Customers: We will be on vacation every Monday. Konsumen: Kami akan berlibur setiap Senin. Maaf, saya malas menterjemahkannya hari ini....Pingin tidur! Itas oncologist gave her permission to take off two days, but she cant miss any more days of her treatments. So, for the time we were in Jakarta (Tues-Weds), she had none, but she returned today for another treatment. After she got home, she didnt feel well enough to make donuts, and she took a long nap while I continued working. Monday at midnight, after selling all our burgers and donuts again, we got on the Bima train to Jakarta. We arrived and were met by a Trans7 driver and, since wed been told wed stay at the Amaris Hotel, we asked him to take us there. However, when we arrived, there was no reservation for us. After text messages and phone calls, it was finally discovered that we were to stay in a different hotel. So, another driver came and took us to Maharadja Hotel. Unfortunately, when we arrived, our reservation wasnt sorted out and we were told that we had to wait. The hotel concierge didnt take any action after that. I asked Ita to ask if we could have breakfast while we waited for the problem to be sorted out. She was told that we could have breakfast but then we wouldnt get breakfast the next day! I then went to him and explained that this was a problem between the hotel and Trans7, and that wed be eating breakfast both days. He finally let us go eat. While we were eating, Trans7 called me and the person was surprised that we still didnt have a room, so she talked to the concierge and straightened things out, including getting an extra bed for us since the room only had one bed. That was a stressful morning! Although Maharadja Hotel looks very swank, we were very disappointed with the breakfast on both days. There was food that was stale and food that was spoiled, the food in general wasnt so tasty, and the wait staff seemed lethargic. Perhaps it was their strategy to keep people from eating a lot? Aside from that, and a coating of dust under the bed, it was a pretty nice hotel. The only other (minor) thing was that the shower curtain was too short so water would get out onto the floor and the floor wasnt slanted to drain water out, resulting in there always being a puddle in the bathroom. All in all, though, it was a good hotel - especially since Trans7 paid for it! Thanks to our friend, BrigGen (police) Dicky Atotoy for providing us with transportation for the times when Trans7 didnt need us! All we needed to do was make sure the driver had some food and pay for parking and the tollway. We were shocked by how expensive parking and the tollway have become in Jakarta, but not by how bad the traffic (*STILL*) is! We left the hotel in Dickys car before noon and had lunch at Yuraku in Kelapa Gading area. The last time (2005) wed eaten at this restaurant/buffet, the fee had been Rp.80,000/pax, but it was up to almost Rp.140,000 and, sadly, we didnt enjoy it as much as before. I did make sure that we talked to the owner to let her know and I hope shell be able to restore it to its former level as it really is a good place to eat - albeit small. After that, we went to the Senen market to try and find a new LARGE crepe pan as the teflon on the one Ive been using to cook the burger patties is ruined. We didnt have any luck, but Ita did manage to find some comfortable pants (the radiation therapy is causing the skin of her waist to be sensitive). We tried some juice at the supermarket in Senen Atrium, but it wasnt very good, so we ended up wading through traffic to get back to the hotel in time to meet the Trans7 people. We had just enough time to get ready before they arrived, and they took us straight to the Hitam Putih studio, where we were left to wait in the make-up room. There were two women there - an old and a young one, who were the main focus of the Hitam Putih episode. While we waited, I consulted my tarot cards about the outcome of being on the show (favorable) and then the younger woman asked me what the outcome would be for the trial they are involved in (I will not share the result as it is private). Mrs. Fatimah, along with her youngest daughter, were there to talk about how shed been told shed have to pay her 4th daughter Rp.1,000,000,000 to keep the property shed already bought from them before. Originally, the plan was that half the show would be about them and the 2nd half about us, but they decided to prioritize her story, which was okay for us. While we waited, I was shaving my head, but my shavers battery kept running out. I finally managed to finish shaving right around the time the show began. We got a chance to talk to the young lady who co-hosted the show who is both a doctor (GP) and the famous comedian Jeng Kellin, which is a pun on the Indonesian word for irritating, as well as a title for an unmarried Javanese woman. The first link below is the full show - our part starts around 36:20. The other two links are shortened versions of just our part. Im sure you can find other versions if you search, but its all in Indonesian. youtube/watch?v=jILQydBO7L8 youtube/watch?v=A0kg9U1G6vg youtube/watch?v=hzKBy8S641c I kind of feel sorry for Deddy because most of the questions he asks are from the creative team that invited us, who write them on white boards for him. After that, we were recompensed for our expenses (theyd already taken care of the trains and hotel), I was given a fee for my services, and we quickly ate before going back to the hotel. The next morning, we got up and Dickys driver took us to Pacific Place Mall, a very ritzy mall where the rich go. It happens to be where Kidzania Indonesia is located. We thought itd be a nice way to spend time with them after all the time weve been super busy due to selling food. Pacific Place is so ritzy that there are metal detectors at every door and security guards in abundance. We spent Rp.37,000 for the time we were parked there and, had we eaten there, we wouldve spent hundreds of thousands of rupiahs. It turns out that Kidzanias marketing isnt exactly what you get - at least not the part that is written on the outside wall that implies that KidZania is some sort of new world created by kids. This is not at all the case - its a replica of the real world and I dont know how anyone would be able to pull off the writing on the wall outside via a theme park, although a school probably could. It is a theme park where kids can role-play different kinds of jobs - firefighter, police, magician, actor noodle maker, chocolate maker, tea maker, pharmacist, dentist, nurse, doctor, racer, cosmetologist, builder, secret agent and much more. There are places were they can spend the Kidzos money they earn from trying different jobs, such as getting a medical check-up and then getting their drivers license (but they have to do the medical check-up twice if they want to get both a motorcycle and a automobile license), climbing a building, shopping, learning about magic, attending a university, etc. From the perspective that it allows children to get a sample experience of what its like to be an employee, I think it has some value, but I did notice that several of the experiences had been pared down from what the stated plan was. For example, my son went in the wafer factory but, aside from putting the ingredients into a bowl and mixing them, he didnt get to use any of the other machines. In fact, if your child is under the age of 6, there are few things that can be done and, if your child cant read, there are even fewer. If your child is a toddler, theres very little to do. For a while, my son was so discouraged that he wanted to leave, but thanks to the magicians class and show, and then both of my kids acting in a mini version of Peter Pan, his spirits were reinvigorated. There is no way that your child will be able to try everything in one day as it only stays open until 16:00. My other big complaint about KidZania is that it teaches kids about being employees, but not really about being business people or entrepreneurs. From that perspective, it fell far short of our hopes. Yet, Jasmine did enjoy it quite a bit and got herself both a motorcycle and a car drivers license. Another sticking point is that the BCA bank that kids can save their Kidzos money at there closes before the park closes, which means kids may leave the park without having either saved or spent the money. On the other hand, though, your kid can go back (and should be able to for the prices they charge) and continue to use their Kidzos money until theyre 16. Jasmine tried climbing a building (simulation experience) but, just like many other kids, she got scared trying to get to the second story and gave up. All in all, its probably worth visiting, especially if you want to teach your children the pros and cons of being an employee. Youre not allowed to bring in food and beverages, but we were told we could bring in our water, and I saw a lot of other parents had snuck in food. Some of the food is good there, like the pizza, which is rich in mozzarella, but some of it is crap, too. When we were almost done, Verdure Bali was kind enough to drop off a package of wheatgrass juice for us. Thanks! We have had a few people donate herbal remedies to us, and we appreciate the kindness! After that, the kids got to play in Amazing World next door for an hour while we went to the lower ground floor to check out Kem Chicks, which is now a VERY upscale supermarket and boy do you pay for the name! When we were done, we had the driver take us to the train station, and we decided to eat at Twins cafe. Unfortunately, that was a mistake. The free Internet computers were unable to connect, the food was old and not so good - Jasmine and I got diarrhea from it - the ice cream was just okay and the price was too high for what we got. Out of curiosity, we decided to try Krispy Kreme donuts - that was also a mistake. They were low on varieties and what was there was old. All in all, we feel that Itas economical donuts are better than KKs, and theyre not even her best donuts! KKs donuts tasted strange, and many of the toppings lacked flavor or were fake tasting. There was also an odd after-taste. Thats the second time Ive eaten their donuts and the second time Ive been disappointed! One of our customers happened to be at the station, so I sat with her and chatted for a while. She very kindly offered to drive us home from the station in Purwokerto, which was great because we arrived after 2 AM, I was carrying the wheatgrass package and donuts and we had lots of other stuff, and the kids were sooo sleepy! Thanks Irene! Thanks to Trans7 and Hitam Putihs team for inviting us and covering the related charge. The kids were really happy to have a vacation with us and we were happy we could spoinl them a bit. My mom was supposed to have left on the first, but shes still here. Shes still getting her ducks in a row, which means shes still procrastinating. hehehehe Today, we sold all of our donuts again. I have to go back to the market after dropping off Ita at the hospital again tomorrow. Saturday, shes going to have her second round of chemo. Customers: We will be on vacation every Monday.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 16:47:59 +0000
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