Paintings - Bandung

My grand aunt who was recently here for a holiday told me that she wanted to get a few paintings. Coincidentally, a week earlier, my housemate had brought his guests to a place south of Bandung and they bought ten rolls of paintings.

So, last Saturday, I told Yanto (my housemate's driver) to take us to the exact same place. We left Jakarta at 7.00 am and two and a half hours later, we arrived at a village south of Bandung city.

The first stop was at the same shop where Yanto had taken my housemate's guests a week before. My grand aunt was looking for paintings of paddy fields and flowers.

"Udah gak ada ibuk. Minggu lalu udah di beli semua sama tamu dari Malaysia ."

Ok. I think I knew who the "culprit" was.

So, off we went to another shop nearby. The shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen. We wandered around the shop. Not many paintings on display. Certainly none which my grand aunt was looking for.

Suddenly a middle-aged man literally sprung out of nowhere. Well actually, he was lying behind a desk.

We told him the types of paintings we wanted.

"Ada banyak. Di rumah saya ada banyak. Yang pemandangan sawah padi. Yang bunga. Ada banyak di rumah. Ayo kita ke sana aja ya?"

"Jauh gak?" I asked.

"Gak. Di depan itu aja" while pointing to a narrow road nearby.

"Boleh jalan kaki?" I asked.

To which he did not reply and he positioned himself next to the front door of the car. Well, ok. I took that for a no.

Bad feeling number 1 - tadi kata tak jauh, tapi kena naik kereta.

So he sat himself in the front seat of our car navigating Yanto to his house. 5 minutes driving through the narrow road, he asked Yanto to stop.

And I thought we had stopped right in front of his house. But no. We had to walk further into the narrow lanes between the houses.

We finally reached his house. We were greeted by a 30-something lady who we thought was the old man's wife. Then came out a 30-something man.

"Ini suami saya. Dia pelukis" said the lady.

"Terus ini rumah siapa? Bukan rumah bapak?" I asked the old man.

"Bukan, rumah saya di depan sono." he said while pointing to somewhere.

Bad feeling number 2 - kata nak gi rumah dia. Tapi di bawaknya ke rumah orang lain.

So we told the younger man we wanted paintings of paddy fields and flowers. He said he has many of those paintings and immediately excused himself and went off on a motorbike.

Baffled, I asked the wife. She said the husband went to the "bengkel" to get the paintings.

Bad feeling number 3 - tadi kata ada banyak kat rumah. Kalo ada banyak kat bengkel, baik pergi bengkel je tadi.

To cut the story short, after waiting for almost 10 minutes, the husband came back with only 5 rolls of paintings. Ini le yang dia kata banyak tadi. Apa lagi, instantly my blood went upstairs but managed to calm myself down. Didn't want to make a scene. Afterall, we were in their territory.

We excused ourselves. Truly disappointed and felt cheated. I had a feeling that the guy didn't have a bengkel. The 10 minutes he was gone I suspect he went scouting for those paintings from nearby shops.

So, Yanto took us to another shop, by the main road. It was there that my grand aunt found what she was looking for. Eventually she bought 5 rolls of paintings at very, very, very low price.

In Malaysia, you wouldn't be able to get the paintings at the price offered by the shops here. Once you frame them, I assure you the paintings would look like really expensive work of art.

Mangga Gedong Gincu

Just like in Bahasa Indonesia, mango is called mangga in Bahasa Malaysia. It is also popularly called mempelam in some states in Malaysia.

In the east coast state of Kelantan it is pronounced as pelae. So, when someone offers you pelae in Kelantan and not knowing what in the world a pelae is, my advice is don't turn to your trusted English-Malay dictionary. You'll find "bananas" instead.

Anyway, I took the pic above in a minimart nearby my residence. Though this variety of mango has a very odd name, they're deliciously sweet. However, they are smaller compared to the other varieties. The price is a lot cheaper if you get them in hypermarts.

Still on mangoes, the next time you're in Jakarta, do try the mango juice. They're really thick and sweet (unlike the diluted version you'd normally get at "gerai makan Siam" in KL).

But, I have to admit though, nothing beats the taste of a glass of Indonesian jus alpukat.

UNESCO's World Heritage Sites - Entrance Fees

• Great Wall of China (Wall at Mutianyu) - RMB40 or USD5.88
• Forbidden City - RMB60 or USD8.82
• Borobudur - USD10
• Angkor Wat - USD20

Above are some of the World Heritage Sites and their respective entrance fees. The Renminbi conversion to USD is based on the exchange rate on 10/11/2008.

I will blog about the humiliating experience I had at Borobudur.

Jalan Sabang

Jalan Sabang is located in central Jakarta. For easier guidance, it is the road behind Hotel Sari Pan Pacific Jakarta.

Jalan Sabang is famous for its restaurants and hawker stalls. The hawker stalls would only operate at night. They would occupy the wide footpaths along the entire stretch of the road.

At night, stalls, benches and tables would fill this footpath.

However, if you happen to pass by during daytime, there are plenty of restaurants you can choose from.

Personally, I've not tried the hawker stalls yet. I've dined at Natrabu and Garuda. Both are Padang restaurants.

Garuda Restaurant

Natrabu

When it comes to food, I'm not quite the adventurous type. I'm nowhere near Anthony Bourdain. Therefore I'm unable to recommend what's the best dish you must try at Jalan Sabang.

If you happen to be in Jakarta and yet to set foot here, do include Jalan Sabang in your itinerary. A word of advice - come at night. It's merrier.

Jakarta - Jogja on Air Asia

As I'm typing this, I'm listening to the voice messages on Air Asia's customer care line. I've been trying to speak to a living person on their line for almost 30 minutes now.

"All our sales agents are busy. We'll be with you shortly."

"Sorry to keep you waiting. All our sales agents are still busy. We'll be with you as soon as possible."

"Sorry to keep you waiting. All our sales agents are still busy due to overwhelming response from our sales promotion. We'll be with you as soon as possible."

You know what I think? All BS. Especially the part where they say "We'll be with you as soon as possible".

Oohh.. and also the part where they claim the lines are busy due to overwhelming response from their promotions. Sure or not? More like angry people (like yours truly) calling - trying to get a decent explanation on flight cancellation and delays.

I've just put down the phone. Blogging about Air Asia takes some of my frustration and anger away.

So let's continue, shall we?

Have I told you that I bought 3 Air Asia return tickets to Jogja?

My mother is here for a 10-day holiday. She's here with my grand auntie. Since none of us have been to Jogja before, I suggested that we fly over to Jogja for a 3-day visit.

So, last Friday, for the outgoing flight - I booked the first flight at 6.00am. Estimated time of arrival - 7.00 am.

I deliberately booked the morning flight so that we would have one full day to explore the city on the first day. Then the 2nd day we could go to Borobudur. And the 3rd day we could just relax before taking the 4.30pm flight back to Jakarta.

But now, no thanks to Air Asia - my supposedly 2 full days in Jogja has been reduced to only one day. I received an SMS yesterday informing that my flight has been cancelled and moved to the 3.05pm flight.

I will not stop in my quest to get a decent and logical explanation from Air Asia.

They do this (delays and re-scheduling flights) frequently. Most of my friends who came to Jakarta on Air Asia were affected by flight delays. Don't believe what they say on their website about their high punctuality rate. This, my friends, is another big BS.

You see, flight delay is an alien term in Air Asia. They call them "re-timing". Lets say a flight scheduled to depart at 4.00 pm is delayed to 8.00pm. To Air Asia, this is not a delay but a re-timed flight.

So when the re-timed flight departs exactly at 8.00pm, Air Asia is, voila! - on time!. Hence the high punctuality rate as they claim on their website.

True, like what PB said. They should do a re-branding exercise. From Air Asia to Air A-sialan.

The new tag line?

NOW, EVERYONE CAN BE FUCKED UP.

Jakarta Ink

There are many tattoo artists in Jakarta who turn the sidewalk in the city into their tattoo parlors.

Understandably, it is a far cry from the ones you see on Miami or London Ink. Nevertheless, their level of artistry is quite impressive.

I come across the above in the grounds of Monumen Nasional. The tattooist offers both permanent and temporary tattoos.

You can choose from the many designs in his catalogue folders or bring your own design. Notice the pair of legs on the top left hand corner in the pic above?

They belong to this guy.

I was expecting some grimaces of pain. But he appeared to be nonchalant about the process. A picture of absolute calmness. That's not a temporary tattoo mind you.

However, there are of course many proper tattoo parlors in Jakarta. Go to one of these if you have reservation about the sidewalk tattoo artists. Particularly on their hygiene practices.

Car Free Sunday

In Jakarta, every last Sunday of the month is a car free day. On this day, two main roads i.e Jalan Sudirman and Jalan MH Thamrin are closed to all vehicles from 6am until 2pm - with the exception of TransJakarta buses which operate as usual on the designated lanes.

The road closure starts from the roundabout nearby Senayan City all the way to the small roundabout just before Monumen Nasional.

The objective of the car free day is to reduce the air pollution in the city. Some argued that it is not effective as the pollution would only be diverted elsewhere.

Anyhow, the car free day gave the people of Jakarta the chance to utilise the two main roads for various activities.

So, last Sunday morning, 7 am to be precise,I managed to force myself out of my cosy and comfortable bed and headed for Plaza Indonesia. I arrived at Bunderan HI half an hour later.

Bunderan H.I (Hotel Indonesia Roundabout). Hensel & Gretel waving Welkam! Welkam!

It'll be heaven if this is how it is everyday!

Ko baring atas jalan pun orang idak langgor. Lainle kalo badan ko kecik sikit dpd jengkaut Tadano

Surprise! Surprise! The whole place was alive with a hive of activity. By the way ... Ijal ko ingat tak video aku buat aksi2 bangang ala2 Cilla Black kat residence hall QEQM? Boleh selamatkan video tu tak?.

Many were brisk walking and many more were cycling. Nampak best pulak. Fully geared with bike helmet, cool shades and the cyclist outfit. I'm sooooo going to get myself a bike.

Riang ria deme. Ada lari slow2, ada jalan fast2. Tapi ramei yang naik beskal.

L-R - Raja Man, Mish, Syuk & Steve. Steve... tetap over ngan helmet karer merah.

Pakcik ni sanggup pinjam beskal kompeni.....

On the pavement just outside Plaza Indonesia you could see a congregation of people with old bicycles. Some attired in old styled clothing complete with hats (like those worn by the British during the colonial era in Malaya).


A section of road right in front of Nikko Hotel was transformed into three futsal pitch. A tournament of some sort was being held.




Looking around I noticed there were many shutterbugs with DSLR camera. Jeles. Jeles. Ok. Forget the bike. I'm sooooo going to get myself a DSLR camera.

Ok-lah. Since I was already on Jalan Thamrin, lets see the hotels and shopping malls located along this road.

First is the Mandarin Oriental which is still closed due to major renovation works.

Plaza Indonesia. Directly opposite is the Grand Indonesia. Both are high-end malls.

Above Plaza Indonesia is the Hyatt Hotel

Ascott serviced apartments - located next to Grand Indonesia

Across the street from Hyatt is Nikko Hotel

Another view of Nikko Hotel from Hyatt

The multi coloured building above is EX Plaza where Hard Rock Jakarta is located

This is not a Pencawang Masuk Utama. It is the Japanese Embassy. The architect must have designed the building on an uninsprising day

Just a short walk from EX Plaza is Sarinah. One of the earliest malls in the city. Within this building there are plenty of cafes. There's also a 24hr Mc Donald's.

Ibis Arcadia Hotel. Three minutes' walk from Sarinah. Quite reasonably priced.

Further up from Ibis Arcadia is another Ibis hotel. Ibis Tamarind. It's the building on the right in the above pic. In addition to these two Ibis hotels, there are many small hotels along this road (Jln KH Wahid Hasyim)

Ok. Back to Jln Thamrin. You'll find Sari Pan Pacific. Next to this hotel are Starbucks and the Oh La La Cafe. Both are open 24hrs. Also, there is a Burger King which closes almost midnite.

So there you go. A short tour of part of Jln MH Thamrin. Visitors to Jakarta must take note of the last Sunday of each month. You don't want to get caught unaware which could disrupt your travel plans for the day.