A train heading to Bandung city in West Java rattling by at high speed through a housing area in Taman Bukit Duri, Jakarta
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From Jakarta with Love
by Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan (13-Feb-2002) | Readers Say

Hi I am back in Jakarta for a little holiday in conjunction with the Chinese New Year hols! Yes, really glad to be back, despite heavy rains and the floods that hit Jakarta in the last 2 weeks. So far I've been blessed with not-so-hot weather and rains that only occur when I sleep or when I'm in some mall window shopping or watching a movie. Takdelah hujan gile, but I did pass some areas where the floods occured. Flood victims line up by the sides of the roads extending empty boxes asking for donation from motorists, kesian tengok diorang. Evita and Fibi claim that some places got flooded really bad because of corruption, money that was supposed to be used for sewage maintainence gulped down by the people yang dipertanggungjawabkan untuk menguruskan uang itu. Biasalah, apa2 yang fakap kat Indon ni, semua belasah kat korupsi. But there are lots of public charities going on to help the needy, so that's a good sign.

What have I been doing yeah, here? Well, managed to meet up with more friends, jalan2 kat mall, normal lah. Got to catch 2 Indonesian movies, Ada Apa Dengan Cinta at Plaza Senayan, and Jelangkung at Blok M. The first movie is a teenage love story which I thought was really cute, and the soundtrack is entirely done by Melly Goeslaw and husband Anto Hoed. MUST get the soundtrack! Quality songs you can expect from Melly. Jelangkung pulak was a story that is ala Blairwitch Project, a film based on some of Indonesia's more gorry urban legends. Evita refused to watch it with me, so I went off with Riga and Dira (sisters studying in Australia I knew from IRC back in 1996) on our merry ways to watch it. Some parts of the movie was scary lah, Dira pulak chicken, banyak tutup mata, penat nak kena selalu explain kat dia what just hapenned! Hehe!

When I asked what Jelangkung was, apparently it's this ritual where you call upon some spirit to come, sort of like Spirit of the Coin or Ouija, but scarier since it's Indonesian (all Indonesian supernaturals spook me). So the movie revolved around 4 young Indonesians whose hobby was to look for all things supernatural and satanic in nature. They ended up going to a village called Angkerbatu where it said to be haunted by its mysterious past, and it is also where they stumble upon a grave of a child who was said to be evil and was killed by the villagers to ensure the safety of the village.

Now one of the ghost-hunters decided to call upon the spirit of this child to acquire ilmu or black magic knowledge. Needless to say the movie might be disturbing to some, granted there were some scenes that were of that nature. But most of my Indo friends say the film is norak, corny in other words.

On other events, I am catching a Dewa gig at Hard Rock Cafe tomorrow night! Wow, my dream come true! I've always wanted to go catch Dewa for the longest time ever since I became a Dewa fan back in 1994. Hopefully I can go watch Yovie Widianto (of Kahitna) perform on Friday as well. Wow, so many things to do, so little time. And oh, don't forget I gotta go hit the museums and other historical places in Jakarta too before I head back home on Sunday.

Well that's it for now folks. Have a fun Valentine's, everyone. I'll share my pictures when I get back. Till then, as they say back in Indo, daaag!

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WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT From Jakarta with Love:
#27. sedih bila kuar kt melodi yang ramai org tak kenal ADA BAND, sedangkan wa melalak melalok dlm kereta (wa buleh hafal sumer lagi start dari album Metamorfosis, the best of ADA BAND dan heaven of Love), d/load cam org giler... sian ada band.. aku ngefan banget ama kalian... ngefan gila bilang orang Malay... kapan bisa manggung di Malay?
Posted by cokelatrawkz on 11-Jan-2006, 09:35 MYT

#26. SUE: I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to Indonesia.

PS: I think the Indonesian tourism board should start giving me commissions for promoting their country so well!
Posted by Fairy on 22-Sep-2005, 10:15 MYT

#25. Hi!! First I'd like to tell u dat I'm a great fan of ur website.. And I jus went to Jakarta for the first time on 8th Sep 05 and I'm proud to say "I'm in love with Indonesia!!".. I'm going again dis 1st Oct.. The las time i went to Puncak n Bandung too! Thanz! U're one great Fairy! Thanx for making me want to go to Indonesia!.....
Posted by Sue on 22-Sep-2005, 00:01 MYT

#24. Pakai la route to farah

Wahahahahaa.. aku memang weng
hari ni.. weng!! hahahaha!!!

nak raya besok pun dah tak syok.. kerja bertimbun sangat!! surat tak dibuka dah dua kotak!!

hahahaha!!
Posted by aslan on 22-Feb-2002, 17:29 MYT

#23. err i wont take garuda by all means possible if i could. but we learn abt all this stuffs in tourism studies. which is why once u create a bad impression to the travel industry everyone within will know bout it. Garuda are one of the airlines which is pretty much not like within the industry. Not to say its not good or anything but the impression itself are the cause of it.


Posted by Rafthah on 21-Feb-2002, 19:02 MYT

#22. Wah, Rafthah you seem to know so much about flying on Garuda, where did you go on Garuda?
Posted by Fairy on 21-Feb-2002, 16:17 MYT

#21. ON TIME? miahahahahha now thats indeed a shocker!!! garuda slalu delay flights and even till now masih banyak delay and how did they get that award hahaahaahha pelik pelik.

yeah maybe they wanna be exclusive but they just arent.
Posted by Rafthah on 21-Feb-2002, 15:55 MYT

#20. Garuda's not being weird I think, they're trying to regain composure from their financial troubles by appearing as exclusive as MAS haha. I was quite surprised they were just as expensive as MAS is too. Though I have no doubt in mind that they are, though Garuda is quite notorious for being "jam karat" or unfashionably late!

However I was told recently that Garuda was awarded some flight award thingy in the Netherlands for being the most precisely-on-time flight in the world! Now how's that for a shocker haha.

I used to have Indon friends in the US who would rather fly on SIA than Garuda due to this late factor. I guess Garuda's turned over to a new leaf?
Posted by Fairy on 21-Feb-2002, 15:30 MYT

#19. hahahah dulu study tourism they say, to fly with ur national carrier mmg mahal sket, cause its like ur nation punya nama bla bla. but if u buy ur national carrier tix out of ur country its damn cheaper. cuma in this case, garuda are being weird heheeh.
Posted by Rafthah on 21-Feb-2002, 14:58 MYT

#18. Mana lah aku tau aslan, why don't you inquire from the people who actually use that route?
Posted by Fairy on 21-Feb-2002, 13:54 MYT

#17. Hmm.. merpati rm600 eh?
Feri Port Klang - Dumai lak berapa?
Posted by aslan on 21-Feb-2002, 13:26 MYT

#16. Normal lah Rafthah, Garuda and MAS can charge you an arm and a leg because they're big names in the flight business in their respective countries and supposedly service is better lah, more leg room, prettier flight attendants, yada yada. I love underdogs with quality service like Merpati, sensible prices, no fluff, and gets you there safely on their 737! Yeah! For God's sake it's only a 1 hour 40 mins flight to Jkt from KL, what's with wanting more leg room lah...
Posted by Fairy on 21-Feb-2002, 12:23 MYT

#15. thats true if u fly from kl to sg then to jkt, still comes up to same rate, but just shock why they have to charge it pretty expensive. thats all. but garuda charging at 1k, wahh thats more of like overcharge!
Posted by Rafthah on 21-Feb-2002, 10:14 MYT

#14. RM600 to Jkt from KL via Merpati Airlines, that's about right Zack. Merpati service not bad at all, flies daily to Jkt. MAS and Garuda charge a whopping almost RM1K (RM900+ lah, I enquired) for KL-JKT, and you thot RM600 tu mahal..! Kira orait lah. I mean if it's about RM300 from Spore, it's still about the same 'cause you would have to fly to Spore from KL which is another RM300+ or so, so lebih kurang sama je Rafthah. What I like abt Merpati punya flight is that it leaves at 8pm from KLIA so can just cabut after work... Another airlines called Lion Air is supposedly giving out cheap rates to fly to Jkt too but tak pernah tanya. Air Asia also flies to Jkt but not sure what they charge, wonder if anyone might know...
Posted by Fairy on 21-Feb-2002, 09:48 MYT

#13. wahhh mahalnya return tix to jkt bout 600 rm??? u can get it for 150 on Emirates to JKT return tix from here. That would be like wut, 300 rm????
Posted by Rafthah on 21-Feb-2002, 02:39 MYT

#12. yeh yeh yeh... gimme more info.. hehehee... i heard return tickets are around rm 600... rite farah??
Posted by zack on 21-Feb-2002, 00:31 MYT

#11. Hi Epi and Mudya, aduh payah deh Renny, gue lama kok di Jkt 10 hari bo, dasar anak lagi jatcin berat toh hehe. Kan udah rugi gak ketemu Fai tuh...

Wah kalau ada yang mau ngasih gue album Masaki Ueda sama tandatangan, tangan gue terbuka sekali hehe. Asiikkk tambah lagi koleksi musik Faiii....
Posted by Fairy - Website   on 20-Feb-2002, 03:04 MYT

#10. Wah Masaki Ueda Basi... albumnya sudah keluar 2 tahun yang lalu di Jepang dan Korea tapi baru muncul sekarang di Jakarta.. Fai nonton Reza manggung Yukkk... ada duet dengan Masaki tuh.. Kamu di tanyain Renny kok katanya sebentar banget di Jakarta.. dia belum ketemu kamu tuh.. dan ada album Masaki Ueda dengan tanda tangannya buat kamu jika kamu mau...
Posted by epigo on 19-Feb-2002, 20:37 MYT

#9. fai, evi di sebelah gue nih... di kantor, lagi nungguin konsernya Masaki Ueda di HRC. sebenarnya konsernya basi... tp kita mau datang supaya yang mengundang nggak kecewa!
Posted by Mudya on 19-Feb-2002, 20:28 MYT

#8. Oh yah, trust epigo to give the most complete latest update on music news hehe, I lupa nak cerita yang ADA band dah split up. I heard about Baim nak jadi soloist but I also heard this bizzare rumour yang dia juga nak jadi pelakon sinetron (drama). Haha. Kelakar betul.
Posted by Fairy on 19-Feb-2002, 13:36 MYT

#7. Zack..ADA band sudah bubar for sure tuh kamu mending beli CDnya saja tuh not bad buat koleksi..titip Anas tuh kan..Rama pemain drumnya kemarin 15 Feb playing buat Yovie Widianto dan Nuno tuh..hehehe chuchian deh!! Baim tuh vokalisnya mau rilis solo album...
Posted by epigo on 19-Feb-2002, 06:12 MYT

#6. Yup Zack, no hal, just gimme a week or two ke apa, got to catch up with work ada dateline project, kan I took a few days off to go to Indon hehe. Ha pegi renew passport, awak serious tak rugi. Nak travel cheap to Jkt just tanya me.
Posted by Fairy - Website   on 19-Feb-2002, 01:22 MYT

#5. it's okay... ADA band... okay gak tu.. apa apa hal u gimme a call laa cik farah... how i wish i can renew my international passport... dang.. hehee.. okies.... gue ingin banget mau ke indo sih.... kapan lagi.... wargghhhh....
Posted by zack on 19-Feb-2002, 00:11 MYT

#4. Hi Zack, sorry lah tak sound nak pi Jkt lagi, was quite bz before I left actually, lots of things happened I pun tak terfikir. I can burn you a copy of my new ADA band Cd if you like. Actually dah lama album tu keluar. I think lah, is this the one with "Nasya" in it? I like that song.

Damn I wish I didn't watch Jelangkung, terbayang2 pulak budak kecik with those glowing eyes. Argh. Ah no matter... nama jugak urban legend... kan?
Posted by Fairy on 18-Feb-2002, 10:42 MYT

#3. awat hang tak sound hang nak pi lagi sana.... ni nak pesan ADA band baru siott.... adush... call pun tak dapat dapat... hmm... haiyaaa.... takper laaaa.... fine.. as long as u've enjoyed urself.. im more than happy for you....
Posted by zack on 18-Feb-2002, 00:19 MYT

#2. Encik MK... call me please at 019 231 1048. ada hadiah bonus super special menanti anda.
Posted by arip on 15-Feb-2002, 10:00 MYT

#1. Looks like you're having loads of fun
Posted by MK84 - Website   on 14-Feb-2002, 16:41 MYT

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