Point of interests in Pacitan

Pacitan is one of the simply beautiful region in East Java since its relatively poor areas, the infrastructure is not so good. Entrance to Pacitan there are only two, the east side; Ponorogo, the west side of Wonogiri/Yogyakarta. Pacitan had stony mountain because of that when rainy season, always happened many landslides in some location.
Tourism city object is Telengria beach. By motorcycle ride from Sedeng/Pringkuku/Punung, view to the sea was truly beautiful but be careful because of the way down to a steep was decline. In Telengria beach there was a hotel named Happy Bay, about 2 years ago there is no ac, the rate about 60.000 rups, its quite beautiful at the beach if you want to have activities in the morning and afternoon. The other alternative was Srikandi Hotel (the only home stay/lodge which recommend in Lonely Planet book), food was good (rate about 100.000 rups, with AC). If you want to have dinner, you could walking around the crossroad of city center's store . Near the market there was a good place to eat by sitting on the floor, Mrs.Sum (near BNI) . To all spicy food lovers, you are lucky, at market close to Enggal jaya shop there was called gobyos vegetable, like opor (chicken curry) but most of chilis than chicken inside. If lunchtime, at the right corner (the position facing the sea) there are lot of antique stalls, the main menu of fresh fish with tiwul rice. Cuisine is particularly rays grilled with spicy vegetables, it called KALAKAN vegetables. Eating fish with tiwul rice in the day it was truly extraordinary. If you not get used to eat, don't take tiwul rice in full portion. If you like tempe, a rare tempe was unique in Pacitan, wrapped with banana stems.

Other hotel which can be recommended in Pacitan was Permata, Bali Queen and Pacitan Hotel. All located around the city center and if you continue like fishing, go to the sea. The fish were very large size. If you want to continue your trip, you could go straight to Yogyakarta's direction to Pringkuku, there was a more beautiful beach than Telengria. All beaches in Pacitan have white sand. In Pringkuku, there was a dramatic moment, there was a coral reef in the middle when tide's time, full of water and the waves urging to the top made a fountain like whale's back. Its excellent so was a good sunset. Along your trip to Punung, now there is gong cave (inside a cave you could listen traditional music that is called Gong) Its Wonderful!!! In punung, you could also found a sudden market after branch to the gong cave and that market was selling many agate stone in twenty pack which is cheap and good. If you continue your trip to Ponorogo, then come to Arjosari where there was bathing warm water place, which is intend to real heat. If you go to Trenggalek in Jatigunung village, subdistrict Tulakan, please stop by to organic food stalls that managed by young people. Standard menu like tiwul and fish with cassava leaves. Then you could walk to Lorok beach or Sidomulyo. Most of similar but its different was the beach view. If you want to go home please stop by to southern market of Arjowinangun (Kebonagung), the center of porridge. It taste good and different from kudus porridge (jenang).

If you go by bus, it can be accessed from Solo (namely ;Aneka Jaya, Timbul Jaya, Ismo) directly to Pacitan of from Ponorogo (Aneka Jaya), or from Yogyakarta (Pacitan Putra Jaya, but its rarely or travel Purwowidodo, etc.) It's nice, just sit and reached the destination.

Indonesian Surfing in Asian Beach Games 2008

Men's Surfing
On 19 October 2008, 20 year old Garut Widiarta Rip Curl’s rider from Bali became the first surfer in history to win a gold medal in the sport of surfing at an Olympic event at Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia. The talented young surfer proudly held up the Indonesian flag as he and silver medalist Raditya Rondi accepted the cheers of the crowd in front of the judging tower.
In an intense 30 minute round of competition in their home break of Kuta Beach, the two cousins fought a pitched battle in the 2 foot low tide surf with Rondi leading for most of the heat, until Widiarta maneuvered into the perfect position to let loose with a couple of amazing aerial displays that had the judges reaching punching some big numbers into their keypads.
When the horn blew Widiarta had tallied up a score of 18.50 for his best two waves, leaving Rondi just short with 17.20. 10 surfers from 5 countries, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, the Maldives, and Vietnam competed today in the 1st Asian Beach Games men’s shortboard surfing event, with Widiarta winning the gold over Raditya Rondi and Shigenori Suzuki from Japan getting the bronze. This is truly a benchmark for surfing, as it is the first time the sport of surfing has ever been included in an Olympic event.
Shortboard surfing event Result:
Gold :Made Garut Widiarta (Indonesia) , Silver:Raditya Rondi (Indonesia) , Bronze: Shigenori Suzuki (Japan)

Women’s Surfing
On 21 October 2008, Akiko Kiyonoga raced through four rounds of surfing in the Women’s surfing event of the Asian Beach Games at Kuta Beach to claim a gold medal for Japan today. The silver was taken home by Indonesia’s Yasniar Gea. Kiyonoga was matched up against Gea from Indonesian in the Grand Final and came back to the beach with the win, scoring a total of 13 points for her best two waves against Gea’s 9 points. Gea had previously bested Kiyonoga in the four woman 2nd Qualifier, but when they met again in the final Kiyonoga went straight to work and by the end of the final had 11 waves to Gea’s 6, with high scores of 6.0 and 7.0 ,to Gea’s 3.75 and 5.25. Bringing back bronze medals today were Marianita Alcala from the Philippines, who had the highest single wave point score of the day, an 8.0, and 15-year-old Diah Rahayu Dewi from Indonesia.
Shortboard surfing event Result:
Gold : Akiko Kiyonoga (Japan), Silver : Yasniar Gea(Indonesia), Bronze: Marianita Alcala (Philippines), Bronze : Diah Rahayu Dewi (Indonesia)

Aerial competition
On 22 October 2008, Indonesia’s Dede Suryana completely dominated the Aerial competition at the Asian Beach Games in Bali today. Suryana leapt to the lead in the first heat of the day and consistently outscored his opponents in every subsequent heat through to the final, racking up 8 and 9 point waves with regularity and leaving the rest of the field far behind. Winning the silver was Yuichi Kurogi from Japan, and countryman Shuhei Kato took home a bronze. Also in the final was fellow Indonesian Made “Bol” Adi Putra, a very proficient aerial specialist himself, who today just couldn’t find the waves in the final that would allow him to display that proficiency to its fullest. He did however end the competition with a bronze medal, having gotten several high scoring waves earlier in the day to get him into the final with the two competitors from Japan. The beach was pumping with music and cheering during all 40 minutes of the grand final, with flags waving and drums beating to encourage the competitors on. The ocean could have been a little more generous in terms of high quality waves, with only 1-2 foot surf on offer, but Suryana made the most of it to the delight of the crowd on the beach, who proudly celebrated the moment with him. Dede Suryana fly’s high to Win Second Gold Medal for Indonesia in Aerial Competition
Aerial competition Result: Gold :Dede Suryana (Indonesia), Silver : Yuichi Kurogi (Japan),
Bronze: Shuhei Kato (Japan), Bronze: Made “Bol” Adi Putra (Indonesia)

Sun blocking

Ultraviolet rays in sun light can cause serious and often irreversible harm to the body. This
can range from eye damage to the more extreme, skin cancer. Prevention must start from
early age. For the skin, sun blocks or sunscreens have been proven effective. Informations below are some helpful hints on blocking the sun.
SPF
The sun protection factor (SPF) or filtering power of a sunscreen product determines what percentage of the ultraviolet rays get through to the skin. An SPF of 15 allows only 1/15 (7%)
of the sun’s rays to get through and thereby extends safe sun exposure from 20 minutes to
5 hours without the skin burning. A SPF higher than 15 protects against sunburn for more than
5 hours.
Tips:
• When going to the beach use a sun block with a SPF 25 or higher.
• For every day use, apply sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher.
• Children generally should avoid direct sunlight, use protective clothing such as a hat, long
sleeved shirt, sunglasses etc. If needed, apply a creamy non-fragrant sun block with SPF 25-30.
• Babies under 6 months must avoid direct sunlight.

Sunscreen
There are several kinds of type available.
Lotion and cream are the favorites, and give good protection.
Oil is easy to apply because it spreads more easily, but it only provides a thin layer of protection and needs more frequent application and in addition, it causes a greasy sensation on the skin.
Gel is also easy to apply but it also tends to wash or sweat off more easily and there’s usually a stinging sensation caused by the alcohol content contained in it.
Sun block sticks are good, but problematic to apply on larger areas.
Dry spray on lotion is also popular and provides good protection. However, sprays aren’t recommended. It’s wasteful and most of the effective content is lost to the air and it usually forms an uneven layer on the skin.
Tips:
• Use the type of sunscreen of your preference. Make sure you read the recommendation when to reapply the sunscreen (usually every 3 or 4 hours).
• Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before exposure to the sun to give it time to penetrate the skin.
• Give special attention to the areas most likely to become sunburned, such as your nose, ears, cheeks and shoulders.

Waterproof
Sunscreens will wash away with sweat and water, especially after swimming. Some sunscreens proclaim to be waterproof or water resistant. Research shows that the “water resistant” sunscreen can maintain their SPF after 40 minutes of water immersion, and the “waterproof” after 80 minutes. Saltwater reduces the SPF faster than freshwater. This brings out a new production of “surf shop sunscreens” that proclaims to maintain effective SPF for seawater activities, however, there are no significant studies to show that these are more resistant.
Tips:
• Apply the sunscreen at least twice more frequently than recommended (about every 2 hours) for water activities, especially for sea water activities.
• Re-apply immediately after swimming or profuse sweating.

Sunscreen Tips :
• Use a sunscreen with SPF 30+.
• Some sunscreens are safe to apply on the face and lips, just make sure the type of sunscreen applied is appropriate for these areas.
• Use a sunscreen every day even when it’s a cloudy day.
• Wear UV close-fitting protecting sunglasses to protect against eye damage.
(read our article about sunglasses)
• Wear sun protective clothing. Dark, tightly woven clothes are best.
• Use shade and limit your exposure to the sun, especially between 10 am and 4 pm, when radiation is at its strongest.
• Don’t forget to keep hydrated, drink a lot of water.
•Wear a hat that protects your face, neck and ears.

Edited source from:
• National Safety Council: Sun Safety Program