Although we have been doing a fair bit of travel lately, it’s always good to get away for the weekend with the three of us to enjoy some time together away from home and the office (which is also located at home!).
We decided at the last minute to take a break and head to Bogor yet again as it’s the easiest option for heading out to some greenery and fresh air to our favourite staycation hotel – Novotel Bogor…. but.. shock horror! When we went to book online the hotel was already completely full.. waaaaah! Well, what can you expect when you try to book late on a Friday night for arrival on the same night but we were still keen to get away.
Every time we have been to Novotel we have watched the construction of a new Ibis Styles Hotel going up and I wondered who on earth would want to stay there when the Novotel is right next door? but as it turns out… we stayed there! It was definately a cheaper option and the rooms were all clean and everything is still brand new and sparkling. Our room was simple and colourful and the best part? Our window overlooked the trees at Novotel next door! So although we stayed at Ibis, we still walked next door and enjoyed the benefits of staying at Novotel – the kids play room, kids park, Mahoni cocktail bar for drinks with gorgeous friends who we happened to run into that were also enjoy staycations away from Jakarta.
Of course we also headed to Kuntum Nurseries in the morning as is obligatory every time we head to Bogor. I will never tire of the place, as it’s always expanding and changing and all the kids absolutely love feeding the animals and petting them there. They are definately the most well fed animals I have seen in Indonesia and all seem happy where they are.
This trip we also found another great option for kids to exert some energy, and this happened by accident as I wanted to use the bathroom and so we pulled into Lippo Mall Bogor. As it turns out, there is a fairly new and brightly coloured great indoor playground for kids, Kidzoona. Of course we had to go in and try it and ended up staying an hour exploring which wasn’t enough for Samudra, but we wanted to get back out to the fresh air. It was so much fun!
The weekend flew by way too quickly, but at least we got our fill of the outdoors and got to return to Jakarta feeling refreshed and ready to face another week of craziness.
Walking through the chicken enclosure
Feeding the sheep
Carrots for the rabbits
Attempting to give a calf a bottle
Hanging out with bapak by the water
A school excursion arrives to feed the lambs
So many baby guinea pigs in the huge enclosure
The kids play areas at Zidzoona – complete with uniforms, cash registers and play money
Samudra cooking in the kitchen
Toy vegetable shopping for more cooking
Games area which also includes kids games on iPads
Here comes the policeman!
The most amazing ball section! We had so much fun all playing in here together
Our room at Ibis Styles Hotel, overlooking Novotel Bogor
Playing with the buffalo statues at Novotel
Playground at Novotel
Exploring nature in Bogor
Look what I found mumma!
Wanting to eat the plants! Why won’t he eat vegetables instead?
Examining the trees
Bunny ears
We don’t want to go home!
