Book Review & Give Away: 3 Wanita Menjejak Dunia

Saya mengetahui bahwa Febbie dari @jalan2liburan atau yang biasa saya panggil Kak Feb sedang menulis sebuah buku ketika saya dan lima traveler mommies tengah menyusun buku #keckeckeldu. Kala itu Kak Feb hanya menjelaskan secara singkat bahwa ia tengah menggarap buku traveling bersama Mindy (@mindoel). Later on ketika bukunya sudah terbit, baru saya tau bahwa buku ini ditulis bertiga dengan Luci (@luciana707). 

Ketika saya tanya buku traveling tentang apa, Kak Feb menjawab "Buku inspirasi traveling, kami cerita tentang tempat yang sudah kami singgah" Saya pun tertarik, mengingat tempat yang dikunjungi Kak Feb memang selalu fenomenal. Begitu yang saya lihat di instagram jalan2liburan, ataupun di blog nya.

Waktu berlalu, ternyata buku 3 Wanita Menjejak Dunia terbit lebih dulu daripada buku #keckeckeldu. Saya langsung membeli bukunya, dan dari covernya aja saya udah suka banget. Feminin karena pinky, ada tiga gambar wanita, dan sub-judulnya donk.. "Catatan Perjalanan dari Peru sampai Kashmir, Dari Venesia Sampai Istanbul".

Penampakan di salah satu toko buku:
buku kami bersanding dengan buku Kak Feb:)

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The Big Hostel Sydney : Where to Stay Near Central Station

I was looking for a private room in a hostel near Central Station of Sydney when I came across The Big Hostel on booking.com. Although we are backpackers, when it comes to choose whether to stay at dorm or private room, I always choose the private room, despite of the price. I did it once staying separately: Rene at a mixed dorm and I stayed in a female dorm. Ended up we had to share the toiletries, and worried will we be able to wake up on time the next morning?

There are several hostels near Central Station: YHA Railway, YHA Central, Bounce Sydney, Woke Up Hostel, and many more. But I choose the Big Hostel because they had a private room available for AUD 110 per night.

The reception of  Big  Hostel

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Having Lunch at Sydney Fish Market

We didn't have the chance to go to Sydney Fish Market on our first visit to Sydney, therefore on our second visit, it was on the top of our itinerary. 

We took light rail from Paddy's Market and alight at the Fish Market. We followed the sign from the light rail station to the fish market. It was only about 5 minutes walking from the station to the market.

The first thing we saw was the parking area and some seafood shops and restaurants. We were not sure which restaurant to choose, so we just walked approaching the blue building with the sign of "Sydney Fish Market".

Welcome to Sydney Fish Market

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Review of City Hotel Sydney (Now: BreakFree On Clarence Sydney)

It was indeed a challenge to look for a hotel with maximum AUD 100 per night at Sydney CBD, especially during the Vivid Sydney festival. As always, I searched for a hotel via booking.com where I came across a budget hotel called City Hotel Sydney. At the moment, the hotel is changed to Breakfree on Clarence Sydney.

When I further read the review on tripadvisor, I was very sure that this hotel was "the one". 5 minutes to Queen Victoria Building which is linked with the Town Hall train station, 5 minutes to Darling Harbour (from Market Street), and it has an en suite bathroom. Other than that, the room price is AUD 109 per night, with a "pay later and free cancellation" option.

Located on CBD, this hotel is recommended

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Berapa Biaya Liburan ke Sydney?

Posting ini saya tulis untuk pembaca tesyasblog yang menempatkan Sydney sebagai lima besar dari travel bucketlist-nya. Sydney yang ketika mendengar namanya terkesan "mahal" (eh, bukan kesan aja sih, emang mahal!) dan mewah, ternyata bisa dinikmati dengan cara backpacking juga loh! 

It was a bright day at Darling Harbour:)

Tiket Pesawat Jakarta ke Sydney

Ini hal utama yang harus didapatkan jika merencanakan backpacking ke Sydney: tiket pesawat yang murah. Kami membeli tiket pada saat Air Asia X Sale bulan Oktober 2013, seharga Rp 8,7 juta untuk dua orang PP. Pas banget sih waktu kami lihat tanggal kalender, pada bulan Mei 2014 ada dua hari libur dalam satu minggu. Dan pada tanggal tersebut, ada Lights and Music Festival Vivid Sydney.

Desember 2012 ketika kami liburan ke Sydney untuk pertama kali, kami mendapatkan tiket Rp 6,5 juta pp per orang menggunakan Garuda Indonesia. Sekarang harga Garuda enggak pernah semurah itu lagi. Jadi walaupun harus lebih lama terbang dan transit di KL, kami rela deh:p

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Asiatique Night Market - Bangkok

I love night market. All the lights and colors of the market give me the energy even if I have spent a whole day exploring the city. When I heard that Bangkok has a night market called Asiatique - one place which has not been exist yet on my previous visit - I put it in my itinerary.

This place remind me a lot to "the old Clarke Quay" in Singapore. Both are located at the riverside, has many shoppes and very happening. Now Clarke Quay filled up with many cafes and bars, while Asiatique is a touristy place with its ferris wheel, shoppes, cafe and restaurants.

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The Colorful Chatuchak Market

I heard it many times that visiting Bangkok without shopping at Chatuchak is not complete. On my first and second visit to Bangkok, I didn't have the chance to visit Chatuchak. Maybe that's why I had the opportunity to visit Bangkok once again. And this time Chatuchak was number one on my itinerary.

We left Bangkok City Hotel at 7.30, took the BTS to Mo Chit station, and found many buses and taxis once we exit the BTS station. It was Saturday morning and many people coming to Chatuchak. We just followed the crowd from BTS to Chatuchak. I was sure that everyone was heading to Chatuchak that morning.

Look at those pink buses and taxis :)

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Hotel Review : Bangkok City Hotel

I came across Bangkok City Hotel when I searched through booking.com for hotels around USD 50 in Bangkok. Other thing which was a plus point: Bangkok City Hotel also has a triple room, perfect for our group which consist of 5 people. We could reserve one double and one triple room. 

I reserved the room directly through their website. The hotel only charged the room one week prior to our arrival. Tripadvisor reviews for this hotel is also positive. There are  reviews saying that many halal food stall are available around the hotel. I wanted to proof it by myself. 

Welcome to Bangkok City Hotel

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Rp 3 juta: Liburan 3 Hari 2 Malam ke Bangkok

Ini kali ketiga saya berkunjung ke Bangkok. Terus terang, ide awalnya karena menerima newsletter dari Tiger Mandala mengenai Return for Free Promo Ticket. Karena saya tau Rene kurang tertarik dengan Bangkok, saya pun berinisiatif mengadakan another tesyasblog's Mommies Day Out Trip.

Awalnya saya mengajak lima orang teman kantor, berkembang dengan tambahan dua group lainnya, peserta menjadi 12 orang! Sayangnya satu group yang berisi 4 orang mengundurkan diri, karena ada satu peserta yang hamil. Akhirnya kami menjadi dua group, 5 orang saya dan teman kantor, serta satu group sahabat saya @rona_willis beserta dua teman lainnya.

Berapa biaya liburan ke Bangkok?

Kami berangkat hari Jumat dan kembali hari Minggu (Mei 2014). Total biaya yang saya keluarkan Rp 3 juta dengan perincian:

1. Tiket pesawat: Rp 1,3 juta PP, tanpa bagasi.

2. Hotel dua malam Rp 500,000 (per orang).

3. Transportasi, makan dan belanja : THB 4.000 (sekitar Rp 1,5 juta). Saat itu 1 THB = Rp 358.

***

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