Teacher's Domain

I just found this website and feels like sharing it with my fellow friends... (sharing is caring, rite?). This website, http://www.teachersdomain.org/ , is very useful and helpful for us teachers. There are a lot of teaching aids/BBM especially in Science and Maths. But, to download the videos or flash files, you need to register first. And, the registration is free. So, folks ...come and join this community. I've just downloaded a video which is very informative and interesting on Physics' Force and Motion topic. And, trust me. I've searched and googled elsewhere, and that kind of video is hardly available even on YouTube. So... go figure!!

Jakarta

This is a long due post on my Jakarta trip. In overall, Jakarta is a shopping heaven for me. Went to Tanah Abang Blok A twice, and Mangga Dua ITC once. We can only visit one place a day because the kids 'udah capek'. While the mommies were on a shopping spree (me and mak itam), the kids were bored to death. I was lucky that I manage to distract Aisyah with Nintendo DS. But, Syazwan? Hmmm... the only thing that will keep him quiet are 'sweets'! Habis rosak gigi dia dek penangan mentos.
Some of the things that we hunt in Tanah Abang were telekungs, lace (very cheap.. you can even get 40k rupiah per meter ..and that's rm12), embroidered cloth for baju kurung/kebaya and japanese cotton. Blok A of Tanah Abang consists of 13 floors and we only manage to cover only 2 floors in two days, that is B1 and B2. TA really turned me crazy. It is one of the biggest pusat grosir in Jakarta. Grosir means wholesale. So, they'll give you grosir price if you buy in bulk. Most of them put a minimum of three purchase to give you a wholesale price.

If it wasn't because I'm running out of cash, maybe I would stay there longer regardless of how tired I was. Things are very cheap.. one of the reason is because their Rupiah is getting weaker against RM. I was thinking of a business opportunity when I was in Jakarta (seeing how cheap the cloth are), but, since my weight limit for AA flight is only 45kgs, the idea was put on hold.

But, when I re-read about Jakarta, Blok A, is still considered pricey than Blok F. Oh?? Where's Blok F? Behind Blok A. There's also Metro Tanah Abang. Oh my! I couldn't even cover Blok A after being there for two days..so, how am I going to cover Blok F and Metro? And Pasar Tasik in Blok F? Does it mean that I have to go there again? Haha ... I loiiikee!!

Then, on the third day, we went to Mangga Dua ITC. Bought two gowns for Aisyah and paid rm50 for them (so, RM25 each). I believe that it is very cheap, cheaper than the ones that we bought in HCMC. Then, found a textile shop in Mangga Dua that made me crazy because the Japanese Cotton that we found there is half the price of Japanese Cotton that I bought in Tanah Abang. Maybe at that time, we were to tired to bargain in Tanah Abang. So, the keyword is..bargain! When you were called "Bunda...belanja bunda" ... try your best to get the best bargain, by asking around first. But, if you're aiming to buy at a certain shop, please request for their namecard. It is very easy to get lost there. the place is huge and crowded, especially in Tanah Abang.

Mangga Dua ITC

Japanese cotton, Katun Paris and batiks

Now, it's time for kids to have fun. I'm done on my part (shopping le..;))

Oh Bandung!

This one week of CNY holiday is a true blessing to me. Alhamdulillah. I was in dire need of a holiday .. and here comes CNY holiday, and the best part is.. I was able to spend it with my husband in Indonesia. ;)

I wasn't able to do a lot of homework about Indonesia because I was bogged down with work. And, because of that, we also ends up with a quite expensive hotel package in Bandung because most of the hotels in Bandung are fully booked. It is a long weekend (2 days plus 1 day for CNY), so, many Jakartans also fled to Bandung untuk berlibur .. lantas, macet banget jadinya Bandung.
Walaupun macet (maksudnya traffic jam) , walaupun ramai org here and there, I still love Bandung, especially the food and the ambience. Actually, if you plan it carefully, you can get a very cheap package plus cheap flights (including those of KLM or MAS with 20kg luggage limit and seat numbers were given. I have to book for Express Boarding most of the time because I'm travelling with my kids. So, there are extra bucks spent there).

Eventho Bandung is so famous for its lots and lots of factory Outlets, we are not so keen to venture into the outlets because of the following reasons:- too many people, nothing much of my size (hihi), we've already stock up on our kids' garments, and things seem pretty much the same. Urgh..enough ramblings. I'm gonna share my Bandung-Jakarta experience, so it might be helpful to some people out there.

Itenary
Day 1
- Using the tips from Forum Cari and friends, we ride Argo Gede Eksekutif coach fr. Jakarta to Bandung. It costs us only 45k rupiah (RM30) to and fro. Very cheap and you can avoid the macet. Departs from Stasion Gambir at 9.30 am.

- Arrive at 1.00 pm in Bandung. Check-in Papandayan.

- Mkn di Dapur Sangkuriang, located off Jalan Setia Budi. Spent approx. 50 ringgit for sup ikan gurame, ayam masak asam manis, ikan goreng, and sayur campur, Jus alpokat, air kelapa n air buah campur (That is 3 adults and two kids eating!). Very nice ambience with tasty food at a very cheap price. Puas hati banget! None of us has ever been to Bandung, and our only guidance is .. it is located nearby Jalan Setiabudi. And, luckily, the taxi driver manage to find it for us. So, even if this is your first time here, a supir won't be that necessary for the first half day spent in Bandung.

-Walk (yes! walk... even my kids can walk because it is very near) to the nearby Donatello Shoes house, Natural FO and the infamous Rumah Mode FO (pronounced as MO THE). There're too many people in Rumah Mode, and it was raining, so we're stucked there. When we manage to get out of Mode, there was no Taxi and it seems that it might start raining once again. So, we hopped on Angkutan Kota, which looks like a van with bench-like seats (renovated to carry a lot of people, I guess). It costs only 2000 rupiah per pax (so, times 3 adults = 6000 rupiah or rm2).

- Next, we went Grande FO di Jln Dago. There are arrays of FO in Jalan Dago. We end up having dinner at Grande's cafe. And, the old saying is true. Don't judge a book by it's cover. It seems pretty dull with only 2 people sitting there. But it turns out to be bes banget. We had 1 nasi ayam bkr, 1 nasi goreng special, 1 serving of pisang keju (that is only 1 banana), batagor (BAso TAuhu GOReng), 4 glasses of juices, plus tapau 2 nasik goreng n 1 coke - the total is 86k rupiah or lebih kurang m30. Murah tapi sedap wooo. Jus strawberi yg pekat dan sedap dia baru 7k rupiah , which is only rm2.30. Sedap sgt. Batagor nya sedap, and Pisang Keju is very yummy!! The banana is fried with sugar (I guess), and it had a topping of shredded cheese and chocolate. Served hot and it is so delicious! Menyesal giler tak repeat makan dekat situ. I didn't find the same Pisang Keju in Jakarta. :(

Day 2
-Bergerak ke Tangkuban perahu with our supir, Pak Kiki. 8.15 am from Papandayan and arrived at approx. 9.30am. Agak macet. Rate for supir+avanza+gas+parkir for 8 hours is 450k rupiah. (Avanza is actually reserved for 12 hours, so, if you need extra hours for Pak Supir, just pay some additional charges). Mount Tangkuban Perahu has the volcanic craters..and one of them is Kawah Ratu. You can smell the sulphurous steam released from the crater.

Hammocks, anyone?

- Sightseeing and by 10.30, we left Tangkuban Perahu.
- Arrive at kg. Daun for lunch. Very unique eating experience. Mkn bersila sambil menikmati scenery waterfall. Spent rm100 for 5 pax.
- Went to Pasar Baru (I try not to buy anything here because I knew that I will spend more days to visit Tanah Abang in Jakarta, which is suppose to offer more discounted prices), Heritage FO, Terminal Tas (lotsa bags, but I didn't even go in because of time constraint), Kartika Sari (they're famous for Pisang Bolen and Brownies Kukus. I didn't expect such a huge crowd for a bakery. Bought both Bronies Kukus and Pisang Bolen. Enak!!!) and Grande FO. Bought only 1 box of Brownies Kukus and the kids finished them up in Jakarta. I thought I could find Kartika Sari in jakarta... but to no avail. Sedihnyaa.. Hanya di Bandung ma!

- Lastly, we dined at Sierra Cafe . Very nice scenery, overlooking bandung at night (it is located at a hillside, overlooking a valley). Spent rm100 for 5 pax. Food is not as good as those we have tried before. I had Indonesian food - Nasi Ayam Betutu and it is below expectation for a cafe with a very exclusive look. However, it is still considered very cheap as compared to KL. But, Aisyah whom ordered Chicken Steak (Chicken Chop here) is very satisfied. I guess they're good with western food.

Day 3
- Aisyah is feverish because of yesterday's rain. So, papa volunteered to stay with her in our hotel room. Another reason is he is tired of the whole affair. So, the three of us (Mak Itam, Me and Wawan) went to Cihampelas, a road famous for jeans. I didn't find any jeans for me, but i saw cheap cotton bandung tshirts costs only 15k rupiah each. It is much cheaper than pasar baru, bcoz for XL size, Pasar Baru's price is 25k. So, apalagi.. beli la! Then, Mak Itam bought Brownies Kukus Amanda (this is also a famous brand in Bandung), which is very delicious and cheap. I couldn't concentrate on shopping because Syazwan was hooked to Ultraman's gigantic replica. In Cihampelas here .. or Ciwalk .. there are a lot of Cartoon Replicas.

- Then, by 2.30 pm, we hopped on Argo Gede to Jakarta. The view is marvellous. Let the pictures do the talking. Enough said about Bandung. I'll continue some other time on Jakarta.