They say pictures paint a thousand words

Lebaran

Raya (Muslim celebration) in Jakarta is known as lebaran. And it is such a big thing over here. Shops were closed, there were no traffic jams every where and almost zero cabs were seen on the roads. Fireworks went on and on for days, especially on the eve of lebaran. It has been a hectic week for me. Parents-in-law came to visit, Dear Hubby's daughter was here for one whole week and my parents went back to K.L just this evening. This is the first time ever, that a raya week was so full of activities that I felt extremely exhausted. Perhaps I'm not used to a 'family life' just yet.

Sinfully Yours

Def. sinful (taken from Cambridge Dictionary Online)
Informal ~ describes something which is pleasant, but very bad for you.

x

Jakarta is a sinful city.

Sin-full of cheap Bintang beers; cigarrettes that cost a tiny fraction of what smokers are paying in Malaysia and other countries; clubs full of slutty looking bartop dancers that close only at dawn and hostesses who lap dance for you at a minimal price or sometimes free of charge; cheap labour which causes a pandemic of everyone owning drivers, maids, nannies, and cooks; round-the-clock in-home beauty services; the Blackberry craze - every 8 out of 10 people are carrying BB (total defeat for iPhone); a paradise for shopaholics and a city full of ladies lugging around either a Louise Vuitton Neverfull or Hermes Birkin.

In Jakarta, money is everything. Money buys you convenience, luxuries and most of the time, it gets you out of trouble with the authorities.

I spent my last 48 hours in Jakarta.....

 ..... enjoying rich Northern Indian cuisine for lunch, with the hope of easing my blocked up nose with all those herbs and spices. It didn't help much though.

..... looking at the heavy downpour and congested traffic.

..... having dinner at Penang Bistro. I had hokkien mee while Dear Hubby ordered asam laksa and his must-have... BEER. Asam laksa + beer = natural laxative.
It sure did sent him visiting the loo many, many times. lol.

..... packing, packing and still packing! 

We like to move it, move it!

It's my last week in Jakarta and I'm clearing out the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. There're so much food lying around, and either I've to use it up or throw it away by end of the week. We (or rather Dear Hubby) will be moving out of this condo by end of the month. He found a better (and bigger) place for us and our new baby when we come back in July. 

The new condo has 3 bedrooms + 4 bathrooms, all fully furnished and it comes with flatscreen HDTV in each and every room including a 46" in the living area. Best of all, they're equipped with 60 channels for me to glue my arse in front of it the whole day! And not to mention the whole condominium is fully air-conditioned. It also has a huge swimming pool, a church, day care centre, and two gyms, one is open to residents and another for paying members. There're shopping mall, restaurants and bars all located within walking distance. 

Our unit is located on 26th floor, high enough to avoid the sound of mosque prayers that are perform 5 times a day. I'm not against Muslims prayers or anything. In fact in Malaysia, there're also mosques that do prayers on loud speakers which can be heard all over the place. However, the difference is, the mosques in Malaysia is sparsely located. Whereas here, one can find at least 1 mosque within 1 to 2 km radius. My current condo has at least 5 to 6 mosques surrounding it. We're staying on the 2nd floor so can you imagine the noise when all loud speakers go off together at the same time during prayers? Moreover, one of the prayers is perform at 4 a.m daily. When looking for accomodation in Jakarta, this should be seriously taken into consideration.

ATTN: All Shopaholics & Credit Cards Addicts!

If there's one good reason (or excuse) for you to use credit cards, it should be the discounts that your plastics can get you. And I mean real mega discounts, i.e. 50% off; not some 10% discount offers like those you've seen in Malaysia.

Since Dear Hubby is out of town today, I thought of doing some grocery shopping to stock up food items for that 2 months I'm away and have an early dinner at my favourite Sushi Mori. I went in, took a seat & saw it: Kartu Bank Mega diskon 30%. Here I am, with Rp2 million in my handbag but no discount for me. The bill came up to almost Rp250k. I paid the bill with a heavy heart knowing that I could've gotten 30% off if I have Bank Mega's credit card. Then on the way home, I asked Pak Sopir (means chauffeur in Indonesian) to drop me off at Haagen Dazs.

Me: "Satu (one) pint strawberry & satu pint chocolate chips, please."

Sales person: "Maaf, ibu. Ada kartu Bank Mandiri?" (Excuse me, ma'am. Do you own any credit cards by Bank Mandiri?)

Me: "Enggak" (No, I don't)

Sales person: "Kalau ibu ada kartunya, bisa dapat satu pint gratis. Jadi ibu hanya perlu bayar untuk satu pint aja." (We have 'buy one, get one pint free' for Bank Mandiri credit card holders.)

Me: *speechless*

I ended up joining their membership which entitles me to a discount of 25% on the spot. Well, it's better than nothing, right?

Being cash-rich in Jakarta makes you cry because you know those people sitting next table is getting 50% off the bill and you're idiotically paying full price... for using cash! Time to get Dear Hubby to apply one (or maybe a few more with different banks). *GRIN*

10 more days to go

.....before I'm back to Kuala Lumpur.

Most airlines restrict carriage of women who are 35 weeks and above in their pregnancies. That means I'm not allowed to travel anymore and since I'll be delivering on the 39th week via cesarean, I've to be home in K.L till post delivery. Add in 1 month of confinement, I'll be back to Jakarta only in July.

After 5 months of living in Jakarta, I'm starting to like it here. There're two things that I'm going to miss most about Jakarta: The self-service frozen yogurt bar called Yogulicious and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. Yogulicious serve varieties of yogurt flavours, from plain to unusual flavours such as pistachio and green tea, with over 40 types of toppings to choose from. They even sell alcoholic yogurt. It's self service so I get to load as much toppings as I want! For none fat-free days, I'll go for Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. My favourite is the rich matcha (green tea) ice cream mixed with chocolate chips or Oreo cookies. Their 'mixing counter' looks like a thick layer of frozen stone which explains the name Cold Stone Creamery.

Besides, the fact that Dear Hubby will still be in Jakarta alone makes it harder for me. Before I leave, I'll be stocking up breakfast cereals, boxes of milk, fruit juices, biscuits, instant noodles and frozen food for days he doesn't feel like eating out.

33 weeks & still counting.....

Pesan Antar a.k.a Delivery Order in Jakarta

I've just noticed that everything (well almost) can be ordered either through phone or website in Jakarta, ranging from the most basic necessity, e.g. bottled water (for use with water dispenser that has hot & cold features commonly found in offices around Malaysia), food items to massages & mobile spa. 

Back in Malaysia, only certain companies that are selling the water dispenser also sell the bottled water. And the dispenser rental doesn't comes cheap. In contrary, here in Jakarta, you can find the water dispensers being sold everywhere, even in Carrefour. Any toko-toko (shops) by the roadside sells the bottled water at Rp12,000 each. People says tap water in Indonesia is unsafe for consumption even if it's boiled so bottled water are commonly used for drinking and cooking in every households .

Delivery order for food - they have japanese, western, local indonesian and even north indian food. Even J.CO Donuts and Bread Talk can be delivered to your doorsteps. 

Here're some numbers to dial when you're hungry:

McDonald, Tel: 14045

KFC, Tel: 14022

Pizza Hut, Tel: Go to their website for delivery numbers according to locations.

Hoka Hoka Bento (Japanese fast food), Tel: 500-505

Kinara (North Indian cuisine), Tel: 021-7192677

Solaria (local fast food chain that serve varieties of food), Tel: 14099

J.CO Donuts & Bread Talk, Tel: 7996060

Vin + Arcadia (Wine), Tel: 57901477

Another thing that I really love about Jakarta is home spa! Mobile Spa offers body massage at Rp.100,000 (equivalent to US$11 or RM35) for 2 hours. Other services include manicure & paedicure (Rp.75k each), body & face treatments (Rp.115k - Rp.230k), prenatal & postnatal massages (Rp.100k each) and massages for infant /child (Rp.50k). 

The best thing about their service - they're available 24-7 in the comfort of your home. Even 7-11s in Malaysia don't open 24-7! 

Mobile Spa, Tel: 021-32768794, 021-94756891, 081-8695486

JR Studio, Tel: 021-26353378, 08-5692165213

Note: JR Studio also offers hair treatments (Rp.50k -Rp.75k), rebonding (Rp. 175k - Rp.250k) and colouring (Rp.200k) at your home. Cool, huh?

To buy or to rent?

It's true what people say; you can find almost anything in Jakarta. I just found out about a website that features rental of baby things in Jakarta. They have baby crib, playpens, strollers, car seats, etc. And the rental prices are quite reasonable, ranging from Rp100k to Rp150k per month (equivalent to RM35 to RM55).  Great for expats who are here on short term and those who doesn't want to spend bombs on baby products since babies grow up so fast. Besides renting, they also sell selected baby items but I'm not sure whether they're second hand or brand new. Those who are interested may take a look at their website: http://bambinopiccolo.multiply.com/

I need a baby crib but still contemplating of buying one since Dear Hubby isn't going to work in Jakarta for long. At first I thought of getting just the infant travel bed and stacking it on top of the bed. But once the baby is able to roll over or move around, I still need a baby crib for safety reason. So this whole rental idea might works out for me!

Off-the-shelf food

It is a routine that I go grocery shopping twice a week, usually on Monday and Thursday. So happen today, Dear Hubby's chauffeur went on emergency leave because his son is having high fever. Being in Jakarta for 4 months now, I've never stepped out of the condo without Pak Sopir (sopir means chauffeur in Indonesian language). Although catching a cab in Jakarta is quite convenient, it'll never be as convenient as having a chauffeur who helps load the grocery bags into the car and then bringing them up to the condo for me. A little help goes a long way when you are having a bulging tummy that you can't even see your toes. Moreover, most shopping malls in Jakarta do not have shopping carts access lane for the carts to be brought up to the foyer or lobby so I usually tell Pak Sopir to wait for me at the basement carpark entrance.

Stranded in the condo without Pak Sopir's help, I decided to go online and order McDonald for lunch and then take a lift down to the mini mart to buy some bread for tomorrow's breakfast. I came back, cut open the nicely sealed plastic bag from the loaf of white bread to make myself a peanut butter sandwich (I have cravings for peanut butter since I'm pregnant) when I saw it: greenish and black bread molds growing on the first slice of bread! I double checked on the expiry date again and it says 14/04/10... which is the day after tomorrow. In Jakarta, especially when you buy things from a local or neighbourhood mini mart, don't bother to ask for a refund. They'll just look at you with a silly expression on their face.

Morale of the story: When you buy off-the-shelf food (although it's perfectly sealed) in Jakarta, look twice before you put it in your mouth. This explains a lot why fresh bakery shops are blooming like mushrooms here and they're always jam packed with people at any time of the day!

Rp 2.3 million, a hefty airport fee

We had an unexpected encounter when we tried to leave Indonesia for the long Good Friday weekend.

Dear Hubby's passport was stuck with immigration department due to his work permit application. The agent he hired to do the processing promised him the passport by 3 p.m on the same day we're supposed to catch our flight back to K.L. Later that evening, Dear Hubby received an email from the immigration department stating that his passport won't be ready until the following Monday. However, they will issue a letter to say that he's allowed to exit Indonesia without a passport due to unforeseen circumstances. To exit Indonesia without a passport is one thing but to enter Malaysia without a passport? Seriously, how stupid can immigration officers be?

Fast forward the story....Dear Hubby managed to get back his passport at 5p.m with some help. We rushed to the airport, proceeded to check-in and tried to clear our passports at the immigration counter when Dear Hubby was asked for the exit stamp. Of course we were puzzled. We were then escorted to a room at the side. The officer explained that an exit stamp is required before he is allowed to leave Indonesia.

Feeling confused, Dear Hubby made calls to the agent asking him to clarify the matter with the immigration department. Soon after, the officer told us that in order to let Dear Hubby exit Indonesia without the stamp, he has to prove that there's an emergency situation back home that requires immediate attention. So I said how are we supposed to 'prove' an emergency anyway (not like we have one). That was when the officer sat down for a while and said, "Saya bisa tolong bapak. Ada 'tiga'?" (I can help you. Do you have 'three'?). By 'three', he meant 3 million rp.

Both of us emptied our purse and wallet only to find 2.3 million rp. The officer refused, saying that it's not going to be enough for all of them while pointing to all the immigration officers out there. He suggested Dear Hubby make withdrawals from an atm around the corner to make up for the balances. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Dear Hubby doesn't have a local bank account yet. After some persuasions, the officer finally took the money, stashed it into one of the drawers and proceeded to process the 'exit stamp'.

I looked out the tiny cabin window as the plane took off, feeling wonderfully relief that Dear Hubby is with me despite the fact that the so-called airport fee is more expensive than both of our return tickets that trip.

*FYI, 2.3 million rp is equivalent to about RM800 or US$250.