Walking in Malioboro

Finally, we're brought to Malioboro market.

Basically just 2 row of shops on the long straight road, but is known to be the top shopping market in Jogja.

I thought it would be fun, mana tau, we have to play some sort of "Amazing Race" game, where the hint is located somewhere like on the golden rabbit =.="

so here we go, along the straight, but i wasn't involved much in finding the hint/solution, i just taking picture around~ enjoying the view, while following my group's pace. xP

and i saw this! Horse riding along Malioboro street!
was wondering why they must close their eyes?
but when i got near, he actually responded to my movement!

Yeah, finally reach the end of the street, which indicated the end of the games...

But...u see the weather....

Haiz, walking the street under heavy rain is not a good idea :(

So...we went for some light food... 

Lunpia Semarang (popia)

Bakso & Mee Soto

my favourite since Bali trip -- Alpukat jus? (Avocado Juice)

Sate Karang
(got from a stall beside our bus)

Getting near to Gunung Merapi

Gunung Merapi (means Fire Mountain in Javanese), is an active volcano which is very near to the city of Yogyakarta.

Literally, it's kinda dangerous to go there, but for the sake of 'adventure', we visited there in our last trip! (this is spoken from 'lung', directly translated from Chinese >.<)

From hotel, we took the 3+2 seated bus getting towards Gunung Merapi...

ermmm...foot hill only...

The road is not really wide, and we're going uphill, a bit like in Bali.

Frankly, I still prefer the road system in Malaysia...

Then, we passed by a seem-to-have-destroyed dam, and they said this is for the lava not for water...

Finally, we had arrived our destination, where we're going for some CSR work--tree planting!

I could hardly take a picture of Gunung Merapi, due to the thick and big cloud!!!

One small peak was the only result I got...

Basically, the hole already been dug, what we need to do were just wearing gloves, then put the bonsai into the hole, and cover it at last...

One hole so many hands~~~ xD

I like this picture so much! Blue sky, white cloud, with not-so-green grass field...and everybody seemed 'busy'...haha!!!

but seriously, it was damn HOT!!!

After completing the hole, we went to a local primary school, for the library opening ceremony, which OGIP had sponsored on it...

Then, we're having our lunch in box in the bus....

After getting full, bored, dizzy and felt asleep, while waiting super looong in the bus for their Friday prayer @.@

Trying the Jogja food~

Even in our hotel, we got the chance to try the local cuisine during breakfast buffet. =D

Irshad had told me that the must-try in Jogja is always its "Gudeg"...

Gudeg is the one on bottom right, it doesn't look tempting from first sight though...

It's actually a traditional food from Central Java and becomes trademark of Jogja.

The taste...ermmm...personally I'm not really favor its combination--Nangka+Santan+some spices mix with Chicken which is kinda moist and abit too sweet!

Ok, at least I tried but wouldn't ask for more! xP

As for the desserts, my sight was captured by this "tau fu fah" of Jogja...

Irshad said this is "Bubur Sumsum".

The taste and texture is abit like Kuih Talam, but served as if we're eating Tau Fu Fah...quite nice also... :)

Then, we proceed with the kuih-muih...

The red AngGu kuih is known as "Mata Kerbau"--cow's eyes... pretty much similar to ours...

I've forgotten the name for that beautifully omelete wrapped kuih, with glutinous rice and grated coconut inside, which I thought is like otak-otak. For this appearance, I like it so much!

The one I ate with cili padi taste like fried popiah, with thicker than ordinary skin...

And finally, I discovered another way to eat bread with butter, besides adding white sugar as usual, I would add chocolate chips next time!

Muara Kapuas

The second night, we went to Muara Kapuas, somewhere 1 hour driving distance away from our hotel...

Boarding on the bus, so, from 'UTP', we're heading towards 'Ipoh' just to have our dinner...

Muara Kapuas, means where the river meet the sea...

From the design, I guessed that we were having dinner on the river...

Carnivor vs. Omnivor~

Personally, I don't think the food worth for such long travelling,

but maybe the environment would worth more?

Here's the place we had our dinner that night, taking picture together with China team, UTP best friends there! xP

OGIP!

This post is designated to the juniors who might be going for OGIP in the coming years~

so this was how the competition going on...

The night of arrival, all the participants gathered to introduce ourselves.

I would say, I like our intro :-

Appetizer - UTP song chorus; Main Course - Name and Ethnic/Nationality; Appetizer - *sound effect*!

Our team, 7 of us, are COLORFUL!!! (Malay, Chinese, Indian, Cambodian & Indonesian!)

Plus, there is a star shining in our team!

After briefing about the smart competition flow and group arrangement (as bottom), we found many problems with the system. So our lecturer argued. I felt like voicing out my mind so I joined the argument too...

From the argument I can conclude that UTP was the Problems Voicer, ITB was the Solution Provider, while UPN was the dunno-how-to-responder.

From here, I could see why ITB is the top uni in Indon. Somehow, I got the feeling that they would be champion the next day...

From the team arrangement, I felt that smart competition is just about the matter of luck!

(then on the day of competition, we found another winning factor)
but still, we tried to have faith on ourselves, were trying our best to maximize the chances to go to final stage...

(actually i started to regret for 'participating' in the argument before~)

So the next day, UTP team A was in group A2, team B in group B1.

Team A met ITB and another strong team, so unluckily eliminated at high mark.

Team B was luckily competing with weaker teams so proceed to the next round.

But unluckily, the excessive Geoscience questions and 'slower' buzzing were still the key factors for the lost.

I wonder why the hosting university team could predict the questions before the MC finish reading?

Besides participating in the competition, Ainin was performing during lunch break too!

Juniors, if you're going for OGIP, please remind the organizer not to repeat the same arrangement as below...

Elimination Stage : 3-4 teams form a group to compete and choose the best 2. [group A1,A2; B1,B2; C1,C2]

Semi-Final Stage : 2 winners from previous stage fight with another 1 or 2 winners. [group A, B, C]

Final Stage : Finally, only ONE team will be selected out of 3 or 4 teams competed in previous stage.

This was why, we questioned about the system besides arguing for the team arrangement...

Each stage started with 5 compulsory questions which ur team randomly pick from the envelope and can only be answered by ur team (only team leader can approach the mic),

then toss-up questions which u need to buzz *quickly* and answer within 5 sec, correct gain 10 mark, wrong deduct 10 mark! if u answered correctly in toss-up, then bonus ques will be given only to ur team with 20 mark gained if correct (no mark loss if wrong).

All questions pronounced by the Indon slang english, visual aids available only if question needed.

So be familiar with In-glish before going!

Basically the flow went like this... part of the story to tell before we forgot by next year~

Arrival at Jogja~

It's 2.30pm for us, but 1.30pm in Jogja.

***watches "screwing" and handphone resetting are in progress...***

Meanwhile, stomach was 'screwing' also.

The first request to our LO, Derrick -- "please bring us for lunch!"

haha...from his expression, I could sense that this is not part of their planning.
(this is the first sign of 'problematic Malaysian', more traces upcoming...) xP

So we were brought to this restaurant, called Lombok Idjo...which is quite near to our hotel.

It's just beside the main road, and the environment here quite good and comfortable for a fine dining...

Derrick reminded us that the sambel is very spicy, I thought he forgot that we are Malaysians,

but later I realized...

Thanks to Irshad, our ordering process was quite smooth and easy... :P

so we have Tahoe Goreng, Tempe Goreng, Sayur Asam, Ayam Penjet (+sambel Idjo) with white rice.

As for the name, I ordered Es Limoen Semriwing, and later I found out it's only Ais Limau Kasturi.

Derrick, our LO, is the one in red circle.

Who patiently waited for us and tried to be nice for every of our request. >.<

The Ayam Bakar is awesome! We presumed it might be ayam kampung, and the way it barbecued made it sooo delicious~

The sambel is extremely hot and spicy! if not because of the competition the day after, I would enjoy it to the max!!!

We liked the sup asam sayur as well!

Guess how much each of us spent on our first lunch? Around MYR 6 only!

Next, we headed to Sri Waderi Hotel, which is located just beside the main road.

The decoration at lobby looked classical with the carving on ceiling, wall and pillars, the old typewriter, the ancient family portrait, etc..

To reach our room, we need to walk outdoor for some distance from the lobby...

Luckily it was raining so we took an MPV provided by the hotel.

Our lecturer's double-bed-room is attached with living area, where we were studying (the first night), gossiping (post-competition), and killing time (while waiting for the delayed schedule)...

If not mistaken, it costs only MYR 233 for 3 nights...

While 3-4 students are sharing for a standard room.

There is a statue divided into two near the entrance of our hotel, and this design is almost everywhere in Balinese temples.

According to local belief, the devil will not be able to pass through this 'door'.

Oh ya, Derrick bought us handphone SIM card from XL Axiata.

Different numbers cost differently from 5k-10k rupiah per card, we guess it might due to different popularity of the number.

We topped up IDR30k (MYR10), but i could hardly use up the credit!

Tips taught by Irshad:

When making international call, it will be cheaper if we add "01000" in front of 6017xxxxxxx.

Departure to Jogja~

Early in the dawn, touching the dark, 7 of us were taking the BIG bus to LCCT.

(the girls were being late because of me, sorry...hehe!)

Once we arrived at LCCT, I got a feeling of nostalgia~
Exactly one month before, I just landed back from ShenZhen.

The excitement is still dancing in my cells! xD

Rina tried to web check-in at the kiosk as his one wasn't completed in UTP...

After facing some problem at the kiosk, luckily at last he managed to counter check-in without any extra charges.

I guess this service is FOC for AA international flight, but not domestic flight?

20kg luggage was bought, yet I just checked in my 5kg backpack!

When taking flight, I would prefer hand-carry my necessaries for the first 2 days (except liquids) in case any luggage lost. And I think this is a good practice. =D

After throwing away those extra bags, we went to OldTown as in-flight meal wasn't booked.

After meeting our lecturer, Ms Rajes, we headed towards departure gate...

As usual, I always sat near the front right side...

AA flight is always warm~ (i would prefer colder air-cond actually)

As crossing the clouds, due to the airflow, we were like sitting on the roller coaster!!!
It's fun for me, but not for my stomach @.@

Privee presumed the pilot might be a newbie...ok lo...forgivable lo...

To my surprise, the landing touch was the best out of the few flights I could remember.

Finally, we landed on the second top tourism spot in Indon--Yogyakarta!!!

Hello, Jogja~!

However, the airport doesn't seem to be reasonably big, it's quite congested actually.

The queue was quite long until outdoor, and the luggage claim area was quite messy!

While checking-in Indon, the officer didn't even want to scan my fingers.

hehe...I'm one of the few people who didn't get scan, i.e. I looked kind and unharmful >.<

At the exit, we were welcomed by the Liaison Officers (LO) from OGIP.

Escape from UTP to Jogja~

*Finally I wrote in English, to share with my friends in this trip ^^*

Last 29th Feb, eight of us from UTP were going to Yogyakarta (Jogja)

--1 lecturer, 1 for paper contest, 6 (2 teams) for smart competition!

*Thanks UTP for sponsoring our flight (unluckily MAS stop flying there)*

From the beginning, I was so excited and anticipated for this trip merely because I wanted to go Jogja.

But when I knew that Borobudur is not part of the itinerary, my excitement went down yet stress started pressurizing...

UTP had been spending so much on us! The burden to continue the victo

ry last year had always been my burden from the moment I started to take this competition seriously...

*U might notice i stopped blogging for 1 week*

My emotional graph for that 4 days was like increasing from day to day...

1st day : Arrived and prepared for the competition...

2nd day : Competition day...

3rd day : Visited Gunung Merapi & Malioboro Market...

4th day : Prambanan Candi, then departure...

Sadly, both of our teams didn't make it to final...

But at least UTP continued her victory in Paper Contest~!

And yes, we all enjoyed the trip and are getting closer after the trip ^_^

My coursemate from Jakarta, Irshad, told me that there are 2 must-visit-sites in Indonesia

-- 1st is Bali, 2nd is Jogja~

And yea...I visited both in these 2 years~ xP
Maybe next time will come back for Borobudur?

before u start getting bored, i better stop xD
see ya in next posts...

原本以为

原本以为，计划会跟着计划。

到头来依然是--计划赶不上变化……

原本以为，这回是很棒的。

最后还是，平常心看待就好……

原本以为，假期泡汤了。

塞翁失马，焉知非福也？

自我安慰的能力越高，

创伤抵抗力弱点也没关系。

比起从前的自己，

我想现在自己 flexible 多了。

世上唯一不变的定律就是“变”！

那么就坦然的接受所有的“变”吧~

Always expect for the unexpected;

Always get prepared for the worst~

人还是渺小的。

既然自己无法改变些什么，

唯有潇洒点去面对吧~

对，我就是说你！！！

澳门 香港 深圳 の 酒店篇

澳门：

我们住的 Metropark 维景酒店 干净 舒适 服务佳，优点（缺点？）是没连接赌场。

地点位于渔人码头(Fisherman Wharf) 与葡京酒店(Lisboa Hotel/Casino)之间，

去景点还是得坐巴士，11号巴士好像有点累吧？

虽然附近食店多，但出名的网上好像没找到咯……

如果要Budget Hotel，也可试试 Kou Va (Ko Wah) Hotel，近议事厅 Senado Square。

如果钱包厚一点，当然是去 Venetian Resort 啦！

香港：

我们住在位于（九龙）佐敦的 金涛 酒店 (HKD150-200 per head)

交通很方便，佐敦地铁站"C2"出口右转直走，远处有“淘金沙桑拿”即鸿运大厦的3楼。

无可否认，这是很好的的背包客住宿，干净又便宜。

但，对住惯大空间的我们来说太窄了，若带太多行李会更窄。

下次如果预算较大的话，应该会考虑更贵的……

click the link for review

金涛酒店，恒好宾馆和豪东酒店

下次如果去很多天的话，我会住不同地点的酒店，

离岛：Novotel Hotel - 近 机场、Disneyland、大屿山、Citygate Shopping Mall, etc.

尖沙咀：如果钱包厚一点，当然是去 Intercontinental Hotel。

Then 一定要选择面对港岛HKCEC的房间，晚上8pm可在房里舒服地享受镭射光表演~

香港岛：在网上看过 Mia Casa Hotel - 近西港城（港澳码头），附近有叮叮车，看样子像蛮不错下……

深圳：

整趟旅程，最满意的 吃 住 行 非深圳莫属了。虽然老街的卫生水平不很高……

在Agoda定了新安酒店(Sunon Holiday Villa)，对我们来说 地点是超棒的！

老街站 A 出口从商场经扶手电梯上一楼，出来看到马路后转左，酒店在深圳剧院对面，躲在较内角落。

酒店外景虽然不怎么样，但胜在靠近老街，吃的喝的买的逛的什么都有……

新安酒店由马来西亚人管理，TripAdvisor说很适合大马人住。

一房免费一份早餐而已，早餐有“辣死你吗”，味道还属中规中矩。

（小记：TripAdvisor有说吃早餐要趁早，但我们8、9点要出去时餐厅也不太满嘛……）

后记：www.hotelscombined.com 有提供价钱比较，个人觉得这个引擎网订蛮值得推荐的！