Raft On!

Two weeks to prepare for White Water Rafting event. I was being appointed to be one the person-in-charge in this event. Me?! A girl who seldom do any outdoor activity. This is quite funny to me. So, I just go with the flow.

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Before the I jumped into the raft, I felt quite nervous. Yelah. Lama tak buat outdoor activity. Memang patut pun nervous. I breathe in and let the nature absorbed into me (chewaah!). Once the guider started paddling, let's the adventure begin!

Here's some of my compilation video that I got from Syafiq and Azizi. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

My Very First Conference

Paris Van Java

Day 1: Selamat Sore, Pak!
Day 2: The Beautiful Kawah Putih
Day 3: Tangkuban Perahu Trip

Day 5: Dago Car Free Day

I had my conference nerve in the morning because I was the second presenter of the day. It has been a long time since I did my presentation. Since I enrolled my Master, I seldom do any presentations. Thus, to soothe the nerve, I went down for breakfast. I was alone and I didn't know anyone there. 

After I had my breakfast, I went to the venue and prepared everything. I mingled around with some of the presenters there. My my.. It feels like I came from a different planet. Almost all of them presented in the morning has an education background. While, I came from a computing background. 

I presented as usual and I got a lot of questions from the audiences. I thought this conference was about educations, so I prepared my answers based on the education part of my research. However, it turned out that the audiences were mostly asking about the tools that will be used in my research. The feedback that I got from the conference were noted down for future references.

My published paper can be viewed here.

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I checked out in the evening and gathered back with my family. We went to Factory Outlet hopping and I was pretty sure that I'd been to all the factory outlets in Bandung. 

Then we went to some sort of Seven Eleven in Bandung to buy Kak Effi's prepaid top up. I was intrigued to find out that they bought the pulsa via this kiosk. 

Enter the number at the kiosk and paid it at the counter. 

Got free charging station too.

I suggested that if you came to Indonesia, just bought the prepaid number at the airport. It's quite cheap. Rph 100000 for 4GB of Internet which is around MYR 28 when converted to Malaysia currency. Sangat murah. Tak tahu kenapa Internet kat Malaysia sangat mahal. 

After hours of Factory Outlet hopping, we all went to the Stone Cafe, again for an early dinner. 

Here is the view from the cafe in the evening.

The Stone Cafe

After we had our dinner, we went to the hotel and packed all our stuffs. 

It was weekend night, so, Ngah, Kak Effi and I went to Asia Afrika streets and view the night environment in Bandung. The road was congested with people and cars. We walked from the hotel to Braga City Mall. 

Along the walk, we enjoyed the night scenes. There were people who performed along the roadside, people who took lotsa photos including us, dogs-and-owners gathering and so much more. 

We chilled at Giggle Box Cafe & Resto. The mall was about to close, so we sat, ate and enjoyed the acoustic performances. 

Z: Malam yang sangat hidup!

Tangkuban Perahu Trip

Paris Van Java

Day 1: Selamat Sore, Pak!
Day 2: The Beautiful Kawah Putih
Day 4: My Very First Conference
Day 5: Dago Car Free Day

As usual, we had our heavy breakfast at the hotel and off we went to Tangkuban Perahu. It's quite a long journey to our next pit-stop. Jauh tu macam nak pergi ke Kawah Putih jugak laa.. But before we off to the Tangkuban Perahu, we had our detour to Kartika Sari. Ngah said that she wanted to buy some food for the journey.

If you go to Bandung, Kartika Sari is a must place to stop by. Wanted to get fresh baked foods, go there at early in the morning. 

Selorot tu memang favourite

After had our brief stop at Kartika Sari, we went to Tangkuban Perahu which is another famous sightseeing place in Bandung. The entrance fee for each foreigner is Rph 200000 during the weekdays. The ticket can be bought at the main entrance. Face mask is not needed at here because the air was fresher and cooler than at Kawah Putih. 

Upon arrival, there are a lot of people, everywhere. And they are full of either tourists or vendors. I came here for the view. It's magnificent! 

Entrance ticket

After we took a lot of photos, it's time to buys some souvenirs. There will be some seller who is going to follow you everywhere so that you can buy their items. Fortunately, we didn't buy from them because the shops alongside the road sell the same item at a cheaper price. 

After doing some sightseeing at Tangkuban Perahu, we went to Sederhana for lunch. As usual, we ordered the same thing. 

Then, we went to Rumah Mode, again. Mama said that she wanted to buy a handbag there. It looks almost the same as the original but it is not. I guest so. But most of the handbags there are more than MYR1K though. Tak berapa nak murah sangat pun.

After doing all the shopping spree and stuffs, I went to Amaroossa Hotel for my conference registration. I checked in into my room put my stuffs there. The room was small but beautiful. It is sooo modern-looking room. Anyway, this is a four-star boutique hotel. I don't know the price for a room at this hotel as it is already included in my conference fee.

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We went to Le' mongrass Spa to soothe our mind. I chose the Le' mongrass package with chocolate scrub. There are chocolate, strawberry and green tea scrubs. 

Kak Effi and I chose the couple room where we can get a little privacy. From what she told me, this is all women spa. I don't know whether there are any package for men. (?)

At the end of the day, I smelt like chocolate. And all of their scrubs are made by their own.

Open air spa

The couple room

Free drinks after the spa session; ginger and American tea.

Before they sent me off to Amaroossa Hotel, we went to Capital8 for our dinner. Good food and environment though.

Yang ni sedap.

Chocolate Oreo Milkshake

We went to Amaroossa Hotel to sent me and the rest went to Prama Grand Preanger Hotel to get some rest.

While at the hotel, I was supposed to have a roommate but in the end I was all alone in my room. My roommate didn't showed up. So, I took the opportunity to edit and simplified my presentation slides and practiced for the last time before the big day on the next day.

Gambar sekadar hiasan. 

Z: Yep, I was effing nervous. 

Selamat Sore, Pak!

This is my third country of the year, Indonesia. Bandung, to be specific. I was there for my conference but my mom wanted to follow me there. She said that she wanted to do some shopping. In the end, there were four of us on the trip, Mama, Ngah, Udak and I.

Ni dah macam rombongan cik kiah dah. Yang present nya sorang, yang ngekotnya sampe 3 orang..

We took Malindo Air at 1205 hours. This was the first time I traveled with Malindo air and luckily, I brought along my earphone so that I can watched some movies up in the sky. Arrived at Bandung at 3 something and we waited for our luggage. While waiting for our luggage, I met Umie Aida, Erma Fatima and their crew there. She is so pretty.

We waited for the hotel driver in front of the terminal and to the hotel we go !!

We were staying at Prama Grand Preanger Hotel. Ngah, who are often traveled to Bandung, suggested us to stay at this hotel. Mama and Udak agreed on the decision. And as for me, follow aja deh. The hotel was quite comfy though and there are a lot of food choices for breakfast. FYI, we didn't eat at the hotel for lunch and dinner. Thus, I can't comment about the food served there except for breakfast. Yummeh!

After we checked in and put our stuffs in the room, it's time for shopping! Our first pit-stop was at Pasar Baru Trade Centre. We arrived just in time before the closing hour. We bought some textiles, laces, telekung and so much more. Damaged at Pasar Baru was Rph1.4M.

When you arrived at Pasar Baru, confirm rambang mata and you can't decide which store you wanna go first. As we had Kak Effi along with us, she brought us to the store where she often shop there. And of course, we got some discount though.

Baru satu kedai, babe. 

Kak Effi asked me to try this.
The taste is not to my liking.

At 6, we were all famished and went to a restaurant up the hill called The Stone Cafe. The food is nice, the ambient is cool and the scenery is awesome. We ordered and ate til our tummy couldn't contain it anymore. If you are having your dinner at this restaurant, I would like to suggest their Tauhu Special. It's delish!

Untuk insan yang tak makan tauhu macam saya and tetiba tried this Tauhu Special. So, memang sedap lettew. hewhewhew

Dinner with a sunset view. 

Le menu

They said there will be a performance every weekend.

What we ordered. Tak semua sampai lagi nih. 

After we had our dinner, we went to Rumah Mode Factory Outlet. We arrived and the outlet was almost at its closing hour. Sempat la sambar 5 or 6 helai baju. I suggested that you guys go to Rumah Mode Factory Outlet. Tak perlu susah-susah nak masuk semua outlet sebab I'd been to all the outlets in Bandung.

It seems like I had a pair of wings in this photo.
(Photo taken by Ngah's iPhone6.)

Selfie with le mama at Rumah Mode. Tak banyak orang, senang hati nak shopping.

Went back to the hotel to get some rest. Masa balik tuh, memang kena pakai bellboy untuk angkat semua barang ke dalam bilik. Boleh bayangkan berapa juta habis on our first day. 

I edited my presentation slide for the upcoming conference and went to sleep. Another day, another adventure and of course, shop and food is a must!

Paris Van Java

Day 2: The Beautiful Kawah Putih
Day 3: Tangkuban Perahu Trip
Day 4: My Very First Conference
Day 5: Dago Car Free Day

Z: Damaged for the first day dah pun lebih Rph 2M.

Conference Nerve

What do you feel when you are going for a conference for the first time?
Nothing? Meh? Excited?

Well, now I'm added more to that question. What if you are going to a conference that will be held oversea?
Hell yeah. I'm excited as af!

Ok then, here's the downside. What if I told you, you are going there all alone?
Eff!

Z : I was in Cambodia during the process of finishing the paper though. Wish me luck. :)

Lost in the Temple

Sousdai Cambodia

Day 1: Wandering around in Siem Reap
Day 3: Journey to Phnom Penh
Day 4: Deep Depression

Less words, more photos. Yippie!

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Woke up early in the morning, at 0400 to be exactly, to catch the sunrise. At 0500, we made a deal with Sa Rong, our tuk-tuk driver, a day before to bring us to the famous and majestic temple in Cambodia. We arrived at the first temple at 0530 and waited for about an hour for the Sun to rise. It seems like, there are a lotsa tourists who came before us. 

But before that, we need to buy the entrance fee ticket which cost $20 for a day trip. Keep the ticket with you because you need to show it at every entrance of the temples.

Sunrise by the lake at Angkor Wat.

After we took a few photos for our keepsake, we wandered around. The temple itself is really big. The stairs were steep and quite dangerous. So, please wear a proper footwear. 

Most of the temples are still under restoration. And if you wanted a tour guide, you can hire one at the entrance. 

Acah-acah sketching.

Infiniti

At the upper level.

The more you traveled deep inside the temple, the more you will mesmerized about its architecture. Just imagined, people long time ago with no latest technology what-so-ever can built this awesome temples. Well, there's more to come. 

At 0730, we started our paces to the entrance and off we went to the next temple. 

Our next temple is the smallest among the others (for this trip, of course) which is Bayon temple.

But before that ......

A photo at the main entrance of Angkor Thom.

All the temples were look the same to me. I think, these are some of the photos that I took at Bayon temple. 

We didn't stay long at this temple. Maybe it because we were so excited and we explored the whole temple at a very fast pace. Besides, there are only a few peoples when we came to this temple compared to the previous temple. 

Outside of Bayon temple.

Mind your head. 

Selfie sepam!

On our way exiting this temple, we encountered elephant rides located where the tuk-tuk waited for their passenger. I don't know the price for the ride, probably you can Google it though. 

Gajah di depan mata.

Our next pit-stop was Baphuon temple. This is one of the large temple I'd ever been. It's so large that it took us more than 2 hours to explore the whole temple. We even climbed whatever we allowed to climb and wandered at every sides of the temple.

Baphuon temple. So majestic!

Yeahh. We on top of the world. 

I advised you guys to bring along your own food during this trip. It's hard to find a Halal food near the temple. My Toblerone's almost finish and I was really hungry. Who knows that wandering around in the temple can take a lot of energy. Grrr...

Anyway, you can buy some foods and drinks near the temple. They even sell souvenirs there. I didn't survey the price though. 

And we took our lunch and rushed to the last temple which is Ta Prohm. This is also a very huge temple and it almost noon. A lot of people started to gather at this temple. It's too crowded and congested. We're so tired. Imagined walking since early in the morning til noon. 

Crowded kan ?

We took some photos and videos for our keepsake. Well, this temple is famous because Lara Croft was here! Thus, we followed the flow. But then, I remembered that there was a Buddha face on a tree. We were specifically looking for that artifact. About 30 minutes in the temple, we got tired. Then, we decided to exit the temple. Too bad, we got the wrong exit. There are 2 exits in this temple. I asked one of the guide about the artifact. Their answer was, it's located in the forest and we can't go there without permission.  Tsk tsk tsk!

There we were, looking our way home. We got lost in that very temple. Every doors led to another one and another one and we got lost again. Lost our way for about 30 minutes and we had a laughed after we successfully got our way home. Pheewww... 

Perasaan dapat melunjur kaki lepas penat berjalan
tu sangat la ohsem!

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It's our last night in Siem Reap and we were having some fun at the bar. Woot woot...

Don't get us wrong, we were not there for a beer or anything. We went there for cultural dances. Jyeah! 

Located at the Pub Street, there's a bar called Temple Club. At the club, upstairs, they played their cultural dances. Here's the schedule and some of the photos.The shows started at 1930 every night. Just order your drink, sit back, relax and enjoyed the show sebab dah sah-sah makanan kat situ tak Halal.

Air leminet. Soda kat sini tak sedap pung.

The schedule.

Apsara dance.

We watched the whole show. Before we headed back to the hostel, we wandered around at the Pub Street. There are a lot of cheap massages there. You can choose which ever you wanted and the price start from $3. 

And, of course, don't forget to try their famous banana chocolate pancake. It's cheap and delish. 

Alaa, benda ni macam roti pisang tambah
nutella je. Sebab tu die sedap.

Z: Ke Phnom Penh ke kita!