Running Errands

Last weekend was my final weekend in Jakarta before I leave for Kuala Lumpur for my Eid 'ul Fitri holiday.

It was my only free time to get the stuff that some friends had asked me to buy.

Bearing in mind the number of shoppers is significantly higher during the week before Lebaran, I left the house early to avoid the traffic jam and huge crowd.

Things I had to buy - tudung (or called kerudung in Indonesia) and telekung (or mukena in Indonesia). The best place to get them was Tanah Abang Block A. But since I didn't want to risk being engulfed in a sea of people (and the possiblity of breaking my fast at noon), I opted for ITC Kuningan and Mal Ambassador (two connecting malls) instead.

I was there a few minutes after 10 am. Traffic to the place was smooth. First on the agenda was the tudung. I've been buying tudung for my mother and friends since 2006 and I pretty much know how much they should cost. Hence, when a shop quotes me a higher than normal price (they thought a guy knew nuts about the price of tudungs), I would straight away walk-off and find another shop.

"Ko beli tudung kaler light blue, maroon, cream and brown. Aku nak beads yang penuh kat kepala," was the exact instruction from a friend.

Half an hour later, I finally found the tudung with the right colours and beads which from my opinion is not over the top. At the same shop, I bought a few headscarfs too. Might give it away to some friends.

Fortunately, not far from the tudung shop was this shop selling telekung. And I was lucky the one ordered by JM was available (it was the last piece JM).

Next stop - Pondok Indah Mall's Kids Station. What else if none other than getting toys for my nephews. They would interrogate me if I came home emptyhanded.

"Kenapa tak beli toys?"

"You don't have money ke?"

"Why tak borrow money from Pah?"

Macam2 soalan deme ni tanya nanti. Furthermore, I don't have the heart to let them down. I even bought something for my baby nephew.

I have not started packing yet but I dare say that 70% of my luggage would be filled with stuff that don't belong to me.

There were late requests from friends but I had to politely turn them down fearing my luggage would exceed the 20kg baggage allowance.

Ohh... while I was in Pondok Indah Mall, I saw the same tudung selling for Rp300,000. I say, the seller is making outrageous margin.

So Syarliz, ko pakai tudung mahal le Raya nanti.