Tree in Lodge Hostel – Home!

It’s almost 11pm. Dan gw masih celingak celinguk nunggu bus di Outram Park  station. Begitu bus yang gw tunggu muncul, gw langsung masuk dan berdiri di dekat pintu keluar. It’s only three stop away, bgitu kata petunjuk di website Hostel World. Jadilah gw konsentrasi menghitung bus stop yang gw lewati, jangan sampe kelewat. Gak lucu juga nyasar tengah malam di Singapore. Gak lama, bus melewati  sikh temple dan kemudian berhenti di bus stop persis di sebelah temple. Aha! Ini pasti bus stop yang dimaksud. Gw turun dan mulai menyusuri jalanan, rupanya ini smacam HBD, mirip apartemen. Banyak toko yang sudah tutup (ya iyalah, udah hampir jam 11 malam! Menurut ngana?). Ada satu tempat yang terang benderang dan agak rame, rupanya self service laundry stall 24 jam. Yang mau laundry tinggal masukkan koin dan tunggu laundry nya sampai selesai. 

View in front of the hostel

 

tampak depan Tree In Lodge

Ya, Tree in lodge memang terletak di daerah housing building. Bukan di tengah2 kampung wisata ataupun next to the mall. Lokasinya agak sedikit jauh dari MRT station. Mungkin karena ini harganya agak murah, pikir saya. I booked this place just four hours before my departure to Singapore. Yang penting dapat tempat tinggal untuk tidur, that’s it. So, I don’t really have any expectation. Tapi begitu saya masuk ke hostel ini hampir tengah malam, bit surprise ketika staff hotel menyapa saya dan menawarkan diri untuk memperkenalkan fasilitas hostel. Favorit saya? Tentu coffee, tea, bread, biscuit yang available for 24/7, hahaha. Seriously, it’s the best facility that you can expect from a backpackers hostel. Saya dapat kamar tepat di depan living room, jadi wifinya kenceng abis, hehe. Ohiya, saya dapat kamar dorm yang seprei dan sarung bantalnya mesti saya pasang sendiri. Bit remind me of Japanese hostel, dimana saya mesti masang berlapis-lapis seprai ala Jepang tiap kali baru masuk hostel, hahaha.

24/7 foods!!

 

Paginya, saya iseng keliling bangunan HBD sekitar hostel. Dan it’s typically Spore HBD, lots of facilities. Mulai dari taman buat olahraga sampe foodcourt. I got my breakfast in the hostel and met couple of travelers from UK who traveling with their one year old baby! Oh my! Backpacking with a baby? That’s awesome! The baby is soo active and very funny. We talk a lot until they know that I came from Indonesia.

I asked them “How did you know about Indonesia?”

The Dad looking at me like I’m a moron “…It’s on the map?”

“No, I mean, most of the foreign people only know Bali..” I said

But then mereka cerita kalau udah keliling Sumatera, Java, Sulawesi, Lombok, etc.

Si Momy-nya cerita klo Indonesia is one of her favorite country in the world.

She said “I’ve been dreaming to explore Indonesia since I was seven years old”

And I was like “ What? How come?”

“There’s a festival in UK at that time. Lots of little girl wearing traditional clothes. I still remember, the girl who wear traditional clothes from Indonesia is really beautiful. The clothes is really beautiful. They have a brownies and it’s really good. I think since then I dream of Indonesia. I wanna go there”

And I was like, talking to myself silently – what did I do when I was seven years old?

 

the neighbourhood where the hostel located

 Anyhow, another best part of this hostel is, I should say, the staff kindness. SK is so nice! I was sitting in the living room, open google, key in some words trying to figure out what should I do in Singapore since I don’t have clear plan. That time when SK give me a very good idea : to explore Joo Chiat area. I told him that I like to go to the new neighbourhood that I never know before. I’ve explored Tiong Bahru before and I like those kind of experience. And he suggest me to go to Katong/ Joo Chiat where I can found some peranakan style. He give some brochure to keep with and told me “ you can return it anytime you like”.

This hostel is so simple. Consist of two floor, it’s definitely a home for backpackers who look for silent space in Singapore. Location wise, it’s really near with bus stop. But not so close with MRT station. But rather than stay in Lavender area (where I have to walk from the station to hostel), I think I’d prefer this one. Try to talk with SK, and I think you will know why we call him super friendly staff. Tree In Lodge call themselves as green hostel so the plus point is you will learn one or two new things how to travel in environmentally friendly way. Overall, it’s definitely a home for me.