The Week After

During the week after Eid, I spent the days lingering around Jakarta, here and there. The currently constructed infrastructure around Jakarta is blocking some streets, making it even more traffic-y. But since it was Eid and everyone went back to their home town, Jakarta's traffic was beautiful. If only Jakarta will always be this empty.

I know Jakarta isn't everyone's ideal location for a holiday, but it can be if you know where to look. 

Monday, June 18
On Monday, I went around Kemang with Saras. We planned to meet up at Mendjangan, an Indonesian restaurant with a home-resort concept. Sadly, since it was still below the Eid vibes, it was still closed. So we ended up visiting Aksara bookstore instead. Apparently, the bookstore was still constructed, and the space turns out to be a coffee shop (Ruang Seduh) and art studio (Ganara Art Space) instead. We ended up buying a glass of ice cold coffee and donat kampung for Rp55.000. The vibe at the coffee shop was enjoyable, with its cleanliness and great music (and of course the tasty coffee). However I don't think it's a very nice place to work or study, since there is an art school in the space. There are plenty of kids. But if you don't mind working near kids, then it's no problem! The bookstore will be reopened in July 2018, in the very same space in Kemang.

Afterwards, we drove to Dialogue which is a co-working/art space. It's a very famous and instagrammable place where people usually take pictures at the floating stairs. What I like about this place is the constant exhibition up in their place. When we were there, they had this old-school paintings of Indonesian places. Other than an exhibition (and a cafe for you to sit while enjoying the lushness in the middle of Jakarta), they also have this tiny store of the cutest things. After a short 30 minutes at Dialogue, we head to Ranch Market to buy some groceries for the apartment, and had lunch at Gourmet as well. For lunch, I had Salmon Fried Rice and Saras had Bebek Sambal Ijo. Both dish were quite pricey, but it was really, really good and had a large portion.

We spent the rest of the day in an apartment Saras' dad uses for work. We used the gym, pool and sauna. Afterwards, we pampered ourselves with the sheet mask we bought earlier, and cooked some indomie with eggs and boiled sausages (the limited amount of ingredients in the apartment led to this). Luckily, Saras' parents came and we order food from a burger place called Lawless via Go-Food. I'm pretty sure they have great burgers, but what we bought at the time wasn't that satisfying. We ended the night by watching Murder on the Orient Express, which was really good. The plot twist was really cool (I didn't know it was a book!)

Tuesday, June 19
The day after, we woke up not-too late and head out to Honu for brunch. It was only a 10-minute drive from the apartment, and we got there at 11. Saras and her mum ordered 2 Yugo bowls and a Super Bowl for me. It might be quite pricey, but let me tell you just how satisfying it is. The fresh and raw salmon was so subtle and tasty, it's basically engraved in my tongue. The wakame salad was also fresh and has a zing to it when you chew some, especially when you eat it with the diced avocado. When you take a spoonful of rice with the toppings on top, you'll feel like every bite is heaven. That is, of course, if you like raw fish. For the drinks, we got ourselves 2 matcha lemon ginger tea and a hot matcha latte. Both drinks were well made and glug through our oesophagus easily, warming our stomaches.

After accompanying Saras' mum to shop, we went back to the apartment and my other friends, Tasya and Ifa, picked me up. We drove and drove and ended up at Pasar Santa for late lunch. And drove and drove and ended up at Blok-M Plaza to buy gifts. And drove and drove and ended up at Tasya's cousins house in Cibubur. We stayed until 9 pm playing Monopoly. And we drove and drove and met up with our friend at Tengo Cibubur. I got home at 11.30 pm, feeling very in content alhamdulillah.

Wednesday, June 20
I spent the morning doing work and editing the pictures for this post. For dinner, my family and I went out to Shabu Hachi. Shabu Hachi (buffet restaurant) is an exceptionally great place to eat when you're feeling super hungry (and maybe feeling a bit fancy). The choices of food and beverages were complete. I kept refilling my hot ocha, and dad kept bringing raw meat to the table for us to grill. The service, even though there were plenty of people, was amazing. The staff were quick on their eyes and quick on the hands, picking our dirty plates and glasses as if it were a competition. I ended the day by attending om Ari's pengajian 7-harian.

Thursday, June 21
My brother and I head to North Jakarta to shoot for a project we're working on. We only stayed there for a while because what we were looking for didn't meet up with our expectations. We head to Grand Indonesia for lunch, where we had Tom Sushi. It was pretty affordable, where both my brother and I spent Rp150.000 altogether, eating more than 3 types of sushi (around 7 plates in total), and a free flow of hot ocha. We then head back home, wanting to use the commuter line. But after waiting for 30+ minutes, the commuter line was so full and we couldn't get in. It would take us another 30+ minutes to wait for the next one. We ordered a car instead.

Friday, June 22
My brother celebrated his 17th birthday dinner at Wonderland Wonderlounge. Even though it was his birthday, I still get to invite some of my friends too! It was nice seeing familiar faces, even if I'd have to leave for Bali on the very next day. We talked about life, marriage, wedding, and a lot of karaoke. It was basically Pilar Alumni Karaoke Night, that night was. A great, great way to relive our moments during the high school days :'). I don't think I've said this enough, but I will always love catching up with friends from my school days. There's always something to talk about, something to do, even if it's as silly as singing at the sunroof of my friend's car during a traffic at midday.

Dinner at Shabu Hachi!

Pantai Mutiara

Seeing this picture and remember what each of us were like during high school, I just realised how little we really changed. We're getting older and gaining more experience, that's true. But other than that, everything is just as it was in high school. 

Alumni Karaoke Night

At the airport, before leaving Jakarta

FYI I might look super happy in these pictures (which I am!), but I was also feeling like death at the time due to my cough. Every time I go back to Jakarta I always (always) get ill. Saras says it's probably my body adjusting to the more-polluted air Jakarta have than Bali.

Photos taken by Saras, Julian, Danno and Janis.
Edited on Afterlight and Adobe Photoshop.