My Beachy Weekend Escapade

Posted on March 14, 2013 by jipp

So, taking the advantage of staying in KL, I did a little bit of weekend escapade last week, this time I went to Krabi on the west coast of South Thailand. Despite most people’s belief that Krabi is an island, it is actually not. It is part of Thai mainland which makes it reachable by vehicle from Bangkok and even KL.

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The very first thing I realized about Krabi was that, it’s very expensive. From meals to drinks and even accommodation – everything is quite expensive. Cash was running out much faster that I had expected. Thanks God I was only there for a couple of nights so I wasn’t really worried. Continue reading →

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I Fell in Love with BONDOWOSO

Posted on February 25, 2013 by jipp

Bromo was so great and we enjoyed every moment there. We wished we could stay there longer but we had a long journey to do all the way to Ijen Crater on the further East of Java Island. It would be a very long journey from Cemoro Lawang to Probolinggo and later to Bondowoso before heading to Sempol nearby Ijen – all on different buses.

journey map

A : Probolinggo B : Bondowoso C: Sempol D : Ijen

I did not quite like Probolinggo. I was only there for about an hour or so but I could not wait to get out of there. In addition to the stupid tour agent who claimed himself as a good friend of Agoda, I couldn’t help but thinking that everybody in Probolinggo tried to cheat tourists in one way or another. Continue reading →

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Watching the Sunset over BROMO

Posted on February 20, 2013 by jipp

We fumbled our way out of the warm comfort of the room right into the chill air of Bromo at four in the morning and hopped groggily on a waiting jeep. We shared the jeep with five others including the driver. Then we joined dozens other jeeps to dash across the sea of sand towards Mount Pananjakan where we’d watch the sun rising over Bromo.

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The ride was exhilarating. The road was a zig-zag and mostly uphill and it was like being in an army convoy or something where there are dozens other jeeps moving along in front and behind us. It was not particularly chilly but I was glad I had my jacket on. Continue reading →

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Hello BROMO !

Posted on February 19, 2013 by jipp

WE left from Bungurasih Bus Terminal in Surabaya to Probolinggo where we were dropped on a road-side without really knowing what to do next. We knew they were minivans going up to Cemoro Lowong (the nearest town to Bromo) but we didn’t know how they looked like or what time of the day would they be departing.

Bungurasih Bus Terminal, Surabaya

Bungurasih Bus Terminal, Surabaya

That was when some stupid Javanese came introducing himself as ‘the official tourist guide for buses to Mount Bromo’. That word ‘official’ had caught me off guard and he led me into a small office with nothing in it but a small table and two chairs – one for him and one for me his ‘customer’. He asked me to take a seat to which I hesitantly adhered to although all I wanted to know was the departure time of the next minivan to Bromo. Continue reading →

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Desperate for Entertainment in Surabaya

Posted on February 15, 2013 by jipp

Surabaya that we found out is not really an entertainment city. We’d been through some physically and mentally challenging days in Bromo and later Ijen (will write about them in my  next post) so we wanted to find a little bit of relaxation before wrapping our trip up and returned to our normal life back in Malaysia.

Looking for a place to chill out has proved to be not an easy task in Surabaya. Even taxi drivers didn’t seem to be able to come up with their own suggestions. Some of them even admitted that there’s nothing much to see around town and that most of the attractions are located outside of the city. In the end internet is still the best source of information. Continue reading →

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