Thursday, July 27, 2017
Monday, October 15, 2012
Amazing Korea
When I and Hasan, my colleague whom I went with, finally arrived in Incheon-Seoul, there were already people from KARI waiting for us and guided us to take the limousine bus to Daejeon. It was a 3 hours drive from Incheon to Daejeon. In Daejeon, again, the nice people from KARI was already there to pick us up and took us to Innopolis Daedeok Guest House. The GH room was very clean and spacious for me, the bed was comfy enough.
The very first participants that I met were from Gistda Thailand, these two and the people from Pakistan were then my close friends for two weeks in Daejeon. Daejeon is a clean and nice city, it was spring when I was there. It's a smart city as there are lots of Research Institutes in Daejeon. "It's Daejeon" the city's slogan, "It's" actually stands for Interesting, Tradition & culture, Science & technology (http://wikitravel.org/en/Daejeon).
The first day of the training went well and fun, Dr. Choi made it fun. There were total 20 participants from 11 countries attended this training. The subject I liked the most was the Space Policy and Space Law, perhaps because I sometimes deal with the frequency regulation stuff in my office, and because of these subjects, I now happened to know more about them. This training was not always in class, but we got to visit some of the coolest places (at least for me). KARI even let us experienced a hands-on satellite operation & tracking! We got to see their (upcoming-when we were there) launched satellite, KOMPSAT-3. So very cool experience, we got to see and even entered the Assembly, Integration and Testing room !
On weekend they took us for a cultural experience, we went to Gyeongju, it was 4 hours drive from Daejeon, I think. This place was so beautiful, this was where we learned about the Silla millenium culture. Saw and amazed by the Bulguksa Temple, stone temple Seokguram Grotto and The Royal Tombs. We experienced wearing the Royal Costume etc. But before visiting these beautiful places, we also went to visit the Satrec and Satrec Initiative ( now I know the difference between them!), and one of another coolest thing was when KARI took us to visit the Hyundai Automobiles factory, simple yet amazing.
My first Sunday there, I already planned with Tania (the Thai girl) that we would be going to Nami Island, no matter what. So that Sunday morning, we and some of the guys head to Seoul by riding KTX, went along with us was Ms. Soyoung. After some souvenirs shopping in Insadong, we just split up with the rest of the guys, they all went to the Grand Palace while Ms. Soyoung nicely assisting me and Tania to Yongsan Station where we would be riding KTX to Gapyeong station, arrived in Gapyeong after an hour, we took a taxi to the Pier. We had a delicious Ddakgalbi for lunch (expensive though) before entering Nami Island. The tickets were sold in the Immigration (ticket booths) yeah, this Naminara Republic is an imaginary country, we have to get the 'visa' to enter this island.
The visa entry costs KRW8,000 that includes round trip ferry. This place is good for family and couples. You can also enjoy a bungee jumping and a few attractions as well here. Spent the whole afternoon here with lots and lots of picture-takings. We continued our trip to Myeongdong for another souvenir shopping.
It was already pass midnight when we reached the GH in Daejeon. But it was all worth it!
Our second week of training was filled with Remote Sensing and all about Space subjects. KARI took us to visit Nagan Folk Village, NARO Space Center, Korean Aerospace Industry and Korean Air factory, so very cool isn't it? so darn lucky I was! ;-)
The closing ceremony was solemnly simple, so sad realizing that it was all over. KARI made a video clip from combined pictures with funny comments, it was beautiful, we all loved it.
The next day, some of the participants were already gone back to their home, while for the rest of those who still stayed, KARI booked us a room in Koreana Hotel in Seoul. Before checking in, they took us to Gyeongbokgung Palace with a nice lady as our guide who told us the history. We also learned how to make gold patterns which usually found printed on Hanboks.
The Koreana Hotel located close to the City Hall and Insadong is only within walking distance. The Hop On Hop Off Seoul City Tour Bus is right next to their door. There's a restaurant that served delicious Ssamgyetang close to the Hotel.
The KARI staff was still there in the Hotel to assist us to take the bus to Incheon Airport, although we were the only ones left.
Thanks so much to KARI for given me this amazing experience, and thanks as well to LAPAN for chosen me, it was an incredible trip !
Full Pictures here
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Loving Singapore
Had visited Singapore 3 times now, and loving it even more. There's always something that makes me want to go back and back again. It is a small city (or is it a country?) tourist-friendly. Most people there are friendly, some uncles were not hahaha.
My first visit was way back on May 2004, went with my co-workers, three of us didn't explore the city that much as we spent most days on the training center.
My second visit was on June 2011 with my college friend Bertha and some co-workers, this time really meant something, not for training or any work related, purely on vacation for 3 days. Bertha and I didn't waste our time as soon as we arrived there. Went to the hotel, checked in, went straight to Marina Barrage.
Nice place for capturing the Singapore city view, cuz no matter how bad the camera or you in taking pictures, the photos are just gonna be awesome ! You have to walk a bit though from the bus station, but hey there's always a taxi. ;-)
Went to Clarke Quay in the evening to have dinner with a good friend of mine, the place was quite dim for me, it's good for those who want to have a romantic dinner or just drinks, some spots were crowded though and the dinner was quite expensive (for me), anyways, it was a nice visit and dinner too ! :-)
The next morning Bertha and I spent the entire day exploring the city using the Hop On Hop Off bus, it was a complimentary from the hotel. The hotel was hotel Ibis on Bencoolen by the way. We loved our stay here, the room were small but enough for both of us, breakfast was okay.
We decided to explore Little India at 0500AM and it was drizzling ! Went shopping to Mustafa Center, a 24 hours mall. It was amazing watching the Indians start their day, if you can't stand the strong smell then don't visit the Little India, but it would be a waste, Little India has some interesting points as well as the rest of the city. Every part of Singapore is nice to checked out.
My recent visit was a couple of weeks ago, went with my cousins. This time I didn't go exploring so much, went to Orchard Rd most of the times, visited the Universal Studio as well. But I did love the food, I think my last visit was more like a culinary experience, tasted the food that I haven't tasted before. It was amazing.
I am a well-ordered person, who loves a clean environment, less smoke, perhaps that is why I love Singapore. I live in Bogor, and the city is always crowded during the day, junk everywhere, people spit, smoke anywhere anytime they like.. Despite the negativities of Bogor, this is where I grew up, where I live, where I earn money, so gotta love it anyway. And Bogor is not all bad, it has some beautiful things too, where you can't find anywhere else. :-)
To see pics from the trip, here and here
My first visit was way back on May 2004, went with my co-workers, three of us didn't explore the city that much as we spent most days on the training center.
My second visit was on June 2011 with my college friend Bertha and some co-workers, this time really meant something, not for training or any work related, purely on vacation for 3 days. Bertha and I didn't waste our time as soon as we arrived there. Went to the hotel, checked in, went straight to Marina Barrage.
Nice place for capturing the Singapore city view, cuz no matter how bad the camera or you in taking pictures, the photos are just gonna be awesome ! You have to walk a bit though from the bus station, but hey there's always a taxi. ;-)Went to Clarke Quay in the evening to have dinner with a good friend of mine, the place was quite dim for me, it's good for those who want to have a romantic dinner or just drinks, some spots were crowded though and the dinner was quite expensive (for me), anyways, it was a nice visit and dinner too ! :-)
The next morning Bertha and I spent the entire day exploring the city using the Hop On Hop Off bus, it was a complimentary from the hotel. The hotel was hotel Ibis on Bencoolen by the way. We loved our stay here, the room were small but enough for both of us, breakfast was okay. We decided to explore Little India at 0500AM and it was drizzling ! Went shopping to Mustafa Center, a 24 hours mall. It was amazing watching the Indians start their day, if you can't stand the strong smell then don't visit the Little India, but it would be a waste, Little India has some interesting points as well as the rest of the city. Every part of Singapore is nice to checked out.
My recent visit was a couple of weeks ago, went with my cousins. This time I didn't go exploring so much, went to Orchard Rd most of the times, visited the Universal Studio as well. But I did love the food, I think my last visit was more like a culinary experience, tasted the food that I haven't tasted before. It was amazing.
I am a well-ordered person, who loves a clean environment, less smoke, perhaps that is why I love Singapore. I live in Bogor, and the city is always crowded during the day, junk everywhere, people spit, smoke anywhere anytime they like.. Despite the negativities of Bogor, this is where I grew up, where I live, where I earn money, so gotta love it anyway. And Bogor is not all bad, it has some beautiful things too, where you can't find anywhere else. :-)
To see pics from the trip, here and here
Friday, March 4, 2011
From Makassar
Just got back from my trip to my hometown - Makassar. Arrived in Sultan Hasanuddin Airport on 20.02.2011 afternoon, went straight from the airport to a place that has an awesome waterfall, Bantimurung. The trip to Bantimurung was lovely, greenery on both sides, great hills, the river, combined with some traditional houses.
In Bantimurung, you can also see butterfly museum, as it is also well known for their butterfly conservation. So, you can easily spotted some butterfly souvenirs sellers in there. Too bad I didn't get the chance to see the museum as we were running late.
Went to visit the fish market called Paotere because it's actually very close to the Paotere Dock. In this area you can also see the traditional ships called Pinisi. The market was so smelly and dirty, but the fishes were so fresh and cheap.
The next day I went to visit Galesong, Takalar, small cities in Makassar, the trip view was kind of similar to the trip when I visited Bantimurung, lovely with its traditional villages.
Went to visit the famous Fort Rotterdam, the buildings had been restored on 1974, but we could still catch the old ambience, specially when we entered the Museum. This Fort turns to a hip place at night, lots of people (mostly young) hang out in front of this Fort.
Right across the street you could find Popsa - the culinary village - as they say, where you can enjoy dinner while watching the sunset, or just hang out with your friends enjoying the beach, although the food are kind of expensive here.
And last but not least, went to Trans Studio. A huge mall combined with huge indoor amusement theme park, the entrance fee was so expensive and you can only play with 15 games, but if you wanna play with all available games, they offer a package, still it's expensive. :-)The trip this time was an awesome journey. Met families and relatives, lost a dearest uncle at the same time...... happy and sad were mixed up. But I loved every moment of it, the people, the food, the view. I couldn't ask for more. Thanks to all my families that made everything was so beautiful.
More Pictures here
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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