My last trip to end 2019 =) I know I’m pretty late. I went to Karimunjawa island for around a week and I love every minutes I spent there. I did diving to see nemo (yes, that Nemo fish!!!), island hoping, and photoshooting with baby shark! Hahahaa. That’s one of my wishlist, so I’m super happy to end my 2019 with a check mark =)

And to start this Karimunjawa series, I guess I will share the place I stayed in. It’s a small inn (almost private because it only has two bedrooms) and has a beautiful view of nature. You can walk outside the room and voila it’s a fresh air (and seaview) =)

Ah, how are you guys doing right now? All the pandemic et cetera must be draining our energy by now. Despite all the negativities, I hope you all doing fine and happy! =) We are on this together and almost all aspects of life are collapsing. But never feel alone, we can!

Celebrating the coming holidays and blog birthday by uploading my-ohh-so-late-vacation (blame my lazy ass), but hey these are finally here!

Looking through these set of photos give me goosebumps already, since we all are struggling in rainy/gloomy days, and there is younger me in the photo facing the sun, HAHAA.

A little bit back story, it was May 2018 when we were visiting Bangka Island *again. Honestly, we didn't even plan to get here. At that time, me and my husband just wanted to get some fresh air by driving through empty roads across the beach. We stopped few times to check on some beaches, seeing if there was empty spot we can lay on until we found this hidden gem after 1 hour driving. Insane, I know!

The road was uneasy, it was full of mud (well, not all the places have pretty straight roads), we needed to go up and won hill a bit, but somehow we believed there was something good in front of us, behind the hill.

And guess what? It was all true and worth all of our efforts! This hidden gem was empty so we jumped of happiness because we could relax all by ourselves, no need to concern other people and the list of gratefulness is go on =)

We only saw few fishermen in the middle of sea, around hundred meters from us, so I doubted they see us. LOL. Since I got the beach all for ourselves, it was time to explore and take hundred of photos for sure! LOL.

If you ever want to visit Bangka Island, do explore by yourself and you'll get surprise for what you might find! I'm not sure though I can give the direction to this beach because I completely forgot on how to get there. Sorry!

This might not a very helpful post, but I hope I can send my sunny vibration through this post in the spirit of holidays! =)

x

@SonyaAnnK

Kalau kalian berpikir Onsen/hot spring hanya ada di Jawa, Jepang/negara luar sana apapun itu, kalian salah besar.

Beberapa bulan yang lalu, saya sempat menikmati hot spring yang paling alami yang pernah saya coba. Berlokasi di belakang kampung yang bahkan gak terkenal dan susah dieja namanya, hahaha, hot spring ini gak terawat sama sekali alias masih alami banget, banget. Tempatnya dikelilingi pohon-pohon dan semak belukar, dan sangat susah dijangkau. Belum lagi tanah licin yang harus dilalui sepanjang perjalanan. Tapi itu gak menyurutkan niat kami untuk kesana, hehee.

Dan ketika kami sampai di hot spring ini, gila cantiiiiiiikkkkk bangeeeettttt!!!!! Tempatnya sangat alami, luas, sepi, dan seger! Mungkin bisa disebut mata air panas alami *sisipkan senyum di sini* Saat itu hanya ada kami bertiga, jadi kami menikmati tempat ini sendiri selama beberapa jam. Kalau hujan gak turun saat itu, mungkin kami gak akan pulang-pulang deh. LOL. Kalian bisa lihat uap air panasnya gak? Itu cantik banget, saya harap kami masih bisa menikmati tempat ini lagi tahun depan, dan semoga penambang timah gak merusak tempat ini. Amien.

Tapi maaf ya, tempatnya tidak bisa saya sebutkan sebelum tahun depan ke sana lagi. WKWKWKWK. 

x

@SonyaAnnK

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If you think that Onsen/hot spring only exists in Java, Japan/overseas country you named it, well you're totally wrong.

Back in few months ago, I was able to enjoy the most natural hot spring I've ever tried. Located in the back of nonsense village in Bangka Island (well, it's not even famous and hard to spell, lol), this hot spring is faaaaaarrrr from being touch. The place is surrounded by trees and groves, and pretty hard to find. Not to mention the slippy soil all the way long. But it couldn't stop us to get there, lol.

And when we got there, it was incredibly beautiful! I mean, it is so natural, large, quiet, and so fresh! It is the real hot spring *insert big smiles here* There were only three of us, so we enjoy the hot spring ourselves for hours. If only rain didn't fall, we probably won't go home at that moment. LOL.

Can you see the steam from the photos? It's so damn beautiful, I wish we could enjoy this place again net year *fingercrossed* Just silently hope that the tin-miner won't touch this place.

But, sorry I won't tell the name of the place before I go there again net year. LOL.

x

@SonyaAnnK

In my first time visited Bangka island three years ago, I didn't even know this gorgeous desert existed. Thus, when I went to Namang district three years ago, I only visited Hutan Pelawan (you can see my article here). Too bad, I know! This place is only about 15 minutes away from Hutan Pelawan. If only I knew, I'd definitely came by sooner. But maybe this place wasn't that famous like it is now. So never mind, better late than never, right? But if you happen to visit Hutan Pelawan make sure to visit Gurun Pelawan also! It's in the same direction so you won't need to re-route.

And just like Danau Kaolin, Gurun Pelawan is also a wasted mining land so don't expect the real desert here. LOL. It is SO beautiful! I can't even say a word to curse it. HAHAA. But beware because the soil looks like clay so it will stains and sticks to your shoes, just like mine. LOL. Oh, oh, sunblock, sunglasses, and floppy hat are must bring items! Plus they can add compliment to your women midi dress :D

x  

@SonyaAnnK

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Saat pertama kali mengunjungi pulau Bangka tiga tahun yang lalu, aku belum tahu bahwa ada gurun sebagus ini di sini. Karena itu, saat pergi ke daerah Namang tiga tahun lalu, aku hanya mengunjungi Hutan Pelawan (bisa kalian lihat artikelnya di sini). Sangat disayangkan, aku tahu! Gurun Pelawan hanya 15 menit jaraknya dari Hutan Pelawan. Jika aku tahu, pasti aku bakal kesini lebih cepat. Tapi mungkin dulu tempat ini belum seterkenal sekarang, jadi ya sudahlah lebih baik terlambat daripada tida sama sekali, bukan? Jika kalian berkesempatan untuk mampir ke Hutan Pelawan, pastikan kalian juga mengunjungi Gurun Pelawan! Kedua tempat ini satu arah kok, jadi kalian tidak perlu pusing harus putar balik.

Sama seperti Danau Kaolin, Gurun Pelawan juga merupakan tanah bekas pertambangan jadi jangan berharap "gurun" sesungguhnya ya. LOL. Tapi ini SANGAT CANTIK! Aku bahkan gak bisa berkata apa-apa lagi. HAHAA. Tapi hati-hati karena tanah di sini seperti tanah liat yang akan meninggalkan noda dan lengket ke sepatumu, seperti milikku. LOL. Oh, oh, sunblock, kacamata, dan topi yang lebar adalah barang wajib yang harus dibawa!

x

hat - Forever 21

dress - H&M

shoes - Puma

First of all, I wanna say Happy Eid Mubarak 1439H for all my Moslem friends!!!!

Today's blog post is still continuing "Island Life" series which I try so hard to finish. Damn you too much data! Ops, no, just kidding, honestly I love having too many memories recorded as photos from my Bangka Island trip. But yeah, let's face it, I need times to sort them all as blog post. Hehee. What an excuse!

So today, I wanna show you the city of Pangkalpinang. If you happen to visit Bangka Island and only have small amount of time, I highly recommend you to visit Wilhelmina Park. Especially if you're a type of person who like me when visiting place have to do:

And Wilhelmina Park is the right place to fulfill them all. I can do workout, do outfit shoot (as you can see here, beautiful isn't it?), and eat a lot of snacks. This city park is clean, neat, and people friendly because a lot of locals love to spend time around here. As a people who rarely see city park in Jogja (sad) I love to be here. Hehee.

Wilhelmina park is a large park which divided into certain areas like wifi corner, a mini theater, a small river, a large empty ground, and not to forget many leafy seated area. It's so easy to get there especially when you stay in the area of Pangkalpinang. So I highly recommend this place!

I hope you guys enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!

x

@SonyaAnnK

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Sebelumnya, aku mau ucapin Selamat Idul Fitri 1439H untuk semua teman2 muslim-ku!!!!

Blog post hari ini masih melanjutkan seri "Island Life" yang sedang ku coba untuk selesaikan. Damn you too much data! Gak ding, aku seneng kok punya banyak foto kenangan tentang Pulau Bangka. Tapi ya gitu deh, untuk melanjutkan blog post-nya memang harus bersabar karena cukup memakan waktu. Hehee. Alesan!

Kali ini, aku mau mengajak kalian berkeliling di kota Pangkalpinang. Jika kalian berkesempatan untuk mengunjungi Pulau Bangka, dan dalam waktu singkat, Wilhelmina Park ini pas banget untuk jadi salah satu destinasinya. Apalagi kalau kalian seperti aku yang merupakan tipe orang yang ketika berkunjung ke suatu tempat harus:

Nah, Wilhelmina Park ini memenuhi kriteria di atas. Jadi aku bisa parkouran, foto outfit (seperti yang kalian lihat saat ini), dan makan jajanan khas Bangka/Sumatera. Taman kota ini bersih, rapih, dan memang sering jadi tempat nongkrong untuk warga di sekitar sini. Sebagai orang yang jarang lihat taman kota se-OKE ini di Jogja, aku seneng banget lah yaa. Hehee.

Wilhelmina Park juga cukup luas dan dibagi beberapa blok taman yang semuanya dapat kalian manfaatkan. Ada pojok wifi, ada panggung mini, ada sungai kecil yang mengalir, ada lapangan luas di tengah, dan tentu aja banyak lokasi rindang untuk duduk bersantai. Untuk menuju ke Wilhelmina Park juga gampang banget apalagi kalau penginapan kalian di area kota Pangkalpinang. Jadi aku sangat-sangat merekomendasikan tempat ini!

Semoga kalian suka foto-fotonya seperti aku menyukai pengambilan foto ini!

x

@SonyaAnnK

sweater - H&M

sport bra - Nike

pants - Reebok

shoes - PUMA