paris1972

Well Asia it is so far,and my only attempt there was to Taipei back in 2002 to see some engineering project on computers parts. Now been having the opportunity to go back to Asia this time places like Vietnam, Singapore,and now Indonesia.

Even if briefs stays at one week at the most it allows me to see another part of the world that I am not familiar with sort of like beginning to travel again. And that’s always interesting lol!

My last trip last week was to Indonesia, visiting the cities of Surabaya and Jakarta for a grand total of one week. I went from Nantes France thru Paris, passing by Singapore to Surabaya and then a domestic fly to Jakarta. Back from Jakarta to Singapore, Paris and Nantes again. My car was left for a week at the outdoor airport parking and it took me three tries to get it started, I thought the cold and humidity had it done, but my Ford came back to life and it’s fine now.

Indonesia it is said to have 17 000 island with the most famous been that of Bali. The name of Indonesia comes from the Latin and Greek Indus and the Greek Nesos meaning island. The country has 34 provinces, of which I visited Java and East Java, whre the majority are. It has 240 million people of which there are over 300 ethnic people and about 742 languages and dialects. The official language that unites the country is Malay, and on business it is very much controlled by Chinese ethnic groups. It is not officially a islamic state and only recognise these religions Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

Surabaya is the first port harbor of the country, and an important commercial center. It was founded in 1293AD and Surabaya comes from suro, « shark » and buaya, « crocodile ». The leyend has it that these two animals fought for control of the region and are represented in the coat of arms emblem of the city shown at the monument Tugu Pahlawan. Its airport is call Juanda, second in the country behind Jakarta. As per the Offical Airline Guide the route Surabaya Jakarta is the 5th most frequently flown in the world. Its official site is at http://www.juanda-airport.com/ for tourism here the webpage is at http://www.surabayatourism.com/

Jakarta, is of course the Capital of the country since its independance from Holland. Founded by the Dutch as Batavia in 1619.  The airport is name Soekarno-Hatta, opened in  1985, and named after Soekarno the first President of Indonesia and Hatta the first VP. They were the ones who gain independance from Holland in 1945. The official webpage is at http://www.jakartaairportonline.com/ , the tourist office here is at http://www.jakarta-tourism.go.id/

I stayed at two really nice hotels that I can only recommend to all, the one in Surabaya is a bit off the center but on the main road to airport. The one in Jakarta is off the center to avoid the heavy traffic there. The amenities and food was excellent, not to mention the personal service. The budget is good for all. See their webpages here

Surabaya, Somerset Hotel and Residences ,http://www2.somerset.com/indonesia/surabaya/somerset_surabaya_hotel_and_serviced_residence.html

Jakarta, Hotel Santika, http://santika.com/jakarta-premiere/

We made all our meals in these hotels, as the service, food, and convenience was great. I did venture out to eat at BonCafe, Jalan Gubeng Raya 44-46,Surabaya, they have a webpage but in facebook, so you can look it up. It is a great place for families and nice prices in buffet style or order from the menu. The fish dish was great ,good service, nice ambiance,and great prices. Tel +62 31 5941611.

My historical cultural knowledge was by going briefly to this museum right outside my hotel Santika in Jakarta, Museum Purna Bhakti Pertiwi , the  museum specialized on the life of Suharto, former second president of Indonesia andn a powerful political figure in modern Indonesia.  The museum houses and displays the large amount of Suharto’s collections; mostly valuable objects, artworks and souvenirs, received from various world leaders and Indonesian people, accumulated during the 32 years of his administration in Indonesia. The museum is a modern building with design took shape of tumpeng , a traditional Javanes cone-shaped rice, symbolized gratitude. The museum webpage is in Indonesian but can be translated with google or other language tools, http://www.tamanmini.com/museum.php   the rates are very modest about One Euro, they are here http://www.tamanmini.com/page/tiket

In all a very brief instroduction to the country but a very well received visit, from very nice friendly people. One more spot on the map for me,and one more place in the world to look forward to come back. Enjoy some photos. Cheers.

The last of the saga of forays into Brussels this past December 2012 was the wonderful museum of automobiles call AutoWorld. This was great, really enjoy it and recommend.You don’t have to be a car aficionado to like it as there is history here too. I am a road warrior and car lover since my days in NASCAR Daytona Beach (11 years between living and school).

I have been to auto museums but this one is the best for sure. You have more than 250 cars, that includes motocycles, jeeps, fire truck, etc, you have a nice restaurant and neat complete boutique store. All the vehicles are arranged by motives and era on two floors of exhibits. The temporary expositions are there all year with newer and spectacular vehicles to see, even garages, and road racing competition areas, check the webpage. You have an educational space by Autoworld that shows the ins and outs of the automobile. On Sundays there is a restoration workshop to show how to keep these marvels.

You can hold meetings and events here, in fact while we were there the tables were all decorated right in the middle of the museum! to hold a New Years dinner! lucky few….The opening hours are From April 1 to Sept 30 10h to 18h,and from October 1 to March 31 from 10h to 17h; admission adults is 9€. The direction to get here is simple ,however, we took it tram 25 to Montgomery and came from outside the city into it walking as we like to see more ::) Restaurant service is nicely available, and it has its own webpage at http://www.autoworldbrasserie.be/fr/?id=home

a brief historical lines, tell us that the main force behind this was king Leopold II idea to making Belgium keep up with the joneses,,,, and the Universal Expo of 1897 was it. In order to connect the museum of Colonial history at Tevueren to the Cinquantenaire Park where the rest of the exhibition was taking place, the avenue de Tervuren was built. The large halls that now house the Army and Air Force Museum and Autoworld date from that period.
All these development thru the years led to the formation of the Autoworld museum in 1986

You get here from city by metro line 1A and 1B Station Mérode, and by bus /tram 81 / 82 22 / 27 / 61 / 80. The official webpage is at http://www.autoworld.be/

Here are some of my favorites pictures, enjoy them.

So my Brussels saga continues with the wonderful inmense museum of the Royal Armed Forces at parc du cinquantenaire.

yes, my most memorable experience to visit and then some bit of disappointment. I have been here before on quick trip alone, then finally visit Brussels with the family and took them here. The initial experience was good,then lunch time arrived.

The museum has a peculiar time schedule that it closes at noon, and speaks out on public announcement that you can stay in the Aviation hall or the restaurant (very convenient). We didn’t want it cafeteria style food in the resto,and don’t like to wait an hour doing nothing. So decided to come out, boy that took some times, there are no signs to let you out and all door into the museum were closed!!! When we finally ask at the resto they told us there is an exit hallway by the WC lol!! this is the rest room! Never would figure in my life the exit door was by going thru a bathroom /rest room first, but here it is. Oh well we got out,and lesson learned not to get caught at lunch time here.

The rest was nice historical ,wonderful ,full of great airplanes, tanks, military heavy equipment, uniforms, and swords, rifles etc from the Napoleonics times to the present. There are presentation of historical events with the equipment use all the time, see the webpage for udpates.

You have theme spaces coming from main entrance,going thru a Dutch gallery, then the Belgian war of 1830, a technical area of weaponry and armaments, medieval, Napoleonic era, 1914-1918 WWI era, the Russian gallery , the Tanks (many American tanks here) display in a patio open area in the middle of the building, you have a huge Aviation dept with planes from many countries including Mig soviet era, Navy gallery area, upper level hall Bordieu with light machine guns,a contemporary European conflicts gallery and Belgium during occupation.

in addition, the museum offers a trace of most if not all airplanes lost over Belgium in WWII.
Today this record includes 4281 losses from Air Forces of the following nations: Belgium 98, France 100, Britain and Commonwealth 1515, United States 732, Italy 17 and Germany 1819. Research is conducted on over 1000 aircraft losses for which detailed information is still missing

All is house by the parc du cinquentanaire, monumental building, first pushed by King Leopold II idea of bringing Belgium to the forefront of nations. For the 1910 World Exhibition, Louis Leconte collected about nine hundred objects and called his compilation Musée de l’Armée / Museum van het Leger (Museum of the Army). These objects were to give the visitor an idea of the history of Belgian armed forces in the 19th century. The exhibition was a big success.
After World War I, things moved very quickly. The collection grew considerably because of numerous contributions by private persons and through the support of several foreign governments. After 1919, the building bulged with so many items that new housing was necessary. A new home for these items was found in the northern wing of the Jubilee site. On June 28, 1923, King Albert I officially opened the Military Museum. Louis Leconte had been dismissed from active military service and was appointed head curator. During World War II, the occupying forces closed the Museum down. After the war, the collections once again opened to the public. Where it continue today to marvel the world of its wonderful displays.

There is a museum boutique shop open every day exept Mondays
9h to 12h and then 13h to 16h45
The Skycafé resto is open from Tuesday through Sunday between 10h30 to 16h20 ,kitchen is open Kitchen 11h30 to 14h
ADMISSION IS FREE
Closed
On Mondays, January 1, May 1, November 1, December 25, and election days

you get here by Tram 81 and 82. Bus N° 27,28,36,61,67,80. Metro Schuman or Merode (Line 1). Train Schuman or Merode Train Station
however we took tram 25 stop at montgomery and came into city  from outside into the park

A overall wonderful experience, here are some selected photos. Cheers

On my last trip to Belgium , spent it in and around Brussels. I usually come here often on business but decide to bring the family for the end of year celebrations. It was a trip well worth it,and already some posts written on it. This one is on Mini Europe.

Mini-Europe is a miniature park  located in Bruparck attractions park.  Mini-Europe has the reproductions of the most attractive monuments in the European Union on show, at a scale of 1:25. Roughly 80 cities and 350 buildings are represented. I was pleasantly surprise, a nice layout park with amazing beautiful minituares monuments of the best of Europe, you see it group by country and its nice, you must come here.

You have monuments to the smallest details like the Eiffel tower is 3 stories high building! and at the end of the trip, the Spirit of Europe with tunnels of educational activities and knowledge on Europe great for all to interact. And I did good ::) All is detail with arrows so you know your direction to see each spot in the park. There is a restaurant inside and gift shop.

The park goes into its annual closure for winter now until march 16 2013.

normally its open from 9h30 to 20h with fall times closing by 18h. You have a mini Europe at night each Saturday in summer from 9h30 to 00h with fireworks by 22h30

It is at the Bruparck complex of sights, webpage additional is here http://www.bruparck.com/

it will huge to tell you about each minituare of each country in the park, suffice to say ,all are represented here. The selection is done by a team of historian and art experts that goes thru millions of photos and models from 55 shops and 9 countries to built the minituare models. It is a love affairs work, for example they tell that to built the Cathedral of ST James in Santiago de Compostela ,Spain it took 24 000 hours or the work of one person in 13 yrs!!!

magical place to visit indeed. !the how to get there is as follows :  from midi brussels train station near Grand Place take metro 6 stop at Heysel, and follow bruparck signs to park. You can, also,  reach there on tram 7 and 51 as well.  In addition, metro line 1 at De Brouckére (near Grand Place) to Beekkant and connect with line 6 there to Heysel.

The official webpage is at http://www.minieurope.com/en

Enjoy some pictures which I already need to buy more space lol!!!

No its not the end of the world, this atomium is very peaceful. Just sitting there in a vast park complex of sights , gearing high into the sky at 102 meters high. As in many cities, this tall structure has become a symbol of Brussels. Not too much into high rises even in Paris, but you need to be here once lol!!!

It was set up to show case technology for the Universal exposition of 1958, and that was it. However, the popularity rose from there to new highs today,and it is there to stay.

There are 9 spherical balls of which 5 are accessible to the public; there is a permanent exposition on the the Universal Expo of ’58 in spheres 1 and 2;the other 3 are to show temporary expositions on spheres 2,4,5.  The most expectacular views is from the bottom taking one of the fastest lift/elevators in Europe (about 5 meters per seconds or 18kph ) you go to sphere 7, where there are glass windows to give a marvelous view of the Brussels sky. The information is given in several languages.

You get here from city centre Brussels by taking the metro line 6 stop Heysel that leaves you about 300 meters from entrance thru a parking area you cut it in half. The open tour bus does stops here at about 20 meters from entrance.  You ,also, can take metro line 1 at De Brouckére (near Grand Place) to Beekkant and connect with line 6 there to Heysel.

Some figures for the monument are extraordinary, The spheres are connected by 20 tubes or connector escalators with 12 stops; it has 45000 photos in Flickr, 60000 in picasa, 13000 in facebook, and 600 000 visitors per year. You can rent it for private affaires 100 of them last year, visit by a dozen heads of state etc. There are five imitations of smaller scale in the world such as OZD Hungary, Minimundus Austria, Universal expo Seville , Miniwelt Lichtenstein, and Parque Europa Torrejon de Ardoz outside Madrid. Other structures offering similar views in the world are Tour de Tokyo, Fernsehtrum Germany, La perle de l’Orient China, Tour Eiffel France.

You have a panoramic restaurant at sphere 8 or level 8; and snack areas on the Atomium webpage http://atomium.be/#/FoodAndDrinks.aspx for which we decided to eat out in the Village between the Atomium and Mini Europe and not a good choice it was. L’Arbre d’Or was slow, unipersonal, pricey, touristic but then again nothing new , you are in a very heavey tourist area. http://www.larbredor.be/arbredor/inter2rouge.htm

The webpage for the atomium is here http://atomium.be/?lang=en  and the Bruparck park complex with many other attractions some a topic for another post is here http://www.bruparck.com/

The atomium has an area fro kids and school outings.  done on special shop days or with school tours.  In all, we left with the impression we have been here before, another high rise tower with a view. HOwever, its very popular with folks from all over the world, and a visit at least once is worth it. Enjoy some pictures. Cheers