Hey there NTT :)

Yap, minggu depan menurut rencana saya akan mengunjungi NTT *for the first time*

Jadi ini akan jadi kunjungan dinas ke-3 di tahun ini yg diprogramkan unit kerja gw.. Sebelumnya kita udah ke Kalimantan Barat dan Kepulauan Riau (yes, kita ga hanya ke kotanya, kita bertualang berjam2 ke perbatasan). Dan kesemuanya gw ikut serta.. (-__-")

Excited? Of course! I always am when it comes to new places.. Tapi lagi2 ya, everything nice will turn out sucks when you're traveling with a bad company.. Well, that's kinda what happen on my previous trips, including this one. Tapi bukan Nikki dong namanya kalo ga bisa mengatasi hal2 ga penting begitu untuk tetap menikmati petualangan.. :)

Well, keadaannya saat ini agak beda.. Right now, I'm not actually in my best condition, the preparation wayyyy to short & sudden, and in early October my unit will also hold an event that also needs early preparation, dannnn semuanya itu seperti hanya mengandalkan gw.. Apa2an coba??!!

Yah, mengeluhnya gw, bete2nya gw, tetep aja gw kerjain tuh semua.. Padahal gw punya temen kerja yg cukup bisa diandalin kok, tapi kalo orang ga 'dilibatin' gimana dia mau bantu total kan??!!

After this, I won't give a shit! The year's program is over & I'm gonna concentrate on my leave and on my wedding preparation (people -especially men- won't have any idea how difficult it is to prepare everything practically on your own!) That 'creature' better give me what I want for my leave, or else!

In the meantime, let's try to enjoy the NTT trip.. Hope I get a nice time there despite all of the downsides.. :))

Oleh-Oleh dari Kepulauan Riau

Hello again.. :)) Baru selesai ngerjain laporan kegiatan ke Kepri nih.. sekarang waktunya laporan disini.. ;)

Waktu itu sampe di Tanjung Pinang hari selasa, penerbangan ke Tanjung Pinang cuma ada 2, Batavia yg jadwalnya pagi, sama Sriwijaya yg jadwalnya sore menjelang malam. Karena takut kecapean kalo sampenya malam, akhirnya kita naik Batavia deh kesana.. Di Tanjung Pinang nginep di Hotel Aston yg jaraknya krg lbh cuma 5 menit dr bandara! hehehe. Tapi ternyata jarak ke kantor Gubernur dan pusat kotanya jadi lumayan yee, sekitar 1/2 jam aja loh! :P

Malamnya kita makan di Sei Enam, dimana si bodoh baru sadar kalo dia lg ada di tempat yg seafood kesukaannya berlimpah ruah! Yup, I'm a big fan of gonggong! Dan begitu liat si cantik2 itu di atas meja, langsung super duper semangat!! hahaha. (info: walaupun blm pernah ke Kepri, tapi setiap Mama dr situ tuh bawain oleh2 si gonggong2 itu, jd sudah tdk asing lagi saya dengan makanan sedap itu.. hehe). Makanan di restoran ini seinget gw lumayanlah, udah ter-distract sama gonggong sih.. :D

Di Tanjung Pinang tuh yg terkenal ada Pulau Penyengat yg sebenernya mgkn jd wajib dilihat kalo kita kesana, cuma berhubung jadwal di Tanjung Pinang singkat banget jd ga memungkinkan untuk kesitu deh.. (sebenernya bisa aja sih.. tp ada suatu alasan jg.. :P) Jadi dalam kunjungan kali ini, yang didapat hanya kesan pas makan di Sei Enam aja..

Dari Tanjung Pinang ke Batam kita naik speedboat yg melabuh di pelabuhan Punggur. Ada kejadian gila selama di dalem boat yg sadly, harus dihadapi sama gw dan Etty (tmn gw yg ikutan dlm rombongan). Huahh!! Perjalanan yg lamanya kurang lbh sejam itu rasanya jd lamaaaa banget! Pokoknya kalo diinget2 skrg rasanya geli bgt deh! ga lagi2!! Maaf ya yg ini ga mungkin dipublikasikan, krn super gila kejadiannya IMHO.. :((

Okay, enough with the nonsense! And we finally arrive in Batam.. :)

Pertama kali makan disana, kita makan di restoran yg namanya Rezeki, if I'm not mistaken, itu di daerah Nongsa.. Seafood lagi makanannya, enak.. Tp ga pake gonggong.. hehehe. Malemnya kita makan di daerah Harbour Bay, di Wey Wey, enak juga.. Walaupun ada yg bilang bukan disitu yg plg enak.. :) The downside, turns out I pick the wrong hotel, kita nginep di Mercure.. Bangunannya tua (katanya sih Mercure ganti nama aja disitu, pantesan ga kaya Mercure pada umumnya) dan daerah sekitarnya ga hidup, kmana2 tanggung.. Tempat makan yg enak lg kita cobain bsk malemnya, nama tempatnya Yong Kee, yg terkenal sop ikannya, cobain itu deh.. Dan enak! no wonder rame banget.. Hehe.

Hari terakhir di Batam adalah waktunya bebas krn jadwal2 udah diselesaikan sehari sebelumnya.. Yg tadinya bingung gimana mau menghabiskan hari (ke Singapura deket bangetttt, tp kan yg blm pernah dikunjungi Batam, jd pgnnya muter2in Batam aja), ternyata Mas Ridwan dari imigrasi (gpp kan ya Mas namanya disebut?? :P) menawarkan diri untuk nemenin gw sama Etty keliling Batam.. :) Dimulai dari jalan ke arah Barelang & mampir makan siang di restoran yg gw ga tau namanya & lupa mau nanya.. wkwk. Makan gonggong lagiiii.. hihi. Terus lanjut menyusuri jembatan2 Barelang sampe ke jembatan 4 (total jembatannya sampe ke pulau Galang ada 6) fyi, Barelang itu singkatan loh, dari Batam, Rempang, dan Galang (hihi. I know this thanks to the good work from Etty & Mas Ridwan) eh bnr kan yah Rempang? Correct me if I'm wrong. 

Lanjut kita ke daerah Nongsa, ke pelabuhan Yacht, or should I say, resort yg lengkap dengan sandaran Yacht-nya.. hehe. Foto2 deh.. Dari situ udah gelap, tp kita masih paksain mau foto di dpn tulisan "Welcome to Batam" :P

Sebelum makan beli oleh2 dulu Cake Pisang yg ada berbagai macam rasa, Mas Ridwan ajak makan di sop ikan persis sebelah Yong Kee, katanya kalo org Batam lbh suka mkn disitu.. Tp gw sih lbh suka sop ikan di Yong Kee.. hehehe. Mgkn karena gw bukan org Batam kali yaaaa.. :) 

Selesai makan, dikembalikanlah kita ke hotel.. Bsk paginya kita balik deh ke Jakarta.. Tapi masih penasaran sama gonggong (kok mama bisa bawain, pgn jugaaaa) :P

Udahan dulu ya.. Bubbye!

Riau Island, soon to be on the Checklist.. :)

Yes, I'm off to Riau Island tomorrow.. :)) Urusannya sama kaya waktu ke Kalimantan Barat, but hopefully more fun.. hehe.

Resmilah sudah gw dinas luar kota 3 minggu berturut2 sampe sabtu ini.. jd kalo diliat2 lg, selama 3 minggu tuh cuma 3 hari saya di kantor.. hahaha! Seminggu pertama ke Bali, 3 hari kemudian ke Jogja, besok lanjut Kepulauan Riau.. Udah berasa sibuk ajeee.. :P Tapi ga mau lagi ah rentetan gitu, jadi dikejer2 kerjaan.. Untunglah skrg tinggal urusan Kepri aja, tinggal berangkat besok, jalani hari2, pulang & bikin laporan deh.. hihi.

Entah kenapa ya, tanpa alasan jelas, gw tuh seneng banget kalo mau mengunjungi tempat yg belum pernah dikunjungi.. Selalu aja diselimuti perasaan itu.. & perasaan kaya gini nih yg mengingatkan untuk selalu bersyukur..

Yak, dan sebenarnya curhatan hari ini ga fokus krn yg nulis jg lg ga fokus.. hahaha! Ya udahlah ya gitu aja, yg penting udah laporan kalo mau ke Kepri.. :P

Getting Ready for West Borneo

Hehehe.. Bahasa Indonesianya sih lg siap2 buat kunjungan ke Kalimantan Barat.. lebih tepatnya meninjau langsung perbatasan negara di Entikong.. :)

I'm super excited to welcome my next journey there, since I've never set my foot to the island of Borneo (yet I claim to be an Indonesian.. hehe) Yup, one of my goal is to travel across Indonesia! And my job really have to make my goal come true! This reminds me of how bad I'd like to represent Indonesia's tourism and culture, of how crazy I am about marketing Indonesia's tourism and culture across the globe! And in order to do that, I have to master my own country.. right?! And that's exactly what I'll do.. :))

I've post before about the cities I've went to.. And the list is not what I'm proud of to show.. That's why I need more long list as a resume so I can finally graduated as a skilled tourism & culture diplomat.. Hahaha! Well, everything about tourism and culture seems to always turning me on.. Most of the time, it doesn't even feel like working when I'm involved in marketing our country's tourism and culture, I find it more like an interesting adventure.. :D

Okay, now the downside, to reach Entikong I have to travel from Pontianak by road for about 5-7 hours! And to make it even pathetic, seems like I'll also have boring partners to travel with (in other word, I'm not traveling with partners that can help me kill my boredom along the way -__-) God please help meeee.. :((

Okay, that's it for now.. I hope I won't forget to update about the journey and especially, what I found during the trip and on the spot.. ;)

After this, there will be a few other destination that I haven't seen yet, so I hope I'll get the chance to go there as soon as possible, and leave all the familiar places to other people.. Oh wait, but most of all, I hope God approve my more important goal as the best for me in a short period so I can make a few change by next month.. Aminnnnnn!!!! :))

Indonesian Cities

Just got back from Yogyakarta for work this Saturday.. Make me think back, I kinda have this obsession to travel around the Indonesian cities.. hehehe! I just think that it would be very nice once I travel the world with this kind of knowledge about my own country and whatever it has -gathered from my own experience-

Now on this chance, I'll preview back the cities I've been visited all these years to see what's been done and to see that there's so many more to do.. Because I put a little more concern about culture and tourism, I will also give my comments more about those area.. So here it goes.. :)

I've spent more than half of my life in LAMPUNG, Bandarlampung to be exact. And maybe I've travel all around Lampung during those years. This province definitely has A LOT to offer! It is rich with culture and have a great potential for tourism. I loooove Lampung's traditional clothes, and it has this super fabulous material called TAPIS. The beaches are pretty nice, but with a very minimum facility. Lampung is also a heaven for food lovers, we can find lots of delicious menus, but also with a quite limited range of restaurant choices. Earlier, I did say 'potential', because I admit that all I can see until now is still the potential, not yet the progress to be the great tourism area. I can talk all day about this beauty, but better move on to the next object shall we.. ;)

Way back then when I was little, 3 years old, or maybe 4, my Grandmother took me on a train to JAMBI. 1 of my Aunt lived there at that time. Of course there's not much to remember except the journey I've experienced riding on a train for the first time (I think). Okay, I wish there'll be a time I can go back and actually talk about the city! :)

I visited MEDAN for the very first time on 2009 (if I'm not mistaken) with Trisakti University's Student Body members. My impression more or less about this place is that it has this potential to be an intriguing place for tourists to visit. The culture is phenomenal, lots to learn from its tradition. Not to mention the famous Ulos. But then again, the infrastructure and facilities are not enough to convince people that this place is ready for tourists. I went to this very high waterfall that turns out to be the highest waterfall in Indonesia! (I just found out a week ago from an article) The place?? so called standard. Nothing special about it. Cannot make me stay longer to enjoy the view. Definitely not a place to be remembered. The food choices are great! I'm a big fan of Durian, and the Durians there are awesome! with lots of taste! Although I prefer the original flavour.. hehe. And the rare tiger shells that I love so much?? I can find it here!! hihihi.

Next? CIREBON. I visited this place for the first time during my cousin's wedding. Well, this is the 3rd time that I say this city also has a lot to offer and potential to attract tourists. There's a center for sulfur bath that based on my opinion, is not well developed and taken care of. There's also a historical building that most of time, as we all know, did not get the attention needed from the government. Cirebon has its own original batik.

YOGYAKARTA was also 1 of my destination when I was traveling with the Student Body in 2008, but I think the first time I went there was with my family.. The fact that the kingdom concept is still existing in this province create more excitement among the people who visit, excitement to learn about the way the people live, the rich culture, the cuisine, the old buildings.

Next place is SURABAYA, hihihih. Looks like my journey with the Student Body starts to open up my view on the cities I've never visited before, for this, I thank my University.. :P Not much to talk about, but this place is famous for its cuisine's greatness. People often say that Surabaya is the center of food tourism. Well, until now, I've only been there for 2 times, and each visit wasn't more than 3 days. If I have more time (and the time I spent there is for holiday) I'll describe more about it.

Last year, for the first time, I set my foot on MAKASSAR, this time, I travel with my Sekdilu 35 friends on a field trip. I remember how excited I am to finally got to the eastern part of Indonesia!! :) I went to Trans Studio at that time, not bad. Me and my sisters also visited Fort Rotterdam for pictures, but besides that, nothing else special at the place. I love the food, but I don't like es Pisang Ijo, I found it very annoyingly sweet! :P The second time I went there is for work last month. I went a little crazy buying the souvenirs.. hahaha! 1 thing I notice and I don't like so much: the beach right next to the main road is not well developed and maintained.

What else? Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung.. Well, I love going back and forth to Bogor and Bandung, because of the easier access to reach those places. As for Jakarta, I live here now. hehehe.

Okay, that's how I describe VERY BRIEFLY about the cities I've visited. But the bottom line here is that the access (how to get there, how to get around the place), the information (all about where, when, what, who, why, and how), the facilities (anything that can elevate the excitement of visiting the tourism area), the infrastructure (place to stay, place to eat, etc) is still below expectation to support the development of the tourism sector. I am a proud Diplomat, and my passion is for culture and tourism. Any job in my Ministry that have something to do with the culture and tourism sector, would make me really excited to work on!! Wish I'll give my contribution for this sector.. :))