Jakarta Day Four

Tuesday, 5th November 2013

Today is our last day here.  Our flight departs late at night so we have no choice but to extend one room for late check out.  We decided to extend Mama Yeh Yeh's room, which is the deluxe room since it is more spacious and we pay only standard rates.  We also receive a complimentary afternoon snack of our choice (finger food lar, don't expect gourmet cuisine).

Rating - so so only.  We didn't have much time to finish this, so ended up gobbling up whatever we can just before checking out in the afternoon.  There was another box of fruits which we finished as well. 

The Johnny Andrean experience

Our plan for today is any last minute shopping since we still had a lot of luggage space (see, we didn't shop that much after all) and a visit to the hair salon.  I got a tip from a friend to visit Johnny Andrean saloon for their creme bath treatment.

There was a JA outlet conveniently located at the mall adjacent to our hotel.  The night before, we dropped by wanting to make appointments but were adviced to just walk in.

Their price list

So this morning, whilst Yeh Yeh and Daddy went off to the malls, we ladies and our little 5yo bodyguard went over to JA at 10am and I asked for their creme bath treatment for all of us.  After all of us had our hair washed, we were asked to choose our treatment - whether it be for dry, normal or oily hair, based on their brochure.  Something prompted me to double check on their pricing as the brochure stated a different price.  It was then that we were told that they were out of creme bath material and we had to choose from their JA Treatment Series which, as you can see, cost almost double at IDR66,000 instead of IDR36,000.

Now, that got me furious, because I felt we were misled and conned to pick something more expensive, because I had explicitly and clearly stated the night before, and this morning when we entered that we wanted the CREME BATH.  Now there shouldn't be any language miscommunication, because we all spoke Bahasa and the name of their treatment was creme bath itself.  So now with our wet hair, we are asked to pick their higher end treatment or pay for their hairwash and walk out.  That professional, huh?

Well, since we were already there with, it was their Treatment Series that we had no choice but to pick.  But not after voicing my displeasure to them that they should have informed us upfront that they did not have their creme bath available when we walked in.  For a big name outlet in Jakarta, this is totally unprofessional.  At the back of my head, they just wanted to take advantage of us tourists but that's just speculation.

Having her saloon experience for the first time, in a foreign land somemore!  This girl is really blessed!  She thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the head massage. 

Another surprise we got was that blow drying of hair was not included in the price.  So we needed to pay extra IDR19,000 for a half dry, IDR36,000 for a full dry after the treatment.

William has his ipad session while the three generation of ladies have their hair treatment at Johnny Andrean.

The two men came back just as we were finishing, and the 6 of us headed to Mangga Dua Square to look around, have a simple local lunch at the food court before going back to our rooms to pack up.

Kids cleaned up and took their afternoon nap, whilst Mummy went off by herself to ITC for a last check.  I took the cab there and a tuk tuk back.  Wasn't easy to move around as the crowd has swelled in the afternoon, on top of the fact that this was a public holiday in Jakarta too.

I have bad directions so without my GPS-hubby, I had to make 1000 effort to get my bearings right at the same time squeezing in between the crowd and trying to shop too.

I bought an Ironman bag for William in this last trip - for only IDR60,000 (equivalent to RM18).

Our flight back to Malaysia was smooth but by the time we arrived LCCT, it was almost close to midnight and hubby went straight to purchase a premium cab for us.  When he told us to go out quickly to find our cab, I hesitated as we haven't collected our check in luggage.  So hubby had to run back inside to look for our check in luggage whilst the three of us waited outside.

At 11:55pm, we hopped into our cab just in time, before the rates doubled after midnight.  We were thankful that our cab driver had a choice to wait and charge us double, but he did not.  So guess what, we used him for our departing flight to Melbourne in our next holiday.

We arrived home close to 1am to clean house because our maid had clean up the house earlier.

Thankful

Weather forecasts from different sites showed rain and gloomy weather throughout our 4 days stay in Jakarta.  Instead, we had good weather of sunshine throughout and all glory and thanks to God for blessing us with great weather.   The earlier bout of purging did not persist and we were all in good health to enjoy this short break.

Jakarta Day Three

Monday, 4th November 2013

This morning after breakfast we decided to head straight to the Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua (translated as morning market, but effectively it's open from morning till evening like its popular brother ITC next door).

We took a Blue Bird there again.  Pasar Pagi comparatively with ITC is less crowded (or maybe because it was a weekday and working day) and cater more for whole sale because some sellers quoted prices for purchases in dozens.  It took me a little while to "understand" and had to work backwards to divide the price to get an individual price.  It's also harder to negotiated this way as you can see they already set the floor price for bulk purchases.  In particular I am referring to the stationery shops and undergarment shops.

We didn't mind buying 15 children panties but 15 school bags or water tumblers?  That's ridiculous, to say the least.

We moved in between Pasar Pagi and ITC after lunch, and continued to venture in between stalls sniffing out bargains out of bargains.  Oh yes, we also manage to buy a swimming suit for Victoria here too.

Hotel above the mall

After freshening up at the hotel, we proceeded downstairs to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.  We had half a roast duck, braised bean curd with mushrooms, pork ribs in some kind of sweet spicy sauce and green vege.  Rice was served warm and fluffy so no complains on this place.  Name of restaurant?  Sorry, no records but anyone who stays in this hotel won't miss it.  

Roast duck - not bad... crunchy, juicy, sweet. 

Bean curd

Pork ribs - sorry this was the last piece left before I realised I haven't taken a picture of this dish earlier

Green vegetable

Nothing much to do after dinner but to stroll around in the mall, and we chanced upon Baskin Robbins just before exiting.  Yeh Yeh asked the kids if they wanted ice cream... and guess what they replied?!

After a few rounds of flavour testing, Vic decided on a cookies n cream ice cream whereas William had the strawberry.  I think I influenced his choice as Daddy loves BR and HD strawberry ice cream.

That's all for Day Three.  Tomorrow will be our last day in Jakarta, and there's one more item outstanding on my list of to-do things.

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. 

Jakarta Holiday Day One

A month before this trip, I started researching the internet and asking around for friends' recommendations for places to visit and accommodation.  I realized that there are far too many malls in Jakarta and having been warned by well meaning friends of the time-killing, patience-draining and nerve-wrecking traffic jam in Jakarta, we have to decide wisely on the right hotel to stay close to the malls or destinations of our choice.

So began an exchange of a few emails and conversations with a church friend from Seremban.

Finally we decided to stay at Novotel Mangga Dua.

The day before our flight - Friday, 1st November 2013 
My Testimony

Would you believe it that we only started to pack - like REALLY pack only the afternoon before our flight?  The day we were to fly was a national public holiday, being Deepavali and we had planned our annual open house visit and this year it was held at my cousin Morgan's house nearby.

That afternoon after I dropped William off at kindy, I headed home in my happy la-la state.  Around 230pm, as I took out our passports, I decided to flip through and to my shock and horror, William's passport had an expiry in two months' time.  How was he going to travel with a passport less than 6 months validity?  I quickly called hubby who was on his way back from Ipoh.  He was only due to arrive at 430pm.

Taking his advice, I rushed out back to the kindy to take William home early.  I explained to the boy on the way that we have to pray hard, and if he can't get his passport renewed, he won't be able to travel with us. Deep down, I knew only a miracle from God can help us, because the Immigration Office won't be open the next day being a national public holiday, and moreover numbers are limited and normally all given out early in the morning.  Even if we manage to get a number, the normal procedure takes 3 days for a passport to be ready. 

But desperation calls for no logic.  And God has no limit.  Prayer was our only hope.  I told hubby that I will bring William to the closest Immi Office at Kelana Jaya to "try my luck" and take his passport photo, in the meantime while waiting for hubby to arrive.  If that fail, at least I get William's passport picture taken and we can head straight to the other Immi Office in Sentul, which opens until 10pm.  But that was not our preference as we also had cell group meeting that night.

Long story cut short, this was the sequence of events at the times as accurately as I can remember.

345pm - arrived Immi Office KJ and as expected, all numbers were out and there was a big crowd spilling out of the reception area.  I explained my situation to the officer at the entrance, and he grumbled a little before telling me to check with the officer at the counter.  I reexplained my situation to the officer at the counter who then told me to take the side door for authorised personnel only and speak to his supervisor.

The officers inside were initially not willing to help, and told me make my way to the Sentul Immi Office.  But just as I was leaving, still holding on to William's hand, the supervisor in charged told me to return at 445pm (15 minutes before closing time) to look for her.  In the meantime, she told me to get the photos and all documents ready.

William took his new passport photos without delay and I rushed home to pick up the other documents required.  I think I paid RM10 for 6 pictures, or was it 4?  Can't recall in my haste. 

430pm - Picked hubby up from Morgan's house and we all headed to the Immi Office again.  In my heart, I was half wondering if the supervisor would play me out and continued to pray hard.

445pm - I took William and looked for the lady supervisor again.  She directed me to another officer at the Counter (no queuing needed, nor number given).  Officer at counter took our documents and payment and told me to collect the passport at another counter.  I headed there, but the second counter told me to return at 515pm.  Dropped hubby back home.

515pm - Back at the Immi Office with William.  Crowd have all gone by now.  We approached the second counter lady and explained our situation again.  The receipt stated collection on 4 November but we received William's new passport this very day, at this very time.

All praise and glory to God!  The lady supervisor did not want to reveal her name to me, and neither did she wear a identification tag.  I thanked the first counter officer and the collection counter lady profusely and each said I needn't have to thank them, as I had only to thank their supervisor.  At 515pm when I collected the passport, I asked if there was ANY WAY that I could thank her supervisor, and the officer told me, "It's ok."

This was the first time we had such fast, efficient and courteous service all in one experience.  From 345pm to 515pm, it took only 1.5hours from my first plead to my eternal gratitude.   We were treated like VIPs even!  Surely and truly God was orchestrating all these, and no way can this miracle happen if not for Him.

Saturday, 2nd November 2013

Hubby just recovered from a mild food poisoning, possibly from a bad burger at A&W a few nights ago.  I banned him from attacking the tempting curries and dhal at the Deepavali open house.  If he has a weakness, it is Indian food.  Vic was down with sore throat and I put her on the ban too, because she needed a fast recovery before the holiday.  William had a mild case of diarrhea in the morning and I was worried that it may deteriorate, which will be a huge inconvenience in the plane and public toilets in Jakarta were not expected to be clean or aromatic.

Committing all in prayer to God, everyone miraculously recovered in time.  I put a diaper on William - just in case - and it was clean even when we arrived Jakarta at night.  Vic's sorethroat seemed to be under control.  Daddy had no more symptoms and the precautionary medicines that we brought along wasn't used at all.

Mama Yeh Yeh's flight was separate and via MAS.  Since their flight was delayed, they waited for us and together we hired a Toyota Alphard to our hotel.  By the time we reached out hotel it past 10pm.

Standard room, clean and functional.

  

We played UNO at McD whilst waiting to enter the gate.  Good job Vic for packing these cards into your little pink bag

Food wasn't too bad.  Supper on flight.  We had spaghetti, roast chicken, pizza, green curry rice and briyani ordered online and added a muffin on flight because the boy was still hungry.  Thank God for Seremban siew pau which Popo bought for us and insisted we bring along in case we got hungry in the hotel.  These came in very handy.

After meal, best to sleep.

At the hotel lobby.  These are all our luggage, almost half are empty in anticipation of mega shopping.  Between the 6 of us, we had a total of 45kg of check in weight, and 42kg of hand luggage weight.

 Shops were already closed when we checked into our rooms so we might as well clean up and sleep "early" in order to be fully charged up for the next day's shopping adventure!