that Jakarta/Bandung trip

haih...where do i start? i was somewhere in the middle of the mountains for my Spring break when Kakak texted and asked me whether i wanted to go to Bandung with her. i hesitated for a bit but then i said yes, which was a good decision, i can now say.

Abe Bob sent us to the airport at like, 5 in the morning..bless him. we were pretty excited despite feeling sleepy. i had the most sleep and that's only for like 2 and a half hours. the airport was packed with people going to places, from Filipina to China to Indonesia.

here be us at the airport

we were among the last ones in the line when the gates open, but we practically ran towards the plane and took over most of the people (and ignored dissaproving grunts and stares...lol) so we managed to get pretty good seats...hehe.

the taxi driver from the airport in Jakarta was really nice. he was hungry and asked us whether we brought kuihs from KL...lol. we freaked out and screamed many, many times when we were in the taxi before we got used to the crazy menghimpit-ing and had confidence in the pakcik. even though he sent us to WTC (pronounced wi-te-se) Mangga Dua instead of ITC (pronounced i-te-se) Mangga Dua so we had to walk for about a kilometre with our bags, i still think the pakcik is nice. thus began the shopping. not-so-surprisingly, it was hard for me, finding stuff i like. reasons being 1. i'm picky and 2. i'm too lazy to really look for things, so Kakwe had to constantly go "Atiq!! hok ni lawa!!"

grumpily eating a masin burger @ WTC. wouldn't
have finished it had i not had gastric pangs at the mo.

walking to ITC

jalan dekat Jakarta macettt memanjang, which was pretty irritating. and the air was SO bad. but other than that, Jakarta was nothing like i imagined it to be. it was huge and the night life was fantastical. Toyotas and Suzukis lined the roads the way Protons and Peroduas do here in Malaysia. and oh, we tried a ride on a bajai and practically screamed all the way to the hotel, hahaha. it wouldn't be as horrific had we split into two, but NO...we had to naik the same bajai, all four of us. kwang2..suke je buat keje nak mampus macam tu.

the Bajai ride; i was sitting on Awah's lap and i could've terpelanting
out of the Bajai any time..hahaha. adeyh. nampak tak my hand?
gaya holding on to dear life ke ape tu..hoho.

we went out for Nasi Goreng Gila that night, recommended by Kakak's very nice friend who lives in Jakarta with his Indonesian wife. he had to go back to Malaysia, so he could only play tour guide for us for a very short while. the street performers in Jakarta are very talented, and apart from the polluted air and kemacetan yang berleluasa, i think Jakarta is really cool and it has so much character.

we took a train to Bandung the very next day. i spent half of the time asleep and half the other time being traumatized by the crazy woman sitting beside me (read: Awah. hahaha).

after some initial glitches, we said hi to our (kerek) supir; Atep. i'm glad he turned out to be nice and funny after all the drama because he was our driver for four days. Bandung was really nice. the traffic were less hectic and the town was banjirrr with factory outlets, it was crazy. but by the second day in Bandung, i was already sick; shopping and walking around all day became a chore when you're sick, so it was annoying. i tried my best to keep up, but at one point i can feel the shiver getting so bad that i bought a hooded sweater on the spot and decided not to care that i look like a mugger in it. it's amusing to find out that nobody take you seriously, when you look like a mugger and go asking for gold clutch handbags.

the plus side to being sick is that i don't spend all of my scholarship money shopping, but the minus size is i became too sick to dress up for the pictures (so i look horrible in half of them) and that i think i spent too little. i didn't even buy myself a pair of jeans in Toko Tiga and jeans were my top priority.

Kakwe teman-ed me to the clinic by the fourth day because i couldn't help worrying that it's not just a fever when it hit pitch-high and i was feeling really weak. the receptionist didn't even know we're not local..lol. and the doctor thought we were Acheh Tengkus.

Dokter : Tengku dari Acheh ya?
Atiq : nggak...aku dari Malaysia.
Dokter : oh iya? wajahnya mirip orang Acheh.
Atiq and Kakwe : *lol*
Dokter : apa yang bagus di Bandung?
Atiq : kainnya..
Dokter : cowoknya?
Atiq : *lol* ya iya, cowoknya juga.

haha...the doctor was amusing. and Kakwe loved the weighing scale at the clinic...hehe. i was really impressed with the clinic, by the way. it has cardiologists and neurosurgeons and dieticians and dentists and everything under the sun scheduled to visit it at timetabled dates. i was really humbled. Indonesia wasn't what i expected it to be, at all.

it's impossible to write everything i experienced during the 5 day trip, but i had a great time. i know i'm a pain to travel with, whats with my gastritis and fever and whatnots, i'm really sorry about that Kakwe :(

i don't think i'll ever experience travelling with all three of my sisters ever again, which makes this one very, very, special indeed.

Indonesia was great and i loved it :)

<3

p.s. more piccies on facebook. blogger's taking ages, i cba to wait.

p.p.s. this entry is littered with grammatical errors, but i cba to edit. hehe.