bali with kids

The school holiday that just passed was pretty full on.  My boys and I went to Bali for couple days.  The main purpose of the visit was to attend my cousin wedding.  Mister Hubby was busy with work so unfortunately couldn't join the fun.

We flew with Jetstar as usual, thank God it was punctual.  We arrived in Bali past noon and went straight to the hotel.  This time I chose Seminyak area to stay, where all other families from Jakarta ( including my mother ) and Manado were staying too. The boys went straight to the pool and didn't come out until we almost left for dinner.

 

Over dinner I had been thinking what was I gonna do to keep the boys occupied during this 5 days.  For sure I couldn't drag them around Kuta Center every day or along the Seminyak road to check out the gorgeous shops.  I was very glad that I found this book! It packs with practical information and activities for kids from all aspects, i.e.; nature, art and culture, action,water sports plus the kids friendly restaurants as well.  Highly recommended!

it's that time of the year!

Every time our family  has to go  back to Indonesia to see my mother or to spend Christmas together I always dread  the idea that we are going to JAKARTA.  I am happy to go home alone or just with my kids.  But not with hubby.  Why? Because Jakarta can be cruel to people  who can't tolerate the pollution and the traffic.  Jakarta is not friendly for people who love outdoor things, and honestly it is not that kind to children either. 

jakarta : my love & hate relationship

 

I went back to Jakarta couple weeks ago with my two children.  Though I wasn't born in Jakarta but grew up there so I still called Jakarta my home-town.  It was nice to be back again, I try to go once a year if it's possible.

However, we didn't really enjoy the flight though. I always dislike the flights to and from Jakarta, it's always at the odd hours.  Initially our flight was at 2.20 am then I got text message that said it had been delayed to 3.20 am, and when we got to the airport the screen showed it won't fly until 4.20am.....arrgghhh!  To make it more miserable both of my Boys were not feeling that flash at that time. One had bad croup and the other had really bad cough and high temperature.   So, I really didn't appreciate had to spend couple hours waiting at the airport with two sick boys.  Honestly I actually almost turned back and cancelled my trip!  I felt so stressed and sorry for my kids.   When we finally on the plane, one boy slept the 4.5 hours flight (thanks God!) while the other one was so restless and didn't close his eyes at all!  When we finally landed at around 8am Jakarta's time we felt like and looked like a zombie!

 

Jakarta is always busy and hectic.  The city is really never sleeps, even at midnight the traffic jam is still crazy! Things that I hate about Jakarta are; the traffic, it's really getting worse and unbearable every time I come to visit.  I had to endure 2.5 hours sitting in the car on our way back from Ancol to Kuningan.  Some people in Jakarta had to get up by 5 in the morning to be at work by 8 am!  When I was still living and working in Jakarta, in the peaks hour we could go through back alleys or shortcuts to avoid the traffic jam. But today the taxi driver told me there's no alley or shortcut that you can go through, peak or  not busy hours, cars and motor cycles  jammed together side by side not moving at all.  I really think that the government should do something with the public transport system.

Secondly, I hate that Jakarta is lack of park and play ground for children.  They build so many shopping malls and yes one or two of those shopping malls may have children entertainment area or indoor playground but that's all. Plus the fee is not that cheap either to leave your children in one of that indoor playground.  The lack of outdoor space for children, green area and parks probably because so many high-rise offices, malls, and residential building keep growing and growing.

Next hate is the pedestrian walk.  There's no way that we can walk safely and comfortably around Jakarta, especially with young children.  Road works, building constructions, vehicles, make it impossible and unsafe.

The most I love about Jakarta is the pampering.  From massage to hair spa, body scrub and any other beauty treatments that you can name it, Jakarta has it all for a very good price too, way cheaper than in western country.  Won't you love when you spend 2 hours massage and body scrub that cost you just around A$25???

The other thing that I love in Jakarta is the food for sure.  Eating out is cheaper, not to mention your mother's home cook too.  Also, there are always food 24/7 be it in the fancy posh restaurant, small little restaurant along the street, or even in the street in front of your house; from morning to midnight they will push their little cart and yell what they are selling ( teee....for satay, for example ).  You will never go hungry in Jakarta for sure :)

Shopping is also number one activity for the shopaholic. From expensive designer brands to  the copy cat of them you can find it in this crazy city pretty easy.  Least but not last is the night life! For clubbers and party goers Jakarta is the city that you can party on all night long and hang out with so much fun and style.

My wishes for Jakarta is to solve the crazy mad traffic jam and for the government to stop granting permit for new malls and apartments. The city is getting too much pollution from the million numbers of cars and please have green parks than more shopping malls and high-rise apartments.

 

a week in a metropolitan

My nightmare travelling alone with my two little monster-balls turned out to be a pleasant experienced. They were just perfect like two little angels. Our flight took off right on the dot at 8.40pm from Perth. The Boys were so excited that they had their own seat, the look on their face was so cute… a mixed between proud and impressed on themselves. They thought they were ‘a big man’ (as Dylan always refers to himself, i’m a big man..) as they didn’t seat on mummy’s or daddy’s lap anymore. They ate their meals very good, which was surprised me for they had their dinner before we boarded the plane. It took a while for them to sleep, but they were busy entertained themselves with the coloring books that were given by Qantas. Finally, around 10.30pm Perth’s time they both fell asleep. I had to wake them up couple minutes before we landed.
The first two days in Jakarta, The Boys were very calm and in a good behavior. Although, my brother’s car doesn’t have seat belts in the back row and I didn’t bring any boosters or car seats, The Boys remained sat still in the car. They didn’t jump around or stand up during the trip. I thought, hmm….maybe they were getting mature now. But then, on the third days and the rest of the week they were getting back to their normal attitude. My dream didn’t last that long.

 

When we had dinner at Bebek Goreng in Senopati with my old friends from school, they bashed off an orchid pot plans (to my horror, but it was too late for me to react) and since we sat kinda on the back veranda of the restaurant and there were gravel stones around, they managed to move at least some of the gravels into the big empty pot near by. 

 

Another time, at the restaurant I managed to get them drawing or coloring their book. But it only lasted about 10 minutes then they decided to explore under the table area by crawling all over the floor — can you imagine how clean and hygienic they were??

Thanks God at the apartment there’s a big pool and play ground for them to waste all the energy they had. Some of my friends lent us their children toys and bike too, so it was a good relieve. I must say, despite the destroying of the orchid plant, they were not too bad. In the car, they got bored when the traffic was bad but they were still in control. I took lots of healthy snacks and toys and books with me every time I went out.

 

But, my oh my…. Jakarta is more crowded than ever, lots and lots of vehicles especially motorbikes! I didn’t think two years ago, the last time I went back home, the traffic was this bad. Although already bad enough at that time, but now it’s even worse. Or maybe it is just me who get used to the very quiet life in Perth???

The shopping is still best ever. And the beauty maintenance is still so great. For a week I was in Jakarta, I went twice for cream-bath, one time wash and blow-dry, one time manicure and twice pedicure, also spent almost 5 hours for body scrub, massage, and facial. Goshhh…. I can always be pretty and terpelihara if I live in Jakarta! That is the only thing that I really miss about living in Jakarta. I do love my beauty treatment.

My highlight in Jakarta was I was able to catch up with most of my old friends, even though I only met them once and for couple hours but it was better than nothing at all. And of course, since I have The Boys so visited all the relatives in my Mum’s order was a top priority.

 

One thing that I didn’t do this time (unlike every time I go to Jakarta) was going out clubbing. It was just didn’t enough time and I supposed I wasn’t in the mood to go out dancing. Or maybe I had enough already lately!

 

Our flight back to Perth was 12 o’clock at midnight. I managed to put the boys down to have a nap during the day so that they won’t be too tired and cranky later on. And I was lucky again, they were really good boys. Once we were on the plane, before even it took off, both of them already fell asleep and they slept through until couple minutes before landed. Phewww…!!

So, my conclusion on this trip back home; it was really good to catch up with family and friends and for them to see The Boys in flesh but I don’t think I would stay more than a week unless we go outside of Jakarta and my partner in crime comes along too. I am lucky that Nathan and Dylan are not clingy to myself and can easily get along with everybody otherwise it would be a nightmare. The Boys are used to play and enjoy outdoorsy things like, parks and beach, so sometimes I felt sorry for them to tag along from one mall to others, or from one traffic to another. Thanks God too, The Boys ate and slept good through our stay and healthy. Because that is my other nightmares if they don’t want to eat or don’t sleep through the night.

New things that I found out about Jakarta since two years ago are; there are new big flash shopping malls that contain most of the-designer-brands and another middle class mall that always caused bad traffic around. There will be a subway thing too in Jakarta in the future, can you imagine? I just hope it will help out the bad traffic. Thing that remains the same is bad traffic alias macet… But still, for me Jakarta is a one unique city in the world.

aston sudirman hotel

I’m glad that I chose Aston Sudirman for our stay in Jakarta. It’s a 5 star hotel and serviced apartment which located strategically in the heart of Jakarta Golden Triangle, next to Plaza Semanggi. So, you don’t need to worry about food matter at all.

 

The Family Suites are 2 bedrooms units at the price of Rp.850.000 net/per night. Fully equipped kitchenette with separate dining and living room. It has 2 bathrooms, one with tub, in the master bedroom.

 

The swimming pool is great too, it’s very spacious and clean although the chlorine level is so strong. There is also children play ground not far from the pool area.

Other facilities:

Porta Venezia Italian Restaurant

Bagus Cafe

Wendy’s Fast Food Restaurant

Star Mart Supermarket

24 Hours Room Service

Spa and Sauna

Baby Sitting

Money Changer and Travel Agent

Fully recommended for those travelling to Jakarta with children who want to stay in a serviced apartment.

 

For more information about Aston go to www.astonhotel-jakarta.com