Bali Sept 29 - Oct 5 '16 - Day 1

Selamat Siang!! Hello Wanderlust !! As I'm still in the strong spirit in updating my blog, I'm going to share my adventure to Bali. We've been there from Sept 29 to Oct 5, 2016. The flight from KLIA2, Malaysia was around 3 hours & we've been arrived by afternoon. After touchdown, we've met our Pak Supir a.k.a the tourist guide cum driver during the trip. His name is Alif, you may find his FB page via visiting this LINK.

Bali, Here I Come !!

Pak Supir Bali - Alif 

As mentioned by Alif, Ngurah Rai International Airport has been named after one of Bali national hero which is I Gusti Ngurah Rai who commanded Indonesian forces in Bali against the Dutch during Indonesian War of Independence to appreciate his effort & contributions.

While listening to the historical story about I Gusti Ngurah Rai, we've continued our journey to Restaurant Wong Solo to have our lunch. Next, we had checked-in at Fave Hotel Kuta Square for the next 3 nights. You may find the review of the hotel via this LINK. As you know, we love watching the sunset & sunrise. As it's almost in the evening, we had watched the sunset at Kuta Bali Beach. It's within walking distance from the hotel to Kuta Bali Beach as it's nearby. This beach is best known for its Indian Ocean surfing among the surfers as well as it's happening atmosphere location among the tourists.   

Denpasar - Ngurah Rai International Airport

Denpasar - Restaurant Ayam Bakar Wong Solo

Restaurant Ayam Bakar Wong Solo - Nasi Ayam Bakar & Nasi Ayam Penyet

Denpasar - Kuta Beach

Travel Tips/Hints:

• You may need to do 3-5 months reservation upfront for the tourist guide cum driver to avoid any difficulties as Uber or GrabCar is banned by the local folks upon your flight ticket is available & your place of interest have been finalized.
• As local people will attract you to buy their stuffs / products / services along the road side while you're walking, just say "Terima Kasih" & continue your walking. Don't say "No" as they may feel offended by that.

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja

Day 1 : Day 2 : Day 3 : Day 4 : Day 5 : Day 6 : Day 7 : Day 8

*All pictures & illustrations in this blog are copyrighted. Please contact the Blog Administrator for permission. 

Accommodation Review - FaveHotel Kuta Square @ Bali, Indonesia

Hello Travellers !! For this round I'm going to review the hotel while I'm staying in Bali. I have checked in at FaveHotel Kuta Square from Sept 29 to Oct 1, 2016. In my opinion, overall  this hotel is comfortable with elevator facilities, spacious space & reasonable price for those who are in tight budget.

Pros of staying in FaveHotel Kuta Square:

• Location - within walking distance to most of the tourist attractions ex: Kuta Bali Beach, Hard Rock Cafe, Waterbom Bali, Matahari Department Store & Beachwalk shopping mall
• Hotel facilities - provided with private bathroom, LED TV with local & international channels, free WiFi internet access, hair dryer & bathroom amenities

Cons of staying in FaveHotel Kuta Square:

• Swimming pool - operation hour from 6am to 8pm, due to the location of the swimming pool is in-front of other rooms which may disturb others
• Breakfast menu - varieties of menu daily but almost similar menu for 3 days during our stay
• Water dispenser - the staff taking longer time to refill or replace the water bottle (for my case only by the 3rd day the water bottle has been replaced). The hotel guests need to go to the lobby area to refill their water bottle instead
• Bed bugs - we're unlucky as we just realized we've been bitten by bed bugs on the last day staying here as we've never facing it before. Otherwise, requesting to change a room is a must !!

FaveHotel Kuta Square

FaveHotel Kuta Square - The Restaurant

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja

*All pictures & illustrations in this blog are copyrighted. Please contact the Blog Administrator for permission. 

Busan & Seoul Mar 27 - Apr 6 '16 - Part 8

Hello Travellers & Backpackers!! Finally, this is the last part of my trip to South Korean. For this section I will share with you another spot to view cherry blossom at the park nearby Gwaebeop Renecite station, visitation mission of Gamcheon Culture Village & another sunset watching at Haeundae Beach.

How To Go There (Gwaebeop Renecite Station): 

• From Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal , turn to your right & walk straight. The direction to go to Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal is available as in previous post via this LINK.
• You may pass through several shop lots.
• The next landmark is Gwaebeop Renecite station at your left.
• Use the bridge & walk straight to cross the main road. 

OR

• Upon you've reached Sasang station as in the direction to go to Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal as in this LINK, you may need to change to Busan Gimhae LRT & stop at Gwaebeop Renecite station.
• Proceed to Exit #1 & turn left.

A lot of Korean also cycling, walking or jogging at this park. Sometimes, you may see photographer with their sophisticated camera taking cherry blossom photo as the landscape also very beautiful. Actually, we had accidentally came to this park after surveying the route & bus schedule to go to Jinhae a day before. Trust me - it's also worth it to come here for those who would like to capture the cherry blossom photo as one of their collection!! Do go through the cherry blossom picture below!

Gwaebeop Renecite Station - The Park 

Our next mission is to go to Gamcheon Culture Village. Are you curious to know what is our mission here?? The main activity that you may do at this village is WANDERING. In other words you may walking around in this village by collecting the visitation stamps as in the map. Upon completion collecting all the stamps, you may receive the postcards from the tourism officer. Hip Hip Hooray!!! Mission Accomplished!!

How To Go There (Gamcheon Culture Village): 

• From Busan station (Line #1 Busan subway), stop at Toseong station.
• Proceed to Exit #6.
• After reaching an intersection, turn right at the corner & walk straight. You will see a hospital at your right. The bus stop that you're going to use is in front of this hospital.
• Take the bus number 2 or 2-2 to Gamcheon Culture Village.

Gamcheon Culture Village - The Iconic Wall

Gamcheon Culture Village - The Map & Postcards

Gamcheon Culture Village - The Landscape View

The next stop is to Haeundae Beach. As we love to watch the sunset or sunrise, we had another sunset sight seeing at this beach before going back. Check out below picture as this is 1 of the hot spot location among the tourist.

How To Go There (Haeundae Beach): 

• From Toseong station (Line #1 Busan subway), head & stop at Seomyeon station.  
• Change to Line #2 & stop at Haeundae station.
• Proceed to Exit #5.
• Head straight less than 200m & you will arrive at Haeundae Beach.

Haeundae Beach - During Sunset

Travel Tips/Hints:

• The map of Gamcheon Culture Village is 2000₩, which may ease your wandering mission as the map located several hot spot location for the tourist. 
• There is also a cafe for the tourist to rest for a while before continuing their wandering activity in Gamcheon Culture Village.

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8

*All pictures & illustrations in this blog are copyrighted. Please contact the Blog Administrator for permission. 

Busan & Seoul Mar 27 - Apr 6 '16 - Part 7

I'm BACK!! Annyeong!! Hello!! It's been sometimes since I've not published the remaining experiences (2 more posts to go including this one) of my trip to South Korean. Recently, tight with a lot of responsibilities for the past 6 months including the preparation needed for trip to Bali, Indonesia by end of September'16. 

This is the part that I'd love the most - the one that I'm awaiting for only in Spring... The one that I dreamt for - I can see PINK, WHITE & it's at JINHAE!! JINHAE??? What is that all about?? Anyone can guess it?? 

OK, allow me to explain 1st.. FYI, there is annual cherry blossom festival at Jinhae (a small town in Gyeongsangnam Province) during Spring. In 2016, this event marked it's 54th  of Jinhae Gunhangje Festival occurred from April 1-10, 2016. We were having the sightseeing of cherry blossoms at Jinhae as well as at Gyeonghwa Station. Let's find out more on how to go there readers!!

How To Go There:
a) From Busan Station to Jinhae Bus Station: 

• From Busan station, take Line #1 Busan Subway & stop at Seomyeon station
• Change to Line #2 Busan subway & stop at Sasang station
• Proceed to Exit #5. 
• Upon exiting, turn left & there is McDonalds fast food restaurant.
• Walk straight and Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal should be in sight (it should be where most of the people are heading to)
• Purchase the bus ticket & check out below bus schedule
• Wait for your bus at platform #17 to be arrived

b) From Jinhae Bus Station to Yeojwacheon Stream

• From Jinhae Bus Station, turn on maps.me apps. Search for Yeojwacheon-ro & you may arrive to Yeojwacheon Stream by walking & enjoying the view of falling pink cherry blossoms as the weather is chill & windy. 

c) From Jinhae Train Station to Gyeonghwa Station:

• To go to Gyeonghwa Station, you need to find Jinhae Train Station 1st (refer to the picture below on how the train station looks like). 
• Walked to the bus stop opposite to Jinhae Train Station.
• Catch the bus to Gyeonghwa Station, bus number# 307, 315, 315-1, 315-2, 315-3.

The bus ticket from Busan to Jinhae is about 5100₩ / pax. Meanwhile, the bus ticket to Gyeonghwa Station is about 1200₩ / pax. Alternatively, you may use a taxi to Gyeonghwa Station if you're travelling more than 2 persons. For other option to visit Jinhae from Seoul, you may also refer to this blogger LINK. We had stayed at Top Motel at Jinhae as would like to take the scenery of Yeojwacheon Stream at night.

Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal - The Bus Ticket to Jinhae

Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal - The Bus Schedule to Jinhae

Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal - Platform #17 to Jinhae

Jinhae Gunhangje Cherry Blossom - The Festival Map

Yeojwacheon Stream -  The Cherry Blossoms Tree Along the Stream

Jinhae Train Station - Picture Credited to che-cheh.com

Gyeonghwa Station - Another Tourist Hotspot

Jinhae - "Alice In Wonderland" @ Yeojwacheon Stream

Travel Tips/Hints:

• Ensure to check the latest updates with Official Korea Tourism Organisation in order to know the actual schedule of this event as it's varied & unpredictable from year to year depending on the actual Spring season as well as the blooming of cherry blossoms.
• Bus or train ticket including accommodation are easily sold out & fully booked during this event, do ensure the required booking & reservation has been made upfront. 

Photographed by: Irwan

Narrated by: Jaja

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5 : Part 6 : Part 7 : Part 8

*All pictures & illustrations in this blog are copyrighted. Please contact the Blog Administrator for permission.