Jakarta Holiday Day Two

Sunday, 3rd November 2013

The sun rises an hour earlier here in Jakarta so there's no excuse to sleep in, what with the building excitement of shopping at hand.

The malls open at 10am and closes at 6pm.  So what's the saying again? Make hay during the day??

Another testimony

Our room rates included breakfast, which is truly a bargain and only God led hubby to this obscure site late one night.  It was authentic, of course as he dealt directly with the hotel, but long story cut short again, confirmation of the rooms came as easy as filling a form, but he had to rush the hotel to take payment from our credit card (because the deal was so good, even Agoda and the likes could not beat this, and therefore we suspect the hotel management was trying to delay taking payment) to secure the rooms.

A few days before our arrival, hubby called the hotel again and there was no trace of our bookings, so a few more calls to their HQ in Paris, then Hong Kong and finally Singapore got our room bookings confirmed once more.  Imagine, money has been taken from our credit cards and yet they refused to honor the bookings. 

When we checked in, the reception upgraded one of our rooms to deluxe which was indeed very spacious.

Picture taken from Novotel Mangga Dua official website

Back to breakfast.  Kids received complimentary breakfast.  The selection was standard, could be better I would say, but at least they served pork.  I must add, they had traditional jamu (made from local spices and herbs) available too.

After breakfast and a quick freshen up in the rooms, we headed to ITC Mangga Dua, well known for its crazy wholesale prices.  We initially thought we could walk there, but maps could be deceiving despite the close proximity.  So the 4 adults and 2 kids squeezed into a Blue Bird taxi waiting just in front of the hotel, and we headed toward ITC.  I think the cab ride cost us around IDR40,000 (equivalent to RM12)  for a 5 minute ride.  Traffic was light as it was a non working day.   

Christmas trees and decos for sale. As with previous years, I bought some decorations to add to our tree.  I make it a point to add something new to our tree every year.  : )

Now, would you go to Jakarta and not eat their famous Ayam Penyet?  This looks simple but the chicken was surprisingly juicy and crunchy.  Cost IDR22000 (equivalent to RM6.6)

William had Soto Ayam which was a little bit too spicy for him.  Sigh, this boy needs more training in the spicy department.

Ayam Penyet stall at Level 7 Food Court, ITC

Shops selling clothes mostly, if not all, made in China.  I didn't buy any due to poor quality.

Looking down.  No retail space is spared. 

When we entered the ground floor entrance, on the left was this stall selling shoes and slipper.  One pair for IDR35000, and three pairs for IDR100000.  Their service is faster than Vincci's so don't be put off by the chaos and crowd.  You just need to get yourself heard.  We bought three slippers here, one for my MIL, one for Vic and one for moi.  Very comfortable, and designs are plentiful, so are colors.  Although our local night market sells these, but the ones here in ITC cannot compete with the measly selection we have back home.  

Kids were having a fun time at the pool with Daddy whilst Mummy and Yeh Yeh walked more at the mall.  This view was taken from our hotel room.

We got back to our hotel via tuk tuk around 6pm.  Yeh Yeh joined Daddy and the kids at the pool, whilst Mummy and Mama went downstairs to Mangga Dua Square Mall which was adjacent and linked to our hotel.  We were in search of a highly recommended massage centre, Lotus Reflexology.

When we finally located the centre, there was a 30 minute waiting time.  We paid IDR35000 for a 90 minute foot reflexology massage that included head and shoulder massage as well.  I must say, although it was dirt cheap (imagine, it's only a little over RM10 for a 90 massage, whereas we'd have to pay RM40 for a 45minute massage here in PJ) the quality was not there, or my masseur did a lousy job.

I was already put off by her when she did a half hearted job when cleaning my feet before entering.  Then just as she started, she wasted no time in asking me for tips, in Malaysian Ringgit!  The cheek of her!  I would have gladly given her tips if she had done a good job at the end, and without asking, but the fact that she asked in such an unashamed way, on top of the lousy massage she gave (when she chatted, her hands stopped and she disappeared for a long time at one point too)... I think the 90 minutes was definitely worth only IDR35000.

Having said that, I would still visit the place again, hopefully another masseur would be more professional and skilled.

We ended the day with Chinese dinner at a restaurant just opposite Lotus.  Food for nice.

Walking around the mall, we saw JCo, and Yeh Yeh bought half a dozen donuts for our supper back in the hotel room.

Donuts from JCo

That is all for Day Two.  Tomorrow we will head to another mall for another round of shopping.