Shopping and Honeymoon

Thank you to those yang bertanya where I had gone during my leave. Also thank you to those yang had wished me a good break.

It was indeed a well deserved break. Beloved husband and I went to Jakarta for the weekend. When we made the online booking on MH in March, there was no fear of H1N1. In fact as of a week ago, Indonesia did not record any H1N1 case yet. Three days before we left, they reported one local case and the two cases which happened in Malaysia were from passengers who boarded the flights from Bali and Jakarta respectively.

We could not defer our flight because firstly on line booking does not enjoy the deferment status, secondly Indonesia does not qualify as the hotspot/affected H1N1 countries declared by WHO and thirdly there were no other days which I could take leave in the near future. After this, it will be endless meetings for me and tahu tahu aje, dah bulan puasa.

For the past four years, we always shopped raya clothings for the Aces in Bandung. Yelah I have 5. So belanja nya teramat lah besar. Indonesia is an appropriate place to shop especially to people like me yang tak mampu nak shop banyak banyak at places like MJ, Isetan or Parkson. Also to shop for the 5 Aces would require dedicated time. I hate shopping during Ramadhan and betul betul mencabar iman. It is no joke you know to find and shop for the Aces' raya clothings. From the baju kurung material to the shirts, blouses, teeshirts, sarongs and pants. Our shopping spree would be timed about a month before Ramadhan. I know Datuk Ng Yen Yen may not like our tradition, especially when Malaysia need the money to spur the economy and more so when she just officiated the Malaysia Mega Sale last weekend.

If Malaysia have FOs like what they have in Bandung, definitely I will throng the Malaysia FOs. Like some of you know, Bandung is famous for its FOs like Rumah Mode, Bale Anak, Anak Kecil, Stamp, Blossoms to name a few. These were the places we used to go. We enjoy finding rejects or over production of branded items like Next, Gap, Guess, Zara, Osh Kosh for much much reduced price at these places. Imagine buying a Guess jeans for RM30! Because we have frequented Bandung many times, we already have our normal supir, the usual accomodation to stay and even the favourite eating places.

This time round, ingat nak bertukar angin. We skipped Bandung and chose Jakarta instead. Shopping in Jakarta during my official trips were different than the shopping spree during vacation. This time round, there were no bosses to worry or provocative meetings to bug you or negotiations to wonder your mind. It was truly a relax time.



Other than shopping, it was also honeymoon for the ?th time for me and beloved husband. We could not figure out where to stay initially. Airline ticket was dead cheap thanks to MH. Somehow we managed to get cheaper than what AA offered. So it did not make sense if we splurge on accomodation. Check punya check coincidentally, I have been spending so much time in Jakarta for work and spending the nights in Gra** H**tt resulting in free three nights stay entitlement for me. Yippee! And that said it all. Honeymoon with beloved husband again.

Since the hotel bed was just too comfortable to sleep on, the shopping pretty much started late. When we should have been at the malls by 10 am i.e. masa mall buka, we always ended up an hour later than planned.

We didn't go anywhere adventurous. The first day was spent at Ambassador Mall and ITC Kuningan where we got almost all of the younger kids clothings. The second day was at Cempaka Mas and back at ITC Kuningan, third day at Tanah Abang and fourth day at Sarinah and again at Tanah Abang. It was typical shopping. Nothing spectacular. Searched for things, cari yang cocok and buy, all the same routine. Obviously I discovered that searching for the younger Aces' clothings in Bandung is much easier than in Jakarta.









Biasalah ibuk yang shopping and the bapak diligently follow. I know that was not beloved husband's most preferred time of life, but I was glad he contentedly and diligently followed. I guess he wished to be some where else in Jakarta. One of his friends from KL called and made a comment that he now knows two men who would bring their wives to Jakarta, one beloved husband and the other Dato Seri Najib! For us, when the shopping cart was full we headed back to hotel, santai sekejap. Nothing to worry or rush cos it was just the two of us, anyway it was meant for shopping and honeymoon kan. Wink wink **.

Actually the highlights of the trip were not really shopping. The first highlight; I visited my univ friend Li** at her house in Pa**bu***o. It was a place where everyone wish to have an address at. Li** has just adopted a sweet baby girl. HA was a month plus old when we saw her. She is such a lucky baby and to have that kind of home and love would be a dream come true for all Indonesian babies. Beloved hubby remarked that why adopt, why Li** tak get married je and have her own babies. Well, I am sure Li** has her own reasons.

See it for yourself from the pics below. They were the card and present for the guests during the arrival celebration for HA.










I also had the privilege of meeting Li**'s mom, sister and cousins. I have heard a lot about Tante and I tell you, she is such a warm and friendly person. She is from Solo and infact she just got back from Solo. She invited me to join her in Solo one of these days. Do you know the baju kebaya sulam sulam linen that I bought at Eu**orb** which I think is already cheap at 200K rupiah, is selling at 50K rupiah in Solo. So now you know where will my next shopping destination be.

On the final nite, we were treated by a new friend, Pak Ga*ot. Initially I thought beloved husband would not click with him. My instinct was wrong. They were non stop talking on matters ranging about politics, Indonesian culture and current issues! Pak Ga*ot treated us at Harum Manis which we truly enjoyed. I distinctly love the sate sapi and the coconut ice cream served there.






Last but not least on the final day, it was unbelievable. We paid a second visit to TA to get Alim's Ben 10 and Alina's Lesportsac school bags. We promised ourselves that we will only be there for setengah jam only sebab the next two hours dah kena depart for airport. Memang it took us half an hour to rush to Lantai 5, bought the bags and tried to hail a cab. Unfortunately, it was bla*dy jam both directions in front of TA. Sebab dah kepanikan, we have no choice but to walk to the hotel. We didn't know the way actually through the jalan tikus. But hantam sahaja lah Labu. Lucky thing the Kempin**i apartment was tall enough to be our landmark.

Alhamdulillah we managed to be at the airport earlier than expected. Indonesia will be going through the presidential election on Tuesday and we thought it would be machet, but nasib baik the traffic was not that bad that day. We all sempat lepak lepak kat the eateries at Bandara Soekarno Hatta,



Last nite when we arrived, the 4 Aces were eagerly waiting for the goodies. Sorry tak boleh pakai lagi. Must wait for raya. They understood. Alim and Alina lah paling best because they can already melaram with their new bags to school.

This morning when I woke up, I kinda miss the comfy King size bed in Gra** H**tt. Well, back to reality. Now have to start working extra hard to save money to be spent at Solo.