Day 4: Jungle Fever, Taman Safari Indonesia

After 24 hours in Singapore, having a blast even though we've only had a day, which is so short, the last destination awaits. We're going to Bogor, Indonesia. 

Before anything and everything else, we made sure we know how to count their currency!

From Changi Airport, we flew for one hour to Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. From here, it's a four-hour travel by car to Puncak ( pronounced Pun-jak) in Bogor-Cianjur-Sukabumi regencies in the province of West Java. One thing I can say, the traffic here is worse!

This is what we're most excited about because we're gonna be staying in a caravan in the middle of the jungle. Awesome, isn't it?

Taman Safari Indonesia. The word "safari" is a given. It's a park full of animals roaming around. But we will be staying at Taman Safari Lodge in the middle of the jungle where you will just hear crickets at night. And occasionally, elephant sounds.

The caravan

What's great about the caravan is that they also have the amenities of a normal accommodation, with free tea and coffee making facilities, toiletries and linens. We don't need the air conditioner since we're up in the mountain and it's freezing cold!

Safari Lodge toiletries

It is a little compact and crowded for us four but it will do. Besides who needs a big space if you're on below zero degree temp. It really super cold!

After checking in and settling ourselves in the caravan, we went to the nearby Restoran Caravan for dinner. We're starving! 

Lamb satay

I ordered teh susu halia/milk ginger tea because it's freezing cold!

After dinner and feeling the day's toll on our fragile bodies, it's time to sleep and rest. It's another long day ahead. 

Experiencing the Indonesian traffic, the long ride up the mountain of Bogor sitting a long time in the car, the darkness along the road while our driver tried to locate the safari lodge, and the notorious language barrier strikes again (since we're so deep in the West Java provinces where mostly no one knows English). 

Welcome to the jungle... really!

Tomorrow, the animals will roar, literally!

Day 2: The Brekkie, The Japanese Garden and The Animal Park at Colmar Tropicale

After our first well-rested night at Colmar, I prepared myself for a long day ahead. I woke up early, excited, not of the activities of the day but because of the breakfast. 

We were guided by the staff to the buffet breakfast and I can say, for the hungry, it's a food haven. So many choices that I could not decide what to eat first. 

Needless to say, I stood for my second serving! I'm full already but I can't seem to stop eating!

Pasimple lang getting my second serving.... 

After that well-deserved brekkie, we strolled the village again while waiting for the van that will take us to the Japanese Garden. 

The view from the lobby while waiting for the shuttle van

The shuttle van

For RM12, you get to enter the French village, Japanese Garden and Botanical Garden. It's build to mimic how a garden will look like in Japan, nice for photos and you can rent a kimono for RM20. Other than that, nothing much. It's just a garden on top of a hill. Oh, and there's a lot of uphill walking.

After we check out of the resort, since the check-out time is 11 a.m., we left our bags at the safety of the lobby staff before we went to see the Animal Park. It's almost noon but we've managed to take time to go see it. Well, the brochure said "animal park" so we expect to see animals, as in lots of them and in numbers. But imagine our disappointment, Steph, Jen Mitch and myself, that there's only a couple of deer and rabbits on the site! OMG, I should have just rented Bambi and watch it in my room, or I should have just buy a rabbit's foot for luck! In which case, well, photo op is a must since we're already there!

Disappointed in the the animal park but I enjoyed the swing like a kid!

But overall, our two days in Colmar is amazing. It's normal to be disappointed sometimes because that's life. No travel is ever perfect and there will always be bumps along the way. 

See you soon, Colmar! Now it's time for us to go down Kuala Lumpur.

Happy travels!

Day 1: Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills, Malaysia 2014

Hello, Malaysia! It's a breezy February night when we arrived at KLIA. This is my first time travelling with my office mates Jen, Steph and Mitch and I've organized the trip so I'm a bit nervous about that. It's the beginning of our one-week, three-country backpacking adventure. First stop: Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills, Kuala Lumpur.

The facade of the village from the entrance.

Inside Colmar...

Colmar Tropicale is a French-themed village replica of the original one in France. It is 2,700 feet above sea level amidst 80 acres of rainforest with its medieval and picturesque surroundings that brings you back to an era steeped in culture and romance. We opted to stay for two days to give ourselves ample time to check out the place and have as much photo op as we like.

Our room was awesome! We've avail their two-room en suite with bath tub and a nice view with it! 

After a much-needed rest from our midnight flight and almost two hours of land travel (mind you, there are so many zigzag roads to reach it!) we went to check out the whole village.

On travels like this, after sightseeing and so many photo ops, we're hungry. So we dined out at the L' Orient, one of the five restaurants inside the village.

It's a very great first day for us! After dinner, we'll take our leave and be awed at the comfort of our room as we sleep the night away. Tomorrow will be another awesome day at Colmar Tropicale!

Happy travels!