The best thing to do in Jakarta

The best thing to do is none other than shopping!

To shop, we need energy. To have energy, we need to eat. So, the 2nd best thing to do is eating!

;P

Since we did not take the breakfast package, we decided to have our breakfast at Tanah Abang foodcourt, at the 8th floor. Why is it spelled Tenabang here? hmmm...not really sure..

foodcourt, very well maintained

Yes, this is called breakfast. It's Pecal from Gerai Setan.

sedap wooo...

Next up, is the moment we have been waiting for.......shopping! For me, whenever i travelled, i will have this cheat sheet of currency exchange. I also took a picture and changed it as my hp wallpaper. However, little did i realized that the world has changed. Dayah & Iz actually used "currency converter" from their Ipod Touch. (T_T) I'm so old!

Shopping Telekung

Dari nak beli 1, jadi beli 2, jadi beli 3, jadi beli 4...dan seterusnya

Aini once wrote in her blog how people got curious and interested about her sleepywrap. But now i get to see it before my own eyes. Everynow and then, Aini has to patiently answer interviews on her sleepywrap. :P There is also one funny moments where the salesgirl asked Aini "Kamu fasih Bahasa Indonesia ya?" She has mistakenly thought Aini is from Malaysia too! haha.

Finished shopping around 4pm as it's about to close already. However, it's quite hard to get a taxi as it is already peak hours which is the perfect time for massive traffic jam. The moment we crossed the streets, little kids started to follow us around asking for money. Iz tried to offer them food instead but the boy declined saying he has tooth ache. From there, we knew that these boys could be from a syndicate and did not give in to their plea. As the traffic condition did not seem to get better, we decided to WALK. The best thing is, the kids decided to follow us. Gigih betul. According to Google Map, it is around 24mins walk.. hmmm..i did not realize we walk that far... with bagpack and all.... We made it!



That night, we walk to Natrabu, which is just a block away from our hotel. I am glad they all enjoyed the food and agree that the price is very reasonable.



Pengantin Tak Baru


Belum pengantin.

After that, we walk another block to Plaza Sarinah for some window shopping.

To be continued................

Getting Familiar with Jakarta

Once done freshened up and all, Baim/Aini brought us to Rumah Makan Gudeg Jogya. It's actually just a block away from Aini's house at Bendungan Hilir. ;)


How does it look to you? Appetizing isn't it. How come when i look at it now, it reminds me of Nasi Kandar? hmmmmmmmmm....



Teh Botol Sorso


Aini, Alma & Me!

Paling Nikmat.

Titik.

After that, we head to Grand Indonesia. And pass by this banner which reminds me of Azleena. ;P Azleena mon --> do spot the clue in this pic. nampak tak?


The carpark at Grand Indonesia. I think Alma is observing and is trying to learn how to do the peace sign. ;P


Grand Indonesia in one word is GRAND. How can it be NOT grand when according to Wiki, it is 6, 900, 000 sq ft! (-_-').

After doing our walkathon in Grand Indonesia, we head to Hotel Ibis Arcadia for check in. There is yet another challenge there. I had actually booked twice for the accomodations. One room for me & iZ, while another separate transaction for Mr & Mrs S. However, i guess Hotel Asia overlooked or maybe got confused on 2 different transactions by the same person, (heck, even CIMB credit card center called me to verify). In the end, the hotel only received one booking.

So, how lah?

A customer got to do what a customer got to do. Fighted for my right. Well, not really fight dush dush like that. Just keep repeating... "I Paid for 2 rooms, so give me 2 rooms" in a polite but firm manner. :P Luckily we had printed the 2 reservations number. Thanks as well to the front desk officer who is willing to find an empty room for us and gave us in anyway while he call Hotel Asia to reconfirm on the next day. So, two thumbs up for Hotel Ibis Arcadia..! :D

Later on, we had dinner at Jaya Agung. Just a walk away from the Hotel.

The superb host! Baim - Alma - Aini. :D

Soto! And the best Jus Apolkat. (pls find it in above picture). heh. :D

Oh yeah....because i've forgotten to set roaming, i've bought the local telco simcard for only 25000RP. I strongly recommend as it really have a good deal, especially on internet surfing. Check it here.

Warming up to Jakarta

At first, I wanted to write just a short entry with bullet points. However, looking back at all the photos, I can’t help but itch to write on the details. Huhu...

First and foremost, let me tell you that we almost miss the flight due to this. (T_T)
At first, i just wanted to buy a perfume, but the sales girls were so nice, answer all our stupid questions and even try the eyeshadow on each of us. We get so engrossed with them that we did not notice the boarding time is 10.20am. It was already 10.30am! Run baby run we did! While at the security checked, our name got announced as the last passenger. (-_-')

I am not sure if she will kill me for putting up this photo. But, cantik per...hihi...

Already blurred it a bit also. :P

Alhamdulillah, we catch the flight. Boleh masuk Amazing Race la camni. :P

Now I realized that I do not have the pictures upon arrival! I guess I was so engrossed with my phone checking why it cannot roam this time vs last time. In the end, I realized that it’s because I changed the line from Prepaid to Postpaid. Dang! I already have 1001 problems after changing to Postpaid that I am so gonna banned Maxis. Long story about that, but not now.

So, we arrived, and head straight to the Bluebird a.k.a Silverbird counter. Baim, my fren from Jakarta has specifically reminded us to only take Bluebird. However, the girl at the counter recommended us to take Avanza for RP150k. So, Iz and I decided to venture out looking for Bluebird taxi. Once we stepped out from the arrival gate, it’s like walking into a lion’s den. (Yes, I am exaggerating). There were actually many guys out there who I believe work in pairs. Like this guy, trying to be friendly with us and wanted to show us the Bluebird taxi. He passed us to another guy who is wearing blue shirt and claimed he is from Bluebird group by showing a tattered blue bird card. No pictures, no names. I was a little suspicious but I followed along anyway. We finally stopped at his, not-bluebird-taxi but Avanza(!) and he quoted us for RP200k. I think the RP50k is for the guy who led us to him. (-_-) . So, we head back to the counter and get the RP150k deal. It is really not a bad deal because it is really important you land on a safe hand once u arrived. While I don’t think the “syndicate” will be kidnapping us, but it’s just that going through the proper channel is more secured and to avoid being conned in term of the payment.

So, we get on our Avanza and head to Baim/Aini’s house. We get a relatively young driver who keeps saying “Sudah punya pacar?” “Saya pingin pacar dari Malaysia" “Ini mau ke rumah pacar kah?” (-_-‘) Lawak jer.....He used to work as fish monger and changed his profession to a taxi driver due to modalnya habis. Cuteness. Haha.

An hour later, we arrived to Bendungan Hilir or better know as Ben Hil.. Baim opened the door for us and we went it to freshen up and catch us. It was nice to see familiar faces again. :D


To be Continued….

Jakarta 2011

Hello! Yup. I went to Jakarta for the 2nd time. Oh well, i can't resist the temptation to shop there. As usual, everyone can fly with Air Asia & here's the price for 2 people:-
It is not a really promotional fare, but, since we desperately need to go there, so we went on with it anyway. But lo and behold..... just a week before our departure, Air Asia announce a promotion where a return ticket is only half of what we paid.... adoiii laa..... nak wat camno.. sabo je lah.

While searching for the Hotel, my travel mate, Dayah, plan to use the Flight+Hotel package with Air Asia. Most of the time, it offers a quite good deal. However, make sure u do some comparison before really placing a booking. For example, the hotel that we chosed this time, Ibis Arcadia, was offered at a lower price at another website called Hotel Asia. It turned out because the Air Asia deal included breakfast package and it was charge at around RM25 per person. (*_*)

My last tip of the day, if you travel with low cost airline such as Air Asia that charged you baggage fee, then this kind of expandable bag is really a good deal. Thx Kak Ilah for the suggestions, i survived with 14.1kg luggage only on the return flight. Yes!!!!

See how cool it able to expand itself?! This one is Polo Beverly Hills at around RM60(if not mistaken). I am sure there are many brands available... ;)

Ok...that's it a teaser. Summary on Jakarta trip coming up next!

Hello New Year!

There is something i would like to try. It's not easy. But, i believe or aspire, to be good at it. It's time to experience another part of the world.