Wednesday night out with Shasa

Yesterday I went to ITC after work to meet up with Johanna and do some real power souvenir shopping. ITC is definitely cheaper than all the touristic places!

Afterwards shortly to Starbucks and talk. Johanna is soon leaving Jakarta, so it was one of the last opportunities.

But I was in a rush to get home and get dressed, because I was going out with Shasa and one of her friends on a Wednesday yesterday evening.

I went to Kemang Raya, Papillon Building, Rooftop, where Shasa was waiting for me.

Wednesday is the typical day, where Indonesians go out! And now I have also tried it!

We had some really nice cocktails and a great evening! And I got the most beautiful Batik clutch from Shasa (Thanks so much!)!

My pictures from Indonesia are getting famous!

If you from now on visit The Royal Danish Embassy in Jakarta’s homepage (www.ambjakarta.um.dk), the pictures that will pop up, are pictures that I have taken on my trips around Indonesia!

"Rugbrødsmadder" at Tanja's and "The Prinsesse And The Frog"

Yesterday after work I went to get Maj-Britt some stuff at Ranch Market.

Afterwards I was very happy to find some ear candles (the ones I tried in K.L.) at Mal Ambasador and then I went back to Casaluna.

I brought Maj-Britt her stuff, shortly visited my room and took the next taxi home to Tanja.
(Such a nice hotel apartment and such a nice view!!!!!) And I got all her small shampoos, tooth brushes e.g. that they get every day - smart for my Bali trip!

Tanja had prepared ”rugbrød, franskbrød, frikadeller, skinke, spegepølse, majonæse, remoulade, ristede løg, sild, æg, tomater, agurk, løg og rød peber”! SOOOOOOOOO delicious! And just what I needed! ;)

Afterwards we went to Plaza Semanggi to walk around and to go to the cinema and watch “The Prinsesse And The Frog” – a very sweet and totally unimportant Disney cartoon!

What a great evening!

Batak food with Henry

Yesterday I was at the embassy – all by myself (just like today)... Boring day! Maj-Britt is sick and Andreas is on holiday...

But after work I went home shortly and then I went out to have dinner at a Batak restaurant, “Toba Dream”, with Henry and one of his friends.

We had grilled pork – served with a sauce that showed to be blood sauce. And I eat it before I knew... Hmmm...

Except from this sauce the food was ok and the atmosphere was great! We talked and talked and talked!

And then the restaurant closed and we had to go home.

Great evening!

Today I’ll visit Tanja and we will eat “rugbrød” and go to Semanggi and watch “The Prinsesse And The Frog” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780521/). Girls evening!

KUALA LUMPUR

Thursday on my way home from work – before the packing for my K.L. trip – I passed by ITC, Carrefour and my new favourite ice cream shop in Mal Ambasador! ;) Nice!

And the evening went with packing.

I brought my backpack to the embassy on Friday to be able to leave for the airport right after work and a small trip to Oakwood.

Even though it had been raining and it was Friday, the trip to the airport went fast without any trouble, which meant that I arrived at the airport way to early and had lots and lots of time to wander around, look at stuff, have “dinner” and buy myself a book – Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(novel) ). THE BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER! I am totally hooked! I’m thinking about that book all the time. And I feel almost bad about it. Am I really still such a teenager?! And even though I have been in K.L. during the weekend and seen a lot of stuff, I have soon passed the first 400 pages in my book...

The flight went nice and in K.L. Benny (a friend of Heidi and now also one of my friends) picked me up at the airport and took me to the hostel, he had booked for me, in his car – telling me scary stories about hunted roads and black magic and small baby zombies during that trip. So I was happy to see that my room had windows covered with bars!

My hostel during the weekend was Green Hut (www.thegreenhut.com) in Bukit Bintang, K.L. The room was small and not very exciting, but on the other hand very cheap!




After checking in and bringing my stuff to my room, Benny and I went to have some typical Malaysian food in a street restaurant! Really good! And without Benny I had most likely not dared to eat there. But it was a big success.

We drove around and Benny took me to SohoKL (http://www.sohokl.com/) in Mont’Kiara, where we had a cup of coffee, before he drove me back (by incidence on the way back, I saw a guy on the street, who I knew from Jakarta – Juan – and three of his friends). I spent some time at the computers in the hostel – being annoyed by a drunk Arabian guy and I went to sleep around 4.00 in the morning (again after reading in my new book...).

Saturday morning I went to have a one hour foot massage in one of the many massage clinics around K.L.! K.L. has a massage clinic on every corner, like Copenhagen has 7-11’s! And actually they even have many more foot massage places than we have 7-11’s!!!

It was amazing! I can recommend that place to anyone who ever goes to K.L.! It is called KLValley and it is placed on Plaza Danau 2!

I went back to the hostel to sit outside and write some post cards until Benny would arrive. In the mean time I met another friend from Jakarta. Apparently he stayed at the same hostel – again: What a coincidence!

Benny came and picked me up and we went to the Petronas Towers / KLCC / Kuala Lumpur City Center.

“KLCC Petronas Towers are with their 452 meters the world's tallest twin towers. On the 41st floor a bridge connects the two towers, and here there is a very beautiful view of Kuala Lumpur.

The Petronas Towers are housing the beautiful Petronas Philharmony, home of Malaysia's National Philharmonic. Of exhibitions to be seen are Petronas Gallery, which exhibits Malaysian and foreign art and Petrosains Interactive Science Discovery Center, which examines the route of oil from the underground to processed products.”

When we arrived there were no more tickets to get up into the towers. Instead we walked around the towers in a park (where Benny proved his skills as a total paparazzi...) and were inside the towers in KLCC (a shoppingcenter), where we also had our lunch at a Malaysian restaurant.

After KLCC we drove to the Batu Caves Saturday afternoon.

“The large Batu limestone caves north of Kuala Lumpur are a natural wonder.
Already on the arrival to the caves they are impressive with the wide, 272 steps high staircase, which almost disappears into the mountain.

The actual caves consist of three main caves and a small part. Among the open holes is the 180-meter Cathedral Cave, where many meters long stalactites are hanging from the ceiling. The visit here is unforgettable.

The cave system was discovered in the late 1800s by Amercian William Hornaday.

The many monkeys in the area bring extra colour to the visit.

The impressive Batu Caves are a sacred place for the Hindus of Malaysia, and in the beginning of the year they have the great religious Thaipusam festival here.”

After the Batu Caves we went to a mountain near by. Here they had a few restaurants and people come up here to eat and to watch the skyline of Kuala Lumpur – which is definitely worth a look! It was very beautiful!

After this Benny drove me back to my street again and I had another massage. This time one hour wasn’t enough. Instead I had a half hours shoulders and back massage, a one hours foot massage and a one hours ear candle and head and arm massage treatment. Ear candles are amazing! It was my first time trying it. And I actually didn’t know for what purpose they did it until he afterwards opened up the rest of the candle and showed me...

This one is a very critical article about it. But it worked for me and it was indeed very nice!
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling)

I went back to the hostel, read my book and slept.

Sunday morning there was no water in the hostel – no flushing the toilet, no shower, no washing hands... That ends up being quite disgusting with so many people on so little space...

But luckily I had a bit of water left in a bottle.

It had been hard to get up anyway because all my muscles either hurt or were too relaxed from the massage the night before...

Benny came to pick me up and we drove to his church, where I saw the service. It was so much different than in Denmark – even though it is exactly the same religion. People were dancing, singing and mumbling things with closed eyes as their prayer. It was like some of the movies we see on TV. I had just never believed that it would actually be just like that! But it is!

Benny was holding a speech in the Youth Church. Again there were jokes and a loose atmosphere with singing and music.

There had been around five attacks on churches in K.L. that weekend and cars with Christian symbols had been smashed. Benny had already told me a bit about it Friday evening when I arrived. But I didn’t think that it was as bad as I realized during the service.

And here I was: Sitting in a church in K.L., while churches in K.L. were being attacked...

About the attacks: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/01/11/church-attacks-malaysia-deepen-racial-tension.html

But Benny’s speech was quite impressive! I got introduced to everyone! And the church was a totally new experience for me. So a very good start of the day!

After church we went to a Chinese area – though not Chinatown. There were also no tourists in this area, only me. Already on a distance I could smell the lovely smell. And the smell came from the restaurant where we were going to eat Chinese food! It was the best soup I’ve had so far! Even better than Rawon.

We drove around the city and Benny showed me a huge mosque, Little India and more or less all the important buildings in K.L.!

Our destination was the Central Market, where they sell handicraft. To me it seemed as if they only sold Indonesian handicraft. But again that is the huge dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia. They have exactly the same cultural stuff and they argue about where it originally comes from!

I bought a Chinese umbrella (I think it is Chinese...).

And I met a Danish couple travelling through Malaysia.

We drove on to Chinatown, had something nice to drink and walked around to look. I nearly had two men on my side all the time – people that wanted to sell me some fake dvd’s. But actually the fake dvd’s in Jakarta are much cheaper than in K.L.!

And then it was time for going back to the airport. Benny took me there and we had dinner at McDonalds, before we said goodbye and I went to the gate.

The flight was nice. I had a space at the window again. I really prefer sitting at the window!

In Jakarta I was trying to get past the taxi drivers with their “Miss! Miss! Miss! Taxi? Taxi? Miss!” as usual. But there was a guy in a blue Bluebird shirt who asked if I wanted a Bluebird. Here I turned around and thought that I could skip the standing in line and waiting, and I followed him to his car, which showed to be a private car... I looked at him – disappointed – and told him that I knew how a Bluebird looked and that this was not a Bluebird. But he gave me a fair price and I didn’t have to stand in line, so I took the car. Anyway he looked small enough that I would be able to defend myself, if he would kidnap me or try to rob/rape me!

He spoke quite good English and it showed that he was from Samosir, where I had just been during Christmas. He was also Christian. We had a nice talk during the whole trip where he told me about some astonishing theories about why the earthquakes happen where they happen. And I must say that I don’t really believe these theories...

And when we where half way home, he said: “Miss?”. “Yes?”, I replied. “I’m sorry that I said it was a Bluebird, Miss.” He sounded so regretting that he had tried to pull money out of me with the nice talk we had had all the way. I ensured him that it was ok and it made him loosen up again.

I got home safely and with the best taxi ride through Jakarta so far!

I unpacked my stuff and went to sleep!

That was the trip to K.L.!

Rain in Jakarta on the 7th of January

Yesterday it was raining heavily in Jakarta. And it was just a single cloud. Over Pulau Seribu we could see that there was light.

Rain, thunder and lightening is amazing in Jakarta. Also here extreme weather is much more extreme than in Denmark!

The pictures are taking from the embassy.

Since North Sumatra

The start into the new year on Friday the 1st of January started with sleeping very long. I was even without a New Year celebration gotten to bed quite late - after I had unpacked my bags at night and been on the Internet.

Towards lunchtime I went to Plaza Indonesia, where I had sushi as my new years dish. Afterwards I wanted to go to Starbucks. The internet at Starbucks seemed not optimal, so I could not post all the pictures on Facebook – which was my intention with going there.

So I went down and shopped food e.g. and wandered around a bit.

But soon after I went back to Casaluna, where I uploaded some pictures the rest of the day and relax.

Saturday the 2nd of January was Maj-Britt's birthday.

However, I started the day by being picked up by Henry. I had packed two big bags the night before with things that I would like to send home from the post office on Saturday. Henry and I went to the post office and he helped me to send things. It turned out however that I had more experience in sending stuff than he.

But we experienced corruption. The costumer asked Henry to give him money. He had tried with me once but figured that it didn’t work. But now where I brought an Indonesian, it did work.

Sometimes I think that the reason why this country is so corrupt is simply because people do not say no. Actually most people don’t want to give governmentally employed people any money. But when they ask for the money they do not say no. They just give it to them.

After the post office we drove around, talking until we found a street where there was supposed to be a Rawon restaurant – but this restaurant had closed down. So instead we had Chinese food.

We went on to a street where Henry had heard that you could buy the typical Indonesian cookie boxes, Kaleng Krupuk, that you see at every small food stall. I bought nine small ones, three big ones and one in between – a mixture of all colours!

Henry drove me back home. And at 17.00 I met up with Maj-Britt to go to Plaza Indonesia and celebrate her birthday.

We went to a massage/fish spa place in Grand Indonesia, where we got a hand/feet/shoulders massage. Afterwards we had sushi at Sushi Tei – it took one hour before we could get a table, it took maybe half an hour to eat, and it definitely took more than one hour to get the bill...

Our desert was yoghurt ice at a great ice cream shop, where you can mix your own yoghurt ice and put on it your own choice of toppings. Afterwards they weigh the ice cream and you pay per 10 g.

We went to the movies and watched “Sherlock Holmes” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/). It was actually a really good movie – and not at all as expected.

Hereafter home to bed again.

Sunday I went to Starbucks. And I was sitting there for quite some hours – uploading pictures on Facebook e.g., eating at Ranch Market and the like. Around 16.30 Johanna came and we went to ITC – shopping, trying on my Batik dress and back to Starbucks to have a last drink. And that was all I did that day. The evening was again just watching movies back at home and uploading more pictures on Facebook.

Monday was my first day at work after my holiday. After work I went to ITC again. I had to pick up my Batik dress this time and it fitted well! After work home, uploading pictures again again and relaxing.

Tuesday Maj-Britt came with me to ITC after work. This time I had to pick up some necklaces. I also had a frozen yoghurt at a newly opened shop in Mall Ambassador. Besides the good frozen yoghurt in Grand Indonesia, this is the best and cheapest one I have had so far.

Yesterday (which was also the amazing day with Matador Mix at the embassy) we went to Grand Indonesia / Plaza Indonesia after being at the embassy. We were supposed to meet with Johanna and Tanja here around 18.00. But since we had enough time before, we walked a bit around. Maj-Britt got herself a coffee at Starbucks and I decided to try a coffee at Kopi Luwak.




When do you pay 82.500Rp. for a cup of coffee? And where do you have five girls standing around your cup, sharing the work with making a perfect cup of coffee? Where does your small package of coffee come in a nice little bag with a small brochure about the coffee? And where do they ask you to smell the aroma, before they make the coffee?

The answer is Kopi Luwak:

("THE MOST EXPENSIVE COFFEE IN THE WORLD"

"The Luwak (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) denizen of the coffee (kopi) plantations of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi, eats only the ripest coffee cherries.

Unable to digest the coffee beans, the Luwak graciously deposits them on the jungle floor where they are eagerly collected by the locals.

The stomach acids and enzymatic action involved in this unique fermentation process produces the beans for the world's rarest coffee beverage."

http://www.kopiluwak.org/)

It was definitely an experience. And the coffee was ok... A bit warm, tasting like coffee and like a lot of places in Indonesia, they didn’t filter the coffee away – it was in the bottom of the cup. But now at least I have tried it!

We walked further around and looked at shops until Tanja called us that she had already arrived, so we went back to our classic meeting point, Starbucks.

Also Johanna arrived soon after. Together we went to Johanna’s favourite Thai restaurant, eat and went to the cinema to watch “Whip It” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172233/). Also a really good movie and I’m looking forward to see my skates again, when I get back home.

Today I’m back at the embassy. And there are no other plans than this.

But tomorrow I will be going to K.L.! And I’m quite excited about that!