BLOK M & PACIFIC PLACE

Hi everyone! Sorry for not updating my blog for a while now.. I have been very busy packing up and cleaning our house as we gonna leave the house in Jakarta soon! hehe

We have finalized most of our shopping list and yet, there are many more still pending and I don't think we can make it due to our time constraint - Deeply sorry to our family!

Blok M Mall

Two weeks ago we did our souvenirs hunting at Blok M Mall. We have been told by our driver that the mall was one of the earliest super big shopping complex in Indonesia during President Suharto's time. Surprisingly there are many (many) Indonesian handcraft which are nice and not too pricey unlike other souvenirs shop in Jakarta for example Sarinah Mall and Batik Keris.

So we did our handcraft shopping there and later headed for our dinner at Solaria Restaurant. Solaria is an Indonesian chain restaurant and you can find them almost everywhere in Jakarta! The food was quite nice and so do the price. - not so expensive. The good thing is that, they serve food in a large portion!!

Pacific Place

On the other hand, Pacific Place is another high end mall which I don't fancy at all!:) The only reason I go there for quite a number of times is due to Ezmir's office moving to a new building. *sigh I would rather go to Ambassador Mall everyday like I used to! hehe

Close up pic of Bajaj

Chitchat with the driver

The Plaza - Random pictures took while in the car

Finally The Pacific Place

A very unique Pacific Bay on the 4th floor

Some kind of art exhibition at the Pacific Place

Pasaraya Grande - Next to Blok M Mall

Blok M Mall is the huge building while Blok M Square is in the bus tunnel -they are next to each other

At Solaria Restaurant and Lounge

Huge Meal

A complete meal set

A box of Fox's as complimentary!hehe love Solaria!;p

Cheers,

BRING BACK THE LOVE IN BALI

Hi! I seriously don't know how to start writing about our recent holiday to Bali. Bali is just so charming and mesmerizing. We can't get enough of it.

Our four (4) days trip to Bali had left footprints in our hearts and we kept reminiscing our good times there. We will definitely come back to Bali in the future, that's for sure..

Love your life....

Temple in the sea

Both of us

Life is good.. :))

Tanah Lot Temple

MORE OF OUR BALI EXPERIENCE... We left Jakarta for Bali on Friday evening. We went straight to the airport from Ezmir's office in Plaza Bapindo. We had bought our Airasia tickets about a month ago and the rate was incredibly low. Most of our friends in Jakarta did not believe the price we paid for the tickets, since it would have normally cost them double! ehehe I think it was just our plain luck! Well, we didn't fancy those tour packages offered since we want it to be spontaneous and adventurous. Moreover, we can travel at our own pace and within our budget. So, I Googled for many info and tips&tricks to Bali and our trip went very well! There were things that we didn't compromise in making our plans  - for example our safety and cleanliness. Below are our very own tips for those considering Bali as their next holiday destination. First of all, we made our flight reservation with Airasia. There are many other airlines company flying to Bali via Jakarta for example Garuda Airlines, Lion Air and more. Our total cost for the airlines for both was :

Flight Tickets - RM 531

Flying with Airasia

It is highly recommended to make a hotel reservation a month earlier than the arrival date since Hotels in Bali are usually fully booked all year around. There are things to consider before making hotel reservations for example the location, the hotel review and so on. Please bear in mind that most of the time, hotel reviewers are making inaccurate comments due to insufficient knowledge.There are two famous beaches in Bali; Kuta and Legian Beach. Kuta Beach; is very noisy at night but if you wanna party all night long then this is the best place for you. Meanwhile, Legian Beach is a surfers paradise and for those who loves sexy beaches and peaceful nights, this would be the best location for you. We booked Tune Hotel, Legian Beach because we wanted a peace-of-mind hotel, in terms of cleanliness and safety ..and of course - at very (very) cheap rate! Please get your info on Tune Hotels from their website and expect the unexpected because Tune hotel is definitely WYPIWYG! For those who don't know WYPIWYG is what you pay is what you get! If you ask me how I find the Tune - I love 'em! I was all prepared with my laptop and DVDs because I knew beforehand that there will be no television provided. Despite not having a TV, the room and bathroom were clean and the bed was very comfy. Surprisingly, there were no beach sand on the floor which I love very much! (anyway, you just wanna have a place to sleep only because most of the time you are outside enjoying the beach!;p ). 

Hotel - RM 207 (For 4D3N) ;p

A tiny-mini room for two

Airport transfer is cheap and you can get them from the Airport Taxi counter (they will have a standard rate to every destination so you won't be cheated and taken for a ride by the drivers). 

TOTAL COST - RM  38 (To and fro)

The taxi

For transportation around Kuta and Legian, it is very advisable to rent a motorcycle/scooter. It is so cheap. And not to worry, petrols are sold by the roadside in vodka bottles (FYI, petrol is called benzin in Indonesia)

Transportation - RM 21 (For 12 hours)

Our short-distance scooter  ;)

To make arrangements for a tour around Bali, you can always refer to any tourism booths along Jalan Kuta and Legian. Tips from me; get your hands on as many fliers as you can at the baggage claim counter in the airport ;p From the brochures and fliers, you are then able to compare prices offered by different tour agents and once again, you will have full knowledge of what your package entails - destination, food & beverage package, etc. We chartered a taxi with driver to bring us to Kuta, Sanur, Ubud, Pasar Sukwati and Tanah Lot for 10 hours.

A Day Tour- RM 106

All the rented cars along Ubud's roadside

The beach was so nice that just by merely looking at it, you feel like jumping into the water (as if it was calling you to swim which we did! hehe) and unlike any other beach that I have been to, Bali seawater is cold!!! hahaha  BUT remember that nothing is free anymore! I am not talking about sea..but I am talking about the shade! hahaha it will cost you a bomb if you are a "bulle" a.k.a. foreigner. Thank god, since we are able to speak Bahasa Indonesia, so most of them gave us a discount or "local" rates... ;p Normal rate for the a beach umbrella / shade will be around RM37 per day

Beach Shade - RM 24 (For 3 DAYS!! hehe)

I really miss our 3 days of doing nothing at the beach under this shade... :( 

The Food - Hmmm..unfortunately for Muslims, most of the cafes and restaurants here serve Non Halal food and therefore, we ONLY ate fastfood for almost 4 days! hahaha (Fastfood chains provided certification of halal food certified by Majlis Ulema Indonesia). There are "waroeng" makan that claim they sell Halal food, but please check the menu first before ordering. Don't be surprised to find a Non Halal item in the menu.

At Pizza Hut Kuta Beach

And the rest of the day in Bali we were just fooling around!! hahahaha enjoy the pictures and hopefully our tips are useful!

Unforgettable Bali

 

  

Bali, with love

Cheers,

ANCOL BEACH @ NIGHT

Hi! It's a non-stop live update on interesting places in Indonesia again! As you already know, we are going back to Malaysia in early August and therefore our weekend agendas are already plotted with many activities. And now, with a very limited time, I have to squeeze my visiting agenda during WEEKDAYS!! hahaha I am soOoo desperate to complete my very own stupid wish list! hahaha Thanks to mummygwen for her generous tips on must-visit-places in Indonesia. (I don't think I can make it to Safari in Bogor due to my fully scheduled agenda and the safari is not open at night during weekdays..*sigh* )

 Ancol beach at night (Our poor camera cannot capture everything :( sorry! )

We managed to visit Ancol on Thursday night and the scenery was good. Ancol is not just about the beaches but there are many theme parks namely the Dufan (Fantasy World), the Atlantis Water Adventure, the Gelanggang Samudra and the Sea world.

A quote from the website,

"Taman Impian Jaya Ancol otherwise known as Ancol Dreamland is an integral part of Ancol Bay City, a resort destination located along Jakarta's waterfront, in Ancol Kelurahan, Pademangan, Indonesia."

 Bandar D'Jakarta Seafood Restaurant

We had our grand dinner at  Bandar D'Jakarta Restaurant and it was just by the beach. The food was really great in taste and cost! hahahaha The bill was kinda expensive because we had HUGE tiger prawns and it was good to know that they have some kind of 50% off promotion during weekdays. The restaurant was nice and the service was superb! I highly recommend this restaurant to all! hehe

Livestocks at Pasar Ikan @ Bandar D'Jakarta

Is this kupah?? Love it!

 

We didn't eat this because they look weird. ;)

Varieties of kupah

Great food!

p/s: We are going for a 4-day trip to BALI tomorrow...WOOHOO!! ;))))

Cheers,

BANDUNG FOR THE 5TH TIME??

Hi! We just got back from a 2-day intensive shopping at Bandung. hehe (sounds crazy huh?!;p) We stayed at Puri Gardenia Hotel located 0.5km from Jalan Dago and it was the only hotel available at that moment because the rest were fully booked. Well, the hotel was not bad and worth every penny. The hotel is located on the main street of Jalan Dipatiukur and therefore it was easy for us to catch a taxi or angkot to get to shopping outlets.

A 3 hour journey due to a massive macet

Bandung! Here we come (again) for the last time in 2010!

Puri Gardenia Hotel

The hotel lobby..

And to make things better from of a worse day, Ezmir had injured his left ankle while walking down the stairs last week. And yet, he refused to cancel the trip to Bandung.We were lucky because Ezmir's director had offered him with his car and a driver for our final month in Indonesia, as he's not around (Ezmir has a very thoughtful director and boss here! ;p) It will definitely make our experience in Jakarta worth while!  

Thank god, everything went well!

Thanks to Ezmir's director and his car! ;p

 

The ankle swollen like hell!
 

Great lunch at Warong something..(cannot recall the name)

A bottle of fruit tea will quench your thirst

Over spending!! hahahaha

Cheers, 

 

MALL OF INDONESIA & KELAPA GADING MALL

Last weekend, we finally completed visiting far-distance shopping malls listed in our list! hahaha Mall of Indonesia is something like Sunway Pyramid in Malaysia but with less outlets to shop. They have a very large entertainment place for kids. And I bet all kids would love to go to Mall of Indonesia. (but I will never go there for the second time!) Despite the overrated name; Mall of Indonesia, the design of the building won my heart over (because of their uniqueness! hehe)

They look similar to rumah kedai (shop houses).. but it is actually a mall!

On the other hand, I really love Kelapa Gading Mall because it was so gigantic. If I am not mistaken, there are three malls joint together to form one gigantic mall. It was soOo big that walking around the mall made me hurt my ankle! :)

Are they chocolate?? hehe ;p

I was lucky because the day I visited the mall, they had some kind of chocolate event. At the event, there was a section for an "all you can eat" chocolate buffet for Rp 15 000 per person and you get to eat as many chocolate as you want!

I really love the idea of a chocolate buffet. They served many types of chocolates from dark to white chocolate. And they provided a free flow hot chocolate! WOW..I had a blast! hehe

I feel like dipping my whole hand inside the chocolate fountain! hehe

Cheers,