JAKARTA & BANDUNG trip

me (meen) and apis (ped) went to indonesia last week. here are some of the infos we would like to share with you guys. as you know, we stayed at my supervisor's home in jakarta. which, solves the accommodation problem. thus, we are not THAT sure about which hotel is the best.

day #1
our flight departs at 4.30 and arrive at 5.45 (local time). indonesia is 1 hour late than our time. subuh pukul 5.. aiyoo. we boarded KLM and ticket costs about rm450. air asia is much cheaper, rm200+ provided you guys book the ticket earlier.

[1] KLM airplane and happy ped, upon arriving at jakarta

we arrived at jakarta and my supervisor's husband picked us up at bandara (airport) and the trip from the airport to her house took about 1 1/2 hours. macet bangatt... jakarta adalah bandar yang senantiasa macet. we had our dinner at restoran dadu. 6 adults = Rp100 000 (rm35-40).

[2] restoran dadu, in front of it is this mosque.

day #2

the next day, me and ped accompanied pn ina and her husband to make her new ic. here, if you move to another kecamatan (district) you have to change your ic. kalau tak, kira illegal lah. here in jakarta, the difference between the rich and the poor is sooo far apart. the rich are so filthy rich and the poor are just to sad to describe. and, the corruption.. waduh.. anyway, on our way, we stumbled upon a mobile merry-go-around. kayuh sendiri tau.. hehe. so interesting.

[3] lima kaki - a thing they pull around, selling lotsa kinds of food. lima kaki = 3 tayar + 2 kaki(penarik). and the mobile merry go around thing. cute!

we went to Taman Mini "Indonesia Indah". the price per person is Rp9000 (~rm3). here, you can go to each part of indonesia. hehe. macam taman mini malaysia lah kot. here, they build replicas of buildings from each part of indonesia. sumatra, bali etc. we didnt went to each taman mini because the park was soo huge. here, everthing is extensive. tanah besar la katakan. we manage to visit 'bali'. we also had our lunch there which cost about Rp112 000.

then we went to the airport (again) to fetch 2 more trip members. on the way we passed by monas (monumen nasional) the tip of the structure is made of gold. 50kg of it. cuba la panjat dan curi. hehe

[4] we had our lunch here. there is a jawa musician singing traditional jawa songs at the corner. try the pecel. sedap weh.

[5] some of the structures in taman mini Bali and monas. 50kg emas woo atas puncak tuh.

day #3

ped followed pn ina and her husband to blok M. there is a morning market there that sells kuih kuih, cakes of all sorts and other foods. here, you'll have trouble in choosing what to eat because everything looks delicious. then we all go to pasar tanah abang. shopping time! here is where they sell mostly clothings. kain potong, baju siap jahit, kain batik, telekong, kebaya, tudung, etc. you name it. the average price for a quite okay kebaya (belum jahit) is Rp100 000 (~rm40). malaysians will buy lots of these kebaya and sell for about rm150. untung kan? if you buy several pieces, bisa dikurang harganya.

[6] breakfast by the road side and some of the kuih bought at blok M

lunch time, back to pn ina's house as she organizes a small birthday party for her youngest son, ihsan, as he turned 17 that day. a unique dish called 'tumpangan' or 'nasi tumpang' was the highlight for that noon. at the middle is pulut kuning, at the surrounding are several types of 'lauk' consisting bergedel (made of potatoes), telur pindang, sambal, tempe, ulam, cabai, etc.

after lunch, we went to pasar tanah abang, again. and this time the real shopping craziness begins. banyak woo kami beli. then we went to serina mall, lebih kurang macam sogo lah. i bought a 'gendang' and a musical instrument called 'hujan hujan'. it is beautifully decorated with colourful painting. both of it costs about Rp500 000 (~rm240).

[7] nasik tumpangan, this culture is 'borrowed' from Hinduism. and those are some of the kebaya that i bought.

day #4

bandung time!! the trip started a bit late since we were all exhausted from the shopping spree the day before. it took about 2 hours to get to bandung. but the 'supir' or driver got lost (even indonesions get lost in their own country!), and it took us nearly 6 hours to get to the first stop. my ass was numb, i'm telling ya. marah betul.

[8] we stopped by at this mosque on the way to bandung. that little boy is nabil. aku jadik babysitter..

first stop was tangkuban parahu. this was once a volcano but it's not active anymore. arwah ayah bought me a key chain from here, now, I'M standing here. bandung is a bit cold, like cameron or genting. and since its a bit rainy, its a bit more colder. for cyclist, bandung is a good place to cycle. we've stumbled upon several cyclist along the way. its a bit challenging, so kalau tak gantung, tak payah naik ye. the entry fee is Rp12000 for locals but for foreigners it is Rp35000 (~rm20). my advice, dont ever make eye contact with the sellers there. they will swarm you like bees. non-stop. urging you to buy their things. sumer karut karut pulak tu. its very disturbing and i did not enjoy the view that much. there are also stalls selling beanies, scarfs, traditional things, t shirts, key chains, etc and of course, food.

[9] gunung tangkuban parahu. kinda smelly due to the sulfur. ada a few shops and even horse rides.

then off to sari ater at ciater. hot springs with hot chicks. hehe. the entry fee cost about Rp14000 (~rm5). since it is the weekends, almost every spot is occupied with people. one thing about indonesians, they really enjoy going out to wisata spots with their families. owh, wisata = pelancongan. our sore and tired feet are immediately soothed by the warm water of the hot springs. if only i could bathe in it. cukup lah rendam rendam kaki je.

[10] main air di sari ater

after that, we took about 2 hour trip to kampung daun for our er.. late lunch. the place was awesome!! very beautiful landscape. very cooling. very green. but kinda expensive. so far, this is the most expensive lunch yet. Rp400 000 (~rm180). this is definitely one of the must go places in bandung. if you've been to ampang sports planet, there is a restaurant called bora ombak next to it. this kampung daun is 10x better than that. get it?

we reached back jakarta about 1 am local time. pheuww.. penat. but, it was worth it.

[11] kampung daun and its special menu.

day #5

D day. i stayed home because i was not feeling well. the cold and rain is too much for my head to handle. migrain bebeh. ped however, went to blok M again and to mistik. i'm not sure whats there but pn shureen came back with a few nice cotton kebaya. serious, cun. so my guess is lots of kain. kain. kain. then we head to mangga dua. since time is limited, i went to its music stores to find white shoes & the couples company's cd. dissappointingly, na-da. they dont even know that band. but i manage to find a movie titled daun di atas bantal. this movie won several awards including cannes film festival 1998. it is about the life of a mother and her 3 sons in jakarta.

then, at about 6.30 local time, i flew back to malaysia. and here i am. there is no place like home.

[12] KLIA and jakarta airport. home sweet home.