JAKARTA-BANDUNG: LAST DAY

Last day. Woke up at 8.00am. For breakfast, we missed Ibu, Mama Ina and the cousins who had theirs at Burger King, they woke up really early! So they packed us burgers (BK here didn't have breakfast meals). Because we did not want to waste time, since we planned to leave for the airport at about 3.00pm (foreseeing Macet) the initial plan was that at 9.30am one van which consist of the ladies would leave for Mangga Dua first, while the other two vans, the guys, and the grandmother and her maid and the luggages would follow later. This was because Bapak, Syazwan and Haris had to wait for their suits to come at 10.00am.

Suddenly we got to know that Haris was not well, vomitting and shivering. We called the doctor to come to check on him. Probably food poisoning, of what, no one was sure because everyone had the same thing the day before. Haris followed us to have the Sunda lunch, so although my family was fine, we thought probably his stomach couldn't take Sunda food. Then the suits came early, and by the time everything was settled, the plan changed. 2 vans left at about 10.30am. Only the van for the luggage stayed at the hotel to bring Haris and Papa M to the airport. We thought it would be better that Haris stayed and rested at the hotel. After all, Mangga Dua would be no fun for the guys pun.

So, off we went to Mangga Dua in search of the wedding doorgifts/favors for the reception dinner. Cut the story short, we were dissapointed. The choices available were quite off season, nothing that really caught my eyes, what more the Father-of-the-Bride-zilla. Mangga Dua is reviewed to have a lot of nice selections for doorgifts/favors. We probably went to the wrong place, as Mangga Dua is the name of the place and there were a lot of buildings there. FAIL. We didn't have time to move to anywhere else because it would take quite a while to reach due to the Macet. And we did not want to risk moving later that 3pm to the airport because of ... yes, the Macet. So, we went to the top floor and found shops which sold beads and borders which you can use to enhance your materials. Spent most of the time there, there were quite a lot of choices, and cheap. So, atleast something on our last day.

We got a call that our flight was delayed from 6.30pm to 7.20pm. But we decided to leave at about 2.30pm because we were already tired and didn't have anything else to do. We decided to eat at the airport. We reached the airport at about 4.00pm like that. Checked in our bags, ate, shopped around at the airport, mostly of cigarettes for those who kirim.

me snapping pictures keeping myself busy while enduring the macet which was made worse by the rain

one of the initiatives to combat the terrible traffic congestion

 

Boarded at about 7.00pm and reached Malaysia at about 10.30pm Malaysian time. Our flight was delayed because there were problems with the initial plane, so they substituted the plane with an international plane - bigger and had in-flight entertainment. YEAY!

Overall this is my conclusion of the trip:

1. One thing I noticed, Indonesians, atleast the one I encountered during my whole trip, are VERY POLITE! Their language and the way they talk, sooo polite. Compared to the rudeness of "some" Malaysian people that we had the unpleasant experience with exactly prior to our departure to Indonesia.
2. Their textile shops were quite similar to the ones we have in Malaysia - prices slightly cheaper, tapi tak adalah murah gila. But if you're skillful in haggling, you can probably get a lot of discounts. I heard some people were able to get 50% discount. So it depends on your haggling skills. I'm not that skillful in that area. 
3. Try to speak the language and not look like a first-timer or a tourist sangat - some of them tend to open their prices quite high when they notice that you might look clueless and constantly converting. One advice, don't convert infront of them and then make the "murahnyaaa" face. Keep a straight face and look non-interested. They'll lower the prices. Again, it depends on your haggling skills.
4. Pasar Tebet is great for invitation cards. I can't say it is the best because that was the only place I went for cards. And I have yet to see the results. But, for now, I was satisfied.
5. Try to find the right place in Mangga Dua!
6. Taman Sari Spa is the best!
7. We had the BEST Supir ever! Roni was so accomodating and very protective of us. He took care of my grandmother and held her hands when we walked. He made sure that the card person took notes of everything I wanted. He even worked for us on CNY (he's a chinese BTW). He made it soooo much easier for us.

The trip was not a total success, but we had fun. The company was great but probably a little hard to handle because it was such a big group and everybody had different agendas. But it was definitely a great experience.