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Aight, a post on Jakarta – the last trip of 2012 *sulks*

If you’re heading there any time soon, you should consider staying where we did at Aston at Kuningan Suites. It’s not the most fancy hotel available (though there’s Four Seasons opposite this hotel – the more you say that to yourself, the more ‘desireable’ this hotel becomes, lol!), but if you’re on a budget and want to stay some place central (note: near malls, ahem) and for RM300 a night, then you may check it out. We got the one-bedroom apartment.

It’s more towards an apartment concept which is perfect for those travelling with kids. Except we didn’t go there with ours

I should add the bathroom was pretty huge enough for 2 more people to sleep in.

Since most evenings were packed with events, we got to check some malls out in the morning. Actually it was almost  afternoon by the time we got up and got to places. It was so good to sleep in without having a 2 year old  coming to your face (morning breath and all) while screaming  ‘wake up mommy, wakeeeee uppppppp, I wanna go poo’. Which is ALWAYS a lie btw because she just wants to see us scramble up and get her out of the room.  And you know how she learnt this? Tune in to Disney Junior in the mornings when you can, there’s a section where all the cartoon characters will actually sing a ‘wake up wake uppp…..wake up wake uppp, everybody up’ song!! Annoying yet so addictive!

Without the kid around, we got to be a lil romantic, haha. Note the bolded word!

Business district of Jakarta – I’m always amazed how certain districts in some countries look so posh and well developed but then when you go further out a lil, you are shocked by the huge differences in surroundings that you can’t help but feel a lil cheated.

Bus platform is actually raised higher and people have to queue to get in, a concept Malaysians could surely follow

We checked out Grand Indonesia and PT Plaza Indonesia first, both malls are actually extremely posh and high end. We obviously couldn’t afford anything there so we settled for the little stuff….

Like sample local coffee. I had the iced teh tarik just because. And we went for a happy hour foot massage which was a total bliss!

Refuelling with lunch after watching Skyfall! Watching a movie in the cinema here proved to be an awesome experience, everything just look so plush and posh - you get BIG plush comfy seats with ample leg room space - it was like going to GSC Premium except we only paid RM12 each for the ticket here.

@ Playground in Grand Indonesia.

The only reason we dropped by here coz the lunch promo set seemed tempting. But it was already 3pm and the promo was over so we had to settle for their ala-carte dishes.

Which of course was a lil pricey but good!

Sorry, can’t remember what it’s called now but damn was it good or what.

The next mall trip we made, I made sure it was a cheaper place where we could shop and not feel so poor!! It’s SO hard figuring out where to go because you have one tooo many malls to choose from. But it’s always safe to stick to ones that’s near the hotel coz you will have a shit time in traffic just to get to and fro.

Taman Anggrek Mall, akin to our Mid Valley I suppose.

Did a lil shopping, he managed to score 3 shirts for less than RM90 coz of the sale

Ate in a local food court which was surrounded by tons of local Indonesian food.

Spotted a Mrs Fields, hurrah hurrah and had one whole brownie to myself.

And of course I knew there was another mall nearby called Central Park  and I insisted we go, so off we went in some lane just to get to the mall.

I told the husband to take a photo and this is what he took!

Mmmmm mall *drools*

There was a Honda creative car contest going on and they were various cars displayed in the most quirky and cute designs.

Like this one, helllooo kitty!

I asked him to take a photo posing near the car and he refused coz I’m-a-man-and-would-rather-chop-my-balls-off-than-pose-in-front-of-a-pink-car! Minutes later, he was actually checking out the said hot pink car. I caught him. This is defintiely the ultimate chick mobile yo.

Was happily posing for this one though…….cowabunga!

Met a lookalike of his too…

This was on Saturday, the day before we left. We woke up late and scrambled to go get a massage. I wanted some place cheap and managed to find the most affordable place for massage. It’s actually located in an area called Tebet Raya where you’ll find rows of massage centres if you take time in walking. We were actually looking for another place recommended on Tripadvisor but couldn’t find it……..so went to this obscure place and got a 1.5 hours massage for a mere RM15!!! Was kicking myself for not waking up earlier to get longer massages and pampering session coz we had to rush back to get ready for the wedding.

Tebet Raya.

Chepeast place for massage. EVER!

This was the super cool Comic Cafe that we ate in, it was everything errr comicky? And guess what, the massage centre we were intially looking for was BEHIND this cafe!!

Horrible traffic aside, the ONLY time you’ll find a road this empty is when you’re heading to the airport at 5.30 a.m on a Sunday! And yes it gets this bright in the wee hours of the morning. Not that I knew this from day 1 coz we were busy sleeping with the curtains closed

And now I end this post with a very pointless photo of my purchase. Why pointless? Coz these items only benefit me and not you, heh. But seriously, one reason to LOVE Indonesia – Martha Thilaar and Rudy Hadisuwarno! Best local brands you can find from there and obviously oh so affordable. I also discovered Makarizo hair products which I super love too.  I would so gladly go back to Jakarta for its cheap massages, good shopping and food – people are also very friendly and polite but it’s truly a shame about the traffic.

P.s: On a foodie side note, do check out this awesome Chutney Mary deal in Bangsar here. It’s one of those places I’ve been wanting to go but held back coz it’s pricey but now I can, thanks to Living Social, heh

This year, my company was generous enough to send their minions on a holiday early this November. It was a 3 day adventure to Bintan in Indonesia. It was my first time joining the company trip since I ditched the first trip to Cherating last year coz of Sairah’s first year birthday. They were close to booking Club Med in Bali but somehow they couldn’t accomodate all 133 of us hence the detour to Bintan. Which wasn’t an issue for me since a friend of mine did rave enough about Bintan.

We arrived in batches, taking various flight out to Singapore. From there on, we headed to Tanah Merah Jetty Terminal, a mere 10 minutes ride from the Changi Airport. We had to be there 2 hours before the ferry departs although I think 1.5 hours beforehand would be even more ideal. The amount of waiting time was enough to send us to Bali I swear.

An hour ferry ride + a 15 minute bus ride, we arrived in Club Med! This was the first beautiful view that greeted us.

And also the friendly GOs who are ever so energetic. God only knows how they keep up that momentum day after day.

Another view.

My roomie was coming in from KK and obviously later so I had the room to myself for a few hours. And hibernate in there I did because as soon as we arrived, it started raining heavly (rainy season, go figure!). But I have no qualms coz I got to rest and read my book

The rooms could be slightly better and even reviews on Tripadvisor shows how dissapointing the rooms are for Club Med standards. Not that I can compare to any other Club Meds, hmpf.

BLISS!

The hammock right outside my room.

Personally I wouldn’t cough up an arm and a leg for a Club Med stay (though I’ve been told their Buy 1 Free 1 package is a steal) but I can see why people wouldn’t mind because it’s an inclusive-of-everything stay. If you want to kayak, it’s free, if you want to eat and drink – it’s all included in the package (I should add they have 4 bars here!!), if you want to Para-Sail – no problemo, just go to the counter, get your stuff and you’re on your way! There’s tons of activities for one to do. It’s only a waste when you don’t do any of it!

This was the trapeze centre. Was gonna do it except I was afraid I”d break it or something…..best not to embarass myself in front of colleagues, hah.

The view of the club house

We went to the beach only on the second day as it was a free day. We had a group dinner followed by some activties the night before. Then in the morning, it was a team building session that lasted from 8 till noon. Thereafter it was free time so off to the beach we went…

White sand. Ugly shorts. Uglier person.

The beach was definitely much better than what I expected it to be.

I played volleyball with some colleagues for less than 5 minutes before going for Kayaking. Then we came back and saw more people had joined the group at a friendly match. I stood there checking out this super cute guy playing…..see if you can spot him, ahem.

Buffet b’fast, lunch and dinner at the resort was good, except if I had to stay another day I’d probably vomit from over-eating! The dessert table was off the hook. And they even had a baby food section which I thought was damn thoughtful.

Some kiddie show at night…they try to make things as entertaining as possible here since there’s almost nothing else to do/see at night.

Some dance show with a Mojito in hand

This was actually a LIVE prosposal from one GO to another. Le sigh, some men do go to great lengths to propose eh?

He’s Australian and she’s French if I’m not mistaken. For a minute I thought it was just for the show sake but then it became obvious it was the real thing. Such a sweet moment really.

What else if not Gangam style!

The day of our departure. To be honest, I was more than happy to be heading back to my baby girl.

Arriving Singapore, I did some chocolate shopping in the Terminal. It would have been nice to extend another day in SG just to shop but since money don’t grow on trees…….next time next time. Then again, I hardly spent anything on this trip except for the chocolates that I got from the airport

I came home to one very happy baby that day! She kept asking for me all three days so it was good to be back to my lil munchkins. I missed her soooo much and it was something every mothers who were on that trip agreed to. They should let us bring our spouse and kids next!

I LOVE this photo of her. So much love and intensity over getting her momma back. Hmm, maybe I should go away on trips often then, hehe.

I got my momma back!

Wonder where we’ll be heading to next, hmm, Club Med in Yabuli, China perhaps? *wishful thinking*

Jakarta – 7/11/2012 – 11/11/2012

My friend of 7 years got hitched a week before Diwali and that required us to go to Jakarta for 5 days for their 3 different events. It was my first time being away for Sairah this year for that long. And it didn’t help that the week before I was away on my company trip. It was tough leaving home coz Sairah saw the bags and looked me in the eye and asked ‘where mommy going?!’ and when we left in the cab, she cried and according to my mom she said ‘mummy come back, I will be waiting for you’. Le sigh. On a positive note, I don’t think I have any other friends who are getting married abroad so that’s good

Can you spot another plane just in front of us? The plane ride was a mere 2 hours flight but due to some delay ( what’s new AA), we arrived Jakarta at 5 pm sharp. And yes during the blasted peak hours! But of course, no one told me about how bad Jakarta traffice can be.

Transport was provided thankfully

Then it was welcome to Jakarta biatch! We got stuck 3 freaking hours from the airport to our hotel in Kuningan area. The day we left Jakarta back to the airport on Sunday, it was 5.30 a.m and it only took us a mere half hour to get to the airport! I never knew Jakarta was known for its horrible traffic, it’s 10 times worse than KL. But that’s no reason to love KL traffic either.

As expected we were late by 2 hours to the Sangeet. It was held at Four Seasons which thankfully was a 1 minute walking distance from our hotel. It was close to 10pm (Jakarta time) when we waltz in and I was shocked to see people just arriving at the event too. It’s quite the norm there apparently to arrive to events fashionably late thanks to traffic tho I suspect some of them were late coz they were busy primping themselves to the nines.

I super loved their sangeet coz it had all the makings of a perfect event….

They had the most awesome desserts displayed for you to eat! You see that Macarons? They were sooo tasty and HUGE with generous fillings that I took at least 6 that night. No wait, I took 8!! But who’s counting!

This is the life la, having a pretty display with treats staring back at you. Well hello, how you doin babies?!

And this was apparently Dheeraj’s fav Indonesian delights on display but if I know him well, I think his fav treats are whiskey bottles, LOL

Busted!

When caught being greedy, just put on a smile as sweet as Macarons. Haha okay *pukes*

Macaron no 4 I think. Do you know how expensive these treats are in KL??! I had every right to indulge in em since it was just staring me in my face.

Food served here was awesome too. They had lil stalls where food was made FRESH, they served Indian, Indonesian, Jap….they also had a stall that served excellent warm chocolate lava cake with cream, mmmm. Food was so good that the husband didn’t want to budge from there at all.

Piggie with his Mee Yasmin Pangsit, I hope I got the name right. It was rather spicy, go figure. Cannot take the anneh blood out of him sometimes, heh.

And of course, like all awesome events, they had about 3 bars around it with free flow drinks. Of course once again, the anneh in him never says no to FREE drinks

See told you!

The gorgeous deco, the hall looked super grand enough to hold a wedding.

And of course, the event was made even better by various performances by relatives and friends from the bride and groom. And even more awesome when they both decided to join in for the dance. It was SOO a Bollywood moment. And they looked the part too of course.

With the bride and groom. SO in love with her outfit.

And while everyone partied away, we slowly sneaked out at 1ish a.m to go get some eye shut. Sad to say, my partying days are soo over but I shall blog about that soon coz I’ve been very emo about life and what it stands for!   

The next event was held on a Friday at a different hotel. We were literally the first once to arrive though it took us over  1.5 hours to arrive for a drive that would take probably 20 minutes without traffic.

My outfits were so meh compared to what everyone else wore. Mom nagged the crap out of me months before hand to get my outfits sorted but I didn’t…..until the very last minute.

So this is the end results, can so blend into the sofa!

In a gist, according to Dheeraj, a Ghari is usualy held a day before the wedding whereby they have some ceremonies and then strip the poor boy of his clothes signalling a new phase in life. Or was it whereby he loses his virginity? I don’t know – couldn’t hear – music was too loud

Thankfully it was just his shirt…..no idea how one leg of the jeans came off!

Then it was party time or rather his ’stag’ night before the wedding. Everyone partied till  6a.m but the oldies in us left by 1ish. Plus at that point, I was starting to miss Sairah like crazy. She would have loved to dance to all those hindi songs!

The final event was the wedding of course! Which was held at a Gudwara. Traffic was SO bad that Saturday that it look us 3 hours to get there! They chartered a bus for some of us and we made it 10 minutes before the end of prayers in the Gudwara.

To be honest, the horrible traffic in Jakarta is enough to put one off from visting again, which is a shame coz I liked Jakarta for its city.

All covered up before entering the Gudwara. It was my first time sadly despite having a Punjabi grandfather!

Not quite a good look on him I think.

With the new happy husband and wife.

And a photo of the old couple….

This was the outfit that I got done ONE week before the trip. Literally had to beg the tailor to get it done in time since it was near Diwali and they were full with orders. My Aunt got the material from Hyderbad and I chose to make an Anarkali suit out of it.

One last photo before we changed out of our outfit to pack up for our early morning flight! It felt so good to be back to Sairah the next day.

To the new happy couple, have a blessed married life, and welcome to the club. And if there’s one thing I ALWAYS tell new married couples, esp to the husbands, just remember – the wife is ALWAYS right, that’s how you stay happily married.

True story this one

If there’s one thing I *think* I’m good at, it is definitely doing research Even before we embark on a trip, I’ll make sure I research well on the must-see and eat places and print it out. I plan ahead with an itinerary. Always. It may not necessarily materialize end of the day but at least I have some rough idea on what I’d like and should do when I’m in a new country.

Anyway I have NO idea how I came across the website of the villa we stayed in as it was already bookmarked on my laptop. Whatever it is, I”m SOOO glad we stayed here. You can read the EXCELLENT reviews on Tripadvisor too. The villa is actually located some 10 minutes away from Ubud Town. However, the hotel provides FREE transport into Ubud at any time. Since there are only 7 villas here (thus making it exclusive), getting a van out wasn’t a problem – it was readily available at all times. After you’re done with your shopping, they’ll even come and pick you up. All free of charge!! Transfer from and to the airport is also FREE. It’s the only hotel I know so far that includes all these excellent thoughtful services FOC. Oh and whatever you also see in the fridge is FREE

Here we are after a 1.5 hours journey – traffic was bad that day due to the cremation of the Ubud King.

I love the walk way heading to our villa. Was getting all eager to see the villa’s beauty.

The FIRST view of our 4-day home.

That’s right, it comes with our very own private pool. SWEET.

The comfy bed with one sleeping beauty on it.

Day bed

Yup doubled up as Sairah’s food storage area, lol

OUTDOOR shower!! And Sairah’s bathing tub She treated it like a mini baby pool.

Baby woke up from her slumber all happy with the villa.

Sairah-approved – the most important aspect of the trip

The hotel staff here are generally one of the best we’ve encountered in a long time. They are VERY accomodating and thoughtful. Extremely friendly and always making sure that you’re comfortable with your stay. Asked if we wanted a cot and never in a million years did I expect to see a cot that’s half the usual size, haha.

Balinese-style cot yo.

Sairah has been rolling her tongue alot lately. New trick!

Nah, can you see what’s up my nose woman?!

Of course the cot was only for show and worked as a play pen (a damn small one) as she slept with us on the bed.

I especially loved our breakfast area that overlooked the pool. Absolutely serene and peaceful. I also had a pedicure and massage done on that chair – how’s that for awesome service?!

And of course I’d be lying if I say I didn’t enjoy breakfast. It was literally unlimited until 12pm!! The stingy husband would order in a big plate of nasi goreng and bihun right before the strike of 12pm and have that as an early lunch. Then again, I’m pretty sure alot of people would have done this too Most likely, Malaysians

Tea time was also readily available from 1pm-7pm. Unlimited.

Baby girl sure as hell knows how to chill out

This was baby Sairah’s FIRST swim. I got the bikini for her when I was only two months pregnant in Phillipines. It finally came to good use.

All eager and ready to play with water!

She absolutely loved being in the water so we’re going to start teaching her how to swim from now on. But I”m not keen on seeing my pretty baby with a tan. She tans easily, lol.

We took the honeymoon package (I know i know – we’re like wayyyy past that!) that comprised of 2 massages AND a romantic candle-lit dinner in the villa.

Tea-light around the pool

Well-set table. It WAS indeed romantic except……..

Fried Lumpia – so damn good!

Grilled Chicken with Wedges

Chocolate cake with ice cream – Sairah’s fav!

Pretty romantic like I said except…….

We had one cheeky baby with us.

Oh-hai, here to disturb your romantic dinner. Aren’t you two too old for that now??!

And one uninvited guest that didn’t please the baby too much. Sairah’s a dog lover alll the way! Damn cat stole our breakfast and Sairah’s food!

So Baby, did you enjoy your stay here?

Yes maam and let’s make it 5 nights the next trip shall we?

Nefatari Exclusive Villa is indeed a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED villa if you want a place that’s value for money. It may not be the most high end villa around Ubud, but for a mere USD440 for a 3 night stay (coupled with all the other value added services), this is indeed the BEST villa to consider that won’t burn a hole in your pocket.

I should know, coz I did the research

17 August 2011 – 21 August 2011

We finally did it. We took our 11 month old baby to BALI last week for her FIRST holiday.

I was nervous and excited before our family trip. Nervous because I wasn’t sure how our baby would react to a 3 hour flight. Nervous because I had to make sure we had packed everything she would need without missing a single thing out.  Thank God everything went smoothly both ways. Feeding baby a BIG bottle of milk as we took off helped alot.  We brought some books and toys to keep her entertained though she was a little restless.  The flight out was much easier as we took the earliest flight - she slept througout the entire journey making it easy for mommy

Sairah’s grandma and grandpa drove us to the airport last Wednesday. Grandpa actually missed a turning into LCCT and it literally took us 30mins finding the damn way back to the airport thanks to our crap sign boards. I really thought we were gonna miss our flight but luckily, we made it in the nick of time. My poor dad felt sooo bad about missing the turn but how many parents are this nice to drop their grown up buffaloes kids and grandchild to the airport aye

After 2 hours and 40 minutes we arrived with a HAPPY baby to Bali.

Since we arrived in the evening, we spent the night in a bed and breakfast  in Kuta before we transfered out the next day to an awesome private villa (but more on that later) in Ubud.

Baby Sairah spent some time walking around the streets of Kuta with her daddy the next morning.

While mommy did some shopping for herself And for baby of course.

Eagerly waiting for our transport to arrive. 

The transfer to Ubud took about 1 hour plus. Traffic in Kuta according to our driver has become horrible. I don’t remember it being this way the last time we were there. But I still love Bali very much that we’re making Bali an annual trip every year :lol:

After checking in into our gorgeous villa, we decided to walk around Ubud. First stop was to Cafe Wayan & Bakery which was a truly amazing cafe with lush greenery.

I really love the way the dining area is soo traditional and huge so baby can shuffle around and do her thing

Went banana juice crazy througout the trip.

We just walked around that area until our pick up came.

Then on Friday we had to go back to Kuta because someone left his damn glasses in the previous hotel. So it was a gruelling 2 hour journey back to Kuta and another 1.5 hours back to Ubud. But since we didn’t have a choice, we decided to make the best of it.

All set for Kuta mom, do I look pwettie?

SILLY DADDY

@ a Cafe in Matahari Mall

Oh hi mom, can I place my order now please?!

Best banana pancake ever!

Though this is our third time to Bali (BALI ROCKS!), this was our first time to Jimbaran to experience the sunset and it’s fresh seafood.

The beach isn’t the cleanest or the best around Bali…..

But it sure gives a good sunset view.

Even Baby Sairah approves

We had yummy Ikan Bakar with rice, some vegs and juices that cost us less than RM40. A little note  however is to be careful with your orders as waiters tend to be a little pushy. Since prices go by the gram, always let them know the exact quantity you want. Lia Cafe is a good option to eat in as they are the cheapest among the restaurants there.

Then on Saturday, we decided to explore Ubud a little more.

All ready for Ubud market maam.

But not before making a customary supermarket stop

Her gorgeous halter dress was actually bought in Bali last year by my bestie Wylane. And to think Sairah wore it here :D  

Mommy and Baby cam-whoring in a restaurant.

@ Ubud Market

REALLY love this photo of her, she looks sooo cheeky. My cheeky monkey!

What?! DVD are only RM5 here?? Load up on Baby Einstein series will ya?

One last shot outside the market.

Cheeky lil baby all set for bed before her early flight out.

Do I have to sleep now?

As much as it’s not easy travelling with a baby around, I’m glad I got to bring Sairah on this trip.  As a mother, it’s amazing to see my baby girl explore and adapt to her new surroundings. She was a happy baby throughout the trip. It made us bond, showed that we work well as a unit even when thrown into a new environment. We’re soo proud of our little one.

Now I look forward to many more trips with her.

And this is also the last trip for this year. MEHHH!