weekend project part 4

Where was I last weekend? I was in a neighboring country, about 2hours flight away from KL. It was my first time ever taking the no-frills flight so I was quite excited. We reached Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at about 7pm Jakarta time (surprisingly no delay pulak) Since this is my second time to Jakarta and since it is solely a ‘shopping trip’, I did not take a lot of pictures like before. Fortunately our hotel is very near (read: 5 minutes walk) to the shopping haven called Mangga Dua. The purpose of the trip was to shop for wedding stuffs so I did not get to buy stuffs for myself that much. Now now don’t get excited there. It is not for my wedding, mind you. It is for the sister’s wedding. I tagged along to menyibuk help sis choose whatever stuffs that she needed. The last time I was in Mangga Dua complex, we ate at this really yummy bakso stall so Mum and I decided that we must find that stall again or else kempunan. So we walked and walked and got sesat here and there. It is very easy for one to lose his/her way in such humongous shopping complex with blocks and blocks and floors and floors of shops! If you have been to Mangga Dua or Tanah Abang, you’ll know what I mean.

The thing about going on a holiday is that you tend to eat and eat and eat. And what better way to eat than to try the street food, right? So on one of the nights we went to a place called Jalan Sabang where there were stalls by the roadside. At first we were kinda skeptical and worried to eat at such place due to its condition and what not but we thought what the heck. Barulah Lonely Planet. Hahaha. Luckily we didn’t end up with stomach ache except for sis who had a slight tummy ache the next day. We assumed that her tummy is not used to such foods anymore what being in the UK and eating bread most of the time. Mana tak terkejut perut makan bakso, nasi padang segala.

Anyway, as much as I love shopping in Jakarta because of its dirt cheap price, the things that I noticed are:

• Never trust those people. The minute they see that you’re a foreigner, that’s when they will lambung the prices sky-high and you know that it’s not the actual price because when you ask them they will hesitate a while before putting the price.
• Malaysia has the potential to be just like them in terms of driving where red lights were jumped; cars change lanes without giving signals, taxis stop in the middle of the road as and when they feel like it or the minute they see a potential passenger.
• There are people (kids and adult alike) begging for money especially at traffic lights. They will come to your car/cab and will beg for money. Luckily the taxi drivers always lock their doors. As much as we pity them, we did not give any as giving to one will only invite the rest to come to you. But if you don’t give, some will just walk away with sad faces (leaving us feeling guilty) while some would curse and sumpah seranah which only God knows what it means.
• When you eat at a Nasi Padang Restaurant, they will serve you most, if not all of the lauks available. But of course they will only charge the dishes that you eat. Unlike the Nasi Padang places here in KL (Kg. Baru to be precise) you get to choose the lauks that you want. I think it’s a clever (in a cheeky way) to serve all the lauks because you get tempted to taste whatever was laid out in front of you.

Despite it all, I will not hesitate going to Jakarta again. Things are cheap, foods are nice, halal and easily available, shopping is crazy. what more can I ask for?