What a great, santai (relaxing) day it has been! Samudra has just fallen asleep after keeping us amused tonight with his constant laughter and squealing.. I think he has just discovered his voice and is seeing what noises he can make.. it’s been so entertaining for us and it’s making me realise just how quickly he is growing and changing. I thought babies stayed as babies for a long time, but how wrong I was!
This afternoon Treen and I went on an adventure into Kemang as I really wanted to get myself a copy of ‘Jakarta. 25 Excursions in and around the Indonesian capital’ on recommendation from Mumun from Indohoy (a super fun Indonesian travel blog). It’s a book written by Melanie Wood who has been living in Jakarta since 2010 and writing about her adventures in her ‘Gangs of Indonesia’ blog. I wanted to get re-inspired for places to visit here since I am wanting to rediscover Jakarta all over again. I have only had a quick scan of the book, and I have visited most of the places, but there’s a few places I have yet to get to so will make a plan to work my way through them and hopefully with Treen too!
I bought a copy of the book and then Treen and I decided we would walk through Kemang back down Jl Kemang Raya to Koi for lunch. It’s been years since I have walked down that road although I have been up and down it hundreds of times and always wish I could get out and take a closer look, and Treen has never walked down in her 5 years of living here. So we stocked up on Monggo chocolates (a delicious Indonesian brand of chocolate) and supplies at Kemchicks at Kemang Mansion and hoped it wouldn’t rain on our walk. Instead it suddenly turned incredibly HOT, as we made a quick stop at the DVD shop (do I REALLY own almost every new release dvd out?? eeeeek), a pitstop at Aksara Bookstore and then we walked, and walked… and we were wondering what on earth had we been thinking we had been missing out on by passing this road thousands of times by ojek or taxi? Kemang is forever changing with shops opening and closing, being knocked down and rebuilt, and it looks completely different to what it did 4 years ago when I first arrived. We only stopped at a seriously over-priced furniture shop and then I went and drooled over colourful cushions at Chic mart but resisted the temptation to buy more as I was too lazy to carry them. So apart from Ranch Supermarket, Adorama for photo printing, The Pantry, EMax (Apple store + cafe), JPC Photography Shop and Nikki’s Salon, there wasn’t all that much else to see before we arrived at our destination, Koi Restaurant. At night Jl Kemang Raya comes to life with loads of bars and cafes, but during the day it’s pretty quiet but I was happy for the exercise and had left Samudra at home so I could give my back a rest.
Koi was delicious as always and we finally managed to walk up the stairs to check out the next two levels.. awesome furniture but waaaaaaaaay outside of my price range, but it’s nice to dream, and it’s always awesome to catch up with my beautiful sister Treen.
I hope you have had a fun day wherever you are in the world too.
Day 12: Inspiration for new adventures around the city (nice showcasing of the book Treen!). Happiness
Day 12: Pricey but cool furniture in Koi Gallery. It’s nice to dream. Happiness.
Day 12: This painting reminded me of a friend, Windy Sucipto, who is always posting pics of his super cute pugs. Happiness.
Day 12: I loved this painting up in Koi Gallery. I must remember to start drawing again! Happiness.
Day 12: I LOVE chocolate and I LOVE the pictures on the front of all Monggo packaging. Happiness.
