HONG KONG: tips dan trik perjalanan mudah dan gampang

Saya bukan expert di bidang traveling tetapi akan saya coba sharing tips dan trik ini berdasarkan pengalaman pribadi :) Hong Kong, negara kota dengan ratusan gedung pencakar langitnya dan pulau-pulau yang penuh dengan atraksi seru. Tidak hanya menyajikan surga belanja dan wisata kuliner tetapi juga petualangan menyenangkan seperti hiking dan cruising. Berikut beberapa Tips dan Trik perjalanan mudah dan gampang ke Hong Kong (perjalanan pribadi tanpa tour)

Western Market Tram terminus. Photo by Me. Water Color by Christian Ticualo.

Antrian di Peak Tram bisa sampai 1 jam lebih kalau saat peak season.

Transportasi
Menuju Hong Kong paling mudah dari Indonesia adalah dengan menggunakan pesawat terbang (tentunya) dan sekarang banyak budget airlines yang menawarkan penerbangan murah menuju Hong Kong. Contoh kemarin saya mendapat promo 1.8jt per orang dari Mandala Airlines, pembelian di pertengahan Oktober untuk penerbangan akhir Desember. Untuk harga normal dari Surabaya ke Hongkong PP adalah 3.5jt.

Nah, untuk transportasi di HK ada banyak pilihan masstransport: MTR (kereta bawah tanah), Bus, Ferry, Tram (hanya di pulau Hong Kong), Taxi. Bila Anda punya waktu sekitar 5 hari, sebaiknya beli Octopus Card yang bisa digunakan sebagai alat pembayaran MTR, bus, Ferry dan tram, sehingga memudahkan kita. Kartu ini juga berlaku untuk pembelian di beberapa jaringan store seperti Circle K dan 7 Eleven.

Manakah transportasi termurah?
Tergantung!! Bila Anda pergi sendiri, tentunya lebih murah menggunakan Tram/Bus/Ferry (HKD 2 sekali jalan, untuk Bus/Ferry sesuai jarak) atau  MTR berada diurutan berikutnya (HKD 3 atau sesuai jarak). Dan bila perginya berkelompok (4-5 orang) Taxi adalah pilihan termudah dan termasuk murah.
Contoh: biaya Bus dari HKIA ke Wanchai (HK island) HKD 40, sedangkan biaya airport link dari HKIA menuju Centrak adalah HKD 100 per orang. Taxi dengan maksimum 5 orang adalah HKD 300 langsung sampai tujuan. Selisih biaya tersebut tentunya perlu di pertimbangkan tentang jarak dan kemudahannya.

Saran saya: cobalah semua transport di HK karena memang memberikan sesuatu yang berbeda. Contoh kalau mau ke Victoria Peak, gunakan tram menuju ke atas dan gunakan bus saat pulangnya. Apalagi bila hi season, biasanya antri tram sampai 1 jam lebih.

Akomodasi
Untuk penginapan sesuaikan dengan budget Anda, memang, ukuran hotel di Hong Kong cukup mahal. Hotel bintang 3 setara sekitar 1jt rupiah per malam itu pun kadang room only tanpa breakfast. Tapi jangan berkecil hati, di Hong Kong juga terdapat penginapan murah sebangsa hostel  berkisar di harga 200.000 per orang per malam. Hostel seperti ini banyak terdapat di daerah Tsim Sa Tsui, di sepanjang Nathan road dan daerah Mongkok. Keduanya merupakan daerah ramai yang penuh dengan pusat perbelanjaan dan wisata kuliner di Kowloon Island.

Untuk tinggal di Hostel memang tidak senyaman di Hotel, ada beberapa peraturan yang perlu diketahui. Karena lokasi hostel yang biasanya adalah flat penduduk lokal maka ada jam malam, setelah jam 12 biasanya tamu wajib lapor. Untuk kebersihannya memang kita perlu membaca review dari orang-orang yang pernah tinggal.

Selain Hotel dan Hostel, pilihan lainnya adalah Apartemen. Ini cocok bagi wisatawan yang pergi berkelompok. Dan biasanya untuk Apartemen sistim sewanya langsung ke pemilik dan Anda harus pandai memilih lokasinya, kebanyakan apartemen terletak cukup jauh dari MTR station ataupun halte bus.

Hong Kong Symphony of Light, salah satu atraksi GRATIS

Ma Wan Bridge, pemandangan dari Noah Ark

Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Liang Garden ini juga GRATIS

Wisata Murah Hong Kong
Hong Kong memiliki puluhan taman GRATIS yang tersebar di penjuru kota, berikut beberapa taman yang cukup menarik untuk disinggahi:

• Hong Kong Botanical dan Zoological Garden
• Hong Kong Garden
• Tamar Park
• Victoria Park
• Chi Lin Nunnery dan Nan Lian Garden
• Kowloon Park

Selain itu ada pula yang berbayar, seperti:

• Noah Ark
• Disneyland Hong Kong
• Ocean Park
• Ngong Ping 360

Sebaiknya mengunjungi  Disneyland atau Ocean Park bila punya budget yang terbatas?
Saya jawab OCEAN PARK karena taman ini menyajikan the real Hong Kong, selain biaya masuk yang tergolong masih murah (sekitar HKD 300 untuk dewasa sedangkan Disneyland HKD 450) disini sudah lengkap menyajikan keindahan pesisir selatan pulau Hong Kong. Mulai dari Panda Observatorium, pertunjukan Lumba Lumba, Aquarium anjing laut, Aquarium ikan 4 tingkat (ini yang sangat menarik), wahana permainan juga banyak, pemandangan laut lepas dari atas bukit. Luangkan waktu seharian untuk mengexplore Ocean Park. 

Wisata lainnya yang tergolong murah adalah Pantai, jangan dikira Hong Kong tidak memiliki pantai yang cantik. Stanley Beach salah satunya dan ini beberapa daftar pantai cantik di Hong Kong (klik).

 Taman gratis, sudah. Pantai gratis, sudah. Satu lagi yang mungkin bisa Anda coba adalah dengan ber-hiking, Hong Kong yang memiliki beberapa pulau besar kecil ini memang memiliki kontur perbukitan. Dan cukup mudah bagi pengemar petualangan untuk memulai perjalanannya. Berikut beberapa tempat yang bisa dijadikan start awal petualangan Anda.

Belanja, tentunya ngak afdol kalau acara belanja di skip. Hong Kong yang merupakan salah satu kiblat mode di Asia memiliki pusat perbelanjaan yang dipenuhi merek merek fashion dunia. Dan sekarang ini banyak wisatawan dari China daratan yang sering berbelanja di butik butik ternama tersebut. Namun, Hong Kong juga memiliki Nite market dan Traditional Market yang cukup terkenal bagi wisatawan asing: Ladies Market di Mongkok, Stanley Market, Temple Street dan masih banyak lainnya.

Wisata Culture, adalah salah satu yang paling saya suka. Menjelajahi situs-situs dan bangunan kuno adalah salah satu hobby saya di pagi hari sebelum sarapan. Hampir semua situs budaya terdapat di daerah Central Hong Kong dan Kowloon, mulailah dengan melompat ke atas tram dan duduk diatas paling depan, hanya dengan HKD 2 Anda sudah bisa menjelajah pulau Hong Kong dari Kennedy Terminus diujung barat sampai Chai Wan di ujung timur. Murah bukan. Kemudian turun di Pedder Street (27E) dan mulailah menjelajah situs situs itu dari Mid Level Escalator.

let's discover HK!!

For any Question please text at TWITTER @travelwithsugi

new 7 wonders: Komodo Island

Setelah bertahun-tahun penyisihan dan voting beberapa tahap, dengan menyisihkan 440 calon lainnya. Inilah saatnya voting terakhir 7 keajaiban dunia BARU!!!

VOTE: KOMODO ISLAND di new 7 wonders

Pengumuman "The New 7 Wonders of The World" akan disiarkan live dari ke-7 tempat pemenang ke seluruh negara pada tanggal 11 November 2011

Ayo teman-teman, klik dan vote! Jangan sampai usaha kita bertahun-tahun sia-sia. Untuk tim pemenang Komodo Island, terima kasih atas kerja keras dan presentasi hebatnya.

Komodo National Park is amongst the elite 28 Official Finalists that were chosen by the people of the world from more than 440 nominees. The race to choose the Official New7Wonders of Nature is now in its final phase and the Finalists are getting ever more creative in their campaigns to reach people worldwide.

Dragons take the Champs Elysée, splash Manneken Pis and tour Hamburg’s waterfront Photos: The Komodo New7Wonders of Nature campaign reaching out near Paris’ Eiffel Tower, in Brussels with the famous Manneken Pis, and speaking with travellers in Hamburg.

Zurich/Switzerland, April 19, 2010 - A young Indonesian woman has made it her mission to promote Komodo, one of the 28 Official Finalists in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign—and in doing so, gets up close and personal with fierce Komodo dragons.

Zeby Febrina, an animal lover since childhood, has been campaigning fervently for the lush homeland islands that make up Komodo National Park, the most important habitat for the dragons. The giant lizards can reach three meters or almost 10 feet in length and weigh up to 70 kg or 150 lbs, and their saliva contains toxic bacteria. Zeby says, “My goal in volunteering for the New7Wonders of Nature Finalist Komodo is to raise awareness of the endangered dragons because they are fascinating prehistoric monsters. People everywhere: we need to appreciate and protect the natural world around us, celebrate our planet’s diversity and keep the world in balance!”

The former model recently visited the Jakarta school attended by U.S. President Barack Obama, where she called upon the students there to vote for both Komodo and the American Grand Canyon, also one of the 28 Official New7Wonders of Nature Finalists. Zeby calls her support of the fierce dragons “my destiny” and has been travelling throughout Indonesia to encourage people of all ages to discover the magic of the Komodo dragons that so moves her, and to vote for Komodo in the global campaign.

cerita lain KOMODO ISLAND

Indonesia’s Komodo National Park includes the three larger islands Komodo, Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous smaller ones, for a total area of 1,817 square kilometers (603 square kilometers of it land). The national park was founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon. Later, it was also dedicated to protecting other species, including marine animals. The islands of the national park are of volcanic origin.

Komodo National Park Committee
Contact Information:
Esthy Rako Astuty
Directorate of Promotional Publication, Sapta Pesona Building, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat No. 17 Jakarta 10110
INDONESIA
Additional Contact Person:
Ratna Suranti

Waigeo island

Waigeo is an island in West Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about 65 km to the northwest coast of New Guinea. The other three islands are Salawati, Batanta and Misool.

The variety of the isles is immense. Right on the Equator and very close to the island of Kawe, there is a little island called Batu Jamur. This rocky peak that stands out of the sea is an el dorado for every macro freak.

Tunica's, Feather stars, Nude braches as well as bigger species like Napoleon wrasse, Murray eels and epaulet sharks can be observed. North of the Equator lies the archipelago of Waijag. Many different outlying islands offer wonderful coral gardens and many different fishes.

Experienced divers will acknowledge the difference between the Indo pacific and the Pacific undersea world. While diving you'll be meeting sleeping nurse sharks. On the northern side of the island of Uranie you can admire gray reef sharks, barracudas and schools of sleeping surgeon fish in a huge cave. North of Waigeo lie three huge atolls of Asia, Aiu and Bud. Steep slopes covered by fantastic corals are just waiting to be seen. The northern shore of Waigeo with its hidden bays and pinnacles promises the most spectacular impressions to the diver during this cruise.

The Dampier Street with its many, many coral banks offers a diversity of species, that leaves nothing to be desired. Land Adventure: Zodiac tours all around the fantastic islands, trips to absolutely untouched beaches, exploring the labyrinth of the Waijag archipelago.

Lombok Island

Beyond Bali, Lombok is a still undiscovered paradise with lush tropical greenery, which will attract every heart with fascination.

Some describe the island as the only holiday resort where visitors may relax and recover. Plenty of glistening white sandy beaches are found on almost all of the entire island boundaries, and most are rare of tropical-tan seekers. But this is not all that it offers, the smaller islands to the north namely Gili Air, Gili Meno, Gili Terawangan, and to the south-west namely Gili Nanggu, Gili Gede, Gili Genting, Gili Layar and many others which only some are inhabited, provide a tropical island holiday featuring sun-sand-sea and marine beauty.

Lombok Island is a mere 25-minute flight east from the island of Bali or a 2-hour, direct flight from Singapore. But don't let the flight time fool you-flying to Lombok is like being transported to a different era.

Like Bali, it has a beautiful surfing beach named Kuta. But unlike Kuta in Bali, which is densely populated with hotels ranging from the local inns to the five-star hotels, the Kuta beach in Lombok is remote and ideal for honeymooners. There is only one five-star hotel there where most up-market tourists stay.

Weh Island

Weh is a beautiful island located at the north western tip of Sumatra. It presents the western most part of the Indonesian archipelago - the world's largest, stretching some 4.000 km to the east.
The great attraction of this small island is its scenic beauty. Weh's rugged terrain, rocky caves, harbour views, hillside lookouts, marvellous beaches, and sleepy traditional villages all attest to these.

The island of Weh is surrounded by other smaller islands including Klah, Rubiah, Seulako, and Rondo. Together, all these islands cover an area of 154 square kilometers with the population concentrated on the main island of Weh.

Weh Island—locally known as "Sabang"—is a small, active volcanic island off Aceh, a state on the northwestern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia. Situated at the convergence of the Indian and Pacific oceans, the coral reefs around Weh teem with a great diversity of fish species. The island’s beaches are a haven for nesting sea turtles, and its waters are full of healthy populations of whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, and reef sharks.

Fast Facts

• Aceh is Indonesia’s westernmost state.
• A rare megamouth shark—so known for its enormous mouth with rubbery lips—was found washed up on Weh Island’s shore in 2004. There have only been 36 findings of megamouth sharks in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans since the species was discovered in 1976.
• Weh is the only known home to a threatened species of toad, Bufo valhallae.
• Following the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, WCS conducted one of the first on-the-ground ecological assessments of the state of the coral reefs off northwestern Sumatra’s coast.

Challenges

Weh and Aceh are located in the Andaman Sea, which was greatly affected by the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami. The catastrophe destroyed mangroves in the region and washed debris from the land onto the reefs. Other threats to the reefs include destructive fishing practices, such as the use of dynamite and cyanide, and a marine predator, the crown-of-thorns starfish, which can cause widespread damage to corals during periodic population outbreaks.

Rinca Island

Rincah, also known as Rinca, is a small island near Komodo island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The island is famous for komodo dragons, giant lizards that can measure up to three meters (ten feet) long. Rincah is also populated with many other species such as wild pigs, buffalos and many birds. The island can be reached with a small boat from Labuhan Bajo on the west coast of Flores.

It is a beautiful island situated in Flores, east part of Indonesia Archipelagos and close to Labuan Bajo. This island is featured by the small dry forest that is ideally for komodo and other animals like water buffalo, birds, pig and deer living free in this habitat. Rinca Island has been appointed to be one of the Komodo Conservation Area and now it is opened for public and the best place to visit in Flores.

Rinca Island offers the great trekking adventures which have been appointed by the special trekking track throughout the island. Trekking adventure is one of the exciting activities to explore the dry forest in Rinca Island and discover the Komodo dragons and other wild animal free living in their habitats. You will be taken care by well training Komodo rangers on your trekking adventure in this island and explore the beautiful habitats of the biggest lizard in the word.

There are options of trekking track offering to every visitor this island which is suited to the visitor requirements. Sort Track is just taking within 1 hour, medium tack will take 2 hours and adventure track will spend 4 hours to explore most part of the island.



happy new year 2009 guys.
wishing you all the best in coming year 2009, may this year give us a better lives.
yesterday is HISTORY
today is a GIFT
and tomorrow is a MYSTERY

Komodo National Park

Komodo National Park includes three major islands: Komodo, Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous smaller islands creating a total surface area (marine and land) of 1817km (proposed extensions would bring the total surface area up to 2,321km2). As well as being home to the Komodo dragon, the Park provides refuge for many other notable terrestrial species such as the orange-footed scrub fowl, an endemic rat, and the Timor deer.

Moreover, the Park includes one of the richest marine environments including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, seamounts, and semi-enclosed bays. These habitats harbor more than 1,000 species of fish, some 260 species of reef-building coral, and 70 species of sponges. Dugong, sharks, manta rays, at least 14 species of whales, dolphins, and sea turtles also make Komodo National Park their home.

Threats to terrestrial biodiversity include the increasing pressure on forest cover and water resources as the local human population has increased 800% over the past 60 years. In addition, the Timor deer population, the preferred prey source for the endangered Komodo dragon, is still being poached. Destructive fishing practices such as dynamite-, cyanide, and compressor fishing severely threaten the Park's marine resources by destroying both the habitat (coral reefs) and the resource itself (fish and invertebrate stocks).

The present situation in the Park is characterized by reduced but continuing destructive fishing practices primarily by immigrant fishers, and high pressure on demersal stocks like lobsters, shellfish, groupers and napoleon wrasse. Pollution inputs, ranging from raw sewage to chemicals, are increasing and may pose a major threat in the future.


Top 100 Indonesia Wonders of Nature - Hidden Paradisen in The Earth Planet