Jakarta..... recap

Accomodation.

• I strongly recommend Hotel Ibis or any Hotel around this area. It is a really strategic place. Here is my own version of Google Map. :P All of this place is walking distance.
  When booking online, make sure you print everything that was emailed to you. Just like our case, miscommunications happens.
  
  

Transportation

• If you can, avoid taking flights with arrival at peak time, which is after 4pm, as the traffic is normally bad a.k.a macet.
• From Airport to our destination, we took Avanza from the SilverBird counter, you can see it before you exit the Arrival Gate. It is at fix rate which is IDR 150k. On the way back, we took Blue Bird taxi which cost IDR 106.6. It really depends on the traffic to determine which options is better. The fix rate is not that expensive anyway. Not to mentioned, it might be quite tricky to get BlueBird taxi upon arrival.

Food

• Gudeg Jogya, D'cost, Steak Abuba, Natrabu, the foodcourt at Tanah Abang & Thamrin City & many more! All at affordable price.
• The best Jus Apolkat is the one at Jaya Agung. However, i have to warn you that Jaya Agung is an open eatery. Thus, there will be street performers or beggars. You need to give some money to ensure they move on. However, the more you give, the more will come. ;(

Shopping

• USD is not accepted at most money changer, especially not those old serial number or notes that looks old/folded. So, make sure you have IDR. You can also bring extra RM & exchange it incase you overshoot ur budget. ;P
• Most shops at Tanah Abang/Thamrin City open at 9/10am and close at 4/5pm. If you have the time, go visit both!

Tanah Abang

Thamrin City

Flights

• The departure gate is quite far from check in. So, make sure you go in early as it will be hard to attempt any amazing race here.

I guess that's all.

Will i go to Jakarta for the 3rd time? YES. :P

But before the 3rd visit to Jakarta, i hope to go Bandung. Hihi. After Korea, of course.

Steak Abuba

Next to Thamrin City is Grand Indonesia. Next to Grand Indonesia is Plaza Indonesia.

Ada sales....

My colleague recommended Sour Sally, so we tried it. It is really SOUR.

Price.....

Checking the currency exchange....

Muka bahagia....

Up close and personal

That night we had dinner at Steak Abuba...just around our hotel.

As usual, Jus Apolkat! Review on this place: Really recommended!

Dessert must have!

Muka bahagia sekali lagi. :P

Thamrin City

This is Thamrin City. Thanks to Aini for recommending us to visit it. I thought there is only Tanah Abang in Jakarta. ;P Of course, there is also Mangga Dua, but they don't really have as wide variety of Muslimah clothing there. Anyway, i felt that Thamrin City offered cheaper price. And somehow, i can find most of the clothes that i look for here. Probably it's just luck or maybe Tanah Abang is quite crowded with so many levels, that we did not get to see all. Oh well...whatever it is, i am loving Thamrin City. :P

It also have a nice food court. The price range is also cheaper than Tanah Abang.

Our choice




One word. Manissssssssssss.

Baso.


Posing time.

After that, we went shopping. But, i am so busy shopping that i don't take any pictures. :P

Another plus point for Thamrin City is this restaurant called D'Cost. Aligned with it's name, it is really cost savvy.

Gurame Masak Pedas


Sotong Goreng Tepung.
Maaf. dah makan baru tangkap gambar. :P



Kacang Panjang...
Juga sudah masuk perut.



Tauhu.
Juga sudah masuk perut.


The menu.... murah murah....

The proof.

Bukti kelazatan....

The bill for 4 persons.

Murah murah.

:P

Group photo. <3>

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.