Jakarta, INDONESIA - eating and shopping

Jakarta is a vibrant city, very much like Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. While we see some poverty on the street, a trip to here, the Grand Indonesia really show how wealthy some of locals here are.  Grand Indonesia is the latest mall and you'll find all the top brands here. Much like our Pavillion, KL or Paragon in Bangkok.  We popped over to have a look and ate here:

Upper class and chic dining, the price does'nt come cheap, but the environment was nice and relaxing.

A whole range of Western food which I am sure was yummy, but why try Western when you are in Indonesia. I went for the famous Oxtail soup and it was absolutely delicious, cooked for hours with tons of herbs..just heavenly.

Eaten with rice and accompanied with thick black sauce and pounded chillies :)

Husband went for some fish and vege curry...I think. I don't even remember what I ate a week ago, so this was more than a month ago :P

After a few hours.....we went to Ratu Sari, another very popular eatery with restaurants here. Before, we could even order drinks...so many plates of food were laid on the table. You pay for what you eat, or you can ask them to take away what you do not want. Indonesian and Malaysian food are very similar, sharing the same spices and cooking style in many dishes.

This was not the posh and upscale Grand Indonesia mall but somewhere else, a local shopping heaven for fake branded goods. LV, Gucci...everything you name it. Bags and clothes of all brands and design, sitting side by side on the floor. I think the real owners would have had a heart attack if they saw this.  So, every person on the street carries a fake LV...they are so cheap, they cost USD10 a bag....but of course, the quality is horrible...but then, some won't care.

On the road, going to Jakartan on a weekend meant...heavy, heavy traffic everywhere.  Probably worst than Bangkok!  There was lots of people selling food stuff on the road everything was on a standstill.

Street food anyone?

Bye for now :O)