Club Huis - Puncak

The logo

Hammocks between pine trees

Hello again

The food stall

Outdoor area

As I promised on my previous post, this time I would like to write about Club Huis, the charming café near Pesona Alam Resort & Spa. Actually at that time, we didn’t have any plan to drop by but when we drove up the lane to the resort, there was a banner telling us to turn left – and we followed the banner wkwkwk (we arrived earlier than the allowable check in time anyway). The cute café is located in between the pine forest – a little bit hidden from the main road but if you wander around the pine forest, you wouldn’t miss it.

Knickknacks

The seating areas - indoor and outdoor

A barbecue corn stall was the first sight upon the entrance, offering simple traditional delicacies that brings back the old-time. Few old bicycles and wooden ducklings welcome us to the café. Across and on the left side of the cafe, few white-washed-wooden chairs and desks are placed for those who prefer to enjoy the vast greenery of pine forest and basking under the sunlight and cold breeze. Few hammocks that are hanging between the trees lured us to sit and rest our tired bodies from the journey. At far, we saw some workers were doing the pavement job that leads to another road. On the back porch of the café, few patio chairs blend well with tables made from log, some with garden parasols that provide shading. On the other side, there is a rabbit hutch for kids to play with.

The vintage indoor setting

Charming isn't it?

Enough enjoying the sight outdoor, we went in for order. Inside, the small room is only adequate for 3 groups of visitor but the design are charming. Antique stuff with various kinds of knickknacks decorates the room and shelves. Frames in various sizes are filling the walls with big plush sofa ready. I couldn’t hold myself – the place is totally instagrammable. The foods and beverages here are pretty standard with reasonable price tag too. Enjoying the view with a bandrek or ice blossom tea here is the best way to spend the weekend away

The bandrek

Entrance to the club

Love this sign ^.^

Pesona Alam Resort and Spa - Puncak

Welcome to Pesona Alam

The main road

Hello everyone…how is your day? For me, I still feel refreshed after spending a short weekend at Puncak with family. OK, for those who doesn’t know, Puncak is a famous mountainous weekend retreat for Jakartan and its surrounding. It is cold with plenty natural attractions and it has so many restos/cafes scattered around for you to have a taste. It is just 1hour drive away from Jakarta – if no traffic jam (that means you should leave quite early – since the traffic police often opens and blocks the road to and away from Puncak on certain time frame to decrease the traffic congestion around Puncak). Yes – this place is actually a nightmare for driver (especially a new one) despite its charms to many.

The pine forest

The whole complex from the hotel room balcony

So last week we…finally…able to spend a night at Pesona Alam Resort & Spa (it is always fully booked since its opening and getting few rooms without prior reservation – especially on weekend – are impossible). Not only can be considered as a new hotel (yes – I would prefer newly built hotel especially in the cold area – wouldn’t like to sleep on a damp mattress with molding smell in the room), Pesona alam is perfectly located just a drive away from the famous Taman Safari Zoo and it boasts classic chic design that is very much instagrammable. Nah – did I catch your full attention already (> , <)   

The kids pool in the villa

The family pool in the villa

Yeah - beanbag to float

The entrance to the resort is sandwiched by scarce pine forest which is getting thicker the further we go. Not far from the entrance, there is a cute café on the left side of the complex (will write bout this soon) while on the right side, we can see a row of villas. The villas come with 1 to 3 bedrooms, in which each villa has kitchen, dining room, living room, and a small terrace, with a country-type of design. Natural color is dominant with the usage of wood panel and steel plank. It is minimalist but still oozes the coziness.

The hotel room

The bedroom of villa

The facade and inside of the villa

The bedroom comes with hair drier, industrial shelves to put clothes and stuff, comfy bed and linen, air conditioning (Puncak is not as cold as it used to be and I switched on the air-con so I could cuddle up under the blanket), and basic toiletries. The kitchen itself is equipped with rice cooker, microwave, electric stove, electric kettle, fridge (with refreshment that we can have – free of charge), water dispenser (hot and cold), tableware and some cutlery. Unfortunately, they didn’t provide cooking oil, dish washing detergent, knife and seasoning so if you want to have a cooking fiesta, you gotta bring your own stock or run to the nearest convenient store for it (about 5min drive from the villa). Another lacking from the kitchen is they only provide one electrical outlet so we couldn’t have simultaneous cooking (they provide plenty of electrical outlets around the villa – but that means you will need to plug your kettle behind the door, a microwave at the corner of working desk or probably you will need to move the rice cooker to the middle of the living room – at least that was what we do when we stayed there LOL).

The trampoline

Pony ride - with a small fee

Halimun Lounge

For indoor villa entertainment, they provide flat LCD on each room – yay – no more fighting over the remote, plus another one on the living room, all with cable tv subscription too. Outdoor, they have 2 swimming pools, the kids pool and family one. They have a lounge with fireplace where we could sit and chitchatting while sipping the free-flow hot bandrek (a Sudanese traditional beverage that is perfect for cold weather) and nibbling a steam cassava or sweet potatoes. One minus thing is the fake fireplace otherwise it would be cool ^^ Beside all the above, the villas have a beautiful landscape in which you can enjoy while lounging on the purple-beanbag placed outside the villa…ah…heaven (> . <)

Awesome isn't it?

Part of the villa's garden

The landscape near the villa

If you are looking for something more convenient, you can opt for the hotel rooms instead. Located across the villa (you could use the golf-car as the free shuttle to and forth), they offer 2 types of room to choose. The room size is standard with standard amenities as well such as flat LCD with cable, air conditioning, SDB, electric kettle, hair drier, fridge (no free stuff here ha ha ha) and toiletries. Again, with minimalist interior which is not much different than the villa, the room is comfortable for 3 adults (they have a long sofa-bed in each room). Industrial design can be found on each floor, but the look is softened by - again - wood panels and natural colors around the hotel. The sofas and ornaments placed on the lobby bring out the classy charm too.

Get Bengawan Solo black coffee for free from Club Huis for staying in the villa

Yes - this was what we do...sitting and enjoying the view

Since the hotel is nestled on the top of the hill, the mountain-over-looking lobby (Halimun Lounge) is one place that you definitely can’t miss – especially if you like soc-med. The pool rings-out the lobby gives the perfect view to the mountain, lustful greenery and amazing sunrise – especially if you sit on the round ottomans on top of the pool. The hotel utilized the landscape perfectly by building its hotel few levels down from the lobby. This hotel provides spa, resto, pool and gym, outdoor lounge and for family with kids, no worry since there is plenty to entertain the kids from kids club (they have special performance for kids every weekend), mini football arena, mini outbound and trampoline, bike rental and of course a pony ride.

The small football field

Grand piano in the resto

 I hope you enjoy your stay here – just like us *wanna get back there already    

Pine Forest - Sentul

The Pine forest

Hello again (^.^)

The road to get there

Actually I planned to postpone writing bout this place until I'm quite free (hectic Monday but u wouldn't hear me complaining bout it) but since there were plenty of questions from my friends, asking all sort of questions bout this place, then here it is ^^

Picnic yay

How to get there:
Just take the highway to Bogor and exit at Sentul Selatan, then turn left and follow the direction given to JungleLand Sentul (basically just follow the main road for about 6minutes) then turn left again. Follow the road for another 2minutes (don't fret - there are plenty of signage around). Then turn left when you arrive at the T-junction (T-intersection), follow the roundabout and take the first left-turn. In several hundreds of meter, you will arrive at the parking space for JungleLand. 

The camping ground

Turn right into a small uneven road and follow the road until you meet another T-junction (there was a banner of satay seller - I hope the seller still sell satay when you go there LOL). Then take the right turn (if you see a signage about hotspring then you are on the right track). Just follow the road until you see a cluster of pine trees on the right and left sides of you, then you will arrived at your destination

I guessed - autumn will be a perfect time to visit this forest since all leaves turn greener

If you want to go to the hotspring, just follow the road for another hundreds of meters ahead.

The newly-built & clean prayer room & restroom

Entrance tickets:
For the pine forest, the entrance ticket was IDR10k/adult and IDR 4k/car. When I went there, kids were free of charge. For the hotspring main gate, the entrance ticket was IDR 10k/adult and IDR 4k/car. Again, when we went there, kids were free of charge. To use the hotspring, the ticket was IDR5k/pax in which you can use the communal open hotspring. However, if you wanted a private pool like us, we paid another IDR100k/family-pool/hour

The humble foodstall

Pine forest:

To get the maximum enjoyment here, you should bring your own food and mat, and have a picnic here. But in case you forgot, there are kids who rent out the mat for IDR20k/usage - as long as you want it. However, for foodstall, they mainly sell instant noodle and snack with beverage. So if you are looking for some proper meals, then you better bring your own. 

Hotspring:
For the hotspring itself, I have nothing much to tell. Since we chose the family pool, I like how they cleaned the pool after usage, so the water which filled up our pool could be considered new. It only uses bamboo curtain blind to separate each pool and you have to walk few steps to reach the changing room (so mind your clothing before dipping yourself into the pool). Each pool has two taps, the cold and the hot water in which allow you the option to choose how hot you want your water to be, but they only have the cold one in the changing room (which felt refreshing after being boiled in the pool).

Careful with this pine-worm

Sorry no pic on the pool - it was for private collection LOL but I hope you enjoy the post (I know - I kinda rushed the writing)

The pavement to hotspring

Yes - bring back your trash ya - NO littering

Curug Country - Bogor

How could I complain for getting lost...*sigh*

Hello ... to you who loves Monday ^^ 

This time I wanna write about our adventurous day-out last weekend. It'd been a while since our weekend trip and I was sooo bored at home. Actually I (and my colleagues) had planned to go to Bandung on the first weekend in April which was cancelled on last minute (aarrgghhh...I was so looking forward to it) and since we'd had no plan last weekend, I kinda spurt an idea to my hubby for a short trip around Bogor.

The stone steps from parking lot

We surfed around the internet, found several places to consider and agreed to visit Curug Country (which looks instagrammable). Lucky I found this blog which describes very clearly on how to get there...yes...you better check his blog out. Big thanks to him (especially the GPS coordinates) that we managed to arrive at the destination without a fuss. Ok - we did get lost - not lost actually, it was just a wrong turn LOL, probably the Google Map showed the shortcut.

My hubby - helped all of us crossing the river

Normally I would be grumpy...got lost after 3hours of drive from Jakarta (with lunch break in the middle) but geez...the view was breathtaking and I just forgot bout the sore on my bottom for sitting for wayyy too long and was busy clicking the camera button on my mobile. Shortly after taking the wrong turn, we arrived at the destination - please do stop and ask the neighbour - they were friendly and willing to give the direction.
 

The trail from river to the waterfall

We parked the car at a small rocky area and walk down the narrow stone steps before continuing on a clayey forest trail. The trail stops at small river, about 3m wide and here we gotta cross it. The current was quite strong, about 25cm deep, but there were big rocks that helped the crossing. After that, we continued strolling on another trail (careful please - it was narrow and the clayey trail tends to be slippery) before went down on tens of stone steps (going down was easy - going up was tiring wkwkwk *I still have a sore thigh right now)
 

Awesome isnt't it?

Sweat and tiredness was soon forgotten when we reached the bottom. The waterfall wasn't as high as others but it fell over different band of rock which was quite a sight. Too bad, there wasn't a safer way to go under the waterfall so that we could have enjoyed the refreshing splash (there was a small trail which was considered dangerous by my hubby). So we moved and let the girls played on the lower part with the calm water.

The girls were enjoying themselves

Ah, before I forgot, please check your car (especially the tires) before leaving since some road were rocky and uneven and wear your sturdy shoes/sandals since the trail was slippery. There were small food vendor at the parking lot and at the waterfall (with firewood - ehm my hubby said the coffee tasted better ha ha ha) which sells instant noodle and beverages. But in case you are bringing your own food/beverage, please...please...please bring back the trash. It is a pity seeing such a beautiful place are being loitered by trash. Ah...one more thing, the mosquitoes were quite persistent

Enjoy! 

Kuntum Nurseries - Bogor

Inside the park

Hello everyone…how are we doing in this lovely November? Us…we are preparing for the final semester exam (well – it’s my girls actually – I just cheer on them and prepare piles of practice papers to them to do ha ha ha). We are so looking forward to the year-end holiday – though we have no plan set for it until now except spending few nights after the exam out of town with family. But in case you are starting to wonder where to go for the December holiday…nothing far but yet perfect for family outing, perhaps you could consider Kuntum :-)

At the gallery

 

We came here a week ago when we intended to go to Puncak but the traffic was sooo terrible and I was sooo hungry at that time, so we enrouted to Bogor instead. We stopped at Kuntum Nurseries (at Jalan Raya Tajur No.291, Bogor) with big green eye-catching billboard on our right side of the road. Driving into the allocated parking lot, we didn’t expect the place to hold interest for us (well – it is a nursery – though I love flowers and all but I thought that was all). Stepping out from the car and taking the surrounding, I told my husband that we might need to find another place for weekend but we decided to lunch here (too hungry to be picky wkwkwk). Not much option were available for lunch either, since most of them offered similar dishes so we settled for the most corner stall – near the bakery corner, having Sundanese meals. The lunch was good with big portion and standard pricing (but the preparation took so long – or probably because I was too hungry so I felt I waited forever for the meals to come). If you fancy fishing, you could fish in the pond next to the food stall.

Finished our meals, we strolled around the nurseries and arrived at the open gallery. Here, they showcased variety of wooden furniture and knick knacks. But I love the building concept, open wooden building with less walls and fish ponds right outside the building. We took our time there just sitting on the porch, enjoying the view and the breeze. If feeding and watching fish is not your cup of tea then fish-spa might be something that you could try there. Further inside, we can enter into the recreational park by paying IDR25k per person and you can borrow the farmer straw hat for free (take it – I know it doesn’t go well with your style but it was hooot out there. For me…I took a selfie with the hat wkwkwk). The park is good (despite the sun) but they provide enough shelters here and there. There are lots of thing that can be done inside the park, from feeding the animals (sheep, cow, rabbit, dog prairie, goose, and many more – starting from IDR5k per packet of food), harvest fruit or veg (too bad – no fruit was available for harvest when we went there), or catching fish with hands (with IDR 100k, they will put around 20 small fish into the small pond for your kids to play catching fish). They also have other activities like pottery or planting, but these are reserved only for larger group of people

Felt like in Bali ^^

So...what do you think. Pretty interesting place isn't it? I would love to go there again (>,<)  Hope you enjoy the place as much as we did