Batik shoes

Batik shoes, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Just to deviate from Spanish Barcelona posts, here's a picture of my newest show bought at a mall in Jakarta. It was a fleeting visit...flew in friday night and flew out Saturday night. Purpose of the meeting a talk on the Pathos paper. I squeezed a quick walk to the nearest mall. We stayed at J W Marriott which makes the nearest mall 15 min walk away.

I found this lovely set of shoes in a little shop. Again size was a problem. I bought the Batik Mary Janes:) Wore them on Tues:)

Amazing natural light!!

Amazing natural light!!, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I love this building. It was PP who pointed out that this building needed no artifical lighting at all. It's built in such a way that the light strems through naturally. This picture was taken around 4:00pm local time at the main entrance to the library.

Fridge magnets for sale

Fridge magnets for sale, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I found this really odd. Firstly, I believe Jakarta does not have to rely of trinkets as a means of revenue. It s next to impossible of buy a decent ( cheap) fridge magnet in town.Got a bit excited when got through the immigration and saw a shop selling fridge magnets inside the airport in Jakarta. They sold not only magnets of Jakarta...but most other countries. I spotted a fridge magnet of the Notre Dame and some other country I forget now. This is truly taking the sale of fridge magnets to a totally different level.

Interesting fridge magnet

Interesting fridge magnet, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Found this fridge magnet in Jakarta's airport. First lemme state: if you're thinking of buying fridge magnets as mini gifts for you friends back home, you may want to re-think the idea. There aren't many types readily available in shopping malls in town. I bought most of mine at Batik Keris and it cost around RM10 each.

This interesting fridge magnet ( picture above) cost a whopping RM20. SO I did the next best thing...which was to take a picture:)

The jam is Jakarta was as promised. Something to remember for years. We took 3.5 hours to get to the hotel from the airport.

Long line to buy a ticket

Long line to buy a ticket, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

This is us, at Tanah Abang train station. Just look at the crowd standing in line to buy a ticket. Be careful, if you're slow to move forward, someone will stand in front of you and it would be acceptable. The place was swarmed with locals. We didn't see any caucasians in sight. I guess one of the reasons would be the signs which were all in bahasa Indonesia. How lucky we are....to have a national language a bit similar to theirs. ( Enough to read and translate signs at least altho having a bargaining dialogue or asking for a SIM card and its various packages is impossible)

Longchamp at the airport

Longchamp at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

What a lovely selection. Different types of longchamps for you to drool over and hopefully buy. I spot
1. La planetes, ( the black at the top right hand corner)
2. Coin purse le pliage
3. Le Pliage women's Pouchette

* Longchamp is much cheaper at this airport. Prices comparable to Paris

Longchamp at Pondok Indah Mall

Longchamp at Pondok Indah Mall, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

It won't be complete if I didn't post re Longchamp bags. I'm going to confess to buying two bags BEFORE flying off to Jakarta. My chinese kiasu-genes warned me I may not have enough time to shop en route home. ( and I was spot on) The colours I chose were mustard and electric blue.

Here is the Longchamp shop at Pondok Indah mall Jakarta. When I visited the shop, the ladies were busy unpacking the new spring colours. ( WHoooop!!!) I had a nice time admiring self with each different coloured bag in the shop.

Things you can design with Batik

Things you can design with Batik, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Jakarta batik shopping was an eye-opener. They are creative with their batik. Unlike Malaysia where we use batik for long baju kurungs or jubah....the Indonesians make a variety of stuff; blouses ( of different types to suit different age groups), dresses ( various designs not just the boring wrap-arounds, jackets ( again different designs from formal types to playful designs) Here is a picture I took when we ventured on the commuter to Tanah Abang. Not recommended for the faint-hearted. The walk from commuter station to mall was prolonged. We literally pushed through many people. And we got pushed by equally many people. A very good experience. So no regrets!!

A bit about Tanah Abang.It's in central Jakarta and it hosts the biggest textile  market in South East Asia. ( A pity we never got to experience the vast textile ) I think we may have been  in the Tanah Abang market. Because we got off at the Tanah Abang station and the market is within the same area.

The commuter arrives

IMG_3623, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

The indonesian railway company PT Kereta Api introduced women only coaches from August 2010 in response to reports of sexual harrassment. These coaches can be found at the end of each train. And it has a distinct purple sticker. You can't miss it. I felt safe during the entire journey. In fact, the atmosphere was chatty and everyone talked to everyone else.

The library :)

The library :), originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

It is the largest in Asia. And that's certainly something to be proud of. A lovely design. And PP noticed there were no lights needed to brighten the place indoors. ALL natural light streaming in through the wide glass window panes. We did the obligatory picture taking session in front of this sign. But I managed ( cleverly) to take one without any human in the picture. The road leading to this was being tiled. So the bus couldn't drive right through. He left us a fair distance and we walked the remaining way.

Mercure hotel Jakarta

Mercure hotel Jakarta, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

My first time in Jakarta. The flight was nice. Sat beside two old ladies just back from Haj. The three of us slept through the bulk of the flight. No small senseless chit chat for us tired ladies. Food on MAS wasn't that nice. I arrived feeling nauseous. The immigration was smooth with no long line unlike most other airport. What was tiring, was the long journey from airport to Hotel. 2.5 hours. This is the hotel. Lovely!! Free wifi...nice modern designs and super friendly staff. I'll shall update re food tomorrow.


More about mercure hotel:
1. It has 232 rooms. All decorated in a modern fashion.
2. It is close to the  the central business district.
3. it is 15 minutes away ( by taxi) from Jakarta's version of KLCC which is called Pondok Indah Mall.

Here is the GPS coordinate
GPS :S 6° 17' 29.94'' E 106° 46' 45.34''

Hotel address

Jl R A Kartini No 18
Lebak Bulus
12440 SOUTH JAKARTA
INDONESIA