Back From Sunda Kelapa
Back from Sunda Kelapa - that’s the old name for Jakarta… 
Our flight touched down at Kota Kinabalu International Airport last night around 20:30 hour, as scheduled even though we left Soekarno-Hatta International Airport about half an hour late from the scheduled time, which was 16:30 hour - Jakarta time. The journey by air is supposed to be about 2 hours and 50 minutes, but it only took about 2 and a half hour instead. For those who doesn’t know, Malaysia is an hour ahead of Jakarta time. So when we reached Jakarta, we gained an hour extra and lost an hour when we got back. So yes, we can have more than 24 hours a day in this case! Yay…!
Leaving the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
There’s so many to things to tell, I don’t know where to start now. With about 400 “rough” photos taken, that’s only to be expected eh? Counting out all the redundant photos, I think there’ll be about 300 photos or so left. All that in 3 days… you’d think we’ve gone far beyond our hotel surroundings with all that. But no, that’s just the blogger in me, with the help of my sister, who just like to take pictures of anything and everything. I don’t remember which photos I took and which sis did, so I’ll just give credit to her now We shared a camera anyway. 3 nights/4days was definitely not enough for sight-seeing! Nor with the food sampling! But that didn’t spare of being “cheated” in that food area - another story that I’ll save for much detailed posts later.
Jakarta is definitely a place for shopping. A shopping heaven for women especially! From nice clothes, batik especially to wigs! Oh, we had fun with that.. hehe .. We stayed at Ibis Mangga Dua Hotel, next to it are the Mangga Dua Mall. The ITC Mangga Dua sells all electronic goods from phones to things such Cat5e Keystone jack or the likes. The Pasar Pagi (Morning Market) sells clothings, bags and all sort of goods. We didn’t get far to the Mangga Dua Square at all! But the other group of 3 friends did though. There’s 7 of us altogether on this holiday, but we split up in 2 groups most of the time except for breakfast when we were there. We didn’t even get to go round that 3 shopping malls entirely for they are quite big with so much goods to see. And there are actually 6 giants malls so near to each other, some are connected by bridges in the Mangga Dua district! Do read the description for Mangga Dua district from the link I gave, will you? The fact that the malls opens at 9-10 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. everyday made our short holiday felt even more shorter than it actually was!
The view inside the mall - a section of Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua
Anyway, it’s good to be back even for such short holiday. It was fun but some of you might have known that I missed our food here in Malaysia, and that I feel so much richer and grateful after seeing the life in our neighbouring country. I definitely don’t miss the traffic jam in Jakarta! I don’t know how they do all that driving without bumping to each other!
Lots of bajai or bajaj on the road in Jakarta, zigzagging among the cars in the traffic jam
Must take my rest now for I have to work tomorrow and I still feel tired since I didn’t get to rest much today even though I’m still on leave. Had to drive to KK City to pay for my sister school fee at Bank Islam and shopped for her clothing according to the school ‘rules’ to bring to her hostel next week. Stay tune in these few days to come for more of my Jakarta stories and photos! 
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June 20th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Hey Mel, welcome back…hehehe, the traffic jam eh? same goes with Manila where you can hear the honking most of the time…too bad the shopping mall close at 5pm! Well Mel, 4 days/3 nights really not enough…kami 8 days pun mcm nda cukup…hehehe…
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 8:43 am:
Thanks! It’s really good to be back… Ya, honking and some other driver even slapped our ride as a sign of asking our driver to give way! Definitely not enough, and if I have the extra RM for holidays, going to explore the rest of the city again someday… hehehhe
June 20th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Welcome home mel! Next trip go to Bali again.. it’s sooo beautiful…
Anyways, can’t wait to see the pics!! 
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 8:45 am:
Thanks, Shemah… Bali is definitely in my list of places to go… but not sometime soon though.. mau kasi isi dulu tu tabung sia hahhaha .. nevertheless, more pics of Jakarta trip coming up soon!
June 20th, 2008 at 5:31 am
did you get me a kain pelikat?
Im very busy here while you go to Sunda Kelapa for stress therapy. The world is unfair!
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 8:46 am:
Awww sorry NH… aku sendiri pun rambang mata memilih kain… terus lupa dunia! Hahahah …
Very busy while I was away? Hahaha … while you’re busy making money, I was busy spending away my saving … so now I’m quite broke.. we’re even?
NoktahHitam reply on June 20th, 2008 2:15 pm:
btw babe, GERMAN WON!
I think final would be German vs Holland. Ballack got balls!
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 2:37 pm:
Yes, I know …. and so happy too!! Ballack, he’s our man! With Chelsea or German team …
June 20th, 2008 at 10:48 am
hey! welcome back! sunda kelapa? i didn’t know that.. haha! so you go jakarta… to stress out or to shop?
or shopping is part of the therapy haha! hmm.. why malaysians when on holidays love to shop? end up with excessive baggage to carry back. i just want to relax.. being lazy.. seeing places.. people.. I always avoid the shopping malls, crowded places if i go on holiday, already damn sick of it in malaysia. shopping malls everywhere.. 
girls just love shopping, anywhere i guess.. hehe.. probably i should go on a ’shopping holiday’ where the objective is to shop till you drop.. should arrange one.
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 11:07 am:
Thanks!
I didn’t know that Sunda Kelapa was the name it was given before Jakarta till I saw all those Jakarta souvenier t-shirts there.. hehe .. My main reason going to Jakarta was to see places, people and to relax.. went to a facial and spa treatment too! 
As for the shopping part, cannot help it since Mom and her friends wanted to shop, hence Mangga Dua District was the chosen destination recommended by the travel agent here. I don’t like big crowd either - that’s why I’m so glad to be home! LOL .. and to think that I’d be a volunteer during the RWMF in Kuching next month… *faints* But the trip to Jakarta was an enjoyable one anyway..
June 20th, 2008 at 11:25 am
hehehe welcome back!!! mmm.. ada oleh2 kah? kekekeke
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 12:21 pm:
tinkiu tinkiu.. ole²nya teda oOo chi.. hahaha .. tlampau pindik tu masa, nah byk tempat nda dapat pigi.. pa lagi memilih barang .. hehehe nanti la you go with Man-D
June 20th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Hi Melbie.
Looks like you had quite a bit of fun. Hey, home come nobody invited me to the shopping trip. I’m still drooling over the mall picture…..
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 3:34 pm:
Yes I did had fun, Sharon… with your currency converted to Indonesia Rupiah to shop at Jakarta, goodness! You’d definitely feel as if you’re in heaven… LOL.. if you like this small part of the mall.. wait till I post all the pictures of goods you can find there, especially the clothes…
June 20th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
i never tot of Jakarta as a vacation destination before . it seems quite ok too from yr post. will go if have the money
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 9:25 pm:
Yes, it’s quite okay especially if it’s supposed to be some shopping vacation! LOL! I didn’t bring much either, bengbeng… and to top it all, we got the free fare from AirAsia - paid for the taxes only, which was RM206 to and fro per person..
June 20th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Welcome back, melbie. You must be having lots of fun. Now tell me, the things there are “expensive” with all the big sum rupiah price tags.
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 9:25 pm:
Thanks, Apple. I had fun indeed… about those things, you have to wait for the next post!
June 20th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
melbie’s a millionaire in jakarta. keh keh keh..show me ur shoes girl!
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 9:26 pm:
For a while, I was a millionaire! Hahahha … shoes? What shoes?
June 20th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
what are those bajaj? they look cute and cartoonish..
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 9:30 pm:
They’re 3-wheel motor rickshaw, drumsticks
Cheap mode of transportation in Jakarta but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to get on it…
June 20th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
picturesss please. fasterrrr! hehehe…
melbie reply on June 20th, 2008 9:31 pm:
Sabar puan, sabarr….. hahahha kasi chan sia relax dulu ba …
June 21st, 2008 at 9:23 am
That looks like a lot of fun. Think of all the shopping a millionaire could do! Money’s not an object. Drooling now…
melbie reply on June 22nd, 2008 2:22 am:
It takes a woman to understand what it feels when it comes to shopping! LOL! But there was so much to choose from, I got confused. So I didn’t get much, which is good for I did not overspend during this short visit to Jakarta hehe .. uhm, come to think of it.. I did, a tad bit - because of the facial and hair wash.. didn’t plan for those, only for the spa hehe …
June 21st, 2008 at 10:52 am
There’s no place like home! Last time l went to lndonesia was in mid-80s! Dirty, congested, smelly - everywhere kretek smell, and poor quality stuff. Took RM500 there, took most of it back. Mrs bought batik dress;washed once habis sudah!
melbie reply on June 22nd, 2008 2:23 am:
In that case, Jakarta improved a bit for the smell wasn’t that bad
Oh, I hope the batik I bought are those of with better quality than the one your Mrs bought….
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 am
Cool…always love travel posts but always envious I’m not the one writing it!!! (Sabar..sabar…one day…haha)
Btw, ur volunteering for RWMF? Approve dy ur application? *off to check my email*
melbie reply on June 22nd, 2008 2:32 am:
Haha mar… as if I travel a lot? Thanks to the zero airfare by AirAsia to Jakarta, or else I wouldn’t have traveled that far
Yes, I am volunteering for RWMF… but not under Sarawak Tourism Board.. as far as I know, it was approved before my friends & I bought the air tickets
mar reply on June 22nd, 2008 11:13 pm:
So COOL! Ours no reply yet…well,I presume Lola hasn’t gotten a reply yet either cos she didn’t say anything…haha!
So, volunteering…that means u guys will be spending the 3 days in Damai/Santubong there…how long will u guys be in Kch?
melbie reply on June 23rd, 2008 8:33 am:
Yes, will be in Santubong from 10th-14th then straight back to KK. Not sure if we’ll have time to be in Kch city….
June 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
[...] about my very very short trip to Jakarta earlier this week. You can read more about it from this post onwards, there will be bits and pieces describing the trip along the way, but the posts here will [...]