We woke up even later than the previous day. As we arrived at the restaurant, we hurriedly got enough food before the staff started to pack up the buffet table.
We checked out late (as wife was still busy) even though it was unavailable. Thankfully there weren’t any calls to chase us. We went back to the same library to settle the bill and that’s when we gave displeased feedback in which they provided a free transfer back to the terminal. As we boarded the private car, the driver handed to us the boarding tickets that was handled by the resort as part of their customer service. The drive back was very different from the first, as the driver sped to the terminal.
Unbelievable amount of baggage.Private transfer vehicle.
As we arrived at the ferry terminal, there was already a long line queuing to get through immigrations. We proceeded to the counter in front of Bintan lounge just beside the long queue and was pleasantly surprised to find that Emerald class tickets holders just need to check in their baggage at this counter and to top it all, the staff will take care of the passport stamping as well. All we need to do was to relax at one of their table within the lounge and drink the free hot drinks (Lipton tea bags etc) and wait for the delivery of the passport and the call for boarding. Definitely a plus point for passengers with baby as it removed the hassles of queuing ang crowding with the rest of the passengers. Jr. was not sleeping but wasn’t fussy either and so all was fine, even though the lounge was a tad bit crowded and slightly noisy though it looked bigger than the one in Tenah Merah. Similarly, it was a direct boarding from the lounge concept and the walk to the ferry is very much closer compared to the one at Tenah Merah. The ferry trip home was eventless.
Bintan Lounge.Within the lounge.Good bye Bintan!
While at the arrival hall, it was manageable as knowing the efficiency of our immigrations officers, we got through pretty quickly. There was a duty free shop and I picked myself one vodka, having met the criteria of overseas travel beyond 48 hrs. After picking up luggage, we had to go through a Xray scanner and that’s when it was a messy. I had to removed all the things in my pockets (handphone, wallet, keys, etc) and at the same time manage the 4 bags onto the Xray and queue to get through the body scanner. The timing was misaligned as my personal belongings went through the scanner first and for a short time, I was concerned that these would be taken away by someone else if I didn’t watch out for it. Fortunately, it was there after I reached the other side.
Packed everything into the car that was parked for 2 days already and drove back, paying just about $44 for the parking fees.
This trip was a first for us, and an easy one since it was only mostly a overseas staycation. However, I didn’t enjoy the trip since there was so much limitations to
where and when we could go and what we can do. These limitations were mostly from 2 contributions, the baby and the wife.
With the baby, you will be already tied down by his needs, such as sleeping and feeding. It really depends on the baby’s ability to adapt, and if he is able to sleep anywhere and anytime, that would give you flexibility in your travel. For feeding, preparations are important and if managed well, you get more flexibility as well.
With the wife, it depends on whether the baby is breastfeeding mainly or on formula milk. With formula, there are no limitations except for the amount of warm water to bring. But breastfeeding wifes present the most challenge to the flexibility of the trip. Because on top of meeting the baby feeding needs, there are also the need to express milk and keep them frozen. This cannot be done without a freezer, portable pumps and portable keep-it-cold bags. On top of that, if the wife does not breast feed and/or carry out milk expression in public places, then you are more or less confined to the room for certain period of the time. Other than that. there are some who require “hot compression” in order not prevent breast engorgement. This only meant more time was required to be stuck in the room, with me taking care of Jr. and my wife taking care of herself.
Unless there is a drastic change to the current routine, this trip proved to me that it was just too challenging to go on another trip. Looked like we just had to wait it out before resuming our travels.
Woke up the next day at 930am Singapore time and thought that we were late for the included breakfast where in fact, Bintan was 1 hour later than Singapore. Proceeded to the Treetop restaurant for the breakfast using the buggy and unexpectedly we saw so many people dining in the restaurant, a stark difference from the dinner the day before. The breakfast included was buffet style, a combintation of local and international food. The end time for the buffet was 1030am Bintan time but that was more than enough time for us to eat. As usual, baby slept a while in the stroller before fussing and thus we had to rotate to carrying him and having breakfast. Bringing him to the view deck outside made him sleepy before we were ready to leave, he was fast asleep in my arms.
Buffet table.Variety of crepes, pancakes and pudding.Mixed Omelette ordered from the kitchen.
It was after breakfast that our displeasure for this stay started to accumulate. We received a call somewhere close to noon time, asking if we needed a buggy to check out. I didn’t expect to hear that as we were booked for 2 nights. I told him to check as we were staying for another night and he quickly apologised.
One of the activity we were looking forward with Jr. was to gave him some swim time in the tub. So we tried to fill the marble tiled bath tub with water but the lack of hot water issue was there. We called the reception and they got engineering to come have a look but after checking, they informed that we had to wait for the hot water which was about 45 mins and that the amount of hot water wasn’t enough to fill the tub. That was just utter disappointing as we knew the baby would enjoy the swim in the tub (as what we had given him in the staycation). Furthermore, with Jr. crying in my one arm and the staff explaining to me concurrently (as the wife was busy), I couldn’t get him to work on it further and excused them.
We had to use quite a bit of tissue paper to dry out the feeding bottles and the tissue boxes ran out. We called the reception not once or twice but three times before it was finally delivered to us. We didn’t know if this was because we were staying in the villa the whole day (we skipped lunch due to the full breakfast) so that the housekeeping wasn’t able to do their job or what but we weren’t happy with the slow response. The housekeeping only came in the afternoon and topped up both tissue boxes and some mineral water.
We ordered a light meal and it was delivered and set up at the table at the balcony. It became cold quickly since the sea breeze was consistently strong. Portions were quite big so we left them unfinished. Staff later called to have them picked up, which was good, knowing that these would definitely attract ants.
Spring rolls and laksa. Didn’t look appetizing.
Wanted to visit the beach so we fed the baby before leaving. The beach was located at the other end of the resort and definitely required a buggy ride. There were 2 other restaurants, The Cove, mediterranean cuisine and Saffron which served Thai, at the beach entrance. There was also another pool as we approached the private beach, shared by Banyan Tree and the Angsana branch. We stroll around first visiting Angsana, which seemed more crowded (as it was more family oriented) with quite a crowd at the pool before taking a stroll on the wooden bridge to the rocks. There was a sign that offered insect repellent to prevent sandflies bite. I wasn’t in the mood to feed these insects and so we briefly took some photos and returned back to the room, getting on board the buggy which had just ferried some guests over.
Swimming pool near the beach.Large pool at Angsana resort.Private beach shared by Banyan Tree and Angsana.
After arriving did I realised that I left the room key behind because housekeeping was at our villa before we left. Luckily he was just a 2 villas away and he helped us open the door.
Didn’t get to dip in the pool for 2 reasons. The pool water was “dirty”, contaminated by the fallen fauna in the morning as it rained. Housekeeping didn’t clear it up either and so I only dipped my feet into it for a while, and activated the jacuzzi jets just for that. The other reason was that baby had to be looked after while my wife was busy.
For dinner, we visited Saffron, the Thai restaurant. For this meal, I only brought along the car seat since I could just place it on another seat, removing the extra load of the stroller. As we arrived and got seated, there was a lion dance going about at the entrance before the 2 lions came into the restaurant itself. We were at first concern if the noise was going to frighten the baby but there was’t an issue. We even managed to take a picture with the lion, which was modernly designed with ironman-like lighting on its head.
Modern design of Saffron restaurant.Lion dance in the restaurant.Tasty desert but don’t know what it is.Appetizers of chips of sauces.Chicken kebah.Phad Thai.Tom Yum soup.
The Thai dinner tasted so much better. Even though it was fine dining, the food portions were adequate. This, of course, came with a cost as well.
Retired back to the villa after dinner, catching up with some Tv before going to bed.
This is the first outing for us where we are bringing Jr. with us. Our trial destination to test your baby’s temper while overseas is Bintan. At least there isn’t a need to negotiate the flight which could be very difficult due to the pressure equalization during flight, causing many babies to cry, some I heard could last the entire flight. How tramatising is that for everyone on board. In order to get back to the old traveling lifestyle, we were going to introducing traveling progressively to our newcomer. We started off with doing staycation to test how both us and the baby can accommodate to different room environment, at Equarius Hotel over at Sentosa. Managed to keep the baby happy and ourselves managing the duties well. So onto stage 2, overseas resort stay.
We chose Bintan Bayan Tree resort for a couple of reasons. First it is reputable brand and therefore should be most comfortable for stressful travelers such as 1st time parents like us. Transportation could be arranged so that we need not be concern with how to move about and focus on taking care of the baby. Secondly, the resort has baby friendly necessities to be rented, things like sterilizer, baby bathing set and cot. These made feeding a little easier. Third and most importantly, there weren’t other options available already since we booked really late and the rooms were mostly fully booked, many like us have taken advantage of the super long weekend of the 2015 Chinese New Year. The popular Club Med and the sister company of Angsana was fully booked. Obviously, this comes with a (hefty) cost as well.
I had taken leave on the eve of Chinese New Year in order to prepare early for the trip while my wife was still on maternity (best time to travel without taking leave). By the time we are done packing, we had a whopping 6 number of luggage/package for a 3D2N stay. Both my wife and I share a backpack for our clothes while others consist of 1 bag for baby (clothes and stuff), one diaper bag (with many bottles), one day trip bag (containing pumps and carrier), 1 stroller and 1 car seat. Loaded everything onto the car and off we drove to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, arriving just past 1 hour before boarding, and parked the car there (maximum parking fee cap at SGD $20/day).
Checked in 2 bags at the counter (and they advised that we should bring up the stroller where people will help us bring up the ferry and not check in since it might get crushed) and proceeded to have lunch at the big but crowded Killiney Kopitiam, where choices were limited. Had to gobble down the fried rice before the baby woke up after napping in the stroller. It was a struggle to negotiate the snaking queue and managing a stroller, a restless baby and the other bags on hand, but the most difficult was to get through the detector where we have to drop all the bags, empty the pockets, push the stroller to the other side and pick up everything again, with hordes of passenger passing through.
Once we were through to the immigrations, it became better. Went to the counter together where we had to scan the thumbprints for the adults while the kid had to pass through. As we have purchased the Emerald Class seats (something like the business class for the Bintan Resort Ferries), we then proceeded to the lounge on the immediate right hand side. Again, there were other choices as the economy tickets were all fully booked for that time slot of 2pm and no more tickets till after 8pm.
Lounge at Tenah Merah. Not many people since it was already boarding time.
Baby started to fuss after we entered the lounge and there were many people in there, all waiting for boarding for the same ferry. Successfully calm him down by walking him around within and outside the lounge (there was a door to the hot weather outside) and feeding him with milk (important to keep the milk supply in the carry on bag). The boarding time wasn’t on time as the ferry came back late and the passengers in the normal seats were boarding first (exceptional since Emerald class was supposed to have priority booking), so my wife brought the baby to the restroom (where there is a changing pad) to change his diapers. The call for boarding came soon after and eventually we were the last to board, with quite a bit of walking from the lounge to the ferry. It was easier though since people were available to help with the barang barang and the stroller. I had to fold the stroller myself since the people weren’t familiar and brought the car seat up to the 2nd floor of the
Emerald class where the baby can sit inside it, placed on an individual seat between me and my wife.
Some say that babies enjoy ferries trip since the up and down motion of the ferry on the sea makes a baby sleepy. That was true to a certain extent but mine wanted to fuss before going to sleep. Before he made a huge ruckus, I carried him and walked and rocked him a bit before he felt asleep. Put him back into the car seat where he slept till we got off the ferry. There was a free soft drink or mineral water for those in the Emerald class on top of the supposedly more spacious seat and the priority boarding.
Priority in getting off the ferry was a gift for us as it was easier to be ahead of the crowd that could get a little rowdy. It also meant that we were first few to clear immigrations and get on with our journey quicker. Baby slept through immigrations, and luggage claim and even at the waiting area that Bayan tree had for guests. Though we had arranged for a private transfer, we had to wait about 10mins for it to arrive before it was a 5 mins drive from the terminal to the resort. The driver was wary of the sleeping baby and drove smoothly and slowly over the many road humps within the resort.
Bintan terminal.Banyan tree waiting area at the terminal.
Once at the Banyan Tree resort, we were brought to the library to do the check in, where every guest was being served with the paper work brought to them. While we waited, we were some gingerly drink, not so tasty. After the signing of the papers, we were brought to our villa using buggy. We tried asking for late check out (as wife needs to use the facilities before boarding the ferry back) but as expected, we were told that they were fully booked. Travel about the resort would require buggy most of the time since villa were isolated and to get to the restaurants was a bit of distance. However, buggies were readily available upon call.
Gingerly welcome drink.Library where check in took place.
The villas were built on slopes and there was a stairway down to the main door of ours from the main road. Climbing up and down that flight of steps was challenging with the amount of luggage we have but it was ok with help from the porter. The first door of the villa led to a small garden/compound before a 2nd door to the main villa. This reminded me of a temple, whereby the front door had a small stepover.
As we entered the villa, we were impressed by the spa like design of the villa, nice wooden furniture with warm dim lighting and also some scent incense for use. The bed was a little high to climb up onto. It faced a majestic view of the South China sea with a constant cool sea breeze blowing about. There was a huge open balcony that had a small dip pool and a sun bed and a spacious area that had a table with 2 chairs, good enough for tea.
Spa like design.Comfy bed facing the sea but quite high to reach.Side table with Nespresso machine.Day bed.Open balcony with dip pool.Toilet in a separate room as the sink.Concrete bathtub with rain shower.Open closet with bathrobe hanging.
During booking we have requested for some baby items to be prepared but unfortunately it wasn’t ready at the time of our arrival. We had to make constant calls to get sterilizer, cot (which we didn’t use as it was too deep), diapers (Drypers that we didn’t trust), bathing tub and accessories. The milk warmer was a struggle to arrange as the staff wasn’t sure what it was and never came. Spent some time in the villa, enjoying the sea breeze and waiting for my wife before it was time for dinner.
Baby accessories like sterilizer, cot etc.
The buggy came soon as we called for it. We brought the stroller and the car seat along so that we could place the baby inside it while we have dinner at Treetop restaurant, the main restaurant in the resort. It was empty when we were there and remained so till we were almost done. Jr. was napping in the stroller for some time until he woke up for milk where we had prepared some bottled milk to feed him. Ala Carte dinner wasn’t particularly tasty, and we were left disappointed with the Otah, thinking it would taste about the same as the ones in Singapore. Not to mention the hefty price tag that came with it. The staff helped to call for the buggy as I trudged the stroller up the stairs.
Starters.Siew Mai cabbage and Tohu.Otah Otah.Caramel coffee.Omelette wrapped rice with satay.Local soup.
Night had fallen and as we arrived at the villa, the stairway was in complete darkness. Seemed like lighting have broken down and the staff said that they would get engineering to look at it. In the meantime, I had to navigate using phone light with all the barang barang.
The milk bottle warmer was delivered but not working. We called the reception and they delivered another sterilizer. Then we called a second time and they said they had to check but didn’t get back to us. Some time later, we called only to be told that they do not have another one. We made do with the disfunctional one by manually boiling water to warm up the bottles.
As I took a shower, I noticed that the water pressure wasn’t consistent and the rain shower wasn’t able to sustain due to this. The water temperature wasn’t hot too but since I wasn’t using the tub, it didn’t occur to me as a major concern.
Since it was the eve for Chinese New Year, some treats we delivered to the room while we were away for dinner. But we didn’t dare to take these chocolate/sweet treats as there was an ant standing on it, which was a real turn off. They also gave a red packet with 2 chocolate golden coins, interesting way of mark the day but no thanks to the ants, we left everything untouched.
Ang Bao with chocolate golden coins and the breakfast in room menu.Mandarin Oranges and CNY treats.
Spent the whole night in the villa itself, perpetually busy with entertaining the little one and feeding him with cleaning his feeding bottles and freezing the milk in the little bar fridge punctuated with watching some satelite programs on TV before going to bed, with the familiar routine of interupted sleep and night feeding. As Jr. wasn’t quiet all the time, it was great that the villa wasn’t close to the next one, and thus there weren’t complaints of him being too noisy when he cried.
Total duration 3D2N Singapore is 1hr behind Bintan. Ferry time is 1hrs on Bintan Resort Ferries from Singapore to Bintan. Afternoon ferry on 18th February at 2pm and arrival in Bintan at 2pm.. Return ferry is on the 20th February at 230pm and arrival in Singapore at 430pm.
This escape plan was planned as our trial trip with the coming of our little one. We chose to visit Bintan because we wanted to introduce progressively travel to the baby and therefore find an overseas trip where a flight was not required. It was a super long weekend holiday as the Chinese New Year was on Thursday and Friday and what better way to travel without taking official leave?
Budget nature: Budget buster.
Although it was a simple trip to Bintan, the last minute booking coupled with the long holiday period meant that prices would be marked up. The amount spent on accommodation was already very high, the Chinese New Year day room rate was more than double on the usual day itself. Due to unavailability of the ferry tickets at that time slot, we had to settle of the “business” class seats and that was slightly less than twice an economy class seat.
Complexity: Easy, except for adapting to traveling with a baby.
Since all the transfers were arranged, there was nothing difficult about getting to the resort. All these comes with a cost but when travelling with a young one, paying some to remove transportation worries might be worth it.
Tried to wake up early cos I wanted to see the sunrise and but was too late. The sun was already up. Open the front door and I was greeted by one hell of a view.
Mt Merapi in her full glory at our doorstep.
Went along the corridor and took a few shots. To the right the sun was up already but the view was just as amazing. Went back to brush my teeth and to get ready for breakfast and a great day. Breakfast was served poolside alfresco. There was the usual buffet stuff though the variety wasn’t that great.
Alfresco breakfast buffet.
After breakfast, went back to the room to retrieve our packed bags for check out. We would be spending our night in Semarang due to an early flight the following day. We had booked a driver for the whole day to bring us touring and he had arrived early while we were checking out. It was for a price of about SGD 45 for the whole day for car and driver, pretty good if you asked me. The driver spoke reasonably understandable English and was born in the region and thus familiar. He had even suggested a change in our sequence just to get the best of everything. He suggested doing Mt Merapi first since the sky was clear in the morning and we would get good pictures then. About an hours’ drive and we arrived at location after going through an entrance. There were still many staying beside this active volcano, with the latest eruption just in 2010. The fertility of the soil made farmers stay.
Standing in front of the smoking Merapi.
The parked his car and we alighted and were free to go to wherever we wanted. There was various stalls that were not opened and a few that operated 4 wheel drives to the volcano. Those were a tad bit out of our budget and we continued walking towards the volcano till we saw a pretty good deal. Pillion riding for on a motorcycle for one of the location for just SGD 2 per person! The “chauffeur” were ladies but they were shy about ferrying us around in their little bikes. It was pretty fun.
Place where the pillion riding service was offered.
Rendall on the bike in front.
We were first brought to a location where there was a view deck, and a few posters talking about the eruption and a shed with a burnt vehicle. Around the area were workers at work, rebuilding the area.
View from the top of a view deck
Great spot for a bird’s eye view.
Shed with a burnt vehicle and some information posters around.
After the view deck, the riders brought us to the right hand side of this location, down a small slope to an long empty brown stretch. This was the lava river that formed after the eruption and it stretched as far as 20km away, we were told. An obvious jut was found in the middle of this stretch – a little 10T (or much more??) boulder was spitted by Merapi and it landed some 7km away from its mouth, the location where it was sitting now. That was some eruption I must say!
So we scaled this little boulder to cam whore.
Brown stretch of lava bank.
Information board on the eruptions.
Stores opened for business. No risk no gain.
After countless shots of the majestic Merapi, we finally decide to go back and the ladies drove us back to the initial location where we first boarded. There we roamed around abit, trying to look for various viewpoints of the mountain. After completely satisfied with the shots, then we boarded the car for the next destination, another hour away from where we were. Borobudur, the site that motivated the visit to Yogyakarta.
Entrance of Borobudur Temple with a hawker selling hats.
Grandeur of the temple can be experienced on the way there. View from the gardens in front of it.
Procedure??
A flight of stairs before the temple.
The guide helped with this shot.
Once alighted, we went through the entrance till we reached a ticketing counter that was within a room. There you could get free bottled water and also the place where you could engage a guide which was great so that you would learn more about its architecture and history. We had to pay the entrance fee of about SGD20+ and were each given a sarong to don as a sign of respect for the visit in the temple. Along the way, the guide would share some info on the history of the temple, the cravings of the temple what it meant, the different stages of Buddhism up to the enlightenment at the top of the temple. There were also different postures of the Buddha at the different side facing, comprising of mediation, calling the earth to witness, compassion and cycle of life.
View of the garden from Borobudur.
Wall carvings depicting sins of self pleasure with drinking, dancing and smoking.
Wall carving depicting the birth of Buddha.
Stupas everywhere.
The guide provided pretty interesting information. He told us that the architect who designed this temple was buried in the hills which can be seen from the temple. The hills formed a shape of a sleeping man and thus represented the architect lying beside the temple, keeping watch over it. He also shared some distasteful dirty jokes that we both felt bemused but turned a deaf year too. Minus point.
Sleeping architect seen from Borobudur.
Cute statue of a lion – Smiling or Angry? Eyebrows reveal the feelings.
Panorama at the top level of Borobudur.
Panorama of the view from the top of Borobudur.
Busy cam whoring while Rendell the iphone photographer was busy snapping away.
Rows and rows of stupas. Buddhas can be found in them.
Buddha in a mediation posture in a shelter.
Another Buddha statue in mediation posture.
This temple had me comparing with Angkor Wat which I visited years back. I remembered Angkor Wat as somewhat bigger in area, but with much empty spaces unlike Borobudur which was quite compacted. Although both were Buddhist temples, each offered different styles of design and definitely worth a visit each. If required to make a choice between the two, I would choose Siem Reap for the variety of temples in a localised area though.
Borobudur from the diagonal.
Spent quite a while for shooting more shots though the more we shot, the more the pictures seemed to look the same. Oh well. More is better mentality. After finally leaving, the route was arranged such that we were made to walk through rows and rows of stalls that were all closed. It was a wonder why there weren’t many tourists at that time of the day. After the stalls, we then came to a place where there were a couple of food stalls and since business wasn’t bustling, the waitress tried to grab the people that were just exiting. And usually the first stall often got the most customers, us amongst them.
Had to try their Mee Goreng.
Nasi Goreng was not too shabby too.
Our next and final stop was another UNESCO listed Prambanan Temple, some 2 hrs away. One the way out of Borobudur, we alighted outside the compound of Mendut Temple by the road, and took some shots. It was a small temple so we decided not to spend too much time (and money) on that and proceeded towards Prambanan.
The tickets costed almost SGD20 but the whole area didn’t look as big as that of Borobudur but the towering temples could be seen from far. Similarly we were given a sarong to wear before entering the temple compound but this time we didn’t ask for a guide. There were multiple towers but there was one in the middle of the compound that had a queue. We proceeded to line up too after taking some photos of the surrounding.
Medut Temple.
UNESCO sign atop the Prambanan name.
Various temple in the compound.
Lingam and yoni all over.
One of the towers where you can climb up the stairs to look into a room.
Joined the queue. There was a warning sign on the visit.
There was a large sign that informed visitors of the structure of the temple being unstable, up to a point where number of visitors were strictly controlled and everyone who entered was given a helmet each. That took a while and finally it was our turn. This Shiva temple was the biggest tower in the compound and there were steps to climb to move around. The temple was different in terms of architecture compared to Borobudur, a beauty on its own. There were also various wall carvings too.
Shiva carving on the wall.
Climb a flight of stairs for access.
Nice stairway stone statue.
Door overhead carving.
Room where Durga resides in the temple.
Took about an hour to finish walking the complex but we roamed around the complex to shoot photos.
Panorama of the Prambanan Temple
The last attraction before returning home.
And of course we have to wait for sunset right?
We waited for quite a bit for sunset and did our shots. Satisfied, we walked out and there were rows of stalls selling stuff and food. We visited one to get our dinner. Across the store where we dined, there was a shop that sold wood crafts and a wooden craft man and he was hard at work. Though we wasn’t really interested in his wares, we striked a conversation with him and understood that he came from Bali. He came here to earn a living and was able to speak good English, a consequence of an island full of foreign tourists.
Craftsman hard at work.
Gado Gado
Tahu Goreng, somewhat different from the one in Singapore.
Night had fallen by the time we boarded the car. It was the fasting month and it was also time for him to break fast. However, he was very service oriented and continued to drive us to the Joglosemar office for our trip back. Booked the next available bus, which is a smaller van compared to the one we arrived in. The traffic back wasn’t really good either and it took another 3hrs before we finally arrived in Joglosemar in Semarang. From there, we took a taxi back to our Ibis hotel in Semarang. It was a simple hotel and it was really cheap. There ain’t wifi in the room though so Rendell has to go to the lobby to use it. On the other hand, my laptop could be wired for internet but it was not working. The IT guys came up and replaced the cable and the internet came alive! Ordered some room service since the dinner wasn’t really filling.
Simple modern room.
Rain shower with funky coloured tiles.
Adequate and clean toilet.
The town looked pretty boring as we attempted to walk around. It was more of a business town then a tourist town and virtually all the shops were already closed. There weren’t anything fantastic to watch and so we went to sleep.
View from the room.
Awoke early the next day since our fight was 1040 in the morning. Went back to the tiny airport. There were some shops at the airport, selling tourist souvenirs and local food to bring home. There were also 2 different locations for international and domestic flights, but fairly closed to one another.
Goodies from the Inaugural flight. Certificate, Mascot soft toy and a paparazzi style photo.
Small airport of Semarang.
This was my first trip travelling with this old friend of almost 20 years. It was really fun as there were many things that we caught up with one another during this trip. He made the itinerary which suited our travelling styles and was easy-going the same way that I was too. I loved taking pictures and he was far more a cam whore than I was, I discovered! Well, memories like these are worth the digital storage.
Started the day early as the inaugural Silkair flight to Semarang from Singapore was jetting off at 845am, which means we had to get to the airport for check in really early. My travel mate Rendall joined me at the carpark (walking distance from his home) and my dad sent us to the airport before going to work.
Though it was an inaugural flight, there wasn’t any fancy stuff going around the counters, check in was business as usual. However, before boarding the plane, we were each given a bird-in-a-cultural-costume soft toy and a certificate to commemorate the taking this flight. Flight time was about 2 hrs and over in a snappy shuteye and soon we landed in an unfamiliar Semarang city of Central Java. That was when we experienced something that was not expected in the usual flights. From far we saw a fire engine parked by the lane side and as the plane taxied towards the gate, the water cannon salute was given (where the fire engine activated the hose so that the plane could pass under it). It was pretty thrilling to experience that the first time. On top of that, there was also a red carpet decked out to welcome first Silkair guests, felt like a VIP (just a little). Of course we took pictures, who could resist?
Red carpet treatment for inaugural MI 102 SIlkair to Semarang
All set and ready for an adventure
Small Achmad Yani International airport
Got off the airport and boarded a taxi to Joglosemar office in Semarang for our trip to Yogyakarta. Asked to go on meter and it was just a couple of dollars. The Joglosemar office was located at the same building location as the Semarang Tourism Information Center, to the left hand side of the building. There was also a small stall that sold foodstuff and drinks. We proceeded straight to the office where there was already a customer. Small counter so we just waited till it was our turn. There were 2 options with various timings and so we took the one next available which was a 20 seater luxury coach (something like those coaches that you take to go Genting) and it came with tiny packed lunch. They weren’t really good at English but we figured.
There was some time and so we visited the Tourism Information Center. Went in the entrance but did not see anyone around. Someone then came out from another room and asked if we needed help in which we mentioned that we needed some maps and information. She went on to lead us through the door into another bigger room where there seemed to be a library and place where they keep the brochures and stuff. They were very helpful in pointing out the various attractions available in Semarang and maps for Java and Semarang. After getting what we required, we excused ourselves and went back to the sitting area outside to wait.
As time drew closer and closer, we got a little concern if we have been missed at all. There were coaches arriving and parking at the busy main road since the internal parking space was full of mini buses already and we weren’t sure which were the buses. As the drivers and their assistants reported back to the offices, we tried to ask them but got a confused response. But this didn’t last long and soon enough, the office staff and the drivers came out to call for the various destinations for the buses. There weren’t many passengers but we just sat at the allocated seats first.
Joglosemar office for buses to Yogyakarta
Si Podang within the Tourism Information Center – The soft toy was a smaller softer version of this mascot.
Counter at the TIC
Packed lunch consisting of water and bread
Paddy fields along the way.
Logging activity
Incredible jam.
A bus stop maybe?
Yogyakarta is about 130km away on Google map and I thought the trip would just be around 2hrs if not less. It took about 3.5hrs. The bus had to make a few more stops collecting/depositing cargo goods and passengers. After about a 30mins drive, we were finally on the continuous movement towards our destination. However, as expected, the roads were all single lane in each direction and loads of heavy vehicles took this lane for transit. Therefore instead of moving at a highway speed of 80km/hr, we were probably 40km max on busy roads and frequently at standstill too. But I guess there weren’t any faster way there since this was the only road.
Finally we arrived at the office in Yogya. From here we were supposed to get a taxi to our hotel but as we walked to the main road, there were no taxis in sight. We walked along the road and soon reached a food stall and thought we should have a bite. It was a road side burger stall so we each bought a burger.
Burger store
Cooking in progress.
Famished!
Inside the tiny local bus
That’s me and Rendall behind me with the helpful taxi driver
After food, we continued along the road often looking behind to see if there were any taxis. Then we saw a chance in the form of a bus and it stopped for us. We asked the guy at the door if this went to the place where we wanted and he nodded. Then we found ourselves seated amongst the locals. Aboard, we met a taxi driver on his off days who could speak English and he advised us the payment of the fare to the door guy who got us boarded, which was pretty cheap but we didn’t have the change and ended paying 10k Rupiah. He was also kind enough to show us the place to alight, which was the same place where he alighted. Interesting experience there.
Once off, our bargaining skills was put in practice with the haggling of price for trishaw cyclist to bring us to our hotel. Based on our thumb sucking ability, we asked for a mere 20k to our hotel. From there, it was a breezy, squeezy (2 guys with backpacks) 15mins ride to the hotel. To be honest, we felt really bad that the distance was really far and in the end, we paid 30k instead, which wasn’t too much more anyway.
Mini local bus that we took
Snapping away while sitting on a trishaw.
Reached the hotel and checked in at the Jambuluwuk Hotel. The room that was given to us was pretty clean and spacious. The view wasn’t fantastic but it was one of the tallest buildings around. There were other rooms facing the Merapi volcano and that would probably have the best view, facing both sunset direction. We weren’t planning a long stay anyway so it didn’t really matter. After a while we proceeded to the Malioboro shopping street for dinner and walkabout, an easy 15mins of walking. The weather was somewhat cooler than Singapore, making the stroll breezy.
Recept area
Room
Bathroom with a tub.
Malioboro street with food stalls before the sunset.
There were quite a few food stalls and we dropped by one stall that sold some fried pancake like food (Roti Bakar), not sure of the name as it was in Indonesian. Though we didn’t know Indonesian, our finger pointing and charade skills managed to get us through. Wasn’t satisfied and bought some fried stuff from another stall. Then continued walking along the street, lined with many shops selling many touristy stuff that repeated frequently. Not very interesting if you aren’t interested.
Frying in progress.
Crispy and a tad bit oily. Quite filling too.
More fried stuff from another road stall.
Night shot of Malioboro, where streets were busy with tourists and locals alike.
Bought orange juice from a fruit drink stall from a shop but unfortunately, it was more water than juice, tasted pretty bad. We continued into Malioboro mall and visited a noodle restaurant searching for some Indo Mie. We didn’t really get that but some other noodles. Nothing much to shout about except that it was cheap and we were filled. We also weren’t interested in the mall stuff and left soon after.
View of the mall interior, something like a Singapore oldstyle rural mall.
Indo noodles.
Walking back to the hotel was just as simple. Explored the hotel for a bit, there was a small business center, a pool and a spa. We were looking for a bar with a live band but there wasn’t anything on a Monday night. Went back to the room, spent some time on the wifi before going to sleep, ready for a more exciting day the next day.
Total duration 3D2N Singapore is 1hr behind Semarang, Indonesia. Flight time is 2hrs direct flight on Silkair (won a pair of free tix for its inaugural flight!) from Singapore to Semarang Morning flight on 29th Jul and arrival in Semarang also in the morning.
This escape plan was triggered from the winning of a pair of tickets to Semarang which is close to the UNESCO Borobudur that I very wanted to visit. I was joined by a good old friend who volunteered to his time to travel with me (since not everyone was really interested in Indonesia and taking 3 days of precious leave for this) and also doing up a flawless itinerary that ensured affordable fun.
Budget nature: Easy on the wallet
Winning the tickets helped to reduce the overall costs by a bit but the cheaper route was to fly direct to Yogyakarta instead. There are, of course, other cheaper budget airlines that fly there and thus the win is of not much significance. Travelling in Indo is cheap by international standards and with proper planning it can be achieved easily. We did it under SGD$300 all in.
Complexity: DIY possible for the novice
Some planning is definitely required but it is not too difficult to travel. Some difficulty in communication might be expected but heading to Yogyakarta is not difficult. Prearranged drivers would make traveling to various stops at Yogya easier and save up on some time but expect to pay a little bit more for the hassle free travel.
