Where to buy souvenir at Bali

When you visit Bali, probably you want to buy handicraft, souvenirs or gifts for your friends or family, we recommend several place to buy :

Art Shop Kuta. Along of street to Kuta beach, you'll find a lot of art shop that displays handicraft. But you have to bargain here, ask the price for half price even 1/4 from the price they offered. Don't be hesitate, just ask for lower price. And if you do have time, just compare to other shop to make sure the price is right.

Joger. This store is famous because they made a funny words to print at their T-shirt, sandals, bags, mugs, etc. Of course their words mostly are in Bahasa. Joger also sell other things such as unique ashtray, tablecloth, keychain, etc. What the good about Joger is they already have a fixed price, you don't have to bargain. And they product are cheap, even compare to Pasar Badung (traditional market). The store design is funny, better if you bring a dictionary or a tour guide, so you can understand what the meaning of words surounded this store. This store located at Jl Raya Kuta, only open until 6 pm. The parking lot is very crowded, mostly the visitors are domestic tourists. They slogan is "Joger jelek, Bali bagus" (means Joger is ugly, Bali is beautiful). At Joger you may have massage for your foot (reflexy) by a blind man. Charity while relaxing your foot...

Krisna 'oleh-oleh khas Bali'. The shop is similar with Joger, but here we can find a large parking lot. And the building is also larger than Joger. Krisna sells the funny words at Tshirt too, but not as funny or creative as Joger. For funny words we suggest Joger, but for other things you may find a lot of choices here. The price is cheap here, no need to bargain. And also we found lot of beautiful painting with cheap price here. The store located at Nusa Kambangan 160A Denpasar (phone:0361-8423573) Nusa Indah No. 77 Denpasar (Phone:0361-262365).

Erlangga. Located beside Krisna, at Jl Nusa Kambangan 137. They have 2 store along this street, Erlangga 1 and Erlangga 2. Before Krisna shop opened, Erlangga is the most famous shop to buy souvenir, but now they have a competitor, and the good news is they do the price war. After all it similar with Krisna shop.

We hope our reference can help you know where to buy souvenir or handicraft while you have holiday trip at Bali.

Have a nice vacation,

Uniquely Indonesia

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Visiting Bali on a budget

Bali, is one of the tourists most point of interest islands. If you are an Indonesian citizen, don't you ever skip this goddess island. How on earth do the people from other countries willing to fly far away to visit Bali, and we, the domestic people skip it?

Bali traveling costs a lot? Depends on how you travel… as usual, in UniquelyIndonesia, we will show you how to travel to Bali on budget.

Transportation : This might be the most cost spent. We can reach Bali via land or sky. Your time and energy worth more, so my suggestion is to use airplane to save the time. Some airlines offer the savvy ticket fare in the condition, you book the tickets away before you fly. Some even require up to 7 months prior. ComeAndVisitIndonesia recommends: AirAsia airlines.

Bring your credit card which allow you to enter airport executive lounge. You could save meal expenses during your boarding time in the airport, which normally takes 1-2 hours after checking in. A budget flight normally doesn't provide meals during flight. Waiting won't be boring. ComeAndVisitIndonesia recommends : BNI Gold Credit Card offers a good facility. Even in Bali, with BNI card, you would get a faster check in process and baggage claim.

Hotel Reservation via e-Booking. Find the hotel or hostel as per your need, you may search in the website and read the guests review about the hotel. Check the location, is it nearby the places you intend to visit? E-booking (normally through Bali's travel agent) is cheaper than walk in reservation. Compare the agents' prices and get the best price deal. ComeAndVisitIndonesia recommends : hotelmurahbali.com gives a good deal. Be aware that hotel have a different price for local people and foreign tourist. If you are not with your whole family, try to find hostel near Popies Lane, they offer budget hostel to stay.

Find the object of leisure that interests you, dig the information about it via internet, brochures, etc, prior to your visit. Prepare your schedule carefully, you may sort it based on the locations. It will minimize the uncertainties when you arrive in Bali. I would share about places of interest in Bali in my next posting.

Local Transportation. You would need local transportation during your holiday. Bali has a poor public transportation facility, we suggest you to rent transportation vehicle during your stay. If you travel alone or only 2 people, you might want to rent a motor bike. If it's a larger group, you may rent a car. We suggest you to rent a car with a driver. This would save your energy, time and minimize the driving risks. Also, the driver could be your 'free' tour guide. Get the rental agents brochures at the hotel or even at stores on the side walk. Car rental fee would be around Rp.300.000 (US$33 – 35) per 8 hours, including gas and driver service. Please provide the tips for the driver after his service, approximately around Rp 50.000 - 100.000 (US$ 6 -10)

Culinary spots. Information on the Balinese unique food, such as bebek bengil (Half a duck steamed in Indonesian spices and then fried for a crispy finish), nasi bali Warung Satria (Balinese rice), Restaurants at Jimbaran, etc, details will be added on my next posting.

Gift and Souvenirs shops. To get the information on where you can get the gifts and souvenirs for your beloved ones, will be in my next post.

That's all the tips for now, hope you may get a useful of it.

Have a nice budget trip, so what are you waiting for ? Let's Come And Visit Indonesia....
Indonesia is a beautiful country...

Rommy,

Uniquely Indonesia

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Interesting Places at Bali (Part 2)

Usually, tour agents would combine below places in 1 tour package :
Benoa Cape (Tanjung Benoa), Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK), Dream Land Beach, Pura Uluwatu (Uluwatu Temple) and last but not least, sunset dinner at Jimbaran

Benoa Cape (Tanjung Benoa)
At the beach, we can do water activities, such as jetski, parasailing, banana boat, flying fish (firstly I thought nothing special about this game, but after saw it myself, it's pretty cool), diving, bottom glass boat. You may rent the glass 'see through' bottom boat, so you can see through the sea. Be careful when renting, the price offered will be very 'crazy'. Fortunately before going there, I browsed the website and looked for the price for those activities.

Below is the price that I got from the internet, updated on July 2008:

• Parasailing : Rp 55.000 (US$6.50) / person
• Banana boat : Rp 50.000 (US$6) / person (min 2 persons)
• Flying fish : Rp 120.000 (US$14) / person (min 2 persons)
• Water skiing : Rp 110.000 (US$12) / person for 15 menit
• Snorkeling : Rp 90.000 (US$10) / persons (min 2 persons)
• Diving : Rp 235.000 (US$26) / person
• Glass bottom boat : Rp 250.000 (US$ 28) / boat (max 10 persons)
• Dolphin tour : Rp 500.000 (US$56) / person / 4 hours

But this price applied for domestic tourist, for overseas tourist might be more expensive. But you can use this price for your reference.

When I asked the boat operator, they proposed Rp.500,000 (US$53) / boat, fortunately I knew the price before, so I bargained and ended at Rp.250,000 (US$26) / boat.
Using that boat we can see through the sea, feeding the fishes with bread provided by the boat operator, as well as visiting turtle breeding (there are some places). There, we can take picture with reptiles, snakes, birds, bats and turtle, of course. At that island, they have a nice handy craft stores, and also we can drink coconut. Entering fee is Rp2,000/person (US$0.25), the money will be used for wild animals feeding.

Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK). Located at Jimbaran area, south Bali, here, will be built a great statue of Visnu sitting on Garuda. In July 2008, this great status which built by I Nyoman Nuarta, was still in partial, Visnu part, Garuda (the bird) part and also Visnu's hands part. This great statue would be the icon as Liberty in NY, USA. Located high up the hill, with a great view surrounding. GWK also has theater to perform Balinese traditional dances (depends on schedule). At the front gate, you would be welcomed by 2 Balinese's dancers.
There are kiosk, food center and bargain shops.
Some tour agents choose GWK as dinner point with the sunset view.
Admission Fee is Rp.15,000 (US$1.6) / person and Rp.5,000 (US$0.6) / car.

Dreamland Beach. It's on the same way to GWK, at this area, you may see a star hotel and resort is under construction. This area was built by Tommy Soeharto (former Indonesian President's Son) but then abandoned after their era went down. The beach looks cleaner compared to Kuta Beach, and more overseas tourists, but in my opinion the location is quite far and in a remote area (probably those are the reasons why oversea tourists find it exciting). After the hotel and resorts ready for public, this beach would be more crowded. To enter this area, you only need to pay parking ticket Rp.2000 (US$0.25) per car.

Pura Luhur Uluwatu (Hindunese temple). This temple is location in West corner of the cape hill, that's why it's called Ulu which means corner and watu means stone/rocks. The temple was built at the rock goes to the sea. The view is amazing. I'm recommending this place. Before entering the location, visitor is requested to wear a rope (and additional sarong to visitors wearing short pants – above your knee) to respect the elders of this place. This temple is surrounded by woods with the monkeys live there, once said the monkeys were the loyal followers of the Priest, the sacred temple keeper. Be careful of your belongings : hats, glasses, camera, necklace, earrings, to be in a safe place since the monkeys can be annoying and take those things away from the owners. Many would take sticks to self defense, but please don't harm the monkeys.
There is Kecak Dance performance (with additional fee) located at the corner of the cliff. Every visitor will be overawed visit this place.
Admission fee is only for Rp.3.000 (US$0.35).

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Interesting Places at Bali

Bali is a beautiful island, surrounded by a marvelous white sand beaches (compared with Ancol Beach – Jakarta which is dirty nowadays). It has a lot of pura – Hindunese temples, and a lot more historical monuments, makes Bali attract tourists, both domestic and overseas ones. People said, in Bali you might find people from any nations, French, US, Aussie, Japan, Korean, Taiwanese, Arabic, any kind of nationality.

There are interesting place that you can visit while you at Bali:

Ground Zero. This is a memorial of 1st Bali bombing. We can find this memorial at Legian street to Kuta beach. The memorial bears the names and nationalities of each of those vistim. It is flanked by the national flags of the victims. The monument is well-maintained and illuminated at night. Let's pray no more tragedy happens in Bali, since (we got the information from local people there) Bali's tourism was dramatically down after 1st and 2nd bomb attack. Number of overseas tourists was down and many shops were closed down, whereas the tourism is the dominant business of Balinese.

All the way to Kuta Beach there are many bars, resto, hotels and shops selling clothes, pictures, art, handicraft, etc. Come&Visit Indonesia suggests : we have to bargain when buy things at the shops, because they sell with a bit higher price. Why? Because the rental fee in this area is very high,
as well…

Kuta Beach. This is a must go place for tourists. This beach has a nice high wave, so many surfers can be found here. This beach is very crowded by local and overseas tourists, usually they swim, sun bathe, surf, or run on the beach. To enter this area is free of charge, you only need to pay your parking fee. At the beach, you may find easily the street massagers, hair plait helpers, temporary tattoo makers, beach chairs rental, well, it's surely a busy beach over there.

Hardrock hotel, here, you can swim in a very big and cozy warm water pool, so you may swim until late at night. At the pool center, there is a sandy area, quite unique because the sand is clean and doesn't make the pool dirty. There is a waterfall, children pool with the sliding bar, and even they have a big screen with projector showing the movies. The changing room is nice, towels and bathing sets provided. But the admission is a bit expensive, Rp.100.000 (US$ 11) per person for domestic tourist. Besides the swimming pool, they have spa, gym, café and the Hard Rock Bali radio channel is located in there, so we may see them on air directly.

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Geology Museum (Bandung)

When visiting to Bandung, by chance we passed the geology museum. This museum was located in Jl. Diponegoro 57. As the museum lover, we immediately change our destination to this museum. This building was big enough, and it has a big yard outside. In our mind this museum would be the same like the other museums that have a poor maintenance. But we were wrong!! When we are going inside this museum, I asked about the entrance fee to the young lady at information counter that welcomed us friendly. We were shocked, because it was FREE … yes we didn't have to pay any cents at all. All we have to do just to fill the guest book, after that they even gave us a sticker of the geological museum. Wow, it's amazing... No entrace fee at all..

The museum that previously named Geologische Dienst was declared on May 16 1929. This museum had 2 floors with art deco's style. The museum is divided into three area of exhibitions, Geology of Indonesia in the West wing, History of life in the East wing and Geology for human life on the top floor. In this museum we can found the many type of rock, the mineral, the fossil, and several artefacts from the several location at Indonesia. It has a lot of collections include with the detail information. It declared, that this museum is the biggest and most complete at South-East Asia. When I visited, I saw several foreign tourists who were looking around thoroughly.

When entering the room, I amazed, this museum is different from other museums in Indonesia. They had an organized, with clean floor & clean glass display, comparable with the museum at Singapore. We can found seat for rest at several locations. The toilet was also clean and have a good maintenance. It was excellent for a museum that did not charge the entrance fee. On the first floor it displayed mineral stones, and from its information it amazed me that Indonesia were blessed with a huge natural wealth, and someone said that Indonesia is blessed with the greatest and most diverse biological resources in the world, after Brazil.

They also displayed evolution of human life is explained in both Bahasa Indonesia as English, a collection of life size dinosaur replicas. In the far corner a selection of skulls can be found, amongst which a replica of the popular ‘Java man'. And we can found volcano area, with explanations on formation and working of these in Indonesia abundant gunung api, literally: ‘fire mountains'. It is good knowledge for students and for our kids.

At the second floor, we can found miniatures of tanker ship, offshore oil drilling, coal mine, etc. It shows the equipments to do all those activities. Very informative. And it amazed me again, they had a lift elevator for disabled person, with a wheel chair inside... Wouw, it never found at other museum in Indonesia.

In front of museum, we can found a souvenir shops. They sell many things of geology stuff with affordable price. There are bracelet form natural stone, handicraft from stone, and even snacks & beverages.

A big place, clean, tidy, free of charge, educative, what else you look for ?? This place is a great place to educate your kids during your vacation to Bandung beside going to mal and hunting at Factory Outlet (your favourite destination).

But be aware of they opening hours. Geology Museum opens from Monday - Thursday 9 am-3.30 pm, Saturday & Sunday 9 am - 1.30 pm. They closed on Friday & public holidays. Please contact (+6222) 720 3205 , (+6222) 720 3208 for further details.

Have a nice trip,

Uniquely Indonesia....

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Taman Prasasti Museum (Jakarta)

Taman Prasasti means Inscription Garden. This museum located at Jl Tanah Abang I No. 1 Central Jakarta. It location is not easy to find and with small parking lot. Like other museums at Indonesia, the entrance fee is very cheap, which is Rp 2,000 for adults, Rp 1,000 for students and Rp 600 for kids/students. Operating time is 9:00 am until 3:00 pm on Tuesday's - Sunday, while Monday and public holidays the museum is closed. For detail information, schedule and ensure the admission fee, please contact to the phone number: (021) 3854060.



To get there, you went through Jl. Jend. Sudirman to the north, passed by Jl.M.H. Thamrin, turned to the left at Arjuna Wiwaha statue roundabout to Jl. Budi Kemuliaan, then turned to the right to Jl. Abdul Muis. Jl. Tanah Abang 1 is the third street to the left.

This museum is not a usual museum, first because this is an outdoor museum, and second this is a cemetery. Everything in this museum are related to cemetery such as statue at funeral, tombstone, funeral transportation, weird isn't it ? Take a tour to cemetery...

This place's name was Kebon Jahe Kober, it was a cemetery for Dutch and Europe's people at Indonesia. At 1795 this cemetery used for VIP people from Indonesia's government. But after 1975 this cemetery was closed, but Jakarta's governor - Ali Sadikin - see the opportunity of this place for tourism, so at 19 Juli 1977 , Governor Ali Sadikin inaugurate this place as Museum Prasasti (Insription Museum).

Most collection inside this Museum are fine work from talented carver, they are very beautiful, very detail in design and have a high quality material. At this museum there is a wooden carriages that used to bring the coffins in funerals, which usually drawn by two to four horses. Total collections stored in the museum about of 1,734 pieces collections of gravestone inscriptions, monument / memorial, trophies, statues, etc. There are many tombstones here from government, artist, scientist, military and even priest. Several of the most important tombstones here are; Lady Marianne Raffles' [wife of Governor Raffles], Soe Hok Gie, J.H.R Kohler, Dr. W.F. Stutterheim, Dr. H. F. Roll, Pieter Erberveld, Olivia Mariamne Raffles, Miss Riboet and several Dutch Governor

When we came to this place there are not only few visitors, just a group of young people who take a picture with models. This place famous in outdoor photo session or for film making. I saw once on the TV this place used for music video clip. Ticket officer offers a guide service to explain the history of this place. But we decided to take a look by ourselves. They give a free small booklet about history of this museum, what inside this museum, etc.

We can feel the fresh air because there are a lot of trees, but beware of mosquitos, you can found a lot of mosquito especially during afternoon. Better if you using anti mosquito lotion to get mosquito away from you. There is a sidewalk along the area, so we can look around this museum easily. Too bad, lot of precious things are in the very bad condition because of poor maintenance.
We saw many of tombstone are broken. The toilet also has a poor condition... It ashamed, that we cannot take care our heritage. We hope Indonesia's government will put more attention about it.

Have a nice trip.
-UniquelyIndonesia-

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Saung Angklung Udjo

For you who on vacation to Bandung, but bored to go to Factory Outlet or malls, you might try something else. Want to see the traditional music and art from Indonesia ? Come visit to Saung Angklung Udjo. Angklung is one of the traditional musical instruments made of several Bamboo pipes with different sizes in a frame, and to sound it by shaking the angklung to produce certain tone, which are usually played together for the harmonization of tone.

Here we can watch the presentation of art from the traditional puppet show, traditional dances, music arumba (strain clumps of bamboo), masks dance, and the choirs of Angklung music played by hundreds of children. Show time of Bamboo Afternoon Performance from Monday to Sunday, from 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm. There also has souvenir shops (art shop), which sells Indonesia's traditional artcraft, especially Angklung-related. The price is affordable too. It sells keychain, refrigerator magenetic pad, mini Angklung, set of Angklungs that can be played. There are also leather puppets, masks, and ornaments for home decoration.

The admission fee for the show is Rp 50,000 for local people and Rp 80,000 for foreign tourists. It is easy to find this place. From Cipularang express highway, take exit at Pasteur, go thru flyover until a signage to "Cicaheum", go down and follow the road, You will saw a t-shirt shops along the road, then about 100m before Cicaheum's bus station, go to the left (there is a signage) at Padasuka street. Then you will find another signage at right side of the road. Parking lot is quite big, easy to park your car.

If you interest to visit Saung Angklung Udjo, you may contact them to make sure the place is open and asking for schedule of the show.

Saung Angklung Udjo

Jl. Padasuka 118, Bandung

Telp : (022) 7271714

And please take a look for map to Saung Angklung Udjo

Have a nice trip
-UniquelyIndonesia-

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