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Showing posts with label Jakarta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jakarta. Show all posts

Review: Novotel Mangga Dua Square, Jakarta

 November 21, 2010

Hi there,

As i promised, here's my first hotel review (will keep posting later). Hope it can be helpful to all of you :)

Note: usually the room selection will be queen or king bedded since i'm traveling in group... bigger bed means more people to squeeze in! hehehe :D

Enjoice! XOXO 

Novotel Hotel, Mangga Dua Square

 the swimming pool.. view from my room

Location: near airport, quite central, attached to Mangga Dua Square (not much hype, you won’t find authentic luxury brands here but then you can get good bargain for clothing and CD/DVD), shopping places within walking distance (Mangga Dua ITC, Mangga Dua Mall etc)

 location map

Price: IDR800k++ (depends on promo etc. price on weekdays is much higher since it is a business hotel. mine was IDR888k -- yup, it was weekdays)

Room condition: Superior room – spacious, clean room king bed (very comfy and yet there were 4 of us slept on it! :p), sofa, en suite bathroom with shower, fully stocked mini bar (need to pay), TV (can’t recall whether it is LCD or not), coffee making facilities, safe deposit box

 the comfy bed
 the bathroom

Facilities: swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, fitness centre (just to name a few, haven’t tried any though), security access point at each floor, wi-fi (it’s not free! I think with the price they are charging for their rooms, every guest should be entitle for free unlimited wi-fi access)

 fully stocked mini bar
 nice breakfast

Breakfast: large spread of breakfast, balanced choice of international cuisine, comfy dining area

for more info, please click
That's all for now.

Till then.

Regards,

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Jakarta & Bandung Trip - Part 2

 October 17, 2010

Hello everybody,

Hope you guys are having great weekend. Mine is not bad either. hehehe. So, lets continue with my trip review :)

-- This gonna be a long post, so please bear with me okay ;p

Day 3:

We started our day quite early since we were heading to Mount Tangkuban Parahu for sightseeing session. Our driver (aka supir) waited patiently for us at the lobby since 7.30AM (almaklumlaa.. lima anak dara -- opss, empat anak dara dan sorang mak dara nak bersiap. surelaa makan mase. lagipun we ols amik family room. so kena pandai2 share bathroom tue). As usual, i loved to enjoy the views and taking pictures along the way up to the volcanic mountain :)

 fresh air.... the clear blue skies gave plus point to the view :)

 tea plantation


The journey from our hotel to Tangkuban Parahu took about 1 hour drive (depending on the traffic). That was my first time visiting Lembang area since i only went to White Crater (Kawah Putih) for sightseeing during my trip last year. So this is definitely a new experience for me. Overall i prefer White Crater eventhough the journey are much longer (it took me about 3 hours). 

Why? First - i can go straightly to the crater without needing to do some trekking (u need to go through about 2 hours trekking in order to reach the safest crater at Tangkuban Parahu which is Ratu Crater - Plus, u even need to pay for the tour guide. Well, i don't have much time for that since shopping was the main priority :p So i just enjoy the view from the upper part of the mountain). Second - there were no people bugging me to buy their stuffs throughout my visit (i can enjoy the view without having people bothering me at White Crater. Unlike at Tangkuban Parahu... I even don't have the guts to say NO to them! huh... unlucky me). Third - i don't have to regret buying souvenirs at higher price. Beware of this, usually sellers at Tangkuban Parahu will set the price more than double or triple of the price u can actually get. So if you really insist to buy the stuffs there, bargain as much as u want. For example - at first i was offered 1 packet of fridge magnet (consist of 2 pieces) for Rp100k (which the price was really absurd.. so i ask Rp100k for 3 packets). Actually u can get 5 packets for Rp100k! (if you are smart and persistent enough, you might save more). I felt like banging my head to the wall when i found out that i do not bargain enough for the souvenirs. Lesson learnt! Perhaps that was the first and the last trip to Tangkuban Parahu for me (or perhaps.. i should not look at the stuffs next time :p).

at 1830meter above sea level

Mount Tangkuban Parahu -- the crater

There was nothing much interesting there except the scenery (perhaps i should explore more but i was too busy looking for souvenirs -- haha.. served me right!). We only spent about two hours there then we headed to Kampung Daun for lunch. We really fell in love with the calm atmosphere there. Having our meal in a beautiful hut beside a small stream was really peaceful. We ate like there was no tomorrow! We don't even bother about the time. We really had a splendid evening there. The foods was great.. and of course, the ambiance really added to the point (the price we paid was incomparable to any fine dining here. all in all, really worth it!)


 beautiful view :)

our lunch at Kampung Daun.. yummy!

Eventhough we were bloated to the max, surprisingly there was energy left for shopping! hahaha. So there goes the time when we were terrorizing factory outlets at Setiabudi road. Of course we went to the famous Rumah Mode first! Then we went to Fashion World (replacing Natural -- my fav FO during last year trip. Well, 3 of us bought same ZARA jacket there. hahaha. dah macam kembar siam. selamat x lima2 beli yang same), Donatello and others.

 at Fashion World entrance

After splurging our money at Setiabudi, we moved to Dago area. That was really challenging scenario since we have more factory outlets to explore and yet we don't have enough money to spend :(

We walked in Central Fashion, Grande, Jetset and Blossom (we have to restricted ourselves to these 4 F.O only.. can't imagine if we explored more. huhuhu. more FO means more money to spend!). Like the days before, we shopped till the end of the operation hour! hahaha. Shopping is like therapy. You won't feel hungry or tired when there's a lot to catch :p

But still, we headed to Dago Pakar hillside to have our dinner. This time i chose The Valley Restaurant for us (offered wide range of western cuisines.. and of course, lots of good looking waiter ready to serves you. sumenye pun ganteng bangat! kenyang perut dan bersih mata kami mlm itu :p) The foods was great and the ambiance was really nice. We had very interesting conversation there and were laughing like nobody's business. We went back with happy heart, full stomach, itchy foots and empty wallet! hahaha =}

 my Chicken Cordon Bleu

our catch of the day -- note that the number of our shopping bags gradually decreased (just like the money in our wallets! hahaha)

Day 4:

We started our day with some shopping at Kartika Sari (a bakery shop). We bought lots of brownies to bring back home and continued our bargain hunting at Pasar Baru! Can u believe it? hahaha. We returned there for final shopping on textile. We even bought 4 bags  for our luggage (big sizes! -- since we only came with backpacks. hihihi). We then checked out of the hotel and headed to Riau road. We went to Summit, Heritage and Cascade for our last F.O visit. 

went to Pak Chi Met for lunch.. very nice Sundanese food :)

Since we were already exhausted, we decided to pamper ourselves at the spa before we went back to Jakarta. I did foot reflexology and ear candling since we don't have much time. Otherwise, i'll definitely opt for full body massage! (super duper cheap... irresistible okeh!)

Mariaty's Spa facade

inside the spa (it's an art gallery too. you can buy the stuffs there if you are interested)

ear candling session

After some retreat at the spa, we then had our dinner at Grande's Cafe. We said bye2 to Bandung and left for Jakarta around 10PM. We were sent to Jakarta by Zafira's Car. At Jakarta, we chose a hotel near the airport for our convenience. The hotel also provide free airport shuttle so we wont be rushing and having headache thinking about transportation on our last day. We reached Jakarta at midnight.. so basically after we cleaned ourselves we dozed off and slept like a log! :p

Day 5:
After breakfast we re-packed our stuffs and ready to go back. We almost fainted looking at the total luggage. Never thought that all of us are shopaholics! (but of course, my sis is champion among all :p) hahaha... Nevertheless, this trip definitely was fun & meaningful to all of us :)


There goes my story... looking forward for next trip! Well, for family day perhaps. hehehe (^__^)

p/s: we were shocked to find out that Randy aka Galang (the actor of sinetron Cinta Kirana) was at Bandung the day we left for Jakarta. We even passed by the mall he did a gig on the next morning during our way back to Jakarta. If we knew it earlier, we might decided to stay! *sigh* hahaha. Galang oohh Galang :p

Till then.

Regards,

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Jakarta & Bandung Trip - Part 1

 October 15, 2010

Hi there, as i promised.. here's the update of my Indonesia Trip (eceh, macamlaa ade org request xpun nak bace kan.. hihihi). I bought AA's Zero Fares tix last year. Total price of my return tix = MYR75 including 30kg luggage on the way back! Super duper cheap right? hehehe (okay, nmpk sgt saye tamak sampai beli maximum luggage kan.. haha :p) According to the initial plan, there were suppose to be 8 of us in this trip. But 3 of my BFF had last min changes in their plan. So, there were 5 pax left. 

Day 1:

3 of us had morning flight while the other 2 had evening flight. Me, neesa and fiza took Skybus from KL Sentral to LCCT @ 7.30AM. Since we already did self-check in through AA's website,  we don't bother much about the time. Our flight was a little bit late since the air traffic was busy that morning. We arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport before noon and waited at the airport till my sis and nida arrived (actually we can meet up at the mall or hotel later but we were not keen to left them at the airport and go shopping while waiting for them.  prior to that we planned to shop first at Tanah Abang then go back to the airport but that can be tedious since we heard the traffic at central Jakarta always congested. we do not dare to predict the traffic flows so we decided to wait) 

Overall, we enjoyed our 5 days trip to the max! It was my first  all-girls oversea trip -- definitely gonna be the sweetest memory for me (sampaikan rasa nak je extend sampai next week nyer.. x puas shopping.. haha) 

evening at Jakarta -- MONAS (Monumen Nasional)

Our lunch @ the airport -- Koufu Food Court

Upon arrival, we took chartered MPV at the airport and went to Gambir train station to buy our tickets to Bandung next morning. The driver was very kind and he even followed us wherever we go since he afraid that we might get lost. Thank you so much Pak Bambang! We'll definitely hire you again if we ever been in Jakarta. We checked in at Mangga 2 area but unfortunately Mangga 2 closed before 7PM. How i wish Mangga 2 and Tanah Abang open till midnight! We spent our first day strolling at Mangga 2 Square. Did some shopping (where i bought tonnes of DVD.. hehe) and get enough rest to continue our journey the next day.

Day 2:

Had our breakfast and then headed to Gambir (we took cabs.. but later found out that using chartered van aka Cipaganti is much cheaper). The executive coach was comfortable enough and the view along the way was breathtaking. The train passed through few villages and moved between hills.

nice scenery. one of the villages

 can u tell the height of the railways? (gayat wesss)

the view -- before you reach Bandung. rasa macam tgh main farmville je :p

3 hours journey by train was really worth it! Alhamdulillah, the weather was great throughout our trip (till our last day). Anyway, we were greeted by Zafira Car driver at the Bandung station (i booked their MPV for 3 days. Did the booking a day prior to the trip without any deposit! Million thanks to Pak Tarmidzi -- Zafira's owner -- for his attentiveness and hospitality)

Our first destination was Pasar Baru (i'm not sure how many million rupiah we spent there.. definitely rambang mata!) I bought materials for my wedding dress there (for solemnization to be exact - since i'm done with reception attires). I even bought the materials for my family members and my girls! Bought few kebaya and kurung for my business too. Sangat2 puas hati! (kalau shopping kat KL brape ribu laa gamaknye habis kan.. huhu)

Definitely a shopping heaven -- esp for textile! Lace, chiffon, jacquard, silk, cotton.. u name it.. everything is under one roof

 Nice combination :)

you can find pre-made dress too. just bargain as much as you can 

We had our late lunch at Pasar Baru food court. Enjoyed jus alpukat (must try!) and nasi timbel so much (around 5PM baru cari foods kot.. punyelaa semangat berkobar2 tuk shopping, sampai lupe nak makan. bile dah ketaq lutut baru terkial2 cari tempat makan. hahaha)

We continued our shopping spree at Pasar Baru till the end of its operation hours (haha.. how bad is that?) Then we headed to Toko Tiga (shopped for some Tees and for the guys) & Secret factory outlet at Riau.

That's me contemplating whether i should buy that black dress or not. I've picked black Zara dress before i reached that section. At the end, i bought 2 black dresses and black pants (mmg lady in black sungguh :p)

Again, at Secret we shopped till late hours. We only stopped when we felt hungry. hehehe. Then we headed to Riung Sari Restaurant for dinner. I ordered chicken satay.. just to taste the difference between Malaysian satay.. definitely was too tired to digest some rice.. that's why i ordered simple meal :p

 Indonesian satay (to be precise -- Bandung satay)

So, there goes our first day of shopping spree. I think i spent 2/3 of my money on the first day. Continued with CC on the following days (yes! most of us tend to overspent here. so jage2laa ye.. hehe.. tobat... tobat)

Checked in at the hotel with tonnes of luggage!

First day at Bandung turned out to be really tiring but awesome! We shopped till we dropped. Memang kering segala fulus yang ada. hihihi. Will continue with Day 3-5 reviews on the next post okay!

Till then.
Regards,

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Hiatus Mode - Turned Off

 October 14, 2010

Hi there,

It's been awhile since i last posted in this blog. Life has been little bit hectic nowadays. I'm done with the seminar organized by my department today (i'm one of the person in charge.. alhamdulillah everything went well)... and just got back from JB yesterday (took 2 days EL to visit my fiance's grandmother. Admitted @ ICU Kluang then transferred to ICU Johor Specialist. Smlm baru lepas operate, now dh stable.. but still hoping for +ve feedback sehari dua ni. am praying for tok yah's speedy recovery. Ameen). Before that sempat lagi pi bercuti ke Jakarta & Bandung for 5 days with my sis & peeps. Girls Rules!! hehehe (okay.. now nmpk benar saye nie byk amik cuti.. fuhh.. nk kena cover blk ni). Then pi sane pi sini... Urus itu ini (esp on the wedding preps).. and now am back @ the office with tonnes of workload. Nak settle pasal upcoming international conference plak. Pheww! Well, as my boss once said to me -- life's biggest challenge is to manage our time well! (totally agreed. enuff said). Penat mmg penat but i'm still at the learning phase. Orang lain pun ade 24 jam je dalam hidup diaorg.. tp nape ramai yg bleh fully utilize mase yg ade tuh? If orang lain boleh, sure saye pon boleh! Chaiyok!

So, dalam byk2 mende yg jadi in past 3 weeks dlm tempoh x berblogging nie.. mende yang paling menarik of courselaa my Indonesia Trip :) Berkilo2 kain diborong... sampai muflis! Adehhh... kalau fikir bab duit mmg tensen.. tp bila fikir2 balik, memang berbaloi. Eventho beberapa misi tak tercapai (tak sempat shopping kat Jakarta.. how i wish kedai2 kain and pasar2 kat sane bukak till midnite!), i'm still satisfied with the trip (sbbnye initial plan mmg for leisure.. so shopping barang2 kawin tue just selit2 aje)

Walaupun Tanah Abang, Mangga 2 (dhlaa dok kat Novotel Mangga 2 tapi x sempat pi kedainye.. tensen2.. huhuhu), Pasar Tebet dan juge Pasar Glodok tak berjaya dijejaki... tapi naseb baik ade gak buah tangan terhebat from Jakarta. ape dia? jeng.. jeng.. jeng... I bought 5 Korean Dramas + Grey's Anatomy Season 6 (since i already have season 1-5) + few English movies DVDs! super duper cheap! rambang mata nak memilih. pegi lepak kedai DVD tue sampailaa tutup kedai. punyelaa banyak kitaorg borong pastue soh test DVD tue satu2.. mau x lama! kejunglaa orang kedai tue melayan kerenah kami. hahaha

So, antara DVD yang berjaya disambar

Personal taste - Lee Min Ho (Boys Over Flowers) & Soh yen Jin (The Art of Seduction). Rasanya nie DVD first yang akan dikhatam! hahaha.. 

The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry - hero2 pun ramai cute.. hehe... sesi cuci mate jelaa time tgk citer nih :)

 
Oh! My Lady - reminds me of another drama with similar title Hello My Lady.. tapi jalan citer xler plak same

Prosecutor Princess - tibe2 teringat citer Ally McBeal.. rugi lak x cari citer tue. my friends siap borong citer FRIENDS (complete season) + Sex & The Sexy (complete season gak). Fuhh, kalaulaa duit berkepuk2.. sudah tentu satu kedai tue saye borong. hihihi

Ohh.. and of course... i bought this one too - My Lovely Sam Soon. dah penah tgk but i didn't have the DVD... bile check gobok CD xdelak citer nie..  citer lain macam Full House, Coffee Prince, My Girl and Princess Hours/Goong adelaa.. hehe.. Now u know i'm KDrama fanatic! cumenye sejak dua menjak nie hobi layan citer dah makin slow. tgk TV pon jarang dh. tanyelaa drama ape yg i folo.. jawapannye.. Nada! Even nak folo my fav game-show (The Amazing Race Asia) pon asyik x sempat! camner tuh? mcmlaa bz mengalahkan PM pulak kan?.. hahaha

So, pape pon.. doakan saye berjaya khatam sume DVD yang diborong nie ye (it will took me ages laa kot nk habiskan sume.. heheehe). Ade sape2 yang dh tgk citer2 kat atas nie? lehlaa comment mane citer yang best.. Saye lom start tgk satu pon lagi.. ntah bile nak mule ye.. huhuhu. About the rest of the trip... i'll share kat next post ye. Till then :)

Have a nice day!

Regards,

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