Asia Travel Blog

Gelanggang Samudra is an animal-based theme park, which is one of the attractions at the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol recreation park located in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ancol itself is a popular recreation park among Indonesians, located within the shore of the Jakarta bay, north of the city. However, being an aging attraction, it seems that Gelanggang Samudra is not as popular as other attractions such as the Sea World, which is located next to Gelanggang Samudra, the Atlantis Water Adventure and the more thrilling Dunia Fantasi.

For me, I found out that the Gelanggang Samudra is more educative to the kids. There are three animal shows, namely dolphin show, sealion show and other various animals show, staged several times a day, and each show is being conducted at different times, to ensure that we can attend all the three shows at the shortest time possible. There’s also one 4D show which we can attend, and the kids also can have unlimited access to some rides, such as bumper car and balloon ride.

The MCs and the trainers of the animals who are staging the shows are also very professional in bringing up the shows with some jokes here and there. However, the shows were being presented in bahasa Indonesia, so foreign tourists might have difficulties in understanding them although they can still enjoy the animals’ talents and capabilities during the show. That might be the reason why this attraction might still be appealing for domestic tourists, but not for foreign tourists.

On top of Ancol’s entrance fee (12,000 rupiahs per person and 12,000 rupiahs per car), we needed to pay the Gelanggang Samudra’s entrance fee of 60,000 rupiahs per person. That would set you back around 72,000 rupiahs (around SGD $10 or USD $7.79) per person, which is quite reasonable. The best way to reach Ancol is to drive your own car or take a cab. Alternatively, you can also take the TransJakarta busway.

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Singapore is offering a new experience for anyone who visit the country. You can check this site.

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Chinese etnis in Indonesia has an unique celebration, called Peh Cun. This celebration, originally, came from China, was held thousand years ago. The reason why Peh Cun celebration was held, there is a prime minister during Han dinasty. His name is Khut Gwam. His heroic actions during officiate the position was a bless for China people on that day.

During Peh Cun, there are many activities. In Indonesia, this year, Peh Cun was held on Parangtritis. Some activities were to be done, such as praying by Buddhism priests, distribution of rice, tumpeng cutting, barongsai, and many more.

There is an unique phenomenon during Peh Cun, we can stand up an egg. The person who can do it, is believed will get some blessing. This phenomenon can be described scientically, since Peh Cun was celebrated on day 5 on the fifth month based on Imlek calendar, on that day, position between the sun and the earth is the closest distance, so the gravity force will increase as the distance.

Well, maybe we can wait next year to try standing up the egg. grin inspiration of this article was here

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Garuda Indonesia re-open flight Nagoya-Bali, since there are many business prospects such as tourism or export-import trading. Of course, those prospects must be managed properly before they were launched as a product that will be offered to the customers. Export-import trading that can be done such as art (hand made), furniture, souvenir, and many more.

For your information, you can find Japanese tourists easily in Bali. Well, the number of Japanese tourists is quite high, more than 22% from all tourists.

Right now, the flight is open for 3 times a week. It means, more than 15 thousands tourists can be accomodated. This number can be reached whether each time flight, it is full booked.

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On July 7 - August 28 2008, in Beijing, some painters from Bali will participate in the exhibition,”The 3rd Beijing International Art Biennale 2008″. Those paintings was created by 6 best Bali painters which were selected before.

One of the artis that his painting contribute on the event, I Wayan Sujana SSN, said the event will be participated by 70 artists, came from any countries. I Wayan Sujana SSN’s painting has name “penembus lapirit” (Penetrating Lapirit), was created on 2003. The size is about 2×1.5 metre.

The event has theme “Colors and Olympism” since China will held Olympic Games on August 2008.

Other five artists are Agus Cahaya (3 paintings), Ida Bagus Indra (3 paintings), Polenk Redisa, Putu Edy Asmara Putra, and Grace Tjondronimpuno (1 painting each).

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Recently, a kimono festival was held in Kyoto, Japan. Kimono is a traditional dress from Japan, using only by a woman. Recently, kimono is rarely being used, since the kimono is quite heavy and complicated to be worn.

In kimono festival in Kyoto, many women were dressed like princess.

The festival was started by pageant from Gosho toward emperor castle in center of Kyoto and ended in Kamigamo temple in north of Kyoto.

This festival has purpose to begging to the God for stability of weather and good harvesting.

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HSBC Treetop Walk is a free-standing suspension bridge, which provices a bird eyes’ view of the forest located at MacRitchie, which is part of Singapore’s Central Catchment Nature Reserve. To reach the bridge, we can follow the MacRitchie walking trails from MacRitchie reservoir or from a carpark along Venus Drive, off Upper Thomson Road. Walking distance from Venus Drive carpark is notably shorter compared to the walking distance from MacRitchie reservoir to the Treetop Walk.

Nevertheless, we still have to be prepared for a long walk. From Venus Drive carpark to the entrance of the Treetop Walk is a good 2.5 km walk along the Treetop trail, passes by the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) and Terentang trail, before reaching the Ranger Station, which is equipped with toilets and drinking water dispenser for us to "recharge". From there, we still need to climb the Bukit Peirce hill, where the entrance to the suspension bridge is located.

HSBC Treetop Walk is opened between 9am and 5pm on Tuesday to Friday, and between 8:30am and 5pm on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. It is closed on Mondays (except public holiday) for maintenance and research. Since it’s closed by 5pm, it’s advisable to reach the Ranger Station by 4pm.

The view from the suspension bridge is spectacular. Unfortunately, the bridge is quite narrow and it’s a one-way traffic flow so we can’t spend much time on the bridge, otherwise we will block people behind. And since it’s a one-way traffic, we have to move on and follow the Petaling trail to go back to the Ranger Station and further back to the carpark. This is quite a long detour via Petaling Hut and then follow Sime track eastward back to the Ranger Station, adding around 30-45 minutes of journey time.

The total length of the journey from Venus Drive carpark to Treetop Walk and then back to carpark via Petaling hut is more than 7km, which is quite a long walk (about 3 hours walk in total, depends on our walking pace). With some quite difficult terrains found along some of the trails, the walk might not be suitable for very young kids and the elderly.

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Plenty to say about Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan. It is where the sacred Mount Fuji located, making Shizuoka a perfect spot for the beautiful Fuji-san photo picture hunting. It is also where the earliest cherry blossom starts in Japan.  

Another thing that Shizuoka is well-known for is its green tea. Almost half of green tea sold in Japan is grown in Shizuoka. It is only natural that when the name Shizuoka is pronounced, people will soon associate it with the green tea. 

credit Shizuokatea.com 

As the ‘green’ tea word suggests, the tea plantation plenty found in Shizuoka offer green scenery. It is certainly a good choice to spend a day in a green tea plantation, learning how the ‘O-cha’ (green tea) is produced while also experiencing the actual tea-picking activity. 

There are several places offering tea-picking experience in Shizuoka. To name one is the Hyougetsu-tei. This is a sukiya style house surrounded by Japanese garden and ponds. With JPY500, you will get a chance to taste the gyokuro and powder tea as well as refreshment.  

 credit Shizuoka-Guide.com

More excitement may well be found at the Greenpia Makinohara. Here, you will actually get involved in tea-picking experience and will get a chance to visit the o-cha factory. I strongly suggest this one. It is amazing how the o-cha is actually produced. Also, you will find many F&B that have green tea as raw material. I once was very lucky to have the experience of making tempura from the green tea leaf. No words to describe it, just ‘Fantacious’! (Fantastically delicious)

credit Shizuoka-guide.com

For you who are putting tea-picking experience in your travel plan to Japan, this one page might worth checking. It’s got the right stuffs just for it.

 credit Shizuokatea.com

You probably wonder why come all the way to Japan to pick tea? Mate, don’t take it for granted. You’ll love it. It’s green, it’s tea, and it’s ‘fantacious’!

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Mostly, the countries in Middle East are located in desert, a place that normally can’t be enjoyed since wherever we see around, only sand that we can see. Doha, as one city in Qatar, was in that condition.

But, today, after built roads and many highrise buildings, many tourists came and visited Doha. Especially since Asian Games and MotoGP event were held there. Read full entry »

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Here is another way of maximizing your travel adventure in expensive city like Tokyo, but still, you can minimize your travel cost.

Getting around could be costly in Tokyo. Especially when there are too many places to visit. Get yourself a One-day Tokyo Metro Subway Ticket and youll find that by the end of the day, youve visited places but spent less on getting-around cost.

Tokyo Metro subway is a very nice and efficient mass transportation mode connecting almost most areas of the Tokyo Metropolitan City. The company, Tokyo Metro Co. offers several kinds of tickets to meet passenger`s needs. For travelers, the Tokyo Metro One Day Open Ticket and Common One-day Open Ticket for Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway are the best.

Where to buy? At every subway station you can buy it directly from the ticket vending machine. Very easy!

Tokyo Metro gives very useful tips in using subways.

1. Confirming the entrance
2. Finding the fare
3. Buying your ticket
4. Entering the fare gate
5. Riding the subway
6. Fare adjustment
7. Exiting the fare gate
8. Finding your exit

See details of each tip at Tokyo Metro Website.

Talking about riding on a subway, pay attention to these ’subway manners’. Sounds funny, but it’s true. Japanese people hate foreigners who doesn’t keep manners especially in public spaces (anyway, don’t you too?).

• Using cell phone. Set your cell phone on silent mode and do refrain from making calls during your ride. (Turn your phone off when near courtesy seats.)
• Courtesy seats. Can be found at the end of each car. Give up your seat should someone need it more. Courtesy seats are easily identified by a sticker on the window behind them
• The following subway lines have adopted women-only cars during morning rush hour so women and young children can ride with a sense of security.The designated boarding areas along platforms are marked with the “Women only” sign clearly indicating the locations of cars that are for women only during rush hour (generally until 9:30 a.m.)

Although the subway route table at subway stations is provided in Romanized characters too, it is best for you to check the English version of widely available free subway map before you go. Because even experienced person like me who is capable of reading the Kanji characters can easily be confused sometimes when it comes to reading the route table. You can download from the Tokyo Metro Co. website too.

Happy Metro riding!

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