9Monday, August 28, 2006

My Indonesia: Just A Smile Away - Sherina

Indonesia, an archicpelago nation consisting of 18,000 islands and enriched with almost 3,000 years of fascinating history. It is one of the world's most fascinating country with an abundance of nature and culture.

I was born in Singapore and brought to Jakarta when I was one and grew up there for most of my childhood life until I was 7 and a half where I moved back to Singapore to begin Primary School. Jakarta just brings back the nostalgia of the good old days, when I was just a wee little lad.

I will always love this adopted nation of mine, just like Singapore, it is a land of opportunities and filled with wonderment that you cannot imagine. If you ever get a chance, visit this nation. Don't let the tainted image of corruption, terrorism and insecurity get to you, Indonesia is really a fascinating place.

Well, enough of Indonesia I guess, haha. I woke up late again today. Sheesh. I managed to get 7 hours of sleep at least, thats adequate I suppose. I shot a picture of our suite, its messy I know! I'm messy lar.



I had doughnuts for breakfast. My relative is going to launch a doughnut company and there was a soft launch yesterday which coincided with the wedding and everyone received a pre-sample of what the doughnuts would look and taste like. I took a bite and then grabbed three boxes of em and sneaked it to my hotel room. Hee hee hee! I hope they franchise it to Singapore!





After my breakfast, I had lunch! LOL ... CRAZY Right? We had dim sum for lunch. The restaurant is reputed to serve the best dim sum in Indonesia and I can't object. You should have tasted it, like gold!



After lunch, my mom and her business partner, francis, wanted their production team for their haut couture stuff, so while on the way there, I snapped a few shots of Jakarta from the car. Heh.









You've seen the skyscrapers of Jakarta, now, see a little bit of the shanty and suburban area of Jakarta too.







Ok, so we headed to Plaza Senayan Later. Well, PS is my favourite hangout place, I practically grew up there. Lol, along with Pondok Indah Mall and Plaza Indonesia. The mall along with Sogo and Metro department store in it is mostly family-owned so I know some of the people there. I know, my family seems to own a bloody hell lot of companies larh. I also dunno why, power hungry la I guess. I just want a simple life, free of family political complications. Anyways, I still remember some of the people at Sogo since the time I was young and managed to say Hi to some of them. Haha. So Fun!

The people in Indonesia are nice. Their service is 5 stars. Seriously, they smile at all their guests and even on street side, when you wanna buy a bowl of bak me, they will smile at you. It really is a nation of smiles. They didn't even have a Smile campaign or GEMS initiative like Singapore, reputed for having the most campaigns, some quite looney, like Romancing Singapore, SHEESH!

The best part of Sogo is perhaps its food hall. It has everything larh. Even breadtalk and like wth!! OSIM o.o ... It's like the basement of paragon like that larh.


Plaza Senayan - SOGO Wing


SOGO Food Hall Logo


SOGO Food Hall Decor

After the dim sum lunch, I had late lunch again at the ChatterBox Cafe in Sogo. This Cafe really serves the best ordinary food, like fish n chips, chicken rice and etc. etc. Just like the Chatterbox at the Mandarin hotel, only cheaper, but more chic! My grandma told me that they sought out one of Singapore's best chefs to head the kitchen.





I walked around the mall after lunch and looked for goodies and stuff, I got myself two more new sweaters to my collection. HAHA. I'm a jacket addict larh! Nothing much while I just accompanies my mom around to do her shopping and stuff.

After that, DINNER TIME. Lol, you think i'm crazy right? I just got my appetite back because I have not much stress at the moment. Everyone was amazed as I cleared plate by plate.

We went to one of Jakarta's exclusive hotels, the Dharmawangsa, for dinner. I had Soto Ayam, LOL and Nasi Goreng for dinner there. The decor is really beautiful. I managed to take photos indoors but couldn't the majestic outdoors because it was too dark.







OK, guess what I did after dinner, SUPPER! Yea, serious. We went to Kemang for supper. While I was growing up, I stayed in Permata and Simprug, but most of my daily activities took place in Kemang, I studied there, played there and just spent time there. Kemang is filled with chic areas, lavish restaurants, modern mall joints, even groovy disco clubs. There are no roads, just streets, its a small community.

We went to the De La Rossa. It serves the best Creme Brule in town. I ordered that of course! I tok photos of the interior and the exterior just as we were about to board the car and head off back to our hotel.







Well, I took alot of pictures today and I only managed to put up a mere fraction of what I have in my phone. It was a great day larh, cause I managed to eat alot. I think I've gaine alot of weight but I walked alot too, so that probably cancelled it out. Now! I'm in my hotel room, CONSUMING MORE DOUGNUTS LARH! addicted. shit.

I'm tired bah. I'm going buy souvenier tomorrow! Yay! Hope I can get nice stuff from Jakarta. I'll cya guys soon!

Ooh!, before I leave, a photo of me. HAHAHA. cause the other photos dun have me one!



DAMN FIERCE RIGHT! ... lol ... just kay kay one .. tomorrow I take a smiling one. >< ... Night All! *munches dougnut*
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