Trip to Jakarta!

My previous attempt to record down what I did for my Guangzhou trip did not go too well so I am trying again for this Jakarta trip.

Prior to the trip, I tried to do research on what I could do in Mangga Dua, North of Jakarta. It was not easy because most of the blogs that did mention what to do there were in either Bahasa, Melayu or written by Malaysians. It seems like Indonesia is a popular destination for Malaysians! It was not very easy to gather information about the area. So I thought I would add my opinions and experience into information database. Haha. This is my first time there, so I do not have all the information about the area, just my experience.

I went to Jakarta for 4 days and 3 nights. Three nights in Hotel Le Grandeur in Mangga Dua costed us about 2 million and 70 thousand Rupiah. (S$1 = Rp7,500) I think if you are going there for a shopping trip to ITC and Pasar Pagi, this is the hotel to go for. I cannot say much for the efficiency (almost non-existent) but the rooms were clean and the breakfast was not bad.

View from the hotel. The closest mini mart is just opposite, with a Chinese restaurant next to it. 

The malay restaurant in the next building had no customers at all. So I did not want to go in. Haha. 

View from the other side. 

Overview! 

The view of the beds in the room

During my stay there I managed to see displays of fireworks for three times! The duration was quite short and not as extravagant as compared to Singapore, but due to the low height of the buildings here, they were visible from quite a distance away. It was a pleasant surprise!

The moment you come out from the airport, look out for the Bluebird taxi queue. Forget about taking those touting for customers, they are so dubious. They offered to take us to our hotel for 250,000 Rupiah. We waited for the Bluebird taxi instead (~one hour waiting time) and paid 107,600 in total including surcharge and toll fees. Even though the taxi driver had red eyes and funky hair, he was clearly a very very good driver and it was interesting to see him drive. Seriously, tailgating another car with about 15 inches of space in between at 80 km/h is no easy feat! I was worried. My brother said he was a heroin addict, he had scars on his arms. Scary.

When we reached the hotel and requested for the connecting room next to the one my father is in, the hotel staff informed us they needed time to get the room ready (signs of inefficiency #1). So we left our luggage at the lobby in the care of the luggage people and begin our adventure into the maze of shopping centres around the area.

When I did my research, it was stated that the opening times were from 1000 to 1700. It was really accurate. By the time we went in, it was already about 1430. After a semi-meal at A&W, we walked around ITC and then time was up. We did not really managed to much but we caught a glimpse of what awaits us the next day.

Look at the number of storeys in Pasar Pagi! 

This is the area in Pasar Pagi that sold handicraft findings. 

The shops mostly sold beads, blings, trims and etc etc. But I only got a pack of 12 French Barrettes for 10,000 Rupiah. Not everything was cheap, but there are things you cannot find in Singapore. Like the French Barrettes which I got, they are the thin kinds not the regular ones.

I have to say that I am not a fan of Pasar Pagi. The shops are all scattered about and it is really like digging for treasure. Unless you have the time, do not waste your time walking around Pasar Pagi.

Now, ITC, it is a really nice place to shop! All of us found things to buy here. There are plenty of local food too! ITC consists of 2 buildings. It is wayy too easy to get lost here. I got lost on the first day. -__- I hate to admit it, but even my sense of direction could not find us back to the hotel. Hai!

Fishcake thingie which comes in a potato, with white cabbage, original, bitter gourd etc etc. 

 This dish comes with peanut sauce. I forgot the cost, but this was on the top floor of ITC. I found it edible, but not anything to exclaim about. This area gets a little crowded in the afternoon!

This place has good Soto Ayam for 18,000.

It is different from those in Singapore as it is served with cabbage, chicken, potato, tomato and glass noodles inside! A wedge of egg too. I like this, but my father said it is not the best. :/

Several sites on the internet said this shop that sells Tom Yum is good. I think it is not as good as those I cook. Hahahahaha. Okay. Not as good as those in Nakkhon or Golden mile or Bangkok. The soup is not sour enough! A lot of seafood in a bowl for 33,000 though. I do not really recommend it.

The soup is not the best, but I enjoy drinking Teh Botol every meal. At only 5,000 per bottle, it is a good choice! It is sweetened Jasmine tea, I think.

There are quite a few carts selling corn. They serve it with butter/planta, cheese and chili. I am okay with the cheese, but ain't no one gonna put chilli in my corn! Hahahaha. I do not really like it. The corn is not sweet enough and the cheese is not of good quality. 8,000 is not worth it!

We went to Emporium for dinner the second night and to their Carrefour thereafter. Look at the rainbow cakes selling at 16,000! That is like S$2 a slice. Haha. I do not like my food so colourful. 

Central park

We went to Central Park the next day. It is like the regular Singapore shopping mall. I felt so at home here. Hahahaha.

Ordered Bihun Goreng, Gado-Gado and Tempe with the Nasi-lemak like rice.

My mom kept harping on how small the chicken was. I was saying their chicken were athletic, unlike those in Singapore, fat asses they are. I love how they serve keropok with EVERYTHING!

The restaurant. 

The price range was about 20,000-35,000 per dish.

We went to the shopping centre next door thereafter. It is called Taman Aggrek. It is a rather old shopping centre with a Ngee Ann city feel. Basically the same shops as the Central Park with more local brands and less international brands. We went to the local departmental store. Although their style is vastly different from mine, my mother managed to get a few chiffon pieces. The quality is really good, but it is not suitable for school, so no will do.

Chendol

 On the last day, my dad could join us! So we brought him around ITC, and he wanted to try the Chendol (7,000). Bad choice, I tell ya. I do not like it! It was awfully sweet and it had a burned smell. The Chendol from ABC food centre is wayyyy better.

Wanted my dad to try Gado-Gado, their version, so I went to find one!

Something something(range of meat on one plate) and Gado-Gado. Not bad! But the keropok on the Gado-Gado was not as nice as the one from Cafe Ketawi. 49,000 in all.

 This is the stall. Shaky picture. Lousy camera.

Tried this for 3,500. Funky. Wafer with floury sugar. It is like the dragon beard candy, but eekiler. YUCK.

I have been wanting to try this because it is their local delicacy. It is like fishcake with an egg in it. Eaten with black sauce.

It is really chewy! But I like the crunchy layer on the surface. The glass noodles and cucumber was okay with the sauce. The sauce is sweet though. The fish cake was so chewy, it kind of tastes like rice cakes!

My father saw this and wanted to eat it. He said it was good. Oh man. IT WAS GOOD.

Tempe, fish, and ayam! The chilli builds up in your mouth. Sedap! I loved the fish. It was so crunchy, you can eat some bones. Haha. Calcium!

We took a risk and sat on a Taxiku (yellow) taxi. The driver was a lady. Boy, was she fierce. It was by meter though. So okay. I never read anything about Taxiku before, but we paid 120,000 for the trip to the airport. Okay la.

Okay. Let's end with my mini map. Need this for the future. Haha. It is not 100% accurate or drawn to scale. But it was useful for me. I stared at google maps for 1/2 hour before doing this so 100/100 for effort okay!

Simplified map of the place. You do not need to even set foot outside the mall! Hahaha. There is a door in the hotel linking to the place that links to everywhere else. I did not have time to explore Harco Mars or Mal Mangga Dua. They sold electronic stuff. Ain't nobody got time for that! >.<

Leaving for indo-land!

Yippee! I will be going to Indonesia, Jakarta tomorrow. This is my first time going there and I am really quite excited! The most recent trip to Indonesia was with Rachel and Freya! We had fun in our one day trip, running for the last ferry. HAHA. I am excited for ALL the food I am going to devour like the monster I am. ARGHHHH! I got a feeling I cannot expect too much from the place. I think it is going to be a mighty lot like Guangzhou. Which I never really did completely blog about. Oh well.

Expecting bad air there. Thank god our hotel is directly linked to all the shopping malls, so I would be spreeing  like nobody's business! Hahaha. I hope. My attempts to spree never seem to be very very fruitful. I need to get some clothes for the next semester though! EXCITED!

My grandma has not been looking too good after the surgery. :( She has no appetite and no mood and she is unable to control her limbs. I am really helpless about it.

I hope she gets better soon.

Okay. That was all I wanted to say.

Facelift!

Decided to give the entire blog a facelift! I went on to play around with the settings! I super love the results now! The only problem I have is that the header picture becomes less sharp after I converted it from PSD. to JPG. Anyone knows the solution to this? I already selected the highest resolution!

I decided to move away from the scrapbooking style,

to a more simple style! I was playing around with the fonts and downloading a lot a lot of fonts! I specially like those with a little vintage feel! :)

I wanted to practice the font thingie because I am going to create some quotes for my new photo frames. Decided my room needed a makeover. A mini one!

Going into baking bread. I never knew it was so easy! Anyone volunteering to be my guinea pigs? Hehe.

:)

Food, Glorious Food!

So, I have been lying at home these two weeks. All my nasty unhealthy cravings gone. But a human still has to eat right? I have been making my own food, falling ill, looking for jobs(in vain) and crafting. This post is all about food though. Me being me, lazy as I am shan't even bother to edit the colours this time round. HAHA. Bad lighting and all.

Gelato from the ice-cream shop in school. Green tea and teddy bear flavour. Haha. I always have faith in blue coloured ice-cream. Maybe because the colour is so icky (in my personal opinion, because blue is a appetite suppressant), they tend to compensate with better taste. It is like toffee flavour. Nomnom. 

Soup spoon! This was in Bugis! After we went for an interview together. My beloved tomato and basil soup. Haha. Qing Lin did not finished her share. She is totally not a western food lover. 

Right after our first paper which ended at 1900. We went to Pique-Nique and oh boy, was the portion large. I was not feeling entirely well that day, but this is good stuff! My friends went on to eat dessert. I was still struggling to finish my food!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL/ EXAMS. Lamb something something from Salt and tapas bar or something at Raffles city! I loved this and once again, Qing Lin felt it was not worth it! Haha, I feel bad for her, but I tried to warn her! This was where we paid $8++ for sparkling water. HAHA, reminded me of Germany 2010 <3 I miss those days. The sourdough, though not very sour, was good. I like it!

Okay. Home quarantine AKA no social life starts here.

Corn and Chicken soup with cold baked potato with cream cheese and ham and pickles!

It was a veggie day so I drank Corn and Mushroom soup, and ate baked potato with cream cheese and pickles and papaya pickles. I ate a quarter of papaya after that. I was trying to make my skin better!

Yay! A change! Soba noodles with boiled cauliflower and frozen strawberry yoghurt. Oh, a half boiled egg to go with the leftover sobe sauce. Nom. I loved this meal!

Corn and Chicken soup with  a quarter of a cauliflower inside! It was good! I added a dollop of cream cheese in!

The next day, I fell ill, but I also felt like baking, so I made lemon chiffon cakes using this recipe! OMG, this recipe is the bomb! Or maybe it was the top flour. But nevertheless, it tasted so nice to me that I made a second batch. I am biased because I like chiffon cakes. Haha.

First batch, half the portion and unfortunately, the more successful batch. Hai!

Look at how soft it was! I  barely squished it!

LOOK AT THE TEXTURE! Okay, it tasted like lemon chiffon, eggy, fluffy but I think I will prefer pandan chiffon better. Maybe because I use cupcake cups instead of the cake pan, I felt that the cupcakes tend to float up! There empty spaces in the cup itself. Hmmmm.

Okay, lastly, today's lunch.

Corn and Chicken soup (AGAIN) with green apples and italian tuna from Korea. I found the tuna a little too salty, but, it tasted weirdly good with the tangy green apples. Haha, I have so many cans of corn and chicken campbell soup because I had a craving for it and it was on discount. I think it is time to move away from it thought. Cream based soups are not the healthiest food on Earth. Oh, neither is canned tuna. Haha.

Okay, that's all I wanted to say.

Rebecca :)

My grandma came out of surgery in pain but okay! Doctor says she has a little bit of high blood pressure right now but I will keep praying for her:)  奶奶 加油!

Silently awesome.

Looking at Facebook always makes me think of the wonder/dangers of the social media. I just saw on my newsfeed that one of my coursemates just started an album on what she did during the summer holidays. Well, she crafted. She made a necklace which is pretty!

But at the same time, I thought about why she found the need to show off whatever she made on Facebook. Last year, another acquaintance of mine started an album of what she crocheted.

People post pictures on Facebook all the time, but when they post pictures on crafting, I would wonder why they did it. I suppose it is because I do not have the guts to do so myself. I am not a great fan of Facebook. The information there is simply too open for anyone to see. I mean, they do not even need to stalk you! Things about you appear on their newsfeed!

Does social media make the people of today more insecure such that they feel the need to show their achievements to other to gain recognition? I do not know. This could totally be a thesis question. Haha. I am leaning towards a yes.

Personally, when I make something, I always have this question in my mind. Should I blog about it? Tweet about it? Facebook is a no-no to me. Too many people I am not even close to there. Nadah. If I do not write about it somewhere, I kind of feel that what I accomplished is not as grand as it is. Because no one knows I did it, no one gives me compliments, I do not feel good. When I tweet about it, I hope that someone will like or reply to my tweet. Sometimes, I just feel like broadcasting it. Do you feel that way too?

But why should I feel that way? If I know that I did it and I am happy with it, I ought to not feel so unaccomplished....right? I am awesome! Just silently awesome and no one know how awesome I am. But...if no one knows how awesome I am, then I am not so awesome after all  Right? This is what we learn in Sociology right? Truth is based on mutual agreement. If no one knows or thinks you are awesome, then you are not awesome. Oh heavens! This really sucks.

So in order to be awesome, I have to let people know that I am awesome so I can be legitly awesome. AHHH. So frustrating. I have to admit. Part of the reason why I do not publicize this little blog I have here to the people I know is because I want to rebel against showing off to people. At the same time, I really want to be praised. I am a mess of contradictions, I know. But do you understand what I mean? People who post what they did up on social media always seem more awesome! >.< I feel sooo undervalued. Haha. What to do? I think the world raised us to be attention seekers.

Sigh. What a complicated world I live in. I do not understand myself sometimes.

Rebecca :/

P.S. I predict more posts like this in these few months. Haha. I overthink all the time.

SUMMER IS HEREEE!

WHEEE! Summer holidays are finally here! I started my summer holidays with a friend's birthday chalet at Treehouse villa @ Changi! It was really really far away from everywhere else but IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL! I had a balinese feel to the place. It is not the typically eeky chalet. Really nice^^ One of my friend's friend asked me if I was a teacher. HAHAHA. Just because I spoke English? She is funny. Do I give off the teacher vibes??? I hope nottttt.

When my final paper ended, I realised I did not have anything planned at all. Unlike the A levels, when I spent 3 years planning what to do, I realised I had no plans for my summer vacation! I did not know what I wanted to craft, work or do. Frankly speaking, I was quite lost.

BUT.

I realised that I have been religiously pinning things on my pinterest boards^^

I have something to be creative about afterall! Okay, so I have decided that for the summer vacation, I am going to brush up on my sewing skills, and craft more. Take up baking again and learn something new! Maybe learn to shop at Taobao, where it is CHINESE ALL OVERRRR. Haha. Takes brain power to figure out how to use it.

I am going to update my wannados. HAHA. It has been a while. I plan to eat more healthily too. Surprising how my craving for Mcdonalds and all bad food cease with the end of my exams. HAHA. I will have a food post soon. Nom nom. After all the Famous Amos I have eaten the past weeks, I guess it is time to be healthy  and lose some weight!!! *determined!*

Okay, I aim to accomplish 15 craft projects this summer! And I will post them all here! It will be my Summer craft challenge! Okay, this will be fun^^

I am looking forward to Summer. Are you? :)

Rebecca:)

P.S. On a more solemn note, my grandmother will be going for her operation to remove her tumour on 130513. Please pray for her.

Taiwanese Drama, Love Now, stole me heart!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=504965902873765&set=a.447153558655000.91475.447150741988615&type=1&theater

I have been following the drama since November of last year. I think my Soci mates are sick of me squealing and fangirling over the awesomeness of the drama. As you can see from the list of dramas I have watched, I am really quite crazy about them. And these were from 2 years ago. Within the span of 2 years, I watched all these dramas. -.- From Japanese to Chinese to Taiwanese to American to British to Korean. Hahaha. When I ran out of dramas to watch in one category, I moved to the other. Hahahahaha. Sooo.....not many drama hit me so hard and I hardly ever watch a drama which has more than 50 episodes. I think the last time I was so fangirly was when I watched Playful Kiss in 2010. But this.....I got sucked in within the first 10 episodes and got stuck ever since. Never had a Mandarin drama made me so....fangirly. Hahaha. Influenced one other friend (and more to come) into watching the show and she started fangirling with me. HAHAHAHA. Power of me.

The story? It is about Yi Ru being pranked my her sister and ex into going for a holiday at some island in the Philippines. They told her she had cancer and could only live for xxx months. They did this because she was a workaholic and they want her to get a break. So she did and she met this totally amazing guy who happened to have a crush on her since college, hahahaha. The story went on to talk about how they met, what they did their courtship process, when they got married, when she became pregnant, problems that popped up and how they overcame those problems.

The show gave me quite a shock towards the end that made me cry and bawl like a baby till...... I saw the ending. Hahahaha.

I really super love the OTP and all the supplementary characters! Ahhhhh. The show attached so much meaning into the songs(for me) that I downloaded the songs and listened to Mandarin songs for the first time in like....10 years. Hahaha. That's how much I like the show! Even though the last part of the ending a bit tacky and clique. Hahaha.

I was looking for all the song titles when I found this website! I listened to most of the songs, but my favourite is Alibi by Yen-J.

This song ignites the most feelings in me because they play this song when the OTP are together. Hahaha, <3 <3 <3

And then, I heard this song!

Sounds familiar? Sounded soooo familiar to me, that I started thinking and thinking where did I hear it from other than during the drama?!?!?!?!

I realised why.

That's why. I has almost the same melody as Queen of my Heart by Westlife! Slight changes here and there, but almost the same! Shocked was I, that I decided to write a blog post about it. Hahaha. Talk about the drama at the same time! <3

I am really happy that Annie Chen and George Hu are going to act together again. Reignite the chemistry you had together in Love now please!

Okay, I have to go back to studying NOW. I have 3 more papers to go. EXCHANGE EXCHANGE EXCHANGE. GOGOGOGO!

Bye everyone! ~~~

Go watch Love Now! You can watch it from here or just youtube it. IT IS TOTALLY WORTH 72 EPISODES AND MOREEEEEE~~~~

<3
Rebecca :D

Okay. BACK TO WORKKKK.