Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Walk Around Menteng | Jakarta, Indonesia

It was my third trip with @jktgoodguide, first one to Chinatown, and Old Batavia for the second one and here I am addicted with walking tour around Jakarta and for this third one I chose Menteng. An area that I only cross-by and it was the first time I really learn & know about Menteng more. 

Well, the first question. What is the meaning of Menteng? Anyone know? Dan baru tau juga kalau Menteng itu di ambil dari nama buah. Buah Menteng, kalo di googling bentuknya kayak duku katanya rasanya kecut tapi jarang ditemukan, infonya sih di deket stasiun bogor banyak. Lucunya di area Menteng ga ada pohon menteng haha. 

Jadi pada jaman Batavia dulu Menteng tuh tempat beristirahatnya orang - orang sultan, makanya bentuk rumah yang masih asli mirip vila modelnya dan disini dibangun banyak taman dan hawanya enak banget rindang makanya pada suka disini si sultan sultan. Oh iya tau gak Kuningan kan tetanggaan sama Menteng kan ya, dulu tuh Kuningan berperan penting banget, soalnya tempat piara sapi hahaha. Jadi itu tempat untuk memasok groceries warga sultan Menteng


Start from Taman Suropati - siapakah Suropati? Jadi kalo kemarin diceritain panjang banget kisah hidup si Suropati tapi sepengingatanku (yg gampang aja yg diinget, kalau detail silahkan gugelria), nama aslinya adalah Surawiraaji konon dia keturunan darah biru dari Bali yang menyamar jadi budak, dan samapilah dia jadi budak di perwira VOC, pas dia jadi budak si perwira tuh beruntung banget, ya naik pangkat lah, ya dapet rejeki lah, akhirnya dia dikasih nama Untung

Nah si Untung singkat cerita, one day dia harus anterin tahanan dan ngelewatin kesultanan Cirebon, disana  dia berantem sama anak sultan, namanya Raden Suropati lalu mereka diadili. Eh pas diadili ternyata yang salah si Raden Suropati, akhirnya sang Raden diadili, dan nama Suropati dikasih ke Untung. Jadilah Untung Suropati. 

Kalau sekarang di Taman Suropati ini banyak dijadikan tempat berkumpul komunitas atau olahraga soalnya luas dan adem mungkin juga karena di tengah - tengah Jakarta ya jadinya akses juga gak sulit. Dan disini juga ada 6 monumen which is hadiah dari negara - negara ASEAN sebagai tanda persahabatan. 

Disini juga ada Masjid Babah Alun, quotesnya patut diinget nih. 

Sekeliling Menteng sini kebanyakan rumah residensial duta besar negara - negara gitu, terus bisa lanjut jalan lewatin DKI 1 (rumah dinas gubernur Jakarta), nah kalau di sebrangnya itu ada Taman Patung Diponegoro yang ada air mancurnya.

DKI 1

Patung Diponegoro

Kalo dari jauh kukira itu patung aja gitu ternyata pas kesana nya itu luas loh bawahnya ada air mancur gitu adem deh dan rapih bersih. 

Konon katanya kalau patung pahlawan itu ada makna tersembunyi dari pijakan & nunggang kuda atau gak. Kalau ga salah kalau kaki nya gak mijak tapi ada tombak, dia berperang tapi meninggalnya bukan di medan perang. 

Nah pas di sebrang Taman Patung Diponegoro ada Gedung Bappenas yang dulu disebut - sebut bekas Loji Freemason. Jadi di masa Batavia baheula, gedung ini dibangun untuk tempat perkumpulan Freemason, sejenis kelompok yang ada lambang iluminati-nya aka bintang timur. Nah sebenarnya katanya Freemason itu bukan penyembahan setan tapi lebih ke gerakan spiritual dan yang ikut juga orang - orang pintar, di Indo pertama kali yang join Raden Saleh. Sekarang gedung ini gak di buka untuk umum, konon interior lantai 2 nya masih ada bekas Freemason dulu di dinding - dindingnya. 

Jalan di sebelah kanan Gedung Bappenas ada Gereja PLBI. Gedung gereja ini masih utuh seperti sedia kala, nah di atasnya juga ada ayam. Kenapa gereja terkenal dengan gereja ayam, sebenernya ayam itu diartikan penanda waktu, jangan duniawi mulu harus inget ibadah, ada juga yang mengartikan ayam itu penanda ketika rasul paulus menyangkal Tuhan 3x. 

Sebelah gereja ada Museum Perumusan Naskah Proklamasi, tempat dimana Soetta menuliskan, dan Sayuti Malik mengetikan naskah tersebut. Museum ini buka di weekday aja sayangnya kemarin tutup pas public holiday jadi gak bisa masuk, tapi katanya di dalam itu ada simulasi patung Soetta saat dulu kejadian gimana gitu. 

Nah kan naskah proklamasi dibacainnya siang ya, jam 10, alasannya adalah saat itu mereka semua kecapean dan gak ada yang bangun pagi sedangkan rakyat udah nunggu di luar. 

Waktu perumusan naskah juga ada orang Jepang yang ikut bantu, pembantu doi juga yang pergi cariin mesin ketik biar bisa ngetik naskah. Orang Jepang ini dihukum di Jepang tapi rakyat Indonesia berterimakasih banget sama dia. 

Konon, SD ini sebenernya aset Raden Saleh tapi karena dia gak punya keturunan maka di ambil alih pemerintah dan sekarang jadi SDN

Obama cilik

After that kita lanjut ke ... yak betul, SD dulu dimana Obama sekolah. Jadi Obama tuh dulu tinggalnya di Menteng Dalam, nah mama-nya kerja di dubes amrik dan papa tirinya orang Jogja. Di SD ini ada patung Obama kecil juga. Terus ada ceritanya, pas kecil kalau ditanya cita - cita mau jadi apa, Obama selalu bilang, mau jadi presiden. Nah terwujud sekarang, jadi ges coba inget lagi quotes dari Soekarno, cita - cita harus setinggi bintang, biar kalau jatuh tetap di langit gak di bumi. Eaaaa! 

So far for me ini route bukan untuk hunting foto tapi lebih ke menikmati udara segar dengan cerita sejarah dan karena nyaman gitu jadi males juga foto terus, lebih ke dengerin ceritanya haha. 

See you on the next route and trip! 

Saturday, May 7, 2022

A Journey to Ujung Genteng & Geopark Ciletuh | Sukabumi, Indonesia

First long road trip in 2022 goes to Sukabumi! Yes this time I choose to visit Ciletuh Geopark, it was in my bucket list for years and finally the day is coming. 

It was a 2-day trip : Ujung Genteng for the first day & Ciletuh for the second day. It takes 200++ km from Jakarta and half of the way is crooked road. So make sure you didn't go with empty stomach and prepare your sickness bag. 

I believe Ciletuh was most of people bucket list and you're on your way to find some honest review just like me previously haha. So here I am to give the fresh-from-the-oven review hehe 

How to get there?

Self-driving is not recommended as the road is really crooked, I recommend you to join a trip that have professional driver - this time I join @explorer.idn - you could check their IG. It takes around 5-6 hours to get to Ujung Genteng from Jakarta so make sure you have some snacks with you. Along the way there are gas station with public toilet and minimarket. 


What to bring?

  • Comfort sandal - why I didn't recommend shoes because most of place you will get dirty and there are toilet to wash your feet - so it's easier to wear sandal 
  • Sunblock, sunglasses, etc - it's really hot but better hot than rainy right 
  • Tolak angin, antimo, any of your daily medicine really helpful 
  • Drinking water, tissue, and cash 

Where to visit & how long?

Ujung Genteng & Ciletuh Geopark area, well most of the iconic attraction are waterfall, beach, and riverside. Suggest to have 1 day for each and stay 1 night on the area - there are many homestay, villa, or hotel. 

Lets start our journey from Ujung Genteng area!  

Curug Cikaso 

From the parking area only have to walk 5 mins to the jetty - then we take boat to cross the river around 10 mins to the next jetty and walk again for 5 mins and we arrived at Curug Cikaso. The road condition is quite comfortable. 

This is the jetty where you need to pay for the boat


Don't be afraid, the boat is quite steady :) 



I really like this scene, feels like Amazon <3 

Entrance fee IDR 5k/person and IDR 20k/car, boat is around IDR 70k per boat for 10 people. 


This is the entrance after you arrive on the jetty - I guess if it isn't fasting month will be full by traditional seller selling their snack



See the water color, it's really jade color


Prohibited to swim to the corner area but you still can enjoy the view, personally I like this place 

Pantai Karang Gantungan

Around 30 mins from Curug Cikaso we arrived at Pantai Karang Gantungan. The entrance for parking is really hidden guys~ And we need to take the boat also to get to the beach. So the step is like this : parking area take the boat IDR 25k/people, and there is no jetty really hard to get to the boat, it takes around 20 mins and we arrive to the destination, again no jetty so it hard to get off, then we need to track around 20 mins in no where. 





Why I told we track in no where, because it really do. There are no proper step with sticky ground until you arrive at the entrance of the the beach. 

This is what I mean with "no where"

And there you go with the entrance gate and you need to downstairs that sticky ground

Here is the beach really like hidden gems and beautiful but unfortunately the access is really bad


I think if you are going to explore this area need at least 3 hour or half-day, as the access is really exhausting and not recommend for elder. 


Ujung Genteng Turtle Conservation 


It was my first experience to release hatchling to the sea. We able to visit the conservation area in Ujung Genteng Beach ~ I don't know for the entrance fee ~ I really enjoy the beach while waiting for 5PM to release the hatchling. 

Better to contact them release schedule, it might be different for each day. 

Turtle egg hatching area

There are some vegetable provided and we are allowed to feed them


1 day old turtle




You also able to hug them guys

Let's go to the beach to release these cute "tukik"

Today only 30 something "tukik" to be release, they said it depends on the spawning season

See! They are back to the sea!




This Ujung Genteng beach line have around 3km length, so beautiful & peaceful

Ujung Genteng Beach



I stay at Ujung Genteng beach area, there are many homestay here also some local food stall, personally I don't think the beach is nice, I prefer the turtle beach but the area here is more crowded and easy to find some food, best choice to stay. 

I stay at Ken Zong Inn, so this homestay was included in the itinerary. For me, it's okay level to stay. Clean enough, spacious, convenient; but be noted there are no toiletries and the water so small



Just few steps to Ujung Genteng beach

Spacious enough right

But there is no table or chair

The funny thing was the bed looks like bathtub haha (macam bak mandi)

They provide towel & drinking water 1 per day per person

Ciletuh Geopark 

So here I am in day 2 we have around 2 hours to reach Ciletuh from Ujung Genteng. Ciletuh means cloudy (keruh), so the water here you will found it cloudy, don't be surprise and enjoy it. 

The road condition from Ujung Genteng to Ciletuh even more crooked and have many sharp turn. Make sure you have your breakfast before.

Curug Sodong



It was the nicest waterfall area for these 2 days. The access road is bad but the facility inside was well-builded. The waterfall is really high and bright! Okay this is the definition of great scenery without any effort haha. 


Curug Cikanteh

Well this is the most effort trekking. The entrance right on the right side of Curug Sodong. 

So we can say its a bundle package. Need to trek for 20 mins and the track was very exhausting yet little dangerous. I didn't take any picture cause its hard even for me to walk on the stone, bamboo bridge, etc. Didn't recommend for elder. 

Your motivation to trek haha

Sweat, lepek, and wet

How it looks like that you need to deal with



A piece of our effort looks like


Pulau Kunti

Next destination was around 15 mins drive and we are on the dock to step on the boat. It takes around 20 mins for the boat to arrive at the island. In the island you can enjoy the view, swimming, and cave to explore. 

Why it called Pulau Kunti - local said because when the waves hit the stone, it sounds like Kunti (Indonesian ghost) sound haha. 

Personally I enjoy the time on the boat rather than what we can do in the island haha. 

How they do shrimp fishing

Our boat, in the beginning the water was brown and for a while you will arrive in the blue water area

Hehe

Personally I think it feels like Pulau Kelayang in Belitung, check here for my Belitung diary :)






We order food before and bring it to the island


Curung Cimarinjung

Last but not the least, we visit Curug Cimarinjung, it was the most dirty waterfall on this trip I guess haha. Where you can feel the definition of ciletuh (ciletuh means "keruh"/ cloudy). The unique things about it. 

The toilet here was quiet clean and able to shower and also have some local stall. 






You can go downstairs but it was prohibited as they said currently high water discharge


Puncak Darma 

This is the observation deck in the top of Sukabumi, unfortunately it was cloudy. I thought its better to come for sunrise or sunset. 


Sukabumi view


Love the ambience 



Overall if you are young and passionate about outdoor traveling you should try this one. Tips : Don't wear bright color shirt as my shirt become so dirty because of the splash of the waterfall that I didn't notice before. 

Well, after hibernate for some time, now I re-gain my traveling mood again! Can't wait for the other destination, any recommendation?