My New Sony DSLR

On Saturday (23/2/2008), I finally got my first DSLR. Went to Sony Style KLCC to purchase the Sony a200. It costs me RM1999.00 for the kit lens. The twin lens are at RM2499.00. Since I've been craving for one, without thinking much, I spent RM1999.00 for the kit lens. After reading some good reviews for the model, it is easier for me to buy it. A lot of my friends are using Canon and persuaded me to use the same brand, but I want to explore the Sony Technology on DSLR. For me, still a lot for me to learn, but I am happy with my new toy.

I haven't uploaded any photos yet which i took from the a200. Will posts it later. Thumbs up for Sony for making a good yet cheap DSLR. This is the photo taken from the internet.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentines this year is not like any other year. Since coming back from Jogja, it was so close to the special day. Anyway, I managed to squeeze some cash to find a present and a card. Will have a proper Valentines Dinner later this month. Happy Valentine's Day my love. I love u very much!

'I've never felt this happy since the day I found love. When I found you, life was so beautiful. You make my life complete. You were always there for me. No words can't describe how much you meant to me.. Together we will cherish our love forever.. I love u very much..'

Jogja: Day 06

Today is our last day at Jogja. Waking up at 8:00, we head to the nearby restaurant to have our breakfast. We saw so many people outside the restaurant, as if there was an event going on. True enough, there was an interview session held at the hotel. After breakfast, we went to the receptionist to request for the late chek out, since our flight from Solo is at 18:10.

We headed back to our room, and then we received a call from the receptionist. Rani Febriana, the person I contacted for the reservation of the hotel, would like to meet me and Syah. After lunch, we managed to meet the person. A very friendly Rani, who were so kind to spare some time with us to take us around the town, buying souvenir and Srabi (local Solo food) and took us to see the Klewer Market. After a while, we headed to the airport, assisted by Rani and the driver. It's sad to leave Jogja when you are attached to it. Anyway, all that start will have to end. This might be the end of our journey, but who knows, maybe we will be back here for the second time. So, at 19:20, we left Jogja and the sweet memories we had there... At approximately 10:00, we arrived safely at LCCT. Sapit was already there waiting for us.

Our thanks to the people involved in making our trip a pleasant one. Mbak Ria (Ibis Hotel Malioboro), Mbak Silvana (Rumah Mertua), Bp Pai Pai (Tour Guide), Bp Supar (Driver) and Mbak Rani Febriana (Hotel Baron Indah). Thank you very much.

Jogja: Day 05

Today we woke up feeling so exhausted from our trip yesterday. But one thing for sure, it was a memorable tour. Never in my life I've experienced such beautiful yet magnificent creation. Anyway, since today we will be checking out from Rumah Mertua, we decided to have our breakfast sent to the room. Having the same breakfast as the day before, we enjoyed it at the balcony. After that, I startes packing the things and ready to check out leaving wonderful memories of Jogja behind.

We took a cab to Solo and check in at Hotel Baron Indah. The hotel, located at the town of Solo is a nice place to stay. On the way there, we managed to spot two mall in Solo. One is Solo Square and the other one is Grand Solo, which is located near to our hotel. The room is quite ok for the reasonable price that we paid for. And the best thing is, there is a bathtub. I just love relaxing in a bathtub.

Later that night, we asked the receptionist for any nasi padang restaurant available nearby. Only a few blocks from the hotel, there is a small restaurant selling nasi padang. The night scenery at the hotel is quite scray. It was dark and gloomy. We managed to take away the nasi padang and eat it at the hotel. For the price of RM5.50, it is quite cheap to have nasi padang for 2 person.

Later that night, we get some rest and looking to the last day of our trip tomorrow.

Jogja: Day 04

Today, we woke up early to have breakfast. Why, because at 8:00am, there will be a tour to Borobudur Temple and Prambanan Temple. This is the reason of why we chose to travel here this year. After breakfast, we waited at the lobby for the van. Then, we headed to our first destination, Borobudur Temple. Syah could not climb to the top as there are 150 steps to climb. So, only me, assisted with a tour guide reached the top level of the temple. Upon reaching the top level, I was amazed with the view.. Got some beautiful photos.

Now, when we got down and on our way to the van, we were surrounded by the souvenir sellers. I can't barely walk with all of them surrounding me like vultures. They even gave a good bargain price for the item that thay're selling. Too bad, it doesn't interests me. Only bought a pair of Borobudur Ashtray, made out of the lava rock.

After that, we headed to Kaliruang (hope this is the right spelling), but due to the bad weather, we skip to our third destination. Prambanan Temple. We had nasi padang for lunch before going to the temple. At Prambanan, due to the recent earthquake in 2006, some temples are badly destroyed. Photos of the destruction are shown to the tourists. A barrier to prevent the tourists from entering the temple, for safety reason but still manage to view the temple. It was so beautiful.

The tour ended around 4:30 pm. And we request the driver to drop us at Malioboro Street for us to look for Money Changer. Walking back to Malioboro Mall and had dinner there. Malioboro is always a good place to visit. You can find almost anything there. Headed back to the hotel, tired but satisfied.

Jogja: Day 03

Today we checked out from Ibis Malioboro and proceed to our second place to stay, Rumah Mertua. That morning, we walked along Malioboro Street to find something to eat. Since the Mall is not open until 9:30am, we decided to find something to eat first. There are many stalls along the road selling foods such as Bakso, Bakmi, Lumpia and Es Buah. But, we could not find anything that interests us. So, Syah decided to have one Es Buah and then we bought two Lumpia. Lumpia is actually Popiah here in Malaysia. Had our 'not really a breakfast' at the food court in Malioboro Mall later.

After checking out at Ibis, we took a cab to Rumah Mertua. A boutique hotel located 20 minutes from Malioboro Street and the first hotel we stayed in, it is more secluded. We found out about this place from a blog that we came acroos and we think that the place is beautiful. True enough, it is. The room is so spacious, nice and quiet environment. The people there are friendly too. We had our luch there, a set called Rijstaffel. A number of more than 10 dishes at a very cheap price.

Rested for a while, we then planned to visit Prambanan. But since time is not on our side, we change to Kraton. Upon reaching there, we didn't quite had the chance to go in since it almost closed. What we had next is the Beringharjo Market. A place to buy cheap batik, souvenirs and others. One thing that turns us off is that the cab driver told us that there are many pick pockets. We cancelled it and then were taken to a batik shop called Bu Karti.

Feeling dissapointed, and furthermore its raining, we headed back to the hotel. Had dinner there and the rain still doesn't stops.

Jogja: Day 02

The second day of the trip, we had breakfast at the cafe in Ibis Hotel. Since the breakfast are not included with the room that we booked, we have to find our own breakfast. After breakfast, we wander around the Malioboro Mall since Syah is not feeling well that day. Caught with a bad fever, we head to Hero Supermarket, located at the Lower Ground Floor of the mall and get some medications. Then, we head back to the Hotel and rest. I managed to hooked up to the wifi from the room. Didn't really know how exactly I can find the username and password, but somehow I did it. So, the rest of the morning I keep myself updated on the internet while Syah wrapped himself in a blanket.

Later in the afternoon, after feeling a bit better, we walked out to find something to eat. Then, we came across a Bakso restaurant a few metres from the hotel Ito Bakso, a restaurant serving Baskso and other stuffs. We had Bakso Sapi. Syah had a clolourful coconut drink (es kelapa) and i had Happy Soda (a soda drink mixed with milk and syrup). Wandering around the street and then we head back to the hotel. Nothing much on Day 02 since the poor guy is not feeling well.

Later that night, we went out again to Malioboro Street. Buying what we like. After that, we headed to Mc Donald's for dinner.

Jogja: Day 01

On 31st January until 5th February 2008, the long awaited trip begins. This year,we plan to visit Solo and Jogja. Here are some of the things that I can remember and put it in the blog.

We reached LCCT around 5:00am in the morning. Just a few hours of sleep really annoys me. But the feeling did not bothers me as I'm looking forward for the trip. After check in our luggage, we had Mc Donald's for breakfast. The boarding time is 6:25am. Approximately 6:55am, we left Kuala Lumpur for Jogja. The flight took us 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Arrived at Solo Airport around 8:15am. Noted that this is the Indonesian time. The Malaysian time is actually 9.15am. Early one hour. So, now I will have to use Indonesian time instead of Malaysian time. One thing that shocks me, the airport is similar to Sungai Besi Airport. Though it delays us the landing time, due to the reason given that the traffic at the airport, there's nothing actually that makes it a heavy traffic. The airport doesn't have any metal detector door, a very old and small airport. Well, after check in and collecting our luggage, we headed to Solobalapan Railway Station to take a train to Jogja.

Upon reaching the station, the train to Jogja is at 11:40am. It will be another 2 hours to wait there before heading to Jogja. Since there's nothing much to do, even at the train station, we decided to change our plan and took a cab to Jogja for Rp150,000.00. Honestly, I am quite afraid of the Solo environment. There's small kids knocking on your car, asking for money. Poor kids. They should be at home studying.

At around 11:45am (I'm so lost even with the time), we reached our hotel in Jogja, Ibis Malioboro. Sight of relief as we register and went to our room. The hotel is quite nice. A very comfy look, cheap and very friendly staffs. We head out to check the Malioboro Mall, which was attached to the hotel. One of the earliest Mall, this mall is quite not the place for teenagers. There are three other mall in Jogja. Saphir, Galeria and Ambarrukmo. Across the mall is the Malioboro Street, where the long road were occupied with stalls selling shirts, souvenirs and etc. We went to Ambarrukmo, to check out the mall. Kinda new, it is similar to the BB Plaza in Kuala Lumpur. We had out lunch there, at a place called Hot Meal (Warung Bakar). Located at the lower ground of the Mall, it sure is special. The food is nice here. I had Smokey Twins and Syah had Lemon Chicken. For drinks, I had Berrymore Iced Coffee and Syah had a very colourful drink with jelly. What I can say is that this is actually a Blueberry Coffee. With the name, it might taste weird. But, I actually liked the taste. Hehehe..

After wandering around, we go to the other mall, Galeria to find Wendy's (Syah was looking forward for this when he first saw it). I bought a couple of CD's, which I can't find it in Malaysia. Feeling tired, we went back to the hotel and Syah had a foot massage. It cost Rp75,000.00 for 35 minutes of foot massage.

Around 7:30pm, we went out to check the Malioboro Street. As said, the long street were occupied with seller of t-shirts, belts, batik, frames etc. The price is quite cheap and you can bargain. But, do try to go as low as you can before buying. Don't ask and leave as they will yell at you. One annoying thing is that the Becak (trishaw) people always approaching you and inviting you to take a ride in their trishaw. They even follow you as you walk along the street. I really hate that. We'll, we managed to grab a few shirts a souvenirs for the friends back home.

Then, we head to have a meal at nearby stalls, Nasi Gedeg and Bebek Panggang. Hehehehe.. Bebek is actually a goose. So, just imagine eating a goose.. Hehehehe.. My first experience.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel, feeling tired and looking forward to the 2nd day of our trip.