Travel stories: Thank God for technology (although I'm still in a fix over my iPhone battery)

I wasn't exactly late when I arrived at the airport yesterday for my return flight to Kuala Lumpur. I was there slightly over 2 hours prior takeoff time due to uncannily clear traffic, hence theoretically I have quite a comfortable margin to check in and clear immigrations. That is of course, had I done internet check-in.

But I totally forgot about it and mentally kicked myself a thousand times over for wasting an hour's time surfing the net while at Hubs's office, when I saw the snaking queue for counter check-in. Back in KL, I have used mobile check-in and drop off my luggage at the luggage drop-off counter by showing the QR code sent to my iPhone for domestic flights. Some friends also informed they have checked-in with no problem by showing their e-ticket on their smartphone at the check-in counter. But this is Jakarta airport we are talking about. The Nugrah Rai International Airport in Denpasar is even more modern than this. In fact the airport was only equipped with free wifi as of May this year if it wasn't for some ASEAN meeting.

Jeez! What a stew I am in! I decided then, I shall not wait forever like this, and I shall test the untested. Since there's free wifi (thank god it was strong signal throughout), I proceed to check-in online at KLM mobile site with my iPhone, while switching queue to the luggage drop-off, and managed to get my pdf boarding pass sent to my email at the end of the process. To be on the safe side, I also requested for my boarding pass to be sent to the airport. By the time it was my turn at the counter, I showed the pdf boarding pass on my iPhone and voila! without much hassle I got the hardcopy. Yay!

Linkin Park: A Thousand Suns - World Tour 2011, Live in Jakarta 21 Sept 2011

They came, we went and WHAT AN ELECTRIFYING PERFORMANCE!!

The venue is at Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno which is pretty close to where we stay. But still we left early so as not to be caught in traffic. We grabbed a quick pizza and beers dinner at Plaza Senayan just next door to the stadium and by 7:00pm, we were already at the entrance gate. The queue into the stadium is rather long but securities worked quickly to clear the crowd. We bought the free standing tickets at Festival B just next to the stage and heard from concert officials that some fans were queueing up as early as 3pm when the gates only open at 6pm. Talk about die-hard fans!

When we got into Festival B, we could see the place is about three-quarter filled, and there was still pretty decent room space around. However as we approached and passed the official start time of 8pm, the crowd begun to get restless, there were some mild pushing and suddenly there were more heads in front of me, and intermittently there were chants of "Linkin Park! Linkin Park!" in the hope that it would bring on the appearance Linkin Park on stage. With every passing minute, the adoring fans were closely watching the camera crew like hawks, as if taking cue from them when will Linkin Park appear to put us out of our waiting misery.

Suddenly the lights were dimmed,  and The Requiem, the first track of their latest album A Thousands Suns, pierced through the screaming crowd. At the end of this 3 minute track, flood lights came up and there was Linkin Park on stage and rocking their fans with Papercut. Needless to say the fans went ballistics! Everyone was jumping with their hands in the air. We got pushed back again, and I was so body close to this fan on my left that I could feel his body heat from his sweat-soaked T-shirt. Disgusting! As I turned to my right, a sympathetic fan (she also looked like she was pushed around by the jumping bodies) smiled and said Gawat! (I have since looked up the meaning of gawat and it means serious or crisis)

Linkin Park entertained, rocked and pleased their fans with songs from their latest album as well as well-known hits from their previous albums Minutes to Midnight, Meteora and Hybrid Theory. Not forgetting as well, What I've Done, New Divide and Irisdescent from the Transfomers movie franchise. The 2 hour show passed too quickly and before we knew it, they were singing their final song for the night i.e. Bleed It Out. It was such an awesome night and I'm so glad I told Hubs "let's go for Linkin Park concert" way back in July.

p/s: I braved through the concert despite having an allergy attack midway due to the pizza. No allergies gonna take me away from Linkin Park. ;p

A scientific explanation to "service currently not available" for satellite TV

Here in Jakarta, we subscribe to Telkomvision, one of the five satellite TV providers in Indonesia. While channel surfing this morning, the TV screen suddenly went blank, and I was wondering what went wrong. The weather was fine and sunshiny - no thunderstorm whatsoever to cause the usual service disruption as we normally encounter with Astro back in Malaysia.

As I was about to flick to other channels to see if they were affected as well, out pops this message on the screen.

This translates as: The disruption of transmission for this channel is due to sun outage. This natural phenomenon happens twice a year when the satellite and the earth receiver station is in parallel alignment with the sun. Strong energy from the sun causes disruption and temporary loss of satellite signal. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, that's beyond our control. 

Needless to say, I was pretty impressed, instead of a sweeping statement "Service currently not available"

Travel stories: Beach, bum and beers at Pulau Tioman

Hubs and me, we *heart* beach bumming ever since the bug bit us during our honeymoon to Railay beach in Krabi. Hence when a couple friend of ours, Ivan and Pink, asked if we were keen to go to Tioman with them during the recent Merdeka-Raya long holiday, we went "why not" since we were already planning to go to Kluang to visit my parents.

This is my 2nd time to Tioman after some 20 years hiatus. And it hasn't change much from what I remembered. Although there are now more chalets and better infrastructure, Tioman still has the laid-back fishing village feel to it.

We stayed in Kg. Genting where another friend, Gary co-runs a dive center. These are pictures in and around Kg. Genting.

A group of student divers trooping off for their off-shore dive lesson while we contented ourselves with sea creatures that's visible to us at low tide. A sea cucumber, mud skipper, some mussels and ahem, some fresh fishes that Gary manage to get from the local fishermen

We also did some snorkeling close by and manage to spot the usual suspects - clown fish, few varieties of parrot fish and even a couple of angel fish.

Come night fall, what else there is except for more beers! And Hubs had a close encounter with a blue genie :)

One major turn off about Tioman is the unreliable ferry services. Unlike Redang/Perhentian where most of the resorts there provide complimentary boat transfers to the islands, all visitors of Tioman have to rely on third-party operated ferries, of which their erratic service left an unpleasant experience. We got detoured twice!

First was going to Tioman, where the operator told us we could hop onto an earlier ferry, but only to realise that operator failed to remind the captain to stop at Kg. Genting jetty and the captain for whatever reasons also decided not to stop at Kg. Genting jetty, when he was supposed to. We had to wait for an hour before catching another ferry that was making its way back to Mersing. Second was leaving Tioman, where we also hop onto the 10am ferry, failing to notice that the destination bound is Tg. Gemok/Endau, some 20km north of Mersing, bordering Pahang. The operator also did not inform us of our mistake when he cross-checked our tickets. In the end, a good samaritan took us in her car to the Endau bus stand where we caugh a taxi back to Mersing to pick up our car.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, because when Hubs texted our friends to inform them of what happened, we found out that the 1130am ferry bound for Mersing actually skipped Kg. Genting jetty altogether because it was filled to the brim. The next ferry scheduled for the stranded visitors was only at 7pm. Gosh!

Burping masseuse anyone? As experienced at Mitra Sehat

As gross as it may sounds, I quite believe in the health benefits they confer. It's not a new form of massage, but more of the masseuse's personal belief of absorbing 'angin' or 'wind' from your body and getting rid of it through her body by means of belching, and I only see this being practised by Malay or Indonesian masseuse.

Initially I was quite skeptical when I heard of this. Like how does the 'angin' pass from one person to the other? Osmosis? Passive diffusion? Sounds pretty bizarre. Until my personal encounter at Mitra Sehat Wijaya. On that occasion, I asked for a strong masseuse (usually I go for medium but that day my backache was particularly bad) and boy was she good or what!

The long strokes that she used for deep tissue massage was applied with firm pressure (I like!) and she really worked those knots that i had at my shoulders and upper back. And of course, the belching that came along with the therapy. I never hear so much *burps* in my life! Every where her fingers touched, there was the proverbial *burp* until the foreign customer at the next stall was politely asking her masseuse "What's that sound?" Her masseuse, with a little giggle, explained "It's the 'angin.'" Thank God I did not bump into that customer after my session ended, because for sure I would die from embarrassment, by the amount of 'angin' my masseuse "released" from my body.

And how do I know whether it worked? Because I was backache free for a few good months, that's why.

Mitra Sehat Wijaya
Jl. Wijaya II
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta
Tel: +62-21 720 2121

These days, I tend to go to their newest branch at Gandaria City because it's nearer to home and I can amuse myself with the various retailers and grocery shopping after the massage. Just that, I haven't found my burping masseuse yet. ;)


p/s: Back in PJ, at where I normally go to for traditional Javanese massage at Lezen Healthcare in Damansara Perdana, the massage therapists here occasionally belch. There's a couple of pretty good therapists at this place and they are Indonesians. PM me if you are interested. :)

Happy Birthday Indonesian-style

While I do not know who the man of the hour is, but I reckon he must be a favourite customer of Ferrari Maserati Indonesia. This was taken just outside one of the main entrances to Pacific Place Mall.

And by the way, these seems to be the standard sizes of congratulatory flower stands I have seen on numerous occasion in Jakarta. Quite a statement eh..!

Condo renovation - Before and During

This is my work currently - overseeing renovation at our new (well not off-the-developer new, but new as in our new place) condo in Saujana Subang.

These are taken before renovation started about a week ago..

This is what's going on now..

Just one more week to go! :))

Eats: Cafe Bogor of the legendary Hotel Borobodur Sop Buntut

Ever since Cafe Bogor opened up a branch in Pacific Place, we have been coming here regularly to get Sop Buntut fix, simply because it's nearer to where we stay. Apart from the traditional Sop Buntut served either regular (= oxtail boiled in the soup), grilled or fried, we have since tried their other oxtail dishes.

This is Buntut Penyet. Hubs and me absolutely adore this because of the spicy chilli that accompanies this dish. We tend to order one of this together with a regular oxtail and always end up asking for extra chilli on the side because the chilli that is supposed to go with the regular oxtail just ain't do it for us. Hahaha. So far, the staff here has been very accomodating and not charge us extra. :)

We tried this recently, which is Buntot Rica Rica (pronounced as ri-cha ri-cha, not ri-ka ri-ka). The chilli is slightly different from the penyet chilli, with a hint of tomatoes in it. Definitely less spicy compared to penyet, but nice for a change.

All of Cafe Bogor oxtail dishes comes with a bowl of oxtail soup. As you can see here from the menu, there are price differences from small to legendary. Be warned though. The sizes here indicate the size of the soup bowl, not extra oxtail. ;p

As i'm blogging this, my mouth is watering at the thought of the yummy oxtail. Can't wait till my next fix at Cafe Bogor. 

****

Cafe Bogor
Lt. 5 (Fifth Floor)
Pacific Place

Jl. Jendral Sudirman Kav. 52-53

Jakarta 12190

Travel stories: Of Bandung, Mt. Tangkuban Perahu and Cihideung

We came here three years ago when Hubs first relocated to Jakarta. It was also my first trip, after having delaying it for almost 4 months because Hubs was busy familiarising himself in the new environment - finding new apartment, getting a new car, settling down and etc. At that time, we weren't sure if we could make an overnight trip to Bandung/Mt Tangkuban Perahu, because Hubs wasn't sure if his new car would be available by the time I arrived. Luckily it did and so off we went on Friday.

Our first stop is Bandung, which is a well-known factory outlet haven. The most "reputable" of these outlets is Rumah Mode, which is located along Jl. Setiabudi. With patient digging, one can often find very decently priced rejects. In fact, along Jl. Setiabudi, there are quite a number of these factory outlets, and so far, on both my trips to Bandung, I have pretty much concentrated my shopping efforts around here. Some of the brands that we have bought are CK, Burberry, Prada, Zara, MNG, Esprit and even Baby Phat. Some friends have cautioned that not all these outlets are genuine, which I'm inclined to believe as well. However, I figure that as shoppers, it's really up to each discretion. For me, I tend to be selective and assessed my picks based on quality of material and the tailoring.

The next day, we made our way to Mt Tangkuban Perahu Conservation Park, roughly 30km north of Bandung. Navigating the roads from Bandung to here proved to be another test of patience due to heavy traffic as a lot of Jakartans love to get away from the city on weekends and Bandung is often the default choice due to its proximity to Jakarta. Having reached the foot of the mountain or main entrance, it was another 30 minutes drive on rocky, bumpy road before we finally reach the carpark area. Pity Hubs's car because it was only 3 days old and we have put it to such gruelling journey. ;p

There are three craters that are open to tourists, i.e. Kawah Ratu, Kawah Domas and Kawah Upas. The nearest crater from where we parked is Kawah Domas which is another 30 minutes trek through the jungle. As we were rather short on time, we only went to Kawah Domas because to go to Kawah Ratu, also the biggest crater, is another 1 hour hike uphill.

On our way down, we came upon a local artisan who was carving away on a piece of wood with unique grain marks.

Up close and personal with a tiny geyser. No zoom effect here.

Tourists, us included, literally walking on hot grounds spewing off sulphurous gas.

A markedly different experience when I went to Hokkaido earlier that same year. Admiring Jigokudani or Hell's Valley from a safe distance.

On our way back to Jakarta, we passed through Cihideung which is well-known for its cultivation of all sorts of flowering plants. I mean, literally every household here is a nursery and the drive along the main road is very pleasant and pretty :)

That is until we hit the freeway which is another bumper to bumper traffic all the way back to Jakarta.