Monday, September 17, 2012

Touring Jakarta lads around KL and Putrajaya

It was a rainy Saturday morning, a perfect day to sleep in but I was due to meet up some friends from Jakarta at the Masjid Jamek lrt station around 1 pm. It took much will power to drag myself out from the bed, into the shower and out of the door.


And eventually I was 15 minutes late.

Thankfully, my friend Helga messaged me and said he wanted to pray first. Hehe. And so I entered the Mosque compound and find my way into the women's area, abet asking directions from an old man there. To tell you the truth, this was my very FIRST time praying at this historic mosque. Shameful to admit. And before entering the mushollah, I spotted Helga in his kain batik sitting with his friend just a few meters away. Oh well, will contact him later. =p

Helga and Singgih (hope the spelling is right. LOL) in front of Masjid Jamek.
I was about to get out from the praying room when my phone started beeping. I saw him first from afar before reading the message and immediately telephoned him. "Hey, I'm just behind you lah! Haha!" And thus a picture was taken at our first meeting point as seen above. =)

The weather was drizzling and I was concerned about out walk-around tour around KL in bad weather. But since another local friend wanted to lend his help, I opted to bring the lads to an open house session at one of my friend's house at Bangi. We used the lrt to Bandar Tasik Selatan to meet up with our supir (read: driver).

Friends I met through My Selangor Story 2011 trip, Mohd Zaid (the supir) and Helga. =)
I was a bit nervous on what to say to my friend if she asked me who these lads were since I'm currently "unattached". Haha. Thankfully I didn't have to explain anything. At least, saying that I was bringing friends from Indonesia around KL made her father extra cheerful! And due to sudden heavy downpour, we got stranded there for a bit!

After a round of Kambing Golek and Nasi Beriyani from my friend's house we headed to Putrajaya, the Administrative Center of Malaysia. Sadly, Helga and Singgih didn't eat much. They have such tiny tummies! =p

We visited the Seri Warisan Bridge at Putrajaya
I made Zaid park at an illegal spot just so that we could walk around the bridge and take pictures! Haha! Thankfully we weren't issued a fine.

After forcing the lads to jump while I became their helpful camera person (I can be  a very persuasive person. ihikz), we headed to the most famous roundabout in Putrajaya to visit these two iconic buildings below.

Upper pic is the Jabatan Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister's Office) and the below pic is Masjid Putrajaya.
Outsiders who didn't fit the "aurat" criteria had to wear raincoats to enter the compound and are provided for. Can't say the same for Masjid Jamek though. And within the compound there's even a small souvenir shop selling postcards and other touristy things. How convenient!

A place for worship and also ideal for tourists. =)
We did our asar prayers here and then we went to the eatery area downstairs. There was a waterfront where we can go on a cruise around the man-made lake or just chill while eating ice-cream. Which is what we exactly did. RM4.50 per cone. *gasps!
Treating them ice-cream on a rainy day is not advisable. Haha!
Our next destination was Bukit Bintang! Zaid actually works in this area and so he took the reins and became our unofficial tour guide around Bukit Bintang. We covered Jalan Alor (full of road cafes), Berjaya Times Square, Low Yat and his own office where we dropped by to drink and pray. Hahaha!

Clockwise from upper left : Bukit Bintang road, in front of Low Yat, Jalan Alor and the theme park inside Times Square.
The ticket prices for the indoor theme park of Times Square are RM43 for non-ic holder and RM38 for ic holders. And nope, we didn't enter. On tight budget. =p

After maghrib, we headed to Merdeka Square. I wanted to show them the changing colors of Sultan Ahmad Samad Building during the night. It is a recommended spectacular view to behold! (Yes, I'm a big fan of lip-lap lights! Haha!)

Managed to catch the different colors of the building. Well, I think there were only 4 colors. Errr...
Not having enough of colorful lights, we brought our Indonesian friend to KLCC to view the changing colors of the fountain! I think it becomes a musical fountain at 8pm where the 1Malaysia song is being played. We waited quite a while for the music to be replayed but it didn't happen! Sigh!
Many people has gathered around this fountain. It was a surprise to see such a crowd during night-time!
Helga received free samples of Munchy's crackers while he sat there observing and taking pictures. I went inside the mall to do some errands and had them waiting outside. Hihi!

Tired and most definitely hungry by the time I finished my errands, we crashed at my favorite restaurant near my apartment to get dinner. And also it was easier for the driver to send me home right after we had our fill. Hehe. A girl have to think for herself when in a company of men. 
At the famous Al-Azmi Seafood Garden Restaurant @ Sentul.
The dinner was great as always. Highly recommended by myself. Hehe. I've brought many of my foreign guests for dinner here and I assure you, they all had high reviews of the restaurant's Thai ambiance  with its excellent food and service.  Don't believe me? Ask Helga and Zaid. =)

With that we ended our evening and I was sent home. Zaid later sent these boys to their hostel at Jalan Sultan near Petaling Street. I believe they'll be heading to Melaka and Genting next. Enjoy your stay in Malaysia guys! 
.

16 comments:

rayyan haries said... [Reply]

tudiaaa... balik2 indo terus ada pakwes?? ganas lah ko ni jard..cian yg kat bangkok tu...muahaha...

eh2, ko bawak diorang kat mana kita bawak masaya makann nasi goreng ayam!!! :D

Dah jadi official kedai bawak foreigners jer kan..hehe

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@rayyan... hehehe.. aku banyak pakwes (read: guy friends).

yeahhh.... official place to bring foreigners. the same spot I brought Masaya and many others in the past. Just love this place. hehe

Henry Lee said... [Reply]

enjoy sakan la ko nih! lama tak singgah putrajaya dah... hahaha... :D

Alid Abdul said... [Reply]

wohoooo,,,, I didn't know that Sultan Ahmad Samad Building can change color in the night hemmmmm. I've been in KL 4 times but every time I try to visit masjid Jamek always close :(

Putrajaya I've been there once, there is food stall near Masjid Putra, nice one :)

after Helga balik kat Jakarta, his blog will full report about his trip :)

hcvvorld of Travels, Lifestyle and Photography said... [Reply]

wa..all lomofied photos..speaking of Jakarta..I have just attended a conference in Bangkok last week and an Indonesian student presented about the traffic situation in Jakarta..I saw the photos..and terus pengsan...Bangkok traffic jam and KL traffic jam pun kalah!

Cahaya Yang Riang Gembira said... [Reply]

Helga tak ada blog ke? Kekeke. Boleh baca pengalaman dia pula berada di sini. Heee. :D

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@henry... jadual ko kan penuh dgn event. hehe. takda masa nk jejalan kot. =p

@alid abdul... 4 times is a lot!!! u must love KL a lot to come here often! haha!

food stall at masjid putra mahal! huhu

and hopefully helga cpt2 update his blog too. =)

@hcworld.. hehehe. wahh so u noticed. I edited the pics coz taken by a cheap Lumix Compact camera. Pixel not nice to begin with. After editing baru rasa puas hati. hehehe.. and yaaa.. heard that too bout the traffic in Jakarta! but still wanna go there. hehehe

@farhana dr.. ade.. hehe.. ku dah ping kat twitter kamu =)

helgaindra said... [Reply]

whoaaaaaa
senangnya bisa jumpa kak zarah again.
muhahaha terimakasih atas jamuan makan malamnya. makanan thailand tu sedap sekali.

begitu juga dengan makanan saat open housee.

wait for my blog post yaaaa
thankyou kak zarah!!
:d

Lily Riani said... [Reply]

eh! SAS building leh change colour ke? cis! awat tak tau...

how come, i came back from BKK , me have no pakwes...cis! salah country nih!

batik sarimbit said... [Reply]

nice posting i like it

Anonymous said... [Reply]

I don’t get it

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@helga... hehehe... aku seronok keluar dengan kamu berdua. tak sabar nak pergi Jakarta pula!

@Lilyriani... and now u know thanks to my blogpost kan? kan ohh.. niat ke Bangkok nak carik pakwe ke?? kantoi di situu! hahaha!

@batik sarimbit.. thanks! =)

Zara AB said... [Reply]

It was fun to bring our friends (outside Malaysia) around kan? Especially when we bring them to experience our local food. Still remembered one time when i brought a friend from US to Pasar Malam. Habis semua benda dia tanya. Every single thing.

Bali Hotels said... [Reply]

great post . . .

Shintandryani said... [Reply]

wuhuuu great ~ from indonesia. huaa wanna come to malaysia and walking around :D

Shintandryani said... [Reply]

great post! huaaa ~ wanna walking around malaysiaa ~ malaysia is a great place ~