Catatan Perjalanan

Tadinya saya mau bikin itinerary buat turis yang 'lapar', yang perlu liat sebanyak2nya. Tapi kayaknya mending dibuatin itinerary dasar dulu ya, biar adil. Bagi turis lapar, akan saya kasih hints extra spot berupa nama2nya saja. Saya juga pernah menjalani Bangkok behind the scene, naik getek ke kota tuanya, ke kuil yang sepi dan masuk keluar pasar, sangat memberi pencerahan. Tapi gak cocok buat turis pada umumnya apalagi yang baru pertama kali ke Bangkok. Jadi, untuk kali ini, saya bikin perjalanan yang wajib-wajib saja dulu. Durasinya juga umum dilakukan oleh wisatawan dari Indonesia. Untuk bagian yang ada pilihan, memang hanya bisa milih gak dapet semuanya. kecuali durasi trip-nya lebih lama. Day 1 - Famous Tourist Spots Pagi - Siang (Grand Palace - durasi 3-4 jam) :  - Dari hotel / sarapan pagi segera minta diantar ke Grand Palace atau Wat Phra Kaew . Kenapa pagi? karena masih belum penuh dan belum panas. INGAT! Demi kelancaran sebaiknya pakai baju tertutup. Masuk ke ar...

This is not the animal although I am pretty sure they were inspired by one. This is the restaurant me and my husband among only fewer others, that we frequently visit. We love to keep coming back here for its quality and quiet reasonable priced foods. Beside, its only 10 minutes walking distance from our home. Apparently after a while I just found out that this brand in Thailand was started from clothing business! To be precise - men's clothing in 1980. Then they make women's clothing, shoe, accessories and lastly a restaurant. In 1997 their first branch in Emporium is opened. Nice pick. Emporium is famous for upscale and fashionable outlets within. Also it lies in Sukhumvit road where a lot of expatriates and rich Thais live. Those that somehow can be picky of what they eat. (agree?) Anyway, that day I decided to order scallops with mashed potato and grilled veggy with pesto sauce. It turned out to be great! I must admit the quality of each ingredients that makes the differen...

Sesuai namanya, restoran ini ada ‘dekat’ dengan langit, alias di lantai teratas Centara Grand, hotel bintang 5 di dalam komplek Central World. Tempat ini punya 2 area duduk, indoor dan outdoor. Indoor cocok untuk pengunjung yang memilih untuk suasana lebih intim dengan pasangan dan teman-teman sementara area outdoor pas buat yang mencari suasana romantis dan party. Di area outdoor pengunjung bisa memilih duduk di meja ataupun di bar sambil menikmati home band mereka. Bangkok punya beberapa restoran rooftop, namun redsky ini termasuk yang menyenangkan karena lokasinya di tengah kota, akses mudah, pemandangan bagus dan penampang transparan di area outdoor yang mengurangi tiupan angin kencang. Menunya cukup beragam, sebagian besar international cuisine ala prancis dan italia. Saat itu kami memesan beberapa hidangan seafood dan kami puas sekali. Bahan-bahannya segar dan kualitasnya sesuai dengan harganya. Selain itu mereka juga punya wine cellar yang menarik dengan koleksi ribuan wine. coc...

Library inside a shopping mall? never thought about it before, never know such thing exists. But it does in Bangkok. And it doesn't call itself 'library', but knowledge park. When I think about it, this term is so right. When library associated with books (only), this place offers beyond that point. Located at the 8th floor of Central World-the biggest shopping center in Thailand, TK Park occupies over 2500 sqm, nicely divided into some zones. I can find books (some of them in English.. just some), journals, magazines, anything really. Go around and try their children zone and music zone (2 of my fave). they also have exhibition space and quiet room for those who need it. Many PC available to use, include to play games. TK Park was damaged during RedShirt riot in april 2010 however they are now make a bigger and better TK park in return.

Saya menemukan informasi mengenai aturan keimigrasian Thailand di beberapa poin pengurusan berbeda-beda. Yang saya maksud poin adalah kantor imigrasi di dalam wilayah kerajaan Thailand dan kedutaan serta konsular Thailand di luar negara tersebut.  Karena suami bekerja di kantor swasta lokal yang smua diurus sendiri, jadilah saya ikutan belajar smua aturan ini. Untungnya, saya udah biasa ngurus aneka surat-surat sendiri dan gerilya sana sini. Tapi menjadi tamu di negeri orang, rasanya lebih beruntung orang-orang yang gak seperti saya jadi tau beres saja. Moga-moga sharing ini berguna buat yang butuh. Pengajuan visa sebagai turis Thailand di Indonesia dapat dilakukan di konsular mereka di Denpasar dan Jakarta. Tapi pengajuan visa lainnya hanya bisa dilakukan di Jakarta. Pemegang paspor Indonesia dapat masuk ke dalam wilayah Thailand tanpa mengajukan visa dan memperoleh izin tinggal selama 30 hari  (di cap di bandara maupun pos perbatasan darat lainnya). Dengan visa turis y...

It's very easy to find good dessert in Bangkok. They are just everywhere and few steps away from you. But, getting a dessert that is perfect and fulfill all you need, not an easy thing. Since I live in here, I just realized that dessert is huge matter.. and now I'm in the flow - dessert lover. :) Central Chidlom happened to be one of my favorite shopping center. And now this Angelina at 3rd floor is my destination after or between shopping time. Not only because the nice ambience and good service, but of course because of the food. They claimed this Angelina is related with a restaurant with the same name out there in Paris with Vera Wang as its regular customer. Pretty reputable there, and here I found there will be always some people drop by for a meal or just tea time.  This is one of my favorite dessert. Not their original menu. Ah, yes, this is another nice part of them, I can modify their menu to my preference. I forget how to call this. Its a combination of bake...

Last week I just discovered that red shirt rally plan is a serious action. I say this because for few months back, there are fewer demonstration by the red shirt and it was a small scale only. While this time, they claimed over 100 thousand protesters will gather in Bangkok or even more. Also this time, media talk much about it and government decided to apply the ISA, Internal Security Act, from 11th - 23rd march 2010. Not sure what it is all about, but it doesn't look okay. Warnings disseminate by all means and close to Friday the 11th March, I feel worry a little about how things going to be, because one of the suggestion given was stocking up food for a week consumption if possible. Last time I think stocked up is good idea was on 98 when big turmoil happened in Indonesia. Anyway, my daughter's school @Indonesian Embassy is officially close from friday 11th March to Tuesday, or until further notice. Some other local schools also encouraged to postpone their activities in ...

Buat saya bangunan ini adalah oase di tengah 'gempuran' aneka kuil (wat/temple) yang tersebar di Bangkok dan didengungkan oleh perusahaan travel. Bangunan bergaya Prancis yang dibangun di era Rama V sebelumnya digunakan sebagai tempat upacara pemberian gelar. Kadang saya ke sini hanya ingin menikmati damainya kota sambil menyeruput kopi dari cafe DoiTung, grup yang diprakarsai oleh keluarga raja saat ini. Sebentar ataupun lama, berada di dalam tamannya rasanya nyaman sekali.  Saat ini bangunan utama bagian dalam dipakai sebagai tempat pameran barang hasil kerajinan masyarakat Thailand yang diprakarsai keluarga kerajaan. Untuk masuk ke dalam bisa gratis dengan potongan tiket masuk Grand Palace atau membayar 100 baht untuk keseluruhan komplek yang nantinya bergabung dengan Vimanmek Mansion (di bahas di posting lain).  Oya, bangunan ini namanya Ananda Samakhon Throne Hall. Sempatkan datang ke sini kalau ingin merasakan nyamannya suasana Eropa sejenak. ...

Located only 1.5 hours drive from Bangkok and famous for its nightlife, Pattaya still on the list to visit by traveller coming to Thailand from around the world. Although many bad rating given to Pattaya lately by some friends for these reasons : - the beaches is far overrated. (kind of true..Bali @ my home country still offer much better ones.) - the services by locals can be a ripped off (but it happens at many touristy places, right?) - its not family friendly due to many sex shows and go go bars. It used to have many HIV cases here. - not much to see around (well.. its not true!) I'd say Pattaya is not that bad. We should appreciate the local tourism authority whose trying to change that bad image of adult destination to a family friendly tourist objects. Beside the beach (well, it is very narrow with too much umbrellas), within short drive we can also get to Nong Nooch (Nong Nuj) with beautiful garden landscape, Mini Siam, Pattaya floating market (claimed as the biggest one)...

Just like other big cities, Bangkok has many to offer for family with young children. It has many parks with playgrounds, theme parks, museums, indoor playground even a rooftop water slides. This time I'll share about LeoLand, a waterpark in the rooftop of Central BangNa. This shopping center is big and has easy access from Bangna express way. However, it's actually not in the heart of Bangkok city. It took about half hour from the main bustling area of bangkok by car through express way (pay 45 bath for this road). Or you can take skytrain till the last station On Nut and get a cab from there for less than 100 baht if the road is clear. Once you are in the mall, go straight to the highest floor the elevator can get you and you can only take escalator to the very end floor.. the rooftop. It sounds like a journey itself to reach this medium size waterparks, but I'd say if you're not into extreme slides, this is the place. The entrance fee between thai and foreigners ...

Rumah milik Jim Thompson saat ini dilestarikan dengan baik dan berfungsi sebagian besar sebagai museum dan merupakan salah satu tujuan wisata 'wajib' untuk para turis yang datang ke Bangkok. Dalam area seluas sekitar 2000 meter persegi (atau 1 rai dalam ukuran thailand) saat ini kita dapat menemukan komplek rumah yang terdiri dari 6 bangunan bergaya arsitektur khas Thailand dengan modifikasi ala amerika plus restoran, galeri dan tentunya butik produk sutra Thailand khas Jim Thompson. Jim Thompson adalah arsitek lulusan Princeton Amerika yang secara sukarela bergabung dengan angkatan darat Amerika di masa perang dunia II dan bergabung dengan unit OSS (skarang disebut CIA). Selesai masa bertugas di berbagai negara dia memilih kembali ke Bangkok untuk menetap di tahun 1946. Di sini Jim Thompson bergaul luas dengan aneka kalangan dan sering mengadakan jamuan, aneka acara kumpul-kumpul juga pertunjukan seni Thailand, terutama setelah rumah ...

Here's a 4D/3N tour of 9 girls. They had full itinerary comprise of touristing and shopping. Visit 5-10 different spots in a day, with one show to watch every evening. Trip was included Pattaya day tour.

Bangkok stunned some visitors not only because of their treasures but can also simply because of the taxi colors. Some of my guests with various favorite color had fun picking taxi according to their preference. Blue, pink, yellow, green, purple, red.. and sometimes with color combination too. Picking taxi here actually not an easy thing to do since some taxi won't take you to your destination with some reason - sometimes only God and the driver knows why. The scene you watch at some hollywood movies also not applicable here. First, you don't shout to taxi. After you hail, you can't just jumped in, close the door, ask the driver to move then tell him your destination. Common scene over here is you hail a taxi, ask the driver from outside about your destination, few seconds he thinks and if he said yes, then you get in. Many drivers can't speak English or can but with a 'unique' pronunciation. This kind of pronunciation not exclusively for taxi drivers but for ...

Fraud against tourists or visitors (tourist scams) are also common in Bangkok.  The most common is the rumor that the place closed because of religious or royal event and fraud committed tuktuk (20baht trip).  The equation between the two is the 'victim' will be invited to a jewelry showroom in the hope they will buy in the store and 'con' will be a fee from the store. Here's the mode. The scammer, call Khun A, usually circulated around the victim.  They're wandering in the hotel lobby, around the entrance to attractions, at airports, stations and bus terminals. T uktuk drivers usually would stir tourist around offer worth 20 baht.  Or, if we intend to take a tuktuk to a destination from a parked one, he will easily agree with the price of 20 baht only.  (tuktuk = typical 3-wheeled vehicle Thailand. As prevalent of Bajaj in Jakarta without walls / doors) What then happens is that the passenger was brought around from one jewelry store to another store ...

If we pronounce both words with thai accent, you will find them very identical. Nothing wrong with that since Platinum is located in Pratunam area. I kind of suspect that's also the name originally comes from :). Pratunam (pratu = door ; nam = water) is an area in the heart of Bangkok that fame for decades as the wholesale market, especially for fashion items. There are thousands of shops mushrooming in every side of the corner of this big intersection. Buyer would come from many places but I find thai (from other provinces), Indonesian-Singaporean and Arabs more often. Pratunam market consist of several shopping buildings and flea areas, marked from the Baiyoke sky tower along to Petchaburi and the opposite side you will see Pratunam building with vendors along the street. The latest on the gang is Platinum Mall, that is only across the canal from Central World, the landmark of the area. It also opposite of the older version of Pratunam market (still in Petchburi street). Plat...

Chatuchak (atau Jatu Jak -JJ ) terkenal sekali sebagai pasar terbesar yang hanya buka di hari sabtu-minggu. Kenapa sabtu dan minggu aja? sebenernya pasar yang hanya buka di hari-hari tertentu juga pernah (dan untuk beberapa daerah-masih) berlaku di tanah air loh. Itu kenapa kita punya pasar dengan nama-nama hari, beberapa yang terkenal : Pasar Senen, Rebo, Jumat, Minggu. Walaupun akhirnya pasar-pasar tersebut buka setiap hari. Di Thailand pun demikian. Bahkan, untuk night market di Bangkok, masih ada tempat-tempat yang buka hanya di hari tertentu. JJ sendiri sekarang sudah diizinkan pemerintah kota untuk buka sebagian sejak hari Jumat. Walaupun sebenarnya untuk outlet dan wilayah tertentu, kita bisa temukan penjual yang berdagang setiap hari, biasanya untuk tanaman, binatang peliharaan dan furnitur.  JJ sendiri juga awalnya tidak dirancang untuk konsumsi turis, seperti halnya Suan Lum. Itu kenapa, koleksi di JJ lebih variatif dan selalu penuh, karena penduduk Thailand dari luar B...

Yes, I am providing tour service, this time limited to Bangkok and its surrounding area {soon will expand. Just wait! :) } but not limited to anyone. My service is fully customized. Mainly to give you a chance to explore only your places of interests the way you like it. Tour operator, big or small, won't offer flexibility as much as I will.  How? It's so easy! 1. Contact me and state your plan even if you haven't book any flight yet or you are already in the city.  2. I will give you some preliminary questions such as : when, who's coming (yourself, with your partner, child, parent, big group, etc), duration, what sort of places you'd prefer and the budget. 3. Based on your information, I will send a proposed itinerary, budget (with my fee separated, so you know where will your every penny goes to) and additional ideas-suggestions for your consideration. 4. Once the itinerary agreed and you pay your small deposit for my service, its my time to do al...

20 10.. here we come!

Sean and Traci flew from Perth before Xmas and we're heading to Ayutthaya, the ancient city during the following Monday. We left Bangkok at 10 AM heading north. The royal summer palace was the first destination. It's only an hour relax car drive until we reached BangPa-In. We stayed there until lunch and moved to Ayutthaya. It was a very hot and dry day. The sun wasn't friendly to my guests. We visited 3 major temples and ruins plus had local snack to nibble on the way back to Bangkok. But despite of the heat, they all really enjoyed the trip. Trip adjourned by 4 PM. Time to recharged the energy to dash around in the evening!

Back in July, I had a senior couple (age over 70) visiting, I called them Abah and Mamak (means father and mother). They both still full of love and adorable. The highlight of their holiday was a trip to Damnoek Saduak Floating Market. Located about 2 hour car drive out of Bangkok, this floating market known as the biggest touristy floating market. We left Bangkok early morning about 7 AM cos we want to be there before the vendors gone by mid day. Although there are some other touristy objects along the way, my guests prefer not. They have personal reason to visit Damnoen. They are originally coming from East Kalimantan where floating market was a beautiful scene during their youth. Nowadays, only in Banjarmasin we will easily find it. We arrived there at 9-ish and rent a motor operated small boat that took us along canals. This is more like a village where canals is one of their transportation route even now the land route already existed. The boat trip was enjoyable, as we ca...