Postcard From Sansita

Dine by the beach and watch the sunset in Tanjung Lipat, Likas KK Sabah

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 10:04:00 +0000

Hi, it's been a long time. I've been to many places and have more stories to tell but not today, I will in another post. Today I'm going to post about Tanjung Lipat, a popular beach to the locals in Kota Kinabalu Sabah (Malaysia Borneo). The beach is located in Likas and has become a great spot for international event such as the 2010 Dragon Boat Competition and even an active local recreational park! A good place to have dinner with a nice view at the local restaurants nearby. Here are some of the pics I took :)

Enjoy the fresh young coconut and delicious satay. Enjoy :)

Maranjak Homestay - Bavangazo Rungus Longhouse in Kudat, Sabah

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:36:00 +0000

Hola hola superhola!!! Hahaha.. How you doin? I am good... Anyway, as you can tell I am really bad with introduction, so let's cut the blahs and let me tell you about the Maranjak Homestay. Maranjak Homestay is probably the world's longest house, okay I'm exaggerating but it's really long. Originally, it was a long house of the Rungus tribe at the Bavanggazo Village. Nowadays, it's a homestay open for public who would like to experience a unique lifestyle. You can stop by and visit without staying if you want to, just pay the fee entrance that will be use for the long house maintenance.

As you can see from the picture, there's a watchtower at the entrance. I imagine in the past, the men would take turn to guard the entrance from enemies. Unfortunately I was only able to take a few pictures of the long house exterior due to heavy rain :(

As soon as we enter, we can see a few women selling handmade items.

Don't forget to register your name in the guest book =)

I love the long house, in the past 'one family' consist of as many as fifteen families would live together and hang outside their respective rooms. The wooden sticks sparsely fabricated along the veranda gives open air ventilation.

The roof is made of dried Nipah leaves, folded over a rod and stitched together to form shingles called atap. These shingles are used for roofing that can last up to five years.

Rain falling off the edge of the atap.

The walls are made from patches of tree skin. I just love the beauty of its architecture. There are not many long houses nowadays, and Maranjak is one of the last few. Looking up close, I noticed there are some traditional items hanging on the wall for display. Looks like water bottle and a rock. I do not know the significant of the rock but the water bottle looks interesting? Is it handmade as well? I thought all Dusun people drink from the bamboo container?

Wait a minute, it says here bla blah blah Amsterdam! Sorry I can barely see what's written there except Amsterdam. Clearly this doesn't belong here... Perhaps a tourist as a gift left it behind?

Traditional music instrument, this two-string lute called the Timpalan.

Hmm... I don't know what this is, can someone tell me what this is? Please?

Inside one of the rooms, I asked Kak Liau and Famulan to pose for me. Heheheee... The room is provided with mattress and mosquito nets.

The only furniture inside the rooms. Looks like the previous visitor was having an instant noodle, hahaha.. Muslim visitor rest assured, the Maranjak Homestay provide halal food prepared by Muslim cook, so no need to worry and shy away eating your instant noodle soup in your room secretly. Hehehehe...

Very happy guests, Kak Liau and her son Faiz. Maranjak Homestay has 75 rooms available for rent at RM75 per room for foreigners and RM55 per room for locals. The longhouse is 818 feet long. Hmm... I wonder what Famulan is searching for? Perhaps the rorizan, which is used as a place to hide the most beautiful girl in the longhouse until she is wed. Thank God I wasn't born here during that era, I don't want to be trapped inside a room!!! Hahaha... =P

Very happy Famulan, found the rorizan?

After dinner, the women and men of the Maranjak long house will dress in their traditional wear to perform the mongigol samundai dance in this area.

Common music instrument of all the Dusun ethnic, the Gong.

I found a video of the Rungus traditional dance on Youtube uploaded by RadioRungus.

Here's another video I found on Youtube of a Rungus traditional song, it is not a ritual song but a song. I have heard the ritual song before and it's different.

Hopefully one day someone will translate this song.

Aiso and Charles chilling out at the veranda.

Irfan and Faiz relaxing on the hammock. I didn't inspect the jar but I think it's tapai (the local rice wine).

Fermented rice wine inside of a jar. I understood that there is a tapai session which the guest may participate in.

Well, look what I found. A commercialized local rice wine called Montoku. The process is different from making the tapai.

Kak Liau found something interesting.... "oooooh what's this?" she probably said while examining the thing hanging on the pillar. It's a traditional puzzle game of the Rungus tribe.

In the past it is custom for the Rungus tribe to test a future son in law with this puzzle. If the man (groom to be) is unable to solve the puzzle within the length of time the future father-in-law takes to smoke his sigup (a local cigarette which the tobacco is wrapped inside a young Nipah leaf); the proposal will be turned down. This puzzle was used to test the suitor's problem solving skills and capabilities in bringing up a family well. Kak Liau and the boys were trying to solve the puzzle but failed, lucky for us the friendly lady then shows us how to solve the puzzle :)

Aiso checking out some of the handicrafts and souvenirs.

The handicrafts here are a lot cheaper than those you can get at the market. I bought quite a few and gifted a bracelet made of stone (don't remember the name) to Famulan.

Famulan looking at the sigar with full concentration, handmade by the women of Maranjak long house. See, she's wearing the bracelet I bought for her =)

Sigar is hand woven into a piece of cloth using kapok fibers (silk cotton) from the seed of the kapok tree or scientifically known as Ceiba pentandra. This cloth later will be folded into a headgear uses by the men.

My brother Aiso took a memorable photograph with the friendly lady, Mrs. Maranjak. The wife of the long house coordinator. Sadly Mr. Maranjak wasn't there that day so we didn't get the chance to meet him. By the way, to whom it may concern, Aiso was actually sitting behind her not beside her, as the picture seems to portray. Heheheee...

Goodbye Maranjak Homestay, it was a pleasant stay though only for a short while. I had fun =)

if you are in Api-Api Center and looking for a place to eat... why not try Aeza Cafe ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Hi there hungry people. Today post is about food... yummy!! So if you happens to be in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and somewhere nearby Api Api Center. I recommend you to try Aeza Cafe. It's facing Marina Court. Food is good, price is moderate but nothing comes cheap nowadays. Menu? Scroll down and take a look... I spent three days trying almost every single thing.

That's only to name a few, there's lot of dish you could try out. Happy eating... this post makes me hungry..

Candi Borobudur - my journey into the three realms of metaphoric cosmology!

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 09:01:00 +0000

Hello, today I'm going to share my experience while visiting Candi Borobudur, the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world and one of the eight wonders of the world. Candi is a local word that means temple, and Borobudur derived from the Sanskrit word vihara Buddha uhr that means the Buddhist monastery on the hill. It was founded by a king of the Saliendra dynasty; it was built to honour the glory of both the Buddha and its founder, a true king Bodhisattva. Candi Borobudur is located in Muntilan, Magelang, and is about 42 km from Yogyakarta City, Central Java, Indonesia. It was lost hidden from the world until it was found again by Sir Thomas Raffles in 1812, since then it has been under restoration and maintenance regularly.

I went to Candi Borobudur while on an 18 days trip in Indonesia with Famulan and Faye. We rented a car from a man called Pak Joko and headed out at 7.30am from our hotel, Duta Garden. If you wish to read my blog post about the hotel, click here. Anyway, when we got there it's almost noon and it looked like it was going to rain. Pak Joko offered us umbrellas that he always carries around in the car for his passengers, Faye gladly took it because she doesn't want to get wet in case that it rains, and don't want to get dark due to the heat in case it didn't rain. Famulan and I decided not to, I don't remember her reason but I didn't want to carry an umbrella because I am already carrying my huge green shoulder bag that was so heavy it felt like I'm carrying tons of bricks, plus I'm also carrying a video camera. So no thanks. There are numbers of helpers outside the temple compound offering services that cost minimum of Rp10000 to carry an umbrella for you. Anyway, that is the last thing I want, to have someone follow me closely behind. I would even go mad having a sales person follow me around in a shop, so imagine how uncomfortable it must feel for me to have someone so close with an umbrella... No thanks!! However, in the end I end up carrying Faye's umbrella because she got tired carrying it. I have no idea how it ended with me but I used it as a walking stick in the middle of the tour... haha!!

Taking memorable picture with Famulan before we begin our adventure in three realms of Borobudur. What a huge bag I carried around with me, it has a huge chunk of iron molded into the letter G. It looks cool at first that's why I bought it. Later I kinda regret it because it was soooooooooooo heavy even with very little stuff inside. Next time I will just use a knapsack for my camera. Oh btw I didn't have a camera during this trip, I am grateful to Famulan for sharing these photos.

We took an official tour guide, I've forgotten his name but he is a very soft spoken and speak in a very thick Javanese accent that most of the time I have no clue what he was talking about. He was very polite and kept reminding us that we can always ask him anything that we don't understand. Unfortunately I don't understand most of it. Well it's difficult to put much attention when my mind is so overwhelmed with the fact that I am finally here... one of the places that I wanted to be is Borobudur and now I can proudly say I have stepped my feet here. I'm so eager to do a little adventure on my own. Little did I know I was going to travel in three different realms before I finally reach the infinite... or perhaps nothingness?? Metaphorically of coz... hehehe.. It was exhilarating finally reaching the top!

It is believed that the panels or relief extend over a total length of 6 km and hailed as the largest and most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world. The narrative relief on the main walls read from the right to left. This was done for the purpose of the Pradaksina ritual which the pilgrims make moving on the clockwise and keeping the sanctuary to the right.

According to our guide, every visitors to the temple have to perform Pradaksina, encircled the temple three times clockwise from the east gate as the starting point. In Buddhism it symbolizes its centrality in the lives of those who walk around it. The activity also represents integrity and cosmic harmony in mirroring natural phenomena such as the clockwise course the sun was believed to follow over the surface of the earth. Hmm... If you take it literally it doesn't make any sense but perhaps what it meant was the sun rays that reach the surface of the earth appears to be in clockwise motion? Buddhism is very metaphoric in their philosophy... As a sign of respect we begin our climb in clockwise motion, stopping at each level to hear readings of the engraved panels or relief.

Borobudur temple has three tiers that represent the three major realms of Buddhist cosmology, the first is the Kamadhatu. It's the lowest of the Buddhist realms - the realm of desire that it is related to the 'thirst' or 'craving' and that is the cause of the 'suffering' or 'impermanence', in which the human beings are still prisoners of their own desires.

Is it my imagination or is there a mismatched on the far end of the upper left? This must be the Kamadhatu realm. Look at him, he has two pretty girlfriends in both arms. Lol.

The second tier is the Rupadhatu, the realm of Form where dependence on earthly desires have been mastered, the human beings are no longer subject to the extremes of pleasure and pain, or governed by desires for things pleasing to the senses. The third tier is the Aruphadatu, the realm of Formless. The beings inhabiting this realm have either shape or location; and the realm has no location either. The Formless realm belongs to those devas who attained and remained in the state of mastering one self and no longer subject to earthly desires in previous life or realm, the human beings now enjoys the fruits (vipak) of the good karma of that accomplishment. It is to be understood that deva in this realm are not "gods" in the common sense of the term, it is an imprecise term referring to any being living in a longer-lived and generally more blissful state than humans in the other realms.

Here I am getting ready to climb to the top, to Aruphadatu. On my left hand is Faye's umbrella that now has become my walking stick. Lol. Honestly, I don't think I ever reach Aruphadatu. Let's be realistic here, there's so many worldly things that I want to have or to do, for example I wish I have Sony VIAO L Series big screen PC!! Now wanting to have something but not having is not equal to not wanting therefor not having. So I can say that I am currently in the realm of Ruphadatu where I am practising the mastery of not wanting or desiring anything a.k.a. dead inside. Occasionally I visit some old friends in the Realm of Desire because they miss my money on occasion that I do have it. When I died and become totally formless I will probably reach Aruphadatu where everything is nothing. Hahahahaaaa...I'm kidding so don't take it personal!!!!

Technically I reached the highest level of the realm by climbing this magnificent temple and the view is magestic!! Marvelous!!! Bravo!! How else would I be able to take this pics.. Haha! In summary, the three realms is the vertical cosmology corresponds to a mental state or a state of being, interesting philosophy put carefully in a metaphoric way don't you agree?

Here we are at last, the realm of the formless - Aruphadatu. Faye is holding her own umbrella now. There's Buddhas inside the huge stupas. The local believe that anyone who can touches the Buddha's toe will be granted his or her wishes. Only those of clear and good intention will be able to do so, or so I was told by Faye and supported by our guide.

Happy faces, all three of us were able to touched Buddha's toe quite easily, I don't even have to reach out very far. Those people behind us, they kept complaining out loud that the Buddha's toe was beyond reach. My brother said, if he stick his hand inside the stupa, he probably won't be able to touch it too. Worse case scenario, he said that the Buddha will probably stomp on his fingers because of too many evil thoughts. Hahahaha... So what will you wish for if you have the chance to touch the Buddha's toe inside the stupa?

Candi Borobudur is surrounded by eight mountains while the ninth is the Borobudur itself. One of the mountain that surrounding Borobudur is the recently erupted volcano Mt. Merapi. Scientist and scholars believes that in the past Borobudur was surrounded by water.

Tips: You will be asked for donation at the exit, it will be used for maintenance so please be so kind to do so if you enjoy the tour. Careful, as soon as you exit the temple compound, peddlers are ready to swarm you trying to get you to buy something from them. If you are not gonna buy, please don’t haggle or small chat unless you love to be chased around persistently! It will take them a long time before they actually give up on you.

P/S : The trip was in 2008 and all photographs was taken by the tour guide using Famulan's and Faye's compact camera :)

Hope you enjoy my ramblings. Anyway, see you soon in my next post. ‘Til then, have great days :)

Alfresco markets aka tamu in Sabah ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:34:00 +0000

Hello dear readers and friends. It's very nice of you to stop by my little blog. Today I'm gonna blog about alfresco markets. In Sabah we call alfresco market as tamu. Alfresco or open-air markets are usually held every Sunday and the most popular tamu is the one held every Sunday in Gaya Street. I would blog about Gaya Street in later post but today I would like to share my experience at the tamu of two small town, Kota Marudu and Pitas. Let's see.... These pics were taken in a tamu in Kota Marudu.

Women from the villages around the hills selling their own fresh planted and picked produce.

This child is helping his mother to pick the chili peppers, chili in Asia originated from Mexico and was brought by the Spanish colony and trading... or so I was told.

Freshly picked veggies, some of them are wild plants. The woman who sold the wild veggie to us taught how to prepare it. Later my sister Famulan made vegetable soup mixed with shrimps, it smells and tasted really good.

I'm not sure what is the scientific name or the English name for this purple thing (I am not talking about the eggplant obviously...), it is a banana heart or inflorescence that will later develop into banana. It is cooked by stewing it with coconut milk, some like to add additional ingredients. This dish is called gulai lemak jantung pisang. Emm....

Sometimes people go to tamu to mingle or socialize besides shopping.

Little eggplants girl... She's either helping her older sister with the sales or there's in no one to look after her at home so she had to come along. Or maybe she's such an angel who wants to help out... awww... she was looking kinda bored so she probably had to come along... hehehe...

Okay, you are probably thinking "I am only seeing veggies...!! Can I really find something else besides veggiessss....." Well yes... yes... more pictures some of the stuff you can find at the tamu and they are non-veggies... Hehehe...

A man is selling cucur badak and murtabak. Cucur badak is made using flour and shrimp as ingredients while murtabak has meat shreds, eggs, onions and vegetables as filling, folded into a thin skin of wheat flour.

Roasted corn is one of my favorite, yummmmmmy..... I also like roasted sweet potato. I love local cuisine like penjaram, kuih pasung, wajik, kuih piring (I don't know it's real name but it is round and flat so I called it piring.. lol). Sorry no pics, I'll try to get pictures of this local cuisine later.. hehehe...

Now let's take a look at some of the photographs I took during the tamu in Pitas :)

Fabrics of various patterns and colors are laid on a mat on the ground, you can only see this style of fabric display at the tamu in a small town.

Sling bags, some come in fake brands, of course the quality is not the best. I bought a sling bag here for my camera. Though the outside still in good condition but it's already ripped apart at the inside. Lol. I was actually looking for a green sling bag that was very commonly used by students in the 80s in Sabah. The man who was selling me the bag said I could no longer find it in the market... Sob! I wish I have it, it's really classic :)

Toys, glasses, tomatoes, dried fish, sandals..

Clothes, bag, belts, sunglasses and mobile phone covers.

Dried salted fish, prawns and anchovies. It's very tasty but the process is terrifying for me..

That's all the good pics I have from the tamu at both towns. There is much stuff you can find but it would be crazy to try to photograph all of it and upload it here. So I just chose a few that I like. Hehehe.. It is common to do some shopping for fresh produce and other essential household items at the tamu. Shoppers and traders came from various places and gather during the tamu to sell what they have or get what they need that usually can't be bought in daily supermarket or perhaps trying to get at cheaper price. It could be livestock, fruits, vegetables, clothes, toys, local crafts, local food, traditional medicines or even wild fruits. The price is reasonably cheap. Next time you need a cheaper napkin, you might be able to find a good one at the tamu..

Tips : Always bargain at the tamu ;)

Well, until then have a great time. Hope u enjoys my ramblings for today. Ciao :D

...road trip pics!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:15:00 +0000

Okay, this time my post isn't about any particular place I visited, but a collection of photographs I took while on the road in Sabah. Since I was a kid, I love to roll down the car window so I can feel the air and have better view of the scenery. Sometimes my big brother would let me stand at the back of his pick up truck. On my latest trip, I took the opportunity to photograph scenery I found interesting whenever I had the chance. Since I was on a moving vehicle and the road is quite bumpy most times it's not always possible. Anyway, it's not eye popping jaw dropping pics but I hope whoever come across this blog or this post will enjoy it.

The "Slow Down" and "Danger" signboard can be seen in many places.

Lonely deserted town.... just kidding, from time to time you can find fruits and local handicraft for sale

I love this scenery, I pretend to be at the African Safari... look can u see the tiger over there??

three's company...

Beautiful scenery, soon you'll only able to see palm treeeeeeees.... I prefer the padi fields, oh well...

Sg Bengkoka (Bengkoka River), is really big river. This was after a great flood.

A beautiful fishing village in Pitas

cows... cows.... cows under a tree... I'm afraid of cow, have bad memory being chased by a really angry cow...it was a misunderstanding.. lol

mmm.... what is that thing doing there?

looks like it's gonna rain soon... and i quote my niece when she saw this pic she said "there's a calm before a storm"

Bumpy ride...this is not bad and very safe..

I think Sabah have really great scenery, too bad the road is quite bad, perhaps it's not such a bad idea to propose a railway from Kota Kinabalu to Kota Marudu. Passengers are able to take their time while on the trip and enjoy the scenery. Kinda remind me of my trip in Switzerland, it's really beautiful looking at the mountain and hills, and trees on a train ride. We took train to Mt. Jungfraujoch, the third highest mountain of the Bernese Alps. So Sabah tourism peoples, there might not be any snowy mountains but the fresh well preserved scenery sure is something. Come on, it's not like I'm asking you to build a railway all the way up to mount Kinabalu... hehehe... Anyway, all pictures were taken between a road trip from Kota Kinabalu to Kota Marudu, Pitas and Kudat.

oooh.. i have arrived to my favorite homestay...hehehehe...

I think it's time to say goodbye. More photographs soon, till then have a great time :D

Pantai Kelambu - a natural hidden beauty :)

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:18:00 +0000

I am a sabahan who had never step a foot on any island in Sabah, well that is not exactly truth since Sabah is part of an island, Borneo Island... Hahaha... Anyway, everytime I make plans to visit the beautiful islands surrounding Sabah, the weather is never right, it's either too hot or raining cats and dogs.. sigh! Well this time despite the bad weather, I manage to be on one very small island, it's about a hundred meters from the shore of Pantai Kelambu and it's connected by a tombolo. When the tide is high it become an island, some people will go diving around it although I heard that there's not many fishes to see. I dunno, I haven't try diving, perhaps one day I will... If I can still swim, I seems to have forgotten how to but I do have a natural talent for drowning tho... hahah!

Even on cloudy and rainy day, Pantai Kelambu still manages to give me beautiful shots. Imagine how this place looks like on a beautiful sunny day... If you want to get there, the beach is located about 35 kilometers of Kudat town. You will need a local map or guides to get here since the road signs are poor, you might end up getting lost as we did. Good thing is, the locals are friendly and helpful. At the split road points towards Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, go straight ahead and you will find yourself driving on a gravel road. On the way, you can see some traditional Rungus houses and old traditional houses of the oldest Chinese village.

Despite the cloudy, windy and rainy day I still enjoy walking along the beach at Pantai Kelambu, Nearby is Kudat Riviera, a property for the rich and famous. It is owned by Touchdown World Tour Group Company based in UK. Kudat Riviera is a private luxury villa residencies which is off limit to public, one lot or one property is up for sale or rent just like in Mauritius or other Caribbean island with starting price of USD 1 million. Rumors saying that the Malaysian's tycoon Robert Kwok and the famous Jackie Chan owned a property here... Really?!!

Oooh look!!! Aren’t that Jackie Chan and his assistant having a little adventure around the island? Heh!! Just kidding, that's my brother and the girl just happens to be there. She stood there for a few minutes as if waiting for my brother. Maybe she thought my brother was Jackie?! Hahahaha....

Yah and kak Liau at Pantai Kelambu with Pulau Kelambu at the background. They spent the whole time walking along the beach collecting seashells, wonder if they still have it.. Lol. Yah said she dreams to open her own homestay one day. I'm sure it will be a great adventure staying at her homestay, Yah and her husband Chal are great host guaranteed.

Beautiful seashells, the kids are having the most fun collecting these. It came in various size, colors and shape. When I was a kid, our home used to have seashell-hanging curtain on doorways. I have a love hate relationship with it because it really hurts when it hit my face but it's so pretty at the same time.

Legend said, that scary looking creature was once the king of the island, but he was so arrogant that he killed his own pride to have all the fishes for himself. One day, a man went fishing near the island; this infuriates the beastly king so it went to attack the man. Turn out this man is a powerful shaman, he demanded that the beast to bow and ask forgiveness but the beast was so arrogant. So the man cursed him into stone... it will come alive when the tide is high during the full moon, it will continue crawling searching for the shaman to forgive him... just kidding hahahaaa!!! I just made that up, anyway no one seems to notice this wonderful thing among the rocks, everybody just keep passing by without even looking. Well since I am the one who found him I'll name him Buaya Tanggang.. Lol. Well, obviously no such legend exist but it would be hell scary to find him on the seabed while diving here!!!

While Pantai Kelambu is a beautiful white sandy beach, the place has no other facilities except the two pavilions and barbecue pit. There's a public restroom nearby. A short walk back down the road you came from and you'll find some houses and a wooden booth selling sweets and local fruits, the restroom is just behind it.

I wonder who manage the cleanliness of this public area since thrash can be seen lying around the pavilions. Perhaps left by inconsiderate irresponsible visitors. I see some thrash near the multi-million dollar villas back exit to the beach as well, hmmm..... Should I make a call to Karam Singh Walia? hehehe... So if you plan to visit, please CLEAN after your mess BEFORE you leave. Don't throw anything into the sea especially plastic bag. Do you know that thousands of sea turtles dies every year caused by marine plastic thrash?

My rating : 6/10. The place has great potential, too bad it's overlooked by authorities. They should maintain the place, build a better public restroom and showers. I don't mind paying as long as it is at a reasonable price and the place kept clean. Provide thrash can please, I couldn't seems to find anywhere...

Well, that's it for today, hope you enjoy my ramblings. Hopefully I will be back here when the weather is fine so I can take loooooooooots of beautiful pictures. Will try to write more of my adventures with lots of photographs! Till then, adios~

Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadinigrat

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:52:00 +0000

When Faye, Yah and myself were in Yogyakarta, we decided to visit a Kraton, a palace for the Javanese Royals. Kraton is actually a Javanese word that means castle or palace, and when you visit a Kraton you can't simply say "I've been to the Kraton!!" Why? Well there are more that one Kraton and each of this Kraton has a name. In Yogyakarta, the famous Kraton is named Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadinigrat, where the late Sultan Hamengkubwono IX resided. Who is he? He is the one responsible to bring independence to Indonesia and overthrow the Dutch. To most of us who can't remember the name, it is known as Yogyakarta Kraton.

Although this Kraton is still the living place of the current royalties, some area are open for public visits. Bear in mind that you have to dressed properly when visiting, and handycam or camera will be charged extra. It is compulsory to have the Kraton official tour guide, ours are a friendly lady. As soon as we entered from the main entrance, we saw a large pavilion, according to our tour guide it is for gamelan performances such as the upacara, uyon-uyon,a dance known as beksan and puppet theatre (wayang kulit and wayang golek). When we went to visit we have no idea about the royal gamelan group performances so we didn't get to see it. What's more, there are some general worker that seems to be doing some construction work at the site. Oh well, maybe next time we get a chance to see it...

As we continue on with our tour, we saw more pavilions, each holds it's own significant roles in the Javanese Royals customs. What interest me the most is the main pavilion that stored the desk used by the late Sultan Hamengkubwono IX when he wrote the independence letter. Not that I'm patriotic over Indonesian independence in particular, but if you look up the ceilings, you will be able to see the antique Italian crytal chandelier hanging from a beautiful gold engraved patterns ceilings. True, most of the gold on display are replicas but only this one is pure gold, or so I've been told and read. I'm not really sure if it's really gold coz it's so high up. I believed the pavilion are called gedhong kaca as it was the only pavilion surrounded with glass, because of the old table I suppose.

Then our guide brought us to the museums where it stores the royal antique collections. Most of them are gifts from well known world leaders. Others are royals apparel and accessories for special occasions. Afterwards it's time to visit the royal batik printing house. Now we are not allowed to take pictures here, the batik design are only for royalties. They even have the antique traditional batik printing equpment, used by wives of the late kings. Well, overal I would say Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadinigrat is a good place to visit for historical and early architecture fans. Others might feel a little bored as you are not allowed to roam freely in the compound and only able to see from a distance, some pathways are not even allowed to be stepped on. Still, it wont hurt to visit the palace while you are in the area.

Duta Garden Hotel... a wonderful homey tropical hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:28:00 +0000

Last year, when Faye told me that she wanted to have an 18 days trip to Indonesia, I anticipated by writing plans in my blog Kee Heritage (another blog that is written in my local Sabahan dialect purposely for my family of Kee descendants back home). We received overwhelming responses, some of our family and friends wishes to join us but in the end there is only three of us; Faye, Yah and myself who actually proceed with the trip. I've been to Indonesia with Faye a few times but this time it's different... We are not just going to a shopping spree, we are going to see, to learn, to speak, to try, to understand and to experience the culture that seems so similar yet so different from ours.

From Jakarta, we board the Air Asia airlines to Yogyakarta. I'm really excited, I've seen Yogyakarta on tv, read in magazine but this time I will finally set foot on the historical city myself. It only took about an hour before the flight attendance gave the landing announcement. Outside the window, I could see beautiful green landscape that holds so many wonders of the city. We took a taxi ride from Adi Sucipto Airport to our hotel Duta Garden in Jalan Timuran. We feel more at ease as the road in Yogyakarta are not as busy as it was in Jakarta. The people are soft spoken, and doesn't take advantages from international tourist like us. Could also because our dialect and tone are a bit similar we are often mistaken as a local tourist. The taxi driver however, said to us "Lokal kek.. Tourist kek... sama aja" that literally means local or not, the fare are still the same.

We were so happy when we arrived in Duta Garden Hotel, it's such a cozy homey little tropical place. Since the hotel are quite small some common services are unavailable such as ironing or pool bar area, however you have the luxury of privacy in a clean, beautiful and comfortable surroundings. Our room was located on the first floor facing the pool. As a matter of fact the patio was only 5 steps away. The room are decorated with wooden furniture, the bathroom door are a little old and the low-key lighting are not suitable for reading or anything else besides resting. The bathroom window opens to a mini green garden, somehow it's a little too wide that Yah was worried someone might actually take a peep while we bath, but the roof that's covering the mini garden are making it impossible to anyone unless you purposely walk out of the bathroom naked and stand in the mini garden embracing the open air... I doubt it.

The swimming pool are decorated with a man made waterfall and located in the middle of the hotel compound, just beside the restaurant.

The hotel lobby are decorated in a simple and cozy interior. Here you can get a free internet access for half hour or as long as you like provided there is no one else in line waiting to use the computer. Astro are also available at the lobby.

The whole surrounding was decorated with lush green landscape; trees, bamboos, flowers of many kinds and even coconut tree. Each room on the first floor has it own mini waterfall and fishpond. Each day the friendly hotel staff will come and serves complimentary warm tea and cakes to each room in the afternoon or when you are back from a tour. Although the restaurant are closed at night, you can pre-order room service before nightfall so they can prepare your food in advance, that means cold or heated meals. Breakfast menu are okay but offers the same dish everyday; fried rice or noodle, toast, juices, fruits and some egg. You can ask them to prepare the egg to your choice, sunny side up or half boiled. If you wish to have something different, you can simply take a 3 minutes walk to Prawirotaman street, there are lots of restaurants and shops for you to choose from.

Yah at one of the fishpond by the restaurant.

After checking in to our hotel room, we sat outside enjoying the greenery. We sipped our welcome drinks happily and have a small chat while listening to sound of waterfall and small streams. Yah on the other hand was busily punching her mobile keypad sending messages non-stop to our family and friends back home. It's already dark by 5.30pm and you can hear azan from almost every corner of the city, it's time to perform the maghrib prayers to the local muslim. Everything seems to settle down in a quiet serene and relaxing atmosphere.

Recommended for those who enjoy sightseeing, or a quiet gateway from the bustling city life or a leisure family holiday. Not suitable for those seeking a fun night out after sun down.

New Year New Look... A hair makeover!

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:31:00 +0000

It's a New Year and people would be asking you "what's your New Year resolution?” While most of us equipped ourselves with the most meaningful answer, I have to be honest that I have not. I don't see the point coming out with some creative promises that I'm not planning to keep. Well instead of listing all the things you wanted to do, why not just make it happens.

This year, I have a new hair makeover. It wasn't planned; I was with my sister at the mall when I happened to stop outside the hair salon. I don't really have anything in mind and I don't really know why I stopped.. I just did. I have always wanted to try a new look, but I've been too unsure of the outcome and often hesitate. As I was dilly-dallying outside, a young man in his 20s came out and asked if he can be of any help. Typical me, I always panicked when the store assistant came and talks to me so I often end up buying a lot of stuff that I don't really need... in this case it's the hairdresser. I didn't really looked at him but stammering stupid questions like "what's the different between digital perming and bla bla bla..." As the young man patiently explaining everything to me, my sister got impatient and dragged me in. She said, "stop yapping and just do it!" sounds like Nike ad... Just Do It! A really good motto I have to say... hahaha...

I was going to tell the young man how I wanted my hair to look like when my sister waved her hand and said, "just let him do it... he knows what he's doing." So I leave the fate of my flat boring lifeless black hair in the hands of Eddie Law. He explains what he's going to do so I can always change my mind, the one thing that I could never forget is what he said to me.. "I'm gonna make your hair really big and when we are done you gonna look... WOW!" I was really scared hearing the word big hair. I suddenly remember the last time I had a perm I look really hideous and I make a vow to keep my hair straight because I don't want to look like the lil' creature that adorn short dangling curls when I was 9, people often mistakes me for a boy ...but I let him picked the hairstyle and color that he said best for me. I actually trust him. It's usually takes me a long time to like any hairdresser until he/she shown his/her skills! Ah well... JUST DO IT!

Eddie had to cut some of my hair before he proceeds with the coloring. My god I was shocked to see my hair after the first wash... I'm so used to having my hair dark that the reddish light brown shade gives me a fright! OMFG I thought I look like that Mak Inang, the driver's wife my brother hired to pick me up from school when I was in SMPT! (Sorry I forgot his name =P) I frantically asked my sister if I looked all right, she must have been annoyed by my paranoia. The girl, I think her name is Christina... forgive me if I'm wrong... she's really nice to me, asking me if I want to go to the washroom before we proceed with the perming. When I returned Eddie continue with the perming process. I imagined I would cringe in pain as he pulled my hair strands into the roller but I was wrong. The painful experience when I did my hair rebonding in Sunway, where the hairdresser actually got my left ear and strands of my hair burned that I had tears of pain in my eye.. it was distant memories now. Eddie was kind and always asked me if I'm alright. When he's done, Christina started to plug some wires into the rollers... Well at this moment I was quite scared... at the same time I'm picturing myself as the underground lord given the electrocution for drug trafficking. I wonder if the chemicals have rooted into my brain cells that cause this hallucination? So when Eddie asked me what would I like for a drink I thought I was imagining things. Whatever... Christina was by my side for the first few minutes making sure that I'm okay, man you guys should have seen me, I had rollers with wires attached to my head. Berasap kepala ooo.... Sorry have to say it, I'm a pure Sabahan so I can't help it.. hehehe.. The whole process takes about half hour, Eddie came back with a can of 100 Plus energy drink.

When everything is done, the outcome was a great surprise! I got gorgeous brown curly locks and I actually look good =) I've never felt happier. My sister compliments and insists that I keep Eddie as my hairdresser. I don't really like going to the hair salon that much but I guess it's not easy to find such good creative hairstylist! To those of you who need a makeover, go and visit Comb Studio in Sungei Wang Plaza, Kuala Lumpur located at G 032 Ground Floor.

Update : Eddie Law no longer works there, he is now in Ampang.

Fish Spa... or... Feeding Frenzy?

noreply@blogger.com (Cherry Sansita de Falconi) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Today my sister and I decided to take the public transport to Ikea in Damansara. A really long way from where we stay, but we had fun.. and this is the second time I board the monorail. Not a fan coz it kinda terrifies me a bit... hahaha..

When we got back to our hotel we are awfully tired and decided to try out the fish spa, we went to Morino Kaze Aromatheraphy Fish Spa that was located on the 2nd floor in Piccolo Galleria, Jalan Bukit Bintang. When we entered most of the staff speaks English with thick foreign accent, it's pretty hard to understand what they are trying to say. Some of them didn't even know how to speak English. I assumed that they are not locals. When we enters the building, it was decorated with Asian decor. We had to wash our feet first... ourselves! Well if you've been to Bali you'll get accustomed having people doing everything for you at the spa and that includes washing your feet in a bowl of warm milk and petals of flowers... ah the luxury.. so when the staff told us that we have to wash our own feet using the hand held shower thingy, I thought it was a little absurd... hahaha!

There are two areas in the fish spa, the inner area for beginner, which is filled with smaller fish, and outer area filled with bigger ones. The staff in charge told us to soak our feet inside a pool that has small fishes. As soon as we plunged our feet inside the water tank, a big shoal of fishes swarm over and start their feeding frenzy! It feels ticklish at first as the fishes started to nibble on my feet, I couldn't stop laughing and squirm in my seat for a good 15 minutes. After we get comfortable with the nibbling, we were asked to change into the outer area where bigger fish are ready to nibble the scaly and dead skin away. These fishes are actually toothless so it is a safe even for children, but please do not put your finger into the water. Although the fishes are toothless, the skins in your finger area are not as thick as the skin on the feet so if shoal of fishy nibble at your finger chances is the skin might break. Don't want the unnecessary injuries do we?

When we are done we took a back and foot massage, it takes place in another section of the spa area. There were two rows of beds with curtains to give the customer a complete privacy. The female masseurs that give massages to my sister don't speak a word of English, but they managed to get along just fine. Other than the language barrier, they are really good and skilled masseurs, I actually fell asleep during the foot massage. Before we went home, they served us warm tea, a few slices of fresh watermelon, and fresh flowers that complement the color of our shirt.. awww...

If you are wondering, the breed of fishes are called Garra Ruffa and originated from a hot spring in Turkey, which they are actually known as the "Fish Doctor" for their effectiveness in assisting eczema and psoriasis patients in their healing process. So don't worry these fishes won't end up in your plate in a restaurant. Other than fish spa, back and foot massage, Morino Kaze Aromatherapy also offers services such as Balinese Massage, Ear Candling, Traditional Massage, Wellness and Slimming & Detox. It opens from 1pm - 1 am (for Bukit Bintang branch) and if you come during Jan - March, they are having a promotional price. Oh and it's free for children aged 12 year old and below. Hope you have fun and enjoy the feeding frenzy! =)