Bandung With Train – Luxury II

Bandung, the capital city of West Java, Indonesia. A city that will always have my heart. I spent some years lived in Bandung during my university years. The thought of coming back always spark some excitement and this time, I went there using Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI ) Luxury train. One of the latest class type released by KAI.

It was happened around mid of 2022, a friend of mine asked me to join her into a trip to Bandung and I thought why not? It is also as if I get the light of trying the Luxury train as I have been curious about it for sometime so there I was booking the trip from Gambir to Bandung train station. Excited!

Booking the trip

You could go into several websites to purchase the ticket online or if you want to buy it offline you could also go to the train station. Once you get into the site make sure you choose the luxury type. Afterwards you will see some class, I have been informed that those classes are different depending on the seat position to the train facilities. They said there is a price difference perhaps due to the extra convenience a position has to offer e.g. closer to the train restaurant. However, within my experience I had the same price though it has different class. not sure if it is expected or not.

Going on the Day of the trip – Departing station

If you can, come earlier because you will still have to exchange your booking with a boarding pass and there is no separate place for the luxury class to get the boarding pass. A bit different concept with an air flight. You could exchange it in the self service machine. The process was rather quick as you just need to enter your booking code reference and print the boarding pass. By the way if you depart from Gambir station, there was one machine on the right side near to the boarding gate in which most people weren’t aware of ( including me ) that machine didn’t have any queue while the others are pack. It is actually intrigued me of how for Luxury train they didn’t have a separate place to get a boarding pass but who knows it might be me who didn’t know or maybe there has been an update right now.

Once you get your boarding pass, off you go to enter the boarding room. Again, don’t do it like me whereas I wasn’t aware that luxury class has its own dedicated waiting room in Gambir. So i can’t really say anything on this. Let me know if you have tried it and how’s the experience? 😉

The Train and Its Facilities

Alright now the train has come, the luxury carriage is located in the prime location towards the beginning of the train or I would say the most convenient place possible to board a train. Likewise, the clumsy side of me I went to the different end. ( crying ) It will be quite prominent on which carriage you are in since there will be a steward/ess wearing different uniform in front of the door.

Entering the train, it reminds me of an airplane. It is spacious with 2 & 1 seating arrangement. Only limited seat within the carriage that has extra leg room seat arrangement either in the front or at the back row. If you are planning to bring a big luggage try to get this seat as it will be more comfortable for you. ( talking about the experience getting bumped in a train by the neighbouring luggage ) I am not sure why but train carriage in Indonesia don’t have that med – big luggage storage space.:( Anyway, when you get into your seat you could see that you have a reclining seat ( not flat bed type i have tried ) with its adjustable leg and foot rest too. You have a small screen, if you get into the front seat as I did, it won’t have much use as it is located quite far away from you. Other than that within your seat you will have a foldable tray, charger for you and only you and reading lamp. In terms of privacy, it wasn’t as private as I thought it would be. When you are in fully reclined position ( perhaps only me ) you feel a bit more vulnerable and some separator will be much appreciated, won’t it? Overall, the interior has its luxurious feeling with all the colour and the wood ambience.

Other facilities within the train, there was minibar with a stewardess on my trip, in which you could request for some drinks. I didn’t try tough because they have provided you with some food to be eaten along the way and drinks which were enough for me. Oh, and although I found it weird not sure why many people reviewed its toilet. The toilet between man and woman are separated, one each and it’s dedicated only for the luxury carriage that you are in so with only little passenger (26 total per carriage ) there was no problem in toilet queue. The toilet was clean and the design was indeed looks like the airplane toilet.

all in all the journey was quite enjoyable. I didn’t really remember though. do they have in train wifi? I made some IG stories along the way so it seemed that I didn’t have an issue with my connection. At least that, I could say. Basically you have everything set for you so just enjoy the ride.

Arriving – Arrival Station

Nearing the arrival station, I got a refreshing towel handkerchief handed by the stewardess. Afterwards, you could go down. Another perks in the luxury class is the location is at the most convenient to the exit pathways but once you are out nothing much different to the other classes facilities. So nothing really specific in this area. I was actually more awed by the New Bandung Train Station. Some construction upgrade have been finished and some are still underway. No more walking between rail / train to get into your intended gate. the pathways are nice, clean and modern.Looking at the one that has been under operation I think I could put hopes and looking forward to its final result. Here are some pics for you to see.

To sum up the journey and within my verdict, I think the whole experience was great! kudos to the team. For sure, things have its area of improvement but what is it that don’t have those rooms? I would recommend this if you in need of a little more quiet environment and extra leg room. It will be better perhaps for longer journey. However, if you are going like me from Jakarta to Bandung, I think executive class will be sufficient yet it isn’t bad either to try new thing once in a while, right?

Hope you had/ will have a wonderful experience too within the train!

Cheers!

Triana Mustika Rukmi

Indonesia Domestic Flight During Pandemic COVID-19

Hi.. how are you? If you happen to come to this page I assume you miss flying, don’t you? I do too. I had couple of flights during pandemic and would like to note it over here with a wish we could fly as we used to pretty soon. Have a nice day and nice flight for you!

Flight Booking and Airline Physical Distancing

I have learned my lesson and I haven’t fully gained back my trust to travel agency ( both online and offline ). Direct booking still become my preference. Reason being ,with a direct booking in case you need to change your plan it will be easier. I had the experience where the airline has published the announcement giving the passenger a leeway but the implementation with service partner is another complexity. It took months to managed one of my old booking therefore when I become very careful for any upcoming trips since the whole process of changing your itinerary was quite frustrating for everyone involved. Another notes, I will suggest to go with Flagship airline of the country.

In 2020 many airlines conduct physical distancing in the airplane but as of now in Q2 2021 many don’t do it anymore so choose yours wisely. The one which still has physical distancing comes with a higher price. It might not stated very clearly for you but the distancing somehow being sold as an add on either you need to choose a higher ticket class or essentially you could purchase a seating zone in booking page just before you go to the payment.

Before Flying Preparation

Good, now you already have your booking you will need another preparation. It may change from time to time so you need to check during your flight time. For Indonesia Domestic flight it usually either PCR Negative result max 3 or 2 x 24 hours from your flight or Rapid Test Antigen Result max 2 or 1 x24 hours from your flight. It may vary depending on your destination. There is also a facility provided at the airport if you need one. Rapid test antigen is quite quick, based on my experience I could always get the result less than 20 minutes. Starting from Q1 2021 there are some health facilities which already connected to eHac ( Health application provided for travellers in Indonesia ) – more about it later.

At the Airport

Aaaahh… now the happy part. I literally smiling ear to ear the first time I put my feet at the Airport. Excited! I went to Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Jakarta Terminal 3 Ultimate. After you get there I suggest you to go to Gate 3 because you will need to validate your rapid test / pcr test result for boarding and the place is just right after you get in through Gate 3. The validation process is very quick and there are a lot of stations so this one could be finished within 5 minute or so. Once you have the validation get into the Check in / Baggage drop area. Well, you could still drop your baggage without the validation but you can’t go to the boarding room so just make sure you provide enough time for this.

When you are all set with all the validation and your luggage is packed you could proceed to the boarding room. When you are at the gate, the officer will ask for your boarding information including the COVID-19 test result validation before you could proceed further into the queue. when they are checking the info they will ask you to open your mask once to ensure that you are the same person as your identity information. If everything’s good then you could go into your boarding room.

Of course there are some measures in place such as temperature checking and the distancing. However, I found that we tend to forget it when we are in queue. My suggestion and this is what I did which seems to work. I didn’t wear N95 mask, i tried but I got dizzy so I opted for another one which by wearing KN95 mask doubled with Surgical Mask. I didn’t open it at all during the flight. So yes, hello fasting. LOL.

During the waiting time in the boarding room, It’s a good time to fill in your eHAC. eHAC is an Indonesia Electronic Health Alert Card. It’s being used by the government to do the tracing and also to give the latest information for travelling purpose. You could get your eHAC by installing the application on your phone. Once you have it installed you need to register yourself then you could go under your Account menu and to the HAC section. Over there you will need to create your HAC either you just arrived from abroad or you want to travel intercity within Indonesia. You will need to put your flight number and your seat number. HAC information won’t be necessary for you to board the airplane in your departure airport but this info will be scanned in your arrival airport. Based on my experience it’s better to fill the HAC before you land so yes boarding time is a good window time.

Without further ado, when you have been called for boarding make sure you grab everything ready mask on and try not to touch anything and distance yourself from others. We tend to forget all this in a queue. When i got into the airplane, well i think it depends on which flight that you choose, some put a stricter measure than the others. Still, I wiped everything down and sanitized my stuff and my hand. I observed that every passenger has their own ritual so relax no one will judge you, well unless you wear hazmat suit perhaps. Throughout the flight, I recommend this Do not rub your eyes or open your mask if it’s not necessary. Well, for me not opening my mask for drinking was not that hard. I think Ramadhan fasting has trained me therefore I could enjoy the flight. How could I not? My excitement level shot up the roof seeing the white cloud and blue water beneath. Enjoy the flight until your landing time.

Once you landed, the changes are about the same as the one in Soekarno Hatta Airport. The main difference is the eHAC checking part. So you need to show your HAC, there is a QR code generated for your visit and the officer will scan it through. Since you get it all ready before you depart it’s all good the process will be quick. After the scanning you could get into conveyor belt and there you are off you go to wherever your destination is.

Wish you could travel safely wherever you are.

Cheers!

Triana Mustika Rukmi

Galeri Nasional Indonesia Di Masa Pandemi Covid-19

Suatu hari tiba-tiba rasanya pengen banget liat lukisan jadi lah kan cari tau di Jakarta ada di mana sih? Akhirnya ketemu soal Galeri Nasional Indonesia di Jakarta. Googling soal galeri ini dan cari tau soal protokol selama masa pandemi.

Daftar Secara Online sebelum berkunjung

Sebelum pergi ke sana harus daftar dulu ya via website ini registrasi pengunjung Galnas. Jangan tanya kenapa websitenya kok alamatnya beda dengan website utama, ku pun kurang mengerti. Nanti di website bisa pilih waktu kunjungan hari dan jam. Perlu jadi catatan bahwa maksimal dalam setiap slot waktu kunjungan ( 1 jam kunjungan ) hanya boleh ada 20 orang. Setelah registrasi nanti akan dapat konfirmasi via email dan ini nanti ditunjukkan saat di lokasi. Sebenernya bisa juga sih registrasi di lokasi dengan catatan masih ada slot tersedia ya. lebih baik daftar sebelum datang sih jadi nanti tinggal masuk. Sssstt… untuk masuk ke pameran permanen ini tidak dipungut biaya.

Tiba di Lokasi Galeri Nasional

Waktu sampai di Galeri Nasional nanti bisa langsung dari gerbang masuk lurus terus lokasinya agak di dalam di sebelah kiri untuk pameran permanen. Waktu itu sedang tidak ada pameran khusus jadi tujuan utama memang hanya pameran permanen.

Di pintu masuk nanti perlu menunjukkan bukti registrasi. Ada QR code yang dikirimkan nanti ini akan discan. Protokol kesehatan tetap berlaku ya di sini jadi nanti ada pengecekan suhu dan kalau semua aman baru boleh masuk dan ada tempelan stiker galeri nasional yang perlu dikenakan ( yang mana sampai keluar dan pergi ke tempat lain pun ku lupa copot -_- ). Selama berada di lokasi harus selalu mengenakan masker dan jaga jarak . Anyway, Here we come!

Koleksi Permanen Galeri Nasional

Dari Pintu masuk nanti akan diarahkan naik tangga. Setelah itu akan ada dua area pameran. Pertama-tama aku ke sebelah kiri dulu untuk koleksi seniman Indonesia. Waktu masuk, wah… hawa galeri yang dirindukaaannn…. level bahagia naik tajam dan pencahayaannya rasanya cantik banget sih. ( sambil mikir dalam hati ya iyalah ya ini galeri nasional. )

Jadi untuk koleksi pertama, nanti akan ada beberapa ruangan dibagi berdasarkan periode dari paling lama sampai paling modern. Di bagian pertama ini ruangan yang lumayan jadi gongnya sih. Karya yang menarik perhatian sangat itu terkait dengan kisah penangkapan Pangeran Diponegoro. Waktu ke sana diinfo ini yang ada di buku sejarah waktu jaman masih sekolah dan saya nggak inget sama sekali. LOL. Jadi ada dua lukisan di mana lukisan pertama adalah kejadian yang digambarkan oleh pelukis luar dan lukisan kedua yang digambarkan oleh pelukis Indonesia. Terdapat perbedaan nuansa di antara kedua lukisan di mana yang satu seperti menggambarkan kekalahan sedangkan satunya lagi adalah semangat yang masih berkobar. Rasanya menarik ya untuk melihat satu kejadian yang sama bisa sangat berbeda dari sudut pandang yang berbeda. Tapi di luar makna intrinsiknya ada juga perbedaan dari cara melukis yang cukup kentara bisa dilihat di gambar di bawah ini.

Dari Ruangan ini kalau disusuri lagi ada banyak karya lain juga tidak hanya lukisan meskipun karya yang paling mendominasi adalah lukisan. Ada beberapa instalasi seni lain seperti patung, audio, ataupun yang bergerak. Beberapa karya kadang terasa tidak biasa. Untuk setiap ruangan yang dimasuki nanti jalannya berputar ya jadi waktu keluar pun akan keluar melalui alur pintu masuk.

Setelah selesai dengan area pertama bisa menuju ke area pameran kedua. Di bagian ini ada karya dari seniman luar negeri. Saat memasuki bagian kedua ini ada rasa yang berbeda, mungkin sama dengan cerita tentang penangkapan Pangeran Diponegoro, seni tergantung orang dan mungkin juga dipengaruhi dengan lokasi sepertinya.. jadi ada perasaan yang berbeda dari segi pilihan warna dan yang lainnya.

Di Area kedua ini masih didominasi oleh lukisan namun tetap ada bentuk instalasi seni lainnya. Ada beberapa lukisan yang makin membuat ingin jalan – jalan secepatnya ke luar dari Indonesia karena ada beberapa lukisan pemandangan yang memang tidak ada di sini apalagi kalau terkait dengan musim dingin dengan salju yang tidak ada di Indonesia. segera ya semoga pandemi cepat berakhir.

Sayangnya karena waktu berkunjung yang terbatas dengan batas maksimal kunjungan adalah 55 menit, saya jadi cukup kilat menyesaikan area kedua ini karena kita akan diminta meninggalkan area pameran supaya dapat memberikan alokasi waktu yang cukup untuk persiapan menerima pengunjung di slot waktu selanjutnya. Setelah keluar dari ruangan pameran, kita masih bisa menikmati area Galeri Nasional. Tempat ini memiliki beberapa gedung tua yang bisa jadi salah satu ajang ganti suasana juga kalau biasanya tinggal di rumah atau di gedung modern. Di beberapa dinding akan ada gambar juga misalnya seperti gambar berikut.

Untuk yang kadang merasa kurang paham tentang seni, saya pun sama kok. Tidak semua karya rasanya bisa klik ataupun ada karya yang terkadang kok saya nggak ngerti ya ini maksudnya apa tapi semua itu tidak mengurangi keinginan ataupun perasaan khusus saat melihat karya seninya.

Dari kunjungan yang cukup padat dan singkat ini cukup lumayan bisa mengobati rasa rindu pengen liat lukisan atau pergi ke galeri sampai nanti bisa liat lagi lukisan di galeri negara lain.

Wish you were here and get lost in the artsy environment. 🙂

Cheers!

Triana Mustika Rukmi

This Is How We Meet India

“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. 😛

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.

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 night

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.

Cheers!

Triana Mustika Rukmi

Road To Nepal – Where Did It Start and how?

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!

Cheers,

Triana Mustika Rukmi