JAKARTA- BANDUNG TRIP 15-19 MAY 2009 - PART 3

Day 3 - 17 May 2009 (Sunday)

We had our buffet breakfast at the Kookobura Restaurant in the hotel. The choice of food were aplenty and cover both continental and local foods.

A, enjoying his cereal at the restaurant.

At 8.00 am, Pak Tarmudzi, our driver picked us up with a brand new Suzuki Arena MPV. A chatty guy, he first brought us to our desired destination, the mount Tangkuban Perahu, the most famous tourist volcano just 28 km north of the city. Part of the road especially nearing the place are full of potholes, making the journey a bit uncomfortable. Furthermore, you have to pay an entrance fee of Rp45,000 per person before entering the mountain.

View from the huge dead crater.

With a paying guide named Pak Usa, we hiked downhill through the natural stairs 1.2km to reach Kawah Domas (Domas Crater), an active volcanic crater with sulphuric spring.

Half way to Kawah Domas...

Nope, I can't fit into that.....

enjoying the splendid panoramic view

At last.... reaching the crater, with hot geysers
and hissing sulphur vapor all around us

eggs are sold here so that you can put them into
the boiling water until there are cooked

All of us had a mud massages around the legs
before soaking it into the hot water

Another view at the crater....

We then headed to a less steeply area i.e the car park at Kawah Ratu, where our driver was waiting for us. All in all, it was a tiring walk and I was sweating profusely upon arriving at the car park but nonetheless such adventure was a worthwhile experience for all of us.

We then had our lunch at the infamous Kampung Daun restaurant, a must place to go for anyone who visited Bandung. It is located in a natural surrounding of craftsman village in a deep jungle valley. With fresh air and cool breeze, its the best choice of place to be i.e. to relax your feet after the long walk.

The entrance to Kampung Daun Restaurant

Entering our hut

ermmm from the menu, which buntut to eat? hehehe

Time to hit the Kentongan, to call for services
from the traditional clad waiters

Lunch is served...time to eat....

Time to take a nap...


Inside the village....

Most visitors took their picture here...

The driver then sent us to Rumah Mode, the most talkabout FO in Bandung. Being a Sunday, this beautiful FO inclusive of a cafe and a spa were full of people especially those from Jakarta and many Malaysian too. At the cafe, I bought 2 cups of a delicious 'durian sensation' sundae.

Later, we went to Toko Tiga, the place where they sell original jeans. I bought an original 501 Levi's jeans for about RM100. Our last FO were the Heritage and its adjoining FO, the Cascade. Personally, I love Cascade much better than Rumah Mode and decided to come again tomorrow to shop after I change the balance of my money to Rupiahs.

To tired to eat outside, our driver drove us to the best Bakso Restaurant in town according to him. It was the Baso Malang Karapitan where we ordered a take-away food for our dinner. We then headed back to our hotel, exhausted...

Next day will be our shopping day....

JAKARTA/BANDUNG TRIP 15 - 19 MAY 2009 - PART 2

Day 2 - 16 May 2009 (Saturday)

At 8.30am, from our hotel, we walked out to a Mall in front of Sarinah Mall and had our breakfast at Dunkin Donut there. Later, in Sarinah Mall, Ajib had his hair cut and then highlighted it in a hair saloon. While waiting for him, A and I went to a supermarket inside the same Mall. There, I bought 3 original DVDs (Indonesian movies - Laskar Pelangi, Perempuan Berkalong Serban and Chika). I also bought a nerd looking reading glasses in the supermarket to replace the one I brought which was broken due to a mishap at the airport.

Ajib at the saloon, highlighting his hair

At 11.30 am, after checking out from the hotel, we took a Blue Bird cab to Gambir Train Station. There are two operating trains going to Bandung i.e The Argo Gede and the Parahyangan. Since Parahyangan was the earliest to depart, we bought the last 3 remaining executive tickets. We then had our bento like lunch at a Japanese restaurant at the station.

The Gambir Train Station, the picture was
taken a day before from MONAS Tower

The fully air-conditioned executive coach was not only clean but spacious and the comfortable seat comes together with a small clean pillow. They also served a nice box containing a bun and mineral water. You can also order food and drinks with their set menus from the attending waitress. Your order will be sent to your seat or you can eat at one of the coaches which served as a canteen.

The inside of the executive coach

The smooth three hour journey covers a picturesque route through paddy fields, villages, mountains and tea plantation. It was a thrilling experience for me as I have never been in a train for a long distance journey before.

We reached Bandung Station at 4.30 pm. The weather was nice with the temperature around 24-25C. We were then picked by the Hotel Grand Serela's chauffeur, the hotel that we will be staying for the next 3 nights.

Bandung Train Station

Ajib, posing in front of the Grand Serela Boutique Hotel

Our room

Another picture of our room

Afterward, we took a minibus called 'angkutan' to go to Dago Street, where a few major Factory Outlet (FO) are situated. There, we shopped a bit and then had dinner at Grande's FO. Back at the hotel, A and I had our foot reflexology massages while Ajib did the whole body massage at the hotel spa.

End of day two of our trip and day one for us in Bandung. We had already booked a local driver to drive us around Bandung for two days and he will pick us up tomorrow morning at 8.00 am.

JAKARTA/BANDUNG TRIP 15 - 19 MAY 2009 - PART 1

This trip was planned a few months back....By March, A and I had booked the flight return tickets to Jakarta. Later, my office mate, Ajib and his friend wanted to join in. Due to some matters with the Immigration Dept, Ajib's friend cannot get the passport ready in time and decided not to go. Then, three days before we were to depart, Ajib's father had a heart attack and was admitted to ICU, GH. Fearing the worst, Ajib decided not to go too. The next day, Ajib's father regain consciousness and was transferred to the normal ward. With his blessing, Ajib then decided to join us back.

So this was our story of our trip to Jakarta & Bandung...

Day One - 15 May 2009 (Friday)

At 4.00 am, A and I took a cab from our house to KL Sentral and proceeded to LCCT via Sky Bus. Ajib was already there and after we had done checking-in, we went to Chocolate for breakfast

With Ajib at Chocolate, having our set continental breakfast

At 7.00 am, we flew to Soekarno- Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, arriving at 10.30 am (Indonesian time). I saw this interesting add at the airport and had to take a picture of it.

Do you think its necessary to put the animal pic? Pity Mexico too, hehe

We then took a Blue Bird cab (the only reliable cab in Indonesia) to our hotel, Ibis Arcadia.

Our room in Ibis Arcadia

After check-in, we walked to the nearest nasi padang restaurant for lunch. Here, they served us with many plates of foods. What we choose will be counted and be paid for. The 'ayam dendeng', 'nangka masak lemak' were among my favourites. It tasted good but it will taste better if the food is being served warm. Being hungry we did not care much and its served our purpose to eat fast so that we can have more time to roam. We then walked to Monumen Nasional (MONAS) nearby which is actually the National Monument tower (137 meter high). We bought tickets and took the elevator up to the upper platform to view Medan Merdeka Park, Istiqlal Mosque and the city view.

A, with MONAS at the background

Ajib & A, below the tower.

To enter inside MONAS, you need to use
the tunnel from the park

The view from the Tower

Another view from the Tower,
Istiqlal Mosque, one of the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia.
I read somewhere, President Soekarno choose a Christian architect to built it.

Afterward, the three of us took a ride in a 'Bajaj', a three-wheeled motorised rickshaw to Tanah Abang Market (somewhat like a high rise Wisma Yakin market area but much much more hustling and bustling) where we did a 'little' bit of shopping. Using bajaj is not only cheaper but also faster considering the horrible traffic jam or 'macet' as it is said in Indonesian. But you have to endure the smell of gas, the heat and the fear for your dear life while the driver did the "rempit" action to reach its destination...

The road behind Tanah Abang Market
(14 or so storey building - the green in colour)

We then took another Bajaj and headed back to our hotel. Afterward, we took a cab and went to Grand Indo, a huge and the most exclusive mall in Indonesia. Indeed, the word 'grand' is not an exaggeration. Nothing in KL can compare this richly taste and beautiful mall. The security is also quite tight..not only you will be screened before entering the mall but any vehicles will have to undergo the same inspection. There, I entered a shop selling original CDs and bought an album CD recommended to me by a courteous worker in the shop. The artiste is Joeniar Arief and I love his songs instantly when that guy played it for me during testing. Fall in love with the track 'Rapuh' as you can feel a snappy similar beat of 'Bleeding Love' by Leona Lewis in that song but much much better...a superb album..

One of the many attractive places in the Mall (the Arabian street)

We then had our dinner at the modern and beautiful food court. My only concern in the food court was that the stalls there do not differentiate a halal or non halal section. (Even MBK Mall in Bangkok has a section for muslim food!!!)....There are stalls putting a '100% halal' sign at their premises but his neighbouring stall clearly and proudly stated 'pork' in the menus.

Another one of the mall's magnificent place

Afterward, we took a cab and went to Sarinah Mall, a walking distance to our hotel. There, we went to Inul Vista, a karaoke place owned by Inul Daratista, the same kind of place I went while I was in Bali last year. Not only its was cheap, but the ambiance was nice and the sound system was superb. We then walked back to our hotel to rest.

End of day one - the next post will be day two of our trip which include our journey from Jakarta to Bandung via train.

MOTHER'S DAY 2009

I can't remember when my family first started to celebrate Mother's Day. It was never heard off until the last few years and by then, I was left only with my mother. My father passed away 10 years ago. At that time, all of us i.e my two older brothers, my sister (the eldest) and myself were worried sick that my mother might not take the burden of being alone. The two of them had never been separated for a long time, albeit being the likes of Mr and Mrs Smith, throwing daggers and bullets at each other while my father was still alive. Irregardless, their love life is a story by itself, spanning more than four decades of sharing their life together come what may.......

Surprisingly, my mother is a strong woman and lead her life alone until last year when my brother insisted for her to stay with him and his family in Shah Alam. She is now 74 years old if I calculated her age in my birth certificate but she always said that she was borne much much earlier than that. Those early years, your father will not rush to the registry office to register your birth, the day you were born. Whatever it is, our family has been celebrating mother's day since a few years ago...sometimes in a big scale and sometimes small, but to us that is not important as long as we can get together as one family.

This year, all of us celebrated Mother's Day with a lunch at the Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam (KGPA) in Damansara. After that, my sister with her family, my mother, A and myself went to IKEA. We then had our early dinner at a small Modesto and had our pizzas and pastas there. One thing I like about my mother is that, at her age, she is not choosy when it comes to food. She does not mind walking to a burger stall and ordered one if she feels like it... The other best part about her was that, she insisted in paying half or all of the bill when its that time to pay (well, not all the time we decline her offer anyway).. anytime, anywhere even though at Mother's Day....who could ask for more, the best mum ever......muah....

My smiling mum with her Mother Day's card

BIRTHDAY DINNER & STAR TREK

Wednesday, 6 May 2009

As mentioned from my previous post, I have intended to bring A to dinner for his birthday. I also mentioned that it will be a secret place unknown to him. Actually I did not hide anything, I told him the name of the place outright already....the place I meant was Rahsia Bistro & Bar (here) at Jalan Damai.

First impression of the place has been impressive. As mentioned in the website, it is a 60's bungalow surrounded by greens with chic decoration. You can either dine in open air garden area, 1st floor or 2nd floor terrace, ( outdoors) or the living halls, private rooms or patio (indoors). Such a serene place with nice ambiance indeed. We choose the 1st floor terrace, a compromise between an open air and a full blast fan to cool ourselves from the hot nite.

The garden area

The menu is a mixture of Asian and western food. As stated in the website it is an eclectic mix of contemporary Asian and Nouveau International cuisine...whatever that means...

For starters we ordered, Tomato Soup, Rojak Buah, and Top Hats. We drank Rahsia's speciality drinks i.e "Asmara" by A, a mixed of mango and orange plus soda. I ordered "Cinta", a concoctions comprising of watermelon, lime, mint, soda and other ingredients I can't remember. I was then told by the waitress "Cinta" was invented by the owner of Rahsia himself.

"Asmara", A's drink
"Cinta", my drink

A non pretentious tomato soup, simple and yummy

I love these Pie Tee, its not crispy
but it tastes good nonetheless

For the main course, A ordered Mushroom Fish and I ordered Chicken Roulade. As for dessert, I ordered Black Sweet which was actually a Malay bubur pulut hitam with banana slices and vanilla ice-cream, served in a hot wine glass . A ordered bread butter pudding instead. The restaurant also served us with the traditional malay sago pudding together with coconut gravy and red sugar, complimentary from the chef.

Mushroom Fish, served with onion rings

My chicken roulade, served with mashed potatoes and asparagus

A's dessert, bread butter pudding with a scoop of ice-cream

My dessert

All in all, we really enjoyed the dinner. The food prices are nett i.e. with no service charge and no GST. With a very reasonable price, great ambiance and soft background music, it was a pleasant surprised for me to listen to one of my favourite singer, Brenda Russell belted her distinguished songs such as "Le Restaurant" and "Get Here" (made famous again by Oleta Adam) . These two beautiful songs introduced me to appreciate contemporary jazz singers years ago such as Sheila Majid, Vina Panduwinata, Jerry Butler, Sade and Anita Baker to name a few.

Birthday boy ...

Smiling after a full stomach......

Thursday, 7 May 2009.

I have already booked 2 tickets to watch "Star Trek" at IOI Mall at 9.25 p.m. earlier in the morning. The journey from our house to IOI Mall will normally be not more than 15 minutes but we were shocked to be confronted with a massive traffic jam entering IOI Mall (we have forgotten about Jusco's mega sale on the same day). To find a car park was horrendous and I managed to park at a very dangerous place. We reached the cinema at 9.00 pm. Luckily the seats for the movie were still available. After buying the tickets, we then rushed to the A & W's nearby and grabbed our burgers for a quick bite. The movie had already started by the time we were in.

Having watched a few failed Star Trek movies before, my only hope was that this will be a different movie from its predecessors. Why? Because it is in the hand of J.J Abrams, the same director who gave us the unforgettable "Armageddon", "Mission Impossible", "Cloverfield" and lots of TV series. Again, he did not disappoint. For me, he has done a splendid job of reviving the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members in a much much grandeur scale. As expected in a Star Trek movie, the story of the future co-exist in the present and vice versa was apparent here..confusing? don't bother, you are watching a movie where earth only existed maybe 10 minutes out of this 126 minutes movie. Also, its kinda funny to watch Zachary Quinto as the good old Mr Spock after seeing him as the evil Sylar in Heroes. Whatever it is, go watch and enjoy the movie.

To end this, I quote Mr Spock famous phrase......Live long, and Prosper. ( with the imaginary "V" hand sign.......).

JUST A FEW UPDATES

It has been quite awhile since I wrote my last post. Why? I can simply say that I am busy like everyone else and its an absolute truth but how busy can someone be? Surely the creature named 'lazy' play a part in it too.... whatever it is I pray to God for giving me still the wisdom to savor happiness, a loose term but joyful nonetheless... but off course for every journey or voyage, the sea is not always calm, the stormy sea did rock the ship to the brink of its demise time and time again ..but as long as the captain has a strong will to see his ship to reside or to berth at her designated place, then come what may, the journey in itself will be worthwhile...


Enough about that, let us come back to the solid ground. Just like AF7 which talks about transformation (not that I take heed about it anymore unlike those glorious AF year i.e. during Zahid's) my small house has also being transformed. Many many thanks to A, for his non sabbatical leave from work for about 4 weeks has given him ample time and ideas to decorate our house..a little bit of painting here and a little bit of drilling there and adding with all new lighting's and carpet plus the new "toys" has given our living room an uplifting place to be...yet there are still few things to be done but with no budget, the rest are to be put on hold.

When I said, sabbatical leave it does not mean that A was fired or retrenched. He left his old company for a long needed break and do things... other things he wanted to do for a while before embarking on a new working journey again...well yesterday was A's first day working in a new place ..... so just expect him to eventually revive his blogs soon.

As for our weekend activities nothing much to note except the following in no chronologically order.

- Watched theater called "Patung Kertas 2" at MATIC. I must say its quite fascinating to watch Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan and Ashraf Muslim and few others as drag queens. However, the "antics" in this theater were much much less provocative to compare with "Air-Cond" that we watched last year.

- Attended AIM in PWTC with Ajib, A and Omar, A's best friend. Love Adibah's ranting with the audience in between commercial breaks for she prayed not to make anymore bloopers which she did during their opening act with Afdlin and Bob Lokman.

- The next day, A, Omar and myself had our lunch at the new Papa John in IOI Mall, Puchong. I always like Papa John's pizzas, second best only after Modesto's. (Domino's still OK, Pizza Hut a big no no............) Nonetheless I keep wondering why many of the Papa John's waiters in here are chubby guys.....ermmm I received the answer via SMS from Panzer concurring with my thought....he simply put it...it shows good food ermmm Fat people = Good food? ermmm I guess so hehehe..... good marketing strategies nonetheless.....

- Made a complaint at Johnny's (Steamboat) in Berjaya Times Square. Why? The infamous dip sauce is no longer thick as usual albeit the same taste. Being Johnny's ardent customer (one or twice a month), the manager helplessly told us that the sauce was supplied by one company and not being made by the restaurant itself....sigh...

- Had dinner at The Loaf in Pavilion and out of curiosity we tried its Japanese fusion set dinner named the Ojyu Plus One which have four type of set menus. I took the Murasala and A's took the Tsubaki. Out came 2 small trays and in it an even smaller or tiny cups of assorted fusion Japanese delicacies. The Japanese really know how to make us not to dislike the food. In each tiny cups or in a spoon, the food tasted yummy but because of its small quantities we appreciated it more after it enters into our mouth, wanting more of it but no longer there.... Funny that both of us swear to go to mamak stall afterwards...

A' s Tsubaki

My Murasala

Complimentary Bread

- The Drinks

On the same nite at Pavilion, we watched a Thai's movie called "Queen Of Langkasuka". On the way out of the cinema afterward, I kept wandering how our neighbouring country can produced such a high quality movie such as this. How so very far backward is our movie industry. It is beyond comparison. Such a shame.......

That is about all for now. We tried to keep a tight budget this month (to no avail, off course) to prepare ourselves for our upcoming trip to Jakarta/Bandung next Friday. Nonetheless , tonite, I will buy A's dinner at a secret place unknown to him to celebrate his birthday today...ermmmmmm