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Day 5 (06/12/2010) – we woke up early today for our not-so-$hopping day…jakarta has many many great malls to offer…but, time permits…

Siti: annual trip laa…datang $hopping ngan spa je…

we had our move to South East Asia’s largest shopping mall – Grand Indonesia…we’re 30 minutes ahead of the opening time…so, we did what tourists do – taking pictures around the mall – in front of the displaying frames of designer boutiques (Burberry, GUCCI) – aii, kat KLCC, tak buat-buat pun…

then, we entered through East Mall entrance…straight-away, we went to the information counter…I asked about the ‘Cultural of the Worlds’ section…ooo, actually it is ‘Crossroads of the World’…I was misinformed…poor website and poor me…

di lantai 3A sampai lantai 5…West Mall yaa…musik airnya mulai jam 12…seterusnya jam 3, 6, 8…juga di West Mall, lantai 5…

2 hours to go…ermm…it’s photo session time…and of course – makan…

we stopped to buy Roti Durian at Durian Dynamic Monthong…the durian cream was OK but the buns were not fluffy…

durian pancake at Pavilion or Midvalley are better…and I love Duren Duren by Big Apple…and Chakri Palace’s durian fritters…best of all: Pulut Durian Family Liza…OK, OK, enough….

to the ‘Crossroads of the World’ – here, we found ourselves enjoying different atmosphere of famous city of the world…refer to the above title – it’s a Small World after all~~~ ohh, and I was surprised that many people deemed the merry song as annoying…kekekekeke… I am keanak-anakan…minta maaflah…

OK, let’s have quick brunch at 11am…we went to the Food Louver – Grand Indonesia’s Food Court area…

we had Sate Khas Senayan Express (Sate Ayam Set + Tahu Pong + Jasmine Tea) = Rp.60000, Bebek Goreng counter (Bebek Goreng + Bebek Mercon Paket+Siomay Campur) = Rp.112000 and drinks (Es Kelapa + Tehbotol) – Rp.29000…3.32 stars…

and here, I drafted my business plan…thanks to Zetti and Siti…

angan-anganku tinggi melangit…hehe…tak punya harta tak mengapa, jangan tak punya hati…

after brunch, we watched and were captivated by a really really superb, magical musical fountain performance…ala-ala opera…fascinating,enchanting,charming,entrancing – all the ing, ing, ing…

we were just speechless with unblinking pair of eyes trying as we might to capture all the gerak tari and the sounds and the lights…

unbelievable…masyaAllah…indah sungguh…Siti managed to get a few snapshots…but,this should be in a video…tak ade rezeki kami…this is high class…5++ stars….

our next stop is the famous Tanah Abang shopping district…

still ‘macet’ on a Monday…

eeeiiii, orang-orang ini tidak bekerjakah?!!kami nak membeli-belah…

Tanah Abang complex is divided into Blok A and Blok B with many floors and both block is joined by a bridge internally (we don’t get to see the bridge from inside the building – you can easily be disoriented: maybe not YOU,it’s just ME – Siti is good with this self-GPS)…

we started with Blok B and we crossed to Blok A and we came back to Blok B…

and there’s a part where on the way returning to Blok B, we came across a Chinese song karaoke competition…hehehe…after days of bisa, iya, enggak – it’s kind of nice to hear different language…

what do we $hop here?!! telekung and batik and kids wear…

long dresses and jubah and kebaya tops – too exclusive and too cantik…

sooo cheap but not suitable laa (kalu beli, tak tau nak pakai ke mane dan adekah akan pakai) – for kahwin purpose, mungkin…

kami hanya mengagumi kehalusan seninya…

out from Blok B of Tanah Abang complex, to our right is a pedestrian street lining with stalls and tokos selling trade goods of umrah and haji stuffs (tasbih beads, many kinds of dates and raisins and nuts, and even the gold ‘kendis’ and Zam Zam water)…

along this street, we also found barang-barang kerajinan pernikahan (wedding souvenirs:fans,mirrors,handkerchiefs,boxes,etc.)…Zetti and Siti sponsored batik tissue holder cases especially for our dear dear F…yeay…

since Tanah Abang can also be considered as a market, we can see street fruit sellers…we bought mata kucing and mangoes…and there’s local delicacies but I never get to taste them…basically, they have the same form of kuehs – karipap and puteri ayu and apam…

common scene in Jakarta is the pushcarts…they called it ‘kaki lima’ – 2 wheels + 1 stopper + 2 legs of the pusher…’kaki lima’ sells street food: Kuih Lekker, Siomay,Bakmie, Bakso, Sate Padang,Tahu Bul Bul, Nasi Kremes, Otak-otak, Martabak, Es Es,etc…

from Tanah Abang, we took a cab to Blok M…now is for kudapan $hopping…alhamdulillah, found 2 shops underground…

and I bought everything on the shelf – but it is still, not enough…

jakarta is not the place…Indonesian snacks come from Lampung or Padang…what do I get?!! – Pisang Sale Kering: 5 packets, Pisang Sale Legit: 6 packets, Pisang Bolen Keju: 1 packet only, Pisang Bolen Asin: 2 packets only, Amplang Bulat: 1 packet only, Inang-inang: 6 packets and Kacang Koro: 3 packets…Kek Lapis Rempah Legit, Brownies and Dodol – tidak kejumpaan…minta maaflah…

in the taxi cab that evening, we learned a lot…thanks to the ‘macet’ness, I became chatty instantly…

jakarta has a system to reduce the ‘macet’ by allowing only vehicles with 3 passengers or more to enter major roads in between 3pm to 9pm…but, this has open up opportunities for ‘kedi macet’ who lined up trying their luck to become a ‘tumpangan’…people would pay Rp.10000 – saves a lot since if you’re caught, the minimum compound is Rp.250000…

we learned about ‘janur’ – a coconut-leaves decoration placed at street junction as signage for keramaian (either wedding or khinatan ceremony)…at first, we thought it was a Hinduism practice…ehh, nope – it’s actually a Muslim practice…

and we learned about ‘perdamaian’ – terms for marriage counselling…we discussed about the ‘kabar kacau’… selingkuh itu terang, tidak selindung… well, you know, the news of Ariel and Luna Maya and Cut Tari…

our current PM is not glamour here but our pengemudi knows Tun M…

and guess what?!! famous celebrities from Malaysia are characters from Upin & Ipin…not Datuk Siti…I can’t recall what brands but we do have the pictures of Upin & Ipin being the ambassadors for children diapers and an adimis(air minum distillasi)…

we learned about the plate numbers too… alphabet on the left is for city, numbers in the middle are numbers and alphabet(s) on the right are generated or can be customized…to get great plate numbers, starting tender price is Rp.6000000 per number or alphabet…

vehicles registered in Jakarta will have alphabet B on the left…(A: Banteng, D: Bandung, L: Surabaya, AB: Jogjakarta, H: Semarang, DK: Bali, S: Jawa)…and we spotted a black BMW X5 from Bandung with plate number D3W…there’s a famous violinist in Indonesia is using plate number B10LA…

ooo…I’ll have to register my ride at Surabaya to claim a plate number of either L12A or L1ZA…hehe…

we reached our hotel around 5pm…alhamdulillah, we managed to recite Doa Awal and Akhir Tahun…salam awal Muharram 1432H to all…

dinner that night was at Planet Hollywood, Jakarta…Allahuakbar…what a great start of a new year…we went to a club…aduhhh….

here, Zetti ordered Aglio Olio Spaghetti and Siti ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu…

me?!! Nasi Ayam Hainan OK…

of all in the listed menu, coming all the way – masihlah saye ni kampung…

nak makan stik, pegilaa Victoria Station – order Wagyu – Medium Rare style…nak Baked Rice, haruslah ke Swensen’s…

masuk Planet Hollywood – nasi ayam sudah…puas hati…

sooo pricey…harga Hollywood laa kan…menabur ongkos laa malam itu = Rp.440000…less than 3 stars…

we discovered Zetti and me are better chefs…

to Planet Hollywood , Jakarta: thanks for the knife…hahahahaha…

out of Planet Hollywood, we posed with several celebrities’ hand-prints in cement – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, Bruce Willis’s, Meg Ryan’s, Dolly Parton’s, Jackie Chan’s, Sylvester Stallone’s, Cher’s, Whoopi Goldberg’s, Kurt Russell’s and many others…

back at the hotel, we asked the concierge to arrange for a Silver Bird to take us to the airport…Silver Bird is a taxi operator offering either a Mercedes Benz C230 or E200 with starting rate of Rp.15000…

we ended up with a Kijang instead for amount of luggage and safety reason…this is Rp.200000…a hikmah of placing hotel deposit with cash…well done…

overall rating now: yaa…jakarta is a 4 stars vacation…

Last Day (07/12/2010) – we woke up at 5am…getting ready and set our journey back home right after Subuh…we hailed the Kijang and off to Airport at 615am…

we reached the terminal around 7am and quickly checked in…we cleared the airport taxes of Rp.150000 per person and paid for excess baggage: Rp.360000 for extra 8kgs…

boarding time is at 8am…we went to have a light breakfast at My Place cafe…we had Calamari Rings, Vegetable Spring Rolls, BBQ Chicken Wings, our leftover birthday cake, Cincau, Hot Latte and Black Coffee (yeay – after 4 non-coffee days…aaarggghhhh….i’m stressed)…

ohh…there was a brassy guy shaving at a nearby table…we captured this…ohh…my…merrily bold…interesting….

we had our final $hopping call at airport shoplot tenants…I got Iris a nice key holder…itu saja…

my total $pending = Rp.2519100…thank you Jakarta…