On the last long holiday, Good Friday, in 2 – 4 April 2010, my family went to visit Taman Safari Indonesia which is located at Cisarua, Bogor. To mitigate the crazy traffic going to Puncak, especially on the long weekend, we went there starting on Friday morning.
At 10 a.m we arrived at Cimory restaurant that serves dairy products such as milk, yoghurt, steak and sausages as their specialties. The food was quite ok, although personally I would think that it is a bit overpriced. There were many visitors there, just like us, who tried to get an hour break of driving to Puncak. Luckily the traffic was not that bad at that time. Another special thing about Cimory restaurant is that they have a small farm containing several cows.
After having Friday pray at nearby mosque, we went straight to the motel. Luckily my father-in-law has already booked 2 nights of staying at Telkom motel for us. We arrived there at 2 a.m, and just spent the rest of the days in the motel.
Early in Saturday morning, we went to visit Taman Safari Indonesia, which is only 2 – 4 km from our motel hence we got there just in time before the busy hour of Taman Safari Indonesia. If my memory serves me right, then the last time I visited Taman Safari Indonesia was 10 – 15 years ago during my elementary or junior high school. The fun thing of visiting Taman Safari Indonesia is that from our car window, we could see animals in the outdoor area (not in their cage), although on some animals we were not allowed to slow our cars and open the window, such as lion, tiger, bear, etc.
The first animal that we saw was a bunch of elephants; unfortunately my daughter just went to sleep as soon as we entered the elephant’s gate, hiks. (the main idea of this trip was to show my daughter of many and varied animals that Taman Safari Indonesia), therefore we have to spend half an hour to wait for my daughter to wake up (forcefully waking her up, hehe..) before we could continue with the trip.
After spending almost two hours of sightseeing using our car, we went to the recreation area in Taman Safari Indonesia. In there, you could see many shows and attraction, starting from small zoo exhibition, penguin exhibition, reptile/snake exhibition, train ride, kids area, restaurant, acrobats show, Orang Utan show, Tiger show, and our favorite was Dolphin show where we spend the rest of the afternoon there watching clever Dolphin showing their attractions.
At 6.30 p.m. we went back to the motel feeling exhausted, tired yet content and happy. I would not mind going back there again sometimes.
How to get there: Take the Jagorawi toll road, exit at Ciawi toll gate, and then just follow the main street going to Puncak. Taman Safari Indonesia is located at your right side approximately 10 – 15 km from the Ciawi Exit gate.
Cost: Entrance Fee for adults is Rp 60,000 while for kids is Rp 50,000, Car is Rp 15,000 (price for Indonesia and international tourist is different)
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
SnowBay water Park - TMII
On Sunday morning in December 2009, I and my wife took my lovely daughter to visit the SnowBay Water Park. It is located at the inside of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah complex area. It would be the second time my lovely daughter swam in the swimming pool. Luckily we arrived there in the morning so that we still able to find a parking space near the entrance of the SnowBay water park.
There was a credit card promotion at that time, “buy 1 get 1”, and since our daughter is still under 2 years old, she did not get charged for the entrance fee. Speaking about the entrance fee, personally I think that it is quite expensive, but it depends on your visit time, because the price would be different according to it. On weekday, adult is Rp 100,000, child (2 – 5 years old only) is Rp 80,000. While on weekend adult is Rp 120,000, child is Rp 100,000. Plus the deposit fee Rp 25,000 which you could get it back if you are not using the locker, buy foods and drink inside.
But nevertheless, the place is filled with fun. Once you entered the place you would feel like you are in the cold place in the Artic perhaps, since the decoration is filled up with snow and white ornament on top of it. Although it is in the middle of the day you would still have a kind of cold feeling.
When we finished changing with our swimsuit we went straight to the baby/children swimming pool area.
After several unsuccessful attempts of getting my lovely daughter to swim in it, I decided to amuse myself with what they have in store starting from Giant Bucket, Hurricane and Tube coaster. Well, I only went once to the tube coaster and my body was flipping around from right to left during the ride, it was fun though. Afterwards, I took the liberty of swimming at the Typhoon river along with my family. It was a slow current at the river and very relaxing yet my lovely daughter still cried all the way along the ride.
So after spending nearly 3 hours in SnowBay water park and a few sun burn, we decided to head back home because it was already 1 p.m and we need some extra calories after the thrilled-exercise in SnowBay water park. The price is worth-it with the excitement you would find there.
I guess, our next trip would be exploring Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, because the last time I went there was way back in elementary school and I personally think there will be much things to explore in TMII. Well, that would be just another story to tell isn’t it? Hehe..
How to get there: Take the JOOR toll road, exit at TMII and just ask people nearby on where the location of TMII is. It is quite fast and easy to go there.
The entrance fee of TMII is around Rp 10,000 – Rp 30,000; it varies on how many people inside your car.
There was a credit card promotion at that time, “buy 1 get 1”, and since our daughter is still under 2 years old, she did not get charged for the entrance fee. Speaking about the entrance fee, personally I think that it is quite expensive, but it depends on your visit time, because the price would be different according to it. On weekday, adult is Rp 100,000, child (2 – 5 years old only) is Rp 80,000. While on weekend adult is Rp 120,000, child is Rp 100,000. Plus the deposit fee Rp 25,000 which you could get it back if you are not using the locker, buy foods and drink inside.
But nevertheless, the place is filled with fun. Once you entered the place you would feel like you are in the cold place in the Artic perhaps, since the decoration is filled up with snow and white ornament on top of it. Although it is in the middle of the day you would still have a kind of cold feeling.
When we finished changing with our swimsuit we went straight to the baby/children swimming pool area.
After several unsuccessful attempts of getting my lovely daughter to swim in it, I decided to amuse myself with what they have in store starting from Giant Bucket, Hurricane and Tube coaster. Well, I only went once to the tube coaster and my body was flipping around from right to left during the ride, it was fun though. Afterwards, I took the liberty of swimming at the Typhoon river along with my family. It was a slow current at the river and very relaxing yet my lovely daughter still cried all the way along the ride.
So after spending nearly 3 hours in SnowBay water park and a few sun burn, we decided to head back home because it was already 1 p.m and we need some extra calories after the thrilled-exercise in SnowBay water park. The price is worth-it with the excitement you would find there.
I guess, our next trip would be exploring Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, because the last time I went there was way back in elementary school and I personally think there will be much things to explore in TMII. Well, that would be just another story to tell isn’t it? Hehe..
How to get there: Take the JOOR toll road, exit at TMII and just ask people nearby on where the location of TMII is. It is quite fast and easy to go there.
The entrance fee of TMII is around Rp 10,000 – Rp 30,000; it varies on how many people inside your car.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Anyer early 2010; Quality Time
It was quite at the last moment actually, when my big family decided to have a getaway trip at New Year holiday. Within a week, we arrange the whole thing starting from accommodation, transportation, food and activity. I have been assigned to arrange the accommodation, you can imagined how hard it would be to get room during the high season like Christmas and New Year Eve, so having my friend’s-friend connection I was lucky enough to have one huge house at Anyer as a place to stay for the whole family. It is called Pantai Dwi Nusa and located just 1 km after Pasar Anyer. The house is huge, I mean like very huge. It has 4 rooms and each room has 2 king size bed. Unfortunately we could not swim and play at the beach because of the condition of the beach (no sands only coral or rocks) itself but it compensated with a nice swimming pool and we kind of felt like the place was only for us, because there are no others tenants at that time. We stayed from 2 – 3 January 2010 hence people were on their way back to Jakarta after spending New Years Eve while we are just about to start the holiday.
We arrived at the house on 2 p.m and headed straight to the nearest so-called beach while the ladies were preparing for the lunch.
There are 4 families at that time, and each of us brought our own preference food. My wife has prepared the Balado Telur while my brothers and sister brought some Mie Goreng, Ayam Goreng and Kering Tempe. Prior on having my lunch, I was shocked by my baby girl’s condition. She is just recovering from her illness (fever) and when we arrived at our bedroom, she was crying and screaming out loud, kind of felt like she was being possessed by ‘something’. I and my wife were so scared and panicked because she kept crying for another 15 – 20 minutes but luckily after continuously reading some Holy Quran (Ayat Kursi Al Fatihah, etc.) she was slowly relaxed and went straight to bed after my wife breastfed her. Alhamdulillah.
I came to my parents’ room after that and told them what has just happened. They told me to be careful next time, especially at the beach and always say Assalamu ‘alaikum when we are about to enter a room, and of course to always pray to Allah under any circumstances.
We spent the rest of the afternoon by swimming, I have the courtesy to teach my little sister on swimming, well I am not actually a good swimmer but at least I could manage not to get drowned at the swimming pool. It is divided into 3 areas: children, not so deep and deep area. After we finished swimming, we went along the beach line and admired on the scenery. Some serious photo session were involved at that time because the view was just exquisite.
At night, we prepared the barbeque stuff: grilled fish, chicken and sausages were served on the table and the whole families were entertained by the behavior of their respective children who were just 2 – 4 years old and also by the recording video that my brother took during swimming, totally hilarious. Later that night at 10 p.m, we headed to sleep and woke up early in the morning to have another round of swimming. This is when I felt the intimacy between our families become stronger and better because everyone was swimming at that time, even my Mom and Dad. It was priceless to see the whole family gather at the swimming pool together and just enjoying the togetherness. Again my little sister asked me to teach her on swimming, well I would not mind to do that. And after spending 2 hours of swimming lesson, and some serious sore on her thigh, she finally succeeds to swim without my guidance.
After having our lunch, we prepared our self to head back to Jakarta. The driving took about 2 hours because the traffic was not that heavy only few toll road maintenance at the Jakarta – Merak toll road. In the end, it was definitely a good way to start our new year: to spend a big quality time with our lovely big family!
How to get there:
Pantai Dwi Nusa: Take the inner city road or the JORR and then take The Jakarta – Merak toll road that head to the Merak port. Exit at the Cilegon Barat and just follow the road until Pasar Anyer. After 1 km, you will find big houses and a hotel at your right side, just in front of the Koramil office.
The cost to stay at the house varies from 1.750.000 – 2.250.000 rupiah, depends on how many room on the house. We took the 4 bedroom that cost us 2.250.000 rupiah. Toll fee is 27.000 rupiah for exit at Cilegon Barat while the inner city toll road will cost you 7.500 – 10.000 rupiah
We arrived at the house on 2 p.m and headed straight to the nearest so-called beach while the ladies were preparing for the lunch.
There are 4 families at that time, and each of us brought our own preference food. My wife has prepared the Balado Telur while my brothers and sister brought some Mie Goreng, Ayam Goreng and Kering Tempe. Prior on having my lunch, I was shocked by my baby girl’s condition. She is just recovering from her illness (fever) and when we arrived at our bedroom, she was crying and screaming out loud, kind of felt like she was being possessed by ‘something’. I and my wife were so scared and panicked because she kept crying for another 15 – 20 minutes but luckily after continuously reading some Holy Quran (Ayat Kursi Al Fatihah, etc.) she was slowly relaxed and went straight to bed after my wife breastfed her. Alhamdulillah.
I came to my parents’ room after that and told them what has just happened. They told me to be careful next time, especially at the beach and always say Assalamu ‘alaikum when we are about to enter a room, and of course to always pray to Allah under any circumstances.
We spent the rest of the afternoon by swimming, I have the courtesy to teach my little sister on swimming, well I am not actually a good swimmer but at least I could manage not to get drowned at the swimming pool. It is divided into 3 areas: children, not so deep and deep area. After we finished swimming, we went along the beach line and admired on the scenery. Some serious photo session were involved at that time because the view was just exquisite.
At night, we prepared the barbeque stuff: grilled fish, chicken and sausages were served on the table and the whole families were entertained by the behavior of their respective children who were just 2 – 4 years old and also by the recording video that my brother took during swimming, totally hilarious. Later that night at 10 p.m, we headed to sleep and woke up early in the morning to have another round of swimming. This is when I felt the intimacy between our families become stronger and better because everyone was swimming at that time, even my Mom and Dad. It was priceless to see the whole family gather at the swimming pool together and just enjoying the togetherness. Again my little sister asked me to teach her on swimming, well I would not mind to do that. And after spending 2 hours of swimming lesson, and some serious sore on her thigh, she finally succeeds to swim without my guidance.
After having our lunch, we prepared our self to head back to Jakarta. The driving took about 2 hours because the traffic was not that heavy only few toll road maintenance at the Jakarta – Merak toll road. In the end, it was definitely a good way to start our new year: to spend a big quality time with our lovely big family!
How to get there:
Pantai Dwi Nusa: Take the inner city road or the JORR and then take The Jakarta – Merak toll road that head to the Merak port. Exit at the Cilegon Barat and just follow the road until Pasar Anyer. After 1 km, you will find big houses and a hotel at your right side, just in front of the Koramil office.
The cost to stay at the house varies from 1.750.000 – 2.250.000 rupiah, depends on how many room on the house. We took the 4 bedroom that cost us 2.250.000 rupiah. Toll fee is 27.000 rupiah for exit at Cilegon Barat while the inner city toll road will cost you 7.500 – 10.000 rupiah
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Road Trip to Padang: More than a week of amusements and a week before the tragedy
Day 1: The journey begins
This year holiday of the Idul Fitri 1430 H, September 2009, has been wonderful to me. My wife’s family decided to go on a road trip to their hometown in Padang, West Sumatera. It was such an offer which I am happy to oblige. Actually, it was the first time for me going to Padang but the second time going to Sumatera Island. The first one was way back in college, 7 years ago, with my fellow college friends from Petroleum Engineering Department, class of 99, Institut Teknologi Bandung. We went on a Field Trip to one of the oil field in Prabumulih, South Sumatera which is operated by P. T. Ekspan, now has become P.T. Medco Energi.
This year is different though, aside from the fact that I am already married now and have one beautiful baby girl, I got the chance to visit Padang city which I’ve heard that it has many spectacular view and scenery. We will get to that point later on.
The journey began from my house in Pondok Pinang at 8 p.m. after we broke our fasting during Ramadhan month. We arrived at the Pelabuhan Merak at 11 p.m. and went straight to Pelabuhan Bakaheuni in Bandar Lampung by using a Ferri boat.
The traffic of going in to the boat was not too heavy because it was not the peak timing of “mudik” yet. We arrived at the Pelabuhan Bakaheuni at dawn, and went straight to the Jalur Lintas Timur to proceed with our journey.
Day 2: Long way to go
It took about 36 to 40 hours of driving from Lampung to Padang passing Palembang in South Sumatera, Jambi, and straight to Solok, that is where my parents-in-law hometown, so we occasional change the driver’s seat position. It was the first time for me driving in Sumatera and what an experience it was. During the Jalur Lintas Timur, cars were moving so fast at high speed unlike in Jakarta where traffic hinders them in doing so. We took some time to rest during the way and spend the night somewhere in Jambi.
Day 3: Home at last
After a long and tiring yet exciting road trip we successfully arrived in Solok at 6 p.m. just in time to break our fasting. Solok is a relatively small city but I found a big and strong atmosphere of Islamic tradition and activity. Perhaps it was because my mother-in-law’s house is located just across a mosque. We were so tired at that time hence we spent the rest of the night trying to get some sleep and rest.
Day 4: A quick visit to Padang
Early in the morning we went to the nearest rice paddy field in Solok, not only to look at the beautiful scenery but also to donate some money to the needy in the area. Well it was actually my brother-in-law who donated the money, I and my wife had done it back in our house, and we called this Zakat Fitrah and Zakat Maal.
Not long after that we went to Padang; the duration from Solok to Padang is about two hours passing the Gunung Talang. After we arrived in Padang, my father-in-law took us to his hometown in the city to visit his parents’ cemetery. Afterwards, we made a small trip around the city while making our way back home to Solok. We arrived in Solok at night and spend some big-family time in one of our relative’s house. It was Malam Takbiran actually, yet the atmosphere is quite simple because we did not hear any fireworks only the sound of Takbir to pray our Allah SWT.
Day 5: Idul Fitri @ Solok
After one month of trying to get hold of our passion and fasting, the day of victory has finally arrived, Idul Fitri 1430H, a time to reflect our self and praying to be a better person in the future. Early in the morning we went to the mosque for our Shalat Ied ceremony and not long afterwards comes the time of asking forgiveness to our family and also visiting our relatives. Thus the whole day was spent in doing this activity.
Day 6: The Beauty of Sikuai Island
Whoo Hoo.. the next morning we prepared our self to go to the Sikuai island. We arrived at the port in Padang at 9.30 a.m. and make our way to the island by using a Ferri for about 1 – 2 hours. We took the one day tour package that cost us 250,000/person. The idea is to spend the day in the island and we will be picked up back at 4 p.m.
As soon as we arrived in the island, we were amazed on how beautiful the island is. White sands and coconut trees are everywhere. And if you look at the water you could see small fish along with the coral and reefs below. So the next thing that I did was to get the swimming googles and spend 2 hours of snorkeling at the heat of the sun, it was 1 p.m at that time. Luckily it was not raining and the weather was just perfect.
My baby girl took her first step lesson there with her mom while I was busy snorkeling. After some times, I asked my wife to join me snorkeling and it was her first time, so she was excited as well and really keen of doing that again sometimes.
Time passes real fast if you were doing something that you like because it turns out that it was already 4 p.m hence we rushed back to the boat to leave the Sikuai Island yet the beauty lingers forever.
Day 7: Istana Pagaruyung, Danau Singkarak and Bukit Tinggi
The next day, we leave early in the morning from Solok to go to Istana Pagaruyung and Bukit Tinggi. We passed the big and famous Danau Singkarak on our way there. There are 3 big lakes in West Sumatera, Danau Singkarak, Danau Maninjau, and Danau Kembar (Di Atas dan Di Bawah). My wife told me that each lake has a different fish inside, but they are all delicious.
We arrived at the Istana Pagaruyung at 2 p.m. This palace was burnt by fire not long ago therefore the reconstruction is still in progress at that time. At the entrance of the palace you will see a videotape of recording during the fire tragedy which is quite sad when you look at it. We got around the palace and guided by one of our relatives who is one of the employee in the reconstruction committee.
It is quite a huge palace and mostly made from wood, which has a unique sign or “ukiran” on it.
After spending one hour there, we went to Bukit Tinggi to spend a night there. Bukit Tinggi is famous of its cool weather, just like in Puncak area in Bogor, and also of its Jam Gadang which is located at the heart of the City. At night, we went to the Jam Gadang and luckily it was still during the festive season of Idul Fitri, hence there were fireworks everywhere. Although the sound was noisy but my dearest baby girl still managed to fell asleep, perhaps she was just too tired.
Day 8: Danau Maninjau and Kelok Ampe-Ampe
The next morning we went to a market near Jam Gadang to buy some souvenirs, and at noon we went back to Solok but this time we took a different route to pass the Kelok 44 (Kelok Ampe-Ampe) and go to Danau Maninjau to have dinner there.
Although I consider myself as a good driver but after seeing the Kelok Ampe-Ampe I just let my father-in-law who does the driving, they called it Kelok Ampe-Ampe simply because there are 44 U-turn from top of the mountain going down to the lake. It was a crazy street, and it takes more than skills to pass it. You might need many prayers and luck on it. Luckily there were not many trucks or cars at that time, so we finally arrived at the lake-front restaurant who serves great foods and have our dinner there.
At 8 p.m. we went back to Padang to visit one of our relatives and spend the night there. Yes, we went again through the Kelok Ampe-Ampe and yes it was not me who drove the car. Unfortunately due to the heavy traffic from Bukit Tinggi to Padang we ended up at 3 a.m at our relative’s house, normally it only takes 3 – 4 hours of driving.
Day 9: Crusing around Padang
Next morning, we cruised around Padang to buy some souvenirs and traditional food such as Kerupuk Sanjay, and we stopped by at one of the most delicious Ice Durian in the city, I forgot what it is called, something like Durian Gantung restaurant?? Anyway it was one perfect way to feast you thirst during the middle of the day. We arrived at Solok at 2 p.m, took same rest and prepare our self for our journey back to Jakarta
At 10 p.m we start our road trip to Jakarta and again luckily the traffic was not too heavy.
Day 10 – 12
After spending 2 days at the road trip and one night staying at Palembang, we finally managed to get back to Jakarta in a safe condition. This holiday trip surely was filled with amusement and excitement and I would not mind going back there again sometimes and repeat the whole thing. But one week after we arrived in Jakarta, I’ve seen the news on TV that there was a big earthquake and landslide that hit Padang city and surrounding. Thousands were dead plus hundreds are perhaps still missing at the landslide or building rumbles. Hundreds or thousands of houses and building were destroyed due to the magnitude of the earthquake. I could not imagine what would be the catastrophic situation at that time. Some parts of the house that belongs to one of our relatives in Padang, the one that we spent the night, was destroyed and fortunately they were alright and also our relatives in Solok. Nevertheless, my biggest and sincere condolences go for all the victim of the earthquake and natural tragedy in Padang. Hopefully, in a period of time you would all be strong and even better. Amien…
This year holiday of the Idul Fitri 1430 H, September 2009, has been wonderful to me. My wife’s family decided to go on a road trip to their hometown in Padang, West Sumatera. It was such an offer which I am happy to oblige. Actually, it was the first time for me going to Padang but the second time going to Sumatera Island. The first one was way back in college, 7 years ago, with my fellow college friends from Petroleum Engineering Department, class of 99, Institut Teknologi Bandung. We went on a Field Trip to one of the oil field in Prabumulih, South Sumatera which is operated by P. T. Ekspan, now has become P.T. Medco Energi.
This year is different though, aside from the fact that I am already married now and have one beautiful baby girl, I got the chance to visit Padang city which I’ve heard that it has many spectacular view and scenery. We will get to that point later on.
The journey began from my house in Pondok Pinang at 8 p.m. after we broke our fasting during Ramadhan month. We arrived at the Pelabuhan Merak at 11 p.m. and went straight to Pelabuhan Bakaheuni in Bandar Lampung by using a Ferri boat.
The traffic of going in to the boat was not too heavy because it was not the peak timing of “mudik” yet. We arrived at the Pelabuhan Bakaheuni at dawn, and went straight to the Jalur Lintas Timur to proceed with our journey.
Day 2: Long way to go
It took about 36 to 40 hours of driving from Lampung to Padang passing Palembang in South Sumatera, Jambi, and straight to Solok, that is where my parents-in-law hometown, so we occasional change the driver’s seat position. It was the first time for me driving in Sumatera and what an experience it was. During the Jalur Lintas Timur, cars were moving so fast at high speed unlike in Jakarta where traffic hinders them in doing so. We took some time to rest during the way and spend the night somewhere in Jambi.
Day 3: Home at last
After a long and tiring yet exciting road trip we successfully arrived in Solok at 6 p.m. just in time to break our fasting. Solok is a relatively small city but I found a big and strong atmosphere of Islamic tradition and activity. Perhaps it was because my mother-in-law’s house is located just across a mosque. We were so tired at that time hence we spent the rest of the night trying to get some sleep and rest.
Day 4: A quick visit to Padang
Early in the morning we went to the nearest rice paddy field in Solok, not only to look at the beautiful scenery but also to donate some money to the needy in the area. Well it was actually my brother-in-law who donated the money, I and my wife had done it back in our house, and we called this Zakat Fitrah and Zakat Maal.
Not long after that we went to Padang; the duration from Solok to Padang is about two hours passing the Gunung Talang. After we arrived in Padang, my father-in-law took us to his hometown in the city to visit his parents’ cemetery. Afterwards, we made a small trip around the city while making our way back home to Solok. We arrived in Solok at night and spend some big-family time in one of our relative’s house. It was Malam Takbiran actually, yet the atmosphere is quite simple because we did not hear any fireworks only the sound of Takbir to pray our Allah SWT.
Day 5: Idul Fitri @ Solok
After one month of trying to get hold of our passion and fasting, the day of victory has finally arrived, Idul Fitri 1430H, a time to reflect our self and praying to be a better person in the future. Early in the morning we went to the mosque for our Shalat Ied ceremony and not long afterwards comes the time of asking forgiveness to our family and also visiting our relatives. Thus the whole day was spent in doing this activity.
Day 6: The Beauty of Sikuai Island
Whoo Hoo.. the next morning we prepared our self to go to the Sikuai island. We arrived at the port in Padang at 9.30 a.m. and make our way to the island by using a Ferri for about 1 – 2 hours. We took the one day tour package that cost us 250,000/person. The idea is to spend the day in the island and we will be picked up back at 4 p.m.
As soon as we arrived in the island, we were amazed on how beautiful the island is. White sands and coconut trees are everywhere. And if you look at the water you could see small fish along with the coral and reefs below. So the next thing that I did was to get the swimming googles and spend 2 hours of snorkeling at the heat of the sun, it was 1 p.m at that time. Luckily it was not raining and the weather was just perfect.
My baby girl took her first step lesson there with her mom while I was busy snorkeling. After some times, I asked my wife to join me snorkeling and it was her first time, so she was excited as well and really keen of doing that again sometimes.
Time passes real fast if you were doing something that you like because it turns out that it was already 4 p.m hence we rushed back to the boat to leave the Sikuai Island yet the beauty lingers forever.
Day 7: Istana Pagaruyung, Danau Singkarak and Bukit Tinggi
The next day, we leave early in the morning from Solok to go to Istana Pagaruyung and Bukit Tinggi. We passed the big and famous Danau Singkarak on our way there. There are 3 big lakes in West Sumatera, Danau Singkarak, Danau Maninjau, and Danau Kembar (Di Atas dan Di Bawah). My wife told me that each lake has a different fish inside, but they are all delicious.
We arrived at the Istana Pagaruyung at 2 p.m. This palace was burnt by fire not long ago therefore the reconstruction is still in progress at that time. At the entrance of the palace you will see a videotape of recording during the fire tragedy which is quite sad when you look at it. We got around the palace and guided by one of our relatives who is one of the employee in the reconstruction committee.
It is quite a huge palace and mostly made from wood, which has a unique sign or “ukiran” on it.
After spending one hour there, we went to Bukit Tinggi to spend a night there. Bukit Tinggi is famous of its cool weather, just like in Puncak area in Bogor, and also of its Jam Gadang which is located at the heart of the City. At night, we went to the Jam Gadang and luckily it was still during the festive season of Idul Fitri, hence there were fireworks everywhere. Although the sound was noisy but my dearest baby girl still managed to fell asleep, perhaps she was just too tired.
Day 8: Danau Maninjau and Kelok Ampe-Ampe
The next morning we went to a market near Jam Gadang to buy some souvenirs, and at noon we went back to Solok but this time we took a different route to pass the Kelok 44 (Kelok Ampe-Ampe) and go to Danau Maninjau to have dinner there.
Although I consider myself as a good driver but after seeing the Kelok Ampe-Ampe I just let my father-in-law who does the driving, they called it Kelok Ampe-Ampe simply because there are 44 U-turn from top of the mountain going down to the lake. It was a crazy street, and it takes more than skills to pass it. You might need many prayers and luck on it. Luckily there were not many trucks or cars at that time, so we finally arrived at the lake-front restaurant who serves great foods and have our dinner there.
At 8 p.m. we went back to Padang to visit one of our relatives and spend the night there. Yes, we went again through the Kelok Ampe-Ampe and yes it was not me who drove the car. Unfortunately due to the heavy traffic from Bukit Tinggi to Padang we ended up at 3 a.m at our relative’s house, normally it only takes 3 – 4 hours of driving.
Day 9: Crusing around Padang
Next morning, we cruised around Padang to buy some souvenirs and traditional food such as Kerupuk Sanjay, and we stopped by at one of the most delicious Ice Durian in the city, I forgot what it is called, something like Durian Gantung restaurant?? Anyway it was one perfect way to feast you thirst during the middle of the day. We arrived at Solok at 2 p.m, took same rest and prepare our self for our journey back to Jakarta
At 10 p.m we start our road trip to Jakarta and again luckily the traffic was not too heavy.
Day 10 – 12
After spending 2 days at the road trip and one night staying at Palembang, we finally managed to get back to Jakarta in a safe condition. This holiday trip surely was filled with amusement and excitement and I would not mind going back there again sometimes and repeat the whole thing. But one week after we arrived in Jakarta, I’ve seen the news on TV that there was a big earthquake and landslide that hit Padang city and surrounding. Thousands were dead plus hundreds are perhaps still missing at the landslide or building rumbles. Hundreds or thousands of houses and building were destroyed due to the magnitude of the earthquake. I could not imagine what would be the catastrophic situation at that time. Some parts of the house that belongs to one of our relatives in Padang, the one that we spent the night, was destroyed and fortunately they were alright and also our relatives in Solok. Nevertheless, my biggest and sincere condolences go for all the victim of the earthquake and natural tragedy in Padang. Hopefully, in a period of time you would all be strong and even better. Amien…
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