Tanah Abang, Jakarta

Salam and howdy uollz?? Tim is back in the house! It’s good to be back. Can’t believe that I’ll be missing Malaysia this much after only a mere 3 days in the neighboring country! Ngee……..

Okay, let’s talk about my recent trip to Jakarta, Indonesia. It was a sudden request from my friend, in early of June. She needs somebody to accompany her to buy her wedding stuffs in Jakarta. She can’t go with her fiancé, coz it’s not very appropriate ya know..Why Jakarta? Well, I have no idea myself. But many people have said that we can get a good quality of fabrics and cheap wedding goodies in Tanah Abang, Jakarta. As for me, I just need a vacation! Jalan-jalan cari makan, (sight seeing and food quest). 

Since it was an unplanned trip, I didn’t allocate any special fund in advance for shopping spree or luxury, so I try to keep it as low budget as possible. I took the night train on Monday to KL Sentral and arrived at midnight. Couldn’t get any sleep as the guy next to me was snoring like nobody’s business! Dang! Then, I spent a few hours again at the 24-hours McD outlet while waiting for the first shuttle bus to LCCT, which is at 3.30am. Accompanied by my non-stop Big Bang playlist on my mp3 player, a book from L.M. Montgomery, a cuppa coffee, and a box of fries and nuggets, 3 hours seems like a short period of time. I try to get some sleep in the bus, but I’m not really good at taking short naps. It makes me dizzy…Arrived at LCCT at 4.30pm, went looking for my friend (she took the plane from Penang earlier) and then continue to doze off in the surau for another hour. We took off with the morning flight to Jakarta at 7 a.m, and landed safely at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after 2 hours. My friend suggested taking the local town bus to Tanah Abang as we carried only 1 bag each. Haha! We did! I can’t remember when was the last time I took the local bus in my own town..

Arrived at Tanah Abang, but we had to walk quite a distance to the exact mall. There are so many malls here, I’m still confused what’s the difference between each of them. But we choose to stick to Tanah Abang Mall Block A and B., which has approximately 7 to 8 levels each! We had our lunch here, and then continued our journey by walking to find a budget hotel near the malls. I almost gave up, not because of the fatigue, but because of the uneasy feeling, and the staring from people by the roadside! Actually Tanah Abang is slump area (err, not sure if it’s the right word) or we called it as ‘setinggan’. Not that I’m being judgmental, but I really felt cautious all the time, hugging by beg tightly while looking for the hotel. Nothing like when I was in Bandung few years back, I just loved the place so much!  It felt so comfortable to be there.

Finally we reached Nusantara Hotel, ask for a room, and quickly check in without hesitation. Haha..the hotel was alright I guess. It’s a bit old, but clean, secure, and within our budget. So our journeys starts after we showered and finished our prayer, off to the mall for a quick scan and target which floor we should come back for the next day. That night, we went to a restaurant called Sate Padang just across the street from our hotel. We had murtabak, oxtail soup, and nasi padang. The taste was okay, but I’ve had better ones in Bandung, and even Malaysia! Of course, I wouldn’t dare trying the food sold by the road side..NO..NO..NO..

I only bought a few items like some scarves, blouses, and a sling bag. Oh, I bought a bangle too which I loves so much! But honestly, I don’t think things here are that cheap. I think Bandung is far better. But my friend, yikes! She was like a mad girl buying fabrics from every store she laid her eyes onto. Yes, I did help her to pick the fabrics for her solemnization ceremony, but when she keeps on buying stuffs which is not related to the wedding, that she thinks she could sell, I just gave up! I really did! I even stop talking to her coz she was so carried away! But she didn’t really care you know, making me waiting like zombie for 1 hour when she said she just wanna go grab a pair of prayer cloth, but end up with countless bags of fabrics again. Hahaha..I vowed to myself this is the last time I would go shopping with her! hahaha...

Well, we manage to find a salon near our hotel and went there after Maghrib prayer for a massage and hair treatment. It was damn cheap! Less than RM30! But then again, it’s no 5-stars service either. I guess it was okay. We didn’t go out for dinner, I was so exhausted, plus I couldn’t really digest the food there. It was dry, without the soup or gravy. So we end up eating instant noodle and instant Mochachinno! I went straight to bed after dinner.

On the last day, we had our breakfast in house. The usual mihun goring, nasi goring, telur goring (all Indonesian style) and banana. Off we go to Tanah Abang again, my friend continued her crazy shopping, and I end up yelling at her coz we had to check out before noon and she hadn’t pack her things yet! Haha..We had our lunch at another mall called Thamrin City, I dragged my friend to come here coz I insisted on buying a sling bag here, and of course she’s not very happy with that. I know she wanna continue her shopping spree at Tanah Abang.  Hihi…We took the bajai (tri-motorcyle) to get back to the hotel and then took a taxi to the airport. From only 1 bag, my friend ended up with 3 bags, 2 boxes, and 2 plastic bags. As for me, I still manage with 1 bag. We were quite early to arrive at the airport, there’s nothing to do but wait, read, and doze off a little. I had a conversation with a nice Philippine guy named Ep, sitting next to me while waiting for our flight. He’s going back to S’pore after a holiday in Vandung. Well he’s kinda cute, but I didn’t ask for his FB or neither did him. Hehe..Our flight was at 8.30pm, we arrived LCCT at 10.30pm (Indonesian time). When we passed the Malaysian Custom, the nightmare begins for my dear friend…she had to pay taxes for her stuffs! Hahaha…she was in an argument with the officer, and I choose to back off, I mean I’ve already reminded her about the taxes, but still she’s confident it’s gonna be okay. Well, I guess she’s wrong this time. After much argument, she paid RM70 for the taxes.

I went to the surau to get some sleep. We wanted to take the 3.30am shuttle bus to LCCT but my friend’s cousin was kind enough to drives us instead. My friend had to leaves some of her stuffs with her cousin, and travel back with her 2 bags. Hihi…It was actually so funny thinking about how determine she was! But still, I hope she will have a wonderful dress made out of the fabric she bought. I was very sincere when I agreed to accompanied her, even though there’s some bitter part included. But hey, friends fight all the time,  kiss and make up, right? Till next time….tata!