozy area and you can ask for any kind of basic beverage like coffee latte, cappuccino, chocolate, tea, soft drinks, fruit juice, as well as mineral water. You can opt to have more private breakfast here but with less selections. The afternoon snacks starts at 2 pm and I recommend the scone! They are reaaaalllyyy delicious.

Another key to our very satisfying experience staying at Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta is the hospitality of the staff. Even when I was calling to ask about the health protocols prior to make a reservation, the receptionist at the lobby, the receptionists at Horizon Lounge, the concierge staff, life guard, ALL the staff we met were very nice helpful. Thank you Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta, hope to return for another staycation here =)

The Other Half of Me

So out of the blue, when I was in a zumba class in Celebrity Fitness, this song was played during the cooling down. I was instantly struck! Both the lyrics and melody are what I call the perfect wedding song. Yeah, I so can see this song being played in my wedding day. Love the lyrics to the max. Come and read it yourself ^_^

All of Me – John Legend

What would I do without your smart mouth?
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
You’ve got my head spinning, no kidding, I can’t pin you down
What’s going on in that beautiful mind
I’m on your magical mystery ride
And I’m so dizzy, don’t know what hit me, but I’ll be alright

[Pre-Chorus:]
My head’s under water
But I’m breathing fine
You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind

[Chorus:]
‘Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I’ll give my all to you
You’re my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I’m winning
‘Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh

How many times do I have to tell you
Even when you’re crying you’re beautiful too
The world is beating you down, I’m around through every mood
You’re my downfall, you’re my muse
My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues
I can’t stop singing, it’s ringing, in my head for you

[Pre-Chorus:]

[Chorus:]

Give me all of you
Cards on the table, we’re both showing hearts
Risking it all, though it’s hard

[Chorus:]

All of Me is a song by American contemporary R&B recording artist John Legend from his fourth studio album Love in the Future (2013). Legend co-wrote the song with Toby Gad and co-produced it with Dave Tozer. The song is a dedication to Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen. All of Me impacted American mainstream urban radio as the album’s third single on August 12, 2013. (source: Wikipedia)

I’m in a sappy mushy mood and I just can’t help but hoping someday there’ll be someone out there that feels this way about me. When the day come, I know I’ll be the happy bride ^_^

It’s not about being perfect, it’s about accepting all that is given by your other half, the goods the bads, the perfect imperfections… When a couple can do that, I know there will only be happiness ahead the marriage life. I just pray and hope that mine will be filled with such acceptance and happiness. Noting the years are passing by but I won’t lose hope because Allah is good and everything happens for my best interest so I will patiently wait with a faithful heart.

Mesmerizing Belitung

Phew, it’s been ages since my last post here. I’m sorry for taking such a long break, but thankfully I finally had another vacation and this time I will show you the mesmerizing Belitung! Ever since I watched the movie Laskar Pelangi (translated as Rainbow Troops in US), I’ve been wanting to visit Belitung, a place where the movie was shot. Thanks to my friends Cippy and Kenari, I finally set foot on this lovely place.

We used tour agency service for this trip, Sunburst Adventure (www.sunburstadventure.com). We took the first flight to Tanjung Pandan which departed around 6 am from Jakarta. The flight only took an hour. When we arrived at Tanjung Pandan, the first thing that caught my attention was how quiet and deserted the town was. I was near 8 am yet it didn’t show any hustle and bustle. The travel time is precisely the time needed to cover a certain distance, unlike Jakarta in which most of the travel time is due to traffic jam. It’s a good thing that we were using tour agency because apparently, there is no public transportation in Belitung. People mostly travel by motorcycle and the only means of transportation for visitors is by renting a car.

It was five to eight am in the morning, and we were hungry so the first stop was the signature Belitung’s noodle at Sriwijaya Street, Mie Atep (2). It opens at eight am sharp but there were people already queuing in front of the restaurant waiting for it to open. Eight am sharp and the restaurant was open. The noodle has thick broth, not too spicy and a bit on the sweet side but it has perfect harmony (1). The serving size is for breakfast so it’s a bit small but you can always ask for second. The signature drink there is jeruk kunci, a variety of orange with a size of a small lime. To visit the restaurant, you have to book in advance so make sure you do before you drop by.

With a full belly we headed to our hotel, Mindanau Belitung Hotel at East Siburik Street. Just in the opposite road of the hotel, there is a must visit coffee shop for breakfast, Warung Kopi Kong Djie (5). It was established in 1943 and the interior is still very traditional (3). It opens from quarter past five am until ten or eleven am. The coffee there has distinct chocolate flavor which I love so much. If you love less milk, than you can order ordinary white coffee but you can always ask for more milk if you think the coffee is too bitter. Small glass of coffee cost five thousand rupiah while the medium glass cost eight thousand. What I love most of this coffee shop other than the coffee is the morning snacks (4). My favorite is the mung bean fried bread, traditional doughnut, peanut sugar filled bun, and bika bread and each snack only cost thousand rupiah.

For foodies enthusiast

Moving on to the cultural side of Belitung, we went to Traditional House in the city center. Typical traditional house in Sumatera, it has stilts that support the house (7). The main attraction of this house is the wedding’s offerings display (6, 8). Too bad overall, the house is not really well kept. There are parts of the house that is used by the keepers thus reducing its authenticity.

Next destination is Kwan Im Monastery (9) in East Belitung. It takes two hours to reach East Belitung from the city center. The monastery was under renovation so it’s a bit untidy with tools lying here and there. There are several gazebos in the area and at the main hall (10) there is a fortune teller that can read your fortune, be it in financial, education, and even love life.

In East Belitung, you can also visit the first literary museum in Indonesia, Andrea Hirata Museum (12, 13). Andrea Hirata is the author of Laskar Pelangi novel and he grew up in Belitung. Inside the museum you can find information regarding achievements of Andrea Hirata and Laskar Pelangi novel that has been translated in 30 languages on 100 countries. There are also snippets of the novel contents. There were some parts of the museum that were closed due to renovation though. The museum is free of charge and it sells souvenirs related to Laskar Pelangi such as tote bags, shirts, hats, etc. At the back of the museum, there is small coffee shop (11). I didn’t visit it so I don’t know the price and what it offers.

Just few minutes drive from Andrea Hirata Museum, there is one of the filming sites of Laskar Pelangi, the elementary school building. The building looks old and in a severe condition. What’s interesting here is the soil in that area is white sand. It is said to contain tin since Belitung is a major tin producer.

Cultural Side of Belitung

Talking about Belitung, it’s incomplete without the natural rocky beach. One beautiful spot in East Belitung is Bukit Batu (16, 17). The natural big rocks gather in several spots creating a breathtaking view. Not to mention the lovely sand that is soft to your sole. Don’t hesitate to walk barefoot because the wet sand beneath you gives some soothing effect. Although Belitung is famous for rocky beach, there is one beach that is free from rocks, Pantai Burung Mandi (14, 15). It’s a typical beach with clean water and sand but for me, it’s not as breathtaking as Bukit Batu.

There are several small islands near Belitung and our destination on the second day is to visit some. It only took less than half an hour from the hotel to reach Tanjung Kelayang. We will board a wooden boat to reach the small islands around. Too bad they don’t really develop the place for tourism. The only bathroom/shower room available is below standard in my opinion. They could actually get extra income by building some decent shower room and charge it for guests that have returned from the day trip on the sea. Too bad they haven’t thought far ahead.

Anyway, the first island we visited was Batu Berlayar Island (20). There are big rocks in this island similar to Bukit Batu. This island is pretty small though. Then we made a quick stop at Pasir Island. It’s just a mound of sand with nothing on it but the water is so clear around it plus there are easily seen big starfish lying around. The beautiful sea blue water and clean sand just tempt you to take a dip there and I did 🙂 Half an hour from there, we stopped at Burung Island (19). Named after after the fact that there are lots of birds in the island even though I saw none when I was there. The sand is not as smooth as Pasir Island but there are some photo spot worth it.

Another half an hour trip from there we arrived at  Lengkuas Island (21), a relatively bigger island that houses a lighthouse. There are eighteen staircase levels in which each level consists of around 20 ladder steps to reach the top. The view from above is beautiful but the space is pretty limited. There is entrance fee of five thousand rupiah even though they call it fee to wash your feet so the lighthouse won’t be dirtied by the beach sand from the guests feet. This island is pretty lively. People are sitting on the picnic cloth and simply enjoying lunch/snacks. The island also has some entertaining water sport such as jet ski, banana boat and snorkeling. Rental fee for snorkeling equipment is only thirty thousand rupiah. The view under water is so breathtaking. It was my first snorkeling experience and I’m grateful to have the ability to swim because the water is pretty deep and despite the life jacket, it’s still pretty intimidating to the non-swimmer. Forty minutes was too short to enjoy the beauty but there is one other destination for the day so we took the long trip back to Tanjung Kelayang.

We took the land route from there to Tanjung Tinggi (22) to visit another filming site of Laskar Pelangi. The rocks are naturally arranged to form a narrow pathways in between. Too bad the sun was almost set so instead of those narrow pathways, we focused on the setting sun. Again, the rocks there provides challenging courses for the braves. There are restaurants lining up along the shore there and they have the delicious young coconut fruit for ten thousand rupiah only.

Beautiful Beaches in Belitung

With full stomach we set to the last destination for today, souvenir shop at Pattimura Street. OK Shop sells signature snacks such as the famous telur cumi chips, squid crackers, fish crackers, and also packed food like fish floss, coffee, honey, and the famous shrimp paste. The shop also sells souvenirs like shirts, key chain, and other handy craft made of sea shells. The price is pretty reasonable. I got beautiful key chain for ten thousand rupiah and there are cheaper selections also.

A must buy signature snack of Belitung is fish dumpling or what they call cakian. It’s a fish cake wrapped by bean curd sheet and eaten with a thin sauce of vinegar and chili. The size is pretty small, only 3 cm x 2 cm and it’s so yummy I can’t get enough!

All in all, the trip to Belitung is so worth it and next time I go there, I want to take a longer time snorkeling and maybe swimming in the lovely blue sea water. Belitung, it is indeed mesmerizing ^_^

Macau Trip – Day 3

So we’re coming to the end of the Hong Kong – Macau Trip. We checked out from the hotel around 9.30 am but we had the hotel car service drove us to Coloane. Our original destination was the Go Karting Arena but it was closed so we proceeded to Panda Pavilion. Unfortunately, Panda Pavilion is closed every Monday. To say we’re disappointed is an understatement because we’ve been wanting to see the panda since before our departure. Anyway, Panda Pavilion is located inside Parque de Seac Pal Van and it requires admission fee of 10 MOP while the park itself is free. There’s a vending machine of pretty cheap drinks such as water for 2 MOP, milk and tea for 5 MOP.  Here’s some snapshot of the park.

Parque de Seac Pal Van

Dejectedly we went to the bus stop to get to Coloane Village. You can take bus 15, 21A, 25, 26, 26A, 50, or N3 to Coloane Village. It’s only 2 stops from the Panda Pavilion and the fee was 3.2 MOP. We missed our stop and ended up at the Hac Sa Beach where the beach is not as beautiful as beaches in Indonesia and the said cheap BBQ grilled stands also sell pork so we skipped it. From there we took the return bus to the village which costs 6.4 MOP. The first shop that greet us is The Lord Stow’s egg tart bakery which is the first founder of the now well known Portuguese egg tart. We were saving the visit for later because we weren’t hungry yet. Instead, we walk to Tin Hau Temple. Seems like temples in Macau is not extravagant because this one is also very simple as shown in this photos.

Tin Hau Temple

We skipped the Tam Kong Temple and returned to the bus stop but upon stumbled on The Lord Stow’s Cafe, we stopped for a light lunch consisting of the famous egg tart which is so delicious by the way, and a homemade lemonade. The egg tart only cost 8 MOP and the lemonade is only 15 MOP. The cafe also sells sandwiches complete with salad, soup, pastries, and even main course. Here’s the snapshot of the bakery and the cafe.

Lord Stow’s Bakery and Cafe

From there, we took bus 26 to Macau Tower which costs 5 MOP. Macau Tower is the tallest building in Macau and it has the highest bungee jumping site. The entrance fee to the observatory deck is 130 MOP and there are activities such as sky walk, bungee jumping, tower climbing, or sky jump which each has its own fee. I was chickening out and my companion wanted to save money so we didn’t even enter the observatory deck. Maybe next time we I have the guts to at least do the skywalk I will visit Macau again.

From Macau Tower we took bus 23 and exchanged to bus 10A at the Praca de Ferreira do Amaral with the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf as our destination. And boy, in general I’m not impressed with what I saw in Macau but this complex is stunning. It has a replica of Rome Amphitheater and volcano, underground gaming center, restaurants and shops. We spent good hours to take photos and just sat at the park looking at the Harbour. There’s a shop which sells Macau’s snack with reasonable price but once again luck wasn’t in our side because it’s closed.

Macau Fisherman’s Wharf

We walked to the Lotus Flower for quick photos and then stopped at the Grand Prix Museum and Wine Museum. Both museums don’t require admission fee but they’re well kept, very impressive. I don’t know anything about Grand Prix and wine, but I love the setting of the museums especially Wine Museum which has clear path and seeing sequence.

Wine Museum

That ended our sightseeing in Macau. We took bus AP1 to the airport for 4.2 MOP to get our luggage and check in to the airport. It’s been interesting journey and alhamdulillah despite times we were lost and tired feet plus aching back, we still enjoy the trip. Now here are some glimpses of Macau for the last time. Until next post, everybody =)

Glimpses of Macau

Macau Trip – Day 2

Second day in Macau and we left the hotel around 9 am. Golden Crown China Hotel actually provided the hotel’s car to take us to Ruins of St. Paul’s for free. They told us to call their number when we’re ready to be picked up. The ride to Ruins of St. Paul’s took about 15 minutes. We had to walk a few meters from the drop off point. Today is Sunday so the place was crowded with so many tourists. Ruins of St. Paul’s is actually one side of a wall so there’s not much to see. There is a room of sacred arts but the collection is not too many. Here’s how it looks like. An interesting event happened here. A pair of marriage couple, from China I assumed, asked me to take a picture with them each. Maybe because it’s so rare for them to see a moslem wearing jilbab like me =3

Ruins of St. Paul’s

Close to Ruins of St. Paul’s is Mount Fortress. A little bit of hiking to reach its top but not too tiring in my opinion. There’s not much to see in here as well, only few canons being lined up the walls. At the top, there is Macau Museum. For all museum antusiasts, like me, I highly recommend to spend some time inside. The admission fee is only 15 MOP or 15 HKD because many shops/spots take both currency in equal rate. In this museum you will see the old tradisional Macau’s culture such as the marriage attribute, from the clothes, carriage, even to the certificate. There are many interactive exhibition here such as a more or less 15 minutes video showing the old Macau’s people’s life as fishermen, audios of many hawkers shouting their merchandise, explanation of each tradition such as drinking chinese tea, etc. I love this museum ^_^ Oh, and I recommend you to buy souvenires on the museum’s shop because it is cheaper than the shops outside.

Macau Museum

The map said that there is tourist information center between Ruins of St. Paul’s and Mountain Fortress but we’ve failed to find it so we move on to the next cluster of Macau World Herritage which is centered on Senado Square where a tourist informatuon center is nearby. A review in Trip Advisor said that we can take a booklet there and ask a stamp of every site we visit in the booklet. Apparently now they’re not providing such an interesting promotion again. Anyway, we’re a little bit lost on our way to Senado Square because of the poor map and perhaps poor map reading skill as well ^^; A very nice middle age guy was kindly helping us to find our way but still we were a little bit lost but we finally reached iur destination anyway.

From Senado Square we walk through the world herritage path and saw St. Dominic’s Church, Lou Kou Mansion, Cathedral, Holy House of Mercy, Kuan Tai Temple, St. Augustine’s Church, Dom Pedro V Theater, St. Augustine’s Square, St. Joseph Seminary and Church, St. Lawrence’s Church, Mandarin’s House, Lilau Square, Moorish Barracks, and A-Ma Temple. We were done with our sight seeing around 4 pm. The path needs a little bit climbing and we even got lost and have to take a round trip to get back to the correct path. Many of the sites are below my expectation but it was fun to locate them all. Except for Mandarin’s House which truly amazed me. All the sites don’t require admission fee but only at Mandarin’s House we were welcomed as if we paid to enter. There’s also a video telling the construction of the house but I only stayed for a few seconds. Here are some photos from the trekking we did.

Macau World Herritage Path

Mandarin’s House

A- Ma Temple

It was raining half time of our trekking but it stopped when we’re ready to go back to the hotel. We couldn’t contact the hotel because our Hong Kong number failed to be used so we waited for bus no 26 to Macau International Airport for 40 minutes before it actually came. The ride took around 45 minutes.

We returned to the hotel around 6 pm. After resting for a few hours, we’re ready to see the night glamor of Macau. We take the Venetian shuttle bus from the airport. The ride took less than 10 minutes and boy, how the hotel lobby totally amazed me. It’s so glamor and expensive looking with a huge casino and connecting corridor to Gran Kanal Shoppe where there is a man made water ways mimicking Venetian complete with the gondola and its rider. We just made a quick round for about 1.5 hour before we take the same shuttle bus to the airport. Here’s a little glimpse of the casino and the mall.

The Venetian

Tomorrow will be the last day of Macau Trip and we’re planning to visit Coloane so stay tune for more stories =)

Macau Trip – Day 1

Still on the same day with day 4 in Hong Kong, the ferry ride from Shun Tak Center to Taipa took an hour. From Taipa Ferry Terminal, we tried to find our hotel, Golden Crown China Hotel, which is said to be at the opposite of the airport. Thinking the terminal and the airport is side by side, we confidently passed the free shuttle provided by Cotaijet. Well, that and worried if the shuttle wouldn’t stop at our hotel. So, we walked with our luggage in tow, exiting the ferry terminal and lost. The first guy we asked didn’t know our hotel, the second middle aged man perhaps misunderstood especially with his less than adequate english so he told us to return to the oil storage for aviation located next to ferry terminal, the security at the oil storage gate told us to follow the departure sign, and lastly a policeman told us the same thing as the security. So we walked, tired and battered, until we saw the hotel building’s. Alhamdulillah! The bitter part is that we spent almost an hour going in circle while actually we witnessed the shuttle provided by Cotaijet was dropping passanger right in front of the hotel ^^;

The ground floor looks good but when we approached the seemingly receptionist, she told us to go to the 9th floor where the hotel lobby is. The lobby is pretty lavish and apparently this is 4 star hotel. However, both of the receptionists only know standard sentences in greeting the guests and their english is actually very limited, really unbefitting the hotel’s appearance. Reviews on Agoda regarding this hotel shows many disappointment regarding the room but ours is perfectly fine. What was lacking was the wifi connection which I’ve verified to the receptionist to be working at yje the lobby only. But at the beginning, even at the lobby, there’s no internet connection. Defeated I returned to our room but when I didn’t expected it, the wifi suddenly connected and provide internet connection.

Such a hectic day and it seems transportation will be quite challenging in Macay especially with the language barrier. Anyway, see you tomorrow on the next post.

Hong Kong Trip – Day 4

Last day in Hong Kong but the trip is not over yet because we will depart to Macau in the evening. We packed and checked out from The Cityview Hotel at 9.30 am but we left the luggage at the concierge becausr we still want to explore Hong Kong. The exploration theme for today is shopping. Well I basically just accompanied my travel companion while buying unplained things impulsively. First stop was Fa Yuen Street which supposedly sell sports good. It’s located right next to Ladies Market. Unfortunately we were too early so the stores haven’t opened yet. We’re lucky to find a good bite for breakfast though, cakwe. Here’s the photo for you because I don’t really know what it’s called in english.

Breakfast Shop

Failed in the first destination, we continued to Yen Chow Street which is a fashion market. Just go to Sham Shui Po MTR station and go to exit C1. The stores are located along the street. For me, they are more into Hong Kong fashion so the only things that attracted me were the knitted cardigans and the likes which cost around 70 HKD above. There are cheap clothes for 30 HKD as well but they’re not my taste. I got patterned stockings for my sister which cost around 38 to 48 HKD.

Just when we were ready to move to the next stop, we stumbled upon another market at Fuk Wa Street.  This market sells daily necessities from clothes, shoes, electronic, and even toys and hobbyist shop. I met a lot of Javanese women here whom I assumed are the Indonesian women labors (TKI). I also finally spotted a halal restaurant which sells curry. I didn’t visit the restaurant but I predict it’s indian food. I also found a shop that sells Indonesians products. We even bought rice bento there. It only costs 15 HKD with egg, fish/chicken, spicy potato, and vegetable. Here’s the sneak peak of those markets.

Street Markets at Sham Shui Po

From there we went to Festival’s Walk located at the exit C of Kowloon Tong station. Apparently it’s just another mall. We didn’t even explore the mall because it’s the same as the other malls and even similar to ones in Jakarta. We find a good sitting spot and enjoy the rice bento we bought from the Indonesians shop. From there we continue to our next destination, Jardine’s Bazaar which located at the exit F of Causeway Bay MTR station. It’s Saturday and the streets are closed from cars. People flooded the streets and I was overwhelmed. We also visit the Times Square even though we didn’t quite enter it other than when we got back to the MTR station. See how packed the area was in the photo below.

Times Square

From there we once again went to Ladies Market because I still have some souvenires to buy. We returned to the hotel with aching back and feet. After resting a bit we kicked off to Sheung Wan to catch the ferry to Macau. When we exit the station through exit D, we were brought to Shun Tak Center and the signs directing to the ferry terminal suddenly vanished without a trace. After spending some times being confused, fortunately there were other people with same destination so we follow them. The hint is to take the escalator up up and up until you reach ticketing office in the Ferry Hall. If you want to go to Taipa, you can get ferry tickets at Cotaijet while Turbojet provides tickets to Macau. During weekend, the ticket to Taipa is 196 HKD. The ferry is pretty big like shown in the photos below. There are ferries for every 15 minutes to Macau and every 30 minutes to Taipa.

Cotaijet Ferry to Taipa

Well, it concludes the adventure in Hong Kong but I will start with Macau Trip – Day 1 after I arrive at Macau. Stay tune for more posts ^_^