Advertisement
i'm a millionaire!
only in indonesia...Instead of contemplating on my sins this holy week like I really usually try to do (hmmm), we decided to take a trip to Indonesia. En route to Bali, we stopped for a spell in Jakarta. A bit of sightseeing and shopping and a nice reunion with some friends. I can’t say their names since I do not have their permission but they were awesome hosts. My friend Jenina took this trip with us. Didn’t ask her permission either but she’s my closest friend, so… and she was with us in Palawan too and she didn’t mind the publicity (wink!). We got to Jakarta past midnight via Cebu Pacific. Less than an hour we were at Atlet Century in south Jakarta. Nice room. At breakfast, I found the beef bacon weird but everything else was good especially the coffee.
On the way to the Monas monument, traffic was good. Our friends said this was quite unusual as Jakarta streets were often filled to the brim with cars and a gazillion motorbikes. We did not get to go up the monument since the queue to the lift was looong. Apparently, our visit coincided with a Muslim holiday and most out-of-towners
were in Jakarta for the long weekend. But we got to see the museum at the basement where the Indonesian Declaration of Independence was kept. The 3-D dioramas depicting the country’s history were impressively made even my 2-year old son’s interest was captured.
After lunch we were off to Taman Mini or mini Indonesia. We were able to explore an entire nation in under three hours! At the entrance we saw a smaller version of the Monas. The different regions of Indonesia were represented by famous structures (we couldn’t wait to get to Borobudur) and dwellings. There were cable cars and trains to take you to the different sites. I was mostly amazed by the architecture and design of the model houses. The intricate woodcarvings and wall paintings were all very unique. David was more interested in posing with the many animal statues. Imagine his reaction when he saw the easter bunnies. Nothing is for free so after their photo op, one bunny was pointing to his breast pocket. We got the hint. All in all, Taman Mini was a very interesting place to visit. Every capital city should have a place like this.
Our hotel
motorbikes and more motorbikes
at a parking lot near the monas was conveniently located in the heart of Jakarta’s business district and was just a five-minute walk away from Senayan Plaza and Senayan City. It’s like the mother ship calling so of course, Jen and I were off to the malls pronto! We couldn’t wait to spend our millions of rupiah! Needless to say, we had a blast although we had to hurry coz we’re buying dinner for JR and David. Altho the streets were a bit dark, our friends assured us it was safe to walk to the hotel and true enough, we got back safe and sound.
The next day B took us shopping for batik at Pasaraya Grande. One floor was like batik paradise! A lot of items were on sale Jen went on a shopping rampage! We also bought some Polo (Ralph Lauren) items which are really cheap in Indonesia. At Carrefour (which we do not have in the Philippines), we stocked up on Garnier face products (which are much more expensive in the Philippines), curries, and a lot of other ready-to-cook food mixes (instant nasi goreng, soto ayam and beef rendang in my kitchen!). We also bought some freshly-ground Java coffee at B’s favorite
coffee place (I forgot the name) and Jen had to buy an extra piece of luggage for her purchases.
We were back at Senayan for dinner. We were supposed to eat at a padang restaurant but our friends couldn’t find it. We found another place serving Indonesian food and we loved it. I was taken with the pepes (smoked fish wrapped in leaves with a million aromatic spices) and David with the fried fish that was filleted butterfly-style. Jen couldn’t get enough of the kangkong and it will have bad consequences in the days to follow (tsk. tsk). JR promised David we’d find Thomas and Friends and of course, they were in Senayan. Check out how happy our little boy was!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.073s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0522s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
