More shopping.

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Geo: -6.18, 106.83

After the flurry of activity yesterday today was to be much quieter. The RDC driver, Tandi, was organised to pick me up at 10am and take me into the city to the two big shopping malls, Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia. These are side by side near one of the main squares which contain the Welcome sculpture. They are also next to the Grand Hyatt.
As usual Tandi was on time and he dropped me at the Grand Indonesia. This is very plush and modern with several storeys of the usual shops. I must admit I was not all that impressed by this one as it seemed to be very restricted in area and made me walk around in circles too much. That was the West Mall. The East Mall was much more negotiable. I did find in the department store, Seibu, a Marks and Spencers where I bought a very nice skirt which was pretty and actually fitted me. One of the most frustrating things with shopping here is too many shops have clothes etc that are either way out of my league in price or far too small for my larger figure!!

I then went to the Plaza Indonesia. The layout was much more open and I happily wandered around here for an hour albeit without buying anything apart from a large Baskins and Robbins icecream! I then went into the foyer of the Grand Hyatt which Fletcher had said was worth seeing. This proved to be true as it was several storeys high with a magnificent central staircase. Very grand indeed. As I returned to the East Mall of the Grand Indonesia, I noticed the incongrous small street stalls on the opposite side of the road. Old v new very much here.On the ground floor of the East Mall there were several sculptures on exhibit. I particularly liked one of a dog on a skateboard and another entitled White Lotus.

I returned to the hotel about 1pm and after a rest walked over to Senayan City to have lunch at a Pizza place Fletcher had recommended. Unfortunately it was closed for renovations so I had to settle for a Chinese chilli chicken instead.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the computer or reading and the time passed quickly enough. After Fletcher returned we were again driven by the reliable Tandi to Fletcher's favourite Jakarta restaurant, Koi. This is in the suburbs and is "modern chic" bistro style. We had a fabulous three course meal there with white and red wine.I had duck pate, Lamb shanks and a magnificent Mille Feuilles for dessert. Very impressive indeed.

So a quieter day which was very pleasant.

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Comments

[Kat Burgess]

Dog on a skateboard doesn't really do it justice.While the clothes say 'hobo' the posture and tilt of the head says a whole lot more!