Greetings from Laos!

(Laos: April 21 - May 2, 2009)


Laos, the country of smile, as they call it, is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with the population of approximately 5.6 million. In terms of location, it’s wedged between Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. Thus, travelers can easily visit any of these countries by crossing the borders.

This trip is my first time in Laos and it’s the 19^th country that I’ve been after Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hongkong, Australia, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, England, Scotland, Denmark, Italy, Greece and of course… Indonesia. Yayyy!!! Hopefully the number doesn’t stop here! This time, I’m planning to spend 2 weeks to explore several cities here.

Arriving at the airport in Vientiane, I had to argue with the immigration staff, because they said that I needed a visa to enter the country. I didn’t apply for one, because I checked in the Internet and it said that Indonesians didn’t need a visa. One of the staffs showed me a piece of paper, saying: “Indonesians do not need a visa if they travel for less than 14 days”. Perfect. I will only be here for 12 days. Strangely, all the immigration staffs insisted that I needed a visa. So, I had no idea which one was right. Well, I filled in the Visa On Arrival anyway… and at the end I got it. The fee for the visa on arrival was USD 30,-. I wonder who puts the wrong information on the Internet? Geez.

Anyway… I was lucky enough to sit next to an Australian guy on the plane, who has some friends in the city. He introduced me to his friends, two nice Aussie ladies who owned a famous “Sticky Finger” restaurant in town. These ladies offered me a lift to my hotel! How nice! I told them, “I don’t have a hotel yet, but I know which hotel I want to stay”. They dropped me at their restaurant and said that their staff could help me explain to the tuk-tuk driver. I showed him the name of the hotel, he then explained to the tuk-tuk driver. The driver seemed understood and knew where to go, but we ended up going around and around. At first, he took me to the wrong hotel, then he stopped for three times to ask people around. I realized that he didn’t know where he was going! And guess what… the next day I found out that actually my hotel was located on the next street parallel to the “Sticky Finger” restaurant! My goodness! You might wonder, why didn’t I read the map? Well, this hotel is pretty new, so it’s not even written on the map yet! :p LOL.

Vientiane is far from the image of a big city. Instead, being the capital of Laos, the city looks like a small town to me. It reminds me of the villages in Indonesia. There’s no skyscrapers, no terrible traffic jams, no pollution, no fancy clubs. The numbers of cars and motorbikes on the street aren’t that many. So much different with Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia… or Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam which is cramped with motorbikes. Vientiane has a relaxed and peaceful vibes. The people who live here also different from the type of people who live in the big city. They’re so laid-back! In the afternoon, they love to hangout in a small park by the Mekong River, sit on the grass at the intersection (yup, an odd place to hangout with your friends!) or chit-chat in front of their houses/shops. One day I walked along the main street and stopped in a small park to rest and soak up the vibe. There were some swings in the park. Most of them were taken by young couples or children. Then I saw there was 1 swing empty… seconds later, there were two guys running toward the swing “racing” to get the seat! Hahaha.. even guys love swing here!!! They ended up sitting on the swing together and laughing happily. Something that I wouldn’t see in my home town. Guys racing for the swing in Jakarta? No way.

I really love Laotians. Being here for a few days now, I noticed how genuine and sincere they are. They’re very polite, always smile and speak softly to you. Nice people. I just wish there are more English speaking Laotians in the country! I wish I could have a chat with everyone here. That would’ve been perfect! Unfortunately, there are only a few of them who are able to speak English. So, most of the time I have to use “sign language” to communicate with them. It’s a challenge, indeed :D.

Laotian women still wear traditional skirt, like a sarong. Almost 90% Laotian women I meet here wear the same “costume”. A traditional skirt with a shirt. Students at school wear uniforms, black and white. The girls wear black traditional skirts with white shirts, while the boys wear black pants and white shirts. Being an Asian girl traveling in SE Asia countries, I always being mistaken as a local. Be it in The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam or Cambodia. The locals thought I’m one of them. Also in Laos. Not that I mind.. but I just wish I could understand what they say when they speak to me in their language!

In Laos, a friend said that people always staring at me. After a while, I noticed it, too. I wonder why? Hmm.. Probably Laotians thought that I’m a Laotian, but how come I don’t wear a traditional skirt? :D Just like in Thailand, once I get a chance to talk to them, they always say, “You look same-same Lao”. Am having a crisis identity. LOL.

How to get around the city?

It’s pretty easy. You can get around by foot, rent a bicycle for 10,000 Kip/day (1 USD = 8,500 Kip to date) or by tuk-tuk. If you decided to go around by tuk-tuk, don’t forget to bargain on the price. They usually mark 50-60% up for tourists. So, it’s best to bargain 50% lower, then meet in the middle.

I went around by foot with a map in hand. If your hotel is located nearby the Mekong River, then you can easily go to the famous sights by foot. However, if you have limited time and not a big fan of walking around, renting a bicycle or hoping on a tuk-tuk might be more convenient for you J.

Vientiane itself has a lot of interesting places to see. Am surprised by seeing the numbers of temples they have here… and they keep building new ones! These temples aren’t just small temples. All of them are fairly big and nicely built! I wonder why do they keep building new temples? They have enough temples already! (well, I think).

For places to see, I’ll write a separate post on this blog later, ok?

Is it easy to withdraw money?

Yes. ATM machines and money-changer can be found in almost every city. You can use USD, Thai Baht, Euro or Laos Kip in this country. Does it make your life easier? A bit J. However, it’s advisable to have some Kips in your wallet. It would come handy if you have to buy small things or hop on tuk-tuk.

How to go to other cities within the country?

You can take a bus basically to anywhere you want in Laos. You can choose public bus (no AC, cramped) or bus with AC (very comfortable). Some routes offer minivan with AC. You can also take a flight from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, vice versa. For more adventure, take a slow boat along the Mekong River, but only if you have plenty of time to spend in this country since it may take 2 days or more to travel from one city to another!

I took a bus from Vientiane to Vang Vieng and it was a very comfortable bus trip. With an air-conditioned bus, the 2.5 hours journey went so fast. I slept all the way to Vang Vieng! Only woke up for several times and every time I looked out to the window, my eyes were entertained by the beautiful landscape around! Mountains, rice paddy, trees and limestone cliffs. Whoaa..

How about food? Any good restaurants?

Yes. There are several fancy restaurants in Vientiane (read my post on Vientiane), where other restaurants are pretty basic, yet the food is yummy.

In Vang Vieng, there is no stylish restaurant. However, people here decorate the restaurants as cozy as possible with long pillows and cushions. It’s pretty common to sit on the floor - Japanese style :).

For drinks, try BeerLao. Am not a big fan of beer, but I must admit that this one is tasty! I wrote a status on facebook about BeerLao and got some comments said that they agreed with me. Some of them even said it’s the best beer they’ve had by far! Am I making you curious now? ;)

Being in Laos for a few days now, I enjoy being exposed to the Lao cultures and observe how laid-back the way people live here. Most tourists who come here are either Europeans or Australians. I haven’t seen any Asian tourists here yet. Hmm… **wondering**

Ok, am off to bed now. Have to catch a bus to Luang Prabang early in the morning! Ouch! See you in my next post on Laos! :)

Grab The Chances Before It's Too Late

On a party at Passion scuba-dive center in Singapore yesterday, a friend whom I just met asked me, "Nila, I think you shouldn't go to the nicest dive sites when you're young, because when you grow old, you wouldn't know where to go diving next".

I smiled and said, "What if I died tomorrow?"

He said, "If you died, then you wouldn't have a chance to regret, right?"

I said, "Hmm.. Not sure about that. Why do I have to wait to go to the places I want to? Ten minutes before I died, I might remember all the places I'd love to scuba-dive and would definitely regret it that I haven't make my way there".

...
...

The next day, I read this amazing words:

life is short
break the rules
forgive quickly
kiss passionately, love truly
laugh constantly
And never stop smiling
no matter how strange life is
Life is not always the party we expected to be...

(my version):

Thus, we should make our life as colorful as we want it to be
... and be grateful for that :)

Getting Tanned in Bintan Island, Indonesia

(Indonesia: April 13th - 16th, 2009)

You might be wondering... what to do in Bintan Island, Indonesia?
This is the second time I went there. This time, I spent four days... stayed in Angsana Resort, a group of Banyan Tree resort.

Bintan Island can be reached easily from Singapore by ferry. It takes only 1 hour of sitting in a nice, comfortable and full aircon ferry. Easy ;). From Jakarta, you can take a plane to Batam, then continued your trip by ferry to Bintan Island.


Most resorts on the island use USD and Singapore Dollar as their currencies. A few years ago when I went here for the first time, I got a bit offended. "Hey, this is my country, why do they use other countries' currencies instead of Rupiah?"
But this time, I decided not to give it a fuss. Especially considering that most of the tourists who come here are either Europeans, Singaporeans or Japanese. I think I was the only Indonesian guest in the resort. Seriously. I didn't see any single Indonesian guest apart from the hotel staffs. I wonder why?

There are a number of resorts in Bintan Island. People come here either to have a chill out weekend or to play golf as they have some nice golf courts here. People who live in Singapore (either expats or Singaporeans themselves) consider Bintan Island as the place to go for a weekend getaway.
In 1 hour, you'll end up on an island with beautiful beach, white powdery sand, friendly people and relaxing vibe. How nice is that???

What to do in Bintan Island?

Well, honestly, there's nothing much to do there apart from rejuvinating yourself :). Hehehe.. For those who love watersports, you can rent a jetski and have some fun in the water for a half hour or more. Snorkeling is another activity to do here. Apart from that, it all depends on yourself. Angsana Resort itself organizes some activities, such as: morning walk (walking around the resort and visiting the fishing village), mountain biking tour, introduction to golf, introduction to windsurfing, basic lesson of Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian Language), etc. Not bad, eh? ;)

If you asked me, what did I do in those four days? I would say... nothing. Apart from swimming on the beach and at the nice pool, chilling, sunbathing, eating, drinking, relaxing, I practically did nothing :D. It's very unusual, indeed, because normally, I tend to do so much stuff on my holidays! LOL. But this time, I took it easy.
The only thing I wanted to do apart from worked on my tanned was the intro to windsurfing. However, on the day itself, it was raining almost the whole afternoon :( *sob... sob...* So, the resort had to cancel the activity. Huhuhu... not fun! Well, this is another thing you might want to consider... a back up plan! What to do if the weather didn't allow you to do outdoor activities?
Going to the spa would be the option... another option is... watching the movies in the room! (hahaha... yeah yeah... not too inspiring, isn't it?) :p

Anyway, I was very impressed with the service of Angsana Resort. Seriously. They're one of the best. The staffs were all friendly, professional, nice and most importantly... genuine. Loved 'em. Sometimes they cracked some jokes, too! Lovely people!!! They even took a picture of the guests when we check-in, so that they could memorize us and address us with our names! That tells something about their service, huh?

Plus, don't be surprised if you ordered something to the room service, then five to ten minutes later, you would receive a phone call from the reception to check whether you already got what you needed! Isn't it nice? Excellent customer service they have here.

And the beach?
It's beautiful. It's a private beach in which you only share it with the resort guests (note: believe me, there are not too many guests here... so, you'll have so much space for yourself! When i was there, most of the time, there were five persons maximum on the beach seriously). Perfect!

And oh... when you have nothing else to do, you can try this "kungfu fighting" with your friends! Check out this picture below. Yep, we're kungfu fighters!!! LOL. I really love this pix. We had so much laughs when taking this cool picture! Don't you love it? :D

Seminyak Beach, Bali

One of the beaches to spend your sunny afternoon in Bali :) Forget Kuta beach, unless you want the whole afternoon's sunbathing time to be ruined by a tons of people selling scarfs, bracelets, temporary tattoos, etc.

Another beach that you might want to visit is Karma Kandara beach. It's a private beach in front of Karma Kandara resort. To have a relaxing time on this beautiful beach, you have to pay an entrance fee (unfortunately... but hey, there's nothing free in this world! LOL... and it's worth it, since there are not many people know about this beach yet... ehm) ;) *am sharing you a little secret of a hidden paradise in one of the world's famous islands* ;)

Underwater Storm in Nusa Lembongan?

The short video above was taken in Sakenan, a dive site in Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia about ten days ago. The current was very strong that day! As soon as we descended, we basically had to crawl from one point to another. Omigod!! I could even feel the strong current 'slapping' on my face from time to time. Wow, that wasn't an easy dive!

The three of us (me, the dive master and an Indonesian friend who works in The Netherlands), had to hold on to big rocks all the time and tried to move from one big rock to another rocks slowly, following the current. There's no point to swim against it because we're just going to waste our energy and air consumption.

If you watched the video, you might notice how strong the current was. Sorry if the video was unstable, because I recorded only using one hand, while the other hand holding hard to a big rock in my left side! That time, I was basically "hiding" behind that big rock, waiting until the current got calmer. But... errmm... it never happened!

Sakenan is actually a nice dive site, despite the exhilarating current rides. Thus, it's recommended for experienced divers. The corals are rich and can be enjoyed in a shallow depth, too. Meaning? It's great for snorkeling!
Honestly, ten minutes being underwater in Sakenan, I thought, "Ok, this is a bit dangerous. Maybe we should ascend soon". But, we survived :). We dove for more than 50 minutes, however, we stayed in a shallow area. I couldn't really pay attention to the small critters, because the three of us had to deal with the strong current. At the end of the dives, we were practically only drifting.. along with the strong current! It felt like flying above miles of beautiful corals. Very nice, indeed. A mixed sensation of adrenalin pumping and enjoyable sightings.

Just before the safety stop, the dive master popped out the sausage, so that our boat would know our location. On the boat, the dive master from Bali Marine Sport asked me, "How was the fly?" "Amazing. Thank you", I replied with a big smile on my face.

A Trip to Menjangan Island, Bali

Being in Bali this time, I took a trip to the West of Bali... to Menjangan Island. Menjangan itself means "deer". It's been said that during dry season in Menjangan Island, the deers migrate to Bali island by crossing the sea! And yes, I saw some deers when I was there :D, although I didn't witness them swimming on the sea... it must've been cool, though!

I stayed for a night in Adi Assri resort. It's a new resort, quite spacious and pretty. Being there, I felt like being in a garden as there are plenty of trees and plants around the bungalows. The rooms are nice, clean and neat. You'll be welcomed with different types of flowers on your bed! Seriously. Nice, huh? ;) And the bathroom? Just like most of the bathroom types in the villas in Bali, half of it has no roof. So, you basically have the feeling of taking a shower outdoor...
The swimming pool area is nice, too... it's facing the beach with a view of mountains on your back. It has a relaxing ambience, especially in the afternoon. One could enjoy the beautiful sky changes its color during the sunset. But please, don't expect a white sand beach... because the sand here is greyish, almost black. I'm not used to it, so maybe I didn't really appreciate it. Am sure, if I spent more time there, I would appreciate the black sandy beach :)...

When we arrived at the resort, we didn't have that much time to relax as we're going to scuba-dive right away! So, after checking-in, we all went to the harbour where our boat was already waiting for us. There's a small "warung" at the harbour where we can order a lunch box and choose our drinks. I ordered vegetarian fried rice.. and to my surprise, it came in a very nice plastic lunch box! Wow! It was the first time for me, on a dive trip, to have such a well presented lunch box meals! Hahaha...

The first and second dives, we dove at Post 1. Omigod... beautiful corals they have here!!! I've been told by my scuba-diving friends that diving in Menjangan Island is nice... honestly, I didn't expect that it would be THIS NICE!!! The corals are very rich and colorful. You name it... pink, purple, blue, green, orange... all can be seen in one spot (can you imagine?).. from soft corals, hard corals to gorgonian fans. I loved it.

Garden Eel is particularly amazing for (of course) its numbers of garden eels "dancing" without living their home in the sand :). I also saw bumphead, titan trigger fish, cuttle fish, many scorpion fish here. The scorpion fish are colorful and HUGE! And I saw a lion fish swimming elegantly... I wanted to take a close up picture of its face, but was afraid that it would attack me! :p So, I decided to stay away from him... hehehe...
It was such an easy dive. No current. No surge. Good visibility around 20 meters. What else could you ask for? Big pellagic? Hmm.. Menjangan isn't popular for its large fish. It's the place for those who enjoy being surrounded by beautiful and colorful corals all around you.

For the lunch break, we went to Menjangan Island. It was very hot, the sun was strikingly shining! The three of us (me, the dive master and my friend who lives in Bali) sat on a bench under the tree, opening the luxurious lunch box, couldn't wait to taste the food! I got a banana and crackers to accompany my veggie fried rice. It was such an enjoyable break... I wish there was a hammock nearby, I could fall asleep easily afterwards! And with the beautiful view around me? Am sure I'd dream of heaven.. :)


After the second dive, we went back to the resort. It took us an hour from the dive site to the harbor and I took the opportunity to take a little nap on the long-tail boat :).

The afternoon went so fast. I didn't really do that much apart from relaxing on the reclining chair by the pool and deciding to leave after the mosquitos were fat enough from sucking my blood in half hour! :D We then strolled down the street trying to get something to eat, but after a long walk, we could only find 3 restaurants!!! (and these restaurants were all empty and didn't look promising!) Oh dear... We just had to choose one of those... I had a stir-fry morning glory and it tasted so-so. Nothing's special, but not bad at all.

The next day, we did another 2 dives. This time, we dove at Post II. Menjangan Island is famous for its wall dives. And I had to admit, the wall dives were sooo pretty, too!!! Again, I saw many beautiful corals and plenty of giant sea fans! The usual suspect fish were all there, too. You name it, from clown fish to goat fish and from nudibranchs to... seahorses! ;)
Today's dives were easy, too. No strong current, water temperature was 31 degrees Celcius (warm, right? niceeee!!!), visibility was 20 meters. Amazing wall dives.

I personally think, in terms of the corals, Menjangan Island has more beautiful corals than Similan Islands, Thailand. Really. And I'm glad to realize that... oh.. my country is so beautiful! Being there, in the middle of the sea, I looked around and saw beautiful mountains on the left and some other islands on my right, with another mountains at the far right. And I felt how lucky we were, to be blessed with such stunning natures all around Indonesia. Not only on the surface, but also under those clear water in the deep sea!

We headed back to Legian feeling satisfied. What a nice dive trip. And on the way, of course, we stopped in a small street vendor that sold... DURIAN!!! Yayyy!!! It's durian season, so it would be such a waste not to have a durian or two as our snacks! :p Obviously, the 3.5 hours trip back to Legian wasn't that tiring. The mind was happy. The eyes were happy. The heart was happy. And the stomach was happy, too! :D

Underwater Video: Nusa Penida, Indonesia

Hi everyone! :)

I spent 6 days in Bali and just arrived back to Jakarta yesterday. It was such a great trip, as always.. ;) (who doesn't love Bali, anyway?) :D

And... the good news is... I have something for you: a video that I made while I was scuba-diving in Nusa Penida! Yayyyy!!! I thought it would be nice to share things that I saw when I scuba-dive ;)... and who knows any of you might fall in love and curious to try to scuba-dive, too! ;) *wink wink*

Will share the detailed story of my trip with you soon, in the meantime, enjoy the video yaa.. :)

So.. I Didn't Make It to The Final

Hi guys, I'm writing from Bali, Indonesia :)
Yesterday was the announcement of the shortlisted finalists of The Best Job in The World.. and.. I didn't make it to the final :(. Disappointed? Of course. Sad? Yes.
But... life goes on :). If it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. If it's not meant to be, then it's not meant to be :)

It's been such a great experience being chosen as one of the top 50 shorlisted candidates over 34,000 applicants from all around the world. And I'm thankful for that. I got a lot of new friends and felt touched by the supports of all of you have given to me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart...

Sorry that I didn't make it to the final... :(
All of you have been so great in encouraging and supporting me. Really. I feel sad for disappointing you, too.
Having said that, let's continue the friendship and make the bond among all of us stronger. Am so proud to be Indonesian and to get all the supports from everyone! (not only from Indonesian fellows, but from other nationalities, too... thank you, guys!!!)

I don't know how to express it, but what you did to support me in the past months meant so much to me.

Again, thank you so much for everything, guys...!
Now, am gonna spoil myself in Bali for a couple of days... scuba-diving and relaxing on the beach! Yayyy!!! Will share the stories of my scuba-dive experience here, for sure! (oh I haven't even finished writing posts on my Thailand and Cambodia trips!)
Stay tuneeeee, guys... Let's continue our journey and enjoy every minute of it. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!!! Let's make out of it to the fullest ;)

Tasting Jakarta... Eating and Dancing!

Oh.. I love this part! If you’re in Indonesia, please try to enjoy the local food as much as you can, because you might not get the original taste elsewhere! It’s true. When I lived in The Netherlands, it was pretty easy to get Indonesian food as there were a lot of Indonesian restaurants there… but… the taste was never the same as the original Indonesian food!!! Even in Singapore, which is only 1.5 hours away by flight, the food in Indonesian restaurants there is already adjusted with the local taste. As a result, every time I go home, I always spoil myself with good Indonesian food. Forget about Western/Indian/Chinese/Lebanese/Thai food. I’m in Indonesia. I want to eat the original Indonesian food as much as I could!!!

Anyway… the first day I asked my friend, “What would you like to eat?”. “Fried chicken”, he said. Nope… he was not referring to the junk food one. For delicious fried chicken, I took him to Ayam Goreng Ny. Suharti. This restaurant offers crunchy fried chicken serve with tasty crums and not-so-spicy chili paste. This restaurant has several branches in Jakarta, so you can find them easily. The one that I went was in Jalan Haji Wahid Hasyim, near Menteng area, in the center of Jakarta.

The second evening, we went to Lara Djonggrang restaurant. I always bring my expatriate friends to taste the food here. Why? It’s simply because the restaurant has delicious Indonesian food and very nice ambience, surrounded with Gods & Goddess statues and antique furniture all around. It’s very exotic. You can really feel the touch of Indonesian/Asian culture here. Plus.. I love their food presentation! They're very creative in decorating the dishes! Check out my review about this restaurant here.

Shanghai Blue and Samarra restaurants were my choices, too, for nice dinners in Jakarta. These two restaurants are located side by side and managed bythe same group. Therefore, it doesn’t matter where you sit (either in Samarra or Shanghai Blue), you can always order the menu from the other restaurant.

Shanghai Blue offers live band in the weekend, playing chill out music, bossanova type. The restaurant itself is decorated in old Chinese style, with red lanterns as the lights. I love the appetizer here: asparagus roll with melted cheese. Mmmmm… a must try!!!

The restaurant next door, Samarra is simply pretty and elegant. You will feel like you’re in a palace in the Middle Eastern country once you step in the restaurant. The interior is beautifully decorated. Even the walls are painted in details. You can choose to dine in at the long table or in one of the corridors by the window… I feel like I am in a “1001 Nights” fairy tale every time I have dinner here. Lovely.

And the food? They have a wide range of selection of food from different areas in Indonesia and some Middle Eastern dishes. I’m sure you’ll find a hard time in choosing the menu as everything in the list seems delicious! (and it does!). Try the couscous and the duck dish. For vegetarian, try the "Sambal Goreng Kacang Panjang", it's a stir-fry beans dish cooked with chili paste. Yum!

For lunch, I took my friend to a Padang restaurant. Padang food is very famous in Indonesia for its yummy taste. One of the most famous Padang restaurants in Jakarta is called “Restoran Sederhana”. It’s a franchise, so you can also find it easily in town. Having meals in Padang restaurant, you might be surprised to see how the waiters serve your food. They would bring all the dishes they have in small plates and put them all on your table, even though you didn’t order any of those dishes. Don’t worry, you don’t have to pay for everything. They will only count the dishes that you eat. These waiters are also able to carry all those plates in both hands, one time! How? Don’t ask me. It’s a skill. Yet, don’t try this at home, or else you’ll break all your favorite plates in a day! LOL. Some of the dishes that you might want to try are beef rendang (everyone's favorite), padang style of chicken curry, squid curry and... if you're brave enough... try the cow's brain curry. It tastes like eggs, some people say :). Also, don't miss the spicy casava crackers called "Keripik Pedas". It's my favorite! I ate 3 bags of those crackers that day! LOL.

The last day, we had lunch at “Satay House Senayan”. This restaurant has been around since I was small. It’s specialty is satay. They have beef, lamb and chicken satay. Just choose your favorite or… try them all, if you have big appetite! :D Also try the “Tahu Telur” dish. It’s fried tofu and egg, serves in soya sauce and beansprouts. Tasty… and it’s been my favorite (how come? It’s because I’m a vegetarian, remember?) ;)

Being in Jakarta, you’ve gotta experience the night scene. We had drinks at Face Bar in Menteng area. The bar is perfect to chill out. As for the clubbers, you'll be happy to find out that most of the clubs in Jakarta open until 5am. The most happening club now is Dragonfly. The place is fancy, nicely decorated, good house music, nice crowd. We went there on Friday night and I met some of the country’s celebrities there. (my favorite actor, Nicholas Saputra, was there, too! Haven’t seen him for a long time! Haha.. yeah right… like I know him personally!) LOL

On Saturday night, we went to Kemang area. It’s an excellent place for food and entertainment in South Jakarta. There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the area. But… be ready for the traffic jam in the weekends, because this area is very popular among young people, party lovers and food hunters!

We went for a drink at Shy Bar. It’s a roof top bar located in a transparent building. The bar/lounge offers a live band in the weekends, in which pretty hard to find in the city. It has lively and friendly ambience. You’ll love it. The singer of the band is a hottie, but stay away, girls… he’s taken! He’s actually the husband of Febby Febiola, one of the celebrities in Indonesia. Last month I was here and saw there were many girls standing in front of the stage admiring the singer. A couple of hours later, his gorgeous wife arrived and he threw a smile on her. Some of the girls showed their disappointment and left the stage! Ooppsssieee…

Well, that was my itinerary that I made for my friend last weekend. If you wanted to visit Jakarta, let me know. I can give you a list of interesting places to see and to chill out! ;) It’ll be my pleasure to help you out discovering my city! Enjoy Jakarta, guys!