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We Need to Calm Down

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.

This is him!

Who’s coming next to Bali? #来来来

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Preparado Preparado

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/
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Spotted

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”.
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Sold

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/
  • Massage at Zahra Spa, cost 200K. Visit their website zahraspauluwatu.com
  • 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.
Recap in motion 🙂
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The Credits – Part 2

Here are some places we visited either additionally as an optional tour or on the way to wherever our destination for that day.

On the same day where we had our first snow experience in Jungfraujoch, we visited Lauterbrunnen. Here supposedly a place which have many waterfalls. How many did I see? #Less.

First Waterfall

As you can see from the picture, we got all hooded up, it was raininggggg. Moving on to the second. While we’re on the way, there is a small doughnut stand. If only in Indonesia, they already have many food stands along the road, Pontianak’s banana fried for example 🙂

Second Waterfalls

I’m sure there are still many if we were willing to walk through the little forest… except, we didn’t. The rain didn’t stop and it gets windy, we are fine with seeing two waterfalls.

One family from Pontianak already bought a portion ~ 24 mini doughnuts, thus when Dela wants to have it, the Om said “just take it from me, you need to wait for so long” I got one too 🙂 yeay!

Second day on our Grindelwald hotel, having breakfast while looking at the window that the 山 is covered in white, either from froze or snow, it was just beautiful. I had to go out!

Before reaching the snowy area Matterhorn we stopped by St. Bernard Tankstelle. Oh Beethoven, I’m sorry we just want to play with you when we were kid hihihi #Rejecting any responsibilities.

This Täsch Station before taking the train to Materhorn is also quiet a place 🙂 There was a kind of music festival too but I need to pay for the entrance ticket while we only have 20 minutes, soo…. pass it!

Oh Hellow Snowflakes!

Feel free to stay around <3

This tour is really less people than what I normally had decades ago. We only have 5 families (including mine). The Pontianak’s family whose constantly as number 1 in every meeting point. The mother always loose her two boys, when Jo said “one by one, family picture” asked her “where is your family?” she casually replied, “I don’t know, it’s just me”. The celebrity family who never fails have some snacks like permen sapi, two types of chili sauce or doughnuts. The photographer family Eka and Dian who you can rely on taking pictures. Last but not least Tante Lielie and Dela who became my Ambassador family 🙂 Dela who never wants to be in the picture whereas her mom who continuously looking for her whereabout haha

The best red bus! Easy to recognize! Obrigado Luis

We have to parted away in the airport, when I arrived at home, they just arrived in Abu Dhabi.

Thank you mother and father for letting me having a Switzerland experience 😀

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Not the New Kid on the Block

  • Mamaaaaaaa, oooohhhh. I don’t want to die, sometime I wish I’d never been born at all…. Carry on, carry on…
  • Love of my life, you’ve hurt me… you’ve broken my heart and now you leave me… love of my life, can’t you see? bring it back, bring it back…
  • All we hear is radio gaga, radio goo goo, radio ga ga… Radio what’s new? Someone still loves you

I am talking about none others, the legend Freddie Mercury! We got an optional tour to go to Montreux, hell yeah hello Queen Mercury!

There were another group before us, consequently, it took some time until the statue was empty. Once it does, we didn’t waste a bit 🙂 Group photoooo, in order to do a selfie, Joe need to come forward put his arm on the lake area, as you can see I was very ‘merinding disko’.

Still in the memory of the legend, went to the Queen-Studio Experience.

Look at how serene Montrex is, no wonder Freddie spent some time here to recharge from his busy life, it is 有山有水.

Then we visited Bern to beautiful Aare River again, the very unfortunate event side for all Indonesian citizen. In this side is the late son of Bandung’s governor got swept out by the current #Rest in Peace

As usual, city center area, however we didn’t visit any churches, rather Swiss bank #Fulus 😉 We tried the allegedly famous chocolate shop, some says its the best blablabla for me its just normal.

Guess what? we went to Germany too! what an experience of passing the custom via bus. Jo tell a very weird legend about Titisee, a kid being transported by Burung Bangao ~ like in Dumbo movie. Out of nowhere, came water to which it became a lake. I heard it like Hä? what kind of a story were you telling me???

We went to Schwarzwald not for hiking, sort of to buy a Kuckucksuhr. We were explained about the history, how to make it by an Indonesian seller. Right after the explanation, mother wants to have not only the Kuckucksuhr, but also the Magnet for her collection. Pass auf, she took out the magnet from the display and walked through the Kasse, only for a lady on a mask to snap it out of her, unpolite saying in English “You need to talk to my colleague about it” walk away, put the magnet back to the display.

I was behind my mother ofc I can understand her but there was no time to react. I can read the room, she will take the new one from the storage. After some time, she didn’t come back, I asked the other guy to get the magnet for us. He came back quicker than her. All 3 of us were in the Cashier. Like the way she appears was out of the blue, so does the way she reapperas, spoke to him in Chinese asking “Oh you already take it for her? then I don’t need to take it”

Leute, it was my time to shine, I was for sure having metamorphosis process, articulate my loud and clear opinion in Chinese “you didn’t tell you will get us that, besides we wait for you for a long time, you should have inform me at least and not just go away without telling anything” to her defense “but I did tell” I cut her sentence “No you didn’t, you only told my mother ‘she should have speak to your colleague’, none about whether you will grab it for us” Oh Lady, you think I am the new kid on the block who’s afraid to talk back? watch out, I was 7 years in your homeland! #Feel proud of myself.

Right after mother got what she wants, we went to eat. A piece of black forest cake is a must! as this is her favorite cakes. Same thing, according to her it’s very good, to me it’s only mehhh… She even had another one to take it away.

I genuinely quiet confused when I got it because the black forest cake is not….black?….hmmm…

As if all previous 水 not enough, here is the final 水 ~ Schaffhausen. Back to Switzerlandia.

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Crush Landing on You

Yep, this title is an adaptation from Netflix Korean Series Crash Landing on You and the crush I landed on the beauty of Village Iseltwald! #Drooling.

Left Lucerne, took a Panoramic Train, not the real name btw 🙂 Our tour leader ~ Jo said “I know you are still on Jetlag but please don’t sleep, see the very beautiful view” it’s a bit hard to take picture inside the train due to reflection which I noticed later what Om Johaness did, he placed his phone directly on the window to avoid reflection #Too late for this time. We had the view of nature for the whole 2 hours ride 有山有水.

Arrived around lunch time, Jo informed about Thai restaurant nearby, of course there we go! After refuel, mother wants to go as usual to souvenir shop, Dela wants to buy some chocolate, hence me and father strolling around. What can we see here 有山没水 haha

See the church behind me? We intended to go there then went back. However, we didn’t check the WA group, didn’t know Jo gave us 30 minutes extra time.

While on the way back, we met Dela who also just knew about it. Father decided to sit around whereas me and Dela went back to Church. There is an “entrance” which give me a Blank Space vibe in a mini version hihi

Our bus located in the parking lot in front of Aare-River, the magnificent 288 km length of Aare River, of course we had to pay a visit. Other than this Aare is indeed a “tourist spot”, Indonesian has their own memory of it, unfortunately its rather a tragically sad memory, the son of Bandung’s Governor went missing and drown from Aare’s Bern side #Rest in peace

Aha! for the Crash Landing on You mania, you will really landed a crush in Iseltwald. This village reminds me of Shirakawago in Japan minus Lake Brienz. Perhaps this is what Shirakawago looks like in Summer. My father remember the Piano scene in the Pier.

It is actually only that, was very peaceful #Meditation. Oh why I didn’t take photo in the Pier? thanks to the famous of the Crash Landing on You, they charged for an entrance ticket, you need to pay… I forget 5 or 10 CHF? we can see it anyway, good enough for us, remember we are still #Asian better use that money to eat haha 😉

Our hotel located in Grindelwald, yes it’s another Wald. The same beautiful village, another 有山没水. We stayed 2 days, the bliss of knowing you don’t have to bring your Koffer the next morning after breakfast is indescribable! My arms got restttt.

Left my heart in both Iselt and Grindelwald! They both complementing each other, the 有山有水 Yin Yang. Wished we had more time there <3

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The Amazing Race

As promised, here are the groups! It’s not legitimate without the epic flag 😉

Despite their jetlag, we are ready to explore first city, Zug! #Not train. Find the church meaning you are in the middle of the Oldtown 🙂

Up from this day, we will always “Back to Nature” mode. We have free time to enjoy Zug’s beautiful lake. Sat on the bench while eating mother’s ransum 🙂 These whole Western food except ice cream are not interesting to me haha

Off to Lucerne, this city is beautiful! A combination from “Back to Nature, read: water and some city vibe. We walked inside the Wooden Chapel Bridge where they have story painted on the top of their Dach, jep don’t even bother to understand. Oh what do we do? another group photo in front of the Lion Monument! Take out the Flaggieeeeee.

Here is the paradise for my mother due to they have a 3 floor souvenir shop, she can use all of her time there. Since I won’t buy anything~ thanks God I have Dela~ we went to explore the surroundings together.

Do we have any sense of directions? none at all, just followed whatever looks good. Oh that big house above looks like a castle, let’s try to come closer. On the way up, we bumped into another group of white people, seems like walking tour per se so we know we were on the right location #It must leads to somewhere. That hike didn’t go to waste, we found some path to a nice view….. plus cat

Satisfied with the view, continue with the pathway ~albeit our cluelessness~ which surprisingly lead to the Tower Clock. Its pretty cool hey! We look from the top there is a kind of fort or wall thingy to walked on too. We were thinking on which exit to take, only to find this is the only way out. Fun fact! this bridge connect the full chain of towers.

Out from this Tower, “on” to the next one, except we took the wrong exit which leads us to their backyard. What did we entdeckt? There is a lift up to somewhere near a building called Gütsch, what is that? Me want to check it! We decided not to go to the second tower as the view might be more or less the same, only the other tower got closer to the river view or so. However, we were not sure what time we should be back, Dela called her mom, okay we have around 50 minutes. Let’s move!

Increase the speed!!! half ruuuunnnnnnnn. Crossed the bridge, red light, intersection without traffic light. I don’t want to get fined in Switzerland so I asked some guys who were waiting for the lift about where did he get the tickets. He showed me the ticket machine, I have no idea which to click, ask some lady for help. I know the ticket says Bus drive since there is no options for lift nor I know the name of the Stations we want to go…. lets just take that one. Tadam…. we arrived at another top!

The Gütsch is a Hotel, wow! why don’t we sleep here? maybe our tour doesn’t have budget, besides we have 1000000 Koffer + only one lift functioning haha this will takes ages. I wanted to get into the frame of Lucerne, not sure if its only for guest #I’m thinking…. we went this far, lets get in, worse thing they will just ask us to leave the property. Dela wants to read the announcement on the door, told her “don’t read, none of the hotel guest will do so, we have to pretend we are one of them” 😉

Succeed! Get off, hop on to any bus!

Not sure where to stop, looked at Google map, two stations from now there will be a church we can visit, hop off there! Walked to the first church, followed by the second church where they have a sermon only to know we are back to the Chapel bridge again. #Pro runner!

Arrived on time to the meeting point where both of my parents already sit down outside, tired, ready for Abendessen. Ofc Dela was gebrieft, we don’t want to make our parents feels left out~ we were everywhere whilst they weren’t…. so, we need to have the same story. Just in case we got asked where did we go? Standard answer, visited churches at the end of the road and saw some view 😉 Keep it simple!

What a nice race with you!!!

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Glowing

Check out from my Capsule Hotel, parents are arriving Zürich Airport! Mother had a lot of Ransum of Indonesian food! Father took a selfie with the background that shows the same as if we are in Karawang -_- I had to ask Mother for Kerupuk in the bus #Haphap

We are in total 19 people (including me) + 1 Guide. First destination is St. Gallen. Walked around the city center, visited churches, had our “red carpet” moment haha. That whole Raiffeisenplatz was covered by red carpet, including the allegedly Porsche Car.

While some people are having Italian food for lunch, we were having rice at Mr. Rice! it can’t get more rice than that 🙂

We went to another country too, Liechtenstein! Yeay, my list of countries visited is growing. To be exact we were at the capital-Vaduz.

Ride the Odong-Odong Car for 30 minutes surrounding Vaduz, which all it takes, this city is very not complicated. Some children’s are waving their hands to us. Very cute, I’m sure no Asian kids will do it, we don’t get raised like that. They have castle to which we can’t visit as the real Prince of Liechtenstein is there.

After we saw the grobe of Vaduz, me, mother and Aunty Lielie went to the end of the road to visit the church while father chose to sit down somewhere. The weather was very hot, Eka said I’m Glowing a.k.a Sweating haha yeap! wrong clothing!

Day 1 survived, didn’t have any group picture, owing to the glow we all are 😉 on the next days you will see the participants of this Mono Swiss group #Wink

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$$witzerland

$$ is the perfect emoji to describe my experience in der Schweiz. Expensive is what I expected, how much expensive, that’s beyond my imagination O.O

I thought on where to stay as the reason I’m coming to die Schweiz is to meet my parents who book a tour from Indonesia with Golden Rama. Their or should I say our ~ yes I’m coming with them too hihihi ~ program called Mono Swiss, they will arrive early in the morning on Saturday. I have no Bock to go early to the airport, therefore I decided to sleep in a Capsule Hotel located inside Zürich Airport.

It is super clean + modern, every door need to be opened with your phone. The size of the capsule hotel is big enough for me, it’s bigger than every “capsule” hotel I tried in Japan, I had a claustrophobic moment there like I was inside a coffin #I’m not a celebrity get me out of here! Oh how much does it cost? 75 CHF per night haha, read the Plakat “Welcome to Zürich” 😉

I contacted Eric, the guy I met in Madrid, he was willing to show me the city where he grew up. Let’s reveal it one by one 😉

We went to allegedly high point in Zürich, Uetliburg where you can see Zürich from top, of course it’s not the top of Fernsehturm, but it’s high enough. I can see the lake, Alpen mountains, a very typical Schweiz.

This area is quiet big with many stops, yet we chose only 1 stop, we still have other program, moving on to Zürich City Center, destinations: Lindenhof, Zürich Lake, Rathaus, Churches. Everything are in the more compact size, I’d say 🙂 We had lunch in a very typical Schweizer, the restaurant used to be an ex-weapon storage.

What I have to unbedingt visit is the FIFA Museum! The locker to put our stuff are named with famous football player, I chose Cristiano Ronaldo, I didn’t find Lionel Messi #Hmmmm. Dont attack me CR7 fans, I like them both!

They had the replica of the world cup, of course, the real one is at Messi’s home. World Cup 2022 was really special, what a race, Argentina deserves to win. Since that moment, I fell in love with Messi, he has won in life!

I have to close today’s program by completed bestie’s Freitag’s bag order. I asked her to not sleep yet! The Freitag shop is really eccentric, if she was there, for sure she wants to buy everything, she would take a credit for it because… it’s… again… $$$$.

This day is finished, get some sleep to pick up my parents! Thanks Eric for showing me your city 🙂