Australia Day 3

Day 3 of the travelog. The night before, we went straight to the restaurant, which is the same restaurant where we had dinner on the previous day 🤣.

btw, @bayusuryadi palanya ganggu ni.

We spent the third day, mostly for campus tour. Why? My bro @bayuadipersada is basically such an avid edu-enthusiast, that he always spares his time to visit best local university anywhere anytime when he travels around the world.

This time, we went to Uni of Sydney. Founded in 1850, it is Australia's first university and is regarded as one of the world's leading universities. The university is known as one of Australia's 6 sandstone universities. Apparently, its campus is ranked in the top 10 of the world's most beautiful universities. Yes it showed!

TIL the word quadrangle. It seems it's similar with rectangular, or square. The Quadrangle design is based on those of Oxford and Cambridge.

We also visit The Nicholson Museum, located at the one side of the quadrangle. The museum is an archaeological museum that is home to the largest collection of antiquities in both Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Founded in 1860, the collection spans the ancient world with primary collection areas including ancient Egypt, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and the Near East.

Another interesting things was many students with hijab were doing study tour (it seems) to the uni. I just didn't expect that.

One thing that I like about this victorian gothic architecute is its unique shape. Okay, I don't want to comment further since I have bad knowledge on how to differentiate architectural types. You can zoom closer to see there are some interesting details on the facade of the building.

On the n-th photo, you can see the statue of Queen Victoria. Ada cerita menarik dibalik patung ini. Jadi waktu itu Australia lagi pengen punya patung sang ratu, tapi maunya yang memang sudah eksisting. Kemudian dicarilah ke seluruh penjuru dunia, mulai dari India sampai ke seantero Eropa. Tapi negara-negara itu posesif dengan patung ratunya masing-masing. Akhirnya dapatlah dari Irlandia, karena patung ini katanya sudah "tidak terpakai". Tapi, dari Irlandia juga ga serta merta kasih patung ini ke Australia. Katanya dipinjamkan sampai diminta untuk balikin. Ada ada saja.

From the university, we went to Paddy's Market. It's more like a traditional flea market, specialising in cheap imported clothes, giftware and also has a small section for fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood. The prices were very affordable! It's suprising for me, since Sydney is actually an expensive city. But I think this is cheaper compared to prices in Europe, even the east-ish ones.

We then go to Chinatown, which located nearby. We also tried to ride a tram. First time for me, like, ever!

Having photos taken from a wrong angle could be frustating, that it's so difficult to fix especially when the proportion looks peculiar.

Okay, so we then went to State Library of NSW, the oldest library in Australia. It has huge pillars in its front with orange-ish color that perhaps the trademark of Australia

In front of the library (previous pic), there's a botanic garden. The weather itself was cloudy, so the pics are not excellent. As a Jakartan, walking in the garden like this was pretty fun (well, I like seeing greens!). Altho compared to gardens in other developed countries, this is okay I guess.

Opened in 1816, the garden is the oldest scientific institution in Australia and one of the most important historic botanical institutions in the world.

From the Botanic Garden, we went to the famous Bondi Beach by taking bus. could say that it's not that near from the city center.

It was going to dusk so the sun was not apparent. and to make it even gloomier, it's cloudy that time.

It's also frikkin windy and cold! that I couldn't take many pics. We were just around 5 mins on the beach since we couldnt stand it.

We then tried to find dinner at a fish n chips joint. the taste was pretty plain! .

Actually this is a filler post containing random photos: from a view near Mrs. Macquarie's seat, our "breakfast" at the apartment, a masjid nearby the conf's venue, and Bondi Beach's vid view.

Australia Day 2

Day-2 in Sydney, we attended the conference which location thankfully we could go there by walking (eh, ini saya lupa sih jalan atau apa. lol).

The conference, called Leading The Product, exceeded my expectation. It was awesome, with excellent speakers conveying meaningful insights. and the level of material was varied, from how to manage a product, to manage the product management.

My friend @bayuadipersada has written about the takeaways from the conference on his blog @ medium. Check it out!

The conference was held nearby the Darling Harbor. So after the event was finished, we could just and then we walk ans walk to get into the ferry.

Thankfully the sky was clear and the weather was so nice, and we could enjoy the sightseeing pleasantly. .

TIL that Sydney Opera House is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Well, this is the view of the house when we're in the ferry ride. Yes, our next destination would be that opera house.

The opera house's architecure from the outside is very exotic indeed, no wonder that it becomes one of the most famous landmark in the world.

We decided to spend the dawn at the opera house's surrounding. No, we didn't enter the opera house, didn't buy any food, and didn't spend anything. lol. Oya, we bought some souvenirs actually. We mostly just wandered around, looking at the sea, birds, observing things.

Actually, we waited for the lighting performance (I forget what it's called), but apparently it took us quite a long time. It's always dilemma between whether we should leave right away, or stay a little longer. We decided to stay.

Thankfully the golden ray of light was astounding.

It's said that the performance was best seen from the Monumental Steps. In my mind, I thought it was a kind of tall structure that we needed to climb up. Perhaps in my brain, the term monument/monumental was already sticked with The National Monument in Jakarta aka Monas.

Apparently, Monumental Steps are the steps aka undakan2 leading to The Opera House. O wa lah.

FINALLY, after waiting for quite long, and trying to ignore our hunger, the show commenced. It's called Badu Gili (I have to look at the internet for this).

Badu Gili — meaning ‘water light’ in the language of the traditional owners of Bennelong Point, the Gadigal people — is a free daily experience that explores ancient First Nations stories in a spectacular seven-minute projection. They illuminate the Opera House’s eastern Bennelong sail year-round at sunset, 8:30pm, 9pm and 9:30pm*.

I should say that it's quite a show, happy to see that.

It's no way that we went back to our accommodation by our feet. I was so tired, and super hungry. So we took the train to bring us.

Norak me was so excited to see double decker trains. It's my first time! Wait, I though I saw few in Japan. But it was my first time trying one.

Australia Day 1

Welcome to Australia travelog😉 

Welcome to the next chapter of my travelog (finally!). Guess where!

If only it's a wide lens, so I could take the pic of the bird in its entirety.

Well, actually sometimes I kinda reluctant in posting photos with face(s), esp strangers, since I feel like, do I have to ask for their permission, first?

Back to topic, so yes, I was on Sydney, with @bayusuryadi, @bayuadipersada, and @ilhamfatoni to attend a conference. Unfortunately @wulanmantik couldnt go with us due to a bit issue with the visa.

We arrived a day prior the conference, so we could take a stroll in the city. We followed a #walkingtour guide from the internet, where duo Bayu tirelessly arguing with each other about the direction that we should go for, while me and Ilham just lived in the moment. lol.

The first destination was Custom House, nearby the Circular Quay area. So yes, it's close to the shore.

The feeling when you see a very famous landmark for the first time. Well, it's still quite far, but you know.

Well, we visited the Sydney Museum, only at the lobby, since it had an entrance fee :p .
Oh yea, we also see a cruise ship at the quay. You know, we dont see cruise ship often in Jakarta, do we?

The next destination was The Rocks Discovery Museum? This time, we went inside. Why? Because it's free.

I myself a bit forgot what's inside. It's quite a small museum, with a group of elementary school student inside with their teachers.

Rocks, umm, perhaps related with the rocks formation in Sydney? well, gonna check wiki, but I think you can skip this venue :p.

Do what we did was ... sitting below a tree, enjoying clear bright blue sky. .

To go to this spot, we relied on Google Maps. And we walked! Well, actually it wasn't that far but quite tiring. Plus, there's an area where it seemed that no one else was walking. So I was a bit wondering whether we took the right way.

The bridge is nicknamed "The Coathanger" because of its arch-based design, carrying rail, vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic.

It is the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m from top to water level.

Less than an hour in this area, my comment was: "sepi amat ya?". haha. Perhaps, because it's in midday?

If you wanna read the yada yada about the Sydney Observatory, please go to its offical site or its wiki *males nulis*.

Well, so we went here, walking from Coathanger Bridge. Actually, not that far, but the sun was sizzling at that time.

The reason we went here is, I dont know actually! Perhaps because it's free? .
The interesting thing about the site is its past role to provide time through the time-ball tower. Every day at exactly 1.00 pm, the time-ball on top of the tower would drop to signal the correct time to the city and harbour below. At the same time a cannon on Dawes Point was fired.

The first time-ball was dropped at noon on 5 June 1858. Soon after the drop was rescheduled to one o'clock. The time-ball is still dropped daily at 1pm using the original mechanism, but with the aid of an electric motor, not as in the early days when the ball was raised manually.

From the Sydney Observatory, we took an Uber ride, going to our hotel (well, it's serviced apartment, to be exact). Apparently, the driver was a moslem, and he preached few things along the way. haha. Pretty interesting.

At night, we strolled around the city. Ohya, we went to an Indonesian Restaurant nearby, and the taste of the food was delish! The price tag was Sydney standard (which is expensive), but the portion was huge.

We then got around a bit by walk. But hey, it seemed the city slept early. Stores were closed at around 7-8pm including restos. Well, so basically not many that we could do at night.

One of the landmarks that we passed by was St Andrew's Cathedral, since it's nearby our hotel.

The cathedral is described as a perfect example of the colonial desire to reproduce England in Australia in the mid nineteenth century.

Shopping center that we passed by. Kalo ga ada foto ini, I dont think I'd know the name of the place. lol. Actually the architecure is quite interesting, it's not modern like we have in Indonesia, but it's not crazy old as well.

When the arcade opened in 1892, it was said to be the very latest in shopping centre designs and was described as, "The finest public thoroughfare in the Australian colonies". .

Malaysia Travel Day 2

 Day 2, we went to a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Melaka. .

The Melaka River which flows through the middle of the city, was a vital trade route during the heyday of Melaka Sultanatein the 15th century.

I had no expectation (or set my expectation low) when taking the cruise. It turned out the cruise trip was a nice one.

There's a narration sound from a machine accompanying us during the trip, explaining whatsoabout of the city and buildings by the river.

The river was clean! well, not that blue or turqoise clean, but I think the color of a river really depends on the soil structure surrounding it.

The Stadthuys aka city hall. WHY I just learned it today that the name is Stadthuys, a dutch spelling.

It is a historical structure situated in the heart of Melaka, in a place known as the Red Square.

The Stadthuys is known for its red exterior and nearby red clocktower. It was built by the Dutch in 1650 as the office of the Dutch Governor and Deputy Governor.

Christ Church Malacca is an 18th-century Anglican church, aaand it is oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia.

Originally painted white, the church and the neighbouring Stadthuys building (see previous post) was painted red in 1911.

Jonker Walk.

The night market is recommended by many people. But we came at noon, so we couldnt see it. However, it's still very lively and you could see many things in this china town.

History from Wiki:
During the Dutch Malacca, servants and subordinates of Dutch colonialists used to live at the nearby Heeren Street. However, as the Dutch left, it became noblemen's street.

Rich Peranakans started to live and did business within the street area, giving the street a deep-rooted ethnic and cultural flavour.

*Bersih-bersih debu*. Hey, I'm back! It's been more than 2 months since the last time I updated my Instagram feed.

And here I am, still struggling to finish this Melaka travelog. Lol. Don't worry, the chapter is going to end soon. The next ones are inpatiently waiting.

So, this photo was taken in a shop in Melaka, very artsy one. Somehow the #keepgoing writing is very appropriate with #mentalhealthawareness week.

One of the reasons why this spot was selected for photo taking: since the color of my attires matched the color of wall and floor. lol.

Also me: trying so hard to make my shoes not touching the wall.

Ferris Wheel

Our hotel was located quite near from a mosque. It was the largest mosque in KL before the Masjid Negara was built. It's also one of the oldest in KL. Actually, the size of the mosque, with 1000 people capacity, is not that large, .

Malaysia Travel Day 1

Welcome to Malaysia Travel

Apparently, this Merdeka Square is pretty historical for Malaysia.

On the midnight of 30 August 1957, the British flag was lowered and the Malayan flag was raised for the first time at the Padang, an event watched by a large number of people there.

Wait, what is the Padang? This Merdeka Square was formerly known as the "Padang" and was used as the cricket field of the Selangor Club.

So yes, perhaps this square is like our version of Pegangsaan Timur 56, but they could do it in open space since, well, it's non-secretive perhaps.

I'd been to KL for few times, but never been here actually.

The landmark of Merdeka Square is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, in this pic as the background.

So, who is basically Sultan Abdul Samad? Is he the first PM of Malaysia? Is he the owner of the field? Is he the child of his mother?

Sultan Abdul Samad is the reigning sultan of Selangor at the time when construction began. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were part of Selangor territory.

Do you see a resemblance of the Big Ben?

Yes, the central clock tower is designed to echo the Big Ben but in an Indo-Saracenic style. It is 41 meter in height.

The facade of the building faces the Padang and stretches over 137.2 meter along Jalan Raja, at that time the largest building in Malaya.

باڠونن سلطان عبدالصمد
I like the staircase design on the tower. It somehow whispers elegance. It is said that the design of the tower may have been influenced by Muir Central College of Allahabad in India.

The building originally housed the offices of the British colonial administration, and was known simply as Government Offices in its early years. Currently, it's for Kemenkominfo and Kemenpar of Malaysia.

The "blood and bandages" style—red bricks with white plastered arches and banding. It is what they said about the style of the building. Interesting. I'm wondering what's the term in bahasa Melayu. .

Apparently, the flagpole on the field, that I had difficulty in capturing its photo, is one of the tallest in the world.

It's the 10th or 11th highest flagpole in the world. The 1st is none other than flagpole in Jeddah

After walking under sizzling sun at Merdeka Square, we went to مسجد نݢارا مليسيا to perform prayer..
It is a beautiful masjid, especially on the inside. Plus, ademmm..

Tiangnya banyak juga ya 🤔

Pillar @ Masjid Negara

After performing prayer at Masjid Negara, we went to Istana Negara. Feels like Tamu Negara.

Tapi, di sini kita hanya dari luarnya saja, dari pintu depannya. Saya juga tidak berhasil mengambil foto yang apik.

Ngomong2, bahkan saya belum pernah foto di depan pintu Istana Negara di Indonesia. Boleh gak sih foto2 gitu kalo di kita?

From a short a visit to Istana Negara, we had another short visit to Batu Caves.

Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and cave temples. Do you know what limestone is? Batu kapur. Yes, bahasa Inggrisnya keren ya.

Kalo Batu limestone? Berarti Batu batu kapur dong? Terserah. Jadi, Batu ini memang nama sungai di dekat situ yang namanya Sungai Batu.

Nah, yang di depan itu yang gede patung apa? Namanya patung Dewa Murugan, dewa perang dalam agama Hindu. Kalo sama GWK tinggian mana? masih tinggian GWK.

Usia batu kapur yang membentuk bukit ini katanya sekitar 400 juta tahun.

Kami tidak naik ke atas karena keterbatasan waktu. 15 menit untuk foto, dan kembali ke bus.

Belum ke Kuala Lumpur kalau belum ke Petronas Twin Towers. Katanya.

It was once the tallest building on earth, for 6 years from 1998. It's 452 meter tall. The tallest building in Jakarta right now, Gama Tower (TIL), is only 289 meter.