Puri Asri Magelang

17th August was Indonesian Independance Day. Being a public holiday, we spent the holiday at a resort in Magelang, central Java called Puri Asri (close to Borobudur Temple). First impression,..they have tight security,… which is Good! Secondly, just beside Puri Asri was a public fun park called Kyai Langgeng. It has rides like the ferris wheel, mini roller coaster, …..and a mini water park too. But we opted to stay in Puri Asri coz its more private.

Puri Asri offers a lot of recreational activities, such as Water Rafting, offroad ATV, Softgun field, and Flying Fox. Too bad that the river has low tide so our water rafting option was off.  But there are other things that can be done. There’s a the swimming pool (especially for the kids of course), a huge playground, mini bike circuit, water becak, giant chess, and other traditional games like stilts and congkak. Personally, I felt this place is suited better for a church retreat or a group team building activities. Lots of things to choose and do….

Mini Bike Circuit.

There’s a pony for ride/hire. Check out the Giant Chess and Stilts.

Pool with Slide

After a long day of play!

The rates are reasonable, approximately USD45.  Not bad for a 4 star hotel, considering that its the weekend too. Our room was the Executive Double, very spacious for the 4 of us. Here is a view of the cafeteria from our room.

Next day we also spent some time exploring the area. We found this unique tree, which had a red seed inside it’s fruit. According to Intan, its called the chinese red seed. We collected some of the seeds for the girls show and tell session in school.

Later, I asked big sis if she wanted to see Flying Fox, and I think what she had in mind is an animal that flies,.. After some explanation, big sis was a little bit skeptical to try it. But Lil C just say YES,… (I think she has no idea what she said yes to, hahah…)

So after setting up all the safety harness, first up was LilC,… the climb up was a bit hard, so they have to be pulled up with a pulley. Wooossshhh…. she reached end point in approximately 10 seconds. With all the adrenaline running, Lil C was grinning widely and said “Again Daddy!!” . This encouraged Big Sis to go,… and sure enough, after reaching down, she wanted to go again too.

So what is a daddy gonna do?  Put them up in tandem (2 for the price of 1) hahahah,… check out this video.

When we are about to leave, all the ATV was just brought in. Maybe next time I’ll try the off-road.

It was a nice holiday treat. A very good R&R. Cant wait to go there again soon.

Why Indonesians are so freaking good at badminton!

Many of you may not be aware that Kudus is home Jarum, the biggest tobacco company in Indonesia. And from here, Jarum badminton academy was built where champions in the likes of Lim Swee King, Hariyanto Arbi, and Ardi Wiranata emerged.

Yesterday, my church friend, Ronald, invited me to play with some guys who are working with Jarum HQ. I told him badminton is not really my forte. “Santai aja lah Dean,…cuman sekadar keluarin keringat” was his reply. So, being the sporting chap that I am, I agreed.

When I reached the badminton court, memories of playing badminton in high school flashed by, and slowly my confidence started to build up. A few minutes later, people started to come. A few introductions here and there and off we go!

At first when we started, I felt “I AM THE GREATEST BADMINTON PLAYER EVER”. But that feeling slowly died down after 10 minutes….. all I remember when I was comprehensively beaten was the shortness of breath, seeing stars, and me reminding myself ”dont faint Dean!!”. Oh, ya, being out of shape and having two left hands didnt help too. 

After finishing one set, I made a lame excuse saying that I needed to sms Intan on something important so I can sit down. And these chaps continued playing. Now these people are ordinary guys, some came with just slippers, and some are not even “attired suitably” to play badminton. But here they are, jumping, smashing, and laughing, while playing with ease. I am trully in awe!!

I know of some guys who smoke after playing sports. But this guy (his name is Peng Hin), is just increadible. He smokes WHILE playing badminton, and he’s unbeatable. Apparently, he is THE MAN in the group.

Anyway, I’m gonna give it another go next week. Tidak mau kalah malu…kekekek.

So, the moral of the story?

Smoking while playing badminton, makes a world champion!…..(just kidding)…:)