Su ;: May 2015

Credits: Captions labelled with hashtags (#) indicate that the pictures are taken by my friends/myself using Loh's camera.

Day 1: Pulau Harapan

FYI: Pulau Harapan is one of the island in Pulau Seribu which means a "thousand island".

Arrived at the Muara Angke Jetty around 4 am in the morning since we wanted to avoid the unexpected horrendous jam of Jakarta. And just like typical jetties, the sea was littered with waste and it was so pungent and dirty yuckks. Really hate those uncivilised people throwing rubbish all around and polluting the sea.

Sooo anyway, we were escorted by our usher who leaded us to the ferry. The ferry actually only start to depart from the jetty at around 7.30 am.

♥ Travel tips ♥

Bring along your cap/hat, sunglasses and stock up on sun protection creams and lotions. Wet tissues, napkins and antiseptic sprays are recommended as well for your eating/snacking conveniences.

# Muara Angke Jetty

# The morning sunshine welcoming us.

The view again

I personally enjoy boat rides, especially at the front deck where you can feel the breeze and also indulge yourself in the beauty of the magnificent sea. I watched the sea glistened under the beautiful sun ray and ripples forming as the boat moves. Ahhh... simple pleasure in life :P

# The sky merging with the horizon of the sea

It was damn freaking stuffy inside the ferry. There were 2 levels in the ferry. We opted for the higher floor but there were no seats available except for matted floor and the height of the roof is approx. 165cm. Beware of your head and make sure you don't crash your head into the roof when moving around.

After having seated for too long, the butt-ache came so I decided to head outside the sheltered place to the deck outside for some air and behold the sea.

# The uber stuffy ferry

Something to match the seawater

♥ Travel tips ♥

Take seasick pills prior your boat ride if you are prone to motion sickness.

At around 11.15 am, we reached Pulau Harapan. We were served with fried Ikan Bakar, some keropoks, hard-boiled egg and some sort of curry. After that, we check-in into our homestay, settled down and gone to the sea for snockelling.

Arrived and we got these for lunchie.

Our main activity of the day was basically just snorkelling . We went to 2 different places to snorkel around. Get to see the corals and some fishes in the sea. The overall experience was still fine.

We later on settled on another small island where the sky turn dusk to watch the sunset.

# Cloudy sky again

♥ Travel tips ♥

Wear flippers to avoid getting in contact with the spiky creatures and corals beneath you. And maybe getting some bread crumps can attract you some fishes :)

After that, we return to our homestay for a shower and rest. Later on we were served with dinner at our place too.

Curry fish, prawn skewers, veggie soup and some grapes as dessert.

Around 9.30pm, we went to the open space for bbq as supper and we were served with Ikan bakars. *we can really eat, don't we?*

The view nearby the place we had bbq.

Day 2: Pulau Bulat, Hoki Bak Kut Teh, National Monument Indonesia (MONAS)

So we woke up early to catch the sunrise at 5.30am. The sky wasn't clear as it had rained on the previous night. Anyhow, it was still a beautiful and mesmerizing sight.

# Catching the sunrise. No clear sky but still beautiful

Views, views and views!

Anddd the place here is so perfect for the pictures where you can see in postcards.

# Picture-perfect sceneries

Cute houses

Was lacking of paper and paints to draw this

An array of boats

After that, we departed again to Pulau Bulat which took around 10-15 minutes from Pulau Harapan. It sucha waste that we didn't bring along our clothes for a change. The seawater was soo clear and beautiful that it was so tempting for me to jump into the water for a swim! I'm sooo crazyy for beautiful beaches and sea!

# Perspective.

# Perfect for a wedding photo, ain't it?

So lovely!

JUST LOOK AT THE SAND OMGGG I SO WANNA BRING SOME BACK ALREADY

Clear water.

Loveeee the seawaterr!

The water is so crystal clearr

CAN YOU SPOT THAT STRAND OF HAIR-LIKE THING? IT'S SO CLEAR OMG

Some abandoned resort

Stairway to the sea. Gotta love thiss

Serenity

Seashells!

Tell me how can you NOT love this island?

# Beauty

# Indeed a summer paradise

# Don't you just want to go for a swing at this beautiful island?

# Although it's just a pretty small island but it's so beautiful and clean

Ohhh whyyy hello there

Shimmering seawater

Look at the shadess of blue

Going back to the main island

# Back to the main island to return back to Jakarta city.

Our foodie

So we left this beautiful island briefly. Good moments always pass in a blink of an eye.

After that we left Pulau Harapan and took the painstaking 3 hours of boat ride back to the jetty at Muara Angke.

Back to civilisation. Was welcomed by the hustle and bustle city and we decided to go for Bak Kut Teh in the city. We ordered 2 Bak Kut Teh (Soup) and 1 with Black Sauce and their homemade tahu.

The Bak Kut Teh.

After the sky turned dark, we visited the national monument. There were many vendors/ stalls and mats spreaded on the open space selling merchandises, souvenirs and many more.

♥ Travel tips ♥

Beware of pickpockets.Watch over your belongings while you're exploring this place. Pack your bag in front of you so that it is always under your supervision. If you're bringing your kids remember to keep 100% attention to them because the place might get crowded.

The gate was closed to the Istiqlal Mosque so we didn't get to visit this place, much to my disappointed.

*FYI The Istiqlal Mosque is the biggest mosque in South-east asia.