http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Lorin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Lorin en-us Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:29:59 UTC Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:29:59 UTC This month October is one of the moments waited by most families in Indonesia. As the Indonesian government chose September 30th to October 3rd 2008 to be national holiday related with Idul Fitri Moslem Festive Day. Most Indonesian family spent their time by having family vacation or visiting their homeland or formerly known as Mudik. Holiday places like Bali and Jogjakarta were totally full of lo http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Yogyakarta/blog-331050.html A village festival. What would it possibly be Traditional dance Children play traditional games Some old ladies sit down and make batik Or villagersquos authentic recipe Well probably we would find it at the real village. But in Sanur one of the magnificent beach in the world I may say village festival is a modern event with a mixture of eastern culture and western taste. Held for the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Sanur/blog-310114.html Menjangan At first it sounds unfamiliar to me. I was a kind of tourist who mostly spent the weekends at crowded places such as Kuta and Seminyak. Although I have stayed in Bali for two years I wasnrsquot really sure about the name. What is it Where is it What can I find at the place Until one of my friends Pingkan who has visited Menjangan Resort previously asked me and my other two friends http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Pemuteran/blog-304005.html After using coat and shawl for ten days its time to change the holiday destination into a place with sunshine and beaches. We decided to choose Surfers Paradise which located on Gold Coast Queensland. It took us 1.5 hours to fly from Sydney and we couldnrsquot wait to arrive since we keep on imagining the picturesque beach just like we saw on the websites and postcards.We arrived at Gold Coas http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Gold-Coast/Surfers-Paradise/blog-279370.html Traveling to a new place wouldnrsquot be special without meeting the local animals. Looks like Taronga Zoo was a perfect place to check out native Australian wildlife. Set in a natural foreshore bush land Taronga which came from Aboriginal word meaning ldquowater viewrdquo operate ever since 1916. We went to the zoo on Saturday as the weather forecast predicted its going to be a bright s http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-276921.html Here we are arrived in Sydney. As I read from some articles the most appropriate words to describe Sydney would be cosmopolitan diverse energetic and easygoing. I just canrsquot wait to prove the opinionMy first impression of the city was unstable weather. We arrived in the middle of rain with cold and windy situation. During our trip in Sydney we stay at our friend Lukirsquos house but http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-276578.html As I donrsquot know much about Melbourne I trusted the guide a.k.a our friends to inform the ldquomust seerdquo places. We arranged the itinerary and prepare ourselves for the trip. On Saturday we decided to see Saint Kilda beach but previously we joined lunch at our friendrsquos house. Her name is Sherly and she is an Indonesian as well. She served us yummy spicy and hot fried chicken http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-274201.html Finally I am going on a trip which I had planned since 2007. My colleague Angga and I had planned to go traveling together considering both of us never went to Australia so why not We decided April 2008 is the best time for us to go. Successfully got Australian tourist visa we booked the ticket and start the journey on Thursday night April 17th 2008. We used Garuda Indonesia airlines and it t http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-274162.html It's always interesting to find out cultures which I never knew before. Apparently today chinese community all over the world are celebrating Chinese New Year 2559 welcoming the new Rat year. Most of them said it would be a prosperous year as Rat is very smart and able to addapt in various environments. At first I was really interested to see the Barongsai. A dance played by at least 17 people http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/blog-243863.html Therersquos not so much to say about the last two days. The weekend when I was plan to travel to many places. To join a test and visit my hometown Surabaya to meet my colleagues in Jakarta and to spend holiday in Bandung which I never visited before. Everything was well planed and booked until the heavy rain and flood come. Heavy rain which happened since Thursday Jan 31st 2008 at Jakarta ca http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Surabaya/blog-242257.html January 23 2008 is a special day for Hindu Balinese community as they celebrate Galungan Day. The Hindu celebrates Galungan day every six months. Galungan Day held on Wednesday and will be followed by Kuningan Day on the Saturday. This 11day holy period is based on ancient harvest festival. Barong dance held house to house on Galungan Day.Irsquom very interested to know what the Hindu do on G http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-238660.html Although I have joined Safari Tour when I was a kid at West Java I found out that I would never felt bored on this kind of trip. This Saturday I went to Taman Safari Gianyar Gianyar's Safari Park. This park just launched early on January 2008. I went there with my friends which made this trip even more exciting. It took us 30 minutes drive from Denpasar and 9 am was the perfect time to start. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-235491.html Sometimes beautiful moments may come unexpected. This Friday I was on an office trip to Sidemen Village at Karangasem Bali. It is quite a remote area which takes 1 hour drive from Denpasar. At first I didnrsquot have any thoughts in my mind. Just prepare myself in a very long journey to a remote area which took 2 5 hours drive as said by my Balinese colleagues which in fact never went to S http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Gunung-Agung/blog-235483.html Therersquos nothing better than a bright sunny day on a Sunday afternoon. After deal with strong wind gray cloud and heavy rain ever since Christmas I am very excited to see the bright sky today.Today I decided to fill this very special day with my hobby Sightseeing. Start from my neighborhood I hop on one of families favorite meeting place on the weekends Renon field. This place used to http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Kuta/blog-233385.html Happy New Year 2008 everyone Howrsquos your party last night Mine was quite weird but I can say itrsquos rare. It was started early evening when my friends and I was afraid about not getting parking lot for my car. Based on the information I got from many of my friends that Kuta area would be incredibly full by vehicles we managed to started earlier on 5 pm. It is a little bit early but http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Kuta/blog-231882.html It's one day to the count down. If you want to spend an unforgettable loud new years eve you definitely have to go to Kuta region.. On the new years eve thousands of tourist came from all over the world unite in the same place Kuta Beach. As far as the eye can see there will be at least one person on each meter. There will be hundreds of Fireworks brought by tourists on the beach or light up b http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Kuta/blog-231424.html