long time ago, coloane or lo wan known as the pirates'  nests. but today, it's famous for portuguese custard tarlet or known as pasteis de nata! hmm ... one amongst the famous is lord stow's bakery which selling hot and delicious pasteis de nata. not so far from st francis xavier church :)

it's situated nearby main road huay kew road and on the way to wat phratat doi suthep. unfortunately, not close to downtown and the old walls and the main gate, such as amari gate. it's cool at the night and silent. like it!

the only benedictine abbey in western australia. pax! what a memorable moment, pay a visit in easter and got a dearly friend, 78 years old mrs wilma tucker from victoria. pax!

new norcia abbey, the only benedictine abbey in western australia. pax! what a memorable moment, pay a visit in easter and got a dearly friend, 78 years old mrs wilma tucker from victoria.

well, i don't classified this as stunning ones. just passing through on the way da nang to hoi and and to hue as well. it's my brother who likes to watch tv series in the 80s; china beach with dana delany as the main role. so here i go for his sake. and that's the beach, commonly used for the GIs. not so far from its location, can be seen the marble mountains for buddhist pilgrimage. i found this far more interesting.

well, i don't classified this as stunning ones. just passing through on the way da nang to hoi and and to hue as well. it's my brother who likes to watch tv series in the 80s; china beach with dana delany as the main role. so here i go for his sake. and that's the beach, commonly used for the GIs. not so far from its location, can be seen the marble mountains for buddhist pilgrimage. i found this far more interesting.

back from our snorkeling trip at bunaken-siladen-matehage islands within bunaken marine park, we try to find a top-notch place to stay in and our choice goes to quality hotel. would like to say thank for their hospitality, especially in handle "stupid-idiot case" where a rich guy doing smoke in the corridor of non-smoking floor [not just non-smoking room] and he said hmm very very polite, stated with "f" and of course we are not stupid to let the security and reception and they handle it pretty damn good :) *it's great to be their guests in there*

one of our favourite sunset scene is wander along river thames, from blackfriar to direction st paul's cathedral and take a pause at wobbly millenium bridge then continuing to tate milleniium. a funny thing ... my beloved one like a small alley nearby called 'knightrider something', knightrider just like hasselhoff's can you believe that? :)

nice place to stay, especially if your room is overlooking tar [tun abdul rahman] marine park. has own jetty and the catamarans parking in the sunset scene.

on the higher ground of beautiful countryside of scotland, you can see how great william wallace was as a national hero. there's a commemorate monument dedicated to infamous william wallace who became very well known after mel gibson's appearance [so directed!] in "braveheart".

coloane or known as lo-wan in chinese language, is a small island, altogether with taipa which got reclamation and connected directly to macau mainland. there's a serene church with its chapel, overlooking zhuhai, divided by the sea. and a monument on the bank, to remember about locals fighting against the enemies.

bath is definitely one of my fave city in england. one of the landmark is royal crescent, the 18th century building, a georgian with architect style remind me to colosseum in rome. it's facing to royal victoria park and standing there whilst looking to the 'colosseum' is blowing mind into past centuries.

take your shoes off to enter this world heritage site of unesco. it's as old as 400 years, with kiyomizudera temple where you can collect the water from the spring on atop of the balcony.

a submarine yanke class made in russia [it was ussr] for the battle of arafuru sea, between indonesia navy against the dutch. a remarkable movement by the hero josaphat sudarso. and it's cut into 32 pieces before put in the submarine monument park in my hometown.

the eerie feeling amongst the pinnacles in the middle of the desert. awesome. and banksia prionotes on the way to the pinnacles columns. it's nice, even it's more than 200 km away from perth to enter. can visit hangover bay also from the desert.

there presidential summer palace in bogor or known as buitenzorg in dutch era. and it's has a huge park with a small lake nearby. and can be seen many many deers which are tamed and you can handed the carrots. it's unofficial but it's fun to see their lovely faces. we love those deers!

once upon a time, barjarmasin called as venice in the east. since the way their trading is using a river. mahakam river to be exact, one of the biggest river in kalimantan [borneo]. you can buy stuffs, eat and wander around by the boat. it's a unique experience. there's a hook put on bamboo and you choose your own snacks or stuff using this. one of the most famous floating market in banjarmasin is lokbaintan. another is kuin.

bargain galore in the weekend. just catch bts monorail to its direction and spend a whole day there. nice t-shirts, many hand-made souvenirs and delicious foods.

i witnessed mika hakkinen [my fave] and michael schumacher overtaking ricardo zonta at the same time in the foster's belgian gp 2000. a memorable f1 race. my fave spots are eau rouge and blanchimont. based on my interview with sir jackie stewart, it's counted as one of the oldest f1 open-road circuit in europe.

attending the 14th nights in vietnamese lunar calender at hoi an will reward you a nice cultural event called "fullmoon festival". locals will stop electricity usage and none of cars and motorbikes can enter the old city of hoi an. everything showered by the dim light under the moonlight. serene and charming sceneries :)

it's an old bridge across the musi river called "ampera" which known as a landmark of palembang, a provincional city in sumatra island, indonesia.
made from solid metal and still work over 50 years after independence day. the idea was came from the first president of indonesia, mr soekarno.
in one of the edge of this bridge, there's an old fort named in local as 'benteng kuto besak'. but travelers can not in, since it's counted as army's property :(

this is our entry point to go to the island. not so much time to see the city centre, but we're happy to see finally :)

hangover bay is one of the beaches in cervantes,  which became entry point for nambung national park, instead of kangaroo point. love the pinnacles here and just follow the path on the desert or you'll be easily lost here. my feeling being here so eerie if can not be said as spooky :)
the pinnacles themselves are sedimentary process of calcite rocks and natural winds that created unusual forms of the pillars look-alike or known as the pinnacles.
it's a nice set on hangover bay overlooking an open ocean. when i'm there, people do windsurfing. it's about hundred miles from perth.  

antwerp or antwerpen, with flemish language and slow pace of daily life. my fave here are limburg and noord brabant.  fondest emory about this, on my way from amsterdam to spa-francorchamps and spend a nice sunny day before autumn leaves has fallen.

it's breathless scenery of basilica di san marco. loves the details of the murals, the horses statues and the doves at piazza san marco. on my second visit with my beloved ones, we buy many gelato during the day, it's summer :)

being someone who raised in surabaya a.k.a city of the heroes, i love to walk with my beloved ones to do repeat visit to this submarine. ss type yankee class made in mother russia and one of my dad's design [the logo of escort warship] displays here too. the indonesian navy submarine herself, was involved in the battle of aru ocean (1963) against the dutch where one of our great hero, mr yosaphat sudarso and his men passed away. this posting is to remember those men and also for my beloved dad.   

hilly areas of kawangkoan in northern part of sulawesi [not so far from tomohon, nearby manado] was used to be japanese caves during world war II. can be seen the air raid shelter and supply hall. nice hilly scenery but the caves remains so-so.

the name of "batavia" sounds familiar for me. it's the dutch name of jakarta or jayakarta, the capital city of indonesia --place where i spend almost 15 years of my life. tracking back time about its name, i stumbled upon freo's shipreck museum. it's about long history of the dutch entering western australia and the voc's [vereenigde oost indische compagnie] batavia which was supposed to be anchoring in jakarta but due to the mutiny amongst the sailors, it's aground then sank in the beach that known as batavia beach nowadays. more than 200 years on the seabed, here she is ... in the museum. 

love the freeze and the waves are splashing the edge of the beach. but it's cold when we're there :)

we love the grandeur of sacre coeur. from the point we're standing can be seen the views overlooking paris. and it's so serene to hike up the hill in the evening. and the description about hill of the martyrdom is very touching. vive le mont martre :)

i would like to give four stars about this pre-christian tombstones in airmadidi within north sulawesi [indonesia] region. but refer to bad the conditions just like forgotten, abandoned and some modern activities run nearby, sorry to say, i put the three stars on it.
pre-christian tombstones known as 'waruga' in local language. it's a burial site where the coffins put on the ground. locals belief, death body must be sent to the universe in the same position as in the womb [foetal position]. so they collect big stones, make it like coffins with carving around, also personification of their gods and put the death body in.
after 18th century, dutch government announced waruga's usage must be stop due to the outbreaks.

shah jahan dedicated this charming love-monument to be last forever for his dearly wife mumtaz mahal. it's a tragic background remains since she passed away after gave a birth. and totally it takes 22 years to complete all section within the palace, from charbargh [the garden] to the mosque and its gorgeous white marble monument. i love to explore the "jaalis", ventilation system through the palace that carved in details. also pietra dura, the way artisans carved flowers and foliages on the white marble and fill the jewels and stones in. so gorgeous.
a funny experience i'd got here, as a pathkar [foreigner] i must pay a big sum of rupee for entrance fee. but the officers keep on asking "are you nepali [which can be treated with different price]?" no, i am indonesian :)

when the travelers got stuck in the pyramids of giza, we take alternate to visit meidum [or sometimes we pronounce as mejdum] and fayyum and saqqarah, which are less visited.
it's amazing to see many shaped of the pyramid, strictly different than we ever saw over giza. and some, unfinished. we can go in, using the tiny rail and explore it 'till the ground. quite dark, so bring the torch on your daypack. it's worth a visit. and our experience, ride camels belong to the army/guardian officers. not the usual ones as you can see in giza ;) sukhran ghazil!

siem reap simply known as 'house of the angkors'. where the archaeological sites got the emblem as UNESCO's world heritage sites.
you can have id pass for 1 day visit [USD20], 3 days [USD40] and USD50 [7 days] and all will be used to maintenance the temples. it' wonderful to be here. the only problem ... i am not the only one, almost all travelers gather around to enjoy sunrise and sunset over the temples. so ... it's crowded areas :) 

defeated the anglo saxon of king harold vs william conqueror et normandie. excellent battle field to commemorate 1066's battle of hastings. our fave weekend trip from london.

kuta, seminyak and legian beaches are worldwide known for those who like 'sun and beach' of bali paradise island.
but denpasar is the capital city of bali island. governmental dailies are happened here. but not only that. there are several museum situated in denpasar, as well as souvenir shops if you have limited time to go to sukawati art center in gianyar regency. or, fancy to samples some local foods? just find them at renon local market. but be careful before order and choose. make sure about the cleanless and contents of the meals.

from atop, can be seen london and surrounding. from the gherkin to the tower bridge, from wobbly millenium bridge nearby tate modern to st paul's cathedral. but it needed an effort to do so. climb up the 311 staircase for this sir christopher wren's that used to commemorate standing still building after london's great fire. and you'll handed a certificate once you successfully climb up. we did :) it's fun and windy!!

sisophon is a small district on the way poipet/aranyaphratet to siem reap and the opposite by overland. and this was a memorable experience for me. passing enroute national route nr 6 with phnom dangkrek mountaineous range [thailand side] in the distance.
the road was "funny" since about 10 km from poipet and 10 km before rentering siem reap, there were hot mix asphalts. but the rest? just unsealed road with 'million' muddy basins anywhere. and during the rainy season it will be mad.
and i was 'lucky' only trapped about 2 hours on the way back to poipet border, caused by damaged bridge, where the sheet metals are fallen on the river. another ... i read an old news about quite same case with trapped around 16 hours on the road :)

what a nice heirlooms remains from the nguyen dinasties, tracking back to 18th century. the moats and the city is exactly as before. well preserved.

bath known as one of the most beautiful georgian city in england and listed as one of UNESCO's world heritage city. it's lovely being there, to see the city itself and the first roman bath existed in united kingdom, from long time ago.
can be seen the ruins and the relief of sulis minerva goddess in the ancient myth. the romans take a bath activity within a natural hot spring. and within walking distance, can be found bath abbey and river avon. it's easy to fall in love with bath. further, visitor can go to salisbury hill for the mysterious stonehenge. 

we're addicted into theatres, so we never leave london without watching any of it. our faves stroll along leicester square and do repeating watch phantom of the opera and several titles. for us, we're not only enjoy the show but also the architecture side of its building. globe theatre or shakespeare's globe theatre at southwark bridge is one among our faves :)

shimla is derived from kali goddess --one of the gods in hindu myth, known as a destroyer. but this place is extremely opposite from that point. it's a summer retreat place and a hill station within state of himachal pradesh, at the foothills of the mighty himalaya on the way to dharamsala [for HH Dalai Lama], mc leod's ganj and ladakh range.
the british empire took shimla as their summer government state long time ago, no wonder, you'll witnessing so many tudor houses here. one of the tourist spot here is scandal point, centre of the city, with some monuments around, just like gandhi-ji, indira gandhi and local hero lalarajapatrai [make sure you can pronoun it correctly, just try for seconds now ;) ]. enjoy the sunset over himalayas companied by yak tea is something i love to do here :)

it's a pristine, mini archipelago within java sea, off-shore of semarang and jepara coaslines in central java region, indonesia.
the romantic name "karimunjawa" is derived from java language and can be translated into 'vaguely seen from the java mainland' or 'a place behind the shadow of java island'.
you can use two entry points to go to these white sandy islands withi coconut trees, with very clear visibility water and enriched by coral reefs and the fishes.  choose: semarang or jepara.by ferry takes approx. 6 - 7 hours, by jetfoil about 3 - 4 hours. make sure you're there on summer or east monsoon to have the best views and less roughly waves.

for those who likes shopping, this is the place to be in metro manila. but since i am not so keen in shopping, i just pay a visit when my manila friends arranged a reunion for me. samples some of pinoy's delicious meals. including halo-halo. hmmm, how i miss this local dessert. taro, kind of fruits and snowy ice with sugar syrup, hmmm!

encompassed the equator line, in pontianak you can see 2 imaginary line of the monuments. one is the original within a building, another is taller and huge.

maybe it's not a fave destination for those who hit london city. but it's truely gem. you can touch and try to lift up 1 kg of ore, pure gold --which is used as the currency for trading and saving money in the bank of england.
here, also can be send the old paper money for the commonwealth of nations. and take an interesting quiz about uk's money from your knowledge.
also available wind of the willows and teddy bear for those who like childhood memories.

i had met up with mrs rhonda tonkin, who run the dried flowers business since 20 years ago. and she also elected as australian rural woman of the year few years ago.
what i learn in her place is how to make the wild flowers in western australia, like banksia becomes an important material for export comodities. and in the other hand, drying process using glycerine and make a bouquette of dry flowers are nice things to be practiced in her coomberdale's farm. i did enjoy my visit :)  good luck, rhonda!

n july 07, 2008 melaka got her unesco's world heritage city status. seems local government wants to make it better ever since. by build many facilities, including additional pedestrian walk along jonker street --that now known as jonker walk-- and taming sari, a very tall gyro tower overlooking all spots within the city. and another is 'the eye of malaysia'; that reminds me to ... london eye.
to be honest, i miss the old malacca that it used to be. the old city that i feel so familiar about 5 years ago. about tun tan cheng lock or heeren street, about old dutch cemetery and many details that hoping will lead me to the era of old malacca. i know the government tried hard. but in the other hand, keep the old city as before will be far more rewarded.

greenwich is a nice destination which situated nearby london. just take dlr in the end of tube/underground and voila, there you are.
it's nice to standing in the zero line where the gmt start, then take it as reference towards my hometown in south east asia.
nice views overlooking thames and there in the queen's house can be seen some art exhibition. 

wat phratap doi suthep is the place on a hill overlooking chiang mai city and around. i was stay in yha srivitchai, and takes about 15 minutes to up hill and about 10 minutes to down hill.
it's a place for buddhist worshipers. and learn about sang buddha gautama himself. a contemplating place and to see the hill of doi suthep itself for those who like nature.
on the way back, you can stop at amari gate within the city. one of the oldest gates from the old brick wall dates back centuries ago. and enjoy the night market.

the place is well-preserved. but can not understand, it's pretty close with a highway and the sounds from the road quite annoying. further afield was part of the old ruins, it's look less visited. always great time to see these man-made monuments. apart of the road condition surrounded.

for those who like shopping in metro manila, this is the place. but for me who think about budget, i used the venue to meet up with my friends who live in manila :)

stamford bridge stands over thames river. it's nice, but our fave will always go to hammersmith bridge. another is tower bridge :)

john graham reserve, a complete place for weekend. you can swim to the beach and gather with family member to do barbecue.

or fancy to burn your calories? just do jogging since jogging track available by the edge of the beach and bushland nearby. calmer than cottesloe in my personal opinion.

summer in shimla is nice as this place addressed as 'a place for retreat from the heat'. set foot on shimla whenever summer hit new delhi [unbearable at that moment, i got 40degree celcius!] and heading up north to state of himachal pradesh.

in lakkar bazaar, downtown shimla [from direction scandal point]  people gather to celebrate summer festival. lots of fresh fruits, souvenirs and dances performances by himachali and ladakhi people.

tamansari or watercastle is situated nearby bird market of jogjakarta called 'pasar ngasem'. i like to be here, watching the ruins of old palace and underground mosque. but then main attraction is the water castle itself. named "tamansari" a.k.a 'flower garden' in english.
long time ago, the princesses like to take a bath whilst swimming in the pool inside of the water castle [from where the name was given]. bare naked and whenever the king fancy one amongst them, he will throw a rose as a sign ;)

i go trekking to xouang dala at the outskirt of louang phabang and back to my lovely hotel [sayo xieng mouane] with sore feet. no wonder, since it's hilly area to visit several hmong and lao soung tribes.
then across in my mind to try some of massages which offers along the way to old louang phabang. and my choice goes to khmu massage. a traditional massage which remains me to thai massage but still have differences. in the end of the session, they send me to a sauna chamber with kind of herbal-aromatheraphic scents. great treatment for usd3 or about 30,000 kip!

pulau ubin, not so far from changi prison. take bus number 2 to direction changi village. then add with bumboat to the island. take a renting bike about sgd10/day and you can make a loop through the island. there are seafood and local stalls, including coconut drink. my fave choice is nasi lemak. steam rice in coconut milk served with anchovy, peanuts and savoury assortments.