Jakarta Pt 1: Coffee and Ice

Three weeks have passed so quickly in Indonesia, and I already miss Cupertino. Well, or at least I miss some aspects of it. Anyway, the day after my arrival, I attempted to make myself busy. That Monday, August 8, I took a rest in the morning to assure whether I had coped with the jetlag. A bit sleepy, still, but the jetlag itself wasn't as bad as I thought. Later in the afternoon, when I started to feel a little bored, I tweeted my friend Carmen and asked whether she was free, which she really was!

So we quickly arranged to meet up at PIM later that afternoon. It was going to be my first hang-out with friend after arriving in Indonesia! So you can imagine how excited I was.

Basically what we did was we chatted a little in Starbucks, went to Timezone, and got ourselves soaked in sweat through many rounds of Dance Dance Revolution. Her skills definitely have exceeded mine! We went through several DDR rounds before we really were worn out, especially I haven't played it in a while.
Then we went to Ya Kun Kaya Toast to have a cup of tea. Actually, I only accompanied her sipping the tea, since I was fasting.

Then we took some pictures using her Photobooth. I quite love the additional effects installed in her app. It got some cool effects my Photobooth doesn't even have.

Afterwards, we parted and I headed to Bakmi Gajah Mada to meet up with my parents for break fasting. Here comes one of my most anticipated moments in Indonesia: tasting the famous chicken noodle! FYI, Bakmi Gajah Mada - or often abbreviated as Bakmi GM - is often listed under the wishlist of most Indonesian students abroad as their reason to come back to their home country *biased*. The noodle is so famous we Indonesians even talk about it in the States!

Teh Botol!
How I miss this local Jasmine Tea.
I've drunk teh botol in the US before, but isn't it just amazing to have encountered with the bottled one? I mean, it's just unbelievable (excuse my spazz over food. It happens all the time)

ALL HAIL THE CHICKEN NOODLE!
Minus the fried wonton. Not a really big fan of it.

The day after, I hung out with Aymee, Ardy, and Andy in Karawaci. FYI, they're actually my friends back in the US, but we just happened to be in Indonesia, so why not having a reunion? Besides, we wanted to feel the sensation of hanging out in Indonesia (cos we hung out a lot back in the States).

Aymee and I particularly made friends with Andy and Ardy's colleagues: Patricia and Agung. We got along very well, especially Patricia is a big fan of Kpop and Kdrama. So we shared our interests at some point. She also recommended me some good Thai movies, which I became completely drawn to. We basically spent the whole day strolling in Supermall Karawaci, touring Universitas Pelita Harapan, and ended up chilling out in its comfortable lounge.

Two days after, Eileena and Bella - also my friends in the US - invited me to hang out with them in Taman Anggrek Mall. This time, we weren't just strolling around and doing basic mall stuff (read=shopping). We were going to do something a bit extraordinary that day, which was ice skating!

Whoops!
I'm not a good skater, considering I haven't ice skated since I was like eight. I remembered being so good in it, but apparently not anymore. So yeah, I'm back being a rookie.

There's actually a very fun moment during ice skating, and quite shocking too. When I was leaning on the glass in the ice rink (as you can see in the picture above), I spotted someone waving at me. LITERALLY. Bella and Eileena went over and waved to that guy. Apparently, it turns out to be my art history classmate in the States!
He's also Indonesian, of course, but isn't it just unexpected to bump into him in Indonesia? Too bad the sound proof glass didn't allow us to have longer interaction. We basically just did body gestures to communicate, then he passed by.

What a small world it is, isn't it?

Later on, we bumped into this photo studio, which we decided to give it a try. The results aren't so bad at all. In fact, I really like how they turn out to be. Here are the two best ones.

The props rock, don't they? Or is it just me?
The backgrounds are also quite neat. I love them.
Yes, please excuse the narcissism.

FAIL XD
Err...I'm not so sure about this one. We weren't sorta ready with the second shoot, and before we got to pose, the camera captured us. Guess whose hands are on the backgrounds.

We called it a day by having dinner in Hachi Hachi, near the ice rink. I had a bowl of Nabeyaki Udon while Bella and Eileena munched on sushi.

One more thing to conclude the post. I know it's totally off topic.


NASI PADANG!!!
Yeah I had this with my dad to break our fast in PIM. One of the food listed under my wishlist after Bakmi GM.
Nom nom.