MENUMBING HERITAGE HOTEL BANGKA & BANGKA TRIP DIARY (17-18 SEPTEMBER)
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Two weeks ago, I was invited by Menumbing Heritage hotel Bangka to come to their grand opening reception together with several media and blogger friends. It was a very short visit (2 day 1 night) but packed with activities, also a much needed respite I say, and here I am sharing the experience to you, as well as why I think Menumbing Heritage is the hotel you should consider a home of yours when travelling to Bangka.
Disclaimer: I came as an invited guest, plane tickets and accomodation are sponsored by the hotel - no professional monetary fee was given to me to attend this trip. Opinion entirely remains my own.
I flew Garuda Indonesia and it was a short and smooth plane ride (45 minutes from Jakarta), upon arrival grey sky and heavy rain welcomed us and we quickly proceed to do the activities planned for us. As I mentioned above, we spent 2 days here in Bangka but I will focus more on the hotel and a bit of the activities on the first day, and I will definitely make the complete Bangka travel guide on the upcoming post in the future, merging with my first visit to Bangka three months ago.
First stop, lunch at Mr. Adox seafood!
When they first sent me the itinerary, I was super duper happy for the fact that the places they arranged are Bangka's best and recommended by so many of you from the first and second Bangka trip, and I was really happy that Mr. Adox was our first destination after arriving as I was in need of good Bangka food! Mr. Adox is highly popular for their fresh seafood and I was upset that I failed to come on my first Bangka trip on the Idul Fitri as it was closed for days during the Idul Fitri days. I had Asui instead and it did not live up to my standard, most of the food was just OK and overly sweet for seafood dishes.
Lunch was terrific but it ain't a set of meal without good dessert, one of Bangka's popular destination for ice dessert is Es Kacang Ayong (Ayong's Red Bean Ice). So many of you raved and recommended me this (which I was grateful for), but I think my palate suits the Kalimantan style better with red beans that are a little more mushy, I actually did not find the original es kacang this anything special, unless you add in the avocado and totally changed the flavor!
Es Kacang Ayong - IDR 12k
Bangka Tin Museum
Next up we went to Tin museum for a quick tour, the museum wasn't spacious and appeared more like a home but filled with beneficial information of tin history, including the digging and production process to a mini factory where thy produce souvenirs like keychains and sell it in a mini shop inside the museum.
The miniature of the machine used to dig and collect the tin
It was around 3:30 PM when we arrived at the hotel from the museum and quickly changed for the main event at 4 PM (I know right schedule so busy). I was super sleepy for the fact that I didn't sleep even for a second the night before and it's always been like that everytime I am faced with early flight the next morning. The room was very simple and very nicely air-conditioned and after the long and busy day I had very-very nice sleep (more about the room below).
From outside the hotel looked nothing glam...
...but as soon as you stepped inside things get better <3
Menumbing Heritage hotel is a 4-star hotel by Culture Royale group which located strategically at Jalan Gereja at Pangkal Pinang, and it's barely a 5-minute walk from my favorite noodle house in Bangka: Bakmie Asu (so another plus point for the hotel). The name "Menumbing" was taken from a hill that's located at the West Bangka and the hotel itself has been around the scene for quite some time, but the new face of Menumbing Heritage is actually post the major renovation they did to change the concept while still keeping the most authentic historical materials inside the hotel. The hotel has been getting good reviews (you can check them online) and is currently the NUMBER ONE hotel according to TripAdvisor for Bangka region.
Famous photo spot, the handwritten history of the hotel around the hotel's entrance.
The hotel wasn't exactly ultra spacious, but it sure was a pretty magnificent one for Bangka hotel standard, hey you can't just compare this to the grand ones like Mulia or Fairmont as most of the hotels here are not city hotels where they're very-very high with tons of rooms. The hotel had this strong monochromatic theme to it giving a touch of modern and youthful to it while the overall design represented the Dutch colonial buildings and fort-inspired architecture. Pretty without being overdone.
By 4 PM and after media registration, the event kicked off with speeches from the Mr. Alfred, the owner of the hotel, the representative from the Pangkal Pinang government and continued with the release of the black and white baloons (representing their main color theme - look at the checkerboard floor on the picture above). Dresscode was batik or kebaya so everyone was looking prettily dressed in Indonesia's traditional clothing.
My most favorite room in the hotel: a library like lounge called Pusaka Meeting Room and Vanka Business Centre that you can book for private events or meetings.
Mr. Derrick Buntaran, the son of the owner and the GM of the hotel specially gave a private Q&A session for the bloggers and media. He was super humble and friendly :).
Mr. Aflred, the owner of the hotel.
Let's tour the hotel a bit! More pictures below (taken on the second day)
After the ceremony finished, all guests were welcomed to enjoy the catering service by none other than themselves: The Culture Royale Group. So many good food that night I felt like eating everything!
Shrimp Bisque
Grill station
For my foreign readers who are not familiar with Nasi Kuning or turmeric rice, it's very common to have "tumpengan" on special celebrations like the opening of business, labors, birthday and it's believed to bring good luck for the business and making it somehow more "official". Now the difference of Nasi Kuning or Tumpengan is basically the toppings, Nasi Kuning is just the rice, while tumpengan is a set of cone-shaped turmeric rice tower with various toppings like fried egg, fried chicken, empal (fried beef), soya beancake, potato, crackers, shrimp chili, anchovies and homemade chilis on the side!
We got 1,5 hour to get some rest before going to try Bangka's best martabak: Acau 89 and I did not waste the chance to actually go back to my room and slept a bit! You know one of those moments when you're just so extremely tired and that even though it's just for a moment, but that 1,5 hour of sleep is just so high quality. It was mine.
Acau 89
Acau 89 is probably Bangka's most famous martabak and again, tons of you guys actually recommended me this. I got the chance to try this back on my first visit to Bangka (only that I did not upload it) - Bangka seriously makes THE BEST sweet martabak! The texture's a tad different comparing to the ones we have in Jakarta, I really love their soft, fluffy and pillowy martabak with tons of generous fillings inside.
We ordered their martabak telur (fried egg martabak), martabak pandan keju (pandan cheese martabak) and martabak jagung pisang keju and coklat (half cheese half chocolate banana corn martabak) to share, I didn't have any issue with the fried egg martabak, it's delicious, but to be honest I like the ones that I tried on my first visit better, this time the martabak was a bit too soft and gooey for my liking it's just lacking texture, not that it's bad, it's just not what I expected before arriving and trying.
Martabak Jagung Pisang Keju with generous butter, cheese and condensed milk. Not overpoweringly sweet <3.
After a night full of big meals and calorie monster dessert, it's time to get a proper rest at the hotel! Anyway me liking the ambiance of the hotel lobby better at night, just something calm and romantic about it.
OK NOW ROOM TOUR! Rate per night: IDR 500k++ (standard deluxe)
The bathroom had no bathtub, but the bath amenities was enough (soaps, shampoo , haircap, shaving kit, and toothbrush) and they accomodate hot water bath.
DAY 2
Good morning! The guests staying here are eligible to have complimentary breakfast at Menumbing Cafe and Bar where non-staying guests are more than welcome to dine in as well (lunch and dinners)! The range of breakfast menu was quite impressive and they highlighted some of Bangka's best such as Mie Bangka (Bangka noodle) and Bubur Babi Bangka (Bangka pork porridge) which I seriously appreciate! The breakfast was seriously delicious, DA BOMB has got to be the Bubur Babi (pork porridge), it was CRAZY GOOD! Mr. Alfred, the owner of the hotel humbly cooked it for us <3.
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Lontong
Bakmie Bangka - Not as good as Bakmi Asu (it's unfair to compare) but this one wasn't disappointing.
Deep fried crunchy ebi - this one's crazy good as well, crispy without being overly dry! The thing is I don't think it's always available here.
BUBUR BABI DA YUM!!!
Menumbing Cafe and Bar
Pusaka Meeting Room and Vanka Business Centre
Right after having such delicious breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and proceed to do the activities arranged for day 2! We visited some of Bangka's tourist attractions such as Pura Tri Agung, Pantai Tikus, Bangka Botanical Garden, and lunch at the well known Pauw Kopitiam and Otak-Otak Amui before going back to the airport!
Pura Tri Agung and Pantai Tikus were located next to one another, and it's easily accessible for its located barely 10 minutes from the heart of Sungailiat town. Pura Tri Agung is a relatively new luxurious praying site for Buddhist, Khongfutze and Laotze which finished its construction at 2015 and became one of Bangka's must visit tourist destinations. Around the area you can find Dewi Kwan Im statue and the rock stairs which can connect the Pura Tri Agung to the Pantai Tikus beach. Whether you come here just to see the site or actually pray, it is worth spending 30 minutes or so, I mean while you're here...
Dewi Kwan Im statue
Pantai Tikus
Pantai Tikus might be surrounded by steep rocks (and crazy hot on my visit), but it's just nice to spend some time hanging around here while listening to the sound of the sea and see the locals fishing. Sounds tacky but I did feel that way, I am a beach guy <3
Lunch at Pauw's Kopitiam Sungailiat
Pauw's is another dining place that was highly recommended by you and being super thrilled with the itinerary arranged for us, they obviously stopped by here to have a lunch. The range of food here was mainly local and Chinese cuisines with a lot of options to choose, they also have various kinds of beverages, toasts, and desserts to choose - mainly locals. Food wasn't disappointing but wasn't out of the world good. Unexpectedly their sandwich was everyone's favorite for its spot on seasoning! (forgot to snap a pic damnit), and picture below was their Mie Kuah Ikan (noodle fish soup)
Bangka Botanical Garden, Fishing Camp & Organic Farm
A lot of you asked me on Snapchat about this place, this is NOT Korea's Nami Island, it's actually Bangka's very own Bangka Botanical Garden. It's exciting to see a lot of you being very enthusiastic about this place.
Prewedding material
Yosemite vibe in Bangka, this was the fishing pond area where visitors can rent out the cottages for several hours
Lunch at Otak-Otak Amui (Amui Fishcake)
Otak-otak Ase might be the most popular, but Otak-otak Amui is another recommended one. Waited almost an hour just to have their signature char-grilled otak-otak (fish cake), the otak-otak came in this square shaped (commonly the long and thinner one) and was fresh without smelling fishy, flavor wise I just wished it was a tad saltier. The highlight for me was the fried otak-otak!
I can't thank Menumbing Heritage enough for arranging such a wonderful trip to Bangka, it might be short but filled with so many things to experience, try and remember for sure you can almost sell the itinerary and make a tour on your own (well they freaking should). Nice hotel with comfy rooms and for IDR 500k I might consider staying here every single time I am in Bangka, it's not often that you pay IDR 500k and get 4 star treatment Bangka style.
Thank you for spending your time reading this post I hope you enjoy this entry <3
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