Ja Va

Welcome back ya'll!

I just got back from my 2 week trip to Java, as u would've guessed fr the title lol

It was a very bitter and sweet experience.

More abt it later, hhe.

First, I went to Jakarta for 2 days.

I met up with da Jkt hooman, Gracielle (she's in my christmas vid check it out here gahaha)

Jakarta's traffic was bad but not THAT bad, but then the plazas and malls just made up for it, 

I mean they basically got everything Medan doesn't 

ESP FOOD :')

Christmas vibe LOL

Madonyaki (Zenbu) and Beef rice (Sukiya) sooo gewddd <3
got the ice cream for free bc... of some circumstances (too long of a story) hho

O Christmas Tree how nice ***

childhood snack who's w me ?!

connecting Central Park to Neo Soho

Din Tai Fung

I LUV BREAD and I like their varieties!

And so the 10 day Lombok-Bali Tour began.

First of all, the tour we joined SUCKS AF.

It's called Angkasa Tour and yes I'm letting you guys check it out because 

SPREAD THE WORDS YA'LL (!!)

Yes it's pretty cheap but heck NO it's not worth it. 

NOT AT ALL.

The hotels, the food, the bus and the time management. EVERYTHING literally.

I could write a whole article on why you shouldn't join this tour,

but let's just move on 

We gathered at 6 in the morning and after a whole day in the bus, our first stop was Semarang.

looks ok but it's like soooo noisy and squeaky.

We arrived at night just for dinner and check-in (the only hotel that's OKAY)

The next morning we visited Sam Poo Kong, which is a temple.

The place was actually nice despite the hot weather, huhu.

After that, another ALL DAY BUS TIME to Probolinggo.

In case you're wondering, we do have lunch and dinner breaks. (NOT included in the fee)

And even so, most of the time, they brought us to places that cooks only for big groups that looks like they're out of business that serves only Padang or Minang dishes. 

HECK

with some of our tour members~

When we reached Probolinggo it'as almost midnight.
 AWESOME time management.

Even more awesome was the hotel we stayed in, which couldn't even be called a HOTEL bc it's basically a room that's dirty and smelly.
I CAN'T.

Thankfully, we need to gather at 2 AM.
 YES, 2 AM.
Bc we need to catch the sunrise from Mt. Bromo which is around 4.30 AM.

So I just slept for like an hour (on the chair bc the bed was a no no)
and was dead sleepy until the trip began.

To get up the mountain, we need to ride a jeep.
Including the driver, it can only carry 6, which is perfect for us lol.

It was so cute watching other identical jeeps tailing us <3

it was literally DARK on the way up, the sunrise was nice altho it wasn't so clear here sorry.
I do have to say it wasn't SO PRETTY.

the chilly weather got us like.. lol

had our super early bfast in one of the stalls (warung)

ain't it beautiful <3

look at the jeeps how CUUTE

So after watching sunrise and having bfast we continue downhill towards the slope
 and the view along the way was BREATH TAKING. 

It's even better when we arrived!

IT WAS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE VIEW.

When we reached the place, we're swarmed by horse owners offering us a ride for 150k (300k if u want to reach the top).

I finally rode a white male horse and it was SOOO much FUN.

That is if you exclude the dust that gets into ur eyes bc of the strong wind lol.
But heck that's fine!

rode this guy right here and was suuuuuch a sweetheart <3
if only i can bring him w me.
IF ONLY.

It was probably the place that gave me the best experience and as bad as this tour was,
I'm so thankful I got to experience the beauty of Mt. Bromo.

After was again BUS time, and we arrived late at night.

crossing w ferry

The next day, we were TOO FED UP with this tour that we decided to leave the tour behind and not join the rest to Lombok. (which was only for 2 and a half days sighs but better than not yeah)

 We did join the 1st day's activities.

the water basically splashes into my face 3/5 of the time ;')

why do i find this funny

we basically urged them to STOP feeding us padang food so they let us stop at a place with more options and we ate here, which was actually really good.

And we're off the hook! O YEAH.

our first meal that's not Indonesian, so touched.
Also, this ribs joint (Iiga Warung) is really popular, tho I'd just rate it 7/10
If u can, go with the pork tho, it's better trust me.

After dinner we checked in at our hotel which is really the first time since the tour that's actually nice. I couldn't even express how good it felt lmao.

And without knowing it, bcs we so lack sleep throughout the whole tour, we dozed off till NOON the next day.

HAHHAHA

Sister turned 16! 
Congrats gurl <3
Celebrated at Samasta's Wild Grass

The next day, we also departed kinda late.

Tried the famous pork, altho we went to the branch and not the main.

Went to Mal Galeria which got nothing really.
Wanted to go to Kuta but traffic didn't allow us, so we head to Jimbaran for dinner.

the fish was probably the freshest I've ever eaten, YUM.
However don't order the lobster prawn bc one cost like more than 100k and tasted just OKAY.
NOT WORTH IT. 

The next day we decided to just play in our resort's beach club since it's got its own private beach, the Dreamland beach. It was really pretty doe.

 I didn't get to go to Kuta bc of traffic and everything so it was kind of a shame but this one was more than enough <3

food was obviously overpriced (100+k), altho it wasn't bad.
The duck was actually good doe!

I like how it feels~ 

Then at night we went to another popular spot that I originally thought serves only Vietnamese dishes but turned out there were lots of asian varieties and it's YUMSIE!

Fat Chow

Then another sleepless night bc we need to depart at 1am bc we need to rejoin the tour at 2am leaving Bali. 

deeeeep sigh.

Our parents kept insisting we rejoin the tour bc it would end soon and that we've never been to the Yogyakarta.

And so we met up with the others at their usually UNFIT hotel(is it even) then it's another whole day bus trip to Sarangan. 

We arrived late at night, as usual and spent our new year there.

closed stalls

fireworrrks ***

And then it's 2017! 

Gosh how time flies huh.

So,

HAPPY NEW YEARS YA'LL!

MAY THIS YEAR BE A GREAT ONE FOR EVERYBODY !! 

Stop blaming the "year" and start making changes!

pray hard work hard

Anyways, the new year hype there was REAL ya'll.

I didn't expect it really. 

Which is why, despite the accommodation that sucked,
 it was fun~

the next morning 

Then we're off to Yogya~
(bus time, again) 

famous tourist attraction~
spent most of our time at the mall lol bc my parents find the street too packed with hoomans

IZ SO GOOD (inside Malioboro Mal)

The next day, we went to one of the world's wonder, Borobudur Temple!

This was also one of the reason we rejoined the tour.

I have to say that I didn't regret tho, bc it was a pleasant experience.

Not only is the place has a great view, great air and they sell lots of really cheap stuffs!

TIPS :

there are endless stalls/sellers you're gonna see on your way out of the temple but I recommend u to just keep walking until u reached the last half of the shopping area where identical things are cheaper here than the ones in front. Also, bargain. 

Overall Yogya is a must visit.

It might not be that big but things are cheap here and people are friendly.

It's a special region of Indonesia for a reason. (:

Then, after a satisfying lunch in one of the waroeng there, we're off to Jakarta.

We're sup to arrive at night but holy moly traffic and their awesome time management made us reach Jakarta the next morning. clap clap clap

Anw I was hyyyped when I reached Jakarta and left the squeaky bus and lame tour behind!

My final thought:

It's nice stepping my feet into all those places and knowing the tour members, but most importantly is that I get to experience how it feels like to not have any facilities that I'd always have.

With that being said,

VISIT ALL THOSE PLACES BUT SRSLY FIND A BETTER TOUR, MAKE A RESEARCH IF POSSIBLE OR GO ON UR OWN BC WHY NOT?

Gotta try if u're here!

Meet Michaela Alicia!

Had a really fun time in Jakarta, met my uncle and auntie from Canada, had fun w our far relative, Alicia (such a sweetie)
It's basically just a shop, relax and eat good stuff time! hehhehe.

Right,
I can't believe I'll leave in less than 3 weeks for my studies abroad!
I'm excited and worried at the same time. (but obv more excited lol)
So these days I'm just preparing everything I need before leaving, so hopefully if I do have time I'll post a vlog of this trip,
  hopefully.
P. S. new vids on the way, can't tell u what it is yet but stay tuned by subscribing aye! 


Also, altho I.m kinda busy doin other stuffs,
I have to recommend this ongoing drama, Goblin bc it was just so good, okay.
Weightlifting Fairy and Hwarang's also nice but if u just have to watch one, Goblin is the one ya'll

Alrighty, you guys made it til the end!
This is a long post, but I really hope ya'll enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed making this post! 

Thanks for reading and as always,

Stay tuned! 
xx