Indo Shopping Expedition - Day 1

We learnt upon reaching our destination that Cengkareng, (which I mistakenly thought was a grasshopper..) is an area in Jakarta where the international airport is located. So much for our pre-trip 'detailed research'

BYEE!

We came rolling into the city executive style. Lolz. Our hotel initially offered airport transfer for Rp190,000 but I read in the forums that it cost much less to get to our hotel via BlueBird cabs (equivalent to S'pore's Comfort cab). But upon exiting the Arrival Gate we couldn't see any taxi ranks, only hordes of illegal cabbies targeting us from far. So we cowardly ran to the nearest limo counter that looks professional and reliable enough but ended up paying Rp390,000 for the luxurious Alphard instead. Talk abt 1st class stupidity!

Pak Bambang welcoming us..

Cengkareng NOT cengkerik (grasshopper)!

Our hotel in Mangga Dua, north of Jakarta.


I'm so glad we picked Novotel. Apart from being faaar away from central Jakarta where most high-end hotels are, (including the recently bombed Marriot and Ritz), our hotel's connected to a shopping centre so there's easy access to shopping and lots of halal eateries such as A&W, Wendy's, JCO, BreadTalk, Es Teler, Carrefour. Our 1st day was spent shopping at the Mangga Dua Square Mall.