My arrival in Colombo was easy. I catched a bus to the city for Rs 40, and finally a Bajaj (motorised 3-wheeler) to the homestay where I had reserved a room, the Parisare, for Rs 150. The homestay is located in Cinnamon Gardens, an affluent residential district in Colombo, and is one of the best [...]
Since my flight to Colombo departs at such a difficult hour (07:05), I decided to simply spend the last night at the airport. There are several advantages to this, for example: No need to worry about waking up on time (sometimes I don’t hear my cell phone alarm clock). Save one night’s accommodation costs. Save [...]
When I arrived in Singapore on Monday, I checked into Cozy Corner Guest House, at the tune of SGD 14 nightly in a dorm with AC. Fair enough. I stayed here two years ago too. I noticed the same woman in the reception as before. And since it is the year of the tiger, I [...]
Welcome to the hard house world of the new Indonesia! In this regard, Tiesto (the Dutch DJ) made a significant contribution last Saturday night, when he performed at Carnaval Beach, Ancol Bay City Jakarta. We had tickets for this outdoor happening, and despite rain and muddy conditions, we stayed until 04:00. We arrived late though, [...]
Tiesto is performing at Carnaval Beach on Saturday, and I (together with Caecil and Sanjay) decided to not miss this event, and got hold of tickets yesterday. Price: Rp 250k each. This is the schedule on Saturday: 20.00 – 21.00 : ORIGINAL NARO 21.00 – 22.00 : MILINKA RADISIC 22.00 – 23.30 : ROMY 1945MF [...]
Below is a GPS track log of the taxi ride from Kalimarau Airport to Tanjung Batu last month, and the speedboat trip from Tanjung Batu to Pulau Derawan, including waypoints. The position at Pulau Derawan is the location of the guesthouse where I stayed at. I have marked Pulau Kakaban and Pulau Sangalaki as well, [...]
Below is a GPS track log of the trip by car from Makassar to Tana Toraja last December. As usual, I used my Garmin GPSMAP 60CX to log the track and to mark the places we stayed at.
One day after returning from Pulau Derawan, I became sick with severe headache. It lasted a few days. On 16 January I flew from Balikpapan to Jakarta. On 18 January, my visa expired, so I flew to Singapore, and took a ferry to Batam for another 30-day visa. I stayed one night at Istana Hotel [...]
Pulau Derawan (and nearby islands) is another one of those hidden gems in Indonesia’s remote corners. Not many have heard about it either. Arrival at Kalimarau airport. Excited as I was, on 4 January, 10:40 hours, I flew from Balikpapan on KalStar Aviation (Rp 720k) via Samarinda, and arrived at Kalimarau airport in Tanjung Redeb, [...]
We happened to be situated in Balikpapan during the New Year. Astrid was our host, and still is, during our stay here. On 1 January we were surprised by a really heavy downpour while driving, and the streets were flooded in just 15 minutes or so, making some stretches impassable. But the rain vanished just [...]
Christmas 2009 was spent in Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, together with Caecil, Astrid, Saras, Eka, and Rani. Tana Toraja is known for their unique burial rites. I and Caecil also spent a few days in Makassar afterwards. 23 December I and Caecil flew from Jakarta to Makassar on Batavia Airlines (Rp 750k each), and checked into [...]