OK, I am once again finding myself far behind with updates after a quick trip out of Jakarta.
On Friday, my 45th Day of Happiness, I spent most of the morning just playing with Samudra before braving the heat with him for a quick walk up to Jasons Supermarket on Jl Ampera. I had planned to quickly get groceries, but we made a pitstop at Cali Deli to cool down, so he could chew on the end of a cold Aqua bottle and I could down an apple freeze! Finally Samudra has two tiny bottom teeth starting to come through so his favourite thing to chew on is an Aqua plastic bottle filled with cold water to soothe his mouth. I have tried cooling teethers from the fridge but the cold disappears so quickly that they don’t seem to work for him, so as long as this calms him down I am happy to keep doing it no matter how bad it is chewing plastic bottles!
In the late afternoon we headed to SLAM Sky Lounge at Mercure Hotel for Treen’s birthday drinks. Putra, Samudra and I were the first to arrive and watched as the staff set up for the evenings Brazilian Bash party.. The female staff were in costume and were so busy taking selfies that it took HOURS for us to get served. We had to wait until Treen and the others all arrived before anyone paid us any attention and we had been the only customers in there. What’s with this addiction to selfies?? It’s not unusual to see women all over Indonesia taking photos of themselves with a sexy pose, fixing their hair, checking, re-doing, it’s like an obsession with vanity. I am not sure what it’s like everywhere else in the world, but from personal experience here, people LOVE taking photos of themselves.. to the extent that people are walking around with the hand held phones on a pole to get a selfie photo from a further distance away.
Back to SLAM Sky Lounge.. this bar is on the 19th floor of the Mercure and looks deceptively large if you view photos online, so walking out of the lift I was shocked to see that in reality it is so cosy. There is a swimming pool and chairs and tables around it, and the space is very small, but the view definately makes up for it! It is right beside the Toll Road and Poins Square and you can get a great view of Jakarta and I am sure it would be incredible if you were able to catch a good sunset from up there. This evening there was no spectacular coloured sky as usual as it was too cloudy but we had a great night having drinks and catching up before Samudra decided it was time for us to leave and battle the crazy traffic below, while the others stayed on and ended up at a karaoke bar in the wee hours of the morning. Happy Birthday again Treen and may the celebrations continue throughout the weekend..
I hope you had a beautiful day wherever in the world you are too.
Day 45: View of Jakarta from the 19th floor of Mercure Hotel. Happiness.
Day 45: Samudra and his bapak at SLAM. Happiness.
Day 45: Treen and Jackie choosing cocktails. Happiness.
Day 45: Claire in the afternoon sunlight. Happiness.
Day 45: Janelle is all smiles as her mojito finally arrives! Happiness.
Day 45: The toll road beginning to get busy with afternoon traffic beside Poins Square. We’re enjoying drinks above. Happiness.
Day 45: The insane macet of Jakarta. Watching from above and not being in it. Happiness.
Day 45: Treen sneaking a cuddle while Samudra sleeps. Happiness.
Day 45: Time to join this festival of lights and head home after a fun afternoon. Happiness.
