This hobby of mine is definitely developed when I lived in New York City, as this city is simply bustling with world class museum
Whenever I travel, I try to sneak a visit to local museum in my itinerary. Every country will always have its signature museums or at least one national museum. When I visited Havana, Cuba, I spent some time at Museo de la Revolucion or the museum of the revolution. This museum is indeed a living history of the journey Cuba as a nation.
Besides the fascinating stories about the revolutionary period of Cuba, which highlights the significant roles of Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, this museum is located in a grand building with magnificent architecture.
As we came here straight from Santa Del Maria beach, we were a bit tired in the beginning. But then, as we arrived in this lovely museum, we spent at least 2.5 hours exploring this place and adoring its details as well as abundant information and history it displays.
the photo of the fascinating ceiling!
Here are some photos I took during my visit.
Me and Che in the background... fascinating stories about him indeed
Check out these photos and tell me what you think.
all the photos and stories are very informative
even mini - me enjoyed the visit to Museo de la Revolucion, Havana, Cuba
one of the beautiful rooms in the museum
Look at the marble stairs, the elegant columns, chandelier, and the facade at Museo de la Revolucion, Havana, Cuba
The three musketeers ..
Quite a display indeed and I guess many will definitely visit this place. As I said, we spent quite sometimes here and admired every single details they have in this museum.
Check out more story about Museo de la Revolucion, Havana, Cuba here.
Welcome back! I trust you all are well and sound amidst the unnerving circumstance we all have. Positive vibes will definitely help.
So, let me take you virtually to Havana, Cuba again. This time, we are heading to Obispo, one of the areas in the middle of Havana boasting with elegant shops, cafes and some tourist attractions. Many said that this place is very touristy and way more expensive for day to day activities. I just enjoy strolling around the area and stopped by here and there to see more interesting places along the street.
The walk started at El Floridita, the famous restaurant where Daiquiri was invented! EL FLORIDITA, La cuna del daiquiri! No wonder many famous people love spending some times here. I will surely share that on a different post, as we had lovely lunch here and I had so much to share!
As we walked around, we saw beautiful, elegant alleys lines with small but cute buildings and shops, mostly with pretty iron-wrenched balconies, unique door, and bright painted window sills and panes.
don't you just love it!
I love the cute ceramics and tiles they have here
I love the colors and the details
We passed some book stores, more cafes and soda shops (I like that), mores shops and drugstores as well.
This soda shop is really popping
As we were looking for local souvenirs as well, our local tour guide took us to Artesania Cubana, patio de las artenos. I am so in love with those cute souvenirs you can bring home.
We visited the patio de los artesanos to get some souvenirs
all these cute fridge magnets!
all these colorful mementos!
Some that I brought home
I came across on lovely bookstore with many interesting English books, like you can see in this photo.
Oh, I also stopped by at this traditional and famous drogueria or drugstore, Drogueria Johnson, which happens to be the Museo de Farmacia.
And finally, we stopped by at the local boutique to buy Guayabera, the traditional top for latinos, including in Cuba, I bought the white one made of cotton, for my hubby.
Guayabera, the traditional top for Cuban man. I got one for my hubby :)
So, do you enjoy it so far? What do you like the most about this area? Do you think you will stroll around here as well?
Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the linky party!
Hope everyone is well and remains calm, cool and collected during this pandemic. Things are a bit out of control again these days and we do have to remain positive!
One way to keep me happy is by looking at my traveling journal and photo as well as video collections. I fully realize that I haven't really shared many of them in my blog. I stumbled upon my files from my trip to Havana, Cuba, in summer 2018.
Boy, how I miss traveling and how much I haven' t shared about Havana in my 4-day trip. It was done on my last days in the US, before heading back home to Indonesia in August 2018. Together with my dearest sista in NYC, Erma, I took the liberty to explore Havana. Well, 4 days is obviously not enough but we tried to enjoy what we can.
One beautiful corner at Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Havana
So, on the first day, we arrived already midday. We went directly to the hotel, NH Capri. After getting out of the airport and change the local currency as they have a separate monetary unit for international tourists, we headed to the hotel and after checked in and rest for a while, we walked around the area and went to Hotel Nacional de Cuba.
Being around since 1930s, the hotel is indeed an icon for Cuban splendid and colorful history. Its elegance is outstanding, you can easily spot it from afar, even from the famous highway El Moleçon. It has been graced by famous names and big personalities from all over the place, including Prime Minister Winston Churchil, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gradner, and more.
Overlooking the backyard of Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Havana
Here are some more photos you can enjoy.
These ones were taken around Hotel Nacional de Cuba, one of the beautiful and historical landmarks in Havana, Cuba.
After strolling around the area, we sat down at the bar and chilled. I guess the one that visited was View Bar or the Hall of Fame. The place is cozy and surely filled with many memorabilia from the past.
I am writing more piece about my trip there as well. It was indeed a memorable trip for me and Erma. Hope more stories will be ready soon.
Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the linky party.
When you read the title of this post, I bet you have a clear vision of what you will see. Nevertheless, being there myself at the island (well, with my family actually) and witness the amazing creation of the Almighty.
the 4 of us
I was spending a little quality time during the weekend with my hubby, Bo et Obi. We spent some times at the Green Bay resort, for my diving trip and test with the night dive and for a weekend away from the city. We certainly had memorable days and here are some of the happiness and joy I captured.
How do you like this island? Here's the shot I took from my hubby's drone. The island is indeed lovely, right. Wait until I share the diving photos!
One corner of Tanjung Putus Island
For sure I will bring more photos and story, from above and underwater as well. Just bear with me as I am in the middle of so many deadlines as well LOL. But I feel like I have so much to share and I do hope I do get a chance to do so.
Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the link party !
Traveling during the Pandemic and Being Google Local Guides - Interview with SEA Morning Show
Hi everyone...
How's February so far? It has been a wonderful month full of readjustments, surprises and of course hard works. Office is as demanding as always while on my personal side, I have some self-development activities that I have committed to do, joining the national leadership training program.
Meanwhile, one day, one of my friends from the social media groups contacted me and requested me to be one of the hosts in SEA Morning Show, as part of SEA Today. SEA Today or South East Asia Today is a web-based streaming television broadcasted in South East Asia region. Owned by Telkom Indonesia, this TV show displays and broadcasts news and information relevant to the public in SEA region. Launched in 28 October 2020 by the Minister of State Enterprise of Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Erick Tohir. SEA Morning Show is a daily program that broadcasts from 6 - 9 AM and distributed in 10 ASEAN Countries.
Getting ready for the Interview with SEA Morning Show
So on February 16, I got a chance to have the interview with SEA Morning Show hosts and discussed about being a travel blogger as well as Google Local Guides. It was fun indeed! We started the conversation with how fun it is to be travel blogger and how, in the first place, I become one. Frankly speaking, I have been traveling around with my parents since I was a kid and we even had trips with the big family for certain occasions. The fact that later on I join the MoFA and become a diplomat makes me get even more opportunity to travel around the world.
As it apparently runs in my blood, my hubby and I started traveling with my family even since my kids were babies! My son, Bo, travelled and flew from Melbourne to Jakarta since he was 40 days old! Of course considering that he and I were in great condition and fit to fly. Then my daughter Obi has similar experience, too. Since early days, I have taken her to go places. She was born in Geneva, Switzerland, traveling around Europe has been one of our cups of tea. I remember we went on a 7-day trip around Cinque Terre and Tuscany , including Pisa as well as Firenze area, in Italy with 4-year-old Bo and 5-month-old baby Obi. It took a lot of preparation but we love the trip. The kids have been super wonderful along the way!
My love for underwater world..
I also shared some places I have visited, those that have captured my heart and forever fondly remembered. Of the 57 countries (and counting!) I have traveled so far, every place is of course unique. It has been my dream to travel around my beloved INDONESIA. I have only explored 21 provinces in Indonesia, out of 34 provinces. Some of the provinces have cities which are incredible. My favorite is of course LAMPUNG, my homey hometown. This place never ceases to amaze me, as we have discovered more and more beautiful landscapes. For sure, more diving sites and snorkeling areas are there waiting for you to discover it. I sincerely hope I can get some times to add more ticked lists in my go-to map of Indonesia.
While abroad, I love visiting national parks as well as UNESCO World Heritage Lists. I also love landmarks which offer unique, one-of-a-kind experience. Places like Liberty Statue in New York City, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Yosemite National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Quebec City, Old Havana, Vatican City, Antigua Naval Dockyard, Venice, Cairo, Marrakesh and way more have been visited as well. In Indonesia, Borobudur and Prambanan temples, as well as Bukit Barisan National Park, which is part of the tropical rainforest heritage in Sumatera, and
More importantly, I shared a lot about being Google Local Guides. How excited I am to be joining the this global network of local guides from different corners of the world. Although I have just joined Local Guides in New York City since 2017, I have learned and enjoyed a lot of benefits from joining it. I have expanded my networks obviously, learning more about Google maps and how to contribute to it properly and meaningfully, as well as more on AI and some beneficial technicalities. Even when the pandemic hit us, we even get more united as we use virtual platforms to stay connected and even share more. Through Google Local Guides, I learn how wonderful it is to contribute meaningfully to the communities as well, as we contribute there in voluntary basis. No wonder while Google Local Guides was established in 2015, it has so many people joining this platform.
Moreover, I am so blessed that I was chosen as one of the Google Guiding Stars in December 2020. Of all the Google Local Guides around the world, there are 50 Local Guides who were chosen in 5 different categories,- Helpful Hero, Inclusive Mapper, Creative Contributor, Community Builder, and Local Business Champion. I was part of the Creative Contributor here. Thank you, Google.
Thank you, Google ...
Finally, we were also discussing about staycation, one of the possible and relatively safe ways of traveling during the pandemic. Now that we have 5 M, which is the abbreviation of 5 things we need to do during the pandemic in bahasa Indonesia. 5M comprises of wearing mask, washing hands properly and frequently, keeping the physical distance, reducing mobility, and avoiding crowds. Staycation will give us the opportunity to see and explore our surroundings in a safer way as it does not involve lots of traveling or meeting many people. As long as we can ensure that the place we are heading to are applying the strict health protocol and CHSE principles,- Clean, Healthy, Safety and Environmentally Friendly. I believe many of the hotels in Indonesia have gotten CHSE certificate so that they can operate safely during this pandemic.
Here's the video I compiled, with the help of my brother Ajay, for the whole segment of my interview. You can watch the complete video in my YouTube channel HERE. Hope you enjoy it and tell me what you think!
I really enjoyed the conversation and I sincerely hope what I have shared with be beneficial to others. I also hope you managed to watch the complete video and tell me what you think about traveling during the pandemic and being Google Local Guides if you have joined it!
