Close Encounter of the Very Weird Kind

and I don't mean ETs or UFOs. My encounter with weird calls/sms-es from unknown numbers has taken a funny, bordering weird twist.

Two weeks ago, while in Jakarta, apparently I was a property agent. Someone sent me a sms requesting to be kept in the loop of any possible double-storey homes in Bandar Puteri Puchong that are up for sale.

Last Saturday, I received two more weird sms-es. In SMS 1, I was a university student. I was "asked" if I was interested in a study date. If yes, the sender of the sms will do the necessary booking of study room with the university.

In SMS 2, I was simply asked this question in Malay: Can sign (the contract/deal)? As usual, my response to theses pesky sms-es is to press the delete button. However sender of SMS 2 is one determined lady, which I shall call her Ms. B. When failed to get a reply from me, she called and asked to speak to a Mr Tan. I told her there's no such person and requested her to stop calling my number.

But that wasn't the last I heard from her. Ms. B called yesterday and again requested for Mr Tan. I gave the same response - no such person. She went on to explain that she had earlier sent a sms to my number to inform that she has banked in some money and when can she sign the contract. I repeated myself that Mr Tan doesn't exist and I told her to stop bothering me. When I ended the call, then only I saw her sms stating she banked in the money as requested and when can she sign the contract.

That sms got me worried. Like shitting bricks worried. In my mind, flashed the worst case scenario - someone could be using my number in some shady money lender business and I saw my face plastered in the Star newspaper, seeking help from Head of MCA Publice Service and Complaints Bureau to appeal to whoever it is to stop using my handphone number in such way.

I quickly called Hubs to tell him what happened and to get advice on my next course of action. Hubs informed that maybe I could check with my mobile service provider if there's another user registered to my number and also to lodge a police report. I gave my service provider a call and weirdly enough there's only one me that's tagged to my handphone number and their advice was also to lodge a police report.

On hindsight I decided to give Ms. B a call to find out exactly what sorta business is this Mr Tan involved in. Upon questioning her, I found out that she wanted to borrow some money from some shady money lender and apparently was asked to deposit some money into a particular account. She was supposed get in touch with Mr Tan after doing that and that's where the blunder happened - she couldn't remember precisely Mr Tan's handphone number. She could only remember the last four digits which matches my number correctly but wasn't sure what were the first three digits.

I gave her a very stern warning that her sms-es and calls got me very worried because it certainly felt like someone has deliberately use my handphone number illegally in some illegal businesses. I also told her that I was that close to lodging a police report. She begged me not to do so as it was really fault on her part that she couldnt remember the exact number. She sounded genuine, someone desperate. She promised not to disturb me anymore and will inform me if my number was indeed illegally used.

I left the matter as it is. My only fervent hope is that it was a genuine case of stupid blunder.

Eats: Gourmet Garage in Kemang

One place in Jakarta that you can never go wrong with the food is Gourmet Garage. Located in Kemang, i.e. the expatriates hub, Gourmet Garage is housed in a 2 storey building, and as the name suggest, it is a place that promise to tantalizes one's tastebud. On the ground floor is the western kitchen as well as the western supermarket with goodies ranging from gourmet meats to western sweets and imported produce. On the first floor is the Japanese kitchen and the bar. This is my 2nd time here, and I have never been disappointed so far.


Hubs is crazy over the freshly squeezed orange juice, hence that is a must. It was OK with me, definitely freshly squeezed with orange pulps swimming in the juice, but according to Hubs, that day it was slightly watered down. For our mains, I ordered the Wagyu Beef Burger while Hubs opted for Nasi Goreng Kambing.

The fried rice was OK - I mean, how wrong can one go with fried rice, y'know what I mean? But my Wagyu Beef Burger was a different story altogether. Only one word to describe - WOW! The patty was nicely done - I requested medium, oozes with natural beef juice and amazingly tender. The bread was nicely toasted, french fries fresh from the fryer with a bed of aragula and roquet salad in balsamic vinegar dressing to complete the meal. Will definitely be back for more!

****


Gourmet World (formerly Gourmet Garage)
No 66-68, Jln Kemang Raya,
Jakarta Selatan 12720

Eats: Live seafood @ Bandar Djakarta, Ancol

Hubs always laments the lack of quality seafood in Jakarta supermarkets. And I don't blame him at all. One of my mission to Jakarta recently is to prepare some home-cooked meals for him. But alas, the quality of so-called "fresh" pork or fish found in the supermarkets (including those found in the Korean community) left much to desire that the word stale seems more appropriate.

Hence, while hanging out at the Black Cat Jazz Lounge on Friday night with some fellow Malaysians, we jumped at the opportunity when one of Hubs's friend suggested to dine on fresh seafood in Ancol Dreamland, touted to be the largest theme park in Jakarta, about 30 minutes drive (without traffic) from the city center. The date was set and it was all system go come Saturday 8pm.

The place was pretty easy to find, expressway all the way in the direction of Kelapa Gading until we came upon the signage Ancol and exited as directed. From the expressway it was a short 5 minutes drive before we reached the main entrance. The theme park itself is really big and it took us quite awhile before we finally reached our designated restaurant for the night - Bandar Djakarta.

Same as Ancol Dreamland, Bandar Djakarta IS a sprawling restaurant boasting of seating capacity up to 1000 pax. It has its own fresh seafood market where patrons get to choose their choice of live and frozen seafood. The restaurant was packed to the brim but we only have to wait 10 minutes before we were led to our table, and mind you we didn't even call ahead to book a table.

Next comes the exciting bit - choosing the seafood. And we were spoiled for choices. From live mud crabs, to live garoupa, live local scallops, live prawns, giant clams and calamari. It is indeed a seafood lover paradise! Hubs and friend were on a shopping frenzy deciding which seafood to take and how to cook it. As for me, I was the trigger-happy tourist, with my camera in hand, busy snapping photos.

 

After placing our order, we didn't have to wait long before they served the usual ulam and the local version of otak-otak. Unlike the ones you get in Muar, they were devoid spices, and it was more like fish paste (yu-wat) and went very well in the accompanying peanut sauce. Off to a good start! Next came the highlights - the seafood itself. They were fresh, with natural sweetness and amazingly yummy. My only gripe was the steam garoupa - it was slightly oversteamed by 5 minutes. Otherwise it would have been a perfect dinner.

This was something really funny that we saw - 2 obviously very angry garoupas going for each other's throat. They were deadlocked like this from the time we were choosing our seafood at the market right until we left the restaurant!

****

Bandar Djakarta

Pintu Timur

Taman Impian Jaya Ancol

http://www.bandar-djakarta.com/

Eats: Being adventurous @ Ibu Samino

Another must-try while in Jakarta is their Sop Buntut which literally translates as "Backside Soup". Despite its outrageous name - some may think it's crude but personally i think Bahasa Indonesia is so rustic in itself that it is charming, Sop Buntut is actually oxtail soup and is usually served with white rice, melinjo emping (crackers) and spicy sambal on the side. Unlike the heavily spiced Sup Ekor Mamak near Bangsar Village or the stew-ish western version at Rennie's in Jln Gasing, the Indonesian Sop Buntut is actually a clear soup with just the right amount aromatic spices without being overwhelmingly spicy.

Knowing my penchant for this and having tried what the locals claimed as the best Sop Buntut in town at Hotel Borobodur in Jakarta during my previous visit, Hubs has since discovered this little roadside warong near his office which he thought serves a rather mean version. Throwing all cautions to wind about eating roadside food in Jakarta, I asked Hubs to bring me here last Saturday for lunch. And it was rather good, having just about the right balance of beefy taste and spices.

Hubs also ordered something else for me to try: Bebek Goreng Kremes, which is Deep Fried Crispy Duck. For some unknown reasons, the Indonesians love their ducks. Everywhere we went, bebek (Indonesian for duck) is featured prominently in their menus. I would say that the mixture of two types of sambal went very well with the fried duck and the crispy bits. And I survived the whole roadside experience with no bad tummy. In fact I was feeling very much like a ular sawa after the heavy lunch - I could barely keep my eyelids open and we have to cut short grocery shopping time to go home for afternoon siesta. ;p

****


Sop Buntut Ibu Samino

Jln Setiabudi Selatan, Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan

Cream Bath @ Roger's Salon, Clinic and Spa

During my recent five days R&R retreat in Jakarta - really, I didn't do anything at all except to get ready in the morning,  was chauffeured around by Hubs driver to malls, massage parlours and restaurants and in between that, still able to find time for cat-naps in the afternoons, I really have to say this about the Indonesians: they REALLY perform miracles with their fingers when it comes to massages. And you get massage services literally everywhere, from traditional massage parlours to your everyday hair salon.

One such place is Roger's, and basically all hair salons in Jakarta offer this absolutely-out-of-this-world-yummylicious experience in the form of CREAM BATHS. In Kuala Lumpur, it is nothing more than your mere, nondescript, extraordinarily normal hair-steam experience at your neighbourhood, aunty-type hair salon. But in Jakarta, WOW!

First of all, we were asked to choose one of six different flavours of hair masque, from dark chocolate to green tea and strawberries which promises to nourish, hyrates and rejuvenates dull and lacklustre tresses. Once that is done, we were led to the washing area for our hair to be washed before the amazing experience begins.

I chose dark chocolate while Hubs opted for yoghurt strawberry. My massage therapist began by slowly working the hair masque into my wet hair, covering every inch of my scalp before her fingers worked their magic. The pressure was firm yet gentle and over and over again, she rubbed and massaged my scalp for a good 1 hour. Next, she took another dollop of massage cream and begin to massage my neck, shoulders and right down to the middle of my back. This continued for another 30 minutes before she took a hot towel to rub off the massage cream. Last but not least, she wrapped my hair in a small towel, put on the steamer for 15 minutes before rinsing off the masque.

The verdict: My hair came out soft and rehydrated, all aches and pains plaguing my shoulders and back completely gone, and all these for only RM 40 per person. To top it all off, Hubs said my hair smells really yummy, reminds him of dark chocolate mousse. Yum-yum :)

p/s: Another reason why I said Indonesians are darn good with their massages is that on my last day in Jakarta, we had some time to kill before leaving for the airport, and so we decided to go for a foot reflexology. I mean after all, when it comes to foot reflexology, we thought no one can beat the Chinese right?! But how wrong we were. The Indonesians gave as good as it gets, to a point I have to tell my therapist to go easy. Again another amazing experience for only RM 7.50 per hour per person.

Address:
Roger's Salon, Clinic and Spa
Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No. 21, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan.
Tel: 021-72780276, 72792939
Email: wolter@rogersalon.com