Seorae is a brand new Korean chain restaurant owned by seven Indonesians and one Korean. Their cooks are from Indonesia but they learned and trained in Korea. Amongst other Korean restaurants in Jakarta, Seorae is perhaps most similar to Chung Gi Wa, as they both specialize in Korean BBQ. Seorae already has two outlets in Jakarta, the first one is located at Flavor Bliss (Alam Sutera, Tangerang) and the other one, where I dined, is located at Pantai Indah Kapuk.

I know, I know, I know. How are three hours enough to explore the beautiful island of Cijin? Cijin Island was my last destination in Kaohsiung area, Southern Taiwan, and I had booked a train ticket to Hualien for that afternoon, thus three hours were all I had. It felt rushed and was certainly not enough to fully soak up the atmosphere of Cijin Island, but I’m happy to say that what I managed to see, I like. Anyway, here’s the story of my awesome three hours in Cijin Island! I went to Cijin Seaside Park, Cijin Wind Turbine Park, Cihou Fort, Cijin Star Tunnel, Tianhou Temple, and ate some fresh seafood.

Hello Omnivores! As promised at the previous Taroko Gorge post, today I’m going to share my experience when trekking at Baiyang Trail. Out of all the trails I visited, Baiyang Trail is the farthest from the park entrance and was the only one I trekked from start to finish. The trail spans for 4.2km (round trip), which requires 2-3 hours of walking in a leisurely pace. It ends at a mysterious-sounding location called water curtain cave.

DEPAPEPE, an acoustic guitar duo from Japan, is one of the most long-standing resident of my music playlist. When I first heard the song Butterfly sometime around 2006—waaay back when I was still a high school student—I was instantly hooked. The catchy tune was a perfect companion for studying, it is both upbeat AND instrumental. Fast forward to 2012, DEPAPEPE performed live at Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival. It was such a fantastic night!

After two years of no new music, DEPAPEPE released their latest album “KISS” on August and have gone on tour across Asia. I was ECSTATIC when I found out that the live show in Taipei (November 8, 2014) was within my Taiwan trip dates! (I later found out that they are going to do a show in Jakarta as well, but that’s another story) Afterwards, I tried to book a ticket and quickly found myself overwhelmed by so many questions: how exactly I could purchase a live show ticket at a city I’ve never been to before, with a language that I don’t understand at all, plus I have no friends at all in said city! The answer, mi amigo, is internet.

Before you continue reading, I want to remind you that I’m by no means an expert in ticketing and this is simply a story of my experience. Tickets that you want to buy may not be sold at the same website as mine did. I hope you find this post useful! :)

As I was browsing through pictures of my time in Taroko Gorge, Hualien, Taiwan, I felt so many regrets. I regret not having better photography skills, I regret not cleaning my lens the day before, I regret that my hands can get shaky sometimes. You get the point. I couldn’t even count how many times I said BAGUS BANGET- that’s Bahasa Indonesia for very beautiful. Taroko is sublime, and weeks later its beauty still burn at the back of my mind.

Inside Gardens by the Bay park area, Singapore, there are three main spots that you can visit: Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, and OCBC Skyway. At the time of my visit, I only got time to visit the Flower Dome. Gardens by the Bay is located in front of Marina Bay Sands, you can go here by hopping on a bus or taking the MRT to Bayfront Station, which I think is the more convenient mode of transportation.

Last month we went to Taman Safari Cisarua, located at the feet of Mount Pangrango, with a bunch of our high school friends as a part of our annual gathering. Taman Safari, literally translates to “safari park”, is an animal conservation centre where visitors can see and interact with animals in their habitat. Running Man fans may recognize Taman Safari from one of their episodes shot in Indonesia. The journey to Taman Safari only took more or less 90 minutes by car from Jakarta and none of us had been there for more than ten years, therefore, we decided that it was the perfect location to breathe some fresh air and the perfect time to get reacquainted with Taman Safari.

The maps I picked up at Penang International Airport- and I’m pretty sure numerous blogs and websites do this as well- listed dozens of tourist hotspots I should visit in George Town, the heart of Penang. Honestly, I tried to follow every single one of them (my numero uno mistake) and ended up getting frustrated under the unforgiving Penang sun. Furthermore, I picked up four maps (second mistake) and concluded after much headache that they didn’t contain the same information. Or my map-reading skills were seriously lacking. 

Recipe for disaster

Despite everything, I enjoyed George Town and here are my favourite spots:

- Khoo Kongsi Temple

- Georgetown Street Art

- Fort Cornwallis

Regardless of the long hours it took to reach Derawan, Derawan did not disappoint me at all. Derawan is gorgeous, and for divers, it is a must-go destination. Note that the best time to visit Derawan is between May until early August, other than that, the weather becomes unpredictable and not nice.  As an added bonus, if you were single, maybe you can find your sweetheart here. Derawan does have its magic, and it really happened to me :P

Gotcha! Did the title bring you here? Are you in Penang right now, feeling pissed off because it is raining non stop and you don’t know what to do? No, the universe doesn’t hate you. And no, you’re not the only person in the world who has experienced it. Shit happens, sun rises in the east. Rain pours, get over it (hey, it rhymes!). Anyway, here’s my story.

It started as what seemed like a typical day in Penang. I didn’t even realize if the sky was darker, or if the weather felt more humid than the previous day. That day, I ate breakfast, walked to the station, and hopped on a bus to my destination: Bukit Bendera. True to its namesake, Bukit Bendera, or Penang Hill, is a hill at Air Itam area that overlooks Georgetown from 883 m above sea level. According to its website, aside from the spectacular view, you could also see some unique plants and historical sites.