Jakarta Trip from 13/12/2008 to 17/12/2008 Part 2

Jakarta Trip from 13/12/2008 to 17/12/2008 Part 2

First of all, I would like to thank Soenaryo (the bride) for booking rooms for me and the rest of the gang in Shangri-La Hotel. The accommodation far exceeded my expectations. Staying in a five star hotel like Shangri-La was like heaven on earth for me.

I shared a room with Damon, our room number was 1209. Although none of us sleep more than 6 hours per day during our stay in Jakarta. And yes, we usually partied almost up to 2 am and wake up 6 am the next day.

Here are the photos of Shangri-La Hotel:

1. Me and Damon's room no, 1209


2. Two single beds and a very tired Damon


3. Dressing area in the toilet, toilet seems to be bigger than my room


4. The bathtub which is always clean at least once a day

* It's a sad thing that I did not have enough time to enjoy this.......

5. Showering area with a complimentary towel


6. Two toilet bowls, I wonder what is the other one for


7. One sofa and a perfect viewing area


8. Marcus and Damon enjoying the room to its fullest


9. Our resourcefulness in how to keep the room cool


Throughout our stay in Jakarta, we visited malls after malls, pubs after pubs, hotels after hotels. I can easily say that most of their shopping complexes are far more luxurious than Malaysia's shopping complexes.

Here are some photos to depict the luxury mall in Jakarta:

1. The mall managed by our good friend, Marcus @ Marcus's mall


2. Grand Indonesia mall as carved on the sign


3. Damon walking towards the camera, notice the luxury decorations? @ Grand Indonesia


4. Nice pillars and an awesome view outside of the mall @ Grand Indonesia


5. Christmas tree decorated with jewelry @ Grand Indonesia


6. Cafe in the middle of the mall, how ingenious


7. Woodwork gallery in one of the mall


8. More statues made of wood, cheap labour and good craftsmanship or are they mass manufactured?


We also visited some shanty town areas like the Indonesian art market, the weather was really hot and the art market was somewhat dirty, kinda reminded me of Pasar Seni back in Malaysia.

1. Many handicraft woodwork @ Art market


2. Shanty town look @ Art market


There are far too many photos to be uploaded. I am not really a fan of going to shopping malls at all, especially not in Malaysia unless I have something I would like to purchase. I find it a waste of time and a drain to my wallet.

However, I was able to enjoy the window shopping and the malls in Jakarta. Friends and a great atmosphere to boot, definitely a place worthy of loitering and walking around. Meanwhile, stay tuned for Jakarta Trip from 13/12/2008 to 17/12/2008 Part 3.......

Jakarta Trip from 13/12/2008 to 17/12/2008 Part 1

Jakarta Trip from 13/12/2008 to 17/12/2008 Part 1

I arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia about 9 pm on 13/12/2008. Me and Damon was picked up by Soenaryo (the bride) with his Audi A6, his car is very luxurious, I wish I had one in the future. We had dinner in the FX Mall, this is a new mall in Jakarta and we celebrated Christmas the next day on 19/12/2008, celebrating one week in advance, awesome!

This blog entry although late will be significantly different as I will just spam as many photos as possible. Here are the photos as mentioned:

1. Everybody loves Reinald and his girl, Amelia


2. We celebrate Christmas early ie. 19/12/2008, girls singing Christmas Carols


3. Africans who sang really well for Christmas too


Photos of food taken during the entire trip:
1. A typical breakfast for Indonesian, Bak Mee @ Bakmi Khek


2. Fried wantons Indonesian style @ Bakmi Khek


3. Beef ball soup @ Bakmi Khek


4. Pork ball soup @ Bakmi Khek


5. Indonesian Kimchi? @ Grand Indonesia


6. Weird name for a drink, " Kedung Kedung" @ Grand Indonesia


7. Omelette soup @ Grand Indonesia


8. Nasi Complete @ Grand Indonesia


9. Indonesian crackers with curry @ Grand Indonesia


10. Nasi rendang or something, seems a lot though @ Grand Indonesia


11. Indonesian Sambals @ Grand Indonesia


12. Nasi Padang style @ Garuda Restaurant


13. English + Indian breakfast @ Shangri La hotel


14. Ing Hoe's breakfast selection @ Shangri La Hotel


15. Noodle soup prepared on the spot @ Shangri La Hotel


16. Assorted pancakes and other breads @ Shangri La Hotel


17. Balinese style cuisine @ Tugu Hotel's Restaurant and Bar


18. Bak mee in another area, can't remember the shopping mall name


19. Mixed vegetables in the same area as no. 18


20. Beef ball with vegetables in the same area as no. 18


21. Fish flakes with vegetables in the same area as no. 18


22. Young coconut @ Bandar Djakarta restaurant


23. Fried fish with black bean sauce @ Bandar Djakarta restaurant


24. Cuttlefish Indonesian style @ Bandar Djakarta restaurant


25. Lotsa food and all paid for, beautiful @ Bandar Djakarta restaurant


26. Spicy pork satay Indonesian style @ new restaurant near Reinald's home


27. Spicy pork soup @ new restaurant near Reinald's home


28. Assorted fried pork and chilli @ new restaurant near Reinald's home


Almost every meal was paid for by my good pals in Jakarta. I would like to sincerely thank all of them for providing a tour and all the good food. Whilst I do enjoy Indonesian food, a point to note that the food was very salty either from using too much MSG or salt. As such, it's advisable to drink plenty of water to prevent ulcers from appearing in one's mouth or tongue.

Please stay tuned for Jakarta trip part 2 entries whereby there will be more photos, more pretty girls but no more photos of delicious food.

Weekend Non Gym Session 13/12/2008

Weekend Non Gym Session 13/12/2008

Me and Damon were getting ready for the flight to Jakarta which departs LCCT airport at 6:50 pm. I woke up about 7:30 am early morning and had something light for breakfast. We walked my dog, Little Foot for about 15 minutes.

Here are the stats for the walk:

Saturday, 13/12/2008 Light cardio session
30 mins walking Little Foot around the park twice
* Resulted in 120 calories burned and about 1.2 km walked(estimated)

Damon took some photos of me walking Little Foot. The photos as follows:

1. Me starting to walk Little Foot


2. Half way through the park with someone following behind


3. Me and Little Foot walking by the basketball court


After that, we headed to Damansara Uptown for Wanton Noodles and some roast pork. There were not many people in the restaurant early that morning.

1. Wanton noodles


2. Wanton soup


3. Roast pork


By 3:45 pm, me and Damon were ready to proceed to the LCCT airport to board our plane for Jakarta. My dad send us to the LCCT airport using my cousin's new car. It was raining heavily.

1. It was raining heavily, can't wait to arrive at the airport


2. My luggage to be check-in at the airport


Our flight took off slightly later than scheduled, we left Malaysia about 7:15 pm instead of 6:50 pm as shown on the ticket. We arrived in Jakarta about 8:30 pm local Jakarta time.