Biking Kelok 44: New Experience

 

It's been years since the last time I rode a bicycle. Actually, it's been a very very long time since the last time I rode a bicycle. So at first, I was a bit worried when we stopped at the roadside of Kelok 44 in Agam, West Sumatera. I even did a two-practice "lap" before we started.

This #MinangkaBike is a new experience, even though during my childhood, I rode a bicycle a lot and get a lot of wounds also for speeding a lot, my mom not even shocked seeing me going home with bruises or wound and bleeding here and there (ha!). Well, being an adult you are more insecure, I think about crashing the cars, fell down and so many bad possibilities before we started.

the view is just.. relaxing!

But then, as I paddle my bike, going through the winding road with all the green and some yellowish grass and paddy, all the dreads are gone, maybe I am become too excited, it's been a long time and here I am paddling my bike in Kelok 44.

The name itself describes the famous road in West Sumatera. Kelok means winding and 44 shows how many sharp turns on the road. Other than nice air to breathe (even though you'll smell some smoke from the cars passing by), you'll find some monkeys on the side of the roads. Also it's hard not to stop at several places since the view are just beautiful.

If you want to recreate childhood memories biking on the roads with green grass around it, well remember to be careful especially on every sharp turns and get yourself a reward afterwards: a nice coffee with this view.

Oh well, let sip the coffee, shall we?

@marischkaprue - she's on the fun moment in her cycle of life.

 NOTES:

• Biking in West Sumatera is one of the activity at #MinangkaBike a program from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economics to promote West Sumatera as a tourist destination. See more about destinations in Indonesia in Indonesia.travel
• Again, thanks to Mad Alkatiri the initiator, let's do more projects in the future!

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Underwater Photo: Thunder

There's always certain amazing effects from underwater photo-shoot that makes an image totally different. On our second session, I tried using long white dress and white fabric. It was during evening so the light wasn't as bright as the previous session (Batiksession, click here to see).

Ferry tried different way of lighting and the result is amazing, the color turns to be like a lightning and thunder, in a psychedelic way.

So here are some of the results, hope that you like the thunder in the water in this case :)

All photos by Ferry Rusli, you can see his amazing works here on his blog or Instagram
Make up by Kathleen Claudia
White long dress by Zara

@marischkaprue - having a colorful life

NOTES:

• If you want underwater photo too, you can simply contact Ferry through his twitter account here
• For make up, wardrobe collaborations on our next project, you can contact me through my email 

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Places to Snorkel in Alor

You cannot swim? Can’t dive? Afraid of water? Well, I always tell one thing, just enjoy! Here in Alor, the sea are amazing, the blue greenish tuquoise that pulls you in everytime you look at it. At least that's how I felt and I'm sure you have to, I repeat, you have to dip in and just enjoy the water here in Alor.

The clear water around Pura Island, Alor

Alor might sound unfamiliar. Only a few know this place, even though it might be quite famous for divers. But if you're not a friend of BCD (Bouyancy Control Device - the tools for diving) don't let it stop you from visiting this heavenly blue.

Located in the Eastern of Nusa Tenggara, an hour flight from Kupang, Alor is not hard to reach. You don't have to spend hours and hours boat trip, just sit inside the plane (well, right now flight from Kupang to Alor is only provided by Transnusa) and wait until you see islands of blue and white sands and torquoise.

A must do thing in Alor is dipping into water. As you see on the first sentence, your un-ability of swimming mustn't keep you away from the water. Here snorkeling is a must, it's even better if you can do a bit of free diving to see the beautiful and healthy corals in the crystal clear water.

There are at least three places you can consider dipping in in Alor:

Banjaran

A few selfie won't harm you. I'm using Go Pro & Go Pole to get this selfie shot.

This one is not a consideration. I call it a must since the corals are so rich and beautiful here. One advantage of snorkeling in Banjaran is how easy to reach this place. You can rent an ojek, or took an angkot and just stop beside the street and walk. Banjaran is only 5 minutes walking distance from the road and if you use a rental car, you can park just beside the beach.

Here's freedom is real, taken by Agus Hong

Entry from the beach and in a moment you'll find the colorful corals with fishes. There were a lot of coral plantations in Banjaran and it already reaches its healty point. Don't stop reminding yourself not to touch and step on the corals though. It took a very long time to grow.

Pura

Located near Pura Island, there are a lot of spots to snorkel here. The boat might anchored in the shallow point, only 3 meters deep, you only have to swim a bit to see deeper point where the schooling little fishes are mostly appear.

Here the water is also crystal clear, just a perfect spot to snorkel and have a good blue day either it alone or with your wet friends!

Biatabang

One of the things you'll see a lot in Alor during snorkeling is the cylinder structure made of bamboo. It usually lies near the corals and the local people called it "bubu"

Bubu is a fish trap, the hole at the sides will attract fishes to come in then the path will make the fish unable to go out, simple way to get fishes without fishing rod or fishnet.

Anyway here in Biatabang you'll also see some bubu at the seafloor. There are also deep wall in Biatabang near the shallow area, well if you're a free diver you can explore deeper area, but anyway those 4 and 5 meters deep are also beautiful anyway.

Selfie with Agus Hong & Sam

So, are you sure you don't want to get wet in Alor?

@marischkaprue - Sometimes she snorkel, sometimes she dive and she wish that she'll be a great free diver someday

NOTES:

• Alor is located in East Nusa Tenggara, to reach Alor you can take a flight to Kupang (Jakarta - Kupang return flight is about Rp. 3.000.000,-), then continue with Kupang - Alor (via Transnusa return flight is about Rp. 1.200.000,-)
• The budget for 5 Days in Alor is around Rp. 3.000.000,- all in (exclude plane ticket), to get this price with proper facilities, you can join open trip so the boat and car rent is cheaper. Contact Tukang Jalan for the trip to Alor: tuk4ng.jalan@gmail.com or phone +62 813158 09191
• Don't forget to bring your own mask and snorkel, also the fins (or you can rental from Jakarta), they provide the snorkeling gears here in Alor but it always more comfortable using your own tool or rental a perfect size gears first.
• Bring an underwater camera, there are a lot of options, from Go Pro to Sony XperiaZ2 (this one you have to wash with freshwater afterwards) 

RELATED STORIES:

• Ternate Island in Alor (woven)
• Feeling local at Takpala Village 
• La Petite Kepa, A Small Haven in Alor

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Underwater Photo: Project Batik

So after almost a year, Ferry and I finally push our self to do another underwater photo-shoot. This time we got better pool with better visibility so the result is different with the previous one.

I only use black mini dress with a batik fabric as a highlight of the photo. Tried using the high heels underwater but it seems hard to manage a bit swimming with those heels so I only grab it most of the times, gotta work more on that :)

Anyway, I'm happy with the result, tell me your opinion about these photos, we'll be posting more underwater photos later, hopefully we can do more projects also.

All photos by Ferry Rusli, you can see his amazing works here on his blog or Instagram
Make up by Kathleen Claudia
Black mini dress by Stupidroom
Gigs zebra shoes
A batik fabric from Solo

 @marischkaprue - feeling happy underwater

NOTES:

• If you want underwater photo too, you can simply contact Ferry through his twitter account here
• For make up, wardrobe collaborations on our next project, you can contact me through my email 

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Fun In Tokyo Disneyland: Parade

One thing you must see in Tokyo Disneyland: The Parade! Why? Because there is so much fun!

Berada di Tokyo Disneyland bagaikan flash back masa kecil, semua tokoh Disney yang ada di berbagai cerita ada di sini, dan saat terbaik untuk bertemu mereka semua adalah pada saat parade yang setiap hari berlangsung beberapa kali di Tokyo Disneyland.

Sebelum parade dimulai anda akan mendengar pengumuman dari speaker di semua sisi Disneyland, waktu dan lokasi jalur parade akan dijelaskan sehingga kita dapat segera memilih lokasi untuk menonton parade ini. Sebaiknya datang lebih awal karena sisi-sisi jalanan di jalur parade ini akan sangat padat, everybody want to see those Disney characters! :)

Semua Disney characters yang saya ingat ada di parade ini. Mulai dari Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, 7 Dwarfs, Pinokio, Chip and Dale hingga semua Disney Princesses ada di parade ini.

Belle

Snow White dancing

Jangan malu untuk melambaikan tangan dan memanggil mereka, they will wave their hands back at you and even tease you sometimes ;)

So enjoy your Disney moments!

@marischkaprue - her life is a parade of fun

NOTES:

• Tokyo Disneyland dan Tokyo DisneySea terletak di area Tokyo Disney Resort di Urayasu, Chiba, Jepang, sekitar 20 menit perjalanan dari Tokyo.
• Cara menuju area Tokyo Disney Resort antara lain melalui jalur kereta

• Harga tiket masuk Tokyo Disneyland atau Tokyo DisneySea: 6400 yen (Rp. 743.000,-) untuk dewasa di atas 18 tahun, 5500 yen (Rp. 639.000,-) untuk usia 12-17 tahun dan 4200 yen (Rp. 488.000,-) untuk usia 4-11 tahun. Jika membeli tiket masuk untuk 2 hari akan lebih murah, cek harga tiket selengkapnya disini.
• Tidak diperbolehkan membawa tripod atau monopod di area Disneyland dan DisneySea, I can brought mine with special permit, namun tongsis yang kecil tentu tidak masalah :)
• Thanks to Bina Blog and Tokyo Disney Resort for inviting me and gave me special tour. Thanks to Tetsuya Osafune from Bina Blog, Hiroyuki Ishiai and Tsutomu Takeuchi for the nice tour and experience, I'm having so much fun in Tokyo Disney Resort

TOKYO DISNEY RESORT [3]

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Echo Homestay: Between The Stunning Valley

Terkadang ada beberapa penginapan yang benar-benar membuat anda terkejut karena melebihi ekspektasi anda. Echo Homestay adalah salah satu tempat yang membuat saya kaget karena tidak menyangka saya akan mendapatkan penginapan dengan lokasi yang luar biasa dan tempat yang sangat nyaman.

Aerial view of Harau Valley, photo by Barry Kusuma

beautiful combinations of colors

Terletak di tengah antara dua tebing batu yang sangat besar di Lembah Harau, Payakumbuh, Sumatera Barat, Echo Homestay berada di lokasi yang sangat mempesona. Di sini kita akan segera mengetahui dari mana asal nama "Echo." Berteriaklah di sini, anda akan langsung mendengar gema suara anda, dari situlah nama echo yang berarti gema berasal.

Rumah Gadang, with 4 rooms

The room in Spanish Style Cottage, there are another room inside so it can accomodate 4 person

The room in South End Cottage

Bangunan penginapan juga tersebar dan dalam bentuk yang berbeda. Ada dua Rumah Gadang dengan empat kamar, lima cottage dan satu single room cottage, serta bachelor cottage sederhana dengan harga hanya 90 ribu rupiah per malam.

Spanish Style Cottage and the view in front of it

Bachelor Cottage, very small but only Rp. 90.000,- per night

Sunset in Harau Valley

Di Echo Homestay kita akan terus melihat tebing di sekeliling, pemandangan yang tidak biasa namun menenangkan. Tidak jauh dari homestay juga terdapat air terjun, hamparan sawah menghijau, pemandangan yang tepat untuk berjalan kaki berkeliling ataupun bersepeda. This is a perfect getaway, and a good price indeed.

@marischkaprue - hoping that her stories will echoing everywhere

NOTES:

• Lembah Echo Homestay terletak di Lembah Harau, Desa Tarantang, Payakumbuh, Sumatera Barat (Sekitar 50 menit perjalanan dengan kendaraan dari Bukittinggi)
• Booking dan contact via no telp +62 752 7750306, web di www.lembahecho.blogspot.com/ www.lembahecho.com
• Harga penginapan: Rumah Gadang mulai dari Rp. 390.000,- / kamar/ malam, South End Cottage mulai dari Rp. 450.000,-/ kamar/ malam (per kamar dapat untuk hingga 4 orang), Single room cottage mulai dari Rp. 160.000,- / malam (dapat untuk 2 orang), Bachelor Cottage Rp. 90.000,- / malam (kamar mandi di luar, terpisah).
• Di area penginapan seringkali terdapat kera, selalu tutup pintu kamar dan jangan letakkan barang-barang di luar.
• Trip Sumatera Barat ini merupakan salah satu kegiatan dalam #MinangkaBike, program Kementrian Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif Indonesia untuk mempromosikan wisata di Sumatera Barat. Lihat ragam potensi wisata Indonesia di Indonesia.travel
• Again, thanks to Mad Alkatiri the initiator, let's do more projects in the future!

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