Thursday, April 21, 2016

Ayo Berwisata ke Kebun Raya Bogor




Selamat Datang di Kebun Raya Bogor
Suatu hari anak-anakku bertanya, “Mama...kapan kita ke Kebun Raya? kok gak jadi-jadi”.
Aku memang sudah berjanji untuk mengajak anak-anakku bermain  ke Kebun Raya Bogor, mencari udara segar s
ekaligus mengenal alam sejak beberapa bulan lalu.
Akhirnya di
suatu hari di bulan Maret 2016, kami berkunjung ke Kebun Raya Bogor. Minggu pagi yang cerah sekitar pukul 6 WIB, keluarga kami sudah bersiap-siap. Rasanya ingin tiba sepagi mungkin supaya bisa merasakan segarnya udara kota Bogor. Perjalanan dari Jakarta menuju Kebun Raya Bogor melalui tol Jagorawi, memakan waktu sekitar satu jam menggunakan kendaraan pribadi.

Sudah menjadi kebiasaanku untuk menghabiskan waktu libur bersama anak-anak ke tempat wisata alam.
Berkunjung ke tempat yang masih alami, sambil belajar mengenal alam dan lingkungan sekitar.
Hamparan ratusan pepohonan besar yang tinggi menjulang menyambut kedatangan kami di pagi hari itu. Aku bisa merasakan embusan segar udara pagi yang menyelinap diantara dedaunan dan pepohonan.


Anak-anakku sangat senang berwisata ke Kebun Raya Bogor. Anak-anak bebas berlarian, menikmati pemandangan hijau di segenap penjuru, dan mengenal beragam jenis tetumbuhan. Kadang mereka berlomba lari sambil mengejar kupu-kupu yang beterbangan, serta mengintip sarang semut yang kerap nyaris terinjak bila kurang berhati-hati saat berjalan di tengah rerumputan.
Aku sering mengingatkan anak-anakku, "Hati-hati saat berjalan
, jangan sampai menginjak gundukan sarang semut". Aku berusaha mengajarkan kepada anak-anakku sedini mungkin, bahwa binatang berhak untuk hidup, sama halnya seperti manusia. Anak-anakku tertawa kegirangan ketika berhasil berlari menghindari gundukan-gundukan sarang semut yang banyak bertebaran di taman di sekitar kolam Bunga Teratai atau di areal sekitar cafe Dedaunan.


Wisata Alam Kebun Raya Bogor
Kebun Raya Bogor merupakan lokasi wisata favorit bagi keluargaku. Sebenarnya aku sudah pernah berkunjung beberapa kali dengan putra sulungku, namun kunjungan kali ini istimewa karena menjadi momen pertama bagi putri bungsuku.  Menurutku mencintai alam perlu dipraktikkan secara langsung, sehingga anak-anak bisa merasakan betapa luas bumi ini dan melihat keindahan keanekaragaman tumbuhan ciptaan Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Tak lupa, kami berpose di depan kolam Bunga Teratai sebagai kenang-kenangan. :)

Friday, April 1, 2016

Memorable Vacation in Dieng, Wonosobo



The Journey

This story is not pretended for professional use, I only want to share about what I feel & what I try during my journey with my family members. Hopefully it will be useful to all the readers or anyone who are interested to travel to cities in Java, Indonesia. I started traveling with airplane from Jakarta to Solo, then go back also by plane from Yogyakarta to Jakarta on mid December 2015.
First of all, I’d like to remind myself for always bring food (rice) for the children. According to my experience after we check in at Halim airport, at that time there is no available restaurant in waiting room area. There is only one coffee shop chain that sells snack and beverages. So, I and my children have to fasting for several hours. Fortunately I bring some bread. You can’t depend on the airplane, sometimes they don’t have enough food to sell or the budget airplane doesn’t serve meals.
Well, in my opinion traveling between cities in East Java and Central Java nowadays is a big different compare to 8-10 years ago. The traffic is far more crowded, traffic jam is spread anywhere, the street also busy with the trucks, container, and big buses. It is not the same anymore compare with the traffic at this time being to my last visit to my mother hometown in Ponorogo, east Java from Solo, Central Java about 5 years ago.
To have a big picture, about 5 years ago, it took around 3 hours from Solo to Ponorogo by car, but now it takes around 4 hours to travel from Solo to Madiun, the neighbour city of Ponorogo.  Madiun, is the nearest city about 24 km to Ponorogo. Or it took about four and a half hours from Solo to Ponorogo. Our family travelled with rental car, the routes from Solo- via Sragen-Maospati-then Madiun City.
In Madiun, I attended my cousin wedding ceremony. After that, my family went to my grandma and my grandpa cemetery in around Pasar Pon area in Ponorogo, to remember and prayed for them. It took around 30 minutes to travel from Madiun to Ponorogo. Then we visited my grandma & my grandpa home, the historical house for us, the son, the daughter and granddaughter & the grandson. Just for memorizing the good times when our ancestors still alive, remembering the childhood when I traveling there during school break time. 



The Borobudur Temple

This journey, let say a flash back moment is very important. It is to remind us as a human being that our existence in this world because of the God destiny, which we are, determined to be the son, the daughter, the grandson, the granddaughter of certain people, to live and to run the life. Also, to remind me as a person, that live is beautiful, & the world is so wide. To travel means to awake us that Indonesia is a very large country; consist of hundred cities, different types of people ethnics and cultures. Traveling is about contemplating about your life, your existence in the world. Not only to bring happiness, but also to be a better human being in the real life. It is to learn about how the people life, the ordinary life, the struggle, the different profession, the various character. 


Yogyakarta City



The Traditional Dance Performance
Our family trip continued to Yogyakarta, the special province. It is located in the heart of Central Java. Yogya is an iconic city, with a long history. There is “Keraton Yogyakarta” The Yogyakarta Palace, which is one of the main tourist attractions here. The palace had the mystery from the past that is still interesting until now. It is being preserved and the tradition still alive.


You had better get a tourist guide if traveling around the palace complex so you can understand the history of the palace and its people properly. If you are lucky, you can see the performance of traditional Javanese dances in the palace that shown around 11 am -1 pm in the afternoon. It’s really entertaining.
If you had a very short time in Yogya, you can still try to get a “Delman”, horse ride around Malioboro Street. It’s cost about 100 thousand rupiah for one round. For a shorter route you may pay around 50 thousand rupiah.
Remember, when you traveling to Yogya around school break time, at December or around June-July. Malioboro Street and its surrounding area will be very crowded with local tourist, filled of people.
There are many batik shops in Malioboro Street. Batik is the traditional art of Indonesia.
In Malioboro Street or Beringharjo market, there are so many clothes or handicraft seller. But these are bargain markets, if you are not sure with the price, it’s better to buy from the shops. Several batik shops usually only sell the fashion things. If you have a little time, you had better get in the Mirota shop, it’s the one stop shopping centre; there are many choices of fashion, handicraft, etc. Batik price are very variable, started from 10 thousand rupiah to millions. Now, the Batik shop is developing to some boutique shops, which sell certain batik products with limited numbers of production. The quality is ok, with the price above the average. 



The Borobudur Temple
The historical temple built in around the 8th-9th century. It is always an enjoyable moment while being there. I never feel bored. As I remember it is the fourth times I came here. And I want to come and come again next time. It is always being a nice moment, to see the world miracle, imagine about the life of the people at that time, when the temple is being built.
To think about the Andesit stones, how to bring the stones to built the temple; imagine that people are very smart at that time. This is makes me think deeply, that may be the golden age era has been disappeared from the world. That we now live in the era on the way to the end of the world may be....

The Other Side of Borobudur Temple




Well to explore Borobudur temple, you need to prepare at least 3 hours, to get around, take pictures, enjoys the moment, to see the beautiful view, to see the mount of Merapi.
It cost about 30 thousand rupiah for adult to get to Borobudur temple, and twelve thousand and five hundred Rupiah for kids under 7 years. Then, to exit the temple, you should try to go by “Delman”, horse rides to the car park, through the traditional villages. It cost about 75 thousand rupiah for one ride. Or you may walk in to the exit route, by foot through the handicraft shops.


Wonosobo
From Yogya, we are heading to Wonosobo, my father’s hometown, through Magelang, via Temanggung city, to see the beautiful scenery of Sindoro Mount and Sumbing Mount.
I really like the scenery on the way from Jogjakarta to Wonosobo, there are numerous greenly vegetables on the right side and on the left side along my trip. There are incredible mount views, Sindoro Mount and Sumbing Mount.
Even though the beautiful scenery makes my eyes pleased; some of the areas are already planted by the local resident. The plant may be almost hit the top of the hills. Of course it became their source of income, as a farmer. But in the other hand, there is danger behind that; someday it could be a land slide happens.