Going to Jakarta and Bandung - 2

(Continued from Part 1)

The next day, 8 June 2006, Inka and Irza went to Jalan Rancabolang with their father and grandfather; to buy the famous “Amanda” baked brownies, which is one of Bandung’s specialties. It’s located quite far from Bandung city center, at the south-east outskirt of Bandung, near the Jalan Soekarno-Hatta highway around Buah Batu area. Actually the brownies can also be bought from many stalls scattered around Bandung, however the price is more expensive.

In the afternoon, after checking-out from the hotel, they made another round of sightseeing around Bandung before going back to Jakarta. They went to “Rumah Mode” outlet store in Jalan Setiabudhi, before passing by the famous Jalan Cihampelas and visiting the Cihampelas Walk (CiWalk). As usual, Inka and Irza immediately went to the Timezone amusement centre there, while their mother, grandmother and aunt window-shopped around the mall. They also bought the famous J.Co Donut, which is reputably the best doughnut in Indonesia.

From Cihampelas, we then went to Jalan Pasirkaliki. Our destination is the “Bumbu Desa” restaurant where we bought food for dinner the previous night. Almost everyone was satisfied with the food, so we decided to go there again for lunch. This restaurant is located along Jalan Pasirkaliki, just south of the Pasteur junction, not far from Istana Plaza, one of the biggest shopping malls in Bandung.

Actually it was already past 2pm Indonesian time (or 3pm Singapore time) when we reached the restaurant, so it was actually quite a bit late for lunch. However that doesn’t stop us from enjoying lots of variety of Sundanese food, such as grilled chicken, pepes tahu, pepes oncom, kangkong belachan, bandeng fish, and the most important, lalapan (raw vegetables) and sambal (chili). There are three types of sambal provided, and all are good. With Teh Botol (Indonesian famous ice tea) for drink and es cincau hijau (green grass jelly ice) as dessert, it’s simply delicious.

More pictures at the Bumbu Desa restaurant, including the food – you have been warned!! :) :) – can be found here. After finishing our lunch, we then go straight towards Terusan Pasteur and hit the Cipularang expressway to go back to Jakarta. We reached Jakarta in the evening.

The next day, I took Inka and Irza to Depok to visit a new shopping mall around Margonda, Depok. The new shopping mall is called Margo City, and it’s located just opposite Depok Town Square (Detos), another shopping mall in Depok which we have visited earlier. At that time, this Margo City was not yet finished and still on the last stage of development.

Since the shopping mall was quite new, most of the units were empty. The only “life” of the new shopping mall is the J.Co Donut stall, which always can make people to queue for very long time to get the (reputably) best doughnuts in town. As usual, Inka and Irza went to the Timezone amusement centre (agaiiiin, *sigh*) on the second floor.

Since nothing much to see and do there, we went to Detos, which is just opposite the road, and we had dinner at the Popeye restaurant on ground floor. Inka chose the fried chicken, while Irza chose the chicken strips. More pictures can be found here.




The next day, in the afternoon, we went to Cilandak Town Square (Citos). We did another round of shopping at the Matahari department store, and as usual, Inka and Irza also dropped by at the Timezone on the ground floor. During tea-time, we also went to Kafe Pisa and had some ice creams. More pictures at Kafe Pisa can be found here.

On Sunday morning, 11 June 2006, the whole family was very busy attending the aqiqah ceremony for Adyarafa Almefty Priguna, a.k.a. Rafa, which is Inka and Irza’s youngest and newest cousin. Rafa is the first son of Uncle Firman and Aunty Ria, and was born on May 2006. The event was held at Uncle Firman’s house in Puri Cinere, Depok. The event includes prayers for the baby’s health as well as shaving of some of the baby’s hair. More pictures at the event can be found here.

In the evening, we went to Bakmi Japos restaurant in Pangkalan Jati, Cinere, to celebrate the birthday of Nenek (Inka and Irza’s grandmother). The restaurant is located next to the Pangkalan Jati golf course, and we loved the ambience of the restaurant. Some of the tables are located facing a park with a small pond, with live music provided every night. The food itself is OK, not really great. The pictures can be found here.

Inka and Irza were staying for another week in Jakarta, before going back to Singapore on the 18th of June 2006. Inka even had the chance to go to Bandung again with her grandparents, and visited Rumah Strawberry, which is a nice strawberry theme park located along Jalan Cihanjuang, Bandung. Unfortunately, there were no pictures available.

(The End)

Going to Jakarta and Bandung - 1

During June school holiday this year, Inka and Irza went to Jakarta with their parents for a short 2.5 weeks holiday. They left Singapore for Jakarta on 1 June 2006 with their mother, while their father followed them on 3 June 2006. They took the Valuair flight directly to Jakarta from Singapore. On the 3^rd, they fetched their father from the airport and then went directly to ITC Mangga Dua, to accompany their mother and their grandmother for some shopping. ITC Mangga Dua is very famous for its cheap goods compared to other shopping malls in Jakarta. Although they didn’t like the shopping mall, which is very crowded, but they enjoyed having their lunch at the food court on the 7^th floor. More pictures at the ITC Mangga Dua can be found here.

The next morning, Irza went to Cinere Mall with his parents, and they did some grocery shopping at the Hero supermarket there. In the evening, the whole family went to Pondok Indah Mall and of course, their main destination would be the Timezone amusement centre. They were having a great time playing there, accompanied with their father, while their mother and grandparents went around shopping.

They also had lunch at Bakmi Gajah Mada (or Bakmi GM) restaurant, located on the second floor of the Pondok Indah Mall, just in front of the 21 Cineplex. Inka and Irza really enjoyed their chicken noodles, which is Bakmi GM’s specialty. More pictures at the Bakmi GM restaurant can be found here.

On 6 June 2006, the whole family went to ITC Kuningan, again to accompany their mother for some shopping (again). They reached there around lunch time, so they immediately went to the Ambassador Mall, the shopping mall next door, which is directly connected to ITC Kuningan, to have some lunch at the food court on the third floor. They really enjoyed their Indonesian food, such as ayam kalasan and soto betawi. After lunch, while waiting for their mother shopping, they were having a great time at the small playground, which is located on the same floor as the food court. More pictures at the Ambassador Mall can be found here.

On 7 June 2006, they went to Bandung, together with their parents, grandmother and aunt. Bandung is a city about 120km south east of Jakarta, and connected to Jakarta via the new Cipularang expressway. With this new expressway, the journey from Jakarta to Bandung only takes about 2 hours. Irza was very impressed with all the railway bridges, which can be seen from the expressway.

They reached Bandung at around 12pm and after having lunch at their grandparents’ house in Cimindi, they went to the factory outlet stores along Jalan Riau, Bandung. While waiting for their mother, aunt and grandmother to shop, they went to a playground called Happy Days, which is located on the third floor of one of the outlets.

After waiting for the avid shoppers to finish their shopping, they went to the hotel to check-in. They stayed at the Aston Hotel and Residence, a new hotel which is located at the Braga Citywalk shopping complex. The hotel is new with a very nice lobby. However, since the shopping complex is also quite new, it’s still empty. Only the amusement centre and the food court on the second floor are opened, together with some other small stalls. There’s also Braga 21 cineplex, which is also very quiet. More pictures at the Braga Citywalk and Aston Hotel and Residences can be found here.

In the evening, while the avid shoppers were shopping at the factory outlet stores along Jalan Juanda (Dago) such as “Grande” and “Jetset”, Inka and Irza had “early” dinner with his father at the KFC along the same stretch of road. They went back to the hotel after going to the Bumbu Desa restaurant along Jalan Pasirkaliki to buy some dinner to be eaten at the hotel.

[Indonesian version]

(Continued to Part 2)

Quicklink: Photos of the Week – 2

These pictures were taken before we went to Jakarta early this month for a short holiday.

• Junction 8 Playground, Bishan
• Bukit Batok Nature Park

More pictures during our holiday in Jakarta and Bandung will follow. Stay tuned. :)

[Indonesian version]

Quicklink: Photos of the Week - 1

Photos of Inka and Irza in the past couple of weeks can be found here.

Quicklink: Swimming Irza

Photos of Irza while swimming in the swimming pool within our apartment's complex. Please click here.

Tante Dian wondered why the swimming pool is similar to the one in her apartment where she once stayed while in Singapore. Turned out to be that it's actually the same apartment complex. :D :D

ISM Gathering at East Coast Park

Yesterday (Sunday, 7/5), we went to East Coast Park to attend the IndoSing-Mums (ISM) gathering. ISM itself is a closed mailing list for those Indonesian mums and mums-wanna-be currently living in Singapore. This gathering is also specially conducted as a farewell party for Tante Wanti and family, who will go back to Makassar this month, and also for Tante Ulfah and family, who will move to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Some of the pictures are below.

Left picture - Inka and Irza were having a great time playing with sands on the beach, together with Fathir and his father, Uncle Roni.






Right picture - Uncle Roni was busy giving chicken noodles to Fathir, while Q2 (Qiratullah), Tante Wanti's son, was waiting to be fed as well. In the end, Uncle Roni was feeding both. :)






Left picture - those are the kids of Om Emil and Tante Nonong, which are currently living in Eunos. From left to right: Marsya, Fadzil and Naira. Believe it or not, currently Tante Nonong is expecting her fourth child!





Right picture - that's Aidan, the lovely and only son of Om Wisnu and Tante Shinta. The family currently lives in Sengkang.







Left picture - That is the picture of Hanan and Iffah, who were having a great time playing with sands on the beach. Hanan is the first daughter of Om Iwan and Tante Hany, while Iffah is the only daughter of Om Duddy and Tante Ellen.





Right picture - That is the picture of Zidan and Syifa. Zidan and Syifa are the children of Om Haris and Tante Inong. They live nearby, in Bukit Batok, about 10 minutes drive from our home.






Left picture - From left to right: Fathir, son of Om Roni and Tante Gita, Atifah, daughter of Tante Ulfah and Om Yahya, Q1 (Qurratayun), first son of Om Iman and Tante Wanti, Aily, daughter of Om Judhi and Tante Ami, and Athaya, daughter of Om Bubun and Tante Wiwie.




More pictures during the event can be found here, as well as here (thanks to Tante Hany), here (thanks to Om Judhi), here, here, here, here, here and here.

[Indonesian version]

Quicklink: Pictures at Bugis Junction

Pictures of Inka and Irza at Bugis Junction, can be found here. We were there last Saturday (29/4) for some sightseeing (as usual), was taking care of the children while waiting for my wife (window) shopping. :)

[Indonesian version]

Cycling at East Coast Park

Last Saturday (29/4) morning, the whole family went to East Coast Park for cycling and a little bit of exercising. As usual, we brought Inka and Irza's bicycles there, while I and my wife rented a tandem bicycle from one of the bicycle kiosks there. Fortunately, the weather was just nice, not too hot and a bit cloudy, but not raining either. Just nice. :)

We cycled along the bicycle path for quite some time. After about 45 minutes, Inka and Irza looked a bit tired. So I returned the tandem bicycle to the kiosk and then we walked towards McDonalds to have some breakfast. Inka and Irza enjoyed their big breakfast and hotcakes a lot, quite a bit hungry after cycling for quite some time.

After finishing their breakfast, Inka and Irza took some time playing at the playground just beside the restaurant. The playground is provided by McDonalds for its customers there.

More pictures can be found here.

[Indonesian version]

Tekukor Playground and Bistro Delifrance

Last Sunday (23/4), after having her weekly reading lesson at ICR Jurong East, Inka with her brother Irza went to Jalan Tekukor to play at the playground there. They were having a great time playing there. The pictures can be found here.

In the evening, the whole family went to Ngee Ann City, Orchard Road. Our destination is the Bistro Delifrance restaurant, on basement 1. It's the restaurant version of the famous Delifrance cafe in Singapore. The food served is similar to what is served in Swensens, and the price is also similar.

The flat principal (main course) which I ordered is Jarret d’ Agneau Braisé (see right picture), which is braised lamb shank served with mashed potato. My wife ordered Pâtes Forestière, chicken and mushroom in cream sauce served on linguine. Irza chose the Friture de Poisson et Pommes Frites (see bottom left picture), which is Delifrance's version of fish and chips, golden battered fish fillet and potato wedges, served with tartar sauce.

Inka didn't order any main course because she already had dinner at home before we left. So she ordered Gauffres Croustillantes for dessert. It's Delifrance's anwer to waffle ice cream. Hot crispy waffles served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, topped with strawberry sauce. It's very nice indeed, and eventually Irza also wanted the same dessert.

The pictures can be found here.

[Indonesian version]

Saturday Bus Journey

Last Saturday (22 April 2006), I took Irza for a bus ride around Singapore. Irza likes to take the public bus, especially the double decker bus. Our first destination was Paragon in Orchard Road. We left home at around 2pm, and we took bus 61 to Holland Road, after which then we took the bus 7 to Lucky Plaza bus stop along Orchard Road. Actually, there's a direct bus (174) from our home to Orchard, however the bus is very rare and sometimes it takes ages to wait for the bus to come.

We walked around Paragon for a while, before walking towards the bus stop in front of Heeren. After buying some fried snacks from Old Chang Kee, we took bus 77 towards the Marina Bay area. Our next destination was Marina Square. We alight at the bus stop in front of Pan Pacific Hotel, and use the overhead bridge to the Marina Square shopping mall.

We had our lunch at the Cavana Chicken restaurant on the 2nd floor. After lunch, we walked outside the shopping mall, and crossing the Raffles Avenue towards the Esplanade. Actually I wanted to take Irza to Esplanade, however looks like he's very tired so I decided to go to the bus stop there to look for a bus ride home. There was no direct bus home from there, so we took the bus 171 to Upper Bukit Timah Road, just opposite the Bukit Timah Plaza, and then we continue to take the bus 66 home.

Some pictures during the bus journey can be found here.

[Indonesian version]