Just another easy day at work,
which means no meetings line up, the
boss are on business trip, while all Jakartans out there were busy with the gubernatorial
election this morning, well I’m not going to blog about the election obviously,
been talking to a friend about our travel project and editing some pictures from
my previous trip and a year working in Malaysia, thought it’d be nice to share at
my blog what I love most about that country. In the end, I hope my post can
help if one or two or three of you guys are planning to do Malaysia next. Also visit Collecting Memories : Club Med Cherating Beach and Upside Down Surprise
One thing for sure, trip to Malaysia is more
than just about exploring Kuala Lumpur and checking out the Petronas twin tower.
Oh yes I love the food, laksa and nasi lemak are amazing, but make sure to stop
by and spend couple of days at Langkawi island and Redang Island, soak up the
sun, snorkeling, then go to Malacca / Melaka to see the historical places ( see my previous post about Malacca ). Unfortunately haven’t
been to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo, there are just too many places to visit,
but well here’s my favorite place… Cherating Beach - a perfect beach getaway for relaxing, surfing, culinary !! If you haven’t heard about
it, it’s the location of Asia’s first Club Med resort, a beach town in Pahang –
Malaysia, located about 45 minutes from Kuantan. You can actually fly from
Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan or take around 5 hours bus journey from Puduraya bus station in KL to Kuantan
/ Kemaman, remember to always check the bus schedule.
Cherating Beach
Cherating Beach
Cherating beach
Cherating Beach
Cherating Beach
Cherating Beach
Under the sun
The girls worked hard taking good photos ;p
Cherating Beach
Speaking about accommodation, since
I used to work for a year in Club Med Cherating Beach, I definitely recommend
this resort for a perfect place to stay, relaxing, especially if you’re
planning to bring your family with you. If you’ve been to Club Med before and know
their all inclusive concept with great staff
and fun activities like archery, flying trapeze, rock climbing, sport, mini
club, sailing, and different shows every night plus a gorgeous private beach,
don’t think you would go anywhere else to stay but Club Med.
But of course Club med isn’t the
only resort there, Cherating Beach has some other resorts, guest houses and chalets
from price around RM30 – RM150 per night, with local restaurants along the main
street and night market sell wide selections of food, another unique experience
to try.
Club Med Cherating Beach
Club Med Cherating Beach
Excursion tour to Snake Island. Happy birthday to our beloved Syrella !
Heloise at Snake Island
Cherating beach has been the meeting point for surfers from all over the world, but don’t worry if you don’t surf, you still can go to Snake Island or Pulau Ular, it was pretty nice to hang out there just soak up the sun with great friends. Don’t forget to visit Turtle Sanctuary, even do some batik painting. I would also recommend you to try some delicious Thai dishes at Du Yong restaurant, Little Bali for drinks and karaoke night, and shampoo massage at Kemaman, those were actually things I did in my day off, apart of doing laundry, grocery shopping at East Coast Mall and being lazy on the beach. Working there with a great team for a year was one of my favorite years, too many happy stories to share with you all here, but definitely looking forward to visit Cherating Beach again, perhaps…perhaps…next year ?
My friends took me to Karimun Jawa –island group in the
Java sea – as a birthday present for me in
June 2011, yes I knew I was a lucky girl.
Left office earlier on Wednesday
afternoon to catch 5pm bus to Jepara – Central Java, at Lebak Bulus bus
station, Jakarta, we were actually quite lucky to get the last 4 tickets left
in the bus counter. I was very happy my friends brought me back to Java land,
it reminded me when I was a little girl my parents always brought me with them
for Java road trip at least every once a year. Mum introduced me to Javanese
people and their culture, we tried so many traditional food, visited lots of
interesting places from temples, beach, mountain, traditional market, even
pilgrimage to East Java. Just like any other mother, she just wants to see her
daughter never stop exploring.
Birthday girl pretty much enjoying 12 hours bus drive, while
her friends Yudha, Wasir, and Opit looked deeply fall asleep. We arrived in
Jepara around 5 am, took a rickshaw ( Rp 12.000 ) to Jepara port. Yudha got our 3
days trip taken care by Suka Wisata ( www.sukawisata.com
) . The ferry KMP Muria left the port to Karimun Jawa at 9am. 6 hours in the ocean wasn’t
convenient at all, but Yudha was really smart to get us a room ( it was the
captain’s room, with AC ) he paid Rp 200.000 so four of us could have naps. I
also met my high school buddy, Gilly and his cousin, and two Dutch girls which
had the same birthday as me.
Happy People :)
Arrived in Karimun Jawa at 2 pm,
Mr. Tidar – our guide – was waiting with his crew. They gave us cold coconut
water then dropped us with another 7 tourists to the homestays. Rest and walked
around the village, we loved how local people there were very friendly. Stopped
by at local market to buy some souvenirs, cold beers and chips, we had a small
birthday party at the fisherman’s boat.
The island hopping tour started
at 6 am. We went to Menjangan Besar island, Menjangan Kecil island, Cemara
Besar, Cemara kecil, Pulau Tengah and many more. Spent the whole days hopping from one island to another, soak up the sun, snorkeling, amazed by
beautiful coral reefs even swimming with baby sharks. Mr Tidar told us, hotels and
property development are not allowed in some islands. As more and more people coming to Karimun Jawa
for holidays, the local people realized they have to protect their islands and
marine environment.
Look who's chasing the shark
Wasir and fish
Ical chillin' underwater
Birthday girl
Lunch time !
If you guys planning to visit Karimun
Jawa – a marine park of 27 islands, leaving from Jakarta : if 12 hours bus drive to Jepara too long, you can fly to Semarang, then go to Tanjung Mas port, take a fast boat KMC Kartini only 3,5 hours to get to Karimun Jawa which is much faster than the one we took last time. Always check the ferry schedule cos it's been always changing. I spent Rp 900.000 ( less than $ 100 ) for 6 days trip, including travel package, return bus Jakarta- Jepara - Jakarta and food. We recommend you to go with Suka Wisata ( www.sukawisata.com ), they have schedules
and offer various of travel packages you can choose, the price very affordable,
but mostly we loved Mr.Tidar and his crew for treating us just like family.
Ps : here’s the Karimun Jawa just-for-fun-video
me and my friends made
.JPG)
