Ahh feels good to be back..
I know it has been a while and I know there is a HUGE gap between my last post and this one. =(
Yes..guilty as charged..I've been slacking off. haha oh well..at least now I'm back. and here it is..as promised, the long-overdue story of my trip! I have been seriously considering of making this blog sort of a travel blog since I have done quite a bit of travelings these past 2 years or so. I can honestly say that I've fully embraced the idea of going to more places in the future and I found out that I genuinely love to travel!! ..not promising anything yet, but let's just see.. ;)
Now, this time it's going to be my recent vacation to Indo back in January. Then after, I will do a post on my Europe vacation =) so without further ado, here's the executive summary of the trip. Enjoy!
Note: Since it has been months since I came back from the trip, I forgot some of the details, you know, when you're having way too much fun, you're bound to miss out on things like that..haha. But I will try to provide as much info as I could.
Itinerary: Solo-Jakarta (JKT)-Bali-Surabaya (SBY)
Duration: 15 days (including travel time)
If you read my old post you probably remember that the reason I went back to Indo was to attend my childhood friend's wedding. But in all honesty, I did want to have some time for myself and when the invitation came up, I knew that it was my chance to finally have an adventure that I had been wishing for.
Anyway, I went by myself and I also planned everything by myself. I started looking for flights, hotels, places to go, etc since September of last year. Surprisingly, the process was actually pretty fun. I enjoyed gathering up sources, researching accommodation and finally putting everything together at the end. It was like completing a puzzle. The idea of going by myself was kinda daunting in the beginning, but it disappeared at the thought of how much freedom and flexibility I would have by going alone.
I flew with Eva Air from US to Indo and back. It was the cheapest option considering the time frame and the route that I was going for. Initially, I planned to only visit 3 places; Solo-Bali-SBY. However, friends of family who came to visit US last year convinced me to make a stop in JKT as they wanted to show me around, so I ended up squeezing it into my itinerary eventhough it was just for a night.
I booked the ticket on CheapTickets. I was going back and forth between it and CheapOAir since i used the later for my europe trip and got a pretty good deal. But at the end, Cheaptix was cheaper, although really not by much..haha. hey, every bit counts. Oh, and FYI, I did consult with a travel agent too, but the price I got online was still cheaper so I went with it.
It cost me approx. $1,300 USD for roundtrip. The departing flight was from NY-Alaska-Taipei-JKT, coming back it was from SBY-Taipei-NY. I picked NY instead of Philly of course because it was cheaper, plus they provided a free shuttle back and forth. Then, I knew that the last city I visit would be SBY, but the reason I chose to land in JKT was 'cause I needed to go to Solo first and Eva didnt offer that option, its either landing in SBY and JKT and all the domestic flights route SBY-Solo would require transit in JKT anyway, so I just landed in JKT and took domestic connecting flight to Solo. FYI the dom. flight was cheap too. Dom. airlines usually run promo and stuff so I had asked my friend to help me with booking all my dom. flights since I had so much trouble with their internet booking system anyway which was pretty much non-functional.
This is the general breakdown of my itinerary while I was in Indo:
Solo (4D3N): Sightseeing--Pusat Grosir Solo (PGS), Pasar Besar, Solo Baru, Pasar Triwindu, Orion. Culinary--Timlo Sastro, Omah Selat, Soto Gading, Serabi Notosuman, Gudeg Adem Ayem, Nasi Liwet Bu Wongso, Kare, Babi Pak Jum, Pawon Omahku. Stay--Best Western Premier Hotel Solo
Jakarta (2D1N): Sightseeing--Central Park Mall, Emporioum Pluit Mall Culinary--Bandar Djakarta Alam Sutera, Pancious. Stay-- Friend's Apt =D
Bali (5D4N): Sightseeing--Seawalker Experience, Tegalalang Rice Terrace, Pura Uluwatu, Blue Point Beach, Padang-Padang Beach, Karma Kandara, Krisna Bali, Bali Collection Nusa Dua. Culinary--Nasi Pedas Bu Andhika, Bebek Tepi Sawah, KuDeTa, Naughty Nuri, Nammos Beach Club, Rock Bar,Flap Jack, Babi Guling, Potato Head, Menega Seafood Cafe. Stay-- Best Western Kuta Beach Hotel, The Laguna Resort & Spa Nusa Dua.
Surabaya (4D3N): Sightseeing--Tunjungan Plaza Mall, Pasar Atom, Ciputra World Mall, Galaxy Mall. Culinary--Bakso Pak Djo Gaul, Hachi-Hachi Bistro, Tawan, Mie Ujung Pandang, Kue Pancong, Bebek Goreng Bu Suryo, Bakwan Kapasari, Dewa-Ndaru, Martabak Manis Holland, XO Suki, Sushi Tei. Stay--Sheraton Surabaya Hotel & Towers.
A detailed summary on each city will be on a separate post.
My flight back home required transit in Taipei for 10+ hrs. I was going to go outside of the airport to the city for sightseeing, but the process seemed too complicated 'cause I had to go through immigration, exchanging money, getting transportation and all that. So at the end I ended up wandering aimlessly around the airport from one terminal to another trying to kill times until I grew very tired.
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| Apparently, Hello Kitty rules the airport |
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| Hello Kitty themed gate |
I gave up and decided to check into EVA's airport hotel for few hrs to get some sleep and shower.
I arrived in NY safe and sound and went through the easiest custom ever. Yay!
Overall, it was the best trip I've had to date. So much to take away from, so many memories to remember.
I couldn't thank everyone enough, friends and family, all who had been part of my journey and made it so special. Hope to see you again sooner than later =)
xoxo <3
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