Kupang, Indonesia

After visiting Bali, we decided to visit our dear friends in Kupang, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia. We met Ino through the program we did back in 2003 and she is now married and has 2 adorable kids, Santa and Angelix. We stayed at her house which helped us reduce our travelling costs, a pretty sweet deal. We did a little tour on the first day we arrived (well, Kupang is a very small town so didn't take that long) and we stopped at the old Portuguese harbour to eat "jagung bakar". After that, we headed to the night food market on Jl. Siliwangi, the food market opens every night serving all kinds of seafood and Kupang eats. Second day, we went to Semau Island, about 30 minutes away by boat from Tenau Harbour. We rented a boat that cost IDR 100,000 each way and, to go to the beach, we took ojeg by paying IDR 20,000 return. All was arranged by the boat driver. The beach is pretty nice, white sand and sandy bottom, no waves, so nice for swimming. There's a pond of natural spring not far from the beach but unfortunately the villagers used it for washing clothes, so the water turns soapy. I feel bad for the fishes who live there. We ate lunch on the beach, played ball in the water, and soccer with the village kids who followed us all the way to and from the beach. Third day we went to Lasiana beach, I read somewhere that Lasiana beach is not that great but I loved it there! So beautiful! Palm trees on the beach, white sandy beach, also sands in the bottom, my kind of beach! I wouldn't have stopped swimming if not for a  jellyfish sting. And, you all know what is the best cure for jelly fish stung! But you just gotta do it. We brought some watermelon to the beach and apparently some kids saw it and asked us for some watermelon, so we shared it. Sharing is believing as people say. They were so happy, which made us happy. The night we went to "Nelayan Restaurant" on Jl. Timor Timur, to have some dinner. We ordered...more seafood of course, but given the name of the restaurant "Nelayan" which means fisherman, their specialty dish is fried chicken, which was pretty good. Drinking some beer, listening to our friend Randy (Ino's husband) sing some songs with full stomachs, and some good companionship, was another highlight of our trip. Fourth day, which was our last day, we decided to take it easy and just spend time with our friends and the kids, we went to the one and only mall in Kupang "Flobamora". Not much happening in the mall so we played bumper cars, so much fun! We wanted to go to the Kupang Museum, but apparently they're closed on weekends. If they want to raise people's awareness of the history, museums should open on weekends, so all the working people could go to museums. Felt a little dissapointed about the museum, we went to a souvenir store and I bought a tiny "tenun" table runner that cost IDR 60,000 and my husband bought this hideous mask for IDR 100,000. The night we were invited to Ino's dad's birthday, first time to meet her "real" parents.

Who knew after 9 years we still keep in touch and still be buddies. Nothing have changed except a few wrinkles  on our face :) We still have our laughs. We got to meet the parents and kids, making tea in her own kitchen, playing with her kids, a little walk down memory lane in a new place. We didn't expect Kupang to be that nice because we were just very excited to see our friends, so all of the stuff we did are nice bonuses. I would say, even without my friends living in Kupang, I still like Kupang. The other thing that fascinate me about Kupang is that people rub their noses as a way to greet there. Which I think is pretty neat! I only read that rubbing noses as a way of greeting only happens in Eskimo, or some other rare indigenous people in the western world. But, we can actually see it in Indonesia. This is what I love about travelling, that we got to learn about diversities, different customs and habits and you got to see and experience it yourself. Kupang palm trees, nice beaches, the savannah, this kind of trees that I don't really know the name of it but it's all over the place and knowing some dear friends who live there, together made a great visit to Kupang.

Bali

Recenlty we made a visit to Bali to celebrate my 30^th.  It was our first visit to Bali since we got married. Bali… What can I say about Bali? Everyone knows Bali, or most people I know, knows Bali or have been to Bali. Bali is beautiful, fun, exciting, and cultural. I myself have been to Bali for so many times and I’m always very happy to comeback to Bali. But, there’s a little part of me is still a little sad seeing Bali now. I remember when I went there for the first time about 15 years a go, I was in love. It was love at the first sight. Everything was still so natural, quiet, no traffic for sure! Less tourists, and Ubud still had a cool weather. It was still feel very mystical, but now everything has changed into a big huge commercial tourists site. But of all the craziness are going on in Bali now, the one great thing about Bali is that the Balinese people are still very strongly believe in their religion and traditions. The same view I saw 15 years ago, people still giving offerings on the roads, cars, shops, etc.  So, I’m still glad to see that.This is probably why people still keep coming to Bali even after the Bali bombing incidents. But I must say, being a major tourist attraction though, it sure opened up other good things too. There are more job offers to locals, better road and better public service such as hospitals, etc. As if it wasn’t because of all of the tourists, there won’t be things and stuff to do/to go as we can see now. Cool and hip shops and restaurant, bars with amazing views, beautiful hotels, or cool cafes where you can hang out. Which is exactly what we did on our last trip to Bali. We went to the places that some people have been brag about and we haven't been. We went to Rock bar Ayana, which is a bar on the rocks on a cliff with breathtaking view, and we went to Potato Head, which was nice, and a few others. I’m sure there are plenty of other cool places we could go, but it was enough and we enjoyed it very much. Our hotels were perfect! Both have an outdoor shower (which I think is pretty cool!) surrounded with lush tropical garden, beautiful swimming pools, and friendly staffs! We did a little outdoorsy stuff; we went rafting in Ayung river, though it was slow but still nice. We got to swim in the river, which was my favorite part of the rafting. On the night of my birthday we went to a gay bar in Seminyak and there was a drag queen show. It was fun until a guy tried to harass my husband. Overall, it was a lovely beautiful 30^th birthday celebration, turns out turning 30 isn’t so bad and turning 30 in Bali isn’t too bad either J

Responsible Traveller

Travelling is tiring but rewarding! We can learn about so many things from travelling. But trouble from travelling is "irresponsible tourists". I hate seeing tourists who is careless about the value of travelling. They don't know how lucky they are to be able to travel while others can't. I feel very lucky to be able to travel, so I tried to be as responsible as I can whenever or where ever I travel. From as simple as not to litter, or not to have your bedroom hotel clean everyday, use recycle bag when you shop, etc. There are so many other ways we can contribute to be a responsible tourist. I saw somebody littered in a very historical site or one time, somebody yelled in a very holy site. I think it's rude, ignorance, irresponsible, and annoying. So let's all be a responsible tourist shall we? My blog will be mostly about my travelling but I will also put some pieces of my mind every now and then. Last but no least, there’s always a positive and negative things about a change. But it’s all depends on us how we react to those changes and try to give a positive contribution to that. Therefore, let's try to always stay positive and be more a responsible tourist to a better environment. Cheers!

Hello from Malaysia! (Finally!)

I should've started this a long while a go, blogging. Well, I have actually and I was too lazy to write so I never open my blog. Anyway, we have been living in Malaysia now for almost 2 years! Time passes by too quickly. I was feeling so worried and anxious to come here because I have never been to Malaysia before and it would be our first country of assignment. But, it all turn out so nicely and amazing! Kuala Lumpur I should say is a very easy and nice city to live in, modern and most likely more developed than most major cities in South East Asia Countries. There are of course some things I dislike and disagree here, but hey, nobody's perfect, right! 

Other than travelling around Malaysia, we have been travelling around South East Asia and even Europe! We've been to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, and Indonesia of course! And we got a little break along the way, that was Bangladesh for a wedding/Christmas and Europe for a birthday, 30th birthday! Yes, it's a big one so we decided to celebrate it big. Spain, Portugal, and Andorra it is! It was a very nice little break from South East Asia, everything is so much different from everything else in Asia. 

Anyway, let's get back to Malaysia. We also have managed ourself to discover Malaysia and have done some stuff we tried for the first time ever. Surfing in Cherating, paragliding in Langkawi island, seeing rafflesia flower in Mt. Kinabalu National Park, saw sharks from snorkeling in Perhentian Island, Canopy walk at FRIM, zip lining at the National Botanical Garden Shah Alam, swinging on a giant swing in Penang, etc. Perhentian Island I should say is one of my favourite so far. Friends and family have coming over to stay with us, friends from Canada, England, Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh, and Australia. We're still counting!

The other nice thing living in KL that within 25-30 minutes you can get out of KL and be in the lush green jungle right away. It's amazing! They have FRIM or the "Forest Research Institut Malaysia" that can be reached by car for only 25 min. It is a man made jungle but it's still nice and they have a canopy walk for an activity there. Also, Hulu Langat is only 30 min away from KL (if not traffic) and you can see the country side of Malaysia, traditional houses, trees, waterfall, and river.

There are still so much I want to see while we're here! Tioman Island, Redang Island, Sipadan Island, Sarawak, etc, etc..and Malaysia's neighbours of course! So, hopefully we can do it all before we leave Malaysia. So stay tune! :)