#YogyaSoloTrip : Where To Go (part 1)

Seperti yang udah diceritain di post sebelumnya bahwa selama perjalanan ini itinerary ga disusun, dan pergi kemana kaki melangkah aja. Waktu hari Jumat bangun, masih bingung mau kemana, ditambah harus ngecek timeline karena hari itu Shondaland's TGIT (teteeeep, hahaha..). Akhirnya memutuskan mau ke daerah Prawirotaman/ Tirtodipuran karena disitu banyak tempat makan. Goggling2 dan ketemu salah satu tempat makan yang jadi satu sama art gallery dan banyak dapet review bagus, Kedai Kebun, jadilah saya menetapkan tujuan kesana. Mau mampir-mampir di jalan sih liat nanti aja.

Dari guest house ke Kebun Kebun 45 menit aja kalo jalan kaki. See? Makanya sarapannya harus nasi goreng, hahahhaa...

Keluar Pawon Cokelat sekitar jam berapa ya? Sembilan? Lupa, pokoknya masih pagi dan Malioboro masih sepi. Kedengeran suara lagu jawa yang melantun dari radio yang terpasang di sepanjang Jalan Malioboro. Rasanya nggak pernah sebelumnya jalan di Malioboro dalam kondisi sesepi ini. Salah satu toko favorit saya, Mirota Batik (eh, sekarang udah ganti nama btw jadi Hamzah Batik, ganti pemilik?) sudah buka, tapi saya memutuskan untuk mampir nanti saja.

Sampai ujung jalan Malioboro, ternyata titik nol kilometer sedang direnovasi sehingga jalan ditutup. Saya memutuskan belok kiri ke arah Jalan Panembahan Senopati sampai bertemu dengan gerbang Taman Pintar Yogyakarta. Sungguh awalnya kurang tertarik dan cuma masuk karena penasaran sama gedung Planetariumnya saja, cuma in the end lama banget keliling-keliling disitu. Menarik deh ternyata. Atau memang mengunjungi lokasi wisata khusus anak tanpa membawa anak itu membuka perspektif baru ya? Jatuhnya ke entertaining diri sendiri bukan entertaining anak.

Jumat itu, di halaman Taman Pintar sedang ramai sekali karena ada semacam pameran dan panggung yang diisi berbagai macam penampilan anak TK. Saya beli dua tiket, untuk ke planetarium (Rp. 15.000,- untuk orang dewasa) dan tiket masuk Gedung Oval dan Memorabilia (Rp. 18.000,- untuk orang dewasa). Karena waktu itu sudah mau pukul 10 dan show di Planetarium sudah akan dimulai, saya pergi ke Planetariun dulu.

Di luar studio. Di dalam studio, dilarang foto-foto. Mengeluarkan hp, kamera atau benda bercahaya lain juga dilarang.

Mungkin karena bukan weekend, jadi pengunjung waktu itu belum terlalu banyak. Planetariumnya sendiri menurut saya keren sekali, apa karena baru pertama kali masuk Planetarium, jadi belum bisa membandingkan dengan yang lain? Lama pertunjukan tiga puluh menit, kita dipertontonkan langit Yogyakarta malam itu, zoom in ke beberapa planet yang terlihat. Plus ada dua film pendek yang khusus dishoot menggunakan kamera 360 derajat. Nice shooow.

Setelah selesai di Planetarium, saya masuk ke gedung memorabilia. Untuk gedung memorabilia sendiri tidak terlalu banyak yang dipertunjukan, sebagian besar tentang sejarah Indonesia dan presiden dari waktu ke waktu. Ada sesi bangunan yang menyimpan beberapa personal belonging dari mantan presiden Indonesia, seperti salah satu award-nya Habibie, baju koko Gusdur dan baju pramuka SBY.

Dari gedung memorabilia, saya masuk ke Gedung Oval. Awalnya sih ga berharap banyak, tapi lhooo.. ternyata dalamnya luas dan baguuuus sekali. Serius, bagus banget deh dalamnya. Terbagi ke beberapa lantai dan beberapa zona, ada zona fisika, kimia, biologi, industri, budidaya makanan, teknologi, duh saya lupa saking banyaknya. Serius, bagus, inovatif dan interaktif sekali. Rasanya rada nggak percaya di Indonesia ada gedung seperti ini.

Pintu masuk gedung oval = akuarium!

Zona apa namanya, cuma isinya tentang sejarah kota Yogyakarta, ada bioskop mininya memutar film pendek tentang Yogya.

Another poor attempt of taking picture by self timer.

Jujur nggak banyak foto-foto disini karena terlalu banyak ber-aaaaw... sambil megang alat-alatnya yang interaktif. Bayangin, ada zona olahraga lengkap sama video games untuk main tenis, sepakbola, terus main basket ala-ala Timezone gitu. Super kewl. Di lantai paling atas dekat pintu keluar ada bioskop 4D yang tiket masuknya harus beli secara terpisah, Rp. 20.000,- kalau nggak salah, tapi worth it lah buat film pendek selama 15 menit.

Revisit? Super yes! Apalagi kalo sama Zafran ya.. Halaman Taman Pintar juga cukup luas, dimana tiket masuknya gratis, ada taman lalu lintas dan beberapa permainan yang seru.

Main air gratis!

Ngga terasa keluar dari Taman Pintar ini udah jam satu aja, tiga jam sendiri di dalam. O ya, ada semacam food court juga di dalam dengan berbagai pilihan jadi ngga usah takut kelaparan.

Next stop adalah Taman Sari, another post yaaaa...

#YogyaSoloTrip : Where To Stay

Sebenernya, walaupun judul perginya dari Kamis sampai Minggu, tapi yang beneran niat pergi kemana-mananya cuma satu hari sih, Jumat aja. Kamis baru sampai siang ke sore gitu kan, dan sisa hari diisi dengan leyeh-leyeh sampai malem, beli KFC deket hotel sama jus buah di Giant. Plus mewek karena video call sama anak, kangen gitu deh haha. Sabtu diisi tidur sampai siang, pindah hotel, leyeh-leyeh (lagi!) dan wisata mall, hahaha.. Sedangkan minggunya jam 6 udah cabs flight ke Jakarta.

Memang trip ini direncanakan sebagai no-pressure and no-itinerary trip sik (dan lagi kapan sik gw bikin-bikin itinerary, zzz). Intinya pingin laid back for a while dan menikmati tiga malam tidur nyenyak full (kalo bilangnya ke suami, mau rapelan tidur enak disini), because being a mother and working mother, I rarely had enough sleep, Ugh. Makanya cari tempat nginep yang enak, dan deket dari mana-mana, karena kalo emang males kemana-mana, seenggaknya Indomaret tinggal lompat dan banyak tempat makan.

Jadi inget salah satu post yang dibuat sama The Babybirds tentang Pawon Cokelat, googling-lah tentang bnb ini. Eh kok deket banget ya sama Malioboro. Harganya juga nggak terlalu mahal, 325k a night. Sebelumnya jujur ga pernah nginep di bnb, tapi yaaa there's always first time for everything kan ya kan? Awalnya mau book buat tiga malem, tapi kok yang malem minggunya dia udah full-booked yaaa, hiks. Sempet liat-liat Greenhost Hotel yang lagi in itu dan Lokal Hotel, tapi lokasinya lumayan jauh juga ya, walopun di Prawirotaman banyak tempat makan lucuk-lucuk jg sik. Udah mau book Greenhost (plus berharap ketemu Dian Sastro sama Nicholas Saputra disana!), tapi kok tapi masih kepo sama Pawon Cokelat. Akhirnya jalan keluarnya, stay di Pawon Cokelat 2 malam, trus malam berikutnya pindah ke Jayakarta Hotel. Kenapa ke Jayakarta? Deket bok dari bandara, cuma 15 menit aja dan punya airport pick-up services. Cucook lah ya, kan mau pagi-pagi balik ke Jakarta.

Turns out Pawon Cokelat is amazing. Loooove, love, love. Lokasinya di Sosrowijaya, ternyata disitu emang banyak banget hotel dan bnb yah, never notice before. Dan turns out, foto-foto paling banyak disitu, hahaha... -__-

Breakfast spot. Untuk sarapan sendiri, diberikan dua pilihan, mau ala Indonesia atau ala barat. Waktu itu sih saya dua kali sarapan pilih yang ala Indonesia (hahaha), hari pertama nasi goreng dan yang kedua mie goreng. Untuk teh dan kopi sendiri available 24 jam.

Rooftop! Aduh kecenya...

Love the room. Sleek, tidy, love it.

Dan turns out hari ketiga hampir sepagian saya disini, nonton Grey's Anatomy dan How to Get Away With Murder.

First attempt using self-timer. Duh, harus beli tongsis kayaknya next trip. Bakalan ada ngga ya next trip? =p

Intinya betah banget disini, dan sedikit sedih waktu harus check out. Deket banget sama Circle K, Indomaret, Malioboro Mall dan halte Trans Jogja. Masuk ke gang sih, but you got what you paid. Mungkin susah sih kalo bawa kendaraan sendiri, had no idea harus parkir dimana, wong motor aja harus dituntun kok di dalem gang itu, jadi mungkin kalo pergi sama mas Ro dan Zaf, Greenhost? Hahahaha, anyway tetep pingin balik kesini lagi sih kalo kondisinya memungkinkan.

#YogyaSoloTrip : Prologue

So, no, I didn't go to Yogya and Solo.

But yes, I went to Yogya alone.

Have I told you that I have the best husband ever? Nope, I am not exaggerating it. When I told him coyly maybe I need sometimes alone after everything that happened in my family (plus the load of my work nowaday!), no wonder I felt so overwhelmed (and yes, a little bit depressed). I never flying solo before, never travelling alone except for work. Suprisingly, he agreed, even more excited than me. I never assumed he was serious until few weeks ago.

I planned to take two days leave from office, but hadn't plan to go anywhere. The choice is visited IKEA (yeeeah, right), or go somewhere near with Zafran (Taman Safari?). I didn't feel right to leave Zafran at home as usual and went to my husband alone because of some things. Then husband said, what if I went to Yogyakarta whether Zafran and him went visiting my mother in law in Semarang? I laughed at the idea at first. Nooooo, leaving Zafran alone with you for the whole four days? But then the idea creeped me out, I found that I was thinking about it again and again. Four days just for myself! Then who am I kidding? My husband is excellent with Zafran. I trust him more than he trusts me, And more than I trust myself. I really can't trust myself to handle Zaf alone, to be truth. But he can do it.

Sooo, I asked him again, he still said yes, I might go. Til we arrived to the airport and sat at the boarding gate (we were at same gate, their flight boarded five minutes earlier than mine), I still asked if he was sure. And man, does he ever doubt about it. So they went first, and I waited until my turn. I cried a little in my heart, after all I am still a mother. But kid was so calm and was not anxious when separating with me. I still remember the horror and questioning look from a man who sat beside us, realized that I wasn't going with my husband and son, hahaha.

And the trip begun. Hello Yogya, long time no see :)

Family Trip : Ancol sekaligus Reuni!

So, with anything happened (I wish I could tell you, maybe someday I will), I really miss writing. In this blog and in my personal journal. So today, the boys are sleeping, while I really have a lot of deadline and work to do, first blogging!

Agustus kemarin, ada acara reunian Teknik Sipil Undip. Acaranya untuk beberapa angkatan sik, awalnya males haha, tapi pas denger kalo acaranya diadain di Putri Duyung Ancol lumayan tertarik juga, apalagi Zafran belum pernah ke Ancol. Dan ternyata lumayan sukses juga, yang datang satu angkatan lumayan banyak, walaupun akhirnya ga bisa ikutan acara puncaknya karena kemaleman dan ngga enak hati udah ninggalin Zafran sama suami di hotel seharian. Besoknya kita bertiga ga ikutan acara jalan santai di Ecopark tapi cabut ke Sea World, liat ikan, binatang favoritnya Zafran (selain ayam dan bebek. Oh well)

Baru bangun tidur dan rada bete. Karena panas. Apa kabar mau diajak jalan-jalan ke pantai di Bali nak? Batal aja kalo gitu yah? Btw, udah lama banget ngga ke pantai Ancol dan sekarang lumayan bersih ya.

Meet again! Karena rata-rata temen kuliah domisilinya di Jakarta, jadi jarang banget ketemu. Eeeeh, pas ketemu udah pada bawa buntut kayak gini. Seumuran lagi.

Mulai bete karena ngantuk. Abis ini langsung cabs berdua sama bapaknya bobok di hotel, hehe.

Terakhir ke Sea World sendiri... mungkin 6 tahun yang lalu? Waktu masih kerja di PP? Sempet ditutup kalo ngga salah karena ada masalah kepemilikan apa sih yang gw juga ga ngerti, untungnya kemarin udah buka. Karena bingung mau kemana lagi, kalau ke Dufan masih kekecilan kali ya Zafrannya. Buat anak dibawah 100 cm masih belum bayar tiket... errr, Zafran kayaknya udah bayar sih harusnya, tapi karena duduk di stroller, ngga ditagih tiket! Haha.. Anyway, Sea World masih bagus, favorit banget dari dulu, cuma kemaren rameeeee. Rame banget, sampai jalan rada susah dan di dalem panas. Weekend? Mungkin harus cuti kali ya kalau mau sepi kesini.

Zaf loves fish and darkness. Cuco lah. Ada temen kantor yang nanya, Zaf ga takut gelap-gelap? Wong kalo Zaf mau tidur aja lampu harus dinyalain, kalo dimatiin dia malah girang dan nyanyi-nyanyi sendiri, zzzzz

Sama panitia diinepin di Aston Marina, karena Hotel Discovery dan Mercure-nya udah penuh sama angkatan-angkatan atas. (Seniority still exist!). Aston Marina ini menurut saya rada aneh deh, bintang empat kan, tapi pelayanan rada parah. Dari mulai check in yang lama banget, terus room service yang dipanggil lamaaaaak, sampai lift yang rusak-rusak. Padahal udah laporan, tapi ga ditindak lanjut. Dua hari nginep disana naik turun selalu pakai lift barang, zzzz

Jadi, reuni selanjutnya dimana? Bali? *uhuk*

Sometimes I asked myself, am I gonna heal? Or am I gonna stay broken all my life?

So... I was drafting this post in my notebook few days ago, simply because I couldn't get it out off my head, but there was no time to start a blogpost. Really had busy week last week, maybe the busiest week ever during my work time here :p Anyway, here it is.

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So itchy to write it down, and too lazy to open a blogpost, so here I am, write semi-draft. Lately, I feel many jealousy and envy towards many people. Some friends who have achieved more. People who have chosen alternative ways and be happy. Some who can exercise more. Vacate more. Feel like stuck here and doesn't improve is worst feeling a competitive person could have. Eating you inside. I know life is different and we should be grateful for our own, and blablabla... but still. I feel bad only saying this, keep finding other people to motivate me, forget that only ourselves could DO that.

And then, I cuddled with my husband and son, under our very own roof, had a good meal and good laugh, and suddenly I feel like, " I am not trading THIS LIFE for another. Like NEVER EVER".

 I know life is not perfect and I am bing very human when feel and wanted more. I don't know if I can have it all. Maybe I can. Maybe I can't. And if I couldn't had it all, I am gonna make sure which side I am gonna choose. And I've already known which side. They said, go out off your comfort zone. I said embrace your comfort zone and make the best of it. Have no idea how long I will be gere, but let's dance in it.

PS.

Found jealousy and envy had motivated me enough several times and challenged me to be better. I only have to fid a way to manage it better.

Now back to work! Ayo kerja! :D

Honey, Honey, Honeymoon? Where to Go?

So, before I start, a friend of mine looked at my vacation photos and commented, "Lho La? Kok kesini sini lagi sih? Mainstream amat." Lemme tell you. I love everything mainstream. I love Ariana Grande, love Game of Thrones, love going to PVJ when I visit Bandung. I love Pantai Kuta, whatever people says. I love basically everyone else love. What's wrong with loving something mainstream? So, when we went to Bali, we basically visited everything mainstream, holiday spot, eating spot, hang out spot. Everything's hype in Instagram, we visited. Haha. It's still fun anyway although we didn't go to secret beach or whatever place you found on article titled "Mau ke Bali? Berikut tempat-tempat yang masih jarang dikunjungi".

Where We Stay

Horizon Seminyak. We decided to stay in Seminyak because last time we stayed in Kuta, and now we chose to stay somewhere calmer. Horizon Seminyak is nice place to stay, good rates, and we could reach the beach on foot. We opted to not have breakfast at hotel though, as we wanted to explore some breakfast spots nearby.

Where We Go

So, when we decided to go, we've already decided that it'll be a kind of laid back holiday. I thought we deserved it, not making itinerary (kapan juga ya gw bikin itinerary. Hah!), and just laid back watching television in hotel. Some said, "Sayang banget lo ke Bali nggak kemana-mana", but it was our main purporse, nggak kemana-mana. So, hotel, beach, eating out, hotel, beach, strolling out, beach hotel is kinda resuming our vacation itinerary.

Seminyak Beach

Located just few hundred meters from our hotel, it is lovely and quiet beach (at least less noisy than Kuta). Our hotel have a transport service so if you're too lazy to take a walk, you can use it.

Morning light. Both of us is NOT sunset/sunrise seeker, soooo we just skipped it and spent more time under the blanket :p

Leyeh-leyeh while watching some bules do their morning exercises. Alasannya, kan kita cuma tiga hari disini beb, kalo 2 minggu disini baru deh kita bawa sepatu lari :)))

What we do in the beach: Reading some books (I finished two books in three days, it was achievement since I rarely do that now), munching some snacks, and watching Game of Thrones! (tetep ya...)

Strolling out in Seminyak

Our favorite street is Oberoi, Seminyak. Full of cute stores, boutiques, cafes and restaurants.

Pura Petitenget, Kerobokan

Found the place accidentally, we even didn't enter the pura, just enjoy the beach. So silent and desolated, maybe because Petitenget Beach is part from pura.

Where We Eat

Warung Made Seminyak

We went to Warung Made in Kuta last time we were here, impressed with the food, not with the place. So, we're amazed when we went to one in Seminyak, the place is quite large and nice. The food? Still awesome.

The Holycrab

Good place to find seafood, wanted to taste its crab but it was sold out :( So, we opted to have shrimp bag, which actually more than enough! Banyak banget, I can't imagine what Crab Bag looked like.

Revolver Coffee

Next day we're having our brunch here, because almost everyone said it's the best coffee in Bali, period. I didn't give a damn because my coffee vocabulary is limited to Kopiko 78 and McD's ice coffee jelly, but my husband loves coffee. The place was crowded, guess everyone want to have their brunch here. They served healthy juice too, that I liked. The food is good, the coffee is delicious (according to my husband)

Motel Mexicola

Nice and instagrammable. Enough to meet my criteria for eating spot :p Didn't have full meal here though, because we're just having our brunch. Order some tapas and nachos, love love it.

Nasi Pedas Ibu Andika

Maybe the best meal we had in Bali (memang ya orang Indonesia ya sukanya nasi-nasian begini). Open 24 hours.

Sixty Six Beachside Beach and Grill

Located in Seminyak Beachside. We picked it randomly because husband wanted some apple pie after watching Masterchef on TV. Zzzz.. But it turned out having a nice pie.

So, that's it. Next time we go to Bali, maybe the itinerary will consist of zoo, marine park, because hopefully we can take Zafran with us. :)