Air Asia does offer a lot of options in term of destination now as you can reach most destination direct compare to last time. Well this time it was consider a last minute decision as I was being informed by my good friend at Jakarta, there was a new theme park located at Makassar, which is consider the World's Largest Indoor Theme Park called Trans Studio.
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| this is the card pass, where you don't have to use cash to buy stuff inside the park |
Looks interesting and I was really looking forward to visit it, would like to see what kind of adventure or challenges does this theme park can offer. So I get the cheapest flight offered at that time, and to add the fun, I plan to continue the journey and added Jakarta in the list. So it's consider a trip to conquer both Makassar and Jakarta's theme park (eventhough I've went to Dunia Fantasi previously).
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| those menus really looks good especially when you're totally hungry on board |
So I've booked a one way trip from Kuala Lumpur direct flight to Makassar then a return flight back from Jakarta. The problem is to find an domestic flight which connects Makassar to Jakarta. 1 of the options is to book Garuda but it is expensive. Since there are a few domestic flights offered, the main challenges is they only accepts Indonesian bank credit cards. So we took the risk and plan to buy once we arrived at Makassar's airport, Bandara Sultan Hasanuddin.
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| on board of the Airport Bus |
Kindly take note that this little town is quite dangerous if you travel alone. Well you don't know what to expect but it is better to travel in groups or at least a partner especially for lady traveler. Once arrive at the airport, just ignore those locals who are starring at you as most of them are taxi drivers. We tried to find any flights to Jakarta but all the ticket counter were closed. Talking about flight ticket counter which operates on office hour~ Try to catch the Airport Bus and ask the driver if they can stop at Karebosi. If yes then hop on!!! Average trip from the airport to Karebosi is around 1 hour. At the time during my visit, it was during peak hours so it took us around 1 hour 40 minutes.
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| 1 of the attraction at Karebosi |
Once arrived at Karebosi (which should be on your right), just downwards and turn right where you will arrive at Chinatown. There will be a big arch telling you that it is Chinatown. Just walk a few more meters and you will arrive at
New Legend Hostel where I would like to recommend for a budget stay yet the room condition is well organized.
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| Standard room view |
Dorms priced around RM30 per head and standard room is around RM40 - RM50 per room and they have a few types of room. As usual, breakfast will be provided~
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| seafood stall which serves fresh seafood |
So right after we freshen up, then we took a walk outside just to check on the area surrounding where we stayed. 1st thing 1st, dinner!!! Our search stops at 1 seafood place where it looks really simple which is called Haji Toha Warung Sari Laut, yet the food portion was quite large. The pricing also was not very expensive so if you planning to come in a big pax, this place won't give you any headache when you are paying for the food.
Then we proceed along the road and found a travel agent which we then bought the cheapest flight to Jakarta which using Batavia Air. And when I say cheapest, it's already costs us RM200 per head. Well that's the only option we have so might as well grab it. We went back to our room and call it a day.
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| Trans Studio view from outside |
The next day we took a cab and head to
Trans Studio. Please take note that there isn't any bus operating to Trans Studio from Ujung Pandang yet so you have to take cab. The fare was not that expensive, which only costs us around RM15-RM20 for 2 pax. The journey will took you around 30 mins to 1 hour depending on the traffic condition.
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| Sea view from Trans Studio entrance |
Trans Studio located at the beach side, combines with a shopping mall. Consider it as Midvalley Megamall where 3/4 of the building is the indoor theme park!!! Tickets costs Rp100,000 (around RM35) for weekdays and Rp150,000 (around RM53) for weekends. They will then give you a card where you need to topup you cash in it to pay for anything inside the theme park e.g food, souvenirs and other attractions.
Once you entered the gate, you'll be amazed with the Hollywood environment (reminds me when you 1st step in Universal Studios Singapore). You can see the buildings and decorations as if you are really at Hollywood. We then proceed at the FX-Travaganza where they show a 3D show which uses special background effects. You can see from the screen projected as if you are really inside the show. 1 of the show shows that you were chased by a tsunami wave. How realistic was that!!! Then it's time to try Spongebob 4D ride. Really reminds me of Extreme Log 4D ride. Not only the seats move but also the 3D screen effects and other effects such as water and wind.
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| Magic Corner entrance |
Then we took a ride at the Grand Esia Studio View, a big ferris wheel that will take you for a view of the whole studio. Since it's not really huge so it'll take you for 2 full rounds. We then proceed to 1 of the area which is Magic Corner. This area was themed as the dark age which combines King Arthur, Lord of The Ring and Harry Potter theme.
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| me and the casts |
The 1st thing that I saw when we entered Magic Corner is the mini roller coaster (can't remember the name thou). Then we tried Dragon's Tower, which is similar to Genting's Space Shot but it's just smaller. After that we tried Dunia Lain which is a ghost house and another fast ride which I can't remember the name as well.
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| view in Lost City |
We then proceed to another area which is called Lost City. This themed area is just like in Indiana Jones movies. We tried a few rides such as Jelajah, a flume ride as similar as Sunway Lagoon's Niagara Falls Flume ride, Safari Track where you will ride a jeep and it will take you around Safari on a track and also Rimba Express, with colorful cartooned theme forest.
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| The Cartoon City buildings |
Next area that we covered which is The Cartoon City. This themed area was created similar as if you're in Disneyland with all the cartooned buildings and surroundings. There are a few rides here that are quite interesting to try. 1st is Esia Karosel, just like a normal carousels in other theme parks. 2nd is Ayun Ombak, a boat ride where it will twist and turn as if the boat was pushed by the strong wave and also Angin Beliung, a seated ride as similar as the one in Genting Highlands.
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| Fisherman's ship at Port Paotore |
After we've covered all the areas in Trans Studio, it's time to make a move. We planned to visit Pantai Losari and Fort Rotterdam. But it seems we were lost and arrived at Port Paotore where you can see huge big fisherman's ship at the port.
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| insight view of Fort Rotterdam |
During night time we head to Karebosi and took a walk inside the mall. Looks like there's Carrefour in the mall so we bought a few food stuff to eat inside the room. Not much to do during night time so we call it a day as tomorrow we need to catch a flight to Jakarta
That covers 1st day of my trip, will continue back in Part II for 2nd day of Theme Park getaways - Dunia Fantasi Jakarta
for more pictures on this trip, kindly refer to my Facebook photo album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045086&id=1372841986&l=4608395a10
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