Antara Anyer Dan Jakarta

Guys, guys. Seriously. 

Am I the only one who does this, or do we have a support group somewhere for losers who will immediately belt out Sheila Majid's Antara Anyer Dan Jakarta the minute the word 'Jakarta' is mentioned hahahahaha

♬ Antara anyer dan Jakarta

Kita jauh cinta

Antara anyer dan Jakarta

Kisah cinta tiga malam

Kan ku ingat selamanya
Antara anyer dan...

Jakartaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ♬

ANYWAY. Bad pseudo Sheila Majid singing aside, Saliheen and I flew to Jakarta and stayed at Mandarin Oriental Jakarta at the start of the month!!!

Well technically, it's not a proper holiday *holiday* per se lah because it was just me tagging along with Saliheen on his business trip but I had a wonderful time lazing around so... it was a holiday for ME, alright :P

It was my first time in Jakarta but I didn't explore as much as I'd like because Saliheen didn't want me wandering around on my own in the streets of Jakarta. So I just regarded this as a post-Europe relaxing trip - just makan, tido and go for pampering sessions. Macam, you know... TAI TAI AH ABEH #thuglife #taitailife

I love, love, love everything about Mandarin Oriental Jakarta!!! I mean, can you believe it - what we got was the most basic superior room and it was already so huuuuuge!!!!! And so luxurious!!! You can watch my instavid of the room here. So nice hor?! Wahhhhh.... Cannot imagine how their biggest Mandarin suite must look and feel like seh... boleh tampung a whole kampung kot. Or probably a whole country hahaha melampau

Went for lunch at Grand Indonesia Shopping Town ("Grand Indo") after we checked in and then Saliheen left for work while I walked around aimlessly for a bit before heading back to the hotel. Niat hati nak joli sampai pagi but akak punya umur dan otot otot sudah tidak mengizinkan ye tuan tuan dan puan puan.

Oh, and yes, gua terkena disappointment of the century that day lah k: Dah semangat berkobar kobar to buat spa and massage appointment kat Martha Tilaar Day Spa but found out upon arrival that the outlet in Grand Indo is closed for renovation!!!!! VERY HAMPEH, YOU KNOW. 

HOW TO BECOME TAI TAI IF NEVER GO SPA & MASSAGE WHILE LAKI GO KERJA, YOU KNOW.

Good thing I brought a bottle of Bathing Milk from Scottish Fine Soaps and spent the rest of the day napping and soaking in a long and deep bubble bath. SO MUCH BLISS. I'd totally recommend this Bathing Milk anytime any-day, by the way - the scent is so freaking divine siak! Ni macam mandi susu but in a modern way gitu.

 

Finished my bath in time for dinner but I didn't know what time Saliheen would knock off work so I ordered room service (Vietnamese spring rolls and cheese truffle fries!) as alas perut. Then just as the room service dude served the food in my room 30 minutes later, the hotel room telephone rang.

It was Saliheen, who was downstairs and wanted me to rush down because he wanted me to follow him for dinner with his work associates. Pffttttt. I was a little pissed at the short notice and having to leave my alas perut food go cold in the room but all anger dissipated when I saw what was for dinner on the table that night:

 

ENAK BANGET SIH.

Enjoyed our meal at Nasi Padang Sederhana Restaurant and was even introduced to stuff we never makan before like ayam pop, keropok kulit, and another fatty dish (forgot the name!). Really liked their version of rendang too - just that the rempah is stronger and the meat is drier than the rendang that we're used to in Singapore.

Was left to my own devices again the next day, so I fixed a morning appointment at Mandarin Oriental's inhouse spa and massage parlour. Too lazy to go find a decent massage parlour outside of the hotel!

I was sooooo relaxed the whole time I was there... I think it helps that the atmosphere and service were great!!! Kicking myself for not taking more than 2 hours!!! 

Of course nothing can beat my spa & massage experience at Niyama Maldives as of now ah, but this was nice and classy on its own. Plus there were no other guests around so I had the whole place - sauna, dressing room, shower, general lepak area - to myself! So private and tranquil, I like.

Went back to the room hungry as hell because it was time for lunch! Again, I was too lazy and too hungry to venture out so I ordered room service ha. ha. ha. ha. ha.

Tried the soto betawi but it was a disappointment. Not as flavourful as how I expected it be :/

If my mother was there, she would have tsk-ed disapprovingly "Ish ish ish, tawar hebeh!" Lol. The chilli sauce and lime salvaged the taste ah, but just barely :/

Ron's Laboratory

Rushed out after lunch for some dessert - I had the privilege of meeting the owner of Ron's Laboratory and trying out some of their bestselling flavours! :D

 Red Velvet (medium roast chocolate gelato with cream cheese topping) 

You can watch some cream cheese squirting action here.

Mango Dimsum (mango pudding gelato with evaporated milk fla injection)

 Choco Windproof (base gelato with "tolak angin" and Lindt's chocolate chunk with chocolate injection)

The Breakfast (Plain base gelato with Nutella swirl topped with crunchy cornflakes)

By the way, you jangan pikir this is normal gelato k. This is liquid nitrogen gelato k. Made using molecular gastronomy method k. Cheem k. Tapi sedap bila the gelato slides down your throat k.

Also, I love it when F&B businesses go all creative and weird and introduce unexpected flavours and unconventional concoctions on its menu! This is something Ron's Laboratory does on a monthly basis, and I was told that they even have rendang flavour in their menu rotation! Sedap kot, kalau makan dengan nasi :P

Oh, my favourites are Red Velvet and The Breakfast, by the way! Can't go wrong with cream cheese and Nutella, really.

Prices are from IDR 50.000 to IDR 60.000 per cup, which is about SGD5 to SGD6++. You can see more pictures of their process and offerings here and here and some of the flavours they've offered before here.

Ron's Laboratory

West Mall of Grand Indonesia

5th fl, ED2 – 12B

Jl. M.H. Thamrin No.1

Jakarta 10310

 

Facebook.com/ronslaboratory | Twitter : @ronslaboratory | Instagram: @ronslaboratory

Koffie Warung Tinggi

I was pretty stuffed but I knew I had to singgah Koffie Warung Tinggi after reading about it in various Indonesian blogs - there's the charming food blog Eats And Treats, the passionate recipe and culinary food blog My Fun Foodiary and the cutiepie blog Lulaby Spoon. Or you can just Google 'Koffie Warung Tinggi' because there are tons of reviews on them on the world wide web.

As stuffed as I was, I couldn't help ordering two mini martabaks for myself - the dark toblerone mini martabak and the ovomaltive martabak. Hooooomagahhhhh the ovomaltine martabak was the bomb lah okay!!!!!!!! If my life was a Korean variety show, you'd have seen stars and hearts bursting out of my eyes and head already haha. 

No thoughts on the coffee because I only had their iced latte, which was biasa je lah.

Koffie Warung Tinggi also has great ambience (lighting baik, geng) and I can totally imagine slacking here with my friends to chat and gossip over coffee and martabaks. Ooh, and they also have free wifi!!!!! Penting k free wifi! Cafes yang takde free wifi is equal to... merepek meraban taik apek dalam jamban haha #childishme

Will most definitely return to Koffie Warung Tinggi if I return to Jakarta!!! And will order martabaks with cheese toppings pulak next time. Prices for the martabaks range from IDR 25.000 to IDR 50.000, which is about SGD3 to SGD5++ and you can see their martabak menu here.

Koffie Warung Tinggi d/h Tek Soen Hoo

Grand Indonesia Shopping Town

West Mall, 5th Floor

Jl. M.H. Thamrin No.1

Jakarta 10310

 

Website: http://warungtinggi.com/

Churreria Spanish Chocolateria

I didn't want to return to Grand Indo the next day just to try Churreria so I sat down for 2 sticks with dark chocolate and cheese dips and packed the rest for Saliheen. I really liked the texture of the churros - soft inside yet crunchy outside but I have to admit I wasn't too impressed by the taste. Or maybe I was just terlalu kenyang hahahaha. Cepat muak, anyway! You can see their official menu here for the prices.

Churreria Spanish Chocolateria

Grand Indonesia Shopping Town

West Mall, UG#03A

Jl. M.H. Thamrin No.1

Jakarta 10310

https://www.facebook.com/Churreria | Website: http://cafechurreria.com/ | Twitter: @CafeChurreria

Walked back to the hotel because the taxi queue was a killer - all the stories you hear about Jakarta traffic being a terrible nuisance is bloody true!!! Then washed up and went for dinner at the hotel's restaurant with my husband who was already back in the hotel.

Saliheen ordered nasi goreng because the hotel restaurant's nasi goreng was surprisingly very good seh! (We know this because it is served buffet-style for breakfast) Whereas I had black angus beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce, grilled tomato and buttery mashed potatoes, which was AMAZEBALLZ. So so juicy and so so good!!!!!

Oh, and my bugger of a husband made me finish the esteler all on my own seh. I really thought it was a small bowl for one person okay, sekali bila the bowl datang... AMBIK KAU. Ni bowl untuk satu platoon siol.

Shot of Mandarin Oriental's luxurious lobby which I really like! And that's my husband menyebok in the middle. I told him "Eh I nak ambik gambar lobby lah" to which he said "Ok, jangan ambik gambar I sekali" and then when I raised up my camera, he just..... stood there. Waiting for me to be done -_____-

Excuse me uncle, you think you invisible is it? Go away lah if don't want to be included in the picture!!!

I didn't want to scream at him across the lobby so out of spite and impatience I took the picture with him in it anyway haha ape punya bini

Oh hello! That's me baru bangun tido the next day, with dishevelled hair and my awesome baju tido HAHA

Again, bummed around and berendam in a bubble bath while waiting for Saliheen to be done with his work because I was too freaking lazy to go out to Plaza Indonesia - another mall adjacent to the hotel - to get my hair done at Rudy Hadisuwarno Salon walaupun dah tanam hajat since two weeks earlier. (Click here to read about Indonesian hair maestro Rudy Hadisuwarno.)

If I was a real taitai, I'd probably be the laziest taitai in the whole wide world siak. Right now I'm just one of the laziest budak pompuan melayu in the whole wide world hahaha

Saliheen came back to the hotel at about noon and we were off for our 1-hour journey to the airport.

Really sayang Mandarin Oriental for their topnotch airport transfers, by the way! ❤❤❤ Kitaorang daripada takde class boleh jadi head of the class siol naik dorang punya transfer.

Actually our flights lagi lama sikit ah but we didn't want to risk getting caught in the infamous jakarta traffic jam and missing our flights. But issokey, we had a slow lunch at the airport's A&W, which was pretty disappointing because takde hotdogs, takde curly fries and takde waffles with icecream!!!!! SIAK AH, A&W BEDEK KE APE SIAK NI??? >:-( Unfortunately we didn't want to move from our seats so makan situ je lor.

Caught the sunset on the flight back home ❤.❤

Saliheen and I agreed that if we were to return to Jakarta for a proper holiday, we probably wouldn't want to settle for less and will most probably return to Mandarin Oriental for our stay. Because they made it so easy for us to want to go back and stay with them seh!!!

Every single one of their staff was friendly and helpful, everything felt luxurious and well thought out, their service was impeccable and the location is damn fantastic! Very central, walking distance to malls and shops and super near to everywhere else.

I know it sounds like I didn't do anything much on this trip... because I really didn't do anything much lah actually. Like I said, the main idea for this trip - other than teman my husband so he won't be lonely - was to laze around, pamper myself and waste three days of my life away. 

Oh, but you know what they say - the time you enjoy wasting, is not time wasted, kan? :D