We were suppose to celebrate New Year of 2010 in Jakarta. Redeemed our Enrich miles which was about to expire.. pick a location and fly!..
We chose Jakarta as we planned to see the new year celebration and from there we travel to Bandung to meet Hubby's old friend when he worked there several years ago. Bandung was known for it's shopping paradise and cool ambient. I am quite interested as I was never been to any part of Indonesia before..
So, we arrived Jakarta on Dec 31st 2009 and checked in at Mangga Dua. The taxi driver introduced us to that hotel and we believe it's gonna be awesome. The hotel was very near to Taman Impian Jaya Ancol - something like Disneyland.. they said.
Well, did I sound weird enough with all my descriptions? OK here goes..
When I first arrived in the heart of Jakarta, the air was so 'unpleasant'. There was too much of cigarette and exhaust smell. And the hotel we stayed was way too close to a huge sewage or.. was it a river? My throat was becoming worst as it goes and I bought a face mask. Was wearing it throughout the stay.
Later that night, we took "ojek" (riding up to 3 person on a motorbike) and also "angkot" (mini-van) to go the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol. To my surprise, there was like millions of people coming out to celebrate. We can't even queue to buy a ticket. There were even group of people who just climb the entrance gate and the security just can't do anything about it.
Then we walked and walk and walk.. like nearly 10 kilometers (exaggerating!!).. hell yeah.. it was a loooooong walk. We can't even find the park and also if there are any special place to see fireworks. Then we felt so tired and go back before we finally reached the end of the Ancol thingy. There was a huge concert going on and again.. millions of people watching.
We saw people everywhere.. like no place even to sit.
We then finally decided to go back and it was midnight. We did see some fireworks on our way back to the hotel. Felt lucky that we finally arrived the hotel. Moral of the story.. DO NOT GO NEAR JAKARTA ON NEW YEARS EVE!!! ...if u hate crowds.
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| Plaza Indonesia |
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| The famous TEH BOTOL |
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| Us at HRC Jakarta |
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| Plaza Indonesia again |
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| Taxi?? |
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| Now he is co-orperating |
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| See my mask? |
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| Millions of people everywhere |
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| See.. people everywhere! |
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| Along the highways too |
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| Finally gets to see fireworks.. but from far |
The next morning we took a train to Bandung. It took us 3 hours to reach there. Luckily the view was nice. We saw nice bridges and paddy fields or we call it "Padi Huma"..planted along the cliffs.. quite amazing that they can design the retaining walls for the watering system. I felt a sleep for the rest of the journeys.. ha ha!
Derry was waiting for us when we arrived at the Bandung train station. Took a van to his house and there was his wife and boy. His in-laws were also just arrived. Had a chit chat with the locals and luckily the air was fresher in Bandung.
We rented a car with driver (Pak Supir) the next day to bring us to the Tangkuban Perahu and also Ciater. Tangkuban Perahu is the world-famous inactive volcano in Java. It was my first experience seeing a volcano and went so close to it. The biggest on e was called "Kawah Ratu". It releases sulphur. Smell so bad and it's also dangerous. We went up there and enjoyed the air.
On the way back we went to Ciater hotspring. Not to mention the traffic. "Macet Macet Macet" I think we spent almost 4 to 5 hours on a normally less than an hour journey road. Our original plan to visit several Ci(s) - Which means Water or "Air" but due to the traffic we only manage to visit Ciater. Again.. thousands of people and theres wasn't even 1 spot for us to feel the hotspring. So, we just watch them having fun and there was also stage performance going on.
We went back and visited several outlets. Did buy something but wasn't really my type.. I can see imitations everywhere but people still love to buy and they feel that it was really cheap. But if I happen to come here again I hope I will find a good place for shopping.
Anyhow, one of the good things that I appreciated was the "telekung" shops. It was quite cheap but the quality wasn't excellent. I did buy one thou :)
We went back to Jakarta to catch our flight the next day.. and to end the "happy ending".. I've got food poisoning at the airport. It hurts really bad until finally I was sent to the airport Emergency room. Got drip and knock out for several hours,.. just before the plane boards. And the best thing was, we did not have enough cash to pay the Medical bill.. and they did not accept credit cards.. arghh...
Luckily 1 nice guy from the same flight lend us some money. We pay him back right after we landed at KLIA.. gosh I never felt soooo good to be home..
Conclusively, it wasn't about Indonesia but maybe we have selected the wrong location at a wrong timing. Never knew that it can be that jammed packed in Indonesia during holidays or they call it "libur"..
Next time I will write about "the other side story of Jakarta". If you don't know what I meant, I went again to Jakarta on a business trip. Those people in Jakarta was really taken care of us as I went there with the Vice President of TNB. Well it did make some different.. ! wait.. opsss.. A LOT of difference..trust me!! (well thanks to my dear PLN friend.. Bu Dhini.. mmuah mmuah)
Ta-ta
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| Kawah Ratu |
To read more about these Kawah Ratu, Kawah Domas etc.. can visit
http://alampriangan.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/gunung-tangkuban-perahu/
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| Tangkuban Perahu |
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| Enjoying our Teh Botol |
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| Pretty cool trees |
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| Nearby tea plantation area |
