Nusa Penida Trip

I’ve been wanting to visit Nusa Penida for quite some time and even contemplated taking a boat from Lombok after buying the flight ticket there. However, after finding out that the boat ride would take four to five hours one way, I scraped the idea and bought another flight ticket, to Denpasar this time. I then started searching for rooms near the port and then on the places to visit. I booked a room in Denpasar and Toyapakeh at Nusa Penida, was offered another room at another place in Toyapakeh, searched further, cancelled earlier booking a mere few days before departure and booked The Cozy Bidara as it’s closer to the main road. Just before this, I also cancelled the Denpasar room and booked a room in Sanur as I figured it’d be better to travel on directly to Sanur after landing than taking an early morning cab to Sanur from Denpasar. 

I then bought fast boat tickets from Sanur to Banjar Nyuh Harbour and return from Banjur Nyuh Harbour to Sanur. A colleague who went to Nusa Penida on a day trip from Bali shared me a guide’s number and after a few days, he gave me quotation for a two-day trip (covering Weat and East Penida). Initially, he quoted me IDR7.5 million but after telling him that I’d make my own room booking, he quoted me IDR5.5 million. Which was simply just exorbitant! I’d searched for tours on Klook but it cost too much for a solo traveller. Somehow, Allah helped me come across a page offering car and driver for RM194.7 for a solo traveller for either West or East Penida so I purchased one of each. I’d have to pay for parking and entrance fees but after doing more research, I found it would still be way more economical than the earlier offers I saw on Klook. Syukur Alhamdulillah. It always pays to do some research. 

Friday, 7 February 2025

I left office and took trains to KLIA T1. I had checked in for my flight online and wasn’t too worried when I arrived at 15:37. I was surprised to find that the flight was bound for Melbourne which meant I had to go to the satellite building so I hurried over. I was boarding the plane before long and we took off on time.  We landed at Denpasar and I rushed out, earning some comment from an entitled elderly woman. I gave her a ‘whatever’ look and sprinted out. I had pre-booked a taxi via Booking.com and the driver told me that due to the busy airport, they could only wait a certain time.  I was out by 20:30 and after locating the driver, we made our way to Erwin’s Guest Room in Sanur. The guest house is located within a maze-like neighbourhood with very narrow lanes but we managed to find it, Alhamdulillah. It was 21:30 then and too late to find dinner.

Saturday, 8 February 2025

I woke up early and had a shower then performed prayers. A light breakfast was served at 06:30 (it was already light then). I left at 07:10 and made my way to the rendezvous place for Axe Stone boat. I decided to be adventurous and followed a different route and ended up being lost and tried to retrace my steps and Alhamdulillah, found another exit out of the maze. Alhamdulillah.

I registered at the Axe Stone counter then joined the other passengers to the port building. We then went through security and walked to the boat. We were given lanyards which we returned back to one of the staff before boarding the boat. The boat ride took about 45 minutes and it rained somewhere along the way. I had taken an anti-motion sickness pill during breakfast but the aging of the boat as we were disembarking almost made me nauseous.

I had arranged to meet the Klook local operator for driver at 09:15 and borrowed a bloke’s phone to contact the driver. We met up and walked out of the port area. Ok, the port area was horrible and I don’t know why the local authority didn’t improve the road surface with the port tax that they collected from visitors (Rp25k). We drove first to Kelingking Beach aka T-Rex Beach. Nusa Penida is hilly and the roads can be quite bad in some areas and very narrow with one-lane width so drivers have to drive carefully to navigate the turns and slow down when there’re vehicles from the other direction.

We spent about 45 minutes at Kelingking Beach - I actually went down the steep stairs until the steps stopped and you have to navigate the o my terrain) and climbing up again - before driving to Angel’s Billabong and Broken Beach. I paid Rp10k for parking at Kelingking Beach car park and Angel’s Billabong/Broken Beach (the latter two share the same car park). We left after spending about an hour there and Dhika (my driver) brought me to lunch at Manthies Resto.

After lunch, we drove to Crystal Bay. Again, I paid Rp10k for parking. I didn’t see the charm or beauty of the place. There were stray dogs (indeed there are too many stray dogs around the places we visited) and the sand was black. I couldn’t appreciate it at all and went to sit at a hut instead to let Dhika have some shuteye.  After an hour, I woke Dhika up and he drove me to The Cozy Bidara Guest House. I had paid for my stay beforehand. The guest house is quite near to the only mosque on the island and within walking distance of Banjar Nyuh port. I wanted to venture out for dinner and was not amused when there was a power trip just before Maghrib. Thankfully the room wasn’t too suffocating as I had switched to AC earlier. I then went out in the dark to find dinner and ordered bakso from a stall. The power came back on while I was having dinner. Alhamdulillah!

Sunday, 9 February 2025 

This morning, we set off at 09:00 and drove to the east of the island. It fined during the night so there were puddles in the roads. After 75 minutes, we reached Diamond Beach. After paying Rp10k for parking and Rp35k for entrance (receiving a bottle of mineral water in exchange), we made our way to the cliff overlooking both Diamond and Atuk Beaches. The view was spectacular. I decided to go down to Diamond Beach - many people stopped along the way down to take photos - before coming up again. My thighs were already screaming from the steps at Kelingking  Beach the day before and were in agony by then. But hey, this would likely be my one and only trip to Penida, right.

After that we drove to nearby location for a view of Raja Lima (a group of islands) and Tree House. I paid another Rp10k for parking and Rp25k (smd received another bottle of water), we walked down (yes!) to the tree house. There are actually three tree houses but the staircase to one was dilapidated while another was abandoned. You have to pay Rp75k to have your photos taken at the tree house which I didn’t feel like paying so I just took photos of the tree house sans me.

We were ready to leave but the car battery decided to die on us and after trying to restart the car with another car’s battery, Dhika decided to borrow his friend’s car battery. He borrowed a motorbike and went to his friend’s house. It started raining then stopped then started again. I sat in the car but it was hot and suffocating so I held my foot out to hold the door open, closing the door when it rained.

We finally drove back and I told Dhika to bring me back to my guest house. It had rained very heavily in west of the island and the lane leading to my guest house was submerged and I had to wade my way through. Good thing I decided to pack my old Crocs instead of Converse or Skechers!

After prayers, I went out to find lunch. I bought some titbits then waited to have a massage. Oh by the way, there was another power trip so I had to wait for the power to be restored before I could have my massage. I had chicken noodles for dinner then returned to my room. It started raining again in the evening.  

Monday, 10 February 2025

I left the guesthouse at 07:15 and walked in the drizzle to Semabu boat office. I had received a message reminding me to arris an hour before the boat trip and was not amused to find the office hadn’t yet opened. It started raining on and off and finally I went to wait at the port. The boat from Sanur was late and we only boarded at 08:48. We reached Sanur at 09:30 and I was so glad that I asked the driver to come at 09:45.  It started raining heavily just before I reached the car and I jumped into the car. It rained all the way to the airport. My flight was retimed from 12:00 to 12:15 to 13:20 and finally 14:00. I walked to the domestic terminal to find lunch then back to the international terminal. The rain continued.  After a gate change, we finally boarded a bus to the plane. The airline had some umbrellas for us to share. I dozed off and wa not amused to find we were still on the runway when I woke up. We finally took off and landed at KLIA at 18:15. What a tiring day!!!

And that was my trip to Nusa Penida.

Trip To The Equator Riverside City

I had made plans to be away during my birthday as early as mid-January. Then the surgery took place but I still asked my doctor hopefully if I could travel (barely a week after the surgery). He said that I could, as long as I exercised necessary caution. Sought second opinion from my therapist and she said it shouldn’t be a problem either so I rushed back from therapy and scrambled to check in for my flight, search for and rebook hotels as I’d cancelled the hotels booked earlier, pack and get ready.

 

I flew out to Kuching on the late afternoon of 4 July. From the airport, I took Maxim car to Kuching Sentral to find ticket to Pontianak for the following morning. I finally called a bus company and he said there were some seats on the morning bus but that I must come early to pay for the ticket. I then walked to Kuching Transit Inn to spend the night. It was the nearest inn I could find to Kuching Sentral. Well, it wasn’t great but somewhere I could rest. I could hear the next door guests and after a while, a noise that continued until I realised it was rain.

 

I woke up early on Friday for prayers and packed. It was raining and I walked out in the rain to Kuching Sentral. Alhamdulillah, I packed my brolly for the trip. After queuing up and paying for my ticket (the man I talked to the previous evening told me I could pay online but counter lady said no so I had to find an ATM to withdraw money. I was in such a hurry that I didn’t dig out moure cash to bring.

 

The bus finally left at almost 10:00 and we stopped at a supermarket for passengers to use the facilities or do last-minute shopping or purchase snacks for the trip. The rain still poured. We continued after thirty minutes until we reached the border at Tebedu where we had to get all our bags and go through passport control and immigration, cross over to the Indonesian side and go through passport control again.

 

We continued our journey and stopped en route at a restaurant for lunch. I thought the price was a bit steep but the owner could get away with it as it seemed to be the only eatery around and most, if not all, bus operators stop there.

 

We resumed our journey and finally reached Terminal ALBN (Antar Lintas Batas Negara). There’s WiFi at the terminal but passengers cannot arrange for e-hailing car to pick them up. I had to ride a cab to Garuda Hotel. It took about 25 minutes in the after-office peak traffic to reach the hotel. I checked in and performed prayers. I ventured out after dark to Ayani Megamall to find dinner. The mall is across a busy road and I had to walk further to use an overhead pedestrian bridge to cross over. I spent about an hour there before turning back.

 

I slept badly that night, no thanks to the traffic noise outside the window.

 

I woke up on Saturday, 6 July, for prayers then lingered before going for breakfast. After breakfast, I walked to the riverfront. I had thought of taking the ferry across but it looked like it was a vehicle ferry and I didn’t feel like asking. I had initially planned to visit the Equatorial Monument but changed my mind that it doesn’t lie on the Equator but 117 metres off. Plus it looked like it was going to rain so I turned and walked back to the hotel. I went to the hotel rooftop for a bird’s eyeview of the surrounding area before returning to the room. I checked out after noon prayers. After depositing my bag at the left luggage, I went to find lunch. I then sat in the lobby and read. It rained shortly after and I was glad that I was safe and dry in the hotel lobby.

 

 

I sat reading and occasionally swatting mosquitoes away. There was a small mixed prayer room for hotel staff and guests (? It looked a bit horrible for guests) hidden away so after freshening up and changing clothes, I performed prayers.

 

The Maxim car I had arranged arrived early, driver said to avoid the traffic jam. So we left before 21:00 and arrived at Terminal ALBN 25 minutes later. My bus (I purchased the ticket online from another bus company) was leaving at 23:00 and we left on time. In contrast to the trip over, the bus was empty. I moved seats to get comfortable but couldn’t sleep, surprise, surprise.

 

To my surprise, we stopped at the same restaurant just before 03:00. And I was even more surprised to find people actually eating - and rice at that - at that hour.

 

We finally resumed our journey and arrived at Pos Lintas Batas Negara (PLBFN) Entikong before 05:00. I heard the call for morning prayers and went to find the mosque to perform prayers. it was drizzling. After that, we waited in the bus before we were told to bring our bags and queue at the gate. I didn’t know borders actually closed. The Azerbaijan-Georgia, UAE-Oman borders for instance didn’t close when we crossed in the middle of the night.

 

We stood waiting in the drizzle and the gate finally opened at 07:00 Indonesian time. There was a stampede as we rushed towards the passport control building where we joined yet another queue. Another bout of standing ensued. And of course, the kiosk I queued for opened much later. Having had my passport stamped, I crossed over to the Malaysian side and repeated the process. No queue this time!

 

When all passengers had boarded, we continued our journey to Kuching Sentral and finally reached it at 11:40 (!), 12+ hours after we left. I walked over to Kuching Transit Inn to meet SAK who’d parked there. We went for lunch and then she dropped me off at Marco Polo Guest House in Padungan. After checking in, I walked to the city centre and returned after buying dinner. it’s hard to find halal food in Padungan.

Gula apong ice cream

Guest house resident cats

 

On Monday, 8 July 2024, I woke up early and went for a walk. I came back after 45 minutes, freshened up and finished packing. I left shortly after breakfast for my flight back to KL.

Nuzul Quran Weekend

I have been wanting to visit Semarang for some time as I wanted to see its colonial buildings. As AirAsia no longer flies there, I decided to fly to Jakarta and make my way to Semarang from there. I could of course take the train but I’d have to travel into the city and train takes too long anyway. So after having making my research, I bought Batik Air flight to Jakarta before buying KLM ticket (costs less if you don’t check in your bag and there’s inflight meal too) and then searched the airlines flying to Semarang. I had almost bought Batik Air (somehow it cost lower than Lion Air) before I remembered to check Garuda Indonesia and guess what, it cost lower than Batik Air. Batik Air then changed its flight time from KL and then gave options to passengers so I opted for a refund.

 

Wednesday, 27 March 2024

 

I left office during lunchtime and made my way to the airport. I missed the 13:52 KLIA Transit train from Putrajaya so decided to performed prayers while waiting. I reached KLIA at 14:39 and immediately went in. I was a bit surprised to find that I have to go to the Satellite Building but I guess it’s because the KLM flight was from Amsterdam. I haven’t been to the Satellite Building since end-December 2019 when I came back from Pakistan. I followed the signs and went down the escalator to ground floor where the buses were.

 

Many shop lots were closed so after a quick walk around, I made my way to the gate. As I was carrying cabin bags, I had to declare my liquids and I had already prepared for that.

 

We took off on time as passengers were punctual. There were a few empty seats and had I not been chosen a window seat and had my bag in the overhead compartment, I would’ve been tempted to change seats. The inflight meal wasn’t much to shout about but it’s better than nothing which was what I would’ve got on Batik Air. We landed around 18:00 local time. The airport Wi-Fi wasn’t great at all but I managed to access it near Customs (we need to scan QR code and declare our items to the Customs before we could exit).

 

After breaking fast, I made my way to the domestic parking area. The hotel I booked (which I booked mainly because of its complimentary airport transfers) had informed me to wait there. I stopped en route to perform prayers including tarawikh and witir prayers (I still had some time so I might as well). I reached the waiting area near the domestic parking area at 19:40 and sat down to eat the rice from my inflight meal. It was just adequate and nothing to shout about at all.

 

I finally asked a Grab driver if I could borrow his hotspot and messaged the hotel. I was not amused to find a message asking where I was. This after I had arranged and reminded the hotel when I needed the shuttle (shuttle is every two hours)! I ended up waiting until 20:55 for the 20:00 shuttle. Simply outrageous! I was fuming.

 

It took almost 20 minutes to reach the hotel and immediately after checking in, I walked out to find restaurants or convenience store or supermarket but there was none. Zilch. Nothing. I went to the hotel restaurant and was told it had closed for dinner but I could order room service (room service prices are higher than restaurant prices) 24/7.

 

Thursday, 28 March 2024

 

I woke up at 03:45 and rang the room service. I had to ring it twice before anyone deigned to pick up. Imagine my displeasure when I was told there was no one to cook as they were busy with the ‘breakfast’ buffet. I had to get dressed and go down to the restaurant. And yes, pay buffer price for a plate of rice. Oh and the hotel didn’t accept cash so I reluctantly had to pay by card. Definitely NOT going to return to the hotel ever again.

 

I returned to my room, showered, performed prayers and finished packing. I went down and checked out at 05:45 and just before 06:00, boarded the hotel bus to the airport. The transfer was better than the evening before and we stopped at Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and last but not least, Terminal 3. I was the last one out as my flight was at gate 5 of Terminal 3. My bag weighed about 7 kg and I decided to bring it on board. However, just before boarding, I was told to leave my bag (because many people were bringing their bags on board too) and that it’d go into the cargo but that it’d be among the first ones out. Nevertheless when I sat down, I saw that the overhead compartment could still fit in cabin bags.

 

We took off on time and landed just after 09:00. I dozed off during take-off. My bag came out early and I made my way out to Trans Semarang stop across the street from the exit. The ticket cost Rp4k and I sat down to wait. The bus came 30 minutes later. I was told to change buses at one of the halts and had help from the staff there to board the right bus for ibis Budget Semarang Tandean Hotel. The halt was only metres away from my hotel, so convenient! Unfortunately, the bus service starts only at 06:30 so I couldn’t take it back to the airport for my early morning flight back to Jakarta on Saturday.

 

Trans Semarang

After leaving my bag, I set off and walked in the general direction of the Old Town. I stopped at two hotels to ask for directions before I arrived at the Old Town. Despite it being a sunny day, it didn’t feel too hot. I spent some time walking around the Old Town before taking Jl. Pemuda back in the direction of my hotel. I stopped first at Paragon Mall. Mind you, it’s nothing like the Singapore Paragon or Siam Paragon. I was appalled when I saw covered girls eating openly in public. I mean, why announce to the world that you couldn’t fast? And even more disturbing are the families who sat down together to have meals with covered girls and men. Don’t you have respect for Ramadan at all?

 

Mberok Pumping House

 

I returned to the hotel to check in but I had to go out again when I couldn’t charge my devices. I cut across Novotel Hotel to get to Paragon. It turned out my charger had gone kaput so I had to fork out money to buy a new charger. Arghhhh! I had spotted a hypermart in the basement floor so went there to get some groceries. My, things are not cheap in Indonesia. Sunquick for instance cost more than RM18 and a small bottle of isotonic drink (not even Pocari Sweat) cost more than RM6.

 

I went out again in the evening to find food for my predawn meal. I finally found a restaurant across from Paragon and bought fried rice to go.

 

Good Friday, 29 March 2024

 

I woke up early for my predawn meal and stayed up until after morning prayers. I was too sleepy so succumbed to sleep. I woke again at 08:00 and left an hour later for Lawang Sewu which was quite near the hotel. This magnificent building was the head office of the Dutch East Indies Railway Co. and is owned by the national railway company. I paid Rp30k for my entrance ticket (foreigners pay more) and spent some time there. And there were a lot of cats in the grounds! Sleeping, prowling, minding their own business.

 

After that, I walked to Kampung Pelangi but after climbing up to some cemetery, I made my way back down. Today was hotter than the day before and I didn’t want to exert myself.

 

I continued on my walk to Sam Poo Kong Temple, passing florist shops and small nurseries on my way. I reached the temple but decided not to enter in the end so I turned back and walked back to my hotel. Performed prayers, rested and had a shower before going out at 16:00 for a massage at a place nearby. I had a hot stone massage followed by face massage. Then I crossed over to Paragon and had a small bowl of soto for iftar at the hypermart. I stopped at the restaurant where I bought the fried rice the evening before and bought another pack of fried rice to go for my predawn meal.

 

Saturday, 30 March 2024

 

I woke for predawn meal, showered and performed prayers. I had just about finished packing when I got a call from Maxim driver. I was surprised to find another driver with another vehicle waiting. I had agreed with the earlier driver to come at 06:00 (I initially ordered a car for 05:50) and because Maxim or the driver changed drivers, I had to pay for waiting fee and I was not happy with this. Why should I bear the cost when Maxim or the initial driver changed their plan? And passengers also have to pay for parking? Or was it entrance fee to the airport. Annoying!

 

We boarded on time and landed at CGK at 08:20. I dozed on and off during the flight. I dropped by the prayer room and performed dhuha prayers before finding my way out and up to departure area for my Citilink flight back to KL. Turned out my bag was 7.4kg with water bottles so I told the counter staff that I’d bring my bag onboard. I gave away the water to a family with toddlers then went in to clear security and immigration. I had a while to kill so I browsed some shops before settling down to read.

 

The flight took off on time and unlike the Citilink flights I took to and from Dili, this one didn’t serve complimentary inflight meal. We landed into a wet KLIA at 14:30 and I was dismayed to find that we landed at the Satellite Building because I had to walk from the gate to gate C5 to get the bus back to the main terminal. I missed the 14:52 KLIA Transit train so performed prayers first before making my way home. So, I finally managed to visit Semarang. Alhamdulillah.