“All my bags are packed i am ready to go” – or so i hope. FINALLY the day to go off to India! I still remember the hustle on that very morning of last minute packing and all. OMG! never again not taking an advance leave for a day before long trip. learn from my experience guys… it’s a much needed time. Thanks to my clumsiness i left my jacket which should be an integral part of the journey on second country – Nepal and only realised it when i already on my way to the airport. LOL. but that’s the beauty of traveling anyway with dozen of story to tell.
Arriving in the airport, i was surprised that another friend are visiting us! Cheering us up for a journey that made us question ourselves many times –> ” why did we do this to ourselves?” :”D We bid our good bye and went into our first flight was from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur. Oh dear KL, A city that will always have special space in my heart. 🙂 It was a short transit but not bad i could at least taste a bit of Malaysia’s delicacy – Yong Tau Fu and my friend could finish her work over the ocean. 😛
Jakarta to KL
Yong Tau Fu
office worker gotta work
The second flight ( Kuala Lumpur – Amritsar) wass a bit different where the language started to shift to a foreign language for me and my friends. Btw, that was the first time i took AirAsiaX. We got lucky in the seating arrangement where 3 of us could sit in the silent area. It’s quite enjoyable with these lovely ladies in which somehow made us bought a lot of food? haha.
Quiet Zone
In Flight Food
Air Asia X – KL to Amritsar
With happy heart, full tummy, and tired body, we landed in AMRITSAR. it was quite late at night and the jet lag start to hit us yet we still have to clear our immigration. Remember the e-visa that i told you about? they are going to check it over here so please make sure it’s ready. You will also need to fill your arrival card and you are good to queue. It will be handy to have your own pen as it wasn’t provided thankfully i have mine covered within my traveling pouch.
Once you got all covered, they have a dedicated line for e-visa. The process was quite seamless is just that somehow things went slower than my expectation or maybe just because i was tired. i finished last and my other 2 friends had taken our baggage. Now, another challenge we need to find our driver. The airport provide a good internet connection thankfully so this wasn’t a big issue. What amazed us was the foreign kind of environment.
We walked out of the airport, at that time it was still under development so perhaps now it’s better, and we were puzzled. I can’t really describe it with words but it was something that will make you feel lost. Then there goes the famous BAJAJ and all the honking and India beautiful hustle bustle. 😉 We are ready to start the trip! Here we come India!
Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport – from outside at nightHi Amritsar!
ps. i am taking a little time here to pray for everyone’s well being wherever you are amid the coronavirus pandemic with specific regards to India. A beautiful country which has given me amazing experience. stay safe.
Wish everything goes well and we could travel as we used to be.
Don’t you want to see the beautiful mountains? I do. So here it goes the story of applying for NEPAL visa to see the mountains. As a tourist that comes from Indonesia or based on my searching for all tourist in general the way to get the VISA is through VOA ( visa on arrival ).
Step 1 : Fill VISA info
As the first step, we could fill the info prior to the departure online or fill all the info at the airport using the kiosk machine. My suggestion would be to fill the info online prior to your departure and get it printed. Reason being, one of my fellow arrived during the time when the airport electricity went out. By having this prior to your departure will help in reducing the hustle if such case happen to you as well. Hopefully not.
This is the website that you should refer to http://www.nepalimmigration.gov.np/page/tourist-visa .In order to apply for the VISA , you will need the following info on hand : Passport and personal detail information, digital picture, accommodation info. Print the submission detail ( as per pic below ) and bring it to complete the VOA process at the airport. During the time of this writing, the online system will only keep the info for 15 days, so please count the dates. 🙂
Step 2 : Pay VISA Fee
When you are at Tribuvhan International Airport (TIA), you will find a place to pay your VISA. The Price is different depending on your intended length of stay. For me, i chose 15 days and in 2019 it cost me 30 USD. This fee is to be paid in cash. They will give you the payment receipt. Bring it to the immigration counter and keep it with you at all time you are in Nepal.
If it hasn’t changed, near to the payment kiosk there is a money changer before the immigration. At my time, it is cheaper than the one after immigration within the aiport. Perhaps you would like to exhange a little bit before you go for another money changer out in khatmandu. 😉
Step 3 : Complete VOA at The Airport
Now, the last step is to complete the whole proces at the Airport. After the payment, queue up at the immigration line while bringing :
Printed page of your VISA submission ( online / airport kiosk machine )
VISA Payment Proof.
Copied page of your passport : the personal info page + latest visa page of your passport.
printed photo size 1.5″x1.5″
Accommodation arrangement proof / Tour booking
The immigration officer will then check all the info above and stamp the visa on your passport page. They will throw some questions as part of the verification. After spending sometime, here i have it, officially having the permit to enter Nepal! Woooohooo…
I would say the process for Nepal Visa is clear enough. It could be because VOA is the main way to get the VISA so all the things has been developed to support it. Now, it made me wonder if i should revisit this country. 😀
Good news! if you are Indonesian traveling to India, you could apply for e-Visa and it’s free for the tourist visa. This was the case of mine in 2019 and until this writing there is no change yet. I hope it won’t change. There are some scumbag websites which try to fool you to pay. be careful. i repeat be careful. I nearly fooled as well. the correct website to go to is https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
For you to apply, you will need to prepare some of the following details.
Passport and your personal detail information.
passport photo size > actually, there is no specification. i follow the Schengen standard and it worked.
Family Details.
Flight information. No Booking proof required, you will only need to put the info of your arrival and departure date along with which airport. Please ensure you will arrive in India Airport which accept e-VISA.
Itinerary. only in summary which cities that you would like to visit.
Hotel Information. No Booking proof required.
Countries that you have visited within the last 10 years. the provided space can’t cope with mine so i chose from the most recent to the oldest.
The process is quick. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive the submission information through email and the review process itself will take around 72 hours. In my case, it took 2 days until..VOILA! the visa has been granted. you will receive the information of your VISA approval through mail. You need to print this and bring it along with you. refer below on how it looks.
I quite like the e-VISA process though it was a bit confusing at first due to all the fake websites which try to take an advantage from you. It really simplified many things such as No physical queue, not much of a documents required, No more printing all the bank record, getting the employment letter, and all of the other ordeals. It will definitely helps to boost one country tourism. I understand that it also comes with certain complexities but isn’t it the world is getting more borderless each day?
Wish Indonesian passport could get more access and wish to see you within the process!
I’ve talked about Nepal + India Trip a bit over here and now would like to elaborate on the gear up part for Hiking in Nepal. Please note, the gear will be different depend on your route and facilities choices.
For my group, we went with AC ( Annapurna Circuit ) up until around 3700m above sea level and staying overnight at tea house. Not a hardcore camping..yet.. :”>
It was on September and for our altitude we won’t experience ice. With a lot of readings mix with experience, here are the things that i will recommend for your clothing. From top to bottom
Head Cover: Cap / beanies Though the temperature might look friendly, you are in high altitude and getting nearer to the sun. In cold temperature this will keep you warm while in hot day it will help in avoiding heat stroke.
notes : multi-function scarf. Bring this as it could be used for many things! to cover your head, neck, mask, etc.
Day – Cloth – 1st Layer Go with Dri-Fit Materials. Not cotton. it’s light and drying fast It would be very beneficial if you are planning to wash it. I wore my gym cloth and it worked fine.
Night – Cloth Wear warmer materials. Well, i wore heat-tech materials and loving it.
Day – Jacket – 2nd Layer I suggest to bring something light and warm enough with hood. Wind breaker will be good for warmer weather. it will even be better with some water resistant / proof materials. Inner materials, personally i wore polar type. helpful to fight mountain wind.
Night – Jacket I brought my down jacket and bring something with hood. I left the head cover part and regretted it.
Rain Coat Bring it if it’s around wet season. make sure it covers your whole body.
Hand Glove ( may/may not needed ) Depends on your trail, if it’s not an ice kind of environment you may not need this. However, i found this helpful. It was simply because i am allergic to cold and this helped me to fight it. The wind and temperature made my hand feel like ice cold.
Pants – 1st Layer ( may / may not needed ) if it’s cold i would recommend to wear something warm as the inner.
Pants – Cargo Pants Cargo pants that is water resistant will be good. I’ve found that they are easy to clean. Choose the one with ‘sealable’ pocket. This is to secure your things from dropping and to protect + keep it clean enough.
Shocks I would suggest to bring 2 types for day and nite. Day – something sweat absorbing. Night – warmer type. I brought wool materials. keeping your feet warm is one of the key to keep your body heat.
Flip Flops It will be good for tired feet and when you are resting.
Shoes – Trail Run / Boots I would say choose your type wisely. In general, something waterproof will definitely better especially in a wetter condition. Really just based on my personal learning and experience :
Boots will be good for wet/ice environment, hard trail e.g. sandy/slippery,higher support for ankle.
Trail Run will be good for drier environment and a milder trail. for me, i went with trail run shoes and it was sufficient.
Boots will be heavier with longer time needed to get your feet used to it. and..honestly i don’t know when will i use it again. On the other hand, i could imagine to use trail run more. Invest in a good pair of shoes as your feet work very hard! I chose North Face brand and it was no joke. Loving it.
Sunglasses Woops! nearly forgotten this one. Do Not forget it. I repeat : DO NOT FORGET IT. I would suggest you to wear something within UV category 3 or 4 and polarised glass. You will be in a high altitude, sun shines brighter somehow and it’s hard to open your eyes. As for the polarised type, it will help you to enjoy things as they are since with higher light intensity colours tend to fade away. Be careful though UV category 3 /4 is quite dark and might not be suitable for daily use e.g. while driving.
and..that’s about it for those that you will need to put on your body. Most of them could be reused for other occasions so it might be good to invest on these items. I will write about other gears on later part especially those that assist the hiking and what to keep on your bag. 🙂
Wish you were there during all of the ruckus to gear up!
2019 has passed and i’m proud to say that i hiked a mountain for the first time in forever that year! It was one crazy idea that my friends and i threw out around Ramadhan last year. We met up on this place named SRSLYCOFFEE talking a bit of here, there, and everywhere which then later came out with an itinerary of India and Nepal. Starting from Jakarta – Amritsar – New Delhi – Khatmandu – Jakarta.
It was one session full with laughter with lots of chat follow up. ‘Till finally we purchased the first ticket Jakarta – Amritsar (1 way ). Did you know that the ticket price for that one was only around 70USD?WOOT. Of course it’s with an LCC but still it was one long flight. Even this one with another drama where one of my friend gave a wrong info of the stated name in her passport. Careful guys!
After that first purchase the story continued, we still need 3 more flights : Amritsar – New Delhi, New Delhi – Khatmandu, Khatmandu – Jakarta. Among those 3 we chose to purchased the main one first which is Khatmandu – Jakarta and only decided the other 2 once we stitched around our itinerary details especially the trip in NEPAL. OMG Can’t Wait!
We tried to look around through websites and instagram. You will find plenty of it. Our trip revolved around many things and route. Only by that time we notice that Nepal is not only about Everest. Some main routes that come to our plate were EBC ( Everest Base Camp ), ABC ( Annapurna Base Camp) , and AC (Annapurna Circuit). I will take about it in more detail later, but finally decided to go with AC, one of the realistic route for us. We really didn’t want to aim hard realising that we are bunch of citylife-office-worker type. LOL. if i may share with you please consider some items when choosing your routes :
Trip Duration – we don’t have all the time in this world and oh dear on leave days number.
Cost – if you are not an adventurer kind of type, there are many equipment and gear to purchase / borrow. They ain’t cheap. >_<
Fitness level and experience. As a tropical and low level altitude creature, i’ve learned that the higher you go even breath itself is already an exercise. not to mention the temperature.
Once we choose the route and service provider in NEPAL. Btw, We decided to go with local service provider after much deliberation. Here goes other things to manage! The trip in India. There are hotels, transportation, and flights to book. Oh dear so many things. To share it with you, we chose Amritsar mainly because of it’s Golden Temple and location that is very near to Pakistan. As for New Delhi, actually, it’s only like a pass by before our destination in Agra – how can you not see Taj Mahal? 😉
After we had our itinerary taken care off, we still have to prepare ourselves for D-DAY! we know by heart that hiking a mountain is not a joke. So, we tried to make our own fitness regime that will work for all of us. To share it with you here is my portion :
Time for preparation : 2,5 Months
Food – Oh yes, indeed, i ate salad everyday a lot of greenies, complex carbs, less sugar, and other things which help your body to procedure red blood cells. Reason : You will need it to support your oxygen needs later. However, the simple carbs will be needed later when you start and during the hike. Lovely, eat all the chocolates and sugar yeay!
Exercise – Cardio is a must but don’t forget strength training. You will need your muscles and stamina to support items that you will bring along the way. My routine was ( these are the minimum ) :
Running 2x/week 30 mins
Running 1x/Week 1 hour
Front & Back Lunges 20 reps
Squat 20 reps
Machine training 3 reps each which target legs, quadriceps, back, shoulder, Chest, triceps, and biceps.
Note that i have knee condition so essentially running is challenging for me.
Apart from preparing your body, you will also need to prepare the right gear and equipment. Within those 2 months of preparation, i think we visited numerous shop countless time until it becomes a habit for quite sometime after the hike ended for me. I will go through it more later but let me emphasize this. Those items are not cheap and it’s not that easy to find it for my size.
Woops, need to go now, if i could say another thing is that you will also need to prepare your mentality. inner peace.. inner peace…control yourself better!
See you on the updates of the rest of the stories…wish you were there with us!
One wishlist checked this year! Finally i was able to get into kekeunhof and saw it all. For me,kekeunhof is a big gardern with many types of plants – mainly flowers and mainly tulips. It’s a huge garden in which within that short period of time during spring you could visit to see all those beauties. That’s also why i haven’t been able to cross it up from my wish list until this year since it’s only open on certain period. However, the wait was over this year!
If you plan to get here please check the website over here. It’s the official website in which you could buy the tickets, see the schedule, and getting to know about it better. For me, i purchased the ticket + return bus ride directly from the point in Schiphol Airport. The process was quick and easy. It cost me 27.5 Euro. notes : the cost will be different depending on your package and point of departure and return.
Some tips that i could share with you, go there early in the morning. Well, i went during weekend and apparently 9 AM was still considered as early over there. (LOL early for me usually means 6 AM). I could grab some food from the airport anyway. Bus queue was manageable and the park was still empty.
Entering the park my eyes was so hungry and craving for the red tulip. Little that i know there are that many types of tulip even for the red one. here are some of it for you. Remember Shakespeare once said “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Going around the garden, you will find other points of interest as well. Some parts you will see house of tulips, house of orchids, and some exhibitions beside the open air garden. Oh, and they also have a windmills. So if you only have a limited time in Netherland this place will help you to cross some of your to do list. Though, i would still suggest you to go to Zaanse Schans.
oh, one thing that i would like to highlight. During my visit there was this one booth which explain about how to take care of your flowers. i remember two things : 1. type of utensils that you could use to cut the stem, 2. how to cut the stems. This guy explained it in an entertaining way so still remember that you need to cut the stem in 45 degree angle so that it has a wider area for water intake. That way the flower will stay longer. 😉
how to treat your flower based on the recipient. 😀
Coming back about enjoying this place. If you like walking as much as i do, the spring weather is just perfect!The air is fresh, the view is beautiful, and the ice cream is good. How can you resist it to stop on a bench after the long walk? to enjoy this garden i would suggest you to spare at least half a day. considering the trip duration going here back and forth and the time to be spent walking around the garden. In this visit, i spent the AM time within the garden then coming back to Amsterdam to have a lunch by the canal. it’s also a lovely experience which i may post later on. 😉
Ice Cream, Anyone?
Whoops.. time to go off now. Hope your experience is as good as i am. if not better!Wish you where there with me to enjoy the ice cream and do nothing. 😉
Tu Me Manques…I visited France years back and there were many first things kind of experience that i can’t shake off my mind. Too bad i wrecked my laptop so the memoirs were long gone. 😦 However, this year i was able to get back. Nope, not to Paris yet but.. C’est Super!
This time, I’ve got the chance to visit Lille. A city close to Belgium and the vibe of scholar city is pretty strong. 😉 I was lucky – that’s what they said – when i was there because it was sunny. uhmm… guys, i am a tropical girl who suffers in that spring weather! i wore my light down jacket and i still felt cold under the sunshine. Anyway, about the city.. hmm.. what should i say? i did nothing very particular here but strolling around.
I started from The Place Charles de Gaulle in the old town area. You may have heard his name as it was used as the name of one of the international Airport in Paris. Charles de Gaulle was the general then president. He was born here and they have his statue in the heart of this place. It’s a busy place with lots of stores around. Many people were there to gather around and it was quite fun to do some people watching here.
Grand Place – Charles de Gaulle
If you walk around this area you will find many old building that was like food for the eyes such as LA VIEILLE BOURSE and OPÉRA DE LILLE. It really really really made me remember the opera in Paris. Something about it attracts your eyes.
Opera
Then i continued my stroll to Lille old town and the train station Gare De Lille Flanders. Nearby there is a shopping centre and i was hooked a bit by it. 😛 then.. i was a bit lost here and there ( as usual ) but i managed to find other site. THE NOTRE DAME DE LA TREILLE. If you see the building, you may question it. For me, i was a bit confused as it doesn’t look like the other notre dame that i’ve seen. The Building is like a mix of an old and new structure. I’ll let you see it with your eyes and let me know..
Train StationNotre Dame
After that place i continued walking to the places around to find my MERVEILLEUX. OMG this food, dessert, cake.. or whatever you want to name it, was heavenly. It was soft and it was with the right balance. Try it! I think the visit to the shop was my longest french sentence when i was there. LOL.. here, you may need it “Je veux une merveilleux s’il vous plait“. Actually, don’t worry. the store employees speak English well. It was just me who, after staying for couple of days in French speaking countries, would like to challenge myself. why not, right? ;D
Hmm… the cake was perfect to end my stroll in Lille. pssst… do you know what is the meaning of merveilleux? it’s you whom i wish were there to take a walk with me while enjoying the wonderful merveilleux.
Dear My Fellows… Let’s share our stories of being an immigrant. So in Indonesia, TKI (Tenaga Kerja Indonesia ) and TKW ( Tenaga Kerja Wanita ) are two terms which being used in to describe Indonesian workers who work overseas. The later term is specific to be used for those whose gender is female. So, yes i am was both since I worked in Malaysia for around 2 years ++.
Here is the situation, those two terms are used mainly to describe informal workers so be careful when you use it as it may nudge certain people. I am prone to being miss understood because of my physique so somehow i kind of accepting it. LOL.
Anyway, the administration process for me was quite good. Perhaps because my company took care of it for me. In general these are the process.
Get a JOB first before you apply. It is a hustle to get it by yourself so i would recommend to discuss it with your employer.
Understand that there are different types of employment pass based on certain job criteria.
Complete the documents required. For me it was : CV, Graduation Certificate, Passport, Photo, Employment Letter, Residential information.
I need to make a trip to Malaysia to complete the submission. They will take away your passport for a while. Mine took around a week.
It may be more for you, since some of the other documents and process was directly taken care of by my company. After the waiting time, there i have it.. One employment pass stamped on my passport. Honestly, now writing this made me wanting another one. Wooopsss.. 😛
But for now, i will let you have a look for my first stamp. Once you got it, you will become a tax payer so no more tax return will be given. You will need to renew it when you change your passport or when the expiration date has been reached. Please be careful with these as you will have problem with immigration if you miss it and might be banned to enter Malaysia.
Oh, and one more.. when i got this pass i also have a card named i-KAD. I love that card for it gave me the ease of entering / getting out from Malaysia Immigration. You will be considered somehow the same as Malaysian citizen. The immigration has dedicated line for you which queue usually short. Other thing about this pass, you can register yourself so that you could use the E-Gate. awesome right? so don’t forget to do it.
I wish you being inspired and motivated if you aspire to become a TKI just like me. Let’s shape and build a good reputation of Indonesian Worker!
I had a chance to visit Genting Highland back then in 2015 prior to the new development. It’s a very late post that i would like to share just so that i remember it and just because..I MISS Kuala Lumpur so much at this time.
One Day, i got a message from a good friend of mine that he will visit KL and asking me for some recommendation. Genting Highland was the place that came up and there we went. To get there you could use a Bus from some of the big bus station in KL e.g. KL Sentral or Pudu Station. Bummer, as it was a last minute arrangement we couldn’t get the one from KL Sentral. Thankfully we could get the one from Pudu. Ticket price was good and they had the package which includes return ticket + genting attraction. While waiting for our departure, we went to KLCG. One of my fav place in KL and somehow become the starting point on most of my journey.
The bus was convenient and the ride took around 1 hour one way. However, we went during public holiday so queue in GENTING was awesome…..it was a very long queue ahead of us to ride the cable car. It was a rather cloudy day so the journey on cable car was a bit scary as it seems as we walked through clouds but it was still an enjoyable ride.Btw, you will need to ride this twice when you want to go up and when you want to go down.
When we reached the peak. It was confusing since the construction has been started. We got lost along the way and somehow ended in the Casino. ( don’t ask. Me and my friends are somehow horrible with direction ) FYI when we were about to enter the guard looked at us and the first question was, “HOW OLD ARE YOU?” and even asked for our passport. Well, i got this a lot so… yes.. that was another occurrence.
Continuing our journey in Genting, we decided to enter the RIPLEY’s Museum. Reason was, the other attraction was quite packed and we only had limited time to spent before we needed to get down to catch our bus. T_T
Here are some pic of the visit in the museum. I was happy inside it. Somehow, it intrigued my mind and maybe… so do you. 😉
Finished that visit, here came the time for us to head back and faced another queue for the cable car. Wish you were there and sharing snacks with us while queuing!
Have you ever been searching for a serene place to calm down and trying to get an inner peace of mind? Bandar Sri Begawan might be the answer for your wish! 🙂
In 2018, I had a chance to go for a short getaway to Brunei. Before i went there, people keep on telling me not to expect hustling bustling kind of city, little number of people, and the city practically sleep after sunset. Hearing those things i sort of reckoning my trip but anyway i decided to do it.
Golden Dome Mosque
Preparation
1. Flights : only by this trip i realise that there are not so many choices to go there. At the benefit of living in Kuala Lumpur, it’s just about right to go because there is a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bandar Sri Begawan. ( around 2.5Hrs flight )
2. Currency : Did you know? You can use Singapore dollar just fine in this country. Fun fact >> there was an agreement between Singapore & Brunei that their money could be used interchangeably. I am not sure on the minimum amount, but based on my experience they accepted 5SGD.
3. Accommodation : Choose your hotel wisely. It’s true that public transport is one of the main challenge here. Bus only operates from 6 AM – 6 PM and taxi is rare to find. 😦 I would recommend The Brunei Hotel. The hotel located at the city centre near to the ferry and bus station. Other than that they have a free shuttle bus to certain places. In general, Price wise, hotel is quite expensive in Brunei 1 night stay will cost you around 90BND++. Oh, don’t forget to ask your hotel to arrange airport pickup. it’s the most convenient way.
4. Telco : Local SimCard is available at the airport. I couldn’t really recall how much it was. If i am not mistaken it was around 58BND. however, based on my experience the City is quite easy to be explored so you may not need one for local data if your hotel provide WIFI connection.
5. Culture & Religion : You will want to know more about this before you come especially if you want to consume some alcohol and smoke.
1st Day
Time to go off dears! when i arrived i can’t help myself but feeling like in an arabic language test. The signage are mostly written in Jawi. They have it written in English too so please, don’t worry too much. 🙂 It was just exhilarating for me to see it everywhere. In Malaysia, i’ve found it in Malaysian Ringgit Bank Notes. In Indonesia, it’s rare to find.. honestly, i couldn’t recall i’ve seen one. I will update this later if i could recall it.
Okay, Let’s move on. The hotel was nice enough that they let me have my early check in. After i settled in a bit, i started my journey. Here we go to the Central Bus Station.
Central Bus Station
Their bus route is straight forward and easy to understand. The ride itself will cost you 1 Dollar for one ride. After you find your bus number you could just get in. Once the bus start the ride there will be a person who collect the money and give you the ticket in return. Fret not, you don’t need to have the exact 1 BND. They will be able to give you a change. Bus in Brunei is not a big bus. I can’t really describe it please refer to the picture below and please share – how will you call it?
Central Bus Environment
Inside The Bus
Bus Ticket
Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque
I fell hard for this mosque. It’s beautiful. It’s the serenity that i am looking for. I spent around 2 hours in this mosque. Please note that i stayed for a prayer so if you are not planning to do so probably put this Mosque within max 1 hour visit. Definitely worth a visit. Don’t skip it.
How to go here? Use Bus no. 01 or 20. It will stop at the gate. The frequency will be around once every hour. I wait like for 30 minutes while hearing bird chirping. Not smart enough to remember the time when i arrived T^T
Blue Mousque – It’s Beautiful don’t skip.
Tamu Kianggeh
I was hungry and hoping to have something to eat here…but i was in despair. This place is more into like a wet market where local bought their food staples. was it because my visiting hour? not sure. In the end i went back to my hotel and ate something nearby.
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque
After stuffing up myself, i went to another mosque. It was very near from the central bus station. You could just walk and spending couple of minutes to get into your destination. At this walking session, i felt like i am melting down due to the heat. OMG! it was super hot which made it as a not-so-amazing experience to walk around. Anyhow, walking was the best option due to my location so there i was..walking and enjoying the scenery. Starting from the gardens up to the coronation arch before finally reaching the mosque. Once you walk down and getting nearer to the mosque, the golden dome will entice your eyes. The whole architecture is an entertaining scene for the eyes. I roamed around the area quite a while. You could refer below for some mementos from that place.
Gadong Night Market
Within this market you will be able to find some local delicacies. It was quite pack with lot of choices. It might be just me.. but since i lived in Malaysia and i am an Indonesian, the taste of food are similar to the usual taste back home. We are neighbouring countries anyway! :9
2nd Day
Learning from my 1st Day experience, i put more layers to combat the heat. I was so determined to have a walking trip along Brunei Darussalam Heritage Trail. For me, I started from Makam Raja Ayang – Timepiece Monument – The secretariat Building – Department of religous Affair – Royal Regalia – Lapau Lama – Chinese Temple
I would say that Regalia Museum was the highlights of all. It was a museum that kept a vast collection of the current King, His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu‘izzaddin Waddaulah. By Visiting this museum, you will know more about Brunei Sultanate and the life journey of the King about the education, marriage, coronation, and so on so forth. I was in awed by all of those collection especially for the Sultan’s Jubilee collection. This place made me wonder more about the country and the royal family, considering this place and the beautiful mosques which swept me off my feet. Anyway… the entrance is free and i would suggest you to go come inside.
I ended the herritage walk by passing Chinese Temple before going back to my hotel. It was an enjoyable walk. Bring umbrella, wear sunscreen, put on your sunglasses, and you may like it as i did.
Yep.. i will wrap it up over here as it was the time to go back. Thanks for the new perspectives that you offered Dear Brunei! Wish you were there with me to enjoy the serenity and the walk.
Wanderer 