When the invitation to participate in 11 days’ trip under the Trip of Wonders campaign came in, excitement was beyond imagination. I have been to Indonesia more than 20 times and this is the first collaboration with Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia. During the Trip of Wonders journey, I visited Makassar, Lombok, Banyuwangi and Bandung. I extended […]

My dream to hike Tambora started when I was planning for the Rinjani trip circa 2012. I was drawn to Tambora due to its iconic eruption in 1815 which resulted the Year Without Summer. My dream had to be kept at bay as no one that I knew of wanted to hike Mt. Tambora with me. Only […]

For all I know, Padang Panjang was the shooting location for the movie Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijk. I flew to Jakarta to watch the movie. As I learned we had to go through Padang Panjang on our way to Solok Selatan in search of the land of thousands rumah gadang from Lake Maninjau, I […]

Lembah Harau is a valley with steep granite cliffs with picturesque landscapes and incredible waterfalls. When the time came for us to leave Lembah Harau for the nearby tourist attraction, Ngalau Indah, we left with heavy hearts. Ngalau Indah Ngalau Indah is a cave located at the hillside of Simarajo Hill, Payakumbuh. As we ascended […]

West Sumatera is the homeland of Minangkabau. Our Bukittinggi excursion took us to the cradle of Minangkabau, Tanah Datar. In the outskirt, buffalo horns roofs houses protruded the skies; some times they touched one another. Symbolically, the word “Minangkabau” means “Victorious Buffalo”. The legend of Minangkabau When the King of Java attempted to conquer West […]

6D5N Pekanbaru – Bukittinggi – Padang This was my second trip to Indonesia for year 2014. I called this #TripJiran simply because I travelled with two seasoned travellers Lily Riani and Edjunaidi who are residing in the same neighbourhood. With the help of Lily’s distance family in Pekanbaru, we decided to do a traverse route […]

Our final destination during our Makassar trip was an off-beaten waterfall known as Parangloe Waterfall. The waterfall is located in the area of Bili-bili, Kabupaten of Gowa, South Sulawesi. This is not the kind of place you get to know through the internet or map reading. Little was said in the internet about this waterfall. […]

Bugis and the sea, the sea and the boat – they are interconnected. On our visit to Tanjung Bira, we have the chance to visit the place of origin of the phinisi boats, a masterpiece of Bugis-Makassar people. Although it was approaching dusk, we were determined to go to Tanaberu to see how boats were […]

After we completed our hike to Lembah Ramma, we proceeded to the famous Cape of Bira via poorly-lit and winding road. Though I was too tired and felt asleep at times, I woke up now and then when approaching vehicles honked. It was as if we were driving along Jalan Lama Karak. Cape of Bira […]

Ini adalah sequel daripada Kembara Laskar Pelangi , Dari Bangka ke Belitung , Day 3 – Tanjung Pandan ke Manggar. Tapi kali ini saya nak cover Island Hopping Belitung pula. Setelah kami melawat SD Muhammadiyah Laskar Pelangi dan juga Muzium Kata Andrea Hirata, kami meneruskan Kembara Laskar Pelangi dengan island hopping di pulau-pulau di persekitarannya. […]