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Lombok Bali Trip December 2007
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Friday, January 04, 2008
Lombok Bali , East Java December 2007 trip •
So mom n dad n my little sista decided to be a domestic tourist this year, our plan is to visit grandmas, who are old already and visit some other relatives as well as to visit some of Indonesia's most famous beaches.
SO on the first day, 20th December 2007, at 810 am we boarded a plane to Mataram, with a short transit at Surabaya the capital of East Java province.
Here is the super long que just to check-in, domestic air travel in Indonesia is really a huge market, linking many towns to others. Previously whenever we visited grandma we have to drive 12 hrs plus, but now with flights as many as 40x a day, we hv a grand selection of flight timing.
Anyway after we check-in, we went for breakfast at the lounge. The lounge food is usually simple, like fried rice or porridge with some light snacks and soft drinks on free flow basis. To get the lounge priviledge, usually you have to have a platinum credit card or some kind of priority membership with the leading banks in Indonesia. One card may admit one or 2 person, so my family already have credit cards enough to admit 5
here is some lounge pic
the lounge in terminal B (domestic flights) has sucky food but with fast internet connections so I researched a bit on my destination place, Lombok in the West Nusa Tenggara Province (NTB).
Usually, I do lots of research before going somewhere especially if it is on free and easy basis but my home has very slow internet so i dont bother.
anyway here is some facts
Mount Rinjani, the second highest mountain in Indonesia is located in lombok, not sure if I have some pics of Rinjani peaks from far far away.
and in the midst of the mountainous ring there is a very famous and beautiful lake called Anak Segara lake. But we didnt visit any because the climb up there takes 3 days of hiking and camping.
so we boarded the plane, by walking of course....very hot but its cool, feels like the budget terminal in Singapore.
and here is some view
Landing at Surabaya, proceeeded to the transit desk and rushed to the lounge again, because lounge in Jakarta has sucky food and budget airline (all airline except garuda are budget airlines) dont give food.
the lounge in Surabaya is huge and served very good food, of all the lounges I visited during the trip, this is the best lounge.
we filled up very quickly because the plane gonna leave soon, our names were called on the announcement. so Sista quickly packed her peanuts and board the plane again
Soon we arrived in Mataram. greeted by this beautiful view
and then get shocked because there is only one belt serving the luggage and the belt stopped abruptly after a meagre 5 metres and dropped the luggages to the floor.
then we were met by our hotel transport, the Novotel Lombok at Kuta beach.
the journey from airport to Novotel took almost an hour of mountainous road and sudden braking because some dog, cat, chicken and even buffaloes cross the road.
Fun huh??
and then we found out that although Novotel is located at the beachfront of a beautiful beach there is no one selling food around, the nearest is almost 2 km away so we have no choice but to lunch at the hotel at exhorbitant prices
The Novotel outlook
The room inside (we took a room not a villa it cost 785000 IDR with an extra bed) The room is small but quite comfortable. Dad thinks is expensive but I think its nice and the price is good for a high season time such as this.
band theathroom. the bathroom door is coated by mirror on both side, giving the feel that the bathroom is large but actually is tiny. very nice
the hotel provide bottled water plus galoons outside so we saved money on buying water, which is perfect cause near the hotel there is nothing except coconuts and the occasional buffaloes.
so we took our lunch
The restaurant inside, all very 'back-to-nature' feel, the room the surroundings and everything else
Next to the restaurant is the Papaya bar, which is quite fully used because lots of the guests staying are actually expats working in either Jakarta or Surabaya, they loved to while the night away in this place, very nice place overlooking the beach
Next to it is the swimming pool, they build the swimming pool high up, and has to climb stairs to get to it, they also have the garden pool which was just in front of my room (my room in 2nd floor so maybe downstairs my room) but the pool is kinda not tended to well , some insects inside so we didnt swim there
there is also the wading kiddie pool, very fun to wash feet after walking at the beach at (oops dont tell anyone)
and the jacuzzi cum beach pool just downstairs of the main swimming pool located atop, infront of the pools are the beach volleyball court. and then its the beach.
me and sis had Bebek Betutu, which means Duck cooked in some kind of spicy sauce. not bad
Mom n dad had Sop Buntut which is a BeefBone soup. Standard is ok only
Some early view of the beach, we have others later because we are staying here for 3 nights
At night, everyone was tired so mom and I took our dinner first, I had the Nasi campur Mandalika and mom had some fried rice with some fancy name, I think by the time we left, we tried almost everything on the menu. the restaurant is called Kafe Chilli, well it is the only restaurant in Novotel anyway. they served international buffet every night with different themes but the food is almost the same.
tonight they have Traditional Sasak dance for entertainment accompanied by Gendang Belug which is a kind of traditional instruments. Sasak is the name of the people who live in Lombok, almost everyone is from suku (race) Sasak. the people are black but strong and the women exudes the same personality, hardworker and strong. they love to wear black therefore it gives a mystic feel.
Some pics of the dances, there were many presented, I just do not get a good view and my camera, the latest Lumix is more built to capture great landscape not this kind of moving and night shots so pardon the shots.
Some food pictures,
Notice the plates, they are all made of clay and they are super duper heavy
at night Dad and sis finally wake up and eat dinner just before the restaurant closes. there is also a small night market at the beach front manned by locals around and it is quite cheap to buy from them as souvenirs to give others.
Thats all for day 1, I will be back with more pics for day 2, and 3 in LombokLabels: Lombok Bali Trip
2:13 pm
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