Banjarmasin, 26-29 July 2007

"The city of water" -- I should call it. After a two-day event at Unlam, some friends took me for a boat (they call it "jukung") ride in the Barito river. The trip started at about 5 am, and the boat's roof was so low that I had to bow deeply to enter it. It was also very narrow, so we had to be careful not to disturb the balance. Despite such inconveniences, the trip was wonderful. The main attraction was a floating market where people sell and buy daily needs, mostly veggies and fish. After we finished, we went to a floating restaurant -- the cook, his cooking equipments, and seats for visitors were all packed in a boat. I ordered soto banjar, the taste was not special, but the sensation of having breakfast in the middle of a huge river in a small boat is thrilling.

We also crossed a tug boat with payload of coal. It has been said that coal mining has degrading the quality of environment in South Kalimantan. To make it worse, the money is said to go to Jakarta and even abroad. On the way back, I watched people living in the river bank starting their daily activities: bathing, washing clothes, and shopping -- using boat as a transportation of course...

What an unforgettable experience...

Borobudur - 30 June 2007

When Puri Asri Hotel in Magelang declined our booking due to no vacancy, I reluctantly chose Borobudur as the place for MTI's annual meeting. I only know Amanjiwo as the best hotel in the area, but the cost is surely out of MTI's budget. From Google, Nana and Yeni found Hotel Manohara, which is said to be run by the company who manages the great temple.

So at the day of the meeting I drove to Borobudur with no great expectation about the venue. I imagined a above-average budget hotel, located in the busy spot of Borobudur, etc...etc... But that imagination disappeared straightaway when I entered the gate. The hotel is within the temple complex. No crowd, tranquil garden, small-but-well managed rooms, ... and the great Borobudur in our frontyard.

The hotel offered a sunrise tour, which was very tempting to me -- but I declined that because I was not so sure that the sky would be friendly enough to pamper the viewers with a beautiful sunrise. However, I took an early self-tour and climbed to the top of the temple. It is a magnificent view from the top! The mystic atmosphere surrounded me for a splash moment. The story of Siddharta Gautama that I heard when I was a kid suddenly rushed into my mind...

Well...I'd better stop writing now. Just enjoy some of the pictures...

Ciater, 17-19 May 2007

Another family vacation, the second time to North Bandung area. This was almost exactly one year after our first trip to the same area. Last time, we did not complete the trip due to the big earthquake in Yogya that forced us to rush back home.

This time the trip was perfect. My Honda Stream has fully loaded with 7 people. We booked at the Sari Ater cottage at Ciater, a small place on the slope of Tangkubanperahu mountain. The cottage is located at the same place as a hot spring tourist object. So hot spring is the main attraction in the cottage. There are two hot spring pools for guests. Even every bathroom has a hot spring tap. People said the minerals are very good for skin health.

Well...this trip was fully a family trip. The focus was on my children. We just follow what they want. Fortunately, there are also interesting activities for children in the cottage complex. There are gokart and ATV (all-terrain vehicle), but they are not recommended for children under 10 years old. Children may also be interested in paint ball games with war settings. For my children who are addicted to war stuff, this is a perfect game. Horse- and cart-riding are also available.

We also went to the peak of Tangkubanperahu, but this time we did not spend much time as it was very crowded, and the weather was not too friendly (raining!).

Bromo, 10 May 2007

Just two days before the SITIA Conference at ITS Surabaya, a crazy idea popped up into my mind. The conference schedule was compacted into one day, and I got another day free. Then why shouldn't I use it for something unusual...something that I've never done before. And of course, it should be able to charge my spirit.

Bromo soon came into serious consideration. It matched with my requirements, and more importantly, this time is a perfect time to visit the infamous mountain since I would be travelling alone without my family. I know that the journey would be difficult and harsh -- something absolutely not for family. Then I booked a car for local transport to Bromo from Surabaya. Rp 300.000 (plus petrol) is fairly cheap for 24 hour rental period.

The car owner told me to depart at 11.00 pm. Okay...no problem. The driver was stunned for a moment when I told him I was travelling alone :) He must have thought I was a bit weird...

We took almost 4 hours to reach the last stop of the car. This small village is actually still a few kilometers from our destination. From here normal vehicle cannot proceed due to the very narrow and winding road. So I rent a 4WD old Jeep to continue the journey. First, we went to Mt. Penanjakan and stopped at a lookout shelter. We wanted to watch sunrise from this spot. Unfortunately the sky was not too friendly...too many clouds. However, the other side of the spot offered a breathtaking scenery! The view of two mighty mountains: Bromo and Butak. Both of them stand proudly in the middle of sand sea. Bromo is easily spotted by its greyish volcanic rock composition. Butak, on the other side, has a perfect symmetric shape, with greenish colour. The two mountains, side by side, seem to tell me that two contrast characteristics can still go together, hand-in-hand in harmony. The quiet and chilly morning added some further sensations. My soul was like to surrender completely... subhanallah...

From Mt. Penanjakan, we descended down to the sand sea and crossed it to reach the slope of Bromo. There is a Hindu temple close to it. The temple is used for Kesada ceremony. Our Jeep stopped near the temple, and I took a horse to climb Bromo. The horse didn't really bring me up to the peak, but stopped near 250 stairs towards the top of the mountain. When I saw the stairs, I thought...oh, this should be easy. But when I started climbing about 30 of them, my knee started trembling and I suddenly could hear my heart pumping very hard. Oh boy... it was not as easy as I thought... Finally with hard struggle, I managed to get to the top, and I was rewarded for my effort with another fascinating natural phenomenon. The Bromo crater is not big, but it continuously blows heavy smoke with strong sulphuric smell. And when I looked down, the temple and the surrounding sand sea offer another great view...

I didn't stay long at the top of Bromo since the smoke was also itchy to my eyes. From here, the Jeep driver brought me to another side of the Bromo's vast caldera, to a plain land full of bushes. Local people call this place "padang rumput" (savanna). I quickly remembered an old film, A Little House on the Prairie... this savanna was just exactly like that shown in the film :)

On the way back to our car stop, the driver brought me to the center of the sand sea. He called the place "pasir berbisik" (whispering sand). Whichever direction I saw, I saw sand and small stones. Oh...people said that this place is also famous for being used as a scene spot of Dian Sastrowardoyo's clip.

At around 8.30 am, we drove back to the car stop, and after I paid the Jeep driver (the cost of Rp 450.000 was a bit to expensive, I thought -- I should admit I'm not a good bargainer), I went back to Surabaya.

What a charging experience... the only thing I felt sorry was that I brought a wrong lens for my camera. I brought my 70-300mm tele lense, which was perfect for zoom pictures. However, I had difficulties to capture the breadth of the scenes. Unfortunately, the grandness of Bromo can only be captured through wide, panoramic views. So it seemed that I would rely on Photoshop to fix things...

Singapore, 30 March - 1 April 2007

A present for MTI crew members after very hard and dedicated work: a trip to Singapore. Since none of the guys and girls has been to Singapore before, I had to assume role as a "tour leader" :) So many things to prepare, including briefing pak Muji and mas Purbo what to tell other people if they asked about our absence :D

So... the trip started from Batam since we wanted to save fiscal cost. On the first day, our destination was the NUS campus. We met with a Vice Dean of MBA program and discussed about program development. I was almost sure that most of us didn't concentrate on the discussion... their mind was already on the tour plan after visiting NUS :)

I don't want to tell about details of our visits to interesting places. Just enjoy some of the pictures...