My Time Capsule: June 2017

24.6.17

Indonesia: Malang Night Paradise - Lampion & Dinosaurus Park

*This blog post is written both in Bahasa Indonesia and English



Newest attraction in my hometown Malang, East Java! Malang Night Paradise, the Lampion & Dinosaurs Park has just opened a few days ago. On 19th June 2017 to be exact. I was excited to be invited to explore it one day before the opening day. With only a few people there, I danced around happily while taking pictures (yeah! sometimes I don't even remember my age and behave like a 5 years old girl :p ). For you who's been following my Instagram might have watched tons of videos I shared live on Instastory at that night.

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Taman hiburan malam terbaru di kota kelahiran saya di Malang, Jawa Timur! Malang Night Paradise, Lampion & Dinosaurs Park baru saja dibuka beberapa hari lalu. Tepatnya pada tanggal 19 Juni 2017. Saya senang sekali saat diundang untuk bermain di taman ini sehari sebelum dibuka untuk publik. Hanya beberapa orang pengunjung saat itu, saya pun menari-nari kegirangan sambil memotret (iyah! kadang saya memang lupa umur dan bertingkah layaknya anak umur 5 tahun :p ). Bagi yang mengikuti akun Instagram saya mungkin sudah nonton, kan, video-video yang saya unggah langsung di Instastory malam itu. 


Welcome to the fantasy world!

plenty of beautiful photo spots!

colourful water fountain

The first thing I saw upon walking into the lampion park was the Dancing Fountain. The water splashing high and low then spinning like it was doing some kind of dance while the shades changing from blue to green to red continuously. Really pretty! The park is occupied with lampions in various designs and a million of LED flowers which are arranged beautifully. Personally I love the brightly illuminated peacock and swans that radiates vibrant colour. Other than that, there's also panda, mushroom, bunnies and many more. I couldn't stop taking pictures of them! Glad I brought an extra camera battery with me. There's abundant great photo spots.

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Saat pertama masuk taman ini, sebuah air mancur menyambut saya. Airnya tersembur tinggi dan rendah dan meliuk seperti sedang menari. Sedangkan warnanya berubah-ubah dari biru ke hijau lalu merah bergantian. Cantik sekali! Taman ini dipenuhi lampion dengan berbagai model dan sejuta bunga LED yang ditata secara apik. Secara pribadi saya sangat menyukai lampion burung merak dan angsa yang memancarkan warna cerah. Selain itu ada juga lampion panda, jamur, kelinci dan lain sebagainya. Kamera saya bekerja keras malam itu karena saya ingin memotret semuanya! Untungnya saya membawa sebuah baterai kamera cadangan karena banyak sekali spot foto yang menarik.


beautiful lampions

Malang Night Paradise

Panda family

Tunnel of Lights

Unfortunately the Smurf Village was undergoing a bit maintenance on the pre-opening night so I didn't get to see it. Fret not! The Smurfs are now ready to do some selfie with you. Move forward to my favourite part, shall we? It's the Disco Tunnel! That's how I call it even though the name is actually Tunnel of Lights. But I think disco tunnel suits it better because the row of lights dance in sync with the music and it made me want to move my body too. Yeah yeah yeah! Isn't it the coolest tunnel ever? Walking through this tunnel also felt like walking inside a time machine. Because as soon as I made it to the other end, I was suddenly surrounded by a jungle inhabited by dinosaurs! *dramatic back sound effect*

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Sayang sekali, lho, Desa Smurf malam itu masih dalam tahap penyelesaian jadi saya belum bisa melihatnya. Tapi jangan khawatir karena sekarang para Smurf itu sudah siap untuk menemani kalian berswafoto. Yuk, jalan lagi sampai ke bagian paling favorit saya di taman ini. Nama sebenarnya adalah Terowongan Lampu, sih. Tapi saya lebih suka memberi nama Terowongan Disko. Karena kelap kelip lampu yang seirama dengan irama musik yang mengalun. Saya pun jadi ingin ikut menari. Yeah yeah yeah! Keren sekali, kan? Berjalan di dalam terowongan ini juga terasa seperti melewati sebuah mesin waktu. Bagaimana tidak? Sesampai di ujungnya, tahu-tahu saya sudah berada di tengah hutan yang dihuni banyak dinosaurus!
*instrumen menegangkan mengalun*


 run for your life!

Triceratop

I slowed down my steps as I walked through the dimly lighted jungle. The mysterious ambiance made me feel like I was one of the casts in Jurassic Park movie. As I reached a dark corner, suddenly I heard a loud deep growl above me. I looked up and saw as set of sharp teeth ready to rip my head. Thankfully it wasn't a real Spinosaurus, one of the largest meat eating dinosaur ever. I walked further down and meet around ten other dinosaur species such as T-rex, Triceratop, Brontosaurus, Raptors, Parasaurolophus, Ankylosaurus, Pteranodon with height from 6 metres to 13 metres. Each dinosaurs has realistic movement and sound. Pretty awesome replica I might say. I super love the adventure that I circled back to the entrance and did the route all over again :p

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Pelan-pelan saya berjalan menyusuri hutan minim cahaya itu. Suasana yang mencekam membuat saya merasa sebagai salah satu aktris dalam film Jurassic Park. Sampai di satu pojok yang gelap, tiba-tiba terdengar suara geraman berat dari arah atas. Saya pun mendongak dan kaget melihat deretan gigi setajam pisau yang siap mengoyak kepala saya. Untungnya, sih, bukan Spinosaurus yang asli. Itu kan salah satu dinosaurus pemakan daging terbesar. Hiiii, amit-amit! Melanjutkan rute hutan ini lebih jauh, saya bertemu sekitar sepuluh macam dinosaurus yang lain seperti T-rex, Triceratop, Brontosaurus, Raptors, Parasaurolophus, Ankylosaurus, Pteranodon. Dengan tinggi bervariasi dari 6 meter hingga 13 meter. Setiap dinosarus dapat bergerak dan bersuara hampir mirip dengan aslinya. Keren! Saya sangat menikmati petualangan itu sampai sampai memutar kembali ke pintu masuk dan mengulang dari awal lagi :p


Ankylosaurus

Raptors

Tyrannosaurus 

Paleontology workshop!

some tools to work with

kids excursion

At the end of the jungle route I saw some cargo containers with different kinds of tools arranged neatly. Turned out it's the kids activities area. I was told that there will be some excursion for the kids such as digging sites, Dino Science Centre and Dino rides. How fun! I want to join them too! There's also a food court area for visitors to take a rest or to nibble assorted of snacks. Praying room is also provided in this area.

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Di penghujung Taman Dinosaurus, saya melihat beberapa kontainer kargo yang berisi berbagai macam alat. Ternyata di area kegiatan anak tersebut terdapat beberapa aktifitas seperti lokasi penggalian fosil, Pusat Sains Dinosaurus, dan wahana menunggang dinosaurus. Seru sekali, ya! Saya juga ingin ikut, lho! Di area food court, pengunjung bisa rehat sejenak sambil mencicipi berbagai makanan yang merupakan hasil kerjasama dengan UKM. Tersedia juga sebuah mushola di area ini.


Mama Dino, please feed me!
I really don't know what I was doing there :))

Malang Night Paradise

Malang Night Paradise is a great new destination for your family and friends while visiting Malang. It's going to be listed on the hippest place in Malang and become a must visit holiday destination in Malang. The park can be most easily be enjoyed by any ages. Where's the location? It's actually a part of Hawai Water Park that I've reviewed before. Scroll down for the map. So what are you waiting for? Pack your bag and go now to have fun with your friends or family and be the first one to visit this wonderful park! If you need some info or recommendation in Malang, feel free to shoot a question or two . Cheers!

~**~**~**~

Malang Night Paradise bisa menjadi tujuan baru bagi kamu beserta keluarga dan teman saat belibur di Malang. Yakin, deh, tempat ini akan menjadi salah satu tempat paling hits di Malang dan menjadi tempat wisata yang wajib dikunjungi. Semua umur dan kalangan bisa menikmatinya. Jadi lokasinya di mana, nih? Mudah ditemukan, kok! Karena berada di lokasi yang sama dengan Hawai Water Park yang sudah pernah saya ulas sebelumnya. Tunggu apa lagi, sih? Buruan berkemas dan ajak teman atau keluarga dan menjadi yang pengunjung pertama di taman yang keren ini! Kalau kamu perlu informasi atau rekomendasi tentang Malang, jangan sungkan bertanya, ya. Cheers!



Malang Night Paradise
Graha Kencana Raya, Banjararum, Malang
Opens everyday from 17.00 to 23.00
Ticket Rp 25.000 (weekdays) & Rp 35.000 (weekends and holidays)
Free admission for children with height under 85 cm.



14.6.17

Hua Hin: PlearnWan Eco Vintage Village





Shopaholic alert!

I super love night markets (okay, you may have heard this a thousand times already). While exploring Hua Hin I had a chance to visit a night-market-inspired shopping area. The name PlearnWan is derived from a combination of the English words, Play and Learn. Also in Thai words, Wan means yesterday. The initial concept is to bring back the retro atmosphere of Hua Hin in 1950s. As soon as I walked through the main entrance, I was welcomed by a yard-like with 2 storey wooden planks building on both side. There are several bridge that connects the both sides of the upper level. Every tiny ornaments are in classic retro theme. An atmosphere that contrasts with the modern city I was in some moments ago. It felt like I was flown by a time machine into the era when my grandmother was a mere teenager.


PlearnWan Hua Hin




For a while I was busy taking pictures of the surrounding before some adorable shops started to distract me. While I'm not crazy over expensive branded stuff, from time to time my heart melts when I see cute trinkets or hand-made traditional thingy at night markets. I would then started to have a conversation with myself, such as:

"Awww this is so cute! Sister would love this."
"This one would definitely look good on Mom! Don't you think so? Yes, just buy it now."
"Ohhhh these are the toys that Adrian (my nephew) has been looking for. He will be really happy!"
"Wow I really love this hand-made shirts. I don't know who would suit this but I'll buy it anyway and decide later who to give it to"

- and so on and so on until my shopping bags get so full it could burst anytime. *sigh* This is why travelling with a small suitcase never works for me. I just love buying stuff and love feeding people. LOL.

clock shop



As I walked towards the other end, some flavours wafted up my nose tickling my senses. I knew I wasn't far from my kind of nirvana. Food vendors! Thailand's wonderful cuisine perfumes the air with the sweet, sour and spicy aromas overflowing the deck. A row of wooden traditional food carts lining on my right and a row of food stalls on the left side. Now, what to eat first?


a retro food stall

Khanom Buang

fried goodies!

The list of Thai traditional food that were waiting to be savoured was endless. From Khanom Buang (the famous Thai crepe with meringue filling), Hoi Tod (fried mussel omelette), Mae Chud (steamed fish balls in spicy sauce), Thai roasted banana, Fried Chicken, Moo Ping ( pork satay), Khanom Krok (coconut cake) and a ton more. I'm fairly salivating right now while typing and imagining all these food :(


pork satay and pork sausage



After sampling some (a lot!) of the traditional food, I went down to browse around more shops on ground floor. Uh oh! Wrong move! I started the 'this cute, that cute' again. Besides souvenirs, there's accessories, beach essentials, antique watches, Shabby Chic decoration, hand-made bags, mugs and only God knows what. There's certainly a little something for everyone. I even found a corner stall full of dog themed merchandise! So sorry to drain you, dear wallet. But we are doing this to help the local economy, y'know.


great spot for taking pictures

What I love about PlearnWan besides fulfilling my inner shopaholic and satisfying my (then) happy tummy; there's abundance of photo spots. Cute colourful vintagey decorations that reminds me of my grandmother's house. Also even though there were quite a lot of visitors, it's not as crowded as the night market where people need to jostle each other just to walk through.


back to the 50s

Piman PlearnWan, picture from http://www.asiawebdirect.com/

When I posted a picture of PlearnWan on my Instagram, someone commented that there's actually some rooms to rent on the upper floor. I googled right away and went ga-ga over the room interior! Every rooms have different design which are too cute it looks like a doll house, a vintage one of course. Dang! Have I known it earlier, I would have extended my stay in Hua Hin. Oh well I might as well save the best for next time, right :D


PlearnWan, Hua Hin

I wish I had more time to spend at PlearnWan, unfortunately there was a dinner reservation waiting for us. With a heavy heart, heavy tummy and so much heavier shopping bag carrying all the items I bought, I bid goodbye to PlearnWan. I'll definitely bring my family to shop here on my next visit to Thailand.


PlearnWan
Open daily from 10am to midnight
Pethkasem Road, between Hua Hin Soi 38 and 40
(not far from Klai Kang Won Palace)


PS: the setting of this area (some of it) reminds me of Museum Angkut or the Transportation Museum that we had back in my home town Malang, Indonesia. Please do read my review 'A Haven For Vehicle Lovers' and let me know what you think :D


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