BALI #FOODCHELLA TRIP

During earlier Mid-June, I had the chance to fly off to Bali again, this time with the @foodinhands team, @kamikita.id and also other influencers as well as celebrities. With people from Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bali itself joining in the fun.

We flew in to Bali on June 15th, Reggy and I arrived the earliest since we took the 6 A.M. flight with Sriwijaya Air, along with the Surabaya team who came in several moments after we landed.
Upon gathering at the airport, we went straight ahead to our first lodging during our trip to check in, which is the Jambuluwuk Hotel located at Petitenget.

Jambuluwuk Resort
Jl. Petitenget No. 108
Kerobokan Kelod, Kuta Utara
Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361

A quick look at the place made us fall in love instantly with it! Everything feels so serene and peaceful, even though it is pretty near to the crowded area of Petitenget.

After checking in our luggages and taking a quick rest, we went down to an artisan gourmet cuisine restaurant right beside our hotel, which is called Frestro. This restaurant serves one of the finest international cuisine infused with the soul of Bali.

Since we arrived early, we had the chance to enjoy the various meals served firsthand while waiting for the rest of the participants to arrive.

Listed below are some of the foods that we had at Frestro.

Frestro Bali
Jl. Petitenget No. 108
Kerobokan, Kuta Utara
Bali 80361

I got to say, the foods here are pretty amazing, the steak was very tender and the burger was pretty good as well. However, the pasta didn't appeal much to me though. (Probably it was overshadowed by other dishes we had)
But everything else was fine as well!

7 Things You Should Know Before Visiting Borobudur Temple!

Last month, I finally had the chance to visit Yogyakarta (usually called as Jogjakarta or Jogja for short). It is a city located on Indonesia's Java island and also well-known as the centre of education islandwide. There are a lot of traditional arts such as batik, ballet, puppet shows, and many others. Also with cultural heritage around the area, ranging from buddhist temples, palace complex, and so much more.

One of the most popular tourist sites here in Yogyakarta is the Borobudur Temple, it is the world's largest Buddhist archeological site with a pyramidal base and a total of 504 buddha statues around it. The monument consists of nine stacked platforms, a total of six square and three circular platforms, and finally topped by a dome in the middle.

WIN A FREE 7 DAYS TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND! #NZFamilyTrip

Located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, New Zealand is a country consisting of 2 main islands, both marked by volcanoes and glaciation. The capital of the country, Wellington, is home to Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand. Wellington's impressive Mt. Victoria and the South Island's Fiordland as well as the stunning Southern Lakes stood in for mythical Middle Earth in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films.

To promote the beauty of New Zealand, the New Zealand Tourism Board has organized a competition worth thousands of dollars. Every single family can participate in this competition, which is to upload a video, explaining why New Zealand is the best choice for your next family vacation destination. This video has to be uploaded to New Zealand Tourism's microsite, www.newzealand.com/nzfamilytrip along with the hashtag #NZFamilyTrip.

The competition starts from August 27th until October 9th, 2015. You can access the microsite by the link above or simply by clicking here.

A few months ago, the New Zealand Tourism Board has also launched a digital campaign with the theme; "Everyday a Different Journey". The video showcases various activities and experiences offered by New Zealand, which you can easily enjoy thanks to the close distance between one place and another.

As shown on the video above, you can find plenty of fun filled adventures or purely relax and enjoy what the nature has got to offer. From kayaking in majestic Milford Sound at Fiordland, uncovering secrets at the Hobbiton film set in Hamilton-Waikato, enjoying the diverse urban landscapes of Auckland city, and many more!

How Can I Join?

Follow these simple steps below and get your chance on winning a 7 DAYS TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND with your family members! (Valid for 6 people)

1. Create a family video as interesting as possible with any gadgets or cameras on why you would like to go to New Zealand.
2. Upload the video to YouTube and fill in the registration form for the whole family along with the URL of your video at http://www.newzealand.com/nzfamilytrip before October 8th, 2015.
3. Get as many likes as you can by sharing your video to your social medias with the hashtag #NZFamilyTrip
4. The chosen participants will be informed on October 14th, 2015 for further interviews and the winning family will be informed before October 30th, 2015.
5. The winner will fly with Singapore Airlines in early November 2015 for an unforgettable one-week journey to New Zealand.

There will also be another special surprise waiting for the winning team in New Zealand. So, what are you waiting for? Make your moves quickly and grab your winning tickets to New Zealand ASAP!

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Last day in Medan; Leaving Taman Simalem Resort and leaving Medan

After so much fun and joy staying at Taman Simalem Resort for 2 nights and 2 days, the time has finally come for us to leave. It was also our last day in Medan, so we planned to drop by several places as we leave before catching our flight in the evening.

We have certainly had so much fun and memories to keep while we were here. From sightseeing around the mountains, playing games, catching sunrise, eating the local organic vegetables, playing the flying fox, etc.

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We woke up in the morning around 7AM, and guess what?! The weather and sky outside was crystal clear. Finally! We were so excited that the sky finally cleared out, which means we could take better photos of the scenery and everything.

We tidied ourselves up first and packed our stuffs first before heading for breakfast. In case you might be curious on how our room looks like, here is a preview for you. The room has a full-sized window that is faced directly towards the Lake Toba and also a small balcony outside where you can sit and enjoy the breeze.

Look at how lovely the scenery is without all of the fog! Everything just looks so clear and awesome from this distance. This is the view that we got from outside of our balcony, we can directly see the edge of the lake and a small village beside it, also the mountain roads and landscape around the area. If only the sky has been clear since the first day we arrived..

After leaving the resort, we headed towards a Buddhist temple called Taman Lumbini, which is said to be the tallest and grandest pagoda in Indonesia, located not far away from Taman Simalem Resort. Taman Lumbini is covered in a bright gold color and it has a similar style with the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar.

Fun Staycation at Taman Simalem Resort, Medan

On the 2nd day at Medan, we prepared ourselves to visit the famous "Lake Toba" located outside of Medan, it is the largest volcanic lake in the world and is in Sumatra. The lake is so big that it has an island within the center of the lake, called Samosir Island. But, we're not exactly heading towards the lake itself, to get a better view of the lake, we went towards Taman Simalem Resort, a resort area located on a mountain next to the magnificent lake. We were sure enough, the view has got to be a whole lot better from above.

We took off from Medan around 2 PM, and the journey took us more or less around 3 to 4 hours of car ride. It is a long way to go from Medan to the resort, and the traffic was pretty much f***ed up. Road signs weren't much of a help either, we had to ask around the locals for directions as we kept on getting lost throughout the intersections. But we somehow managed to arrive earlier since we exceeded the usual speed limits though.

We planned on catching the sunset on the mountain by the time we get there. But unfortunately, the sun has already set even when we were still on our way there. So we just went ahead to our room to put all of our stuffs down and head for dinner before having an early rest after the long mountain ride.

So yeah, forget about the sunset, we're gonna rest early and prepare for an early morning the next day to catch the sunrise!

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Early morning at Taman Simalem Resort, we woke up at approximately 5.20 AM, while getting ready to set off to catch the sunrise, we checked online to find out that the sunrise will be seen on 6.30 AM that morning, that gives us enough time to prepare ourselves to see the sunrise.

We got out of our room at 6.00 AM only to find out that the weather wasn't really that good and everything was foggy. We couldn't really do anything much besides praying and hoping that the fog would clear out as soon as possible. Seriously, our chance of seeing the sunrise has just gotten thinner.

Upon arriving at One Tree Hill, the said to be the best spot to catch the sunrise, the fog has subsided a bit, but it's still there, covering most of the lovely view of Lake Toba. We just sat inside the car while waiting for the sky to get brighter. And as time passes on, more cars arrive one by one, supposedly to catch the sunrise as well.

And since it was August 17th, which is also Indonesia's Independence Day. We celebrated it by bringing the flag all the way up there! The feeling was pretty good and as we brought the flag around, another group of tourists also borrowed the flag to take some photos.

Yeah, so in the end, we didn't manage to catch the sunrise, but we still took some photos there anyway. Afterwards, we head on back to the hotel to have our breakfasts, as to fuel ourselves before we start trekking into the forest, yes, you read it right, we're gonna trek into the forest!

Breakfast with a view

Medan Culinary Trip (Day 1)

On Friday 14th last week, I embarked on a 4 days vacation towards Medan with my friends. The main purpose of the trip was to go for a culinary journey throughout the city as it is a well-known fact that Medan has a LOT of delicious foods to offer. So you'd better get your stomach ready for all of the goodies coming towards your way!

Some quick bites at Starbucks before taking off towards Medan

The flight took off at 12.40PM (GMT+7) and the journey took approximately around 3 hours from Jakarta (CGK) to Medan (KNO). We arrived at Kuala Namu International Airport of Medan around 4PM (GMT+7). Kuala Namu International Airport is actually said to be one of the best airports in Indonesia, The Emerald of the Equator. And I gotta say that it does look clean and more sophisticated than most of the airports in Indonesia.

Just landed, heading into the airport.

Upon arriving, the weather sunny and clear, it was a perfect day to start exploring. Our friend came to pick us up at the airport and we headed directly to an eatery recommended by him. Just in time, as we were starting to get hungry.