Here are the videos by D.e.s.m.o.n.d. and J.i.n. from H.i.t.z. that summarizes the 4 days and 3 nights that we spent in Jakarta for the S.o.u.l.n.a.t.i.o.n. F.e.s.t.i.v.a.l. Check out the 2nd video... I was interviewed at the end... Hooohooo...

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

But I was damn scared! Felt so uneasy to speak in front of a video cam... And btw, I wasn't looking at any scripts when I looked down, I just felt weird starring into the video cam lens... And yes... it was the last day of the hectic trip, my hair looked like shit and my eyes looked like Po from Kung Fu panda... :P

The following morning, after breakfast at the hotel... we were driven to Sea World. Sea World is a high tech modern huge aquarium exhibiting the special and diverse tropical marine life found throughout the Indonesian waters.

Here... I saw Piranhas for the first time...

And a Dugong real close... Not sure why... but the Dugong reminded me of a really fat mermaid... hehehe....

Plus, it was also here that I learnt that a crocodile has got 18 toes... 5 on each leg at the front and 4 on each leg at the back... not to mention, seeing a white crocodile...

But then I also saw something familiar... NEMO!!!

We were rather lucky that day... cos just when we were about to leave the place... it was feeding time at the main aquarium...

Suddenly, the aquarium was filled with different kinds of fishes in all shapes and sizes, turtles, sting rays and etc etc... :)

Prior to the concert, we were given our goodies which comprises of:

• Daily tickets to attend the S.o.u.l.n.a.t.i.o.n. F.e.s.t.i.v.a.l. at I.s.t.o.r.a. S.e.n.a.y.a.n.
• Tickets for special shows (A.k.o.n. on 17 Oct and A.s.h.a.n.t.i. on 18 Oct)
• F&B + games coupons
• Special A.x.i.s. wrist tag for priority lane + access to the hospitality lounge
• Limited edition goodies: CD, T-Shirt, Lanyard + an A.x.i.s. S.o.u.l.n.a.t.i.o.n. Pack

But that night, the traffic was truly horrendous! We arrived at I.s.t.o.r.a. S.e.n.a.y.a.n. slightly late... lucky thing the C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e. performance was scheduled for later...

We got ourselves parked at the front row... in front of the barricades... And while waiting for C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e., we found ourselves being entertained by a cute DJ called DJ C-b.u...

Just when we thought C.h.e'n.e.l.l.e. was up next, I.Z. & the N.u-F.i.r.m. from Australia entertained us further... This guy has got 2 really hot dancers... and has a peculiar habit of throwing sweaty towels to screaming crowd...

At ~10.30pm, the long awaited C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e. finally came on stage!!! The minute the music is played for "I_F.e.l.l_I.n_L.o.v.e_w.i.t.h_t.h.e_D.J", the crowd roared enthusiastically...

That night C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e. also performed her brand new song called "First Love". The song was rather catchy and I particularly liked the chorus that went... "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-first love"... Really... you should check it out! Not bad for our Malaysian girl!

After a great performance by C.h.e'N.e.l.l.e, we made our way to the main stage to watch the special show for the night... A.k.o.n! We were queueing with the rest of the queue before we were told that we could go straight in with our A.x.i.s. tags... Damn cool!

A.k.o.n's DJ for the night; DJ B.e.n.n.y-D. was a real cool dude... For one he wore a kilt and a few of the radio guys swore that he didn't had anything underneath... Secondly, he was really pumped up and energetic! But that was of course before A.k.o.n's appearance on stage...

When A.k.o.n. came on stage; he delivered one after another of his hit songs... and crowd just went MADDD!!! Towards the end, he threw himself to the crowd and the crowd body surfed him around... But ahem... his security dudes were rather protective thus when the crowd couldn't get near enough to A.k.o.n, our cool dude found himself lying flat on the floor at least twice... Come to think of it, it was kinda funny.

Actually, it was quite a challenge to capture A.k.o.n. with a normal digital camera cos when the lights were dimmed... leaving the surrounding dark... he somewhat blended in with the darkness! Nevertheless, it was a spectacular performance and I had a great time!

While we were about to leave Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), one of the winners spotted a Komodo Park signage... and though it wasn't in our itinerary, everyone didn't mind paying the additional Rp5,000 to see a real Komodo Dragon...

This was the entrance... which looked more like a Godzilla than a Komodo...

We were told that we could take photo with the Komodo Dragon for free... all we had to do was walk slowly towards it's back... But since it looked kinda fierce, I only took photo from the entrance of it's cage... (in case of emergency, can dash out ma)...

This Komodo Dragon is only fed once a week but it can eat 7 live chickens under a minute... ONE MINUTE wei!!!

There was only 1 Komodo Dragon in the entire park... which was kinda disappointing cos' I was expecting at least a dozen or more moving around... Nevertheless, there were other animals in the park... pythons... One of the winners; Mark was really daring. Not only was he the only one who posed with the Komodo Dragon, he also took on the largest python in the park.

This python is kinda strong, see how it kept turning it's head towards Mark? Freaky!

The caretaker of the park also thought us how to differentiate the gender of snakes in general:

Where he's pointing, there's actually a hole... there's 2 holes in total... that represents the snake's testicles

Then we walked past a glass cage with several iguanas...

Check out the iguana's toes... Am sure it'll taste better than chicken legs... cos longer and fatter... more to suck on... hahaha...

But guess what? Within the same compound, there was also a cute white rabbit at the corner. Everyone wondered if the rabbit was to be fed to the iguanas... but apparently not... they just co-exist harmoniously.

The guys found it so fascinating that they had to put it on record...

After that, we were taken to ITC Cempak Putih (ITC stands for International Trade Centre). They've got a few levels here and each level comprises of small stalls... selling apparels, accessories, phones, computers and generally anything and everything under the sun.

Everytime you walk past a stall, the staff will greet you by saying... "Boleh???", "Boleh berbelanja?". Now imagine hearing that every few seconds... after awhile, I just felt like running away cos their eyes were following me wherever I go...

But what was fascinating bout this place was Level 4... It was an entire floor that sells only phones and accessories as well as telco products...

There must have been like hundreds of these little stalls all cramped on the same floor.

Surprisingly though there were many many of these counters / stalls... there wasn't any take 1 leaflets on any of the counters...

Each and every one of the stalls / counters also have the plastic chairs neatly arranged...

See, there are even advertising messages at the back of the plastic chairs...

On our way back to the bus, we past by the motorcycles parking... if there are 70 million cars on the roads in Jakarta, there has got to be a lot MORE of these bikes around town:

I was standing in the middle... so imagine this on both sides... damn a lot of motorcycles... and this is only outside 1 mall...

The morning, the first stop in our itinerary was The National Monument or "Monas". It is one of the monuments built during the Sukarno era of fierce nationalism which stands for the people's determination to achieve freedom and the crowning of their efforts in the Proclamation of Independence in August 1945. The 137-metre tall marble obelisk is topped with a flame coated with 35 kg of gold. The base houses a historical museum and a hall for meditations. (Source: VirtualTourist)

Though the monument is open to the public and upon request can carry visitors to the top via lifts, we only took photos at the base. Btw... I didn't realise how skinny I had become ever since I had braces on until I saw my own photos... I was like bloody STRAW...!!! M.u.s.t EAT m.o.r.e!!!

Next stop was Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) or "Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park" is a culture-based recreational area located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. It has an area of about 250 acres. The park is a synopsis of Indonesian culture, with virtually all aspects of daily life in Indonesia's 26 (in 1975) provinces encapsulated in separate pavilions with the collections of architecture, clothing, dances and traditions are all depicted impeccably. (Source: Wikipedia).

In layman terms... this whole area depicts the different tribes in Jakarta and the houses they live in + their daily lives...

It was here that we learnt of the term "Minangkabau" that actually meant "Buffalo Wins"... That explained why the shape of "Minangkabau" roof tops are like buffalo horns. Not just that, we were also told that women in this tribe tend to have more power in everything... Women inherits everything in the family. Women pays for the men's dowry when they get married. Women = King :P

Buffalo wins roof tops...

Then we saw a house built on stilts which was said to prevent PIGS from climbing up as well as to prevent flood from damaging the interior...

House on stilts... such creative storage space... maybe they also tied their cows to the pillars... and then leave them to drown when there's flood... hehehe...

Since we're on PIGS... there's also this tribe... that sleeps next to their pigs sty.

This is where they live...

And this is where their pigs live... right next to their hut... Btw, this was our tour guide; Pak Daniel...

The "Nias" tribe also has something quite peculiar. There's this block of wall; approximately 2m in height that guys will have jump across if they wanna get married. If they fail, they obviously cannot get married lor...

The guys were all eager to jump across the wall... while the gals looked on skeptically... hehehe...

We then visited a couple of other houses... until we spotted this cool dude...

It's RP5,000 for a photo session with him so we all just ended up starring at him...

What was so special about this tribe is that, they have got this special underwear that they wear when they're out hunting... it's called a "korteka" - a horn like slip on made of wood to protect ahem the male anatomy.

Now I know where the term "kotek" comes from... :P

That morning, my father got me a cab to LCCT to catch my Air Asia flight. When I reached, my point of contact was the radio guys from H.i.t.z. Thereafter, we met the winners 1 by 1... (more on them individually later).

From L to R: Linda (Dancing Queen), Sheikher (Mr. Dan Lain Lain - Super Popular with Girls), Nazrul (Shy Guy), Deborah & Mark (Dynamic Duo), Jin (Hitz Announcer) & Sedek (Mr. Camera Maniac)

Our flight was supposed to depart KL at 1:15pm... but needless to say, it was delayed by about 30min and it only left KL bout 1.45pm... but along with other passengers from the 10am flight also to Jakarta. YES... their flight was delayed for nearly 3 hours!!! And since the number of passengers were increased last minute, there wasn't enough food to feed us poor souls on board... not even cup noodles... All I had was a cup of Milo... :(

Since I just got back from Bali not long ago... I felt a sense of familiarity when I reached Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta International Airport (CGK). (1) I was somewhat taller than the average Indonesian in Jakarta... (2) Signages were in funny sounding words... like how "Tandas" was "Kamar Kecil" and how "Percuma" was "Gratis"... (3) People greet you differently... "Pak" for male and "Ibu / Bu" for female...

The airport... and I thought that traffic would be smooth...

From the airport, we were taken to our hotel to freshen up before dinner. And that... was the start of the traffic nightmares that continued throughout our stay in Jakarta...

Mad jam all around Jakarta. They've got like 70 million carsssss on the road!

We stayed in Aryaduta Hotel Jakarta (which was previously known as Hyatt Aryaduta). It was located in Jalan Prapatan... some 20min away from central Jakarta (without jam) and 90min away (with their standard jam). My room was not too bad... with broadband access somemore...

Aryaduta Hotel (opposite the Farmer's Monument) with super nice BED!

That evening, I skipped dinner with the group and went to our local office instead (more like our sister company in Jakarta). My colleagues in Jakarta were super nice. The minute I touched down in Jakarta, I was informed that they have arranged a driver at my discretion... A driver! Hooohoooooo....

At their office, I was introduced to the Marketing team and was given a quick run down on who does what as well as their product offerings in Jakarta. Not sure if you know this but there are as many as 11 telco brands in Jakarta alone!!!

Thereafter, I was taken to Plaza Senayan to visit their center:

Clean & nice...

I had "nasi goreng" at the food court... partly also cos I had a terrible toothache... not my braces but a real toothache... And then proceeded to take a short walk around Plaza Senayan... which was equivalent with our Pavilion if not more up market. See... even their escalators are cooooool:

Everything here is like super expensive... in millions...

Since my Jakarta colleague; Kiky bought me dinner, I decided to buy him coffee and guess what he ordered? Mocha Jelly! I don't remember seeing the same offering here in KL... but it was kinda cool. Blended ice mocha with jelly at the bottom which cost me 75,000... SEVENTY FIVE THOUSAND for 2 cups of coffee!!! In Rupiah of course... hehehe...

That night, they had an event @ XXX (sorry ar... I can't remember the club's name) and I was asked to go along... The club scene in Jakarta was pretty interesting. My colleague told me that girls in Jakarta spend hours setting their hairs at salon every Friday and Saturday night... apparently, it is a norm for girls there... No wonder they all have hairs like MODELS! See... they even had this red carpet like photo op backdrop... :P

Red carpet...

After 1 lycee martini and ~ 2 hours of screaming and being screamed at (music was too loud for normal conversations to take place thus the screaming)... it was time to to be driven back to the hotel. And that marked the end of my first day in Jakarta, Indonesia.

If there's one thing bout my job that is somewhat envious to others is the fact that I come in contact with celebrities quite often... local, international, class A, indie, DJs, radio announcers, TV personalities etc etc. If I am lucky... I even get to meet some of these people up close and personal but otherwise, I'll get to attend their concerts / promo tours / showcases etc etc if it happens in M'sia.

However, nothing beats the latest experience that I had the past few days... attending a music festival with cool artistes like A.k.o.n, C.h.e'n.e.l.l.e, A.s.h.a.n.t.i, B.l.a.c.k.s.t.r.e.e.t and more not here in KL... BUT... all the way in Jakarta, Indonesia!

Yup... I was in Jakarta for 4 days and 3 nights from 16 till 19 October 2008 to attend Indonesia's 1st and largest S.o.u.l.n.a.t.i.o.n F.e.s.t.i.v.a.l!!! This music festival was a festival that offered R&B, hip hop, rap and soul music from well known artistes in Indonesia as well as International artistes combined with a range of fun attractions like fire dancers, body painting, games, graffiti etc etc.

As part of the event, we also took 6 winners from KL for an all-expense paid trip to experience not just the music festival but also... the best of Jakarta via half day tours (since the music festival's at night).

The next few posts will cover the places we visited, activities that we did as well as celebrities whom we met. Till then... ciaoz...

The trip to Bali was an extremely memorable one for Alan and I... We've both been together for over a decade thus it is unusual to hear that we've experienced many firsts together. But what was surprising was that, this trip alone offered many firsts for us too...

• Like how I had manicure and pedicure at the beach for the first time
• Like how he wore "sarong" for the first time
• Like how we visited an active volcano for the first time
• Like how we stayed in a suite for the first time
• Like how we tried the couple spa for the first time
• Like how we both watched Olympics out of Malaysia for the first time

But more importantly, it was the first time Alan ever knelt down in front of me.

He proposed to me in Bali!!!

And he chose to do it on our last night at Nusa Dua after dinner in our suite. It was 08-08-08 at 8pm just before the Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing begun!!!

I've always dreamt of this moment and have always thought that I would smile sweetly while nodding in agreement. But when it really did happen, it was nothing like what I dreamt about. The minute he knelt down and said those things he said, tears just flowed down my cheeks non-stop.

For as long as I knew him, I have never seen him kneel down. He has this condition where the bones at both his knees juts out when he kneels. Doctor said it was cos he was too active when he was younger and that there wasn't a need to fix it cos they only hurts when he kneels down. So imagine my surprise when he knelt down in front of me!

I was touched beyond words and I could see that he too was choking back his tears when he delivered his proposal... sentence after sentence slowly. I have never felt more loved before and I knew that he felt the same cos it was written all over his face and his eyes... :)

On a more delighted note. He got me a really "tua-liap" bling bling, an 0.91 carat which cost him a bomb! Hehehehe...

So ya, Alan and I are officially ENGAGED!!!

Warning: Tidak halal...

The food in Bali was not too bad for Alan and I. Alan cos he's super duper fussy and me cos I have got a lousy stomach.

One thing for sure, their "mee goreng" and "maggie goreng" was absolutely yummy! Not too salty and yet full of flavours! So unlike what we have here...

I also had a taste of the Balinese "Mi Kangkung" which was somewhat similar to our "Pan Min" here but again much richer in flavour.

But the meal that I enjoyed the most has got to be "Nasi Babi Guling". Mind you, not just any "Nasi Babi Guling" but THE "Nasi Babi Guling" by Ibu Oka in Ubud!

It is where the whole pig is proudly displayed at the front of the shop:

For pork lovers, you can't say you've been to Bali if you've not tasted the "Nasi Babi Guling". Try it, it is highly recommended:

But be warned... Stay away from this place if you don't like pork cos that's all they serve! Poor Alan has got nothing to eat cos he doesn't eat pork. Me on the other hand had 2 plates cos he took a bite of the pork slices and immediately gave me this look. Hehehehe...

I lurve Bali!

We stayed in 2 different hotels in Bali and I absolutely love both the hotels!!!

The first 3 nights, we stayed in Ramayana Resort & Spa which was located right in the heart of Kuta and within walking distance to the famous Kuta beach. Though we were located right in the heart of town, there was this feeling of tranquility when we were within the hotel compound. The hotel was surrounded by beautiful blooming tropical gardens with small water gardens and a nice pool.

Because of our packed itinerary, Alan and I made sure we wake up on time every morning for their breakfast. Breakfast is served at the coffee house next to the pool.

The room was cozy, clean and comfortable too.

Plus, it was very near the Kuta beach.

Since we had a pack itinerary, we didn't spent too much time at the beach but I managed to get a manicure and pedicure at the beach:

The best part about living right in the center of Kuta is that there are plenty of places to shop. There are large shopping boutiques like D&G, Quiksilver, Roxy and more!

Heck, there are even McD and Starbucks here.

At night, we only had to walk to the entrance of the hotel for drinks.

On our last 2 days in Bali, we moved to Nusa Dua. We stayed in Melia Benoa Resort which was located just next to Club Med. This is the lobby where they served us the welcome drinks:

The concept here is totally different from Ramayana. While Ramayana was all about the convenience of being located right in the middle of the town and yet offered the tranquility of a peaceful surrounding, Melia Benoa offers privacy and was near secluded as we didn't bump into anyone at all.

Within the hotel compound, there were beautiful landscaping with ponds of various shapes and sizes. The compound was wayyy larger than Ramayana:

There was also this nice swimming pool with a bar next to pool:

Room wise, we stayed in a suite thus the room was extra large! Here's where the bed is:

Followed by the chill out area next to the bed.

The study area and oh the TV can be turned 180 degree around the suite.

The large window panes which offers plenty of sunshine. Words can't describe the happiness of waking up to a beautiful morning! Just by looking at the bright sunny day outside, one could smile endlessly!

Our balcony which faces the pool:

Though Ramayana was a walking distance from the beach, Melia Benoa has its own private beach!

The beach was nicely landscaped too:

Unlike Ramayana, there was nothing to shop near the surrounding of the resort, thus we took the couple spa package. This was our first spa experience. Sure, I've been to massages and reflexology before but spa... this was really my first time let alone a couple spa. Here's the entrance to the spa:

We took the complete package that offered feet scrub, massage, honey body wrap, green tea body scrub, herbal bath and facial honey mask. The entire package took a couple of hours. We left the spa feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and recharged! Not to mention smooth too... hehehe...

So if you ask me which hotel I prefer, I would say I like them both.

Ramayana is in the middle of everything from booze to shopping places to the beach. While Melia Benoa has the privacy that is hard to get in KL. If you want to spend quality time with your other half, Melia Benoa is definitely the place to be. Plus, the private beach way nicer than the crowded Kuta beach!