Jakarta -> Puncak, awesome weekday getaway :)

Some people think the trip going to Puncak from Jakarta is overrated. It kind of is... especially when you go during the weekend. You would have to deal with the traffic flood of people who come from Jakarta desperately needing a getaway for the weekend (pay attention to the cars' license plate! Most of the initials are "B" = Jakarta license plate). Not only that. During the weekend, the only road leading to Puncak Pass will be converted into a one-way, with alternate directions changing every 2 hours or so. That means, if you are heading to Puncak and you miss the cut, you'd have to wait for approximately 2 hours to be able to drive up. What a hassle, right? My first spontaneous attempt going to Puncak failed a few months ago because of this.

This time, I went there with my family on a weekday to avoid all of the above. Traffic was pretty good I should say. It was packed but nothing too overwhelming (Us in Jakarta would expect traffic everywhere at this point). We were intending to see a waterfall at a park in Cibodas, an area right after Puncak Pass. The waterfall i called Curug Ciismun (curug means waterfall in Sundanese by the way).

To get to the waterfall, you'd have to hike the road for an hour. The road is pretty well paved though, although it has a few inclinations here and there. The path is clean off trash, and you can see various types of plants on the way. There were predominantly fern trees in the area and they were really tall. The waterfall itself of decent size. Not too big, not too small, but hey, still a pretty good treat for people who are looking for mother nature's beauty

At the park , there were people selling lots and lots of mini decorative plants. I bought one to put in my room! So far it has been surviving :D

On the way back, I had the chance to indulge myself at a cafe (can't remember the name, but it's at a hotel located on Puncak Pass). WE had fluffy awesome poffertjes, crepes and banana fritters. They tasted really good served warm. <3

Absolutely Exceeding Expecation - the world of cocktails in Jakarta :)

Being spoiled in home sweet home Seattle, I have a pretty good standard for cocktails. Blame it on the bartenders serving drinks, especially on Capitol Hill! They always serve good strong drinks, with creative twist here and there! I always have good appetite for good sangria, AMF, (umm.. I am actually starting to forget the names of some cocktails. This is a bad sign...), white russian and amaretto sour.

Well, being being back in Jakarta, I tasted some of the drinks that they have here. And... voila, most of the places suck! Yuck, I guess most Indonesians genetically have a sweet preference for their taste buds. Hence, the drinks here are waaayyy too sweet. Not to mention the expensive price for alcohol in Indonesia, so most drinks have very little alcohol in it. I would complain to the bartenders for serving me mocktails.

Nonetheles... the first good cocktail that I had during my stay was at Ocha Bella. They had this drink called the Tiki Punch. They put dry ice in it, so it blew vapor when served. It tasted very much balanced too. It was more on the sweet side but not too overwhelming.

The next good drinks that I had was at the Birdcage. They made us this custom drink, using Indonesian lime fruit (which they usually put in dishes such as oxtail soup) in it. It was wonderful. Too bad I didn't take any pictures of it.

A friend of mine then took me to Loewy's and Union to try their cocktails too. The bar was loaded, and they even had Hendrick's (my favorite), Maker's Mark and Tanqueray which can barely found in Jakarta. The bartender served me a French 75 that they made into perfection. You can also tell the bartenders what you'd like in your cocktail and what kind of flavor that you are looking for and they actually do a VERY good job in entertaining your taste bud. They also served this very cute cocktail. Can't remember what it's called, but they put some cotton candy in your cosmo glass. When they serve it to you, they would pour the liquor over the cotton candy, thus melting the cotton candy. I had an opportunity to talk with the creator of this amazing cocktail, Mr Kiki who works at Union. He said that he came up with the idea as he was taking care of his pregnant wife who had craving for cotton candy. Cute! Also, on the bar they have this jar of absinthe (not my stuff, but entertaining to watch).

Another good cocktail that I had was at Bibliotheque. The drink is called Sexual Eruption. I prefer to call it SE. The maker, Mr George, won an award for bar-tending with this cocktail. You can taste the lemongrass blending very well with the fruity taste in it. Gotta be my favorite drink! It is refreshing and sweet at the same time.

I am very glad that some people take bar-tending very seriously in Jakarta. I admit that only a few places can serve you good drinks here, but those few are very creative and consistently exceed your expectations! You'll be surprised :)