I discovered many new things during my stays with Irina 😀 from snacks to stores to experiences, let’s get to the bottom of it!
She brought me to Xenos, oh how I love that place, can get Asian snacks! Hope it will be spicy, it’s not #What have I thought pffff. She is the queen of snacks, the good one are keep beckoning her to buy it. Not only Amsterdam is heaven for Asian snacks #Power of Colonization! but also for sweets, we accidentally passed by a new Cinnamon rolls shop #Lecker lecker
Visited Thrift stores where I finally can buy pants for my size: two of it + two tops. Funny how I need to go to the tallest populations in order to get what fits me #Ironic. It is really an appropriate good stores, not smelly or disgusting, they really do take care of it. You can find everywhere here from tableware to clothes to piano haha. I kept questioning myself “how can I carry these to Germany?” 😉
Wow look at that, the opening bridge for ships, I saw it twice. Word from Irina “Look at this building Marlyn, you are standing in front of history from 1689” Gotcha, snap snap.
She known I won’t leave Amsterdam until I ate in Indonesian restaurant. Well, to get rid of me haha she make sure it happened. She found a new one called Toko Bersama where we got to meet Novrie. Look at our portion, it is massive and it’s very delicious too! We got free Krupuk + water + located near Irina’s + we had to take it home (read: got food for next day). Without a doubt, this will be our new favourite place.
Not to forget going to Warung Made, the place where I always went, to see Zara again 🙂 on that day, we got a bonus aka two new friends: Poppy and Tari! Our conversation started from the very normal wishy washy talk such as “where are you from etc” to sharing a personal toilet experience?! What?! Irina has a lot of it! she even explained the difference between the USA, EU and Asian one whoaaa hygiene engineering to the max!
I always like to go to Amsterdam, it is a fun city to visit, especially with all of these new discoveries, the game changes to another excitement level. Irina even says there are thrift store where I can bring my stuff then they will exchange it with “Points” to be able to use in their store; blew my mind. Say goodbye to my handbag signature, I’m coming with my luggage from now on 😉
Smart takes:
Oh I took a FlixBus to Amsterdam remember? Guess what? two policemen came inside shouting “Passport control” yes it was written that I need to bring Passport, lucky me I actually listened. This was my first time I got ever checked; well….. to be honest, I usually took trains. He even asked questions like the Airport Customs: is it your first time in Ams, how long will you stay, where is your accommodation, are you on holiday or business. Bottom line, bring your passport everywhere even when you only crossing the border.
Activate your “Data Roaming” just as long as you’re inside EU or else you couldn’t use your German phone number. Thank you to the young lady in the Sloterdijk Station for your help!
Amid my stress level, I knew I had to visit my biatch Irina, und zwar inmediatamente. When would it be? being #OnBudget you gotta calculate everything hey, before Easter that’ll be it, didn’t take long to got her confirmation, Fixbus here I come. One ripple sets off another to my other biatch Tereza, so great she’s also available to meet me! My serotonin levels got boosted by planning to meet my friends again, a great amount of endorphins release when I actually hug them.
When I arrived, she was surprised as I carried a proper carry-on luggage, yes this is what happend when you also do WFH therefore I couldn’t only come with my signature handbag haha.
Some requirements I briefed her, won’t leave Amsterdam until I ate in Takumi + Indonesian Restaurant, practically I still have to leave hey haha. She warned me that the Takumi is not that great, how come? she just came back from Japan #That’s why, everything is way better there! Even though they really do try their best to copy the taste, ain’t the same, Japan is whole another level. Their Menu is really different from what they have here in Dortmund or Düsseldorf, she encouraged me to choose a completely new flavor, was I disappointed? Nope! Plus point is they have Calpis! Bring back to my time with Eri in Shanghai or in Japan itself, I tried Calpis Cassis, both are good #Yum!
Prior to joining Tereza & her friends, Irina brought me to a veryyyy nice Australian Cafe called Five Ways, she mentioned all Cafe made by Australians are good, their cookies are to die for! #Figuratively. Irina still can’t take the Japan out of her, look at her Hello Kitty Leather jacket, so Japan! It fits her perfectly!
We gathered with our Terezaaaa ~ lady in pinkkk in Burger King, not so many restaurants options in the center that didn’t ripped your wallet hey 🙂 Then I wanted to go to Uniqlo so much as I don’t have it in Dortmund, do we have time? Yes because Tereza friends were only sitting haha I bought 2 pairs of clothing on Discount! yeayyy! #MoneyWins! Then we gathered with her friends, where to bring a tourist when you’re new in Amsterdam, obviously flower market.
We separated on the corner, we will meet again on Irina’s stand up comedy show 🙂 in Spanish #My first Stand up Comedy ever. Tereza got the jokes, while me…. no entiendo nada however I understand body language + facial expressions.
Who would have known that that evening could be my last time meeting Tereza as she will embarks on a new journey to New Zealand 🙂
Tereza, I know you are very looking forward for this move, strangely my heart feels a little heavy, I can only guarantee Irina’s felt 10 thousand times heavier. Rest assured we too are happy for you, it’s a double edge sword. Funny enough, you are geographically closer to my hometown! It makes me believe; somehow, somewhere, our paths will cross again.
I felt really recharged after spending time with my favorite bitches during the turbulent moments in my life. Irina kept reminding me that this is exactly the moment where my patience isn’t just an idea but something I actually have to live through. Even though it’s tough sometimes, I’m so grateful to have friends who help me laugh, breathe and keep going a little bit stronger.
To both of you: no matter where life takes us, to new jobs, new homes, or even new hemispheres, our bond will always stay. Here’s to friendship that distance can’t erase, bitches!
Last day before Iri continued her trip to Kuala Lumpur, we really need to calm down 🙂
Oyke took us to a Luwak Coffee hmmm not really a plantation, same same but different, mir fehlt das Wort. The name of the place is Uma Pakel Bali ~ Agro Tourism. They don’t have many Luwaks because it’s not where it all stays, they process the poop into coffee, let’s put it that way.
Anyway what do we do here is we saw one sleeping Luwak, yes it’s a nocturnal animal. His dried poops ~ FYI not smelly ~ how they extract coffee from the poops which is not a lot, moreover he is not pooping every day. The rarity caused Luwak coffee is the world’s most expensive coffee.
We got a set of trial Coffee & Tea for free, Irina ordered one cup of Trial Luwak coffee for 65K. Uma Pakel itself is really Zen-ing, durch die Nase einatmen durch den Mund ausatmen, ooooommmmm.
The very Ubud’s vibe is Rice Terrace view, of course with swings photos spot who act like a franchise you can find it almost everywhere.
Then we went to Uma Ceking Rice Terraces. Didn’t pay extra cost for taking pictures with clothes in the swing, happy with the Kostenlose nest ones 🙂 We played quiet some time with the Love sign, tried to put both our feet into our fingers, didn’t work, should’ve left the heart alone #Wink
This time Irina went down to the sign Uma Ceking while I stayed up there, she was confused like how can I go down in NP where the weather & the steps was worse than this? Well…. I have been wearing Havaianas flip flop all the time, my feet are hurting, I can’t wear shoes either yo it’s too warm hahaha should have bought the Birkenstock #German, bring your national sandals.
Next place is Ubud Market, you have to bargain, I didn’t really do it. I mean, I did until I got cheaper price than in DE, except I’m not squeeze them, can’t do that to my people. We met Oyke in Barong Cafe where he made us drinks. Most of the food we ate are either Nasi Ayam (chicken rice) or Bebek (Ente).
Last destination is Tegunungan Waterfall! There is also a beach club called Oma Beach Club not with infinity pool vibe like TT, instead with Waterfall background. You can see from the top how the beach club looks like afterwards decided if you want to go or not. You can also see it from near had you willing to take the stairs down, we didn’t, just saw it from distance is enough haha
I told Iri what I always do on my last day in Indonesia is to cut my hair! Subsequently we are looking for a saloon! When you are in Ubud there is a restaurant called “Bebek Tepi Sawah” the literal German translation is Ente neben dem Feld haha yes there is a real Sawah. This is the premium Bebek restaurant. Funny thing is the day before while we were on the way from Tirta Gangga to Ubud we also had a Bebek street food style. I called it Bebek Tepi Jalan or “Ente neben der Straße” hahaha European People don’t have anything from Street food please, your belly won’t handle it. #No jokes.
That was my trip experience with my bitch Irina 😀 not sure if she enjoyed it, she was sweating also becoming a mosquito target the whole time. While I only apply on sunscreen, she put sunscreen + repellent. Well, it’s gotta happen anywhere in South East Asia, not only in Bali, suck it up! haha
Got to be honest, she didn’t experience Bali’s beginners tourist, neither does she want that, that’s why she went with me 🙂
Bonus Tippssss:
Private Tour with Oyke 950K for 9 hours.
Overtime Oyke for 10 hours, it’s basically another day haha due to traffic and destination distances like Karangasem that just way too far from Ubud, so we paid 1Million extra time.
Rosella Tee while visited Uma Pakel 110K
Entrance Uma Ceking (not with the Swing photos etc) 50K
Entrance Tegunungan Waterfall 20K
Ubud Market, don’t pay more than 100K for each piece of cloth.
Who is Oyke btw? he is not a random guy I found on internet like the NP Tours one, he is a boyfriend of my University friend. Balinese, his main job is Bali Shisha Service, in spite of that, he used to open his own tour agency. If you want to talk Oyke, compare price, schedule etc, please contact me and I will give Oyke’s WA. He’s not taking customers from outside other than from references as he is focusing more of his Shisha business.
Right after we back to civilized road of Bali, we stayed in my fav district of all time: Ubud ~ trust me, it has an “asik” vibe #Top
Our hotel called Menzel Ubud owned by a German: Andreas Menzel who got married to a Balinese hahaha Irina is such a good news info. Nope this is not the reason why we choose it, rather Iri got a discount from Booking & free 30 min massage from Menzel #Sold!
The second must watch dance in Bali called Barong Dance. Barong (masked figure) represents good guy who fights against bad guy Rangda, spoiler alerts: no one wins. Shows a symbolic of an eternal fight between the good and the bad.
Once the performance finished, outside this building, there are many sellers like bracelet, Balinese stuff etc. I don’t really want to buy any of it until a very old grandpa approached me saying “please help me, no-one has bought from me so far, you can pay according to what you want” I took small smiley blue bracelet for 5K. Please preparar some small money like 5K – 10K just in case if you want to help them.
Iri looked at the beautiful building next to the Barong shows, I called it the Froggy! whereas she neglects the frog appearance haha turns out it’s a silver manufacture. I got myself a crown earrings! Always like to have some jewelry from place I visited. They also break the Indonesian Museum of Record for the longest dragon statue made out of silver.
The journey to Karangasem district took at least 2 hours, it could be almost 3 hours. I lost track of time, what do we do there? visit Lempuyang Temple and Tirta Gangga.
Unbeknownst to me, what is in the Lempuyang Temple? There are only 2 sides. First: The stairs which has doors at the top, to which you can’t enter. Remember, what happen behind closed door #Sounds sinister ~ is not for tourist, it’s a prayer area.
When we paid for entrance ticket after riding the shuttle bus, they gave me a number which written 410. Hearing what number it was then, knowing ours will not be up in any foreseeable hours, we went up to the stairs.
Second: this Instragammable Gate! As I said, our number is 410, how long do we wait? More than 2 hours, the lady on the shuttle ticket counter at the bottom told the que could take up to 3 hours. Read: we got give or take half hour schneller. Tried to take pictures in between each number, je mehr we wait desto besser we realized about the “reflection” thingy they put on each phone to make it looks mirroring each other.
We are literally thinking about which poses we would do, observing other people poses too. The setting was always like this: a group of max 4 people together, then each of the individual from the group, everyone got 4 poses. They tell “next pose, next pose” that’s why Preparada is important, there is simply no time to think, it won’t feel better anyway as whole bunch of people are waiting behind you.
There were a Russian couple, after they had their couple picture only the girl wants to do her individual pose, we were 100% sure she is a Gymnast, all her poses were perfectly on point! We saw many things during our almost 2,5 hours waiting, a biracial couple ~ white guy & Asian lady ~ who fights, we overheard them quarrelling, the guy said they agreed to not paid or wait for pictures. Well, who knows? just leave dude, don’t be such an Ass blaming her who obviously not Indonesian. Even if she is, I am Indonesian, I have no idea that this temple was just like that nor about the fee. I came for holiday, not for counting every pennies I should prepara to spend for which activities it was budgeted for pffff
I asked the lady who responsible for calling all the numbers, she said there is no time restrictions they will keep doing the photos until all guests are done. Only you won’t get the sunset behind you, when our turns arrived, we had just past it.
I had all personal poses in mind, the guy on our turn is nicer than before, he was newer, probably only 5 numbers before me so he gave me more poses opportunity 🙂
This is the real gate, by the way:
Then we went out, going down to the other side from the gate, Iri like this side more. There is one monk sitting, we didn’t feel to walk pass through him. Thus we just stayed below.
Next is Tirta Gangga sadly it’s all dark, we need to play with our flashlights to act as a lighting options. You can step on the stones, saw the fishes, you could also feed them had you arrive during day time.
Bonus Tipsss & honest review:
Private tours with Oyke 950K for 9 hours.
Barong dance 150K
For Lempuyang Temple itself:
Prepare 4 poses ahead your time. There are many guys offering you to do some pictures like on the swing etc. One bule ~ Indonesian word for foreigner ~ did it, he was so satisfied, he said it’s only took 2 minutes with scooter, cost like 100-150K. This guy could be an option while you wait for your turn with the gate.
Take the shuttle 45K per person (back & forth), you can’t go 4km up to the temple. Entrance Lempuyang 70K for foreigners; 40 K for local. Bear in mind, it’s all for the pictures on the gate where 2 hours waiting is guaranteed. Bali first timers, better think twice.
Like in every temple, dress modestly, take Sarung, can’t enter during your menstruation.
If you want to go to Karangasem district, had I know it earlier, I would do the Tirta Gangga first. If you are not a picture person maybe skip this Lempuyang Temple? instead try to can catch sunset in the sunset point. These are literally all the main spots. Or have a better preparar by bring your own “reflection” thingy so you can do DIY on every gate 😀
Entrace Tirta Gangga 70K for foreigners; 35K for local.
If you stay at Ubud, it’s better to stay in a big road, choose some hotel which located at Jalan Pengosekan. It gives you better walking access. Menzel is a good hotel only it’s located inside small alley, you need to walk pass small rice field.
Search for a Barong Dance option in Garuda Wisnu Kencana Park. It is a cultural park with Amphitheater for the dance. You visited one place but able to do many sightseeing, for example statue Wisnu, Garuda and the complete version of Wisnu on the Garuda. https://www.theungasan.com/blog/a-visit-to-garuda-wisnu-kencana-cultural-park/
Day 2 is really a challenge for us, we woke up early as we have a boat to catch aiming for Nusa Penida Island. We were advised to be in the Port Pelabuhan Matahari Terbit Sanur at 06:20 AM.
You always need to go with a Tour agent, we choose 2 days in NP so we got to see the West and East side plus snorkeling activity. The boat ride from Sanur Bali to NP is slightly over an hour, maybe in between 1 hour 10 to 30 minutes, easy ride, no need for motion sickness pill.
We did snorkeling in 4 different points: Crystal bay, Manta bay, Gamat bay and Wall Point, each is around 30 minutes. Don’t get your hope highs to see Manta though. Irina dropped the bomb by saying “Marlyn, I might or might not able to snorkel” wtf yo, we are in the middle of an open water, you told me this right when we were about to jump? She had her panic moment for a while, we decided to hold hands until she gain her confident. Water in Manta bay is colder than in the other stops brrrrrr, wall point is really nice since the current takes you, no need to swim, like doing a rafting 🙂
You got all pictures through WA, that’s why they asked for your WA number in the registration form. Only they sent all 225 pictures of the people on the boat. Forget about Datenschutz whatsoever 😉 My poor eyes and thumbs, clicking all one by one O.O
After 2 hours snorkeling, they said we can take shower, we can’t. The sogennante “shower” is basically just a Wasserhahn…. located outside…. you can rinse yourself from salt water, they allowed you to shower with shampoo & soap if you want… you don’t, no, negative.
Moving on to sightseeing activities on the West side. The path is quiet rocky, I wore a flip flop, should have worn a shoes.
The word “Billabong” refers to a very famous Badeanzüge brand in Indonesia, I didn’t think any of it that Billabong is actually a branch of a river haha now I got to see it in real life #Discovery
Don’t know why it’s broken for….. #I’m thinking
Then we visited Penida number 1 aka Kelingking Beach. Everywhere you search for NP, this picture will appears. It has 3 side of sightseeing, the famous one is the middle part where you need to pay… I think 50K to take picture in the spot they provided. We didn’t go to “the spot”, only took picture on the stairs.
On the far end to the left is Paluang Cliff with the view of also Kelingking. At that point we were already boiling, lack of sleep + heat = decided to skip the next itinerary. We don’t need to walk to the Cliff as it has the same view anyway, skip watching sunset on our first snorkeling place ~ Crystal Bay, we can’t wait that long. We were literally out of function.
The Sehenswürdigkeiten seems a lot on paper…. in practice, it’s all located in more or less…. same place.
Tentacle hotel is our hotel provided by the tour with open bathroom, I like this concept, it is getting more and more hype, on the contrary Irina hates it haha. We had dinner in Secret Penida, 20 meters from our hotel. Oh, we got to see sunset from here! with foods, fresh body after swimming in the pool & showered! Nothing can beat this feeling 🙂 there is also stairs if I want to go to the beach again… nope, I’m already clean.
The second day in NP feels better to me. Our driver ~ Bli Kade (Bli is Mister in Balinese) ~ pick us up at 8AM, it took us slightly more than 1 hour to arrive Diamond beach which is good because not too many people are there at that hour. Bli Kade is nice, he took a lot of good pictures… only his shadow is there, inform Irina about the necessity of redo it all, she said “well then you need to wait until the sun moves to other directions” hahaha true! #We didn’t redo it!
Here is Diamond Beach, why don’t you see people swimming? A. you gotta go down the stairs. B. The current is big. I believe A is the main reason.
Just walk to the other end you already on the Atuh Beach. Same story, need to go down. Seeing from the top is enough for me 🙂
Then we arrived to the photo spot called Tree House, you need to pay 75K to go inside the tree house, got only 2 mins before they called you out. At first we both sitting at the top enjoying the wind to regain our energy. We saw the stairs, Iri back out, I am going through.
Before the famous tree house, there is a Coco Cliff where you can also take pic for 50K. However, since no one went there Iri got in for 35K haha. I was determined to reach the end of the cliff. In the meantime, the tree house is getting closer and closer.
Irina spotted me with my red cap, I also spotted her. Look where I am compare to where she is 🙂
Here is the view you got on the edge:
I was already again as sweaty as a pig when I went up. Last destination is the Teletubbies Hill haha did you grown up with it? I am wearing red which resembles Po + Irina’s purple for Tinky-Winky 🙂 #Matching dress code. Seeing this suddenly makes me happy.
That was the East side from NP, we took the boat back to Bali at 13:30 🙂
Bonus Tipssss & honest review:
I have to say the tour I found from Instagram balinusapenidatour_ dont forget the underscore “_” or contact via Email baliandnusapenida@gmail.com I contact them via WA +6281353941730 is not foreigner friendly, not that they don’t speak good English, I don’t care about the language, this is my country they can speak Indonesian to me, I can translate to Irina, that’s not a problem at all. The things is, the information they given to me is very minimal, I was the one who asked “what time do we meet, where, who will pick me up in the NP Port”
Had I not live in Germany, this all are OK. But having to go with Irina where she asked me “where is our hotel?” how the hell I know, it was written in the tour it’s include hotel + lunch, I didn’t see the necessity to ask much about it until someone demanded that kind of information from me.
It all works out in the end, somebody ~ Bli Kade ~ really pick us up in the Port Nusa Penida, take us around with the car, dropping to all destinations according the Itinerary in the website had we wanted too. He texted me once I was on the speed boat. Being watched true crime a lot, I asked the Sanur guy what is the name, the number of the Penida guy, match it = OK. In case you are following my tour, don’t worry about no detail information, I have been using their service, you see I came back alive 🙂
Strongly suggest not to bring your luggage, pack it in a backpack, you won’t spend more than 2 days anyway.
Do I still think NP is worth to go? Well, I am Indonesian, this is my 4th or 5th time in Bali, 1st time in NP. If you are only a 1st timer or only think to just go 1x to Bali, I would really consider it.
Imo, if you have done snorkeling in Bali or Labuan Bajo maybe there is no need to do it in NP, perhaps you can short the trip to only 1 day as all of the destinations are more or less located at the same place? Like Angel Billabong + Broken Beach, Kelingking Beach + Paluang Cliff, Diamond Beach + Atuh Beach. Only two things, I’m not sure you can handle the heat. The second is more important, we don’t have a 24 hours boat ride from Bali to NP. Or you can just visit the West side where Kelingking Beach located?
The tour cost 2.840.000 for 2 person (foreigner pay 100K more) + Retribution fee once you arrive NP 25K per person cash only. If you decided to go to NP better stay at Sanur area near Port where your boat depart “Pelabuhan Matahari Terbit Sanur”.
Download Gojek or Grab App for taxi, it’s like Freenow in Germany. The car need to go inside parking gate in order to drop you to the Port in Sanur, it will have entrance fee of 5K.
Dinner at Secret Penida 370K
It is not for faint hearted people, the road in NP is on another level, do not even attempt to rent a scooter or car, forget about it, don’t risk your insurance life. Once we were back in Bali, Irina said “Bali’s road now feels so civilized”.
Kicking off the trip with Melasti beach + being at Tropical Temptation Beach Club. I told Sherly I really want to visit a beach club as I have never been to any of it, she recommended TT for a smooth way as our itinerary for first day is to visit Uluwatu Temple.
We arrived 10 minutes before opening hours at 11:00 therefore Oyke took us to see the surroundings then came back pünktlich.
The pool in the TT Beach club is kind of giving infinity pool vibe due to the Melasti beach is on the background. At that time, they are not allowing us to go to there, according to them there was a big current, they want to avoid we swim there. Agreed not to, we just want play on the water until a log hit our ankle aaaargghhh so painful, OK that’s the sign, go back to the swimming pool!
Let’s just enjoy the time in the safe & clean pool. We replicate the Little Mermaid Statue.
My smart ass thought whenever we are in the water, we don’t need sunscreen. Irina told it was the complete opposite as the exposure of the sun was magnified. Wait about 20 minutes until our sunscreen absorbing our body by enjoying our drinks 🙂
The toilet from TT Beach club is just the best, we were sold to it! didn’t even want to move on to other Beach club, was really hard to bid farewell T.T One Duschkabine ist available with soap & shampoo, you can rent Handtuch or bring yours like I did, only downside: no hairdryer #First world problem 😉
Irina wanted to have a massage, originally it might be a good idea to get massage on the beach. Went to Dream Land, no need for you to go there, it’s clearly the below level beach club. Nope, can’t lay down under this heat, better look a real Spa place on the street, inside a room with AC, we found Zahra Spa Uluwatu, they provide a bowl of full flower underneath your face hmmmmm smells so nice!
Here is the final destination for today, Uluwatu Temple.
There are monkeys around, advice: don’t wear glasses, hat, avoid eye contact, make a fist, walking around like a beginner tourist taking selfie etc. The monkey will take it! Oh not to mention, take a Rabies Vaccine #I became a German, FYI haven’t had it either, didn’t even think about it. Only until Irina said his friend went to a cave in Malaysia to which he was unfortunately got scratched by a monkey so now he is on hospital getting rabies vaccine. I need to get that one too. The monkeys are open in the wild, only the Albino one in cage since the others bullying him 🙁
Okay, refocus to Uluwatu. Why did I go here? To watch Kecak dance performace. There are of course other places to watch Kecak for example in Ubud but Sherly said the Kecak in Uluwatu is the best owing to the cliff and sunset lookout. They have 2 shows of Kecak, one at 18:00, second at 20:00. We didn’t get the ticket for 18:00 huhu
See the people behind me? That’s the first Kecak show at 18:00. Hey, have a look at the sky, perfect!
We still have time, thus we went out from the temple to eat around the area. Once we came back, the sunset approaching the second kecak dance is very beautiful.
The Kecak dance story is about Ramayana, love story between Rama & Sita. We only watched until Sita got kidnapped by Rahwana who was in disguised as an old man. Then came Hanoman (the monkey) ~ a friend from Rama to search for the area where Sita at.
Oyke said for some spiritual believe, the one at 20:00 is better than the 18:00 because of some spirit effect that came out after sunset, the Kecak dancers got more energy. You may believe it or not. I, on the other side only see from the practical issue. I’d suggest you chose the 18:00 not only you will get the sunset view during the Kecak’s performance, also you still have time to look around after the dance while it’s not yet super dark, on top of that you are avoiding the traffic by letting other people go first.
At least I can see the beautiful sky going darker until 20:00, except, after this hour, it’s pitch black. If you choose the 20:00 then it’s only for the show, when it finished everything will be too dark for you to be able to see anything.
Or you do what me and Irina did, we only stays for 30 minutes, went home while all of these people still watching to avoid the traffic as we need to wake up very early the next day.
The adventure with Irina had just begun 🙂
Bonus Tipssss, here are my expenses for first day (Melasti Beach – TT Beach Club – Zahra Uluwatu Massage – Uluwatu Temple watching Kecak Dance)
Private tour with Oyke 950K for 9 hours. Overtime will be calculated later, undertime? won’t happening bro 😉
Entrance to Melasti Beach I forget maybe 20K for foreigners; 10K for local.
Relaxing at TT Beach club, there was written no minimum amount required don’t know how long that promotion will last, just in case it’s not exist anymore, you have to spend 1 Millions Rupiah. Don’t worry, you will, we had 2 food + 4 drinks, it cost us around 700K just order some snacks and you will fulfill it. Better see it from the website https://ttbeach.club/
Entrance to Uluwatu Temple 50K for foreigners; 30K for local. Kecak Dance has only one price 150K. Wear modest in Temple area, they will provide Sarung, don’t wear showing shoulder clothes. A General info, women in menstruation are not allowed to enter any Temple in Bali.
Strongly suggest you to book the Kecak dance at 18:00 through Traveloka website. There are no seat arrangement, better be around the entrance about 20 mins before, its not a German que, you will get passed by other people. You can book only the Kecak dance or whole tour, go to https://www.traveloka.com/en-en type Kecak dance. Another option is follow the whole itinerary tour from them but do it with my friend Oyke haha
Simple dinner around Uluwatu, I think it’s around 150K.
Bear in mind 1 Euro = 18K Rupiah 🙂
Cash, Germans, not new news haha you can use international card in most restaurants only there will always be around 3% additional charge.
One week before the due day, that’s when it hits me, my Marniversary is around the corner! #Panicked, what will I do this year? At the same time, my sister is currently in Germany so the thought of celebrate it with her + Schwager + Moti appears naturally. My original idea was like this, I went to their place on 25th of August for the weekend, work from home on Monday-the Marniversary.
Shortly before the weekend comes, I decided to cancel it as they are having family time while me… busy with my own event. I’d be back to Dortmund on Sunday instead. What, where, who? Haven’t plan any of it!
One by one, email the Cupcakes store, texted the 3 friends I gained in Dortmund haha definitely in the thema! 3 Years in DE = 3 friends. Hmmm… what could be the decoration for the photo purposes? let me bastelt something 🙂 #DIY
My family always says when you have a birthday you need to eat noodle as it represents long life usw. I couldn’t think of other place other than Ippin Ramen. Few reasons: Located in the city center, Silvia for sure will be lost if the restaurant is not in the center. Felicia works there, it’s easier to request something like “can you please put this cake on the fridge”. Andrea loves Ramen. OK! the where is safe.
One important detail is missing, MY CAKE!!! I called the cupcake store, wrote to other places, receiving no reply. Googled the cake shop that opens on Monday…only to receive… so many closed! Damn!
However, I’m not despair, near my home there’s a place called Oma Rosa. I could come on Sunday right before they closed. One of their Menu interest me, it’s called Törtchen Tapas. It’s a small portion of a cake, precisely 1/4 portion from a 12cm diameter cake. There were 6 different cakes left on the Theke so I took all of it.
Fiuhhh! Planning took quite a toll on me or Felicia haha as I consulted her many times about it but everything is manageable in the end 😉 Cakes + Decorations + Place are all gesichert.
What next? Feli asked if there will be a dress code, yaissss! Let’s do this! Totally! Informed the group the night before only if they want they should dress in any color that exists on a German Flag. Silvia suggested a red lipstick, acceptable too! I have all colors on me, they do too! all come with a German color-ish. Andrea wore red + black + blonde hair + German accent haha she’s a complete package. Silvia had a yellow shoulder bag #on point! Feli wore red top. Me so Happy!!!!
We started before Felicia arrived otherwise we all be Hangry, not good to start Marniversary #wink
She arrived when we were on the middle of our Ramen eating 🙂 cakes + picture time!
Won’t be a Marniversary without a Marniversary thing 🙂 I really called it like this, it has a name in my own dictionarlyn 😉
After we finished with the food and cakes, we went to Hbf. Why?!?! as long as my face still there, it’ll be a tourist spot!
Thank you Girls for spending my 3 years birthday in Germany! See you in my 4 years 🙂 yes girls! we will do it every year now, it’s always something to celebrate. Adding one more beautiful day in a year is not bad heyyyy.
P.S: the Sombrero from Andrea now serve the purpose als one of my wall decorations 🙂
I couldn’t join Andrea’s birthday in Portugal as her birthday was in May where the Brückentag ist and everyone in Nordwest already booked their holiday. I was the last woman standing, guarding all the office belongings, colleagues should be grateful I didn’t trash it #devil laughs.
The Nachträglich celebration happened on a Saturday 10th of June. She loves Ramen, it goes without a say, the where is clear, our Little Tokyo. Thanks to Anu, I got some more recommendations on where to eat. I can trust her judgement, she’s the type of person who knows exactly where + what to eat.
We planned to arrive at lunch time for our Ramen experience. Took the RE Bahn at 11:09 which delayed to 11:14ish #no surprise. I forget on which stops came a man with his dog sitting on the other side from our seat. We were sitting in a 4 sit kind of chair bzw. in the middle area. This man always talks, thankfully not to us, rather to the person next to him #bless their heart.
Then the train got fuller, one girl sitting next to me with a rainbow bag. I noticed there was many people with Pride make up or dressed up colorfully. This man, out of nowhere ask her if she is a lesbian due to her Regenbogen Tasche. Before I could grasp, Andrea tilt her head, saying some sentence to confront him. I knew, right there and then I understood the question correctly. Seeing my friend stood up for her, I don’t want to feel FOMO, showed him my Phone, proudly said “ich habe auch Regenbogen Bildschirm, und?” he came with another question “bist du auch Lesbisch?” “was für eine Frage ist das? wenn ja, was ist das mit dir zu tun?” “ich habe nur gefragt, meine Mutter immer sagt, immer fragen immer fragen” we didn’t continue the conversation anymore. It was my first experience on confronting someone’s 🙂 #i am proud of myself for doing it.
There is really something going on! I saw a boy holding a “Free Hugs” sign, ofc I rushed to hug him, followed by asking “what happening here?” He said “Christopher Street Day” It’s indeed a Pride, only they called it CSD. We chose the right date Andrea! #So HAPPY!
Back to our Ramen Lunch, I provide 2 options for each eating section. Andrea will have to choose one, yes people! it is like a TikTok Challenge which doesn’t involve any challenge, there is no ZONK options as I also want to eat.
First place, she chose Takumi, yeay! it’s my favorite! We went there during lunch time…meaning one hour waiting in line is expected…heyyy we are not in a hurry! We witness a potential date for the two people in front of us. They came by themselves, he turns to her “are you from here?” während they small talked, we eavesdropping 😉 in the end they speak Mandarin to one another aha! now I’m the only one who do the job hihihi
There was only one table available outside, makes matter worse, this potential date was in front of us, Verdammt! I asked Andrea “should I speak to them in Chinese to not take that table?” Thankfully they were pointed to the sit inside, ours too! but we asked for that outside table. We have a German here who really want to feel the sun 😉
Since we are not ready for the next station, we went to Altstadt to join the Pride crowd. We liked it! There is a guy with glitter on his face, I asked “where did you get the glitter?” “there is one lady who sold it for 2 Euro, oh wait wait” he tried to rub the glitter to my face haha #didn’t work I saw a guy gave another guy a sticker, eitss! me too! me want that, gimme gimme gimme.
Not gonna lie, at some point, the heat starts to strike us, we need to separate from the crowd for a while to go to our next desert station. Andrea chose Soboro, sadly, it was closed T.T , the second options was 850 meters away. But she found the Frozen Yoghurt place called Tenten right next to Soboro, let’s go! not bad ehhh! We definitely need to sit and refresh ourselves 🙂
Andrea remembered the Alt Beer which her Oma still drinks every evening. Yais! we need to have that too! Off to Uerige Beer, had one glass each then proceed to take the Schnapps in the Window thingy. There is no Rhabarber Schnaps, only one type, Killepitsch. 10 minutes after, I could feel, I was definitely under the influence.
Ooopsss what time is it? Dinner is around the corner 😀 Remember when I said Anu knows what to eat in each Restaurant? Andrea chose Hitchoq, they had one special Menu only on Saturday called Chicken and Waffle. Little did I knew, it was only from 12-17 PM, Anu didn’t informed me 🙁 well, to be honest, I also didn’t check it. We arrived there around 19PM. Verdammt!
Okay, not the end of the world, we chose another menu to share. A lawyer and a supply chain manager, yet both of us don’t understand what’s the meaning of 1,5kg of Drumstick chicken thighs. Hmmm that sounds good, we could do that +3 Beilage, bring it! In short, we couldn’t.
We skip the cake from Hitchoq because there was only Cheesecake and Andrea doesn’t really like it so we didn’t have any cake, we only have Toffifee from Rewe. She said I should make an ice cube out of Toffifee tray haha that’s why the tray now is lay low on my fridge 😉
We ate the Toffifee on the other side of the Rhine, saw the sunset then took the train back to Dortmund.
From the time we eat lunch until we finish dinner it was more or even more than 8 working hours but we can handle this kind of “working” 😀
I really had a good time planning this TikTok Challenge, choosing the restaurant and enjoying the food with you.
We are our each other first friend in Dortmund back to year 2020.
To a never ending friend. Cheers to us!
I hope you like my nachträglich birthday arrangement #another memories to cherish between us 🙂
She’s On The Money book for Irina – checked and checked 1000 times or else she would reject my arrival! #I have no doubt #It’s foreseeable
Food during my at least 4,5 hours DB Journey to Amsterdam – checked. Why at least? Because DB Bahn ist genau bekannt für die Pünktlichkeit.
Was my train delayed? certainly! there was some Chemical thingy happening in Venlo (btw Venlo is already Amsterdam) while I had to take another train from Venlo to Amsterdam. A glimpse of hope appears when ICE train on the next platform also stopped there. That ICE bound for Amsterdam from Frankfurt, perfekt! Hop on to that train thinking they could have taken another track, hoping I could have arrived earlier #innocence
That exact ICE has no clue when it will continue the journey, had to wait inside for about 1,5 hours before everyone started to panic. The guy sitting next to me called a Taxi from Amsterdam asked if they will be able to pick him up in the train station. There was a couple, she is a German while he….somewhere from EU, Spain or Italy or so, she was very active in searching a way out. She thought to take Uber to Roermond as it’s a bigger station then took any train to Amsterdam. I, on the other hand, stand by…. well, honestly not really stand by, I was more eavesdropping 😉 30 minutes later, the girl said according to Twitter, the firefighter already cleaned Venlo’s track hence all trains are able to departs again. Yeay!! Without further due, the machinist only blew the whistle once dann los geht’s! #no warning #no waiting time
I was so hungry when I finally reached Amsterdam Central. Irina was still working anyway, I got to eat yo! Indonesian food it is! What else other than Warung Made 🙂 back to Sarah!
I really felt like home in this Warung, chilled for a long while until the rain is somewhat bearable to continue my journey. Truth: it’s never bearable, welcome to Amsterdam 🙂
She got cat sitting job right after her normal job therefore I had to be at home alone, decided to take shower, put all my equipment at her bathroom. I brought my own shampoo, conditioner, face wash, basically everything except soap. I saw her soap was put upside down, lift it, felt empty…hmmm… doesn’t matter, shampoo works perfectly fine as a soap too.
Finished, made myself comfy at her armchair with Fatty, wrote her via WA “btw you soap is dead” she asked if I finished it up. No, it’s already dead that’s why I had to use my shampoo.
Long story short, it was only an illusion, there was still some left had I tried open it. Not forget to mentioned, Irina is the type who always have a back up after another back up, there is still a hidden soap behind the closed cabinet. I took shower with a soap for the rest of me staying at her place 😉 #just so everyone conscious.
Perhaps Salem had to do revenge during my soap drama, he throwed up while I was sleeping, not literally on me, rather on the blanket. It was around 3AM, for some reason I felt Salem on my thigh (100% it was him, if it was Fatty I would got up as he is very very heavy) then I heard some choking noise. I’m not a light sleeper, I was only half aware by the time I knew some food already out of his mouth. “Irina, Irina” she woke up immediately and told me, you take the other side of the bed, I directly went asleep again zzzzz
On the weekend, we were fully book with brunch! Saturday we met with her friend, Diana at brunch Cocotei. Our agenda is to go to Amsterdam Dungeon even though I’m not a fan of horror. I went to the one in London when I was 16 or 17 yo boy oh boy! it was amazing! I still remember it so well, that scared the shit out of me, except now I’m older I wanted to see if that shit still scares me or not, thus I agreed on it.
We arrived earlier than our admission ticket, we were waiting in the supposedly creepy room. The waiting is the one that kills Diana and I. Long story short, we went in with 20 other people, it wasn’t so scary, the act were more screaming in a way that supposedly shocked us, sometimes they succeed, most of the time they weren’t. Hate to say, it wasn’t really successful #imo I think the one in London was much better, less communication.
Diana need to go but our next bitch come, Terezaaaa! with her, what did we do? cake-ing! #sweet tooth gang! Live from Amsterdam.
I bought 2 cakes to go, guys, I have no idea what went wrong in the whole conversation:
“I want to have 2 cupcakes please, 1 red velvet, 1 carrot cake”
somehow she took out a big box with 4 holes on it, she put 2 red velvet in the hole…..
caught her in that action, I said “No, I meant 1 and 1”
Her action after it was even weirder, she took 1 box for 1 cupcake so it will be 2 boxes.
before it went too far, I need to say another “No, No”
out of the blue, she put 2 red velvet in one box and 1 carrot cake in one box to me.
I clearly have no idea where her logic coming from, what kind of illusion it is. I…. had to say…. again….”I meant, 1 red velvet and 1 carrot cake in one box”
she changed the box unhappily.
Girl…seriously… you coming from another planet? Tereza and Irina waited in H&M next door. I told them the story, they said “don’t worry Marlyn, it’s a Dutch service”
Although we were not too hungry, we went to Warung Made again hahaha! I want to introduce them the new Indonesian restaurant I discovered 😉 I know Sara would be there however when I get in there was a white blonde lady….oh! Where is Sara? haha very polite ehhh!
Irina went for cat sitting right after dinner while I went to her place to feed Salem and Fatty, they must be sooooo hungry! They lead me to the kitchen as I opened the door. Yes Salem I know! We’re sorry, Fatty you’re always hungry anyway 😉
On an Easter Sunday we decided to go to Utrecht. In my opinion it’s a mini Amsterdam. Sadly it wasn’t so alive due to it was on an Easter Sunday. We still can see something, it was enough for the grasp that Utrecht is beautiful.
Our destination is to reach the famous Gelato ice cream, did we take a straight way? No way in hell #got distracted. One of them is by getting in to Kelly Expat Store #We are an expat yo! It sounds fancy but basically it’s a shop selling American food brands hahaha. What other shops that opened on the holiday? Souvenirs shop! Magnet for mother – checked.
Reached the famous Gelato Roberto, I had a Broodjes with 2 scoop of Ice Cream. The place is small, there isn’t a proper place to sit outside of this shop, there was only a “bank” (auf Deutsch) attached to the wall so we sat there having a view of other people waiting in line to get the ice cream. Fuck no I ain’t leaving the bank, my ass need some rest haha
Utrecht is the origin of Miffy, there are many of this statue around city center. In one specific red lights they have Miffy as their icon. Just like Ampelmann in Berlin, here is Miffy in Utrecht.
On the way back the train didn’t stop at Tereza’s station so she need to get out from another station. Yeay! more time with you!
On my last day, we finished Jeffrey Epstein Series. There were still some time before my train, clueless what to do? While I tried to re-heat the bagel, Irina screamed with joy “Marlyn, Netflix understand us! there is a movie about Ghislaine Maxwell ! let’s watch it!”
Wait, back to the bagel story. I was informed there is a bagel in the kitchen, I can cut it half, put on the air fryer facing up then spread the Frischkase. I’m so lost in life, I spread the Frischkase first so I can’t put it again into the air fryer otherwise I’ll messed it up more than I already am….pfffff what can I do without her.
Once the movie ended, my gut told me to go to the train station. It was too early, more than 2 hours from my real ticket. When I just arrived the Dam, I got notification that my middle train, the one that is from Venlo to Germany got cancelled hahaha! Am I surprise? honestly no however it didn’t meant that I’m calm. I’m still panic #not at the disco. Since I was there earlier I just took whatever train available, most important it will take me to Dortmund. I reached home one hour later than I suppose to be, bottom line, made it!
Although it’s not a Lake Como holiday like our bitches Anu and Louise, I still had my fun! Looking forward pho next time bitcheeessss!
I have more or less one year Covid’s anniversary which reminds me of my failed trip to Keukenhof in 2022 with my GGI bitchessss 🙁 Fast forward one year later, Miley Cyrus appears with her iconic “I can buy myself flower” inspired me to go this time, alone!
Call my bitch Irina, “bitch I’m coming over Easter”, it was a bit unplanned as there was always DB Streik once a week, I waited until I knew there won’t be a Streik during Easter, only then I contacted her confirming my arrival. Thanks God the flower ticket are still available as they do sold out heyyyy!
I had to stand on the bus from Europaplein to Keukenhof, why? a. it was full and b. I don’t want to wait on the station while rain pour down. When I arrived the destination, Zeus’ still operating, after a while, he put Zephyrus in control 🙂 Because of him, all pictures aren’t so bright, no worries, it still didn’t change the fact that the flowers are very beautiful.
There are many people, like manyyyy! Sarah from Warung Made Indonesian Restaurant already mentioned about humongous Chinese and Indian tourist, bulls eyes!
I visited the important places #completed successfully. I can (not) proudly say as I do thought everyone who went there would have the same opinion haha. In my view, the most beautiful is the Mill! Save it for later 🙂
Allright, back to the beginning!
As you entered the garden, you can get your map from the basket that just lay there. Additionally there is a beautiful lady in the middle of the garden, wearing a fashion which I believe was the Era back in the day, who welcomed you and having a knowledge about the garden itself #you’ll know what I meant by it later on. My first impression was “whoaaa this is so big how can I go see all?” Relax, it’s walkable, besides… at some point you will feel its enough haha 😀
Then there is a bunch of tulip arrangement with word Keukenhof on it which I had to took a Panoramic picture otherwise you can’t catch the full words.
Oranje Nassau is the first flower shows I visited, there is a flower mosaic, decoration’s idea for garden, everything there smell so fresh 🙂 me like it!
Afterwards I walked to Juliana / Tulpomania, passing through a very interesting music from Irene fountain. In the Juliana there is a myth about a black tulip. Ooooooo I also did a photo where I “christened” my first tulip, it happened to be Thorben’s birthday so I got to make one for him 🙂 Thanks for the knowledge Juliana, next!
I thought Wilhelmina would be some special flower too however it’s only a shop. Nevertheless, in front of Wilhemina is good view 🙂 Bottom line, still can’t skip it!
Beatrix is good since they displayed the flower decoration as an idea for you which for sure it’ll never come to my mind #me not creative
And you’re the place my life begins, And you’ll be where it ends I’m flying without wings
Cherry on top, the Mill! oh Mill! Had I knew it earlier I will stayed in this area longer before Zeus re-appears…
The Mill is a big area, you can either took the stairs to get to the observation deck from the windmill or stay on the ground as they have the so called picnic area or there is a cafe close by. What did I chose? Obviously all of them!
During Zeus’ show time, I chose to get inside to the Willem-Alexander. Here, you found OMG countless of tulip flowers, among all there is Uliana! haha I also had a very long lunch there as my feet cannot take it any longer. What I can take in during my sitting time was, tulips is so underrated, they have more than my brain could contain, the color, the way it blossoms, the sizes, WOW! unbelievable! I am beyond amazed!
I read the map again making sure I checked all the list until I stumbled into “Historical Garden” hmmmm where is it? Went to the shop to ask the lady who works there just in case if she knew, she didn’t. While I’m asking her, there is an Italian or Spanish family asked her questions too about “black tulip” the real one, someone said it’s in the Willem-Alexander, she didn’t know it either. I, on the other hand, don’t want to miss it, for sure will ask about it too!
Yes ofc the open area along the way is beautiful too, the way the flower arranged is really mind-blowing.
I have no idea why the flowers outside are mostly yellow, it matched with my jacket haha everywhere I see, most of it, it was all yellow, maybe the one who plant those are fans of Coldplay hihihi #clever balls
There is also one more Mill view, if you managed to get through the Maze to reach a cottage by the end of it 😉 did I manage? ja klar! The previous Mills area was better in my opinion consider the view from this one is quiet far.
Back to find the vintage dress lady at the entrance, asked about the Historical garden and black tulip, she said there is no black tulip, it’s just a myth, in reality is a very dark purple, see! she’s very smart! no need to wonder anymore #You’re welcome.
I left Keukenhof with satisfaction knowing I didn’t miss anything haha oh not forget to mentioned, got coronated, earlier than King Charles 😉
FYI if you want to know the bus ticket + entrance’s cost, its Euro 36,00. I was there from 11 – 14:00, give or take. The opening time was on 23 March – 14 May. I went there on 7th April, there are not all blossoms, yet I already satisfied, will I go there again next time? Maybe only under one condition, if it’s in the beginning of May as I perceived it shall have be blossoms more than in April. I’m so already eingedeutscht eh, need to complain about anything. Okay back to Indonesian, I’m satisfied with my own experience 🙂
Did I buy flower in the end? Nope, but I do know “I can buy myself flower and it was called Yellow” 😉
