FEATURE STORY 7

The Trip Was Worth It

Phewwww...today is such a tiring day. Why? Because this is the first day I resumed work after a week off from it. We need breaks once in a while but when we take breaks, this is what happens. Lazy to continue working. Hahaha.

I came back from my holiday trip to Jakarta-Punchak-Bandung on Friday, 2 May 2008. We landed at LCCT at approximately 5.51 PM and at that time, I sensed a popping sound in my right ear. I figured it was due to the pressure and difference in altitude when the plane was about to land. But heck! I thought. It will subside later. I now have to worry about getting the baggage and making sure they all arrived KL safely.

We had a hell of a time in Bandung and Jakarta. The drive up to Punchak was looooooooong and when we finally reached Punchak, there wasn't much to see. Just a point about 4706m from sea level and the weather felt cold. But it was much colder than Genting or even Cameron Highland and people there, too, plant tea for a living. And the lunch (the first Indonesian meal after a very quick Malaysian breakfast and we were starving like a horse) was disappointing. We were brought by the guide to a Sundanese restaurant and the food was plain. As I could remember, we had rice (of course! what else do Indonesians eat?!?), fried fish, rujak, three different types of uncooked sambal, mie goreng, and sate ayam and kambing. My mother-in-law was the most surprised one. She took a while gazing into the food served and then asked me what type of food were we eating that afternoon. I said, "makanan Sunda, mak. Orang Sunda ni mkn pelik sikit. Nasi campur mee. Dah la tu tak berkuah lak tu." Having no other choices, we ate through because we didn't want to fall sick later. But the closing of the meal was a cup of cappuccino, which I deemed was the best (among the worst lunch ever, of course).

From there, we took another three hours before we reached Bandung. All of us were so eager to get to Bandung since we haven't had enough sleep the night before, took a very early flight, reached Jakarta and straight away head for Punchak and Bandung. When we were approaching the city of Bandung, the guide told us that it was also known as Paris van Java (meaning Paris at Java). I was expecting to see Eiffel Tower or romance here and there, but none of that were there. It is named Paris because of the location and the fashion shopping we could get there. Our first stop was Heritage, a shopping centre situated on Jalan Riau. We were supposed to go to Dago but the guide (by the way, her name is Kiki) said we should go to Jalan Riau first as Dago closed at 9 PM. I liked it at Heritage because the goods sold there were at very reasonable price and they looked good, too. I bought some clothes for my son, my daughters and my husband. We spent about Rp. 639.600 for everything. Darn cheap, I told my husband.

After that, Kiki brought us to Cihampelas, the Jeans Street as they called it. Here, you could find all sorts of jeans at very good prices and of good quality, too. We didn't have that much time, plus being so fatigue since we haven't rested and haven't checked in the hotel yet. So, we only walked past a few shops and entered the next one we saw which was somewhat opposite the place where our van was parked. There, I chose one pair of Burberry jeans for my dad, and two pairs of jeans, which was a pair of BMW jeans and another a Burberry, for my husband. I bought myself two pairs of t-shirt, one pair of jacket for my son, and all these cost me Rp. 669.000. We then headed straight back to the van and told the guide that we wanted to go to the hotel.

We were brought to Hotel Cemerlang, a 3-star hotel, and we checked in there. We reached the hotel about 6pm and we were told that we were to meet downstairs again at 7pm which was just an hour away. Well, I didn't have enough time to rest. What I managed to do was to bathe my children, took my bath, and unpacked important items.

At 7pm, Kiki and Pak Dayat, the supir (driver) waited for us at the hotel lobby to take us all out for dinner. We went to a Padang restaurant and had a much better dinner than what we had earlier in the day. After that dinner, Kiki took us to Jalan Dago for another round of shopping but we refused. We all requested to get back to the hotel as we were feeling so tired and sleepy from all the activities we did that day. Now, after coming back to KL, I regretted not fighting my tiredness and went on shopping at Dago because from the view of it that we got from the van's windows, Dago has tremendous to offer us, especially my kids.

The next day started as early as 9am. We checked out the hotel (wow, such a short stay!) and taken straight to Pasar Baru Bandung. There was a demonstration when we arrived and being such a paranoia, I asked Kiki whether it was safe for us to continue shopping there. Hahaha, as expected, Kiki said "tentu sekali, buk. Nggak apa2 kok. Ini fenomena biasa di Indonesia." (Ermmm, they are more expressive than we would ever be, huh?) Anyway, we were given 2 hours to shop there. I bought some "jilbab", my mom's jacket suit, and my daughters' clothes. My mom-in-law enjoyed the shopping there, I believe. She bought some jubahs, shirts for all the men in her life, and blouses for the daughters-in-law (except me because I refused as I believe she should spend her money on stuff she wished to get for herself rather than for me...no no no...I am NOT proud, ok) and we waited like ages for her (sorry, mak...but you spent too much time choosing and browsing...as a matter of fact, many women do, I guessed. But NOT me. I am simple. I look. I like. I buy...untung husband I, kan? Hehehe). Farah also had a good buy there.

We then headed for Cibaduyut next. Kiki said that this was a great place for leather goods. Well, the point is, we were dropped off at a small mall with not that many choices. None of us felt like walking around the area for more choices. So, we just bought whatever was available there. I ended up spending almost Rp. 700.000 for a handbag, a purse, my son's school bag, his shoes, and my daughters' shoes.

From here, we were driven back to Jakarta. It was not such a winding journey as when we were heading for Bandung. This time, the driver took the highway instead. So, we were promised a mere 2-hour journey. Approaching Jakarta city, it rained very heavily and as usual, rain = jam. We were stucked for a solid two and a half hours before we stopped at Salero Jumbo for dinner. The plan was to check in to the hotel first but at the last minute things changed because of the stupid jam. Anyway, the dinner was different from what we had because though it was a Padang restaurant but we specially requested for a seafood meal. Yes, we expected prawns and squids but their definition of seafood only meant fish, dried prawns and anchovies. Haha. Served us right!

We stayed at Orchardz Hotel in Jakarta. It was a nice, decent hotel and I am very happy with it. The next day, we were brought to Tanah Abang for further shopping (I believe people like my mom-in-law and cousin really couldn't get enough of this activity). I was told by Aunty Mas that it is not a nice place. But it was really beyond my expectation. I liked Tanah Abang much, much better than Mangga Dua. It is more organized, cooler, and easier to shop and move around in this place. It has all that crossed your mind. I bought so many tudungs here for my mom. They have all the new designs and I paid Rp. 585.000 for all of them. Damn, damn cheap! I think my mom is going to be very happy with what I have chosen for her.

That afternoon, we had the BEST lunch (numero uno!!!) for the whole trip. It was a place called Riung Sari Sunda Restaurant and it is owned by an actor named Titi Kamal. The ambience was great and it complimented the food served. It was a total 360 degrees turn from the Sunda food we had at Punchak on the first day we arrived. If this is what REAL Sundanese food is, then it give two thumbs up! I simply love the Sop Ikan Gurame. Marvellously cooked! I couldn't forget the wonderful taste even until today. I asked Kiki why we were taken for lunch there only that day. We should have come for all our Jakarta meals there. I am definitely going to repeat this restaurant the next trip I make to Jakarta.

After the most fulfilling lunch in the world, we went to Ancol. It is a well-known theme park in Indonesia. People who visit Jakarta would have this place on their itinerary. To tell you the truth, I had a very low expectation of this place. I had been to a few fantastic theme parks in the world like Disneyland, Disney World, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, Tampa Beach Park, and not to miss Sunway Lagoon in my own home country. But Ancol was way, way better than what I had in mind. It was a very large area. It had all sorts of things in there, including an interesting looking hotel (and my husband specifically mentioned that we should stay there for the next trip). We went on what they termed as Gondola, which is very much similar to our Cable Car at Genting Highlands, and this thing took us for a ride all around Ancol. We could view the whole theme park from above.

The next few hours, we spent inside what they called as Dufan, which is short for Dunia Fantasi. This was when my entire view about Ancol changed. I could conclude that Dufan is wayyyyyyyy cleaner and more systematic than Sunway Lagoon. The scenario inside Dufan reminded me of the days when I visited all the theme parks in the US. I was actually glad that we made that trip there. One most important thing is that my children enjoyed themselves there and they had fun. The only person who did not have so much fun as my kids did was my mom-in-law. She figured the trip to Ancol was the most taxing one.

That night was our last night in Jakarta and we were soooooooooo busy packing things we brought from KL and things we bought throughout our trip to Jakarta and Bandung. I should say that it was extremely challenging for me as I did the packing all by myself. It was so difficult to ensure that I had everything packed up nicely and most importantly, to hide some things from the Malaysian customs' eyes, and also not to exceed the permitted weight by Airasia.

On 2 May 2008, at 9am, we checked out from the hotel and headed to Mangga Dua for last minute shopping (only my mom-in-law and Farah bought something there. By then, I was done with my shopping. Only had Rp. 170.000 left in my purse for eating at the airport while waiting for the plane to depart Indonesia at 2.50pm). By 11.40 am we reached the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. We had our last Indonesian lunch at the airport's A&W and boarded the aircraft at 2. 40pm. It was such a quick, smooth 2-hour flight on Airasia AK 955 (the best Airasia flight I had) and finally landed at LCCT Terminal at 5.40pm.

It was indeed a worthwhile trip. Alhamdulillah.