Macau: Asia's Las Vegas (3 Countries in 3 Days Part 3)

Macau, also spelled Macao, is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong, which is about 64 kilometers to the east, and it is also bordered by Guangdong Province to the north and the South China Sea to the east and south.

A former Portuguese colony, Macau was administered by Portugal from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it was the last remaining European colony in Asia. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s. In 1557, Macau was rented to Portugal by the Ming Dynasty as a trading port. The Portuguese administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, when Macau became a colony of the Portuguese empire. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer.

Hong Kong: Asia's World City (3 Countries in 3 Days Part 2)

Victoria Harbour Hong Kong

We don't spent much time at Sentosa Island, we have to go back to the airport. Our next flight was at 2pm so we need to get hurry before it's too late. We took MTR to the airport, check in and then took a lunch. It was wonderful, we still have a lot of time at the Burger King. And then we entered the boarding room. Here was the problem started. The airport officer ask us to weigh our hand baggage. And my baggage is 13 kg, over 3kg. I was trying to dispose some of my stuffs and then try again from the other entrance gate. Unfortunately, my baggage still 13kg and the officer mad on me because her colleague has put sign on my boarding pass. She said that I must pay the over baggage about 90 Singapore Dollar. Wtf!!! I was trying to argue but she didn't listen and I gave up. Finally, I have to disposed more of my stuff and then she let me go. Damn!!

Uniquely Singapore (3 Countries in 3 Days Part 1)

Fullerton One

 

Singapore, 21st August 2014

It's been 3 months since my last post. I'm kinda lazy to write a new post because I got no idea what to write or something interesting to tell you. But now, I'm trying to write a post about my travel to three countries. I'm sorry if you find my English is not perfect or not good at all. I'm still learning.

So, here is the story. Me and my friends plan to travel abroad together about six months ago, and we agreed to visit Hong Kong. Since I never been to Singapore, I beg them to transit one day in Singapore and travel around and fortunately, they didn't mind. So we start with Singapore, then Hong Kong and Macau. We flew to Singapore from Surabaya on August 20 at 1.50 pm and arrived in Singapore at 5.20 pm. We supposed to fly at 8.40 pm but as you know, T*gerAir is not one of the best airlines, they often change the time or even canceled the flight with or without compensation. Sorry but that's the truth.

Shanghai: "Pearl of the Orient" and "Paris of the East" (Part 1)

Oriental Pearl Tower Shanghai

After 26 years of my life, finally I have a chance to travel abroad. My first destination is Shanghai, China. Many of my friends was questioning my choice. The only reason was because I have a friend there, his name is Emil Dela Cruz. We have been becoming friend for 3 years since April 2011. I ever made a promise to visit him in Manila (he is Filipino) and for some reasons I couldn’t make it. Then he asked me again to visit him in Shanghai (he work there) then I prepared everything for my first travel abroad. Thanks to Emil who couraging me to travel so far. 

On May 22nd, at 11.30 am (GMT+7), with AirAsia QZ200 Airbus A320, I flew to Kuala Lumpur in 2 hours. After 5 hours transit in KLIA 2, AirAsia D7330 Airbus A330-300 brought me to Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.

Shanghai is the largest Chinese city by population and the largest city proper by population in the world. It is one of the four direct-controlled municipalities, with a population of more than 24 million as of 2013. It is a global financial center, and a transport hub with the world's busiest container port. Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China, Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the Chinese coast. The municipality borders the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north, south and west, and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea.

Shanghai: "Pearl of the Orient" and "Paris of the East" (Part 2)

NANJING ROAD AREA

The Bund

Overview

The Bund is Shanghai’s world famous waterfront that stretches for 1 mile along the western bank of the Huangpu River. A stroll along the riverside provides gorgeous views of the historic buildings on the Bund and accros the river to the modern financial district of Pudong.

Interesting Facts

·        The ornate art-deco buildings along the Bund reflect the wide range of foreign connections that establish Shanghai as an international trading port. They take architectural influence from Britain, the United States, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland and act as a reminder of Shanghai’s international heritage.

·        The word “bund” means an embankment or an embanked quay.

Shanghai: "Pearl of the Orient" and "Paris of the East" (Part 3)

PUTOU, JING'AN & HUANGPU AREA

Jade Buddha Temple

Overview

The Jade Buddha Temple is an active place of worship with 70 resident monks. The two precious jade statues are rare cultural relics. Both the Sitting Buddha and the Recumbent Buddha are carved with jade.

Interesting Facts

The Jade Buddha Temple was founded in 1882 when the two Buddha statues were imported from Burma.

Contact

Phone (021) 6266-3668

170 Anyuan Road, Putou, Shanghai, 200060

Changshou Rd Metro Station exit 5 (Line 7)

Raja Ampat - The Richest Coral Reef on Earth & Indonesia’s Top Liveaboard Diving Destination

On the top of the coral hill

Well.. this is probably the most anticipated post. And this is gonna be the greatest trip I ever had in my entire life. I'm so excited and antusiastic to tell you about amazing Raja Ampat, West Papua.

Perhaps Indonesian people quite familiar with Raja Ampat, an archipelago in western Papua with beautiful beaches, unique cultural and rich of coral reef. But now let me give a detil information about this amazing place that I summarized from many sources on internet. Check it out guys!!

Jayapura - Rio de Jeneiro of Indonesia

Jayapura city view from Base G

Working in the remote area give me more time and opportunity to explore more interesting places. And this time, I want to use my 1 week off day plus 1 day annual leave to travel around Papua (Jayapura and Raja Ampat). My company provide me a free ticket from Sorong to Jakarta once in 2 weeks. Usually my routes is from Sorong to Jakarta via Makassar. But this time, I want to try new route. With the same prices, my company allowed me to reroute my flight from Sorong to Jakarta via Jayapura. This time I'm going to tell you about Jayapura, next post I'm going to tell you about Raja Ampat.

We Live in City that You'll Never See on Screen

View from Yefasim Island

A few weeks ago, I have a chance to visit Yefasim Island, a small island in Seget District, Sorong Regency, western part of West Papua Province. Actually I've been lived across the island, in Kasim, for more than 4 months, but, that time was my first time went to this small island. Yefasim Island located in the southwestern part of Sorong city, about 90 km from the city and only 2 km from Kasim Marine Terminal (KMT).

To be honest, there is no such interested things in this tiny island. But, I'm so excited to explore the new place. So, here is the story. Let me introduce you Pak RPA, Senior Supervisor Security in my office. He asked me if I've ever visited Yefasim Island and I said never, then he planned to visit this tiny island with me after office hours and I agreed. After office hours, we went to KMT, actually KMT is a container terminal, but they also served people who want to across to Yesafim by small boat and we need to pay for one way about IDR 3000/person. It took approximately 10 minutes to arrive at the island.