Phuket Island, Thailand (Phuket Part I)

Wat Chalong, Phuket

In 2009 me,my wife,my sister in law and my son went for a family holiday in Phuket. We brought my sister in law together as my wife family is currently residing in the US (short posting) and she is the only one still in Malaysia apart from my wife. We managed to get a very very cheap ticket from AirAsia . I didn't remember the detail but the total ticket price for three of us is less than RM200 including airport tax,food & fuel surcharge. Only my sister in law ticket is a bit pricier as we bought her ticket later.

During this trip also i bring my first IR camera. A goldie IR version. Was so impressed with the result. But the camera didnt survive long. My sister in law accidentally make it swim at Khai Nui Island. 

Patong beach fisherman going to the sea (IR)

Phuket is an island by itself. It is connected to the mainland by a bridge at the north side. In 2004 this island was also hit by the tsunami that originate from the earthquake at Acheh, Indonesia. We stay at Patong Seaview Beach resort at Patong Beach which is where the focal point of Phuket tsunami tragedy. Staying there is convenient as it is among the main tourist spot in Phuket.

Fisherman village at Patong Beach , this village is a bit hidden at the end of Patong Beach

While the island is small, you will need to rely on taxi to bring you to the attraction within the island. Most taxi has packages for you to choose. You can even bought island hopping packages from them. Another alternative is to rent motorcycle and tour the island by yourself (which is easy as the island is small enough, IMHO very similar to Langkawi Island)

Low tide at Chalong Bay (While waiting for food i went to capture this)

Among few attraction within this island itself is the Wat Chalong (Chalong Temple).. Chalong wat is considered as the important Buddhist temple in this Island. It is also the biggest and most ornate of Phuket's 29 Buddhist temple. Nearby to Chalong Wat is Chalong Bay which has some of the popular (but pricey) seafood restaurant by the beach.

Fisherman boat at Chalong Bay, Phuket

Few of us went to central Phuket Town. Nothing much there unless you looking for cheaper shopping location than tourist place such as Patong beach. It is just a mid size town. Among the location that we go while we were there include Surin Circle and Dalmiyah Mosque. There is a muslim restaurant beside the mosque  which is very delightful for us (as we have'nt eat any chicken/meat for the past 3 days when we visit the mosque :D). There is a sizeable muslim community at the mosque (they speak malay also in Kelantan dialek). From there we we introduced to Awang who later bring us to several muslim food restaurant within the island and also to the Phuket Royal Marina .

The Dalmiyah Mosque dome, Phuket Town

Surin Circle

Phuket Royal Marina

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Human interest around Surabaya - Kembara Jawa Timur Part VI

Sunset at New Kenjeran beach

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Kembara Jawa Timur Part I - Mount Bromo from Mount Penanjakan
Kembara Jawa Timur Part II - Mount Bromo & Ranupani Village
Kembara Jawa Timur Part III - Bromo from Gardu Pandang & Madakaripura Waterfall
Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV - Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty
Kembara Jawa Timur Part V - From Kalianyar Village to Papuma beach
Kembara Jawa Timur Part VI - Human interest around Surabaya

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This shall be the last entry that conclude my Kembara Jawa Timur series. As been told earlier, this series cover my recent photography trip to Jawa Timur which cover Bromo-Kawah Ijen-Surabaya. Surabaya is not actually part of our main itenary but it is more like a resting stop before boarding flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

In Surabaya, we cover certain area such as Kya Kya Kembang Jepun and the nearby Sunan Ampel Mosque,  Masjid Cheng Ho and also Kenjeran. The only place that i might want to repeat is Kenjeran as it is a traditional fishing village with the backdrop of Pulau Madura bridge with nearby pasar. I believe the human interest there would be fascinating to be captured and we could spend a full day there. Sunan Ampel Mosque definitely should be dropped from any photographer itenary as they didnt allow any picture to be taken there.

During our visit in Surabaya, we were accompanied by Ms Farida, a friend of Mas Kaboel, our guide. She is a very intelligent girl with a good knowledge of his city history and attraction. The most memorable part is when she explain the origin of Surabaya name (Sura = Shark , Baya = Crocodile) as it is believe in local myth that these two creatures once dwell and fought each other to gain the title of the strongest animal in the area.

An interesting observation is how cycling is part of daily lives here. I manage to capture a series of cyclist around surabaya.

ps: while it has been a while since this trip ended, few picture that is relevant for this entry has yet been processed/published in my flickr (eg Cheng Ho mosque picture,ambang kya-kya,kenjeran). Whenever i manage to publish few more related picture this entry would be updated with it.

With these picture series i conclude my Bromo-Kawah Ijen-Surabaya trip series. Would really recommend both Bromo and Kawah Ijen as your destination. Bromo is an accessible tourist destination and Kawah Ijen is a bit hard to reach but not impossible. Both place is fantastic for any photographer that interested in landscape and also human interest. And of course i definitely recommend our humble guide, Mas Kaboel / Aruna Asa.

I'm planning to go back to Mt Bromo to scale Mt Semeru this October with few hiking friends, may God bless our journey. Ameen.

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Other blog entry by fellow photographer in this trip
Dr Jamal - http://www.tembeling.com/blog/?p=1262
Shahreen - http://shahre2n.blogspot.com/2010/09/expat-2010bahagian-7episod-terakhir.html

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From Kalianyar Village to Papuma beach - Kembara Jawa Timur Part V

Belawan Waterfall

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Kembara Jawa Timur Part I - Mount Bromo from Mount Penanjakan
Kembara Jawa Timur Part II - Mount Bromo & Ranupani Village
Kembara Jawa Timur Part III - Bromo from Gardu Pandang & Madakaripura Waterfall
Kembara Jawa Timur Part IV - Kawah Ijen - A mountain of surreal pain and beauty
Kembara Jawa Timur Part V - From Kalianyar Village to Papuma beach
Kembara Jawa Timur Part VI - Human interest around Surabaya

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Immediately after returning from Kawah Ijen, we rest at our guest house Catimor Homestay. In the evening some of us wander around the village looking for photography subject. An interesting observation is how all the kids love to play badminton and their idol is Taufik Hidayat. No wonder Indonesia able to produce world champion for every generation. If every kid in every village in indonesia strive to follow taufik's example definitely whey will find another world champion soon or later.

Camera friendly kids in their school uniform

The kids also would shout about Upin Ipin whenever they know where we came from. Betul betul betul became their favourite quote in communicating with us.

In the morning afterward majority of us went to a Belawan Waterfall. Initially we though the waterfall is another waterfall that we found in the brochure which is very scenic. This waterfall is perhaps just a big waterfall gushing from a very high place 30-40m down.

A portraiture of an elder in the village

Kalianyar Village, Sempol, Bondowoso doesnt have many thing to offer for a landscape photographer like us. Apart from the camera friendly kids to the oldies in the village,they also has a natural hot water pool. Adventurous photographer might explore their coffee plantation but its off season now. When it is their harvesting season their activity would be interesting to be photographed. I interested to scout the waterfall that is featured in the homestay brochure, perhaps next time.

Some fisherman doing routine maintenance work with their boat

After breakfast, we continue our journey to Papuma Beach. Papuma beach is scenic cape located at the tip of Jember. It house the traditional fisherman village. We were told that the fisherman here normally set out early in the morning before sunrise.Here you able to catch both sunrise and sunset. However we didnt wait for either and proceed to Surabaya.

Panorama of Papuma Beach

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