Story of My Life

3 countries. 9 days and 8 nights abroad. 3500 miles journey. Amazing experience and new learning. This new journey has taught me to be a problem solver. I’ve planned in advance that I would do this traveling with budget, considering my dreams are big and budget available is limited. Backpacking is the answer for this case. I just believe that I can do that with small budget. I spent only 2 millions Rupiah ( some said it’s very cheap, some others said it’s expensive, but I do believe with all new experiences I’ve got and only 2 millions Rupiah spent, it’s a pay out vacation! ).

Let me share with you itinerary of this journey. Maybe some of you will need it to travel with budget also to those 3 countries. The route was Batam-Singapore-Kuala Lumpur-Khanga-Bukit Kayu Hitam-Hat Yai-Phuket Town-Patong Beach-Phuket Town-Hat Yai-Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-Batam-Pekanbaru. All used bus, except Batam-Singapore and Singapore-Batam.

"Good bye Batam!", "Welcome to Uniquely Singapore"

Person visiting Singapore with Batam passport will be free of paying fiscal, the same with the ones having Riau, West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, South Sumatra and Lampung passport. Person without those passports will need to pay half of fiscal cost (Rp. 500.000). Travelers used to use Batam as departure point to Singapore due to low fiscal cost.

There are some harbors; Batam Centre at the north side, Sekupang and Water Front at the west side and Nongsa at the east side. The first one is the most favorite because boat’s available every hour, from 7 am until 9 pm. We don’t need to worry about boat availability. In addition, harbor building is a comfortable place with Batam Centre mall exists for shopping. For the boat, we can use Wave Master, Pinguin or Batam Fast. All boats have the same quality with different departure schedule.

The fare cost is 17 SGD PP, 3 SGD tax Batam-Singapore and 10 SGD ax Singapore-Batam ( total 30 SGD or Rp. 180.000 ). It’s much cheaper than using flight. The traveling time is 45 minutes and we will arrive at Harbor Front in Singapore, a sophisticated harbor and nice shopping mall. Some activities we can do there are using cable car (or bus) to reach Sentosa Island ( Singapore statue of Lion ), shopping and sightseeing.

From Harbor Front, we can go everywhere using MRT or bus. MRT is the common transportation there, as it’s comfortable and cheap.

I planned not to stay in Singapore in early of my vacation. I plan to go to Phuket first. With help from information centre saying that I should go to Golden Mile - Beach Road if I want to go to Kuala Lumpur using bus, I used taxi to reach that building. The taxi cost is only 6 SGD.

Places of interest/activities in Batam/Bintan :

Fishing using local boat (they call it "pompong boat"), shopping, Vietnamese village at Galang Island, Barelang Bridge, Nongsa beach, Lagoi Beach Resort at the north side of Bintan Island, Telunas beach, Trikora beach, and nightlife.

Places of interest/activities in Singapore :

Shopping of course!, Sentosa Island, Night Zoo, city tour.

Backpacking hotel :

New 7th Storey Hotel ( 229 Rochor Road, Singapore 188452, Phone 65-6337 0251, website www.nsshotel.com, email admin@nsshotel.com ); Bugis Backpacker Hostel, Singapore; Hawaii Hostel ( 171-B Bencoolen Street, 2nd Floor, Singapore 189641, website www.hawaiihostel.com.sg, email info@hawaiihostel.com.sg, Phone 6338 4187 & 6338 4363 ); Hotel Horizona Batam. Looking for bus in Singapore : Gunung Raya Travel PTE LTD ( hotline 6533 9988, 5001 Beach Road #01-13, Golden Mile Complex, Singapore 199588, website www.gunungraya.com, email grtgmc@grtravel.com.sg ).

"Good bye Uniquely Singapore!", "Welcome to Truly Asia Malaysia"

There are many agents providing bus to Kuala Lumpur, with cost vary from 25 SGD to 40 SGD ( note that bus cost KL-Sing is 25-40 also, but not in SGD but Ringgit ). About the schedule, they have morning bus until night bus at 12 am midnight.

I took midnight bus with cost 30 SGD that time. No lower cost bus that time because they were full-booked (the week I traveled was Hari Raya week). The bus was very comfortable with Air Conditioner. I slept on the bus, woke up to stamp passport and slept again until I reach Kuala Lumpur at 6 in the morning. It was 5 hours to reach KL.

On the way to KL, I met Yuli, Hammy, Lenny and Roy. They’re Indonesian also and have well-planned trip. Even they have booked hotel for their stay in KL. When we were confused where to go to look for ticket to Phuket, considering it was 5 am and the bus terminal was still closed, they all helped us. We could stay at their hotel before visiting Phuket. "Thanks God!" We went to Church that day, visited Batu Caves and had dinner at Bukit Bintang ( GREAT FOOD! ). That one day with them was really really unforgettable day…! They’re funny, pleased, and passionate for traveling and love eating so much! I was just surprised that day that a day could make us like old friends. "Really really miss you all guys!"

Buying bus ticket from KL to main cities in Malaysia can be done in Pudu Raye. This is the central place for bus. From KL, we can go to Penang, Johor Baru, Alor Setar, etc. Hat Yai is transit city if we want to go to Phuket using bus. Unfortunately, the ticket KL-Phuket is fully booked because of Hari Raya. But then someone told me that I could go first to Alor Setar, then Hat Yai, then to Phuket. Finally I bought midnight bus ticket to Alor Setar.

I was so tired that day. When I woke up in the morning, I found my self in a city named Khanga ( local Chinese call it with Kayang ). It’s about 2 hours beyond Alor Setar. “We’ve arrived in wrong city!” I thought. But after asking some people there, Khanga is even closer to Hat Yai. We can rent taxi from Khanga to Bukit Kayu Hitam ( border Malaysia-Thailand ) with cost 35 RM, then continue using van car from Bukit Kayu Hitam to Hat Yai with cost 80 RM/van. 1 van can carry 7-8 people.

Places of interest/activities in Malaysia :

Penang-George Town, Langkawi Island, Johor Baru, Malaka, Genting Highland, Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, good food at Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur.

Backpacking hotel :

Bintang Guest House ( 27, Jalan Tong Shin, Off Tengkat Tong Shin, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, phone 03-2144 3398 & 03-2148 9398, website www.bintangguesthouse.com.my ); City Villa.

"Good bye Truly Asia Malaysia", “Sawatdi!” -Sawatdi is the word we use to greet people in Thailand

In Hat Yai, there are many agents providing bus to many main cities in Thailand – Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, etc. I bought bus ticket to Phuket with cost 500 Baht ( 1 Baht – Rp. 250 ). I left Hat Yai at 9 am, arrived at Phuket town terminal at 5 pm. I felt so tired that day and immediately I looked for taxi to Patong beach, the most famous beach in Phuket Island. The taxi cost from Phuket terminal to Patong beach is 250 Baht.

I looked for hotel in Patong Beach. Baan Boa II on Na Nai Road is a nice place to stay with price 600 Baht/night, for 2-3 people. The room is facilitated with AC, TV, bathroom inside the room, and 1 king size bed. There’s laundry service also with price 10 Baht/t-shirt. The hotel is located only 10 minutes walk to Patong Beach. Alongside the road to Patong Beach, there are many shops selling T-shirt ( 100 Baht/piece ), food, handicraft, souvenir, ticket tour, etc.

I spent time in the evening walking around Patong Beach, Sawatdirak Road, Bang La Road, Sai Nam Yen Road. Many things you can do there, from just shopping until night attraction ( tiger show, she male attraction, bar on most of main roads ). Many people there, even until 1 am at midnight. Surprisingly, I met Ricky Sugiarto-my partner at POSI LAB ITB- at Patong Beach. It’s been 3 years no see him! “Let’s talk further about our plan to go to Mentawai Islands, Ki!”

I went back to hotel at 1 am and slept. We would have Phi-Phi islands tours one day after.

First Day in Phuket : Phi Phi Island Tour

Phi-phi islands tour is one of the best tours in Phuket. There are some islands. Those are Phi-Phi Don, Phi Phi Le, Bida Nok, Bida Nai, Phai and Yung. However, the first two islands are more famous than the others. Phi-Phi Don is the largest and the most developed island where many nice hotels located on. Phi-Phi Le is famous because of its Maya Beach, setting for Leonardo DiCaprio’s THE BEACH. The tour cost is 700-900 Baht, one day tour from 8 am – 17 pm. The van will pick you up from your hotel to harbor at Phuket town. The route is harbor-Phi Phi Le-Phi Phi Don, estimated 2-3 hours traveling time. Before anchoring to Phi Phi Don, they provide snorkeling set for you for free and you can snorkel.

I woke up at 6.30 in the morning and took a bath. Our van picked us up from the hotel to harbor. The harbor was full with tourists and so was the cruise. They provided breakfast on the cruise. At 8.30, the cruise started sailing. The tour from harbor to Phi-Phi Don basically is to see series of Phi-Phi islands, snorkeling and take picture. I definitely agree with opinion saying that Phi-Phi islands are the most beautiful tropical island in the world. The landscape is so unique!

When I was on the cruise, I talked to Ron, Israeli tourist. He would have 1 month vacation in Thailand with his family! Oh damn, that’s such a great vacation, Bro! Arrived at Phi-Phi Don, they provided us with lunch. It was the nice food. Michael ate the food greedily ( sorry, Maik! ). Ron is vegetarian and he’s little bit disappointed with the food. I spent time walking around in Phi Phi Don Island, looking for souvenir, taking photo. At 2.30 pm, the cruise started the tour again back to Phuket. This 2 hours tour is sunbathing tour basically. The cruise moved so slowly. We were all relaxed, enjoying the extremely bright and clear sky.

Arrived at harbor at 5 pm, the van brought us to our hotel.

Second Day in Phuket : Sunbathing at Patong Beach, Enroute to Phuket Terminal

I planed to spend my time in Patong Beach on the second day in Phuket. Basically, Patong beach is the most popular and crowded beach in Phuket. In the morning, I bought some very cheap price but high quality t-shirts on Bang La Road.

Back to hotel to put all t-shirts, I continued the day with sunbathing on Patong beach. The beach is very beautiful. Blue ocean. White sandy beach. Many people were sunbathing too that time. It was just like what I expected! Some beach boys offered me parasailing with price 700 Baht. I tried it! It was GREAT! You should try it too. To add the value of traveling to Phuket ( wah bahasanya P&G banget! ), my left foot was tattooed! I like it so much.

Back to hotel and packed my luggage, I went to terminal using Tuk Tuk ( it’s local transportation, Its shape like Sodako in Medan. 250 Baht ). I bought bus ticket to Hat Yai, departing at 10 pm. The bus cost is very cheap 380 Baht ( much cheaper than Hat Yai-Phuket! ). It was still 8 pm, so we had dinner at tent restaurant ( the food was so HOT! ).

Important information about Phuket, Pearl of the South :

Accessibility : by road, 862 km from Bangkok by Highway 4, Highway 41, Highway 401, Highway 415, Highway 4 then Highway 402. About 11 hours drive. Using bus, you can go there from Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal. By air, 1.2 hours, several flights daily from Bangkok/Malaysia/Singapore. Tourism authority office : 73-75 Phuket Road, Muang District, Phuket 83000, Phone 0 7621 2213. Phuket Air-Con Bus Station : 0 7621 1977.

Places of interest/activities in Phuket and its surrounding :

Old building in Phuket town, Phuket butterfly garden and insect world-Phuket town, Phuket zoo-Phuket town, Rawai beach, Phromthep Cape/God’s Cape to see sunset, Kata Viewpoint, Kata beach, Naihan beach, Karon beach, Patong beach ( the most famous beach in Phuket island ), Phuket Fantasea attraction ( info@phuket-fantasea.com ), Wat Chalong temple, Similan islands, Phang-Nga Bay (setting for James Bond’s The Man with the Golden Gun), Phi-Phi islands ( setting for Leonardo DiCaprio’s THE BEACH ), Panyee Island-moslem island, Thai boxing.

Places of interest/activities in Thailand :

Krabi-The Emerald of Andaman Sea ( Noppharat Thara Beach, Ao Nang/Nang Bay, Phranang Beach&Rai Le Beach, Susan Hoi ), Chiang Mai-Rose of the North ( Wat Phra Sing, Doi Suthep Tour-Highway 1004, Mae Rim-Samoeng Route-Highway 1096, Chiang Mai-Chom Thong-Hot Route-Highway 108&1009, Bosang-Sankamphaeng Route-Highways 118&1006 ), Ko Samui&Surat Thani/City of Good People ( Chaweng Beach-the most famous beach, Lamai Beach-second most popular, Bo Phut Beach, Hin Lat&Na Muang Waterfalls, Hin Ta&Hin Yai Rocks, Diving, Bufallo Fighting, Snake show, Jungle Tours, Ko Pha-Ngan, Ko Tao, Ko Nang Yuan ), Pattaya ( Phra Ramnak Hill, Wat Yannasangwararam, Wihan Sian, The Million Years Stine Park & Pattaya Crocodile Farm, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Sriracha Tiger Zoo, Coral Islands, Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden, Windsurfing, Water Skiing ), Bangkok ( Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaeo-Temple of the Emerald Budha, Vimanmek Mansion, Wat Phra Chetuphon, Wat Arun-Temple of Dawn, Wat Benchamabhopit-The Marble Temple, National Museum, Siam Nirat, The Floating Market, Chao Phraya River Tour, Sukhumvit Road, Khao San Road-The Place for World Backpacker ).

Backpacking hotel :

http://www.khaosanroad.com/, www.thailandebooking.com, www.thailand-hotelguide.com, www.hotelthailand.com.

Back Again to Hatyai and Kuala Lumpur

At 10 pm, the bus departed to Hat Yai. Traveling time is 7 hours. Although the seat was not comfortable to sleep, but I do slept that time! Arrived at Hat Yai at 5 am, we checked bus ticket to KL and the bus would start departing at 10 am. I expected I could go at 6 am so that we would have much time in KL. I slept at the travel agent while waiting for the bus.

At 10 am, the bus was coming and we departed to KL ( it’s 7 hours drive ). The bus arrived at Pudu Raye and I looked for budget hotel. Finally I checked in to Bintang Guest House, a very cheap hotel in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Bintang Guest House had some room type, from Single to Double, with fan only or Air Cond. It is located near Bukit Bintang area, one of popular places in Kuala Lumpur for many foreigners. There are many shops there; Giordano, Baleno, Planet Hollywood, etc. The foods are also great, from local food, Chinese food ( Ba Kut The, dendeng B2 dan mie-nya enyak banget! ) until western food. It’s a crowded road, just like Orchad road in Singapore.

I slept at 12 pm midnight.

On the second day, we visited Petronas Twin Towers. The building is a very sophisticated and amazing. It shows power of Malaysia in building its country. I really really amazed with what Malaysia did in developing country nowadays. I came into the building, took photo. At 12 pm, I took midnight bus to Singapore ( cost 30 Ringgit, 6 hours drive ).

Back Again to Singapore; I’m Back to Indonesia!

Arriving at Beach Road in Singapore at 6 pm, I and Michael looked for budget hotel. The first hotel is The New 7th Storey, one of the most popular backpacker hotels in Singapore. But it was fully booked. It was Hari Raya that time. Next target is Bugis Backpacker Hotel. Michael’s sister, Evelyn, who stayed there informed us about the hotel. There was still room available for 2 people. The price was not too cheap honestly ( 18 SGD ). I was surprised when I checked in because the owner gave me bed cover and pillow cover to me. “What are they for?” I asked. “To cover your bed and pillow…” He said. “Did you mean I have to do it by myself?” I asked to confirm. “Yes, because it’s not hotel but guest house”. Buhahaha…! It was really really funny!

Well, that was not my last surprise. I surprised again when I came into the room. There were 12 beds ( 2 beds in one iron bed ) in that room. Men and women were in the same room! Then one male foreigner woke up, just using underwear, walking around the room and women did not care with that! Ouww… what a weird room! Haha…

I slept for 4 hours and started the day again! I made appointment with Yuli and met her at Orchad Road. That day I visited Orchad Road, ate the biggest ox tail soup I ever ate at Bienvenue Vila’ge Restaurant at The Hereen Building, visited Mustofa Plaza and Sim Lim Square Plaza. At night, me, Michael and Yuli visited China Town at night. That time Yuli shared her spiritual life with God… And it made me think a lot! You did it, sister!

Second day on Sunday, I went to Bethany Church with Michael and Yuli. I got my biggest learning during this backpacking journey. Please see my blog “I’ve Been Empowered, Why Don’t I Become a Problem Solver?”.

After going to church, I met Hendro, my old friend. I met him when I was in Medan last year. We had lunch together. At 3 pm, I was back to Batam.

I was so tired and slept pleasantly on ferry Singapore-Batam. Arrived at Batam, I had dinner and stayed at Horizona Hotel. One day after, I took flight to Pekanbaru. It was really really great experience! I feel I’m NEW now…! I know I can start working again now, face many problems but I know I can solve all of them…!

Useful links

http://www.wisatathailand.com/, http://www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/, http://www.khaosanroad.com./index.html, http://www.phuket-fantasea.com/index.html

~ by romywilliams on November 25, 2006.