Hari ni second day started a little different. Had breakfast....ok so I'm lying... it's not even brunch. More like a slightly delayed lunch.
Mana taknya kalau da membadak sampai sehari suntuk kan. If there's anything that made the Jakarta trip a tad sucky was because I couldn't seem to get enough sleep.
Still, had lunch in the hotel wih Vern, and Ning with a special guest in Erwin Gutawa yang dropped in sebab he couldn't make it the night before. Yakked a bit, as I incessantly gushed about his daughter in Gita Gutawa yang perform kat the last Anugerah Planet Muzik. Awesome! I absolutely think the world of her and I think she's on the right footing to become the next big Indonesian export if she continues with what she's doing.
Erwin was as usual all humble and quite down to earth. Amazing how someone of his position as one of the biggest producers in the region can be so non-assuming about his status. True stars...genuine from inside out.
One belief that he confirmed is that despite his fame and all, he started out self taught, being from the field of architecture originally.
Yeap, passion in one key element that makes someone who they are, and I definitely have to thank someone like Erwin for inspiring me with his improptu revelation of his past and how he gradually did what he's been doing all this time.
Honestly, aku tak pernah jumpa orang cam dia ni... well, actually, aku rasa MOST Indonesian names are humble from the start no matter how big they are.
That's how they eventually make their names a permanent fixture in the business.
Apart from the likes of Ratu (Mya Dhani jer) and Agnes Monica, who have the amazing undeniable reputations as bitches in the business.
Anyway... how sweet of Erwin to even consider having lunch with us!
Ning had a little photoshoot with a publication, and ni lah some pics of Ning as you've never seen her before (or at least not all that often!). The attire diminta oleh the journalist herself who wanted to feature Ning, tapi all covered up.
Kalao korang nak tengok how the photo shoot worked out, korang kena carik this publication called Nurani or something like that kat sana ler.
With the people from Nurani (something like that lah nama piblication tuh)
Pose ayu ler tuh...
Obviously after we checked out, shopping had to be a priority!Jovian, who met up with us from the night before at the gala premiere, played tour guide, ferrying us about to go shopping. In fact, not only that, he extended his hospitality further to stay with him at the grandmother's home in central Jakarta.
Thanks Jovian and family for making us feel so at home and giving us a taste of the family business (they run the Beautika chain of restaurants yang serve the best Menado fare - and I mean awesome sebab we had it at lunch the next day in their home - takyah ke restaurant pun!)
We traipsed about Pasar Baru, which is a new spot where I haven't been, which sells almost everything and anything, but most especially textiles and a lot of other things at quite fair prices.
The key attraction here was the variety!
Sekali imbas, cam somewhere in Japan lak. Siap jumpa Barney and Venom outside a toy store (kesian berejam meka pakai those costumes!)
Someone after snapping the sign of Jalan Gereja Ayam (chicken church???)
The dingy parts of the market (recognise anyone in the picture?
Euro Moda pun ada. But not the best...
The scene a few hours later...
We then pushed off much later... much much later, to head back to Jovian's family to shower and freshen up before dinner in Kemang (the Hartamas of Jakarta) but because of the horrid jam (tengok pic kat atas da) tonight (every night - and day too in Jakarta) and we got stuck for ages sampai pala aku berdenyut, we just shot straight to Kemang after singgah butik Ivan Gunawan, who's like one of the biggest names in Jakarta's fashion scene sebab Andi (a friend) who joined us, and works there, wanted to pop in a while.
We took the opportunity to get a feel of what divas dress like in Jakarta, and were quite impressed with the amazing designs he had. From there, we sped to Kemang, and just about fifteen minutes past 9pm, which we promised to meet Leo at.
Ooh... we passed this bronze sculpture, yang aku da tengok berapa kali, sebab it seems a central area tuk lalu, but aku tatau ler, and never got around to asking anyone what it was. By the way, that thing you see sticking out of the statue's butt tuh kain cawat dia pakai. Easily mistaken for a tail... or so on;...
Oh by the way... you know how keta makan minyak tiap kali nak sangkut jam kan... (ni orang KL especially ke yang dok dok ke keja kat bandar paham ler), Yes, there is a miracle solution, or so if I'm led to believe.
Nowadays, we have pills for everything kan... dari sakit to contraceptives... and so on for a million and one other uses;.
Well, thanks to Jovian (or his dad actually) apparently ada pill yang khas buat keta gak. Think of it as multivitamins for the automobile. Look at the pic below for proof of the existence if such pills (dengar KL pun ada.... tapi tatau lak aku tiap kali isi minyak, you pop one into the tank nak up kan prestasi)
Fungsi nya?
So that jimat minyak and bagik keta lagik berkuasa. Does it work? Don't know...
Tapi ok ler since kat Jakarta, that is the only petrol enhancement meka leh enjoy. Kalao kita kat sini spoilt for choice ngan seribu jenis minyak introduced by entah berapa syarikat minyak, kar sana there is only one name you'll see in petrol stations.
If you've ever been to Indonesia before, you would have noticed, there is not much choice as far as petrol kiosks or gas stations are concerned.
In fact there is only ONE brand of petrol to choose from, Indonesian which is the government-owned Pertamina.
I was finally made aware of the monopoly by Jovian when I asked him after realising takde stesen minyak lain.
One thing I knew from my first trip itself, was that there are NO 7 Elevens here. Circle K is the biggest chain of 24 hour convenience stores kat sini, tapi jangan harap nak nampak meka everywhere along main roads, like in Singapore, Bangkok or even anywhere in Malaysia. They're usually off some main road and not that easy to spot.
Tapi back to Pertamina, sedih siot sebab satu company je wujud, and no competition.Dahler susah nak jumpa stesen minyak dalam kota yang penuh sesak ngan memacam kenderaan, burok lak kedai kedai stesen minyak ni. Jangan harap ler the same level of luxury (clean toilets, convenience stores etc) sebab most of the time, it's something like four pumps,, protected from the elements by a roof, with the 'reception' under a little khemah nearby!
Tak caya? Hah... tuh buktinya!!! That pump is one of four at this station we stopped on the way to Kemang dan yang ala ala gerai tuh ler kedai dia dan tempat bayar. Leh?
When we sampai Kemang punya area, kita berhenti beberapa toko (kedai ler) selling all sorts of funky wear. Couple of them looked very distro (independent punya pembuat baju, a trend that started in Bandung) tapi since it was getting late, most of them pun da nak tutup.
Parked, and walked our way to Food Fest, or whatever it's called, and met Leo.
Tetiba kami semua kena serbu!!! Bukan serbu apa.. kena serbu ngan all these waiters and waitresses! Leh?Memasing offer makanan meka, campak menu pelbagai on the table.
I swear....menakutkan siot. Cam rusuhan lak!
Sampai Leo dan Jovian pun kata tak penah meka hadapi benda camni bila makan sini. Kalau beberapa orang biasalah...
Tapi this was ridiculous. Aku break out of the huddle nak amik pic of how the mob around our table looked. See?
Ni pun da kira ok... I think at the peak of it, we had about thirty people around us.
Felt that way at least. Erm... cam kena ugut lak nak makan.
The others made their order while Leo and I jalan jalan around the stalls leaving the workers to clear off their respective menus off the table.Dinner was quite ok... with some local dishes... tapi got kind of embarrasing as someone kept on practising several words he just learnt loudly.
Brondong, leikung, seikung are fine, tapi nggak perlu ya exclaim loudly words like ngesong, ngetot, ngewong and following all that with how ending it all it. Pening ok...
Heh...after dinner, said goodbye to Leo sebab esok dia keja tak sempat see me off (jumpa kat KL masa Raya I hope)
Headed back to Jovian's family home. Met his model aunty (she's gorgeous with long legs and in modelling school) but didn't meet Om Mas, his grandma (met her at breakfast - lunch I mean cause you can guess what time we got up the next day) and his other aunty who runs Beautika.
Showered and got ready to go out. Got a special call from someone in Jakarta. Mmm... panggilan tuh, dan SMS tuh je da cukup nak make the whole trip worth it.
After everyone was all togged up, kami pun gerak ke kelab ni, called X2 in Plaza Senayan which opened quie recently on 25 March 2007.
It's still fairly a new place, tapi besar gila and it's supposed to be THE top club in Jakarta now.
Masa on the way, Andi called his friend, the PR manager there, and got us the password. Tanya password nya untuk apa.. and he said it's kind of like this code tuk tamu dan teman teman masuk without any hassle.
Tonight's password? GUCCI!
Nak gelak gak but when we finally there, sebut Gucci and kami tak perlu pun masuk the commoners line nak beratur and all. Terus masuk the guests lane and walked in,.
The club is made up of several clubs... dalam empat, each playing a different sound, with the main in Equinox playing house, Vintage playing retro club and lao Pier 9 and Ego (know one plays R&B, the other not so sure)
But I only hung out in the main room, dan the retro room. Amazing! Reminded me so much of the glory days of Boom Boom Room in Lebih Ampang.
Above the laser show, were amazing wood carvings, making it feel almost like in a cathedral!
The upstairs area of the main room Equinox and the bar area of Vintage.
It was the walls and ceilings of Vintage that made it special. Wood carving panelling! Wow!
Close up of the ceiling...
More of Vintage and the entrance to X2.
The best club in Jakarta! WIthout a doubt. X2!
Partied the night away but left with the general population before the club closed. Had another unmentionable adventure (who would have thought Jakarta would have been so wild!!!!) We love it don't we...
Balik pun da 6.30 pagi. Erm... nak tidur...leave you guys with this Youtube clip of a part in X2.. Sapa penah jadik clubbers Boom Boom Room, check it out if you go Jakarta! By the way, aku pakai clip ni sebab aku suka lagu playing in the background, which is the Ministry of Sound mix of Destination Calabria (Destination Unknown) with the mix by Alex Gaudino featuring Crystal Waters. Excellent tune... danced it in X2 and numero uno club tune of the moment.
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