Bonjour!

It doesn't come from Paris or any other area in France. This time, my "bonjour" is from Montreux, Switzerland. A small city across the Geneva lake which most of the citizens speak French.

I am here for a PGD (post graduate diploma) in Hotel Institute Montreux for 6 months of study and another 6 months of internship.

This is my second time staying for awhile in Europe. But this time it will be a little bit harder to travel because my schedule is very tight. However, I hope I can still share you some stories.

Firstly, I took a flight from Jakarta-Geneva by Qatar. Normal price is USD 754. This was the cheapest one that I knew. But I asked student price and I got it for USD 650 (one trip). Just to make a comparison, other flights were above USD 1000 for one trip.

From Geneva I was picked by the school picked up service. They have a booth next to the customer service on the right side.

Everything seems expensive here. But well, I hope I can survive. Fyi, I only bring CHF 500

This will be a very budgeted journey. Salut!

Post Graduate Diploma in Switzerland

Hi guys,

I will be taking my PGD of hospitality management in Switzerland by this April 6th. I'm going to fly out Indonesia on April 3rd. To be honest, I'm not prepared yet. I haven't bought any flight ticket. Neither paid my tuition fee. Fyi, my visa has just issued two days ago. I know, it's not much time left.

By the time I finish my preparation, I will write it down so that I can share everything to you. What kind of flight, how much the price, and how will I survive in there.

See ya in my next blog. :)

Curhat #1 - 100 words

Sudah lama aku menantikan perjalanan panjang ini di mana hampir semua orang yang kutemui mendecak melihat keindahannya. Terus terang, aku tak sabar lagi. Sekaligus ragu. Perjalanan ini bukan hanya  24 jam penerbangan plus 156 jam, tapi satu tahun penuh.  

Apa yang ku khawatirkan? Selimut hangat dan kasur empuk ada. Makanan 3x sehari pun tersedia.

Hmm, mungkin aku takut rindu. 

Merindukan sengatan matahari dan hitamnya debu metromini. 

Merindukan dia yang sesaat lagi tak dapat kumiliki. Merindukan DIA yang mungkin sulit kutemui bersama pemuda pemudi lainnya seperti saat ini. Dan yang paling menakutkan dalam perjalanan ini adalah merindukan perasaan rindu itu sendiri.

3D2N Raja Ampat

Hi all, firstly I'd like to apologize because I didn't finish my previous post. I really want to tell you the complete story of my journey but.. I can't remember it anymore. Nooo!

Okay, anyway I had another fun and low budget trip to tell. Raja Ampat: heaven on earth in Indonesia.

Some people said that going to Raja Ampat is insanely way too expensive for local tourist. But believe me, going abroad is more expensive.

I  took flight from JKT-Makassar-Sorong by Sriwijaya Air. Round trip would cost more or less 5 million rupiah. I arrived at 6 am 

From Sorong, I took the public transportation to Pelabuhan Rakyat Jalan Baru - 4000 rupiah

From Jln Baru I took ojek cost 5000 idr.

Took a ferry boat from Sorong to Waisai (Raja Ampat) at 9 am on monday or you can take the 2am. On Tuesday the boat will only take you to Waisai at 9 in the morning. 

Okay, from waisai we still need to go to the islands and find a place to stay. Before my arrival I got a contact of local homestay. I had been there and I would recommend that place. Good hospitality and environment. But if you want a luxurious stay you can go to a resort, which costs around 2-3 mio rupiah per person per night. 

I stayed at koranu fyak homestay in Kri island or known as little mansuar island.

You can contact:

0813 44174787 Robben (local)

Or +62 822 38019420 (Stevi, manager - foreigner)

Per person per night was 300.000 rupiah includes 3 time meals.

They provided a pick up service from Waisai to Kri island costs 400.000 per person one way. But sometimes they give a discount. 

If you want to learn diving, they also provide international diving instructures.

Diving equipments and course cost 700.000 per person. This price is for beginner diver. The better you dive the cheaper it will cost. 

For snorkling you only need to pay 50000-100.000 for the boat.

Even though we only had 3 days and 2 nights we had a lot of fun visiting some islands. I went to Gam Island to see the cendrawasih bird - you need to wake up very early 4 am and wear shoes to see the birds. Besides Gam, I went to manta point, arborek and kabui passage. I didn't go to wayag due to the distance and the limited time i had. However, I believe that there are still more to explore.  

For this whole 3D2N trip I only spent less than 10 mio rupiah per person and i'd say it worths the price.

Note: fuel is very expensive in Raja Ampat, that's why most of the budget will go for commuting from one to another islands.

Thailand: Preparation

Thailand is probably getting popular for a cheap getaway destination from Jakarta. Well, not really cheap actually,- unless you get a cheap ticket!-  and yeah I'm one of the lucky people I guess. I found Tiger Airways promotion tickets from Jakarta-Bangkok for only Rp 1. I was so happy and directly bought that tickets for me and my family. Find your ticket https://www.tigerairways.com/id/en/ or http://airasiago.com

I booked my tickets two months ago for departure on July 15th 2013 to July 18th 2013. Honestly the return tickets were not Rp 1. They were more or less Rp 700.000,00. Still cheap though. Since I only got 4 days and 3 nights to enjoy Thailand without any tour guide so I made my own itinerary by reading books and Google-ing.

Date	Time	Destination
15/7	11.50	Arrive in Bangkok
	12.00	Hotel
	12.30 - 13.00	Lunch
	13.00 - 15.00	Madame Tussaud
	15.00 - …	Explore Siam (Shopping malls)
	20.00	Dinner around Siam
16/7	8.00	Grand Palace
		Khaosan Road
	12.00-13.00	Lunch
	13.30 -…	Platinum Fashion Mall
		Pratunam Market
	18.00 - 19.30	Chao Phraya+ Wat Arun
	20.00-…	Dinner + back to hotel
17/7	9.00	Go to Pattaya
	11.00	Check in hotel
	12.00-13.00	Lunch
	13.00- 14.30	Pattaya Floating Market
	14.30 - 16.00	Nong Nooch Tropical Garden
	16.00 - 18.00	Pattaya Beach
	18.30 -….	Cabaret show
		Dinner di Pattaya walking Street
18/7	08.00 - 10.00	Back to Bangkok- Airport

If you want to go to Madam Tussaud like me, you can buy the ticket online for the cheaper one (http://www.madametussauds.com). In Bangkok, I plan to stay at Siam Swana Hotel near the shopping center at Siam, or The Mix Bangkok Boutique Hotel at Shukumvit Area (I heard you'll find another expats here). In Pattaya, we probably will stay at Copa Hotel. These hotels as I know are not expensive (around Rp 300.000,00/night). Well, even though I haven't decided yet about the hotels, I am very excited to discover this country. What makes me more excited is I'll go there with my family. <3

Intro

To give you an intro, as the title of this blog, Alfona-is-me and I am Alfona! I am a country side girl if you can say but now living in a mega metropolitan city, Jakarta. Honestly, this is not my first time blogging and I got so many blogs before I made this blog. But well, I do hope I won't lose the password of this blog - like what happened to my another blogs- or maybe get bored to write something on the blog. Finger crossed!

Anyway you might ask what kind of blog is this and what this thingy is about. First, I planned to make a travel blog or a food blog. But then I thought why don't just combine it all?
So here it is, a blog where I will write about my traveling journey, my culinary passion, and my real life! What I mean with real life is just something about what I feel, what happened, and what I want to share to you about everything!

Full of love,

Alfona.