Karimunjawa, the Beauty of the Heaven

July 16, 2010, my second trip visiting another beautiful place on earth began. This time I was visiting Karimunjawa islands with some friends and there were 6 of us joined the trip. They were my self, my twin brother Dyat, Eka, Reno, Iwan and the last but not least Mila. Karimunjawa Islands was a group of islands located in the north of Central Java, Indonesia which actually quite popular these days because many foreign and domestic tourists were visiting Karimunjawa, at least this was according to the local people we met in Karimun jawa. Karimunjawa Islands was famous for its beaches and coral reefs which can be easily seen by snorkeling and Karimunjawa is one of the best diving and snorkeling spots in the world.

Before we visit Karimunjawa, we needed to conduct simple research first to determine which package that we were going to choose. There was a small problem occurred when we were planning out trip because the Yogyakarta – Jepara transportation is not included on its list of the 400,000 Rupiah tour package we chose from www.karimunjawa-islands.info, so we need to figured out by ourselves how to get to Jepara on time so we would not missed the ferry trip to Karimunjawa from Jepara.

July 16, 2010 Yogyakarta – Jepara

There were two options that we had a t that time to reach Jepara from Yogyakarta. The first option is to take the 3.00pm train to semarang from Yogyakarta and then to catch the last bus or travel to jepara and stayed in a small hotel in Jepara until the next morning and the second option was to rent a car for the total of 570,000 Rupiah from Yogyakarta to Jepara. But, then we chose the second option because to find the phone number for travel agents office which provided shuttle service from Semarang to Jepara was so difficult because many websites we opened during the research gave the wrong phone number. So, at 12.00am the car we rented arrived and the journey to the islands of the heaven was started.

July 17, 2010 Jepara – Karimunjawa Islands

The car we rented arrived at 04.30 am in the morning to the Kartini Harbor in Jepara where the KMP Muria, the ferry to Karimunjawa departed and we were a little bit surprised because we thought that we would arrive at 6.00 am or later than that but, there we were. The harbor was already crowded at that time and it was because the ferry trips to Karimunjawa from Kartini Harbor were not daily trips. After we took some rest and took some photographs, the ferry ticket office opened and I took the tickets that were already booked by the Karimunjawa trip package provider and I did not need to pay for the tickets because the tickets were included in the trip package.

At 7.00am we were going aboard the ferry and tried to find seat. We chose the seat at the second level, right side of the ferry which then we regretted. The weather was not too good at that time, with the thick clouds hanging all the way we looked at any directions and there was no sign that the sun would shine bright and the wind blew quite strong and then after more than one hour waiting for the KMP Muria to depart, at 8.45 the ferry started to move. The sea was quite calm in the first hour of our ferry trip and we could still have chat and joking, but then, at the rest of our ferry trip, the waves were quite big and strong wind blew. I could not let myself sleep because was so afraid if there was something happen to the ferry. But then because I was so tired and before I picked the seat I already noticed where the life jackets are stored, I fell asleep although I needed to wake up every 15 minutes because of the waves and the right side seat we picked made me feel so sick.

Then after a terrifying 6 hours ferry trip, we reached Karimunjawa ferry harbor, took some photos and picked by the tourist guide from the Karimunjawa tour provider. Then he asked us to get in the car that would take us to the home stay where we were going to stay during the trip. The homestay was actually just the common local people house which is rented by the tour provider for us to stay, so there was nothing special about it. We took a rest for a whole and had a chat with the house owner, took a bath and went straight to the alun-alun or the city center field to have dinner. But before that, Mr. Alex our coordinator came to our house and told that we should move to a new home stay tomorrow morning just after we felt comfortable with the house and the house owner where we stayed.

There were not many choices of food available there, so we decided to buy the fried chicken with iced tea for the total 17,000 Rupiah for each of us. Although we needed to wait for more than 1 hour just to get our food served but it could save us from hunger. After we finished our dinner, we walked straight back to the house we stayed and played Uno cards and went to sleep.

July 18, 2010 Pulau Tengah, Pulau Kecil and Pulau Gosong

At 8am the car that would took us to our new guest house came but because we were not ready yet and still wanted to have breakfast, we asked the driver to go pick the other guests first and then went back to pick us up later. So, less than thirty minutes later he came back and rush us to the new guest house which was only 1km from our previous home stay and there were many differences with our first home stay like the uncommunicative host and bathroom with big hollow window.

The weather was not so good at our first day tour. The sky was cloudy and the wind blew quite strong and we rush to the harbor where the boat that would take us to the first island docking. There were 4 boats that took the entire group on the tour and one boat was for 15 to twenty people. Before the boats left the harbor the guides passed us life jacket that should be worn during the boat trip to the islands. Then after less than 15 minutes choosing and wearing the life jacket, we were departing from the harbor and started to have quite terrifying boat ride.

Big waves were trying to crush our boat when we were far enough from the harbor and believe me that that was so unpleasant especially for me to see big waves rolling and hitting our boat like a toy boat played by little children inside a bath tub. After less than 1 hour terrifying boat ride, we reached the first island called by Pulau Tengah. White sand and blue seashore water which are the typical characteristics of islands in Karimunjawa attracted me to go to the shore and enjoy the beauty of the island. Although the sun was hiding behind the clouds and only it was not like the typical picture of tropical islands we saw on many travel agents advertisements where the sun shines brightly over the coconut trees but still the island looked so pretty.

After taking some pictures, we than went back to the boat and grabbed the snorkeling gear provided by the tour provider and started to plunge ourselves to the water. This was our very first time to snorkeling and it was so fun. I found it difficult at the first time because although I was wearing life jacket and I could float easily but to control how to move is a little bit difficult. I needed about 20 minutes before I can really control how to move my body in the water and try to enjoy the beautiful coral reefs underwater then we had lunch together at the same island after quite tired enjoying the beauty of coral reefs underwater and it was raining so the grilled fish, the men for our lunch was tasted more delicious.

After taking some rest, we went to the next destination, Pulau Kecil to go snorkeling again. The island was still as beautiful as the first island we visited with the various types of beautiful coral reefs showing their enchanted charm. Then, again we went snorkeling and saw the underwater beauty and we were snorkeling quite far from the shore and got exhausted. So me and my friend decided to go back to the shore and took some rest. We all went back to the boat and continued our journey to the last destination of the day, Pulau Gosong.

Pulau Gosong was a tiny island which only had less than 3 x 3 meters sandy surface with the rest of the island`s surface was underwater. We only took some pictures in this tiny island and continue our trip went back to the harbor and went back to the home stay.

We had early dinner which was prepared by the home stay where we stayed at 6.30 pm right after we took a bath then we played Uno cards again for 22 rounds until 11pm before we felt so tired and went to sleep.

July 19, 2010 Shark Shelter, Pulau Menjangan, , Pulau Nggleyang, Pulau Cemara Besar and Tanjung Gelam Beach

The main agenda of the day was still snorkeling and snorkeling, but the first destination we visited was the shark shelter. This place was not really looked like a shark shelter because besides there were many other fish there and the sharks were put in a not too big pond made from coral and rocks at the shallow beach. This place was not quite interesting since people who wanted to swim with those babt sharks were needed to pay. Only a few people jumped into the pond and swam with the sharks and then we continued our journey to Pulau Menjangan.

In this Pulau Menjangan, we did snorkeling again and the coral reefs were better than the first day. We did not snorkeling for a long time because we guide told us that we needed to hurry to visit the next island where we had our lunch, Pulau Nggleyang, or at least that was what I heard the guide said the name of the island to me. The view was quite good, with the blue water and super white sand and some trees at the shore. We did not snorkeling here because the water is too shallow so we just played in the water and got ourselves wet. After tired playing at the beach then we moved to the shore and started to build something which we never completed.

The menu for the lunch was still the same as the first day lunch, grilled fish. Various fishes were grilled with simple seasoning but still it tasted good, maybe because we were all hungry. After we finished our lunch, then we took a rest for a while and had chat with the guide guiding us. It was already afternoon so we needed to continue our trip to the last snorkeling spot, Pulau Cemara Besar. Our boat anchored quite far from the beach and again, set up the snorkeling gear and jumped to the water. This was the best coral reefs view we got in Karimunjawa Islands with various types of coral reefs like fire coral and even sea urchins. We swan quite far from the boat because we were so excited and we felt really exhausted when we got back to the boat.

The next destination was the Tanjung Gelam beach to see the sunset. It was still quite bright when we reached Tanjung Gelam so we needed to wait for the sunset. The beach was so beautiful with the white and soft sand and nice view. After the sun set we left Tanjung Gelam, tired but happy, and so our journey in Karimunjawa has officially finished. After the boat docked at the harbor, we took some pictures with all the people in our boat plus our guide and the boatmen.

Back to the home stay, we took a rest for a while,

had bath and had our dinner. Then after finishing the dinner and went out to buy some souvenirs from the local souvenir shops and went to our first home stay, had chat with the owner plus saying goodbye to them because tomorrow we would go back to Yogyakarta. Then after than we rushed to the home stay and we played another game of Uno cards with the other guess at the home stay who were at the same boat with us while we are waiting information from Mr. Alex our coordinator about the express ship ticket that we order to him earlier.

July 20, 2010 Karimunjawa Islands - Jepara – Yogyakarta

After all of us got up, packed all of our bags and take a bath, we had breakfast prepared by the home stay while we are waiting for Mr. Alex who will deliver the express ship ticket to us. Actually what we got from the tour package were the KMP Muria ferry tickets, but because all of us had seasick during the Jepara – Karimunjawa trip, we decided to upgrade the tickets to express ship which only took 3 hours trip and we needed to pay additional money for the tickets for Rp. 60.000 for each of us and the tickets were executive class express ship from Karimunjawa to Jepara.

Mr. Alex came to our home stay and brought the pictures that he took under water at the first and the invoice that we should pay. It was Rp. 400.000 for each of us plus the Rp.25.000 for the breakfast we had at the first home stay. Before Mr. Alex came, the owner of the second home stay also gave us breakfast bill that we need to pay because the breakfast is not included in the package so we needed to pay for ourselves for Rp. 25.000 for each of us.

The Express ship scheduled to depart from Karimunjawa at 11am, so we still had enough time to play Uno with our new friends until the car picking us up arrived and we rushed to the harbor where the express ship waited.

The executive class was quite comfortable with reclining seats, air conditioner and a pair of TV in front of all of us. The trip was quite smooth and no seasick struck, so all of us went to sleep during the trip. After 3 hours of smooth trip we reached the Kartini harbor in Jepara. After took some rest at the park near the harbor, we took becak to take us to the bus stop and we needed to pay Rp. 8.000 for one becak. Then at the bus station we took the medium size bus to the Semarang and pay for Rp. 11.000 for each of us.

It was already dark when we reached Semarang, we had a very late lunch first and the last bus to Yogyakarta has already departed, so we decided to take the shuttle bus to Yogyakarta. To reach the shuttle bus stop we took the taxi from the front of Terboyo bus stop and paid around Rp. 40.000 for one taxi to get to Srondol area where the shuttle bus Joglosemar office was. Then we bought the ticket for Rp.40.000 and took the 8pm bus back to our beloved city, Yogyakarta...

First Tiny Steps

At last, on the 29^th of April 2010 our first step on the Asia Continent has finally become reality. After a quite stressing research and complicated planning which took four month we could have our very first experience in exploring two countries in South East Asia.

Malaysia and Thailand were chosen as the destination countries because of two main reasons. First is because we as Indonesian don’t need any visa to enter those countries and second is because those countries are relatively close to Indonesia so we didn`t need to spend much money for the transportation. Penang or Pulau Pinang in Malaysia and Krabi in southern Thailand were the City we visited during our trip.

The reason why we chose Krabi and Penang was because it has many interesting places to visit and we could reach it from Penang overland. Bangkok was the first in our city list during the planning process, but seeing that there was no improvement in its political and security condition, we decided not to go there.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 we took third class night train to Jakarta. The third class or the economy class train was quite cheap, but as we all know that it was not comfortable at all. We decided to buy 4 seats for two of us because we thought that the seat was too small for us to sit and we brought big backpacks so we could still hold them when we are sleeping. The train costs Rp 140.000 for 4 seats.

April 29, 2010. Jakarta - Penang.

Finally the day that we have been waiting for was coming. At 4am we took a taxi to the Soekarno Hatta airport which cost us Rp 101.000. Approximately after 1 hour riding the taxi we arrived at the airport, checking in and pay for Rp 150.000 to get the boarding pass. then we went to the “bebas fiskal” counter to clear the fiskal matters. Fiskal is some kind of fee that people should pay before they go abroad, but in Indonesia, at least until we went to this trip those who have Nomor Pokok Wajib Pajak (NPWP) or Tax Identification Number (TIP), still under 21 years old of age or over 21 years old but still don’t have their own income and still become the dependent family member from a working parents (which have NPWP or TIP) don’t have to pay fiskal. This can be proved by showing the photocopy of “kartu keluarga” and the NPWP of the parents. Immigration counter was our next destination in Soekarno Hatta International Airport. We did not get much trouble in this counter except we forgot to fill the Indonesian departure and arrival card and spent less than 5 minutes to fill it up.

Then, precisely at 6.55 am the plane set off to Bayan Lepas International Airport in Penang. We book the round trip plane tickets less than 1 month before departure so the price might be a little bit high. We needed to pay for Rp 1.179.000 per person. The price was included airport tax, insurance and baggage fee.

At 9.00 sharp the plane landed safely at Bayan Lepas International Airport in Penang and it was 20 minutes earlier than the schedule. So, there we were, alone at the strange airport and did not know where the bus stop was. After 20 minutes trying to find the bust stop we gave up and ask security officer (which thing that we should do earlier) and found out that the bus stop was at the second floor. We hopped on Rapid Penang bus number 401E that brought us directly to Komtar, the central bus station in Georgetown and paid for 2.7 RM each.

Even though we already booked a hotel in Georgetown we still didn’t have any idea where the location was, so we decided to catch a taxi and pay 20 RM. After we got off the taxi we were a little bit surprised because our hotel was so close to Komtar.

After checking in and relaxed for a bit, we started to plan the places that we were going to visit and we decided to follow the heritage tail brochure that we found in hotel lobby. The temperature was quite high at that time and we totally forgot to bring hat or cap to cover our head. But it was okay because we were very excited at that time so we walked around the city in a broad daylight. The very first place we visited was the Christian Cemetery, although it was included in one of the places we should visit (according to the brochure) the place was quite untidy and scary and it didn’t look like a tourist attraction. (NOTE: to bring hat or cap or whatever you like to cover your head and big bottle of mineral water is a must if you plan to visit places on foot)

The next destination was the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion. This was the house of a rich Chinese businessman who lived in Penang named Cheong Fatt Tze There was nothing special about the house except the combination of old Chinese style house with a little bit western touch in its floor tile. We were lucky (or unlucky) when we got there because a tour which only be held twice a day was about to begin and we have to pay for 12 RM each for the tour. The tour was guided by mid aged Chinese descendant women who could speak fluent English. We were not the only guest attending the tour, there are more than 20 people from many countries took part.

After the tour was over we went straight to Penang State museum, but nobody was there and we thought it was close so we just went back to the hotel and in our way back we passed the Goddess of Mercy Temple and tried to go inside and took some pictures but we didn’t.

As this was our very first time become tourist in other country, we didn’t know anything of what should be brought when going around on foot, so at that time we didn’t bring hat or cap and single drip of water and we almost pass out because of that.

We realized that we ate no breakfast and lunch and it was already 3pm, so we decided to find something to eat. It was a little bit difficult at the first time because we didn’t see any Halal food stall or restaurant. There were many Chinese restaurant and food stall in Penang and we didn’t want to take any risk eating Haram food. We keep on walking until we saw Halal sign in one restaurant called Jaya at the Penang St, so we stopped and order. It was Nasi Biryani with all of its accessories and a big bottle of mineral water for our very late lunch and we have to pay for 7.50 RM each.

After we reached the hotel, we took a rest for a while and start planning what we should do tomorrow. After a quite long dispute, we decided to go to Krabi tomorrow morning. Then problem raised, first we still didn’t have Baht in our wallet, no hotel to stay in Krabi and no transportation to Krabi. Luckily the hotel we stayed, Mingood Hotel which costs each of us 45 RM per night had transportation service to Krabi for only 60 RM. One problem was solved but still we had two more problems to solve. With the help of the laptop we brought we managed to book a room in The Greenery Hotel in Krabi for two nights through the internet and it cost us 850 THB each. Two problems solved, and we still got one more problem, currency problem. It was 8pm when we asked the hotel receptionist, who were a friendly Indian guy, where the nearest money changer was but he said that they were probably closed by that time. But then suddenly he said that he could help us then started calling all the money changer he knew. Lucky us, one of them was still open and we could exchange our money into Baht right in the hotel. Yes, right in the hotel because one of the employee (or the owner itself) came directly to the hotel we stayed and we made transaction there.

After all the problems were solved we went out to find dinner, it was a little bit late so most of the food stalls were closed but not too far from our hotel we found Sop Hameed, it was food stall selling various types of soup. I ordered chicken soup with rice and soya milk for the drink for 6 RM. We went straight back to the hotel, packed all the clothes again and went to sleep.

April 30, 2010. Penang - Krabi.

The departure schedule for the van we were going to ride to krabi was at 8.30 am so early in the morning I woke up, took a bath, grabbed free breakfast from the hotel and waited for the van at the hotel lobby. The van came, and the driven loaded our backpacks in the trunk and started to drive...recklessly. Our speedy and bumpy ride should stop at the city called Hat Yai, this is the second biggest city in Thailand to change van. After we seated in the other van that would take us to Krabi then suddenly the driver drove the car into another stop and told us to change to another van because the current van AC was not working properly.

In the van taking us to Krabi from Hat Yai, there were one Englishman named Mark and 5 Malaysians. I couldn’t remember all of their names but one of them named Lim. Mark was a real backpacker because he already left his hometown for more than 10 months to go around the world, while Lim and his friends were from Langkawi and wanted to spend their weekend in Krabi. We were talking about many things with them all the way to Krabi. One of Lim`s friend can speak Thai, so he asked the driver to bring us to Tiger cave (one of the tourist attractions in Krabi) Tiger cave was a unique temple complex because the monk lived and stayed inside the cave. Finally, after more than 9 hours sitting in the van, we reached Krabi, the friendliest small town I have ever been. At the travel agent we stopped, we then also booked van service for us to go back to Penang for 600 THB.

Very first agenda is to go to the hotel we have booked, take a bath and find something to eat. Then we checked at our map and found out that not too far from the hotel there was a night market that we thought might selling something for us to eat. But we were wrong. There was nothing to buy and eat there. The market was only selling fruits, vegetables and some awkward food, so we decided to roam the main street there called by Maharaj Road and found small food stand selling fried chicken. We bought 2 pieces of big fried chicken for 29 THB each and small fried chicken for 13 THB each. Water supply was obviously needed so we headed to 7 eleven and bought two big bottle of mineral water for 15 THB each.

May 1, 2010. Krabi.

Since we stayed at cheap budget hotel, we didn’t get free breakfast and needed to buy by ourselves. Morning market might be the perfect place for us to find something to eat, but again, we were wrong, there were nothing to buy there. Morning market was really market where we could only see meat, vegetables and other raw food materials. We saw one vendor selling yellow rice, but we weren’t quite sure that it was halal. So, we stepped out from the morning market and walked into the Maharaj Road and took some photos in front of Wat Kaew, the main temple in Krabi town. After taking some photos we continued walking down the Maharaj Road but there were only a few food stall and restaurant open so we just keep on walking until we found halal food restaurant, the restaurant was quite crowded, maybe because no other restaurants nearby open.

Then, we ordered rice with chicken and vegetables and a glass of coffee milk for 80 THB each. After it we walked in to the bank of Krabi river. The view was quite beautiful with the Khao Khanap Nam which was one of the Krabi`s landmark. Khao Khanap Nam was two hills of 100 meter high and believed by local people as the guardian of Krabi town. After taking some picturess there then we walked along the river walk to 0 KM of krabi Town and went to opposite direction to the Thara Park. There was nothing to see except long boats were speeding along the river. Thara Park was quite crowded at that time, so we decided to walk back to the town and decided to go to Khao Khanap Nam by using long boat.

It was so easy to find long boat man in Chao Fa pier or along the river walk because they would keep following you until you say no. We met boat man who offered us boat ride when we walked into the Thara Park and he offered us boat ride to Khao Khanap Nam for 500 THB for each of us. We thought that it was too expensive for us so we bargained and lowered the price he offered to 300 THB. At first we didn’t know that the price he offered was for one person, because we thought that it was for two people. So, after a quite long bargaining process we agreed that the price was 200 THB each but at last we agreed to give the boat man 250 THB each.

The long boat ride was quite smooth, and we can see mangrove forest along the way to Khao Khanap Nam. After 20 minutes we arrived at Khao Khanap Nam and we were surprised because there was nobody there except three of us, me, my brother and the boat man. It was so quiet, no other sounds except the sound of birds and insects. We started climbing the stairs following the boat man to the cave inside Khao Khanap Nam. Just like the other cave the major scenery were only stalactites and stalagmites. There was also a diorama of Japanese army who were hidden in the cave at the WWII. The boat man explained to us that this cave was used to be the home of prehistoric men and he showed us the ancient pottery and skeleton half buried in the ground of the cave. He also showed us the ancient wall painting pictured in the wall of the cave.

The next destination after Khao Khanap Nam was the fish farm. That was not like what fish farm we imagined because there were only a few types of fish and it was only for the purpose of tourism. The fish farm girl said that she got all the fishes from the fishermen, put the fishes in the fish farm`s pool and after 1 month she released them again to the river except for edible fishes, she sold it to the restaurant. One of the most beautiful and strangest fish we saw was the blow fish. We bought young coconut for 30 THB and souvenir for 130 THB. WE went back to hotel after that to take a rest for a while and change our clothes.

From the hotel he hit the Maharaj Road again to find something to eat, we decided to walk further to the south and found halal restaurant. Then, I ordered Red Seafood Curry and banana shake for 110 THB. Krabi was so famous of its beaches, so we decided to go to one of the most famous beaches there called Ao Nang. To go to the beach we had to take local bus or people there usually called by Song Teaw and paid for 50 THB 1 trip per person. Song Teaw wasn’t look like a bus, it was a pickup truck with slight modification on its back so the passenger can sit on it. The view on the beach was quite beautiful, the sand was white and the water was clean enough. The karsts on the beach and small islands with mountainous karsts can also be seen from the beach. After buying some souvenirs took enough walk and some pictures we went back to the hotel by using another Song Teaw and paid for 50 THB.

The second night in Krabi, we went to the different night market from the first night. Many food stalls or food hawkers there so we can just pick what food for dinner that night. While we are walking around the night market we bought Thai Pancake twice for 25 THB each. Fried Chili with chicken and water was our menu for dinner or 37.5 THB each.

May 2, 2010. Krabi - Penang.

We checked out from The Greenery Hotel quite early although our van that would bring us back to Penang would be departed from the travel agent at 11.00am. We roamed the Maharaj Road again to find breakfast, but again because it was too early no restaurants or food stall were open. Fortunately we found small food stand selling drinks and we ordered iced coffee for 15 THB. To find local food as souvenir was the main agenda, so we went straight to the snack shop still at Maharaj Road and bought three different snacks as souvenir for 100 THB.

Because it was still early in the morning, the nearest halal food restaurant opened was the same restaurant we had our breakfast yesterday. We ordered the similar menu for the breakfast and iced tea for 60 THB each. The travel agent was the next destination after we had our breakfast, we waited long enough there until we decided to leave our backpacks there and went to the river walk and we stopped near the Chao Fa pier to sit for about an hour before we went back to the travel agent to wait for the van.

The Trip was quite boring with the same type of driver, reckless and always in a hurry. Everybody was busy with their own business inside the van so it was the perfect time to sleep. We also needed to stop at Hat Yai to change van. in the same van with us there was a man from Switzerland who wanted to go to Penang to renew his and his wife`s visa. When we asked how long have you been in Thailand and he answered 1 year. We thought that he was working in Thailand or doing some business, but he told us that he was on vacation.

Arrived at Penang we were taken directly o the same hotel we stayed, Mingood Hotel to stay for two more nights before we left Malaysia and needed to pay for 90 RM per person. It was late at night when we arrived at the hotel and we were too tired to go out and find something to eat so we just ordered food from the hotel. We ordered Chicken black pepper and hot chocolate for 22 RM.

May 3, 2010. Penang.

After grabbing free breakfast at the hotel we went to Campbell Street where the stores situated. We hoped that we can buy souvenirs there but unfortunately, the stores were still closed and we should continue our walk to our next destination, Penang Islamic Museum at Lebuh Armenian with the ticket fee was only 1 RM. The museum used to be the mansion of Syed Al-Attas, an Acehnese who was an Arab-Malay mix trader. Like the other museum, this museum was explaining all about Islam in Penang, its culture, and all Islam related things. Masjid Kapitan Keling was our next destination and it was located near the Penang Islamic Museum. It was one of the oldest Masjid in Penang but unfortunately we didn’t go to see the inside part of the Masjid.

It was still morning when we finished taking picture at the Masjid Kapitan Keling,but something went wrong with my stomach and we should go back to the hotel and on our way back we saw Burmese Temple and took some picturess there. After I finished my duty, we hit the road again to visit Penang State Museum which was closed at the first day we arrived in Penang. On our way to Penang State Museum, we passed the Goddess of Mercy temple and took some pictures. To get to Penang State Museum at Lebuh Light we passed St. George Church which was under reconstruction so we just took the picture from the outside.

The entrance fee of the Penang State Museum was only 1 RM for each of us and it was worth it. We could know the history of Penang or Pulau Pinang from its beginning up to now. It was explained too that there are many people from many nationalities were coming to Penang to start a new life. So if you want to know the history of Penang, you should come to see the museum. Near the museum we met Indian guy selling cold soya milk and we bought it for 1 RM each. The Indian guy was quite friendly, we had a chat for a while before we continued our trip.

Next stop was the city hall. This building had European style so it was quite interesting and made us feel like we were in Europe. Not too far from the city hall there was a memorial monument to honor the patriot who had died in many fights. The most interesting place that we visited in Penang was the fort Cornwallis, because the entrance fee was free although nothing to see there but the place was quite shade because of the trees. Fort Cornwallis was the place where the first Englishman landed in Penang. The fort was a star shaped building and had a lot of cannons.

Actually, theTourist Information Center wasn’t in our list but something had made us stop at that place. Here is a short story of why we should stop by at the Tourist Information Center. When we reached the Thailand – Malaysia border I thought that it would be as simple as when we entered Thailand from Malaysia, but I was wrong. At the Thailand Immigration, everything was OK, we can get the stamp on our passport without any problems, but when we reached the Malaysia immigration check, we should take our entire luggage from the van and put them in the X-ray detector device, but before that we were given the Malaysian departure and arrival card and filled them. Then we proceeded to the X-ray detector and got back to the van. Inside the van I realized that the card given to me was different from the card given to my brother. Mine had a custom declaration part while my brothers didn’t. I was so scared and thought that I did something wrong back at the immigration. So I decided that I should go ask someone about this and the Tourist Information Center was the answer.

The Tourist Information officer didn’t know anything about this and suggested us to go to the Immigration office nearby. After visiting Tourist Information Center but before Immigration office we took some pictures in front of the Queen Victoria memorial tower. At the immigration office, I asked the officer about the differences in the departure cards me and my brother had and the answer was both cards were the same, mine was the old version and my brother`s was the new one.

We decided to go back to the hotel right after we bought a glass strange drink for 1 RM and 2 sweet corn filled pancakes for each of us for 1.2 RM. It was lunchtime when we decided to go back to hotel so at our way back to the hotel we ate at Nasi Kandar Yasmeen at Jalan Penang. The serving portion of Biryani rice we ordered was so big and we needed to struggle to eat all of the rice. Along with the big serving portion the price we should pay was big, each of us needed to pay for 20 RM for Biryani rice plus iced tea plus big bottle of mineral water we ordered. Then we went back to the hotel and took a rest.

After we took enough rest we were heading to the toy museum at Tanjung Bungah, because the place a little bit out of town we took a taxi to get there and paid for 30 RM. The entrance fee of the toy museum was 20 RM and after we paid we directly come inside the museum. The museum was full of action figure from many movies, anime and games or famous toy figures like Barbie. Action figures were everywhere with so many different size and pose and I thought that the Kingkong action figure was the best of all because of the detail and the size that was so big. Then it was the time for us to go back to the hotel. We took Rapid Penang bus that would take us to Komtar bus station and paid for 2 RM each. From Komtar we walked back to the hotel and passed the Prangin Mall, the biggest mall in Georgetown and through the Penang Street to buy some souvenirs. After took some rest at the hotel, we decided to take one last walk around the city and went to Prangin Mall. There was nothing to buy since all music stores were closed. Then we walked straight back to the hotel, packed all the clothes and souvenirs and went to sleep.

May 4, 2010. Penang – Jakarta

We woke up early in the morning although the plane we were going to take would be departed at 10.45 am. We checked out from the hotel, didn’t take the free breakfast at the hotel and went directly to Komtar bus station to take the Rapid Penang Bus to the Bayan Lepas International Airport and it cost us 2.7 RM. WE arrived at the airport at approximately 9am Malaysia time, directly checked ourselves in at the Air Asia counter and waited in the terminal for the plane that would take us back to Jakarta. Arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport we took the Damri airport bus for Rp 20.000 directly to Gambir train station to take the train back to our hometown, Yogyakarta and it cost us Rp 230.000 for each of us.

Costs per person:

Yogyakarta – Jakarta : Rp 70,000

Taxi to Soekarno Hatta airport : Rp 101,000

Boarding pass : Rp. 150,000

Round trip ticket Jakarta – Penang – Jakarta : Rp 1,179,000

Rapid Penang to Komtar :RM 2.7 = Rp 7,614

Taxi from Komtar to Mingood Hotel : RM 20 = Rp 56,400

Mingood Hotel 1 night : RM 45 = Rp 126,900

Cheung Fatt Tze tour : RM 12 = Rp 33,840

Lunch at Jaya Restaurant : RM 7.5 = Rp 21,150

Dinner at Sop Hameed : RM 6 = Rp 16,920

Van Penang – Krabi : RM 60 = Rp 169,200

The Greenery Hotel 2 nights : THB 850 = Rp 241,400

Van Krabi – Penang : THB 600 = Rp 170,400

Dinner : THB 42 = Rp 11,928

Mineral water 2 big bottle : THB 30 = Rp 8,520

Breakfast : THB 80 = Rp 22,720

Long boat to Khao Khanap Nam and fish farm : THB 250 = Rp 71,000

Drink at fish farm : THB 30 = Rp 8,520

Lunch : THB 110 = Rp 31,240

Song Teaw Krabi – Ao nang – Krabi : THB 100 = Rp 28,400

Dinner : THB 37.5 = Rp 10,650

Thai Pancake :THB 25 = Rp 7,100

Iced coffee : THB 15 = Rp 4,260

Breakfast : THB 60 = Rp 17,040

Mingood hotel 2 nights : RM 90 = Rp 253,800

Dinner : RM 22 = Rp 62,040

Penang Islamic Museum : RM 1 = Rp 2,820

Penang State Museum : RM 1 = Rp 2,820

Soya Milk : RM 1 = Rp 2,820

Sweet corn filled pancake @RM 0.60 : RM 1.2 = Rp 3,384

Strange Drink : RM 1 = Rp 2,820

Lunch big portion Biryani rice : RM 20 = Rp 56,400

Taxi to toy museum : RM 30 = Rp 84,600

Toy museum entrance fee : RM 20 = Rp 56,400

Rapid Penang from Toy museum to Komtar : RM 2 = Rp 5,640

Rapid Penang to Airport : RM 2.7 = Rp 7,614

Bus from Soekarno Hatta to Gambir Train St. : RP 20,000

Train ticket Jakarta – Yogyakarta : RP 230,000

TOTAL : Rp 3,286,360

Approximate Currency Rate : 1 MYR = Rp 2.820

1 THB = Rp 284

Note: The hotel rate shown is twin room rate divided by two.

- Y