Jakarta City

Exactly a month after my Malacca trip, I found myself travelling all over again and this time, to Jakarta! I had only booked my ticket the night before I was supposed to leave, so talk about impromptu!

Thursday was an absolutely hectic day for me because I was on leave, but I had an important meeting to attend. Wore my favourite dress from H&M and paired it with my strapped velvet wedges (which totally killed my legs btw).

Since my mum wasn't going to be sending me off, I dropped by her work place to say goodbye before making my way home to pack! 

I even managed to squeeze in time to have lunch with my Rod, (my bff) who has been complaining that I've been neglecting him amidst my crazy schedule!

My dad came over to my place to pick me up and practically hurried me out of the house because he insisted that I had to get to the airport asap! And like everyone else, he was questioning the size of my luggage and everything else that I had packed in! Ahem, just to be clear, it's not my fault that I have soooo many hair & facial products to pack okay! :(

Anyway, I was filled with excitement and fear because it was going to be my first time travelling alone! Most of my friends have travelled on their own at a young age, but you know, being the youngest and the only girl in the family, everyone knows how much of a microscopic watch I'm under with my mum :/ But of course, these days, I kinda like to say that I really am living my life to the fullest and making sure that nothing can compromise that.

Yes, I am wearing the same dress, except that I had it folded up! 

Day 1:

So the flight up to Jakarta was pretty okay. I fell asleep and the next thing I knew, I was already in Jakarta. Although there was a little confusion at the airport, I managed to figure my way around.

Took a cab to Plaza Senayan to meet my colleagues, who were at Union waiting for me! Although tired from the flight, I was amazed by team behind the bar! There were about 9 of them and they were all really meticulous and paid really close attention to the the concoction of each drink. What a show!

We made our way over to X2 after, to check out the place and also have a few drinks. But of course, we didn't stay till late, since we were all pretty worn out. And even though our hotel was a 5 minute walk away, we succumbed to our laziness and took a cab back. Especially since it was about $2 for the cab ride? A luxury we can't afford in Singapore for sure!

Day 2:

The next day, we all woke up really early to have breakfast at the hotel. And even though Dee and I were really tired from the lack of sleep, we went on a mission looking for indomie, but ended up exploring a really boring mall nearby. In the end, we ended up at Starbucks for my daily fix! :p

We headed back to the hotel just before it started to drizzle and met up with Kenneth for lunch! We were on a hunt for authentic nasi padang and ended up circling the roads of Jakarta for about an hour, before we actually found the restaurant that Kenneth was looking for -.-

I didn't exactly have the luxury of taking post-worthy pictures, but we had about 10 different dishes served to us! If you haven't been to Jakarta before, apparently the restaurants automatically serves you a range of dishes, whether you eat them or not!

After lunch, Dee and I decided to indulge in a massage! We even wanted to get our hair done, but we didn't exactly have much time on hand, so we settled for reflexology! I think it was probably the most painful reflexology that I've ever encountered, but the lazy told me to just bear with the pain and that it was probably because I walk a lot and I am very stressed -.- I think we paid about less than $10 for an hour?

We headed to eX Plaza and Plaza/Grand Indonesia (I don't know remember which one :/) after to shop a little. And on our way there, we encountered some crazy dude that yelled at me. Ironically though, I chucked my paranoia aside and just walked away bravely pretending that it didn't bother me, while Dee just went into a state of panic, lol.

And here's a really gorgeous picture of the atrium that looked like a mixture of a grand palace and runway...

We decided to head back by about 6pm since we had to head back to meet up with everyone for dinner, but ended up getting caught in the infamous Jakarta jam for about 45 minutes. For the people that complains about the jam in Singapore, try getting caught in a 45 minute jam (that happens everyday) when it would usually take about 10-15 minutes only.

Dinner was at about 8pm, so we ended up getting our pre-dinner fix of grilled scallops and sushi by the pool before we started getting ready for the party.

  

 

Met up with Adam and Sammy before making our way to Union for dinner! Armed with a trusty pair of flats, I was really ready to party!

 

So my colleagues and I finally gathered at Union for dinner, along with some of their friends from Indonesia! I don't exactly have pictures of everyone, since it was a really big group of us, but here's one with Dee and Sammy! ^^

Since it was really too early, we headed back to the hotel to change/freshen up/pack my luggage, before the driver came to pick us up and it was off to the High On Style Party at Equinox, X2!

The crowd had already started streaming in, but the club only started packing up at about 1am! I was extremely thankful to the team that hosted us in Jakarta because I partied really hard and enjoyed myself!

I'll just leave you guys with pictures from the party!

Awesome music as always, by Adam and Kenneth!

We called it a night at about 4AM (5AM) Singapore time, since most of our friends had left and we all had a really early flight the next day!

Although Dee and I almost missed our flight and it was a mere 2 days away from Singapore, I have to say that I really did enjoy myself and the company that I had!

Thank you Jakarta for an amazing time and I will see you soon! :)

Malacca Roadtrip

Extremely Lengthy & Image Filled Entry

As mentioned in my previous entry, it was an impromptu suggestion that led us to drive up to Malacca on the 1st of February! My brother had a gig in Port Dickson, so we planned to meet in Malacca for a weekend out of Singapore! After I ended work on Friday, Madhu, Henry and I headed for a quick dinner at Seah Im before departing up for Malacca to meet my brother and sister-in-law.

With my anxiety and paranoia, I didn't really feel comfortable driving up (without my brother) and at the same time, Henry has never driven up to Malaysia before. Of course, with his bad sense of directions, it would mean that I would have to navigate our way. Stress mode switched on >.< Nevertheless, for the sake of a much needed holiday, we went!

We didn't stop for any smoke/toilet breaks because we just wanted to get there as fast as we could, safely. And about 2.5 hours (or less) later, we arrived in Malacca!

Just nice, my brother and sister-in-law arrived at about the same time. We lived in a really amazing apartment  on the 15th floor for the weekend, which was right smacked in the centre of the city and at the same time, it was next to the sea as well. And jjang! This was the view from our apartment! 

I know I look extremely tired and happy at the same time, but really, I was trying hard to contain the chills of standing in the balcony! It was FREEZING up there! This may sound a little exaggerating but I had to wear a jacket and scarf just to have a smoke break in the balcony!

But then when we got down to the ground floor, ohmahgad, it was hot as hell!

Although tired, we really wanted to get out of the apartment to explore. Especially since it was only 1AM and we'd usually still be out having fun if we were in Singapore. Then we discovered a carnival that was only a stone's throw away from our apartment!

We washed up and headed down!

Unfortunately, they refused to sell us tickets to the rides cause they said they closed at 1AM. We ended up heading back to our apartment and while everyone passed out, I was up watching tv till 6AM trying to rid the insomnia out of me!

Day 2

The next day, everyone was up bright and early because we had an extremely packed day planned out for us! The guys went for a morning swim, while the girls like nuaed around the apartment. Our agenda for the day was lunch, go-karting, paintball and shopping!

With my brother waiting for the rest of the familia to get ready,

Le sister-in-law and I at a mamak stall for maggie goreng before our go-karting/paintball sesh!

Finally we arrived at our playground! My brother had called earlier to make a booking. The owner was really welcoming and made us feel at home! Without further ado, getting into our carts and buckling up! Although I really liked the pink helmet that I got, I think that a fuller helmet would've been a lot safer, especially since my helmet kept falling off each time I accelerated.

This was the 2nd round of go-karting, where I got a different cart. I was pretty upset that I couldn't continue driving my lucky number 9, but nevertheless, there was no stopping us speed monsters. The 2nd cart that I had was definitely a lot harder to control and the acceleration wasn't as smooth as the first. You know how people say, you'll know if the car is meant for you when you drive it? Well, I'd say the same goes for go-karts and number 2 was just too fierce for me!

I was trying very hard to chase Henry in the 2nd round, but he somehow ended up right behind me and I had to continuously try to block him from overtaking me, just so he couldn't win. But with Madhu hogging the path, I ended up oversteering while trying to siam her and ended up slamming into the tyres T.T

After about half an hour, we moved on to paintball! This was my first time and boy was I really excited! Ended up wearing my brother's jeans cause they were too big for my sister-in-law and let her wear mine instead. 

All geared up and ready to go! Fierce bo?

And this was our playground! The great thing about the place that we went to, was that it was all indoor. It was in a multi-story carpark, so we didn't have to worry about the weather!

Although I may be a little weak hearted and have a fear of needles, when it comes to "extreme" sports, I usually just find courage and tell myself, I'll deal with the fear and pain when it happens. When I first got shot in the thigh, I went @&*$^(@&#%#&%#^$ while everyone continued shooting at me. The only palette that burst, was when I got shot in the arm.

We decided to split the teams into girls vs guys and the objective of the game, was to steal the opposite team's flag. We successfully won the first game.

We lost the 2nd game because I surrendered after getting shot by both Henry and my brother at the same time! They were sending out multi shots on my arm, one person shooting the left, the other shooting the right. That's when I cursed and sweared. Seriously, no joke at all. I started bruising up everywhere! T.T

We won the 3rd game though, because Madhu was playing excellent defence, while Mel and I attacked. Even though she didn't have her arms covered and had both guys shooting at her, she still won without much hits! :D

We had so much fun, we decided to add more palettes and just shot at each other till we went out. Needless to say, it was such an enjoyable day, we really didn't want to leave! All in all, we paid about 80RM each? Seriously cheap! 

After we ended our game and freshened up, we left and headed to Mahkota Parade to shop! Almost died in SASA cause they carried so much more make up brands than they do in Singapore and everything else was almost a lot cheaper! :O 

Satisfied our cravings for A&W before we set off to grocery shop!

The extremely thirsty Henry, who finished all our drinks!

By the time we got home from shopping, we were all sooo exhausted, so we lepak in our apartment for a bit. I was so grumpy and tired from waking up early, that I had to take a nap :]

After I woke up, we all got ready and headed down to the carnival! Since we were in Malaysia, we tossed our fears aside and took the Ali Baba ride! Fyi, my brother's got a fear of heights and so do I! In fact, I'm afraid of everything actually. But I somehow found myself enjoying the ride, waving our hands around.

We didn't bring anything with us so that it'd be easier to go on the rides, so that explains why there isn't any pictures. We also took a ride which had swings attached to them, that went pretty high in circles. Surprisingly, I was enjoying the height, except for the fact that I really wanted to throw up so badly :(

Of course we finally ended our night with bumper cars! We had so much chasing and crashing into each other! I swear, put us all behind a steering wheel and we all go a little too psychotic! I bet we all had crazy eyes going on.

Day 3

The next day, I got dragged out of bed before 9AM for breakfast, cooked by le brother! :)

While everyone was nuaing around the house after breakfast, I sneaked back into bed to continue sleeping! I get extremely irritable and tired when I don't get enough sleep :(

We left the house around noon and headed to St Paul's Church! For those of you who don't know, my grandmother was Portuguese and since both my brother and I are history buffs, we decided to check out what's left of the Portuguese Church.

After sight-seeing, we headed back to our apartment to check out before heading to Jonker Street for lunch! We had the famous chicken rice balls, the nonya chendol and then walked through Jonker Street on a hunt for muchies!

We left for Johor Bahru at around 7pm and arrived at around 9pm for dinner in Danga Bay. We got really excited cause there was a carnival there and couldn't wait to go on the rides all over again!

The gorgeous Carousel that takes your breath away!

We took a train ride around the area, before ending the day with bumper cars AGAIN! But the bumper cars in Danga Bay is seriously terrible! Mel ended up straining her neck after I bumped her and I left with a really huge bruise on my knee. The bumper cars didn't really have much of a "bump". Instead, it felt like we were experiencing multiple accidents :/

And that marked the end of our wonderful weekend in Malaysia. You really don't have to go far, or spend too much money to have a great getaway. All you need is your family and friends, to make every experience count! :)