Jakarta Trip 20-25th December 2010

Day 6: 25 December 2010, Saturday

Merry Christmas(:

We had a short tour by ourselves to the nearby Kota Tua (Old City) of Jakarta without our driver. I really wonder how did I learn to ride a bike that had a size bigger than me when I was young because now I could not. The bicycle tour was an epic failure. Anyway, I love its pink bicycle.

We had a buffet lunch with mum's friend who provided us the driver and the hotel for the entire trip! On the Christmas Day, carols were playing at the back and joyous people were ice skating in front, it was so Christmas. Anyway, the restaurant has buffet Ice Kachang! I made what I thought was the best Ice Kachang ever! ( without milk, without beans, many atachi, lots of brown sugar , mango and strawberry syrups!) Simply yummylicious!

Visited a wharf in the afternoon. Love all kinds of wharves! Simply because it's full of ships and boats (:

Robin and his super young and pretty mum met us at the Ancol Atlantis City to give us some Indonesian cake(:

Jakarta Trip 20-25th December 2010

Day 5: 24 December 2010 Friday

Bye bye Krakatua Volcano, after a breakfast by the beach we went for a morning swim. This time I mastered snorkeling, I managed to stay underwater calmly and enjoy the vast and unique beauty. Amazingly, there were glow -in- the -dark purple mushroom-like creatures and fishes of color combinations of a 3 years old drawing, a natural giant aquarium. Ended our day with a visit to the Jakarta's national monument and shopping @ the Mangga Dual Mall.

Jakarta Trip 20-25th December 2010

Day 4: 23 December 2010 Thursday

Bumpy Boat Ride for 2 hours to the island opposite the Kratatua Volcano. The rip- roaring waves tossed us up and down, making the whole trip feel like an amusement park's extreme ride.

Before we even reached the island, a group of what it seems to be pirates hijacked our small boat with guns and demanded money from us. For a moment i thought I was going to appear on the headline: 5 Singaporeans held hostage in South China Sea.

We snorkeled with a sea of colorful corals and fishes. It was such a pity that I was too busy struggling to breath and drinking mouthfuls of sea water that I failed to enjoy the full beauty of it.

The Kratatoa Volcano is like a growing teenager undergoing puberty: it grows 4m in height every year. Its hormone changes also makes it roar with fuming rages every 5 to 10 minutes.


At night, the sight was even more awesome. It was a gigantic black sesame ice kachang topped with raspberry syrup. I would vote it as the best Christmas decorated place, it even outshines the orchard Christmas lighting.When the orange red larva spurt out from the mouth of the volcano like a vigorously shake-up champagne, it coats the less than ordinary mountain with a layer of shimmering sparkles, it instantaneously but momentarily transforms it into an magnificent and unforgettable sight. I would trade a sleepless night and countless mosquito bites by the beach just to get one more glimpse of it.

p.s regarding the pirate issue, later then we found out they are just pirate- looking rangers.

Jakarta Trip 20-25th December 2010

Day 3: 22 December 2010 Wednesday

We arrived at Taman Safari Indonesia at Bogor. Unlike other zoos, humans are caged instead of the animals. Lions and tigers roamed free while we were trapped in the car with not even enough space to stretch our legs. Occasionally, a deer or zebra would pop its head in through our window to say hi.

Jakarta Trip 20-25th December 2010

Day 2: 21 December 2010, Tuesday

After a 4 hours ride to Bandung, we arrived at Kawah Gunung Tangkuban Parahu. The picturesque landscape of the volcano crator left us speechless. Every now and then the chilling winds that carries the putrid smell of sulphur (that rotten egg smell) were raping our hair. No amount of Gatsby hair wax would be able to withstand the power of the wind. It was overall an awe- inspiring sight.