City, My Journey, Travel

A Quick Layover in citizenM Hotel Amsterdam

During my previous visit to Europe on July '09, one night was to sleep in Amsterdam. As some people may know that Amsterdam hotels tend to be expensive compared to other European cities like Paris, Rome, etc. Amsterdam hotel rates are as high as London, in short: most of them are expensive.

One hotel that I had wanted to try in Amsterdam was to stay at citizenM Hotel. If you google a bit about this hotel, the impressions would be chick and well designed. So I took my chance to try this hotel.

citizenM is a new chain hotel from Netherland, now available in 2 locations: citizenM Amsterdam Schipol Airport and citizenM Amsterdam City. If you have time for quick stopover during your flight, citizenM Schipol airport can be your option. It is located only 5 minutes walk from airport arrival hall. But if you prefer to stay in the city, citizenM Amsterdam City is the best option.

I chose citizenM Amsterdam City, located on Prinses Irenestraat, it is behind Amsterdam WTC or Zuid complex. We can take Amsterdam metro number 51 from Amsterdam Centraal Station to Zuid station then walk about 7 minutes to the hotel, or for more convenience we can take tram number 5, stop at Prinses Irenestraat, the hotel is 30 meter from tram stop. Tram journey from Centraal station is about 20 minutes.

Although it is not near Centraal Station (which many travelers prefered), but staying in this hotel was a new experience to me personally. With its minimalistic but technology concious design, affordable price (EUR 80 - 120 per night), I can summary in a short: a very nice sleep.

Hotel exterior is basic, all rectangle glasses in facade. Entering main door, I was greeted with lounge atmosphere. No receptionist because check-in process is self service. There are many computer stations in the lobby area, just find empty one then enter my reservation number in the screen. The menu is very user friendly, but you can ask for available friendly staff help if needed. Computer will ask us to take a hotel keycard from basket then tap it to the reader. This will activate the keycard and assign room number. In the end of this 3 minutes check-in process, a print-out paper will be issued. My room number and wifi password (it's free) are printed in the paper. Simple and no need to queue for this check-in!

citizenM lounge

Lobby area is design showcase for this hotel, we can find IKEA like furniture at every corner. There are iMac computers to use for free Internet access. 24-hour canteen is also available to serve food and beverages (a bit pricey!).

City, My Journey, Travel

How to Buy Paris Metro Mobilis Card

Paris offers a lot of sighseeings, from the bronze coloured (official color name is brownish gray) Eiffel Tower, to magnificent Notre Dame Catedral, to the only Disneyland in Europe.

For tourists, the best and convenient way to explore Paris is by underground train, called as Metro and complemented by RER suburban train. 16 Metro lines, together with 5 lines of RER cover almost all part of Paris.

Paris Metro Map

You can download Paris Metro and RER map in PDF format. But for latest and official map and fare, you should consult Paris RATP website.

There are some options in paying this Metro RER fare. The common for tourists is to buy carnette (also known as T+ ticket). It is a small card (domino card size) with magnetic strip on the back. Valid for one journey in inner Paris zone 1, costs EUR 1.60 if you buy it single or a pack of 10 carnette for EUR 11.60 (EUR 5.80 for children). For moderate sighseeing in a day, we may only need 4-5 carnettes so a pack of 10 carnettes should be enough if you only have 2 days in Paris.

City, Travel

Acqua Alta in Venezia

Jakarta flood... arghh that make us inconvenience. This last two weeks proves to us that governor does nothing. Traffic jams, car breaking, and don't forget about big holes in every roads.

But in Venice (Venezia), Italy, atol-made city that is known as water-city, is also suffered from acqua alta (high …

City, My Journey, Travel

A Short Walk to Taman Menteng

Last week I got a chance to visit Taman Menteng (Park) located in the very heart of Menteng District. It is a nice, free and interactive park, a place you can breath fresh air in Central Jakarta.

Taman Menteng Glass
Look

It used to be a football stadium for Persija Football club, got demolished during Sutiyoso Governor era after some struggles and demonstrations. The result? You can see in my photos; a neat and clean park.

My Journey

Lego City at Senayan: The biggest in Asia

Took my chance to Senayan City Shopping Mall yesterday (Dec 9), there were exhibition from Lego that claimed the biggest constructed Lego City in Asia, well I might be believe the claim. See my taken pics. There were also Lego-constructed Darth Vader in Lego Star War edition. I estimated it was 10 by 10 metres size lego complex not to mention how many bricks to build this city. Some of the bricks were constructed by school children.

There were 8 tall towers built by bricks, long train rail, memorial site, a lot of vessels, airport plus aircrafts, and hundreds of Lego characters. Most of the building were built with Lego City Box (see Lego Oficial Site), I think it is more fun than playing SimCity 4000 right?

Don't envy lorr since it was the exhibition last day. If you miss the chance, how bout build one in your home?

Lego 1

Wanna see more pictures? Warning: large size images inside.

City

KRL Ciliwung Blue Line Route

PT Kereta Api Daops 1 Jakarta,  Indonesia, has just operated a new circle line in Jakarta. The train equipped with Aircon, go in one direction only (yes, one way in a circle) in clockwise. Actually Ciliwung Blue Line is recondition train from Bekasi Express and Depok Express running on rail built by Dutch during the independence war!

Ciliwung Blue Line
Train

City, My Journey

Being Streetwalker

Walking in Jakarta sometimes has some fun and joy. As my recent work at Jakarta Ring 1 Area, near Monas, I have been enjoying its well-built pedestrian. Park my car at IRTI (Monas Car Park), then have to cross Medan Merdeka Selatan. You have to park your car at IRTI …

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