Vina Smart: -- Travel to Indonesia --

photo credits to @julian_cheong

During my first visit to Borobudur, I was thrilled with the magnificent aura that surrounded by the oldest temple and it gives peaceful feeling to the visitor. In my second visit, after a hectic year for me, I managed to found my inner peace at there. The aura definitely did not fade!

This is my second time here to Borobudur and yet I am still enthusiastic to visit. It almost feel like when I was there, I would be able to find my inner peace and forget about the worries that I have. My first visit to Borobudur last year was spectacular. This is one of the destinations that I am looking forward on this trip! During the last trip, it was easier to take picture and with lesser crowd, but for this time, we went on a public holiday. It was super hard for us to capture a satisfied one. Thank god I have my pro photographer @julian_cheong who managed to take some nice shots for me even in this circumstances haha.

It's absolutely amazing, worth every penny. To see all the splendor of the largest Buddhist in the world we were transported from our hotel at 4am. Very early but worth it. It took us about 45 minutes to arrive and the sunrise happened at about 5:25 in the morning.

Borobudur is not a stranger to the world traveling scene, being a unique Buddhist temple of Asia, it is also the largest Buddhist structure on earth. Borobudur was given UNESCO World Heritage Site status at 1991 after it had been fully restored. It had became a major international tourist attraction with its 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues and also detailed wall carvings.

Borobudur consists of six square platforms and the highest point is 35 m from ground. Borobudur consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with no less than 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues of various types. The main dome, located at the centre of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupas. The distinctive shape and structure of Borobudur is the dome and its three circular symmetrical terraces. There are also six different postures of Buddha as you ascend the platforms. The wall reliefs is recounting the life stories of Buddha, from law of Karma to birth of Buddha and his journey towards searching for the ultimate truth.

The sun rises in Borobudur was in pastel colour.

photo credits to @julian_cheong

Fresh air and cooling weather is love.

We can see Mount Merapi from here

Info provided by Julian haha!

#FollowChaChaTravelTheWorld

Created this new Hashtag on Instagram, stay tuned for more.

Thanks to Julian for all my follow me shots. ME LOVE.

My first visit was wearing Wonderful Indonesia Top!

On point!

photo credits to @julian_cheong

I can see myself back to this peaceful place soon with my family.

The temple is breathtaking and is a great way to spend a number of hours exploring and wandering about. The sunrise tour is an absolute must - the temple in soft morning colors looks even better than expected. Of course there will be some crowds, but beautiful photos can be captured nevertheless.

Beautiful places are worth to go more than once! This time I’ve done some research on the ancient civilisation before I went. With the knowledge, I’m able to witness the world heritage site with more insightful information, every single corner has sculpture, architect, the symbols engrave around the stupa that was created by human more than a thousand years, and these master piece are truly magnificent!

The world is truly big and there are so much more awaiting us human to explore. I wish that I can explore more in my lifetime.

Took our cute boomerang before we left.

Check these cool people out on Instagram!

@ndrahalim @charlene22 @shennyyang @julian_cheong @urbandollsg @thechency

Entrance fees

Entry into Borobudur costs:

US$22/Rp 280,000 for adult non-Indonesians.

US$10/Rp 110,000 for non-Indonesian registered students (ISIC or university card is required).

Rp 30,000 for Indonesian adults or foreign holders of an Indonesian work permit .

How to get there

Borobudur is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Yogyakarta, where many day-trip tours can be booked. Those wishing to visit independently, or stay in Borobudur village outside the park entrance, can travel to the site by bus or taxi.

Glad to fly again with Garuda Indonesia this year to a new destination in Indonesia, Medan. I adore Garuda Indonesia not only because they received ‘World's Best Airline Cabin Staff’ in 2016 (third consecutive year ) , but also awarded as 5-Star Airline by Skytrax. They're the 7th airline in the world to earn this prestigious award.

I'm excited to be invited to take the first flight flying to Medan with another three lovely bloggers - Brianna, Liting & Mongchin. We were gathered in Changi Airport early in the morning as there were a warm-welcomed opening event - ‘World’s Best Cabin Crew’ dancing by Garuda Indonesia.

The four colours that represent Garuda Indonesia.

I love the cabin crew's attire as they look lovely and approachable and of course the cabin crews are beautiful.

Wefie time with the loveliness.
We were there early in the morning to witness all this.

Meet Veronika from Garuda Indonesia.

Brianna, was in white with me for our exciting flight to Medan.

A simple snack box served during the flight. And yeah that's kitkat! The leg room is good for a tall girl like me, very comfortable and blanket provided during the flight. Cabin crews are very helpful and friendly with smile.

Outstanding service from ground staff at check in until baggage handling at destination. Garuda Indonesia deserves all the awards!

Wild Pokemon appeared! Say hello to my travel partner.
A lovely gift from Changi Airport.

Singapore to North Sumatera.

This the favourites tourist place while traveling in North Sumatra.

Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world and is in Sumatra, Indonesia. Wonderful lake and welcoming people. Fascinating villages along the shore and on the island in the center of the lake. The area is very green and the distant mountains make for a delightful refuge from the heat of the jungles.

Checked in to our first stay. It's a huge resort on the mountain.

The view is awesome, weather is cooling and fresh air during the stay.

Boat trip to Samosir Island.
Since the lake is so massive, you suddenly feel like you're cruising the ocean, not the lake itself.
There's quite a lot of places to visit around Lake Toba; each with its own breath-taking view.

Mong with my bear.

Boat ride from parapat was nice and smooth. Morning the lake was not chopy as in the evening due less wind in the morning. Journey took about 50 mins to arrive to the tomok jetty. Upon arrival we went through the stalls and visiting the tombstone area.

We were here at Tomok
village.

Told to wear shoulder scarfs as showing respect to the place. Explaination given bout the transformation of the Batak people from cannibalism to eventually accepting the christian religion.

You can dance together in Batak Dance Show. Horas! Horas!Sing along together... Happy and fun!

I adore this baby milo haha!

Our lunch was good with local cook, most of them are spicy.

Your could enjoy Lake Toba from the Panatapan and take some pictures. Surely, it is the best view for your photography. Especially you could have some beverages such as bandrek, tea, coffee, milk, and noodle like Indomie goreng or rebus while you see the beauty of Lake Toba.

First the view on Lake Toba is amazing. You can look on the lake from your bed, from your breakfast place and from anywhere else. Second we enjoyed some free activities inside the resort like a farmtour, coffee roasting and tasting and a trekkingtour to the waterfalls. On this tours we got a lot of informations. The guides are very friendly and try to do their best with english language.

For sure the location superb capture the awesome view of this place. The room are ok, clean and the staffs are all helpful.

You can end the day on a bonfire. We really liked the environmetally sustainable agriculture in the resort. Nice to see farms like that in Indonesia!

Such a wonderful place if you want to stay close to the nature and surrounded with fresh air.

Morning coffee is a must to start to day right.

I love this sunrise view from Taman Simalem Resort.
It's breath taking and worth to wake up early in the morning.

Enter to this golden temple. I came, I saw, I conquered.
at Pagoda Taman Lumbini, Berastagi.

Blooms plucked across Karo plateau pop up at Berastagi, one of the traditional flower market in North Sumatra.

Located in the center of Medan. Easy access from Kuala Namu by Airport Train. Within walking distance to lapangan merdeka, street foods center, nearby main shopping mall. The room is neat and clean, service is fine. Convenient place to stay in Medan for business or leisure. ( Wifi was super good! Good enough for me to do Live-stream on Facebook )

Room service before our Gala dinner night.

We are lucky that we have a princess room here during Garuda Indonesia Gala Dinner night.

Rest so well and my skin was glowing that time.

Love!

Ta-da! And we were ready to go early in the morning.

Touched down Nias!
Nias airport was launched end of last year.

Indomee! Was so hungry and thanks to the guides who brought us to this.

Bawömataluo is the largest and best preserved traditional villages on Nias Island. It is sometimes referred to as the Kings Village. Rather than a king, there was a very powerful tribal chieftain who ruled the surrounding villages from here.

We then went to Lagundri beach. Lagundri Bay is a surfer paradise but not only for hard-core surfers. This is actually a very good place to learn surfing. Lagundri Beach inside the bay has a surf school staffed by experienced local surfers willing and able to help beginners out.

Because the overwhelming majority of visitors to Nias are surfers, Lagundri is the most popular tourism destination on Nias. The wave known as The Point, Sorake or Lagundri is usually included in the top-ten lists of the best waves worldwide.

Our dinner was at the Royal family's place in Nias. They were so friendly and we enjoy the traditional food so much!

We also received the handmade gifts from the Royal Family. Feel so blessed!

The view when we were flying back to Medan in the morning.

I was so happy as I saw Oldtown here in Medan's airport yay!

As we really miss our local food so so much and there we go.

Tjong A Fie's Mansion

Tjong A Fie is a very rich person during his time. His mansion is well preserved. Something worth to be visited. We can learned a bit about the colonial era of Medan, with its big plantation.

A pleasant and airy place to visit especially for those keen on going down memory lane, and to get an idea of how life among the well-to-do was like over the turn of the 19th/20th century in colonial Indonesia/Malaya. The briefing by a tour guide helped a lot.

Rumah Makan Tabona

We then have our super delicious Beef Laksa!

I love it so much and I would go back for this again.

I always capture the happiness!!
Are you one of them?

What's next babe?

La Maison Macarons!

The store was small and well arranged. I started to stare at those yummy cakes, eclairs, and gorgeous macarons in the display. I think cakes at any restaurant in my city have nothing on their beautiful handmade desserts. All pastries seemed so delicious and I really wanted to try every single of it. However, they're expensive for their sizes so I hold my craving and tried to choose wisely. Finally, we decided to buy two cakes, croissant, one dozen of macarons, and an eclair.

@gnitil is totally loving it, like me.

The macarons were perfection, texture, sweetness, flavor, everything is on its place. Though all flavors were great, the salted popcorn is definitely a winner and it's highly recommended.