Last Saturday (16/04/2005) I had a good time scrolling Jakarta with my new friends who came from Malaysia. Remember the jargon "Ganyang Malaysia, Selamatkan Siti!"? Anyway instead of ganyang Malaysia I prefer had Siti, and so I had her here in Jakarta. Ha-ha, forget the current case which raised the tense between the two countries. Don't let the dispute make our friendship ruined. Not all Malaysians are bad and vice versa. I wish the Ambalat case could be solved between the two governments peacefully without any war involved. Amen.
Frankly, it was my first time meeting a Malaysian weblog-mate. She visited Jakarta along with her friends. Therefore, when I first met them I was a bit nervous and I got no idea at all which places should be visited that could make them interested.
After knowing that they mostly are Baladewa so the first destination was Aquarius Pondok Indah Music & Film store. As far as I know the store is quite complete so they could choose some albums that might not be available at Malaysian market and certainly are cheaper.
Siti, I was surprised to know that you like Jamrud. You even mentioned Surti Tejo which definitely would be banned in Malaysia due to its naughty lyric. What's on earth that makes you like some of their music? I'm sure that Jamrud must be not as famous as Sheila on 7 and Peter Pan in Malaysia, right? Now, we have another thing in common after cute cats and AC Milan, it is rock music. Yeah, two thumbs up for you Siti! :D
After satisfying the thirst of shopping cassettes, CDs, and VCDs we went to Abuba Steak in Cipete. We then had a good lunch with sirloin, tenderloin, and chop-lamb. For my Indonesian tongue Abuba was great, wish you girls had enjoyed the dish as I had.
We continued the trip to Monas. It is the national monument located in the heart of Jakarta. We took pictures of delmans (two-wheeled buggy pulling by a horse), sculpture of Indonesian hero Pangeran Diponegore riding a horse, colorful Monas in the afternoon, sun set, and so on.
The day went dark, but our feet were still on Monas Area. We could not go back before having the sight-seeing at the fair. Unfortunately, nothing was interesting there. However, they bought 3 pairs of cute shocks for only Rp. 10.000, - (US$ 1.1)
Then we had dinner at an insane and crazy café the "Comedy Caffee" in KTS area. There was a live music performed by a non-famous but yet exciting local band that sang some hit list songs and mostly Indonesian songs. The food itself was not so good but the waiters and waitress were indeed so crazy. They uttered absurd as well as dirty words so often. Indonesians call them as "Latah People". Thanks God, you girls don't know the meaning. :D
The night getting late, so we went home. I brought them back to their hotel in Duren Tiga Pancoran.
Bandung, Taman Safari, and Tanah Abang are some places that I could not accompany you girls. Please forgive me. To tell the truth I was terribly worried that some demonic guys would treat you down there. Alhamdulillah, nothing badly had happened to you.
I would like to apologize for the horrible reception you had from some officials of Sukarno-Hatta airport. Sure, Indonesians should respect their own people first before they ask other country to respect themselves. So guys, let's respect each other apart from its religion, culture, customs, color, wealthy, and nations! Peace *ngikutin gayanya Slank*.
Siti, Diy, and Liza, I hope you enjoyed your trip in Bandung, Jakarta, Taman Safari, and Tanah Abang. From traffic jam, pollution, annoying merchants, taking mikrolet, people sitting on roof of electric train, crazy people, romantic couples everywhere in yard, to cheap goods, good and delicious food, good performance, European sedans, and so on, yeah those are Jakarta. Please "Jangan Kapok!" hehehe…
Jika I ade rezeki, bolehlah saya nak pergi ke Kuala Lumpur. Ingin coba pula pusing-pusing kat sana. Pasti seronok ye ;-)
