December Travel Plan - Status Confirmed!

These confirmed our travel plan in December!

U.N. resolution urges U.S. to lift Cuba embargo

How Cuba's Oil Find Could Change the US Embargo

Kuala Lumpur - a weekend gateway

This is a retroactive post.

We stopped by in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on our way to Maldives in August.

We have a friend who is currently working in Kuala Lumpur, so she took us around to see as much as possible of the city and also Batu Cave. But I must say, for us, Kuala Lumpur is not so much different to Jakarta, Indonesia except that they have more better infrastructure than Jakarta. Nevertheless, it was ok for just a 3-days-visit.


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Maldives - A Paradise on earth!

I believe you'd agree that pictures speak more than word can describe! Maldive islands are definitely the must go holiday place if you aim for total relaxation! You'll feel like reborn when you are in there!

We stayed for a week in Kuramathi island, which is located about 1.5 hrs with speed boat from the capital city Male. The island has a beautiful and long sandbank, beautiful nature, beautiful white sandy and clear water beach. From the shore, you can even see baby sharks hunting a school of small fishes.

Unfortunately, Maldives is one of the place that feared to vanish due to the global warming!

More information about Maldives can be found here.


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Finally!

So it's officially started!

The fireworks and the lighting of the Olympic torch was incredible! But then again, the Chinese did invent the fireworks and they would like to make sure we know it.

We celebrated the evening in a bar next door. I would like to post a short clip to show the atmosphere and enthusiasm but haven't managed to edit it so far. So it has to come later!

Meanwhile, we are now off to our one week vacation. This time: Maldives!

Photos and many other beautiful photos from the ceremony can be seen in The Boston Globe.

D-2

In two days the most awaited sport event of the year will be happening in Beijing.

The event will be taken place mostly in Beijing, which is around 1300km from Shanghai or about 2 hrs with plane or 9 hrs driving but you won't believe all the security measures they have implemented for this event here in Shanghai.

1. No liquid allowed for air travel has been implemented since min. 3 months ago (see this post)
2. X-ray machines and dogs check all luggage going in and out of China
3. The government has imported millions of "explosive residue detection kits" from US to swab all incoming and outgoing passengers in order to see if they have been recently in contact with explosive materials
4. All bags must pass security control in the subway stations
5. All shops and vending machines located in subway stations are closed for a month without government compensation to shop owners (imagine if they try to implement this in a capitalist country!)
6. The government removes the business license of many small Chinese manufactures if they don't meet certain environmental standard (resulting unfortunately major price increase in China)
7. The government enforced "no free plastic bag" regulation when shopping in any store in China, also in spirit to be more environmental friendly (in Germany is only applicable for shopping in supermarket, but not when you shop for clothes in the mall!)
8. Gasoline stations are only open before 9 am and after 7 pm at night because the government banned trucks traffic into the city during the day time (imagine the long queue every night!)
9. And last, yesterday my friend told me that the government will ground all Chinese airlines traveling any places on earth for a period of 5 hours before and after the opening ceremony! (Thank God I am flying on Saturday!!!)

Another blogger wrote, and I must agree to his words, "Almost all of the action is taking place in Beijing, hundreds of miles from here, but from the frantic security tightening around town, you’d think Osama Bin Laden was coming to officially open a new Mosque here in Shanghai."

I'll be glad when it's all over!!

Summer has arrived!

We went for a walk around the French Concession yesterday and soon realized that it was a wrong decision! Summer has arrived in Shanghai and temperature raised up to 38 degree on day time and around 35 degree at 8 pm last night. It will be like this for the next 3 months so you might want to reconsider your travel to Shanghai!!

We have a temperature measure in our apartment window and it records 40 degree at the moment. So definitely we will stay inside!! We are lucky that we have planned to travel to Germany this week where the temperature will be 10 degree lower! Yay!!!

News from Shanghai Daily here

May Holiday Part 3 - on the way home

I guess I must post this before it is too long overdue! :-(

Ha Long is located about 3 hours drive from Hanoi. The road and traffic is not so friendly (more small road than highways) but the scenaries along the road are beautiful.

Ha Long is very beautiful and natural and I would strongly recommend to take the 2 days/1 night boat trip. Many people are worry about the boat but it turned out to be a stable boat.

Our boat name was Santa Maria cruiser arranged by the hotel in Hanoi. The food served was very good but the room is just ok for a one night sleep. It's clean but not that sophisticated. Anyway you will not stay in the room the whole day. The boat has a nice sundeck where we hanged out most of the time. My dad was so connected to the nature that he always went to sundeck whenever he had the chances.

The travel agent has a program set for us. They will arrange when you have to have breakfast/lunch/dinner and they also took us to kayak trip. In the beginning I was not that sure about kayaking but ended up enjoying it alot. There is also a designated place where you can swim in the bay which is good after some hours kayaking. The next day we went to the caves to see many stone formations but for us it is not that interesting as this is very normal tourist places that you'll find in China.

The only downpoint was the night. They parked the boat in a quite bay together with many other junk boats. However 2 junk boats decided to make a karaoke contest night and that was just hillarious but yet terrible to hear that loud music and (many times!) not synchronize lyrics. I must strongly suggest that they forbid karaoke to better enjoy the nature. It's not very often we can sit under the sky and enjoying nothing but the sounds of wilderness!

But all in all, I still vote for Halong bay to be one of the 7th Wonder of Natural World!

I will also not post extra about Hong Kong and Macau. It's heaven for shoppers and gamblers as everyone knows it, but just in case you want to see other side of Hong Kong then just take a train ride to Lantau Island (about 30 minutes train ride) and you can see the giant Tian Tan buddha. It was a nice city break especially for the men and they can worry less about their credit card bill for a day! :-)

Enjoy the photos;


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May Holiday Part 2 - Hanoi, Vietnam

After Siem Reap we flew to Hanoi where the hotel’s driver had waited for us at the airport. We read traveler’s reviews prior to the trip and a lot of travelers have suggested us to use the available airport transfer from the hotel as there were many cases where the taxi driver took them to a different hotel (belong to the driver’s friend) and after an hour long drive from the airport to the city, you ended up staying at that hotel and paying more expensive hotel rate.

Our hotel is located directly in the old quarter which gave us easy access to the tourists’ areas. I met some other tourists and they all have heard about our hotel and the professional service that the hotel staffs provided to the tourists. If you plan to visit Hanoi, I will recommend you to stay at Hanoi Elegance Hotel. They have 3 locations and we stayed at their second hotel.

The downside of the hotel is because of the location in the old quarter, it can be very noisy at night. But the truth, the city is very noisy! There are thousands of motorbikes running around the city everyday and they sure know how to use the honk. I grew up in Jakarta where the traffic is also very bad. Currently I live also in Shanghai where it is also not the perfect example, but never have I heard louder traffic noise as it is in Hanoi. Sometimes I think they just make it as a competition on who is the loudest!

Hanoi is recommended for a day walking tour. Start your trip early to visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum (last admission is at 10 am) where you can see the embalmed body of the famous liberation hero of Viet Nam. From there you can continue walking through the presidential palace garden, the two ex-houses of Ho Chi Minh and finish in the one-pillar Pagoda.

As the story of Vietnam War fascinates us a lot, we decided to continue the trip to Hoa Lo Prison or also well known as the “Hanoi Hilton” where the Vietnamese kept the American war prisoners. Among them is the US Senator John McCain (currently running for President from Republican party). McCain was captured and held as Prisoner of War when his plane was shot down by the Vietnamese.

However, the history of Hoa Lo Prison is actually due back to the time of French invasion in Viet Nam. The prison was called as Maison Centrale and used to prison and torture many of Vietnamese political leaders. I went to the prison and I can still see the French Guillotine where they used to behead the Vietnamese prisoners.

After spending some time in the Prison, we headed back to our hotel and on the way we made a stop at the Cathedral and the beautiful Hoan Kiem Lake in the heart of Hanoi. Then we walked around the old quarter, did some souvenirs shopping and just relax for the night as we had to wake up early to catch the bus to Ha Long Bay.


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May Holiday Part 1 – Angkor, Cambodia

Now that we are living in Asia, we’ve promised ourselves to intensify our knowledge of Asia, especially Indochina. Being an Indonesian (and I haven't travelled much in Indonesia either!!), I am quite ashamed of myself as I have been to a lot of places in Europe and US and only to some cities in Asia.

Before I live in Shanghai, I have only visited some major cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Guilin), Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which everyone who have been to the last 2 cities can confirm that they are not really typical Asian city.

Therefore, we’ve made our first step to Asia by travelling to Hong Kong, Macau, Siem Reap, Hanoi and Ha Long bay last May holiday. It seems to be a lot of cities to be done in 10 days but we are not so much into shopping so we can skip the trip to the mall in HK.

My parents joined us this time as they were visiting me for the surgery. I will only post about Siem Reap this time and continue with others in the next posts.

First thing we’ve learnt is that travelling in Asia is more complicated with the inter-city connection. Not all places are wel connected by train service and cheap flights are not always available. However I found a very helpful and reliable internet site, Tourism Cambodia, which helps for tickets and hotel bookings and they give detail information about Cambodia. Their price is also cheaper compare to other sites too.

I believe almost all nationalities require visa to visit Cambodia. However they provided an e-visa service which makes it easier. If you prefer not to use their e-visa service, just make sure you have your passport photograph with you when you enter the country.

Also, you don’t have to bother exchanging your money to local currency in Cambodia. Most people trades in USD and they give change in USD as well. You can use it to pay for tuk tuk, bars, restaurants, hotels and water everywhere.

Siem Reap is the city you have to go if you want to visit Angkor. One hint to visit Angkor, it is a huge complex consisting of about 100 temples. It will take you between 3 days to a week to visit all the temples so depending on your crave for archeology, make sure you’ll plan your visit wisely as the price of the entrance ticket is cheaper if you buy for more days. The last time we only spend only a day in Angkor and paid for 25 USD each. The best way to explore the temples is by bicycles or by tuk tuk, a motorcycle powered cart. The area is very peace and serene but be prepared for the hot and humid weather also. Take your time to explore the temples and make sure you have your water and camera handy at all time!

In Angkor we only had the chance to visit the 3 main and must see temples. Those are Angkor Wat itself, Bayon temple and Ta Prohm. The last one is really popular as the temple has been almost outgrown by the trees. You’ll find everywhere trees growing on top of the temple building. Really amazing!

And after you’ve finished exploring the temples, don’t forget to stop at the night market in town or just spoiling yourself with the famous Cambodian massage!



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The Pins are out!

Finally! After 11 months attached to my shoulder, they are finally out! And the truth, they look scary also! Good thing I didn't bother to see how they look before the doctor put them in my shoulder otherwise I will never agree to have the surgery a year ago!

I was very nervous when they prepared me for surgery but the anesthesia doctor was a friendly and efficient german lady and she checked me very thorough and ensured that she will take care of me during the surgery. It was quite a relieved and before I realized, she put me to sleep already.

The recovery (post surgery) went very well also. I stayed one night in the hospital and the nurses were very surprised that I didn't request for any pain killer at all. I also insisted to got back home on the second day as I don't like hospital and its atmosphere in general.

One thing happened on the night at the hospital though. I was half-sleeping when I heard loud noise outside of my room (which is very near to the nurse station). One german lady was talking on the phone in german and she was trying to explain about somebody who had an accident and had a fracture in the bone (she didn't mentioned specifically in which bone). She insisted that an operation needed to be done ASAP and she wanted to have the person in the other side of the line to call her back to the hospital, to the bed number 1210 to be exact! Guess what, THAT WAS MY BED NUMBER!

I was half-asleep and felt already quite annoyed with her loud voice but I tell you now..I was almost jumped out of my bed when she said my bed number loud and clear in german! 1210! I immediately thought that my anesthesia doctor (remember she was also a german lady!) found something in my medical record, came back to arrange another surgery for me for that night!

I immediately thought for the worse to come and I was panic that I started to look for an escape way. Of course I cannot do too much with an I.V. and heart beat monitor attached to my arm. The fact that the room was located on the 12th Floor also didn't give me much option either. So I gave up and I woke Jorge up, hoping he could clarify all the discussions going on outside at that time. I jumped into glory when Jorge came back and said that the lady meant bed number 1310 instead! *Big relieved sigh*

So anyway, the wound is so far healing up good also. The doctor told me that he will remove the stitches on Monday but I have to wear my arm sling for another week and should not carry heavy items for about a month. Other than that, I am good to go back to the office and also to go for holiday! Yay!!!

Tibet development

We have been planning to go to Tibet in beginning of May but now we have to cancel due to the recent development in Tibet. We are quite disappointed as we now have to find another location to go. The time is already fixed, it will be on the labour day week.

Nevertheles, we are quite astonished with the local media publication about Tibet. The story about the Great Firewall of China is not an urban legend, it is true indeed. In fact, after living in China for almost a year (yes, that long already!), we are quite used to the firewall. Most of the time, sites like wikipedia, bbc, blogspot are closed in China. From time to time, the Government also closed Flickr and Youtube. It's just depending on the current events going on about China in the international world.

But it is quite surprising that the Shanghai Daily and China Daily have been following up closely about the development of Tibet crisis. Of course as Tibet is at the moment closed for foreigners, we can only rely on the official reports given by the government.

I have found some pictures released in SINA.com, a local news similar like CNN. More photos of current Tibet situation can be found here.













UPDATE 29.03.2008: China has recently opened to foreign newspapers to send their representatives to Tibet to do close cover-up of the current situation after the riot. Also China Daily annouces today that 15 foreign diplomats are scheduled to visit Tibet in short term.

Happy Chinese New Year 2008

We are off to Indonesia to celebrate the arrival of the year of rat with my family. To those who celebrate the chinese new year, we wish you all the best for the new year and enjoy the holiday with your family!

新年快乐!
万事如意..
鼠年大吉,身体健康,万事如意,心想事成 !

I found a very nice song about the chinese new year. They've been playing for the whole month in every department stores. Enjoy!!!

Bad Weather in Asia

This is something that you don't expect to have when you are about to travel somewhere.
Shanghai continues to receive heavy snowfall since yesterday and it causes delay and flight cancelation in both of Shanghai airports.

At the same time, my mom has been sending me text messages to give some updates about the rain and flood in Jakarta which also cause flight cancelation/reroute as the runway is covered with 50cm high of water and visibiliy is only about 300m.

The weather outlook for both cities for the next week are not very promising. Rain and snow are still expected in both cities. In China especially, the Chinese New Year holiday is coming next week and they expect heavy travellers traffic trying to reach home to spend the holiday with their families.

So either we are stucked in Shanghai airport or somewhere between Singapore and Jakarta. We actually plan to spend the Chinese New Year golden week with my family in Jakarta. We will have to see if that will be possible.

* Photo is taken from Shanghai Daily showing hundreds of thousands of people waiting for train home in Guangzhou train station.

Crabs to fly, anyone?

Just when you thought things are becoming familiar, you always find a new thing that amazes you about China!

I was en route to Changchun 2 weeks ago when my plane was delayed in Shanghai and I had nothing better to do but to walk around the terminal. Here I was, standing in front of a kiosk in a domestic terminal of Shanghai Pudong International Airport and was totally amazed to the view in front of me! Fresh crabs to go!

I took some pictures with my mobile phone, so perhaps the pictures are not coming to good but that was the only media that I had at that moment.









Later I found that crabs from this region is very famous in China and especially in this season, people would buy and bring them as sweeteners to their hometown relatives!